Rangers pitcher Jordan Lyles is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Lyles struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 8-1 win over the Astros.
Lyles earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, 118th among all players and 42nd among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Erick Fedde struck out eight over five innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 8-2 win over the Marlins
Fedde earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season, 34th among all players and 20th among NL pitchers.
Fedde becomes the 39th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. This is his first season with 10 or more points. His previous high was 2019 with the Nationals when he had 2.0 points.
American League Batter of the Day—Ryan Jeffers of the Twins homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 6-3, seven-inning win over the Indians.
National League Batter of the Day—Tyler O'Neill of the Cardinals homered and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-6, 11-inning win over the Mets.
Notable—In addition to Fedde, three other players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points in 2021 earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday:
Red Sox pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (5IP 5H 2R ER BB 9K ND in the 9-4 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.4 for the season, most among Tuesday’s 16 Player of the Game winners. He ranks 20th among all players, eighth among AL pitchers.
Giants pitcher Anthony DeSclafani (6.2IP 3H R BB 3K W in the 6-1 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season, 23rd among all players and 15th among NL pitchers.
Indians pitcher Triston McKenzie (6IP 3H R BB 7K W in the 3-1, seven-inning win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season, 33rd among all players and 12th among AL pitchers. McKenzie becomes the 40th player this season with 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his first season with 10 or more points. His previous high season was 2020 with the Indians, when he had 4.0 points, 23rd among AL 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 Tuesday, Sept. 14.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | lad nl | 23.1 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 22.4 |
| 3 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 19.1 |
| 4 | Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 17.4 |
| 5 | Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 17.4 |
| 6 | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi sp | mil nl | 17.1 |
| 7 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 17.1 |
| 8 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 9 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp | ana al | 16.1 |
| 10 | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 15.1 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also notable—Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole fell short of earning Player of the Game honors and reclaiming the overall lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Cole, second place overall with 22.4 Box-Toppers points in 2021, had a chance to reclaim the lead Tuesday over Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer (23.1), who rose past Cole to the top spot Sunday.
And while the Yankees won 7-2 Tuesday over the Orioles, Cole just missed earning the Player of the Game honor which would have enabled him to pass Scherzer. Instead, middle reliever Michael King earned Player of the Game honors (3IP 0H 0R BB 2K ND) with a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0. Cole had a game score of +3.0 (5IP 4H R 3BB 7K W).
Though King did not pick up the decision, he qualified to be automatically considered for Player of the Game honors because he pitched at least three innings. (Pitchers with fewer than three innings pitched who do not earn a win or a save must have at least the same innings pitched and a higher Box-Toppers game score as the pitcher who otherwise would be the game’s top player to earn Player of the Game honors.)
In addition, this was King’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. King made his Major League debut Sept. 27, 2019, and was playing in his 26th career game.
Debut—In addition to King, two other players made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen (5IP 2H 0R BB 3K W in the 2-0 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut Aug. 19, 2020, and was playing in his 45th career game.
Kyle Isbel of the Royals (HR 2B 3-4 3R 2BI in the 10-7 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut April 1 and was playing in his 14th career game.
Scoring—Lyles earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Fedde earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Jeffers and O’Neill each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’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).| 9/14 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +10.0 | TEX 8, HOU 1 | Jordan Lyles, (W 9‑11) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| NL | +8.0 | WSH 8, MIA 2 | Erick Fedde, (W 7‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |
| +7.0 | CLE 3, MIN 1 (F/7) | Triston McKenzie, (W 5‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +7.0 | `DET 1, MIL 0 (F/11) | Wily Peralta | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| +7.0 | LAD 8, ARI 4 | Tony Gonsolin, (W 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +6.0 | MIN 6, CLE 3 (F/7) | Ryan Jeffers, C | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | CHW 9, LAA 3 | Gavin Sheets, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +5.0 | TB 2, TOR 0 | Drew Rasmussen, (W 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +5.0 | `BOS 8, SEA 4 | Nathan Eovaldi | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | ||
| +4.0 | KC 10, OAK 7 | Kyle Isbel, CF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | PIT 6, CIN 5 | Dillon Peters, (W 1‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +4.0 | CHC 6, PHI 3 | Rowan Wick, (S 4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +4.0 | `NYY 7, BAL 2 | Michael King | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +3.2 | SF 6, SD 1 | Anthony DeSclafani, (W 12‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | STL 7, NYM 6 (F/11) | Tyler O'Neill, LF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +1.0 | COL 5, ATL 4 | Garrett Hampson, CF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | bos al | 12.4 | 16.4 | 32.8 | 51.9 | +8.4 |
| DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.7 | 14.4 | 29.4 | 37.1 | +9.0 |
| McKenzie, Triston 4303 | pi sp | cle al | 10.4 | 14.4 | 14.4 | 14.4 | +6.4 |
| Fedde, Erick 4065 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.4 | 11.4 | 15.1 | 15.1 | +9.4 |
| O’Neill, Tyler 4074 | lf | stl nl | 6.5 | 9.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | +4.0 |
| Lyles, Jordan 3100 | pi sp | tex al | 6.0 | 6.0 | 19.7 | 26.4 | +6.0 |
| Hampson, Garrett 4252 | cf | col nl | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | +4.5 |
| Sheets, Gavin 4457 | rf dh | chi al | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | +4.5 |
| Peralta, Wily 3123 | pi sp | det al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 9.0 | 27.0 | +4.0 |
| Gonsolin, Tony 4211 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.7 | 8.4 | 11.4 | 11.4 | ‑1.0 |
| Jeffers, Ryan 4432 | ca | min al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | +2.5 |
| Wick Rowan 4217 | pi cp | chi nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +1.0 |
| Peters, Dillon 4524 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Isbel, Kyle 4548 | cf | kc al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| King, Michael 4549 | pi mr | nyy al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Rasmussen, Drew 4547 | pi sp | tb al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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