Starlin Castro of the Cubs is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also, despite four top 10 pitchers from Box-Toppers player rankings starting Friday, none of them earned Player of the Game honors.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 18.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 23.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 20.4 |
| 4 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 20.1 |
| 5 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 6 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 9 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 17.0 |
| 10 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 17.0 |
Player of the Day—Castro hit a three-run homer and a two-run homer, going 3-for-3 and driving in six runs, in the 8-3 win over the Cardinals.
American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander struck out seven over 8 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 5-4, 12-inning win over the Royals. Verlander did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision because the Royals tied the game after he exited with a 3-2 lead.
Verlander earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 124.6 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 33rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Friday, Verlander passes two players on the “all-time” list—Jered Weaver (123.1) and Gary Sheffield (124.1). (Sheffield, who started his career in 1988, seven years prior to the start of Box-Toppers record keeping, would likely have about 150 career Box-Toppers points based on rough projections, if his entire career were tracked.) Verlander now trails 32nd-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4).
Among Friday’s 14 Players of the Game, Verlander has the most Box-Toppers points this season—6.4, ranking 111th among all players and 43rd among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Danny Valencia of the Athletics hit two homers and went 3-for-3, driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Astros.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day Friday because the overall Player of the Day was batter Starlin Castro.
Notable—Four pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings started Friday but none of them earned Player of the Game honors:
- Fifth-ranked Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke, 19.7 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors, though the Dodgers beat the Pirates 6-2. Greinke (7IP 4H 2R 3K W) had a Box-Toppers game score of 0. Justin Ruggiano of the Dodgers (2-3 R BI) won Player of the Game honors with a Box-Toppers game score of +1.
- Eighth-ranked White Sox pitcher Chris Sale, 17.1 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors in the 12-1 loss to the Indians. Sale (7IP 8H 7R 9K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of −3. Player of the Game was Carlos Santana of the Indians (1-4 R 4BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +2.
- Ninth-ranked Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner, 17.0 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors in the 2-0 loss to the Diamondbacks. Bumgarner (8IP 5H 2R 7K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of +4. Player of the Game was Diamondbacks pitcher Rubby De La Rosa (5.2IP H 0R 5K W) with a Box-Toppers game score of +5.2.
- Tenth-ranked Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, 17.0 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors, though the Nationals beat the Marlins, 5-4 in 10 innings. Scherzer (7IP 5H 2R 6K ND) had a Box-Toppers game score of +1. Player of the Game was Nationals closing pitcher Casey Janssen (0.2IP 0H 0R K W) with a Box-Toppers game score of +1.2.
Scoring—Castro earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Verlander earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Valencia earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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
| 9/18 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | Cubs | Starlin Castro, 2B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.2 | Dbacks | Rubby De La Rosa (W,13-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | ||
| AL | 5.2 | `Tigers | Justin Verlander | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | Athletics | Danny Valencia, 3B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Rockies | Chad Bettis (W,8-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | Mets | Juan Uribe, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Braves | Arodys Vizcaino (S,5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | Mariners | Tom Wilhelmsen (S,12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Rays | Grady Sizemore, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Indians | Carlos Santana, 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.2 | Nationals | Casey Janssen (W,2-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Blue Jays | Justin Smoak, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Dodgers | Justin Ruggiano, LF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Reds | Brandon Finnegan (W,4-0) | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||