Rays pitcher Michael Wacha is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. However, by earning Friday’s honor as a pitcher, Ohtani no longer qualifies to be ranked among batters and so loses his lead among American League batters in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Player of the Day—Wacha struck out seven over six innings, allowing two runs, three hits and no walks, in the 5-3 win over the Twins.
Wacha earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.1 for the season, 67th among all players and 26th among AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Anthony DeSclafani struck out five over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks, in the 3-2, 11-inning win over the Dodgers. DeSclafani did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Giants lost the lead after he exited.
DeSclafani earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season, 23rd among all players and 16th among NL pitchers.
DeSclafani becomes the 35th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his first season with 10 or more points. His previous best season was 2015 with the Reds when he had 7.7 points, 32nd among NL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Jeimer Candelario of the Tigers homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in two runs, in the 15-5 win over the Reds.
National League Batter of the Day—Miguel Rojas of the Marlins went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 10-3 win over the Phillies.
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 Friday, Sept. 3.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 22.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.1 |
| 3 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 17.1 |
| 4 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 17.1 |
| 5 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 6 | Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 16.4 |
| 7 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp | ana al | 16.1 |
| 8 | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi sp | mil nl | 15.1 |
| 9 | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 15.1 |
| 10 | Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Rankings—Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani rises from ninth to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Ohtani (7IP 7H 2R 2BB 8K W in the 3-2 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.1 for the season, second among AL pitchers behind Gerrit Cole of the Yankees (22.4).
However, Ohtani had also ranked first among AL batters, but now no longer qualifies to be ranked as a batter under Box-Toppers rules.
In order for players to be listed at a certain position, they need to have more than 25 percent of their Player of the Game honors at that position. Friday was Ohtani’s 12th Player of the Game honor of the season and his ninth as a starting pitcher. That means only three such honors—exactly 25 percent—have come as a designated hitter. And since such an overwhelming majority of his Player of the Game honors come as a pitcher, he is no longer listed even secondarily as a batter.
This comes oddly as Ohtani leads the Majors in home runs (42) and slugging percentage (.618) and could rightly be deemed the AL’s top batter. However, as Box-Toppers has tracked, Ohtani’s efforts as a designated hitter have not been the determining factor in many Angels’ wins this season. He has earned Player of the Game honors only three times as a DH (June 27, July 2 and July 28), earning a total of 4.0 Box-Toppers points, which by itself would rank 40th among AL batters for the season.
In Ohtani’s nine Player of the Game honors as a pitcher, he has earned a total of 12.1 Box-Toppers points, which by itself would rank 18th overall and seventh among AL pitchers.
Ironically, Ohtani has earned Player of the Game honors four times for batting this season, but one of those honors on April 26 came while he was a starting pitcher. It is one of three times this season a pitcher has earned Player of the Game honors for batting.
With Ohtani no longer qualifying to be listed as a designated hitter, J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox regains the lead among AL batters and AL designated hitters in season Box-Toppers points with 10.7. However, Ohtani could still qualify to again be listed among batters if he earns Player of the Game honors as a designated hitter one more time this season. That would mean four of his 13 Player of the Game honors came as a batter (30.8 percent). However, Ohtani has not earned Player of the Game honors as a designated hitter since July 28, more than a month ago–his last four such honors have been awarded for his pitching performances.
Debut—Cubs pitcher Trevor Megill made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Megill (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 6-5 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut April 26 and was playing in his 19th career game.
Scoring—Wacha earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and DeSclafani earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Candelario and Rojas each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’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).| 9/3 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +6.0 | TB 5, MIN 3 | Michael Wacha, (W 3‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | |
| NL | +6.0 | `SF 3, LAD 2 (F/11) | Anthony DeSclafani | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
| BAT | +5.0 | DET 15, CIN 5 | Jeimer Candelario, 3B | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +5.0 | MIA 10, PHI 3 | Miguel Rojas, SS | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | `NYM 6, WSH 2 (F/10) | Rich Hill | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| +4.2 | `NYY 4, BAL 3 (F/11) | Nestor Cortes | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| +4.1 | CHC 6, PIT 5 | Trevor Megill, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | STL 15, MIL 4 | Yadier Molina, C | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | HOU 6, SD 3 | Kyle Tucker, RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.2 | BOS 8, CLE 5 | Adam Ottavino, (W 4‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | KC 7, CHW 2 | Michael Taylor, CF | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | SEA 6, ARI 5 (F/10) | Mitch Haniger, RF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | TOR 11, OAK 10 | Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | LAA 3, TEX 2 | Shohei Ohtani, (W 9‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| +1.0 | COL 4, ATL 3 | Charlie Blackmon, RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp | ana al | 16.1 | 16.1 | 30.6 | 30.6 | +16.1 |
| DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | pi sp | sf nl | 10.7 | 13.4 | 28.4 | 36.1 | +8.0 |
| Wacha, Michael 3276 | pi sp | tb al | 7.1 | 7.1 | 24.1 | 41.8 | +7.1 |
| Haniger, Mitch 3772 | rf | sea al | 6.5 | 6.5 | 17.5 | 17.5 | +6.5 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | nym nl | 6.0 | 7.0 | 47.8 | 71.5 | +5.0 |
| Tucker, Kyle 4277 | rf | hou al | 4.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | ‑0.3 |
| Candelario, Jeimer 4025 | 3b | det al | 4.0 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | +0.0 |
| Cortes, Nestor Jr. 4160 | pi sp | nyy al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | +4.0 |
| Guerrero, Vladimir Jr. 4142 | 1b | tor al | 3.7 | 4.7 | 10.9 | 10.9 | +2.7 |
| Rojas, Miguel 3642 | ss | fla nl | 3.0 | 6.5 | 14.5 | 14.5 | ‑0.5 |
| Molina, Yadier 1967 | ca | stl nl | 3.0 | 5.0 | 21.0 | 51.7 | +1.0 |
| Ottavino, Adam 3054 | pi mr cp | bos al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 12.0 | 16.0 | +3.0 |
| Blackmon, Charlie 2891 | rf | col nl | 2.5 | 4.0 | 21.2 | 29.2 | +1.0 |
| Taylor, Michael 3447 | cf | kc al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 6.7 | 12.2 | +2.0 |
| Megill, Trevor 4531 | pir mr | chi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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