Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming the 34th player this season to reach 10 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. 7:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 22.1 |
| 2 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 20.8 |
| 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 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 17.7 |
| 7 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 17.0 |
| 8 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| 9 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 16.4 |
| 10 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Friday, three players rise in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday—Rays pitcher Blake Snell maintains his second place ranking, Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola rises to third place and Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole rises to seventh place.
Player of the Day—Tanaka struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 4-0 win over the Mariners.
Tanaka earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.7 for the season, rising to 22nd place in season player rankings, 14th among American League pitchers.
This is Tanaka’s fourth season and third straight season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. His best season was 2016 with the Yankees when he had 14.1 Box-Toppers points, fifth among AL pitchers. He had 11.4 points in 2017 with the Yankees, eighth among AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Phil Ervin of the Reds hit two home runs and went 3-for-3, scoring four times and driving in four runs, in the 12-6 win over the Padres.
American League Batter of the Day—Marcus Semien of the Athletics homered and went 2-for-2, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 8-4 win over the Rangers.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Friday because the NL Player of the Day is batter Phil Ervin.
Rankings—Three players rise in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after each earned Player of the Game honors Friday:
Rays pitcher Blake Snell (5.1IP 5H 2R 0BB 9K W in the 14-2 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 20.8 for the season, maintaining his second-place spot in season player rankings. Snell becomes the second player this season to reach 20 Box-Toppers points and it is his first season to reach that milestone. Snell now trails overall leader Max Scherzer of the Nationals (22.1) by 0.3 points.
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (7IP 3H 3R BB 8K W in the 4-3 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 20.1 for the season, rising from fourth to third place in season player rankings, second among NL pitchers, behind overall leader Scherzer (22.1). He becomes the third player this season to reach 20 Box-Toppers points. His previous high total was 2017 with the Phillies when he had 15.8 points,.
Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole (6IP 5H 2R 2BB 8K ND in the 6-3 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.0 for the season, rising to eighth place in season player rankings, sixth place among AL pitchers.
Notable—Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin is one of five players with more than 10 Box-Toppers points in 2018 to earn Player of the Game honors Friday.
Corbin (6IP 4H R BB 9K W in the 5-3 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.0 for the season, 12th among all players and third among NL pitchers.
Also notable—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw now has 214.8 career Box-Toppers points—most among active players—after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Kershaw (6IP 6H 2R BB 7K W in the 4-2 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season, 29th among NL pitchers.
It now seems inevitable that Kershaw’s streak of seven straight seasons earning 20 or more Box-Toppers points will not continue in 2018. Kershaw needs 2.0 more points this season to extend his streak of earning at least 10 points each season to 10 seasons. He’s earned at least 10 points from 2009 to 2017.
Kershaw’s 214.8 career points ranks third among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails Pedro Martinez (244.8). Kershaw leads active players in career points, ahead of second-place player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (198.7).
Debut—Jordan Luplow of the Pirates made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Luplow (HR 1-1 R 2BI in the 5-3 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut July 28, 2017, and was playing in his 51st career game.
Scoring—Tanaka earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Ervin earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Semien earns 1.5 points for being AL 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)| 9/7 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +15.0 | NYY 4, SEA 0 | Masahiro Tanaka (W, 11‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| NL | +8.0 | CIN 12, SD 6 | Phillip Ervin LF | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +8.0 | ARI 5, ATL 3 | Patrick Corbin (W, 11‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | ||
| +6.0 | MIL 4, SF 2 | Josh Hader (W, 5-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +5.1 | TB 14, BAL 2 | Blake Snell (W, 18‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | ||
| +5.0 | PHI 4, NYM 3 | Aaron Nola (W, 16‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | OAK 8, TEX 4 | Marcus Semien SS | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | PIT 5, MIA 3 | Jordan Luplow PR‑RF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | `HOU 6, BOS 3 | Gerrit Cole | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| +3.0 | `TOR 3, CLE 2 (F/11) | Ryan Tepera | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | DET 5, STL 3 | Jeimer Candelario 3B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | MIN 10, KC 6 | Ehire Adrianza 3B | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | LAA 5, CHW 2 | Felix Pena (W, 2‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +2.0 | LAD 4, COL 2 | Clayton Kershaw (W, 7‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
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 | 20.8 | 25.8 | 29.8 | 29.8 | +15.8 |
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 20.1 | 35.9 | 44.6 | 44.6 | +4.3 |
| Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 17.0 | 24.0 | 59.9 | 59.9 | +10.0 |
| Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 16.0 | 25.7 | 52.2 | 58.2 | +6.3 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 11.7 | 23.1 | 57.9 | 57.9 | +0.3 |
| Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp mr | mil nl | 9.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 | +8.7 |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.0 | 31.1 | 134.4 | 214.8 | -15.1 |
| Pena, Felix 4002 | pi sp | ana al | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +5.0 |
| Ervin, Phillip 3866 | lf | cin nl | 2.7 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.2 | +1.2 |
| Adrianza, Ehire 3902 | ss 3b | min al | 2.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | +1.7 |
| Semien, Marcus 3302 | ss | oak al | 2.5 | 5.0 | 14.5 | 14.5 | 0.0 |
| Tepera, Ryan 3774 | pi mr | tor al | 2.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -3.0 |
| Candelario, Jeimer 4025 | 3b | det al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Luplow, Jordan 4062 | rf pr | pit 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.