Kershaw, Scherzer, Cabrera are the most frequently mentioned players on Box-Toppers.com since its debut in 2013. The Chicago Cubs hold narrow lead among the most-tagged teams on the website.
Read MoreDodgers' Kershaw tops players in Thursday's March 23's spring games
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Thursday’s Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day.
Box-Toppers is tracking several days of spring training during 2017 as a sort of a test and demonstration of the Box-Toppers player tracking metric. Even after 22 seasons of tracking (including sharing those results for the past four seasons on Box-Toppers.com), we need to spend a little time practicing hitting the cut-off man and getting in shape for the 2,430 games to be tracked during the regular season.
Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 11 over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 10-2 win over the Rangers. In 2016, Kershaw ranked second in Box-Toppers points with 24.4, just behind overall leader Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (25.7). Kershaw leads all players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2012—he has 124.1 points over that span, ahead of Scherzer’s 103.9.
American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez pitched six scoreless innings, allowing one hit, no walks and striking out five, in the 9-2 win over the Giants. In 2016, Hernandez had 6.0 Box-Toppers points, which was his lowest point total in his 12 seasons. Hernandez ranks fifth among all players in Box-Toppers points since 2012 (79.7).
American League Batter of the Day—Yonder Alonso of the Athletics homered twice, going 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 15-5 win over the Brewers. In 2016, Alonso had 2.0 Box-Toppers points.
National League Batter of the Day—Jamie Romak of the Padres hit a two-run double, going 1-for-1 and scoring once, in the 6-2 win over the Angels. Romak has yet to earn Player of the Game honors in the regular season and has no Box-Toppers points.
Notable—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright earned Player of the Game honors for batting. Wainwright went 1-for-1, scoring once and driving in one run, in the 5-3 win over the Marlins. In 2016, Wainwright twice earned Player of the Game honors for batting, most of any pitcher. Wainwright had 10.2 Box-Toppers points in 2016, 20th among NL pitchers.
Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Kershaw would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Hernandez would earn 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Alonso and Romak would each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Note—Thirteen spring training games were scheduled for Thursday—11 are listed below. Two games are not listed because they ended in ties (Yankees 5, Rays 5 and Cubs 5, Diamondbacks 5).
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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 3/23 | Score | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | LAD 10, TEX 2 | Clayton Kershaw (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| AL | 10.0 | SEA 9, SF 2 | Felix Hernandez (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 8.0 | CHW 4, CIN 2 | Jose Quintana (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 6.0 | WSH 1, NYM 0 | Erick Fedde (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | OAK 15, MIL 5 | Yonder Alonso 1B | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | CLE 8, COL 3 | Corey Kluber (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 4.1 | BOS 10, PIT 7 | Steven Wright (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | 4.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | SD 6, LAA 2 | Jamie Romak PR-3B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | `ATL 2, DET 1 | Arodys Vizcaíno | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | STL 5, MIA 3 | Adam Wainwright P | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 4, PHI 2 | Buddy Boshers (S, 2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
A Box-Toppers look back at 2016, with a preview of the coming 2017 season
A compilation of player and team standings from the end of the 2016 season, featuring a plethora of posts to prep for the 2017 season, including preseason team standings and Box-Toppers 2017 playoff and World Series picks.
Read MoreTanaka, part of Yankees' combined no-hitter, tops players in Friday, March 17's spring games
Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is Friday’s Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day.
Box-Toppers is tracking several days of spring training during 2017 as a sort of a test and demonstration of the Box-Toppers player tracking metric. Even after 22 seasons of tracking (including sharing those results for the past four seasons on Box-Toppers.com), we need to spend a little time shagging ground balls and getting in shape for the 2,430 games to be tracked during the regular season.
Tanaka, along with two other Yankees pitchers, no-hit the Tigers, 3-0. Tananka struck out six over 4 1/3 innings, allowing no hits or runs.
In 2016, Tanaka had 14.1 Box-Toppers points, fifth among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Wilmer Flores of the Mets hit a grand slam and doubled, going 2-for-2 and driving in six total runs, in the 16-2 win over the Cardinals. Flores had 4.5 Box-Toppers points in 2016.
American League Batter of the Day—Darrell Ceciliani of the Blue Jays hit a grand slam and tripled, going 2-for-4 and driving in five total runs, in the 7-5 win over the Phillies. Ceciliani has yet to make his Box-Toppers debut by earning Player of the Game honors during the regular season.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Wilmer Flores.
Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Tanaka would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Flores would earn 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day and Ceciliani would earn 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Note—Eighteen spring training games were scheduled for Friday—17 are listed below. One game is not listed (Nationals 5, Marlins 5) because it ended in a tie. World Baseball Classic games are also not included.
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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 3/17 | Score | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.1 | NYY 3, DET 0 | Masahiro Tanaka (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | 4.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| NL | 7.0 | NYM 16, STL 2 | Wilmer Flores 3B | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | MIN 4, TB 2 | Phil Hughes (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 6.0 | HOU 6, BOS 2 | Francis Martes (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 5.0 | CHC 7, CHW 3 | Kyle Schwarber RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | `SD 3, LAD 2 | Christian Friedrich | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | TOR 7, PHI 5 | Darrell Ceciliani RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | SEA 8, ARI 5 | Ron Casteel 1B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | TEX 6, LAA 5 | Ronald Guzman 1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | CLE 3, TEX 2 | Danny Salazar (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 4.0 | SEA 5, LAD 2 | Max Povse (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | COL 5, SF 1 | Harrison Musgrave (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 4.0 | ARI 3, OAK 2 | Zack Godley (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | CIN 7, CLE 3 | Wandy Peralta (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | KC 8, MIL 5 | Christian Colón 2B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | `HOU 5, ATL 4 | Dallas Keuchel | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | BAL 8, PIT 6 | Scott McGough (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
Box-Toppers picks the Nationals over the Red Sox in the 2017 World Series
Box-Toppers projects Nationals to edge Dodgers in NL, Red Sox to beat Indians in the AL. World champion Cubs remain strong but return trip to World Series is not projected.
Read MoreRockies' Senzatela tops players in Tuesday, March 7's spring training games
Rockies pitcher Antonio Senzatela is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day.
Box-Toppers is tracking several days of spring training during 2017 as a sort of a test and demonstration of the Box-Toppers player tracking metric. Even after 22 seasons of tracking (including sharing those results for the past four seasons on Box-Toppers.com), we need to spend a little time in the batting cage working on the swing and getting in shape for the 2,430 games to be tracked during the regular season.
Senzatela pitched three scoreless innings of middle relief, striking out four and allowing one hit, in the 3-2 win over the Rangers. Senzatela picked up a no decision because after he exited, the Rangers tied the game at 2-2, before the Rockies went ahead in the ninth inning.
Senzatela has yet to make his Box-Toppers debut by earning Player of the Game honors during the regular season.
American League Player of the Day—Marcus Semien of the Athletics doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 21-13 win over the Diamondbacks. Semien had 6.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016 with the Athletics, 39th among AL batters.
National League Batter of the Day—Brock Stassi of the Phillies hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 11-6 win over the Tigers. Stassi has yet to make his Box-Toppers debut by earning Player of the Game honors during the regular season.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Marcus Semien.
Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Senzatela would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Semien would earn 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Stassi would earn 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Note—Thirteen spring training games were scheduled for Tuesday—nine are listed below. Four games in which Major League teams played against national World Baseball Classic teams are not included. Also not included are three World Baseball Classic games. Should I be including those and tracking those games? I’m just not feeling it. Let me know if you’d like to see Box-Toppers coverage of that tournament.
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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 3/7 | Score | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 6.0 | `COL 3, TEX 2 | Antonio Senzatela | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | PHI 11, DET 6 | Brock Stassi (1B) | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AL | 5.0 | OAK 21, ARI 13 | Marcus Semien (SS) | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | `SF 4, LAD 2 | Matt Moore | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | `CIN 7, KC 3 | Sal Romano | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | STL 9, MIA 2 | Jhonny Peralta (3B) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYY 7, TB 6 (F/10) | Kyle Higashioka (C) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 5, WSH 3 | Hanley Ramirez (DH) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | PIT 6, ATL 3 | Steven Brault (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
How baseball stars are trending: Kershaw remains strong over past half decade—who is rising & who is declining
Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer hold dominant lead among players in Box-Toppers points over last several years. Using longer term measure, Chris Sale rises to lead AL pitchers, Yoenis Cespedes rises to lead NL batters.
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Dodgers, Nationals top Box-Toppers 2017 preseason team rankings; Cubs slip to 5th
Los Angeles Dodgers edge out Washington Nationals as Box-Toppers' top preseason team. Champion Cubs slip to 5th after key player losses. Indians rank 1st among AL teams.
Read MoreIn 2016, pitchers had more Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors than batters
A comprehensive Box-Toppers analysis of all 2,428 games played in 2016 shows pitchers won Player of the Game honors more frequently than batters and won an overwhelming majority of overall Player of the Day honors.
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