Leaders in WAR diverge from top-ranked players in Box-Toppers points

Four of Box-Toppers' top 10 players appear on the top 10 list of players with the most wins above replacement for 2015. Four others in the WAR top 10 are among their league's top 10 batters in Box-Toppers points.

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Postseason awards wrap-up: Box-Toppers leaders win 2 of 6 major honors

Box-Toppers pitching leaders Jake Arrieta and Dallas Keuchel won Cy Young Awards. But Box-Toppers leaders in four other award categories did not win awards.

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Box-Toppers' top batters Adrian Beltre, Carlos Gonzalez finish behind MVPs Josh Donaldson, Bryce Harper

Bryce Harper of the Nationals and Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays win MVP awards, though they each ranked 7th among their league's batters in Box-Toppers points.

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Box-Toppers pitching leaders among finalists for Cy Young, but batting leaders excluded from MVP finalists

Box-Toppers' top pitchers Jake Arrieta of the Cubs and Dallas Keuchel of the Astros are Cy Young Award finalists. But Box-Toppers' top batters Adrian Beltre of the Rangers and Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies are not MVP finalists.

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How 2015 Silver Slugger winners fared in Box-Toppers points and rankings

Only 5 of 17 Silver Slugger Award winners also led their position in Box-Toppers points.

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Box-Toppers points leaders win only 2 of 9 Players Choice Awards

Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays wins Players Choice top player award, though Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Box-Toppers Player of the Year.

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A look at Box-Toppers' top 100 players for 2015

Jake Arrieta of the Cubs tops Box-Toppers player rankings in 2015. The World Champion Kansas City Royals have the most representatives among the top 100 players—seven.

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Mets' Logan Verrett (8IP R 4H 8K) tops players for Sunday, Aug. 23

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

Mets pitcher Logan Verrett is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Sunday, Aug. 23.

Verrett struck out eight over eight innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 5-1 win over the Rockies.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 23.  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 19.4
2 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 17.1
3 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 17.1
4 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 16.7
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 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 15.4
10 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 15.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays homered and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 12-5 win over the Angels.

Encarnacion earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 8.4 for the season, rising to third among AL batters, behind Mike Trout of the Angels (10.0 Box-Toppers points) and Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays (9.9 points).

National League Batter of the Day—Stephen Piscotty of the Cardinals homered twice, hit a triple and went 3-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 10-3 win over the Padres.

This was Piscotty’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Piscotty made his Major League debut July 21 and was playing in his 30th career game. He is the 3,570th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall AL Player of the Day is a batter, Edwin Encarnacion.

Notable—Kris Bryant of the Cubs had the  highest Box-Toppers player ranking of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. Bryant (2HR 3-4 4R 3BI in the 9-3 win over the Braves) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.5 for the season. He ranks 42nd among all players and fourth among NL batters.

Debut—In addition to Piscotty, one other player made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday—Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola had his first career Player of the Game honor. Nola (8IP 3H 0R 6K W in the 2-0 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut July 21 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,569th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Nola had a Box-Toppers game score of +9.0, the same as Mets pitcher Logan Verrett, Sunday’s overall Player of the Day. But Verrett won Player of the Day on a tiebreaker because he had more strikeouts than Nola—eight vs. six.

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

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

8/23 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 Mets Logan Verrett (W,1-1) - - - - - - 8.0 4 1 1 1 8
9.0 Phillies Aaron Nola (W,4-1) - - - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 2 6
AL 6.0 Blue Jays Edwin Encarnacion, DH 4 2 4 4 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 6.0 Cardinals Stephen Piscotty, LF-RF 4 2 3 5 1 0 - - - - - -
6.0 Cubs Kris Bryant, 3B 4 4 3 3 0 1 - - - - - -
5.0 `Athletics Kendall Graveman - - - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 1 3
4.1 Indians Cody Allen (S,26) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.0 Royals Mike Moustakas, 3B 5 1 3 4 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Nationals Anthony Rendon, 3B 3 2 1 3 2 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Twins Tommy Milone (S,1) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 `Astros Lance McCullers - - - - - - 7.0 8 2 2 0 8
2.0 Mariners Robinson Cano, DH 2 1 1 2 2 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Pirates Mark Melancon (S,39) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 Rangers Chris Gimenez, C 3 1 2 1 1 0 - - - - - -
0.2 Dbacks Chase Anderson (W,6-5) - - - - - - 6.0 5 0 0 3 2
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Blue Jays' Josh Donaldson (HR 2B 4-5 3R 6BI) tops players for Saturday, Aug. 22

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

Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Saturday, Aug. 22.

Donaldson homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 15-3 win over the Angels.

Top 10 players

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


Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 19.4
2 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 17.1
3 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 17.1
4 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 16.7
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 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 15.4
10 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 15.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Donaldson earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.9 for the season and rises to second among American League batters, behind Mike Trout of the Angels (10.0 Box-Toppers points). Donaldson ranks 28th among all players.

National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Ian Kennedy pitched six scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing seven hits, in the 8-0 win over the Cardinals.

National League Batter of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks hit two home runs and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 11-7 win over the Reds.

Goldschmidt earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season and rises to sixth place among NL batters. He ranks 55th among all players.

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

Notable—Two players with more than 10.0 Box-Toppers points on the season earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:

  • Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole rose to 14th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings with 14.0 Box-Toppers points. Cole (7IP 3H R 8K ND in the 3-2 win over the Giants) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point Saturday and ranks seventh among NL pitchers.
  • Astros pitcher Scott Kazmir rose to 17th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings with 12.7 Box-Toppers points. Kazmir (6IP 6H R 8K W in the 3-1 win over the Dodgers) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point Saturday and ranks ninth among AL pitchers.

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

  • Yankees pitcher Luis Severino (6IP 3H R 6K W in the 6-2 win over the Indians) made his Major League debut Aug. 5 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,567th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Darnell Sweeney of the Phillies (HR 1-1 R BI in the 4-2 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut Aug. 20 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,568th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Donaldson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kennedy earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Goldschmidt earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

8/22 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 Blue Jays Josh Donaldson, 3B 5 3 4 6 0 0 - - - - - -
NL 8.0 Padres Ian Kennedy (W,8-11) - - - - - - 6.0 7 0 0 1 10
8.0 `Pirates Gerrit Cole - - - - - - 7.0 3 1 0 3 8
BAT 6.0 Dbacks Paul Goldschmidt, 1B 5 3 4 4 0 0 - - - - - -
5.0 Astros Scott Kazmir (W,7-8) - - - - - - 6.0 6 1 1 1 8
4.0 Rays Alex Colome (W,6-4) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 Nationals Michael Taylor, CF 3 2 2 2 1 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Yankees Luis Severino (W,1-2) - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 4 6
3.0 Royals Yordano Ventura (W,8-7) - - - - - - 6.0 6 1 1 1 6
2.1 Twins Casey Fien (MR) (W,4-5) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
2.0 Mets Curtis Granderson, RF 5 2 3 2 1 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Phillies Darnell Sweeney, PH 1 1 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 White Sox Nate Jones (MR) (W,1-0) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 2
2.0 Cubs Hector Rondon (S,23) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 Rangers Adrian Beltre, 3B 4 1 3 1 0 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Giants' Vogelsong tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 18; Mets' deGrom extends Box-Toppers points lead

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

Giants pitcher Ryan Vogelsong is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Tuesday, Aug. 18.

Also Tuesday, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom extended his season lead in Box-Toppers points and now has 19.4.

Top 10 players

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


Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 19.4
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?

Player of the Day—Vogelsong pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out five, in the 2-0 win over the Cardinals.

Vogelsong earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and now has 10.0 for the season. He is the 27th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points and now ranks 26th among all players, 13th among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays hit two home runs, including a three-run homer, and went 3-for-4, scoring three times, in the 8-5 win over the Phillies.

Donaldson earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.9 for the season. He ranks fifth among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—Yunel Escobar of the Nationals homered and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 15-6 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the AL Player of the Day was a batter, Josh Donaldson.

Rankings—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom extended his season lead in Box-Toppers points among all players after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

deGrom (7IP 5H R 6K W in the 5-3 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 19.4 for the season. deGrom has led all players since July 26.

Debut—Cole Gillespie of the Marlins made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Gillespie (3B 2-4 R 3BI in the 9-6 win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut April 21, 2010, and was playing in his 153rd career game. He is the 3,561st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

8/18 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 Giants Ryan Vogelsong (W,9-8) - - - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 1 5
BAT 7.0 Nationals Yunel Escobar, 3B 4 4 3 4 2 0 - - - - - -
AL 6.0 Blue Jays Josh Donaldson, 3B 4 3 3 4 1 0 - - - - - -
6.0 Padres James Shields (W,9-5) - - - - - - 6.0 5 0 0 2 7
6.0 `Athletics Felix Doubront - - - - - - 6.0 1 1 0 6 8
5.2 Mets Jacob deGrom (W,12-6) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 1 6
5.0 Tigers Ian Kinsler, 2B 5 3 5 2 0 0 - - - - - -
5.0 Red Sox Eduardo Rodriguez (W,7-5) - - - - - - 8.0 6 1 1 0 5
4.0 Yankees Chase Headley, PH-3B 2 2 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Astros Luke Gregerson (W,6-2) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 2
4.0 `Royals Edinson Volquez - - - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 3 7
3.0 Mariners Hisashi Iwakuma (W,5-2) - - - - - - 7.0 5 2 2 1 6
2.0 Marlins Cole Gillespie, CF-LF 4 1 2 3 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 `Pirates Arquimedes Caminero - - - - - - 3.0 1 0 0 1 1
1.0 Angels Huston Street (S,29) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 0
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

A look at determining Box-Toppers midseason 2015 All-Star teams

Looking at Box-Toppers points leaders over three time spans (2015, 2014-15 and 2010-15) and selecting AL & NL All-Star teams.

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Cubs' Arrieta tops players for Thursday, June 4; Mets' Harvey rises to 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Thursday, Mets pitcher Matt Harvey rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings. Plus, Torii Hunter of the Twins rose to 46th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 after earning AL Batter of the Day honors.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of June 4.  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 11.4
2 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 10.0
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 9.0
4 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 9.0
5 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 8.7
6 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.4
7 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 7.7
8 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 7.7
9 Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 7.7
10 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 7.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Arrieta struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, in the 2-1 win over the Nationals.

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Zach Britton struck out three over 1 2/3 scoreless innings and picked up the save in the 3-2 win over the Astros.

American League Batter of the Day—Torii Hunter of the Twins hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-5 with two runs in the 8-4 win over the Red Sox.

Hunter earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 112.9 career Box-Toppers points. He rises to 46th place among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began, passing Kevin Brown (112.8 Box-Toppers points). Hunter’s 112.9 career Box-Toppers points ranks fifth among active batters currently in the AL. Hunter also has 5.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, third-most among AL batters, behind Prince Fielder (6.5) and Josh Donaldson (5.2).

National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day because no NL batters earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.

Rankings—Mets pitcher Matt Harvey rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Harvey (7IP 6H R 8K W in the 6-2 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.7 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL pitchers.

Notable—Rays pitcher Kevin Jepsen received a Box-Toppers point for the first time in more than five years after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Jepsen (1IP 0R 2K Sv in the 2-1 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point. The only other time in his career he received Box-Toppers points was July 31, 2009 with the Angels, when he was AL Player of the Day.

Scoring—Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Britton earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Hunter 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.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/4 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 6.0 Cubs Jake Arrieta (W, 5-4) - - - - - - 6.0 6 1 1 0 8
5.0 Mets Matt Harvey (W, 6-3) - - - - - - 7.0 6 2 2 1 9
AL 4.2 Orioles Zach Britton (S, 14) - - - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 0 3
4.0 Athletics Jesse Hahn (W, 3-5) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 1 5
4.0 `Rangers Yovani Gallardo - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 0 2 4
4.0 Reds Aroldis Chapman (S, 10) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
BAT 3.0 Twins Torii Hunter DH 5 2 3 3 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Cardinals Michael Wacha (W, 8-1) - - - - - - 7.0 7 1 1 0 5
2.0 Rays Kevin Jepsen (S, 2) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 2
1.0 Indians Brandon Moss RF 3 1 1 2 1 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Dodgers' Kershaw tops players for Tuesday, May 26; Rangers' Fielder, Player of the Game 4 times in 5 days, rises to 8th in player rankings

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Tuesday’s Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 26.  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 9.7
2 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 8.0
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 7.0
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 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 6.7
8 Fielder, Prince 2029 dh tex al 6.5
9 Harper, Bryce 3011 lf rf dc nl 6.5
10 Price, David 2593 pi sp det al 6.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Prince Fielder of the Rangers earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day—and fourth time in five days—rising into Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings. Two other players who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday also rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings for the season—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom and Tigers pitcher David Price.

Player of the Day—Kershaw pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out 10, in the 8-0 win over the Braves.

Kershaw rises to 21st place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He now has 137.6 career Box-Toppers points and passes Bartolo Colon (136.4) on that list. He trails 20th-place player Andy Pettitte (138.5).

Kershaw led all players in 2014 with 31.5 Box-Toppers points, the fourth-highest single-season total in 20 seasons of Box-Toppers record keeping. Tuesday marked the first time this season he earned overall Player of the Day honors, something he did eight times last year. However, despite his high point total last season, he is not that far off his 2014 pace. At this point last season, he had 5.0 Box-Toppers points and had earned Player of the Day honors twice. With the 2.0 Box-Toppers points he earned Tuesday for being Player of the Day, he has 4.0 points this season and ranks 14th among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays hit two home runs, including a walk-off, three-run homer in the 10-9 win over the White Sox. Donaldson also doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring five times and driving in four.

National League Batter of the Day—Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals homered and went 2-for-3, driving in two runs, in the 6-4 win over the Diamondbacks.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day Tuesday since the overall AL Player of the Day was a batter (Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays).

Notable—Prince Fielder of the Rangers earned Player of the Game honors for the second time in as many days and the fourth time in five days, rising into Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings.

Fielder (3R-HR 2B 3-5 in the 4-3 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.5 for the season, rising to eighth place among all players. Fielder, who Monday rose to lead all AL batters in Box-Toppers points for 2015, now ranks ahead of all batters in baseball this season, passing Bryce Harper of the Nationals, who also has 6.5 points this season. (Harper ranks behind Fielder because he had fewer Box-Toppers points in 2014. Fielder had 1.0 point in 2014, Harper had 0.0.)

Fielder has earned 5.0 Box-Toppers points in the past five days:

Fielder has earned all 6.5 of his points in the past 14 days. He was AL Batter of the Day on May 13, the first time this season he earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.

Rankings—Two other player rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings after they earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday:

  • Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom rose to sixth place (7.1IP 6H 2R 9K ND in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Phillies), earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.7 for the season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.
  • Tigers pitcher David Price rose to 10th place (7IP 5H 0R W in the 1-0 win over the Athletics), earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.4 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

Debut—Reds pitcher Michael Lorenzen made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Lorenzen (7IP 2H R ND in the 2-1 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut April 29 and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,479th 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 Donaldson earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Grichuk earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/26 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 Dodgers Clayton Kershaw (W, 3-3) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 0 10
AL 9.0 Blue Jays Josh Donaldson 3B 4 5 4 4 1 0 - - - - - -
7.1 Yankees Adam Warren (W, 3-3) - - - - - - 6.1 2 1 1 0 5
6.1 `Mets Jacob deGrom - - - - - - 7.1 6 2 2 0 9
6.0 Mariners Kyle Seager 3B 5 2 3 6 0 0 - - - - - -
6.0 `Padres Odrisamer Despaigne - - - - - - 6.0 5 0 0 0 5
4.0 Tigers David Price (W, 4-1) - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 1 3
3.2 Pirates Jeff Locke (W, 3-2) - - - - - - 5.2 4 0 0 4 6
3.0 Twins Mike Pelfrey (W, 4-1) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 1 4
3.0 `Cubs Kyle Hendricks - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 2 4
3.0 `Reds Michael Lorenzen - - - - - - 7.0 2 1 1 3 3
3.0 Astros Luke Gregerson (S, 13) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Rangers Prince Fielder DH 5 1 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 2.0 Cardinals Randal Grichuk CF 3 1 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
1.1 `Giants Sergio Romo - - - - - - 1.1 1 0 0 0 1
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Mariners' Felix Hernandez, top player for Saturday, April 18, rises to top of Box-Toppers player rankings

Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez is Saturday’s Player of the Day and rises to the top of Box-Toppers player rankings.

Hernandez struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 3-1 win over the Rangers. Hernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, passing previous points leader, Athletics pitcher Scott Kazmir, who has 3.7.

Top 10 players

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


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 4.0
2 Kazmir, Scott 1947 pi sp oak al 3.7
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 3.0
4 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 3.0
5 Bauer, Trevor 3065 pi sp cle al 3.0
6 Price, David 2593 pi sp det al 2.7
7 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 2.7
8 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 2.7
9 Donaldson, Josh 3144 3b dh tor al 2.5
10 Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 rf fla nl 2.5
What are those numbers after players' names?

Hernandez had a Box-Toppers game score of +12, tied with Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, who was Player of the Game in the 9-0 win over the Rays. However, Hernandez won Player of the Day honors on a tie-breaker—he had more strikeouts than Tanaka Saturday (12 vs. 8).

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out eight in the 5-4 win over the Marlins. deGrom earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 for the season. He rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

American League Batter of the Day—Adam LaRoche of the White Sox homered, doubled and went 3-for-5 with two runs and four RBIs in the 12-3 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Odubel Herrera of the Phillies went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI, in the 5-3 win over the Nationals. This was Herrera’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut April 6 and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,449th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Notables—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Donaldson (HR 3-4 2R BI in the 6-5 win over the Braves) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.5 for the season.

Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers earned just his third Player of the Game honor Saturday in his third season in baseball. While Puig is considered one of the game’s rising stars and an All-Star, he has so far only rarely earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors and now has 3.5 Box-Toppers points since his Box-Toppers debut on June 4, 2013. On Saturday, Puig went 2-for-3 with a double, a run and an RBI in the 6-3 win over the Rockies. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and has that 1.0 point for the season. That equals his 2014 total of 1.0 Box-Toppers point—he was Player of the Game once in 2014, on May 12.

Scoring—Hernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and deGrom earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. LaRoche and Herrera 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.

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

4/18 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 Mariners Felix Hernandez (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 7.0 2 1 1 2 12
13.0 Yankees Masahiro Tanaka (W, 2-1) - - - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 0 8
NL 9.0 Mets Jacob deGrom (W, 2-1) - - - - - - 7.0 6 0 0 0 8
8.0 Pirates Jeff Locke (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 8.0 4 1 1 0 6
8.0 Astros Dallas Keuchel (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 3 7
7.0 `Cubs Kyle Hendricks - - - - - - 6.0 3 2 2 0 8
5.2 Giants Chris Heston (W, 2-1) - - - - - - 7.2 5 1 1 1 6
4.2 Athletics Jesse Chavez (S, 1) - - - - - - 3.2 4 0 0 1 6
BAT 4.0 White Sox Adam LaRoche 1B 5 2 3 4 0 2 - - - - - -
4.0 Indians Danny Salazar (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 6.0 6 2 2 2 10
3.0 Cardinals Carlos Martinez (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 2 4
3.0 Orioles Zach Britton (S, 4) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
BAT 2.0 Phillies Odubel Herrera CF 4 2 3 1 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Blue Jays Josh Donaldson DH 4 2 3 1 1 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Dodgers Yasiel Puig RF 3 1 2 1 1 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Cubs' Travis Wood (7IP 0R 7K) tops players for Wednesday, April 15

Cubs pitcher Travis Wood is Wednesday’s Player of the Day.

Wood pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out seven in the 5-0 win over the Reds.

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Collin McHugh struck out 11 over 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run, in the 6-1 win over the Athletics.

Top 10 players

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


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kazmir, Scott 1947 pi sp oak al 3.7
2 Bauer, Trevor 3065 pi sp cle al 3.0
3 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 2.7
4 Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 rf fla nl 2.5
5 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 2.0
6 Wainwright, Adam 2150 pi sp stl nl 2.0
7 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 2.0
8 Odorizzi, Jake 3291 pi sp tb al 2.0
9 Gonzalez, Miguel 3062 pi sp bal al 2.0
10 Wood, Travis 2777 pi sp chi nl 2.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Batter of the Day—Adeiny Hechavarria of the Marlins went 3-for-3 with a homer, two runs and three RBIs in the 6-2 win over the Braves. This was Hechavarria’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time he earned Player of the Game honors. Hechavarria made his Major League debut Aug. 4, 2012, and was playing in his 344th career game. He is the 3,445th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays went 3-for-5, drove in three and scored twice, in the 12-7 win over the Rays.

Rankings—Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday. Bauer (6IP 4H 2R 8K W in the 4-2 win over the White Sox) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.

Streak—Andre Ethier of the Dodgers has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons. Ethier (2-3 2R BI) was Player of the Game in the 5-2 win over the Mariners to earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point. He began his 10-season streak in 2006, when he earned his first Box-Toppers point with the Dodgers. His best year was 2009 when he earned 8.2 Box-Toppers points, ranking eighth among NL outfielders. In 2014, he had 1.0 point. Ethier has 46.3 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks him ninth among active outfielders currently in the NL.

Notable—Yadier Molina of the Cardinals on Wednesday earned his first Box-Toppers point since Sept. 15, 2013. Molina (3-4 BI) was Player of the Game in the 4-2 win over the Brewers and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point. He earned no Box-Toppers points in the 2014 season. Molina has 30.7 career Box-Toppers points, ranking second among active catchers currently in the NL (behind A.J. Pierzynski of the Braves, who has 45.7 points).

Scoring—Wood earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and McHugh earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Hechavarria and Donaldson each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/15 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 Cubs Travis Wood (W, 1-1) - - - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 2 7
AL 8.2 Astros Collin McHugh (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 5.2 6 1 1 0 11
8.0 Tigers Alfredo Simon (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 8.0 2 0 0 0 2
BAT 5.0 Marlins Adeiny Hechavarria SS 3 2 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Angels Hector Santiago (W, 1-1) - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 2 5
BAT 3.0 Blue Jays Josh Donaldson 3B 5 2 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Orioles Brad Brach (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 1 2
3.0 Rockies Adam Ottavino (S, 2) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Nationals Wilson Ramos C 5 2 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Padres Justin Upton LF 4 2 3 1 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Dodgers Andre Ethier RF 3 2 2 1 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Indians Trevor Bauer (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 6.0 4 2 2 4 8
2.0 Twins Glen Perkins (S, 1) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 Mets Travis d`Arnaud C 4 2 2 1 1 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Cardinals Yadier Molina C 4 0 3 1 0 0 - - - - - -