Giants pitcher Ty Blach 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 2016 season as of Oct. 1:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 25.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.4 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | died* | 22.4 |
| 4 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 22.1 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.2 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 17.8 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 16.4 |
| 9 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.7 |
| 10 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
* Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident Sept. 25. His team was the Miami Marlins.
Also Saturday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer secured Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors for 2016 after Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw failed to earn Box-Toppers points in his team’s loss Saturday against the Giants. Scherzer, who starts Sunday, has 25.7 Box-Toppers points. Kershaw finishes second with 24.4.
In addition Saturday, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon rises to 20th place in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995) after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Blach pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, one walk and striking out six, in the 3-0 win over the Dodgers.
This was Blach’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Blach made his Major League debut Sept. 5 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,754th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Rangers.
American League Batter of the Day—Joey Wendle of the Athletics doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-8, 10-inning win over the Mariners.
This was Wendle’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Wendle made his Major League debut Aug. 31 and was playing in his 27th career game. He is the 3,756th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds hit a two-run homer and went 1-for-2, driving in three runs, in the 7-4 win over the Cubs.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw had a chance to take the Box-Toppers season points lead on the next-to-last day of the season Saturday if he earned NL Player of the Day or overall Player of the Day. But Kershaw did not earn points as the Dodgers lost to the Giants, 3-0.
Kershaw (7IP 6H 3R BB 4K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of −1.0. Player of the Game was overall Player of the Day, Giants pitcher Ty Blach.
Kershaw finishes the season with 24.4 Box-Toppers points, the second year in a row he finishes second. In 2015, he had 25.7 points, behind leader Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (29.1). Previously, Kershaw led NL pitchers for four straight seasons (2011-2014) and led all players in three seasons (2011, 2013 and 2014).
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who took the season lead from Kershaw on Aug. 25, will end the season atop Box-Toppers season player rankings for the first time in his career. He has 25.7 Box-Toppers points and has a chance to earn up to 2.0 more Sunday in his start against the Marlins.
This will be the second time Scherzer has ended the season as a Box-Toppers category leader. In 2013, Scherzer, then with the Tigers, led AL pitchers in points with 18.1. (He finished fifth in 2013 in overall points when Kershaw led with 21.7.)
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 | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 4 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 185.0 |
| 6 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 183.7 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 182.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 168.7 |
| 10 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 11 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 12 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 13 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 14 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 15 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 156.1 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 17 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 18 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 19 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
| 20 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | nym nl | 148.5 |
Notable—Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon rises to 20th place in career Box-Toppers points (since tracking began in 1995) after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Colon (5IP 5H 2R 0BB 6K W in the 5-3 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 148.5 for his career. He passes Javier Vazquez (148.3) on the “all-time” list and now trails Chipper Jones (149.0).
Colon now has 8.4 Box-Toppers points on the season, 27th among NL pitchers.
Also notable—Two players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points on the season earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:
- Twins pitcher Hector Santiago (6.1IP 3H 0R 3BB 6K W in the 6-0 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday. Santiago ranks 34th among all players and 13th among AL pitchers.
- Astros pitcher Collin McHugh (7.2IP 3H 0R BB 5K W in the 3-0 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He becomes the 51st player this season with 10 or more points. He ranks 39th among all players and 17th among AL pitchers.
Debut—Braves pitcher Aaron Blair also made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Blair (6IP 4H 2R BB 10K W in the 5-3 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut April 24 and was playing in his 15th career game. He is the 3,755th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Blach earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Odorizzi earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Wendle and Suarez 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
| 10/1 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | SF 3, LAD 0 | Ty Blach (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| AL | 9.0 | TB 4, TEX 1 | Jake Odorizzi (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |
| 8.2 | HOU 3, LAA 0 | Collin McHugh (W,13-10) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 7.0 | ARI 9, SD 5 | Archie Bradley (W,8-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | ||
| 7.0 | ATL 5, DET 3 | Aaron Blair (W,2-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 6.1 | MIN 6, CHW 0 | Hector Santiago (W,13-10) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | `MIL 4, COL 3 (10) | Wily Peralta | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | `STL 4, PIT 3 | Trevor Rosenthal | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | OAK 9, SEA 8 (10) | Joey Wendle, 2B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 3.0 | CIN 7, CHC 4 | Eugenio Suarez, 3B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | `CLE 6, KC 3 | Andrew Miller (H,25) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | WSH 2, MIA 1 | Mark Melancon (S,46) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | TOR 4, BOS 3 | Kevin Pillar, CF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYY 7, BAL 3 | Chase Headley, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYM 5, PHI 3 | Bartolo Colon (W,15-8) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| `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 | +/- |
| Santiago, Hector 3109 | pi sp | min al | 11.4 | 19.4 | 31.8 | 31.8 | 3.4 |
| McHugh, Collin 3316 | pi sp | hou al | 10.7 | 20.4 | 32.2 | 32.2 | 1.0 |
| Suarez, Eugenio 3355 | 3b | cin nl | 8.5 | 11.5 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 5.5 |
| Colon, Bartolo | pi sp | nym nl | 8.4 | 15.1 | 57.0 | 148.5 | 1.7 |
| Miller, Andrew 2436 | pi cp mr | cle al | 8.0 | 12.0 | 16.0 | 23.0 | 4.0 |
| Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | tb al | 6.4 | 15.1 | 26.1 | 26.1 | -2.3 |
| Headley, Chase 2552 | 3b | nyy al | 4.5 | 6.5 | 18.0 | 28.5 | 2.5 |
| Rosenthal, Trevor 3124 | pi cp | stl nl | 4.0 | 10.0 | 22.0 | 22.0 | -2.0 |
| Melancon, Mark 2792 | pi cp | dc nl | 3.0 | 10.0 | 23.0 | 24.0 | -4.0 |
| Bradley, Archie 3438 | pi sp | ari nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 |
| Pillar, Kevin 3486 | cf | tor al | 2.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | -1.5 |
| Blach, Ty 3754 | pi sp | sf nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Wendle, Joey 3756 | 2b | oak al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Peralta, Wily 3123 | pi sp | mil nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 19.0 | 19.0 | -1.0 |
| Blair, Aaron 3755 | pi sp | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |