Giants pitcher Alex Wood is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, two pitchers with the most Box-Toppers points in 2021 both failed to earn Player of the Game honors. Max Scherzer of the Dodgers (ranked first with 25.1 Box-Toppers points) and Gerrit Cole of the Yankees (ranked second with 22.4 points) both started but did not add to their Box-Toppers point total. With four days remaining in the regular season, it is now extremely unlikely Cole can catch Scherzer, who he trails by 2.7 points, making it extremely likely that Scherzer will be Box-Toppers’ 2021 Player of the Year.
Player of the Day—Wood struck out six over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Diamondbacks. Wood did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited the game in a scoreless tie.
Wood earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.0 for the season, 21st among all players and 14th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher Nathan Eovaldi struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 6-0 win over the Orioles.
Eovaldi earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 14.1 for the season, 15th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Salvador Perez of the Royals hit a three-run homer and went 1-for-2, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 10-5 win over the Indians.
Perez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season, 44th among AL batters.
This is the second straight day Perez has earned Player of the Game honors. He was also Player of the Game Tuesday in the 6-4 win over the Indians (HR 2B 2-3 3R BI). He’s earned 2.5 of his 4.5 points for the season in the past two days.
National League Batter of the Day—Willson Contreras of the Cubs doubled and went 2-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 3-2 win over the Pirates.
Contreras earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.5 for the season, 26th among NL 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 Wednesday, Sept. 29.| 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
Leaders—Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer and Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, the top two players in 2021 Box-Toppers points, both started Wednesday, but neither earned Player of the Game honors.
Scherzer was not the Dodgers’ top player in the 11-9 win over the Padres (5.1IP 11H 6R 5ER 0BB 4K ND). He had a Box-Toppers game score of -12.9. Player of the Game was Dodgers closing pitcher Kenley Jansen (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K Sv).
Scherzer leads Box-Toppers season player rankings with 25.1 Box-Toppers points, 2.7 points ahead of second-place overall player Cole (22.4) and 4.0 points ahead of second-place NL pitcher Zack Wheeler of the Phillies (21.1).
Cole did not earn Player of the Game honors in the Yankees’ 6-5 loss to the Blue Jays Wednesday (6IP 9H 5R 0BB 6K ND). He had a Box-Toppers game score of -7.0. Player of the Game was Blue Jays pitcher Jose Berrios (6IP 4H 3R 0BB 7K ND), with a game score of +3.0.
With only four days left in the regular season, it is extremely unlikely Cole can catch Scherzer, who he trails by 2.7 points. He would need at least two appearances to earn that many points and is unlikely to start another regular season game unless the Yankees are forced to play a tiebreaker game to qualify for a postseason spot.
Cole does hold a commanding, all-but-insurmountable lead among AL players and AL pitchers—a 4.7-point lead over second-place player, Blue Jays pitcher Robbie Ray (17.7).
Notable—In addition and Wood and Eovaldi, two other players with more than 10 Box-Toppers points in 2021 earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday:
Braves pitcher Max Fried (7IP 4H 2R ER 0BB 6K W in the 7-2 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.8 for the season, 29th among all players and 18th among NL pitchers.
White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon (5IP H 0R 2BB 4K W in the 6-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season, 32nd among all players and 11th among AL pitchers.
Debut—Rockies pitcher Ashton Goudeau made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Goudeau (2.1IP H 0R 2BB 4K W in the 10-5 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut Aug. 19, 2020, and was playing in his 19th career game.
Scoring—Wood earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Eovaldi earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Perez and Contreras 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.
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).| 9/29 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.0 | `SF 1, ARI 0 | Alex Wood | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| AL | +8.0 | BOS 6, BAL 0 | Nathan Eovaldi, (W 11‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| +6.0 | ATL 7, PHI 2 | Max Fried, (W 14‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +6.0 | CHW 6, CIN 1 | Carlos Rodón (W 13‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| +6.0 | TB 7, HOU 0 | Drew Rasmussen, (W 4‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +4.0 | LAA 7, TEX 2 | Jose Quijada, (W 1‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +4.0 | LAD 11, SD 9 | Kenley Jansen, (S 37) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.1 | COL 10, WSH 5 | Ashton Goudeau, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | KC 10, CLE 5 | Salvador Perez, C | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | MIA 3, NYM 2 | Dylan Floro, (S 13) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | `TOR 6, NYY 5 | Jose Berríos | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | ||
| +2.2 | `SEA 4, OAK 2 | Logan Gilbert | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| +2.0 | MIN 5, DET 2 | Jorge Polanco, DH | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +1.0 | CHC 3, PIT 2 | Willson Contreras, C | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +1.0 | MIL 4, STL 0 | Daniel Vogelbach, 1B | 4 | 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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | bos al | 14.1 | 18.1 | 34.5 | 53.6 | +10.1 |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | sf nl | 13.0 | 13.0 | 34.7 | 53.1 | +13.0 |
| Fried, Max 4011 | pi sp | atl nl | 11.8 | 17.5 | 28.5 | 28.5 | +6.1 |
| Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | chi al | 11.7 | 11.7 | 28.7 | 36.8 | +11.7 |
| Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | tor al | 9.4 | 12.4 | 49.9 | 49.9 | +6.4 |
| Gilbert, Logan 4439 | pi sp | sea al | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | +7.0 |
| Polanco, Jorge 3739 | 2b | min al | 6.7 | 6.7 | 15.7 | 15.7 | +6.7 |
| Jansen, Kenley 2871 | pi cp | lad nl | 6.0 | 7.0 | 27.0 | 57.4 | +5.0 |
| Contreras, Willson 3776 | ca | chi nl | 5.5 | 7.5 | 20.0 | 20.0 | +3.5 |
| Perez, Salvador 2972 | ca | kc al | 4.5 | 4.5 | 19.0 | 36.7 | +4.5 |
| Vogelbach, Daniel 4070 | dh 1b ph | mil nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 13.5 | 13.5 | ‑1.0 |
| Floro, Dylan 3970 | pi mr cp | fla nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +2.0 |
| Rasmussen, Drew 4547 | pi sp | tb al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Quijada, Jose 4202 | pi mr | ana al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +1.0 |
| Goudeau, Ashton 4564 | pi mr | col nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +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.