A look at Box-Toppers top players by position "all-time" (since 1995) and a look at the top active players by position with the most career Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreJason Giambi has most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points (19); Carlos Beltran is active leader (17)
Who are the players with the most consecutive seasons earning at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point? A list of consistent, durable players, dominated by batters over pitchers.
Read MoreNationals' Scherzer, with 2nd no-hitter of '15, tops players for Saturday, Oct. 3, rises to 6th in player rankings
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, pitching his second no-hitter of the season, is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to sixth place in player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Oct. 3.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 29.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 21.4 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 21.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 6 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 21.0 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.7 |
| 8 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 19.0 |
| 10 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 18.8 |
Also Saturday, Scherzer and Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke became the sixth and seventh players this season with 20 or more Box-Toppers points. Plus, Christian Yelich of the Marlins became the 11th player since 1995 to earn Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader.
Player of the Day—Scherzer had a perfect game into the sixth inning, when a batter reached on an error, the only baserunner of the game. Scherzer struck out 17 and walked none in the 2-0 win over the Mets.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 21.0 for the season, rising to sixth place in player rankings and fourth among National League pitchers. It is the second straight season Scherzer has earned 20 or more points in season. Last season, he had 22.1 with the Tigers.
Scherzer also had the highest Box-Toppers game score of the season Saturday of +26, beating the previous high of +25, set by Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (8IP H 0R 18K) on May 13. Scherzer also has the third-highest score of +23 on June 14 (CG H 0R 16K). It is the eighth time this season a player has achieved a Box-Toppers game score of +20 or more. In Scherzer’s previous no-hitter this season, on June 20, he had a Box-Toppers game score of +19 (CG 0H 0R 0 BB 10K)—the only baserunner allowed was on a hit-by-pitch.
Scherzer also rises to 57th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when record keeping began. Scherzer has 106.0 career Box-Toppers points and passes Aramis Ramirez (105.8) on the “all-time” list. He trails 56th-ranked player Frank Thomas (106.2).
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out nine, in the 2-0 win over the Red Sox.
Kluber earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 13.4 for the season and ranking 21st among all players, 10th among AL pitchers. In 2014, he led all AL pitchers with 25.8 Box-Toppers points.
American League Batter of the Day—Gerardo Parra of the Orioles doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 9-2 win over the Yankees.
Doubleheader Players of the Game
Christian Yelich of the Marlins became the 11th player since 1995 to earn Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader. Here are all 11 players who have achieved that distinction since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995.| Date | Player | Team | Pos |
| 7/15/98 | Albert Belle | White Sox | lf |
| 8/13/99 | Rondell White | Expos | lf |
| 8/30/99 | Edgar Martinez | Mariners | dh |
| 4/13/00 | Shawn Green | Dodgers | rf |
| 6/24/02 | Alex Rodriguez | Rangers | ss |
| 5/28/04 | Rob Mackowiak | Pirates | cf 3b |
| 9/2/05 | Chad Cordero | Nationals | pi cp |
| 5/25/08 | Jorge Cantu | Marlins | 3b |
| 7/21/09 | Erick Aybar | Angels | ss |
| 4/28/11 | Ben Zobrist | Rays | 2b |
| 10/3/15 | Christian Yelich | Marlins | cf lf |
National League Batter of the Day—Christian Yelich of the Marlins doubled and went 5-for-5, scoring once and driving in one run, in the 7-6 win over the Phillies in the first game of a doubleheader.
Yelich was also Player of the Game in the second game of the doubleheader (3-4 2R BI in the 5-2 win over the Phillies. He is only the 11th player in 21 seasons of Box-Toppers record keeping to earn Player of the Game in both games of a doubleheader. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day and 1.0 point for being Player of the Game, giving him 2.5 points for the day, which were also his first points of the season. (Yelich had 7.5 Box-Toppers points in 2014, ninth among NL batters.)
It is the first time a player has earned Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader since April 28, 2011, when it was done by Ben Zobrist of the Rays.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke became the seventh player of the season with 20 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Greinke (8IP 4H R 8K W in the 2-1 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 20.7 for the season. He actually slips from sixth to seventh in Box-Toppers player rankings as he was passed by Scherzer. Greinke ranks fifth among NL pitchers.
This is the second season Greinke has earned 20 or more Box-Toppers points in a season. In 2009, he had 21.5 Box-Toppers points with the Royals, his best season.
Greinke ranks 21st among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. He has 146.4 career Box-Toppers points and trails 20th-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7).
Notable—Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura (7IP 4H R 11K W in the 5-1 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season. He ranks 30th among all players and 15th among AL pitchers.
Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kluber earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Parra and Yelich each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day (Yelich earns an extra 1.0 point for being Player of the Game in the second game of the doubleheader). 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
| 10/3 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 26.0 | Nationals | Max Scherzer (W,14-12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | |
| 13.0 | Cubs | Kyle Hendricks (W,8-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| AL | 12.0 | Indians | Corey Kluber (W,9-16) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| 9.0 | Dodgers | Zack Greinke (W,19-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 9.0 | Royals | Yordano Ventura (W,13-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11 | ||
| 7.0 | `Nationals | Gio Gonzalez | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | Athletics | Pat Venditte (MR) (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 5.0 | Reds | Brandon Finnegan (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | Astros | Collin McHugh (W,19-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Orioles | Gerardo Parra, RF | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Orioles | T.J. McFarland (MR) (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.1 | `Giants | Sergio Romo (MR) (H,33) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Marlins | Christian Yelich, CF | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Angels | Johnny Giavotella, 2B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Marlins | Christian Yelich, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | White Sox | J.B. Shuck, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rays | Alex Colome (W,8-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Nationals' Scherzer tops players for Monday, Sept. 28, rises to 8th in player rankings
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to eighth in player rankings.
Scherzer struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 5-1 win over the Reds. Scherzer had a no-hitter until allowing his first hit in the eighth inning.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 28.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 27.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 21.4 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 21.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 19.0 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 19.0 |
| 10 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 18.0 |
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 19.0 for the season, rising to eighth place among all players and fifth among NL pitchers.
Scherzer also rises to 58th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Monday, Scherzer has 104.0 career points and passes three players on the “all-time” list—Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2), Miguel Tejada (102.3) and Jamie Moyer (104.0). Scherzer trails 57th-ranked player Aramis Ramirez (105.8).
Both Griffey and Moyer started their careers before the start of Box-Toppers record keeping in 1995 and so would likely have more actual points if their entire career were tracked. Griffey, who started in 1989, would likely have about 140 career Box-Toppers points, according to rough projections. Moyer, who started in 1986, would likely have about 125 career Box-Toppers points. Tejada made his debut in 1997, so his entire career has been tracked by Box-Toppers.
American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers struck out seven over six innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 3-2 win over the Mariners.
National League Batter of the Day—Mark Reynolds of the Cardinals homered and drove in two runs in the 3-0 win over the Pirates.
American League Batter of the Day—Travis Shaw of the Red Sox homered and went 3-for-4, driving in two runs, in the 5-1 win over the Yankees.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke, ranked sixth in player rankings (19.7 Box-Toppers points), started Monday but did not earn Player of the Game honors. Greinke (7IP 4H 2R 7K ND in the 3-2, 12-inning loss to the Giants) had a Box-Toppers game score of +3. Player of the Game was Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (7IP 3H R 4K ND) with a Box-Toppers game score of +5.
Notable—Giants pitcher Jake Peavy maintained his rank of 25th among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Peavy (7IP 3H R 4K ND in the 3-2, 12-inning win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 136.8 for his career. He trails 24th-ranked player David Ortiz (137.9). Peavy has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.
Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and McCullers earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Reynolds and Shaw 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.
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
| 9/28 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Nationals | Max Scherzer (W,13-12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | |
| 11.0 | `Cubs | Kyle Hendricks | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 5.0 | `Giants | Jake Peavy | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Cardinals | Mark Reynolds, 1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AL | 3.0 | Astros | Lance McCullers (W,6-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | |
| 3.0 | Blue Jays | Brett Cecil (MR) (W,5-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Red Sox | Travis Shaw, 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.2 | Twins | Tommy Milone (W,9-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1.0 | Tigers | Tyler Collins, LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Angels | Chris Iannetta, C | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 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
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 |
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.
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
| 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
(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 |
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.
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
| 8/31 | 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. | ||||||||||||||||
Blue Jays' Edwin Encarnacion tops players for Saturday, Aug. 29, takes Box-Toppers lead among AL batters
(Other duties have put us behind updating Box-Toppers. Playing catch up …)
Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Saturday, Aug. 29 and rises to first place among batters in season Box-Toppers points.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 29.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 19.4 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 18.1 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 5 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 17.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 17.0 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 16.7 |
| 8 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 16.4 |
| 9 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.0 |
| 10 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 15.8 |
Encarnacion hit three home runs, scored four times and drove in nine runs, in the 15-1 win over the Tigers.
Encarnacion earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season. He passes Mike Trout of the Angels (10.0 Box-Toppers points) to take the lead among AL batters. He ranks 24th among all players. He becomes the 28th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points, the second batter.
National League Player of the Day—Jay Bruce of the Reds homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 12-9 win over the Brewers.
AL and NL Batters of the Day—There are no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day for Saturday because the overall Player of the Day and NL Player of the Day were batters (Encarnacion and Bruce).
Notable—Aramis Ramirez of the Pirates earned Player of the Game honors and now has 105.8 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 56th among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Ramirez (HR 1-4 R 3BI in the 4-3 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point. He trails 55th-ranked player Frank Thomas (106.2 Box-Toppers points). Ramirez has 6.0 Box-Toppers points this season, 14th among NL batters.
Debut—Phillies pitcher Adam Morgan made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Morgan (6IP 4H 2R 3K W in the 4-3 win over the Padres) made his Major League debut June 21 and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,572nd player to to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Encarnacion earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Bruce earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player 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
| 8/29 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Blue Jays | Edwin Encarnacion, DH | 5 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| NL | 4.0 | Reds | Jay Bruce, RF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Athletics | Stephen Vogt, C | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Indians | Yan Gomes, C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Yankees | Luis Severino (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 3.1 | `Royals | Franklin Morales (MR) (H,8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Cardinals | Stephen Piscotty, LF | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Dodgers | Andre Ethier, RF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Astros | Mike Fiers (W,7-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | Phillies | Adam Morgan (W,5-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 1.0 | Mariners | Robinson Cano, 2B | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Rangers | Adrian Beltre, 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Pirates | Aramis Ramirez, 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Nationals | Ian Desmond, SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Red Sox | Jean Machi (S,3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 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. | ||||||||||||||||
Giants' Bumgarner tops players for Sunday, Aug. 16; Sale, Greinke rise in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings
(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 |
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.
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
| 8/16 | 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. | ||||||||||||||||
Angels' Shoemaker tops players for Tuesday, July 21; Mets' deGrom rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers player rankings
Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom rose to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, Giants pitcher Chris Heston became the 16th player this season with 10 Box-Toppers points and Matt Holliday of the Cardinals earned Box-Toppers points for the 12th straight season.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of July 21.| 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 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.4 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 13.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 13.1 |
| 6 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 12.7 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.0 |
| 8 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 12.0 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 12.0 |
| 10 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 11.7 |
Player of the Day—Shoemaker pitched six scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing two hits, in the 7-0 win over the Twins.
National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Chris Heston pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out six, in the 9-3 win over the Padres.
Heston earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season, rising to 15th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, ninth among NL pitchers. He is the 16th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.
American League Batter of the Day—Shin-Soo Choo of the Rangers hit for the cycle and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three, in the 9-0 win over the Rockies.
National League Batter of the Day—Matt Holliday of the Cardinals hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, scoring two runs, in the 8-5 win over the White Sox.
Holliday earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, his first points of the season, and has now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2004 with the Rockies. His best season was 2007 with the Rockies when he had 16.2 points, first among NL batters and seventh among all players. In 2014, he had 7.5 points with the Cardinals, eighth among NL batters.
Holliday has 91.8 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 88th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Holliday ranks first among active NL outfielders in career Box-Toppers points and third among active NL batters, behind Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers (103.3) and Ryan Howard of the Phillies (93.2).
Rankings—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom rose to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
deGrom (6IP 3H 2R 8K W in the 7-2 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.4 for the season. He ranks second among NL pitchers behind overall leader Max Scherzer of the Nationals (15.0).
Debut—Kyle Schwarber of the Cubs made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Schwarber hit two home runs—a game-tying two-run homer in the ninth and a go-ahead homer in the 13th—in the 5-4 win over the Reds. Schwarber (4-7 2R 4BI) made his Major League debut June 16 and was playing in his 11th career game. He is the 3,536th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Shoemaker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Heston earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Choo and Holliday 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.
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
| 7/21 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Angels | Matt Shoemaker (W,5-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | |
| NL | 10.1 | Giants | Chris Heston (W,10-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| 9.0 | Marlins | Mat Latos (W,4-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 7.0 | Mets | Jacob deGrom (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 6.2 | `Royals | Joe Blanton | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Rangers | Shin-Soo Choo, RF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Mariners | Franklin Gutierrez, PH-LF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Cardinals | Matt Holliday, DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Rays | Nathan Karns (W,5-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | Cubs | Kyle Schwarber, C | 7 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Brewers | Jean Segura, SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Astros | Chris Carter, DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.1 | `Yankees | Dellin Betances (H,15) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Russell Martin, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Braves | Chris Johnson, 1B | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 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
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 |
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.
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
| 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. | ||||||||||||||||
Pirates' Francisco Liriano, Tigers' Anibal Sanchez top players for Monday, June 15
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 |
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.
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
| 6/15 | 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
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 |
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.
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
| 6/12 | 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. | ||||||||||||||||
Dodgers' Grandal (2 3R HRs) tops players for Thursday, May 7; A-Rod hits 661st HR, rises to 9th in Box-Toppers player rankings
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 |
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.
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
| 5/7 | 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. | ||||||||||||||||
Giants' Tim Lincecum (8IP 0R) tops players for Sunday, May 3
Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum is Sunday’s Player of the Day.
Lincecum pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 5-0 win over the Angels.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 3.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 6.0 |
| 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 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.4 |
| 10 | Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | sd nl | 4.0 |
Lincecum earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season. He now has 111.3 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 46th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With his points Sunday, he passed three players on that list—Jon Lester (111.1), Tom Glavine (110.6) and Jeff Kent (109.7). He ranks 32nd among all pitchers since 1995 and ninth among active pitchers currently in the NL.
American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing two hits, in the 7-1 win over the Rangers. Gray rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings—he earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season.
American League Batter of the Day—Evan Gattis of the Astros hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four, in the 7-6 win over the Mariners.
National League Batter of the Day—Justin Upton of the Padres homered and hit two doubles, scoring twice and driving in three, in the 8-6 win over the Rockies. Upton rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season. He ranks second among NL batters, behind Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins (4.5 Box-Toppers points).
Rankings—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday (HR 3-4 R 2BI in the 6-4 win over the Royals). Cabrera earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.7 for the season. He leads all AL batters.
With Sunday’s point, Cabrera now has 132.9 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 25th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). He is just behind two players with 133.4 Box-Toppers points—David Ortiz and Jason Giambi.
Streak—Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers achieved two Box-Toppers milestones Sunday—he became the 65th player with 100 or more Box-Toppers points and also has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 16 straight seasons.
Ramirez was Player of the Game in Sunday’s 5-3 win over the Cubs (HR 2-3 R 3BI) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.
Ramirez earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2000 with the Pirates. His best season was 2005 with the Cubs when he had 11.7 Box-Toppers points, fifth among NL batters. In 2014, he had 5.0 Box-Toppers points with the Brewers, most among NL third basemen.
Ramirez has 100.8 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 62nd among all players (since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With Sunday’s point, he passes three players on that list—Paul Konerko (100.7), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Larry Walker (100.1). Ramirez ranks 21st among all batters since 1995 and sixth among active batters currently in the NL.
Debut—Cardinals pitcher Miguel Socolovich made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Socolovich (1IP 0R K W in the 3-2, 14-inning win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut July 14, 2012, and was playing in his 13th career game. He is the 3,456th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Lincecum earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gray earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Gattis and Upton 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.
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
| 5/3 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | Giants | Tim Lincecum (W, 2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| AL | 7.2 | Athletics | Sonny Gray (W, 4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 | |
| 7.0 | Braves | Julio Teheran (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 5.2 | Twins | Ryan Pressly (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Astros | Evan Gattis DH | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | `Dodgers | Brett Anderson | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.1 | Nationals | Doug Fister (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | Indians | Jason Kipnis 2B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Padres | Justin Upton LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Brewers | Aramis Ramirez 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.1 | Orioles | Zach Britton (S, 5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Yankees | Jacoby Ellsbury CF | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Tigers | Miguel Cabrera 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Cardinals | Miguel Socolovich (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Phillies | Ryan Howard 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
If Box-Toppers points measured Silver Sluggers, most winners would be different
Only four of this year’s 18 Silver Slugger-award winners announced this week would receive the honor if it were measured by Box-Toppers points.
Read MorePhillies' A.J. Burnett (7IP R 12K) tops players for Monday, Aug. 25
Phillies pitcher A.J. Burnett is Monday’s Player of the Day. Burnett struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run, in the 3-2 win over the Nationals.
Rangers pitcher Miles Mikolas is American League Player of the Day. Mikolas pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out five in the 2-0 win over the Mariners.
Delmon Young of the Orioles is AL Batter of the Day. Young homered and doubled and went 3-for-3, driving in three runs, in the 9-1 win over the Rays.
Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers is National League Batter of the Day. Ramirez homered and doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 10-1 win over the Padres.
Notable: Christian Yelich of the Marlins has the highest Box-Toppers season point total of all 10 players who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. Yelich (3-5 2R 2BI in the 7-1 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.5 for the season. He ranks 72nd among all players and fourth among NL batters.
Burnett receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Mikolas receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Young and Ramirez each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Monday’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
| 825 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 13.0 | Phillies | A.J. Burnett (W, 7-14) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |
| AL | 9.0 | Rangers | Miles Mikolas (W, 2-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 7.0 | Athletics | Jeff Samardzija (W, 4-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 4.1 | Yankees | Michael Pineda (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Orioles | Delmon Young LF | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 3.0 | Brewers | Aramis Ramirez 3B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Marlins | Christian Yelich LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Cardinals | Jon Jay PH, CF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rockies | LaTroy Hawkins (S, 21) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 0.1 | `Red Sox | Clay Buchholz | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
A look at how Box-Toppers might pick the 2014 All-Stars
If Box-Toppers points rather than fan voting were used to determine Major League All-Star teams, you’d have very different teams, very pissed-off fans and one very stunned baseball blogger.
For example, if Box-Toppers points were used to determine All-Stars, there would be no Yasiel Puig, no Mike Trout, no Jose Bautista and no Derek Jeter in the game. And you would have players in the line-up, such as Daniel Murphy, Freddie Freeman and Erick Aybar, among others.
The All-Star Game is July 15. Online fan voting ends July 3, less than a week away.
Box-Toppers may have a different perspective on All-Stars because it tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Players only earn points if they are deemed to be Player of the Game, based on a simple box score formula.
So players such as Puig, Trout and Bautista, while they often put up impressive numbers, have not regularly been top player in games their teams have won recently. So while their fan All-Star vote may be high, their Box-Toppers point totals lately have been lower.
Another example of Box-Toppers not matching baseball’s conventional thinking is Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates. Last year, baseball writers voted him National League Most Valuable Player. But in Box-Toppers, he ranked 22nd among NL batters. However, this year, McCutchen has earned Player of the Game four times and picked up 5.0 Box-Toppers points and ranks fifth among NL batters and second among NL outfielders.
Box-Toppers looks at the All-Star team in two different ways. First, it considers players on their performance during the 2014 season. But since this season is still a small data sample, it looks at last season, too, and considers players on their performance since the start of 2013.
For example, if you look at Box-Toppers points for just this season, Chris Colabello of the Twins is the second-ranked outfielder based on his early season performance. But Colabello slumped and has been in the minors for more than a month—which does not speak well for his All-Star credentials.
But looking at player’s performance since 2013 can be misleading, too. For example, Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees leads AL outfielders since the start of 2013 with 13.9 Box-Toppers points. But 12.9 of those were earned in 2013. Despite his strong 2013, he probably would not be considered an All-Star in 2014.
But then there’s a player like Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks. He actually is leading currently in NL voting for first basemen. And in fact, in 2013, he led all NL batters in Box-Toppers points, with 13.7. But this year, while his numbers are generally good, he is playing for a bad team and has earned only 1.5 Box-Toppers points. Despite his great 2013 in Box-Toppers, he is overshadowed in the NL at first base by Freddie Freeman of the Braves. Freeman leads all NL first basemen in Box-Toppers points for both 2014 and 2013-14.
But enough prelude. Here is a look a the All-Star teams. First, it’s the Box-Toppers points leaders by position and league for 2014. Then, it’s Box-Toppers points leaders by position and league for 2013-14. And finally, a look at current All-Star vote leaders, showing their current Box-Toppers point total and their rank in Box-Toppers by position and league.
2014
Jose Abreu of the White Sox leads AL batters in Box-Toppers points. He is on the AL All-Star ballot as first baseman and not as a designated hitter, but since he has played DH this season, we will break the “rules” and put him at DH and put Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, last year’s Box-Toppers AL batting leader, at first.
In the American League, only four of the nine starters are even among the top vote-getters at their positions.
The National League is a little better—six of the eight Box-Toppers leaders for starting positions are among the All-Star voting leaders.
And though fan voters don’t get to pick pitchers, included here for both leagues are Box-Toppers leaders for starting pitchers (the top four starters) along with the top middle reliever and top closing pitcher.
Box-Toppers pick for All-Star starters based on 2014 stats? Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees for the AL and Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals for the NL.
All-Stars based on 2014 Box-Toppers points
Here are Box-Toppers points leaders by position for each league. Also shown is players' current ranking in All-Star fan voting by their position. A hyphen (-) indicates they are not among the league leaders in fan voting by their position. Also shown are pitching leaders. Fans don't get to vote on pitchers so their vote rank is marked with an asterisk (*).| Pos | AL players | Team | BTP | Vote rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 7.5 | 1 |
| 2B | Rodriguez, Sean 2729 | tb al | 5.0 | - |
| SS | Aybar, Erick 2416 | ana al | 6.0 | - |
| 3B | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | oak al | 6.5 | 1 |
| CA | Perez, Salvador 2972 | kc al | 3.7 | - |
| OF | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | oak al | 5.5 | 4 |
| OF | Colabello, Chris 3235 | min al | 5.2 | - |
| OF | Hunter, Torii 1190 | det al | 4.5 | 10 |
| DH | Abreu, Jose 3308 | chi al | 8.5 | - |
| SP | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | nyy al | 12.7 | * |
| SP | Scherzer, Max 2588 | det al | 11.4 | * |
| SP | Kazmir, Scott 1947 | oak al | 9.7 | * |
| SP | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | sea al | 8.8 | * |
| MR | Duffy, Danny 2915 | kc al | 6.0 | * |
| CP | Uehara, Koji 2802 | bos al | 6.0 | * |
| Pos | NL players | Team | BTP | Vote rank |
| 1B | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | atl nl | 6.2 | 3 |
| 2B | Murphy, Daniel 2589 | nym nl | 4.5 | - |
| SS | Tulowitzki, Troy 2308 | col nl | 10.6 | 1 |
| 3B | Ramirez, Aramis 1364 | mil nl | 3.5 | 1 |
| CA | Lucroy, Jonathan 2744 | mil nl | 3.7 | 2 |
| OF | Morse, Michael 2020 | sf nl | 5.5 | - |
| OF | McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | pit nl | 5.0 | 2 |
| OF | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | fla nl | 4.7 | 4 |
| SP | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | stl nl | 13.0 | * |
| SP | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | lad nl | 12.7 | * |
| SP | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | sf nl | 12.5 | * |
| SP | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | cin nl | 11.7 | * |
| MR | Collmenter, Josh 2863 | ari nl | 4.0 | * |
| CP | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | atl nl | 5.0 | * |
Vote rank: Where the player ranks by position in All-Star fan voting. A hyphen (-) indicates they are not among the leaders. An asterisk (*) indicates they are a pitcher and not eligible for fan voting.
What are those numbers after players' names?
2013-14
These are Box-Toppers points leaders by position since the start of 2013.
In the American League, the Box-Toppers leaders agree a little better with voters—seven of the nine Box-Toppers leaders are among the leaders in fan voting and three (Cabrera, Robinson Cano of the Mariners and Josh Donaldson of the Athletics) are vote leaders for their positions.
In the National League, five of the Box-Toppers position leaders are also among the vote leaders. However, Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies is the only player who leads his position in both Box-Toppers points and fan voting.
And though fan voters don’t get to pick pitchers, included here for both leagues are Box-Toppers leaders for starting pitchers (the top four starters) along with the top middle reliever and top closing pitcher.
Box-Toppers pick for starters based on 2013-14 stats? Max Scherzer of the Tigers for the AL and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers for the NL.
All-Stars based on 2013-14 Box-Toppers points
Here are Box-Toppers points leaders by position for each league. Also shown is players' current ranking in All-Star fan voting by their position. A hyphen (-) indicates they are not among the league leaders in fan voting by their position. Also shown are pitching leaders. Fans don't get to vote on pitchers so their vote rank is marked with an asterisk (*).| Pos | AL players | Team | BTP | Vote rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 24.4 | 1 |
| 2B | Cano, Robinson 2092 | sea al | 15.5 | 1 |
| SS | Aybar, Erick 2416 | ana al | 11.0 | - |
| 3B | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | oak al | 16.0 | 1 |
| CA | McCann, Brian 2179 | nyy al | 9.5 | 3 |
| OF | Soriano, Alfonso 1445 | nyy al | 13.9 | - |
| OF | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | oak al | 12.5 | 4 |
| OF | Choo, Shin-Soo 2267 | tex al | 11.0 | 14 |
| DH | Ortiz, David | bos al | 16.4 | 2 |
| SP | Scherzer, Max 2588 | det al | 29.5 | * |
| SP | Darvish, Yu 3003 | tex al | 24.4 | * |
| SP | Sale, Chris 2806 | chi al | 24.1 | * |
| SP | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | sea al | 23.6 | * |
| MR | Smyly, Drew 3009 | det al | 10.7 | * |
| CP | Holland, Greg 2906 | kc al | 14.0 | * |
| Pos | NL players | Team | BTP | Vote rank |
| 1B | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | atl nl | 17.7 | 3 |
| 2B | Murphy, Daniel 2589 | nym nl | 13.0 | - |
| SS | Tulowitzki, Troy 2308 | col nl | 14.6 | 1 |
| 3B | Alvarez, Pedro 2817 | pit nl | 10.2 | - |
| CA | Posey, Buster 2745 | sf nl | 10.0 | 3 |
| OF | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | col nl | 12.5 | - |
| OF | Cuddyer, Michael 1826 | col nl | 11.5 | 14 |
| OF | McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | pit nl | 11.0 | 2 |
| SP | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | lad nl | 34.4 | * |
| SP | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | stl nl | 33.2 | * |
| SP | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | sf nl | 28.2 | * |
| SP | Greinke, Zack 1871 | lad nl | 26.8 | * |
| MR | Collmenter, Josh 2863 | ari nl | 12.0 | * |
| CP | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | atl nl | 17.7 | * |
Vote rank: Where the player ranks by position in All-Star fan voting. A hyphen (-) indicates they are not among the leaders. An asterisk (*) indicates they are a pitcher and not eligible for fan voting.
What are those numbers after players' names?
Voting leaders
A case can be made for any of these players to be on the All-Star team.
Numbers? Performance? Yes, players like Yadier Molina, Yasiel Puig and Mike Trout have that. Though they may not register very highly on Box-Toppers, it’s hard to argue that they’re not All-Star worthy.
And a case can even be made for a player like Derek Jeter of the Yankees—is he an All-Star? Well, technically, there ARE probably better and more deserving AL shortstops based on any metric you put forth for this season and last season. But then, this is Derek Jeter. The Captain. His final season. Even Yankee haters may be forced to put the numbers aside for a moment and vote with their heart on this one.
Here are the leaders as of June 22 and 23 in All-Star voting by position. Also included in the chart are each of the leaders’ Box-Toppers points total for 2014 and their current rank among their position in their league.
Only three players who lead for their position in All-Star voting also lead their position in Box-Toppers points:
• AL 3B Josh Donaldson of the Athletics.
• NL SS Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies.
• NL 3B Aramis Ramirez of the Pirates.
All-Stars voting leaders & their Box-Toppers rankings
Here are All-Star fan voting leaders as of June 22 and 23. For comparison, their Box-Toppers points totals for 2014 are included along with their rank at their position by league. (For example, Miguel Cabrera has 7.5 Box-Toppers points in 2014, second-most among AL first basemen.| Pos | AL players | Team | BTP | BTP rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | Miguel Cabrera | det al | 7.5 | 2 |
| 2B | Robinson Cano | sea al | 3.0 | 4 |
| SS | Derek Jeter | nyy al | 0.0 | 22 |
| 3B | Josh Donaldson | oak al | 6.5 | 1 |
| CA | Matt Wieters | bal al | 1.5 | 7 |
| OF | Jose Bautista | tor al | 2.5 | 15 |
| OF | Mike Trout | ana al | 2.0 | 23 |
| OF | Melky Cabrera | tor al | 3.0 | 10 |
| DH | Nelson Cruz | bal al | 3.0 | 10 |
| Pos | NL players | Team | BTP | BTP rank |
| 1B | Paul Goldschmidt | ari nl | 1.5 | 13 |
| 2B | Chase Utley | phi nl | 2.0 | 10 |
| SS | Troy Tulowitzki | col nl | 10.6 | 1 |
| 3B | Aramis Ramirez | mil nl | 3.5 | 1 |
| CA | Yadier Molina | stl nl | 0.0 | 20 |
| OF | Yasiel Puig | lad nl | 1.0 | 44 |
| OF | Andrew McCutchen | pit nl | 5.0 | 2 |
| OF | Carlos Gomez | mil nl | 2.5 | 14 |
BTP rank: Where the player ranks by position in their league in Box-Toppers points.
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.
Mariners' Young, Dodgers' Ryu top players for Monday, June 16
Mariners pitcher Chris Young is Monday’s Player of the Day. Young pitched six scoreless innings and struck out six in the 5-1 win over the Padres.
Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu is National League Player of the Day. Ryu allowed one run over six innings and struck out six in the 6-1 win over the Rockies. Ryu earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 6.7 for the season. He is in 25th place among all players in Box-Toppers points and 12th among NL pitchers.
Ryu and Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels (Player of the Game in the win against the Braves) had identical Box-Toppers game scores of 6.0, but Ryu earned NL Player of the Day because he earned the win and Hamels picked up a no-decision.
Robinson Chirinos of the Rangers is American League Batter of the Day. Chirinos homered and went 3-for-5 with two runs and three RBIs in the 14-8 win over the Athletics.
Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers is NL Batter of the Day. Ramirez doubled and went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs in the 9-3 win over the Diamondbacks.
Young receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Ryu receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Chirinos and Ramirez each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Monday’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 Monday, 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
| 616 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 7.0 | Mariners | Chris Young (W, 6-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| 6.0 | Red Sox | Rubby De La Rosa (W, 2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||
| NL | 6.0 | Dodgers | Hyun-Jin Ryu (W, 8-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 6.0 | `Phillies | Cole Hamels | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 4.1 | Indians | Carlos Carrasco (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Rangers | Robinson Chirinos C | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Royals | Omar Infante 2B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Brewers | Aramis Ramirez 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Rays | Jerry Sands PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Cardinals | Allen Craig RF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Cubs | Starlin Castro SS | 6 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
Red Sox' Shane Victorino (2HR 7RBI) tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 27
Shane Victorino of the Phillies is Tuesday's Player of the Day. Victorino hit two home runs, drove in seven runs, scored four runs and went 3-for-3 in the 13-2 win over the Orioles.
Mets pitcher Jon Niese is National League Player of the Day. Niese pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout in the 5-0 win over the Phillies.
Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers is NL Batter of the Day. Ramirez homered, drove in four runs and went 4-for-5 in the 7-6 win over the Pirates.
Notable: Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees rises to 23rd in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season after he earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday. Soriano (2HR 4RBI in 7-1 win vs. Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.9 for the season.
Victorino receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Niese receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Ramirez receives 1.5 for being NL Batter of the Day.
All of Tuesday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 827 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 11.0 | Red Sox | Shane Victorino RF | 3 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| NL | 10.0 | Mets | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jon Niese (W, 6-6) | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 6.1 | `Diamondbacks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Josh Collmenter | 3.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 5.0 | Cubs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Travis Wood (W, 8-10) | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |||
| 4.1 | Royals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | James Shields (W, 9-8) | 7.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | |||
| 4.1 | `Braves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Scott Downs (H, 3) | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
| BAT | 4.0 | Brewers | Aramis Ramirez 3B | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 3.0 | Yankees | Alfonso Soriano LF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 3.0 | Athletics | Brandon Moss RF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 3.0 | Rangers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tanner Scheppers (W, 6-2) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 2.0 | Angels | Erick Aybar SS | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Nationals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ross Ohlendorf (W, 3-0) | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||
| 2.0 | Giants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Sergio Romo (S, 32) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| 1.1 | White Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Donnie Veal (W, 2-3) | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| 1.0 | Cardinals | Shane Robinson PR, LF | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 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.