Royals pitcher Brad Keller is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2019 season through the games of July 13.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 14.8 |
| 2 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | tb al | 14.8 |
| 3 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 14.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.4 |
| 5 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 13.2 |
| 6 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 13.1 |
| 7 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 12.1 |
| 8 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 11.7 |
| 9 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | dc nl | 11.4 |
| 10 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | sp pi | dc nl | 11.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Saturday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester earned Player of the Game honors for batting and rises to 12th place on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list.
Player of the Day—Keller struck out seven over eight innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Tigers.
Keller earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, 133rd among all players and 43rd among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard struck out nine over seven innings, allowing two runs, five hits and no walks, in the 4-2 win over the Marlins.
National League Batter of the Day—Yasiel Puig of the Reds homered, doubled and went 4-for-6, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 17-9 win over the Rockies.
American League Batter of the Day—Mike Brosseau of the Rays hit two home runs and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 12-4 win over the Orioles.
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 220.5 |
| 4 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 203.4 |
| 5 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 202.4 |
| 6 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 196.2 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 195.8 |
| 8 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 9 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 192.9 |
| 10 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | retired | 187.0 |
| 11 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 174.1 |
| 12 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 171.6 |
| 13 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | chi nl | 171.2 |
| 14 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 15 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 16 | Johan Santana | pi sp | retired | 166.6 |
| 17 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 18 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 19 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 20 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | free agent | 155.9 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the end of the 2018 season.
This was Brosseau’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Brosseau made his Major League debut June 23 and was playing in his 11th career game.
Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to 12th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 after becoming the fifth pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting.
Lester (HR 2-3 2R 3BI in the 10-4 win over the Pirates) had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 for batting, best among all Cubs players Saturday. Lester’s game score for pitching was -1.8 (6.2IP 8H 3R 0BB 6K W).
The other pitchers who have earned Player of the Game honors for batting in 2019 are Zack Greinke of the Diamondbacks on April 2, German Marquez of the Rockies and Luke Weaver of the Diamondbacks, both on May 26 and Ross Stripling of the Dodgers on July 2.
This is the first time in his career Lester has earned Player of the Game honors for batting. With his 1.0 Box-Toppers point earned Saturday, he now has 171.6 career points, rising to 12th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes two players on the “all-time” list—Roy Halladay (170.7) and teammate Cole Hamels (171.2). Lester now trails 11th-ranked player, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (174.1). Passing Hamels, Lester now ranks eighth among active players in career points.
Lester has 7.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, most among the 16 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday. He ranks 29th among all players and 14th among NL pitchers.
Also notable—Albert Pujols of the Angels now has 195.8 career Box-Toppers points, seventh-most since 1995, after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Pujols (HR 2-4 R 4BI in the 11-2 win over the Red Sox) increases his lead among all batters in “all-time” career points and ranks fifth in career points among active players, behind Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (196.2), who passed Pujols on the “all-time” career points list on July 6.
Pujols has 5.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 13th among AL batters.
One more notable thing—Josh Donaldson of the Braves earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Saturday and the fourth time this month.
Donaldson (HR 1-3 3R 2BI in the 7-5, 10-inning win over the Padres) was also NL Batter of the Day Friday in the 5-3 win over the Padres (2HR 2-4 2R 4BI). In addition, Donaldson has earned Player of the Game honors two other times in July—on July 3, he was NL Batter of the Day and on July 7, he was Player of the Game.
Donaldson has 6.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, sixth among NL batters, with 5.0 of those points earned since July 3.
Scoring—Keller earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Syndergaard earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Puig and Brosseau 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)| 7/13 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.0 | KC 4, DET 1 | Brad Keller (W, 5‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | |
| NL | +7.0 | NYM 4, MIA 2 | Noah Syndergaard (W, 7‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | |
| +6.0 | OAK 13, CHW 2 | Chris Bassitt (W, 6‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +6.0 | `MIL 5, SF 4 | Zach Davies | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | CIN 17, COL 9 | Yasiel Puig RF | 6 | 3 | 4 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | HOU 7, TEX 6 (F/11) | Josh James (W, 4‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +4.2 | `BAL 2, TB 1 | Aaron Brooks | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +4.1 | STL 4, ARI 2 | Carlos Martinez (S, 4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +4.0 | CHC 10, PIT 4 | Jon Lester P | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | TB 12, BAL 4 | Mike Brosseau 3B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | LAD 11, BOS 2 | Justin Turner 3B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | LAA 9, SEA 2 | Albert Pujols 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | MIN 6, CLE 2 | Jake Cave LF‑RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | ATL 7, SD 5 (F/10) | Josh Donaldson 3B | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | WSH 4, PHI 3 | Juan Soto LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | TOR 2, NYY 1 | Randal Grichuk CF‑RF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 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 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 (’19). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’18-19), the period 2014-2019 (’14-19) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2019 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2018 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’19 | ’18‑19 | ’14‑19 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 7.0 | 17.7 | 78.9 | 171.6 | -3.7 |
| Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 6.7 | 14.7 | 44.8 | 44.8 | -1.3 |
| Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | atl nl | 6.5 | 6.5 | 44.6 | 54.1 | +6.5 |
| Pujols, Albert 1438 | 1b | ana al | 5.0 | 8.0 | 36.0 | 195.8 | +2.0 |
| Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp mr | oak al | 4.7 | 6.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 | +2.7 |
| Keller, Brad 4008 | pi sp | kc al | 4.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 0.0 |
| Grichuk, Randal 3474 | rf cf | tor al | 3.7 | 6.4 | 24.9 | 24.9 | +1.0 |
| Soto, Juan 3994 | lf | dc nl | 3.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | -4.0 |
| Puig, Yasiel 3193 | rf | cin nl | 3.5 | 8.5 | 22.5 | 24.0 | -1.5 |
| Turner, Justin 2865 | 3b | lad nl | 3.5 | 5.5 | 15.5 | 20.0 | +1.5 |
| James, Josh 4059 | pi mr cp sp | hou al | 3.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.0 |
| Davies, Zach 3581 | pi sp | mil nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 19.7 | 19.7 | +2.0 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi mr cp sp | stl nl | 2.0 | 9.0 | 45.6 | 45.6 | -5.0 |
| Brooks, Aaron 3545 | pi sp | bal al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +2.0 |
| Brosseau, Mike 4185 | 3b | tb al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | +1.5 |
| Cave, Jake 3992 | lf rf | min nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Box-Toppers
Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.
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.