Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 26.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 25.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 4 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 20.4 |
| 5 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 20.4 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 19.0 |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 18.0 |
| 10 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 17.8 |
Meanwhile, Cubs’ pitcher Jake Arrieta’s chances for winning the Box-Toppers Player of the Year crown were further solidified when perhaps the only player with a chance to catch him—Blue Jays pitcher David Price—did not earn Box-Toppers points Saturday.
Player of the Day—Strasburg struck out 13 over eight innings, allowing one runs and three hits, in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Phillies. Strasburg did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because he exited with the game tied, 1-1.
Strasburg earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks 21st among all players and 11th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros homered twice and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 9-7 win over the Rangers.
National League Batter of the Day—Jarrett Parker of the Giants hit three home runs, including a grand slam, driving in seven total runs, in the 14-10 win over the Athletics.
This was Parker’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Parker made his Major League debut June 13 and was playing in his 14th career game. He is the 3,600th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Carlos Correa.
Rankings—Blue Jays pitcher David Price, the only player with a remote chance of catching Box-Toppers points leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta, did not earn Box-Toppers points, meaning Arrieta will most likely win the crown as Box-Toppers Player of the Year.
Price entered the game ranked third in Box-Toppers points with 21.1, 4.0 points behind Arrieta (25.1). Price needed to win overall Player of the Day in what would likely be his final two starts to match Arrieta’s total of 25.1. Price would have ranked ahead of Arrieta on a tiebreaker.
Arrieta already leads second-place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22.7) by 2.4 points. Since Kershaw likely only has one start remaining this season, he can only earn 2.0 more points this season and with 24.7, would still be short of Arrieta.
Arrieta starts Sunday against the Pirates. While he’s already got the Box-Toppers crown pretty well wrapped up now, earning overall Player of the Day honors would virtually seal it for him.
Two players in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings started Saturday, but neither earned Box-Toppers points:
- Price (5IP 6H 5R 6K W in the 10-8 win over the Rays) had a Box-Toppers game score of −5. Player of the Game was Jose Bautista (2HR 2-3 2R 4BI, Box-Toppers game score +5).
- Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, ranked seventh in Box-Toppers points (19.4), third among AL pitchers, did not earn Player of the Game honors. Hernandez (6IP 8H 2R 6K ND in the 3-2 loss to the Angels) had a Box-Toppers game score of −2. Player of the Game was Angels middle reliever Trevor Gott (1IP 0R 0H 2K ND, Box-Toppers game score of +3).
Notable—Two other players who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday had notable achievements:
- Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano had the highest season Box-Toppers point total of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday. Liriano (7.2IP 4H 0R 9K W in the 4-0 win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.9 for the season. He ranks 16th among all players and ninth among NL pitchers.
- Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays became the 42nd player—and seventh batter—this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. Bautista (2HR 2-3 2R 4BI in the 10-8 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He ranks 41st among all players and fourth among AL batters.
Debut—In addition to Parker, one other player made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Angels pitcher Trevor Gott (1IP 0R 0H 2K ND in the 3-2 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut June 14 and was playing in his 44th career game. He is the 3,601st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Strasburg earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Correa earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Parker earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/26 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | `Nationals | Stephen Strasburg | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | |
| 9.2 | Pirates | Francisco Liriano (W,12-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | ||
| BAT | 8.0 | Giants | Jarrett Parker, LF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 8.0 | Padres | Robbie Erlin (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 7.0 | Cardinals | Jaime Garcia (W,10-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| AL | 5.0 | Astros | Carlos Correa, SS | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Blue Jays | Jose Bautista, RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Mets | Lucas Duda, 1B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Twins | Eduardo Escobar, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Rockies | Justin Miller (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Yankees | Andrew Miller (S,36) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | `Angels | Trevor Gott (MR) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Indians | Jose Ramirez, 3B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Marlins | Justin Bour, 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Red Sox | Mookie Betts, RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||