Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta regained the lead in Box-Toppers player rankings, marking the sixth September lead change between him and Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw in the topsy-turvy, see-saw race for Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors coming down to the season’s final days.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 16.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 23.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 20.4 |
| 4 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 20.1 |
| 5 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 6 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 9 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 17.0 |
| 10 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 17.0 |
Plus, Blue Jays pitcher David Price Wednesday rose to lead American League pitchers in Box-Toppers points, rising to fourth place among all players.
In addition, Prince Fielder of the Rangers rose to lead AL batters in Box-Toppers points Wednesday.
Player of the Day—Wood pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out five, in the 2-0 win over the Rockies.
American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma struck out nine over six innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 3-1 win over the Angels.
Iwakuma earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 11.4 for the season. He becomes the 39th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points and rises to 27th place among all players, 14th place among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Prince Fielder of the Rangers homered twice and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 14-3 win over the Astros.
Fielder earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 11.5 for the season. He rises to lead AL batters in Box-Toppers points, passing previous leader Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays (10.4). He ranks 26th among all players.
Fielder also earned AL Batter of the Day honors Monday, meaning he has 3.0 Box-Toppers points in the past three days. Fielder has earned his Box-Toppers points in bursts this season. He earned 6.5 Box-Toppers points between May 13 and May 26 and has earned 4.0 points since Sept. 1.
National League Batter of the Day—Thomas Pham of the Cardinals hit two home runs and a triple, going 3-for-4 and driving in four runs, in the 5-4 win over the Brewers.
This was Pham’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Pham made his Major League debut Sept. 9, 2014, and was playing in his 43rd career game. He is the 3,596th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Lead changes
Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.| Date | Player | Team | BTP |
| 4/5 | Adam Wainwright | stl nl | 2.0 |
| 4/6 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 2.0 |
| 4/13 | Scott Kazmir | oak al | 3.7 |
| 4/18 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 4.0 |
| 6/26 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 14.0 |
| 7/9 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 14.4 |
| 7/12 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 15.0 |
| 7/24 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 15.4 |
| 7/26 | Jacob deGrom | nym nl | 16.4 |
| 9/2 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 20.7 |
| 9/5 | Jake Arrieta | chi nl | 21.1 |
| 9/8 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 21.7 |
| 9/11 | Jake Arrieta | chi nl | 22.1 |
| 9/14 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 9/16 | Jake Arrieta | chi nl | 23.1 |
Overall leader—Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta reclaimed the Box-Toppers points lead from Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Arrieta (8IP 6H 2R 5K ND in the 3-2, 12-inning win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 23.1 for the season. He passes Kershaw (22.7) for the third time in September.
AL pitching leader—Blue Jays pitcher David Price rose to lead AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Price (7IP 6H R 9K W in the 9-1 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 20.1 for the season. Price passes Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (19.4) for the lead among AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points. He rises to fourth place among all players. He also becomes the fourth player this season with 20.0 or more Box-Toppers points. It is the first time in his career Price has reached 20.0 Box-Toppers points in a season. His previous best season was 2014 when he had 19.1 Box-Toppers points with the Rays and Tigers.
Notable—Two others who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday reached notable milestones:
- Indians pitcher Danny Salazar (7IP 4H R 6K W in the 5-1 win over the Royals) rose to 21st place in Box-Toppers player rankings, 11th among AL pitchers, earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.4 for the season.
- Giants pitcher Jake Peavy now has 135.8 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank at 25th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). Peavy (6IP 7H 2R 8K W in the 5-3 win over the Reds) trails 24th-ranked player David Ortiz (137.9). Peavy has 4.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Debuts—in addition to Pham, two other players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Marlins pitcher Adam Conley (7IP 3H 0R 6K W in the 6-0 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut June 10 and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,594th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Red Sox pitcher Henry C. Owens (7.2IP 6H 0R 4K W in the 10-1 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut Aug. 4 and was playing in his eighth career game. He is the 3,595th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Wood earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Iwakuma earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Fielder and Pham each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/16 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | Dodgers | Alex Wood (W,11-10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 10.0 | Marlins | Adam Conley (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| AL | 9.0 | Mariners | Hisashi Iwakuma (W,8-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| 8.0 | Nationals | Gio Gonzalez (W,11-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | Rangers | Prince Fielder, DH | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.2 | Red Sox | Henry Owens (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Cardinals | Thomas Pham, LF-CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Blue Jays | David Price (W,16-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | ||
| 5.0 | Indians | Danny Salazar (W,13-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 4.2 | `Tigers | Daniel Norris | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.1 | Padres | Craig Kimbrel (S,37) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | Yankees | Andrew Miller (S,34) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | `Cubs | Jake Arrieta | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2.0 | Giants | Jake Peavy (W,7-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 1.0 | White Sox | Carlos Sanchez, 2B | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||