Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Urias struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, one hit and one walk, in the 13-1 win over the Phillies.
Read MoreRays’ Rasmussen tops players for Sunday, April 9, rising to 1st in player rankings
Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to first place in season player rankings.
Also Sunday, Giants pitcher Anthony DeSclafani rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreBox-Toppers’ big dippers—players whose 2022 point total declined most from 2021: Max Scherzer leads list
Mets pitcher Max Scherzer had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2021 to 2022.
Scherzer led all players in 2021 with 25.1 Box-Toppers points when he was with the Nationals and Dodgers. Scherzer earned 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022. While that was still 24th among National League pitchers, it was a 15.1-point decline from 2021, the biggest among all players.
Read MoreGiants’ DeSclafani, Tigers’ Skubal top players in spring training games for Monday, April 4
Giants pitcher Anthony DeSclafani is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Monday’s spring training games.
DeSclafani struck out eight over 4 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 5-3 win over the Athletics.
Read MoreAstros’ Altuve, Braves’ Minter, Dodgers’ Betts top players in Tuesday’s divisional playoff games
In three league division series playoff games Tuesday, these are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners: Jose Altuve of the Astros, Braves pitcher A.J. Minter and Mookie Betts of the Dodgers. The Astros and Braves advance to their league championship series. The Dodgers force Game 5 of their NLDS vs. the Giants on Thursday.
Read MoreBraves’ Anderson, Giants’ Wood, Red Sox’ Rodriguez top players in Monday’s 3 LDS games
In three league division series playoff games Monday, these are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners: Braves pitcher Ian Anderson, Giants pitcher Alex Wood and Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez.
Read MoreBox-Toppers’ NL Division Series previews: Braves vs. Brewers, Dodgers vs. Giants
Both National League Division Series begin Friday.
The NL East champion Atlanta Braves face the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers in one best-of-five game series and the NL Wild Card champion Los Angeles Dodgers take on the San Francisco Giants, champions of the NL West in the other series.
Read MorePirates’ Crowe tops players for Friday, Oct. 1; Indians’ Ramirez extends AL batter rankings lead
Pirates pitcher Wil Crowe is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Jose Ramirez of the Indians extended his lead among American League batters in 2021 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreRangers’ Lyles tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 14; Nationals’ Fedde tops NL players
Rangers pitcher Jordan Lyles is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Lyles struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 8-1 win over the Astros.
Read MoreRays’ Wacha tops players for Friday, Sept. 3; Angels’ Ohtani rises to 7th in player rankings
Rays pitcher Michael Wacha is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. However, by earning Friday’s honor as a pitcher, Ohtani no longer qualifies to be ranked among batters and so loses his lead among American League batters in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Read MoreGiants’ DeSclafani tops players for Monday, April 26; Marlins’ Rogers rises to 3rd in player rankings
Giants pitcher Anthony DeSclafani is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, Marlins pitcher Trevor Rogers rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels earns Player of the Game honors as a pitcher but does it for batting, becoming apparently the first American League pitcher to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors while batting.
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Dodgers top Box-Toppers 2021 preseason team rankings; White Sox top AL teams
The Los Angeles Dodgers are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2021 preseason rankings. They also ended 2020 as Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team and World Series champions.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Chicago Cubs saw the biggest decline.
Read MoreAthletics’ Montas tops players for Saturday, Aug. 8, Judge rises in player rankings, Cabrera extends long streak
Athletics pitcher Frankie Montas is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third place in season player rankings.
Also Saturday, Aaron Judge of the Yankees rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly rises to 10th after both earned Player of the Game honors.
Plus, Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers has now earned Box-Toppers points for 18 straight seasons—tied for the fifth-longest streak since 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Read MoreReds’ DeSclafani tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 28; Astros’ Cole rises to lead player rankings
Reds pitcher Anthony DeSclafani is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole rises to lead Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors, passing previous leader, teammate Justin Verlander.
Read MoreReds’ Anthony DeSclafani tops players for Friday, Aug. 10; Rays’ Snell rises to 8th in player rankings
Reds pitcher Anthony DeSclafani is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Meanwhile, Rays pitcher Blake Snell rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Read MoreRed Sox’ Chris Sale tops players for Saturday, June 30, rises to 8th in player rankings
Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to eighth place in season player rankings.
Sale struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 11-0 win over the Yankees.
Read MoreDiamondbacks’ Zack Greinke tops players for Saturday, June 23; Indians’ Bauer tops AL players
Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Greinke struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 7-2 win over the Pirates.
Read MoreReds' Anthony DeSclafani tops players for Saturday, Aug. 27; Mets' Syndergaard rises to 9th in Box-Toppers rankings
Reds pitcher Anthony DeSclafani is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 27:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 18.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
| 5 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 6 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.4 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.0 |
| 10 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.7 |
Also Saturday, Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—DeSclafani pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, striking out nine and walking one, in the 13-0 win over the Diamondbacks.
American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana struck out eight over 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, five hits and one walk, in the 9-3 win over the Mariners.
American League Batter of the Day—Starlin Castro of the Yankees homered and went 4-for-6, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 13-5 win over the Orioles.
National League Batter of the Day—Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies hit two homers and went 3-for-6, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 9-4, 11-inning win over the Nationals.
Rankings—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Syndergaard (7IP 2H R 2BB 7K W in the 12-1 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.0 for the season, rising from 10th to ninth place for the season. He ranks seventh among NL pitchers.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Athletics pitcher Daniel Coulombe (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 3-2 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut Sept. 16, 2014, and was playing in his 43rd career game. He is the 3,720th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Alex Bregman of the Astros (HR 2-4 2R 3BI in the 6-2 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut July 25 and was playing in his 30th career game. He is the 3,721st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—DeSclafani earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Quintana earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Castro and Blackmon each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/27 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | CIN 13, ARI 0 | Anthony DeSclafani (W,8-2) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| 8.0 | NYM 12, PHI 1 | Noah Syndergaard (W,12-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 7.0 | `PIT 9, MIL 6 | Juan Nicasio (H,4) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| AL | 6.2 | CHW 9, SEA 3 | Jose Quintana (W,11-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| 6.0 | TEX 7, CLE 0 | A.J. Griffin (W,6-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 5.2 | ATL 3, SF 1 | Mike Foltynewicz (W,7-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | LAA 3, DET 2 | Jhoulys Chacin (W,5-8) | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 4.1 | OAK 3, STL 2 | Daniel Coulombe (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | NYY 13, BAL 5 | Starlin Castro, 2B | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | TOR 8, MIN 7 | Edwin Encarnacion, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | LAD 3, CHC 2 | Julio Urias (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | COL 9, WSH 4 (11) | Charlie Blackmon, CF | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | HOU 6, TB 2 | Alex Bregman, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SD 1, MIA 0 | Kevin Quackenbush (S,1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 8, KC 3 | Dustin Pedroia, 2B | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the 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 top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.0 | 24.4 | 24.4 | 24.4 | 3.6 |
| Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | chi al | 9.4 | 15.4 | 34.2 | 34.2 | 3.4 |
| Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh 1b | tor al | 8.0 | 18.4 | 46.6 | 67.1 | -2.4 |
| Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi sp mr | pit nl | 8.0 | 9.0 | 24.4 | 24.4 | 7.0 |
| Castro, Starlin 2767 | 2b ss | nyy al | 7.0 | 11.5 | 24.5 | 25.5 | 2.5 |
| Griffin, A.J. 3074 | pi sp | tex al | 4.7 | 4.7 | 19.4 | 19.4 | 4.7 |
| DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 | -3.7 |
| Foltynewicz, Mike 3455 | pi sp | atl nl | 4.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 1.3 |
| Blackmon, Charlie 2891 | cf | col nl | 4.0 | 6.5 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 1.5 |
| Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi mr sp | ana al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 18.4 | 26.1 | 4.0 |
| Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Pedroia, Dustin 2320 | 2b | bos al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 23.4 | 35.5 | 3.0 |
| Quackenbush, Kevin 3462 | pi mr cp | sd nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Bregman, Alex 3721 | 3b | hou al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Coulombe, Daniel 3720 | pi mr | oak al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
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