Cubs pitcher Jon Lester is Saturday’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 Sept. 15:| 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
Lester struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 1-0 win over the Reds.
Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season, 41st among all players and 21st among National League pitchers.
Lester also now has 163.6 career Box-Toppers points, 17th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 16th-ranked player, teammate Cole Hamels (164.5). Lester ranks ninth among active players in career points.
American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher Sean Reid-Foley struck out 10 over five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and four walks, in the 8-7 win over the Yankees.
National League Batter of the Day—Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers hit three home runs and went 3-for-6, scoring three times and driving in seven runs, in the 17-4 win over the Cardinals.
American League Batter of the Day—Jake Bauers of the Rays hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-3, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 7-5 win over the Athletics.
Notable—Astros pitcher Charlie Morton has the most 2018 Box-Toppers points among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Morton (6IP 3H 2R 0BB 7K W in the 10-4 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.8 for the season, 14th among all players and 10th among AL pitchers.
Also notable—Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger now has 12.7 Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Clevinger (6IP H 0R 3BB 5K W in the 15-0 win over the Tigers) is now 24th in Box-Toppers season player rankings, 16th among AL pitchers.
One other notable thing—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner now has 114.4 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Bumgarner (6IP 5H 0R BB 2K W in the 3-0 win over the Rockies) ranks 52nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 51st-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9). He ranks 16th among active players in career points.
Bumgarner has 6.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 44th among NL pitchers.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Kristopher Negron of the Mariners (HR 3-4 2R 2BI in the 6-5 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut June 7, 2012, and was playing in his 120th career game.
Nationals pitcher Jefry Rodriguez (4.2IP 0H 0R 3BB K W in the 7-1 win over the Braves) made his Major League debut June 3 and was playing in his 11th career game.
Scoring—Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Reid-Foley earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Puig and Bauers each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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)| 9/15 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +12.0 | CHC 1, CIN 0 | Jon Lester (W, 16‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| AL | +9.0 | TOR 8, NYY 7 | Sean Reid‑Foley (W, 2‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | |
| +8.0 | CHW 2, BAL 0 | Reynaldo Lopez (W, 6‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +7.0 | LAD 17, STL 4 | Yasiel Puig RF | 6 | 3 | 3 | 7 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +7.0 | CLE 15, DET 0 | Mike Clevinger (W, 12‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| +6.0 | HOU 10, ARI 4 | Charlie Morton (W, 15‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | TB 7, OAK 5 | Jake Bauers 1B | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | KC 10, MIN 3 | Alcides Escobar 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | SEA 6, LAA 5 | Kristopher Negron 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | PIT 3, MIL 1 | Ivan Nova (W, 9‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +2.2 | WSH 7, ATL 1 | Jefry Rodriguez (W, 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | ||
| +2.0 | TEX 6, SD 3 | Robinson Chirinos C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | BOS 5, NYM 3 | Brock Holt PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | PHI 5, MIA 4 | Justin Bour PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | SF 3, COL 0 | Madison Bumgarner (W, 6‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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 | +/‑ |
| Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | hou al | 14.8 | 22.5 | 39.2 | 50.2 | +7.1 |
| Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi sp | cle al | 12.7 | 24.1 | 27.1 | 27.1 | +1.3 |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 9.7 | 20.4 | 83.6 | 163.6 | -1.0 |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 6.7 | 8.7 | 77.0 | 114.4 | +4.7 |
| Chirinos, Robinson 2924 | ca | tex al | 6.0 | 7.0 | 14.0 | 15.0 | +5.0 |
| Puig, Yasiel 3193 | rf | lad nl | 5.0 | 11.0 | 20.5 | 20.5 | -1.0 |
| Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 4.7 | 11.7 | 29.7 | 42.8 | -2.3 |
| Lopez, Reynaldo 3712 | pi sp | chi al | 4.7 | 4.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | +4.7 |
| Bauers, Jake 3993 | 1b | tb al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Holt, Brock 3340 | 2b 1b ph | bos al | 3.5 | 5.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | +2.0 |
| Reid-Foley, Sean 4059 | pi sp | tor al | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.4 | +3.4 |
| Bour, Justin 3433 | 1b ph | phi nl | 2.0 | 7.5 | 20.0 | 20.0 | -3.5 |
| Escobar, Alcides 2663 | ss 3b | kc al | 2.0 | 6.0 | 19.0 | 27.5 | -2.0 |
| Negron, Kristopher 4065 | 3b | sea al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Rodriguez, Jefry 4066 | pi mr | dc nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +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.