Yankees pitcher Luis Severino is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fourth place in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of Sept. 9:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 23.1 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 23.1 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.0 |
| 4 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 19.1 |
| 5 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 18.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 18.1 |
| 7 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 18.0 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 17.8 |
| 9 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.7 |
| 10 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 14.4 |
Meanwhile, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Sale now actually has the same 2017 Box-Toppers point total (23.1) as season leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, but ranks behind him because Kershaw had more 2016 points (24.4 vs. 13.4). Sale had the chance to pass Kershaw Saturday if he had earned Box-Toppers bonus points.
Player of the Day—Severino struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, one hit and three walks, in the 3-1 win over the Rangers. Severino did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited with the Yankees trailing, 1-0.
Severino earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 19.1 for the season, rising from eighth to fourth place in season player rankings. He ranks second behind Sale (23.1) among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Brewers pitcher Chase Anderson pitched five scoreless innings, allowing one hit, one walk and striking out five, in the 15-2 win over the Cubs.
National League Batter of the Day—Wil Myers of the Padres hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 8-7 win over the Diamondbacks.
American League Batter of the Day—Chad Pinder of the Athletics hit two home runs and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 11-4 win over the Astros.
Sale—Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Sale (6IP 6H 0R BB 8K W in the 9-0 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 23.1 for the season. He passes Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (23.0), who falls to third place. Scherzer had been in second or first place in season rankings since May 31. Sale trails overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, but he has the same 23.1 Box-Toppers point total. Sale ranks behind Kershaw because he had fewer 2016 Box-Toppers points than Kershaw (24.4 vs. 13.4).
Just 0.1 Box-Toppers point separates the top three in player rankings with just three weeks remaining in the season.
Sale had the chance to pass Kershaw to the overall Box-Toppers point lead Saturday if he had earned AL Player of the Day (worth 1.7 points) or overall Player of the Day (worth 2.0 points). And he came close to doing that. He had Saturday’s third-highest Box-Toppers game score (+7.0) among the 16 who earned Player of the Game honors. Severino had the highest score with +11.0, giving him Player of the Day honors. And since Severino is an AL player, that precluded Sale from earning AL Player of the Day honors.
Sale also now has 109.5 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 58th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Billy Wagner (108.7) on the “all-time” list and now trails 57th-ranked player Jeff Kent (109.7).
Sale leads AL pitchers in 2017 Box-Toppers points, ahead of the second-place Severino (19.1).
Streak—White Sox pitcher James Shields has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 consecutive seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honors of the year Saturday.
Shields (7IP 2H R 2BB 5K W in the 13-1 win over the Giants) made his Box-Toppers debut in 2006 with the Rays and now has 100.4 career points, becoming the 81st player to reach 100 career Box-Toppers points since player tracking began in 1995. He rises to 79th place in “all-time” rankings, passing Larry Walker (100.1) and Jeff Bagwell (100.4). He trails 78th-ranked player Paul Konerko (100.7).
Shields best season was 2011 with the Rays when he had 20.1 Box-Toppers points, third among AL pitchers. In 2016, he had 3.0 Box-Toppers points with the Padres and the Cubs.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debuts Saturday after earning their first career Player of the Game honors:
- Boog Powell of the Athletics (2B 2-4 3R 2BI in the 11-1 win over the Astros) made his Major League debut April 29 and was playing in his 47th career game. He is the 3,908th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Rhys Hoskins of the Phillies (HR 1-2 R 2BI in the 5-4 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut Aug. 10 and was playing in his 30th career game. He is the 3,909th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Severino earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Anderson earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Myers and Pinder 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.
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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score| 9/9 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | `NYY 3, TEX 1 | Luis Severino | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | |
| NL | 8.0 | MIL 15, CHC 2 | Chase Anderson (W, 9-3) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 7.0 | BOS 9, TB 0 | Chris Sale (W, 16-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 6.0 | CHW 13, SF 1 | James Shields (W, 3-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | SEA 8, LAA 1 | Andrew Albers (W, 4-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | SD 8, ARI 7 | Wil Myers 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | `STL 4, PIT 3 | Carlos Martínez | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | OAK 11, HOU 4 | Chad Pinder RF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | TOR 5, DET 4 | Kevin Pillar CF | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | OAK 11, HOU 1 | Boog Powell CF | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | ATL 6, MIA 5 | Johan Camargo 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | KC 5, MIN 2 | Eric Hosmer 1B | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | PHI 5, WSH 4 | Rhys Hoskins 1B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CLE 4, BAL 2 | Cody Allen (S, 25) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | COL 6, LAD 5 | Gerardo Parra RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | NYM 6, CIN 1 | Amed Rosario PR | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 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 (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 23.1 | 36.5 | 104.5 | 109.5 | 9.7 |
| Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 19.1 | 21.1 | 24.1 | 24.1 | 17.1 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 9.5 | 21.9 | 36.6 | 36.6 | -2.9 |
| Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 9.5 | 18.0 | 38.0 | 40.5 | 1.0 |
| Parra, Gerardo 2746 | rf lf | col nl | 9.0 | 11.5 | 23.5 | 30.0 | 6.5 |
| Anderson, Chase 3328 | pi sp | mil nl | 7.4 | 14.4 | 23.4 | 23.4 | 0.4 |
| Allen, Cody 3265 | pi cp | cle al | 4.0 | 11.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 | -3.0 |
| Myers, Wil 3228 | 1b | sd nl | 3.5 | 13.2 | 21.7 | 21.7 | -6.2 |
| Pinder, Chad 3871 | rf | oak al | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Pillar, Kevin 3486 | cf | tor al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 0.0 |
| Camargo, Johan 3829 | 3b | atl nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Rosario, Amed 3879 | ss pr | nym nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Shields, Jamie (James) 2157 | pi sp | chi al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 49.5 | 100.4 | -2.0 |
| Albers, Andrew 3249 | pi sp | sea al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Hoskins, Rhys 3909 | 1b | phi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Powell, Boog 3908 | cf | oak al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |