Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to 10th place in season player rankings on the final day of the regular season.
Buehler struck out 11 over five innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 10-3 win over the Brewers.
Buehler earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 16.7 for the season, 10th among all players and eighth among National League pitchers.
Rising to 10th place, Buehler displaces Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove (16.1 Box-Toppers points) from the top 10. Musgrove had just risen into the 10th place spot Saturday.
American League Player of the Day—George Springer of the Blue Jays hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 12-4 win over the Orioles.
National League Batter of the Day—Logan Webb of the Giants homered and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 11-4 win over the Padres.
Webb earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 15.5 for the season, 14th among all players and 10th among NL pitchers.
This is the fifth time this season a pitcher has earned Player of the Game honors for batting. It has been done by three other players:
Shohei Ohtani of the Angels did it April 26.
Daniel Camarena of the Padres did it July 8.
German Marquez of the Rockies did it twice, July 31 and Aug. 17.
Webb had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 for batting. He had a game score of +1.0 for pitching (7IP 6H 4R 0BB 8K W).
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter George Springer.
Notable—Indians pitcher Aaron Civale now has 11.7 Box-Toppers points in 2021 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Civale (6IP 3H 0R BB 4K W in the 6-0 win over the Rangers) ranks 31st among all players in 2021 Box-Toppers points, 11th among AL pitchers.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2021. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Sunday, Oct. 3. FINAL STANDINGS.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | lad nl | 25.1 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 22.4 |
| 3 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 21.1 |
| 4 | Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.1 |
| 5 | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi sp | mil nl | 18.1 |
| 6 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | tor al | 17.7 |
| 7 | Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 17.4 |
| 8 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 17.1 |
| 9 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 10 | Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Nick Fortes of the Marlins (HR 1-2 2R 2BI in the 5-4 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut Sept. 18 and was playing in his 14th career game.
Diamondbacks pitcher Sean Poppen (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K ND in the 5-4 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut June 19, 2019, and was playing in his 34th career game.
Coming soon—Box-Toppers will provide final team and player rankings for 2021 in coming posts and also provide a Box-Toppers look at postseason playoffs.
Scoring—Buehler earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Springer earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Webb earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Player of the Game winners (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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Box‑Toppers Player of the Game winners
Here is the top player from each of the day’s games listed from highest to lowest Box‑Toppers game score (BTG).| 10/3 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +10.0 | LAD 10, MIL 3 | Walker Buehler, (W 16‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |
| AL | +7.0 | TOR 12, BAL 4 | George Springer, CF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +6.0 | BOS 7, WSH 5 | Rafael Devers, 3B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +6.0 | CLE 6, TEX 0 | Aaron Civale, (W 12‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +4.1 | MIN 7, KC 3 | Jorge Alcala, (S 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | SF 11, SD 4 | Logan Webb, P | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | CIN 6, PIT 3 | Aristides Aquino, RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | MIA 5, PHI 4 | Nick Fortes, PR‑C | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | `ARI 5, COL 4 | Sean Poppen | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.1 | `NYY 1, TB 0 | Jameson Taillon | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | CHC 3, STL F/7 | Frank Schwindel, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | LAA 7, SEA 3 | Jared Walsh, 1B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | DET 5, CHW 2 | Joe Jiménez, (W 6‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +1.0 | HOU 7, OAK 6 | Kyle Tucker, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | ATL 5, NYM 0 | Austin Riley, 3B‑1B | 4 | 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 Player of the Game winners
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 (’21). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’20-21), the period 2016-2021 (’16-21) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2021 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2020 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’21 | ’20‑21 | ’16‑21 | Career | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.7 | 22.4 | 53.9 | 53.9 | +11.0 |
| Webb, Logan 4258 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.5 | 16.5 | 18.2 | 18.2 | +14.5 |
| Civale, Aaron 4173 | pi sp | cle al | 11.7 | 14.4 | 17.4 | 17.4 | +9.0 |
| Taillon, Jameson 3658 | pi sp | nyy al | 9.0 | 9.0 | 35.4 | 35.4 | +9.0 |
| Riley, Austin 4144 | 3b | atl nl | 8.5 | 10.5 | 16.0 | 16.0 | +6.5 |
| Devers, Rafael 4038 | 3b | bos al | 7.5 | 10.0 | 22.0 | 22.0 | +5.0 |
| Walsh, Jared 4332 | 1b | ana al | 7.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | +6.5 |
| Tucker, Kyle 4277 | rf | hou al | 7.2 | 12.2 | 12.2 | 12.2 | +2.2 |
| Springer, George 3337 | dh cf | tor al | 4.2 | 6.2 | 27.9 | 31.9 | +2.2 |
| Jimenez, Joe 4000 | pi cp mr | det al | 3.0 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | +2.0 |
| Aquino, Aristides 4223 | lf rf | cin nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +1.0 |
| Alcala, Jorge 4493 | pi mr cp | min al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Schwindel, Frank 4532 | 1b | chi nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Fortes, Nick 4568 | ca pr | fla nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Poppen, Sean 4569 | pi mr | ari nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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