Indians pitcher Cal Quantrill is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors—Rockies pitcher German Marquez rises to third place and Athletics pitcher Chris Bassitt rises to seventh place.
Player of the Day—Quantrill struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 6-1 win over the Tigers.
Quantrill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, 205th among all players and 60th among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Rockies pitcher German Marquez struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, int he 14-2 win over the Marlins.
Marquez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 15.4 for the season, rising from fifth to third in season player rankings, behind Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (16.7 points) and Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole (16.4). Marquez ranks second among NL pitchers behind deGrom.
American League Batter of the Day—Nelson Cruz of the Rays hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 2-for-6, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 10-6 win over the Orioles.
National League Batter of the Day—Tyler O'Neill of the Cardinals homered, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in one run, in the 4-2 win over the Royals.
Rankings—Athletics pitcher Chris Bassitt rose from 10th to seventh in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Bassitt (7IP 5H R 0BB 8K ND in the 4-1, 11-inning win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.7 for the season, third among AL pitchers, behind Gerrit Cole of the Yankees (16.4) and Tyler Glasnow of the Rays (12.7). Though Glasnow and Bassitt both have 12.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, Glasnow ranks higher because he has more 2020 points—8.0 vs. 6.4.
Notable—White Sox pitcher Lance Lynn now has 102.4 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. He also is the 16th player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points in 2021.
Lynn (6IP 4H R 2BB 8K ND in the 8-6, 10-inning win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, 14th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers. This is Lynn’s sixth season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. His best season was 2012 with the Cardinals when he had 17.7 points, eighth overall and sixth among NL pitchers.
Lynn’s 102.4 career points ranks 77th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his 1.0 point Friday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2) and Miguel Tejada (102.3). Lynn trails 76th-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Lynn ranks 21st among active players in career points, seventh among active AL pitchers.
Also notable—Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes becomes the 17th player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points this season after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Burnes (7IP 4H R BB 5K ND in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.1 for the season, 17th among all players and 11th among NL pitchers.
This is Burnes’s first season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. His previous best season was 2020 with the Brewers when he had 7.7 Box-Toppers points, 11th overall and seventh among NL pitchers.
Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Matt Peacock made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Peacock (4.2IP 3H 0R 0BB 4K W in the 8-5 win over the Padres) made his Major League debut April 6 and was playing in his 28th career game.
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. 6.| 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 | Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 15.4 |
| 4 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 15.1 |
| 5 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 14.4 |
| 6 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 12.7 |
| 7 | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | oak al | 12.7 |
| 8 | Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 12.7 |
| 9 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.4 |
| 10 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 12.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Scoring—Quantrill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Marquez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Cruz and O’Neill 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).| 8/6 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +13.0 | CLE 6, DET 1 | Cal Quantrill, (W 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| NL | +10.0 | COL 14, MIA 2 | German Márquez, (W 10‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| +8.0 | `OAK 4, TEX 1 (F/11) | Chris Bassitt | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| +6.0 | `CHW 8, CHC 6 (F/10) | Lance Lynn | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| +5.2 | ARI 8, SD 5 | Matt Peacock, (W 5‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +5.0 | `MIL 2, SF 1 (F/10) | Corbin Burnes | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +4.0 | CIN 10, PIT 0 | Wade Miley, (W 9‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| +3.1 | MIN 5, HOU 4 (F/11) | Juan Minaya, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | TB 10, BAL 6 | Nelson Cruz, DH | 6 | 2 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | TOR 12, BOS 4 | Teoscar Hernández, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | STL 4, KC 2 | Tyler O'Neill, LF | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | ATL 8, WSH 4 | Freddie Freeman, 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | LAA 4, LAD 3 (F/10) | Jose Iglesias, SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | PHI 4, NYM 2 | Didi Gregorius, SS | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | NYY 3, SEA 2 (F/11) | Brett Gardner, PH‑CF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 15.4 | 18.4 | 45.5 | 45.5 | +12.4 |
| Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | oak al | 12.7 | 19.1 | 27.8 | 31.8 | +6.3 |
| Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 | 19.8 | 46.5 | 102.4 | +1.6 |
| Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi sp | mil nl | 10.1 | 17.8 | 20.8 | 20.8 | +2.4 |
| Miley, Wade 3006 | pi sp | cin nl | 6.0 | 7.0 | 27.4 | 57.8 | +5.0 |
| Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 4.5 | 8.0 | 36.2 | 67.4 | +1.0 |
| O’Neill, Tyler 4074 | lf | stl nl | 3.5 | 6.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | +1.0 |
| Gregorius, Didi 3184 | ss | phi nl | 3.0 | 6.5 | 17.7 | 22.2 | ‑0.5 |
| Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224 | dh | tb al | 3.0 | 6.0 | 33.0 | 80.2 | +0.0 |
| Quantrill, Cal 4195 | pi sp mr | cle al | 3.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | +1.0 |
| Hernandez, Teoscar 3713 | rf lf | tor al | 2.5 | 4.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 | +1.0 |
| Iglesias, Jose 3532 | ss | ana al | 1.0 | 2.5 | 18.5 | 19.5 | ‑0.5 |
| Gardner, Brett 2486 | cf ph | nyy al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 17.7 | 36.2 | +0.0 |
| Minaya, Juan 3913 | pi cp mr | min al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +1.0 |
| Peacock, Matt 4502 | pi mr | ari nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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