Reds pitcher Luis Castillo is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler becomes the third player this season to reach 20 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors, maintaining his third-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Player of the Day—Castillo struck out 10 over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing five hits and two walks, in the 3-1 win over the Dodgers.
Castillo earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.0 for the season, 51st among all players and 30th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease struck out 10 over five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks, in the 8-0 win over the Rangers.
Cease earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, 22nd among all players and ninth among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Dylan Carlson of the Cardinals hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the 8-2 win over the Padres. Carlson went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Joey Gallo of the Yankees hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 8-0 win over the Indians.
Rankings—Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler maintains his overall third-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings and becomes the third player this season with 20 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Wheeler (5IP 4H R BB 6K W in the 4-3 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 20.1 for the season, third overall behind Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer (23.1) and Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole (22.4). Wheeler also maintains his second-place spot among NL pitchers behind Scherzer.
This is Wheeler’s first season with 20 Box-Toppers points. His previous best season was 2018 with the Mets when he had 10.7 Box-Toppers points, 24th among NL pitchers.
Notable—Giants pitcher Logan Webb now has 13.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 16th among all players, after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Webb (7IP 6H 2R 0BB 9K ND in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the Braves) ranks 11th among NL pitchers in 2021 Box-Toppers points.
Also notable—Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale now has 144.6 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Sale (5IP 2H R 0BB K W in the 7-1 win over the Orioles) ranks 29th among all players in career points since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 28th-ranked player David Ortiz (145.9). Sale ranks ninth among active players in career points, third among active AL pitchers behind Zack Greinke of the Astros (217.8) and Justin Verlander of the Astros (206.6).
Sale now has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 119th 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 Friday, Sept. 17.| 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 | 20.1 |
| 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 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | tor al | 16.7 |
| 10 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp | ana al | 16.1 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Scoring—Castillo earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cease earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Carlson and Gallo 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).| 9/17 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.1 | CIN 3, LAD 1 | Luis Castillo, (W 8‑15) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |
| AL | +9.0 | CHW 8, TEX 0 | Dylan Cease, (W 12‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |
| +6.0 | `SF 6, ATL 5 (F/11) | Logan Webb | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | STL 8, SD 2 | Dylan Carlson, RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | MIL 8, CHC 5 | Aaron Ashby, (W 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | NYY 8, CLE 0 | Joey Gallo, LF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | SEA 6, KC 2 | Jarred Kelenic, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | PHI 4, NYM 3 | Zack Wheeler, (W 14‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +4.0 | PIT 2, MIA 1 | Wil Crowe, (W 4‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +3.0 | COL 9, WSH 8 | Brendan Rodgers, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | TB 7, DET 4 (F/10) | Yandy Díaz, PH‑1B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | BOS 7, BAL 1 | Chris Sale, (W 4‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.0 | MIN 7, TOR 3 | Jorge Polanco, SS | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | OAK 5, LAA 4 | Matt Olson, 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | HOU 4, ARI 3 (F/10) | Jose Altuve, 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 20.1 | 21.1 | 41.8 | 53.5 | +19.1 |
| Webb, Logan 4258 | pi sp | sf nl | 13.0 | 14.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 | +12.0 |
| Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | chi al | 12.4 | 12.4 | 14.4 | 14.4 | +12.4 |
| Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | pi sp | cin nl | 9.0 | 14.0 | 44.8 | 44.8 | +4.0 |
| Olson, Matt 3836 | 1b | oak al | 8.0 | 9.0 | 19.7 | 19.7 | +7.0 |
| Polanco, Jorge 3739 | 2b | min al | 5.7 | 5.7 | 14.7 | 14.7 | +5.7 |
| Gallo, Joey 3485 | rf lf | nyy al | 5.5 | 5.5 | 23.0 | 24.5 | +5.5 |
| Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 5.5 | 5.5 | 26.5 | 43.0 | +5.5 |
| Kelenic, Jarred 4408 | cf lf | sea al | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | +3.5 |
| Diaz, Yandy 3896 | 1b 3b ph | tb al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | +3.0 |
| Crowe, Wil 4486 | pi sp | pit nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +3.0 |
| Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 71.6 | 144.6 | +2.0 |
| Ashby, Aaron 4511 | pi sp mr | mil nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Rodgers, Brendan 4529 | 2b | col nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Carlson, Dylan 4359 | rf | stl nl | 1.5 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +0.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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