White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, 2021 Box-Toppers points leader Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer moved closer to securing Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors after second-place player, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole did not earn Box-Toppers points in his start. Cole trails Scherzer by 2.7 Box-Toppers points with a week left in the season.
Player of the Day—Cease struck out nine over 5 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Indians.
Cease earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.4 for the season, 13th among all players and fifth among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Braves pitcher Max Fried pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out four and walking none, in the 4-0 win over the Padres.
Fried earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.8 for the season, 31st among all players and 19th among NL pitchers.
Fried becomes the 46th player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points this season. It is his second season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. He also did it in 2019 with the Braves, when he had 10.0 points, 22nd among NL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Lars Nootbaar of the Cardinals hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 12-4, seven-inning win over the Cubs.
American League Batter of the Day—Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 8-3 win over the Red Sox.
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. 24.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | lad nl | 25.1 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 22.4 |
| 3 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 21.1 |
| 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
Rankings—Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, second in 2021 Box-Toppers points, failed to gain any ground on leader Max Scherzer of the Dodgers after failing to earn Player of the Game honors in his start Friday.
Cole (6IP 5H 3H 3BB 6K W) had a Box-Toppers game score of -2.0 in Friday’s 8-3 win over the Red Sox. Player of the Game was teammate Giancarlo Stanton, who was also AL Batter of the Day, with a game score of +3.0.
Cole (22.4 Box-Toppers points) trails Scherzer (25.1) by 2.7 points and likely only has one start remaining. That means he would only be able to gain 2.0 more Box-Toppers points this season, not enough to catch Scherzer. There is the possibility still Cole could start on short rest, start a playoff tiebreaker game, pitch in relief or, more remotely, pinch hit, which would give him the opportunity to earn more than 2.7 points. But at this point, with Cole unable to pick up any Box-Toppers points Friday, Scherzer virtually locks up Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors, going to the player with the most Box-Toppers points in the season. It would be Scherzer’s second such honor. He also led players in 2016 with the Nationals when he had 25.7 Box-Toppers points.
Notable—Athletics pitcher Frankie Montas now has 12.4 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Montas (7IP 2H 2R ER 3BB 8K W in the 14-2 win over the Astros) ranks 22nd among all players in 2021 Box-Toppers points, ninth among AL pitchers.
Debut—Rangers pitcher Drew Anderson made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Anderson (3IP H 0R BB 2K ND in the 8-5 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut Aug. 1, 2017, and was playing in his 17th career game.
Scoring—Cease earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Fried earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Nootbar and Stanton 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).| 9/24 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +11.1 | CHW 1, CLE 0 | Dylan Cease, (W 13‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| NL | +10.0 | ATL 4, SD 0 | Max Fried, (W 13‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| +8.2 | MIL 5, NYM 1 | Eric Lauer, (W 7‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | ||
| +8.0 | TB 8, MIA 0 | Ryan Yarbrough, (W 9‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +7.0 | OAK 14, HOU 2 | Frankie Montas, (W 13‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| +5.1 | MIN 3, TOR 1 | Bailey Ober, (W 3‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +5.0 | LAD 4, ARI 2 | Tony Gonsolin, (W 4‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | STL 12, CHC 4 (F/7) | Lars Nootbaar, RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | PHI 8, PIT 6 | Didi Gregorius, SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | `STL 8, CHC 5 (F/7) | J.A. Happ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | NYY 8, BOS 3 | Giancarlo Stanton, DH | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | SF 7, COL 2 | Brandon Crawford, SS | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | `TEX 8, BAL 5 | Drew Anderson | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | SEA 6, LAA 5 | Ty France, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | KC 3, DET 1 | Ryan O'Hearn, DH | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | CIN 8, WSH 7 (F/11) | Delino DeShields, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | SD 6, ATL 5 (F/7) | Mark Melancon, (S 29) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | chi al | 14.4 | 14.4 | 16.4 | 16.4 | +14.4 |
| Montas, Frankie 3803 | pi sp | oak al | 12.4 | 18.4 | 30.8 | 30.8 | +6.4 |
| Fried, Max 4011 | pi sp | atl nl | 10.8 | 16.5 | 27.5 | 27.5 | +5.1 |
| Yarbrough, Ryan 3962 | pi sp mr | tb al | 9.7 | 12.7 | 32.1 | 32.1 | +6.7 |
| Crawford, Brandon 2878 | ss | sf nl | 7.5 | 7.5 | 22.7 | 37.2 | +7.5 |
| Ober, Bailey 4441 | pi sp | min al | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | +6.7 |
| Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | dh | nyy al | 6.0 | 7.0 | 35.2 | 67.9 | +5.0 |
| Lauer, Eric 4017 | pi sp | mil nl | 6.0 | 6.0 | 19.4 | 19.4 | +6.0 |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | stl nl | 5.7 | 9.7 | 54.5 | 91.0 | +1.7 |
| France, Ty 4243 | 1b | sea al | 5.5 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | +4.5 |
| Gonsolin, Tony 4211 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.7 | 9.4 | 12.4 | 12.4 | +0.0 |
| Gregorius, Didi 3184 | ss | phi nl | 4.0 | 7.5 | 18.7 | 23.2 | +0.5 |
| O’Hearn, Ryan 4043 | dh | kc al | 4.0 | 5.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | +2.5 |
| Nootbar, Lars 4507 | rf ph | stl nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | +2.5 |
| Melancon, Mark 2792 | pi cp mr | sd nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 11.0 | 32.0 | +2.0 |
| DeShields, Delino 3557 | lf ph | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 8.5 | +1.0 |
| Anderson, Drew 4559 | pi mr | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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