Angels' Chacin tops players for Monday, May 30; Cardinals' Martinez tops NL players

Shawn Plank May 31, 2016

Angels pitcher Jhoulys Chacin is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 30:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	14.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	8.7
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7
5	Machado, Manny 3087	ss 3b	bal al	8.7
6	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	8.7
7	Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	8.7
8	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	8.4
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	7.0
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	6.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Chacin pitched a complete game, allowing one run, four hits and striking out 10, in the 5-1 win over the Twins.

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out eight, in the 6-0 win over the Brewers.

National League Batter of the Day—Daniel Murphy of the Nationals homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Phillies.

American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Seager of the Mariners homered and went 1-for-2, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-3 win over the Padres.

Notable—Royals pitcher Ian Kennedy holds the highest spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings among Monday’s Players of the Games.

Kennedy (6IP 3H R 6K ND in the 6-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season, ranking 16th among all players in 2016, fifth among AL pitchers.

Scoring—Chacin earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Martinez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Murphy and Seager 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/29
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    12.0
    LAA 5/DET 1
    Jhoulys Chacin (W,2-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    4
    1
    1
    1
    10
  

    NL
    10.0
    STL 6/MIL 0
    Carlos Martinez (W,5-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    5
    0
    0
    1
    8
  

    
    10.0
    NYM 1/CHW 0
    Matt Harvey (W,4-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    
    8.0
    TOR 4/NYY 2
    Marco Estrada (W,3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    0
    0
    3
    6
  

    
    8.0
    CHC 2/LAD 0
    Travis Wood (W,3-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    4.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    
    7.0
    PIT 10/MIA 0
    Jeff Locke (W,4-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    3
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    5.0
    HOU 8/ARI 3
    Collin McHugh (W,5-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    5
    3
    3
    1
    8
  

    BAT
    3.0
    DC 4/PHI 3
    Daniel Murphy, 2B
    4
    1
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    SEA 9/SD 3
    Kyle Seager, 3B
    2
    2
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    BOS 7/BAL 2
    Steven Wright (W,5-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    4
    2
    2
    5
    7
  

    
    3.0
    `KC 6/TB 2
    Ian Kennedy
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    0
    5
    6
  

    
    3.0
    ATL 5/SF 3
    Mike Foltynewicz (W,2-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    2
    4
  

    
    3.0
    OAK 3/MIN 2
    Ryan Madson (S,12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    CIN 11/COL 8
    Adam Duvall, LF
    5
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    TEX 9/CLE 2
    Ian Desmond, CF
    5
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    
    `Denotes that the 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 Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Kennedy, Ian 2723	pi sp	kc al	6.0	12.7	56.5	62.5	-0.7
Estrada, Marco 2847	pi sp	tor al	4.0	12.0	36.1	36.1	-4.0
Wright, Steven 3224	pi sp	bos al	4.0	7.7	8.7	8.7	0.3
Murphy, Daniel 2589	2b	dc nl	4.0	5.5	27.5	29.0	2.5
Desmond, Ian 2673	cf lf	tex al	4.0	5.0	20.7	27.2	3.0
Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	3.7	17.4	18.4	18.4	-10.0
Locke, Jeff 3133	pi sp	pit nl	2.7	8.7	20.1	20.1	-3.3
Seager, Kyle 3031	3b	sea al	2.5	7.5	21.5	21.5	-2.5
Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	2.0	17.4	35.4	35.4	-13.4
McHugh, Collin 3316	pi sp	hou al	2.0	11.7	23.5	23.5	-7.7
Foltynewicz, Mike 3455	pi sp	atl nl	2.0	4.7	4.7	4.7	-0.7
Duvall, Adam 3573	lf	cin nl	2.0	3.5	3.5	3.5	0.5
Chacin, Jhoulys 2711	pi sp	ana al	2.0	2.0	16.4	24.1	2.0
Madson, Ryan 1841	pi cp	oak al	2.0	2.0	5.0	22.7	2.0
Wood, Travis 2777	pi mr sp	chi nl	1.0	4.0	28.7	31.7	-2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Kershaw tops players for Sunday, May 29, extends lead in season Box-Toppers points

Shawn Plank May 29, 2016

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and extends his lead in season Box-Toppers player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 29:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	14.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	8.7
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7
5	Machado, Manny 3087	ss 3b	bal al	8.7
6	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	8.7
7	Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	8.7
8	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	8.4
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	7.0
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	6.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Sunday, Athletics pitcher Rich Hill maintained his rank of eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 10 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 4-2 win over the Mets. Kershaw picked up a no decision and did not earn the win because the Mets tied the game after he exited.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.0 for the season. He holds a dominating lead in player rankings, 5.0 points ahead of second-place player, Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (9.0).

Kershaw also has 173.3 career Box-Toppers points, seventh among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails sixth-ranked player, Albert Pujols of the Angels (176.3).

American League Player of the Day—Twins pitcher Ricky Nolasco struck out seven over six innings, allowing two runs and three hits, in the 5-4 win over the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day—Wilson Ramos of the Nationals homered and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-2 win over the Cardinals.

American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros hit a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the 13th inning in the 8-6 win over the Angels.

Rankings—Athletics pitcher Rich Hill maintained his rank of eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Hill (6.1IP 5H 2R 9K W in the 4-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.4 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the White Sox (8.7).

Streak—Hunter Pence of the Giants has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Pence (3-2B 3-5 2R 3BI in the 8-3 win over the Rockies) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Astros and has 49.7 career points, 10th among active NL outfielders. His best season was 2008 with the Astros, when he had 8.2 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL outfielders. In 2015, Pence had 2.0 Box-Toppers points with the Giants.

Notable—Cubs pitcher John Lackey rises to 46th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Lackey (7IP 4H R 6K W in the 7-2 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 113.5 for his career. Since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, Lackey now ranks 46th and with his point Sunday, he passes four players on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” list—Kevin Brown (112.8), Sammy Sosa (113.2), Dan Haren (113.2) and Chris Carpenter (113.3). Lackey now trails 45th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9). Lackey has 5.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 11th among NL pitchers.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Nolasco earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Ramos and Correa each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/29
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.2
    `LAD 4/NYM 2
    Clayton Kershaw
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    4
    2
    2
    0
    10
  

    BAT
    6.0
    DC 10/STL 2
    Wilson Ramos, C
    3
    2
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.1
    ARI 6/SD 3
    Archie Bradley (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.1
    4
    3
    3
    1
    9
  

    
    5.0
    MIA 7/ATL 3
    Derek Dietrich, 2B
    3
    1
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    AL
    5.0
    MIN 5/SEA 4
    Ricky Nolasco (W,2-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    2
    2
    1
    7
  

    
    4.0
    MIL 5/CIN 4
    Jonathan Villar, SS
    2
    3
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    4.0
    HOU 8/LAA 6
    Carlos Correa, SS
    1
    1
    1
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.1
    OAK 4/DET 2
    Rich Hill (W,8-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    5
    2
    2
    3
    9
  

    
    3.0
    SF 8/COL 3
    Hunter Pence, RF
    5
    2
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    CHC 7/PHI 2
    John Lackey (W,5-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    1
    4
    6
  

    
    3.0
    NYY 2/TB 1
    Nathan Eovaldi (W,6-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    6
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    
    3.0
    BOS 5/TOR 3
    Koji Uehara (S,1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    KC 5/CHW 4
    Lorenzo Cain, CF
    4
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    `BAL 6/CLE 4
    Darren O'Day
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    1
    2
  

    
    1.0
    TEX 6/PIT 2
    Mitch Moreland, 1B
    4
    1
    1
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    
    `Denotes that the 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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	14.0	39.7	139.8	173.3	-11.7
Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	8.4	12.4	12.4	32.1	4.4
Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	5.7	15.4	35.1	113.5	-4.0
Eovaldi, Nathan 2928	pi sp	nyy al	5.7	7.7	24.8	24.8	3.7
Cain, Lorenzo 3171	cf	kc al	4.0	12.2	18.2	18.2	-4.2
Nolasco, Ricky 2125	pi sp	min al	3.7	5.7	26.4	79.5	1.7
Correa, Carlos 3506	ss	hou al	2.5	9.7	9.7	9.7	-4.7
Uehara, Koji 2802	pi mr cp	bos al	2.0	7.0	24.0	28.0	-3.0
O’Day, Darren 2577	pi mr	bal al	2.0	3.7	11.7	12.7	0.3
Ramos, Wilson 2904	ca	dc nl	1.5	2.5	16.0	16.0	0.5
Moreland, Mitch 2799	1b	tex al	1.0	7.2	15.2	16.2	-5.2
Pence, Hunter 2287	rf	sf nl	1.0	3.0	22.0	49.7	-1.0
Dietrich, Derek 3199	2b	fla nl	1.0	2.0	4.0	4.0	0.0
Bradley, Archie 3438	pi sp	ari nl	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Villar, Jonathan 3233	ss	mil nl	1.0	1.0	3.0	3.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Hendricks tops players for Saturday, May 28; Rangers' Darvish tops AL players

Shawn Plank May 29, 2016

Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Hendricks pitched a complete game, allowing one run and five hits, striking out seven, in the 4-1 win over the Phillies.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 28:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	12.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	8.7
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7
5	Machado, Manny 3087	ss 3b	bal al	8.7
6	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	8.7
7	Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	8.7
8	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	7.4
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	7.0
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	6.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish struck out seven over five innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 5-2 win over the Pirates.

National League Batter of the Day—Buster Posey of the Giants hit two three-run homers in the 10-5 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—Russell Martin of the Blue Jays homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 10-9 win over the Red Sox.

Scoring—Hendricks earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Darvish earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Posey 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/28
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.0
    CHC 4/PHI 1
    Kyle Hendricks (W,3-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    5
    1
    1
    0
    7
  

    AL
    6.0
    TEX 5/PIT 2
    Yu Darvish (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    7
  

    BAT
    5.0
    SF 10/COL 5
    Buster Posey, C
    5
    2
    2
    6
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    HOU 4/LAA 2
    Dallas Keuchel (W,3-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    2
    2
    0
    5
  

    BAT
    4.0
    TOR 10/BOS 9
    Russell Martin, C
    5
    3
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    LAD 9/NYM 1
    Chase Utley, 2B
    5
    2
    2
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    TB 9/NYY 5
    Hank Conger, C
    4
    2
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    CIN 7/MIL 6
    Adam Duvall, LF
    5
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    ARI 8/SD 7
    Michael Bourn, RF
    4
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    OAK 12/DET 3
    Danny Valencia, 3B
    4
    3
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    ATL 7/MIA 2
    Gordon Beckham, 2B
    4
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    MIN 6/SEA 5
    Eduardo Nunez, 3B
    5
    2
    4
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    STL 9/DC 4
    Greg Garcia, 3B
    4
    2
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    KC 8/CHW 7
    Drew Butera, C
    1
    1
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    CLE 11/BAL 4
    Juan Uribe, 3B
    4
    2
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Valencia, Danny 2772	3b	oak al	3.5	7.0	9.0	12.0	0.0
Nunez, Eduardo 2795	2b ss 3b	min al	3.5	5.5	11.5	13.0	1.5
Hendricks, Kyle 3386	pi sp	chi nl	3.0	12.7	17.7	17.7	-6.7
Martin, Russell 2202	ca	tor al	2.5	7.5	24.0	45.0	-2.5
Posey, Buster 2745	1b ca	sf nl	2.5	6.5	27.5	32.0	-1.5
Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	2.0	23.4	37.8	37.8	-19.4
Darvish, Yu 3003	pi sp	tex al	1.7	1.7	46.9	46.9	1.7
Uribe, Juan 1542	3b	cle al	1.0	4.0	12.0	47.7	-2.0
Bourn, Michael 2505	rf	ari nl	1.0	3.5	5.5	12.0	-1.5
Duvall, Adam 3573	lf	cin nl	1.0	2.5	2.5	2.5	-0.5
Conger, Hank 2843	ca	tb al	1.0	2.0	6.5	6.5	0.0
Garcia, Greg 3331	3b	stl nl	1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	0.0
Beckham, Gordon 2620	2b	atl nl	1.0	2.0	7.5	13.5	0.0
Utley, Chase 1861	2b	lad nl	1.0	1.0	13.0	73.1	1.0
Butera, Drew 2883	ca	kc al	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Yankees' Tanaka tops players for Friday, May 27; Orioles' Machado rises to 5th in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank May 28, 2016

Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Manny Machado of the Orioles rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 27:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	12.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	8.7
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7
5	Machado, Manny 3087	ss 3b	bal al	8.7
6	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	8.7
7	Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	8.7
8	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	7.4
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	7.0
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	6.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Tanaka pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out four, in the 4-1 win over the Rays.

National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Christian Friedrich pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out five, in the 10-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

American League Batter of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays hit two homers, doubled and went 4-for-5, driving in five runs, in the 7-5 win over the Red Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—Aaron Hill of the Brewers hit two homers and went 3-for-4, in the 9-5 win over the Reds.

Rankings—Manny Machado of the Orioles rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Machado (2B 4-5 2R BI in the 6-4 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season. He extends his lead among AL batters.

Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester now has 125.1 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. Lester (6.1IP 6H 2R 7K W in the 6-2 win over the Phillies) ranks 35th in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 34th-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4).

Debut—Twins pitcher Pat Dean made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Dean (7IP 4H 2R 8K W in the 7-2 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut May 11 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,644th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Tanaka earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Friedrich earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Donaldson and Hill each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/27
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.0
    NYY 4/TB 1
    Masahiro Tanaka (W,3-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    
    8.1
    LAA 7/HOU 2
    Matt Shoemaker (W,3-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.1
    7
    2
    2
    0
    11
  

    NL
    8.0
    SD 10/ARI 3
    Christian Friedrich (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    7.0
    MIN 7/SEA 2
    Pat Dean (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    2
    2
    0
    8
  

    
    6.2
    DET 4/OAK 1
    Michael Fulmer (W,4-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    3
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    BAT
    6.0
    TOR 7/BOS 5
    Josh Donaldson, 3B
    5
    2
    4
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    `NYM 6/LAD 5
    Jacob deGrom
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    1
    3
    7
  

    
    5.0
    COL 5/SF 2
    Tyler Chatwood (W,6-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    4.0
    KC 7/CHW 5
    Eric Hosmer, 1B
    4
    1
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    MIL 9/CIN 5
    Aaron Hill, 2B
    4
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.1
    CHC 6/PHI 2
    Jon Lester (W,5-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    6
    2
    1
    2
    7
  

    
    2.0
    BAL 6/CLE 4
    Manny Machado, SS
    5
    2
    4
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    PIT 9/TEX 1
    Starling Marte, LF
    4
    2
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    STL 6/DC 2
    Stephen Piscotty, RF
    4
    1
    1
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    ATL 4/MIA 2
    Arodys Vizcaino (S,6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    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.
  

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Machado, Manny 3087	ss 3b	bal al	8.7	16.2	19.7	19.7	1.2
Hill, Aaron 2056	2b 3b	mil nl	4.5	7.5	21.5	40.5	1.5
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	4.0	16.0	62.2	125.1	-8.0
Donaldson, Josh 3144	3b	tor al	4.0	13.9	33.9	33.9	-5.9
Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	pi sp	nyy al	4.0	12.0	24.7	24.7	-4.0
Chatwood, Tyler 2856	pi sp	col nl	4.0	4.0	13.7	13.7	4.0
Fulmer, Michael 3640	pi sp	det al	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Marte, Starling 3122	lf	pit nl	2.5	7.5	12.0	12.0	-2.5
deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	2.0	24.4	37.4	37.4	-20.4
Hosmer, Eric 2886	1b	kc al	2.0	11.0	24.5	24.5	-7.0
Shoemaker, Matt 3290	pi sp	ana al	2.0	7.7	20.4	20.4	-3.7
Piscotty, Stephen 3570	rf	stl nl	2.0	6.2	6.2	6.2	-2.2
Friedrich, Christian 3024	pi sp	sd nl	1.7	1.7	5.4	5.4	1.7
Vizcaino, Arodys 3533	pi cp	atl nl	1.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	-3.0
Dean, Pat 3644	pi sp	min al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

A look at Box-Toppers All-Star teams: Kershaw, Arrieta among points leaders

Shawn Plank May 27, 2016

Who are the top players by position in Box-Toppers points for 2016 and the combined 2015-16 seasons?

Dodgers' Kershaw keeps lead in Box-Toppers player rankings for 3rd straight week

Shawn Plank May 27, 2016

Kershaw maintains overall Box-Toppers points lead. Sale keeps lead among AL pitchers. Machado and Cespedes maintain leads among their league's batters.

Chicago Cubs stay atop Box-Toppers team rankings for 6th week, Red Sox rise to top AL teams

Shawn Plank May 27, 2016

While Cubs continue to lead all teams, the Red Sox pass the White Sox to take the lead among AL teams.

Marlins' Jose Fernandez tops players for Thursday, May 26, rises to 5th in player rankings

Shawn Plank May 27, 2016

Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in season player rankings.

Fernandez struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run and six hits, in the 9-1 win over the Rays.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 26:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	12.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	8.7
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7
5	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	8.7
6	Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	8.7
7	Machado, Manny 3087	ss 3b	bal al	7.7
8	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	7.4
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	7.0
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	6.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season, rising to fifth place in season player rankings, fourth among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers struck out 10 over five innings, allowing one run and one hit, in the 4-2 win over the Orioles.

National League Batter of the Day—Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-2, in the 8-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

Cole becomes the third pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. It was done previously by Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright on May 2 and by Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard on May 11. It is the first time in Cole’s career he has earned Player of the Game honors for batting.

Cole had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 for batting and a score of +1.0 for his pitching performance (5IP 7H R 3BB 5K ND).

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because no AL batter earned Player of the Game honors.

Debut—Dustin Garneau of the Rockies made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Garneau (HR 2B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 8-2 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut Aug. 20, 2015, and was playing in his 33rd career game. He is the 3,643rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and McCullers earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Cole earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/26
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    10.0
    MIA 9/TB 1
    Jose Fernandez (W,7-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    1
    1
    1
    12
  

    AL
    6.0
    HOU 4/BAL 2
    Lance McCullers (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    1
    1
    1
    6
    10
  

    BAT
    4.0
    PIT 8/ARI 3
    Gerrit Cole, P
    2
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    TOR 3/NYY 1
    J.A. Happ (W,6-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    1
    3
    5
  

    
    2.0
    COL 8/BOS 2
    Dustin Garneau, C
    4
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    MIL 6/ATL 2
    Hernan Perez, PH-3B
    1
    0
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    DC 2/STL 1
    Joe Ross (W,4-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	8.7	13.4	39.4	39.4	4.0
Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	4.5	23.5	33.9	33.9	-14.5
Ross, Joe 3499	pi sp	dc nl	3.7	8.7	8.7	8.7	-1.3
Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	3.0	16.1	31.5	39.5	-10.1
McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	hou al	1.7	8.4	8.4	8.4	-5.0
Perez, Hernan 3577	3b ph	mil nl	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Garneau, Dustin 3643	ca	col nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Steven Matz tops players for Wednesday, May 25, rises to 5th in player rankings

Shawn Plank May 26, 2016

Mets pitcher Steven Matz is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 25:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	12.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	8.7
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7
5	Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	8.7
6	Machado, Manny 3087	ss 3b	bal al	7.7
7	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	7.4
8	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	7.0
9	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	6.7
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	6.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Matz pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing four hits, in the 2-0 win over the Nationals.

Matz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season, rising to fifth in player rankings, fourth among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Adam Lind of the Mariners hit two homers and a double, going 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 13-3 win over the Athletics.

Lind has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Blue Jays and has 55.8 career points, seventh among active AL first basemen. His best season was 2009 with the Blue Jays when he had 16.4 Box-Toppers points, second among AL batters. He had 6.5 points in 2015 with the Brewers.

National League Batter of the Day—Kris Bryant of the Cubs hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-8 win over the Cardinals.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because the overall AL Player of the Day was a batter, Adam Lind.

Streak—Russell Martin of the Blue Jays has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Martin (2HR 2-5 2R 3BI in the 8-4 win over the Yankees) earned his first points in 2006 with the Dodgers and has 43.5 career points, second among active AL catchers, behind Brian McCann of the Yankees (55.2). His best season was 2007 with the Dodgers when he had 8.5 points, first among NL catchers. He had 5.0 points in 2015 with the Blue Jays.

Scoring—Matz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lind earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Bryant earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/25
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    10.0
    NYM 2/DC 0
    Steven Matz (W,7-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    7
  

    
    10.0
    LAD 3/CIN 1
    Scott Kazmir (W,4-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    2
    12
  

    AL
    9.0
    SEA 13/OAK 3
    Adam Lind, 1B
    4
    3
    4
    6
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.1
    CLE 4/CHW 3
    Corey Kluber (W,4-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.1
    7
    2
    1
    1
    9
  

    
    4.0
    TEX 15/LAA 9
    Ryan Rua, LF
    4
    3
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    4.0
    CHC 9/STL 8
    Kris Bryant, LF
    3
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `MIL 3/ATL 2
    Junior Guerra
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    4
    0
    0
    4
    6
  

    
    3.0
    `MIA 4/TB 3
    David Phelps (H,11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    3.0
    `HOU 4/BAL 3
    Ken Giles (H,9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    2.0
    TOR 8/NYY 4
    Russell Martin, C
    5
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    BOS 10/COL 3
    Travis Shaw, 3B
    4
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    PHI 8/DET 5
    Andres Blanco, 3B
    3
    2
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    MIN 7/KC 5
    Miguel Sano, RF
    3
    2
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.2
    SF 4/SD 3
    George Kontos (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    0.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.0
    PIT 5/ARI 4
    Gregory Polanco, RF
    4
    1
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    
    `Denotes that the 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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	8.7	12.2	12.2	12.2	5.2
Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	4.4	17.8	48.6	48.6	-9.0
Bryant, Kris 3465	lf 3b	chi nl	3.5	12.0	12.0	12.0	-5.0
Polanco, Gregory 3361	rf lf	pit nl	3.5	6.5	10.5	10.5	0.5
Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	lad nl	3.0	15.7	43.6	99.4	-9.7
Phelps, David 2994	pi mr	fla nl	3.0	6.4	19.8	19.8	-0.4
Guerra, Junior 3633	pi sp	mil nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Shaw, Travis 3544	1b	bos al	2.5	6.7	6.7	6.7	-1.7
Blanco, Andres 2980	ss 3b	phi nl	2.0	3.0	4.0	4.0	1.0
Rua, Ryan 3631	lf 1b	tex al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Lind, Adam 2238	1b	sea al	1.7	8.2	28.2	55.8	-4.8
Sano, Miguel 3527	rf dh	min al	1.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	-5.0
Martin, Russell 2202	ca	tor al	1.0	6.0	22.5	43.5	-4.0
Giles, Ken 3402	pi mr	hou nl	1.0	4.0	6.0	6.0	-2.0
Kontos, George 3106	pi cp	sf nl	1.0	3.0	5.7	5.7	-1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Tigers' Verlander tops players for Tuesday, May 24; Nationals' Strasburg tops NL players

Shawn Plank May 25, 2016

Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 24:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	12.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	8.7
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7
5	Machado, Manny 3087	ss 3b	bal al	7.7
6	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	7.4
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	7.0
8	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	6.7
9	Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	6.7
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	6.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Verlander pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing three hits, in the 3-1 win over the Phillies.

Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season and has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons, all with the Tigers. He earned his first points in 2006 and has 126.6 career points, rising to 33rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Verlander passes Mariano Rivera (126.4) on the “all-time” list and now trails 32nd-ranked player Roy Oswalt (127.2). Verlander ranks fourth among active American League pitchers in career Box-Toppers points.

Verlander’s best season was 2012 when he led all players with 24.8 Box-Toppers points. In 2011, he led all AL pitchers with 24.4 points. In 2015, Verlander had 6.4 points.

National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg struck out 11 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 7-4 win over the Mets.

Strasburg earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 6.4 for the season and rising to 11th in Box-Toppers player rankings, seventh among NL pitchers. Strasburg is the highest-ranked player among Tuesday’s Players of the Games.

National League Batter of the Day—Gregory Polanco of the Pirates homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 12-1 win over the Diamondbacks.

American League Batter of the Day—David Ortiz of the Red Sox doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 8-3 win over the Rockies.

Ortiz earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 141.4 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 23rd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 22nd-ranked player, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (142.1). Ortiz ranks eighth among all active players in career Box-Toppers points, third among active batters, behind Alex Rodriguez (187.0) and Albert Pujols (176.3).

Scoring—Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Strasburg earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Polanco and Ortiz each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/24
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    13.0
    Tigers
    Justin Verlander (W,4-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    10
  

    NL
    7.2
    Nationals
    Stephen Strasburg (W,8-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    4
    2
    2
    2
    11
  

    
    7.0
    Rays
    Jake Odorizzi (W,2-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    2
    0
    0
    3
    7
  

    
    6.0
    Yankees
    Nathan Eovaldi (W,5-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    0
    0
    3
    5
  

    
    5.1
    Mariners
    Mike Montgomery (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.1
    2
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    BAT
    5.0
    Pirates
    Gregory Polanco, RF-LF
    5
    2
    3
    5
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    Rangers
    Martin Perez (W,2-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    
    5.0
    `Brewers
    Jimmy Nelson
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    3
    8
  

    
    4.1
    `Astros
    Tony Sipp
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    4.0
    Giants
    Brandon Crawford, SS
    3
    1
    2
    4
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Cubs
    Jorge Soler, LF
    3
    2
    2
    3
    2
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Indians
    Josh Tomlin (W,7-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    5
    2
    2
    1
    6
  

    
    3.2
    Dodgers
    Mike Bolsinger (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    3
    2
    2
    1
    6
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Red Sox
    David Ortiz, DH
    4
    1
    2
    4
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Royals
    Lorenzo Cain, CF
    5
    0
    4
    2
    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 point totals of the day’s top players


Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	6.4	20.4	66.5	74.2	-7.6
Eovaldi, Nathan 2928	pi sp	nyy al	4.7	6.7	23.8	23.8	2.7
Tomlin, Josh 2771	pi sp	cle al	4.0	8.7	21.4	23.4	-0.7
Ortiz, David	dh	bos al	3.5	8.0	39.4	141.4	-1.0
Cain, Lorenzo 3171	cf	kc al	3.0	11.2	17.2	17.2	-5.2
Odorizzi, Jake 3291	pi sp	tb al	2.7	11.4	22.4	22.4	-6.0
Polanco, Gregory 3361	rf lf	pit nl	2.5	5.5	9.5	9.5	-0.5
Nelson, Jimmy 3299	pi sp	mil nl	2.0	10.4	12.4	12.4	-6.4
Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	2.0	8.4	71.6	126.6	-4.4
Bolsinger, Mike 3318	pi sp	lad nl	1.0	6.7	7.7	7.7	-4.7
Montgomery, Mike 3513	pi cp	sea al	1.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	-3.0
Crawford, Brandon 2878	ss	sf nl	1.0	4.5	15.5	15.5	-2.5
Soler, Jorge 3403	lf	chi nl	1.0	4.2	5.2	5.2	-2.2
Perez, Martin 3213	pi sp	tex al	1.0	2.0	12.0	12.0	0.0
Sipp, Tony 2852	pi mr	hou al	1.0	1.0	9.0	9.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Kershaw tops players for Monday, May 23, extends season lead, rises to 7th in Box-Toppers all-time rankings

Shawn Plank May 24, 2016

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, extending his lead in season player rankings and rising to seventh place in Box-Toppers “all-time” rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 23:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	12.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	8.7
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7
5	Machado, Manny 3087	ss 3b	bal al	7.7
6	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	7.4
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	7.0
8	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	6.7
9	Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	6.7
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	6.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Monday, Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Kershaw pitched a two-hit shutout, striking out seven, in the 1-0 win over the Reds.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.0 for the season, extending his lead in season player rankings. Kershaw also now has 171.3 career Box-Toppers points and rises to seventh among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Roy Halladay (170.7) on the “all-time” list to become the fifth-ranked pitcher since 1995. Kershaw now trails sixth-ranked player Albert Pujols of the Angels (176.3).

Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +13.0, tied with Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto, who was Player of the Game in the 1-0 win over the Padres. But Kershaw won overall Player of the Day honors on a tiebreaker: He had more strikeouts than Cueto—7 vs. 6.

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	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
4	Alex Rodriguez	dh	nyy al	187.0
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	181.0
6	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	176.3
7	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	171.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
10	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
11	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
12	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	164.7
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
16	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
17	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
18	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	151.4
19	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
20	Javier Vazquez	pi sp	retired	148.3

List of top 100 players since 1995 (through the 2015 season)

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Cody Anderson struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 5-1 win over the White Sox.

American League Batter of the Day—Miguel Cabrera hit two homers and went 3-for-3 in the 5-4 win over the Phillies. It is the second straight day Cabrera has earned Player of the Game honors.

Cabrera earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 136.9 for his career. He maintains his rank of 26th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began and trails 25th-ranked player Jake Peavy of the Giants (137.8).

National League Batter of the Day—Miguel Rojas of the Marlins doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-6 win over the Rays.

This was Rojas’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Rojas made his Major League debut June 6, 2014, and was playing in his 178th career game. He is the 3,642nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Rankings—In addition to Kershaw, two players in Box-Toppers top 10 season rankings earned Player of the Game honors:

Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (CG 2H 0R 6K in the 1-0 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.0 for the season, rising from fourth to second in player rankings. Cueto trails overall leader Kershaw by 3.0 Box-Toppers points (12.0 vs. 9.0). Cueto barely missed beating out Kershaw for Player of the Day. Had Cueto won Player of the Day Monday over Kershaw, he still would trail Kershaw in season points, but the margin would be closer (11.0 vs. 10.0).
Athletics pitcher Rich Hill (8IP 8H 0R 6K W in the 5-0 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.4 for the season, rising to sixth in player rankings. Hill ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the White Sox (8.7).

Notable—Neil Walker won Player of the Game honors over Yoenis Cespedes in the Mets’ 7-1 win over the Nationals Monday in one of the lowest-level tiebreakers ever used in Box-Toppers tracking.

Both Walker and Cespedes had Box-Toppers game scores of +1.0, the highest on the team and both had extremely similar batting lines (HR 2-4 2R BI). Both struck out once and did not walk. Both left two runners on base. Both had five total bases. Walker won Player of the Game over Cespedes simply because he batted lower in the lineup—fifth vs. fourth.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Anderson earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Cabrera and Rojas 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/23
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    13.0
    Dodgers
    Clayton Kershaw (W,7-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    2
    0
    0
    1
    7
  

    
    13.0
    Giants
    Johnny Cueto (W,7-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    2
    0
    0
    0
    6
  

    AL
    9.0
    Indians
    Cody Anderson (W,1-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    0
    9
  

    
    7.2
    Angels
    Nick Tropeano (W,3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    4
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    
    6.0
    Athletics
    Rich Hill (W,7-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    8
    0
    0
    0
    6
  

    BAT
    5.0
    Tigers
    Miguel Cabrera, 1B
    3
    3
    3
    2
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    White Sox
    Brett Lawrie, DH
    2
    2
    2
    3
    3
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Royals
    Salvador Perez, C
    5
    3
    5
    1
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Marlins
    Miguel Rojas, 2B
    4
    2
    3
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Cardinals
    Matt Adams, PH
    1
    1
    1
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Pirates
    Josh Harrison, 2B
    4
    1
    2
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Mets
    Neil Walker, 2B
    4
    2
    2
    1
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	12.0	37.7	137.8	171.3	-13.7
Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	9.0	21.8	73.0	92.4	-3.8
Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	7.4	11.4	11.4	31.1	3.4
Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	4.0	8.7	57.3	136.9	-0.7
Perez, Salvador 2972	ca	kc al	2.5	7.0	20.2	20.2	-2.0
Walker, Neil 2756	2b	nym nl	2.0	6.0	23.5	29.0	-2.0
Tropeano, Nick 3451	pi sp	ana al	2.0	5.7	5.7	5.7	-1.7
Anderson, Cody 3509	pi sp	cle al	1.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	-1.3
Rojas, Miguel 3642	2b	fla nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Adams, Matt 3220	1b ph	stl nl	1.0	3.5	9.5	9.5	-1.5
Lawrie, Brett 2934	dh 3b	chi al	1.0	2.5	10.7	10.7	-0.5
Harrison, Josh 2947	2b 3b	pit nl	1.0	2.0	7.0	7.0	0.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Syndergaard tops players for Sunday, May 22, rises to 6th in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank May 23, 2016

Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 22:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	10.0
2	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	8.7
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	8.0
5	Machado, Manny 3087	ss 3b	bal al	7.7
6	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	7.0
7	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	6.7
8	Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	6.7
9	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	6.4
10	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	6.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Sunday, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and five players with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors—Zack Greinke, David Ortiz, Miguel Cabrera, Cole Hamels and Max Scherzer.

Player of the Day—Syndergaard struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing one run (none earned) and six hits, in the 3-1 win over the Brewers.

Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, rising to sixth in player rankings, fourth among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing two runs (one earned) and five hits, in the 9-2 win over the Astros.

Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 6.4 for the season, rising to ninth in player rankings, second among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the White Sox (8.7).

Hamels also now has 132.6 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his spot in 28th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 27th-ranked player Jason Giambi (133.4).

American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Perez of the Angels hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 10-2 win over the Orioles.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day for Sunday because no NL batters earned Player of the Game honors.

Notable—Five players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. In addition to Hamels, mentioned previously (132.6 points, 28th “all-time”), they are:

Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke (8IP 6H 2R 8K W in the 7-2 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 151.4 career points, maintaining his rank of 18th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 17th-ranked player Greg Maddux (151.7).
David Ortiz of the Red Sox (HR 2B 4-4 R 3BI in the 5-2 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 139.9 career points, maintaining his rank of 23rd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 22nd-ranked player, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (142.1).
Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (HR 3-3 R 2BI in the 9-4 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 135.4 career points, maintaining his rank of 26th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 25th-ranked player, Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (137.8).
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (8IP 6H 2R 8K W in the 8-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 112.0 for his career, maintaining his rank of 51st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 50th-ranked player, Cubs pitcher John Lackey (112.5).

Scoring—Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hamels earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Perez earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/22
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    Mets
    Noah Syndergaard (W,5-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    1
    0
    0
    11
  

    AL
    9.0
    Rangers
    Cole Hamels (W,5-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    5
    2
    1
    2
    11
  

    
    8.2
    Giants
    Madison Bumgarner (W,6-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    3
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    
    7.0
    Dbacks
    Zack Greinke (W,5-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    5
    1
    1
    1
    7
  

    
    6.0
    Nationals
    Max Scherzer (W,5-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    6
    2
    2
    0
    8
  

    BAT
    5.0
    Angels
    Carlos Perez, C
    4
    1
    3
    5
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Red Sox
    David Ortiz, DH
    4
    1
    4
    3
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Phillies
    Jerad Eickhoff (W,2-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    3.2
    Blue Jays
    Marcus Stroman (W,5-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    3
    1
    1
    2
    3
  

    
    3.0
    Tigers
    Miguel Cabrera, 1B
    3
    1
    3
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `Dodgers
    J.P. Howell
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    3.0
    `Yankees
    Dellin Betances
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    White Sox
    David Robertson (S,11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    Mariners
    Steve Cishek (S,12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    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.
  

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	7.0	17.4	17.4	17.4	-3.4
Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	6.4	21.8	73.4	132.6	-9.0
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	6.0	27.0	91.6	112.0	-15.0
Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	6.0	23.0	93.0	98.7	-11.0
Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	5.0	25.7	90.8	151.4	-15.7
Cishek, Steve 2997	pi cp	sea al	4.0	5.0	24.0	24.0	3.0
Robertson, David 2774	pi cp	chi al	3.0	11.0	23.0	24.0	-5.0
Eickhoff, Jerad 3566	pi sp	phi nl	3.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	-2.0
Stroman, Marcus 3327	pi sp	tor al	2.7	5.4	19.1	19.1	0.0
Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	2.5	7.2	55.8	135.4	-2.2
Ortiz, David	dh	bos al	2.0	6.5	37.9	139.9	-2.5
Howell, J.P. 2016	pi mr	lad nl	2.0	3.0	3.0	20.0	1.0
Perez, Carlos 3484	ca	ana al	1.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	0.5
Betances, Dellin 3333	pi mr cp	nyy al	1.0	5.0	9.7	9.7	-3.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Tigers' Fulmer tops players for Saturday, May 21; Marlins' Fernandez rises to 6th in player rankings

Shawn Plank May 22, 2016

Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer 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 2016 season as of May 21:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	10.0
2	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	8.7
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	8.0
5	Machado, Manny 3087	ss 3b	bal al	7.7
6	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	6.7
7	Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	6.7
8	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	6.4
9	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	6.1
10	Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	cf lf	nym nl	6.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez rose to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings and Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets rose to 10th after both earned Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Fulmer struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 5-4 win over the Rays.

This was Fulmer’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut April 29 and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,640th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez struck out nine over six innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 3-2 win over the Mets.

Fernandez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 6.7 for the season and rising to sixth place in season player rankings. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Eduardo Nunez of the Twins hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-4, in the 5-3 win over the Blue Jays.

Nunez had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +2.0, tied with Matt Wieters of the Orioles, who was Player of the Game in the 3-1 win over the Angels. Both Nunez and Wieters also had similar batting lines and Nunez won AL Batter of the Day honors on a low-level tiebreaker—he left fewer runners on base—0 vs. 1.

National League Batter of the Day—Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice, in the 5-4 win over the Brewers. Cespedes earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, rising to 10th place in player rankings. He also extends his lead among NL batters in Box-Toppers points for the season.

Notable—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez now has 164.7 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday, moving closer to 11th place on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list.

Hernandez (6IP 4H 0R 5K in the 4-0 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, maintaining his rank of 12th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since player tracking began in 1995. He trails 11th-place player Roger Clemens (164.8) by only 0.1 point. It should be noted that Clemens’s career began in 1984, before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, and so he would likely have more Box-Toppers points (rough estimates based on projections would put his career total at about 320 Box-Toppers points).

Hernandez has 2.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Debut—Rockies pitcher Carlos Estevez made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Estevez (1.1IP 0H 0R 2K W in the 5-1 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut April 23 and was playing in his 13th career game. He is the 3,641st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Fulmer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Fernandez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Nunez and Cespedes 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/20
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    Tigers
    Michael Fulmer (W,3-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    1
    1
    11
  

    
    9.2
    Red Sox
    Joe Kelly (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    1
    0
    0
    3
    7
  

    NL
    8.0
    Marlins
    Jose Fernandez (W,6-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    1
    9
  

    
    7.1
    Braves
    Williams Perez (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    2
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    
    6.0
    Cardinals
    Mike Leake (W,3-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    5.0
    Rangers
    Cesar Ramos (W,1-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    
    5.0
    `Padres
    Cesar Vargas
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    2
    2
    1
    7
  

    
    4.0
    Mariners
    Felix Hernandez (W,4-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    0
    0
    3
    5
  

    
    3.1
    `Royals
    Danny Duffy
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    4.1
    4
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    2.1
    Rockies
    Carlos Estevez (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    1
    2
  

    BAT
    2.0
    Twins
    Eduardo Nunez, SS
    4
    1
    2
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Orioles
    Matt Wieters, C
    4
    1
    2
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    2.0
    Mets
    Yoenis Cespedes, CF
    4
    2
    2
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Yankees
    Masahiro Tanaka (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    2
    4
  

    
    1.0
    Giants
    Buster Posey, 1B
    4
    1
    2
    2
    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 point totals of the day’s top players


Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	6.7	11.4	37.4	37.4	2.0
Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	cf lf	nym nl	6.0	16.9	37.9	37.9	-4.9
Nunez, Eduardo 2795	2b ss lf	min al	2.5	4.5	10.5	12.0	0.5
Wieters, Matt 2643	ca	bal al	2.5	3.5	21.5	27.2	1.5
Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	2.0	21.4	87.4	164.7	-17.4
Leake, Mike 2709	pi sp	stl nl	2.0	12.0	37.1	41.6	-8.0
Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	pi sp	nyy al	2.0	10.0	22.7	22.7	-6.0
Duffy, Danny 2915	pi sp	kc al	2.0	6.0	21.0	21.0	-2.0
Perez, Williams 3476	pi sp	atl nl	2.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	-2.0
Fulmer, Michael 3640	pi sp	det al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Vargas, Cesar 3624	pi sp	sd nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Posey, Buster 2745	1b ca	sf nl	1.0	5.0	26.0	30.5	-3.0
Kelly, Joe 3066	pi sp	bos al	1.0	3.0	10.0	10.0	-1.0
Ramos, Cesar 3168	pi sp	tex al	1.0	1.0	3.0	3.0	1.0
Estevez, Carlos 3641	pi mr	col nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Rangers' Lewis tops players for Friday, May 20; Cubs' Arrieta rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank May 21, 2016

Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 20:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	10.0
2	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	8.7
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	8.0
5	Machado, Manny 3087	ss 3b	bal al	7.7
6	Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	6.7
7	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	6.4
8	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	6.1
9	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	6.0
10	Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	5.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Friday, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings, Manny Machado of the Orioles extended his Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters and Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia extended his career Box-Toppers points lead among all active pitchers.

Player of the Day—Lewis pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out six, in the 2-1 win over the Astros.

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Steven Matz struck out eight over seven innings, allowing two runs and three hits, in the 3-2 win over the Brewers.

Matz earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 6.7 for the season, rising to sixth in season player rankings, fourth among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Dae-Ho Lee of the Mariners homered and went 2-for-2, driving in three runs, in the 8-3 win over the Reds.

National League Batter of the Day—Christian Bethancourt of the Padres hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the 7-6 win over the Dodgers.

Rankings—Besides Matz, two other players in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (7IP 4H R 8K W in the 8-1 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season and rising to second place in player rankings, trailing only Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (10.0).
Manny Machado of the Orioles (HR 2-4 2R BI in the 9-4 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.7 for the season, maintaining his rank of fifth place among all players and his rank of first among AL batters. He is the only batter among the top 10 players. Also, his 7.7 Box-Toppers points this season is already better than the 7.5 he earned in all of 2015 (his previous best year), when he finished the season ranked 18th among AL batters.

Streak—Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Bautista (HR 2-5 2R 3BI in the 9-3 win over the Twins) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Pirates and has 62.9 career points, 12th among active AL batters and second among active AL outfielders. His best year was 2010 with the Blue Jays when he led AL batters with 15.2 points. In 2015, he had 10.0 points with the Blue Jays, sixth among AL batters.

Notable—Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, the active leader among pitchers in career Box-Toppers points, earned Player of the Game honors Friday.

Sabathia (6IP 3H R 8K W in the 8-3 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 181.0 career Box-Toppers points. He ranks fifth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, behind teammate Alex Rodriguez (187.0), and first among active pitchers. Sabathia has 2.0 points for the season.

Scoring—Lewis earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Matz earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Lee and Bethancourt each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/20
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.0
    Rangers
    Colby Lewis (W,3-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    0
    6
  

    NL
    8.0
    Mets
    Steven Matz (W,6-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    2
    2
    0
    8
  

    
    8.0
    Yankees
    CC Sabathia (W,3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    8
  

    
    7.0
    Cubs
    Jake Arrieta (W,8-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    1
    2
    8
  

    
    4.2
    Braves
    Matt Wisler (W,2-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    5
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Mariners
    Dae-Ho Lee, PH-1B
    2
    1
    2
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.2
    Nationals
    Tanner Roark (W,3-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    6
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Padres
    Christian Bethancourt, PH
    1
    1
    1
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Royals
    Dillon Gee (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    4
    1
    1
    1
    5
  

    
    3.0
    Indians
    Cody Allen (S,10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    2.0
    Blue Jays
    Jose Bautista, RF
    5
    2
    2
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Dbacks
    Chris Herrmann, C
    4
    1
    2
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Orioles
    Manny Machado, SS
    4
    3
    2
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Rays
    Alex Colome (S,11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    1.0
    `Pirates
    Tony Watson (H,10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    1
    1
  

    
    
    `Denotes that the 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


Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	8.7	37.8	65.5	68.5	-20.4
Machado, Manny 3087	ss 3b	bal al	7.7	15.2	18.7	18.7	0.2
Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	6.7	10.2	10.2	10.2	3.2
Lewis, Colby 1567	pi sp	tex al	4.7	12.4	30.6	42.0	-3.0
Colome, Alex 3189	pi cp	tb al	4.0	9.0	12.7	12.7	-1.0
Roark, Tanner 3261	pi sp	dc nl	4.0	5.0	20.0	20.0	3.0
Lee, Dae-Ho 3627	1b ph	sea al	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Sabathia, C.C. 1492	pi sp	nyy al	2.0	7.7	42.5	181.0	-3.7
Allen, Cody 3265	pi mr cp	cle al	2.0	6.0	11.0	11.0	-2.0
Wisler, Matt 3522	pi sp	atl nl	2.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	-1.0
Bethancourt, Christian 3407	ca ph	sd nl	1.5	2.5	3.5	3.5	0.5
Bautista, Jose 2169	rf	tor al	1.0	11.0	35.7	62.9	-9.0
Gee, Dillon 2808	pi sp	kc al	1.0	2.0	28.8	29.8	0.0
Watson, Tony 3215	pi mr	pit nl	1.0	2.0	5.0	5.0	0.0
Herrmann, Chris 3196	ca	ari nl	1.0	1.0	5.5	5.5	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops Box-Toppers player rankings for 2nd straight week

Shawn Plank May 20, 2016

Kershaw also leads NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points. Sale leads AL pitchers. Machado leads AL batters. Cespedes leads NL batters.

Chicago Cubs top Box-Toppers team rankings for 5th week; White Sox top AL teams

Shawn Plank May 20, 2016

Both Windy City teams keep their league lead in Box-Toppers rankings. Giants make big jump to 3rd after hot week.

White Sox' Sale tops players for Thursday, May 19, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank May 20, 2016

White Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to second place in player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 19:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	10.0
2	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7
3	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	8.0
4	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	7.7
5	Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	bal al	6.7
6	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	6.4
7	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	6.1
8	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	6.0
9	Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	5.7
10	Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	5.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Sale pitched a complete game, allowing one run and four hits, striking out nine, in the 2-1 win over the Astros. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season, rising to second in season player rankings, trailing only Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (10.0). Sale also extends his Box-Toppers points lead among American League players.

National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija allowed one run over eight innings, allowing three hits and striking out eight, in the 3-1 win over the Padres.

National League Batter of the Day—Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals hit a three-run homer, doubled twice and drove in six runs, in the 13-7 win over the Rockies. Carpenter went 3-for-5 and scored twice.

American League Batter of the Day—Mike Trout of the Angels homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-4 win over the Dodgers.

Notable—Thursday marked the first time this season that all of the Players of the Games had already earned Player of the Game honors at least once this season. In other words, none of Thursday’s Players of the Games were making their Box-Toppers season debut and already had at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2016. (See the chart below, Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players, for details.)

Scoring—Sale earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Samardzija earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Carpenter and Trout 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) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/19
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    12.0
    White Sox
    Chris Sale (W,9-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    4
    1
    1
    0
    9
  

    NL
    11.0
    Giants
    Jeff Samardzija (W,6-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    1
    1
    0
    8
  

    
    10.0
    `Blue Jays
    Marco Estrada
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    2
    1
    1
    9
  

    
    7.0
    Nationals
    Stephen Strasburg (W,7-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    6
    1
    1
    1
    10
  

    BAT
    6.0
    Cardinals
    Matt Carpenter, 1B
    5
    2
    3
    6
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.2
    Indians
    Josh Tomlin (W,6-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    5
    2
    2
    1
    7
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Angels
    Mike Trout, CF
    3
    2
    2
    3
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Brewers
    Junior Guerra (W,3-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    3
    3
    3
    11
  

    
    4.0
    Mariners
    Nathan Karns (W,4-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    4
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    
    3.0
    Yankees
    Ivan Nova (W,3-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    0
    3
  

    
    2.0
    Pirates
    John Jaso, 1B
    4
    2
    3
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    
    `Denotes that the 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


Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7	27.5	79.7	81.7	-10.1
Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	4.7	18.7	64.8	72.5	-9.3
Trout, Mike 2949	cf	ana al	4.5	16.5	41.0	41.0	-7.5
Jaso, John 2705	1b	pit nl	4.0	4.0	9.0	15.0	4.0
Samardzija, Jeff 2495	pi sp	sf nl	3.7	13.1	41.8	42.8	-5.7
Estrada, Marco 2847	pi sp	tor al	3.0	11.0	35.1	35.1	-5.0
Karns, Nathan 3414	pi sp	sea al	3.0	8.0	9.0	9.0	-2.0
Tomlin, Josh 2771	pi sp	cle al	3.0	7.7	20.4	22.4	-1.7
Carpenter, Matt 2987	3b 1b	stl nl	2.5	8.0	22.5	22.5	-3.0
Nova, Ivan 2796	pi sp mr	nyy al	2.0	3.0	24.1	25.1	1.0
Guerra, Junior 3633	pi sp	mil nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Giants' Cueto tops players for Wednesday, May 18, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank May 19, 2016

Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to second place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 18:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	10.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	8.0
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	7.7
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	6.7
5	Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	bal al	6.7
6	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	6.4
7	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	6.1
8	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	6.0
9	Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	5.7
10	Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	5.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cueto pitched a complete game, allowing one run, four hits and striking out eight, in the 2-1 win over the Padres.

Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season, rising to second in season player rankings, behind overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (10.0).

American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Nathan Eovaldi allowed one run and one hit over six innings, striking out five, in the 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks.

American League Batter of the Day—Matt Wieters of the Orioles homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-2 win over the Mariners.

Wieters had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 and won AL Batter of the Day honors on a tiebreaker over Ian Kinsler of the Tigers, who had an identical game score and nearly identical batting line. Kinsler was Player of the Game in the 6-3 win over the Twins (HR 3-4 2R 2BI). Wieters beat Kinsler because he had two extra base hits (a home run and a double) while Kinsler had one (home run).

National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors.

Rankings—In addition to Cueto, two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

Athletics pitcher Rich Hill (6IP 3H R 6K W in the 8-1 win over the Rangers) rises to sixth place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.4 for the season. Hill ranks second among AL pitchers.
Red Sox pitcher David Price (7.1IP 5H 2R 5K W in the 5-2 win over the Royals) rises to ninth place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.7 for the season. Price ranks fourth among AL pitchers.

Notable—Two players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points also won Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

Cubs pitcher John Lackey (6IP 4H R 5K ND in the 13-inning, 2-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 112.5 for his career. He ranks 50th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began and trails 49th-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8). Lackey has 4.7 points for the season.
Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (6.2IP 6H 0R 5K W in the 2-0 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 104.3 for his career. He rises to 60th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” list. He trails 59th-ranked player, Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (104.3). (Beltre is ranked ahead of Wainwright on a tiebreaker because he had more 2015 Box-Toppers points—12.5 vs. 3.0.) Wainwright has 2.5 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Scoring—Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Eovaldi earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Wieters earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/18
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.0
    Giants
    Johnny Cueto (W, 6-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    4
    1
    1
    2
    8
  

    AL
    8.0
    Yankees
    Nathan Eovaldi (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    1
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    
    6.0
    Athletics
    Rich Hill (W,6-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    
    5.2
    Braves
    Julio Teheran (W,1-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    5
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    4.2
    Cardinals
    Adam Wainwright (W,4-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    6
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    4.1
    Rays
    Alex Colome (S,10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    4.0
    Indians
    Cody Allen (W,1-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.2
    `Royals
    Ian Kennedy
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    6
    2
    2
    1
    9
  

    
    3.1
    Nationals
    Gio Gonzalez (W,3-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    5
    1
    1
    1
    5
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Orioles
    Matt Wieters, C
    4
    2
    3
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Tigers
    Ian Kinsler, 2B
    4
    2
    3
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Angels
    Mike Trout, CF
    4
    3
    3
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Astros
    Jason Castro, C
    3
    3
    2
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `Cubs
    John Lackey
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    2
    5
  

    
    2.1
    Red Sox
    David Price (W,6-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.1
    5
    2
    2
    1
    5
  

    
    2.0
    Phillies
    Jeanmar Gomez (S,16)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    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.
  

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	8.0	20.8	72.0	91.4	-4.8
Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	6.4	10.4	10.4	30.1	2.4
Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	5.7	26.8	82.8	99.5	-15.4
Kennedy, Ian 2723	pi sp	kc al	5.0	11.7	55.5	61.5	-1.7
Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	4.7	14.4	34.1	112.5	-5.0
Eovaldi, Nathan 2928	pi sp	nyy al	3.7	5.7	22.8	22.8	1.7
Trout, Mike 2949	cf	ana al	3.0	15.0	39.5	39.5	-9.0
Colome, Alex 3189	pi cp	tb al	3.0	8.0	11.7	11.7	-2.0
Kinsler, Ian 2144	2b	det al	2.5	9.0	28.2	58.6	-4.0
Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	2.5	5.5	53.6	104.3	-0.5
Gonzalez, Gio 2626	pi sp	dc nl	2.0	11.7	68.8	82.5	-7.7
Teheran, Julio 3176	pi sp	atl nl	2.0	9.7	37.8	37.8	-5.7
Gomez, Jeanmar 2759	pi cp	phi nl	2.0	2.0	7.0	9.0	2.0
Wieters, Matt 2643	ca	bal al	1.5	2.5	20.5	26.2	0.5
Allen, Cody 3265	pi mr cp	cle al	1.0	5.0	10.0	10.0	-3.0
Castro, Jason 2743	ca	hou al	1.0	1.0	7.5	8.5	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Giants' Bumgarner tops players for Tuesday, May 17; Kershaw extends Box-Toppers points lead

Shawn Plank May 18, 2016

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 17:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	10.0
2	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	7.7
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	6.7
4	Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	bal al	6.7
5	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	6.1
6	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	6.0
7	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	6.0
8	Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	5.7
9	De La Rosa, Rubby 3342	pi sp	ari nl	5.7
10	Nola, Aaron 3569	pi sp	phi nl	5.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extended his lead in Box-Toppers player rankings and Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke became the 18th player since 1995 with 150 or more career Box-Toppers points.

Player of the Day—Bumgarner pitched a complete game five-hitter, allowing one run and striking out 11, in the 5-1 win over the Padres.

Bumgarner had a Box-Toppers game score of +13.0, tied with Kershaw’s Tuesday game score, but Bumgarner won overall Player of the Game honors on a tiebreaker because he had more innings pitched—9 vs. 8.

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Danny Salazar struck out eight over 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 13-1 win over the Reds.

Salazar earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 6.1 for the season, rising to fifth in season player rankings, second among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the White Sox (6.7).

American League Batter of the Day—Khris Davis of the Athletics hit three home runs, including a walk-off grand slam, in the 8-5 win over the Rangers. Davis went 3-for-5 with six total RBIs.

National League Batter of the Day—John Jaso of the Pirates doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 12-9 win over the Braves.

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	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
4	Alex Rodriguez	dh	nyy al	187.0
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	180.0
6	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	176.3
7	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
8	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	169.3
9	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
10	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
11	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
12	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	163.7
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
16	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
17	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
18	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	150.4
19	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
20	Javier Vazquez	pi sp	retired	148.3

List of top 100 players since 1995 (through the 2015 season)

Kershaw—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extended his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Kershaw (8IP 4H R 11K W in the 5-1 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. Kershaw is the first player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and it is the eighth straight season in which he has earned 10 or more points.

Kershaw also now has 169.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of eighth place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails seventh-place player Roy Halladay (170.7).

Greinke—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke becomes the 18th player with 150 or more Box-Toppers points since 1995, when player tracking began, after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Greinke (7IP 5H 3R 7K W in the 5-3 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 150.4 career points. He maintains his rank of 18th place on the “all-time” Box-Toppers points list, trailing 17th-ranked player Greg Maddux (151.7). Greinke has 4.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Rankings—Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Velasquez (5IP 3H 0R 10K W in the 3-1 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:

Tyler White of the Astros (2HR 2B 3-4 2R 2BI in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut April 5 and was playing in his 35th career game. He is the 3,638th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Kyle Ryan of the Tigers (1.2IP 0H 0R K W in the 7-2 win over the Twins) made his Major League debut Aug. 30, 2014, and was playing in his 38th career game. He is the 3,639th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Salazar earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Davis and Jaso each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/17
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    13.0
    Giants
    Madison Bumgarner (W,5-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    5
    1
    1
    0
    11
  

    
    13.0
    Dodgers
    Clayton Kershaw (W,6-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    1
    1
    0
    11
  

    
    12.0
    Mets
    Noah Syndergaard (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    0
    10
  

    
    10.0
    Phillies
    Vince Velasquez (W,5-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    10
  

    AL
    7.1
    Indians
    Danny Salazar (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.1
    5
    1
    1
    1
    8
  

    BAT
    7.0
    Athletics
    Khris Davis, LF
    5
    3
    3
    6
    0
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    7.0
    Mariners
    Nelson Cruz, DH
    3
    2
    3
    5
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.2
    Brewers
    Chase Anderson (W,2-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.2
    3
    2
    2
    1
    6
  

    
    5.0
    Royals
    Paulo Orlando, RF
    4
    2
    3
    4
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Astros
    Tyler White, 1B
    4
    2
    3
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Rays
    Kevin Kiermaier, CF
    4
    3
    3
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Pirates
    John Jaso, 1B
    3
    1
    3
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Dbacks
    Zack Greinke (W,4-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    3
    3
    0
    7
  

    
    2.2
    Tigers
    Kyle Ryan (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.2
    Rockies
    Chad Bettis (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    5
    1
    1
    2
    4
  

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	10.0	35.7	135.8	169.3	-15.7
Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	6.1	19.5	28.9	28.9	-7.3
Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0
Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	5.0	22.0	92.0	97.7	-12.0
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	5.0	15.4	15.4	15.4	-5.4
Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	4.0	24.7	89.8	150.4	-16.7
Bettis, Chad 3481	pi sp	col nl	3.7	9.1	9.1	9.1	-1.7
Anderson, Chase 3328	pi sp	mil nl	3.0	7.0	12.0	12.0	-1.0
Jaso, John 2705	1b ca	pit nl	3.0	3.0	8.0	14.0	3.0
Cruz, Nelson 2224	dh rf	sea al	2.0	4.0	29.7	49.2	0.0
Davis, Khris 3242	lf	oak al	1.5	5.5	11.5	11.5	-2.5
Kiermaier, Kevin 3373	cf	tb al	1.0	2.0	4.5	4.5	0.0
Orlando, Paulo 3526	rf	kc al	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Ryan, Kyle 3639	pi mr	det al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
White, Tyler 3638	1b	hou al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Pirates' Joyce tops players for Monday, May 16; Rays' Jennings tops AL players

Shawn Plank May 17, 2016

Matt Joyce of the Pirates is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 16:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	9.0
2	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	7.7
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	6.7
4	Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	bal al	6.7
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	6.0
6	Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	5.7
7	De La Rosa, Rubby 3342	pi sp	ari nl	5.7
8	Nola, Aaron 3569	pi sp	phi nl	5.7
9	Davis, Chris 2478	1b	bal al	5.5
10	Santiago, Hector 3109	pi sp	ana al	5.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Joyce homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-5 win over the Braves.

American League Player of the Day—Desmond Jennings of the Rays homered and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 13-2 win over the Blue Jays.

American League and National League Batters of the Day—There are no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day for Monday because the overall Player of the Day is NL batter Matt Joyce and the overall AL Player of the Day is AL batter Desmond Jennings. In fact, most of Monday’s Players of the Games are batters—only one of eight is a pitcher.

Notable—Albert Pujols of the Angels, who ranks sixth among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, now has 176.3 points after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Pujols (3-4 3BI in the 7-6 win over the Dodgers) trails the fifth-ranked player on the “all-time” Box-Toppers points list, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (180.0). Pujols ranks second among all batters since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began), behind Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees (187.0). Pujols has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Debut—Athletics pitcher Sean Manaea made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Manaea (6.2IP 4H R 3K W in the 3-1 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut April 29 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,637th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Joyce earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Jennings earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/16
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    4.0
    Pirates
    Matt Joyce, RF
    4
    2
    3
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    AL
    3.0
    Rays
    Desmond Jennings, LF
    5
    2
    3
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Indians
    Marlon Byrd, RF
    5
    3
    3
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Dbacks
    Jake Lamb, 3B
    4
    1
    3
    3
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Tigers
    J.D. Martinez, RF
    4
    2
    3
    2
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.2
    Athletics
    Sean Manaea (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    4
    1
    1
    1
    3
  

    
    2.0
    Angels
    Albert Pujols, 1B
    4
    0
    3
    3
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Marlins
    Ichiro Suzuki, PH
    0
    1
    0
    0
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Byrd, Marlon 1751	rf	cle al	2.5	7.5	16.5	41.0	-2.5
Martinez, J.D. 2922	rf	det al	2.5	4.2	14.2	14.2	0.8
Lamb, Jake 3517	3b	ari nl	2.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	1.5
Pujols, Albert 1438	1b dh	ana al	2.0	9.0	39.0	176.3	-5.0
Suzuki, Ichiro 1467	rf ph	fla nl	2.0	3.0	10.5	53.7	1.0
Joyce, Matt 2480	lf rf dh	pit nl	2.0	2.0	18.2	27.7	2.0
Jennings, Desmond 2919	lf	tb al	1.7	1.7	11.2	11.2	1.7
Manaea, Sean 3637	pi sp	oak al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

All-time leaders

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

All-time leaders

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

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.