Rockies pitcher Tyler Chatwood is Wednesday’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. 28:| 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 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.7 |
| 9 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 |
| 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.
Chatwood pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing three hits and two walks, in the 2-0 win over the Giants.
American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Miguel Gonzalez pitched 8 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits, no walks and striking out five, in the 1-0 win over the Rays.
National League Batter of the Day—John Jaso of the Pirates hit for the cycle (single, double, triple and three-run homer) in the 8-4 win over the Cubs. Jaso went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Gomez of the Rangers hit a go-ahead, eighth-inning, three-run homer in the 8-5 win over the Brewers. Gomez also doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice. This was the second straight day Gomez earned Player of the Game honors. He has 4.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, 2.5 earned in the past two days.
Notable—Two batters with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday:
- Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (HR 2-3 R 3BI in the 6-3, five-inning win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 144.9 for his career. He rises to 23rd among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, passing two players on the “all-time” list—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (144.0) and David Ortiz of the Red Sox (144.9). (Though Ortiz and Cabrera are tied, Cabrera holds the tiebreaker and ranks higher because he has more 2016 Box-Toppers points—12 vs. 7.) Cabrera now trails 22nd-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7). Cabrera also rises from ninth to seventh place in career points among active players, second among active batters behind only Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.3).
Cabrera also has the highest season Box-Toppers point total (12.0) of any of the 15 who earnedPlayer of the Game honors Wednesday. Cabrera ranks 31st among all players, fourth among AL batters, behind Manny Machado of the Orioles (12.7), Mike Trout of the Angels (12.5) and Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5).
- Mark Teixeira of the Yankees (GS 1-3 R 4BI in the 5-3 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 101.3 for his career. Teixeira rises to 70th place among players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, passing three players on the “all-time” list—Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7) and Jason Schmidt (101.2). He trails 69th-ranked player Tim Wakefield (101.4). Teixeria, who is retiring at season’s end, has 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016.
Also notable—Hunter Renfroe of the Padres, who made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Wednesday, one of two players who earned Box-Toppers points two days in a row. (The other was AL Batter of the Day Carlos Gomez.)
Renfroe (HR 2-4 2R 4BI in the 6-5 win over the Dodgers) now has 2.5 Box-Toppers points.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with their first career Player of the Game honors:
- Dansby Swanson of the Braves (3B 2B 2-3 3R 2BI in the 12-2 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut Aug. 17 and was playing in his 34th career game. He is the 3,751st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Angels pitcher A.J. Achter (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 8-6 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut Sept. 3, 2014, and was playing in his 44th career game. He is the 3,752nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Chatwood earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gonzalez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Jaso and Gomez 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.
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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/28 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | COL 2, SF 0 | Tyler Chatwood (W,12-9) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| AL | 10.1 | CHW 1, TB 0 | Miguel Gonzalez (W,5-8) | - | - | - | - | 8.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| BAT | 7.0 | PIT 8, CHC 4 | John Jaso, 1B | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | `KC 5, MIN 2 | Jason Vargas | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | TEX 8, MIL 5 | Carlos Gomez, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | SD 6, LAD 5 | Hunter Renfroe, RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | ATL 12, PHI 2 | Dansby Swanson, SS | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | ARI 3, WSH 0 (6) | Shelby Miller (W,3-12) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | SEA 12, HOU 4 | Leonys Martin, CF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | DET 6, CLE 3 (5) | Miguel Cabrera, 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | NYY 5, BOS 3 | Mark Teixeira, 1B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | BAL 3, TOR 2 | Hyun Soo Kim, PH-LF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | NYM 5, MIA 2 | Jeurys Familia (S,50) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | LAA 8, OAK 6 | A.J. Achter (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | CIN 2, STL 1 | Raisel Iglesias (S,5) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 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 | +/- |
| Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 12.0 | 16.7 | 65.3 | 144.9 | 7.3 |
| Gonzalez, Miguel 3062 | pi sp | chi al | 9.1 | 15.8 | 37.9 | 37.9 | 2.4 |
| Familia, Jeurys 3446 | pi cp | nym nl | 8.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 0.0 |
| Chatwood, Tyler 2856 | pi sp | col nl | 7.0 | 7.0 | 16.7 | 16.7 | 7.0 |
| Jaso, John 2705 | 1b | pit nl | 5.5 | 5.5 | 10.5 | 16.5 | 5.5 |
| Gomez, Carlos 2397 | lf | tex al | 4.5 | 10.5 | 21.0 | 32.0 | -1.5 |
| Teixeira, Mark 1738 | 1b | nyy al | 4.0 | 11.5 | 32.2 | 101.3 | -3.5 |
| Iglesias, Raisel 3467 | pi sp cp | cin nl | 3.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 0.3 |
| Renfroe, Hunter 3749 | rf | sd nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | ari nl | 2.0 | 12.0 | 38.1 | 38.1 | -8.0 |
| Kim, Hyun Soo 3671 | lf | bal al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 35.5 | 47.2 | 0.0 |
| Martin, Leonys 3053 | cf | sea al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 1.0 |
| Achter, A.J. 3752 | pi mr | ana al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Swanson, Dansby 3751 | ss | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |