Dodgers’ Scherzer tops players for Sunday, Sept. 12, rises to lead season player rankings

Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to lead season player rankings, passing previous leader, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2021. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Sunday, Sept. 12.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp lad nl 23.1
2 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp nyy al 22.4
3 Wheeler, Zack 3204 pi sp phi nl 19.1
4 Marquez, German 3788 pi sp col nl 17.4
5 Urias, Julio 3652 pi sp lad nl 17.4
6 Burnes, Corbin 4029 pi sp mil nl 17.1
7 Woodruff, Brandon 3868 pi sp mil nl 17.1
8 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 16.7
9 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp ana al 16.1
10 Musgrove, Joe 3705 pi sp sd nl 15.1
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Scherzer struck out nine over eight scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 8-0 win over the Padres.

Scherzer took a perfect game into the eighth inning before giving up the Padres’ first and only hit of the day with one out.

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 23.1 for the season, rising from second to first among all players, passing Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole (22.4), who had held the overall lead since Aug. 16. Scherzer extends his lead among National League pitchers ahead of second-place Zack Wheeler of the Phillies (19.1).

This is the first time Scherzer has held the Box-Toppers season player rankings lead this season and the first time he has held the lead since 2018 with the Nationals, when he last led from July 27 until losing the lead Sept. 18 to Rays pitcher Blake Snell, who finished the 2018 season in first (27.2). Scherzer finished second with 25.1.

Scherzer previously led all players for a full season in 2016 with 25.7 Box-Toppers points. He’s led all league pitchers four times:

Box-Toppers lead changes 2021

Max Scherzer of the Dodgers rose to lead Box-Toppers season player rankings on Sept. 12 with 23.1 Box-Toppers points. Here are the lead changes in Box-Toppers season player rankings through the entire 2021 season, listed chronologically by the date the player took the overall lead, followed by their Box-Toppers point total on the day they took the lead.

Took lead Player Team B-T points
4/1 Tyler Glasnow tb al 2.0
4/8 Craig Kimbrel chi nl 2.7
4/9 Joe Musgrove sd nl 3.0
4/11 J.D. Martinez bos al 3.2
4/12 Tyler Glasnow tb al 4.0
5/12 Gerrit Cole nyy al 9.0
5/26 Tyler Glasnow tb al 10.7
6/16 Gerrit Cole nyy al 13.4
6/21 Jacob deGrom nym nl 13.7
8/8 Zack Wheeler phi nl 17.1
8/16 Gerrit Cole nyy al 18.4
9/12 Max Scherzer lad nl 23.1
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  • 2013—He led American League pitchers with the Tigers (18.1).

  • 2016—He led NL pitchers with the Nationals (25.7).

  • 2017—He led NL pitchers with the Nationals (25.0).

  • 2018—He led NL pitchers with the Nationals (25.1).

Scherzer also now has 224.3 career Box-Toppers points, fourth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails third-ranked player Pedro Martinez (244.8). Scherzer ranks second among active players in career points, behind teammate, pitcher Clayton Kershaw (246.6).

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Lance Lynn struck out nine over five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox. Lynn did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited the game in a scoreless tie.

Lynn earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, 18th among all players and seventh among AL pitchers.

Lynn also now has 104.1 career Box-Toppers points, 76th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his 1.7 points earned Sunday, he passes Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” list and now trails 75th-ranked player, Giants pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1). Lynn ranks 21st among active players in career points, seventh among active AL pitchers.

White Sox pitcher Lance Lynn is Sunday’s Box-Toppers AL Player of the Day.

American League Batter of the Day—Lourdes Gurriel Jr. of the Blue Jays hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the 22-7 win over the Orioles. Gurriel went 2-for-3, scoring five times and driving in seven runs.

Gurriel had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +11.0, which is the highest for a batter earning Player of the Game honors so far this season. The previous high was +10.0 by Ozzie Albies of the Braves on June 30 (2HR 5-6 4R 7BI in the 20-2 win over the Mets). 

While Gurriel’s +11.0 game score is the highest for a batter earning Player of the Game honors this season, it ranks as the 122nd highest-ranking score for all of 2021’s Player of the Game winners—pitchers have the top 121 game scores in the 2,146 games completed so far, led by +22.0 by Jacob deGrom of the Mets on April 23 (CG 2H 0R 0BB 14K W in the 6-0 win over the Nationals). (Scherzer’s +16.0 game score Sunday ranks 22nd among Player of the Game winners in 2021 and Lynn’s +12.0 game score Sunday ranks 118th.)

In 2020, two batters earning Player of the Game honors had game scores higher than +11.0:

  • On Sept. 9, Adam Duvall of the Braves had a game score of +13.0 (3HR 3-4 5R 9BI in the 29-9 win over the Marlins).

  • On Sept. 12, Jose Abreu of the White Sox had a game score of +12.0 (2HR 4-4 5R 7BI in the 14-0 win over the Tigers).

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. of the Blue Jays is Sunday’s Box-Toppers AL Player of the Day.

National League Batter of the Day—Francisco Lindor of the Mets hit three home runs, including a three-run shot, in the 7-6 win over the Yankees. Lindor went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs.

Francisco Lindor of the Mets is Sunday’s Box-Toppers NL Player of the Day.

Debut—Royals pitcher Jake Brentz made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Brentz (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 5-3 win over the Twins) made his Major League debut April 3 and was playing in his 65th career game.

Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lynn earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Gurriel and Lindor each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Player of the Game winners (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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Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners

Here is the top player from each of the day’s games listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (BTG).

9/12 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +16.0 LAD 8, SD 0 Max Scherzer, (W 14‑4) 8.0 1 0 0 0 9
AL +12.0 `CHW 2, BOS 1 Lance Lynn 5.0 2 0 0 0 9
BAT +11.0 TOR 22, BAL 7 Lourdes Gurriel Jr., LF‑1B 3 5 2 7
+7.1 MIL 11, CLE 1 Eric Lauer, (W 6‑5) 5.1 3 1 1 1 8
BAT +7.0 NYM 7, NYY 6 Francisco Lindor, SS 4 3 3 5
+7.0 `DET 8, TB 7 (F/11) Tarik Skubal 3.0 1 0 0 1 6
+6.1 STL 2, CIN 0 J.A. Happ, (W 4‑2) 5.1 2 0 0 1 4
+6.0 COL 5, PHI 4 Garrett Hampson, CF 4 2 3 5
+6.0 HOU 3, LAA 1 Lance McCullers Jr., (W 12‑4) 6.0 3 1 1 2 7
+5.0 SF 6, CHC 5 Wilmer Flores, 1B 3 2 3 3
+3.0 KC 5, MIN 3 Jake Brentz, (W 4‑2) 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
+2.2 WSH 6, PIT 2 Kyle Finnegan, (S 9) 1.2 0 0 0 0 1
+2.0 ATL 5, MIA 3 Jacob Webb, (W 4‑2) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
+1.0 TEX 4, OAK 3 Isiah Kiner‑Falefa, SS 5 1 3 2
+0.1 ARI 5, SEA 4 Tyler Gilbert, (W 2‑2) 5.1 2 2 2 1 2
MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
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 Player of the Game winners

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 +/-
Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp lad nl 23.1 27.1 118.3 224.3 +19.1
Lynn, Lance 2992 pi sp chi al 12.4 21.5 48.2 104.1 +3.3
McCullers, Lance 3488 pi sp hou al 8.7 11.4 37.6 44.3 +6.0
Skubal, Tarik 4414 pi sp det al 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 +8.7
Lindor, Francisco 3586 ss nym nl 7.0 7.0 28.1 29.1 +7.0
Lauer, Eric 4017 pi sp mil nl 5.0 5.0 18.4 18.4 +5.0
Happ, J.A. 2536 pi sp stl nl 4.7 8.7 53.5 90.0 +0.7
Flores, Wilmer 3345 3b 1b sf nl 4.5 6.0 16.5 21.5 +3.0
Gurriel, Lourdes Jr. 4148 lf 1b tor al 4.2 4.2 5.2 5.2 +4.2
Hampson, Garrett 4252 cf col nl 3.5 3.5 4.5 4.5 +3.5
Kiner‑Falefa, Isiah 4130 ss 3b ca tex al 2.0 3.0 4.0 4.0 +1.0
Finnegan, Kyle 4535 pi cp dc nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 +2.0
Gilbert, Tyler 4509 pi sp ari nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 +2.0
Webb, Jacob 4530 pi mr atl nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 +2.0
Brentz, Jake 4545 pi mr kc al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
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About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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