Nationals' Scherzer tops players for Wednesday, June 29, rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank June 30, 2016

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third in player rankings.

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	13.4
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	12.0
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	11.7
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	10.8
6	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
7	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	10.7
8	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	10.5
9	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	10.4
10	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Indians pitcher Danny Salazar rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

Player of the Day—Scherzer struck out 10 over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 4-2 win over the Mets.

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.0 for the season, rising to third among all players and third among National League pitchers, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (20.0) and Jose Fernandez of the Marlins (13.4).

Scherzer also now has 118.0 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 39th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Wednesday, he passes five players on the “all-time” list—Todd Helton (116.4), Mark Buehrle (116.7), Cubs pitcher John Lackey (117.2), Barry Zito (117.4) and Carlos Delgado (117.7).

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Danny Salazar pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing five hits and no walks, in the 3-0 win over the Braves.

Salazar earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 10.5 for the season and rising to eighth in player rankings, third among AL pitchers, behind Corey Kluber of the Indians (10.8) and Chris Sale of the White Sox (10.7).

Salazar also becomes the 10th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.

American League Batter of the Day—Brian McCann of the Yankees hit two home runs, going 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in four, in the 9-7 win over the Rangers.

With his first Player of the Game honor of the season, McCann has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons, beginning in 2006 with the Braves. He has 56.7 career Box-Toppers points, first among active catchers and fifth among all catchers since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. His best season was 2009 with the Braves when he had 8.5 points, first among NL catchers. In 2015, he had 6.5 points with the Yankees, first among AL catchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Sean Rodriguez of the Pirates hit two doubles and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-1 win over the Mariners.

Scoring—Scherzer 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. McCann and Rodriguez each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/29
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    14.1
    DC 4/NYM 2
    Max Scherzer (W,9-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.1
    2
    0
    0
    1
    10
  

    
    11.0
    MIL 7/LAD 0
    Junior Guerra (W,5-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    7
  

    AL
    10.0
    CLE 3/ATL 0
    Danny Salazar (W,10-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    0
    8
  

    
    8.0
    TB 4/BOS 0
    Matt Moore (W,4-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    BAT
    6.0
    NYY 9/TEX 7
    Brian McCann, C
    3
    3
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    5.0
    PIT 8/SEA 1
    Sean Rodriguez, RF
    3
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    HOU 10/LAA 4
    Jose Altuve, 2B
    5
    4
    4
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.2
    `KC 3/STL 2
    Edinson Volquez
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    6
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    
    3.0
    BAL 12/SD 6
    Mark Trumbo, RF
    5
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    DET 10/MIA 3
    Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
    3
    1
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.2
    OAK 7/SF 1
    Sean Manaea (W,3-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    6
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    
    2.0
    CHW 9/MIN 6
    Tyler Saladino, 3B
    4
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    TOR 5/COL 3
    Edwin Encarnacion, 1B
    3
    2
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    PHI 9/ARI 8
    Cody Asche, LF
    5
    0
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    0.0
    CHC 9/CIN 2
    Javier Baez, 2B
    5
    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

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	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	12.0	33.0	97.6	118.0	-9.0
Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	10.5	23.9	33.3	33.3	-2.9
Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	8.5	15.5	25.0	25.0	1.5
Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	kc al	6.4	13.4	38.1	64.2	-0.6
Trumbo, Mark 2851	rf	bal al	6.2	8.7	31.9	31.9	3.7
Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	dh	tor al	6.0	16.4	44.6	65.1	-4.4
Moore, Matt 2975	pi sp	tb al	5.7	5.7	31.2	31.2	5.7
Guerra, Junior 3633	pi sp	mil nl	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0
Manaea, Sean 3637	pi sp	oak al	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Saladino, Tyler 3645	ss 3b	chi al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
McCann, Brian 2179	ca	nyy al	1.5	8.0	33.7	56.7	-5.0
Asche, Cody 3268	lf 3b	phi nl	1.0	4.5	10.0	10.0	-2.5
Rodriguez, Sean 2729	rf1b 2b	pit nl	1.0	1.0	12.5	17.5	1.0
Baez, Javier 3395	2b	chi nl	1.0	1.0	3.5	3.5	1.0
Saltalamacchia, Jarod 2355	ca	det al	1.0	1.0	12.0	18.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Twins' Gibson tops players for Tuesday, June 28; Kluber, Hamels rise in Box-Toppers top 10 rankings

Shawn Plank June 29, 2016

Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson 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 June 28:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	13.4
3	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	11.7
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	10.8
5	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
6	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	10.7
7	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	10.4
8	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
10	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings (first among American League pitchers) and Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to seventh place. Plus, Matt Carpenter took the lead Tuesday in season Box-Toppers points among National League batters.

Player of the Day—Gibson pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing five hits and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the White Sox.

National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester allowed one run over 7 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and one walk, striking out four, in the 7-2, 15-inning win over the Reds. Lester did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because even though the Cubs led when he exited, the Indians later tied the game before the Cubs went ahead with the winning runs in the 15th inning.

Lester earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 130.8 for his career, rising to 29th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes Trevor Hoffman (129.4) on the “all-time” list. He now trails 28th-ranked player Jason Giambi (133.4). Lester has 9.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 11th among all players and eighth among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros hit a three-run homer and a double and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five total runs, in the 7-1 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—Adrian Gonzalez doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 6-5 win over the Brewers.

Gonzalez has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the 2016 season Tuesday. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Padres and has 67.6 career points, third among active NL first basemen (behind Matt Holliday of the Cardinals, 97.8 and Ryan Howard of the Phillies, 96.7). Gonzalez’s best season was 2010 with the Padres when he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ninth among NL batters. He had 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Dodgers.

Rankings—Two players rise in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday, becoming the eighth and ninth players this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points:

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (8IP 3H 2R BB 7K W in the 5-3 win over the Braves) rises to fourth place in player rankings. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.8 for the season. He also takes the Box-Toppers points lead among AL pitchers, passing previous leader, Chris Sale of the White Sox (10.7).
Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (7IP 6H 0R BB 7K W in the 7-1 win over the Yankees) rises to seventh place in player rankings. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season. Hamels also now has 136.6 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 27th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 26th-ranked player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (136.9). It is the 11th straight season Hamels has earned 10 or more Box-Toppers points. In fact, Hamels has had 10 or more points each season since he made his Box-Toppers debut in 2006.

Notable—Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals took the season lead in Box-Toppers points among NL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Carpenter (HR 2-3 2R 2BI n the 8-4 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.5 for the season. He passes Eugenio Suarez of the Reds (7.0) for the lead among NL batters. Carpenter ranks 23rd among all players.

Debut—Hyun Soo Kim of the Orioles made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Kim (HR 2B 2-3 2R 3BI in the 11-7 win over the Padres) made his Major League debut April 10 and was playing in his 37th career game. He is the 3,671st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Gibson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lester earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Correa and Gonzalez 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/28
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    8.0
    MIN 4/CHW 0
    Kyle Gibson (W,1-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    1
    7
  

    
    7.0
    CLE 5/ATL 3
    Corey Kluber (W,8-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    2
    2
    1
    7
  

    
    7.0
    TEX 7/NYY 1
    Cole Hamels (W,9-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    0
    0
    1
    7
  

    NL
    5.2
    `CHC 7/CIN 2
    Jon Lester
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    3
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    BAT
    5.0
    HOU 7/LAA 1
    Carlos Correa, SS
    4
    2
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    BOS 8/TB 2
    Travis Shaw, 3B
    5
    1
    3
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    BAL 11/SD 7
    Hyun Soo Kim, LF
    3
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    OAK 13/SF 11
    Stephen Vogt, C-1B
    3
    3
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    LAD 6/MIL 5
    Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
    3
    2
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    STL 8/KC 4
    Matt Carpenter, 2B
    3
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    TOR 14/COL 9
    Russell Martin, C
    5
    3
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    DET 7/MIA 5
    Nick Castellanos, 3B
    4
    1
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    SEA 5/PIT 2
    Robinson Cano, 2B
    4
    2
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    DC 5/NYM 0
    Bryce Harper, RF
    4
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    PHI 4/ARI 3
    Andres Blanco, 2B
    2
    1
    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 of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	10.8	24.2	55.0	55.0	-2.6
Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	10.4	25.8	77.4	136.6	-5.0
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	9.7	21.7	67.9	130.8	-2.3
Carpenter, Matt 2987	3b 1b 2b	stl nl	7.5	13.0	27.5	27.5	2.0
Martin, Russell 2202	ca	tor al	7.0	12.0	28.5	49.5	2.0
Correa, Carlos 3506	ss	hou al	6.7	13.9	13.9	13.9	-0.5
Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	sea al	5.5	12.0	41.0	72.9	-1.0
Castellanos, Nick 3349	3b	det al	4.0	10.2	12.2	12.2	-2.2
Shaw, Travis 3544	1b 3b	bos al	3.5	7.7	7.7	7.7	-0.7
Harper, Bryce 3011	rf	dc nl	3.0	12.0	27.4	27.4	-6.0
Blanco, Andres 2980	ss 3b 2b	phi nl	3.0	4.0	5.0	5.0	2.0
Gibson, Kyle 3312	pi sp	min al	2.0	10.0	16.0	16.0	-6.0
Gonzalez, Adrian 2193	1b	lad nl	1.5	5.5	32.2	68.1	-2.5
Vogt, Stephen 3503	ca 1b	oak al	1.0	3.5	3.5	3.5	-1.5
Kim, Hyun Soo 3671	lf	bal al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Kris Bryant tops players for Monday, June 27, with season's highest game score for a batter

Shawn Plank June 29, 2016

Kris Bryant of the Cubs 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 June 27:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	13.4
3	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	11.7
4	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
5	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	10.7
6	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
8	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	9.8
9	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	9.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Bryant hit three homers and two doubles, going 5-for-5, scoring four times and driving in six runs, in the 11-8 win over the Reds.

Bryant’s Box-Toppers game score Monday of +10 was the highest for a batter this season. The highest Box-Toppers game score earned by a batter in 2015 was +11.0, done by four players.

American League Player of the Day—Royals pitcher Danny Duffy struck out eight over eight innings, allowing two runs, six hits and no walks, in the 6-2 win over the Cardinals.

American League Batter of the Day—Nick Franklin of the Rays homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, driving in five runs, in the 13-7 win over the Red Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall Player of the Day was NL batter Kris Bryant.

Notable—Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez has the highest season Box-Toppers point total of all 11 of Monday’s Players of the Game. Velasquez (5IP 5H 0R 0BB 7K W in the 8-0 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season. He ranks 27th among all players and 14th among NL pitchers.

Debut—Rangers pitcher Tony Barnette made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor Monday.

Barnette (1.2IP H 0R BB 3K W in the 9-6 win over the Yankees) made his Major League debut April 5 and was playing in his 30th career game. He is the 3,670th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Bryant earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Duffy earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Franklin earns 1.5 points for being AL 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

6/27

Score

Game

Player of Game

AB

R

H

BI

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

MLB

10.0

CHC 11/CIN 8

Kris Bryant, 3B-RF-LF

5

4

5

6

-

-

-

-

-

-

7.0

PHI 8/ARI 0

Vince Velasquez (W,6-2)

-

-

-

-

5.0

5

0

0

0

7

AL

6.0

KC 6/STL 2

Danny Duffy (W,3-1)

-

-

-

-

8.0

6

2

2

0

8

BAT

4.0

TB 13/BOS 7

Nick Franklin, DH

5

1

3

5

-

-

-

-

-

-

4.0

COL 9/TOR 5

Carlos Gonzalez, RF

3

2

2

3

-

-

-

-

-

-

3.0

DC 11/NYM 4

Ben Revere, CF

5

3

4

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

3.0

OAK 8/SF 3

Marcus Semien, SS

4

1

2

4

-

-

-

-

-

-

2.2

TEX 9/NYY 6

Tony Barnette (W,5-2)

-

-

-

-

1.2

1

0

0

1

3

2.1

LAD 5/PIT 4

Kenley Jansen (S,22)

-

-

-

-

1.1

0

0

0

1

2

2.0

CLE 8/ATL 3

Lonnie Chisenhall, RF

4

1

2

3

-

-

-

-

-

-

1.0

HOU 4/LAA 2

Jake Marisnick, PR-DH

0

1

0

0

-

-

-

-

-

-

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0
Bryant, Kris 3465	lf 3b rf	chi nl	5.5	14.0	14.0	14.0	-3.0
Duffy, Danny 2915	pi sp	kc al	4.7	8.7	23.7	23.7	0.7
Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	rf	col nl	3.5	15.0	43.7	56.7	-8.0
Semien, Marcus 3302	ss	oak al	3.5	3.5	7.0	7.0	3.5
Jansen, Kenley 2871	pi cp	lad nl	3.0	7.0	33.4	33.4	-1.0
Chisenhall, Lonnie 2959	rf 3b	cle al	2.5	2.5	12.5	12.5	2.5
Franklin, Nick 3238	dh ss	tb al	1.5	2.5	6.0	6.0	0.5
Marisnick, Jake 3428	dh cf pr	hou al	1.0	3.0	4.0	4.0	-1.0
Revere, Ben 2886	cf	dc nl	1.0	2.0	11.0	11.0	0.0
Barnette, Tony 3670	pi mr	tex al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Twins' Duffey tops players for Sunday, June 26; Marlins' Fernandez rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank June 26, 2016

Twins pitcher Tyler Duffey is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, two players who earned Player of the Game honors rise in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings:

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	13.4
3	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	11.7
4	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
5	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	10.7
6	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
8	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	9.8
9	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	9.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez rises to second place.
White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to fifth place among all players and first place among AL pitchers.

Player of the Day—Duffey struck out eight over eight innings, allowing one run, two hits and no walks, in the 7-1 win over the Yankees.

Duffey had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +12, tied with Royals pitcher Ian Kennedy, Player of the Game in the 6-1 win over the Astros (7IP 3H R BB 11K W), but Duffey wins Player of the Day honors on a tiebreaker because he had more innings pitched.

National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez struck out 13 over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and three walks, in the 6-1 win over the Cubs.

Fernandez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 13.4 for the season, rising to second place in season player rankings. He trails overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0 Box-Toppers points).

Fernandez had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +11, tied with Braves pitcher Bud Norris, Player of the Game in the 5-2 win over the Mets (7IP 4H 0R 0BB 8K W), but Fernandez wins NL Player of the Day over Norris on a tiebreaker because he had more strikeouts.

American League Batter of the Day—Lonnie Chisenhall of the Indians homered, tripled and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-3 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Trevor Story of the Rockies homered and went 2-for-2, scoring four runs, in the 9-7 win over the Diamondbacks.

Rankings—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to fifth place among all players—and first among AL pitchers—after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Sale (8IP 5H 2R 2BB 7K W in the 5-2 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He becomes the seventh player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He also takes the Box-Toppers points lead for the season among AL pitchers, passing Corey Kluber of the Indians (9.8).

Streak—Shin-Soo Choo of the Rangers has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season Sunday.

Choo (2B 3-4 2R in the 6-2 win over the Red Sox) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Indians and has 47.7 for his career, sixth among active AL outfielders. His best season was 2010 with the Indians, when he had 9.0 Box-Toppers points, seventh among AL batters. In 2015, he had 4.5 Box-Toppers points with the Rangers, 13th among AL outfielders.

Debut—Pirates pitcher A.J. Schugel made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Schugel (2IP 0H 0R 0BB K ND in the 4-3 win over the Dodgers) made his Major League debut April 12, 2015, and was playing in his 27th career game. He is the 3,669th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Duffey 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. Chisenhall and Story 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/26
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    12.0
    MIN 7/NYY 1
    Tyler Duffey (W,3-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    1
    1
    0
    8
  

    
    12.0
    KC 6/HOU 1
    Ian Kennedy (W,6-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    11
  

    NL
    11.0
    MIA 6/CHC 1
    Jose Fernandez (W,10-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    1
    3
    13
  

    
    11.0
    ATL 5/NYM 2
    Bud Norris (W,3-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    0
    8
  

    
    8.0
    CIN 3/SD 0
    Anthony DeSclafani (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    5
    0
    0
    0
    5
  

    
    6.0
    DC 3/MIL 2
    Tanner Roark (W,7-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    0
    0
    1
    7
  

    BAT
    5.0
    CLE 9/DET 3
    Lonnie Chisenhall, RF
    4
    2
    4
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    5.0
    COL 9/ARI 7
    Trevor Story, SS
    2
    4
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    SF 8/PHI 7
    Angel Pagan, LF
    5
    3
    4
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    BAL 12/TB 5
    Chris Davis, DH
    4
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    CHW 5/TOR 2
    Chris Sale (W,13-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    5
    2
    2
    2
    7
  

    
    3.0
    LAA 7/OAK 6
    Mike Trout, CF
    5
    3
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `PIT 4/LAD 3
    A.J. Schugel (H,1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    STL 11/SEA 6
    Matt Carpenter, 2B
    6
    3
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    TEX 6/BOS 2
    Shin-Soo Choo, RF
    4
    2
    3
    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 of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	13.4	18.1	44.1	44.1	8.7
Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	10.7	29.5	81.7	83.7	-8.1
Davis, Chris 2478	1b	bal al	7.5	18.5	49.4	57.9	-3.5
Kennedy, Ian 2723	pi sp	kc al	7.0	13.7	57.5	63.5	0.3
Roark, Tanner 3261	pi sp	dc nl	6.7	7.7	22.7	22.7	5.7
Trout, Mike 2949	cf	ana al	6.5	18.5	43.0	43.0	-5.5
Carpenter, Matt 2987	3b	stl nl	6.5	12.0	26.5	26.5	1.0
Duffey, Tyler 3558	pi sp	min al	3.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	-1.0
Norris, Bud 2638	pi sp	atl nl	3.0	4.0	34.4	43.4	2.0
Story, Trevor 3607	ss	col nl	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Chisenhall, Lonnie 2959	rf 3b	cle al	1.5	1.5	11.5	11.5	1.5
DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	1.0	8.7	8.7	8.7	-6.7
Choo, Shin-Soo 2267	rf	tex al	1.0	5.5	22.0	47.7	-3.5
Pagan, Angel 2184	lf	sf nl	1.0	3.0	14.5	25.5	-1.0
Schugel, A.J. 3669	pi mr	pit nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Indians' Carrasco tops players for Saturday, June 25; Padres' Pomeranz tops NL players

Shawn Plank June 26, 2016

Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Carrasco pitched a complete game shutout, allowing four hits, one walk and striking out seven, in the 6-0 win over the Tigers.

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	11.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	11.7
4	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
5	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
6	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
7	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	9.8
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7
9	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	9.7
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	9.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Drew Pomeranz pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing four hits and no walks, in the 3-0 win over the Reds.

Pomeranz earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, most among Saturday’s 16 Players of the Games. Pomeranz ranks 20th among all players, 13th among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Jose Altuve of the Astros hit a three-run homer, two doubles and went 4-for-5, scoring three times, in the 13-5 win over the Royals.

Altuve earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.5 for the season and ranks second among AL batters. In addition, Altuve passed his Box-Toppers points total for 2015 (7.0), his previous best season.

National League Batter of the Day—Tony Wolters of the Rockies homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, driving in four runs, in the 11-6 win over the Diamondbacks.

This was Wolters’ Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Wolters made his Major League debut April 5 and was playing in his 36th career game. He is the 3,668th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Pomeranz earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Altuve and Wolters 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/25
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    CLE 6/DET 0
    Carlos Carrasco (W,3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    7
  

    
    10.2
    BAL 5/TB 0
    Kevin Gausman (W,1-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    4
    0
    0
    0
    7
  

    NL
    9.0
    SD 3/CIN 0
    Drew Pomeranz (W,7-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    
    9.0
    `NYY 2/MIN 1
    Michael Pineda
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    1
    1
    1
    8
  

    
    6.0
    `NYM 1/ATL 0
    Jacob deGrom
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    7
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    
    5.1
    `SEA 5/STL 4
    Mike Montgomery (H,2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.1
    1
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    BAT
    5.0
    HOU 13/KC 5
    Jose Altuve, 2B
    5
    3
    4
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    TOR 10/CHW 8
    Edwin Encarnacion, 1B
    4
    2
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    OAK 7/LAA 3
    Coco Crisp, LF
    4
    4
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    5.0
    COL 11/ARI 6
    Tony Wolters, C
    3
    1
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    BAL 8/TB 6
    Matt Wieters, C
    4
    2
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    PIT 6/LAD 1
    Andrew McCutchen, CF
    4
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    MIA 9/CHC 6
    Giancarlo Stanton, RF
    3
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    MIL 6/DC 5
    Chris Carter, 1B
    3
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.2
    TEX 10/BOS 3
    Cesar Ramos (W,2-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.2
    1
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    1.0
    PHI 3/SF 2
    Cameron Rupp, C
    3
    1
    1
    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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Pomeranz, Drew 3061	pi sp	sd nl	7.7	10.7	18.7	18.7	4.7
Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	7.5	14.5	24.0	24.0	0.5
Wieters, Matt 2643	ca	bal al	7.0	8.0	26.0	31.7	6.0
Carter, Chris 2828	1b	mil nl	6.0	7.0	24.9	25.9	5.0
Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	dh	tor al	5.0	15.4	43.6	64.1	-5.4
Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	4.7	22.7	38.8	38.8	-13.3
deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	3.0	25.4	38.4	38.4	-19.4
Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	3.0	8.5	30.2	35.7	-2.5
Ramos, Cesar 3168	pi mr sp	tex al	3.0	3.0	5.0	5.0	3.0
Gausman, Kevin 3191	pi sp	bal al	2.7	8.4	16.1	16.1	-3.0
McCutchen, Andrew 2637	cf	pit nl	2.5	13.0	43.7	49.4	-8.0
Pineda, Michael 2841	pi sp	nyy al	2.0	12.7	30.1	30.1	-8.7
Montgomery, Mike 3513	pi cp mr	sea al	2.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	-2.0
Crisp, Coco 1876	lf	oak al	2.0	4.0	20.5	37.7	0.0
Rupp, Cameron 3556	ca	phi nl	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	1.0
Wolters, Tony 3668	ca	col nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Astros' George Springer tops players for Friday, June 24, a second straight lackluster day of performances

Shawn Plank June 25, 2016

George Springer of the Astros 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 June 24:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	11.7
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	11.7
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
6	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
7	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	9.8
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7
9	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	9.7
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	9.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Springer hit a grand slam and a triple in the 13-4 win over the Royals. Springer went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five total runs.

National League Player of the Day—Wil Myers of the Padres homered and doubled, going 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 13-4 win over the Reds.

Both Springer and Myers had Box-Toppers game scores Friday of +5.0, but Springer held the tiebreaker to earn overall Player of the Day honors because he hit a homer and a triple, while Myers hit a homer and a double.

Batters of the Day—There are no separate American League or National League Batters of the Day for Friday because both the overall Player of the Day and the NL Player of the Day were batters—Springer and Myers.

Notable—Mariners pitcher Wade LeBlanc earned his first Box-Toppers point in nearly six years after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

LeBlanc (6IP 3H 0R BB 3K ND in the 4-3 win over the Cardinals) last earned Player of the Game honors and a Box-Toppers point on Aug. 15, 2010, when he was with the Padres.

Commentary—It was the second unremarkable day in a row for Box-Toppers Players of the Games, with no particularly outstanding performances contributing to team wins. Thursday’s Player of the Day had the season’s second-lowest Box-Toppers game score to win that honor; Friday had the third-lowest high score of the season.

And while some of the blame on low scores Thursday was placed on the light schedule (only nine games played), Friday’s scores did not fare much better with a complete slate of 15 games.

It was a rare occurrence Friday when no pitchers earned Box-Toppers bonus points for being overall or league Player of the Day—batters won both spots.

Starting pitchers generally are the players with each day’s highest Box-Toppers game scores, but for the past two days only two starting pitchers have even earned Player of the Game honors (Friday—Wade LeBlanc of the Mariners, Thursday—Wei-Yin Chen of the Marlins. Interestingly, both pitchers earned no decisions.) There have been 12 middle relievers or closers with two or fewer innings pitched who earned Player of the Game honors over the 24 games played Thursday and Friday.

In addition, over the past two days, players earning Player of the Game honors have had relatively fewer season Box-Toppers points. It is as if the big stars have mostly taken the past two days off. Friday’s Player of the Game with the most season Box-Toppers points is Chris Davis of the Orioles (2B 2-4 R 2BI in the 6-3 win over the Rays). Davis earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.5 for the season, 27th among all players and fourth among AL batters.

Interestingly (or not), baseball’s other Khris Davis (of the Athletics) also earned Player of the Game honors Friday in the 7-4 win over the Angels (2-4 R 3BI).

Scoring—Springer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Myers earns 1.7 points for being NL Player 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/24
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    5.0
    HOU 13/KC 4
    George Springer, RF
    5
    2
    3
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    NL
    5.0
    SD 13/CIN 4
    Wil Myers, 1B
    5
    2
    3
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    NYM 8/ATL 6
    James Loney, 1B
    3
    3
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    `SEA 4/STL 3
    Wade LeBlanc
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    4.0
    ARI 10/COL 9
    Yasmany Tomas, RF
    5
    2
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    NYY 5/MIN 3
    Aroldis Chapman (S,14)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    4.0
    BOS 8/TEX 7
    Koji Uehara (S,2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    3.2
    PIT 8/LAD 6
    Neftali Feliz (W,2-0; H,17)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    MIL 5/DC 3
    Carlos Torres (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.1
    CHC 5/MIA 4
    Hector Rondon (S,13)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    OAK 7/LAA 4
    Khris Davis, LF
    4
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    SF 5/PHI 4
    Brandon Belt, 1B
    4
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    CHW 3/TOR 2
    Nate Jones (W,3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.0
    BAL 6/TB 3
    Chris Davis, 1B
    4
    1
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    CLE 7/DET 4
    Chris Gimenez, C
    4
    2
    2
    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	+/-
Davis, Chris 2478	1b	bal al	6.5	17.5	48.4	56.9	-4.5
Myers, Wil 3228	1b	sd nl	5.7	8.7	14.2	14.2	2.7
Springer, George 3337	rf	hou al	5.5	6.5	9.5	9.5	4.5
Davis, Khris 3242	lf	oak al	4.2	8.2	14.2	14.2	0.2
Belt, Brandon 2943	1b	sf nl	4.0	5.5	17.5	17.5	2.5
Chapman, Aroldis 2826	pi cp	nyy al	3.0	11.0	41.0	42.0	-5.0
Uehara, Koji 2802	pi cp mr	bos al	3.0	8.0	25.0	29.0	-2.0
Rondon, Hector 3201	pi cp	chi nl	3.0	5.0	8.0	8.0	1.0
Tomas, Yasmany 3489	lf rf	ari nl	2.5	6.0	6.0	6.0	-1.0
Jones, Nate 3125	pi cp mr	chi al	2.0	3.0	10.0	10.0	1.0
Feliz, Neftali 2651	pi mr cp	pit nl	1.0	2.0	10.7	18.7	0.0
Torres, Carlos 2668	pi mr	mil nl	1.0	2.0	8.0	9.7	0.0
Gimenez, Chris 2870	ca	cle al	1.0	2.0	4.0	4.0	0.0
Loney, James 2206	1b	nym nl	1.0	1.0	12.0	33.4	1.0
LeBlanc, Wade 2669	pi sp	sea al	1.0	1.0	1.0	8.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

A late June look at Box-Toppers All-Star teams, led by Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw

Shawn Plank June 24, 2016

Eight AL players and five NL players occupy All-Star spots at their position in both the 2016 season and the combined 2015-16 seasons.

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops Box-Toppers player rankings for 7th straight week

Shawn Plank June 24, 2016

Kershaw had dominating lead with 20 Box-Toppers points. Indians' Kluber takes AL pitching lead. Machado, Suarez maintain leads among batters.

Cubs top Box-Toppers team rankings for 10th week, Rangers again top AL teams

Shawn Plank June 24, 2016

Cubs slip but still lead Box-Toppers team rankings for 10th week, Rangers lead AL teams for third week, Indians are the week's hottest team.

Phillies' Freddy Galvis tops players for Thursday, June 23, a day of lackluster performances

Shawn Plank June 24, 2016

Freddy Galvis of the Phillies is Thursday’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 June 23:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	11.7
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	11.7
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
6	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
7	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	9.8
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7
9	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	9.7
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	9.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Galvis hit a three-run homer, a triple and went 2-for-3, driving in five total runs, in the 7-3 win over the Twins.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Alex Wilson pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits or walks and striking out one, in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Mariners. Wilson picked up a no decision and did not earn the win because the game was tied when he exited after the eighth inning, 4-4.

This was Wilson’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Wilson made his Major League debut April 11, 2013, and was playing in his 131st career game. He is the 3,667th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Marcus Semien of the Athletics hit a three-run homer, going 1-for-4, in the 5-4 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall Player of the Day is NL batter Freddy Galvis.

Commentary—It was a pretty unremarkable day for Box-Toppers Players of the Games, with no particularly outstanding performances that contributed to teams’ wins. It was a lighter schedule of games, with only nine played, but even so, Freddy Galvis’ Player of the Day honor (worth 2.0 Box-Toppers points) was won with a Box-Toppers game score of only +5.0, which more often than not, would not even be the top score among NL batters and would result in him earning only 1.0 Box-Toppers point. Galvis’ Box-Toppers game score of +5.0 was the second-lowest score to win Player of the Day honors this season—the lowest was +4.0 by Matt Joyce of the Pirates on May 16, a day in which only eight games were played.

Tigers middle reliever Alex Wilson had the lowest Box-Toppers game score of the season to win AL Player of the Day honors of +2.1.

Marcus Semien of the Athletics also had the second-lowest Box-Toppers game score of the season (+1.0) to earn AL Batter of the Day honors.

On top of that, none of the nine Players of the Games are ranked very highly in Box-Toppers player rankings. Red Sox closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of Thursday’s nine top players. Kimbrel (2IP H 0R 2BB 3K W in the 8-7 win over the White Sox), earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season. He ranks just 138th among all players, 38th among AL pitchers and fourth among AL closing pitchers.

Scoring—Galvis earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Wilson earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Semien earns 1.5 points for being AL 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/23
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    5.0
    PHI 7/MIN 3
    Freddy Galvis, SS
    3
    1
    2
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    `MIA 4/CHC 2
    Wei-Yin Chen
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    2
    2
    0
    7
  

    
    3.0
    SF 5/PiT 3
    Santiago Casilla (S,16)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    3.0
    `SD 7/CIN 4
    Brandon Maurer (H,13)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    AL
    2.1
    `DET 5/SEA 4
    Alex Wilson
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    BOS 8/CHW 7
    Craig Kimbrel (W,1-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    1
    0
    0
    2
    3
  

    
    2.0
    ATL 4/NYM 3
    Jim Johnson (W,1-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.2
    ARI 7/COL 6
    Brad Ziegler (W,2-2; BS,1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.2
    1
    0
    0
    1
    2
  

    BAT
    1.0
    OAK 5/LAA 4
    Marcus Semien, SS
    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	+/-
Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	bos al	3.0	9.0	52.7	53.7	-3.0
Casilla, Santiago 2301	pi cp	sf nl	3.0	8.0	20.7	23.7	-2.0
Galvis, Freddy 3202	ss	phi nl	3.0	7.0	11.0	11.0	-1.0
Semien, Marcus 3302	ss	oak al	2.5	2.5	6.0	6.0	2.5
Chen, Wei-Yin 3026	pi sp	fla nl	2.0	7.7	27.1	27.1	-3.7
Ziegler, Brad 2504	pi cp	ari nl	2.0	5.0	11.0	14.0	-1.0
WIlson, Alex 3667	pi mr	det al	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7
Johnson, Jim 2417	pi mr	atl nl	1.0	3.0	13.0	18.7	-1.0
Maurer, Brandon 3157	pi mr sp	sd nl	1.0	3.0	4.0	4.0	-1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Indians' Bauer tops players for Wednesday, June 22; Rangers' Hamels rises to 10th in player rankings

Shawn Plank June 23, 2016

Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer is Wednesday’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 June 21:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	11.7
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	11.7
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
6	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
7	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	9.8
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7
9	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	9.7
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	9.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Bauer pitched a complete game, allowing one run, three hits, one walk and striking out 10, in the 6-1 win over the Rays.

National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher Adam Conley pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits, one walk and striking out four, in the 3-0 win over the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day—Melky Cabrera of the White Sox homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-6 win over the Red Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—Aledmys Diaz of the Cardinals hit a two-run homer and went 3-for-4, scoring twice, in the 7-2 win over the Cubs.

Rankings—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Hamels (6IP 5H R 2BB 8K W in the 6-4 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.4 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

Hamels also now has 135.6 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 27th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 26th-ranked player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (136.9).

Streak—Asdrubal Cabrera of the Mets has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season Wednesday.

Cabrera (HR 2-3 2R 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Royals) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Indians and has 41.7 career points, first among active NL shortstops. His best season was 2011 with the Indians, when he had 14.7 points, first among AL batters. That season was a career anomaly, however, as his next-highest season point total was 4.5, which he earned in both 2008 and 2009 with the Indians. Cabrera had 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Rays.

Scoring—Bauer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Conley earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Melky Cabrera and Diaz each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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

6/22

Score

Game

Player of Game

AB

R

H

BI

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

MLB

13.0

CLE 6/TB 1

Trevor Bauer (W,5-2)

-

-

-

-

9.0

3

1

1

1

10

NL

7.0

MIA 3/ATL 0

Adam Conley (W,4-4)

-

-

-

-

8.0

4

0

0

1

4

BAT

5.0

CHW 8/BOS 6

Melky Cabrera, LF

5

2

4

4

-

-

-

-

-

-

5.0

MIL 4/OAK 2

Junior Guerra (W,4-1)

-

-

-

-

7.0

5

2

2

1

8

5.0

TEX 6/CIN 4

Cole Hamels (W,8-1)

-

-

-

-

6.0

5

1

1

2

8

4.2

DET 5/SEA 1

Kyle Ryan (W,2-2)

-

-

-

-

1.2

0

0

0

0

3

BAT

3.0

STL 7/CHC 2

Aledmys Diaz, SS

4

2

3

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

3.0

NYM 4/KC 3

Asdrubal Cabrera, SS

3

2

2

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

3.0

NYY 9/COL 8

Chase Headley, 3B

3

1

1

4

-

-

-

-

-

-

3.0

SF 7/PIT 6

Derek Law (W,3-1)

-

-

-

-

2.0

2

0

0

0

3

2.0

BAL 7/SD 2

Mark Trumbo, RF

4

2

3

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

2.0

MIN 6/PHI 5

Trevor Plouffe, DH

4

2

3

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

2.0

TOR 5/ARI 2

Russell Martin, C

3

1

1

3

-

-

-

-

-

-

2.0

HOU 3/LAA 2

Luke Gregerson (W,2-1)

-

-

-

-

1.0

0

0

0

0

1

1.0

LAD 4/DC 3

Corey Seager, SS

4

1

3

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	9.4	24.8	76.4	135.6	-6.0
Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	6.7	16.1	24.8	24.8	-2.7
Martin, Russell 2202	ca	tor al	6.0	11.0	27.5	48.5	1.0
Conley, Adam 3594	pi sp	fla nl	5.7	8.7	8.7	8.7	2.7
Trumbo, Mark 2851	rf	bal al	5.2	7.7	30.9	30.9	2.7
Diaz, Aledmys 3612	ss	stl nl	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5
Seager, Corey 3587	ss	lad nl	4.0	5.5	5.5	5.5	2.5
Cabrera, Melky 2143	lf	chi al	4.0	5.0	19.5	30.5	3.0
Guerra, Junior 3633	pi sp	mil nl	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
Plouffe, Trevor 2869	3b dh	min al	3.5	6.5	22.5	22.5	0.5
Gregerson, Luke 2563	pi cp mr	hou al	3.0	9.0	13.0	18.0	-3.0
Headley, Chase 2552	3b	nyy al	2.5	4.5	16.0	26.5	0.5
Law, Derek 3657	pi sp mr	sf nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Ryan, Kyle 3639	pi mr	det al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Cabrera, Asdrubal 2362	ss	nym nl	1.0	4.0	25.7	41.7	-2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Indians' Kluber tops players for Tuesday, June 21; Giants' Cueto rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank June 22, 2016

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to lead American League pitchers in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of June 21:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	11.7
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	11.7
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
6	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
7	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	9.8
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7
9	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	9.7
10	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	9.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rises to second in Box-Toppers player rankings and White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to ninth after both earned Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Kluber pitched a complete game shutout, striking out nine and allowing three hits and two walks, in the 6-0 win over the Rays.

Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.8 for the season, rising to seventh among all players in season rankings. Kluber also passes teammate Danny Salazar (8.8 points) to take the season points lead among AL pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto allowed one run over 6 2/3 innings, striking out six and allowing four hits and one walk, in the 15-4 win over the Pirates.

Cueto earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 11.7 for the season and rising to second in season player rankings. Cueto still trails overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0) by a significant 8.3-point margin.

American League Batter of the Day—Kurt Suzuki of the Twins homered and hit two doubles, going 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 14-10 win over the Phillies.

Suzuki has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 10 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2007 with the Athletics and has 32.0 career Box-Toppers points, third among active AL catchers. His best season was 2009 with the Athletics when he had 6.0 points, fourth among AL catchers. In 2015, he had 1.5 points with the Twins.

National League Batter of the Day—Jay Bruce of the Reds hit a three-run homer and a double, going 3-for-4 and driving in four total runs, in the 8-2 win over the Rangers.

Rankings—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Sale (7IP 4H R BB 9K W in the 3-1 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.7 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers.

Debut—Andrew Romine of the Tigers made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Romine (pinch run in the 4-2 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut Sept. 24, 2010, and was playing in his 323rd career game. He is the 3,666th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cueto earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Suzuki and Bruce 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/21
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    13.0
    CLE 6/TB 0
    Corey Kluber (W,7-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    9
  

    
    9.0
    CHW 3/BOS 1
    Chris Sale (W,12-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    1
    1
    9
  

    BAT
    7.0
    MIN 14/PHI 10
    Kurt Suzuki, C
    5
    2
    4
    6
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    NL
    5.2
    SF 15/PIT 4
    Johnny Cueto (W,11-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    4
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    BAT
    4.0
    CIN 8/TEX 2
    Jay Bruce, RF
    4
    1
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    COL 8/NYY 4
    Nolan Arenado, 3B
    4
    2
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `HOU 3/LAA 2
    Collin McHugh
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    2
    2
    1
    6
  

    
    3.0
    `SD 10/BAL 7
    Brad Hand (H,3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.2
    ATL 3/MIA 2
    Chris Withrow (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    OAK 5/MIL 3
    Marcus Semien, SS
    4
    0
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    LAD 3/DC 2
    Yasmani Grandal, C
    3
    1
    1
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    NYM 2/KC 1
    Jeurys Familia (S,23)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    `ARI 4/TOR 2
    Tyler Clippard (H,10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.0
    DET 4/SEA 2
    Andrew Romine, PR-DH
    0
    1
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    STL 4/CHC 3
    Trevor Rosenthal (S,14)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    1
    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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	11.7	24.5	75.7	95.1	-1.1
Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	9.8	23.2	54.0	54.0	-3.6
Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	9.7	28.5	80.7	82.7	-9.1
Bruce, Jay 2453	rf	cin nl	5.0	8.2	28.2	55.3	1.8
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	4.5	13.0	14.5	14.5	-4.0
McHugh, Collin 3316	pi sp	hou al	4.0	13.7	25.5	25.5	-5.7
Familia, Jeurys 3446	pi cp	nym nl	3.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	-5.0
Rosenthal, Trevor 3124	pi cp	stl nl	3.0	9.0	21.0	21.0	-3.0
Hand, Brad 2907	pi mr sp	sd nl	2.0	3.0	7.0	7.0	1.0
Clippard, Tyler 2291	pi mr	ari nl	2.0	3.0	18.0	29.4	1.0
Withrow, Chris 3273	pi cp mr	atl nl	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	2.0
Suzuki, Kurt 2344	ca	min al	1.5	3.0	16.0	32.0	0.0
Grandal, Yasmani 3058	ca	lad nl	1.0	3.0	11.0	11.0	-1.0
Semien, Marcus 3302	ss	oak al	1.0	1.0	4.5	4.5	1.0
Romine, Andrew 3666	dh pr	det al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops players for Monday, June 20, extends overwhelming dominance in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank June 21, 2016

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Monday’s Player of the Day, extending his overwhelming dominance in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	11.7
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	10.0
6	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
7	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7
8	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	9.4
9	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
10	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	8.8

What are those numbers after players' names?

Kershaw struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, six hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Nationals.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 20.0 for the season. It is the sixth straight season Kershaw has had 20 or more Box-Toppers points. He now has twice as many Box-Toppers points this season than all but two players—Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (11.7) and Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (10.7).

Kershaw’s 20.0 Box-Toppers points on June 20, less than halfway into the season, would have put him in eighth place among all players in 2015—at the end of the season.

Kershaw seems to be on track to earn more than 40.0 Box-Toppers points this season. Randy Johnson holds the record for most Box-Toppers points in a single season (since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began) with 33.5. Johnson did it twice—in 2000 and 2002 with the Diamondbacks.

At this point in the 2000 season, Johnson had 20.7 Box-Toppers points, meaning Kershaw is slightly behind his pace. But at this point in the 2002 season, Johnson had only 11.7 points, putting Kershaw well ahead of that pace.

In Kershaw’s best season, 2014, he had 31.5 Box-Toppers points, tied for the fourth-best single season in Box-Toppers history (since 1995). And at this point in the 2014 season, Kershaw had only 10.7 Box-Toppers points.

Kershaw also now has 179.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of sixth place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails fifth-place player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (182.0). (See homepage for updated rankings of top 20 players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995.)

Kershaw is now 99.5 Box-Toppers points behind “all-time” leader Johnson’s career mark of 278.8 Box-Toppers points. Since the start of the 2013 season—a span of three and a half seasons—Kershaw has earned 98.9 points, meaning at his current torrid pace, Kershaw could catch Johnson’s career points mark by the end of the 2019 season, when he will be 31 years old.

(It should be noted that Johnson began his career in 1988, before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. If his entire career were tracked, Johnson would likely have many more Box-Toppers points. Rough Box-Toppers projections puts his estimated career total at 380—more than 100 more than his total from 1995 to 2009.)

American League Player of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros hit a two-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 10-7 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—Mark Reynolds of the Rockies hit two solo home runs, going 2-for-3, in the 5-3 win over the Marlins.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Carlos Correa.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Correa earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Reynolds earns 1.5 points for being NL 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/20
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    7.0
    LAD 4/DC 1
    Clayton Kershaw (W,11-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    1
    1
    0
    8
  

    
    4.2
    PIT 1/SF 0
    Jeff Locke (W,6-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    5
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    AL
    4.0
    HOU 10/LAA 7
    Carlos Correa, SS
    3
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    CLE 7/TB 4
    Bryan Shaw (W,1-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    3.2
    ARI 3/PHI 1
    Shelby Miller (W,2-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    5
    1
    1
    1
    5
  

    
    3.2
    `CHW 3/BOS 1
    Miguel Gonzalez
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    4
    1
    1
    2
    5
  

    BAT
    3.0
    COL 5/MIA 3
    Mark Reynolds, 1B
    3
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    DET 8/SEA 7
    Justin Upton, LF
    5
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    0.2
    STL 3/CHC 2
    Jaime Garcia (W,5-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    6
    2
    2
    2
    6
  

    
    0.0
    TEX 4/BAL 3
    Elvis Andrus, SS
    4
    1
    3
    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 of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0	45.7	145.8	179.3	-5.7
Correa, Carlos 3506	ss	hou al	5.2	12.4	12.4	12.4	-2.0
Garcia, Jaime 2508	pi sp	stl nl	5.0	14.4	32.1	40.8	-4.4
Locke, Jeff 3133	pi sp	pit nl	3.7	9.7	21.1	21.1	-2.3
Andrus, Elvis 2582	ss	tex al	3.7	3.7	11.2	14.2	3.7
Upton, Justin 2411	lf	det al	3.0	12.0	38.9	47.4	-6.0
Reynolds, Mark 2297	1b	col nl	3.0	7.0	27.2	50.4	-1.0
Shaw, Bryan 2995	pi mr	cle al	3.0	4.0	8.0	8.0	2.0
Gonzalez, Miguel 3062	pi sp	chi al	2.7	9.4	31.5	31.5	-4.0
Miller, Shelby 3134	pi sp	ari nl	1.0	11.0	37.1	37.1	-9.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Braves' Teheran tops players for Sunday, June 19; Royals' Young tops AL players

Shawn Plank June 20, 2016

Braves pitcher Julio Teheran is Sunday’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 June 19:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	11.7
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	10.0
6	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
7	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7
8	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	9.4
9	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
10	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	8.8

What are those numbers after players' names?

Teheran pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking none, in the 6-0 win over the Mets.

American League Player of the Day—Royals pitcher Chris Young struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 2-1, 13-inning win over the Tigers. Young did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied 1-1 when he exited.

American League Batter of the Day—Matt Wieters of the Orioles homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 11-6 win over the Blue Jays.

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

Streak—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday, his first of the season.

Weaver (CG 3H 0R BB K W in the 2-0 win over the Athletics) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Angels and has 124.1 points for his career, rising to 37th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Sunday, he passes one player on the “all-time” list, Gary Sheffield (124.1).

Weaver’s best season was 2011 with the Angels when he had 22.8 Box-Toppers points, second-most among AL pitchers. He had four straight seasons with 15.0 or more points (2009—15.0, 2010—19.4, 2011—22.8, 2012—15.4) all with the Angels. Weaver had 7.7 points in 2015 with the Angels.

Notable—In addition to Weaver, two other players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points also earned Player of the Game honors Sunday:

Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (6IP 4H R BB 8K ND in the 5-1 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 140.8 for his career. He ranks 24th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, and trails 23rd-ranked player David Ortiz of the Red Sox (141.4). Peavy has 4.0 points on the season.
Red Sox pitcher David Price (8IP 8H R 0BB 7K W in the 2-1 win over the Mariners) becomes the 72nd player since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points. He earns 1.0 point, giving him 100.5 for his career, rising to 70th among all players and passing two players—Larry Walker (100.1) and Jeff Bagwell (100.4)—on the “all-time” list. He now trails 69th-ranked player Paul Konerko (100.7). Price also has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of Sunday’s 15 Players of the Games. Price has 6.7 points on the season, ranking 22nd among all players, seventh among AL pitchers.

Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debuts Sunday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:

Max Kepler of the Twins (HR 2B 3-4 3R 2BI in the 7-4 win over the Yankees) made his Major League debut Sept. 27, 2015, and was playing in his 30th career game. He is the 3,664th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Jurickson Profar of the Rangers (1-1 2BI in the 5-4 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut Sept. 2, 2012, and was playing in his 115th career game. He is the 3,665th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Teheran earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Young earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Wieters earns 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.

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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/19
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    15.0
    ATL 6/NYM 0
    Julio Teheran (W,3-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    7
  

    
    9.0
    CHC 10/PIT 5
    Kyle Hendricks (W,5-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    7
    1
    1
    0
    12
  

    
    7.0
    `SF 5/TB 1
    Jake Peavy
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    1
    8
  

    AL
    7.0
    `KC 2/DET 1
    Chris Young
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    7
  

    BAT
    6.0
    BAL 11/TOR 6
    Matt Wieters, C
    5
    3
    4
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    LAA 2/OAK 0
    Jered Weaver (W,6-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    1
  

    
    5.2
    HOU 6/CIN 0
    Mike Fiers (W,5-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    4
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    5.0
    BOS 2/SEA 1
    David Price (W,8-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    8
    1
    1
    0
    7
  

    
    5.0
    ARI 5/PHI 1
    Archie Bradley (W,3-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    0
    2
    5
  

    
    4.0
    MIN 7/NYY 4
    Max Kepler, RF
    4
    3
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    MIA 3/COL 0
    Tom Koehler (W,6-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    0
    0
    6
    6
  

    
    4.0
    SD 6/DC 3
    Fernando Rodney (S,14)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    3.1
    `LAD 2/MIL 1
    Kenta Maeda
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    6
    1
    1
    3
    8
  

    
    3.0
    `CLE 3/CHW 2
    Cody Allen
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    2.0
    TEX 5/STL 4
    Jurickson Profar, PH
    1
    0
    1
    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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	6.7	27.8	83.8	100.5	-14.4
Wieters, Matt 2643	ca	bal al	6.0	7.0	25.0	30.7	5.0
Hendricks, Kyle 3386	pi sp	chi nl	5.0	14.7	19.7	19.7	-4.7
Teheran, Julio 3176	pi sp	atl nl	5.0	12.7	40.8	40.8	-2.7
Peavy, Jake 1635	pi sp	sf nl	4.0	9.0	37.1	140.8	-1.0
Allen, Cody 3265	pi mr	cle al	4.0	8.0	13.0	13.0	0.0
Maeda, Kenta 3609	pi sp	lad nl	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
Young, Chris R. 1933	pi sp	kc al	3.7	11.7	27.8	77.8	-4.3
Rodney, Fernando 1803	pi cp	sd nl	3.0	4.0	21.0	33.0	2.0
Fiers, Michael 3029	pi sp	hou al	2.0	9.0	23.1	23.1	-5.0
Koehler, Tom 3159	pi sp	fla nl	2.0	6.0	14.0	14.0	-2.0
Bradley, Archie 3438	pi sp	ari nl	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	1.0
Weaver, Jered 2178	pi sp	ana al	1.0	8.7	63.3	124.1	-6.7
Kepler, Max 3664	rf	min al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Profar, Jurickson 3665	ph	tex al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Royals' Kendrys Morales tops players for Saturday, June 18; Dbacks' Greinke rises to 7th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank June 19, 2016

Kendrys Morales of the Royals 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 June 18:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	11.7
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	10.0
6	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
7	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7
8	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	9.4
9	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
10	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	8.8

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning NL Player of the Day honors.

Player of the Day—Morales hit two doubles, going 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in five runs, in the 16-5 win over the Tigers.

Morales had a Box-Toppers game score of +8.0, tied with Greinke, who was Player of the Game in the Diamondbacks’ 4-1 win over the Phillies. But when batters and pitchers have the same Box-Toppers game score, batters win the tiebreaker, giving Morales overall Player of the Day honors.

National League Player of the Day—Greinke allowed one run and three hits over eight innings, striking out six and walking one, in the 4-1 win over the Phillies.

Greinke earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season, rising to seventh among all player and among NL pitchers.

Greinke also now has 156.1 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 15th place in career points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Saturday, Greinke passes Mike Mussina (155.6) and now trails 14th-ranked player Tim Hudson (157.0).

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	182.0
6	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	177.3
7	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	176.3
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	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	156.1
16	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
17	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
18	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
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)

National League Batter of the Day—J.T. Realmuto of the Marlins hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 4-for-5, in the 9-6 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall Player of the Day was AL batter Kendrys Morales.

Notable—Carlos Beltran of the Yankees rises to 64th place in Box-Toppers among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Beltran (HR 3-5 2R 2BI in the 7-6 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 101.9 for his career. With his point Saturday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list—Jason Schmidt (101.2), Tim Wakefield (101.4), Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (101.4) and Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (101.7). Beltran now trails 63rd-ranked player Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2).

Beltran has 3.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debuts Saturday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:

Tyler Naquin of the Indians (HR 3B 3-3 R 4BI in the 13-2 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut April 5 and was playing in his 41st career game. He is the 3,662nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Braves pitcher Dario Alvarez (0.2IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 4-3 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut Sept. 3, 2014, and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,663rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Morales earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Greinke earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Realmuto earns 1.5 points for being NL 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/18
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    8.0
    KC 16/DET 5
    Kendrys Morales, DH
    5
    4
    4
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    NL
    8.0
    ARI 4/PHI 1
    Zack Greinke (W,10-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    
    5.0
    CLE 13/CHW 2
    Tyler Naquin, CF
    3
    1
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    SD 7/DC 3
    Wil Myers, 1B
    4
    2
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    `HOU 5/CIN 4
    Dallas Keuchel
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    2
    2
    0
    6
  

    
    3.2
    `TEX 4/STL 3
    Cesar Ramos
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.2
    1
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    BAT
    3.0
    MIA 9/COL 6
    J.T. Realmuto, C
    5
    1
    4
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    BAL 4/TOR 2
    Jonathan Schoop, 2B
    4
    3
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    LAD 10/MIL 6
    Justin Turner, 3B
    4
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    CHC 4/PIT 3
    David Ross, C
    1
    1
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    NYY 7/MIN 6
    Carlos Beltran, RF
    5
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    SF 6/TB 4
    Joe Panik, 2B
    4
    1
    1
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.2
    ATL 4/NYM 3
    Dario Alvarez (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    0.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.0
    LAA 7/OAK 1
    Mike Trout, CF
    5
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    BOS 6/SEA 2
    Christian Vazquez, C
    3
    1
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    
    `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
  

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7	30.4	95.5	156.1	-11.0
Trout, Mike 2949	cf	ana al	5.5	17.5	42.0	42.0	-6.5
Panik, Joe 3401	2b	sf nl	4.0	8.0	9.0	9.0	0.0
Myers, Wil 3228	1b	sd nl	4.0	7.0	12.5	12.5	1.0
Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	3.0	24.4	38.8	38.8	-18.4
Beltran, Carlos 1194	rf dh	nyy al	3.0	6.5	23.9	101.9	-0.5
Realmuto, J.T. 3491	ca	fla nl	2.5	7.5	7.5	7.5	-2.5
Schoop, Jonathan 3307	2b	bal al	2.5	5.0	7.5	7.5	0.0
Ross, David 1729	ca	chi nl	2.5	2.5	11.0	27.1	2.5
Morales, Kendrys 2142	dh	kc al	2.0	6.7	16.7	32.7	-2.7
Ramos, Cesar 3168	pi sp mr	tex al	2.0	2.0	4.0	4.0	2.0
Turner, Justin 2865	3b 2b	lad nl	1.0	5.0	10.5	10.5	-3.0
Vazquez, Christian 3380	ca	bos al	1.0	1.0	4.0	4.0	1.0
Alvarez, Dario 3663	pi mr	atl nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Naquin, Tyler 3662	cf	cle al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Jake Arrieta tops players for Friday, June 17, rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank June 18, 2016

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third 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 June 17:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	11.7
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	10.0
6	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
7	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	9.4
8	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
9	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	8.8
10	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Arrieta pitched six scoreless innings, striking out 11 and allowing two hits, in the 6-0 win over the Pirates.

Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season, rising from ninth to third place among all players. He becomes the sixth player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and has now earned 10 or more points for three straight years. He had 14.7 in 2014 and 29.1 in 2015, when he led all players in Box-Toppers points.

American League Player of the Day—Michael Saunders of the Blue Jays hit three homers and went 3-for-5, driving in eight runs, in the 13-3 win over the Orioles.

National League Batter of the Day—Peter O’Brien of the Diamondbacks hit two home runs and went 2-for-5, driving in four runs, in the 10-2 win over the Phillies.

This was O’Brien’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. O’Brien made his Major League debut Sept. 11, 2015, and was playing in his 14th career game. He is the 3,661st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Michael Saunders.

Notable—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels now has 134.6 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Hamels (7.2IP 3H 0R 3BB 6K W in the 1-0 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game and ranks 27th in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 26th-ranked player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (136.9).

Hamels has 8.4 Box-Toppers points on the season, 13th among all players and third among AL pitchers.

Debut—Braves pitcher John Gant made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Gant (6.2IP 2H R 2BB 5K W in the 5-1 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut April 6 and was playing in his ninth career game. He is the 3,660th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Saunders earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. O’Brien earns 1.5 points for being NL 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/17
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    12.0
    CHC 6/PIT 0
    Jake Arrieta (W,11-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    0
    0
    3
    11
  

    AL
    9.0
    TOR 13/BAL 3
    Michael Saunders, LF
    5
    3
    3
    8
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    7.2
    TEX 1/STL 0
    Cole Hamels (W,7-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    3
    0
    0
    3
    6
  

    
    7.0
    SEA 8/BOS 4
    Franklin Gutierrez, RF
    5
    3
    3
    6
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    7.0
    SF 5/TB 1
    Jeff Samardzija (W,8-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    4
    1
    1
    0
    4
  

    
    7.0
    `CLE 3/CHW 2
    Trevor Bauer
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    1
    3
    9
  

    
    7.0
    `LAD 3/MIL 2
    Julio Urias
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    5
    0
    0
    1
    8
  

    
    5.2
    ATL 5/NYM 1
    John Gant (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    2
    1
    1
    2
    5
  

    
    5.1
    KC 10/DET 3
    Yordano Ventura (W,6-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    6
    0
    0
    0
    5
  

    
    5.0
    `OAK 3/LAA 2
    Kendall Graveman
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    
    4.1
    `CIN 4/HOU 2
    John Lamb
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.1
    3
    1
    1
    4
    8
  

    
    4.0
    NYY 8/MIN 2
    Masahiro Tanaka (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    7
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    BAT
    3.0
    ARI 10/PHI 2
    Peter O'Brien, LF
    5
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    DC 7/SD 5
    Daniel Murphy, 2B
    4
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.2
    `MIA 5/COL 1
    Adam Conley
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    1
    1
    1
    5
    5
  

    
    
    `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	+/-
Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7	39.8	67.5	70.5	-18.4
Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	8.4	23.8	75.4	134.6	-7.0
Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	pi sp	nyy al	5.0	13.0	25.7	25.7	-3.0
Murphy, Daniel 2589	2b	dc nl	5.0	6.5	28.5	30.0	3.5
Samardzija, Jeff 2495	pi sp	sf nl	4.7	14.1	42.8	43.8	-4.7
Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	4.7	14.1	22.8	22.8	-4.7
Ventura, Yordano 3294	pi sp	kc al	4.0	15.7	25.4	25.4	-7.7
Conley, Adam 3594	pi sp	fla nl	4.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	1.0
Saunders, Michael 2768	lf	tor al	2.3	2.3	12.0	13.0	2.3
Graveman, Kendall 3444	pi sp	oak al	2.0	6.7	6.7	6.7	-2.7
Lamb, John 3654	pi sp	cin nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Urias, Julio 3652	pi sp	lad nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
O’Brien, Peter 3661	lf	ari nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Gutierrez, Franklin 2242	rf	sea al	1.0	2.0	6.0	21.0	0.0
Gant, John 3660	pi sp	atl nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw continues lead of Box-Toppers All-Star teams for both 2015 and 2015-16

Shawn Plank June 17, 2016

A look at leaders in Box-Toppers points by position and league over both 2016 and 2015-16.

Dodgers' Kershaw leads Box-Toppers player rankings for 6th week; Indians' Salazar now leads AL pitchers

Shawn Plank June 17, 2016

Kershaw extends Box-Toppers points lead. Indians' Danny Salazar takes lead among AL pitchers. Machado, Suarez lead batters.

For 9th straight week, Chicago Cubs top Box-Toppers team rankings report

Shawn Plank June 17, 2016

While Cubs remain top team, Texas Rangers remain top AL team. Nationals, Blue Jays are hottest teams of the past week.

Orioles' Wilson tops players for Thursday, June 16; Mets' Colon tops NL players

Shawn Plank June 17, 2016

Orioles pitcher Tyler Wilson is Thursday’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 June 16:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	11.7
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	10.0
5	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
6	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	9.4
7	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
8	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	8.8
9	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	8.7
10	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Wilson pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, one walk and striking out six, in the 5-1 win over the Red Sox.

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon struck out eight over 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, in the 6-4 win over the Pirates.

Colon earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 143.8 for his career. Colon ranks 22nd in career points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 21st-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7). Colon has 3.7 Box-Toppers points for the season.

American League Batter of the Day—Victor Martinez of the Tigers hit three solo home runs, going 3-for-5, in the 10-4 win over the Royals.

National League Batter of the Day—Freddie Freeman of the Braves hit a two-run homer and went 3-for-4, scoring twice, in the 7-2 win over the Reds.

Notable—Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis has the most 2016 Box-Toppers points of any of Thursday’s 10 Players of the Games.

Lewis (CG 2H R BB 4K W in the 5-1 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 7.7 for the season. He ranks 18th among all players and fifth among AL pitchers.

Scoring—Wilson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Colon earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Martinez and Freeman 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/16
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    10.0
    BAL 5/BOS 1
    Tyler Wilson (W,3-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    
    8.0
    TEX 5/OAK 1
    Colby Lewis (W,6-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    2
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    
    6.0
    TOR 13/PHI 2
    J.A. Happ (W,8-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    0
    2
    5
  

    NL
    4.2
    NYM 6/PIT 4
    Bartolo Colon (W,6-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    7
    2
    2
    0
    8
  

    BAT
    4.0
    DET 10/KC 4
    Victor Martinez, DH
    5
    3
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    NYY 4/MIN 1
    Didi Gregorius, SS
    3
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    ATL 7/CIN 2
    Freddie Freeman, 1B
    4
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    SEA 6/TB 4
    Dae-Ho Lee, 1B
    3
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    DC 8/SD 5
    Bryce Harper, RF
    4
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    MIL 8/LAD 6
    Tyler Thornburg (W,3-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Lewis, Colby 1567	pi sp	tex al	7.7	15.4	33.6	45.0	0.0
Lee, Dae-Ho 3627	1b ph	sea al	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.7
Martinez, Victor 1695	dh 1b	det al	5.0	8.5	28.4	68.6	1.5
Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	4.0	17.1	32.5	40.5	-9.1
Colon, Bartolo	pi sp	nym nl	3.7	10.4	52.3	143.8	-3.0
Wilson, Tyler 3608	pi mr sp	bal al	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Harper, Bryce 3011	rf	dc nl	2.0	11.0	26.4	26.4	-7.0
Gregorius, Didi 3184	ss	nyy al	2.0	4.5	6.5	6.5	-0.5
Freeman, Freddie 2887	1b	atl nl	1.5	4.5	32.7	32.7	-1.5
Thornburg, Tyler 3195	pi mr	mil nl	1.0	1.0	7.0	7.0	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

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

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.