Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola 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 Sept. 13:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 23.1 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 23.1 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.0 |
| 4 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 19.8 |
| 5 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 19.8 |
| 6 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 19.1 |
| 7 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 19.0 |
| 8 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 18.1 |
| 9 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 |
| 10 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 15.0 |
Also Wednesday, Twins pitcher Ervin Santana rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors. Plus, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer failed in his chance to take the 2017 Box-Toppers points lead after he did not earn Player of the Game honors in his team’s loss Wednesday.
In addition, the Cleveland Indians extend their winning streak to 21 games Wednesday and rise to lead teams in Box-Toppers rankings, displacing yesterday’s leader, the Washington Nationals, who fall to third.
Player of the Day—Nola struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and two walks, in the 8-1 win over the Marlins.
Nola earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.8 for the season and rising to 11th place among all players, sixth place among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Twins pitcher Ervin Santana struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 3-1, 10-inning win over the Padres. Santana did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Padres tied the game after he exited.
Santana earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 16.1 for the season and rising back into the top 10 to ninth place, fifth among AL pitchers.
With Santana’s rise into the top 10, he displaces Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (14.7 Box-Toppers points from the list. deGrom falls to 12th.
Santana rejoins the top 10 in player rankings after a four-day absence. He was among the top 10 players from April 9 until Sept. 10, when he dropped to 11th place.
Santana now has 113.4 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 50th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Wednesday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list—Kevin Brown (112.8), Sammy Sosa (113.2), Dan Haren (113.2) and Chris Carpenter (113.3). He trails 49th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9).
National League Batter of the Day—Albert Almora Jr. hit a three-run homer, tripled and went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 17-5 win over the Mets.
American League Batter of the Day—Mike Zunino of the Mariners hit two homers and went 2-for-2, in the 8-1 win over the Rangers.
Scherzer—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (23.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked third) failed in his chance Wednesday to take the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Scherzer (6IP 7H 7R 6BB 7K L in the 8-2 loss to the Braves) had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of -14.0. Player of the Game was Matt Kemp of the Braves (GS 1-4 2R 4BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0.
Scherzer could have risen to the Box-Toppers points lead if he had earned Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 point, which would have given him 24.0 points, passing current leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (23.1). But Scherzer remains in third, just 0.1 point behind both Kershaw and second-ranked player, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (23.1).
Team rankings—The Cleveland Indians rise to lead Box-Toppers teams rankings after winning their 21st straight game Wednesday.
Indians players have now accumulated 125.7 Box-Toppers points on the season. The Los Angeles Dodgers rise from third Tuesday to second Wednesday with a win and now have 125.2 points, just 0.5 behind the Indians. Tuesday’s leading team, the Washington Nationals lost on Wednesday and remain with 124.9 points, falling to third place. Still, just 0.8 points separate the top three teams.
Notable—Jay Bruce of the Indians becomes the 28th player (and sixth batter) with 10 or more Box-Toppers points on the season after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Bruce (HR 1-3 R 3BI in the 5-3 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He ranks 27th among all players and third among AL batters, behind teammates Edwin Encarnacion (12.1) and Elvis Andrus of the Rangers (11.0).
This is Bruce’s second season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He had 12.7 points in 2010 with the Reds, third among NL batters.
Bruce earned 8.0 of his 2017 points with the Mets before being traded to the Indians.
Debut—Brett Phillips of the Brewers made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with his first career Player of the Game honors.
Phillips (2-4 R 3BI in the 8-2 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut June 5 and was playing in his 22nd career game. He is the 3,914th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Nola earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Santana earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Almora and Zunino 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| 9/13 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | PHI 8, MIA 1 | Aaron Nola (W, 11-10) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | |
| 9.0 | LAD 4, SF 1 | Yu Darvish (W, 3-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| AL | 9.0 | `MIN 3, SD 1 (F/10) | Ervin Santana | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| BAT | 8.0 | CHC 17, NYM 5 | Albert Almora Jr. CF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 8.0 | LAA 9, HOU 1 | Tyler Skaggs (W, 2-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 5.2 | ARI 8, COL 2 | Patrick Corbin (W, 14-12) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 4.1 | NYY 3, TB 2 | Chad Green (W, 5-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | SEA 8, TEX 1 | Mike Zunino C | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | BAL 2, TOR 1 | Kevin Gausman (W, 11-10) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | OAK 7, BOS 3 | Jed Lowrie 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 8, WSH 2 | Matt Kemp LF | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CIN 6, STL 0 | Eugenio Suárez 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.1 | CHW 5, KC 3 | Juan Minaya (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | MIL 8, PIT 2 | Brett Phillips CF-RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CLE 5, DET 3 | Jay Bruce RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 | +/- |
| Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 | 20.1 | 52.9 | 113.4 | 12.1 |
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 14.8 | 21.5 | 23.5 | 23.5 | 8.1 |
| Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | bal al | 11.1 | 21.9 | 35.3 | 35.3 | 0.3 |
| Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | lad nl | 11.0 | 21.4 | 66.6 | 66.6 | 0.6 |
| Bruce, Jay 2453 | rf | cle al | 10.0 | 18.5 | 35.7 | 68.8 | 1.5 |
| Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 9.7 | 13.4 | 42.2 | 42.2 | 6.0 |
| Zunino, Mike 3390 | ca | sea al | 5.5 | 5.5 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 5.5 |
| Kemp, Matt 2151 | lf | atl nl | 4.5 | 12.0 | 35.0 | 63.6 | -3.0 |
| Green, Chad 3675 | pi mr | nyy al | 4.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 1.0 |
| Lowrie, Jed 2437 | 2b | oak al | 4.0 | 5.0 | 19.5 | 31.0 | 3.0 |
| Suarez, Eugenio 3355 | 3b | cin nl | 3.5 | 12.0 | 17.5 | 17.5 | -5.0 |
| Almora, Albert Jr. 3764 | cf | chi nl | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Skaggs, Tyler 3183 | pi sp | ana al | 3.0 | 5.7 | 15.4 | 15.4 | 0.3 |
| Minaya, Juan 3913 | pi cp | chi al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Phillips, Brett 3914 | cf rf | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |