Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
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, Sept. 25.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 11.4 |
| 2 | Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cin nl | 10.0 |
| 3 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | chi nl | 9.7 |
| 4 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | tex al | 9.1 |
| 5 | Lamet, Dinelson 3808 | pi sp | sd nl | 9.0 |
| 6 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 8.7 |
| 7 | Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp | min al | 8.4 |
| 8 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 8.0 |
| 9 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.7 |
| 10 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 7.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Player of the Day—Gallen struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and two walks, in the 4-0, seven-inning win over the Rockies.
Gallen earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, 19th among all players and 10th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Chris Bassitt struck out six over seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and no walks, in the 3-1, 10-inning win over the Mariners. Bassitt did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Bassitt earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 6.4 for the season, 15th among all players and eighth among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Trent Grisham of the Padres hit a walk-off three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 6-5, seven-inning win over the Giants.
American League Batter of the Day—Sam Huff of the Rangers hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Astros.
This was Huff’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Huff made his Major League debut Sept. 11 and was playing in his ninth career game.
Rankings—Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish rises from sixth to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Friday.
Darvish (7IP 3H 0R BB 5K W in the 10-0 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.7 for the season. He ranks second among NL pitchers, behind Trevor Bauer of the Reds (10.0).
Notable—Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco becomes the 86th player to reach 100 career Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when player tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Carrasco (6IP 3H 2R 3BB 8K ND in the 4-3 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 100.1 career points, rising to 85th place on the “all-time” list, passing two players—Jim Edmonds (99.8) and Larry Walker (100.1). Carrasco now trails 84th-ranked Jeff Bagwell (100.4). Carrasco ranks 20th among active players in career points.
Carrasco becomes the third player this season to reach 100 career Box-Toppers points. Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom did it on Aug. 19 and now has 105.4 points, ranking 72nd. Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole did it Sept. 22 and now has 100.5 points, ranking 83rd. No players reached the 100-point milestone during the 2019 season.
Carrasco now has 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2020, 28th among all players and 13th among AL pitchers.
Debut—Tim Locastro of the Diamondbacks made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Locastro (3-3 2R 2BI in the 11-5, seven-inning win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut Sept. 29, 2017, and was playing in his 144th career game.
Scoring—Gallen earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Bassitt earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Grisham and Huff 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)| 9/25 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.0 | ARI 4, COL 0 (F/7) | Zac Gallen, (W 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |
| +8.0 | CHC 10, CHW 0 | Yu Darvish, (W 8‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| AL | +8.0 | `OAK 3, SEA 1 (F/10) | Chris Bassitt | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| +7.0 | STL 9, MIL 1 (F/7) | Daniel Ponce de Leon, (W 1‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +7.0 | KC 3, DET 2 | Brad Keller, (W 5‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| +7.0 | `TOR 10, BAL 5 | Taijuan Walker | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +5.0 | `MIL 3, STL 0 (F/7) | Brent Suter | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | SD 6, SF 5 (F/7) | Trent Grisham, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | ARI 11, COL 5 (F/7) | Tim Locastro, CF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | TB 6, PHI 4 | John Curtiss, (S 2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +4.0 | `CLE 4, PIT 3 | Carlos Carrasco | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||
| +3.1 | `MIA 4, NYY 3 (F/10) | Sandy Alcantara | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.1 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | TEX 5, HOU 4 (F/10) | Sam Huff, C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | CIN 7, MIN 2 | Mike Moustakas, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | LAD 9, LAA 5 | Justin Turner, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | ATL 8, BOS 7 (F/11) | Freddie Freeman, PH‑1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | SF 5, SD 4 (F/7) | Mike Yastrzemski, RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 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 (’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 | 9.7 | 20.1 | 48.9 | 94.1 | ‑0.7 |
| Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | oak al | 6.4 | 13.1 | 17.1 | 19.1 | ‑0.3 |
| Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | ari nl | 6.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 | +0.3 |
| Keller, Brad 4008 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 | 11.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | +1.0 |
| Walker, Taijuan 3453 | pi sp | tor al | 6.0 | 6.0 | 32.4 | 32.4 | +6.0 |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 5.0 | 12.7 | 84.0 | 100.1 | ‑2.7 |
| Grisham, Trent 4246 | cf | sd nl | 4.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | +2.0 |
| Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b ph | atl nl | 3.5 | 13.7 | 34.7 | 62.9 | ‑6.7 |
| Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | pi sp | fla nl | 3.0 | 7.7 | 9.4 | 9.4 | ‑1.7 |
| Ponce de Leon, Daniel 4037 | pi sp | stl nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | +0.0 |
| Moustakas, Mike 2967 | 1b 2b 3b | cin nl | 2.5 | 8.0 | 25.2 | 38.7 | ‑3.0 |
| Curtiss, John 4323 | pi mr cp | tb al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Huff, Sam 4361 | ca | tex al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | +1.5 |
| Turner, Justin 2865 | 3b | lad nl | 1.0 | 5.5 | 16.5 | 22.0 | ‑3.5 |
| Suter, Brent 3843 | pi sp mr | mil nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | +0.0 |
| Yastrzemski, Mike 4203 | rf | sf nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +0.0 |
| Locastro, Tim 4360 | cf | ari nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations