Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fourth place in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2021. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Thursday, June 10.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 12.7 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 12.4 |
| 3 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 10.4 |
| 4 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 10.4 |
| 5 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.0 |
| 6 | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | mil nl | 8.7 |
| 7 | Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 8.7 |
| 8 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.4 |
| 9 | Rogers, Trevor 4311 | pi sp | fla nl | 8.0 |
| 10 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 7.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Thursday, two other players rise into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earned Player of the Game honors—Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta rises to sixth place and Marlins pitcher Trevor Rogers rises to eighth place.
Player of the Day—Wheeler struck out 12 over eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 4-3, 10-inning win over the Braves. Wheeler did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Phillies did not hold the lead after he exited.
Wheeler earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season, rising from seventh to fourth place among all players and second among National League pitchers, behind Brandon Woodruff of the Brewers. Though both Woodruff and Wheeler have 10.4 Box-Toppers points for the season, Woodruff ranks ahead because he had more 2020 Box-Toppers points—7.0 vs. 1.0.
Wheeler becomes the fifth player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his second season with at least 10 points. In 2018, he had 10.7 points with the Mets, 24th among NL pitchers. There are already more players who’ve reached 10 points in 2021 (five) than in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season (two). In the full 2019 season, there were 50 players with 10 or more points.
American League Player of the Day—Royals pitcher Mike Minor struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 6-1 win over the Athletics.
Active season streaks
Here are the 15 players who have active streaks of earning Box-Toppers points for 13 or more consecutive seasons. Players are listed by the length of their streak and with their current team status. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.| Player | Pos | Team | Duration | BTP* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Albert Pujols | 1b | Angels | 2001‑2020 | 202.8 |
| 19 | Miguel Cabrera | 1b dh | Tigers | 2003‑2021 | 154.9 |
| 16 | Edwin Encarnacion | dh | Free agent | 2005‑2020 | 88.2 |
| 16 | Nelson Cruz | dh | Twins | 2006‑2021 | 78.2 |
| 15 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | Astros | 2007‑2021 | 213.8 |
| 15 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | Astros | 2006‑2020 | 206.6 |
| 15 | Jon Lester | pi sp | Nationals | 2006‑2020 | 176.3 |
| 15 | Asdrubal Cabrera | 3b 1b | Diamondbacks | 2007‑2021 | 63.7 |
| 14 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 2008‑2021 | 243.6 |
| 14 | Johnny Cueto | pi sp | Giants | 2008‑2021 | 109.8 |
| 14 | J.A. Happ | pi sp | Twins | 2008‑2021 | 87.0 |
| 14 | Evan Longoria | 3b | Giants | 2008‑2021 | 56.0 |
| 14 | Kurt Suzuki | ca | Angels | 2007‑2020 | 45.0 |
| 13 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | Nationals | 2009‑2021 | 208.9 |
| 13 | Derek Holland | pi mr sp | Tigers | 2009‑2021 | 58.8 |
American League Batter of the Day—Nelson Cruz of the Twins homered, doubled and went 2-for-2, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 7-5 win over the Yankees.
Cruz has now earned Box-Toppers points in 16 straight seasons—tied for the third-longest active streak—with his first Player of the Game honor of 2021.
Cruz earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Rangers and now has 78.7 career Box-Toppers points, 59th among all batters since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, and second among active American League batters, behind Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (154.9). His best season was 2019 with the Twins when he had 12.5 Box-Toppers points, first among AL batters. In 2020, he had 3.0 points with the Twins.
Cruz’s 16-season streak earning Box-Toppers points is now tied for the third-longest active streak with free agent Edwin Encarnacion, who reached 16 seasons in 2020 and has not been active so far in 2021. Only two players have longer active streaks—Albert Pujols of the Dodgers (20 seasons) and Cabrera (19 seasons). Pujols has yet to earn points in 2021 but Cabrera has, extending his streak to 19 seasons.
Cruz’s 16-season streak is tied for the 16th-longest in Box-Toppers tracking history, which began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors.
Rankings—Two other players rose into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earned Player of the Game honors Thursday:
Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta (4IP 2H R 2BB 6K ND in the 7-2 win over the Reds) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season, sixth among all players and fourth among NL pitchers.
Marlins pitcher Trevor Rogers (7IP 4H 2R BB 8K W in the 11-4 win over the Rockies) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season, ninth among all players and sixth among NL pitchers.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Thursday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Jake Rogers of the Tigers (HR 3B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 8-3 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut July 30, 2019, and was playing in his 50th career game.
Dodgers pitcher Phil Bickford (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K Sv in the 6-3, eight-inning win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2020, and was playing in his 10th career game.
Scoring—Wheeler earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Minor earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Cruz earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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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Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners
Here is the top player from each of the day’s games listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (BTG).| 6/10 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +16.0 | `PHI 4, ATL 3 (F/10) | Zack Wheeler | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |
| AL | +9.0 | KC 6, OAK 1 | Mike Minor, (W 5‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| +6.0 | MIA 11, COL 4 | Trevor Rogers, (W 7‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | MIN 7, NYY 5 | Nelson Cruz, DH | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | BOS 12, HOU 8 | Christian Vázquez, C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | `MIL 7, CIN 2 | Freddy Peralta | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +2.0 | DET 8, SEA 3 | Jake Rogers, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | CHW 5, TOR 2 | Dallas Keuchel, (W 5‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| +2.0 | LAD 6, PIT 3 (F/8) | Phil Bickford, (S 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` 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 Player of the Game winners
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Player of the Game winners. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’21). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’20-21), the period 2016-2021 (’16-21) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2021 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2020 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’21 | ’20‑21 | ’16‑21 | Career | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 10.4 | 11.4 | 32.1 | 43.8 | +9.4 |
| Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | mil nl | 8.7 | 10.7 | 27.4 | 27.4 | +6.7 |
| Rogers, Trevor 4311 | pi sp | fla nl | 8.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +7.0 |
| Minor, Mike 2894 | pi sp | kc al | 5.4 | 8.1 | 31.5 | 58.6 | +2.7 |
| Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | chi al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 29.8 | 65.6 | +1.0 |
| Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224 | dh | min al | 1.5 | 4.5 | 31.5 | 78.7 | ‑1.5 |
| Vazquez, Christian 3380 | ca | bos al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 13.0 | 16.0 | ‑1.0 |
| Bickford, Phil 4436 | pi cp | lad nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Rogers, Jake 4435 | ca | det al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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