A look at Box-Toppers 100 top-ranked players for 2016 at the All-Star break. Blue Jays and top-ranked Cubs have most representatives on the list.
Read MoreNationals' Scherzer tops players for Wednesday, June 29, rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers rankings
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third in player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of June 29:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 13.4 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.7 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 10.8 |
| 6 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
| 8 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 10.5 |
| 9 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 10.4 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.0 |
Also Wednesday, Indians pitcher Danny Salazar rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Player of the Day—Scherzer struck out 10 over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 4-2 win over the Mets.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.0 for the season, rising to third among all players and third among National League pitchers, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (20.0) and Jose Fernandez of the Marlins (13.4).
Scherzer also now has 118.0 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 39th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Wednesday, he passes five players on the “all-time” list—Todd Helton (116.4), Mark Buehrle (116.7), Cubs pitcher John Lackey (117.2), Barry Zito (117.4) and Carlos Delgado (117.7).
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Danny Salazar pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing five hits and no walks, in the 3-0 win over the Braves.
Salazar earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 10.5 for the season and rising to eighth in player rankings, third among AL pitchers, behind Corey Kluber of the Indians (10.8) and Chris Sale of the White Sox (10.7).
Salazar also becomes the 10th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.
American League Batter of the Day—Brian McCann of the Yankees hit two home runs, going 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in four, in the 9-7 win over the Rangers.
With his first Player of the Game honor of the season, McCann has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons, beginning in 2006 with the Braves. He has 56.7 career Box-Toppers points, first among active catchers and fifth among all catchers since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. His best season was 2009 with the Braves when he had 8.5 points, first among NL catchers. In 2015, he had 6.5 points with the Yankees, first among AL catchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Sean Rodriguez of the Pirates hit two doubles and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-1 win over the Mariners.
Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Salazar earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. McCann and Rodriguez 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
| 6/29 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.1 | DC 4/NYM 2 | Max Scherzer (W,9-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| 11.0 | MIL 7/LAD 0 | Junior Guerra (W,5-1) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| AL | 10.0 | CLE 3/ATL 0 | Danny Salazar (W,10-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 8.0 | TB 4/BOS 0 | Matt Moore (W,4-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | NYY 9/TEX 7 | Brian McCann, C | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | PIT 8/SEA 1 | Sean Rodriguez, RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | HOU 10/LAA 4 | Jose Altuve, 2B | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.2 | `KC 3/STL 2 | Edinson Volquez | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | BAL 12/SD 6 | Mark Trumbo, RF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | DET 10/MIA 3 | Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.2 | OAK 7/SF 1 | Sean Manaea (W,3-4) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | CHW 9/MIN 6 | Tyler Saladino, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TOR 5/COL 3 | Edwin Encarnacion, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | PHI 9/ARI 8 | Cody Asche, LF | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | CHC 9/CIN 2 | Javier Baez, 2B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 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 of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.0 | 33.0 | 97.6 | 118.0 | -9.0 |
| Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 10.5 | 23.9 | 33.3 | 33.3 | -2.9 |
| Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 8.5 | 15.5 | 25.0 | 25.0 | 1.5 |
| Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 6.4 | 13.4 | 38.1 | 64.2 | -0.6 |
| Trumbo, Mark 2851 | rf | bal al | 6.2 | 8.7 | 31.9 | 31.9 | 3.7 |
| Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh | tor al | 6.0 | 16.4 | 44.6 | 65.1 | -4.4 |
| Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | tb al | 5.7 | 5.7 | 31.2 | 31.2 | 5.7 |
| Guerra, Junior 3633 | pi sp | mil nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Saladino, Tyler 3645 | ss 3b | chi al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| McCann, Brian 2179 | ca | nyy al | 1.5 | 8.0 | 33.7 | 56.7 | -5.0 |
| Asche, Cody 3268 | lf 3b | phi nl | 1.0 | 4.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | -2.5 |
| Rodriguez, Sean 2729 | rf1b 2b | pit nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 12.5 | 17.5 | 1.0 |
| Baez, Javier 3395 | 2b | chi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 1.0 |
| Saltalamacchia, Jarod 2355 | ca | det al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 12.0 | 18.0 | 1.0 |
Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops Box-Toppers player rankings for 7th straight week
Kershaw had dominating lead with 20 Box-Toppers points. Indians' Kluber takes AL pitching lead. Machado, Suarez maintain leads among batters.
Read MoreFor 9th straight week, Chicago Cubs top Box-Toppers team rankings report
While Cubs remain top team, Texas Rangers remain top AL team. Nationals, Blue Jays are hottest teams of the past week.
Read MorePirates' Jameson Taillon tops players for Tuesday, June 14; Lackey, Bumgarner rise in Box-Toppers top 10 rankings
Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon is Tuesday’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 14:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 17.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 11.7 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.0 |
| 4 | Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 9.4 |
| 5 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 |
| 6 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 |
| 7 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 8.8 |
| 8 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 |
| 9 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 8.7 |
| 10 | Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 8.7 |
Also Tuesday, Cubs pitcher John Lackey and Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner rise in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Taillon pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits, one walk and striking out five, in the 4-0 win over the Mets.
This was Taillon’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Taillon made his Major League debut June 8 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,658th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Player of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays hit a grand slam and two doubles, going 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five total runs, in the 11-3 win over the Phillies.
Donaldson earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.2 for the season, rising to second place among AL batters, trailing only Manny Machado of the Orioles (8.7 Box-Toppers points). Donaldson ranks 19th among all players.
National League Batter of the Day—Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies homered and doubled, going 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 13-10 win over the Yankees.
Gonzalez, who led NL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 11.5, has 2.5 points in 2016.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Josh Donaldson.
Rankings—Two players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday:
- Cubs pitcher John Lackey rises to fourth place in season rankings with 9.4 Box-Toppers points. Lackey (6IP 4H 2R 7K ND in the 4-3 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point Tuesday and now has 117.2 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 41st place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes two players on the “all-time” list—Todd Helton (116.4) and Mark Buehrle (116.7). Lackey now trails 40th-ranked player Barry Zito (117.4).
- Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner rises to fifth place in season rankings with 9.0 Box-Toppers points. Bumgarner (8IP 4H 2R 8K W in the 3-2 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point Tuesday and now has 101.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 64th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes four players on the “all-time” list—Carlos Beltran of the Yankees (100.9), Jason Schmidt (101.2), Tim Wakefield (101.4) and Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (101.4). Bumgarner now trails 63rd-ranked player Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2).
Scoring—Taillon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Donaldson earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Gonzalez earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 6/14 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | PIT 4/NYM 0 | Jameson Taillon (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| AL | 7.0 | TOR 11/PHI 3 | Josh Donaldson, 3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | SF 3/MIL 2 | Madison Bumgarner (W,8-2) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | BAL 3/BOS 2 | Chris Tillman (W,9-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | COL 13/NYY 10 | Carlos Gonzalez, RF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | TB 8/SEA 7 | Corey Dickerson, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | DET 11/CHW 8 | Justin Upton, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | TEX 10/OAK 6 | Ryan Rua, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | LAD 7/ARI 4 | Kenley Jansen (S,18) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.1 | HOU 5/STL 2 | Doug Fister (W,7-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | MIA 5/SD 2 | Jeff Mathis, C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | `CHC 4/DC 3 | John Lackey | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 2.0 | LAA 5/MIN 4 | Kole Calhoun, RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CIN 3/ATL 1 | Brandon Finnegan (W,3-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 1.2 | KC 3/CLE 2 | Joakim Soria (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
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 | +/- |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 9.4 | 19.1 | 38.8 | 117.2 | -0.3 |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 | 26.0 | 96.0 | 101.7 | -8.0 |
| Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | tor al | 7.2 | 17.1 | 37.1 | 37.1 | -2.7 |
| Tillman, Chris 2754 | pi sp | bal al | 6.0 | 10.7 | 39.8 | 41.8 | 1.3 |
| Calhoun, Kole 3279 | rf | ana al | 4.0 | 7.2 | 14.7 | 14.7 | 0.8 |
| Rua, Ryan 3631 | 1b lf | tex al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | rf | col nl | 2.5 | 14.0 | 42.7 | 55.7 | -9.0 |
| Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | det al | 2.0 | 11.0 | 37.9 | 46.4 | -7.0 |
| Jansen, Kenley 2871 | pi cp | lad nl | 2.0 | 6.0 | 32.4 | 32.4 | -2.0 |
| Dickerson, Corey 3222 | lf | tb al | 2.0 | 5.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | -1.0 |
| Finnegan, Brandon 3535 | pi sp | cin nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -1.0 |
| Taillon, Jameson 3658 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Soria, Joakim 2258 | pi cp | kc al | 1.0 | 6.7 | 13.7 | 45.7 | -4.7 |
| Fister, Doug 2688 | pi sp | hou al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 48.5 | 52.2 | -1.0 |
| Mathis, Jeff 2412 | ca | fla nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 11.5 | 1.0 |
Nationals' Max Scherzer tops players for Monday, June 13, rising to 3rd in Box-Toppers rankings
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third 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 June 13:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 17.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 11.7 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 |
| 5 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 8.8 |
| 6 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 8.7 |
| 8 | Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 8.7 |
| 9 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 8.7 |
| 10 | Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.4 |
Scherzer struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Cubs.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the third player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. It is the sixth season—and fifth straight season—Scherzer has had 10 or more points in a season.
Scherzer also rises to 44th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Monday, Scherzer now has 116.0 career Box-Toppers points and passes three players on the “all-time” list—Josh Beckett (114.9), Angels pitcher Tim Lincecum (115.0) and Torii Hunter (115.9). Scherzer trails 43rd-ranked player, Cubs pitcher John Lackey (116.2).
American League Player of the Day—Khris Davis of the Athletics hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 14-5 win over the Rangers.
National League Batter of the Day—Martin Prado of the Marlins hit a two-run homer and went 3-for-3, driving in three total runs, in the 13-4 win over the Padres.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Khris Davis.
Debut—Giants pitcher Derek Law made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Law (1.1IP H 0R 2K Sv in the 3-2 win over the the Dodgers) made his Major League debut April 15 and was playing in his 22nd career game. He is the 3,657th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Davis earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Prado earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 6/13 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | DC 4/CHC 1 | Max Scherzer (W,8-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | |
| AL | 6.0 | OAK 14/TEX 5 | Khris Davis, LF | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | MIA 13/SD 4 | Martin Prado, 3B | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | KC 2/CIN 1 | Edinson Volquez (W,6-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | PHI 7/TOR 0 | Jerad Eickhoff (W,4-8) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | CHW 10/DET 9 | Adam Eaton, CF | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.2 | ARI 3/LAD 2 | Brad Ziegler (S,13) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.1 | SF 11/MIL 5 | Derek Law (S,1) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 9/LAA 4 | Robbie Grossman, LF | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | CIN 9/ATL 8 | Adam Duvall, LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 | +/- |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.0 | 31.0 | 95.6 | 116.0 | -11.0 |
| Eickhoff, Jerad 3566 | pi sp | phi nl | 6.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 1.0 |
| Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 5.4 | 12.4 | 37.1 | 63.2 | -1.6 |
| Duvall, Adam 3573 | lf | cin nl | 4.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 3.0 |
| Davis, Khris 3242 | lf | oak al | 3.2 | 7.2 | 13.2 | 13.2 | -0.8 |
| Eaton, Adam 3253 | rf cf | chi al | 2.0 | 7.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | -3.5 |
| Prado, Martin 2511 | 3b | fla nl | 1.5 | 7.5 | 21.0 | 27.5 | -4.5 |
| Ziegler, Brad 2504 | pi cp | ari nl | 1.0 | 4.0 | 10.0 | 13.0 | -2.0 |
| Grossman, Robbie 3267 | lf | min al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 1.0 |
| Law, Derek 3657 | pi sp | sf nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
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Read MoreMariners' Walker tops players for Wednesday, June 8; Lackey, Scherzer rise into Box-Toppers top 10
Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker 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 June 8:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 11.7 |
| 3 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 |
| 4 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 |
| 5 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 8.7 |
| 6 | Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 8.7 |
| 7 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 8.7 |
| 8 | Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.4 |
| 9 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 8.4 |
| 10 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 8.0 |
Also Wednesday, Cubs pitcher John Lackey and Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer both rose into Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner became the 71st player since 1995 with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points.
Player of the Day—Walker pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 11 and allowing three hits, in the 5-0 win over the Indians.
National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher John Lackey pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing three hits, in the 8-1 win over the Phillies.
Lackey earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 8.4 for the season and rising to eighth in season player rankings. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.
Lackey also rises to 43rd place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Lackey now has 116.2 career Box-Toppers points and passes three players on the “all-time” list—Josh Beckett (114.9), Angels pitcher Tim Lincecum (115.0) and Torii Hunter (115.9). Lackey now trails 42nd-ranked player Todd Helton (116.4).
American League Batter of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays homered, tripled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 7-2 win over the Tigers.
National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Moss of the Cardinals hit two homers and went 2-for-5, driving in three runs, in the 12-7 win over the Reds.
Rankings—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Scherzer (7IP 5H 0R 6K W in the 11-4 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks seventh among NL pitchers.
Scherzer also rises to 47th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Wednesday, Scherzer has 114.0 for his career and passes three players on the “all-time” list—Sammy Sosa (113.2), Dan Haren (113.2) and Chris Carpenter (113.3). Scherzer now trails 46th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9).
Notable—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner becomes the 71st player with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points (since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Bumgarner (6IP 4H R 5K ND in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 100.7 for his career. He rises to 68th place among all players since 1995, passing three players on the “all-time” list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Paul Konerko (100.7). Bumgarner now trails 67th-ranked player Carlos Beltran of the Yankees (100.9).
Bumgarner also has 8.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 12th among all players and ninth among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Walker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lackey earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Donaldson and Moss 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
| 6/8 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.0 | SEA 5/CLE 0 | Taijuan Walker (W,3-6) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | |
| NL | 12.0 | CHC 8/PHI 1 | John Lackey (W,7-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 8.2 | MIL 4/OAK 0 | Chase Anderson (W,4-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 8.1 | BAL 4/KC 0 | Chris Tillman (W,8-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 7.0 | DC 11/CHW 4 | Max Scherzer (W,7-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 6.0 | ATL 4/SD 2 | Julio Teheran (W,2-6) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | TOR 7/DET 2 | Josh Donaldson, 3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | COL 1/LAD 0 | Chris Rusin (W,2-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | NYY 12/LAA 6 | Chris Parmelee, 1B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | `SF 2/BOS 1 | Madison Bumgarner | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | TB 6/ARI 3 | Corey Dickerson, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | MIN 7/MIA 5 | Trevor Plouffe, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | STL 12/CIN 7 | Brandon Moss, LF-1B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | NYM 6/PIT 5 | Michael Conforto, LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | HOU 3/TEX 1 | Jose Altuve, 2B | 3 | 0 | 2 | 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 | +/- |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.4 | 18.1 | 37.8 | 116.2 | -1.3 |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 8.0 | 29.0 | 93.6 | 114.0 | -13.0 |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 8.0 | 25.0 | 95.0 | 100.7 | -9.0 |
| Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 6.0 | 13.0 | 22.5 | 22.5 | -1.0 |
| Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | tor al | 5.5 | 15.4 | 35.4 | 35.4 | -4.4 |
| Tillman, Chris 2754 | pi sp | bal al | 5.0 | 9.7 | 38.8 | 40.8 | 0.3 |
| Anderson, Chase 3328 | pi sp | mil nl | 5.0 | 9.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 1.0 |
| Conforto, Michael 3622 | lf | nym nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Walker, Taijuan 3453 | pi sp | sea al | 4.7 | 18.4 | 18.4 | 18.4 | -9.0 |
| Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 3.0 | 10.7 | 38.8 | 38.8 | -4.7 |
| Rusin, Chris 3236 | pi sp | col nl | 2.7 | 3.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 1.7 |
| Plouffe, Trevor 2869 | 3b | min al | 2.5 | 5.5 | 21.5 | 21.5 | -0.5 |
| Moss, Brandon 2520 | rf lf | stl nl | 1.5 | 6.5 | 22.5 | 24.5 | -3.5 |
| Dickerson, Corey 3222 | lf | tb al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | -2.0 |
| Parmelee, Chris 2996 | 1b | nyy al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | -1.0 |
Padres' Pomeranz tops players for Friday, June 3; Syndergaard, Salazar rise into Box-Toppers top 10
Padres pitcher Drew Pomeranz 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 June 3:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 9.7 |
| 3 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 |
| 4 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 |
| 5 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 8.7 |
| 6 | Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 8.7 |
| 7 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 8.7 |
| 8 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 8.4 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 8.0 |
| 10 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 7.8 |
Also Friday, two players rose into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard and Indians pitcher Danny Salazar. Plus, Eugenio Suarez of the Reds earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day to take the season Box-Toppers points lead among National League batters, passing Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets.
Player of the Day—Pomeranz pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits, in the 4-0 win over the Rockies.
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Danny Salazar struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 6-1 win over the Royals.
Salazar earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.8 for the season, rising to 10th place in season player rankings, third among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Corey Seager of the Dodgers hit three home runs, going 3-for-4, in the 4-2 win over the Braves.
American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-3 and driving in five total runs, in the 7-3 win over the Mariners.
Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 105.8 for his career, rising to 58th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Aramis Ramirez (105.8) on the “all-time” list and now trails 57th-ranked player Frank Thomas (106.2). Beltre ranks fifth in career Box-Toppers points among active AL batters.
Rankings—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Syndergaard (7IP 6H 2R 9K W in the 6-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.
Suarez—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Friday and takes the Box-Toppers points lead among NL batters, passing Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets.
Suarez (HR 3-4 2R 2BI in the 7-2 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season, passing previous NL batting leader, Cespedes (6.0). Suarez ranks 14th among all players.
Suarez also earned NL Batter of the Day honors Thursday.
Notable—Cubs pitcher John Lackey now has 114.5 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Lackey (6.2IP 5H 0R 9K W in the 6-0 win over the Diamondbacks) maintains his rank of 46th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 45th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9). Lackey has 6.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 10th-most among NL pitchers.
Debut—James McCann of the Tigers made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
McCann (HR 3B 3-4 2R 2BI in the 10-3 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2014, and was playing in his 149th career game. He is the 3,649th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Pomeranz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Salazar earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Seager and Beltre 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
| 6/3 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | SD 4/COL 0 | Drew Pomeranz (W,5-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| 8.2 | CHC 6/ARI 0 | John Lackey (W,6-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||
| AL | 7.0 | CLE 6/KC 1 | Danny Salazar (W,6-3) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 9 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | LAD 4/ATL 2 | Corey Seager, SS | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | TEX 7/SEA 3 | Adrian Beltre, 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | NYM 6/MIA 2 | Noah Syndergaard (W,6-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 4.0 | HOU 12/OAK 2 | Evan Gattis, C | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | DET 10/CHW 3 | James McCann, C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CIN 7/DC 2 | Eugenio Suarez, 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | PHI 6/MIL 3 | Cameron Rupp, C | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.2 | TOR 5/BOS 2 | R.A. Dickey (W,3-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | LAA 9/PIT 2 | Kole Calhoun, RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.1 | BAL 6/NYY 5 | Mychal Givens (W,5-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1.0 | SF 5/STL 1 | Kelby Tomlinson, PH | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | TB 4/MIN 2 | Erasmo Ramirez (W,7-4) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 8.0 | 18.4 | 18.4 | 18.4 | -2.4 |
| Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 7.8 | 21.2 | 30.6 | 30.6 | -5.6 |
| Suarez, Eugenio 3355 | 3b | cin nl | 7.0 | 10.0 | 12.5 | 12.5 | 4.0 |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 6.7 | 16.4 | 36.1 | 114.5 | -3.0 |
| Pomeranz, Drew 3061 | pi sp mr | sd nl | 6.0 | 9.0 | 17.0 | 17.0 | 3.0 |
| Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | tex al | 4.0 | 16.5 | 42.4 | 105.8 | -8.5 |
| Dickey, R.A. 1734 | pi sp | tor al | 3.0 | 8.0 | 52.2 | 73.9 | -2.0 |
| Calhoun, Kole 3279 | rf | ana al | 3.0 | 6.2 | 13.7 | 13.7 | -0.2 |
| Ramirez, Erasmo 1786 | pi sp mr | tb al | 2.7 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 13.7 | -4.3 |
| Tomlinson, Kelby 3619 | ph | sf nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Seager, Corey 3587 | ss | lad nl | 1.5 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 |
| Gattis, Evan 3179 | ca dh | hou al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -3.0 |
| Givens, Mychal 3599 | pi mr | bal al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Rupp, Cameron 3556 | ca | phi nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| McCann, James 3649 | ca | det al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Dodgers' Kershaw tops players for Sunday, May 29, extends lead in season Box-Toppers points
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and extends his lead in season Box-Toppers player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 29:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.0 |
| 2 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 |
| 3 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 8.7 |
| 5 | Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 8.7 |
| 6 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 8.7 |
| 7 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 8.7 |
| 8 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 8.4 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 7.0 |
| 10 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 6.4 |
Also Sunday, Athletics pitcher Rich Hill maintained his rank of eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 10 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 4-2 win over the Mets. Kershaw picked up a no decision and did not earn the win because the Mets tied the game after he exited.
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.0 for the season. He holds a dominating lead in player rankings, 5.0 points ahead of second-place player, Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (9.0).
Kershaw also has 173.3 career Box-Toppers points, seventh among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails sixth-ranked player, Albert Pujols of the Angels (176.3).
American League Player of the Day—Twins pitcher Ricky Nolasco struck out seven over six innings, allowing two runs and three hits, in the 5-4 win over the Mariners.
National League Batter of the Day—Wilson Ramos of the Nationals homered and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-2 win over the Cardinals.
American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros hit a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the 13th inning in the 8-6 win over the Angels.
Rankings—Athletics pitcher Rich Hill maintained his rank of eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Hill (6.1IP 5H 2R 9K W in the 4-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.4 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the White Sox (8.7).
Streak—Hunter Pence of the Giants has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Pence (3-2B 3-5 2R 3BI in the 8-3 win over the Rockies) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Astros and has 49.7 career points, 10th among active NL outfielders. His best season was 2008 with the Astros, when he had 8.2 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL outfielders. In 2015, Pence had 2.0 Box-Toppers points with the Giants.
Notable—Cubs pitcher John Lackey rises to 46th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Lackey (7IP 4H R 6K W in the 7-2 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 113.5 for his career. Since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, Lackey now ranks 46th and with his point Sunday, he passes four players on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” list—Kevin Brown (112.8), Sammy Sosa (113.2), Dan Haren (113.2) and Chris Carpenter (113.3). Lackey now trails 45th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9). Lackey has 5.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 11th among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Nolasco earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Ramos and Correa 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
| 5/29 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.2 | `LAD 4/NYM 2 | Clayton Kershaw | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 | |
| BAT | 6.0 | DC 10/STL 2 | Wilson Ramos, C | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.1 | ARI 6/SD 3 | Archie Bradley (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 5.0 | MIA 7/ATL 3 | Derek Dietrich, 2B | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| AL | 5.0 | MIN 5/SEA 4 | Ricky Nolasco (W,2-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | |
| 4.0 | MIL 5/CIN 4 | Jonathan Villar, SS | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | HOU 8/LAA 6 | Carlos Correa, SS | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.1 | OAK 4/DET 2 | Rich Hill (W,8-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | ||
| 3.0 | SF 8/COL 3 | Hunter Pence, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CHC 7/PHI 2 | John Lackey (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | NYY 2/TB 1 | Nathan Eovaldi (W,6-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | BOS 5/TOR 3 | Koji Uehara (S,1) | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | KC 5/CHW 4 | Lorenzo Cain, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | `BAL 6/CLE 4 | Darren O'Day | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | TEX 6/PIT 2 | Mitch Moreland, 1B | 4 | 1 | 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 of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.0 | 39.7 | 139.8 | 173.3 | -11.7 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 8.4 | 12.4 | 12.4 | 32.1 | 4.4 |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 5.7 | 15.4 | 35.1 | 113.5 | -4.0 |
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | nyy al | 5.7 | 7.7 | 24.8 | 24.8 | 3.7 |
| Cain, Lorenzo 3171 | cf | kc al | 4.0 | 12.2 | 18.2 | 18.2 | -4.2 |
| Nolasco, Ricky 2125 | pi sp | min al | 3.7 | 5.7 | 26.4 | 79.5 | 1.7 |
| Correa, Carlos 3506 | ss | hou al | 2.5 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | -4.7 |
| Uehara, Koji 2802 | pi mr cp | bos al | 2.0 | 7.0 | 24.0 | 28.0 | -3.0 |
| O’Day, Darren 2577 | pi mr | bal al | 2.0 | 3.7 | 11.7 | 12.7 | 0.3 |
| Ramos, Wilson 2904 | ca | dc nl | 1.5 | 2.5 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 0.5 |
| Moreland, Mitch 2799 | 1b | tex al | 1.0 | 7.2 | 15.2 | 16.2 | -5.2 |
| Pence, Hunter 2287 | rf | sf nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 22.0 | 49.7 | -1.0 |
| Dietrich, Derek 3199 | 2b | fla nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Bradley, Archie 3438 | pi sp | ari nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Villar, Jonathan 3233 | ss | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
Mets' Syndergaard tops players for Sunday, May 22, rises to 6th in Box-Toppers rankings
Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 22:| 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 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 7.0 |
| 7 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 6.7 |
| 8 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 6.7 |
| 9 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 6.4 |
| 10 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 6.4 |
Also Sunday, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and five players with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors—Zack Greinke, David Ortiz, Miguel Cabrera, Cole Hamels and Max Scherzer.
Player of the Day—Syndergaard struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing one run (none earned) and six hits, in the 3-1 win over the Brewers.
Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, rising to sixth in player rankings, fourth among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing two runs (one earned) and five hits, in the 9-2 win over the Astros.
Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 6.4 for the season, rising to ninth in player rankings, second among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the White Sox (8.7).
Hamels also now has 132.6 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his spot in 28th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 27th-ranked player Jason Giambi (133.4).
American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Perez of the Angels hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 10-2 win over the Orioles.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day for Sunday because no NL batters earned Player of the Game honors.
Notable—Five players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. In addition to Hamels, mentioned previously (132.6 points, 28th “all-time”), they are:
- Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke (8IP 6H 2R 8K W in the 7-2 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 151.4 career points, maintaining his rank of 18th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 17th-ranked player Greg Maddux (151.7).
- David Ortiz of the Red Sox (HR 2B 4-4 R 3BI in the 5-2 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 139.9 career points, maintaining his rank of 23rd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 22nd-ranked player, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (142.1).
- Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (HR 3-3 R 2BI in the 9-4 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 135.4 career points, maintaining his rank of 26th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 25th-ranked player, Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (137.8).
- Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (8IP 6H 2R 8K W in the 8-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 112.0 for his career, maintaining his rank of 51st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 50th-ranked player, Cubs pitcher John Lackey (112.5).
Scoring—Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hamels earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Perez earns 1.5 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
| 5/22 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Mets | Noah Syndergaard (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | |
| AL | 9.0 | Rangers | Cole Hamels (W,5-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 11 | |
| 8.2 | Giants | Madison Bumgarner (W,6-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | Dbacks | Zack Greinke (W,5-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | Nationals | Max Scherzer (W,5-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Angels | Carlos Perez, C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Red Sox | David Ortiz, DH | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Phillies | Jerad Eickhoff (W,2-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3.2 | Blue Jays | Marcus Stroman (W,5-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | Tigers | Miguel Cabrera, 1B | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | `Dodgers | J.P. Howell | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 3.0 | `Yankees | Dellin Betances | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | White Sox | David Robertson (S,11) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Mariners | Steve Cishek (S,12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 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 | +/- |
| Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 7.0 | 17.4 | 17.4 | 17.4 | -3.4 |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 6.4 | 21.8 | 73.4 | 132.6 | -9.0 |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 | 27.0 | 91.6 | 112.0 | -15.0 |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 6.0 | 23.0 | 93.0 | 98.7 | -11.0 |
| Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 5.0 | 25.7 | 90.8 | 151.4 | -15.7 |
| Cishek, Steve 2997 | pi cp | sea al | 4.0 | 5.0 | 24.0 | 24.0 | 3.0 |
| Robertson, David 2774 | pi cp | chi al | 3.0 | 11.0 | 23.0 | 24.0 | -5.0 |
| Eickhoff, Jerad 3566 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -2.0 |
| Stroman, Marcus 3327 | pi sp | tor al | 2.7 | 5.4 | 19.1 | 19.1 | 0.0 |
| Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 2.5 | 7.2 | 55.8 | 135.4 | -2.2 |
| Ortiz, David | dh | bos al | 2.0 | 6.5 | 37.9 | 139.9 | -2.5 |
| Howell, J.P. 2016 | pi mr | lad nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 20.0 | 1.0 |
| Perez, Carlos 3484 | ca | ana al | 1.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 0.5 |
| Betances, Dellin 3333 | pi mr cp | nyy al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 9.7 | 9.7 | -3.0 |
Giants' Cueto tops players for Wednesday, May 18, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings
Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day 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 2016 season as of May 18:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.0 |
| 2 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 8.0 |
| 3 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 7.7 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 6.7 |
| 5 | Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b ss | bal al | 6.7 |
| 6 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 6.4 |
| 7 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 6.1 |
| 8 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 6.0 |
| 9 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 5.7 |
| 10 | Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | chi al | 5.7 |
Cueto pitched a complete game, allowing one run, four hits and striking out eight, in the 2-1 win over the Padres.
Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season, rising to second in season player rankings, behind overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (10.0).
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Nathan Eovaldi allowed one run and one hit over six innings, striking out five, in the 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks.
American League Batter of the Day—Matt Wieters of the Orioles homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-2 win over the Mariners.
Wieters had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 and won AL Batter of the Day honors on a tiebreaker over Ian Kinsler of the Tigers, who had an identical game score and nearly identical batting line. Kinsler was Player of the Game in the 6-3 win over the Twins (HR 3-4 2R 2BI). Wieters beat Kinsler because he had two extra base hits (a home run and a double) while Kinsler had one (home run).
National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors.
Rankings—In addition to Cueto, two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday:
- Athletics pitcher Rich Hill (6IP 3H R 6K W in the 8-1 win over the Rangers) rises to sixth place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.4 for the season. Hill ranks second among AL pitchers.
- Red Sox pitcher David Price (7.1IP 5H 2R 5K W in the 5-2 win over the Royals) rises to ninth place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.7 for the season. Price ranks fourth among AL pitchers.
Notable—Two players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points also won Player of the Game honors Wednesday:
- Cubs pitcher John Lackey (6IP 4H R 5K ND in the 13-inning, 2-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 112.5 for his career. He ranks 50th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began and trails 49th-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8). Lackey has 4.7 points for the season.
- Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (6.2IP 6H 0R 5K W in the 2-0 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 104.3 for his career. He rises to 60th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” list. He trails 59th-ranked player, Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (104.3). (Beltre is ranked ahead of Wainwright on a tiebreaker because he had more 2015 Box-Toppers points—12.5 vs. 3.0.) Wainwright has 2.5 Box-Toppers points on the season.
Scoring—Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Eovaldi earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Wieters earns 1.5 points for being AL 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
| 5/18 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | Giants | Johnny Cueto (W, 6-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| AL | 8.0 | Yankees | Nathan Eovaldi (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| 6.0 | Athletics | Rich Hill (W,6-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 5.2 | Braves | Julio Teheran (W,1-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.2 | Cardinals | Adam Wainwright (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 4.1 | Rays | Alex Colome (S,10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | Indians | Cody Allen (W,1-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.2 | `Royals | Ian Kennedy | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 3.1 | Nationals | Gio Gonzalez (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Orioles | Matt Wieters, C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Tigers | Ian Kinsler, 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Angels | Mike Trout, CF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Astros | Jason Castro, C | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | `Cubs | John Lackey | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 2.1 | Red Sox | David Price (W,6-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2.0 | Phillies | Jeanmar Gomez (S,16) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 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 | +/- |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 8.0 | 20.8 | 72.0 | 91.4 | -4.8 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 6.4 | 10.4 | 10.4 | 30.1 | 2.4 |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 5.7 | 26.8 | 82.8 | 99.5 | -15.4 |
| Kennedy, Ian 2723 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 | 11.7 | 55.5 | 61.5 | -1.7 |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 4.7 | 14.4 | 34.1 | 112.5 | -5.0 |
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | nyy al | 3.7 | 5.7 | 22.8 | 22.8 | 1.7 |
| Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 3.0 | 15.0 | 39.5 | 39.5 | -9.0 |
| Colome, Alex 3189 | pi cp | tb al | 3.0 | 8.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 | -2.0 |
| Kinsler, Ian 2144 | 2b | det al | 2.5 | 9.0 | 28.2 | 58.6 | -4.0 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 2.5 | 5.5 | 53.6 | 104.3 | -0.5 |
| Gonzalez, Gio 2626 | pi sp | dc nl | 2.0 | 11.7 | 68.8 | 82.5 | -7.7 |
| Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 2.0 | 9.7 | 37.8 | 37.8 | -5.7 |
| Gomez, Jeanmar 2759 | pi cp | phi nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 | 2.0 |
| Wieters, Matt 2643 | ca | bal al | 1.5 | 2.5 | 20.5 | 26.2 | 0.5 |
| Allen, Cody 3265 | pi mr cp | cle al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | -3.0 |
| Castro, Jason 2743 | ca | hou al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 7.5 | 8.5 | 1.0 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
Rangers' Hamels top players for Friday, May 6, rises to 6th in Box-Toppers rankings
Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth 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 6:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 6.0 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 5.0 |
| 5 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 5.0 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | chi al | 4.7 |
| 8 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 4.7 |
| 9 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | cf lf dh ph | nym nl | 4.5 |
| 10 | Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | sea al | 4.5 |
Hamels struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit, in the 5-1 win over the Tigers. Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season, rising to sixth in player rankings, first among American League pitchers.
Hamels also now has 130.9 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 28th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes one player on the “all-time” list, Trevor Hoffman (129.4) and now trails 27th-ranked player, Jason Giambi (133.4).
National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher John Lackey struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing two runs and six hits, in the 8-6 win over the Nationals.
Lackey now has 111.5 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 50th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes one player on the “all-time” list, Tom Glavine (110.6) and now trails 49th-ranked player, Kevin Brown (112.8).
American League Batter of the Day—Melky Cabrera of the White Sox doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 10-4 win over the Twins.
National League Batter of the Day—Christian Yelich of the Marlins hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice, in the 6-4 win over the Phillies.
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 | 180.0 |
| 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 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 149.4 |
| 19 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
| 20 | Javier Vazquez | pi sp | retired | 148.3 |
Rankings—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke rose to 18th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when player tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Greinke (6IP 7H 2R 8K W in the 7-2 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 149.4 for his career. He passes one player on the “all-time” list, Chipper Jones (149.0) and now trails 17th-ranked player, Greg Maddux (151.7). Greinke has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Debut—Yankees pitcher Kirby Yates made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Yates (0.2IP 0H 0R K W in the 3-2 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut June 7, 2014, and was playing in his 68th career game. He is the 3,628th 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 Lackey earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Cabrera and Yelich 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
| 5/6 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | Rangers | Cole Hamels (W,4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| 11.2 | Indians | Danny Salazar (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| NL | 7.0 | Cubs | John Lackey (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | |
| 6.0 | Pirates | Francisco Liriano (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 6.0 | Padres | Drew Pomeranz (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | Rays | Chris Archer (W,2-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | White Sox | Melky Cabrera, LF | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Astros | Carlos Correa, SS | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Giants | Santiago Casilla (S,7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Marlins | Christian Yelich, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Reds | Joey Votto, 1B | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Dbacks | Zack Greinke (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 1.2 | Yankees | Kirby Yates (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Blue Jays | Kevin Pillar, CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 4.7 | 20.1 | 71.7 | 130.9 | -10.7 |
| Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 4.4 | 17.8 | 27.2 | 27.2 | -9.0 |
| Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 4.0 | 18.9 | 59.4 | 99.2 | -10.9 |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 3.7 | 13.4 | 33.1 | 111.5 | -6.0 |
| Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 3.0 | 23.7 | 88.8 | 149.4 | -17.7 |
| Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 3.0 | 19.0 | 43.1 | 43.1 | -13.0 |
| Pomeranz, Drew 3061 | pi sp mr | sd nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 0.0 |
| Yelich, Christian 3334 | lf | fla nl | 2.5 | 5.0 | 12.5 | 12.5 | 0.0 |
| Cabrera, Melky 2143 | lf | chi al | 2.5 | 3.5 | 18.0 | 29.0 | 1.5 |
| Casilla, Santiago 2301 | pi cp | sf nl | 2.0 | 7.0 | 19.7 | 22.7 | -3.0 |
| Correa, Carlos 3506 | ss | hou al | 1.0 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 | -6.2 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 1.0 | 6.0 | 22.7 | 54.7 | -4.0 |
| Pillar, Kevin 3486 | cf | tor al | 1.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | -2.5 |
| Yates, Kirby 3628 | pi mr | nyy al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Cubs' Lackey tops players for Monday, April 18; Angels' Santiago tops AL players
Cubs pitcher John Lackey is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Lackey struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits, in the 5-0 win over the Cardinals.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of April 18:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 4.0 |
| 2 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 3.4 |
| 3 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 3.0 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 |
| 5 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 6 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.0 |
| 7 | Santiago, Hector 3109 | pi sp | ana al | 2.7 |
| 8 | Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 2.7 |
| 9 | Bettis, Chad 3481 | pi sp | col nl | 2.7 |
| 10 | Ross, Joe 3499 | pi sp | dc nl | 2.7 |
Lackey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season, giving him 109.8 for his career. Lackey rises to 51st place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing five players on the “all-time” list—Max Scherzer of the Tigers (108.0), Lance Berkman (108.1), Kevin Millwood (108.3), Billy Wagner (108.7) and Jeff Kent (109.7). He trails 50th-place player Tom Glavine (110.6).
American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Hector Santiago struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits, in the 7-0 win over the White Sox.
Santiago earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, rising to seventh in season player rankings.
American League Batter of the Day—Byung Ho Park of the Twins homered and went 2-for-3, in the 7-4 win over the Brewers.
This was Park’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Park made his Major League debut April 4 and was playing in his 11th career game. He is the 3,616th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day for Monday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors.
Notable—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Syndergaard (7IP 5H R 8K W in the 5-2 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.
Scoring—Lackey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Santiago earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Park earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/18 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | Cubs | John Lackey (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| AL | 12.0 | Angels | Hector Santiago (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | |
| 6.0 | Mets | Noah Syndergaard (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 6.0 | Marlins | Jose Fernandez (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | ||
| 5.0 | Rockies | Jordan Lyles (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | Blue Jays | J.A. Happ (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | Dbacks | Rubby De La Rosa (W,1-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | Twins | Byung Ho Park, DH | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Box-Toppers point totals of Players of the Games
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 | +/- |
| Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 | 13.4 | 13.4 | 13.4 | -7.4 |
| Santiago, Hector 3109 | pi sp | ana al | 2.7 | 10.7 | 23.1 | 23.1 | -5.3 |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 2.0 | 11.7 | 31.4 | 109.8 | -7.7 |
| Park, Byung Ho 3616 | dh | min al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 1.0 | 14.1 | 29.5 | 37.5 | -12.1 |
| De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 | pi mr | ari nl | 1.0 | 7.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | -5.0 |
| Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 1.0 | 5.7 | 31.7 | 31.7 | -3.7 |
| Lyles, Jordan 3100 | pi sp | col nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 1.0 |
Cubs' Arrieta tops players for Saturday, April 16, rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers rankings
Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of April 16:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 4.0 |
| 2 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 3.4 |
| 3 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 3.0 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 |
| 5 | Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 2.7 |
| 6 | Bettis, Chad 3481 | pi sp | col nl | 2.7 |
| 7 | Ross, Joe 3499 | pi sp | dc nl | 2.7 |
| 8 | Latos, Mat 2644 | pi sp | chi al | 2.7 |
| 9 | Davis, Chris 2478 | 1b | bal al | 2.5 |
| 10 | Brown, Trevor 3610 | ca | sf nl | 2.5 |
Arrieta struck out eight over eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits, in the 6-2 win over the Rockies. Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season and rising to third place in season player rankings. Arrieta led all players in 2015 with 29.1 Box-Toppers points.
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Erasmo Ramirez pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out four, in the 7-2 win over the White Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Nick Markakis of the Braves doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 6-4 win over the Marlins.
With the 1.5 Box-Toppers points earned for being NL Batter of the Day Saturday, Markakis has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Orioles and has 43.6 career points, which ranks 14th among active NL outfielders. His best season was 2009 with the Orioles when he had 7.7 points, sixth among AL outfielders. In 2015, he had 4.5 points with the Braves.
American League Batter of the Day—Trevor Plouffe of the Twins homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in two runs, in the 6-4 win over the Angels.
Notable—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rose to 55th place on Box-Toppers “all-time” player rankings list after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Scherzer (7IP 5H R 7K W in the 5-3 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 108.0 career points. He passes Cubs pitcher John Lackey (107.8) to move into 55th place among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began). He trails 54th-place player Lance Berkman (108.1). Scherzer now has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the 2016 season. He had 21.0 points in 2015, fourth among NL pitchers.
Debut—Nomar Mazara of the Rangers made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Mazara (3-4 2R BI in the 8-4 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut April 10 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,614th 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 and Ramirez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Markakis and Plouffe each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/17 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | Cubs | Jake Arrieta (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 7.1 | Giants | Johnny Cueto (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| AL | 6.2 | Rays | Erasmo Ramirez (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 6.0 | Red Sox | David Price (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 6.0 | Nationals | Max Scherzer (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | Indians | Josh Tomlin (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | Pirates | Jonathon Niese (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | `Padres | Andrew Cashner | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Braves | Nick Markakis, RF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 2.0 | Twins | Trevor Plouffe, 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Reds | Zack Cozart, SS | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rangers | Nomar Mazara, RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | `Tigers | Mark Lowe (H,4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Athletics | Josh Reddick, RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Mariners | Robinson Cano, 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
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