Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson is Friday’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. 1:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 23.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 22.1 |
| 4 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 17.1 |
| 5 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.1 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 16.1 |
| 7 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 15.1 |
| 8 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 15.0 |
| 9 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.7 |
| 10 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 14.4 |
Also Friday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw retakes the season Box-Toppers player rankings lead only four days after losing it to Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer. Kershaw, making his first start Friday after returning from five weeks on the disabled list, earns Player of the Game honors and retakes the 2017 Box-Toppers points lead he held for more than three months.
In addition Friday, Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco maintains his sixth-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. And two players become the 22nd and 23rd players this season to reach 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points.
Player of the Day—Nelson struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and three walks, in the 1-0 win over the Nationals.
Nelson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks 14th among all players and seventh among NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger pitched six scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing three hits and one walk, in the 10-0 win over the Tigers.
National League Batter of the Day—Stephen Piscotty of the Cardinals homered, tripled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 11-6 win over the Giants.
American League Batter of the Day—Logan Morrison of the Rays homered and went 3-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 3-1 win over the White Sox.
2017 lead changes
Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.| Date | Player | Team | BTP |
| 4/2 | Carlos Martinez | stl nl | 2.0 |
| 4/3 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 2.0 |
| 4/9 | Noah Syndergaard | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 4/14 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 4.0 |
| 4/15 | Ervin Santana | min al | 4.7 |
| 4/19 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 5.0 |
| 5/2 | Chris Sale | bos al | 6.7 |
| 5/6 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 5/12 | Ervin Santana | min al | 7.7 |
| 5/13 | Chris Sale | bos al | 8.4 |
| 5/17 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 8.7 |
| 8/28 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 23.0 |
| 9/1 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 23.1 |
Kershaw—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw retakes the Box-Toppers season player rankings lead after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Kershaw (6IP 2H 0R 0BB 7K W in the 1-0 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 23.1 for the season. He passes Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (23.0), who only took the lead Monday, Aug. 28, after Kershaw had held the lead since May 17.
Kershaw went on the disabled list July 24 (back) but held the season Box-Toppers points lead for five weeks while out and regained the lead with his first start Friday upon his return. He last earned Player of the Game honors July 18.
Last season, Kershaw led all players in Box-Toppers points until going on the disabled list for 10 weeks in late June. Similar to last year, Scherzer passed him in late August. And while Kershaw challenged Scherzer for the 2016 Box-Toppers points after returning from the disabled list last year, Scherzer never relinquished his lead.
Kershaw also now has 206.8 career Box-Toppers points, third-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails second-ranked player Pedro Martinez (244.8). Kershaw leads all active players in career points, ahead of second-place player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (187.8).
Scherzer could regain the season Box-Toppers points lead as soon as Saturday, as he starts against the Brewers. Scherzer would need to earn Player of the Game honors or better to pass Kershaw.
Rankings—Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco maintains his sixth-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Carrasco (7IP 6H R 0BB 8K ND in the 3-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.1 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the Red Sox (22.1).
Notable—Two players became the 22nd and 23rd players to reach 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points this season after earning Player of the Game honors Friday:
- Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman (6IP 5H 0R BB 8K ND in the 1-0, 13-inning win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.1 for the season, rising to 20th place in season player rankings, seventh among AL pitchers.
- Scooter Gennett of the Reds (3B 3-4 2R BI in the 7-3 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, rising to 19th place among all players, second among NL batters, behind Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs (13.0). He is the fourth batter this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. This was the second straight day Gennett earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He was NL Batter of the Day on Thursday.
Also notable—Cubs pitcher John Lackey now has 126.2 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Lackey (7IP 3H 0R 0BB 5K W in the 2-0 win over the Braves) ranks 38th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 37th-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4). Lackey has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 42nd among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Nelson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Clevinger earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Piscotty and Morrison 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| 9/1 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | MIL 1, WSH 0 | Jimmy Nelson (W, 11-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | |
| 11.0 | LAD 1, SD 0 | Clayton Kershaw (W, 16-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 9.0 | CHC 2, ATL 0 | John Lackey (W, 11-10) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 9.0 | ARI 9, COL 5 | Taijuan Walker (W, 8-7) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | ||
| AL | 8.0 | CLE 10, DET 0 | Mike Clevinger (W, 8-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| 8.0 | `BAL 1, TOR 0 (F/13) | Kevin Gausman | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 7.0 | `CLE 3, DET 2 | Carlos Carrasco | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | BOS 4, NYY 1 | Doug Fister (W, 4-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | STL 11, SF 6 | Stephen Piscotty RF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 3.0 | TB 3, CHW 1 | Logan Morrison 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | `PHI 2, MIA 1 | Nick Pivetta | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | CIN 7, PIT 3 | Scooter Gennett 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TEX 10, LAA 9 | Delino DeShields LF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SEA 3, OAK 2 | Edwin Díaz (S, 31) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.2 | `KC 7, MIN 6 | Brandon Maurer (H, 4) | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 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 | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 23.1 | 47.5 | 147.2 | 206.8 | -1.3 |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 16.1 | 28.5 | 57.2 | 62.6 | 3.7 |
| Nelson, Jimmy 3299 | pi sp | mil nl | 13.0 | 16.0 | 26.4 | 26.4 | 10.0 |
| Gennett, Scooter 3254 | 2b | cin nl | 10.7 | 13.2 | 22.2 | 22.2 | 8.2 |
| Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | bal al | 10.1 | 20.9 | 34.3 | 34.3 | -0.7 |
| Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi sp | cle al | 8.4 | 11.4 | 11.4 | 11.4 | 5.4 |
| Diaz, Edwin 3690 | pi cp | sea al | 8.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 1.0 |
| Morrison, Logan 2794 | 1b | tb al | 6.7 | 8.7 | 18.7 | 24.2 | 4.7 |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 5.0 | 18.4 | 44.8 | 126.2 | -8.4 |
| Walker, Taijuan 3453 | pi sp | ari nl | 5.0 | 12.7 | 26.4 | 26.4 | -2.7 |
| Pivetta, Nick 3825 | pi sp | phi nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Fister, Doug 2688 | pi sp | bos al | 4.0 | 8.0 | 45.1 | 59.2 | 0.0 |
| Maurer, Brandon 3157 | pi cp mr | kc al | 3.0 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 1.0 |
| Piscotty, Stephen 3570 | rf | stl nl | 1.5 | 5.5 | 9.7 | 9.7 | -2.5 |
| DeShields, Delino 3557 | lf | tex al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | -1.0 |