Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, extending his lead 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 Wednesday, Sept. 1.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 22.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.1 |
| 3 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 17.1 |
| 4 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 17.1 |
| 5 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 6 | Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 16.4 |
| 7 | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi sp | mil nl | 15.1 |
| 8 | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 15.1 |
| 9 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 15.1 |
| 10 | Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Wednesday, Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer extended his lead among National League pitchers in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning NL Player of the Day honors. Plus, Nick Castellanos of the Reds rises to first place among NL batters in 2021 Box-Toppers points after earning NL Batter of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Cole struck out 15 over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Angels.
Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 22.4 for the season, extending his overall lead over second-place Scherzer (19.1). He also extends his lead among AL pitchers over second-place Shohei Ohtani of the Angels (15.1).
Cole now has 122.9 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 45th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his 2.0 points Wednesday, he passes Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (122.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 44th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1). Passing deGrom, Cole ranks 14th among active players in career points, fourth among active AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer struck out nine over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 4-3 win over the Braves. Scherzer did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Dodgers lost the lead after he exited.
Scherzer earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 19.1 for the season, maintaining his second-place spot in season player rankings, but actually falling 0.3 points farther behind first-place player Cole, who earned 2.0 points Wednesday as overall Player of the Day. Scherzer increases his lead among NL pitchers ahead of second-place Brandon Woodruff of the Brewers (17.1).
Scherzer now has 220.3 career Box-Toppers points, fourth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails third-ranked player Pedro Martinez (244.8). Scherzer ranks second among active players and second among active NL pitchers in career points behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (246.6).
National League Batter of the Day—Nick Castellanos of the Reds hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the 12-2, seven-inning win over the Cardinals. Castellanos went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in six runs.
Castellanos earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.5 for the season, 26th among all players and rising to first among NL batters, passing previous leader Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres (9.2 points).
Castellanos becomes the 34th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. He is the third batter to reach the milestone after Shohei Ohtani of the Angels (15.1) and J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox (10.7). He is the first NL batter to reach 10 points. This is his first season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. His previous best season was 2018 with the Tigers when he had 6.5 Box-Toppers points, 14th among AL batters.
American League Batter of the Day—Gavin Sheets of the White Sox hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, in the 6-3 win over the Pirates. Sheets went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs.
Debut—Brendan Rodgers of the Rockies made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Rodgers (HR 2B 2-4 2R 3BI in the 9-5 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut May 17, 2019, and was playing in his 107th career game.
Scoring—Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Scherzer earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Castellanos and Sheets each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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).| 9/1 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +16.0 | NYY 4, LAA 1 | Gerrit Cole, (W 14‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 15 | |
| NL | +12.0 | `LAD 4, ATL 3 | Max Scherzer | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| BAT | +8.0 | CIN 12, STL 2 (F/7) | Nick Castellanos, RF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +8.0 | CHC 3, MIN 0 | Adbert Alzolay, (S 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | CHW 6, PIT 3 | Gavin Sheets, DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | STL 5, CIN 4 (F/7) | Paul Goldschmidt, 1B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +5.0 | `SEA 1, HOU 0 | Logan Gilbert | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +4.0 | MIL 5, SF 2 | Lorenzo Cain, CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | DET 8, OAK 6 | Harold Castro, 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | COL 9, TEX 5 | Brendan Rodgers, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | ARI 8, SD 3 | Luke Weaver, (W 3‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | TOR 5, BAL 4 | Jordan Romano, (S 15) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | BOS 3, TB 2 | Adam Ottavino, (S 11) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | CLE 5, KC 3 (F/11) | Trevor Stephan, (S 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 22.4 | 29.8 | 93.5 | 122.9 | +15.0 |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.1 | 23.1 | 114.3 | 220.3 | +15.1 |
| Castellanos, Nicholas 3349 | rf | cin nl | 10.5 | 11.5 | 33.0 | 41.2 | +9.5 |
| Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | stl nl | 5.5 | 5.5 | 32.4 | 67.8 | +5.5 |
| Alzolay, Adbert 4170 | pi sp | chi nl | 5.0 | 7.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 | +2.3 |
| Weaver, Luke 3719 | pi sp | ari nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 25.7 | 25.7 | +5.0 |
| Gilbert, Logan 4439 | pi sp | sea al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Stephan, Trevor 4446 | pi mr cp | cle al | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | +3.7 |
| Sheets, Gavin 4457 | rf dh | chi al | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | +3.5 |
| Castro, Harold 4187 | 2b rf | det al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | +2.5 |
| Ottavino, Adam 3054 | pi mr cp | bos al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 11.0 | 15.0 | +2.0 |
| Romano, Jordan 4299 | pi cp | tor al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +0.0 |
| Cain, Lorenzo 3171 | cf | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16.5 | 30.7 | +1.0 |
| Rodgers, Brendan 4529 | 2b | col nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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