Yankees pitcher J.A. Happ is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
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. 29.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 8.7 |
| 2 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | chi nl | 6.7 |
| 3 | Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cin nl | 6.0 |
| 4 | Giolito, Lucas 3900 | pi sp | chi al | 6.0 |
| 5 | Bundy, Dylan 3655 | pi sp | ana al | 6.0 |
| 6 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 5.7 |
| 7 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | tex al | 5.7 |
| 8 | Fried, Max 4011 | pi sp | atl nl | 5.7 |
| 9 | Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp | min al | 5.4 |
| 10 | Tucker, Kyle 4277 | lf | hou al | 5.0 |
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Also Saturday, Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish rises to second place overall and first among National League pitchers after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Kyle Tucker of the Astros rises to 10th place—the only batter among the overall top 10—and rises to first place among American League batters after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Happ struck out five over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 2-1 win over the Mets. Happ did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Mets tied the game, 1-1, after he exited.
Happ earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and ranks 73rd among all players, 22nd among AL pitchers.
Happ has now earned Box-Toppers points in 13 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2020 Saturday. He earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2008 with the Phillies and has 83.3 career Box-Toppers points, ninth among active AL pitchers. His best season was 2018 with the Blue Jays and Yankees, when he had 15.7 Box-Toppers points, 10th among AL pitchers. He ranked third among AL pitchers in 2016 with the Blue Jays when he had 14.7 points. In 2019, he had 8.7 points with the Yankees, 25th among AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Zach Eflin struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Braves.
American League Batter of the Day—Mike Trout of the Angels hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring four times and driving in six runs, in the 16-3 win over the Mariners.
National League Batter of the Day—Max Muncy of the Dodgers hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 7-4 win over the Rangers.
Rankings—Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish rises from seventh to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Darvish (6IP 7H 0R 2BB 8K W in the 3-0, seven-inning win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.7 for the season. He also rises to first place among NL pitchers, passing Trevor Bauer of the Reds (6.0). Darvish trails overall leader, Indians pitcher Shane Bieber (8.7).
Rankings—Kyle Tucker of the Astros rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Tucker (HR 2-3 R 3BI in the 4-2, seven-inning win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season. He becomes the only batter among the overall top 10 and rises to lead AL batters, passing Eloy Jimenez of the White Sox (4.5), who only took the lead Friday.
Notable—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers now has 153.4 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Cabrera (HR 2-3 2R 2BI in the 4-2, seven-inning win over the Twins), with the 1.0 Box-Toppers point earned Saturday, rises to 22nd place in career points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Greg Maddux (152.7) on the “all-time” list. (It should be noted that Maddux would have an estimated 250 career Box-Toppers points if his entire career from 1986 were tracked.) Cabrera now trails 21st-ranked player Mike Mussina (155.6). (Mussina would have an estimated 193 points if his entire career from 1991 were tracked).
Cabrera ranks ninth among active players in career points, second among active batters, behind Albert Pujols of the Angels (201.8). Cabrera now has 2.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, 14th among AL batters.
Debut—Rays pitcher Josh Fleming made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Fleming (5.1IP 3H 0R 0BB 6K W in the 4-0 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut Aug. 23 and was playing in his second career game.
Scoring—Happ earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Eflin earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Trout and Muncy 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)| 8/29 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.1 | `NYY 2, NYM 1 | J.A. Happ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| BAT | +9.0 | LAA 16, SEA 3 | Mike Trout, CF | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| NL | +9.0 | PHI 4, ATL 1 | Zach Eflin, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |
| +8.1 | TB 4, MIA 0 | Josh Fleming, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +8.0 | `CLE 2, STL 1 (F/12) | Carlos Carrasco | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +5.0 | CHC 3, CIN 0 (F/7) | Yu Darvish, (W 6‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| +5.0 | DET 8, MIN 2 (F/7) | Matthew Boyd, (W 1‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | LAD 7, TEX 4 | Max Muncy, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | HOU 6, OAK 3 (F/7) | Ryan Pressly, (S 6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | BOS 5, WSH 3 | Xander Bogaerts, SS | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | HOU 4, OAK 2 (F/7) | Kyle Tucker, DH | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | DET 4, MIN 2 (F/7) | Miguel Cabrera, DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | TOR 5, BAL 0 | Taijuan Walker, (W 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| +2.2 | KC 9, CHW 6 | Jesse Hahn, (S 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | CIN 6, CHC 5 (F/7) | Jesse Winker, LF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | MIL 7, PIT 6 | Avail García, PH‑CF | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | `COL 4, SD 3 | Antonio Senzatela | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +1.2 | SF 5, ARI 2 | Jarlin García, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | chi nl | 6.7 | 17.1 | 45.9 | 91.1 | ‑3.7 |
| Tucker, Kyle 4277 | lf | hou al | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +5.0 |
| Walker, Taijuan 3453 | pi sp | tor al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 30.4 | 30.4 | +4.0 |
| Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 3.0 | 11.7 | 49.2 | 73.7 | ‑5.7 |
| Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | dh | det al | 2.5 | 5.5 | 25.2 | 153.4 | ‑0.5 |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | nyy al | 2.0 | 10.7 | 59.9 | 83.3 | ‑6.7 |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 2.0 | 9.7 | 81.0 | 97.1 | ‑5.7 |
| Winker, Jesse 3988 | dh lf | cin nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | +1.0 |
| Senzatela, Antonio 3760 | pi sp | col nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | +1.0 |
| Pressly, Ryan 3186 | pi cp mr | hou al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 | 9.0 | +1.0 |
| Eflin, Zach 3679 | pi sp | phi nl | 1.7 | 10.4 | 23.1 | 23.1 | ‑7.0 |
| Muncy, Max 3969 | 3b 1b 2b | lad nl | 1.5 | 7.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | ‑4.0 |
| Bogaerts, Xander 3383 | ss | bos al | 1.0 | 9.2 | 22.7 | 26.7 | ‑7.2 |
| Boyd, Matthew 3550 | pi sp | det al | 1.0 | 6.0 | 25.8 | 25.8 | ‑4.0 |
| Garcia, Avisail 3256 | cf ph | mil nl | 1.0 | 4.5 | 17.7 | 23.2 | ‑2.5 |
| Garcia, Jarlin 3927 | pi mr | sf nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +1.0 |
| Hahn, Jesse 3354 | pi cp sp | kc al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 7.0 | 13.7 | +1.0 |
| Fleming, Josh 4316 | pi sp | tb al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
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