Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Thursday’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 Sept. 7:| 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 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 18.1 |
| 5 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 18.1 |
| 6 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 18.0 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 17.8 |
| 8 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 17.1 |
| 9 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.7 |
| 10 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 14.4 |
Meanwhile, Box-Toppers points leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, failed to extend his lead in his start Thursday. He did not earn Box-Toppers points in his team’s loss to the Rockies, which opens the door for Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer to retake the lead in his start Friday.
Player of the Day—Kluber struck out 13 over seven innings, allowing two runs, three hits and one walk, in the 11-2 win over the White Sox.
Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 18.0 for the season, rising from eighth to sixth place in season player rankings. He ranks third among American League pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the Red Sox (22.1) and teammate Carlos Carrasco (18.1).
National League Player of the Day—Brandon Nimmo of the Mets hit two homers, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 7-2 win over the Reds.
American League Batter of the Day—Jorge Polanco of the Twins doubled and went 2-for-3, driving in two runs, in the 4-2 win over the Royals.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Brandon Nimmo.
Box-Toppers points leader race—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw failed to extend his Box-Toppers points lead in his start Thursday, opening the door for Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer to retake the lead in his start Friday.
Kershaw (23.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked first) did not earn Box-Toppers points in his team’s 9-1 loss to the Rockies. Kershaw (3.2IP 6H 4R 3BB 7K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of -6.8. Player of the Game was Nolan Arenado of the Rockies (HR 2-3 R 4BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0.
Scherzer (23.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked second) could pass Kershaw in his start Friday against the Phillies if he earns at least Player of the Game honors (worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point). Scherzer briefly led season player rankings from Monday, Aug. 28 to Friday, Sept. 1.
Rankings—Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs extends his season Box-Toppers points lead among NL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Rizzo (2-2 2R 2BI in the 8-2 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.0 for the season. He rises to 12th place among all players and now leads second-place NL batter Scooter Gennett of the Reds (10.7) by 3.3 points.
Rizzo’s 14.0 Box-Toppers points for 2017 is the third-highest single-season Box-Toppers point total for a batter since 2012, behind only Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (16.9 in 2013) and Jose Abreu of the White Sox (15.5 in 2014). It is the highest single-season Box-Toppers point total for an NL batter since 2011, when Prince Fielder of the Brewers had 15.7 points.
While Rizzo’s 14.0 points is high for a batter in recent years, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, season leading batters would routinely earn 15.0 or more Box-Toppers points. Lance Berkman of the Astros had the highest single-season Box-Toppers point total for a batter (20.8 in 2006). That season, five batters had 15.0 or more Box-Toppers points. In Box-Toppers tracking history (which began in 1995) batters have earned more than 14.0 points in a single season 83 times.
Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Nimmo earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Polanco earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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| 9/7 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | CLE 11, CHW 2 | Corey Kluber (W, 15-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 13 | |
| NL | 5.0 | NYM 7, CIN 2 | Brandon Nimmo LF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | SD 3, STL 0 | Clayton Richard (W, 7-13) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | COL 9, LAD 1 | Nolan Arenado 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | CHC 8, PIT 2 | Anthony Rizzo 1B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | ATL 6, MIA 5 | Rex Brothers (W, 3-3) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | WSH 4, PHI 3 | Sean Doolittle (S, 16) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.2 | NYY 9, BAL 1 | Sonny Gray (W, 9-9) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | MIN 4, KC 2 | Jorge Polanco SS | 3 | 0 | 2 | 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 | +/- |
| Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 18.0 | 39.2 | 83.4 | 83.4 | -3.2 |
| Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | chi nl | 14.0 | 17.0 | 41.0 | 41.0 | 11.0 |
| Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | col nl | 9.2 | 19.9 | 29.9 | 29.9 | -1.5 |
| Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | nyy al | 8.4 | 9.4 | 41.2 | 41.2 | 7.4 |
| Richard, Clayton 2584 | pi sp | sd nl | 7.0 | 9.0 | 17.2 | 36.6 | 5.0 |
| Doolittle, Sean 3052 | pi cp | dc nl | 5.0 | 6.0 | 18.0 | 18.0 | 4.0 |
| Polanco, Jorge 3739 | ss | min al | 4.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 2.5 |
| Nimmo, Brandon 3895 | lf | nym nl | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| Brothers, Rex 3051 | pi mr cp | atl nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.0 |