Cardinals pitcher Luke Weaver 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 2017 season as of Aug. 23:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 22.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 21.1 |
| 4 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 15.4 |
| 5 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 15.1 |
| 6 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 14.4 |
| 7 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 14.0 |
| 8 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.0 |
| 9 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 13.7 |
| 10 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 13.4 |
Also Wednesday, Yankees pitcher Luis Severino rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, despite throwing a no-hitter for nine innings and having a Box-Toppers game score of +16.0, Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill did not earn Player of the Game honors Wednesday after giving up a walk-off, 10th-inning homer in the 1-0 loss to the Pirates.
Player of the Day—Weaver struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 6-2 win over the Padres.
American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher Drew Pomeranz struck out nine over 5 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and four walks, in the 6-1 win over the Indians.
American League Batter of the Day—Eric Hosmer of the Royals hit a three-run, walk-off, ninth-inning home run in the 6-4 win over the Rockies. Hosmer went 3-for-4, driving in four total runs.
National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Nimmo of the Mets doubled and went 1-for-1, scoring twice, in the 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks.
This was Nimmo’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Nimmo made his Major League debut June 26, 2016, and was playing in his 65th career game. He is the 3,895th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Rankings—Yankees pitcher Luis Severino rises from sixth to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Severino (6.2IP 6H R BB 8K W in the 10-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.1 for the season. He rises to second place among AL pitchers, trailing Chris Sale of the Red Sox (21.1).
Hill—Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill pitched a no-hitter for nine innings Wednesday, but did not earn Player of the Game honors because his team lost when he gave up a walk-off homer in the 10th inning.
Hill (9IP H R 0BB 10K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of +16.0 in the 1-0 loss to the Pirates. Hill had a perfect game through eight innings before a lead-off error in the ninth. His no-hitter was intact when he came out to pitch the bottom of the 10th, but he gave up a solo home run to the first batter he faced that inning, Josh Harrison, which won the game for the Pirates.
Player of the Game was Pirates closing pitcher Juan Nicasio (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W), who had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0. Pirates starting pitcher Trevor Williams also had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (8IP 7H 0R 4BB 5K ND), but Nicasio won Player of the Game honors because he picked up a decision (earning the win), while Williams did not figure in the decision (because he exited with the game in a scoreless tie). Harrison, who hit the walk-off homer, had a Box-Toppers game score of -1.0 (1-4 R BI).
Hill has 8.7 Box-Toppers points on the season, 16th among NL pitchers.
Top 10 watch—In addition to Severino, two other pitchers ranked in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings started Wednesday, but neither earned Player of the Game honors:
- Twins pitcher Ervin Santana (14.4 Box-Toppers points, now ranked sixth) did not earn Player of the Game in the 4-3 loss the White Sox. Santana (7IP 3H 2R ER BB 8K ND) had a Box-Toppers game score of +8.0. But because the Twins bullpen blew the lead, Player of the Game honors went to the top player on the winning White Sox—that was middle reliever Gregory Infante (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB K ND), who had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.2.
- Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (14.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked seventh) did not earn Player of the Game honors in the 6-1 loss to the Red Sox. Kluber (7.2IP 4H 2R BB 13K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of +10.2. But Player of the Game honors went to the top player on the winning Red Sox—that was starting pitcher Drew Pomeranz with a Box-Toppers game score of +8.1, who also earned American League Player of the Day honors.
Debuts—In addition to Nimmo, two other players made their Box-Toppers debuts Wednesday with the first career Player of the Game honors:
- Orioles pitcher Miguel Castro (3.2IP 2H 0R BB 3K W in the 8-7 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut April 6, 2015, and was playing in his 66th career game. He is the 3,893rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- White Sox pitcher Gregory Infante (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB K ND in the 4-3 win over the Twins) made his Major League debut Sept. 7, 2010, and was playing in his 40th career game. He is the 3,894th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Weaver earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Pomeranz earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Hosmer and Nimmo 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| 8/23 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | STL 6, SD 2 | Luke Weaver (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| 9.0 | PHI 8, MIA 0 | Mark Leiter Jr. (W, 2-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| AL | 8.1 | BOS 6, CLE 1 | Drew Pomeranz (W, 13-4) | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | |
| 6.0 | HOU 6, WSH 1 | Mike Fiers (W, 8-8) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 5.2 | NYY 10, DET 2 | Luis Severino (W, 11-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | CHC 9, CIN 3 | Mike Montgomery (W, 4-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.1 | SEA 9, ATL 6 | Edwin Díaz (S, 29) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | KC 6, COL 4 | Eric Hosmer 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.2 | BAL 8, OAK 7 (F/12) | Miguel Castro (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | 3.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | TEX 7, LAA 5 (F/10) | Robinson Chirinos C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | `SF 4, MIL 2 | Matt Moore | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 2.2 | `CHW 4, MIN 3 | Gregory Infante | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.1 | TOR 7, TB 6 | Roberto Osuna (S, 33) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | NYM 4, ARI 2 | Brandon Nimmo LF | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | PIT 1, LAD 0 (F/10) | Juan Nicasio (W, 2-5) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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 | +/- |
| Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 15.1 | 17.1 | 20.1 | 20.1 | 13.1 |
| Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 7.5 | 16.0 | 36.0 | 38.5 | -1.0 |
| Diaz, Edwin 3690 | pi cp | sea al | 7.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 0.0 |
| Pomeranz, Drew 3061 | pi sp | bos al | 6.4 | 18.8 | 29.8 | 29.8 | -6.0 |
| Fiers, Michael 3029 | pi sp | hou al | 6.4 | 11.4 | 32.5 | 32.5 | 1.4 |
| Montgomery, Mike 3513 | pi sp | chi nl | 4.0 | 9.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | -1.0 |
| Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | sf nl | 3.7 | 16.1 | 39.6 | 41.6 | -8.7 |
| Osuna, Roberto 3512 | pi cp | tor al | 3.0 | 6.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 0.0 |
| Weaver, Luke 3719 | pi sp | stl nl | 3.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 1.3 |
| Leiter, Mark Jr. 3834 | pi sp | phi nl | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi mr cp sp | pit nl | 2.0 | 11.0 | 23.4 | 27.4 | -7.0 |
| Nimmo, Brandon 3895 | lf | nym nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Chirinos, Robinson 2924 | ca | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 1.0 |
| Castro, Miguel 3893 | pi cp | bal al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Infante, Gregory 3894 | pi mr | chi al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |