Mariners pitcher Erasmo Ramirez 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. 22:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 25.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 24.0 |
| 3 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 23.1 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.0 |
| 5 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.8 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 20.1 |
| 7 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 20.1 |
| 8 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 19.8 |
| 9 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 |
| 10 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 16.0 |
Also Friday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander rises to 20th place in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995, when player tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Ramirez struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 3-1 win over the Indians. Ramirez did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because when he exited, the score was tied, 1-1.
National League Player of the Day—Chris Iannetta of the Diamondbacks hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and drove in eight total runs, in the 13-11 win over the Marlins. Iannetta went 3-for-4.
American League Batter of the Day—Wilson Ramos of the Rays hit a grand slam, doubled and went 3-for-4, in the 8-3 win over the Orioles.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Chris Iannetta.
Notable—Astros pitcher Justin Verlander rises to 20th place in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 206.8 |
| 4 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 191.0 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 187.8 |
| 7 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 8 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 176.2 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 171.4 |
| 10 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 11 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 12 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 13 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 14 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 15 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 16 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 155.7 |
| 17 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 18 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | tex al | 153.4 |
| 19 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 20 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 153.0 |
List of top 100 players since 1995 as of July 30, 2017.
Verlander (7IP R 0R 2BB 6K W in the 3-0 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 153.0 career points. He rises back among the top 20 only a day after being pushed off the list Thursday, when he was passed by 18th-ranked player, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (153.4). Verlander joined the overall top 20 list for the first time only last Sunday, Sept. 17.
With his point Friday, Verlander passes Twins pitcher Bartolo Colon (152.2) on the “all-time” list, pushing Colon off the top 20 into 21st place. Verlander now trails 19th-ranked Barry Bonds (153.2). Passing Colon, Verlander now ranks eighth among active players in career points.
Verlander also now has 13.7 Box-Toppers points on the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Friday. He ranks 16th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers.
Also notable—Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill became the 32nd player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after he earned Player of the Game honors Friday.
Hill (6IP 5H R BB 9K W in the 4-2 win over the Giants) now has 10.7 Box-Toppers points for 2017, 27th-most among all players and 14th among NL pitchers.
And also notable—Red Sox pitcher David Price now has 110.9 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Price (2.2IP 3H 0R BB 4K W in the 5-4 win over the Reds) rises to 56th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Tom Glavine (110.6) on the “all-time” list and now trails 55th-ranked player, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (111.5), who only passed Price Wednesday. (It should be noted that Glavine began his career before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. If his entire career from 1987 were tracked, projections put Glavine’s career Box-Toppers point total at about 170.)
Price now has 4.7 Box-Toppers points on the season, his lowest single-season point total since he made his Box-Toppers debut in 2009. He ranks 55th among AL pitchers.
Top 10 watch—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke (20.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked sixth) did not earn Player of the Game honors in his start Friday.
Greinke (4IP 9H 8R 2BB 3K ND in the 13-11 win over the Marlins) had a Box-Toppers game score of -20.0. Player of the Game was teammate Chris Iannetta, who was also NL Player of the Day, with a Box-Toppers game score of +9.0.
Scoring—Ramirez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Iannetta earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Ramos earns 1.5 points for being AL 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| 9/22 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | `SEA 3, CLE 1 | Erasmo Ramirez | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | |
| 10.0 | HOU 3, LAA 0 | Justin Verlander W (14-8) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| NL | 9.0 | ARI 13, MIA 11 | Chris Iannetta C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | LAD 4, SF 2 | Rich Hill W (11-8) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 6.0 | COL 4, SD 1 | Jon Gray W (9-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | TB 8, BAL 3 | Wilson Ramos C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | NYM 7, WSH 6 | Travis d'Arnaud C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | MIN 7, DET 3 | Byron Buxton CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 7, PHI 2 | Kurt Suzuki C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TOR 8, NYY 1 | Ryan Goins SS-2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | STL 4, PIT 3 | Juan Nicasio W (5-5) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.2 | BOS 5, CIN 4 | David Price W (6-3) | - | - | - | - | 2.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2.2 | CHC 5, MIL 4 (F/10) | Carl Edwards Jr. W (5-4) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | CHW 7, KC 6 | Matt Davidson DH | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | `OAK 4, TEX 1 | Chris Hatcher H (7) | - | - | - | - | 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 | +/- |
| Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 13.7 | 28.4 | 73.6 | 153.0 | -1.0 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.7 | 25.1 | 29.1 | 48.8 | -3.7 |
| Ramirez, Erasmo 1786 | pi sp cp mr | sea al | 6.0 | 9.7 | 18.7 | 20.7 | 2.3 |
| Buxton, Byron 3604 | cf | min al | 5.5 | 10.2 | 11.2 | 11.2 | 0.8 |
| Suzuki, Kurt 2344 | ca | atl nl | 5.5 | 7.0 | 18.0 | 37.5 | 4.0 |
| Goins, Ryan 3478 | ss | tor al | 5.0 | 6.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 3.5 |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 4.7 | 17.1 | 79.1 | 110.9 | -7.7 |
| Gray, Jon 3634 | pi sp | col nl | 4.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 | -2.3 |
| Edwards, Carl Jr. 3775 | pi mr | chi nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| d’Arnaud, Travis 3384 | ca | nym nl | 3.7 | 4.7 | 11.2 | 11.2 | 2.7 |
| Ramos, Wilson 2904 | ca | tb al | 3.5 | 5.0 | 16.5 | 19.5 | 2.0 |
| Iannetta, Chris 2239 | ca | ari nl | 3.2 | 4.2 | 11.2 | 21.7 | 2.2 |
| Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi mr cp sp | stl nl | 3.0 | 12.0 | 24.4 | 28.4 | -6.0 |
| Davidson, Matt 3292 | dh 3b | chi al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 |
| Hatcher, Chris 3420 | pi mr | oak al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |