Mookie Betts of the Red Sox is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming just the second batter this year with 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. 20:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 24.2 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.1 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 20.1 |
| 4 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 20.1 |
| 5 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 20.1 |
| 6 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 19.7 |
| 7 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 18.1 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 18.0 |
| 9 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 17.7 |
| 10 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Betts hit a three-run homer, doubled twice and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 11-6 win over the Yankees.
Betts earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.9 for the season, 34th in Box-Toppers season player rankings and second among American League batters, behind teammate J.D. Martinez (11.5).
Betts becomes the 42nd player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points but just the second batter. The lowest number of batters to reach 10 Box-Toppers points in a season is five in 2014. In 2000, 28 batters reached 10 points, which was more than half of the 47 total players who reached that milestone.
Batters are receiving fewer and fewer points in recent years. Prior to 2010, batters consistently earned half of all Box-Toppers points awarded in a season. That has dipped below half this decade, falling to as low as 40 percent as pitchers now earn the majority of points. Batters leading their leagues in Box-Toppers points this season are poised to have record-low totals.
This is the first season Betts has reached 10 Box-Toppers points. His previous high was 6.2 points in 2016, ninth among AL outfielders.
National League Player of the Day—Reds pitcher Cody Reed struck out six over six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and no walks, in the 4-2 win over the Marlins.
National League Batter of the Day—Dansby Swanson of the Braves doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in one run, in the 8-3 win over the Phillies.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall Player of the Day is AL batter Mookie Betts.
Notable—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, ranked second in Box-Toppers season player rankings, started Thursday but did not earn Player of the Game honors.
While Scherzer had a Box-Toppers game score of +7.0 (7IP 5H 3R 2BB 13K ND in the 5-4, 12-inning loss to the Mets), the Nationals did not win, so he earned no Box-Toppers points. His game score was high enough to earn him NL Player of the Day honors had the Nationals won.
Player of the Game was Mets pitcher Jason Vargas (5.2IP 3H 2R 2BB 8K ND).
Scherzer has 23.1 Box-Toppers points on the season, just behind leader Rays pitcher Blake Snell (24.2).
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Thursday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Christin Stewart of the Tigers (2HR 2-4 2R 6BI in the 11-8 win over the Royals) made his Major League debut Sept. 9 and was playing in his 11th career game.
Rowdy Tellez of the Blue Jays (HR 2B 2-4 2R 3BI in the 9-8 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut Sept. 5 and was playing in his 14th career game.
Scoring—Betts earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Reed earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Swanson earns 1.5 points for being NL 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)| 9/19 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +7.0 | BOS 11, NYY 6 | Mookie Betts DH | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| NL | +7.0 | CIN 4, MIA 2 | Cody Reed (W, 1‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| +6.0 | DET 11, KC 8 | Christin Stewart LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +5.0 | OAK 21, LAA 3 | Stephen Piscotty RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.2 | `NYM 5, WSH 4 (F/12) | Jason Vargas | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| +3.0 | TOR 9, TB 8 | Rowdy Tellez 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | ATL 8, PHI 3 | Dansby Swanson SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +1.0 | CHW 5, CLE 4 (F/11) | Yoan Moncada 2B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 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 | +/‑ |
| Betts, Mookie 3404 | rf | bos al | 10.9 | 16.9 | 28.1 | 28.1 | +4.9 |
| Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | nym nl | 6.0 | 17.0 | 34.7 | 64.2 | -5.0 |
| Piscotty, Stephen 3570 | rf | oak al | 6.0 | 7.5 | 15.7 | 15.7 | +4.5 |
| Swanson, Dansby 3751 | ss | atl nl | 4.5 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +1.0 |
| Moncada, Yoan 3878 | 2b | chi al | 2.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +1.0 |
| Reed, Cody 3765 | pi sp | cin nl | 1.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | +0.7 |
| Stewart, Christin 4077 | lf | det al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Tellez, Rowdy 4078 | 1b | tor al | 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.