Indians pitcher Shane Bieber is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to lead 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 Saturday, Aug. 15.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 6.7 |
| 2 | Bundy, Dylan 3655 | pi sp | ana al | 6.0 |
| 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 | Fried, Max 4011 | pi sp | atl nl | 4.7 |
| 7 | Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.0 |
| 8 | Montas, Frankie 3803 | pi sp | oak al | 4.0 |
| 9 | Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | ari nl | 4.0 |
| 10 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | lf | nyy al | 4.0 |
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Also Saturday, Braves pitcher Max Fried rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after he earns Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Bieber struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 3-1 win over the Tigers.
Bieber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.7 for the season, rising from second to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, passing previous leader, Angels pitcher Dylan Bundy (6.0). Bieber also rises to first place among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 6-2 win over the Mets.
American League Batter of the Day—Clint Frazier of the Yankees hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring once and driving in five runs, in the 11-5 win over the Red Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Dexter Fowler of the Cardinals went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 5-1, seven-inning win over the White Sox.
Rankings—Braves pitcher Max Fried rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Fried (6.1IP 4H 0R 3BB 7K ND in the 2-1 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.7 for the season. He ranks third among NL pitchers, behind Sonny Gray of the Reds and Yu Darvish of the Cubs. All three have 4.7 points on the season, but Gray ranks first because he has the most 2019 Box-Toppers points (14.4), followed by Darvish (10.4) and Fried (10.0).
Streaks—Two players extended to 10 seasons their consecutive streak of earning Box-Toppers points after both earned their first Player of the Game honor of 2020 Saturday:
Royals pitcher Danny Duffy (5IP 2H 2R ER BB 8K W in the 4-2, seven-inning win over the Twins) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2011 with the Royals and has 45.4 career points, 30th among active AL pitchers. His best season was 2016 with the Royals when he had 10.7 Box-Toppers points, 18th among AL pitchers. He had 3.0 points in 2019 with the Royals.
Dodgers closing pitcher Kenley Jansen (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv in the 6-5, 10-inning win over the Angels) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2011 with the Dodgers and has 51.4 career points, second among active NL closers, behind Craig Kimbrel of the Cubs (75.4). Jansen’s best season was 2013 with the Dodgers when he had 9.7 points, second among NL closers. He had 5.0 points in 2019 with the Dodgers.
Debut—Four players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Astros pitcher Cristian Javier (6IP H 0R 3BB 5K W in the 2-1 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut July 25 and was playing in his fifth career game.
Diamondbacks pitcher Stefan Crichton (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 7-6 win over the Padres) made his Major League debut April 16, 2017 and was playing in his 46th career game.
Orioles pitcher Tanner Scott (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K ND in the 7-3 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut Sept. 20, 2017, and was playing in his 91st career game.
Cardinals pitcher Jake Woodford (3IP H R 0BB 3K ND in the 6-3, seven-inning win over the White Sox) was also making his Major League debut.
Scoring—Bieber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Nola earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Frazier and Fowler each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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)| 8/15 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +14.0 | CLE 3, DET 1 | Shane Bieber, (W 4‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| NL | +10.0 | PHI 6, NYM 2 | Aaron Nola, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| +7.0 | HOU 2, SEA 1 | Cristian Javier, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| +7.0 | KC 4, MIN 2 (F/7) | Danny Duffy, (W 1‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| +6.1 | `ATL 2, MIA 1 | Max Fried | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| BAT | +6.0 | NYY 11, BOS 5 | Clint Frazier, RF | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | ARI 7, SD 6 | Stefan Crichton, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.2 | `BAL 7, WSH 3 | Tanner Scott, (Hld 4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | MIN 4, KC 2 (F/7) | Nelson Cruz, DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | `STL 6, CHW 3 (F/7) | Jake Woodford | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | LAD 6, LAA 5 (F/10) | Kenley Jansen, (S 6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | OAK 7, SF 6 | Mark Canha, CF‑1B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | STL 5, CHW 1 (F/7) | Dexter Fowler, RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +1.0 | MIL 6, CHC 5 (F/10) | Luis Urías, 2B | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | TEX 6, COL 4 | Derek Dietrich, 1B | 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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 6.7 | 24.8 | 31.2 | 31.2 | ‑11.4 |
| Fried, Max 4011 | pi sp | atl nl | 4.7 | 14.7 | 15.7 | 15.7 | ‑5.3 |
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.7 | 13.4 | 59.0 | 59.0 | ‑6.0 |
| Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224 | dh | min al | 3.0 | 15.5 | 32.0 | 77.2 | ‑9.5 |
| Dietrich, Derek 3199 | 2b 1b lf | tex al | 2.0 | 5.7 | 17.7 | 19.7 | ‑1.7 |
| Fowler, Dexter 2698 | rf | stl nl | 1.5 | 7.5 | 20.5 | 34.5 | ‑4.5 |
| Frazier, Clint 3847 | rf | nyy al | 1.5 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | ‑1.0 |
| Jansen, Kenley 2871 | pi cp | lad nl | 1.0 | 6.0 | 25.0 | 51.4 | ‑4.0 |
| Duffy, Danny 2915 | pi sp | kc al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 30.4 | 45.4 | ‑2.0 |
| Urias, Luis 4218 | 2b ss | mil nl | 1.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | ‑1.5 |
| Canha, Mark 3454 | cf 1b | oak al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | +0.0 |
| Crichton, Stefan 4291 | pi mr | ari nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Javier, Cristian 4290 | pi sp | hou al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Scott, Tanner 4292 | pi mr | bal al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Woodford, Jake 4293 | pi sp | stl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations