Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third place in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 24:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 18.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.4 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 15.1 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.7 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 13.0 |
Fernandez pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing six hits and two walks, in the 3-0 win over the Royals.
Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 18.4 for the season, rising from fourth to third place among all players and among all National League pitchers in 2016.
Fernandez is now 1.6 Box-Toppers points behind overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0 points), meaning Fernandez could pass Kershaw for the season lead in his next start if he earns NL Player of the Day (worth 1.7 points) or overall Player of the Day (worth 2.0 points). Kershaw has led all players since May 7 and maintained his lead despite spending the past nearly two months on the disabled list.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing six hits and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Mariners.
Tanaka earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, rising to 15th among all players and fifth among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Manny Machado of the Orioles homered and went 4-for-6, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-8 win over the Nationals.
Machado earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 11.7 for the season. He maintains his rank of second among AL batters, behind Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5 points). Machado ranks 18th among all players.
National League Batter of the Day—Jake Lamb of the Diamondbacks homered, doubled and went 3-for-6, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 10-9, 11-inning win over the Braves. Lamb and teammate Paul Goldschmidt both had Box-Toppers game scores of +2.0 Wednesday with similar line scores (3-6 3R 2BI), but Lamb won Player of the Game honors over Goldschmidt because he had both a homer and a double, while Goldschmidt had just a home run.
Notable—Three other players became the 28th, 29th and 30th players to reach the 10.0-Box-Toppers point threshold for the 2016 season:
- Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks (6IP 4H 2R 2BB 8K W in the 6-3 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, becoming the 28th player with 10 or more this season. Hendricks rises to 22nd place among all players and 14th among NL pitchers. He is the fifth Cubs pitcher this season with 10 or more points.
- Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill (6IP 5H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 1-0 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season, becoming the 29th player with 10 or more this season. Hill ranks 29th among all players and 15th among NL pitchers. It is Hill’s second 10-point season; his other was 2007 with the Cubs when he had 11.7. Wednesday marked Hill’s first Player of the Game honor since being traded from the Athletics to the Dodgers.
- Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (HR 2B 4-5 2R 2BI in the 9-4 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season, becoming the 30th player (and third batter) with 10 or more this season. Cabrera ranks third among AL batters and 30th among all players. It is his seventh season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.
Cabrera also now has 142.9 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 23rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Cabrera passes David Ortiz of the Red Sox (142.9) on the “all-time” list, to become the seventh-ranked active player in career points, second among all active batters, behind Albert Pujols of the Angels (181.3). While Cabrera and Ortiz both have the same 142.9 career Box-Toppers point total, Cabrera now ranks ahead because he has more points in 2016—10.0 vs. 5.0. Cabrera now trails 22nd-ranked player, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (145.8).
Scoring—Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tanaka earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Machado and Lamb each earn 1.5 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
| 8/24 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | MIA 3, KC 0 | Jose Fernandez (W,13-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| AL | 5.0 | NYY 5, SEA 0 | Masahiro Tanaka (W,11-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 5.0 | LAA 8, TOR 2 | Matt Shoemaker (W,8-13) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | BAL 10, WSH 8 | Manny Machado, 3B | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | STL 8, NYM 1 | Carlos Martinez (W,12-7) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | MIL 7, COL 1 | Zach Davies (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 4.0 | CHC 6, SD 3 | Kyle Hendricks (W,12-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 4.0 | LAD 1, SF 0 | Rich Hill (W,10-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.2 | `TB 4, BOS 3 (11) | Alex Colome | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | DET 9, MIN 4 | Miguel Cabrera, 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 5, PIT 4 | Ken Giles (S,5) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | ARI 10, ATL 9 (11) | Jake Lamb, 3B | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | PHI 5, CHW 3 | Aaron Altherr, LF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | TEX 6, CIN 5 | Nomar Mazara, LF-RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | OAK 5, CLE 1 | Ryon Healy, 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `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 | +/- |
| Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 18.4 | 23.1 | 49.1 | 49.1 | 13.7 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 12.4 | 20.4 | 33.1 | 33.1 | 4.4 |
| Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 11.7 | 19.2 | 22.7 | 22.7 | 4.2 |
| Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 | 20.4 | 25.4 | 25.4 | 1.0 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.4 | 14.4 | 14.4 | 34.1 | 6.4 |
| Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 10.0 | 14.7 | 63.3 | 142.9 | 5.3 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 7.7 | 21.4 | 22.4 | 22.4 | -6.0 |
| Shoemaker, Matt 3290 | pi sp | ana al | 7.0 | 12.7 | 25.4 | 25.4 | 1.3 |
| Colome, Alex 3189 | pi cp | tb al | 7.0 | 12.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 | 2.0 |
| Davies, Zach 3581 | pi sp | mil nl | 5.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.0 |
| Mazara, Nomar 3614 | rf lf | tex al | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Lamb, Jake 3517 | 3b | ari nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 |
| Healy, Ryon 3685 | 3b | oak al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Altherr, Aaron 3563 | rf lf | phi nl | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 1.5 |
| Giles, Ken 3402 | pi mr cp | hou nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -1.0 |