Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third in season player rankings and extending his lead among American League pitchers.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 11:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 20.4 |
| 3 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 20.2 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 18.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 9 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
| 10 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 14.1 |
Kluber struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and two walks, in the 7-1 win over the Twins.
Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 20.2 for the season. He rises from fourth to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, passing Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0). He extends his lead among AL pitchers, trailed by Cole Hamels of the Rangers (16.8).
Kluber becomes the fourth player this season with 20 or more Box-Toppers points. It is the second time in his career Kluber has earned 20 or more points. In 2014, he had 25.8 points to lead AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher Jose Urena pitched 8 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits, no walks and striking out four, in the 3-0 win over the Dodgers.
National League Batter of the Day—Addison Russell of the Cubs homered and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 9-5 win over the Astros.
American League Batter of the Day—Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice, in the 11-8 win over the Blue Jays.
Notable—Royals pitcher Ian Kennedy becomes the 38th player in 2016 with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Kennedy (6IP H 0R 4BB 6K W in the 2-0 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He ranks 38th among all players and 15th among AL pitchers.
It is Kennedy’s second season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. In 2011, he had 19.4 points with the Diamondbacks, fifth among NL pitchers.
Also notable—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver now has 126.1 career Box-Toppers points—37th-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Weaver (6.2IP 4H 2R 2BB 8K W in the 3-2 win over the Rangers) now trails 36th-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4) on the “all-time" list. Weaver has 3.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.
Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Urena earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Russell and Bradley each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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
| 9/11 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | CLE 7, MIN 1 | Corey Kluber (W,16-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |
| NL | 8.2 | MIA 3, LAD 0 | Jose Urena (W,4-6) | - | - | - | - | 8.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 7.0 | KC 2, CHW 0 | Ian Kennedy (W,11-9) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | ||
| 6.1 | `MIL 2, STL 1 | Zach Davies | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | SF 5, ARI 3 | Matt Moore (W,10-11) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | ||
| 5.0 | WSH 3, PHI 2 | Gio Gonzalez (W,11-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 4.2 | LAA 3, TEX 2 | Jered Weaver (W,11-11) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | CHC 9, HOU 5 | Addison Russell, SS | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | CIN 8, PIT 0 | Brandon Phillips, 2B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | BOS 11, TOR 8 | Jackie Bradley, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | NYM 10, ATL 3 | Yoenis Cespedes, LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | `COL 3, SD 2 (10) | Chad Bettis | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | BAL 3, DET 1 | Chris Tillman (W,16-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | TB 4, NYY 2 | Alex Colome (S,32) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | SEA 3, OAK 2 | Edwin Diaz (S,15) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| `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 | +/- |
| Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 20.2 | 33.6 | 64.4 | 64.4 | 6.8 |
| Kennedy, Ian 2723 | pi sp | kc al | 10.0 | 16.7 | 60.5 | 66.5 | 3.3 |
| Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.7 | 9.7 | 35.2 | 35.2 | 9.7 |
| Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | cf lf | nym nl | 8.0 | 18.9 | 39.9 | 39.9 | -2.9 |
| Colome, Alex 3189 | pi cp | tb al | 8.0 | 13.0 | 16.7 | 16.7 | 3.0 |
| Tillman, Chris 2754 | pi sp | bal al | 8.0 | 12.7 | 41.8 | 43.8 | 3.3 |
| Bettis, Chad 3481 | pi sp | col nl | 6.7 | 12.1 | 12.1 | 12.1 | 1.3 |
| Gonzalez, Gio 2626 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 | 15.7 | 72.8 | 86.5 | -3.7 |
| Davies, Zach 3581 | pi sp | mil nl | 6.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 3.0 |
| Diaz, Edwin 3690 | pi cp | sea al | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Bradley, Jackie Jr. 3293 | cf | bos al | 5.5 | 15.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | -4.0 |
| Russell, Addison 3559 | ss | chi nl | 3.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 1.0 |
| Weaver, Jered 2178 | pi sp | ana al | 3.0 | 10.7 | 65.3 | 126.1 | -4.7 |
| Urena, Jose 3492 | pi sp | fla nl | 2.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 1.7 |
| Phillips, Brandon 1691 | 2b | cin nl | 2.0 | 4.7 | 30.2 | 64.1 | -0.7 |