Red Sox pitcher David Price is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of Aug. 23:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 21.1 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 19.1 |
| 3 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 19.1 |
| 4 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 17.1 |
| 5 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 16.7 |
| 6 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 |
| 7 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 16.0 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 16.0 |
| 9 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 15.4 |
| 10 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 15.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Thursday, Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola maintained his third-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Price struck out seven over eight scoreless innings, allowing three runs and no walks, in the 7-0 win over the Indians.
Price earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.4 for the season, 16th among all players and 12th among American League pitchers.
Price now has 124.3 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 40th place among all players in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Thursday, he passes Gary Sheffield (124.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 39th-ranked Mariano Rivera (126.4). He ranks 13th among active players in career points.
National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola struck out nine over eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk, in the 2-0 win over the Nationals.
Nola earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 19.1 for the season. He ranks third among all players and second among NL pitchers, behind overall leader Max Scherzer of the Nationals (21.1).
Scherzer was actually Nola’s starting opponent in Thursday’s game and took the loss, despite having a Box-Toppers game score of +7.0 (7IP 2H 2R 4BB 10K L).
Nola had a Box-Toppers game score of +11.0, just behind Price’s +12.0, which earned Price overall Player of the Day honors.
National League Batter of the Day—Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs homered and went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-1 win over the Reds.
Cubs starting pitcher Cole Hamels did not earn Player of the Game despite pitching a complete game Thursday. Hamels had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 Thursday (CG 8H R 2BB 7K W), lower than Rizzo’s +5.0 score.
Rizzo was also only one of two batters—and the only NL batter—to earn Player of the Game honors in the nine games played Thursday.
American League Batter of the Day—Mitch Garver of the Twins doubled and went 1-for-2, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 6-4 win over the Athletics.
Garver was also only one of two batters—and the only AL batter—to earn Player of the Game honors in the nine games played Thursday.
Notable—Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland became the 28th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Freeland (6.1IP 7H 2R BB 7K ND in the 4-3 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season, 26th among all players and 11th among NL pitchers. It is his first season with 10 or more points.
In 2017, 38 players earned 10 or more Box-Toppers points.
Also notable—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner now has 112.4 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Bumgarner (8IP 5H R 0BB 8K W in the 3-1 win over the Mets) ranks 57th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He now trails 56th-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8). Bumgarner ranks 17th among active players in career points.
Bumgarner now has 4.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 58th among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Price earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Nola earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Rizzo and Garver each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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 (BTG)| 8/23 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +12.0 | BOS 7, CLE 0 | David Price (W, 14‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| NL | +11.0 | PHI 2, WSH 0 | Aaron Nola (W, 15‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| +9.0 | SF 3, NYM 1 | Madison Bumgarner (W, 5‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| +9.0 | ATL 5, MIA 0 | Sean Newcomb (W, 11‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | CHC 7, CIN 1 | Anthony Rizzo 1B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | DET 7, CHW 2 | Matthew Boyd (W, 8‑11) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +3.0 | `TB 4, KC 3 | Jose Alvarado | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | MIN 6, OAK 4 | Mitch Garver PH‑C | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +1.1 | `COL 4, SD 3 | Kyle Freeland | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
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 Player of the Game winners. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’18). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’17-18), the period 2013-2018 (’13-18) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2018 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2017 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’18 | ’17‑18 | ’13‑18 | Career | +/‑ |
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 19.1 | 34.9 | 43.6 | 43.6 | +3.3 |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 13.4 | 18.1 | 78.4 | 124.3 | +8.7 |
| Freeland, Kyle 3763 | pi sp | col nl | 10.4 | 16.4 | 16.4 | 16.4 | +4.4 |
| Newcomb, Sean 3831 | pi sp | atl nl | 9.4 | 12.4 | 12.4 | 12.4 | +6.4 |
| Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | chi nl | 7.0 | 22.5 | 44.5 | 49.5 | -8.5 |
| Boyd, Matthew 3550 | pi sp | det al | 6.7 | 9.7 | 16.8 | 16.8 | +3.7 |
| Garver, Mitch 3950 | ca | min al | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +5.0 |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 4.7 | 6.7 | 75.0 | 112.4 | +2.7 |
| Alvarado, Jose 3797 | pi mr | tb al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Box-Toppers
Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.