Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 after both earn Player of the Game honors: Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes rises to fourth place and Blue Jays pitcher Robbie Ray rises to fifth. Plus, Nick Castellanos of the Reds extends his 2021 Box-Toppers points lead among National League batters after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Player of the Day—Suarez pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking none, in the 3-0 win over the Pirates.
Suarez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season, 76th among all players and 36th among NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Eli Morgan struck out six over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 6-0 win over the White Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Harrison Bader of the Cardinals homered, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 8-5 win over the Cubs.
American League Batter of the Day—Phil Gosselin of the Angels went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 14-1 win over the Mariners.
Gosselin just edged out teammate Shohei Ohtani to earn Player of the Game. Both Gosselin and Ohtani (3B 2-3 3R 3BI) had Box-Toppers game scores of +5.0, but Gosselin had the tiebreaking edge because he had more runs batted in (four vs. three).
Had Ohtani won Player of the Game honors, he also would have won AL Batter of the Day honors, giving him an additional 1.5 Box-Toppers points for 17.6 for the season, rising to sixth place overall. Not only that, but winning Player of the Game honors as a batter, Ohtani would have again qualified to be ranked among batters in 2021 Box-Toppers points and would have gone from entirely unranked to leading all AL batters, ahead of current leader Jose Ramirez of the Indians (12.0 points).
But Ohtani currently still ranks only as a pitcher because the overwhelming majority of his Player of the Game honors have come at that position. To be ranked at a position a player must earn more than 25 percent of their Player of the Game honors at that position. Currently, Ohtani has won three of his 12 Player of the Game honors as a designated hitter, just 25 percent, not enough to be ranked with batters. The other nine Player of the Game honors have come as a starting pitcher.
Burnes—Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes rises from sixth to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Burnes (7IP 5H R BB 9K W in the 2-1 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 18.1 for the season. He ranks third among NL pitchers, behind Max Scherzer of the Dodgers (25.1) and Zack Wheeler of the Phillies (21.1).
Ray—Blue Jays pitcher Robbie Ray rises from ninth to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Ray (6IP 3H R 4BB 6K W in the 6-1 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.7 for the season. He maintains his second-place rank among AL pitchers, behind Gerrit Cole of the Yankees (22.4).
Castellanos—Nick Castellanos of the Reds extends his lead among NL batters in 2021 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Castellanos (HR 2-3 2R 3BI in the 7-6 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.5 for the season. He ranks 29th among all players and extends his lead over second-place NL batter Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres (10.2 points).
Also notable—Athletics pitcher Sean Manaea now has 15.7 Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Manaea (7IP 3H R BB 8K ND in the 2-1 win over the Astros) now ranks 11th among all players and fourth among AL pitchers.
One other notable thing—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers now has 158.4 career Box-Toppers points—19th-most since 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Cabrera (2B 3-4 R 4BI in the 5-1 win over the Royals) now trails 18th-ranked player John Smoltz (160.9) on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list (tracking began in 1995). He ranks eighth among active players in career points, fourth among all batters since 1995 and second among active batters, behind Albert Pujols of the Dodgers (204.8).
Cabrera now has 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 32nd among AL batters.
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 Saturday, Sept. 25.| 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 | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi sp | mil nl | 18.1 |
| 5 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | tor al | 17.7 |
| 6 | Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 17.4 |
| 7 | Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 17.4 |
| 8 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 17.1 |
| 9 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 10 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp | ana al | 16.1 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Scoring—Suarez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Morgan earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Bader and Gosselin each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
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).| 9/25 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +12.0 | PHI 3, PIT 0 | Ranger Suárez, (W 7‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| AL | +10.0 | CLE 6, CHW 0 | Eli Morgan, (W 4‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| +9.0 | `OAK 2, HOU 1 | Sean Manaea | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| +8.0 | MIL 2, NYM 1 | Corbin Burnes, (W 11‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | ||
| +7.0 | ARI 7, LAD 2 | Zac Gallen, (W 3‑10) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | STL 8, CHC 5 | Harrison Bader, CF | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +5.0 | LAA 14, SEA 1 | Phil Gosselin, LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | NYY 5, BOS 3 | Luis Severino, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +4.0 | ATL 10, SD 8 | Jorge Soler, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | SF 7, COL 2 | Brandon Belt, 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | DET 5, KC 1 | Miguel Cabrera, DH | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | CIN 7, WSH 6 | Nick Castellanos, RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | TOR 6, MIN 1 | Robbie Ray, (W 13‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | ||
| +2.0 | TB 7, MIA 3 | Mike Zunino, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | BAL 3, TEX 2 | Kelvin Gutierrez, 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi sp | mil nl | 18.1 | 25.8 | 28.8 | 28.8 | +10.4 |
| Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | tor al | 17.7 | 18.7 | 57.8 | 61.8 | +16.7 |
| Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 15.7 | 17.7 | 44.2 | 44.2 | +13.7 |
| Castellanos, Nicholas 3349 | rf | cin nl | 11.5 | 12.5 | 34.0 | 42.2 | +10.5 |
| Suarez, Ranger 4228 | pi mr sp | phi nl | 8.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +8.0 |
| Belt, Brandon 2943 | 1b | sf nl | 7.0 | 10.7 | 28.2 | 41.7 | +3.3 |
| Soler, Jorge 3403 | rf dh | atl nl | 6.0 | 6.0 | 20.2 | 24.4 | +6.0 |
| Morgan, Eli 4497 | pi sp | cle al | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | +5.4 |
| Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 5.0 | 7.5 | 25.5 | 158.4 | +2.5 |
| Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | ari nl | 4.0 | 10.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 | ‑2.0 |
| Gosselin, Philip 3398 | 1b lf | ana al | 3.5 | 6.2 | 8.2 | 10.2 | +0.8 |
| Bader, Harrison 4071 | cf | stl nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | +2.0 |
| Zunino, Mike 3390 | ca | tb al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 10.5 | 14.0 | +3.0 |
| Gutierrez, Kelvin 4541 | 3b | bal al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Severino, Luis 3567 | pi mr sp | nyy al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 43.8 | 46.8 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default view.