Mets pitcher Zack Wheeler is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming the 38th player this season to earn 10 or more Box-Toppers points.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of Sept. 12:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.1 |
| 2 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 22.5 |
| 3 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 20.1 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 19.1 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 18.7 |
| 6 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 18.1 |
| 7 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 18.0 |
| 8 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 17.7 |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| 10 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Wednesday, Rays pitcher Blake Snell who leads American League pitchers in 2018 Box-Toppers points and is ranked second overall, edged closer to overall leader Max Scherzer of the Nationals after earning AL Player of the Day honors. In addition Wednesday, Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Wheeler struck out seven over eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 13-0 win over the Marlins.
Wheeler earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season, 36th in Box-Toppers season player rankings and 17th among National League pitchers.
This is Wheeler’s first season with more than 10 Box-Toppers points. He had 1.0 point in 2017 with the Mets. His best season was 2014 with the Mets when he had 7.7 points.
Wheeler is the 38th player with 10 or more points this season, which matches last season’s total, which was the second-fewest number of players with 10 or more points in a season since 1995, beaten only by the strike-shortened 144-game schedule of 1995, when just 32 players reached 10 points.
The record for most players with 10 or more points in a season is 55, set in 1998, 2008 and 2011. While the 38 players with 10 points in 2018 is fewer than in most seasons, there are 37 pitchers with 10 points, which is tied for sixth-most in a season (the record is 43 in 2011).
There is only one batter with more than 10 points in 2018—J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox (11.5). The fewest batters to reach 10 points in a full season is five, set in 2014. However, currently there are 16 batters (including Martinez) with 7.5 or more points this season. Last year, eight batters reached 10 points, along with 30 pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Blake Snell struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, one hit and two walks, in the 3-1 win over the Indians.
Snell earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 22.5 for the season. He maintains his second-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings, moving to within 0.6 points of overall leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (23.1). Snell leads AL pitchers, ahead of second-place Chris Sale of the Red Sox (19.1).
American League Batter of the Day—Francisco Arcia of the Angels hit two home runs, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-1 win over the Rangers.
National League Batter of the Day—Curtis Granderson of the Brewers homered, tripled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 5-1 win over the Cubs.
Granderson earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.2 for the season, rising to third place among NL batters, behind Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs (8.5) and David Peralta of the Diamondbacks (8.5).
Rankings—Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole rises from eighth to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Cole (5IP 3H 2R 4BB 9K W in the 5-4 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 18.0 for the season. He ranks fifth among AL pitchers.
Notable—Red Sox pitcher David Price now has 14.4 Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Price (7IP 3H 0R 0BB 7K W in the 1-0 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and is now 15th in Box-Toppers season player rankings, 11th among AL pitchers.
Price had a Box-Toppers game score of +11.0 Wednesday, same as overall Player of the Day Wheeler and AL Player of the Day Snell. Wheeler won the tiebreaker to earn overall Player of the Day because he had the most innings pitched (eight vs. seven for both Snell and Price). Snell won the tiebreaker to earn overall AL Player of the Day because he had more strikeouts than Price (nine vs. seven).
Price also now has 125.3 career Box-Toppers points, 40th-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 39th-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4). Price ranks 13th among active players in career points.
Also notable—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg now has 111.1 career Box-Toppers points after earning his first Player of the Game honor in more than three months Wednesday.
Strasburg (7IP 5H R 0BB 9K W in the 5-1 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and now ranks 58th among all players in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Wednesday, he passes Tom Glavine (110.6) on the “all-time” list. (It should be noted that if Glavine’s entire career from 1987 were tracked, he’d have an estimated 170 career Box-Toppers points.) Strasburg now trails 57th-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8).
This was Strasburg’s first Player of the Game honor since May 27. Even with the 1.0 point earned Wednesday, Strasburg still ranks first among players with the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2017. Strasburg had 22.5 points in 2017, fourth among all players, but has just 5.7 points in 2018, a 16.8-point drop. The next biggest decline among players is a 16.1-point drop by Ervin Santana of the Twins, who had 16.1 points in 2017 and has 0.0 points in 2018, pitching in just five games.
One more notable thing—Braves pitcher Jonny Venters earned his first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor in more than six years Wednesday.
Venters (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K Sv in the 2-1 win over the Giants) last earned Player of the Game honors on April 25, 2012, with the Braves. His best year was 2011 with the Braves when he had 5.0 Box-Toppers points. With his 1.0 point earned Wednesday, he now has 9.0 career points.
Venters has had four major medical procedures on his pitching elbow, including three Tommy John surgeries, two since he last earned Player of the Game honors. After three Tommy Johns, he also had a ligament reattachment surgery. He did not pitch in the Majors from 2013 to 2017 and was pitching in his 42nd game of the season Wednesday.
Scoring—Wheeler earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Snell earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Arcia and Granderson each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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)| 9/12 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +11.0 | NYM 13, MIA 0 | Zack Wheeler (W, 11‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| AL | +11.0 | TB 3, CLE 1 | Blake Snell (W, 19‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | |
| +11.0 | BOS 1, TOR 0 | David Price (W, 15‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| +9.0 | WSH 5, PHI 1 | Stephen Strasburg (W, 8‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||
| +7.0 | OAK 10, BAL 0 | Daniel Mengden (W, 7‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +6.1 | MIN 3, NYY 1 | Jake Odorizzi (W, 6‑10) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | LAA 8, TEX 1 | Francisco Arcia C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | `COL 5, ARI 4 | Scott Oberg | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | MIL 5, CHC 1 | Curtis Granderson RF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | HOU 5, DET 4 | Gerrit Cole (W, 14‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | ||
| +3.0 | LAD 8, CIN 1 | Caleb Ferguson (W, 6‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +2.0 | PIT 4, STL 3 | Jordan Luplow RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | CHW 4, KC 2 (F/12) | Juan Minaya (W, 2‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | ATL 2, SF 1 | Jonny Venters (S, 3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.0 | SD 5, SEA 4 | Austin Hedges C | 4 | 1 | 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 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 | +/‑ |
| Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 22.5 | 27.5 | 31.5 | 31.5 | +17.5 |
| Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 18.0 | 25.0 | 60.9 | 60.9 | +11.0 |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 14.4 | 19.1 | 79.4 | 125.3 | +9.7 |
| Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.7 | 11.7 | 23.4 | 23.4 | +9.7 |
| Granderson, Curtis 2051 | dh rf | mil nl | 8.2 | 11.4 | 23.4 | 77.2 | +5.0 |
| Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | min al | 6.0 | 17.1 | 43.2 | 43.2 | -5.1 |
| Mengden, Daniel 3741 | pi sp | oak al | 6.0 | 10.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | +2.0 |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 5.7 | 28.2 | 82.0 | 111.1 | -16.8 |
| Ferguson, Caleb 4006 | pi mr | lad nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +5.0 |
| Arcia, Francisco 4033 | ca | ana al | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.2 | +3.2 |
| Hedges, Austin 3790 | ca | sd nl | 2.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | -2.5 |
| Minaya, Juan 3913 | pi mr cp | chi al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Luplow, Jordan 4062 | rf pr | pit nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Oberg, Scott 4024 | pi mr | col nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Venters, Jonny 2735 | pi cp | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 9.0 | +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.