Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to first in season player rankings, passing previous leader Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler.
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 Monday, Aug. 16.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 18.4 |
| 2 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 17.1 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 4 | Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 15.4 |
| 5 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 14.4 |
| 6 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
| 7 | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | oak al | 13.7 |
| 8 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 13.4 |
| 9 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 12.7 |
| 10 | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | mil nl | 12.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Cole struck out nine over 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Angels.
Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 18.4 for the season, rising from third to first place in season player rankings, passing Wheeler (17.1). Cole extends his lead among American League pitchers, ahead of second-place Chris Bassitt of the Athletics (13.7).
This is the third time Cole has led players this season. He took the lead May 12 with 9.0 Box-Toppers points, losing it to Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow on May 26. He took the lead again June 16 with 13.4 points, losing it to Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom on June 21. Wheeler took the lead from deGrom on Aug. 8 with 17.1 points before losing it Monday to Cole.
This was Cole’s first appearance since July 29 since going on the COVID-19 injured list after being diagnosed Aug. 3 and experiencing mild symptoms. He last earned Player of the Game honors July 17.
Cole now has 118.9 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 47th place among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. With his 2.0 points Monday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Barry Zito (117.4) and Carlos Delgado (118.7). He now trails 46th-ranked player Cliff Lee (119.1). Cole ranks 15th among active players in career points, fourth among active AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Reds pitcher Wade Miley struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 14-5 win over the Cubs.
Miley earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, 52nd among all players and 28th among NL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Brandon Lowe of the Rays hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-2 win over the Orioles.
Lowe earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.5 for the season, fifth among AL batters.
National League Batter of the Day—Kris Bryant of the Giants hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-5 win over the Mets.
This is Bryant’s first Player of the Game honor since being traded from the Cubs. He has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Debut—Connor Joe of the Rockies made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Joe (HR 2-4 2R BI in the 6-5 win over the Padres) made his Major League debut March 28, 2019, and was playing in his 55th career game.
Scoring—Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Miley earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Lowe and Bryant each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
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).| 8/16 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.2 | NYY 2, LAA 1 | Gerrit Cole, (W 11‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
| NL | +9.0 | CIN 14, CHC 5 | Wade Miley, (W 10‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| +4.1 | ATL 12, MIA 2 | Touki Toussaint, (W 2‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | TB 9, BAL 2 | Brandon Lowe, 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | CHW 5, OAK 2 | Liam Hendriks, (S 27) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.1 | LAD 2, PIT 1 | Blake Treinen, (W 3‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | SF 7, NYM 5 | Kris Bryant, RF‑LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | MIN 5, CLE 4 (F/10) | Caleb Thielbar, (W 5‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +1.0 | COL 6, SD 5 | Connor Joe, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | KC 7, HOU 6 | Ryan O'Hearn, DH | 3 | 0 | 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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 18.4 | 25.8 | 89.5 | 118.9 | +11.0 |
| Miley, Wade 3006 | pi sp | cin nl | 7.7 | 8.7 | 29.1 | 59.5 | +6.7 |
| Lowe, Brandon 4108 | 2b | tb al | 7.5 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | +6.5 |
| Hendriks, Liam 3339 | pi cp | chi al | 5.0 | 9.0 | 16.0 | 19.0 | +1.0 |
| O’Hearn, Ryan 4043 | dh 1b ph | kc al | 3.0 | 4.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | +1.5 |
| Bryant, Kris 3465 | 3b 1b rf lf | sf nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 27.0 | 35.5 | +2.0 |
| Toussaint, Touki 4110 | pi sp | atl nl | 2.0 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | +0.3 |
| Thielbar, Caleb 3272 | pi mr cp | min al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | +2.0 |
| Treinen, Blake 3495 | pi mr cp | lad nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 18.0 | 19.0 | +1.0 |
| Joe, Connor 4516 | lf | col nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default view.