Twins pitcher Jose Berrios is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Berrios struck out 12 over six hitless and scoreless innings, allowing no walks, in the 2-0 win over the Brewers. Berrios exited after 84 pitches with a no-hitter that was broken up with a single hit in the eighth inning.
Berrios earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season, rising to second place in season player rankings behind Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow. Though both Glasnow and Berrios have 2.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, Glasnow ranks higher because he has more 2020 Box-Toppers points—8.0 vs. 3.0.
Berrios recorded a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +18.0, which is the highest for any Player of the Game winner so far in the three days of the 2021 season. In 2020, there was only one instance in which there was a higher Box-Toppers game score—on Aug. 25, White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito recorded a +21.0 game score, pitching a no-hitter against the Pirates.
National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 4-0 win over the Braves.
Wheeler earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, his first points of the season. He ranks fifth in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
American League Batter of the Day—Whit Merrifield of the Royals homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 11-4 win over the Rangers.
National League Batter of the Day—Starling Marte of the Marlins tripled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 12-7 win over the Rays.
Marte has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons. He earned his first Player of the Game honor in 2012 with the Pirates and has 23.5 career Box-Toppers points, 21st among active NL outfielders. His best season was 2015 with the Pirates, when he had 5.0 Box-Toppers points, 16th among NL outfielders. In 2020, he had 2.0 Box-Toppers points with the Marlins.
Streak—Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2021 Saturday.
Arrieta (6IP 6H R BB 5K W in the 5-1 win over the Pirates) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2010 with the Orioles and now has 94.9 career points, 12th among active NL pitchers.
His best year was 2015 with the Cubs when he led all players with 29.1 Box-Toppers points. He’s had two seasons with 15.0 or more points (he had 15.7 points in 2016 with the Cubs). In 2020, he had 2.0 Box-Toppers points with the Phillies.
Debut—Mariners pitcher Chris Flexen made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Flexen (5IP 4H 0R 2BB 6K W in the 4-0 win over the Giants) made his Major League debut July 27, 2017, and was playing in his 28th career game.
Scoring—Berrios earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Wheeler earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Merrifield and Marte 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 (BTG)| 4/3 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +18.0 | MIN 2, MIL 0 | Jose Berríos, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |
| NL | +16.0 | PHI 4, ATL 0 | Zack Wheeler, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| +11.0 | SD 7, ARI 0 | Joe Musgrove, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| +5.0 | HOU 9, OAK 1 | Lance McCullers Jr., (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||
| +5.0 | SEA 4, SF 0 | Chris Flexen, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +5.0 | NYY 5, TOR 3 | Jonathan Loaisiga, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | KC 11, TEX 4 | Whit Merrifield, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.1 | BAL 4, BOS 2 | Adam Plutko, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | MIA 12, TB 7 | Starling Marte, CF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | CIN 9, STL 6 | Tyler Mahle, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||
| +2.1 | LAA 5, CHW 3 | Junior Guerra, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | DET 5, CLE 2 | Jeimer Candelario, 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | CHC 5, PIT 1 | Jake Arrieta, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +2.0 | `LAD 6, COL 5 | Walker Buehler | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
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 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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 2.0 | 5.0 | 42.5 | 42.5 | ‑1.0 |
| Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 1.7 | 2.7 | 23.4 | 35.1 | +0.7 |
| Marte, Starling 3122 | cf | fla nl | 1.5 | 3.5 | 14.0 | 23.5 | ‑0.5 |
| Merrifield, Whit 3855 | 2b rf 1b | kc al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 11.5 | 11.5 | +1.5 |
| Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 1.0 | 6.7 | 38.2 | 38.2 | ‑4.7 |
| Candelario, Jeimer 4025 | 3b 1b | det al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | ‑3.0 |
| McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 1.0 | 3.7 | 29.9 | 36.6 | ‑1.7 |
| Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 20.7 | 20.7 | ‑1.0 |
| Mahle, Tyler 3929 | pi sp | cin nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | ‑1.0 |
| Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 35.1 | 94.9 | ‑1.0 |
| Guerra, Junior 3633 | pi cp mr | ana al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 19.0 | 19.0 | +0.0 |
| Plutko, Adam 3975 | pi mr sp | bal al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | +1.0 |
| Loaisiga, Jonathan 3998 | pi mr sp | nyy al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +1.0 |
| Flexen, Chris 4368 | pi sp | sea al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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