Nationals pitcher Jon Lester is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Lester struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing six hits and no walks, in the 18-1 win over the Marlins.
Active season streaks
Here are the 15 players who have active streaks of earning Box-Toppers points for 13 or more consecutive seasons. Players are listed by the length of their streak and with their current team status. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.| Player | Pos | Team | Duration | BTP* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Albert Pujols | 1b | Dodgers | 2001‑2020 | 202.8 |
| 19 | Miguel Cabrera | 1b dh | Tigers | 2003‑2021 | 155.9 |
| 16 | Jon Lester | pi sp | Nationals | 2006‑2021 | 178.3 |
| 16 | Edwin Encarnacion | dh | Free agent | 2005‑2020 | 88.2 |
| 16 | Nelson Cruz | dh | Twins | 2006‑2021 | 78.7 |
| 15 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | Astros | 2007‑2021 | 215.8 |
| 15 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | Astros | 2006‑2020 | 206.6 |
| 15 | Asdrubal Cabrera | 3b 1b | Diamondbacks | 2007‑2021 | 63.7 |
| 15 | Kurt Suzuki | ca | Angels | 2007‑2021 | 46.5 |
| 14 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 2008‑2021 | 246.6 |
| 14 | Johnny Cueto | pi sp | Giants | 2008‑2021 | 110.8 |
| 14 | J.A. Happ | pi sp | Twins | 2008‑2021 | 88.0 |
| 14 | Evan Longoria | 3b | Giants | 2008‑2021 | 56.0 |
| 13 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | Nationals | 2009‑2021 | 210.9 |
| 13 | Derek Holland | pi mr sp | Tigers | 2009‑2021 | 58.8 |
Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season and ranks 254th among all players, 74th among National League pitchers.
Lester now has 178.3 career Box-Toppers points, which is 11th among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 10th-ranked player Alex Rodriguez (187.0). Lester ranks sixth among active players in career points, third among active NL pitchers behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (246.6) and Max Scherzer of the Nationals (210.9).
Lester also has now earned Box-Toppers points in 16 straight seasons—tied for the third-longest active streak—after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2021. (See the chart elsewhere on this page Active season streaks.)
Lester earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006. Lester’s best season was 2010 with the Red Sox when he had 23.4 points, first among all players. He’s had 20 or more points in one other season (2016 with the Cubs, 22.1, fourth among all players). In 2019, Lester had 8.0 points with the Cubs, 33rd among NL pitchers. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he had 3.7 points with the Cubs, 24th among NL pitchers.
Lester’s 16-season streak earning Box-Toppers points is now tied with two other players for the third-longest active streak:
Edwin Encarnacion, who is a free agent and has not played this season. He extended his streak to 16 seasons in 2020.
Nelson Cruz of the Twins, who extended his streak to 16 seasons in 2021.
Only two active players have longer streaks—Albert Pujols of the Dodgers (20 seasons) and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (19 seasons). Pujols has not earned Player of the Game honors in 2021, so could still extend his streak to 21 seasons. Cabrera has earned Box-Toppers points this season, extending his streak to 19 seasons.
American League Player of the Day—Twins pitcher Griffin Jax struck out six over four innings, allowing one run, one hit and one walk, in the 3-2, eight-inning win over the White Sox. Griffin did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he did not pitch the required five innings for starting pitchers to earn the win and also because the Twins were trailing when he exited.
This was Jax’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Jax made his Major League debut June 8 and was playing in his sixth career game.
American League Batter of the Day—Enrique Hernandez of the Red Sox hit two home runs and doubled in the 13-4 win over the Blue Jays. Hernandez went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs.
National League Batter of the Day—Kevin Pillar of the Mets hit a three-run homer and went 1-for-2, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 15-11, 11-inning win over the Reds.
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 Monday, July 19.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 16.4 |
| 3 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 14.4 |
| 4 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 14.1 |
| 5 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 12.7 |
| 6 | Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 12.7 |
| 7 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 11.4 |
| 8 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 10.4 |
| 9 | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | oak al | 9.7 |
| 10 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Notable—Tigers pitcher Casey Mize has the most 2021 Box-Toppers points among the 12 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday.
Mize (4IP H 0R 0BB 2K ND in the 14-0 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.7 for the season, 67th among all players and 27th among AL pitchers.
Debut—In addition to Jax, Orioles pitcher Spenser Watkins also made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Watkins (6IP 4H R 2BB 7K W in the 6-1 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut July 2 and was playing in his fourth career game.
Scoring—Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Jax earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Hernandez and Pillar each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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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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).| 7/19 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +8.0 | WSH 18, MIA 1 | Jon Lester, (W 3‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| AL | +6.0 | `MIN 3, CHW 2 (F/8) | Griffin Jax | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| +5.0 | BAL 6, TB 1 | Spenser Watkins, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| +5.0 | `DET 14, TEX 0 | Casey Mize | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | BOS 13, TOR 4 | Enrique Hernández, 2B‑SS | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +4.0 | NYM 15, CIN 11 (F/11) | Kevin Pillar, PH‑LF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.2 | STL 8, CHC 3 | Jake Woodford, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +3.1 | SF 7, LAD 2 | Jarlin García, (W 2‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | HOU 4, CLE 3 | Yordan Alvarez, DH | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | CHW 5, MIN 3 (F/7) | Gavin Sheets, RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | OAK 4, LAA 1 | Cole Irvin, (W 7‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +1.2 | ARI 4, PIT 2 | Caleb Smith, (W 3‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mize, Casey 4377 | pi sp | det al | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | +5.7 |
| Irvin, Cole 4140 | pi sp | oak al | 4.7 | 4.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | +4.7 |
| Alvarez, Yordan 4209 | dh | hou al | 4.5 | 5.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | +3.5 |
| Woodford, Jake 4293 | pi mr sp | stl nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +2.0 |
| Hernandez, Enrique 3541 | cf 2b ss | bos al | 2.5 | 4.5 | 13.0 | 14.0 | +0.5 |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | dc nl | 2.0 | 5.7 | 57.2 | 178.3 | ‑1.7 |
| Smith, Caleb 3952 | pi mr sp | ari nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 15.4 | 15.4 | +1.0 |
| Sheets, Gavin 4457 | rf | chi al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Jax, Griffin 4478 | pi sp | min al | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | +1.7 |
| Pillar, Kevin 3486 | lf ph | nym nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 12.0 | 15.5 | +1.5 |
| Garcia, Jarlin 3927 | pi mr | sf nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +0.0 |
| Watkins, Spenser 4479 | pi sp | bal al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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