White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2019 season through the games of Aug. 21.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 20.8 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 18.8 |
| 3 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 16.1 |
| 4 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | tb al | 15.8 |
| 5 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 15.7 |
| 6 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.7 |
| 7 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.4 |
| 8 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.4 |
| 9 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | sp pi | dc nl | 14.4 |
| 10 | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | pi sp | cin nl | 14.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Wednesday, two players in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 earned Player of the Game honors—Nationals pitcher Patrick Corbin and Reds pitcher Luis Castillo. It’s the first time in more than a week that any player in the top 10 has earned Box-Toppers points.
Player of the Day—Giolito pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out 12 and allowing no walks, in the 4-0 win over the Twins.
Giolito earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.7 for the season, 11th among all players and fifth among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and no walks, in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Blue Jays. Buehler did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Blue Jays tied the game after he exited.
Buehler earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, 14th among all players and seventh among NL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Nick Castellanos of the Cubs homered and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 12-11 win over the Giants.
American League Batter of the Day—Kevin Kiermaier of the Rays homered and went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 7-6 win over the Mariners.
Rankings—Two players in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday, the first time in more than a week that any top 10 player earned Box-Toppers points:
Nationals pitcher Patrick Corbin (8IP 3H 0R 2BB 4K W in the 11-1 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.4 for the season, maintaining his ninth-place spot in overall player rankings, fifth among NL pitchers.
Reds pitcher Luis Castillo (6IP 5H R 0BB 4K W in the 4-2 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.4 for the season, maintaining his 10th-place spot in overall player rankings, sixth among NL pitchers.
Corbin, Castillo and Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer all have 14.4 Box-Toppers points for the season, but Scherzer ranks highest in eighth place based on a tiebreaker because he has the most 2018 Box-Toppers points (25.1), Corbin ranks next (16.0), followed by Castillo (8.0).
The top 10 list has been unusually static since Aug. 11, the last time any player in the top 10 earned points. That day, Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu rose to seventh place with 15.4 Box-Toppers points after earning NL Player of the Day honors. And despite two players earning points Wednesday, there was no movement in the rankings, as both players maintained their previous spots.
The top overall player in Box-Toppers season player rankings appeared Wednesday, performed well, but did not earn Player of the Game honors.
Astros pitcher Justin Verlander, ranked first overall with 20.8 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors despite pitching a complete game and racking up a Box-Toppers game score of +14.0 (CG 2H 2R 0BB 11K L). That’s because the Astros lost, 2-1, to the Tigers. Player of the Game was Tigers pitcher Daniel Norris (3IP 2H 0R 0BB 2K ND), with a game score of +3.0. Verlander last earned Player of the Game honors on Aug. 4.
Debut—Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Rockies pitcher Tim Melville (7IP 2H R 2BB 4K W in the 7-2 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut April 10, 2016, and was playing in his seventh career game.
Nick Solak of the Rangers (2-2B 2-3 3R BI in the 8-7 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut Aug. 20 and was playing in his third career game.
Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez (1.1IP H 0R 0BB 2K ND in the 5-2 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut July 26, 2018, and was playing in his 25th career game.
Scoring—Giolito earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Buehler earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Castellanos and Kiermaier each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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)| 8/21 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +18.0 | CHW 4, MIN 0 | Lucas Giolito (W, 14‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |
| NL | +10.0 | `LAD 2, TOR 1 (F/10) | Walker Buehler | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| +8.0 | ATL 5, MIA 0 | Juiio Teheran (W, 8‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | ||
| +7.0 | WSH 11, PIT 1 | Patrick Corbin (W, 10‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| +5.0 | COL 7, ARI 2 | Tim Melville (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| +4.2 | OAK 6, NYY 4 | Liam Hendriks (S, 15) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | CHC 12, SF 11 | Nick Castellanos RF | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | MIL 5, STL 3 (F/8) | Mike Moustakas 3B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | TB 7, SEA 6 | Kevin Kiermaier CF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | TEX 8, LAA 7 | Nick Solak 2B | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | CIN 4, SD 2 | Luis Castillo (W, 12‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +3.0 | `DET 2, HOU 1 | Daniel Norris | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.1 | `PHI 5, BOS 2 | Ranger Suarez (H, 3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | BAL 8, KC 1 | Jonathan Villar 2B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | NYM 4, CLE 3 (F/10) | Juan Lagares CF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 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 (’19). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’18-19), the period 2014-2019 (’14-19) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2019 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2018 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’19 | ’18‑19 | ’14‑19 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.4 | 30.4 | 49.2 | 72.6 | -1.6 |
| Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | pi sp | cin nl | 14.4 | 22.4 | 30.8 | 30.8 | +6.4 |
| Giolito, Lucas 3900 | pi sp | chi al | 13.7 | 17.7 | 20.7 | 20.7 | +9.7 |
| Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.4 | 27.5 | 27.5 | 27.5 | -2.7 |
| Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 7.0 | 19.7 | 57.5 | 71.2 | -5.7 |
| Kiermaier, Kevin 3373 | cf | tb al | 6.0 | 6.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | +6.0 |
| Hendriks, Liam 3339 | pi cp | oak al | 6.0 | 6.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +6.0 |
| Castellanos, Nicholas 3349 | rf | chi nl | 4.0 | 10.5 | 28.7 | 28.7 | -2.5 |
| Villar, Jonathan 3233 | 2b | bal al | 3.5 | 5.5 | 14.0 | 15.0 | +1.5 |
| Moustakas, Mike 2967 | 3b | mil nl | 3.0 | 6.5 | 24.2 | 33.7 | -0.5 |
| Norris, Daniel 3548 | pi sp | det al | 3.0 | 4.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | +2.0 |
| Lagares, Juan 3243 | cf | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 | +1.0 |
| Melville, Tim 4226 | pi sp | col nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Solak, Nick 4227 | 2b | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Suarez, Ranger 4228 | pi mr | phi 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.