Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to seventh in season player rankings.
Also Friday, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings, becoming the first player to reach 20 Box-Toppers points in 2021, after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Musgrove pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out nine and walking two, in the 5-0 win over the Angels.
Musgrove earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 15.1 for the season, rising to seventh in season player rankings, sixth among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Reynaldo Lopez struck out seven over five scoreless and hitless innings of middle relief, allowing no walks, in the 17-13 win over the Cubs.
National League Batter of the Day—Jorge Soler of the Braves hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 6-5 win over the Giants.
American League Batter of the Day—Jonathan Arauz of the Red Sox hit a three-run homer and went 1-for-2, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Indians.
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 Friday, Aug. 27.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 20.4 |
| 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 | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 15.1 |
| 8 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 15.1 |
| 9 | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | oak al | 13.7 |
| 10 | Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Rankings—Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole extended his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Cole (6IP 6H 0R 2BB 9K W in the 8-2 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 20.4 for the season, extending his lead over second-place player, Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer (17.4). He also leads AL pitchers ahead of second-place Shohei Ohtani of the Angels (15.1).
Cole becomes the first player this season to reach 20 Box-Toppers points. It is his second season with 20 or more points. In 2019 with the Astros, he had 32.2 points, first among all players. That was the fourth-highest single-season total since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. On this date (Aug. 27) in 2019, Cole had 20.8 points, meaning he’s now just behind that season’s pace. However, Cole earned Player of the Game honors seven more times in 2019, picking up 11.4 more points, from Aug. 28 to the end of the season on Sept. 29.
Cole now has 120.9 career Box-Toppers points, 46th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 45th-ranked player, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (122.1). Cole ranks 15th among active players in career points, fourth among active AL pitchers.
Scoring—Musgrove earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lopez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Soler and Arauz each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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).| 8/27 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +13.0 | SD 5, LAA 0 | Joe Musgrove, (W 9‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| AL | +12.0 | CHW 17, CHC 13 | Reynaldo López, (W 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| +9.2 | `KC 8, SEA 7 (F/12) | Carlos Hernández | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +7.0 | NYY 8, OAK 2 | Gerrit Cole, (W 13‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||
| +7.0 | WSH 2, NYM 1 | Paolo Espino, (W 4‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| +5.1 | `PHI 7, ARI 6 (F/11) | Aaron Nola | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| +5.0 | CIN 6, MIA 0 | Wade Miley, (W 11‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +5.0 | COL 4, LAD 2 | Kyle Freeland, (W 5‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | ATL 6, SF 5 | Jorge Soler, RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.1 | MIN 2, MIL 0 | Andrew Albers, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | BOS 4, CLE 3 | Jonathan Araúz, 2B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.0 | TB 6, BAL 3 | Mike Zunino, C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | DET 2, TOR 1 | Victor Reyes, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | STL 4, PIT 3 | Alex Reyes, (S 29) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +0.0 | HOU 5, TEX 4 | Michael Brantley, LF | 5 | 0 | 3 | 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 | 20.4 | 27.8 | 91.5 | 120.9 | +13.0 |
| Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 15.1 | 17.1 | 34.8 | 34.8 | +13.1 |
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 9.7 | 17.4 | 70.7 | 72.7 | +2.0 |
| Miley, Wade 3006 | pi sp | cin nl | 8.7 | 9.7 | 30.1 | 60.5 | +7.7 |
| Freeland, Kyle 3763 | pi sp | col nl | 6.0 | 7.0 | 26.4 | 26.4 | +5.0 |
| Reyes, Alex 3706 | pi cp | stl nl | 5.7 | 6.7 | 10.4 | 10.4 | +4.7 |
| Hernandez, Carlos 4466 | pi sp mr | kc al | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +5.0 |
| Soler, Jorge 3403 | dh rf | atl nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 18.2 | 22.4 | +4.0 |
| Espino, Paolo 4443 | pi sp | dc nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Lopez, Reynaldo 3712 | pi mr sp | chi al | 3.7 | 3.7 | 24.5 | 24.5 | +3.7 |
| Brantley, Michael 2785 | dh lf | hou al | 3.0 | 4.0 | 7.5 | 27.9 | +2.0 |
| Reyes, Victor 3984 | rf ph | det al | 2.5 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | +1.0 |
| Zunino, Mike 3390 | ca | tb al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 9.5 | 13.0 | +2.0 |
| Arauz, Jonathan 4363 | 2b ss | bos al | 1.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | +0.5 |
| Albers, Andrew 3249 | pi sp | min al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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