Mets' Travis d'Arnaud tops player in Monday, Oct. 12's divisional playoff games

Shawn Plank October 13, 2015

Travis d’Arnaud of the Mets is Box-Toppers top player in Monday’s four league division series playoff games.

Other Players of the Game Monday:

Jorge Soler of the Cubs
Royals closing pitcher Wade Davis
Kevin Pillar of the Blue Jays

National League Division Series Game 3: Mets 13, Dodgers 7

Travis d’Arnaud of the Mets homered and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs to earn overall Player of the Day honors Monday.

During the regular season, d’Arnaud had 2.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked 381st among all players, 189th among NL batters and ninth among NL catchers.

d’Arnaud had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0, the same as teammate Yoenis Cespedes, who had a similar batting line (HR 3-5 3R 3BI), but d’Arnaud won Player of the Game honors on a low-level tie-breaker—he left fewer runners on base than Cespedes—zero vs. one.

D’Arnaud’s Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 is also tied with Players of the Game in two other games—Jorge Soler of the Cubs and Royals pitcher Wade Davis. But d’Arnaud beat Soler because he had more at bats (five vs. two) and he beat Davis because in cases of Box-Toppers game score ties, batters beat pitchers.

The Mets now lead the best-of-five game series, 2-1, which resumes Tuesday in New York.

National League Division Series Game 3: Cubs 8, Cardinals 6

Jorge Soler of the Cubs hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-2, to earn Player of the Game honors.

During the regular season, Soler had 3.2 Box-Toppers points, ranked 306th among all players, 70th among NL batters and 33rd among NL outfielders.

Box-Toppers points leader Jake Arrieta (29.1) started the game for the Cubs. Arrieta (5.2IP 5H 4R 9K W) had a Box-Toppers game score of −0.8. It is the first time since Aug. 15 that Arrieta did not earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in a start. He had 10 straight starts in which he earned Player of the Game honors, including in the postseason on Oct. 7, when he was Player of the Game in the NL Wild Card Game. In his final nine starts of the regular season, Arrieta earned 14.7 Box-Toppers points.

The Cubs now lead the best-of-five game series, 2-1, which resumes Tuesday in Chicago.

American League Division Series Game 4: Royals 9, Astros 6

Royals closing pitcher Wade Davis struck out three over two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and picking up the save, to earn Player of the Game honors.

During the regular season, Davis had 4.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 235th among all players, 74th among AL pitchers and ninth among AL closing pitchers.

The best-of-five game series is now tied 2-2 and concludes Wednesday in Kansas City.

American League Division Series Game 4: Blue Jays 8, Rangers 4

Kevin Pillar homered and went 3-for-4, driving in three runs to earn Player of the Game honors.

During the regular season, Pillar had 3.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked 300th among all players, 68th among AL batters and 22nd among AL outfielders.

Blue Jays pitcher David Price, ranked second among AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points (21.1) pitched three innings of middle relief. Price (3IP 6H 3R 2K W) had a Box-Toppers game score of −7.0.

The best-of-five game series is now tied 2-2 and concludes Wednesday in Toronto.

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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    10/12
    Score
    Team
    Players
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    POG
    4.0
    Mets
    Travis d'Arnaud, C
    5
    3
    3
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    POG
    4.0
    Cubs
    Jorge Soler, RF
    2
    2
    2
    2
    2
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    POG
    4.0
    Royals
    Wade Davis (S,2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    POG
    3.0
    Blue Jays
    Kevin Pillar, CF
    4
    1
    3
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

Coming Tuesday, the NL Division Series playoff games resume:

NL Division Series Game 4, Cubs lead Cardinals, 2-1

The pitching matchup Tuesday:

Cardinals—John Lackey, 9.7 Box-Toppers points, 51st among all players, 21st among NL pitchers.

Cubs—Jason Hammel, 9.7 Box-Toppers points, 52nd among all players, 22nd among NL pitchers. (Though Lackey and Hammel have the same Box-Toppers point totals for 2015, Lackey places higher because he holds the tiebreaker—he had more Box-Toppers points in 2014, 10.7 vs. 10.4.)

See series preview and Box-Toppers point totals of all Cardinals and Cubs who earned Player of the Game honors in the 2015 regular season.

NL Division Series Game 4, Mets lead Dodgers, 2-1

The pitching matchup Tuesday:

Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 25.7 Box-Toppers points, second among all players, second among NL pitchers.

Mets—Steven Matz, 3.5 Box-Toppers points, 298th among all players, 76th among NL pitchers.

See series preview and Box-Toppers point totals of all Mets and Dodgers who earned Player of the Game honors in the 2015 regular season.

Mets' deGrom tops players in 4 league division playoff games, Friday, Oct. 9

Shawn Plank October 10, 2015

Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Box-Toppers top player in Friday’s four league division series playoff games.

Other Players of the Game Friday:

Cardinals pitcher John Lackey.
Rangers closing pitcher Ross Ohlendorf.
Salvador Perez of the Royals.

NLDS Game 1: Mets 3, Dodgers 1

Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 13 and allowing five hits.

During the regular season deGrom had 22.4 Box-Toppers points, third among all players, third among NL pitchers.

He outdueled Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw who was ranked second overall in Box-Toppers points with 25.7. Kershaw (6.2IP 4H 3R 11K) had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.2 and picked up the loss.

The Mets now lead the best-of-five game series, 1-0, which resumes Saturday in Los Angeles.

NLDS Game 1: Cardinals 4, Cubs 0

Cardinals pitcher John Lackey pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out five.

During the regular season, Lackey had 9.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 51st among all players, 21st among NL pitchers.

The Cardinals now lead the best-of-five game series, 1-0, which resumes Saturday in St. Louis.

ALDS Game 2: Rangers 6, Blue Jays 4

Rangers pitcher Ross Ohlendorf pitched a scoreless ninth inning, striking out the side, allowing no hits and earning the save.

During the regular season, Ohlendorf had 1.0 Box-Toppers point, ranked 651st among all players and 163rd among the 189 AL pitchers who earned Box-Toppers points this season.

The Rangers now lead the best-of-five game series, 2-0, which resumes Sunday in Texas.

ALDS Game 2: Royals 5, Astros 4

Salvador Perez of the Royals homered and went 2-for-3, driving in two runs.

During the regular season, Perez had 4.5 Box-Toppers points, 211th among all players, 45th among AL batters and third among AL catchers, behind Brian McCann of the Yankees (6.5) and Russell Martin of the Blue Jays (5.0).

The best-of-five game series is tied 1-1 and resumes Sunday in Houston.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    10/9
    Score
    Team
    BATTERS
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    POG
    14.0
    Mets
    Jacob deGrom (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    1
    13
  

    POG
    9.1
    Cardinals
    John Lackey (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.1
    2
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    POG
    4.0
    Rangers
    Ross Ohlendorf (S,1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    POG
    2.0
    Royals
    Salvador Perez, C
    3
    1
    2
    2
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

Coming Saturday: The National League Division Series playoffs resume with two Game 2s:

NL Division Series Game 2, Cardinals lead Cubs, 1-0

The pitching matchup Saturday:

Cubs—Kyle Hendricks, 9.7 Box-Toppers points, 54th among all players, 24th among NL pitchers.

Cardinals—Jaime Garcia, 9.4 Box-Toppers points, 59th among all players, 25th among NL pitchers.

See series preview and Box-Toppers point totals of all Cubs and Cardinals who earned Player of the Game honors in the 2015 regular season.

NL Division Series Game 2, Mets lead Dodgers, 1-0

The pitching matchup Saturday:

Mets—Noah Syndergaard, 10.4 Box-Toppers points, 41st among all players, 16th among NL pitchers.

Dodgers—Zack Greinke, 20.7 Box-Toppers points, seventh among all players, fifth among NL pitchers.

See series preview and Box-Toppers point totals of all Mets and Dodgers who earned Player of the Game honors in the 2015 regular season.

Rangers' Odor, Astros' Gregerson top players in pair of opening ALDS games for Thursday, Oct. 8

Shawn Plank October 9, 2015

Rougned Odor of the Rangers and Luke Gregerson of the Astros are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Thursday’s pair of American League Division Series openers.

Odor homered and scored three runs in the 5-3 win over the Blue Jays in Game 1 of the AL Division Series. The Rangers lead the best-of-five series, 1-0.

During the regular season, Odor earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points, 337th among all players, 76th among AL batters.

Blue Jays pitcher David Price, Box-Toppers’ fifth-ranked player, started the game and picked up the loss. Price (7IP 5H 5R 5K) had a Box-Toppers game score of −5. He had 21.1 Box-Toppers points for the season, ranked second among AL pitchers.

Astros closing pitcher Luke Gregerson is Player of the Game in the other AL Division Series Game 1. Gregerson picked up the save, pitching a scoreless ninth inning, allowing no hits and striking out two, in the 5-2 win over the Royals. The Astros lead the best-of-five series, 1-0.

Gregerson had 6.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 150th among all players, 53rd among AL pitchers and sixth among AL closing pitchers.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    10/8
    Score
    Team
    BATTERS
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    POG
    3.0
    Rangers
    Rougned Odor, 2B
    2
    3
    1
    1
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    POG
    3.0
    Astros
    Luke Gregerson (S,1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

Coming Friday: The National League Division Series playoffs begin with two Game 1s and the American League Division Series resume with two Game 2s:

AL Division Series Game 2, Rangers lead Blue Jays, 1-0

The pitching matchup Friday:

Rangers—Cole Hamels, 15.4 Box-Toppers points, 15th among all players, eighth among AL pitchers.

Blue Jays—Marcus Stroman, 2.7 Box-Toppers points, 368th among all players, 105th among AL pitchers. (Stroman was out recovering from injury much of 2015. In 2014, he had 13.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 12th among AL pitchers.)

See the season Box-Toppers point totals of all Rangers and Blue Jays players who earned Player of the Game honors in 2015.

AL Division Series Game 2, Astros lead Royals, 1-0

The pitching matchup Friday:

Astros—Scott Kazmir, 12.7 Box-Toppers points, 26th among all players, 14th among AL pitchers,

Royals—Johnny Cueto, 12.8 Box-Toppers points, 25th among all players, 13th among AL pitchers.

See the season Box-Toppers point totals of all Astros and Royals players who earned Player of the Game honors in 2015.

NL Division Series Game 1, Cubs at Cardinals

Though the Chicago Cubs are the Wild Card team and have a lesser win-loss record than the NL Central champ St. Louis Cardinals, they have an edge in Box-Toppers team rankings. The Cubs passed the Cardinals in the final 10 days of the season to rank third in Box-Toppers team points with 127.4. The Cardinals, with baseball’s best record, rank fourth with 124.3. The Cubs surged at the end of the season, earning 11.0 Box-Toppers points in the final 10 days of the season. The Cardinals, by comparison, picked up only 3.5 during that period.

The two teams are the highest ranked NL teams remaining in the playoffs after the Cubs knocked off the top-rated Pittsburgh Pirates (129.6) in the NL Wild Card playoff.

The pitching matchup Friday:

Cubs—Jon Lester, 12.0 Box-Toppers points, 28th among all players, 13th among NL pitchers.

Cardinals—John Lackey, 9.7 Box-Toppers points, 51st among all players, 21st among NL pitchers.

Cubs vs. Cardinals

Here are players for both teams in the NL Divisional Series beginning Friday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2015. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.


Chicago Cubs			St. Louis Cardinals
Player	Pos	BTP	Player	Pos	BTP
Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	29.1	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	13.7
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	12.0	Lynn, Lance 2992	pi sp	11.4
Hammel, Jason 2235	pi sp	9.7	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	9.7
Hendricks, Kyle 3386	pi sp	9.7	Wacha, Michael 3276	pi sp	9.7
Rizzo, Anthony 3063	1b	8.5	Grichuk, Randal 3474	rf lf cf	9.5
Bryant, Kris 3465	3b	8.5	Garcia, Jaime 2508	pi sp	9.4
Montero, Miguel 2304	ca	5.5	Rosenthal, Trevor 3124	pi cp	6.0
Haren, Danny 1787	pi sp	5.0	Carpenter, Matt 2987	3b	5.5
Schwarber, Kyle 3536	lf ca	5.0	Moss, Brandon 2520	rf lf	5.0
Castro, Starlin 2767	ss 2b	4.5	Piscotty, Stephen 3570	lf rf 1b	4.2
Wada, Tsuyoshi 3389	pi sp	3.7	Wong, Kolten 3377	2b	4.0
Soler, Jorge 3403	rf ph	3.2	Reynolds, Mark 2297	1b	4.0
Wood, Travis 2777	pi sp	3.0	Siegrist, Kevin 3260	pi mr	4.0
Fowler, Dexter 2698	cf	2.5	Villanueva, Carlos 2241	pi mr cp	3.7
Russell, Addison 3559	ss	2.5	Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	3.0
Jackson, Austin 2694	cf	2.0	Lyons, Tyler 3178	pi sp	3.0
Rondon, Hector 3201	pi cp	2.0	Adams, Matt 3220	1b ph	2.5
Strop, Pedro 3005	pi mr	2.0	Maness, Seth 3362	pi cp mr	2.0
Coghlan, Chris 2610	lf	1.0	Kozma, Pete 3138	2b pr	2.0
Rodney, Fernando 1803	pi cp mr	1.0	Scruggs, Xavier 3514	1b	2.0
Cahill, Trevor 2658	pi mr	1.0	Holliday, Matt 1836	lf dh	1.5
Hunter, Tommy 2623	pi mr	1.0	Pham, Thomas 3596	lf cf	1.5
Grimm, Justin 3153	pi mr	1.0	Cishek, Steve 2997	pi cp	1.0
Richard, Clayton 2584	pi sp	1.0	Bourjos, Peter 2790	cf ph	1.0
Motte, Jason 2926	pi mr	1.0	Garcia, Greg 3331	ph	1.0
Beeler, Dallas 3528	pi sp	1.0	Molina, Yadier 1967	ca	1.0
Ramirez, Neil 3439	pi mr	1.0	Walden, Jordan 2864	pi mr	1.0
			Broxton, Jonathan 2108	pi mr	1.0
			Socolovich, Miguel 3456	pi cp	1.0
Totals		127.4	Totals		124.3

What are those numbers after players' names?

NL Division Series Game 1, Mets at Dodgers

In Box-Toppers team rankings, the Dodgers and the Mets are almost identical.

The Dodgers hold the slight edge, ranking sixth among all teams, with 122.5 Box-Toppers points. But the Mets are only 0.5 points behind, with 122.0, ranking seventh among all teams. During the final 10 days of the season, the Dodgers picked up 6.0 Box-Toppers points, while the Mets earned 4.7.

The pitching matchup Friday:

Mets—Jacob deGrom, 22.4 Box-Toppers points, third among all players, third among NL pitchers.

Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 25.7 Box-Toppers points, second among all players, second among NL pitchers.

Mets vs. Dodgers


New York Mets			Los Angeles Dodgers
Player	Pos	BTP	Player	Pos	BTP
deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	22.4	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	25.7
Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	15.4	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	20.7
Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	lf cf	10.9	Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	7.7
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	10.4	Ethier, Andre 2137	rf lf	6.5
Familia, Jeurys 3446	pi cp	8.0	Anderson, Brett 2597	pi sp	6.0
Colon, Bartolo	pi sp	6.7	Bolsinger, Mike 3318	pi sp	5.7
Niese, Jonathon 2531	pi sp	6.0	Gonzalez, Adrian 2193	1b	4.0
Granderson, Curtis 2051	rf	4.0	Jansen, Kenley 2871	pi cp	4.0
Nieuwenhuis, Kirk 3022	cf rf lf ph	4.0	Kendrick, Howie 2191	2b	4.0
Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	3.5	Van Slyke, Scott 3033	cf lf 1b	4.0
Uribe, Juan 1542	3b ph	3.0	Turner, Justin 2865	2b 3b ph	4.0
Verrett, Logan 3518	pi mr	3.0	Puig, Yasiel 3193	rf	3.5
Robles, Hansel 3580	pi mr	2.7	Guerrero, Alex 3442	lf ph	3.5
Duda, Lucas 2818	1b	2.5	Rollins, Jimmy 1516	ss	3.0
d’Arnaud, Travis 3384	ca	2.5	McCarthy, Brandon 2082	pi sp	2.0
Flores, Wilmer 3345	ss 2b	2.5	Grandal, Yasmani 3058	ca 1b	2.0
Tejada, Ruben 2801	ss	2.0	Ruggiano, Justin 2396	lf ph	2.0
Johnson, Kelly 2018	lf 1b	2.0	Frias, Carlos 3434	pi sp	2.0
Murphy, Daniel 2589	2b	1.5	Johnson, Jim 2417	pi mr	2.0
Gee, Dillon 2808	pi sp	1.0	Thomas, Ian 3539	pi sp	1.7
Lagares, Juan 3243	cf ph	1.0	Seager, Corey 3587	ss	1.5
Cuddyer, Michael 1826	lf 1b	1.0	Heisey, Chris 2866	cf rf	1.0
Reed, Addison 3023	pi mr cp	1.0	Nicasio, Juan 2888	pi sp	1.0
Torres, Carlos 2668	pi mr	1.0	Hatcher, Chris 3420	pi cp	1.0
Blevins, Jerry 2788	pi mr	1.0	Howell, J.P. 2016	pi mr	1.0
Clippard, Tyler 2291	pi cp	1.0	Garcia, Yimi 3440	pi cp	1.0
Gilmartin, Sean 3500	pi mr	1.0	Hernandez, Enrique 3541	ph	1.0
Monell, Johnny 3463	ph	1.0	Ravin, Josh 3501	pi mr	1.0
Total		122.0	Total		122.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Jake Arrieta tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 22, solidifies lead in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank September 23, 2015

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his lead in player rankings.

Also Tuesday, Mike Trout of the Angels took the lead among American League batters in Box-Toppers points.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 22.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	25.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	21.1
4	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	20.4
5	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	20.4
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	19.7
7	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
8	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	18.0
9	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	17.1
10	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	17.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Arrieta pitched a complete-game shutout, striking out 11 and allowing three hits, in the 4-0 win over the Brewers.

Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 25.1 for the season. He becomes the 21st player with 25.0 or more Box-Toppers points in a single season since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began.

With his points Tuesday, he takes a 2.4-point lead over second-place player and fellow NL pitcher Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers. That means Kershaw would need to earn Box-Toppers points in each of what would likely be his final two starts of the season to have a chance to pass Arrieta. Kershaw has led NL pitchers for the past four seasons. Only one player has led his league category in Box-Toppers points in more consecutive seasons since 1995—Randy Johnson led NL pitchers five straight years from 1998 to 2002.

American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing three hits, in the 11-2 win over the Royals.

Iwakuma earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 13.1 for the season. He ranks 20th among all players and 10th among AL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Cody Asche of the Phillies homered twice and went 3-for-4, scoring three runs, in the 6-2 win over the Marlins.

Best seasons
Here are all players who have earned 25 or more Box-Toppers points in a single season since 1995, ranked by their single-season Box-Toppers point total. Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta Tuesday became the 21st player in 21 seasons with 25 or more Box-Toppers points and ranks 21st on the list.
 





  
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    Rank
    Player
    Team
    Pos
    Year
    BTP
  

    1
    Randy Johnson
    Dbacks
    pi sp
    2000
    33.7
  

    1
    Randy Johnson
    Dbacks
    pi sp
    2002
    33.7
  

    3
    Pedro Martinez
    Red Sox
    pi sp
    2000
    33.5
  

    4
    Randy Johnson
    Dbacks
    pi sp
    1999
    31.5
  

    4
    Clayton Kershaw
    Dodgers
    pi sp
    2014
    31.5
  

    6
    Pedro Martinez
    Red Sox
    pi sp
    1999
    31.4
  

    7
    Randy Johnson
    Dbacks
    pi sp
    2001
    29.4
  

    8
    Pedro Martinez
    Red Sox
    pi sp
    2002
    28.8
  

    9
    Curt Schilling
    Dbacks
    pi sp
    2002
    28.4
  

    10
    Roger Clemens
    Blue Jays
    pi sp
    1997
    27.4
  

    11
    Johan Santana
    Twins
    pi sp
    2004
    26.8
  

    12
    Pedro Martinez
    Expos
    pi sp
    1997
    26.7
  

    12
    CC Sabathia
    Indians/Brewers
    pi sp
    2008
    26.7
  

    14
    Randy Johnson
    Mariners/Astros
    pi sp
    1998
    26.4
  

    15
    John Smoltz
    Braves
    pi sp
    1996
    26.1
  

    15
    Clayton Kershaw
    Dodgers
    pi sp
    2011
    26.1
  

    17
    Roger Clemens
    Blue Jays
    pi sp
    1998
    25.8
  

    17
    Corey Kluber
    Indians
    pi sp
    2014
    25.8
  

    19
    Johan Santana
    Twins
    pi sp
    2006
    25.7
  

    20
    Cliff Lee
    Phillies
    pi sp
    2011
    25.4
  

    21
    *Jake Arrieta
    Cubs
    pi sp
    2015
    25.1
  

    
    * Current season
  
 

American League Batter of the Day—Delino DeShields of the Rangers went 1-for-2, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-6 win over the Athletics.

Rankings—Mike Trout of the Angels took the lead among AL batters in Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Trout (HR 1-3 R 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.0 for the season. He passes Prince Fielder of the Rangers (11.5) to lead AL batters. Trout ranks 25th among all players.

Notable—Two others who earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Tuesday achieved notable milestones:

Giants pitcher Chris Heston rose to 12th place among NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points. Heston (4.1IP 2H 0R 7K ND in the 4-2 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season. He ranks 29th among all players.
Cardinals pitcher John Lackey maintained his rank of 55th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Lackey (7IP 9H R 7K W in the 3-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 107.8 for his career. He trails 54th-ranked player Lance Berkman (108.1). He has 9.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, ranked 17th among NL pitchers.

Scoring—Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Iwakuma earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Asche and DeShields each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/22
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    16.0
    Cubs
    Jake Arrieta (W,20-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    11
  

    AL
    13.0
    Mariners
    Hisashi Iwakuma (W,9-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    10
  

    
    9.0
    `Tigers
    Daniel Norris
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    
    8.0
    Dbacks
    Robbie Ray (W,5-12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    7
  

    
    6.0
    Twins
    Ervin Santana (W,6-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    1
    7
  

    
    5.0
    Braves
    Matt Wisler (W,6-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    2
    2
    1
    8
  

    
    4.1
    `Giants
    Chris Heston
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    4.1
    2
    0
    0
    5
    7
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Phillies
    Cody Asche, 3B
    4
    3
    3
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    `Orioles
    Brad Brach (MR) (H,12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Rangers
    Delino DeShields, CF
    2
    2
    1
    2
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Cardinals
    John Lackey (W,13-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    9
    1
    1
    0
    7
  

    
    3.0
    `Pirates
    Joakim Soria (MR) (H,9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    2.0
    Yankees
    Carlos Beltran, RF
    3
    1
    2
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Rays
    Brad Boxberger (S,36)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    1
    2
  

    
    1.0
    Angels
    Mike Trout, CF
    3
    1
    1
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Cardinals' Lackey tops players for Thursday, Sept. 17; Angels' Trout rises to 2nd among AL batters

Shawn Plank September 18, 2015

Cardinals pitcher John Lackey is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Lackey pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing five hits, in the 6-3 win over the Brewers.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 17.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	23.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	20.4
4	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	20.1
5	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	19.7
6	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
7	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	19.4
8	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	17.1
9	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	17.0
10	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	17.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Lackey rises to 55th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when record keeping began. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 106.8 for his career. With his points Thursday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Aramis Ramirez (105.8) and Frank Thomas (106.2). (Thomas began his career in 1990, five years before Box-Toppers record keeping began. If his entire career were tracked, based on rough projections, Thomas would likely have about 145 career Box-Toppers points.) Lackey now trails 54th-place player Lance Berkman (108.1).

Lackey has 8.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 52nd among all players, 20th among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Omar Infante of the Royals homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in seven runs, in the 8-4 win over the Indians.

National League Batter of the Day—Addison Russell of the Cubs doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-6 win over the Pirates.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day Thursday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Omar Infante.

Notable—Mike Trout of the Angels rose to second place among AL batters in Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.

Trout (2HR 2-3 3R 5BI in the 11-8 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season, rising to 29th place among all players.

Trout had a Box-Toppers game score of +7.0 Thursday, the same as Omar Infante. But Infante won AL Player of the Day honors on a tiebreaker because he had more at bats than Trout—four vs. three. Had Trout earned AL Player of the Day honors instead of Infante and earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points, Trout would have had 11.7 points for the season, enough to pass AL batting leader Prince Fielder of the Rangers (11.5). But he didn’t.

Trout led AL batters in Box-Toppers points much of July and all of August, but was passed by other players in September. This was Trout’s first Box-Toppers point since July 26.

Debut—Orioles pitcher Chaz Roe made his Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Roe (1.1IP 0H 0R 2K W in the 4-3 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut July 1, 2013, and was playing in his 58th career game. He is the 3,597th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/17
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    8.0
    Cardinals
    John Lackey (W,12-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    2
    8
  

    AL
    7.0
    Royals
    Omar Infante, 2B
    4
    1
    3
    7
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    7.0
    Angels
    Mike Trout, CF
    3
    3
    2
    5
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    7.0
    Blue Jays
    Marco Estrada (W,13-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    4
  

    
    3.1
    Orioles
    Chaz Roe (MR) (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.1
    Marlins
    A.J. Ramos (S,28)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    Rangers
    Shin-Soo Choo, RF
    5
    2
    4
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Athletics
    Sean Doolittle (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    BAT
    2.0
    Cubs
    Addison Russell, SS
    4
    2
    2
    2
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

Mets' Colon tops players for Monday, Aug. 31; Keuchel rises to 5th in player rankings, Archer rises to 10th

Shawn Plank September 5, 2015

(Other duties have put us behind updating Box-Toppers. Playing catch up …)

Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Monday, Aug. 31.

Also Monday, Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and Rays pitcher Chris Archer rises to 10th place.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 31.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	19.4
2	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	19.1
3	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.7
4	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	18.1
5	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	17.7
6	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	17.1
7	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	17.0
8	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	16.4
9	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
10	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	16.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Colon pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing four hits, in the 3-1 win over the Phillies.

Colon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 140.1 for his career, rising to 22nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Monday, he passes Andy Pettitte (138.5 Box-Toppers points) on the “all-time” list. He trails 21st-ranked player Zack Greinke (142.7 points).

Colon has 6.7 Box-Toppers points this season.

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Danny Salazar struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing two runs and six hits, in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays.

Salazar earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 11.4 Box-Toppers points on the season. He becomes the 29th player with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points this season and ranks 22nd among all players, 13th among AL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Mark Canha of the Athletics homered, scored twice and drove in four runs, in the 11-5 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—Adam Duvall of the Reds hit a two-run, pinch-hit homer in the 13-6 win over the Cubs.

This was Duvall’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Duvall made his Major League debut June 26, 2014, and was playing in his 29th career game. He is the 3,573rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Rankings—Two players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings list after earning Player of the Game honors Monday:

Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel (7IP 6H 2R 10K W in the 8-3 win over the Mariners) rose to fifth place with 17.7 Box-Toppers points. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind David Price of the Blue Jays (18.1 Box-Toppers points).
Rays pitcher Chris Archer (6IP 4H 0R 6K W in the 6-3 win over the Orioles) rose to 10th place with 16.0 Box-Toppers points. He ranks fifth among AL pitchers.

Notable—Cardinals pitcher John Lackey rises to 57th place among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Lackey (6IP 4H 2R 8K ND in the 8-5 win over the Nationals) now has 104.8 career Box-Toppers points. With his point Monday, he passes Jamie Moyer (104.0 points) on the “all-time” list and trails 56th-ranked player Aramis Ramirez (105.8). Lackey has 6.7 Box-Toppers points this season.

Debut—In addition to Duvall, one other player made his Box-Toppers debut Monday: Rockies pitcher Simon Castro earned his first career Player of the Game honor. Castro (2IP 0R 0H K W in the 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut July 5, 2013, and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,574th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/31
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    12.0
    Mets
    Bartolo Colon (W,12-11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    9
  

    
    9.0
    Padres
    Tyson Ross (W,10-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    7
  

    AL
    6.0
    Indians
    Danny Salazar (W,12-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    2
    2
    1
    10
  

    
    6.0
    Astros
    Dallas Keuchel (W,16-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    1
    1
    1
    8
  

    
    5.0
    Rays
    Chris Archer (W,12-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    0
    0
    3
    6
  

    
    4.1
    Marlins
    Chris Narveson (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.1
    2
    0
    0
    2
    3
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Athletics
    Mark Canha, 1B
    3
    2
    1
    4
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Dodgers
    Chris Hatcher (W,2-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.0
    3
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Reds
    Adam Duvall, PH
    1
    1
    1
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `Cardinals
    John Lackey
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    2
    1
    4
    8
  

    
    3.0
    Rockies
    Simon Castro (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    Red Sox
    Jackie Bradley Jr., LF
    3
    2
    3
    0
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Giants' Bumgarner tops players for Sunday, Aug. 16; Sale, Greinke rise in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings

Shawn Plank August 29, 2015

(Other duties have put us behind updating Box-Toppers. Playing catch up …)

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Sunday, Aug. 16.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 16.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	18.4
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	16.7
3	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	16.1
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	16.1
5	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	16.0
7	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	15.8
8	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	15.4
9	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	15.4
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	14.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Sunday, White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings and Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to sixth. Plus, two players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors—Greinke and Aramis Ramirez of the Pirates.

Player of the Day—Bumgarner pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out 14, in the 5-0 win over the Nationals.

Bumgarner earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks 13th among all players and seventh among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 15 and allowing one hit, in the 3-1 win over the Cubs.

Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 16.1 for the season and rises to fourth in player rankings, second among AL pitchers, behind David Price of the Blue Jays. (Both Price and Sale have 16.1 Box-Toppers points for the season, but Price ranks ahead of Sale because he had more Box-Toppers points in 2014—19.1 vs. 17.4.)

Sale had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of 19.0, the same as Bumgarner. But Bumgarner won overall Player of the Day on a tiebreaker—he had more innings pitched than Sale—nine vs. Seven.

American League Batter of the Day—Orioles pitcher Caleb Joseph homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 18-2 win over the Athletics.

National League Batter of the Day—Aramis Ramirez of the Pirates doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 8-1 win over the Mets.

Ramirez earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 104.8 career points and rises to 56th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Sunday, Ramirez passes two players on the “all-time” list—John Lackey (103.8 Box-Toppers points) and Jamie Moyer (104.0 points). He trails 55th-place player Frank Thomas (106.2).

Ramirez ranks first among active third basemen in career Box-Toppers points. He ranks second among all third baseman since 1995, behind Chipper Jones (149.0 Box-Toppers points).

Ramirez has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season and ranks fifth among NL third basemen. This was Ramirez’ first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor since returning to the Pirates. The last time he earned Box-Toppers points as a Pirate was Aug. 29, 2002.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Zack Grienke rose to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Greinke (7IP 6H R 8K W in the 2-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.0 for the season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

Also, Greinke now has 141.7 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 21st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Greinke trails 20th-place player Jim Thome (146.7 Box-Toppers points).

Debut—Ryan Strausborger of the Rangers made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Strausborger (HR 3-4 R BI in the 5-3 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut Aug. 5 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,560th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Joseph and Ramirez each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/16
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    19.0
    Giants
    Madison Bumgarner (W,14-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    14
  

    AL
    19.0
    White Sox
    Chris Sale (W,11-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    1
    0
    0
    2
    15
  

    
    10.1
    Brewers
    Taylor Jungmann (W,7-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    9
  

    
    9.0
    Braves
    Shelby Miller
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    1
    1
    4
    10
  

    
    7.0
    Rockies
    Chris Rusin (W,4-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    5
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    BAT
    6.0
    Orioles
    Caleb Joseph, C
    4
    3
    3
    4
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    Dodgers
    Zack Greinke (W,13-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    1
    1
    1
    8
  

    
    5.2
    Blue Jays
    Drew Hutchison (W,12-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    5
  

    
    4.0
    `Royals
    Yordano Ventura
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    2
    2
    1
    7
  

    
    3.0
    Mariners
    Robinson Cano, 2B
    7
    2
    5
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Pirates
    Aramis Ramirez, 3B
    5
    1
    4
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Astros
    Will Harris (W,5-2; BS,4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    2
    1
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    3.0
    Marlins
    A.J. Ramos (S,19)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    1.0
    Rangers
    Ryan Strausborger, LF
    4
    1
    3
    1
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    0.0
    Twins
    Trevor Plouffe, 1B
    4
    1
    2
    1
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops players for Saturday, July 18, rises to 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank July 19, 2015

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to 10th in season player rankings.

Also Saturday, Robinson Cano of the Mariners earned a Box-Toppers point in his 11th straight season and three players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points—Kershaw, Aramis Ramirez and Jon Lester—earned Player of the Game honors.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of July 18.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	15.0
2	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	14.4
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	13.4
4	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	13.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	13.1
6	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	12.0
7	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	12.0
8	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	11.7
9	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	hou al	11.1
10	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	11.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Kershaw pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 14 and allowing three hits, in the 4-2 win over the Nationals.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season and rises to 10th place in season Box-Toppers player rankings. Kershaw led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2014 with 31.5. He also led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2011 and 2013.

Kershaw is the 15th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. It is the seventh straight season Kershaw has had 10.0 or more points.

Kershaw has 144.6 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 20th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 19th-place player Jim Thome (146.7).

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Chris Tillman pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing one hit, in the 3-0 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals hit two home runs, going 3-for-3 and driving in six runs, in the 12-2 win over the Mets.

American League Batter of the Day—Robinson Cano of the Mariners hit a pair of two-run homers and went 3-for-4 in the 4-3 win over the Yankees.

Cano has now earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons with his first Player of the Game honor for 2015. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2005 with the Yankees. His best season was 2013 with the Yankees, when he had 12.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among AL batters. In 2014, he had 6.5 Box-Toppers points with the Mariners.

Cano has 62.4 career Box-Toppers points and ranks sixth among all second baseman since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. He ranks second in career points among active second basemen, behind Chase Utley of the Phillies (72.1).

Notables—In addition to Kershaw, two other players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:

Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (7.1IP 2H 0R 7K W in the 4-0 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 115.1 career Box-Toppers points. He rises to 42nd place among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his point Saturday, he passes three players on the “all-time” list—Torii Hunter (114.4), Josh Beckett (114.9) and Tim Lincecum (115.0). He trails 41st-place player Todd Helton (116.4).
Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers (HR 3-3 2R 2BI in the 8-5 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 103.3 career Box-Toppers points. He ranks 58th place among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 57th-place player John Lackey (103.8).

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

Matt den Dekker of the Nationals (2-R HR in the 5-3 win over the Dodgers) made his Major League debut Aug. 29, 2013, and was playing in his 98th career game. He is the 3,534th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Royals pitcher Brandon Finnegan (2IP H 0R 2K W in the 7-6, 13-inning win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut Sept. 6, 2014, and was playing in his 21st career game. He is the 3,535th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tillman earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Grichuk and Cano each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    7/18
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    19.0
    Dodgers
    Clayton Kershaw (W,7-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    0
    0
    0
    14
  

    AL
    14.0
    Orioles
    Chris Tillman (W,7-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    1
    0
    0
    1
    8
  

    
    12.0
    Angels
    Garrett Richards (W,10-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    2
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    
    11.1
    Cubs
    Jon Lester (W,5-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.1
    2
    0
    0
    1
    7
  

    BAT
    8.0
    Cardinals
    Randal Grichuk, CF-LF-RF
    3
    2
    3
    6
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.1
    Rangers
    Colby Lewis (W,9-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.1
    4
    2
    2
    0
    7
  

    
    5.1
    `Athletics
    Scott Kazmir
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.1
    5
    1
    1
    1
    5
  

    BAT
    5.0
    Mariners
    Robinson Cano, 2B
    4
    2
    3
    4
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Giants
    Buster Posey, 1B-C
    4
    1
    3
    4
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Brewers
    Aramis Ramirez, 3B
    3
    2
    3
    2
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Padres
    Craig Kimbrel (S,25)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    3.0
    Nationals
    Matt den Dekker PH LF
    1
    1
    1
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Royals
    Brandon Finnegan (W,3-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.2
    `Rays
    Erasmo Ramirez
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    4.2
    4
    1
    1
    0
    4
  

    
    2.0
    Indians
    Carlos Santana, 1B
    3
    2
    2
    1
    2
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Phillies
    Chad Billingsley (W,2-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    4
    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.
  

Mets' Niese tops players for Monday, July 6; White Sox' Sale rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank July 7, 2015

Mets pitcher Jonathon Niese is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Monday, White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, two players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game Monday—Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett and Cardinals pitcher John Lackey.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of July 6.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	14.0
2	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	13.4
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	12.4
4	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	12.1
5	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	12.0
6	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	12.0
7	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	11.4
8	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	10.7
9	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	10.7
10	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	9.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Niese pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out four, in the 3-0 win over the Giants.

American League Player of the Day—Nick Castellanos of the Tigers homered and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 12-5 win over the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day—Howie Kendrick of the Dodgers tripled, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 10-7 win over the Phillies.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day Monday since the overall AL Player of the Day was a batter (Nick Castellanos).

Rankings—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to third place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Sale (CG 6H 2R 6K W in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.4 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (13.4).

Notable—Two pitchers with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Monday:

A.J. Burnett of the Pirates rose to 31st place among players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Burnett (7.2IP 5H R 4K ND in the 2-1 win over the Padres) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 126.8 for his career. With his point, he passes Mariano Rivera (126.4) on the “all-time” list and now trails 30th-place player Roy Oswalt (127.2). Burnett has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 27th among NL pitchers.
John Lackey of the Cardinals (7IP 6H 0R 4K in the 6-0 win over the Cubs) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 103.8 for his career. He maintains his spot in 57th place among players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. He trails 56th-place player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Lackey has 5.7 Box-Toppers points on the season, ranking 21st among NL pitchers.

Debut—Preston Tucker of the Astros made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Tucker (HR 2B 4-5 2R 2BI in the 9-4 win over the Indians) made his Major League debut May 7 and was playing in his 48th career game. He is the 3,525th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Niese earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Castellanos earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Kendrick earns 1.5 Box-Toppers 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    7/6
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    7.0
    Mets
    Jonathon Niese (W, 4-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    4
  

    AL
    5.0
    Tigers
    Nick Castellanos 3B
    5
    2
    4
    4
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    White Sox
    Chris Sale (W, 7-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    6
    2
    2
    0
    6
  

    
    4.0
    Cardinals
    John Lackey (W, 7-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    
    3.0
    Astros
    Preston Tucker RF
    5
    2
    4
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `Twins
    Glen Perkins
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    BAT
    2.0
    Dodgers
    Howie Kendrick 2B
    5
    2
    4
    1
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Reds
    Eugenio Suarez SS
    4
    1
    3
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Braves
    Kelly Johnson 1B
    4
    1
    2
    3
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.2
    `Pirates
    A.J. Burnett
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    5
    1
    1
    3
    4
  

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

Pirates' Francisco Liriano, Tigers' Anibal Sanchez top players for Monday, June 15

Shawn Plank June 16, 2015

Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Monday, Cardinals pitcher John Lackey now has 102.8 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 57th among all players since 1995.

Player of the Day—Liriano pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 12 and allowing two hits, in the 11-0 win over the White Sox.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of June 15.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	12.4
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	12.0
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	11.0
4	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	11.0
5	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	10.4
6	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	10.1
7	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	9.7
8	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	9.7
9	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	9.4
10	Heston, Chris 3437	pi sp	sf nl	8.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Liriano is the season’s highest-ranked among the 14 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. Liriano earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.4 for the season. He ranks 19th among all players and 10th among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez pitched a complete game shutout, striking out seven and allowing two hits, in the 6-0 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Stephen Vogt of the Athletics hit a grand slam and went 3-for-5, driving in five total runs, in the 9-1 win over the Padres.

This was Vogt’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut April 6, 2012, and was playing in his 211th career game. He is the 3,503rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Notable—Cardinals pitcher John Lackey rose to 57th place among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Lackey (8IP 5H 2R 6K W in the 3-2 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 102.8 for his career. With his point Monday, Lackey passes three players on Box-Toppers “all-time” list: Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2), Miguel Tejada (102.3) and Aramis Ramirez (102.3). He trails 56th-place player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Lackey has 4.7 Box-Toppers points on the season and ranks 20th among NL pitchers.

Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray also made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Ray (7IP 2H 0R 3K W in the 7-3 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut May 6, 2014, and was playing in his 13th career game. He is the 3,502nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Liriano earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sanchez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Vogt earns 1.5 Box-Toppers 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/15
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    17.0
    Pirates
    Francisco Liriano (W, 4-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    0
    0
    1
    12
  

    AL
    14.0
    Tigers
    Anibal Sanchez (W, 5-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    2
    0
    0
    0
    7
  

    
    12.0
    Orioles
    Wei-Yin Chen (W, 3-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    9
  

    
    11.0
    `Mets
    Noah Syndergaard
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    1
    1
    2
    11
  

    
    6.0
    Dbacks
    Robbie Ray (W, 2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    3
  

    
    5.0
    Marlins
    Tom Koehler (W, 5-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    1
    2
    5
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Athletics
    Stephen Vogt   C
    5
    1
    3
    5
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Astros
    George Springer   RF
    4
    3
    3
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Cardinals
    John Lackey (W, 5-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    5
    2
    2
    1
    6
  

    
    4.0
    Mariners
    Taijuan Walker (W, 4-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    1
    1
    0
    6
  

    
    4.0
    Rangers
    Yovani Gallardo (W, 6-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    3
    4
  

    
    2.0
    Royals
    Mike Moustakas   3B
    2
    2
    1
    1
    3
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Rays
    Evan Longoria   3B
    1
    1
    1
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Braves
    Williams Perez (W, 3-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    0
    0
    2
    2
  

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

Tigers' Price tops players for Friday, June 12, rises to 5th in player rankings; Kershaw debuts in top 10

Shawn Plank June 13, 2015

Tigers pitcher David Price is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in player rankings.

Also Friday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rose to 10th place in player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of June 12.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	12.4
2	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	11.0
3	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	11.0
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	10.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	10.1
6	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	9.7
7	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	9.7
8	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	9.0
9	Heston, Chris 3437	pi sp	sf nl	8.7
10	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	8.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Price pitched a complete game shutout, striking out eight and allowing seven hits, in the 4-0 win over the Indians.

Price earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.1 points for the season and rises to fifth place in season player rankings, fourth among American League pitchers. He is the fifth player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points.

Price had a Box-Toppers game score of 10, tied with Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia (Player of the Game in the win over the Royals), but Price won overall Player of the Day on a tiebreaker because he had more innings pitched—nine vs. eight.

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out six, in the 4-0 win over the Royals.

National League Batter of the Day—Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers drove in five runs on three doubles in the 8-4 win over the Nationals.

Ramirez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day and rises to 57th place among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Ramirez now has 102.3 career Box-Toppers points and with his points Friday, passes six players on Box-Toppers “all-time” list:

Jason Schmidt 101.2
Tim Wakefield 101.4
Adam Wainwright 101.8
John Lackey 101.8
Ken Griffey Jr. 102.2
Miguel Tejada 102.3

Ramirez, who has 2.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, now trails 56th-place player Jamie Moyer (104.0 Box-Toppers points).

American League Batter of the Day—Chris Davis of the Orioles hit a three-run home run and went 3-for-5, driving in four total runs, in the 11-3 win over the Yankees.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. Kershaw (6.2IP 4H R 11K ND in the 4-3 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.

Kershaw led all players in Box-Toppers points with 31.5, the fourth-highest single-season total since record keeping began in 1995. While Kershaw is just now making his debut in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings, he is actually just ahead of his pace for 2014. At this point in 2014, Kershaw had 7.7 Box-Toppers points.

With his point Friday, Kershaw now has 141.6 career Box-Toppers points and remains in 20th place among all players since record keeping began in 1995. He ranks 14th among all pitchers on that list.

Notable—Box-Toppers points leader for 2015 Felix Hernandez had a very un-Box-Toppers points leader kind of day Friday.

Hernandez allowed eight runs and five hits in only one-third of an inning in the 10-0 loss to the Astros. Astros pitcher Brett Oberholtzer (8IP 3H 0R 5K W) was Player of the Game.

Hernandez leads players in Box-Toppers points this season with 12.4.

Debut—Pirates pitcher Arquimedes Caminero made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Caminero (1IP 0H 0R 2K ND in the 1-0 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut Aug. 16, 2013, and was playing in his 60th career game. He is the 3,498th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/12
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    10.0
    Tigers
    David Price (W, 6-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    7
    0
    0
    0
    8
  

    NL
    10.0
    Cardinals
    Jaime Garcia (W, 2-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    0
    0
    0
    6
  

    
    8.2
    `Dodgers
    Clayton Kershaw
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    4
    1
    1
    3
    11
  

    
    8.0
    Astros
    Brett Oberholtzer (W, 1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    5
  

    
    7.0
    Dbacks
    Chase Anderson (W, 2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    1
    0
    0
    1
    2
  

    
    4.2
    `Rangers
    Wandy Rodriguez
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    3
    1
    1
    3
    6
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Brewers
    Aramis Ramirez   3B
    4
    0
    3
    5
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Mets
    John Mayberry Jr.   LF
    2
    2
    2
    2
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Orioles
    Chris Davis   1B
    5
    1
    3
    4
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Blue Jays
    Justin Smoak   1B
    5
    2
    3
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Angels
    Mike Trout   CF
    3
    2
    3
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Rays
    Jake McGee (S, 2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    `Pirates
    Arquimedes Caminero
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    Reds
    Todd Frazier   3B
    5
    3
    2
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Marlins
    J.T. Realmuto   C
    4
    1
    1
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Mariners' Walker tops players for Friday, May 29; Athletics' Gray rises to 7th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank May 30, 2015

Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker is Friday’s Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to seventh place in Box-Toppers player rankings. Plus, three pitchers with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Friday—Tim Hudson of the Giants, Dan Haren of the Marlins and John Lackey of the Cardinals.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 29.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	11.4
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	9.0
3	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	9.0
4	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	7.0
5	Miller, Shelby 3134	pi sp	atl nl	7.0
6	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	6.7
7	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	6.7
8	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	6.7
9	Heston, Chris 3437	pi sp	sf nl	6.7
10	Fielder, Prince 2029	dh	tex al	6.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Walker pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits, in the 2-1 win over the Indians.

National League Player of the Day—Rockies pitcher Chad Bettis pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing two hits, in the 4-1 win over the Phillies. Bettis had a perfect game into the seventh inning and a no-hitter into the eighth inning, before giving up a one-out single.

This was Bettis’ Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut Aug. 1, 2013, and was playing in his 41st career game. He is the 3,481st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Josh Hamilton of the Rangers hit two home runs and scored three total runs in the 7-4 win over the Red Sox. It was Hamilton’s first Player of the Game honor of the season and the first since his return to the Rangers after two seasons with the Angels.

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

Rankings—Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to seventh place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. Gray (8IP 4H 2R 5K W in the 6-2 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.7 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

Notable—Three players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

Giants pitcher Tim Hudson rose to 13th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. Hudson earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game in the 4-2 win over the Braves (7IP 5H R 4K W), giving him 155.0 career Box-Toppers points. Hudson passes Felix Hernandez (154.7) on that list and trails 12th-place player, Mike Mussina (155.6). Hudson has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Marlins pitcher Dan Haren rose to 48th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. Haren earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game in the 4-3 win over the Mets (7IP 4H 2R 4K W), giving him 111.2 career Box-Toppers points. Haren passes Jon Lester (111.1) and Tom Glavine (110.6) on that list and trails 47th-place player Torii Hunter (111.4). Haren has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Cardinals pitcher John Lackey rose to 59th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. Lackey earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game in the 3-0 win over the Dodgers (7IP 5H 0R 9K W), giving him 101.8 career Box-Toppers points. Lackey passes Jason Schmidt (101.2), Tim Wakefield (101.4) and Adam Wainwright (101.8) on that list and trails Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2). Lackey has 3.7 Box-Toppers points for the season.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

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

    MLB
    14.0
    Mariners
    Taijuan Walker (W, 2-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    0
    0
    0
    8
  

    NL
    13.0
    Rockies
    Chad Bettis (W, 2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    0
    0
    0
    7
  

    
    10.0
    Cardinals
    John Lackey (W, 3-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    1
    9
  

    
    9.0
    `Orioles
    Miguel Gonzalez
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    1
    1
    0
    6
  

    
    8.1
    Angels
    Hector Santiago (W, 4-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.1
    3
    0
    0
    3
    7
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Rangers
    Josh Hamilton   LF
    3
    3
    2
    2
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Giants
    Tim Hudson (W, 3-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    0
    4
  

    
    3.0
    White Sox
    Geovany Soto   C
    1
    1
    1
    2
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Athletics
    Sonny Gray (W, 6-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    2
    2
    2
    5
  

    
    3.0
    Padres
    Craig Kimbrel (W, 1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.2
    Dbacks
    Addison Reed (W, 2-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.2
    1
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    Royals
    Lorenzo Cain   CF
    4
    2
    3
    1
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Marlins
    Dan Haren (W, 5-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    2
    2
    1
    4
  

    
    2.0
    Reds
    Aroldis Chapman (S, 8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    1.0
    Blue Jays
    Josh Donaldson   3B
    5
    1
    2
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Dodgers' Grandal (2 3R HRs) tops players for Thursday, May 7; A-Rod hits 661st HR, rises to 9th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank May 8, 2015

Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers is Thursday’s Player of the Day.

Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees earned Player of the Game honors as he hit his 661st career home run, passing Willie Mays’ mark of 660. Rodriguez also moved up to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 7.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	7.7
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	6.0
3	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
4	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	4.7
5	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7
6	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	4.7
7	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	4.7
8	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
9	Rodriguez, Alex	dh	nyy al	4.5
10	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	4.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Grandal hit two three-run homers and drove in eight runs, going 4-for-4 and scoring three times, in the 14-4 win over the Brewers.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Joakim Soria struck out four over the final 1 1/3 innings, allowing no runs or hits and earning the save, in the 4-1 win over the White Sox.

American League Batter of the Day—Eric Hosmer of the Royals hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4 with two runs in the 7-4 win over the Indians.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday since the overall Player of the Day (Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers) was a batter from the NL.

Rankings—Alex Rodriguez rises to ninth in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game in the Yankees’ 4-3 win over the Orioles (HR 2-3 R 2BI). Rodriguez earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.5 for the season. Rodriguez already has more Box-Toppers points this season than he did in 2013 (3.0) and as many as he had in all of 2012 (4.5). In 2011, he had 4.7 points and in 2010, he had 13.7, the last time he had 10.0 or more in a season.

In the game, Rodriguez moved to fourth place on the all-time home run list with his 661st home run, passing Willie Mays (660). Rodriguez now has 183.8 career Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among all players since record keeping began in 1995 and first among all batters during that time.

Notables—Two players had notable Box-Toppers achievements Thursday:

Dan Haren of the Marlins became the second pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. Haren (2B 2-3 2R 2BI in the 7-2 win over the Giants) also pitched seven innings and picked up the win. It is the third time in his career he has earned Player of the Game honors for batting—he last did it June 14, 2014. Haren earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.0 for the season and 110.2 for his career. With the point, he rises to 49th among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995, passing Jeff Kent (109.7) on that list.
Cardinals pitcher John Lackey becomes the 66th player to earn 100 or more Box-Toppers points after he earned Player of the Game honors Thursday (7.2IP R 10K W in the 5-1 win over the Cubs). Lackey earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 100.8 for his career. He moves to 62nd place among all players (since record keeping began in 1995) and passes four players on that list—Aramis Ramirez (100.8), Paul Konerko (100.7), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Larry Walker (100.1). Lackey’s career 100.8 Box-Toppers points ranks 13th among active pitchers currently in the NL.

Debut—Rangers pitcher Alex Claudio made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Claudio (1.1IP 0R 0H 2K W in the 5-4 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut Aug. 13, 2014, and was playing in his 21st career game. He is the 3,459th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Grandal earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Soria earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Hosmer earns 1.5 Box-Toppers 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/7
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    Dodgers
    Yasmani Grandal   C
    4
    3
    4
    8
    2
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    9.2
    Cardinals
    John Lackey (W, 2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    5
    1
    1
    1
    10
  

    
    9.0
    Dbacks
    Rubby De La Rosa (W, 3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    7
  

    AL
    5.1
    Tigers
    Joakim Soria (S, 11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    
    4.1
    `Astros
    Collin McHugh
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.1
    5
    2
    2
    1
    7
  

    
    3.1
    Rangers
    Alex Claudio (W, 1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Royals
    Eric Hosmer   1B
    4
    2
    2
    3
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Marlins
    Dan Haren   P
    3
    2
    2
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.1
    Twins
    Glen Perkins (S, 10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    Pirates
    Andrew McCutchen   CF
    4
    2
    3
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Yankees
    Alex Rodriguez   DH
    3
    1
    2
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Why isn't Cards' Matt Carpenter (18H in 11 games, 7-game hitting streak) higher in Box-Toppers player rankings?

Shawn Plank April 20, 2015

Reader wonders why Carpenter, with his success this season, isn't among Box-Toppers top 10 players?

Rays' Chris Archer tops players for Thursday, April 16, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank April 17, 2015

Rays pitcher Chris Archer is Thursday’s Player of the Day.

Archer pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out 11 in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays.

Archer rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season. Overall leader, Athletics pitcher Scott Kazmir, has 3.7 Box-Toppers points.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 16.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
2	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	3.0
3	Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	3.0
4	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	2.7
5	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	2.5
6	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	2.0
7	Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	2.0
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	2.0
9	Odorizzi, Jake 3291	pi sp	tb al	2.0
10	Gonzalez, Miguel 3062	pi sp	bal al	2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher John Lackey pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out eight in the 4-0 win over the Brewers.

National League Batter of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks hit a three-run homer and scored two runs in the 7-6 win over the Giants.

American League Batter of the Day—Kurt Suzuki of the Twins hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-4 in the 8-5 win over the Royals.

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

Mets pitcher Jeurys Familia (1IP 0R K Sv in the 7-5 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut Sept. 4, 2012, and was playing in his 99th career game. He is the 3,446th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Michael Taylor of the Nationals (1-2 HR in the 5-2 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut Aug. 12, 2014, and was playing in his 27th career game. He is the 3,447th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Archer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lackey earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Goldschmidt and Suzuki each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    4/16
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    14.0
    Rays
    Chris Archer (W, 2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    11
  

    NL
    9.0
    Cardinals
    John Lackey (W, 1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    1
    8
  

    
    2.0
    Mets
    Jeurys Familia (S, 4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    BAT
    1.0
    Dbacks
    Paul Goldschmidt   1B
    5
    2
    1
    3
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    1.0
    Twins
    Kurt Suzuki   C
    4
    1
    2
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Nationals
    Michael Taylor   CF
    2
    1
    1
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

Rain was top player for Monday, Oct. 13; LCS Game 3s on tap for Tuesday

Shawn Plank October 14, 2014

Rain was Monday’s Player of the Day, postponing the American League Championship Series Game 3 in Kansas City with the Orioles against the Royals.

There are two league championship series games Tuesday:

NLCS Game 3, Cardinals at Giants, series tied 1-1

The pitching matchup Tuesday:

Cardinals: John Lackey, 10.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 50th among all players, 24th among NL pitchers.

Giants: Tim Hudson, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 71st among all players, 34th among NL pitchers.

ALCS Game 3, Royals lead Orioles, 2-0

The pitching matchup Tuesday:

Orioles: Wei-Yin Chen, 6.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 131st among all players, 50th among AL pitchers.

Royals: Jeremy Guthrie, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 113rd among all players, 40th among AL pitchers.

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.

Cardinals' Lackey, Nationals' Fister top players in pair of NLDS Game 3s, Monday, Oct. 6

Shawn Plank October 7, 2014

John Lackey, who struck out eight over seven innings and allowed one run in the Cardinals 3-1 win over the Dodgers in the National League Division Series Game 3, is Monday’s Player of the Day.

Lackey gives the Cardinals a 2-1 lead over the Dodgers in the best-of-five game series that resumes Tuesday.

Lackey had the highest Box-Toppers game score of any Cardinals player of 7.0.

During the regular season, Lackey had 10.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 50th among all players, 24th among NL pitchers.

NLDS Game 3: Nationals 4, Giants 1

Doug Fister, who pitched seven scoreless innings, leading the Nationals to a 4-1 win over the Giants is Player of the Game in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.

Fister, who also allowed four hits, walked three and struck out three, gave the Nationals their first 2014 postseason win. They trail the Giants in the best-of-five game series, 2-1.

Fister had the highest Box-Toppers game score of any Nationals player of 3.0.

During the regular season, Fister had 14.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 19th among all players, 10th among NL pitchers.

Giants starter Madison Bumgarner, who was third among all players in Box-Toppers player rankings during the regular season, picked up the loss. Bumgarner gave up three runs on eight hits over seven innings, striking out six. His Box-Toppers game score was +1. Bumgarner had 22.6 Box-Toppers points during the regular season.

Coming Tuesday:

NLDS Game 4, Cardinals lead Dodgers, 2-1

The pitching matchup Tuesday:

Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw, 31.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked first among all players.

Cardinals: Shelby Miller, 9.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 64th among all players, 30th among NL pitchers.

NLDS Game 4, Giants lead Nationals, 2-1

The pitching matchup Tuesday:

Nationals: Gio Gonzalez, 11.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 44th among all players, 18th among NL pitchers.

Giants: Ryan Vogelsong, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 74th among all players, 36th among NL pitchers.

Top player from each game

Players of the Game (POG) listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    1006
    Score
    Team
    Player of the Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    POG
    7.0
    Cardinals
    John Lackey (W, 1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    1
    8
  

    POG
    3.0
    Nationals
    Doug Fister (W, 1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    3
    3
  

Orioles' Norris, Royals' Aoki top players as both teams sweep their ALDS, Sunday, Oct. 5

Shawn Plank October 6, 2014

Orioles pitcher Bud Norris, who pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings to eliminate the Tigers in Game 3 of the American League Division Series, is Sunday’s Player of the Day.

Norris also allowed two hits and struck out six in the 2-1 win. The Orioles win the series 3-0 and will face the Royals in the AL Championship Series beginning Friday.

Norris had the highest Box-Toppers game score of any Orioles player of +8.1.

During the regular season, Norris had 10.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 51st among all players and 23rd among AL pitchers.

The Orioles are ranked just ahead of the Tigers in Box-Toppers team rankings, in sixth place with 113.4 Box-Toppers points. The Tigers are in seventh with 112.9 Box-Toppers points. (See final team rankings.)

ALDS Game 3: Royals 8, Angels 3

Norichika Aoki, who went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in a run, as his Royals swept the Angels, is Player of the Game in Game 3 of the American League Division Series.

The Royals, with their 3-0 series victory, upset the Angels, the team in first place in Box-Toppers team rankings with 124.2 Box-Toppers points. The Royals have the lowest Box-Toppers team ranking of remaining teams in the playoffs—10th place with 101.1 Box-Toppers points. (See final team rankings.)

The Royals will now face the Orioles in the AL Championship Series beginning Friday.

Aoki had the highest Box-Toppers game score of any Royals player of +3.

During the regular season, Aoki had 2.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking 443rd among all players, 111th among AL batters.

Coming Monday:

NLDS Game 3, Dodgers at Cardinals, series tied 1-1

The pitching matchup Monday:

Dodgers: Hyun-Jin Ryu, 11.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 41st among all players, 15th among NL pitchers.

Cardinals: John Lackey, 10.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 50th among all players, 24th among NL pitchers.

NLDS Game 3, Giants lead Nationals, 2-0

The pitching matchup Monday:

Nationals: Doug Fister, 14.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 19th among all players, 10th among NL pitchers.

Giants: Madison Bumgarner, 22.6 Box-Toppers points, ranked third among all players, second among NL pitchers.

Top player from each game

Players of the Game (POG) listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    1005
    Score
    Team
    Player of the Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    POG
    8.1
    Orioles
    Bud Norris (W, 1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    2
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    POG
    3.0
    Royals
    Norichika Aoki   RF
    3
    2
    3
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

Padres' Despaigne tops players for Friday, Sept. 19; Athletics' Lester rises to 10th in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank September 20, 2014

Padres pitcher Odrisamer Despaigne is Friday’s Player of the Day, while Athletics pitcher Jon Lester rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

In addition Friday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw’s chances were diminished for breaking the single-season record for Box-Toppers points. While Kershaw earned a win, he did not earn Player of the Game. And while he holds a commanding lead among players in Box-Toppers points for the season (with 30.5) he is now less likely to break the all-time single-season record of 33.7 set by Randy Johnson in both 2000 and 2002. More on Kershaw’s chances to break the record.

Despaigne pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six, in the 5-0 win over the Mets.

Lester rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors Friday. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.) Lester struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run, in the 3-1 win over the Phillies. He earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 16.4 for the season. He ranks sixth among AL pitchers.

Michael Cuddyer of the Rockies is National League Batter of the Day. Cuddyer hit a grand slam and went 3-for-5 with three runs and seven RBIs in the 15-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

David Ortiz of the Red Sox is AL Batter of the Day. Ortiz hit two home runs and went 3-for-5, driving in three runs, in the 5-3 win over the Orioles.

Notable: Cardinals pitcher John Lackey became the 53rd player to earn 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points this season after he earned Player of the Game honors Friday. Lackey (7.2IP R 5K W in the 2-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He ranks 43rd among all players and 19th among NL pitchers.

Despaigne receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Lester receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Cuddyer and Ortiz each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed, click here.

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    919
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    10.0
    Padres
    Odrisamer Despaigne (W, 4-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    BAT
    8.0
    Rockies
    Michael Cuddyer   RF
    5
    3
    3
    7
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    Mets
    Zack Wheeler (W, 11-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    0
    0
    2
    7
  

    
    5.0
    Dodgers
    A.J. Ellis   C
    4
    3
    2
    4
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    AL
    5.0
    Athletics
    Jon Lester (W, 16-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    
    4.2
    Cardinals
    John Lackey (W, 3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    6
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    
    4.2
    Yankees
    Adam Warren (S, 3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Red Sox
    David Ortiz   DH
    5
    2
    3
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Tigers
    Ian Kinsler   2B
    5
    2
    3
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Mariners
    Dustin Ackley   LF
    4
    3
    2
    2
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Rangers
    Dan Robertson   RF
    3
    2
    2
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Twins
    Oswaldo Arcia   RF
    4
    1
    3
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.2
    White Sox
    Zach Putnam (S, 6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    0.2
    1
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    1.0
    Pirates
    Russell Martin   C
    4
    1
    1
    3
    0
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Nationals
    Adam LaRoche   1B
    3
    1
    1
    2
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

Trade deadline deals most help Cardinals, Tigers; Athletics still top rankings

Shawn Plank August 5, 2014

The Oakland Athletics remain atop Box-Toppers team rankings, while the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers improved in the rankings by picking up star players in deadline trades.

Athletics players had accumulated 87.5 Box-Toppers points through the games of Thursday, July 31.

Top 10 teams
Here are Box-Toppers' Top 10 teams, through the games of Thursday, July 31. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team have accumulated so far this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams have accumulated since the last team rankings report through July 24.





  
    731
    Teams
    BTP
    BTP
/wk
    Last 
wk 
rank
  

    1
    Athletics
    87.5
    4.0
    1
  

    2
    Angels
    82.5
    6.0
    2
  

    3
    Dodgers
    80.9
    9.2
    3
  

    4
    Cardinals
    78.2
    15.7
    11
  

    5
    Tigers
    75.2
    8.1
    6
  

    6
    Blue Jays
    74.0
    6.7
    5
  

    7
    Giants
    73.0
    3.0
    4
  

    8
    Braves
    68.9
    5.0
    9
  

    9
    Nationals
    68.9
    5.0
    8
  

    10
    Brewers
    68.1
    2.0
    7
  

BTP: Box-Toppers points

The Los Angeles Dodgers remained the top National League team with 80.9 Box-Toppers points, though they are still in third place overall, trailing the second-place Los Angeles Angels, with 82.5 Box-Toppers points.

The Cardinals picked up the most Box-Toppers points during the week—15.7. They rose from 11th to fourth place in Box-Toppers team rankings. They picked up 6.7 of those points in deadline trades. They traded away outfielder Allen Craig (2.0 Box-Toppers points) and pitcher Joe Kelly (1.0 point) to the Red Sox for pitcher John Lackey (9.7 points).

The Tigers, however, picked up the most net Box-Toppers points through trades during deadline week—7.1. They traded away outfielder Austin Jackson (1.0 point, to the Mariners) and pitcher Drew Smyly (6.0 points, to the Rays). They picked up David Price (14.1 points, from the Rays). Price has the highest Box-Toppers point total of any player traded this season.

Recent trades
How did last week's deadline trades affect key teams involved? The Tigers traded away players who had a combined 7.0 Box-Toppers points and picked up David Price, who had 14.1 Box-Toppers points, to gain a net of 7.1 Box-Toppers points. The Red Sox traded away players with 21.7 Box-Toppers points and picked up players with 11.0, losing a net 10.7 points.





  
    Team
    BTP 
lost
    BTP 
gained
    BTP 
net
  

    Tigers
    -7.0
    14.1
    7.1
  

    Cardinals
    -3.0
    9.7
    6.7
  

    Athletics
    -8.0
    12.0
    4.0
  

    Mariners
    -1.0
    1.0
    0.0
  

    Rays
    -14.1
    7.0
    -7.1
  

    Red Sox
    -21.7
    11.0
    -10.7
  

BTP: Box-Toppers points

The Athletics added 4.0 Box-Toppers points at the trade deadline, picking up two players from Red Sox—pitcher Jon Lester (10.0 points) and outfielder Johnny Gomes (2.0 points)—in exchange for outfielder Yoenis Cespedes (8.0 points). Cespedes, the new member of the Red Sox, has the highest Box-Toppers point total of any batter traded this season—he ranks third among AL batters.

The Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox both lost more Box-Toppers points than they gained through trades. The Rays, trading away Price, lost a net of 7.1 points. And the Red Sox, trading away Lester, Lackey and Gomes, lost a net of 10.7 points.

The Dodgers gained the most Box-Toppers points of any team not involved in key deadline trades, picking up 9.2 points.

With the trade, the Red Sox drop to the bottom of Box-Toppers team rankings, displacing the former 30th-place team, the Chicago Cubs. The Red Sox shed 12.7 Box-Toppers points through the week and had 41.0 points as of July 31, falling from 22nd place. The Cubs moved to 29th place with 43.2.

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

National League Division Series Game 3: Mets 13, Dodgers 7

National League Division Series Game 3: Cubs 8, Cardinals 6

American League Division Series Game 4: Royals 9, Astros 6

American League Division Series Game 4: Blue Jays 8, Rangers 4

Top player from each game

NL Division Series Game 4, Cubs lead Cardinals, 2-1

NL Division Series Game 4, Mets lead Dodgers, 2-1

NLDS Game 1: Mets 3, Dodgers 1

NLDS Game 1: Cardinals 4, Cubs 0

ALDS Game 2: Rangers 6, Blue Jays 4

ALDS Game 2: Royals 5, Astros 4

Top player from each game

NL Division Series Game 2, Cardinals lead Cubs, 1-0

NL Division Series Game 2, Mets lead Dodgers, 1-0

Top player from each game

AL Division Series Game 2, Rangers lead Blue Jays, 1-0

AL Division Series Game 2, Astros lead Royals, 1-0

NL Division Series Game 1, Cubs at Cardinals

Cubs vs. Cardinals

NL Division Series Game 1, Mets at Dodgers

Mets vs. Dodgers

Top 10 players

Best seasons

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

NLCS Game 3, Cardinals at Giants, series tied 1-1

ALCS Game 3, Royals lead Orioles, 2-0

NLDS Game 3: Nationals 4, Giants 1

NLDS Game 4, Cardinals lead Dodgers, 2-1

NLDS Game 4, Giants lead Nationals, 2-1

Top player from each game

ALDS Game 3: Royals 8, Angels 3

NLDS Game 3, Dodgers at Cardinals, series tied 1-1

NLDS Game 3, Giants lead Nationals, 2-0

Top player from each game

Top player from each game

Top 10 teams

Recent trades

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.