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

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

Top 10 players

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

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

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hernandez has 2.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.

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

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

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

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

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

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

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

What are those numbers after players' names?

Nationals' Max Scherzer strikes out 20, tops players for Wednesday, May 11, rises to 8th in Box-Toppers rankings

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who tied a Major League record by striking out 20 in a single game, is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 11:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	7.0
2	Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	bal al	6.7
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	6.0
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	5.7
5	Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	5.7
6	De La Rosa, Rubby 3342	pi sp	ari nl	5.7
7	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	5.4
8	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	5.0
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	5.0
10	Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	5.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Scherzer pitched a complete game, allowing two runs, six hits and no walks, in the 3-2 win over the Tigers. His 20 strikeouts in a nine-inning game ties the record of Roger Clemens of the Red Sox (who did it twice, in 1986 and 1996) and Kerry Wood of the Cubs (1998). (In 2001, Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks also struck out 20 in nine innings in a game that lasted 11 innings.)

While his 20 strikeouts tie a record, Scherzer’s Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +19.0 is only the fourth-highest score of the season. (See chart at the bottom of the page for the four highest Box-Toppers game scores of 2016.) In 2015, Scherzer had three games with a Box-Toppers game score of +19.0 or more, including the season’s highest score of +26.0 in his Oct. 3 no-hitter. He also had the season’s third-highest score (+23.0 on June 14 in a one-hitter) and 11th-highest score (+19.0 on June 20 in a no-hitter).

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points Wednesday for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to eighth place in season player rankings, fourth among NL pitchers. He also rises to 51st place among players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) with 111.0 career points, moving past Tom Glavine (110.6) on the “all-time” list. Scherzer now trails 50th-ranked player, Cubs pitcher John Lackey (111.5).

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Michael Feliz struck out five over three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and earning the save, in the 5-3, 16-inning win over the Indians.

This was Feliz’ Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Feliz made his Major League debut May 31, 2015, and was playing in his 11th career game. He is the 3,632nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox hit a three-run homer, a two-run homer and a double in the 13-3 win over the Athletics. Bradley also went 3-for-6, driving in six total runs.

National League Batter of the Day—Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies homered and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 8-7 win over the Diamondbacks.

Notable—Noah Syndergaard of the Mets became the second pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting.

Syndergaard (2HR 2-4 2R 4BI in the 4-3 win over the Dodgers) had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 for batting and a score of +3.0 for pitching (8IP 6H 2R BB K W). Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals is the other pitcher who earned Player of the Game honors for batting this season when he did it on May 2. In 2015, pitchers won Player of the Game honors for batting seven times.

Streak—Nelson Cruz of the Mariners has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Cruz (HR 1-3 2R 2BI in the 6-5 win over the Rays) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Rangers and has 48.2 career points, fifth among active AL outfielders and 10th among active AL designated hitters. His best season was 2014 with the Orioles when he had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, sixth among AL batters. He had 2.0 points in 2015 with the Mariners.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/11	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	19.0	Nationals	Max Scherzer (W,4-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	6	2	2	0	20
	10.0	Padres	Drew Pomeranz (W,4-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	3	10
	8.0	Braves	Williams Perez (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	2	1	1	0	4
	8.0	Cardinals	Jaime Garcia (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	2	0	1	8
AL	7.0	Astros	Michael Feliz (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.0	1	0	0	0	5
	6.1	Marlins	Wei-Yin Chen (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	6	2	2	2	12
BAT	6.0	Red Sox	Jackie Bradley Jr., CF	5	2	3	6	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	Orioles	Chris Davis, 1B	5	2	4	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	4.0	Rockies	Charlie Blackmon, CF	5	3	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Mets	Noah Syndergaard, P	4	2	2	4	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.2	`Giants	Madison Bumgarner	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	3	1	1	4	5
	2.0	Rangers	Ian Desmond, CF-LF	4	2	2	2	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Pirates	Jung Ho Kang, 3B	3	2	2	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Padres	Brett Wallace, 3B	3	1	1	3	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Mariners	Nelson Cruz, DH	3	2	1	2	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Royals	Lorenzo Cain, CF	2	1	1	2	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	5.0	26.0	90.6	111.0	-16.0
Davis, Chris 2478	1b	bal al	4.5	15.5	46.4	54.9	-6.5
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	4.0	14.4	14.4	14.4	-6.4
Garcia, Jaime 2508	pi sp	stl nl	4.0	13.4	31.1	39.8	-5.4
Pomeranz, Drew 3061	pi sp mr	sd nl	4.0	7.0	15.0	15.0	1.0
Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	3.0	20.0	90.0	95.7	-14.0
Bradley, Jackie Jr. 3293	cf	bos al	2.5	12.0	13.0	13.0	-7.0
Cain, Lorenzo 3171	cf	kc al	2.0	10.2	16.2	16.2	-6.2
Desmond, Ian 2673	lf cf ss	tex al	2.0	3.0	18.7	25.2	1.0
Feliz, Michael 3632	pi cp	hou al	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7
Blackmon, Charlie 2891	cf	col nl	1.5	4.0	9.5	9.5	-1.0
Chen, Wei-Yin 3026	pi sp	fla nl	1.0	6.7	26.1	26.1	-4.7
Perez, Williams 3476	pi sp	atl nl	1.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	-3.0
Kang, Jung-Ho 3464	ss 3b	pit nl	1.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	-2.0
Cruz, Nelson 2224	dh rf	sea al	1.0	3.0	28.7	48.2	-1.0
Wallace, Brett 2837	3b	sd nl	1.0	1.0	3.5	3.5	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Top Box-Toppers game scores of 2016

Here are the top Box-Toppers game scores of 2016. Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez had the highest score of +22.0 on April 14. Also shown are the Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the game by the player. Note that Jaime Garcia of the Cardinals earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point because he earned his Box-Toppers game score of +20 on April 14, the same day Velasquez bested him for Player of the Day with +22.0.

Date	BTP	Score	Team	Player of the Game	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
4/14	2.0	22.0	Phillies	Vince Velasquez (W,2-0)	9.0	3	0	0	0	16
4/14	1.0	20.0	Cardinals	Jaime Garcia (W,1-0)	9.0	1	0	0	1	13
5/1	2.0	20.0	Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw (W,3-1)	9.0	3	0	0	0	14
5/11	2.0	19.0	Nationals	Max Scherzer (W,4-2)	9.0	6	2	2	0	20

Dodgers' Kershaw tops players for Sunday, May 1, rises to 1st in season player rankings, 10th in ‘all-time' rankings

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to first place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 1:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	6.0
2	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	5.0
3	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	5.0
4	Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	cf lf dh ph	nym nl	4.5
5	Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	kc al	4.4
6	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	4.4
7	Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	bal al	4.2
8	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	4.0
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	4.0
10	De La Rosa, Rubby 3342	pi sp mr	ari nl	4.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

In addition, Kershaw rises to 10th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began).

Kershaw pitched a complete game shutout, striking out 14 and allowing three hits, in the 1-0 win over the Padres.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, rising to first place in player rankings, displacing previous leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (5.0 Box-Toppers points).

Kershaw also now has 165.3 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 10th place in “all-time” rankings, passing two players—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (163.7) and Roger Clemens (164.8). Kershaw now trails ninth-place player Johan Santana (166.6).

Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +20.0, the third time this season a player has had a game score of +20.0 or more. It is the second-highest game score of the season, behind only the +22.0 earned April 14 by Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez.

American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 5-1 win over the Rays.

All-time leaders

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	pi sp	retired	278.8
2	Pedro Martinez	pi sp	retired	244.8
3	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
4	Alex Rodriguez	dh	nyy al	187.0
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	179.0
6	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	175.3
7	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
8	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
9	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
10	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	165.3
11	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
12	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	163.7
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
16	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
17	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
18	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
19	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	148.4
20	Javier Vazquez	pi sp	retired	148.3

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

National League Batter of the Day—Chris Carter of the Brewers homered twice and doubled, going 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 14-5 win over the Marlins.

American League Batter of the Day—Nick Castellanos of the Tigers homered and went 1-for-3, driving in four runs, in the 6-5 win over the Twins.

Rankings—Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez rose to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Velasquez (6IP 2H 0R 6K W in the 2-1 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season.

Notable—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rose to 53rd place in “all-time” Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. 

Scherzer (7IP 4H 0R 9K W in the 6-1 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 109.0 for his career. With his point, he passes three players on Box-Toppers “all-time” list—Lance Berkman (108.1), Kevin Millwood (108.3) and Billy Wagner (108.7). Scherzer now trails the 52nd-ranked player on the list, Jeff Kent (109.7). (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.) Scherzer has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Debut—Reds pitcher Tim Adleman made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Adleman (6IP 3H 2R 6K ND in the 6-5 win over the Pirates) was making his Major League debut. He is the 3,625th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/1	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	20.0	Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	0	0	0	14
	13.0	`Braves	Julio Teheran	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	1	9
	12.0	Nationals	Max Scherzer (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	0	9
AL	10.0	Blue Jays	Marcus Stroman (W,4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	1	1	2	9
	6.0	Phillies	Vince Velasquez (W,4-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	4	6
BAT	4.0	Brewers	Chris Carter, 1B	5	3	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Giants	Madison Bumgarner (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	6	0	0	3	7
	3.0	Rockies	Nolan Arenado, 3B	4	2	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Tigers	Nick Castellanos, 3B	3	1	1	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	`Reds	Tim Adleman	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	2	2	2	6
	3.0	Royals	Ian Kennedy (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	4	1	1	2	6
	3.0	Red Sox	Craig Kimbrel (S,8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Angels	Kole Calhoun, RF	4	1	3	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	White Sox	Melky Cabrera, LF	4	2	3	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Astros	Luke Gregerson (S,5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	6.0	31.7	131.8	165.3	-19.7
Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	3.5	12.0	13.5	13.5	-5.0
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	3.0	24.0	88.6	109.0	-18.0
Kennedy, Ian 2723	pi sp	kc al	3.0	9.7	53.5	59.5	-3.7
Castellanos, Nick 3349	3b	det al	3.0	9.2	11.2	11.2	-3.2
Carter, Chris 2828	1b dh	mil nl	2.5	3.5	21.4	22.4	1.5
Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	2.0	19.0	89.0	94.7	-15.0
Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	bos al	2.0	8.0	51.7	52.7	-4.0
Gregerson, Luke 2563	pi cp	hou al	2.0	8.0	12.0	17.0	-4.0
Stroman, Marcus 3327	pi sp	tor al	1.7	4.4	18.1	18.1	-1.0
Teheran, Julio 3176	pi sp	atl nl	1.0	8.7	36.8	36.8	-6.7
Calhoun, Kole 3279	rf	ana al	1.0	4.2	11.7	11.7	-2.2
Cabrera, Melky 2143	lf	chi al	1.0	2.0	16.5	27.5	0.0
Adleman, Tim 3625	pi sp	cin nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

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

Top 10 players

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

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

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All-time leaders

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

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

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

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

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

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Jake Arrieta pitches no-hitter, tops players for Thursday, April 21, rises to 1st in Box-Toppers player rankings

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta, pitching a no-hitter, is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to first place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

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

	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?

Arrieta allowed no hits and four walks, striking out six, in the complete game, 16-0 win over the Reds, his second career no-hitter.

Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to first in Box-Toppers season player rankings. Arrieta led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 29.1.

While Arrieta’s no-hitter is the first of the season, his Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +11.0 ranks 10th among the highest game scores of the season so far.

American League Player of the Day—Royals pitcher Edinson Volquez pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, in the 4-0 win over the Tigers. Volquez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 4.4 for the season and rising to second place in season player rankings.

American League Batter of the Day—Robinson Cano of the Mariners hit a 10th-inning, go-ahead three-run homer in the 10-7 win over the Indians. Cano also went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 3.5 for the season and rising to sixth in season player rankings. He leads AL batters in Box-Toppers points and is the only batter ranked among the top 10 players.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because no NL Batter of the Day earned Player of the Game honors. Kris Bryant of the Cubs had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +8.0 in his team’s win over the Reds (2HR 4-6 4R 6BI), but did not earn Player of the Game honors because he was overshadowed by teammate Arrieta, who threw a no-hitter and had a game score of +11.0. So despite Bryant’s strong performance, he earns no Box-Toppers points.

All-time leaders

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	pi sp	retired	278.8
2	Pedro Martinez	pi sp	retired	244.8
3	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
4	Alex Rodriguez	dh	nyy al	187.0
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	179.0
6	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	174.3
7	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
8	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
9	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
10	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
11	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	163.3
12	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	162.7
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
16	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
17	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
18	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
19	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	148.4
20	Javier Vazquez	pi sp	retired	148.3

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

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rose to third in Box-Toppers season player rankings and 11th in “all-time” player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Kershaw (8IP 10H R 10K ND in the 2-1 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season and 163.3 for his career. He passes Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (162.7) to move into 11th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He is also now the fourth-ranked active player in Box-Toppers points, behind Alex Rodriguez (187.0), CC Sabathia (179.0) and Albert Pujols (174.3). Kershaw trails 10th-place player on the list, Roger Clemens (164.8).

Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Tyler Wagner made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Wagner (5IP 2H 0R K W in the 6-2 win over the Giants) made his Major League debut May 31, 2015, and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,618th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/21	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Cubs	Jake Arrieta (W,4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	0	0	0	4	6
	9.0	Pirates	Gerrit Cole (W,1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	0	7
AL	6.0	Royals	Edinson Volquez (W,3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	1	5
	6.0	Athletics	Rich Hill (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	2	1	4	10
	5.1	Twins	Ricky Nolasco (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	5	1	1	1	7
	5.0	`Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	10	1	1	1	10
	5.0	Marlins	Tom Koehler (W,1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	2	1	1	1	5
BAT	4.0	Mariners	Robinson Cano, 2B	5	2	3	4	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Dbacks	Tyler Wagner (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	2	0	0	0	1
	3.0	Rays	Logan Forsythe, 2B	4	3	3	1	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Rangers	Ian Desmond, LF	4	2	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Angels	Mike Trout, CF	2	1	2	2	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Orioles	Darren O'Day (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	1	3
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	5.0	34.1	61.8	64.8	-24.1
Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	kc al	4.4	11.4	36.1	62.2	-2.6
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	4.0	29.7	129.8	163.3	-21.7
Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	sea al	3.5	10.0	39.0	70.9	-3.0
Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	2.7	6.7	6.7	26.4	-1.3
Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	1.0	20.0	30.4	30.4	-18.0
Trout, Mike 2949	cf	ana al	1.0	13.0	37.5	37.5	-11.0
Koehler, Tom 3159	pi sp	fla nl	1.0	5.0	13.0	13.0	-3.0
Nolasco, Ricky 2125	pi sp	min al	1.0	3.0	23.7	76.8	-1.0
O’Day, Darren 2577	pi mr cp	bal al	1.0	2.7	10.7	11.7	-0.7
Forsythe, Logan 3364	2b	tb al	1.0	2.5	4.0	4.0	-0.5
Desmond, Ian 2673	lf ss	tex al	1.0	2.0	17.7	24.2	0.0
Wagner, Tyler 3618	pi mr	ari nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Braves' Miller tops players for Sunday, Oct. 4; Kershaw picks up 3rd season with 25+ Box-Toppers points

Braves pitcher Shelby Miller is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day on the season’s final day.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	29.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	25.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	22.4
4	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	21.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	21.1
6	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	21.0
7	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	20.7
8	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
9	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	19.0
10	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	18.8

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Sunday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw passed 25 Box-Toppers points in a single season for the third time, only the third player to do that since 1995.

Plus, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom maintained his spot in third place in player rankings, behind Kershaw. In addition, eight players who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday had more than 10 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Player of the Day—Miller pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out seven, in the 6-0 win over the Cardinals.

Miller earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the 46th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points and ranks 44th among all players, 17th among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels pitched a complete game three-hitter, allowing two runs and striking out eight, in the 9-2 win over the Angels.

Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 15.4 for the season. He ranks 15th among all players, eighth among AL pitchers.

Hamels rises to 33rd place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Sunday, he has 126.2 career points and passes Justin Verlander (124.6) on the “all-time” list. He trails 32nd-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4).

American League Batter of the Day—Joey Butler of the Rays hit two home runs—a grand slam and a two-run homer—and went 3-for-4, in the 12-3 win over the Blue Jays.

This was Butler’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Butler made his Major League debut Aug. 7, 2013, and was playing in his 102nd career game. He is the 3,607th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. He is the 172nd and final player to debut in Box-Toppers during the 2015 season.

National League Batter of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-3 win over the Astros.

Goldschmidt earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.2 for the season. He becomes the 47th and final player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points, 10th among batters. He ranks 42nd among all players and fourth among NL batters.

Best seasons

Here are all players who have earned 25 or more Box-Toppers points in a single season since 1995, ranked by their single-season Box-Toppers point total. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw picked up his third 25+ point season of his career Sunday—his 25.7 Box-Toppers points in 2015 are tied for the 20th-most points in a single season since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began.  

Rank	Player	Team	Pos	Year	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2000	33.7
1	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2002	33.7
3	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	2000	33.5
4	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	1999	31.5
4	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2014	31.5
6	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	1999	31.4
7	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2001	29.4
8	*Jake Arrieta	Cubs	pi sp	2015	29.1
9	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	2002	28.8
10	Curt Schilling	Dbacks	pi sp	2002	28.4
11	Roger Clemens	Blue Jays	pi sp	1997	27.4
12	Johan Santana	Twins	pi sp	2004	26.8
13	Pedro Martinez	Expos	pi sp	1997	26.7
13	CC Sabathia	Indians/Brewers	pi sp	2008	26.7
15	Randy Johnson	Mariners/Astros	pi sp	1998	26.4
16	John Smoltz	Braves	pi sp	1996	26.1
16	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2011	26.1
18	Roger Clemens	Blue Jays	pi sp	1998	25.8
18	Corey Kluber	Indians	pi sp	2014	25.8
20	Johan Santana	Twins	pi sp	2006	25.7
20	*Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2015	25.7
22	Cliff Lee	Phillies	pi sp	2011	25.4
	* Current season

Kershaw—Clayton Kershaw (3.2IP 2H 0R 7K ND in the 6-3 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 25.7 for the season. He maintains his rank of second among all players and among NL pitchers, behind overall leader Jake Arrieta of the Cubs (29.1).

But Kershaw has now earned more than 25 Box-Toppers points for the third time in his career, a feat only done by two other players in the 21-season history of Box-Toppers:

Randy Johnson did it five times—1998 (26.4), 1999 (31.5), 2000 (33.7), 2001 (29.4) and 2002 (33.7).

Pedro Martinez did it four times—1997 (26.7), 1999 (31.4), 2000 (33.5) and 2002 (28.8).

Roger Clemens and Johan Santana are the only other players who have earned 25 points in a single season more than once. (See Best seasons chart.)

Kershaw earned 26.1 points in 2011 and 31.5 points in 2014. Despite earning 25.7 points this season, Kershaw’s streak of four straight seasons leading NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points comes to an end this year as he was topped by Arrieta. Kershaw also led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2011, 2013 and 2014.

Kershaw now has 159.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his spot in 13th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Kershaw trails 12th-place player John Smoltz (160.9).

Other notables who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday—

• Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (4IP 0H 0R 7K ND in the 1-0 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 22.4 for the season, maintaining his rank of third among all players and among NL pitchers, behind Arrieta and Kershaw.
• Indians pitcher Danny Salazar (5.1IP 4H R 6K W in the 3-1 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.4 for the season. He ranks 22nd among all players and 11th among AL pitchers.
• Pirates pitcher J.A. Happ (6IP 3H 0R 7K W in the 4-0 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.1 for the season. He ranks 24th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.
• Chris Davis of the Orioles (2HR 2B 3-4 3R 4BI in the 9-4 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season. He ranks 42nd among all players and fourth among AL batters.
• Cubs pitcher Dan Haren rose to 47th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Haren (6IP 3H R 3K W in the 3-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 113.2 for his career. With his point Sunday, he passes Sammy Sosa (113.2) on the “all-time” list. (It should be noted that Sosa began his career in 1989, before the advent of Box-Toppers. Were his entire career tracked, he would have about 135 career Box-Toppers points, according to rough estimates.) Haren trails 46th-ranked player Chris Carpenter (113.3).

Scoring—Miller 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. Butler and Goldschmidt each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

10/4	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	Braves	Shelby Miller (W,6-17)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	3	7
	9.0	`Mets	Jacob deGrom	-	-	-	-	-	-		4.0	0	0	0	2	7
	8.2	`Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.2	2	0	0	0	7
AL	8.0	Rangers	Cole Hamels (W,13-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	2	2	2	8
BAT	7.0	Rays	Joey Butler, DH	4	2	3	6	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	Pirates	J.A. Happ (W,11-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	3	7
	6.2	Braves	Matt Wisler (W,8-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.2	4	0	0	1	3
	6.0	Orioles	Chris Davis, 1B	4	3	3	4	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	Tigers	Daniel Norris (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	1	0	0	1	3
	4.1	Indians	Danny Salazar (W,14-10)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.1	4	1	1	1	6
	4.0	Mariners	Tom Wilhelmsen (S,13)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	3.2	`Phillies	David Buchanan	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	6	2	1	1	7
	3.0	Royals	Salvador Perez, C	3	2	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Dbacks	Paul Goldschmidt, 1B	3	2	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Rockies	Justin Morneau, PH	1	1	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Cubs	Dan Haren (W,11-9)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	1	1	3
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Mariners' Hernandez tops players for Thursday, Sept. 10, rises to lead AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points

Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fourth in overall player rankings, first among American League pitchers.

Hernandez pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out eight, in the 5-0 win over the Rangers.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	21.7
2	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	21.1
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?

He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 19.4 for the season. He regains the lead among AL pitchers, passing previous leader Dallas Keuchel of the Astros (19.4). 

Hernandez led all players in Box-Toppers points much of the season—including all of May and much of June—but by August nearly fell out of the top 10 list before rebounding. Hernandez lost his lead among all players on July 26 and lost his lead among AL pitchers on Aug. 8.

Hernandez also rises to 11th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Hernandez now has 162.7 Box-Toppers points, passing John Smoltz (160.9) on the “all-time” list. (It should be noted Smoltz began his career in 1988, so his first seven seasons weren’t recorded by Box-Toppers. Making rough extrapolations, Smoltz would likely have about 250 career Box-Toppers points if all his seasons were included.) Hernandez now trails 10th-ranked player Roger Clemens (164.8).

National League Player of the Day—Todd Frazier of the Reds homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 11-0 win over the Cardinals.

Frazier earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 8.9 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall NL Player of the Day was batter Todd Frazier.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because no AL batter earned Player of the Game honors.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/10	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	Mariners	Felix Hernandez (W,17-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	4	8
NL	4.0	Reds	Todd Frazier, 3B	5	3	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Rockies	Justin Miller (MR) (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	3.2	Indians	Cody Allen (W,2-4; BS,4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.2	1	0	0	0	3
	3.0	Mets	Juan Uribe, 3B	4	1	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Brewers	Logan Schafer, CF	1	1	1	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

A look back at how Box-Toppers watched players did in 2014

BOX-TOPPERS EXTRA

Andrew McCutchen may be selected as National League’s Most Valuable Player, but only ranks 18th among NL batters in Box-Toppers points. Mike Trout may be voted American League MVP but ranks seventh among AL batters in Box-Toppers points.

Box-Toppers watched players

Here are Box-Toppers' eight watched players at the close of the 2014 season. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players accumulated this season, followed by their overall rank among all players for 2014. Honors shows the four players who led Box-Toppers major player categories—AL and NL batting and pitching.

Player	Team	BTP	Rank	Honors
Derek Jeter	Yankees	0.0	996
Yasiel Puig	Dodgers	1.0	593
Andrew McCutchen	Pirates	6.5	137
Mike Trout	Angels	8.5	78
Troy Tulowitzki	Rockies	11.6	39	1st NL batter
Jose Abreu	White Sox	15.5	14	1st AL batter
Corey Kluber	Indians	25.8	2	1st AL pitcher
Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	31.5	1	1st NL pitcher

BTP: Box-Toppers points

Meanwhile, unexpected players—Jose Abreu and Troy Tulowitzki—who may have no chance at even being considered for postseason honors, are among Box-Toppers points leaders.

Why?

Why do some unexpected players excel in Box-Toppers points? And why do some star players seem to lag behind with fewer Box-Toppers points?

This season, Box-Toppers set to demonstrate why by focusing on a limited number of players and their daily performances. These watched players—featured in Box-Toppers Facebook posts and specially hashtagged Box-Toppers Twitter posts—showed when a player was deserving of earning Box-Toppers points or showed how other players in their game beat them out for points.

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn 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.

At the end of the season, Box-Toppers was watching eight players—four of them lead key Box-Toppers categories (NL and AL pitching and batting) and four others are players who often do not score well in Box-Toppers points but who are frequently highly touted, considered for postseason honors and are considered to be stars.

Here is a look at the eight players (including the Twitter hashtag (#) used in daily “watched” posts):

Derek Jeter, Yankees #jeterwatch

2014 Box-Toppers point total: 0.0

Jeter, 40, is surely a future Hall-of-Famer, but in 145 games, he did not earn Player of the Game honors in any of the Yankees wins in his retirement season.

Box-Toppers watched him this season because he announced his retirement prior to the season and we thought it would be interesting to see how he fared in his last year. But Box-Toppers also watched him because he tended not to score as highly in Box-Toppers as his reputation as a star would indicate. 

In his career, he scored 76.4 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 127th among all players. To give some perspective, he trails DH Travis Hafner (in 123rd place with 76.9 points), who is not exactly on the glidepath to Cooperstown that Jeter is.

But to be fair, Jeter ranks second among all shortstops all-time, trailing Miguel Tejada (102.3 Box-Toppers points). The shortstop position is generally not called upon for the offensive numbers required to win Player of the Game honors and earn Box-Toppers points.

Jeter’s Box-Toppers points total have also likely been impacted over the years because of the caliber of the talent on his own team—players like Roger Clemens, CC Sabathia, Jason Giambi, who have been his teammates, have more career Box-Toppers points than Jeter and likely beat him out on occasion for Player of the Game honors.

For example, Jeter did not even earn Player of the Game honors in his final game at Yankee Stadium Sept. 25. While Jeter drove in the winning run on a dramatic, walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth (and was 2-for-5 with a run and three RBIs), he was beat out for Player of the Game by pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, who struck out nine over eight innings in the win over the Orioles.

Also, Jeter’s star power does not come from putting together performances that frequently make him Player of the Game. It often comes from anecdotal (but real) flashes of brilliance that make the highlight reel, that do contribute to the win, that wows the fans to the point of deserved admiration, but do not translate well to the scorecard, the box score—or to Box-Toppers points.

More on Derek Jeter in this February post in Box-Toppers Stick-A-Fork-In-Them series on retiring or soon-to-be retiring players.

Yasiel Puig, Dodgers #puigwatch

2014 Box-Toppers point total: 1.0

145th among NL batters

593rd among all players

Box-Toppers watched Puig this year because of the buzz he created. True, he led the NL in on-base percentage and had the NL’s eighth-best batting average—but he only once was Dodger’s top player in a win, on May 12. He has only earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors twice in his career and has only 2.5 career Box-Toppers points in two seasons.

Is Puig overrated and not living up to the hype, at least in terms of helping the Dodgers win games? Or is Puig perhaps overshadowed by other players on his team who contributed more to Dodgers wins, especially pitcher Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, who were among the overall Box-Toppers points leaders?

Andrew McCutchen, Pirates #cutchwatch

2014 Box-Toppers point total: 6.5

18th among NL batters

137th among all players

A leader in new-fangled baseball statistics, such as Wins Above Replacement and on-base plus slugging, the 2013 NL MVP is touted by many to repeat the feat in 2014.

But in 2013, he finished 22nd among NL batters in Box-Toppers points with 6.0. This year, he is slightly improved, with 6.5 points—18th among NL batters. According to Box-Toppers, he is not the NL batter who most helped his team win the most games. In fact, he is not even the top Pirates batter, an honor that goes to Neil Walker (7.0 Box-Toppers points).

Mike Trout, Angels #troutwatch

2014 Box-Toppers point total: 8.5

7th among AL batters

78th among all players

Another sabermetrician favorite and leader in wins above replacement, Trout actually had a decent season Box-Toppers-wise—just not among the top five of AL batters.

Trout was watched this season because he has been touted as an MVP candidate for two seasons, finishing behind Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers both times. With Cabrera ostensibly out of the limelight since he is not having another Triple Crown season, the door has been opened for Trout to finally claim MVP this year. However, it should be noted that Cabrera has 12.5 Box-Toppers points this season, in second among AL batters and ahead of Trout.

But ahead of both Trout and Cabrera in Box-Toppers points is rookie Jose Abreu of the White Sox with 15.5 points.

In 2013, Trout had only 3.5 Box-Toppers points and yet finished second in AL MVP voting. This year is his second-best ever (he had 11.0 points in 2012) and he is the leading batter among Angels players in Box-Toppers points, third-best among all Angels players.

Jose Abreu, White Sox #abreuwatch

2014 Box-Toppers point total: 15.5

1st among AL batters

14th among all players

Rookie Jose Abreu has been a Box-Toppers watched player since he assumed the lead among AL batters in June. He hit 36 home runs and led the AL in slugging percentage (.581) and handily won Box-Toppers AL Batter of the Year honors—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers finished second with 12.5 Box-Toppers points.

Abreu should win AL Rookie of the Year honors. But despite his performance, it is unclear whether he is even being taken seriously as a candidate for AL MVP.

Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies #tulowatch

2014 Box-Toppers point total: 11.6

1st among NL batters

39th among all players

Tulowitzki played only 91 games this season—he last played July 19 and was out with injury and hip surgery after that. No one in their right mind would consider that anyone who missed nearly half the season should be considered as NL MVP.

And yet, according to Box-Toppers, no other NL batter playing an entire season even came close the the 11.6 Box-Toppers points Tulowitzki earned in his short time. Second-place Buster Posey of the Giants had 8.5.

Early in the season, Tulowitzki was the rare batter among Box-Toppers top 10 overall players. But even as he fell down to 39th among all players, he never fell from first among NL batters in Box-Toppers points.

It could be argued that NL batters were so lackluster and so overshadowed by NL pitchers in 2014 that no batter should win MVP and the honor should go instead to Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw. More on him in a second.

Corey Kluber, Indians #kluberwatch

2014 Box-Toppers point total: 25.8

1st among AL pitchers

2nd among all players

Kluber came on late to take the AL pitching lead from Max Scherzer of the Tigers (22.1 Box-Toppers points, second among AL pitchers).

Kluber became one of only 11 players in Box-Toppers’ 20 years of record keeping to reach 25 Box-Toppers points in a season.

Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers #clawwatch

2014 Box-Toppers point total: 31.5

1st among NL pitchers

1st among all players

Kershaw’s season was dominant. Despite missing six weeks with injury at the start of the season, Kershaw racked up the fourth-best single-season Box-Toppers point total in 20 years.

It was a year so dominant in a year in an overall down year for NL batters, Kershaw is being touted for the NL MVP.

Nationals' Fister tops players for Friday, Sept. 26; Indians' Kluber passes 25 Box-Toppers points, extends lead among AL pitchers

Nationals pitcher Doug Fister is Friday’s Player of the Day, while Indians pitcher Corey Kluber has now earned more than 25 Box-Toppers points, only the 20th time in 20 seasons a player has reached that threshold.

Most BTP single season

Corey Kluber of the Indians is now tied for the 17th-best single season in Box-Toppers history (dating back to 1995), with 25.8 Box-Toppers points. It is the 20th time in 20 seasons a player has passed 25 Box-Toppers points and the second time this season—Clayton Kershaw has 31.5.

Rank	Player	Team	Pos	Year	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2000	33.7
1	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2002	33.7
3	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	2000	33.5
4	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	1999	31.5
4	*Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2014	31.5
6	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	1999	31.4
7	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2001	29.4
8	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	2002	28.8
9	Curt Schilling	Dbacks	pi sp	2002	28.4
10	Roger Clemens	Blue Jays	pi sp	1997	27.4
11	Johan Santana	Twins	pi sp	2004	26.8
12	Pedro Martinez	Expos	pi sp	1997	26.7
12	CC Sabathia	Indians/Brewers	pi sp	2008	26.7
14	Randy Johnson	Mariners/Astros	pi sp	1998	26.4
15	John Smoltz	Braves	pi sp	1996	26.1
15	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2011	26.1
17	Roger Clemens	Blue Jays	pi sp	1998	25.8
17	*Corey Kluber	Indians	pi sp	2014	25.8
19	Johan Santana	Twins	pi sp	2006	25.7
20	Cliff Lee	Phillies	pi sp	2011	25.4

* Current season
BTP: Box-Toppers points

Fister pitched a complete game, three-hit shutout, striking out nine and walking none, in the 4-0 win over the Marlins. Fister earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.4 for the season. He ranks 18th among all players and ninth among National League pitchers.

Kluber extended his lead among American League pitchers and maintained his overall No. 2-ranking in Box-Toppers points after earning AL Player of the Day honors Friday. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.) Kluber pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out 11 in the 1-0 win over the Rays. He earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 25.8 for the season.

Kluber is now all but assured to be Box-Toppers’ AL Player of the Year and top AL pitcher. With two days left in the season, he leads second-place AL player, Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer (22.1 Box-Toppers points) by 3.7 points.

Kluber now also has the 17th most Box-Toppers points earned in a single season since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. His 25.8 points is tied for 17th place on the “all-time” list with Roger Clemens, who also had 25.8 points with the Blue Jays in 1998. Kluber’s 25.8 points marks the 20th time in 20 seasons a player has earned 25 or more Box-Toppers points. It is the second time this season—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw has 31.5.

Justin Bour of the Marlins is NL Batter of the Day. Bour went 3-for-4, scored four times and drove in two runs, in the 15-7 win over the Nationals. This was Bour’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors. He is the 3,433rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. Bour made his Major League debut June 5 and was playing in his 37th game.

Brian Dozier of the Twins is AL Batter of the Day. Dozier homered and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 11-4 win over the Tigers.

Notables: Athletics pitcher Scott Kazmir ranks 15th in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. Kazmir (7IP 5K W in the 6-2 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.1 for the season. He ranks eighth among AL pitchers.

Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman ranks 22nd in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. Stroman (4IP 0R 4K Sv in the 4-2 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.7 for the season. He ranks ninth among AL pitchers.

Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma ranks 34th in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. Iwakuma (6.1IP W in the 4-3 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.0 for the season. He ranks 19th among AL pitchers.

Fister receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Kluber receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Bour and Dozier each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

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

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

926	Score	Team	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	15.0	Nationals	Doug Fister (W, 16-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	0	0	0	9
AL	12.0	Indians	Corey Kluber (W, 18-9)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	5	0	0	2	11
	8.0	Royals	Jeremy Guthrie (W, 13-11)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	1	6
	7.0	Blue Jays	Marcus Stroman (S, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		4.0	1	0	0	0	4
	6.2	Yankees	Chris Capuano (W, 3-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	4	1	0	0	5
	6.0	Padres	Ian Kennedy (W, 13-13)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	0	2	6
BAT	5.0	Marlins	Justin Bour 1B	4	4	3	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	Athletics	Scott Kazmir (W, 15-9)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	2	1	0	5
BAT	4.0	Twins	Brian Dozier 2B	5	3	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.2	`Astros	Brad Peacock	-	-	-	-	-	-		4.2	4	1	1	2	7
	2.1	Mariners	Hisashi Iwakuma (W, 15-9)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	4	2	2	0	4
	2.0	Cubs	Javier Baez SS	5	2	3	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Dodgers	Darwin Barney PH	1	1	1	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Pirates	Mark Melancon (S, 33)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Cardinals	Jhonny Peralta SS	5	0	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Phillies	Cody Asche 3B	4	2	2	1	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-

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

Pujols rises from 10th to 7th on Box-Toppers 'all-time' career points list

SPECIAL REPORT

Albert Pujols of the Angels rose from 10th to seventh place on the “all-time” career Box-Toppers points list this past week.

Pujols, who was American League batter of the day twice in the past week, picked up 3.0 Box-Toppers points, increasing his career Box-Toppers points total from 164.3 to 167.3. In the process, he passed three players on the all-time top list:

Top 10 players 'all-time'

Here are Box-Toppers' Top 10 'all-time' players (record keeping began in 1995). The list includes four players who are currently active in the Majors. One, Manny Ramirez, who plays and coaches in the Minor Leagues. Another player, Alex Rodriguez, is serving a drug suspension in 2014. The list also includes five retired players.

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	pi sp		278.8
2	Pedro Martinez	pi sp		244.8
3	Curt Schilling	pi sp		194.1
4	Alex Rodriguez	3b dh	susp	179.3
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	Yankees	173.3
6	Roy Halladay	pi sp		170.7
7	Albert Pujols	dh 1b	Angels	167.3
8	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	Cubs	167.2
9	Johan Santana	pi sp	Orioles	166.6
10	Roger Clemens	pi sp		164.8

susp-Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees has been suspended for the 2014 season.
BTP: Box-Toppers points

• Retired pitcher Roger Clemens (164.8 Box-Toppers points, now in 10th place).

• Pitcher Johan Santana, currently on the disabled list with the Orioles (166.6 Box-Toppers points, now ranked ninth).

• Left fielder/designated hitter Manny Ramirez, currently a minor league player/coach for the Cubs (167.2 Box-Toppers points, now at number eight).

Pujols also moved from third to second among all batters, passing Ramirez. He now trails only overall batting leader, Alex Rodriguez (179.3 Box-Toppers points), currently suspended from baseball under the performance enhancing drug policy.

The only currently active, non-suspended player ahead of Pujols on Box-Toppers career top 10 list is Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, who is in fifth place with 173.3 Box-Toppers points.

Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995.

Reds' Mike Leake (8IP 1R 12K) tops players for Thursday, June 26

Reds pitcher Mike Leake is Thursday’s Player of the Day. Leake struck out 12 over eight innings, allowing one run, in the 3-1 win over the Giants.

Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ is American League Player of the Day. Happ pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out eight, in the 7-0 win over the White Sox.

Gregory Polanco of the Pirates is National League Batter of the Day. Polanco homered, went 2-for-3 and drove in four runs in the 5-0 win over the Mets. This was Polanco’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors—he is the 3,361st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. Polanco made his Major League debut June 10 and was playing in his 15th game.

Albert Pujols of the Angels is AL Batter of the Day. Pujols went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs in the 6-4 win over the Twins. 

Pujols earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points, giving him 3.0 for the season. He is in 10th place on Box-Toppers “all-time” leaderboard (Box-Toppers began record keeping in 1995) with 162.8 points, just ahead of John Smoltz (160.9) and just behind Roger Clemens (164.8). So far in 2014, only 4.0 Box-Toppers points have been earned by players in the all-time top 10 list—3.0 by Pujols and 1.0 by Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia (in fifth place with 173.3 Box-Toppers points). They are the only two players on the top 10 list who have seen playing time this season.

Leake receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Happ receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Polanco and Pujols each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

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

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

626	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	Reds	Mike Leake (W, 6-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	1	1	1	12
AL	9.2	Blue Jays	J.A. Happ (W, 7-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	4	0	0	2	8
	9.0	Tigers	Rick Porcello (W, 10-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	0	0	3	6
	5.0	`Dodgers	Josh Beckett	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	2	4
BAT	4.0	Pirates	Gregory Polanco RF	3	1	2	4	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Angels	Albert Pujols DH	4	2	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Astros	Matt Dominguez 3B	3	2	1	3	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Brewers	Scooter Gennett PH, 2B	1	1	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	`Phillies	Cole Hamels	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	3	3	0	7
	2.0	Cubs	Hector Rondon (S, 9)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1

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

Barry Zito takes a twilight career break—he was No. 2 AL pitcher in Box-Toppers points twice

One in a series

Box-Toppers’ Stick-A-Fork-In-Them series looks at 14 players whose careers are done or may be done. Included is a look at how they have fared in Box-Toppers points over their careers, reflecting their impact on the game over time. This is the 11th of the series:

11. Barry Zito

Barry Zito, 35, is taking a year off from pitching but says he is not retired.

Zito won the 2002 American League Cy Young Award and was the No. 2 AL pitcher in Box-Toppers points in both 2001 and 2002.

Barry Zito

Here are Barry Zito's Box-Toppers statistics. The third column shows his Box-Toppers points (BTP) per season. The final column shows his All-Star Selections, his Box-Toppers key season rankings and his standing in key postseason awards voting.

Year	Team	BTP	Notes
2000	oak al	2.0	RoY-6
2001	oak al	18.1	BTP-5, BTP-AL pi-2, MVP-21
2002	oak al	20.1	AS, BTP-5, BTP-AL pi-2, CYA-1, MVP-13
2003	oak al	9.7	AS, BTP-49, BTP-AL pi-15
2004	oak al	5.7
2005	oak al	11.4	BTP-32, BTP-AL pi-8
2006	oak al	9.0	AS, BTP-72, BTP-AL pi-22
2007	sf nl	7.0
2008	sf nl	6.0
2009	sf nl	10.0	BTP-48, BTP-NL pi-17
2010	sf nl	7.7
2011	sf nl	1.0
2012	sf nl	6.7
2013	sf nl	3.0
Total		117.4	BTP-31, BTP-pi-21

AS All-star selection
BTP Finish among all players in Box-Toppers points
BTP-AL pi Finish among all AL pitchers in BTP
BTP-NL pi Finish among all NL pitchers in BTP
CYA Finish in league Cy Young Award voting
MVP Finish in league Most Valuable Player Award voting
RoY Finish in Rookie of the Year voting

Source: Information for player awards comes from Baseball-Reference.com

He has 117.4 career Box-Toppers points from 2000 to 2013, ranking 21st among all pitchers and 31st among all players (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995).

Zito, who pitched for the Athletics from 2000 to 2006 and for the Giants from 2007 to 2013, has only received Cy Young Award votes once during his career—the year he won the prize. He is a two-time World Series champion with the Giants in 2010 and 2012.

Some career highlights:

• In 2001, he had 18.1 Box-Toppers points, second among AL pitchers and fifth among all players. However, he received no Cy Young votes that season. Roger Clemens of the Yankees won the AL Cy Young. Clemens had 12.4 Box-Toppers points, sixth among AL pitchers. Zito’s Athletics teammate Tim Hudson, who led AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points with 18.8, finished sixth in Cy Young voting with one vote.

• In 2002, he had 20.1 Box-Toppers points, his best season, finishing second among AL pitchers and fifth among all players. He won the AL Cy Young. Pedro Martinez of the Red Sox had the most Box-Toppers points among AL pitchers (28.8) and finished second in Cy Young voting.

• In 2003, he had 9.7 Box-Toppers points, 15th among AL pitchers and 49th among all players.

• In 2004, he had 11.4 Box-Toppers points, eighth among AL pitchers and 32nd among all players.

• In 2006, he had 9.0 Box-Toppers points, 22nd among AL pitchers and 72nd among all players.

• In 2009 with the Giants, he had 10.0 Box-Toppers points, 17th among National League pitchers and 48th among all players.

Zito had four seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points, two seasons with 15.0 or more and one season with more than 20.0. He has scored at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in each of the 14 seasons he’s played.

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

Coming next in the series: Chris Carpenter

Previously in the series: Alex Rodriguez, Roy Halladay, Manny Ramirez, Johan Santana, Jim Thome, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Roy Oswalt, Andy Pettitte, Todd Helton