Blue Jays pitcher Marco Estrada is Monday’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 Sept. 19:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 20.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 20.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 20.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym al | 15.7 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 |
| 9 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| 10 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
Also Monday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, edged within 1.0 Box-Toppers point of season leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Estrada pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing one hit and three walks, in the 3-2 win over the Mariners.
Estrada earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the 43rd player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 43rd among all players and 17th among AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Giants. Kershaw did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because when he exited the Dodgers trailed 1-0, before scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth to win.
Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 22.7 for the season, maintaining his spot in second place among all players and among NL pitchers. He moves within 1.0 Box-Toppers point of overall leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (23.7). Scherzer assumed the lead on Aug. 25. Previously, Kershaw led from May 7.
Madison Bumgarner, who started the game for the Giants, was in line to win Player of the Game (and overall Player of the Day) until the Dodgers made their ninth-inning comeback. Bumgarner (7IP H 0R 0BB 10K ND) had a Box-Toppers game score of +16.0 (Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score of +8.0). But because the bullpen blew the lead and the Giants lost, Bumgarner earns no Box-Toppers points, despite the impressive performance.
Bumgarner has 13.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 18th among all players and 13th among NL pitchers.
Kershaw now has 182.0 career Box-Toppers points, seventh-most among players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails sixth-ranked player Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.0) by just 0.3 points. He trails fifth-ranked player (and active career pitching leader) CC Sabathia of the Yankees (184.0) by just 2.0 points. (See the updated list of the top 20 players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 on the home page.)
National League Batter of the Day—Freddie Freeman of the Braves homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-3 win over the Mets.
American League Batter of the Day—Elvis Andrus of the Rangers homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice, in the 3-2 win over the Angels.
Notable—Two other players with more than 10 Box-Toppers points also earned Player of the Game honors Monday:
- Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel (7IP 4H 2R BB 6K W in the 5-2 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.0 for the season, 19th among all players and 14th among NL pitchers.
- Carlos Martinez of the Cardinals became the seventh pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting (2B 1-1 R 2BI in the 5-3 win over the Rockies). It is the eighth time this season a pitcher has earned Player of the Game honors for batting (Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals did it twice). Martinez earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He becomes the 44th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points and ranks 33rd among all players and 17th among NL pitchers.
Porcello—Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello earned Player of the Game honors Monday while also picking up his Major League-leading 21st win.
Porcello (CG 4H 2R 0BB 7K W in the 5-2 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, but still has just 8.0 points for the season. Despite ranking first in wins, he ranks 76th among all players in Box-Toppers points, 26th among AL pitchers. (More on Porcello here: Why does wins leader Rick Porcello have so few Box-Toppers points?)
Porcello had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +8.0, his highest game score during any of his 21 wins. But it still wasn’t enough to earn him his first overall or league Player of the Day honor of the season (he lost Player of the Day Monday to Marco Estrada of the Blue Jays who had a Box-Toppers game score of +11.0). So Porcello still hasn’t earned any Box-Toppers bonus points this season in the eight times he earned Player of the Game honors.
This was also Porcello’s first Player of the Game honor in a month. He last earned Player of the Game on Aug. 19, even though he has earned the win in three more games since then.
Scoring—Estrada earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kershaw earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Freeman and Andrus each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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
| 9/19 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | TOR 3, SEA 2 | Marco Estrada (W,9-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | |
| 8.0 | BOS 5, BAL 2 | Rick Porcello (W,21-4) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| NL | 8.0 | `LAD 2, SF 1 | Clayton Kershaw | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| BAT | 4.0 | ATL 7, NYM 3 | Freddie Freeman, 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | CHC 5, CIN 2 | Jason Hammel (W,15-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | STL 5, COL 3 | Carlos Martinez, P | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SD 3, ARI 2 | Brandon Maurer (S,11) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 4, OAK 2 | Ken Giles (S,12) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | TEX 3, LAA 2 | Elvis Andrus, SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | KC 8, CHW 3 | Kendrys Morales, DH | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | MIA 4, WSH 3 | Giancarlo Stanton, RF | 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. | ||||||||||||||
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 | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 | 48.4 | 148.5 | 182.0 | -3.0 |
| Hammel, Jason 2235 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.0 | 22.7 | 46.1 | 59.2 | 3.3 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 10.7 | 24.4 | 25.4 | 25.4 | -3.0 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 10.0 | 18.0 | 42.1 | 42.1 | 2.0 |
| Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | tex al | 9.2 | 9.2 | 16.7 | 19.7 | 9.2 |
| Porcello, Rick 2573 | pi sp | bos al | 8.0 | 12.0 | 33.7 | 42.7 | 4.0 |
| Morales, Kendrys 2142 | dh | kc al | 7.5 | 12.2 | 22.2 | 38.2 | 2.8 |
| Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 7.5 | 10.5 | 38.7 | 38.7 | 4.5 |
| Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 6.5 | 12.0 | 33.7 | 39.2 | 1.0 |
| Giles, Ken 3402 | pi cp mr | hou nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 0.0 |
| Maurer, Brandon 3157 | pi mr cp | sd nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |