Reds pitcher Anthony DeSclafani is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole rises to lead Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors, passing previous leader, teammate Justin Verlander.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2019 season through the games of Aug. 28.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 22.5 |
| 2 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 21.8 |
| 3 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.7 |
| 4 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 16.1 |
| 5 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | tb al | 15.8 |
| 6 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil 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 | Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Player of the Day—DeSclafani struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Marlins.
DeSclafani earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, 117th among all players and 44th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole struck out 14 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing four runs, six hits and one walk, in the 8-6 win over the Rays. Cole did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Astros trailed, 4-3, when he exited.
Cole earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 22.5 for the season, rising from second to first place in season player rankings, passing teammate Justin Verlander (21.8).
2019 lead changes
Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.| Date | Player | Team | BTP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3/20 | Tim Beckham | sea al | 2.0 |
| 3/21 | Hunter Strickland | sea al | 2.0 |
| 3/28 | Jose Berrios | min al | 2.0 |
| 3/31 | Cody Bellinger | lad nl | 2.7 |
| 4/3 | Matt Shoemaker | tor al | 3.7 |
| 4/4 | Trevor Bauer | cle al | 3.7 |
| 4/7 | Cody Bellinger | lad nl | 5.2 |
| 4/15 | Trevor Bauer | cle al | 5.4 |
| 4/24 | Justin Verlander | hou al | 6.4 |
| 5/3 | Tyler Glasnow | tb al | 6.7 |
| 5/5 | Josh Hader | mil nl | 7.0 |
| 5/10 | Justin Verlander | hou al | 8.4 |
| 7/22 | Gerrit Cole | hou al | 16.1 |
| 7/24 | Justin Verlander | hou al | 16.8 |
| 7/27 | Gerrit Cole | hou al | 17.1 |
| 7/30 | Justin Verlander | hou al | 18.8 |
| 8/28 | Gerrit Cole | hou al | 22.5 |
Verlander had led all players without interruption since July 30. Verlander had led all players for all but five days since May 10. The only days Verlander did not lead since May 10 are two previous instances when Cole passed him, first on July 22 for two days and then on July 27 for three days.
American League Batter of the Day—Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox hit two homers, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-4 win over the Rockies.
National League Batter of the Day—Cesar Hernandez of the Phillies doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 12-3 win over the Pirates.
Debut—Royals pitcher Tim Hill made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Hill (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 6-4 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut March 29, 2018, and was playing in his 101st career game.
Scoring—DeSclafani earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cole earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Bogaerts and Hernandez 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)| 8/28 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +12.0 | CIN 5, MIA 0 | Anthony DeSclafani (W, 9‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| AL | +5.2 | `HOU 8, TB 6 | Gerrit Cole | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 14 | |
| +5.1 | MIL 4, STL 1 | Jordan Lyles (W, 9‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | ||
| +5.0 | KC 6, OAK 4 | Tim Hill (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | BOS 7, COL 4 | Xander Bogaerts SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | MIN 8, CHW 2 | Jonathan Schoop 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | TEX 3, LAA 0 | Ariel Jurado (W, 7‑10) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | PHI 12, PIT 3 | Cesar Hernandez 2B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | WSH 8, BAL 4 | Asdrubal Cabrera 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | CHC 10, NYM 7 | Kyle Schwarber LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | NYY 7, SEA 3 | DJ LeMahieu 2B‑3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | ATL 9, TOR 4 | Freddie Freeman 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | CLE 4, DET 2 | Jason Kipnis 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | LAD 6, SD 4 (F/10) | Casey Sadler (S, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 (’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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 22.5 | 40.5 | 78.7 | 83.4 | +4.5 |
| Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 8.5 | 16.0 | 37.2 | 57.7 | +1.0 |
| Lyles, Jordan 3100 | pi sp | mil nl | 7.7 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 19.4 | +3.7 |
| Cabrera, Asdrubal 2362 | 3b | dc nl | 7.5 | 11.0 | 21.5 | 56.7 | +4.0 |
| Bogaerts, Xander 3383 | ss | bos al | 6.2 | 11.7 | 23.7 | 23.7 | +0.7 |
| DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | pi sp | cin nl | 6.0 | 10.0 | 21.7 | 21.7 | +2.0 |
| Schoop, Jonathan 3307 | 2b | min al | 5.0 | 8.5 | 24.0 | 24.0 | +1.5 |
| Kipnis, Jason 2933 | 2b | cle al | 4.5 | 6.0 | 14.0 | 30.5 | +3.0 |
| Hernandez, Cesar 3770 | 2b | phi nl | 4.2 | 5.2 | 7.2 | 7.2 | +3.2 |
| Schwarber, Kyle 3536 | lf | chi nl | 3.5 | 7.5 | 17.0 | 17.0 | -0.5 |
| LeMahieu, DJ 3091 | 2b 3b 1b | nyy al | 3.5 | 7.0 | 29.5 | 32.5 | 0.0 |
| Jurado, Ariel 4089 | pi sp mr | tex al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +1.0 |
| Sadler, Casey 42056 | pi mr cp | lad nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Hill, Tim 4237 | pi mr | kc 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.