Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello leads Major League pitchers with 20 wins this season, but has only 7.0 Box-Toppers points.
As of Sept. 17, that puts Porcello 102nd among all players, 68th among all pitchers and 35th among American League pitchers.
Why so few Box-Toppers points with so many wins?
The short answer: He has only been Player of the Game in just seven of his 20 wins. In the other 13 wins, another Red Sox player with a higher Box-Toppers game score has beaten him out for Player of the Game.
The chart below shows the dates of each of Porcello’s wins and the Box-Toppers game score (BTG) he earned in each game. If Porcello did not earn Player of the Game in the Red Sox win, the player who did earn that honor is listed in red.
For example, on April 9, Porcello earned his first win of the season, but had a Box-Toppers game score of −3.0. Dustin Pedroia won Player of the Game honors that day with a Box-Toppers game score of +1.0.
However, on April 15, when Porcello earned his second win of the season, he did earn Player of the Game honors with a Box-Toppers game score of +5.1, earning his first Box-Toppers point of the season.
In most of the remaining games Porcello started and won but failed to earn Player of the Game honors, he actually did pretty well. In seven of those 13 games, he had a Box-Toppers game score of within 1.0 point of the batter who earned Player of the Game. For example, on April 20, Porcello had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0, but lost Player of the Game honors to Mookie Betts, who had a game score of +4.0.
In three of those games, Porcello had an identical game score as the Player of the Game, but in cases of game score ties, the batter gets the tie breaking edge. For example, on June 28, both Porcello and Travis Shaw had Box-Toppers game scores of +4.0, but Shaw won Player of the Game because he was the batter.
In one other of his wins on Aug. 14, Porcello had a Box-Toppers game score of +6.0, usually enough to earn Player of the Game honors. But that day, Betts had a game score of +10.0, the second-best for a batter so far in 2016, and earned Player of the Game honors (he also earned AL Batter of the Day honors).
So Porcello did come close to earning Player of the Game honors eight other times in 2016, which would give him at least 15.0 Box-Toppers points, putting him among the top 10 players.
The seven times Porcello earned Player of the Game honors, he did not earn bonus points for being Player of the Day (1.0 bonus points for 2.0 total points) or AL Player of the Day (0.7 bonus points for 1.7 total points).
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer has built his Box-Toppers points lead for 2016 largely by earning those bonus points. As shown in the chart above, Scherzer has bolstered his Box-Toppers point total by winning Player of the Day honors seven times and National League Player of the Day honors once for a total of 7.7 additional Box-Toppers points. In other words, Scherzer has more Box-Toppers bonus points in 2016 than Porcello has points—7.7 vs. 7.0.
Scherzer has fewer wins than Porcello, but has earned Player of the Game honors in 13 of his 17 wins. He has also earned Player of the Game honors three other times when he did not earn the decision, including once on July 23, when he earned overall Player of the Day with a no-decision. Porcello has not earned Player of the Game honors in a no-decision in 2016.
Porcello ranks sixth among Red Sox players in Box-Toppers points for 2016. Here are the top six Red Sox players:
- David Price, starting pitcher—12.4
- Drew Pomeranz, starting pitcher—11.4
- Steven Wright, starting pitcher—8.4
- David Ortiz, designated hitter—7.0
- Travis Shaw, first base/third base—7.0
- Rick Porcello, starting pitcher—7.0
Of the pitchers who rank ahead of Porcello, Price has 16 wins, Pomeranz has 10 wins and Wright has 13 wins.
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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A look at Rick Porcello’s 20 wins in 2016
Here is a look at Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello’s 20 wins during 2016. Shown below are the date of each of his wins and the Box-Toppers game score (BTG) he earned in each game. If Porcello did not earn Player of the Game in the Red Sox win, the player who did earn that honor is listed in red. Porcello has won Player of the Game honors in only seven of his 20 wins, has earned no bonus points and has 7.0 Box-Toppers points on the season (see the far right column for his Box-Toppers point total through the season).| Date | BTG | Score | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | BTP* | |
| 4/9 | 1.0 | BOS 8, TOR 4 | Dustin Pedroia, 2B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -3.0 | Rick Porcello (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 7 | ||||
| 4/15 | 5.1 | BOS 5, TOR 3 | Rick Porcello (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 1.0 | |
| 4/20 | 4.0 | BOS 7, TB 3 | Mookie Betts, RF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Rick Porcello (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | ||||
| 4/25 | 6.1 | BOS 1, ATL 0 | Rick Porcello (W,4-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2.0 | |
| 4/30 | 7.0 | BOS 8, NYY 0 | Rick Porcello (W,5-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3.0 | |
| 5/11 | 6.0 | BOS 13, OAK 3 | Jackie Bradley Jr., CF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.8 | Rick Porcello (W,6-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | ||||
| 5/22 | 4.0 | BOS 5, CLE 2 | David Ortiz, DH | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.2 | Rick Porcello (W,7-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||||
| 6/18 | 1.0 | BOS 6, SEA 2 | Christian Vazquez, C | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Rick Porcello (W,8-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||||
| 6/28 | 4.0 | BOS 8, TB 2 | Travis Shaw, 3B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Rick Porcello (W,9-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||||
| 7/4 | 2.0 | BOS 12, TEX 5 | Travis Shaw, 3B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -10.0 | Rick Porcello (W,10-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 7/9 | 4.0 | BOS 4, TB 1 | Rick Porcello (W,11-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4.0 | |
| 7/19 | 3.1 | BOS 4, SF 0 | Rick Porcello (W,12-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5.0 | |
| 7/24 | 3.0 | BOS 8, MIN 7 | Hanley Ramirez, DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -1.8 | Rick Porcello (W,13-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 8 | ||||
| 7/29 | 3.0 | BOS 6, LAA 2 | Rick Porcello (W,14-2) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6.0 | |
| 8/9 | 2.0 | BOS 5, NYY 3 | Dustin Pedroia (2B) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rick Porcello (W,15-3) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||||
| 8/14 | 10.0 | BOS 16, ARI 2 | Mookie Betts, RF | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 6.0 | Rick Porcello (W,16-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||||
| 8/19 | 6.0 | BOS 10, DET 2 | Rick Porcello (W,17-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7.0 | |
| 8/29 | 2.0 | BOS 9, TB 4 | Travis Shaw, 3B-1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rick Porcello (W,18-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | ||||
| 9/3 | 2.0 | BOS 11, OAK 2 | David Ortiz, DH | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Rick Porcello (W,19-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 9/9 | 4.0 | BOS 13, TOR 3 | Dustin Pedroia, 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Rick Porcello (W,20-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||||
| *BTP shows Porcello's accumulated Box-Toppers point total after each of his Player of the Game honors | |||||||||||||||