Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Meanwhile, Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves rises to lead National League batters in 2018 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of Sept. 14:| 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
Player of the Day—Buehler struck out nine over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 3-0 win over the Cardinals.
Buehler earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.1 for the season, 32nd among all players and 14th among National League pitchers.
Buehler becomes the 39th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his first season with 10 or more points.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks, in the 11-0 win over the Blue Jays.
Tanaka earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 13.4 for the season, 19th among all players and 14th among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Aaron Altherr of the Phillies hit two home runs and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 14-2 win over the Marlins.
American League Batter of the Day—Jurickson Profar of the Rangers homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 4-0 win over the Padres.
Rankings—Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves rises to lead NL batters in 2018 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Acuna (3B 2B 4-5 2R 2BI in the 10-5 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.2 for the season, rising to first place among NL batters, passing previous leader Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs (8.5). Acuna ranks 49th among all players.
Though Acuna now leads all NL batters, his current point total would still set the record for the lowest Box-Toppers point to lead a category for a season in Box-Toppers’ 24-year tracking history. His 9.2 points is below the record-low 10.7 points Nolan Arenado of the Rockies had in 2016 to lead NL batters.
Acuna achieved Player of the Game getting hits off Box-Toppers season player rankings leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who took the loss.
Scherzer (4IP 7H 6R 3BB 6K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of -12.0. His 23.1 Box-Toppers points in 2018 leads all players.
Notable—Athletics closing pitcher Blake Treinen became the 40th player this season to earn 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Treinen (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 0K W in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season, 40th among all players, 19th among AL pitchers and first among all closing pitchers.
Also notable—White Sox pitcher James Shields now has 106.4 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Shields (6IP 4H 2R BB 5K W in the 8-6 win over the Orioles) ranks 65th among all players in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He ranks eighth among active AL pitchers in career points. With his point Friday, he passes three players on the “all-time” list—Aramis Ramirez (105.8), Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (106.1) and Frank Thomas (106.2). Shields now trails 64th-ranked player Lance Berkman (108.1).
Shields has 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2018, 48th among AL pitchers.
Scoring—Buehler earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tanaka earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Altherr and Profar each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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)| 9/14 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +13.0 | LAD 3, STL 0 | Walker Buehler (W, 7‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| +12.0 | SF 2, COL 0 | Chris Stratton (W, 10‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| AL | +8.0 | NYY 11, TOR 0 | Masahiro Tanaka (W, 12‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| BAT | +7.0 | PHI 14, MIA 2 | Aaron Altherr LF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +7.0 | NYM 8, BOS 0 | Noah Syndergaard (W, 12‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| +4.2 | `SEA 5, LAA 0 | Roenis Elias | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | TEX 4, SD 0 | Jurickson Profar 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.1 | `DET 5, CLE 4 | Matthew Boyd | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| +3.0 | ATL 10, WSH 5 | Ronald Acuna LF | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | KC 8, MIN 4 | Salvador Perez C | 5 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | MIL 7, PIT 4 | Orlando Arcia SS | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.1 | `ARI 4, HOU 2 | Robbie Ray | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| +2.0 | CHC 3, CIN 2 | Ian Happ CF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | CHW 8, BAL 6 | James Shields (W, 7‑16) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +2.0 | OAK 2, TB 1 (F/10) | Blake Treinen (W, 7‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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 | +/‑ |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 13.4 | 24.8 | 59.6 | 59.6 | +2.0 |
| Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 11.1 | 11.1 | 11.1 | 11.1 | +11.1 |
| Treinen, Blake 3495 | pi cp | oak al | 10.0 | 11.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | +9.0 |
| Boyd, Matthew 3550 | pi sp | det al | 9.7 | 12.7 | 19.8 | 19.8 | +6.7 |
| Acuña, Ronald Jr. 3947 | lf | atl nl | 9.2 | 9.2 | 9.2 | 9.2 | +9.2 |
| Stratton, Chris 3883 | pi sp | sf nl | 8.4 | 12.1 | 12.1 | 12.1 | +4.7 |
| Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 7.0 | 10.0 | 37.1 | 37.1 | +4.0 |
| Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 6.7 | 22.7 | 33.4 | 33.4 | -9.3 |
| Shields, James 2157 | pi sp | chi al | 5.0 | 7.0 | 40.8 | 106.4 | +3.0 |
| Profar, Jurickson 3665 | ss 3b 1b | tex al | 5.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | +5.0 |
| Perez, Salvador 2972 | ca | kc al | 3.0 | 10.5 | 26.2 | 32.2 | -4.5 |
| Happ, Ian 3798 | lf cf | chi nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.0 |
| Altherr, Aaron 3563 | rf lf | phi nl | 2.5 | 10.0 | 13.5 | 13.5 | -5.0 |
| Arcia, Orlando 3717 | ss | mil nl | 1.0 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | -0.5 |
| Elias, Roenis 3309 | pi sp | sea al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 12.7 | 12.7 | +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.