Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, extending his lead among National League pitchers in 2021 Box-Toppers points.
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 Monday, Sept. 6.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 22.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.1 |
| 3 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 18.1 |
| 4 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 17.1 |
| 5 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 6 | Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 16.4 |
| 7 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp | ana al | 16.1 |
| 8 | Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.4 |
| 9 | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi sp | mil nl | 15.1 |
| 10 | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 15.1 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Monday, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Wheeler rises to second place among NL pitchers behind Scherzer.
Player of the Day—Scherzer struck out 13 over eight innings, allowing one run (none earned), six hits and no walks, in the 5-1 win over the Cardinals.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 21.1 for the season, maintaining his second-place spot in season player rankings, behind Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole (22.4). Scherzer extends his lead among NL pitchers ahead of Zack Wheeler of the Phillies (18.1), who also earned Player of the Game honors Monday.
Scherzer becomes the second player this season to reach 20 Box-Toppers points after Cole. It is his sixth season with 20 or more points, now tied for the third-most seasons with 20 points with Pedro Martinez (see chart Most seasons with 20+ Box-Toppers points). Two players—Randy Johnson and Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw—have both earned 20 or more points in seven different seasons.
Previously, Scherzer earned 20 or more points in five straight seasons from 2014 to 2018:
Most seasons with 20+ Box-Toppers points
Max Scherzer has now earned 20 or more Box-Toppers points in six different seasons, tied for the third-most of any player since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. Here are the 10 players with the most seasons with 20 or more Box-Toppers points.| Player | 20-pt seasons | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Randy Johnson | 7 |
| Clayton Kershaw | 7 | |
| 3 | Pedro Martinez | 6 |
| Max Scherzer | 6 | |
| 5 | Curt Schilling | 4 |
| Justin Verlander | 4 | |
| 7 | Johan Santana | 3 |
| Zack Greinke | 3 | |
| Corey Kluber | 3 | |
| Stephen Strasburg | 3 |
2014—22.1 points with the Tigers, fifth overall and second among American League pitchers.
2015—21.0 points with the Nationals, sixth overall and fourth among NL pitchers.
2016—25.7, Nationals, first overall.
2017—25.0, Nationals, second overall and first among NL pitchers.
2018—25.1, Nationals, second overall and first among NL pitchers.
In 2019, Scherzer had 15.1 points with the Nationals, ninth among NL pitchers and in the pandemic-shorted 2020 season, he had 4.0 points with the Nationals, 18th among NL pitchers.
Scherzer began the 2021 season with the Nationals before being acquired by the Dodgers at the July trade deadline. He earned 10.7 points with the Nationals and has earned 10.4 points since moving to the Dodgers. Since July 30, he has risen from seventh among NL pitchers to first.
Scherzer now has 222.3 career Box-Toppers points, fourth-most among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails third-ranked player Pedro Martinez (244.8). Scherzer ranks second among active players in career points behind teammate Clayton Kershaw (246.6).
American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher A.J. Alexy struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks, in the 4-0 win over the Angels.
American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Tucker of the Astros hit two doubles and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 11-2 win over the Mariners.
Tucker earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.2 for the season, 10th among AL batters.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Monday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors in the 12 games completed.
Rankings—Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler rises from fourth to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Wheeler (6IP 5H 0R 0BB 9K W in the 12-0 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 18.1 for the season, rising to second among NL pitchers behind Scherzer (21.1).
Notable—Giants pitcher Kevin Gausman now has 11.7 Box-Toppers points in 2021 after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Gausman (7IP 5H 3R BB 9K W in the 10-5 win over the Rockies) is 19th in Box-Toppers season player rankings, 13th among NL pitchers.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Monday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Nationals pitcher Kyle Finnegan (2IP H 0R BB 2K W in the 4-3 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut July 25, 2020, and was playing in his 83rd career game.
Cubs pitcher Scott Effross (2IP H 0R 0BB K W in the 4-3 win over the Reds) made his Major League debut Aug. 29 and was playing in his fourth career game.
Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Alexy earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Tucker earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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).| 9/5 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +14.0 | LAD 5, STL 1 | Max Scherzer, (W 13‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | |
| +10.0 | PHI 12, MIL 0 | Zack Wheeler, (W 12‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||
| AL | +10.0 | TEX 4, LAA 0 | A.J. Alexy, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| +9.0 | TOR 8, NYY 0 | Hyun Jin Ryu, (W 13‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | HOU 11, SEA 2 | Kyle Tucker, RF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | SF 10, COL 5 | Kevin Gausman, (W 13‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | ||
| +4.0 | PIT 6, DET 3 | David Bednar, (S 3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | TB 11, BOS 10 (F/10) | Nelson Cruz, DH | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | MIN 5, CLE 2 | Michael Pineda, (W 5‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +2.2 | KC 3, BAL 2 | Domingo Tapia, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +2.0 | WSH 4, NYM 3 | Kyle Finnegan, (W 5‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | CHC 4, CIN 3 | Scott Effross, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.1 | 25.1 | 116.3 | 222.3 | +17.1 |
| Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 18.1 | 19.1 | 39.8 | 51.5 | +17.1 |
| Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.7 | 12.7 | 41.3 | 54.7 | +10.7 |
| Ryu, Hyun Jin 3139 | pi sp | tor al | 9.0 | 15.0 | 47.5 | 68.6 | +3.0 |
| Pineda, Michael 2841 | pi sp | min al | 7.0 | 8.7 | 23.7 | 51.8 | +5.3 |
| Tucker, Kyle 4277 | rf | hou al | 6.2 | 11.2 | 11.2 | 11.2 | +1.2 |
| Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224 | dh | tb al | 4.0 | 7.0 | 34.0 | 81.2 | +1.0 |
| Alexy, A.J. 4528 | pi sp | tex al | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | +2.7 |
| Bednar, David 4499 | pi cp | pit nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Tapia, Domingo 4490 | pi mr | kc al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Effross, Scott 4536 | pi mr | chi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Finnegan, Kyle 4535 | pi cp | dc nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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