Athletics pitcher Sean Manaea is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to seventh place in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Manaea struck out nine over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 10-4 win over the Padres.
Manaea earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.7 for the season, rising from ninth to seventh place in season player rankings, third among American League pitchers, behind Gerrit Cole of the Yankees (16.4) and Tyler Glasnow of the Rays (12.7). (Though Glasnow and Manaea both have 12.7 points in 2021, Glasnow ranks higher because he has more 2020 points—8.0 vs. 2.0.)
National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 8-0 win over the Giants.
Buehler earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season, 14th among all players and eighth among NL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Franmil Reyes of the Indians hit two home runs and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-2 win over the Cardinals.
National League Batter of the Day—Joey Votto of the Reds hit two home runs and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-2 win over the Cubs.
This was the second straight day Votto earned Player of the Game honors. He was also Player of the Game Tuesday in the 7-4 win over the Cubs (2HR 2-4 2R 2BI).
Votto earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, 2.5 earned in the past two days. He ranks fifth among NL batters in 2021 Box-Toppers points.
Rankings—Shohei Ohtani of the Angels rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Ohtani (HR 2-3 2R 3BI in the 8-7 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season.
This is Ohtani’s eighth Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor of 2021 and third earned while serving as a designated hitter—the other five were earned as a starting pitcher. Uniquely, Ohtani qualifies in Box-Toppers rankings among both batters and pitchers. His 11.4 points ranks first among AL batters ahead of second-place J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox (9.7) and ranks fourth among AL pitchers behind Cole, Glasnow and Manaea.
Box-Toppers uses Ohtani’s combined total of 11.4 points for ranking him as a batter or a pitcher. If we separated the point totals, he has earned 4.0 total points as a designated hitter, which would place him 23rd among AL batters and 7.4 as a starting pitcher, which would place him 11th among AL pitchers.
Ohtani is the first player to qualify as a batter on Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list since May 25, when Martinez, then with 6.2 points, fell from 10th to 11th place overall. No batter has finished among the overall top 10 in season Box-Toppers points since 2013, when Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers finished eighth with 16.7 points. Prior to 2010, batters routinely finished among the overall top 10 in season Box-Toppers points. From 2000 to 2009, batters finished among the top 10 overall players in Box-Toppers points 24 times and there was only one season in the 2000s (2005) in which a batter did not finish among the overall top 10.
Notable—Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner now has 132.4 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Bumgarner (7IP 4H 2R BB 4K W in the 3-2 win over the Rangers) ranks 36th among all players in career points since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 35th-ranked player, Dodgers pitcher David Price (133.0). Bumgarner ranks 12th among active players in career points, seventh among active NL pitchers.
He now has 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 27th among NL 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 Wednesday, July 28.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 16.4 |
| 3 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 15.1 |
| 4 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 14.4 |
| 5 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 12.7 |
| 6 | Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 12.7 |
| 7 | Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 12.7 |
| 8 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 11.4 |
| 9 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 11.4 |
| 10 | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | mil nl | 10.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Royals pitcher Domingo Tapia (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K ND in the 3-2, 10-inning win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut Sept. 11, 2020, and was playing in his ninth career game.
Ramon Urias of the Orioles (2-2B 2-3 2R BI in the 8-7 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut Aug. 20, 2020, and was playing in his 58th career game.
Scoring—Manaea earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Buehler earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Reyes and Votto each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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).| 7/28 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +13.0 | OAK 10, SD 4 | Sean Manaea, (W 8‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| NL | +10.0 | LAD 8, SF 0 | Walker Buehler, (W 11‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| +6.0 | `BOS 4, TOR 1 (F/7) | Tanner Houck | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +5.0 | `NYY 3, TB 1 (F/10) | Nestor Cortes | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | CLE 7, STL 2 | Franmil Reyes, RF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +4.0 | CIN 8, CHC 2 | Joey Votto, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | LAA 8, COL 7 | Shohei Ohtani, DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | DET 17, MIN 14 | Eric Haase, DH | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | TOR 4, BOS 1 (F/7) | Robbie Ray, (W 9‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| +4.0 | MIL 7, PIT 3 | Adrian Houser, (W 7‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +3.1 | `NYM 2, ATL 1 | Tylor Megill | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +3.0 | `KC 3, CHW 2 (F/10) | Domingo Tapia | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | HOU 11, SEA 4 | Yuli Gurriel, 1B | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | BAL 8, MIA 7 | Ramon Urías, SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | ARI 3, TEX 2 | Madison Bumgarner, (W 5‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 12.7 | 14.7 | 41.2 | 41.2 | +10.7 |
| Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 11.4 | 11.4 | 25.9 | 25.9 | +11.4 |
| Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 9.7 | 15.4 | 46.9 | 46.9 | +4.0 |
| Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | tor al | 8.0 | 9.0 | 48.1 | 52.1 | +7.0 |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.0 | 8.0 | 39.7 | 132.4 | +6.0 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 6.0 | 6.0 | 24.0 | 77.7 | +6.0 |
| Houser, Adrian 4162 | pi sp | mil nl | 5.0 | 6.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | +4.0 |
| Reyes, Franmil 4036 | dh rf | cle al | 4.5 | 8.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 | +1.0 |
| Megill, Tylor 4464 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Gurriel, Yuli 3796 | 1b | hou al | 3.5 | 5.5 | 15.4 | 15.4 | +1.5 |
| Haase, Eric 4461 | lf dh | det al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +3.0 |
| Houck, Tanner 4342 | pi sp | bos al | 2.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | ‑0.7 |
| Cortes, Nestor Jr. 4160 | pi sp mr | nyy al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +2.0 |
| Tapia, Domingo 4490 | pi mr | kc al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Urias, Ramon 4491 | ss | bal al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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