Rays pitcher Blake Snell is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day on the final day of the regular season.
Top 10 players
Here are final rankings of the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of Oct. 1:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 25.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 25.0 |
| 3 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 23.1 |
| 4 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 22.5 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 22.0 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 21.8 |
| 7 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 21.1 |
| 8 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 20.1 |
| 9 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 |
| 10 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 16.0 |
Snell struck out 13 over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 6-0 win over the Orioles. Snell had the seventh-highest Box-Toppers game score of the season Sunday (+18.0). (See chart below: Highest Box-Toppers game scores of 2017.)
National League Player of the Day—Brewers pitcher Aaron Wilkerson allowed one run and two hits over seven innings, striking out five and walking none. Wilkerson had a perfect game going into the sixth inning.
This was Wilkerson’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Wilkerson made his Major League debut Sept. 15 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,923rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—Ildemaro Vargas of the Diamondbacks doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 14-2 win over the Royals.
This was Vargas’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Vargas made his Major League debut June 29 and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,924th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no AL Batter of the Day for Sunday because no AL batters earned Player of the Game honors.
Notable—Twins pitcher Bartolo Colon rises to 21st place in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995, when player tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Colon (6.1IP 3H R BB 4K W in the 5-1 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 153.2 career points. With his point Sunday, he passes Barry Bonds (153.2) and now trails 20th-ranked player, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (153.4). Though Colon and Bonds both have 153.2 career points since 1995, Colon ranks higher because he has more 2017 points than the retired Bonds. Also, it should be noted that if Bonds entire career from 1986 were tracked, rough projections put his career Box-Toppers point total at about 230. Colon is the fourth player to pass Bonds on the career points list since Sept. 21:
- Hamels passed Bonds on Sept. 21.
- Astros pitcher Justin Verlander passed Bonds on Wednesday, Sept. 27.
- Cubs pitcher Jon Lester passed Bonds on Saturday, Sept. 30.
Team rankings—The Cleveland Indians secure top spot in Box-Toppers final team rankings after winning Sunday.
Here are final standings for the top three teams through the end of Sunday’s final regular season games:
- Indians 140.9 accumulated Box-Toppers points
- Dodgers 138.9
- Nationals 135.3
The Indians and Dodgers both won Sunday, each earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point. The Dodgers had a chance to tie the Indians going into Sunday if their player earned overall Player of the Day and the Indians lost. However, with the Indians win, they secure top spot in Box-Toppers team rankings final standings. (More on this in an upcoming post showing final standings for all 30 teams.)
The Nationals lost to the Pirates Sunday, maintaining their point total, finishing in third among all teams.
Notable—Buster Posey of the Giants had the most Box-Toppers points of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Posey (2B 1-1 2R in the 5-4 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.5 for the season. He ranks 46th among all players and fourth among NL batters. It is the most Box-Toppers points he’s earned in a single season, going back to his debut in 2010. His previous high was 8.5 in 2014.
Top 10 watch—Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray (16.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 10th) did not earn Player of the Game honors in his start Sunday.
Ray (1.2IP H R 0BB K ND in the 14-2 win over the Royals) had a Box-Toppers game score of -0.8. Player of the Day was teammate Ildemaro Vargas (2B 3-4 3R 4BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +6.0. Vargas was also NL Batter of the Day.
Debuts—In addition to Wilkerson and Vargas, two other players made their Box-Toppers debuts Sunday with their first career Player of the Game honors:
- Reds pitcher Deck McGuire (5IP 2H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 3-1 win over the Cubs) made his Major League debut Sept. 12 and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,925th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Maxwell Moroff of the Pirates (2B 1-3 2R 4BI in the 11-8 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut July 31 and was playing in his 58th career game. He is the 3,926th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Snell earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Wilkerson earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Vargas earns 1.5 points for being NL 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| 10/1 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 18.0 | TB 6, BAL 0 | Blake Snell W (5-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | |
| 10.0 | OAK 5, TEX 2 | Daniel Mengden W (3-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| NL | 8.0 | MIL 6, STL 1 | Aaron Wilkerson W (1-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| BAT | 6.0 | ARI 14, KC 2 | Ildemaro Vargas 3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | LAA 6, SEA 2 | Parker Bridwell W (10-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 5.1 | CLE 3, CHW 1 | Josh Tomlin W (10-9) | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | PHI 11, NYM 0 | Nick Pivetta W (8-10) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | `TOR 2, NYY 1 | Brett Anderson | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 5.0 | CIN 3, CHC 1 | Deck McGuire W (1-1) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 4.1 | MIN 5, DET 1 | Bartolo Colón W (5-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | PIT 11, WSH 8 | Maxwell Moroff SS | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | ATL 8, MIA 5 | Adonis Garcia PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | LAD 6, COL 3 | Corey Seager SS | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SF 5, SD 4 | Buster Posey 1B | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | HOU 4, BOS 3 | Collin McHugh W (5-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` 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 (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Posey, Buster 2745 | ca 1b | sf nl | 9.5 | 13.0 | 38.0 | 42.5 | 6.0 |
| Pivetta, Nick 3825 | pi sp | phi nl | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| Bridwell, Parker 3844 | pi sp | ana al | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| Seager, Corey 3587 | ss | lad nl | 7.0 | 11.0 | 12.5 | 12.5 | 3.0 |
| Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 1.0 |
| Colon, Bartolo | pi sp | min al | 4.7 | 13.1 | 54.0 | 153.2 | -3.7 |
| Mengden, Daniel 3741 | pi sp | oak al | 4.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 2.0 |
| McHugh, Collin 3316 | pi sp | hou al | 3.7 | 14.4 | 35.9 | 35.9 | -7 |
| Tomlin, Josh 2771 | pi sp | cle al | 3.0 | 8.0 | 21.4 | 27.4 | -2.0 |
| Wilkerson, Aaron 3923 | pi sp | mil nl | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| Vargas, Ildemaro 3924 | 3b | ari nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Garcia, Adonis 3613 | 3b ph | atl nl | 1.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -4.0 |
| Anderson, Brett 2597 | pi sp | tor al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 14.0 | 28.7 | 1.0 |
| McGuire, Deck 3925 | pi sp | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Moroff, Maxwell 3926 | ss | pit nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Highest Box-Toppers game scores of 2017
Here are the 13 best single-game performances by a player in 2017 based on their Box-Toppers game score. Rays pitcher Blake Snell Sunday had the seventh-best single-game performance of the season with his Box-Toppers game score of +18.0:| Date | Bonus | Score | Game | Player | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 1 | 9/29 | MLB | 19.0 | NYY 4, TOR 0 | Masahiro Tanaka W (13-12) | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| 2 | 9/4 | MLB | 18.2 | ARI 13, LAD 0 | Robbie Ray (W, 12-5) | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 3 | 8/29 | MLB | 18.0 | BAL 4, SEA 0 | Dylan Bundy (W, 13-8) | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| 4 | 7/28 | MLB | 18.0 | NYY 6, TB 1 | Masahiro Tanaka (W, 8-9) | 8.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| 5 | 8/8 | MLB | 18.0 | BOS 2, TB 0 | Chris Sale (W, 14-4) | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| 6 | 5/27 | MLB | 18.0 | WSH 3, SD 0 | Stephen Strasburg (W,6-1) | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| 7 | 10/1 | MLB | 18.0 | TB 6, BAL 0 | Blake Snell W (5-7) | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 8 | 6/19 | MLB | 17.0 | CLE 12, BAL 0 | Corey Kluber (W,6-2) | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 9 | 6/3 | MLB | 17.0 | MIA 3, ARI 0 | Edinson Volquez (W,2-7) | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 10 | 9/20 | MLB | 17.0 | BOS 9, BAL 0 | Chris Sale W (17-7) | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 11 | 4/20 | MLB | 16.0 | `BOS 4, TOR 1 (F/10) | Chris Sale | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| 12 | 6/2 | MLB | 16.0 | `LAD 2, MIL 1 (F/12) | Clayton Kershaw | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| 13 | 7/16 | MLB | 16.0 | CHC 8, BAL 0 | Jose Quintana, W (5-8) | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.