Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to lead National League pitchers in season player rankings.
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 Thursday, Aug. 26.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 19.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | lad nl | 17.4 |
| 3 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 17.1 |
| 4 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 5 | Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 16.4 |
| 6 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 16.1 |
| 7 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 15.1 |
| 8 | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | oak al | 13.7 |
| 9 | Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.7 |
| 10 | Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.4 |
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Scherzer also rises to second place overall in season player rankings with 17.4 Box-Toppers points in 2021, trailing Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole (19.4). Scherzer also rises to fourth place in career Box-Toppers points with 218.6, passing Astros pitcher Zack Greinke (217.8). (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.) Scherzer now ranks second among active players in career points, trailing only teammate Clayton Kershaw (246.6).
Scherzer struck out 10 over 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the Padres.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 17.4 for the season, rising from sixth to second place in season player rankings. He rises to the lead among NL pitchers, passing previous leader Zack Wheeler of the Phillies (17.1).
His 2.0 points Thursday gives him 218.6 career points to rise into fourth place among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, passing Greinke (217.8). Scherzer now trails third-ranked player Pedro Martinez (244.8).
American League Player of the Day—Bobby Dalbec of the Red Sox hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, in the 12-2 win over the Twins. Dalbec went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in seven runs.
Dalbec Thursday had the fifth-best Box-Toppers game score (+9.0) among all batters who earned Player of the Game honors so far in 2021. The four that were higher:
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 10 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 282.5 |
| 2 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 246.6 |
| 3 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 4 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | lad nl | 218.6 |
| 5 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | hou al | 217.8 |
| 6 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 206.6 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | lad nl | 203.8 |
| 8 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | retired | 203.4 |
| 9 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 10 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | retired | 187.0 |
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+10.0 on June 30 by Ozzie Albies of the Braves (2HR 5-6 4R 7BI in the 20-2 win over the Mets).
+10.0 on April 13 by Adam Duvall of the Marlins (2HR 2B 4-5 4R 7BI in the 14-8 win over the Braves).
+9.0 on Aug. 12 by Luis Urias of the Brewers (2HR 3-2B 5-6 5R 5BI in the 17-4 win over the Cubs).
+9.0 on April 27 by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays (3HR 3-4 3R 7BI in the 9-5 win over the Nationals).
While Dalbec had the same +9.0 game score as both Urias and Guerrero, he ranked lower because he had fewer at bats than Urias (six vs. four) and fewer home runs than Guerrero (three vs. two). Also, while Dalbec’s +9.0 game score is the fifth-highest ranking for a batter earning Player of the Game honors in 2021, it ranks 199th among all Player of the Game winners for the season. There are 194 times in which pitchers have earned Player of the Game honors with game scores of +9.1 or better this season.
National League Batter of the Day—Colin Moran of the Pirates homered and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 11-7 win over the Cardinals.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Bobby Dalbec.
Notable—Royals pitcher Ervin Santana now has 114.4 career Box-Toppers points after earning his first Player of the Game honor in nearly four years Thursday.
Santana (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 6-4 win over the Mariners) rises to 56th among all players in career Box-Toppers points since player tracking began in 1995. With his 1.0 point Thursday, he passes Yankees pitcher Corey Kluber (114.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 55th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9). Passing Kluber, Santana ranks 16th among active players in career points, fifth among active AL pitchers.
Santana last earned Player of the Game honors Sept. 13, 2017, when he was with the Twins. He had 16.1 Box-Toppers points in 2017, ninth overall and fifth among AL pitchers.
Due to injury, Santana was limited to five starts in 2018 with the Twins and three starts in 2019 with the White Sox and did not earn Box-Toppers points either season. He did not appear in the Major Leagues in 2020. This season, Santana, 38, has appeared mainly as a relief pitcher for the Royals.
Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Dalbec earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Moran earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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).| 8/26 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +14.2 | LAD 4, SD 0 | Max Scherzer, (W 12‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| AL | +9.0 | BOS 12, MIN 2 | Bobby Dalbec, 1B‑3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +7.0 | CIN 5, MIL 1 | Sonny Gray, (W 6‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +6.0 | BAL 13, LAA 1 | Keegan Akin, (W 1‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +4.0 | ARI 8, PHI 7 | Zac Gallen, (W 2‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +4.0 | KC 6, SEA 4 | Ervin Santana, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | PIT 11, STL 7 | Colin Moran, 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | CHW 10, TOR 7 | Leury García, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | CLE 10, TEX 6 | Jose Ramírez, 3B | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | NYY 7, OAK 6 | Jonathan Loaisiga, (W 9‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | MIA 7, WSH 5 | Jorge Alfaro, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.2 | SF 3, NYM 2 | Jarin García, (W 5‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | lad nl | 17.4 | 21.4 | 112.6 | 218.6 | +13.4 |
| Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | cle al | 8.5 | 12.0 | 31.0 | 34.5 | +5.0 |
| Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | cin nl | 6.4 | 11.1 | 43.6 | 75.4 | +1.7 |
| Dalbec, Bobby 4403 | 1b | bos al | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | +5.4 |
| Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | ari nl | 3.0 | 9.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 | ‑3.0 |
| Garcia, Leury 4019 | 2b 3b | chi al | 2.5 | 4.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | +1.0 |
| Akin, Keegan 4320 | pi sp | bal al | 2.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | ‑1.7 |
| Garcia, Jarlin 3927 | pi mr | sf nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +1.0 |
| Loaisiga, Jonathan 3998 | pi mr | nyy al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +2.0 |
| Moran, Colin 3931 | 1b 3b | pit nl | 1.5 | 2.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | +0.5 |
| Alfaro, Jorge 3920 | ca | fla nl | 1.0 | 2.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | ‑0.5 |
| Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi mr sp | kc al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 21.1 | 114.4 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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Box-Toppers
Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.