Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Rodriguez struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 4-3 win over the Blue Jays. Rodriguez did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Blue Jays tied the game after he exited.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of Sept. 13:| 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
Rodriguez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.4 for the season.
National League Player of the Day—Manny Machado of the Dodgers homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-7 win over the Cardinals.
This was Machado’s first Player of the Game honor since joining the Dodgers after being traded from the Orioles. He earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season, 23rd among NL batters.
Machado had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +4.0, same as Javier Baez, who was Player of the Game in the Cubs’ 4-3, 10-inning win over the Nationals. Both players also had very similar line scores (HR 2B 3-4 2R 3BI), but Machado ranked ahead on a tiebreaker because he hit a sacrifice fly. That tiebreaker significantly gave Machado NL Player of the Day honors, worth 0.7 bonus points or 1.7 total points.
Baez earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.5 for the season, rising to second place among NL batters. While he has the same Box-Toppers point total as overall leader, teammate Anthony Rizzo, Baez ranks second because he has fewer 2017 Box-Toppers points (5.2 vs. 15.5). Baez also has the same Box-Toppers point total as third-place NL batter David Peralta of the Diamondbacks, but Baez ranks ahead because he has more 2017 Box-Toppers points (5.2 vs. 2.0).
With the season winding down, batters are poised to have the lowest Box-Toppers point totals to lead their league’s batters in Box-Toppers’ 24-year history. The 8.5 points to lead NL batters this season is below the record-low 10.7 points Nolan Arenado of the Rockies had in 2016 to lead NL batters. And the 11.5 points by J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox that currently leads AL batters is below the record-low 12.1 points that Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians had in 2017 to lead AL batters.
AL and NL Batters of the Day—There are no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day for Thursday. There is no NL Batter of the Day because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Manny Machado. And there is no AL Batter of the Day because no AL batter earned Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Scoring—Rodriguez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Machado earns 1.7 points for being NL Player 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)| 9/13 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +6.0 | `BOS 4, TOR 3 | Eduardo Rodriguez | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | |
| +5.0 | SEA 8, LAA 2 | Mike Leake (W, 10‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| NL | +4.0 | LAD 9, STL 7 | Manny Machado SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | CHC 4, WSH 3 (F/10) | Javier Baez 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | BAL 5, OAK 3 | Dylan Bundy (W, 8‑14) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | ||
| +4.0 | NYM 5, MIA 2 | Jason Vargas (W, 6‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| +4.0 | NYM 4, MIA 3 | Jerry Blevins (W, 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | COL 10, ARI 3 | Trevor Story SS | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | KC 6, MIN 4 | Wily Peralta (S, 11) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 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 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 | +/‑ |
| Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | bos al | 13.4 | 22.1 | 32.8 | 32.8 | +4.7 |
| Baez, Javier 3395 | 2b ss 3b | chi nl | 8.5 | 13.7 | 18.2 | 18.2 | +3.3 |
| Bundy, Dylan 3655 | pi sp | bal al | 7.7 | 17.1 | 23.1 | 23.1 | -1.7 |
| Leake, Mike 2709 | pi sp | sea al | 6.0 | 11.7 | 42.4 | 56.3 | +0.3 |
| Story, Trevor 3607 | ss | col nl | 6.0 | 8.5 | 15.0 | 15.0 | +3.5 |
| Machado, Manny 3087 | ss | lad nl | 5.7 | 12.7 | 34.9 | 36.4 | -1.3 |
| Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | nym nl | 5.0 | 16.0 | 33.7 | 63.2 | -6.0 |
| Peralta, Wily 3123 | pi cp sp | kc al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 21.0 | 23.0 | 0.0 |
| Blevins, Jerry 2788 | pi cp mr | nym nl | 1.0 | 3.7 | 7.7 | 9.7 | -1.7 |
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.