Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and is one of three players Saturday to reach 10 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of Sept. 23:| 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 |
Odorizzi struck out nine over six innings, allowing one run (none earned), three hits and two walks, in the 9-6 win over the Orioles.
Odorizzi earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.1 for the season. He is the 33rd player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points and ranks 31st among all players, 10th among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Jhoulys Chacin allowed one hit over six scoreless innings, striking out six and walking three, in the 5-0 win over the Rockies.
Chacin earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season. Chacin is the 34th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points and ranks 29th among all players, 15th among NL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Jordy Mercer of the Pirates tripled, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 11-6 win over the Cardinals.
American League Batter of the Day—Jose Ramirez of the Indians homered and went 3-for-3, driving in four runs, in the 11-4 win over the Mariners.
Ramirez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.0 Box-Toppers points for the season. Ramirez is the 35th player (and eighth batter) this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points and ranks 34th among all players, fifth among AL batters. He is one of three Indians batters with 10 or more Box-Toppers points, joining Edwin Encarnacion (12.1, who leads AL batters) and Jay Bruce (10.0, who ranks fourth among AL batters).
Notable—Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins now has 12.7 Box-Toppers points on the season after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday, hitting his 57th homer of the season.
Stanton (HR 2B 3-6 2R 4BI in the 12-6 win over the Diamondbacks) ranks 19th among all players in season Box-Toppers points, highest among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday. He ranks second among NL batters, behind Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs (15.5).
Top 10 watch—Three pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings started Saturday but none of them earned Player of the Game honors:
- Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg (20.8 Box-Toppers points, ranked fifth) did not earn Player of the Game honors in the 4-3, 10-inning win over the Mets. Strasburg (5IP 7H 3R BB 6K ND) had a Box-Toppers game score of -3.0. Player of the Game was teammate Adam Lind (HR 2-2 R 2BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0.
- Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco (19.8 Box-Toppers points, ranked eighth) did not earn Player of the Game honors in the 11-4 win over the Mariners. Carrasco (5.2IP 6H R 2BB 6K W) had a Box-Toppers game score of +1.2. Player of the Game was teammate Jose Ramirez, who was also AL Batter of the Day, with a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0.
- Twins pitcher Ervin Santana (16.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked ninth) did not earn Player of the Game honors in the 10-4 win over the Tigers. Santana (7IP 7H 3R 0BB 5K W) had a Box-Toppers game score of -1.0. Player of the Game was teammate Zack Granite (HR 1-1 2R 3BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0.
Two pitchers starting Sunday have the chance to rise to take the Box-Toppers season player rankings lead, passing leader, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (25.1 Box-Toppers points):
- Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (24.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked second) starts Sunday against the Mets. Scherzer would pass Sale if he earns at least NL Player of the Day honors (worth 1.7 points).
- Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (23.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked third) starts Sunday against the Giants. Kershaw would need to earn Player of the Day honors (worth 2.0 points) to equal Sale’s 25.1 Box-Toppers point total. If Kershaw did that, he would rank ahead of Sale on a tiebreaker—he had more 2016 points than Sale, 24.4 vs. 13.4.
Also notable—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner now has 107.7 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Bumgarner (7.2IP 5H R BB 5K W in the 2-1 win over the Dodgers) ranks 63rd among all players in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 62nd-ranked player Lance Berkman (108.1).
Bumgarner has 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2017. He had 13.0 in 2016. His six-season streak of earning at least 10 points (from 2011 to 2016) will come to an end.
Debut—Zack Granite of the Twins made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Granite (HR 1-1 2R 3BI in the 10-4 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut July 8 and was playing in his 35th career game. He is the 3,917th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Odorizzi earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Chacin earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Mercer and Ramirez each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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| 9/23 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | TB 9, BAL 6 | Jake Odorizzi W (10-8) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| 8.2 | BOS 5, CIN 0 | Eduardo Rodríguez W (6-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| NL | 8.0 | SD 5, COL 0 | Jhoulys Chacin W (13-10) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | |
| BAT | 6.0 | PIT 11, STL 6 | Jordy Mercer SS | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | OAK 1, TEX 0 | Raul Alcantara W (1-1) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | CLE 11, SEA 4 | Jose Ramírez 2B | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | MIN 10, DET 4 | Zack Granite PR-LF | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | HOU 6, LAA 2 | Charlie Morton W (13-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 4.2 | SF 2, LAD 1 | Madison Bumgarner W (4-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | ATL 4, PHI 2 | Arodys Vizcaíno S (13) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | MIA 12, ARI 6 | Giancarlo Stanton RF | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | WSH 4, NYM 3 (F/10) | Adam Lind 1B | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | KC 8, CHW 2 | Salvador Perez C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | MIL 4, CHC 3 (F/10) | Travis Shaw 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | NYY 5, TOR 1 | Greg Bird 1B | 4 | 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 | +/- |
| Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 12.7 | 19.2 | 43.4 | 51.9 | 6.2 |
| Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi sp | sd nl | 10.4 | 16.1 | 22.8 | 38.2 | 4.7 |
| Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | tb al | 10.1 | 16.5 | 36.2 | 36.2 | 3.7 |
| Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b 2b | cle al | 10.0 | 11.5 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 8.5 |
| Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | bos al | 8.7 | 13.4 | 19.4 | 19.4 | 4.0 |
| Shaw, Travis 3544 | 3b | mil nl | 8.0 | 15.0 | 19.2 | 19.2 | 1.0 |
| Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 | 10.7 | 24.4 | 35.4 | 4.7 |
| Perez, Salvador 2972 | ca | kc al | 7.5 | 11.5 | 26.7 | 29.2 | 3.5 |
| Bird, Greg 3562 | 1b | nyy al | 3.5 | 3.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 3.5 |
| Mercer, Jordy 3206 | ss | pit nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 0.0 |
| Vizcaino, Arodys 3533 | pi cp | atl nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.0 |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 2.0 | 15.0 | 88.0 | 107.7 | -11.0 |
| Lind, Adam 2238 | 1b ph | dc nl | 2.0 | 7.4 | 26.4 | 61.5 | -3.4 |
| Alcantara, Raul 3916 | pi sp | oak al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Granite, Zack 3917 | lf pr | min al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |