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

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

Top 10 players

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

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

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

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

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

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

All-time leaders

Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	pi sp	retired	278.8
2	Pedro Martinez	pi sp	retired	244.8
3	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
4	Alex Rodriguez	dh	nyy al	187.0
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	181.0
6	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	176.3
7	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	171.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
10	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
11	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
12	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	164.7
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
16	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
17	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
18	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	151.4
19	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
20	Javier Vazquez	pi sp	retired	148.3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5/23	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw (W,7-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	2	0	0	1	7
	13.0	Giants	Johnny Cueto (W,7-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	2	0	0	0	6
AL	9.0	Indians	Cody Anderson (W,1-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	0	9
	7.2	Angels	Nick Tropeano (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	4	0	0	1	6
	6.0	Athletics	Rich Hill (W,7-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	8	0	0	0	6
BAT	5.0	Tigers	Miguel Cabrera, 1B	3	3	3	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	White Sox	Brett Lawrie, DH	2	2	2	3	3	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Royals	Salvador Perez, C	5	3	5	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Marlins	Miguel Rojas, 2B	4	2	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Cardinals	Matt Adams, PH	1	1	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Pirates	Josh Harrison, 2B	4	1	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Mets	Neil Walker, 2B	4	2	2	1	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-

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

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

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

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

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

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

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hernandez has 2.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.

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

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

Scoring—Fulmer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Fernandez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Nunez and Cespedes each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

5/20	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Tigers	Michael Fulmer (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	1	11
	9.2	Red Sox	Joe Kelly (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	1	0	0	3	7
NL	8.0	Marlins	Jose Fernandez (W,6-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	1	1	1	9
	7.1	Braves	Williams Perez (W,2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	2	0	0	1	4
	6.0	Cardinals	Mike Leake (W,3-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	0	3
	5.0	Rangers	Cesar Ramos (W,1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	1	1	1	4
	5.0	`Padres	Cesar Vargas	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	2	2	1	7
	4.0	Mariners	Felix Hernandez (W,4-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	3	5
	3.1	`Royals	Danny Duffy	-	-	-	-	-	-		4.1	4	0	0	0	3
	2.1	Rockies	Carlos Estevez (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	1	2
BAT	2.0	Twins	Eduardo Nunez, SS	4	1	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Orioles	Matt Wieters, C	4	1	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	2.0	Mets	Yoenis Cespedes, CF	4	2	2	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Yankees	Masahiro Tanaka (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	2	4
	1.0	Giants	Buster Posey, 1B	4	1	2	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

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

What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Matz tops players for Wednesday, May 4; Yankees' Sabathia extends consecutive season streak to 16

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

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 4:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	6.0
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	6.0
3	Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	5.0
4	Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	5.0
5	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	5.0
6	Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	4.7
7	Nola, Aaron 3569	pi sp	phi nl	4.7
8	Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	cf lf dh ph	nym nl	4.5
9	Suarez, Eugenio 3355	3b	cin nl	4.5
10	Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	kc al	4.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia extended his consecutive season streak earning Box-Toppers points to 16 and Jose Altuve of the Astros rose to lead American League players in Box-Toppers points.

Player of the Day—Matz struck out eight over 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, in the 8-0 win over the Braves. Matz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to fourth in season player rankings, third among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber pitched a complete game shutout, striking out seven and allowing five hits, in the 4-0 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Daniel Murphy of the Nationals homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in three runs, in the 13-2 win over the Royals.

American League Batter of the Day—Jose Altuve of the Astros homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 16-4 win over the Twins. Altuve earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to third in season player rankings, first among all AL players.

Box-Toppers season streaks

Here are the players who have earned Box-Toppers points in the most consecutive seasons. Jason Giambi earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 19 straight seasons from 1995 to 2013, more than any other player. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.) Players are listed by duration of their streak. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.

	Streak	Player	Pos	Duration	Career BTP
1	19	Jason Giambi	1b	1995-2013	133.4
2	18	Jim Thome	1b dh	1995-2012	146.7
2	18	Chipper Jones	3b	1995-2012	149.0
2	18	Johnny Damon	lf	1995-2012	63.0
2	18	Alex Rodriguez	dh	1996-2013	187.0
2	18	Carlos Beltran*	rf	1999-2016	99.9
7	17	Mariano Rivera	pi cp	1995-2011	126.4
7	17	Derek Jeter	ss	1996-2012	76.4
7	17	Paul Konerko	1b	1998-2014	100.7
7	17	Tim Hudson	pi sp	1999-2015	157.0
7	17	Torii Hunter	cf	1999-2015	115.9
12	16	Manny Ramirez	lf	1995-2010	167.2
12	16	Andy Pettitte	pi sp	1995-2010	138.5
12	16	Jamie Moyer	pi sp	1995-2010	104.0
12	16	Scott Rolen	3b	1996-2011	97.6
12	16	Kevin Millwood	pi sp	1997-2012	108.3
12	16	Derek Lowe	pi sp	1998-2013	91.5
12	16	David Ortiz*	dh	2000-2015	137.9
12	16	Aramis Ramirez	3b	2000-2015	105.8
12	16	Mark Buehrle*	pi sp	2000-2015	116.7
12	16	Albert Pujols*	dh 1b	2001-2016	175.3
12	16	Ichiro Suzuki*	rf	2001-2016	52.7
12	16	CC Sabathia*	pi sp	2001-2016	180.0

BTP: Box-Toppers points
* Active streak

Streaks—Two players extended their lengthy consecutive season streaks earning Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

• Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (7IP 6H 0R 6K W in the 7-0 win over the Orioles) has now earned Box-Toppers points in 16 straight seasons, tied for the 12th-longest streak since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. Sabathia earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2001 with the Indians and has 180.0 career points, ranked fifth among all players since 1995, second among all active players (behind teammate Alex Rodriguez, who has 187.0) and first among all active pitchers. His best year was 2008 with the Indians and Brewers, when he had 26.7 points, ranked first among all players. He had 5.7 points in 2015 with the Yankees.
• Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays (HR 2-4 R 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Rangers) has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2005 with the Reds and has 60.1 career points, seventh among active AL designated hitters. His best season was 2015 with the Blue Jays when he had 10.4 points, fifth among AL batters.

Rankings—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday. Suarez (HR 3-4 R 3BI in the 7-4 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.5 for the season. He ranks second among NL batters, behind Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets (4.5).

Debut—Dae-Ho Lee of the Mariners made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Lee (2HR 2-4 2R 3BI in the 9-8 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut April 4 and was playing in his 15th career game. He is the 3,627th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/4	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.2	Mets	Steven Matz (W,4-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	2	0	0	0	8
	11.0	Rockies	Tyler Chatwood (W,4-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	1	7
AL	9.0	Indians	Corey Kluber (W,2-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	5	0	0	2	7
BAT	6.0	Nationals	Daniel Murphy, 2B	5	4	4	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	Yankees	CC Sabathia (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	0	0	2	6
BAT	4.0	Astros	Jose Altuve, 2B	5	3	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Red Sox	Clay Buchholz (W,1-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	2	2	2	6
	3.0	Reds	Eugenio Suarez, 3B	4	1	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Mariners	Dae-Ho Lee, 1B	4	2	2	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Marlins	Giancarlo Stanton, RF	3	2	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Angels	Joe Smith (S,2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	1	0	0	0	2
	3.0	Cardinals	Kevin Siegrist (W,4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	3
	2.0	Cubs	Anthony Rizzo, 1B	5	3	3	1	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Rays	Steve Pearce, 1B	4	1	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Blue Jays	Edwin Encarnacion, DH	4	1	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

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

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

Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	5.0	12.0	21.5	21.5	-2.0
Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	5.0	8.5	8.5	8.5	1.5
Suarez, Eugenio 3355	3b	cin nl	4.5	7.5	10.0	10.0	1.5
Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	3.4	16.8	47.6	47.6	-10.0
Rizzo, Anthony 3063	1b	chi nl	3.0	11.5	27.0	27.0	-5.5
Siegrist, Kevin 3260	pi mr cp	stl nl	3.0	7.0	9.0	9.0	-1.0
Chatwood, Tyler 2856	pi sp	col nl	3.0	3.0	12.7	12.7	3.0
Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	2.0	7.5	29.2	34.7	-3.5
Murphy, Daniel 2589	2b	dc nl	1.5	3.0	25.0	26.5	0.0
Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	dh	tor al	1.0	11.4	39.6	60.1	-9.4
Buchholz, Clay 2363	pi sp	bos al	1.0	7.0	35.2	54.9	-5.0
Sabathia, C.C. 1492	pi sp	nyy al	1.0	6.7	41.5	180.0	-4.7
Smith, Joe 2388	pi cp	ana al	1.0	4.0	12.0	13.0	-2.0
Pearce, Steve 2371	1b	tb al	1.0	3.5	13.0	15.0	-1.5
Lee, Dae-Ho 3627	1b	sea al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Mariners' Miley tops players for Saturday, April 30; Rockies' Rusin tops NL players

Mariners pitcher Wade Miley is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	5.0
2	Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	cf lf dh ph	nym nl	4.5
3	Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	kc al	4.4
4	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	4.4
5	Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	bal al	4.2
6	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	4.0
7	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	4.0
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	4.0
9	De La Rosa, Rubby 3342	pi sp mr	ari nl	4.0
10	Nicasio, Juan 2888	pi sp	pit nl	4.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Miley pitched a complete game shutout, allowing five hits and striking out four, in the 6-0 win over the Royals.

National League Player of the Day—Rockies pitcher Chris Rusin struck out six over five scoreless innings, allowing one hit, in the 5-2 win over the Diamondbacks. Rusin did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Diamondbacks tied the game after he exited.

National League Batter of the Day—Michael Conforto of the Mets homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 6-5 win over the Giants. Conforto earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, the most of any of Saturday’s 14 Players of the Games. Conforto now ranks 11th in Box-Toppers season player rankings, second among NL batters, behind teammate Yoenis Cespedes (4.5).

American League Batter of the Day—Logan Forsythe of the Rays homered and went 3-for-3, driving two runs, in the 4-3 win over the Blue Jays.

Streak—Jason Werth of the Nationals has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 consecutive seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Werth (HR 2-3 R 4BI in the 6-1 win over the Cardinals) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2002 with the Blue Jays, but his current 10-year streak began in 2007 with the Phillies. He has 45.2 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks 13th among active NL outfielders. His best year was 2010 with the Phillies when he had 9.0 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL batters. He had 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Nationals.

Scoring—Miley earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rusin earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Conforto and Forsythe each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/30	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	8.0	Mariners	Wade Miley (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	5	0	0	0	4
	7.0	Red Sox	Rick Porcello (W,5-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	1	6
NL	7.0	`Rockies	Chris Rusin	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	1	0	0	3	6
	6.0	Tigers	Jordan Zimmermann (W,5-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	0	7
	5.2	Pirates	Francisco Liriano (W,2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	1	1	0	6
	5.2	Athletics	Jesse Hahn (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	3	0	0	2	4
BAT	4.0	Mets	Michael Conforto, LF	4	2	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Nationals	Jayson Werth, LF	3	1	2	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Rays	Logan Forsythe, 2B	3	1	3	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Rangers	Derek Holland (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	0	1
	2.1	White Sox	Nate Jones (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	Phillies	Freddy Galvis, SS	4	1	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Padres	Wil Myers, 1B	3	2	2	1	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Marlins	Adeiny Hechavarria, SS	5	1	4	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Conforto, Michael 3622	lf	nym nl	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	pit nl	3.0	17.9	58.4	98.2	-11.9
Zimmermann, Jordan 2612	pi sp	det al	3.0	10.0	59.4	60.4	-4.0
Porcello, Rick 2573	pi sp	bos al	3.0	7.0	28.7	37.7	-1.0
Forsythe, Logan 3364	2b	tb al	2.5	4.0	5.5	5.5	1.0
Miley, Wade 3006	pi sp	sea al	2.0	9.0	32.4	32.4	-5.0
Myers, Wil 3228	1b cf	sd nl	2.0	5.0	10.5	10.5	-1.0
Holland, Derek 2634	pi sp	tex al	2.0	4.7	36.8	43.8	-0.7
Rusin, Chris 3236	pi sp	col nl	1.7	2.7	4.7	4.7	0.7
Hechavarria, Adeiny 3445	ss	fla nl	1.0	5.5	5.5	5.5	-3.5
Hahn, Jesse 3354	pi sp	oak al	1.0	5.0	11.7	11.7	-3.0
Galvis, Freddy 3202	ss	phi nl	1.0	5.0	9.0	9.0	-3.0
Werth, Jayson 1664	lf	dc nl	1.0	4.0	18.0	45.2	-2.0
Jones, Nate 3125	pi cp	chi al	1.0	2.0	9.0	9.0	0.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Pirates' Nicasio tops players for Friday, April 29; Mets' Cespedes rises to 2nd in player rankings

Pirates pitcher Juan Nicasio is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	5.0
2	Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	cf lf dh ph	nym nl	4.5
3	Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	kc al	4.4
4	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	4.4
5	Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	bal al	4.2
6	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	4.0
7	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	4.0
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	4.0
9	De La Rosa, Rubby 3342	pi sp mr	ari nl	4.0
10	Nicasio, Juan 2888	pi sp	pit nl	4.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Meanwhile, Yoenis Cespedes rises to second in Box-Toppers player rankings, first among National League batters, and Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez regains his spot in 11th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995.

Player of the Day—Nicasio struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 4-1 win over the Reds.

Nicasio earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season and rising to 10th in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher Aaron Sanchez pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing six hits, in the 6-1 win over the Rays.

National League Batter of the Day—Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in six total runs, in the 13-1 win over the Giants.

Cespedes earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season, rising to second in overall Box-Toppers player rankings, behind only Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (5.0). Cespedes now leads NL batters in season Box-Toppers points.

American League Batter of the Day—Victor Martinez of the Tigers homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 9-2 win over the Twins.

All-time leaders

Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	pi sp	retired	278.8
2	Pedro Martinez	pi sp	retired	244.8
3	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
4	Alex Rodriguez	dh	nyy al	187.0
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	179.0
6	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	175.3
7	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
8	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
9	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
10	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
11	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	163.7
12	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	163.3
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
16	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
17	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
18	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
19	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	148.4
20	Javier Vazquez	pi sp	retired	148.3

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

Rankings—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez regained his spot in 11th place in Box-Toppers “all-time” player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. He also extended his consecutive season streak earning Box-Toppers points to 12.

Hernandez (7.2IP 5H 0R 4K W in the 1-0 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 163.7 for his career. He now ranks 11th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began), passing Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (163.3), who previously passed Hernandez in career points for the first time on April 21. Hernandez now trails 10th-place player Roger Clemens (164.8).

Hernandez has also now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 consecutive seasons. He earned his first points in 2005 with the Mariners and with 163.7 points is the highest-ranked active player to never lead a season category (i.e., AL pitchers) in Box-Toppers points. He has earned 19.0 or more Box-Toppers points four times in his career (2009, 2010, 2014 and 2015), with his best year being 2014 with 20.8 points, third among AL pitchers. In 2015, he had 19.4 points, third among AL pitchers.

Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rose to 35th place in Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Lester (7IP 7H R 10K ND in the 6-1 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 124.1 career points, passing Gary Sheffield (124.1) on the “all-time” Box-Toppers points list. (Lester beats Sheffield on a tiebreaker because he has more Box-Toppers points this season—3.0 vs. 0.0.) Lester now trails 34th-place player, Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander (124.6). Lester has 3.0 Box-Toppers points on the season and ranks eighth among NL pitchers.

Debut—Padres pitcher Cesar Vargas made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Vargas (5.1IP 4H 0R 6K ND in the 5-1 win over the Dodgers) made his Major League debut April 23 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,624th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Nicasio earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sanchez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Cespedes and Martinez each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/29	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Pirates	Juan Nicasio (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	1	8
	10.2	Marlins	Adam Conley (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	0	0	0	4	7
BAT	6.0	Mets	Yoenis Cespedes, CF	4	2	2	6	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	Phillies	David Hernandez (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	4
	6.0	`Cubs	Jon Lester	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	7	1	1	2	10
AL	5.0	Blue Jays	Aaron Sanchez (W,2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	0	0	2	6
	4.1	`Padres	Cesar Vargas	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.1	4	0	0	3	6
BAT	4.0	Tigers	Victor Martinez, DH	5	3	4	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Orioles	Nolan Reimold, LF	3	2	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.2	Mariners	Felix Hernandez (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	5	0	0	3	4
	3.0	Athletics	Coco Crisp, LF	3	2	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Nationals	Stephen Strasburg (W,4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	8	2	2	1	9
	3.0	Rangers	Shawn Tolleson (S,8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.1	Rockies	Tyler Chatwood (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	5	0	0	3	4
	2.0	Red Sox	Koji Uehara (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	cf lf dh ph	nym nl	4.5	15.4	36.4	36.4	-6.4
Nicasio, Juan 2888	pi sp	pit nl	4.0	5.0	20.4	20.4	3.0
Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	3.7	17.7	63.8	71.5	-10.3
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	3.0	15.0	61.2	124.1	-9.0
Sanchez, Aaron 3392	pi sp	tor al	2.7	4.7	6.7	6.7	0.7
Martinez, Victor 1695	dh ph	det al	2.5	6.0	25.9	66.1	-1.0
Chatwood, Tyler 2856	pi sp	col nl	2.0	2.0	11.7	11.7	2.0
Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	1.0	20.4	86.4	163.7	-18.4
Tolleson, Shawn 3077	pi cp	tex al	1.0	7.0	9.0	9.0	-5.0
Uehara, Koji 2802	pi mr cp	bos al	1.0	6.0	23.0	27.0	-4.0
Conley, Adam 3594	pi sp	fla nl	1.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	-2.0
Crisp, Coco 1876	lf	oak al	1.0	3.0	19.5	36.7	-1.0
Hernandez, David 2649	pi cp	phi nl	1.0	1.0	9.0	13.0	1.0
Reimold, Nolan 2607	lf	bal al	1.0	1.0	6.7	7.7	1.0
Vargas, Cesar 3624	pi sp	sd nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?