Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Darvish struck out 14 over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 4-1 win over the Padres.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2019 season through the games of Sept. 12.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 26.2 |
| 2 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 24.8 |
| 3 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 4 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 17.1 |
| 5 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | tb al | 16.8 |
| 6 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 16.7 |
| 7 | Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.4 |
| 8 | Paddack, Chris 4093 | pi sp | sd nl | 15.8 |
| 9 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.4 |
| 10 | Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi sp | cle al | 15.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Darvish earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season, 36th among all players and 17th among National League pitchers.
Darvish becomes the 45th player this season with 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his sixth season out of his eight total seasons he has reached 10 points. His best year was 2012 with the Rangers when he had 16.8 points, fourth among American League pitchers. He had no points in 2015, recovering from Tommy John surgery and had 5.4 points in 2018 with the Cubs.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Domingo German struck out five over four scoreless middle relief innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 6-4 win over the Tigers.
German earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Thursday. He ranks 33rd among all players and 15th among AL pitchers.
German becomes the 46th player this season with 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his first season with 10 points in his second season earning points. In 2018, his debut year, he earned 8.0 points with the Yankees, 30th among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Juan Lagares of the Mets hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the 11-1 win over the Diamondbacks. Lagares went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in six runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Luke Voit of the Yankees homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 10-4 win over the Tigers.
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 |
| 9/1 | Justin Verlander | hou al | 23.8 |
| 9/2 | Gerrit Cole | hou al | 24.2 |
| 9/7 | Justin Verlander | hou al | 24.8 |
| 9/8 | Gerrit Cole | hou al | 26.2 |
Notable—Box-Toppers overall second-ranked player, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander did not earn Player of the Game honors Thursday, although he had the highest Box-Toppers game score of any player in a loss.
Verlander (6IP 5H 3R 2BB 11K L in the 3-2 loss to the Athletics) had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0. Player of the Game was Athletics pitcher Homer Bailey (5.1IP 3H R 3BB 4K W), who had the best Box-Toppers game score (+1.1) on the winning team.
Verlander has 24.8 Box-Toppers points on the season, second to teammate Gerrit Cole (26.2). The two have been trading places on the top spot since July 22, including changing places five times since Aug. 28. Verlander last lost the lead to Cole on Sept. 8 and will now enter his sixth day in second place, the longest he has not been in the lead this season since May.
Scoring—Darvish earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and German earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Lagares and Voit each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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)| 9/12 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +16.0 | CHC 4, SD 1 | Yu Darvish (W, 6‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | |
| +8.0 | PIT 4, SF 2 | Joe Musgrove (W, 10‑12) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| AL | +7.0 | NYY 6, DET 4 | Domingo German (W, 18‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| BAT | +6.0 | NYM 11, ARI 1 | Juan Lagares CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | MIL 3, MIA 2 | Freddy Peralta (W, 6‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | NYY 10, DET 4 | Luke Voit 1B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | WSH 12, MIN 6 | Anthony Rendon 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.1 | CIN 11, SEA 5 | Sal Romano (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.1 | PHI 9, ATL 5 | Hector Neris (S, 26) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | LAD 4, BAL 2 | Tony Gonsolin (W, 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +3.0 | TEX 6, TB 4 | Luke Farrell (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | KC 6, CHW 3 | Hunter Dozier 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | STL 10, COL 3 | Kolten Wong 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | BOS 7, TOR 4 | Josh Taylor (W, 2‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.1 | OAK 3, HOU 2 | Homer Bailey (W, 13‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| German, Domingo 3957 | pi sp | nyy al | 10.7 | 18.7 | 18.7 | 18.7 | +2.7 |
| Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.4 | 15.8 | 51.6 | 84.4 | +5.0 |
| Bailey, Homer 2324 | pi sp | oak al | 8.4 | 8.4 | 19.1 | 57.5 | +8.4 |
| Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi mr | mil nl | 8.0 | 16.7 | 16.7 | 16.7 | -0.7 |
| Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | pit nl | 7.0 | 11.0 | 16.7 | 16.7 | +3.0 |
| Neris, Hector 3553 | pi cp | phi nl | 7.0 | 9.0 | 19.0 | 19.0 | +5.0 |
| Voit, Luke 4053 | 1b | nyy al | 5.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | +1.5 |
| Rendon, Anthony 3258 | 3b | dc nl | 5.0 | 11.5 | 30.5 | 31.5 | -1.5 |
| Dozier, Hunter 4114 | 3b | kc al | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | +4.5 |
| Lagares, Juan 3243 | cf | nym nl | 3.5 | 3.5 | 8.5 | 9.5 | +3.5 |
| Wong, Kolten 3377 | 2b | stl nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 15.5 | 15.5 | +1.0 |
| Gonsolin, Tony 4211 | pi sp | lad nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Taylor, Josh 4229 | pi cp mr | bos al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Romano, Sal 3854 | pi mr sp | cin nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | -3.0 |
| Farrell, Luke 3955 | pi mr cp | tex al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | -2.0 |
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.