Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of Aug. 25:| 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 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.7 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 14.4 |
| 9 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 14.0 |
| 10 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.0 |
deGrom struck out 10 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run, five hits and one walk, in the 4-2 win over the Nationals.
deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.7 for the season and rising to sixth place. With his rise into the top 10, he pushes Mariners pitcher James Paxton (13.7 Box-Toppers points) out of the top 10 to 11th place. deGrom ranks fourth among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Collin McHugh struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 2-1 win over the Angels.
National League Batter of the Day—Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins hit two homers and doubled, going 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 8-6 win over the Padres.
Stanton earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.5 for the season, rising to third among NL batters, behind Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs (11.5) and Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers (8.7).
American League Batter of the Day—Jonathan Schoop of the Orioles went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 16-3 win over the Red Sox.
Top 10 watch—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke (15.4 Box-Toppers points in 2017, ranked fourth) started Friday but did not earn Player of the Game honors in his team’s 4-3 win over the Giants.
Greinke (6.2IP 7H 3R 2ER 0BB 4K W) had a Box-Toppers game score of -1.8. Player of the Game was teammate Paul Goldschmidt (HR 2-4 R 3BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0.
Notable—Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda became the 20th player in 2017 with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Maeda (6IP H R 2BB 7K W in the 3-1 win over the Brewers) now ranks 19th among all players and 11th among NL pitchers. He also had 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016, his rookie season.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Scott Schebler of the Reds (HR 3B 3-3 3R 3BI in the 9-5 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut June 5, 2015, and was playing in his 209th career game. He is the 3,897th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Indians pitcher Ryan Merritt (6.2IP 7H 0R BB 3K W in the 4-0 win over the Royals) made his Major League debut May 30, 2016, and was playing in his eighth career game. He is the 3,898th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. However, this is Merritt’s first regular season Player of the Game honor. He was Player of the Game in the 2016 AL Championship Series Game 5 in the 3-0 win over the Blue Jays.
Scoring—deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and McHugh earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Stanton and Schoop each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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| 8/25 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.2 | NYM 4, WSH 2 | Jacob deGrom (W, 14-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| BAT | 8.0 | MIA 8, SD 6 | Giancarlo Stanton RF | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 8.0 | LAD 3, MIL 1 | Kenta Maeda (W, 12-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| AL | 7.0 | HOU 2, LAA 1 | Collin McHugh (W, 2-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| 6.0 | CIN 9, PIT 5 | Scott Schebler RF | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 6.0 | `CHW 3, DET 2 | Miguel González | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | BAL 16, BOS 3 | Jonathan Schoop 2B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | TB 7, STL 3 | Corey Dickerson LF | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | PHI 7, CHC 1 | Cesar Hernández 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | OAK 3, TEX 1 | Khris Davis LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.1 | ATL 5, COL 2 | Julio Teherán (W, 8-11) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | ARI 4, SF 3 | Paul Goldschmidt 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SEA 2, NYY 1 (F/11) | Yonder Alonso PH-1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.2 | CLE 4, KC 0 | Ryan Merritt (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 1.0 | MIN 6, TOR 1 | Byron Buxton CF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 | +/- |
| deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.7 | 24.4 | 59.8 | 59.8 | 5.0 |
| Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 0.0 |
| Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 8.5 | 15.0 | 39.2 | 47.7 | 2.0 |
| Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | ari nl | 7.4 | 11.9 | 43.3 | 47.3 | 2.9 |
| Gonzalez, Miguel 3062 | pi sp | chi al | 7.0 | 16.1 | 44.9 | 44.9 | -2.1 |
| Alonso, Yonder 2945 | 1b | sea al | 7.0 | 9.0 | 18.5 | 20.0 | 5.0 |
| Schoop, Jonathan 3307 | 2b | bal al | 6.0 | 10.5 | 15.5 | 15.5 | 1.5 |
| Davis, Khris 3242 | lf | oak al | 4.5 | 11.2 | 21.2 | 21.2 | -2.2 |
| Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 4.0 | 14.7 | 50.5 | 50.5 | -6.7 |
| Buxton, Byron 3604 | cf | min al | 3.0 | 7.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 | -1.7 |
| Dickerson, Corey 3222 | lf dh | tb al | 3.0 | 7.5 | 19.5 | 19.5 | -1.5 |
| McHugh, Collin 3316 | pi sp | hou al | 2.7 | 13.4 | 34.9 | 34.9 | -8.0 |
| Hernandez, Cesar 3770 | 2b | phi nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Merritt, Ryan 3898 | pi sp | cle al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Schebler, Scott 3897 | rf | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |