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Here is a look at Box-Toppers choices for the All-MLB Team for 2021.
Unlike the midseason All-Star Game choices, players are chosen regardless of league, meaning the All-MLB Teams will likely be a mix of both American League and National League players. Box-Toppers did choose end-of-season 2021 All-Star teams based on league in October.
Read MoreWhite Sox closing pitcher Liam Hendriks led American League relievers in Box-Toppers points and also was named AL’s 2021 Reliever of the Year.
But the National League winner, Brewers reliever Josh Hader, ranked sixth among NL closers in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Read MoreDodgers closing pitcher Kenley Jansen and Astros middle reliever Kendall Graveman are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Tuesday’s two league championship series games.
Read MoreDodgers closing pitcher Kenley Jansen is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s National League Wild Card Game.
Jansen struck out three in the ninth inning, allowing one hit, no runs and no walks, in the 3-1 win over the Cardinals.
Read MoreWhite Sox pitcher Dylan Cease is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Cease struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 11-0, seven-inning win over the Tigers.
Read More
Seth Smith of the Mariners is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Smith hit two homers—a solo homer and a three-run shot—and went 2-for-2, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 7-3 win over the Astros.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.0 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 20.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 20.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 20.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym al | 15.7 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 |
| 9 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| 10 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Alex Reyes pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits, two walks and striking out six, in the 3-0 win over the Giants.
National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Drury of the Diamondbacks hit a game-winning, 12th-inning single in the 10-9 win over the Dodgers. Drury also homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs.
This was Drury’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Drury made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2015, and was playing in his 141st career game. He is the 3,744th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall Player of the Day was AL batter Seth Smith.
Notable—Hanley Ramirez of the Red Sox has the highest season Box-Toppers point total among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. Ramirez (2HR 3-4 2R 4BI in the 5-4 win over the Yankees) has 7.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 107th among all players and 22nd among AL batters.
Debuts—In addition to Drury, two other players made their Box-Toppers debut with their first career Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Smith earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Reyes earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Drury earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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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Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/18 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 7.0 | SEA 7, HOU 3 | Seth Smith, RF | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| NL | 7.0 | STL 3, SF 0 | Alex Reyes (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| 7.0 | LAA 4, TOR 0 | Alex Meyer (W,1-3) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 5.2 | `NYM 3, MIN 2 | Gabriel Ynoa | - | - | - | - | 4.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | BOS 5, NYY 4 | Hanley Ramirez, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | `BAL 2, TB 1 | Wade Miley | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | ARI 10, LAD 9 (12) | Brandon Drury, LF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | CIN 7, PIT 4 | Tucker Barnhart, C | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | KC 10, CHW 3 | Kendrys Morales, DH | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | DET 9, CLE 5 | J.D. Martinez, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 6, WSH 2 (7) | Adonis Garcia, 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | OAK 5, TEX 2 | Khris Davis, DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | COL 6, SD 3 | Mark Reynolds, 1B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIL 3, CHC 1 | Tyler Thornburg (S,11) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | MIA 5, PHI 4 | Derek Dietrich, 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Ramirez, Hanley 2119 | 1b | bos al | 7.0 | 7.0 | 29.7 | 57.6 | 7.0 |
| Davis, Khris 3242 | lf dh | oak al | 6.7 | 10.7 | 16.7 | 16.7 | 2.7 |
| Morales, Kendrys 2142 | dh | kc al | 6.5 | 11.2 | 21.2 | 37.2 | 1.8 |
| Thornburg, Tyler 3195 | pi cp | mil nl | 6.0 | 6.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 6.0 |
| Martinez, J.D. 2922 | rf | det al | 5.5 | 7.2 | 17.2 | 17.2 | 3.8 |
| Miley, Wade 3006 | pi sp | bal al | 5.0 | 12.0 | 35.4 | 35.4 | -2.0 |
| Smith, Seth 2489 | rf lf | sea al | 5.0 | 6.0 | 24.0 | 38.2 | 4.0 |
| Reynolds, Mark 2297 | 1b | col nl | 4.0 | 8.0 | 28.2 | 51.4 | 0.0 |
| Garcia, Adonis 3613 | 3b | atl nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Reyes, Alex 3706 | pi mr sp | stl nl | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| Dietrich, Derek 3199 | 2b 3b | fla nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 1.0 |
| Barnhart, Tucker 3519 | ca | cin nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Drury, Brandon 3744 | lf | ari nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Meyer, Alex 3742 | pi sp | ana al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Ynoa, Gabriel 3743 | pi sp | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 16.2 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 14.1 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 8 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.4 |
| 9 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 12.7 |
| 10 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 12.5 |
deGrom struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 3-2, 11-inning win over the Padres. deGrom did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because when he exited the game, the Mets trailed.
American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Matt Boyd pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out three, in the 2-0 win over the Rangers.
National League Batter of the Day—Daniel Murphy of the Nationals homered and went 1-for-3, driving in four runs, in the 7-6 win over the Braves.
American League Batter of the Day—Russell Martin of the Blue Jays hit a three-run home run and went 1-for-2, in the 4-2 win over the Astros.
Notable—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Bumgarner (7IP 3H 0R 3BB 8K in the 6-2 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.0 for the season. He ranks 12th among all players in Box-Toppers points and eighth among NL pitchers.
Bumgarner also now has 104.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 62nd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Saturday, he passes Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” list and now trails 61st-ranked player, Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1).
Debut—Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday with their first career Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Boyd earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Murphy and Martin 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/13 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | `NYM 3, SD 2 (11) | Jacob deGrom | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
| 9.0 | SF 6, BAL 2 | Madison Bumgarner (W,11-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| AL | 6.0 | DET 2, TEX 0 | Matt Boyd (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
| 4.0 | STL 8, CHC 4 | Alex Reyes (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | WSH 7, ATL 6 | Daniel Murphy, 1B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | PHI 6, COL 3 | Maikel Franco, 3B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | TOR 4, HOU 2 | Russell Martin, C | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | CIN 11, MIL 5 | Joey Votto, 1B | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | LAD 8, PIT 4 | Joc Pederson, CF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYY 8, TB 4 | Aaron Hicks, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 6, ARI 3 | Brock Holt, LF | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 5, KC 3 | Tyler Duffey (W,8-8) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | SEA 4, OAK 3 | Edwin Diaz (S,6) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.2 | CLE 5, LAA 1 | Mike Clevinger (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | ||
| 1.1 | CHW 8, MIA 7 | Chris Beck (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 12.0 | 29.0 | 99.0 | 104.7 | -5.0 |
| deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 9.7 | 32.1 | 45.1 | 45.1 | -12.7 |
| Martin, Russell 2202 | ca | tor al | 8.5 | 13.5 | 30.0 | 51.0 | 3.5 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 7.5 | 12.5 | 29.2 | 61.2 | 2.5 |
| Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | dc nl | 6.5 | 8.0 | 30.0 | 31.5 | 5.0 |
| Duffey, Tyler 3558 | pi sp | min al | 6.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 2.0 |
| Boyd, Matt 3550 | pi sp | det al | 4.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 3.4 |
| Diaz, Edwin 3690 | pi cp | sea al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Franco, Maikel 3510 | 3b | phi nl | 3.5 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 0.3 |
| Pederson, Joc 3621 | cf | lad nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Holt, Brock 3340 | 3b lf | bos al | 2.5 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 1.5 |
| Hicks, Aaron 3170 | lf | nyy al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -1.0 |
| Beck, Chris 3708 | pi mr | chi al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi sp | cle al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Reyes, Alex 3706 | pi mr | stl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.