Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, pitcher Max Scherzer earns Player of the Game honors Thursday in what appears to be his final start for the Nationals. He is reportedly being traded to the Dodgers, though the deal was not final as of Friday morning.
Player of the Day—Musgrove struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 3-0 win over the Rockies.
Musgrove earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season, 18th among all players and 11th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Frankie Montas struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and three walks, in the 4-0 win over the Angels.
National League Batter of the Day—Brad Miller of the Phillies hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 11-8, eight-inning win over the Nationals.
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 282.5 |
| 2 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 246.6 |
| 3 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 4 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | hou al | 215.8 |
| 5 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 211.9 |
| 6 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 206.6 |
| 7 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | retired | 203.4 |
| 8 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | lad nl | 202.8 |
| 9 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 10 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | retired | 187.0 |
| 11 | Jon Lester | pi sp | dc nl | 178.3 |
| 12 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | released | 175.1 |
| 13 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | free agent | 174.2 |
| 14 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 15 | Johan Santana | pi sp | retired | 166.6 |
| 16 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 166.2 |
| 17 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 18 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 19 | Miguel Cabrera | 1b | det al | 157.4 |
| 20 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
American League Batter of the Day—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers hit two home runs and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 6-2 win over the Orioles.
Cabrera now has 157.4 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 19th among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. With his 1.5 points earned Thursday, he passes Tim Hudson (157.0) on the “all-time” list and now trails John Smoltz (160.9). (It should be noted that Smoltz began his career prior to the advent of Box-Toppers in 1995. Box-Toppers projects he would have about 255 career points if his entire career from 1988 were tracked.)
Cabrera ranks fourth among all batters in career Box-Toppers points since 1995. He ranks seventh among active players in career Box-Toppers points, second among active batters, behind Albert Pujols of the Angels (202.8). He ranks first among active AL batters in career points.
Cabrera now has 4.0 Box-Toppers points for 2021, 22nd among AL batters, and his best season since 2016, when he finished with 12.0 points, fourth among AL batters.
Rankings—Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta rises from 10th to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Peralta (6IP 2H 0R BB 5K W in the 12-0 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.
Notable—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer becomes the 12th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Scherzer (6IP 3H R 3BB 5K W in the 3-1, seven-inning win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, 11th among all players and seventh among NL pitchers.
This is his 10th season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. His best season was 2016 with the Nationals when he had 25.7 Box-Toppers points, first among all players. Scherzer had five straight seasons with 20 or more points from 2014-2019. He was with the Tigers in 2014 and with the Nationals since 2015.
Scherzer now has 211.9 career Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails fourth-ranked player, Astros pitcher Zack Greinke (215.8). Scherzer ranks third among active players in career points, behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (246.6) and Greinke. He ranks second among active NL pitchers behind Kershaw.
While the deal wasn’t finalized by early Friday morning, Scherzer is reportedly being traded to the Dodgers, making this his final start, final Player of the Game honor and final Box-Toppers point earned with the Nationals. In his 13-year career, Scherzer has earned most of his career points with the Nationals (126.9). He earned 78.0 points in his five seasons with the Tigers and 7.0 points in 2009 with the Diamondbacks.
Also notable—Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto now has 111.8 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Cueto (5.2IP 4H 0R 2BB 5K W in the 5-0 win over the Dodgers) ranks 62nd among all players in career points since tracking began in 1995. He trails 61st-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8). He ranks 17th among active players in career points, ninth among active NL pitchers.
Cueto now has 4.0 Box-Toppers points for 2021, 36th among NL pitchers.
Also notable—Joey Votto of the Reds won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the third straight day Thursday.
Votto (HR 2-5 2R 2BI in the 7-4 win over the Cubs) was also Player of the Game Tuesday in the 7-4 win over the Cubs (2HR 2-4 2R 2BI) and NL Batter of the Day Wednesday in the 8-2 win over the Cubs (2HR 2-3 2R 3BI).
He’s earned 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2021, fifth among NL batters, with 3.5 of those points coming in the past three days.
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, July 29.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 16.4 |
| 3 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 15.1 |
| 4 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 14.4 |
| 5 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 12.7 |
| 6 | Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 12.7 |
| 7 | Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 12.7 |
| 8 | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | mil nl | 11.7 |
| 9 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 11.4 |
| 10 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 11.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Scoring—Musgrove earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Montas earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Miller and Cabrera each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Player of the Game winners (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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Team and player rankings—Due to the player trade deadline Friday and the fluid, constantly changing situation among players and teams, Box-Toppers is this week delaying the week’s normal weekly Friday team and player ranking reports until after the trade deadline. It makes little sense to roll out reports during the day Friday when much can and will be different by the end of the day Friday.
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).| 7/29 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +14.0 | SD 3, COL 0 | Joe Musgrove, (W 7‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| AL | +11.0 | OAK 4, LAA 0 | Frankie Montas, (W 9‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | |
| +9.0 | TB 14, NYY 0 | Luis Patiño, (W 2‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| +9.0 | TOR 13, BOS 1 | Hyun Jin Ryu, (W 10‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| +8.0 | MIL 12, PIT 0 | Freddy Peralta, (W 8‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +5.0 | KC 5, CHW 0 | Carlos Hernández, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +4.2 | SF 5, LAD 0 | Johnny Cueto, (W 7‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | PHI 11, WSH 8 (F/8) | Brad Miller, PH‑RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +4.0 | DET 6, BAL 2 | Miguel Cabrera, 1B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | WSH 3, PHI 1 (F/7) | Max Scherzer, (W 8‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| +2.0 | ATL 6, NYM 3 | Austin Riley, 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | CIN 7, CHC 4 | Joey Votto, 1B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | mil nl | 11.7 | 13.7 | 30.4 | 30.4 | +9.7 |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.7 | 14.7 | 105.9 | 211.9 | +6.7 |
| Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 9.7 | 11.7 | 29.4 | 29.4 | +7.7 |
| Ryu, Hyun Jin 3139 | pi sp | tor al | 7.0 | 13.0 | 45.5 | 66.6 | +1.0 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 7.0 | 7.0 | 25.0 | 78.7 | +7.0 |
| Montas, Frankie 3803 | pi sp | oak al | 5.7 | 11.7 | 24.1 | 24.1 | ‑0.3 |
| Riley, Austin 4144 | 3b | atl nl | 5.5 | 7.5 | 13.0 | 13.0 | +3.5 |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 5.0 | 7.0 | 28.4 | 111.8 | +3.0 |
| Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.0 | 6.5 | 24.5 | 157.4 | +1.5 |
| Miller, Brad 3227 | 1b rf ph | phi nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 12.0 | +3.0 |
| Hernandez, Carlos 4466 | pi mr sp | kc al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Patino, Luis 4308 | pi sp mr | tb al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +0.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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