Rangers pitcher Lance Lynn is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third place in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2020. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Friday, Aug. 14.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bundy, Dylan 3655 | pi sp | ana al | 6.0 |
| 2 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 4.7 |
| 3 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | tex al | 4.7 |
| 4 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.7 |
| 5 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | chi nl | 4.7 |
| 6 | Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.0 |
| 7 | Montas, Frankie 3803 | pi sp | oak al | 4.0 |
| 8 | Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | ari nl | 4.0 |
| 9 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | lf | nyy al | 4.0 |
| 10 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 3.7 |
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Also Friday, three other players rose in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after each earned Player of the Game honors—Reds pitcher Sonny Gray rose to fourth, Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly rose to eighth and Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole rose to 10th.
Player of the Day—Lynn pitched a complete game, allowing two runs (one earned) and two hits, while striking out six and allowing no walks, in the 3-2 win over the Rockies.
Lynn earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season, rising to third place overall, behind Angels pitcher Dylan Bundy (6.0 points) and Indians pitcher Shane Bieber (4.7 points). (Though Bieber and Lynn both have 4.7 points, Bieber ranks ahead because he had more 2019 Box-Toppers points—18.1 vs. 15.0.) Lynn also ranks third among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Reds pitcher Sonny Gray struck out 10 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, five hits and one walk, in the 8-1 win over the Pirates.
Gray earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season, rising to fourth place overall and first place among NL pitchers, passing previous leader Yu Darvish of the Cubs (4.7 points). Though Lynn, Gray and Darvish all have 4.7 points, Lynn ranks ahead because he has more 2019 Box-Toppers points—Lynn (15.0), Gray (14.4) and Darvish (10.4).
American League Batter of the Day—Teoscar Hernandez of the Blue Jays hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, in the 12-4 win over the Rays. Hernandez went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs.
National League Batter of the Day—Asdrubal Cabrera of the Nationals homered and went 1-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 15-3 win over the Orioles.
Cabrera earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season and rises to third place among NL batters in season player rankings, behind Jason Heyward of the Cubs (3.7) and J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies (3.5). (Realmuto also earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point Friday as Player of the Game in the 6-5 win over the Mets—HR 1-4 R 3BI.)
Rankings—In addition to Lynn and Gray, two other players rose into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earned Player of the Game honors Friday:
Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly rises to eight place with 4.0 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors in the 5-1 win over the Padres (6.2IP 3H 0R 2BB 7K W). Kelly ranks fourth among NL pitchers.
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole rises to 10th place with 3.7 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors in the 10-3 win over the Red Sox (7IP 4H R 0BB 8K W). Cole ranks fifth among AL pitchers.
Notable—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extends his lead in career Box-Toppers points among active players after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Kershaw (7IP H R 2BB 6K W in the 7-4 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 229.5 career points, third among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, behind Randy Johnson (282.5) and Pedro Martinez (244.8). Kershaw leads active players in career points ahead of second-place player, Astros pitcher Zack Greinke (208.1). Kershaw has 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2020, 14th among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Lynn earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gray earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Hernandez and Cabrera each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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)| 8/14 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +10.0 | TEX 3, COL 2 | Lance Lynn, (W 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| +9.0 | NYY 10, BOS 3 | Gerrit Cole, (W 4‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| NL | +8.2 | CIN 8, PIT 1 | Sonny Gray, (W 4‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| +8.2 | ARI 5, SD 1 | Merrill Kelly, (W 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| +8.0 | LAD 7, LAA 4 | Clayton Kershaw, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +6.0 | MIL 4, CHC 3 | Freddy Peralta, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | TOR 12, TB 4 | Teoscar Hernández, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | CLE 10, DET 5 | Franmil Reyes, DH | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | OAK 8, SF 7 (F/10) | Liam Hendriks, (S 6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | MIA 8, ATL 2 | Pablo López, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | ||
| +2.2 | `BAL 6, WSH 2 | Asher Wojciechowski | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| +2.0 | HOU 11, SEA 1 | Yordan Alvarez, DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | WSH 15, BAL 3 | Asdrubal Cabrera, 1B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +1.0 | PHI 6, NYM 5 | J.T. Realmuto, C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 (’20). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’19-20), the period 2015-2020 (’15-20) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2020 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2019 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’20 | ’19‑20 | ’15‑20 | Career | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | tex al | 4.7 | 19.7 | 42.8 | 87.3 | ‑10.3 |
| Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.7 | 19.1 | 55.0 | 69.0 | ‑9.7 |
| Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | ari nl | 4.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | ‑4.0 |
| Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 3.7 | 35.9 | 86.4 | 96.8 | ‑28.5 |
| Realmuto, J.T. 3491 | ca | phi nl | 3.5 | 10.5 | 30.5 | 30.5 | ‑3.5 |
| Cabrera, Asdrubal 2362 | 1b dh 3b 2b | dc nl | 3.0 | 12.0 | 23.5 | 61.2 | ‑6.0 |
| Hendriks, Liam 3339 | pi cp | oak al | 3.0 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 13.0 | ‑4.0 |
| Lopez, Pablo 4028 | pi sp | fla nl | 3.0 | 9.0 | 10.7 | 10.7 | ‑3.0 |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 2.0 | 14.7 | 95.9 | 229.5 | ‑10.7 |
| Hernandez, Teoscar 3713 | rf | tor al | 1.5 | 6.5 | 12.2 | 12.2 | ‑3.5 |
| Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi mr | mil nl | 1.0 | 9.0 | 17.7 | 17.7 | ‑7.0 |
| Reyes, Franmil 4036 | dh rf | cle al | 1.0 | 6.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | ‑4.0 |
| Wojciechowski, Asher 3804 | pi sp | bal al | 1.0 | 6.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | ‑4.0 |
| Alvarez, Yordan 4209 | dh | hou al | 1.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | ‑1.5 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations