Rockies pitcher Jon Gray is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day with the third-highest Box-Toppers game score of the season.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 17:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.0 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 20.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 20.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 20.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym al | 15.7 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 |
| 9 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| 10 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
Gray pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, walking none and striking out 16, in the 8-0 win over the Padres.
Gray had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +21.0, the third-highest of the season and only the sixth time this season a player has had a game score of +20 or more. Two pitchers had scores of +22.0 this season—Vince Velasquez of the Phillies did it April 14 and Danny Duffy of the Royals did it Aug. 1. (See the chart at the bottom of the page for the top 11 Box-Toppers game scores earned in 2016.)
American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Ricky Nolasco pitched six scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing five hits and two walks, in the 6-1 win over the Blue Jays.
National League Batter of the Day—Ryan Braun of the Brewers hit two home runs and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 11-3 win over the Cubs.
Braun earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.5 for the season. He rises to second place among NL batters, behind Kris Bryant of the Cubs (10.5 Box-Toppers points). Though Bryant and Braun both have 10.5 points, Bryant ranks ahead because he had more points in 2015—8.5 vs. 5.0.
Bryant is the 42nd player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. This is Braun’s sixth season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points, his first since 2012 when he had 12.5, prior to his 2013 suspension under baseball’s performance enhancing drug policy. Braun now ranks 35th among all players in Box-Toppers points in 2016.
American League Batter of the Day—Marcus Semien of the Athletics hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 11-2 win over the Rangers.
Notable—Phillies pitcher Jeremy Hellickson has the most 2016 Box-Toppers points of any of the 16 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Hellickson (CG 3H 0R 0BB 5K W in the 8-0 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.1 for the season. He ranks 17th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Gray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Nolasco earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Braun and Semien each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/17 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 21.0 | COL 8, SD 0 | Jon Gray (W,10-8) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | |
| 11.0 | PHI 8, MIA 0 | Jeremy Hellickson (W,12-9) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| AL | 6.0 | LAA 6, TOR 1 | Ricky Nolasco (W,6-14) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| 6.0 | HOU 2, SEA 1 | Mike Fiers (W,11-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 5.1 | BOS 6, NYY 5 | Craig Kimbrel (S,27) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | MIL 11, CHC 3 | Ryan Braun, LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4.0 | CLE 1, DET 0 (10) | Andrew Miller (W,8-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | PIT 7, CIN 3 | Juan Nicasio (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 4.0 | PIT 10, CIN 4 | Wade LeBlanc (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 4.0 | KC 3, CHW 2 | Wade Davis (S,25) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | OAK 11, TEX 2 | Marcus Semien, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | `NYM 3, MIN 2 (12) | Josh Smoker | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | ATL 7, WSH 3 | Ender Inciarte, CF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TB 5, BAL 2 | Evan Longoria, 3B | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | LAD 6, ARI 2 | Joc Pederson, CF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | STL 3, SF 2 | Kolten Wong, 2B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Hellickson, Jeremy 2778 | pi sp | phi nl | 13.1 | 18.1 | 41.8 | 44.8 | 8.1 |
| Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | lf | mil nl | 10.5 | 15.5 | 46.5 | 88.2 | 5.5 |
| Nolasco, Ricky 2125 | pi sp | ana al | 9.4 | 11.4 | 32.1 | 85.2 | 7.4 |
| Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi mr sp | pit nl | 9.0 | 10.0 | 25.4 | 25.4 | 8.0 |
| Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 7.0 | 13.0 | 56.7 | 57.7 | 1.0 |
| Gray, Jon 3634 | pi sp | col nl | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Longoria, Evan 2423 | 3b | tb al | 6.5 | 9.5 | 26.0 | 47.0 | 3.5 |
| Semien, Marcus 3302 | ss | oak al | 6.0 | 6.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 6.0 |
| Fiers, Michael 3029 | pi sp | hou al | 5.0 | 12.0 | 26.1 | 26.1 | -2.0 |
| Miller, Andrew 2436 | pi cp | cle al | 5.0 | 9.0 | 13.0 | 20.0 | 1.0 |
| Davis, Wade 2681 | pi cp | kc al | 4.0 | 8.0 | 23.0 | 26.0 | 0.0 |
| Pederson, Joc 3621 | cf | lad nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| LeBlanc, Wade 2669 | pi sp cp | pit nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 10.0 | 3.0 |
| Inciarte, Ender 3360 | cf | atl nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -1.0 |
| Smoker, Josh 3725 | pi cp mr | nym nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Wong, Kolten 3377 | 2b | stl nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 10.5 | 10.5 | -3.0 |
Highest Box-Toppers game scores of 2016
Here are the highest Box-Toppers game scores earned by Players of the Games in 2016. Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez had the highest score of +22.0 on April 14 when he was Player of the Day (and 2.0 Box-Toppers points). Saturday, Rockies pitcher Jon Gray had the third-highest score (+21.0). All but one player among the top 11 here earned Player of the Day honors. Cardinals pitcher Jamie Garcia earned Player of the Game honors (worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point) because he finished behind that day’s overall top player Velasquez on April 14.| Date | Bonus | BTG | Team | Players | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 1 | 4/14 | MLB | 22.0 | PHI 3, SD 0 | Vince Velasquez (W,2-0) | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 2 | 8/1 | MLB | 22.0 | KC 3, TB 0 | Danny Duffy (W,7-1) | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 |
| 3 | 9/17 | MLB | 21.0 | COL 8, SD 0 | Jon Gray (W,10-8) | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 4 | 7/10 | MLB | 21.0 | SF 4, ARI 0 | Madison Bumgarner (W,10-4) | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| 5 | 5/1 | MLB | 20.0 | LAD 1, SD 0 | Clayton Kershaw (W,3-1) | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 6 | 4/14 | 20.0 | STL 7, MIL 0 | Jaime Garcia (W,1-0) | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | |
| 7 | 5/11 | MLB | 19.0 | WSH 3, DET 2 | Max Scherzer (W,4-2) | 9.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 20 |
| 8 | 5/12 | MLB | 18.0 | LAD 5, NYM 0 | Clayton Kershaw (W,5-1) | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| 9 | 9/13 | MLB | 17.0 | SEA 8, LAA 0 | Taijuan Walker (W,6-10) | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 10 | 4/23 | MLB | 17.0 | WSH 2, MIN 0 | Tanner Roark (W,2-2) | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| 11 | 6/5 | MLB | 17.0 | MIA 1, NYM 0 | Jose Fernandez (W,9-2) | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |