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

Shawn Plank June 20, 2016

Braves pitcher Julio Teheran is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of June 19:


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

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    
    2.0
    TEX 5/STL 4
    Jurickson Profar, PH
    1
    0
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

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

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


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

What are those numbers after players' names?

Royals' Young tops players for Friday, April 22; Phillies' Nola tops NL players

Shawn Plank April 23, 2016

Royals pitcher Chris Young 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 22:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	5.0
2	Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	kc al	4.4
3	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	4.0
4	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	4.0
5	Latos, Mat 2644	pi sp	chi al	3.7
6	Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	sea al	3.5
7	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	3.4
8	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	3.0
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	3.0
10	Morton, Charlie 2503	pi sp	phi nl	3.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Young struck out 10 over six innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 4-2 win over the Orioles.

National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 5-2 win over the Brewers.

National League Batter of the Day—Curtis Granderson of the Mets hit two homers, including a grand slam, and went 3-for-5, in the 6-3 win over the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day—Mookie Betts of the Red Sox tripled, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in a run, in the 6-2 win over the Astros. Betts earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, most of any of Friday’s Players of the Games. He ranks second among AL batters in season rankings, behind Robinson Cano of the Mariners (3.5). He ranks 11th among all players.

Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to 36th place in Box-Toppers “all-time” player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Lester (7IP 5H R 4K W in the 8-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 123.1 career points. Lester rises to 36th place among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began), passing Angels pitcher Jered Weaver (123.1), beating him on a tiebreaker. He trails 35th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1). Lester now has 2.0 Box-Toppers points this season.

Scoring—Young earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Nola earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Granderson and Betts 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    4/22
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    7.0
    Royals
    Chris Young (W,1-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    2
    2
    1
    10
  

    NL
    6.0
    Phillies
    Aaron Nola (W,1-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    BAT
    5.0
    Mets
    Curtis Granderson, RF
    5
    2
    3
    5
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    White Sox
    Jose Quintana (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    2
    4
  

    
    4.2
    Giants
    Jeff Samardzija (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    6
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    
    4.1
    Yankees
    Ivan Nova (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    4.0
    Padres
    Wil Myers, 1B
    3
    1
    3
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.2
    Indians
    Josh Tomlin (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    4
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Red Sox
    Mookie Betts, RF
    5
    3
    4
    1
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Nationals
    Jose Lobaton, C
    3
    1
    2
    3
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Rockies
    Nolan Arenado, 3B
    3
    3
    2
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Cubs
    Jon Lester (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    
    2.0
    Pirates
    Jordy Mercer, SS
    4
    2
    3
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Athletics
    Chris Coghlan, 3B
    4
    2
    1
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Mariners
    Joel Peralta (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

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


Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Betts, Mookie 3404	rf	bos al	3.0	6.0	8.0	8.0	0.0
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	2.5	11.0	12.5	12.5	-6.0
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	2.0	14.0	60.2	123.1	-10.0
Young, Chris R. 1933	pi sp	kc al	2.0	10.0	26.1	76.1	-6.0
Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	2.0	8.0	26.8	26.8	-4.0
Tomlin, Josh 2771	pi sp	cle al	2.0	6.7	19.4	21.4	-2.7
Nola, Aaron 3569	pi sp	phi nl	1.7	3.7	3.7	3.7	-0.3
Granderson, Curtis 2051	rf	nym nl	1.5	5.5	30.4	62.8	-2.5
Samardzija, Jeff 2495	pi sp	sf nl	1.0	10.4	39.1	40.1	-8.4
Myers, Wil 3228	1b cf	sd nl	1.0	4.0	9.5	9.5	-2.0
Coghlan, Chris 2610	3b lf	oak al	1.0	2.0	8.5	15.0	0.0
Lobaton, Jose 3216	ca	dc nl	1.0	2.0	6.5	6.5	0.0
Nova, Ivan 2796	pi mr sp	nyy al	1.0	2.0	23.1	24.1	0.0
Mercer, Jordy 3206	ss	pit nl	1.0	1.0	7.0	7.0	1.0
Peralta, Joel 2292	pi mr	sea al	1.0	1.0	10.0	11.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

A look at how star players are trending over the long-term: Kershaw maintains his dominance, other stars rise and fall

Shawn Plank March 16, 2016

Andrew McCutchen replaces Ryan Braun as leader among NL batters in six-year rolling Box-Toppers totals (2011-2016 vs. 2010-2015).

Box-Toppers' Franchise Four

Shawn Plank January 14, 2016

Who are each franchise's top 4 players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995?

Cubs' Jon Lester (8IP R 9K) tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 30

Shawn Plank October 1, 2015

Cubs pitcher Jon Lester is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Lester struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 10-3 win over the Reds.

Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.0 for the season. He ranks 26th among all players and 13th among NL pitchers.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 30.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	27.1
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	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

What are those numbers after players' names?

Lester also now has 121.1 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 37th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 36th-ranked player Jered Weaver (123.1).

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 8-1 win over the Blue Jays.

American League Batter of the Day—Jose Ramirez of the Indians hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-2 win over the Twins.

National League Batter of the Day—Francisco Cervelli of the Pirates hit a grand slam and doubled, going 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-2 win over the Cardinals.

Rankings—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers maintained his rank of third among AL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Beltre (HR 2B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 6-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.5 for the season. He ranks 31st among all players and third among AL batters behind Mike Trout of the Angels (12.0) and Prince Fielder of the Rangers (11.5).

This was the second straight day Beltre earned Player of the Game honors. It was the fifth time in September Beltre earned the honor—he earned 6.0 total Box-Toppers points in September. In fact, Beltre has earned all his points since earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season on July 31. He had 4.5 Box-Toppers points in August. And despite a season when he had very similar numbers to this year, Beltre earned no Box-Toppers points in 2014—in fact this year, he has a lower batting average (.281 to .324) and lower home run totals (16 to 19) than in 2014. (One notable difference—the Rangers had 67 wins in 2014 and already have 86 in 2015, so Beltre has had more opportunity for Box-Toppers points this year, since players can only earn Player of the Game honors when their team wins.)

Beltre also Wednesday became the 68th player since 1995 to earn 100 or more career Box-Toppers points. Beltre now has 100.8 career points and rises to 65th place among all players since 1995. He passes three players on the “all-time” list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Paul Konerko (100.7). He trails 67th-ranked player Jason Schmidt (101.2).

It should be noted that Walker and Bagwell both started their careers before the advent of Box-Toppers in 1995 and that if their entire career were tracked they would likely have more points. Walker’s first year was 1989 and rough estimates would put his Box-Toppers career point total at 135. Bagwell began in 1991 and his estimated career total would be 125. Konerko began in 1997, so his entire career was tracked by Box-Toppers.

Notable—Giants pitcher Mike Leake became the 44th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Leake (CG 2H 0R K W in the 5-0 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He ranks 41st among all players and 17th among NL pitchers.

Top 10—Two pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings started Wednesday, but did not earn Player of the Game honors:

Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole (7IP 7H 2R 2K W in the 8-2 win over the Cardinals) had a Box-Toppers game score of -2. Player of the Game was Francisco Cervelli (GS 2B 2-4 2R 4BI), with a Box-Toppers game score of +4. Cole ranks ninth in Box-Toppers points with 19.0.
Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco (3IP 5H 5R 5K L in the 7-1 loss to the Twins) had a Box-Toppers game score of -9. Player of the Game was Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson (6IP 4H 0R 9K W), with a Box-Toppers game score of +9. Carrasco ranks 10th in Box-Toppers points with 18.0.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/30
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    12.0
    Cubs
    Jon Lester (W,11-12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    1
    1
    0
    9
  

    AL
    11.0
    Orioles
    Kevin Gausman (W,4-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    5
    1
    1
    0
    10
  

    
    9.0
    Twins
    Kyle Gibson (W,11-11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    0
    0
    2
    9
  

    
    8.0
    Cardinals
    Tyler Lyons (W,3-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    0
    5
  

    
    7.0
    Blue Jays
    Marcus Stroman (W,4-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    5
    1
    1
    2
    8
  

    
    6.0
    Brewers
    Zach Davies (W,3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    
    6.0
    Rays
    Drew Smyly (W,5-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    3
    8
  

    
    5.0
    Giants
    Mike Leake (W,11-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    2
    0
    0
    3
    1
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Indians
    Jose Ramirez, 2B
    4
    2
    2
    4
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Pirates
    Francisco Cervelli, C
    4
    2
    2
    4
    0
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Phillies
    Freddy Galvis, SS
    3
    2
    2
    2
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Red Sox
    Travis Shaw, 1B
    5
    2
    2
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Rangers
    Adrian Beltre, 3B
    4
    2
    2
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Astros
    Luis Valbuena, 3B
    3
    2
    2
    1
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Royals
    Wade Davis (S,15)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    Braves
    Arodys Vizcaino (S,9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.0
    Athletics
    Eric Sogard, 2B
    4
    1
    1
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Dbacks
    David Peralta, LF
    2
    0
    2
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

Rangers' Hamels tops players for Saturday, Sept. 19; Kershaw fails to unseat Arrieta for player rankings lead

Shawn Plank September 20, 2015

Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to eighth place among American League pitchers in player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 19.


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

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw failed to retake the top spot in Box-Toppers player rankings after falling to the Pirates. Kershaw (22.7 Box-Toppers points) remains in second place behind Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (23.1), with whom he has traded leads every two or three days since Sept. 2. Arrieta’s lead is now safe at least until Kershaw’s next start later this week.

Player of the Day—Hamels struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run and seven hits, in the 10-1 win over the Mariners.

Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.7 for the season, rising to 17th among all players and eighth among AL pitchers.

Hammels also rises to 34th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when record keeping began. With his points Saturday, Hamels has 124.5 career Box-Toppers points and passes two players on the “all-time” list—Jered Weaver (123.1) and Gary Sheffield (124.1). (Sheffield, who started his career in 1988, seven years prior to the start of Box-Toppers record keeping, would likely have about 150 career Box-Toppers points based on rough projections, if his entire career were tracked.) Hamels now trails 33rd-ranked player Justin Verlander (124.6), who also passed Weaver and Sheffield on Friday.

National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, in the 6-0 win over the Giants.

American League Batter of the Day—Victor Martinez of the Tigers homered, doubled and drove in three runs, in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the Royals.

National League Batter of the Day—Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in a run, in the 10-2 win over the Padres.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw failed to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Saturday in his start, preventing him from retaking the player rankings lead.

Kershaw (7IP 7H 3H 8K L in the 3-2 loss to the Pirates) had a Box-Toppers game score of 0. Player of the Game was Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano.

Had Kershaw won Player of the Game honors, he would have passed Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta for the Box-Toppers season points lead and it would have been the seventh lead change in September between Kershaw (22.7 Box-Toppers points) and Arrieta (23.1 Box-Toppers points). Kershaw has led NL pitchers the past four seasons in Box-Toppers points—with days and starts dwindling to only a few this season, his chances for a fifth straight season leading NL pitchers is diminishing.

Notable—Several other Player of the Game honorees from Saturday achieved notable Box-Toppers milestones:

Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano rose to 16th place among all players and ninth place among NL pitchers. Liriano (7IP 5H 2R 9K W in the 3-2 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.9 for the season.
Angels pitcher Garrett Richards rose to 29th place among all players and 15th among AL pitchers. Richards (8.2IP 5H 2R 7K W in the 5-2 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season.
Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda becomes the 40th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. Pineda (5.1IP 4H 0R 4K W in the 5-0 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, rising to 33rd among all players and 17th among AL pitchers.
Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox (2-4 R 3BI in the 7-6 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.5 for the season, rising to sixth among AL batters.
Bryce Harper of the Nationals (1-3 R 3BI in the 5-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.0 for the season, rising to fifth among NL batters.

Debut—Braves pitcher Ryan Weber made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Weber (7IP 2H R 5K ND in the 2-1 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut Sept. 8 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,598th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/19
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    10.0
    Rangers
    Cole Hamels (W,10-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    1
    1
    0
    12
  

    NL
    7.0
    Dbacks
    Patrick Corbin (W,6-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    0
    5
  

    
    6.0
    Orioles
    Wei-Yin Chen (W,10-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    1
    1
    0
    7
  

    
    6.0
    `Braves
    Ryan Weber
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    1
    1
    2
    5
  

    
    5.0
    Pirates
    Francisco Liriano (W,11-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    2
    2
    2
    9
  

    
    4.1
    Yankees
    Michael Pineda (W,11-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.1
    4
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Tigers
    Victor Martinez, DH
    2
    1
    2
    3
    2
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    `Angels
    Andrew Heaney
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    2
    2
    2
    6
  

    
    3.1
    Cubs
    Trevor Cahill (MR) (W,1-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.1
    2
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Rockies
    Charlie Blackmon, CF
    4
    3
    3
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Astros
    Evan Gattis, DH
    3
    1
    2
    3
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `Reds
    J.J. Hoover (MR) (H,18)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    2.2
    Angels
    Garrett Richards (W,14-11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.2
    5
    2
    2
    4
    7
  

    
    2.2
    White Sox
    Carlos Rodon (W,8-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    6
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    
    2.0
    Red Sox
    Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
    4
    1
    2
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Nationals
    Bryce Harper, RF
    3
    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.
  

Cubs' Starlin Castro (2HR 6RBI) tops players for Friday, Sept. 18; 4 top 10 pitchers fail to earn Box-Toppers points

Shawn Plank September 19, 2015

Starlin Castro of the Cubs is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also, despite four top 10 pitchers from Box-Toppers player rankings starting Friday, none of them 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 Sept. 18.


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

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Castro hit a three-run homer and a two-run homer, going 3-for-3 and driving in six runs, in the 8-3 win over the Cardinals.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander struck out seven over 8 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 5-4, 12-inning win over the Royals. Verlander did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision because the Royals tied the game after he exited with a 3-2 lead.

Verlander earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 124.6 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 33rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Friday, Verlander passes two players on the “all-time” list—Jered Weaver (123.1) and Gary Sheffield (124.1). (Sheffield, who started his career in 1988, seven years prior to the start of Box-Toppers record keeping, would likely have about 150 career Box-Toppers points based on rough projections, if his entire career were tracked.) Verlander now trails 32nd-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4).

Among Friday’s 14 Players of the Game, Verlander has the most Box-Toppers points this season—6.4, ranking 111th among all players and 43rd among AL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Danny Valencia of the Athletics hit two homers and went 3-for-3, driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Astros.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day Friday because the overall Player of the Day was batter Starlin Castro.

Notable—Four pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings started Friday but none of them earned Player of the Game honors:

Fifth-ranked Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke, 19.7 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors, though the Dodgers beat the Pirates 6-2. Greinke (7IP 4H 2R 3K W) had a Box-Toppers game score of 0. Justin Ruggiano of the Dodgers (2-3 R BI) won Player of the Game honors with a Box-Toppers game score of +1.
Eighth-ranked White Sox pitcher Chris Sale, 17.1 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors in the 12-1 loss to the Indians. Sale (7IP 8H 7R 9K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of −3. Player of the Game was Carlos Santana of the Indians (1-4 R 4BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +2.
Ninth-ranked Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner, 17.0 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors in the 2-0 loss to the Diamondbacks. Bumgarner (8IP 5H 2R 7K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of +4. Player of the Game was Diamondbacks pitcher Rubby De La Rosa (5.2IP H 0R 5K W) with a Box-Toppers game score of +5.2.
Tenth-ranked Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, 17.0 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors, though the Nationals beat the Marlins, 5-4 in 10 innings. Scherzer (7IP 5H 2R 6K ND) had a Box-Toppers game score of +1. Player of the Game was Nationals closing pitcher Casey Janssen (0.2IP 0H 0R K W) with a Box-Toppers game score of +1.2.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/18
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    8.0
    Cubs
    Starlin Castro, 2B
    3
    2
    3
    6
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.2
    Dbacks
    Rubby De La Rosa (W,13-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    1
    0
    0
    4
    5
  

    AL
    5.2
    `Tigers
    Justin Verlander
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.2
    5
    2
    2
    1
    7
  

    BAT
    5.0
    Athletics
    Danny Valencia, 3B
    3
    2
    3
    3
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Rockies
    Chad Bettis (W,8-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    4
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    
    3.0
    Mets
    Juan Uribe, PH
    1
    1
    1
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Braves
    Arodys Vizcaino (S,5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    3.0
    Mariners
    Tom Wilhelmsen (S,12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    Rays
    Grady Sizemore, LF
    4
    1
    2
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Indians
    Carlos Santana, 1B
    4
    1
    1
    4
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.2
    Nationals
    Casey Janssen (W,2-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    0.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.0
    Blue Jays
    Justin Smoak, 1B
    4
    1
    2
    2
    0
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Dodgers
    Justin Ruggiano, LF
    3
    1
    2
    1
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    0.0
    Reds
    Brandon Finnegan (W,4-0)
    5
    3
    1
    1
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Rangers' Lewis tops players for Friday, Sept. 11; Cubs' Arrieta regains Box-Toppers points lead

Shawn Plank September 12, 2015

Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta regained the top spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings, three days after losing the lead to Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 11.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	22.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	21.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	20.4
4	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
5	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	19.4
6	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	19.1
7	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	18.0
8	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	17.1
9	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	17.0
10	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	16.8

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Lewis pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout, striking out four, in the 4-0 win over the Athletics. He allowed no hits until the eighth inning.

National League Player of the Day—Rockies pitcher Chad Bettis pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out six, in the 4-2 win over the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day—Nick Ahmed of the Diamondbacks hit a two-run homer, a double and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 12-4 win over the Dodgers.

American League Batter of the Day—Steve Clevenger of the Orioles hit a grand slam and scored two runs in the 14-8 win over the Royals.

Rankings—Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta regained the top spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. Arrieta (8IP 6H R 7K W in the 5-1 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 22.1. He passes previous leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (21.7). Arrieta and Kershaw have traded three-day turns with the Box-Toppers season points lead since since Sept. 2, with Arrieta leading twice and Kershaw leading twice.

Notable—Three other Players of the Game from Friday hit notable milestones:

Lead changes
Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.  





  
    
    
    
    
  

    Date
    Player
    Team
    BTP
  

    4/5
    Adam Wainwright
    stl nl
    2.0
  

    4/6
    Felix Hernandez
    sea al
    2.0
  

    4/13
    Scott Kazmir
    oak al
    3.7
  

    4/18
    Felix Hernandez
    sea al
    4.0
  

    6/26
    Max Scherzer
    dc nl
    14.0
  

    7/9
    Felix Hernandez
    sea al
    14.4
  

    7/12
    Max Scherzer
    dc nl
    15.0
  

    7/24
    Felix Hernandez
    sea al
    15.4
  

    7/26
    Jacob deGrom
    nym nl
    16.4
  

    9/2
    Clayton Kershaw
    lad nl
    20.7
  

    9/5
    Jake Arrieta
    chi nl
    21.1
  

    9/8
    Clayton Kershaw
    lad nl
    21.7
  

    9/11
    Jake Arrieta
    chi nl
    22.1
  
 

Giants pitcher Jake Peavy now has 134.8 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 25th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Peavy (7IP 2H R 2K W in the 9-1 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point. He trails 24th-ranked player David Ortiz (136.9) and has 3.0 Box-Toppers points this season.
Angels pitcher Jered Weaver rises to 36th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 (when record keeping began). Weaver (6IP 5H 2R 7K W in the 3-2 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 123.1 for his career. With his point Friday, he passes Justin Verlander (122.9) on the “all-time” list and trails 33rd-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1). Weaver has 7.7 Box-Toppers points this season.
Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets became the 35th player (and fifth batter) with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points this season. Cespedes (HR 2B 3-5 R 3BI in the 5-1 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.9 for the season. He rises to second place among NL batters —behind Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies (11.5)—and 26th among all players.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/11
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    Rangers
    Colby Lewis (W,15-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    2
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    AL
    7.0
    Rockies
    Chad Bettis (W,7-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    3
    6
  

    BAT
    5.0
    Dbacks
    Nick Ahmed, SS
    4
    2
    4
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    5.0
    Orioles
    Steve Clevenger, PH-C
    2
    2
    1
    4
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    Cubs
    Jake Arrieta (W,19-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    6
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    
    5.0
    Giants
    Jake Peavy (W,6-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    1
    1
    0
    2
  

    
    4.0
    Blue Jays
    Russell Martin, C
    5
    2
    3
    4
    0
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Cubs
    Kyle Schwarber, LF
    4
    3
    2
    3
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Twins
    Trevor Plouffe, 3B
    5
    2
    3
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Pirates
    Mark Melancon (S,45)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    `Marlins
    Jarred Cosart
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    4
    0
    0
    3
    5
  

    
    2.0
    Mets
    Yoenis Cespedes, CF
    5
    1
    3
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Rays
    J.P. Arencibia, PH-C
    2
    1
    1
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Angels
    Jered Weaver (W,7-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    2
    2
    2
    7
  

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

Dodgers' Kershaw tops players for Friday, Aug. 28, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank September 5, 2015

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

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Friday, Aug. 28 and rises to second place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 28.


	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

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also, Kershaw rises to 16th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 and Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to 35th among all players since 1995.

Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 14 over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 4-1 win over the Cubs.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 18.7 for the season and rising to second place among all players, behind overall leader, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (19.4 Box-Toppers points).

Kershaw also has 152.3 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 16th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With his points Friday, Kershaw passes one player on the “all-time” list, Greg Maddux (151.7 Box-Toppers points). (It should be noted that Maddux made his debut in 1986 and had seven 15-plus win seasons before Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995 and so, based on very rough extrapolations, would likely have about 250 career Box-Toppers points.) Kershaw now trails 15th-place player, Barry Bonds (153.2 points).

American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 4-1 win over the Orioles.

Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 122.5 for his career, rising to 35th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With his points Friday, Hamels passes Jered Weaver (122.1 Box-Toppers points). He trails 34th-place player Justin Verlander (122.9 points).

This was Hamels first Player of the Game honor since his trade from the Phillies.

Hamels now has 11.7 Box-Toppers points on the season and ranks 20th among all players, 11th among AL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Didi Gregorius of the Yankees homered and went 4-for-5, driving in six runs, in the 15-4 win over the Braves.

National League Batter of the Day—Martin Prado of the Marlins homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 4-3 win over the Nationals.

Notable—In addition to Kershaw and Hamels, one other player with more than 10 Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Friday—Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker (6.1IP 3H 0R 6K W in the 2-0 win over the White Sox). He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season. He ranks 21st among all players and 12th among AL pitchers.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/28
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    16.0
    Dodgers
    Clayton Kershaw (W,11-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    14
  

    AL
    10.0
    Rangers
    Cole Hamels (W,8-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    1
    1
    4
    10
  

    
    8.1
    Mariners
    Taijuan Walker (W,10-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    3
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    
    7.0
    Phillies
    Aaron Nola (W,5-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    1
    1
    2
    6
  

    BAT
    6.0
    Yankees
    Didi Gregorius, SS
    5
    1
    4
    6
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    Indians
    Trevor Bauer (W,10-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    5
    1
    1
    3
    7
  

    
    5.0
    Brewers
    Taylor Jungmann (W,8-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    0
    0
    3
    5
  

    
    4.0
    Blue Jays
    Roberto Osuna (S,16)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    3.0
    Royals
    Greg Holland (S,29)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.2
    Twins
    Kyle Gibson (W,9-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    4
    0
    0
    3
    4
  

    BAT
    2.0
    Marlins
    Martin Prado, 3B
    4
    2
    2
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Red Sox
    Jackie Bradley Jr., LF
    4
    2
    2
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Dbacks
    Aaron Hill, PH
    1
    1
    1
    1
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Pirates
    Gregory Polanco, RF
    5
    2
    3
    1
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Giants
    Marlon Byrd, RF
    5
    1
    1
    4
    0
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

Tigers' Verlander tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 26; Price, Hernandez rise in Box-Toppers top 10 rankings

Shawn Plank September 4, 2015

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

Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander, pitching a complete-game one-hit shutout, is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Wednesday, Aug. 26.

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	19.4
2	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	18.1
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	17.1
4	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	17.1
5	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	16.7
6	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	16.7
7	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	16.4
8	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
9	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	16.0
10	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	15.8

What are those numbers after players' names?

Verlander now has 122.9 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 34th place among all players since 1995.

In addition Wednesday:

Blue Jays pitcher David Price maintained his lead among American League pitchers and his second-place overall rank in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rose to seventh place in player rankings.
Two other players besides Verlander who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday have more than 100 career Box-Toppers points—Hernandez and Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon.

Player of the Day—Verlander allowed one hit in the ninth inning, striking out nine and walking two, in the 5-0 shutout of the Angels.

Verlander earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 122.9 for his career, rising to 34th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With his points Wednesday, Verlander passes Jered Weaver (122.1) on the “all-time” list and trails 33rd-ranked player, Gary Sheffield (124.1). Verlander has 4.7 Box-Toppers points this season.

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out eight, in the 9-4 win over the Phillies.

Colon earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 138.1 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 23rd among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). Colon trails 22nd-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.1). Colon has 4.7 Box-Toppers points this season.

National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Barnes of the Rockies homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 6-3 win over the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day—Eduardo Escobar of the Twins hit two solo home runs, going 2-for-4, in the 5-3 win over the Rays.

Rankings—Two players in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

Blue Jays pitcher David Price (6IP 5H 2R 8K W in the 12-4 win over the Rangers) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 18.1 for the season. He maintains his lead among AL pitchers and is second to overall leader Jacob deGrom (19.4 Box-Toppers points).
Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (8IP 3H 2R 7K W in the 8-2 win over the Athletics) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.4 for the season, rising to seventh among all players and fourth among AL pitchers. Hernandez, who led all players in Box-Toppers points for much of the season, was in danger in recent days of falling out of Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings, falling to 10th place before Wednesday’s Player of the Game honor.

Hernandez also now has 159.7 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 12th place among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). Hernandez trails 11th-place player John Smoltz (160.9). Hernandez ranks fourth among active players in Box-Toppers points and second among active pitchers, behind CC Sabathia of the Yankees (187.0).

Notable—Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates rose to second place in Box-Toppers points among NL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday. McCutchen (HR 2-5 R 4BI in the 7-2 win over the Marlins) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.5 for the season. He trails NL batting leader Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets (9.9 Box-Toppers points).

Debut—Indians pitcher Jeff Manship made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Manship (1IP 0H 0R K W in the 6-2 win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut Aug. 15, 2009, and was playing in his 91st career game. He is the 3,571st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Colon earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Barnes and Escobar each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/26
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    15.0
    Tigers
    Justin Verlander (W,2-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    1
    0
    0
    2
    9
  

    NL
    8.0
    Mets
    Bartolo Colon (W,11-11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    2
    8
  

    
    7.0
    Mariners
    Felix Hernandez (W,15-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    2
    2
    1
    7
  

    
    7.0
    Red Sox
    Rick Porcello (W,6-11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    0
    5
  

    
    4.0
    Blue Jays
    David Price (W,13-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    2
    2
    1
    8
  

    
    3.1
    Astros
    Collin McHugh (W,14-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    5
    2
    2
    2
    8
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Rockies
    Brandon Barnes, LF
    4
    2
    3
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Padres
    Justin Upton, LF
    4
    2
    2
    3
    0
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Giants
    Santiago Casilla (S,31)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.1
    Indians
    Jeff Manship (MR) (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    Pirates
    Andrew McCutchen, CF
    5
    1
    2
    4
    0
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    2.0
    Twins
    Eduardo Escobar, SS
    4
    2
    2
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Orioles
    Ryan Flaherty, SS
    3
    2
    2
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Cardinals
    Trevor Rosenthal (S,40)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    1
    2
  

    
    1.2
    Dodgers
    Brett Anderson (W,8-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    5
    3
    0
    1
    4
  

Nationals' Strasburg (7IP R H 5K) tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 19

Shawn Plank August 30, 2015

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

Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Wednesday, Aug. 19.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 19.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	19.4
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	16.7
3	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	16.1
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	16.1
5	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	16.0
7	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	15.8
8	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	15.4
9	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	15.4
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	14.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Angels pitcher Jered Weaver earned Player of the Game honors, giving him 122.1 career Box-Toppers points, 34th-most among all players since 1995.

Player of the Day—Strasburg allowed one run and two hits over seven innings, striking out five, in the 4-1 win over the Rockies.

American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver pitched six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, in the 1-0 win over the White Sox.

Weaver earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 122.1 career points, rising to 34th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Wednesday, Weaver passes two players on the “all-time” list—Cole Hamels (120.8 Box-Toppers points) and Justin Verlander (120.9 points). Weaver trails 33rd-ranked player Gary Sheffield (122.1).

Weaver ranks third among active AL pitchers in career Box-Toppers points, trailing CC Sabathia of the Yankees (178.0 Box-Toppers points) and Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (158.7 points). Weaver has 6.7 Box-Toppers points this season, ranking 31st among AL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Nick Castellanos of the Tigers hit two homers, including a grand slam, and two doubles in the 15-8 win over the Cubs. Castellanos went 4-for-5 and drove in five runs.

National League Batter of the Day—Khris Davis of the Brewers hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 8-7 win over the Marlins.

Notable—Athletics pitcher Jesse Chavez had the highest Box-Toppers player ranking of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday. Chavez (8IP 2H 2R 6K W in the 5-2 win over the Dodgers) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.4 for the season. He ranks 40th among all players and 20th among AL pitchers.

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

Greg Bird of the Yankees (HR 2-4 2R 4BI in the 4-3 win over the Twins) made his Major League debut Aug. 13 and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,562nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Aaron Altherr of the Phillies (HR 2B 2-3 R 3BI in the 7-4 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut June 16, 2014, and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,563rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/19
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.0
    Nationals
    Stephen Strasburg (W,7-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    1
    0
    0
    5
  

    AL
    6.1
    Angels
    Jered Weaver (W,5-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    0
    0
    0
    5
  

    BAT
    6.0
    Tigers
    Nick Castellanos, 3B
    5
    2
    4
    5
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    Athletics
    Jesse Chavez (W,7-12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    2
    2
    2
    6
  

    BAT
    5.0
    Brewers
    Khris Davis, LF
    4
    2
    2
    5
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    Pirates
    J.A. Happ (W,5-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    3
  

    
    4.0
    Yankees
    Greg Bird, 1B
    4
    2
    2
    4
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.2
    Royals
    Luke Hochevar (MR) (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    Padres
    Yangervis Solarte, 3B
    3
    1
    3
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Phillies
    Aaron Altherr, LF
    3
    1
    2
    3
    1
    
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `Astros
    Chad Qualls (MR)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    3.0
    Cardinals
    Trevor Rosenthal (S,38)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    Rangers
    Mitch Moreland, DH
    5
    2
    2
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Orioles
    Adam Jones, CF
    3
    2
    2
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Red Sox
    Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
    3
    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.
  

Red Sox' Jackie Bradley (2HR 5-6 5R 7BI) tops players for Saturday, Aug. 15

Shawn Plank August 28, 2015

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

Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Saturday, Aug. 15.

Also, Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander rose to 34th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995.

Top 10 players

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


	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	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
5	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	15.8
6	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	15.4
7	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	15.4
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	15.0
9	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	14.7
10	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	14.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Bradley hit two homers and three doubles, going 5-for-6, scoring five times and driving in seven runs, in the 22-10 win over the Mariners.

National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 8-4 win over the Braves.

National League Batter of the Day—Matt Duffy of the Giants doubled twice, scored twice and drove in four runs, in the 12-6 win over the Nationals.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Saturday, Aug. 15, because the overall Player of the Day was AL batter Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox.

Notable—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander rose to 34th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Verlander (7IP 3H 0R 7K ND in the 4-2 win over the Astros) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 120.9 for his career. He passed two players on the “all-time” list (since record keeping began in 1995), Jered Weaver (120.4 Box-Toppers points) and Cole Hamels (120.8 points). Verlander trails 33rd-place player Gary Sheffield (124.1).

Verlander’s 120.9 Box-Toppers points ranks third among active AL pitchers, behind CC Sabathia of the Yankees (178.0 Box-Toppers points) and Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (158.7 points).

Verlander has 2.7 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Also notable—Chris Davis of the Orioles has the highest Box-Toppers season player ranking of all 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Davis (2HR 2-4 2R 3BI in the 4-3 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks 41st among all players and third among AL batters.

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

Twins pitcher Tyler Duffey (6IP H 0R 7K W in the 4-1 win over the Indians) made his Major League debut Aug. 5 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,558th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Addison Russell of the Cubs (2B 2-3 2R in the 6-3 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut April 21 and was playing in his 98th career game. He is the 3,559th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/15
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    Red Sox
    Jackie Bradley Jr., RF
    6
    5
    5
    7
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    9.0
    `Tigers
    Justin Verlander
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    7
  

    NL
    8.2
    Dbacks
    Patrick Corbin (W,3-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    0
    0
    3
    8
  

    
    7.0
    Yankees
    Masahiro Tanaka (W,9-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    5
    1
    1
    3
    8
  

    
    7.0
    Twins
    Tyler Duffey (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    1
    0
    0
    5
    7
  

    
    7.0
    Pirates
    Joe Blanton (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.0
    1
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    
    5.0
    Rangers
    Shin-Soo Choo, RF
    4
    3
    3
    3
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Royals
    Jarrod Dyson, CF
    4
    2
    3
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Giants
    Matt Duffy, 3B
    5
    2
    2
    4
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Brewers
    Scooter Gennett, 2B
    4
    1
    4
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Orioles
    Chris Davis, 1B
    4
    2
    2
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Cardinals
    Mark Reynolds, 1B
    4
    2
    2
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Dodgers
    Yasiel Puig, RF
    3
    2
    2
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Padres
    Kevin Quackenbush (W,2-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.0
    Cubs
    Addison Russell, SS
    3
    2
    2
    0
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Indians' Kluber tops players for Sunday, Aug. 9; Cubs' Arrieta rises to 8th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank August 10, 2015

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings. Plus, Angels pitcher Jered Weaver earned Player of the Game honors, giving him 120.4 career Box-Toppers points.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 8.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	17.4
2	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	16.1
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
4	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	15.8
5	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	15.4
6	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	15.0
7	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	14.4
8	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	14.4
9	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	14.4
10	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	14.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Kluber pitched a three-hit complete game, allowing one run and striking out 10, in the 8-1 win over the Twins. Kluber had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning.

Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season and ranks 12th among American League pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out six, in the 2-0 win over the Giants.

Arrieta earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 14.4 for the season, rising to eighth place among players this season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox homered, tripled and drove in five runs in the 7-2 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Francisco Cervelli of the Pirates homered, tripled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 13-6 win over the Dodgers.

Notable—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver rose to 36th place among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Weaver (5IP 4H 2R 7K ND in the 5-4 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 120.4 for his career. With his point Sunday, Weaver passes Justin Verlander (119.9) on the “all-time” list (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). Weaver trails 35th-ranked player Cole Hamels (120.8). Weaver’s 120.4 career Box-Toppers points ranks fourth among active AL pitchers. He has 5.0 Box-Toppers points this season.

Debut—Richie Shaffer of the Rays made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Shaffer (HR 3-3 3R BI in the 4-3 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut Aug. 3 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,555th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Arrieta earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Bradley and Cervelli each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/9
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    13.0
    Indians
    Corey Kluber (W,7-12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    10
  

    
    9.2
    `Athletics
    Chris Bassitt
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    3
    1
    1
    2
    10
  

    NL
    7.2
    Cubs
    Jake Arrieta (W,13-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    4
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    
    6.1
    Blue Jays
    Marco Estrada (W,10-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    3
    0
    0
    3
    6
  

    BAT
    6.0
    Red Sox
    Jackie Bradley, CF
    3
    2
    2
    5
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.2
    `Royals
    Kris Medlen
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.2
    0
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Pirates
    Francisco Cervelli, C
    4
    2
    3
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Brewers
    Khris Davis, LF
    4
    2
    2
    4
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Rays
    Richie Shaffer, DH
    3
    3
    3
    1
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Marlins
    Brad Hand (W,2-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    1
    1
    2
    3
  

    
    4.0
    `Angels
    Jered Weaver
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    4
    2
    2
    0
    7
  

    
    3.0
    Phillies
    Jerome Williams (W,4-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    0
    3
  

    
    2.0
    Dbacks
    David Peralta, LF
    5
    1
    5
    1
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Rockies
    DJ LeMahieu, 2B
    1
    0
    1
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Mariners
    Jesus Montero, 1B
    3
    1
    1
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Cubs' Jon Lester tops players for Wednesday, July 29; Peavy, Verlander each earn 1st Box-Toppers points of 2015

Shawn Plank July 30, 2015

Cubs pitcher Jon Lester is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Wednesday, two players who earned their first Player of the Game honors of the season extended their streaks of seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point:

Giants pitcher Jake Peavy—14 seasons.
Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander—10 seasons.

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	16.4
2	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	15.4
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	15.0
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	14.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	13.1
6	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	13.1
7	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	13.0
8	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	13.0
9	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	13.0
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	12.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Lester struck out 14 over eight innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 3-2 win over the Rockies.

Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 117.1 for his career, rising to 40th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Wednesday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list, Todd Helton (116.4) and Mark Buehrle (116.7). He trails 39th-place player Barry Zito (117.4).

Lester is also the season’s highest-ranked of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday. With 8.0 Box-Toppers points this season, Lester ranks 31st among all players and 15th among NL pitchers.

Lester had a Box-Toppers game score of 12 Wednesday, the same as Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander (Player of the Game in the win over the Rays) but Lester won overall Player of the Day on a tiebreaker—he had more strikeouts than Verlander (14 vs. 10).

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 2-1 win over the Rays.

Verlander, earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2015, has now earned Box-Toppers points for 10 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Tigers. His best season was 2012 with the Tigers when he had 24.8 Box-Toppers points, first among all players that season. Verlander also led AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points in 2011, when he had 24.4. In 2014, he had 4.0 Box-Toppers points.

Verlander earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day and now has 119.9 for his career, rising to 35th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Wednesday, Verlander passes two players on the “all-time” list, Cliff Lee (119.1) and Jered Weaver (119.4). He trails 34th-place player Cole Hamels (120.8).

National League Batter of the Day—Bryce Harper of the Nationals hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four, in the 7-2 win over the Marlins.

Harper earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season and rises to second place among NL batters, behind Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals (8.5).

American League Batter of the Day—Troy Tulowitzki of the Blue Jays homered, doubled twice and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 8-2 win over the Phillies.

This was Tulowitzki’s first game since being traded from the Rockies. Tulowitzki led all NL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2014 with 11.6. With the 1.5 Box-Toppers points earned Wednesday for being AL Batter of the Day, Tulowitzki now has 6.0 for the season and ranks eighth among AL batters.

Streak—Giants pitcher Jake Peavy has now earned Box-Toppers points for 14 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Peavy (6IP 4H 0R 3K ND in the 5-0 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.

Peavy earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2002 with the Padres. His best year was 2007 with the Padres when he had 23.4 Box-Toppers points, first among all players that season. In 2014, Peavy had 5.7 Box-Toppers points with the Red Sox and Giants.

Peavy has 132.8 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 27th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 26th-place player Miguel Cabrera (132.9). Peavy’s 132.8 career Box-Toppers points ranks fifth among active NL pitchers.

Debut—Enrique Hernandez of the Dodgers made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Hernandez (PH 2B 1-1 R 2BI in the 10-7 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut July 1, 2014, and was playing in his 91st career game. He is the 3,541st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    7/29
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    12.0
    Cubs
    Jon Lester (W,6-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    5
    2
    2
    1
    14
  

    AL
    12.0
    Tigers
    Justin Verlander (W,1-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    1
    1
    0
    10
  

    
    7.0
    Indians
    Corey Kluber (W,6-11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    5
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    
    6.2
    Orioles
    Chris Tillman (W,8-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.2
    4
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    BAT
    6.0
    Nationals
    Bryce Harper, RF
    4
    3
    3
    4
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    Astros
    Lance McCullers (W,5-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    
    5.0
    Dbacks
    Patrick Corbin (W,2-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    2
    6
  

    
    5.0
    `Giants
    Jake Peavy
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Blue Jays
    Troy Tulowitzki, SS
    5
    3
    3
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Reds
    Anthony DeSclafani (W,6-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    3
    3
  

    
    3.0
    Pirates
    Andrew McCutchen, CF
    4
    2
    2
    3
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Dodgers
    Enrique Hernandez, PH
    1
    1
    1
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Rangers
    Shawn Tolleson (S,18)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    Padres
    Yangervis Solarte, 3B
    5
    2
    4
    1
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    White Sox
    Adam Eaton, CF
    6
    2
    3
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Phillies' Cole Hamels, throwing a no-hitter, tops players for Saturday, July 25; Sale, Martinez rise in Box-Toppers' top 10

Shawn Plank July 26, 2015

Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels, throwing a no-hitter against the Cubs, 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 2015 season as of July 25.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	15.4
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	15.0
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	14.4
4	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	14.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	13.1
6	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	13.0
7	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	13.0
8	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	12.7
9	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	12.7
10	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	12.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, two players rose in Box-Toppers player rankings top 10 after earning Player of the Game honors—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to third place and Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez rose to ninth place. Plus, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees, the active career Box-Toppers points leader, now has 187.0 career Box-Toppers points.

Player of the Day—Hamels pitched a no-hitter in the 5-0 win over the Cubs. He faced 29 batters and allowed two walks and struck out 13.

Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season. He is the 19th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and now ranks 20th among all players, 12th among NL pitchers.

Hamels has now earned at least 10 Box-Toppers points in each of his first 10 seasons.

In addition, Hamels now has 120.8 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 34th place in among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Saturday, Hamels passes two players on the “all-time” list—Cliff Lee (119.1) and Jered Weaver (119.4). He trails 33rd-place player Gary Sheffield (124.1). Hamels ranks seventh in career Box-Toppers points among active NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees hit three home runs and drove in four runs in the 8-5 win over the Twins.

Rodriguez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, rising to third among AL batters.

Rodriguez also now has 187.0 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank in fourth place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails third-place player Curt Schilling (194.1). Rodriguez leads all batters and all active players in career Box-Toppers points.

National League Batter of the Day—Kirk Nieuwenhuis of the Mets doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 15-2 win over the Dodgers.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day Saturday because the overall AL Player of the Day is a batter (Alex Rodriguez).

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

White Sox pitcher Chris Sale (7IP 7H 2R 7K W in the 10-3 win over the Indians) rose to third place with 14.4 Box-Toppers points. Sale, who earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point Saturday, ranks second among AL pitchers, behind overall leader Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (15.4).
Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez (8IP 6H 0R 6K W in the 1-0 win over the Braves) rose to ninth place with 12.7 Box-Toppers points. Martinez, who earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point Saturday, ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

Notable—Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto became the 20th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Cueto (8IP 4H 0R 5K W in the 5-2 win over the Rockies) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.8 for the season. He ranks 14th among all players and eighth among NL pitchers.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    7/25
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    20.0
    Phillies
    Cole Hamels (W,6-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    0
    0
    0
    2
    13
  

    
    8.0
    Dbacks
    Rubby De La Rosa (W,8-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    
    8.0
    Reds
    Johnny Cueto (W,7-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    7.0
    Cardinals
    Carlos Martinez (W,11-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    6
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    BAT
    6.0
    Mets
    Kirk Nieuwenhuis, CF-RF
    4
    2
    4
    4
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    AL
    6.0
    Yankees
    Alex Rodriguez, DH
    4
    3
    3
    4
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.2
    Orioles
    Miguel Gonzalez (W,9-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    5
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    
    5.0
    Giants
    Madison Bumgarner (W,11-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    
    3.0
    Nationals
    Michael Taylor, CF
    5
    1
    4
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    White Sox
    Chris Sale (W,9-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    2
    2
    0
    7
  

    
    3.0
    Padres
    Ian Kennedy (W,6-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    7
    1
    1
    1
    7
  

    
    3.0
    `Royals
    Danny Duffy
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    3
  

    
    2.0
    Tigers
    Nick Castellanos, 3B
    4
    1
    2
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Blue Jays
    Ezequiel Carrera, PH-LF
    2
    1
    1
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Rangers
    Rougned Odor, 2B
    4
    2
    2
    1
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Blue Jays' Hutchison tops players for Monday, May 25; Rangers' Fielder now leads AL batters in Box-Toppers points

Shawn Plank May 26, 2015

Blue Jays pitcher Drew Hutchison is Monday’s Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 25.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	9.7
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	8.0
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	7.0
4	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	7.0
5	Miller, Shelby 3134	pi sp	atl nl	7.0
6	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	6.7
7	Harper, Bryce 3011	lf rf	dc nl	6.5
8	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	phi nl	6.0
9	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	5.7
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	5.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Monday, Prince Fielder of the Rangers earned Player of the Game honors for the third time in four days and takes the Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters. In addition, Nolan Arenado of the Rockies earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day and Angels pitcher Jered Weaver rose to 34th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995.

Player of the Day—Hutchison pitched a complete game shutout, striking out eight and allowing four hits, in the 6-0 win over the White Sox.

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out eight in the 3-2, 10-inning win over the Diamondbacks. Martinez did not earn the win, picking up a no decision. After he exited, the Diamondbacks tied the game 2-2 before the Cardinals won 3-2 in the bottom of the 10th.

American League Batter of the Day—Rangers pitcher Prince Fielder homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 10-8 win over the Indians. It is the third time in four days Fielder has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He was also Player of the Game Friday, May 22 and AL Batter of the Day Saturday, May 23.

Fielder earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day Monday and has earned 4.0 Box-Toppers points over the four-day period. He has 5.5 Box-Toppers points for the season and now leads all AL batters, passing Colby Rasmus of the Astros (5.0 Box-Toppers points). He ranks 14th in Box-Toppers points among all players this season.

National League Batter of the Day—Norichika Aoki of the Giants homered and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-4 win over the Brewers.

Notable—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Monday. Arenado (HR 3-4 R 3BI in the 5-4 win over the Reds) was also NL Batter of the Day Monday, May 25. Arenado now has 4.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, ranking sixth among NL batters.

Rankings—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver rises to 34th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. Weaver was Player of the Game in the 4-3 win over the Padres (6.2IP 6H R 7K ND) and earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 119.4 for his career. He passes Cliff Lee (119.1 Box-Toppers points) on the list of players since 1995 and now trails the 33rd-place player, Gary Sheffield (124.1). Weaver’s 119.4 career Box-Toppers points ranks fourth among active pitchers currently in the AL. Weaver has 4.0 Box-Toppers points for the season and ranks 14th among AL pitchers for 2015.

Scoring—Hutchison earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Martinez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Fielder and Aoki each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/25
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    13.0
    Blue Jays
    Drew Hutchison (W, 4-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    4
    0
    0
    0
    8
  

    
    9.0
    Athletics
    Jesse Hahn (W, 2-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    NL
    8.0
    `Cardinals
    Carlos Martinez
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    2
    8
  

    
    5.0
    Orioles
    Brad Brach (W, 2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    4.2
    `Angels
    Jered Weaver
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    6
    1
    1
    1
    7
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Rangers
    Prince Fielder   DH
    5
    3
    3
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Giants
    Norichika Aoki   LF
    4
    2
    4
    2
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Yankees
    Brett Gardner   LF
    4
    3
    2
    3
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Pirates
    Francisco Cervelli   C
    2
    1
    2
    3
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Rockies
    Nolan Arenado   3B
    4
    1
    3
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Dodgers
    Alex Guerrero   PH
    1
    1
    1
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Mets
    Jeurys Familia (S, 14)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    Nationals
    Tanner Roark (W, 1-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    3
  

    
    1.2
    Twins
    Ricky Nolasco (W, 5-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    7
    2
    2
    0
    5
  

    
    1.0
    Mariners
    Roenis Elias (W, 2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    6
    1
    1
    3
    6
  

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

Brewers' Kyle Lohse (8IP 0R 8K) tops players for Friday, May 15

Shawn Plank May 16, 2015

Brewers pitcher Kyle Lohse is Friday’s Player of the Day.

Also Friday, two players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors, including last year’s Box-Toppers points leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	8.7
2	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	6.0
3	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	6.0
4	Harang, Aaron 1599	pi sp	phi nl	5.1
5	Miller, Shelby 3134	pi sp	atl nl	5.0
6	Hosmer, Eric 2886	1b	kc al	5.0
7	Harper, Bryce 3011	lf rf	dc nl	5.0
8	Heston, Chris 3437	pi sp	sf nl	5.0
9	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	4.7
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Lohse pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out eight, in the 7-0 win over the Mets.

American League Player of the Day—Lorenzo Cain of the Royals drove in five runs, while going 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs, in the 12-1 win over the Yankees.

National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Belt of the Giants hit a three-run home run and a double, going 3-for-5 with three runs and four RBIs, in the 10-2 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday since a batter (Lorenzo Cain of the Royals) was the overall AL Player of the Day.

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

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw now has 135.6 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 22nd among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995.

Kershaw (6.2IP 3R 10K W in the 6-4 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.0 for the season. Last year, Kershaw led all players with 31.5 Box-Toppers points, the fourth-highest single-season total since 1995. Still, Kershaw is not far off his 2014 pace—at this time last year, Kershaw had only 3.0 Box-Toppers points, only 1.0 more than he has this season.

Kershaw trails Bartolo Colon (136.4) for 21st place among all players since 1995. His career 135.6 Box-Toppers points puts him at 16th among all pitchers since 1995 and third among all active pitchers currently in the NL (behind Colon and Giants pitcher Tim Hudson—153.0).

Angels pitcher Jered Weaver now has 118.4 career Box-Toppers points and moves up to 36th place among all players since 1995, passing Justin Verlander (118.2) and Carlos Delgado (117.7) on that list.

Weaver (7.1IP 3H R W in the 3-1 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.

Weaver’s 118.4 career Box-Toppers points puts him at 24th place among all pitchers since 1995 and fourth among active pitchers currently in the AL—behind CC Sabathia (173.3), Johan Santana (166.6) and Felix Hernandez (152.0).

Debut—Todd Cunningham of the Braves made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Cunningham (2B 3-4 2R BI in the 5-2 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut July 30, 2013, and was playing in his ninth career game. He is the 3,468th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/15
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    13.0
    Brewers
    Kyle Lohse (W, 3-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    0
    0
    1
    8
  

    AL
    6.0
    Royals
    Lorenzo Cain   CF
    4
    2
    3
    5
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    5.0
    Giants
    Brandon Belt   1B
    5
    3
    3
    4
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    Nationals
    Jordan Zimmermann (W, 3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    6
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    
    4.1
    Angels
    Jered Weaver (W, 2-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.1
    3
    1
    1
    1
    3
  

    
    4.0
    Indians
    Michael Brantley   CF, LF
    3
    2
    3
    2
    2
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.2
    Dodgers
    Clayton Kershaw (W, 2-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    4
    3
    3
    3
    10
  

    
    3.0
    Tigers
    Yoenis Cespedes   LF
    5
    2
    3
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Cubs
    Kris Bryant   3B
    4
    2
    1
    4
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Phillies
    Freddy Galvis   SS
    2
    2
    1
    2
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Braves
    Todd Cunningham   LF
    4
    2
    3
    1
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Astros
    Jose Altuve   2B
    4
    1
    2
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    White Sox
    Adam LaRoche   DH
    3
    1
    1
    3
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    `Mariners
    J.A. Happ
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    1
    3
  

    
    1.0
    Twins
    Brian Dozier   2B
    3
    1
    1
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Angels' Weaver tops players for Friday, May 8; Nationals' Harper rises to lead NL batters in Box-Toppers points

Shawn Plank May 9, 2015

Angels pitcher Jered Weaver is Friday’s Player of the Day.

Meanwhile, Bryce Harper of the Nationals takes the Box-Toppers points lead among National League batters, rising to fourth place in overall player rankings and four players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earn Player of the Game honors Friday.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 8.


	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	Harper, Bryce 3011	lf rf	dc nl	5.0
5	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	4.7
6	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7
7	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	4.7
8	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	4.7
9	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
10	Rodriguez, Alex	dh	nyy al	4.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Weaver pitched a complete game, six-hit shutout, striking out six, in the 2-0 win over the Astros.

Earning 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Weaver has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Angels. His best year was 2011 with the Angels, when he had 22.8 Box-Toppers points, second among American League pitchers (Justin Verlander of the Tigers had 24.4).

Weaver now has 117.4 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 37th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Friday, he passes Barry Zito (117.4) and Todd Helton (116.4) on that list. Weaver’s 117.4 points ranks 25th among all pitchers since 1995 and fifth among active pitchers currently in the AL.

National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum pitched six scoreless innings, striking out eight, in the 6-0 win over the Marlins.

Lincecum earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 113.0 for his career, which puts him at 45th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Friday, Lincecum passes Kevin Brown (112.8) on that list. Lincecum’s 113.0 points ranks 31st among all pitchers since 1995 and ninth among all active pitchers currently in the NL.

American League Batter of the Day—Torii Hunter of the Twins homered and hit two doubles, going 4-for-4 with two runs and four RBIs, in the 9-3 win over the Indians.

Hunter earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 110.4 career Box-Toppers points, putting him in 49th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Friday, Hunter passes Dan Haren (110.2) and Jeff Kent (109.7) on that list. Hunter’s 110.4 points ranks 15th among all batters since 1995 and fifth among active batters currently in the AL.

National League Batter of the Day—Bryce Harper of the Nationals hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 9-2 win over the Braves.

Harper earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season. He now leads all NL batters—passing Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins (4.5)—and rises to fourth place among all players this season.

Notable—Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels now has 113.8 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday (7IP R 8K W in the 3-1 win over the Mets).

Hamels now ranks 42nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With the 1.0 Box-Toppers point he earned Friday, Hamels passes Chris Carpenter (113.3) and Sammy Sosa (113.2) on that list. Hamels’ 113.8 points ranks 29th among all pitchers since 1995 and eighth among active pitchers currently in the NL.

Debut—Mariners pitcher Carson Smith made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Smith (2IP 0R 3K W in the 4-3 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2014, and was playing in his 24th career game. He is the 3,460th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/8
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.0
    Angels
    Jered Weaver (W, 1-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    6
    0
    0
    0
    6
  

    NL
    8.0
    Giants
    Tim Lincecum (W, 3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    0
    0
    3
    8
  

    
    7.0
    Phillies
    Cole Hamels (W, 2-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    1
    2
    8
  

    BAT
    6.0
    Twins
    Torii Hunter   RF
    4
    2
    4
    4
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    6.0
    Nationals
    Bryce Harper   RF
    4
    2
    3
    5
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    Rays
    Nathan Karns (W, 2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    2
    2
    2
    9
  

    
    5.0
    Mariners
    Carson Smith (W, 1-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    3.0
    Cubs
    Jason Hammel (W, 3-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    2
    2
    3
    8
  

    
    3.0
    Blue Jays
    Aaron Sanchez (W, 3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    0
    0
    5
    3
  

    
    2.1
    Yankees
    Dellin Betances (W, 4-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    Cardinals
    Kolten Wong   2B
    5
    1
    3
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Padres
    Will Venable   CF
    5
    2
    3
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Tigers
    Ian Kinsler   2B
    4
    0
    4
    2
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    0.0
    Dodgers
    Adrian Gonzalez   1B
    3
    0
    2
    1
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

How did baseball's statistical leaders for 2014 do in Box-Toppers points?

Shawn Plank December 10, 2014

How did baseball’s statistical leaders do in Box-Toppers points?

The leaders in pitching statistical categories in general did better than leaders in batting statistical categories.

Wins leaders Kershaw, Kluber also lead in Box-Toppers points and in 'sincere, deserved' wins

Shawn Plank November 26, 2014

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw led the Majors in wins in 2014 and also led all players in Box-Toppers points.

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber was co-leader in wins in the American League and also led all AL players in Box-Toppers points.

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Lead changes

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers

Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.