Cubs' John Lackey rises to 9th in player rankings Tuesday; Astros' Altuve retakes Box-Toppers points lead among AL batters

Cubs pitcher John Lackey is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 9:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	16.2
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	14.1
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
8	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	13.4
9	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	12.4
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	11.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Jose Altuve of the Astros retakes the Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters after earning AL Batter of the Day honors.

Player of the Day—Lackey allowed one run over eight innings, giving up three hits and one walk, striking out six, in the 5-1 win over the Angels.

Lackey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season. Cubs pitchers now occupy the eighth, ninth and 10th place spots in Box-Toppers season player rankings:

• 8. Jon Lester, 13.4 Box-Toppers points
• 9. Lackey, 12.4
• 10. Jake Arrieta, 11.7

Lackey rises to seventh place among National League pitchers in Box-Toppers points.

Lackey also rises to 40th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, Lackey now has 120.2 Box-Toppers points, passing Cliff Lee (119.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 39th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1).

Lackey had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +8.0, the same as Marlins pitcher Tom Koehler, Player of the Game in the 2-0 win over the Giants (7IP 2H 0R 3BB 6K W). But Lackey held the tiebreaker, winning overall Player of the Day, because he pitched more innings—eight vs. seven.

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits, walking two and striking out four, in the 3-1 win over the Nationals.

Nationals’ starting pitcher in the game, Max Scherzer (18.7 Box-Toppers points), had a chance to pass season player rankings leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0). While Scherzer’s Box-Toppers game score of +10 (7IP 3H 2R ER BB 10K) was high enough to earn him Player of the Day honors Tuesday, he did not earn Player of the Game honors because the Nationals did not win and Scherzer himself picked up the loss, his seventh of the season (12-7).

American League Batter of the Day—Jose Altuve of the Astros went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 7-5 win over the Twins.

Altuve earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 11.5 for the season, rising to 11th place in season player rankings and first among AL batters, passing previous leader Manny Machado of the Orioles (10.2). Machado had just retaken the AL batting lead from Altuve on Sunday.

National League Batter of the Day—Howie Kendrick of the Dodgers homered, doubled and went 2-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 9-3 win over the Phillies.

Notable—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers rises to 56th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Beltre (2B 2-4 R 2BI in the 7-5 win over the Rockies) now has 108.3 career Box-Toppers points and passes two players on the “all-time” list—Lance Berkman (108.1) and Kevin Millwood (108.3). He trails 55th-ranked player Billy Wagner (108.7).

Beltre has 6.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, 14th among AL batters.

Debut—Athletics pitcher Zach Neal made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Neal (5.1IP 2H R 0BB K W in the 2-1 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut May 11 and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,700th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

8/9	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	8.0	CHC 5, LAA 1	John Lackey (W, 9-7)	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	1	1	1	6
	8.0	MIA 2, SF 0	Tom Koehler (W, 9-8)	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	3	6
AL	4.1	CLE 3, WSH 1	Trevor Bauer (W, 8-5)	-	-	-	-		6.1	4	0	0	2	4
	4.0	TB 9, TOR 2	Erasmo Ramirez (S, 1)	-	-	-	-		3.0	0	0	0	0	1
BAT	3.0	HOU 7, MIN 5	Jose Altuve (2B)	4	2	4	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.1	OAK 2, BAL 1	Zach Neal (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-		5.1	2	1	1	0	1
	2.0	BOS 5, NYY 3	Dustin Pedroia (2B)	4	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	2.0	LAD 9, PHI 3	Howie Kendrick (LF)	4	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	CIN 7, STL 4	Billy Hamilton (CF)	3	3	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	ATL 2, MIL 1	Mauricio Cabrera (S, 3)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.1	CHW 7, KC 5 (10)	Dan Jennings (S, 1)	-	-	-	-		0.1	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	SEA 6, DET 5 (15)	Kyle Seager (3B)	7	1	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	PIT 6, SD 4	David Freese (3B)	5	3	3	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	TEX 7, COL 5	Adrian Beltre (3B)	4	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	ARI 5, NYM 3	Paul Goldschmidt (1B)	4	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-

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	12.4	22.1	41.8	120.2	2.7
Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	11.5	18.5	28.0	28.0	4.5
Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	9.4	18.8	27.5	27.5	0.0
Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	6.5	19.0	44.9	108.3	-6.0
Seager, Kyle 3031	3b	sea al	6.0	11.0	25.0	25.0	1.0
Koehler, Tom 3159	pi sp	fla nl	5.0	9.0	17.0	17.0	1.0
Ramirez, Erasmo 1786	pi sp mr cp	tb al	3.7	10.7	12.7	14.7	-3.3
Kendrick, Howie 2191	2b lf	lad nl	3.0	7.0	19.0	33.0	-1.0
Cabrera, Mauricio 3689	pi cp mr	atl nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	2.5	12.7	37.9	37.9	-7.7
Hamilton, Billy 3287	cf	cin nl	2.0	4.0	8.5	8.5	0.0
Pedroia, Dustin 2320	2b	bos al	2.0	2.0	22.4	34.5	2.0
Freese, David 2710	1b 3b	pit nl	2.0	2.0	22.2	24.2	2.0
Jennings, Dan 3591	pi cp	chi al	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Neal, Zach 3700	pi sp	oak al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Brewers' Ryan Braun tops players for Saturday, Aug. 6; Indians' Kluber extends Box-Toppers points lead among AL pitchers

Ryan Braun of the Brewers is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber maintained his fourth-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings and Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta rose to ninth place after both earned Player of the Game honors.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 6:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	16.2
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	14.1
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
8	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	13.4
9	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	11.7
10	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	11.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Braun hit two three-run homers and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in seven runs, in the 15-6 win over the Diamondbacks.

Braun earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.5 points for the season, rising to eighth among National League batters. It is also his best season since 2012, when he had 12.5 points. That was before his 2013 suspension for violating baseball’s performance enhancing drug policy. In 2013, he had 3.5 points, in 2014—4.5 and in 2015—5.0.

This was his first overall Player of the Day honor since April 30, 2012.

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber struck out eight over eight innings, allowing two runs, five hits and one walk, in the 5-2 win over the Yankees.

Kluber earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 16.2 for the season. Kluber maintains his lead in Box-Toppers points among AL pitchers (ahead of Cole Hamels of the Rangers with 14.1) and also maintains his fourth-place rank among all players.

American League Batter of the Day—Franklin Gutierrez of the Mariners homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-6 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall Player of the Day was NL batter Ryan Braun.

Rankings—Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Arrieta (8IP 3H 0R 4K W in the 4-0 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season. Arrieta ranks seventh among NL pitchers. Arrieta led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 29.1.

Notable—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers rises to 24th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Cabrera (2B 2-4 3BI in the 6-5 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 141.9 for his career. With his point Saturday, he passes Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8) on the “all-time” list and now trails 23rd-ranked player, David Ortiz of the Red Sox (142.9).

Cabrera now has 9.0 Box-Toppers points on the season and rises to second place among AL batters, behind Jose Altuve of the Astros (10.0)

Debut—Padres pitcher Buddy Baumann made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday with this first career Player of the Game honor.

Baumann (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 9-7 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut July 16 and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,697th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Also notable—Royals pitcher Peter Moylan earned his first Box-Toppers point in nearly six years after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Moylan (1.1IP 0H 0R 3K ND in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays) last earned Player of the Game honors on Sept. 10, 2010, with the Braves. Moylan has 5.0 career Box-Toppers points since his debut in 2007.

Scoring—Braun earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kluber earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Gutierrez earns 1.5 points for being AL 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

8/6	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	MIL 15, ARI 6	Ryan Braun, LF	4	3	3	7		-	-	-	-	-	-
	8.0	CHC 4, OAK 0	Jake Arrieta (W,13-5)	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	1	4
	6.0	ATL 13, STL 5	Freddie Freeman, 1B	3	3	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
AL	6.0	CLE 5, NYY 2	Corey Kluber (W,11-8)	-	-	-	-		8.0	5	2	2	1	8
	5.0	COL 12, MIA 6	Charlie Blackmon, CF	5	2	4	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	TB 7, MIN 3	Chris Archer (W,6-15)	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	1	3	7
	4.2	SD 9, PHI 7	Buddy Baumann (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		1.2	0	0	0	0	3
	4.1	`KC 4, TOR 2	Peter Moylan (H,2)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	3
	4.0	LAD 3, BOS 0	Ross Stripling (W,3-3)	-	-	-	-		5.0	4	0	0	1	4
	3.1	CHW 4, BAL 2	Nate Jones (W,5-2)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	SF 7, WSH 1	Eduardo Nunez, 3B	5	3	4	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	2.0	SEA 8, LAA 6	Franklin Gutierrez, RF	5	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	TEX 3, HOU 2	Jonathan Lucroy, C	4	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	PIT 5, CIN 3	Tony Watson (S,2)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	DET 6, NYM 5	Miguel Cabrera, 1B	4	0	2	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	+/-
Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	16.2	29.6	60.4	60.4	2.8
Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	11.7	40.8	68.5	71.5	-17.4
Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	9.0	13.7	62.3	141.9	4.3
Braun, Ryan J. 2300	lf	mil nl	6.5	11.5	42.5	84.2	1.5
Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	6.0	22.0	46.1	46.1	-10.0
Nunez, Eduardo 2795	3b 2b ss	sf nl	4.5	6.5	12.5	14.0	2.5
Freeman, Freddie 2887	1b	atl nl	4.0	7.0	35.2	35.2	1.0
Lucroy, Jonathan 2744	ca	tex al	4.0	5.7	24.6	25.6	2.3
Watson, Tony 3215	pi cp mr	pit nl	3.0	4.0	7.0	7.0	2.0
Jones, Nate 3125	pi mr cp	chi al	3.0	4.0	11.0	11.0	2.0
Stripling, Ross 3629	pi sp	lad nl	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7
Blackmon, Charlie 2891	cf	col nl	2.5	5.0	10.5	10.5	0.0
Gutierrez, Franklin 2242	rf	sea al	2.5	3.5	7.5	22.5	1.5
Moylan, Peter 2266	pi mr	kc al	1.0	1.0	1.0	5.0	1.0
Baumann, Buddy 3697	pi mr	sd nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Mariners' Iwakuma tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 3; Nationals' Scherzer edges closer to Kershaw's lead

Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma 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 Aug. 3:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	14.5
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	14.1
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
8	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	12.4
9	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	11.0
10	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	11.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, ranked second among players in Box-Toppers points this season, got within striking distance of overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, after earning National League Player of the Day honors.

Player of the Day—Iwakuma pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing five hits and no walks, in the 3-1 win over the Red Sox.

National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing three runs, four hits and one walk, in the 8-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

Scherzer earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 18.7 for the season, maintaining second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings. With his points Wednesday, he now has the chance to pass overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0 Box-Toppers points) on his next start. 

Scherzer’s 1.3-point gap behind Kershaw is the closest any player has been to the leader since May 22, when Kershaw had 10.0 Box-Toppers points and Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta trailed him in second place with 8.7 (Arrieta now has 10.7 points, 11th among all players). Kershaw has led all players since May 7, but last earned Box-Toppers points on June 20 before going on the disabled list June 27. On Wednesday, he was retroactively placed on the 60-day disabled list, eligible to return Aug. 27.

Scherzer also now has 124.7 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 37th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Wednesday, he passes Gary Sheffield (124.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 36th-ranked player, Angels pitcher Jered Weaver (125.1).

American League Batter of the Day—Joe Mauer of the Twins hit two doubles and tripled, going 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 13-5 win over the Indians.

This was Mauer’s first Player of the Game honor in 2016 and he has now earned Box-Toppers points in 13 straight seasons, all with the Twins. He earned his first points in 2004 and has 70.6 career points, 11th among active AL batters. His best season was 2008 when he had 9.5 Box-Toppers points, eighth among AL batters. In 2015, he had 2.5 points.

National League Batter of the Day—Yangervis Solarte of the Padres homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring four times and driving in three runs, in the 12-3 win over the Brewers.

Notable—Besides Scherzer, two other players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

• Albert Pujols of the Angels (HR 2B 3-5 2R 3BI in the 8-6 win over the Athletics) now has 181.3 career Box-Toppers points, ranked sixth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began (see updated list of the overall top 20 players in career points). He now trails fifth-place player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (182.0), by only 0.7 points. Pujols has 7.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 10th among AL batters.
• Cubs pitcher John Lackey (7IP 7H 3R 0BB 8K ND in the 5-4 win over the Marlins) rises to 40th place in career Box-Toppers points (118.2) among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes two players on the “all-time” list, Barry Zito (117.4) and Carlos Delgado (117.7) and now trails 39th-ranked player Cliff Lee (119.1). Lackey also becomes the 19th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points—he has 10.4 and ranks 14th among all players, 10th among NL pitchers.

Streak—Ryan Howard has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons—all with the Phillies—after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season Wednesday.

Howard (HR 3-4 R BI in the 5-4, 12-inning win over the Giants) earned his first points in 2005 and has 97.7 career points, second among active NL batters, trailing Matt Holliday of the Cardinals (97.8) by 0.1 point. Howard’s best season was 2009 when he had 15.4 points, third among NL batters. In 2015, he had 5.5 points.

Scoring—Iwakuma earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Scherzer earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Mauer and Solarte 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

8/3	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.1	SEA 3, BOS 1	Hisashi Iwakuma (W,12-7)	-	-	-	-		7.1	5	0	0	0	7
NL	8.0	WSH 8, ARI 3	Max Scherzer (W,12-6)	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	3	3	1	11
	8.0	TOR 3, HOU 1	Marco Estrada (W,7-4)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	0	7
	8.0	TB 12, KC 0	Jake Odorizzi (W,6-5)	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	2	6
	6.1	NYY 9, NYM 5	Luis Severino (W,1-6)	-	-	-	-		4.1	1	1	0	1	5
BAT	5.0	MIN 13, CLE 5	Joe Mauer, 1B	5	2	4	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	5.0	SD 12, MIL 3	Yangervis Solarte, 3B	5	4	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	COL 12, LAD 2	Nolan Arenado, 3B	3	3	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.1	DET 2, CHW 1	Shane Greene (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	LAA 8, OAK 6	Albert Pujols, DH	5	2	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	ATL 8, PIT 4	Ender Inciarte, CF	4	2	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	BAL 3, TEX 2	Kevin Gausman (W,3-8)	-	-	-	-		7.0	7	2	2	1	7
	2.0	`CHC 5, MIA 4	John Lackey	-	-	-	-		7.0	7	3	3	0	8
	1.0	PHI 5, SF 4 (12)	Ryan Howard, 1B	4	1	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	STL 5, CIN 4	Brandon Moss, 1B	4	1	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	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7	39.7	104.3	124.7	-2.3
Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	10.4	20.1	39.8	118.2	0.7
Estrada, Marco 2847	pi sp	tor al	7.0	15.0	39.1	39.1	-1.0
Pujols, Albert 1438	dh 1b	ana al	7.0	14.0	44.0	181.3	0.0
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	6.5	15.0	16.5	16.5	-2.0
Gausman, Kevin 3191	pi sp	bal al	5.4	11.1	18.8	18.8	-0.3
Odorizzi, Jake 3291	pi sp	tb al	4.7	13.4	24.4	24.4	-4.0
Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048	pi sp	sea al	4.0	17.1	52.2	52.2	-9.1
Solarte, Yangervis 3304	3b	sd nl	3.0	8.0	9.0	9.0	-2.0
Greene, Shane 3381	pi sp	det al	3.0	6.0	13.0	13.0	0.0
Moss, Brandon 2520	rf lf 1b	stl nl	2.5	7.5	23.5	25.5	-2.5
Mauer, Joe 1869	1b	min al	1.5	4.0	26.0	70.6	-1.0
Howard, Ryan 2040	1b	phi nl	1.0	6.5	31.4	97.7	-4.5
Inciarte, Ender 3360	cf	atl nl	1.0	4.0	5.0	5.0	-2.0
Severino, Luis 3567	pi mr sp	nyy al	1.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	-2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Twins' Nolasco tops players for Friday, July 29; Scherzer, Lester rise in Box-Toppers top 10 rankings

Twins pitcher Ricky Nolasco is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, two players—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer and Cubs pitcher Jon Lester—rise in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	17.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
5	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	14.1
6	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	12.5
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	12.4
8	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	12.4
9	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	11.0
10	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	11.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Nolasco allowed one run over eight innings, giving up three hits, one walk and striking out six, in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the White Sox. Nolasco did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because he exited with the game tied.

National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester pitched six scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing four hits and two walks, in the 12-1 win over the Mariners.

Lester earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season and rising to eighth place in season player rankings, sixth among NL pitchers.

Lester displaces teammate, pitcher Jake Arrieta (10.7 Box-Toppers points), from the season player ranking top 10 list. Arrieta had been in the top 10 this season continuously since April 16 and led all players from April 21 to April 30 and from May 3 to May 6. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw has led all players since May 7 (currently with 20.0 Box-Toppers points). Arrieta has not earned Box-Toppers points since June 17. He led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 29.1.

Lester now also has 133.5 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 28th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Friday, Lester passes Jason Giambi (133.4) on the “all-time” list and now trails 27th-ranked player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (138.4).

National League Batter of the Day—Tommy Pham of the Cardinals hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 11-6 win over the Marlins.

American League Batter of the Day—Cameron Maybin of the Tigers doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 14-6 win over the Astros.

Rankings—Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Scherzer (7IP 5H R 2BB 6K W in the 4-1 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.0 for the season. He rises from third to second in season player rankings, passing Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (16.4) and now trails overall leader Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0 Box-Toppers points) by 3.0 points.

Scherzer also now has 123.0 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 38th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Scherzer trails 37th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1).

Scoring—Nolasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lester earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Pham and Maybin 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

7/29	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	8.0	`MIN 2, CHW 1 (12)	Ricky Nolasco	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	1	1	1	6
NL	7.0	CHC 12, SEA 1	Jon Lester (W,11-4)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	2	7
	6.2	MIL 3, PIT 1	Junior Guerra (W,7-2)	-	-	-	-		8.2	4	1	1	1	5
	5.2	TB 5, NYY 1	Jake Odorizzi (W,5-5)	-	-	-	-		6.2	6	0	0	0	5
BAT	4.0	STL 11, MIA 6	Tommy Pham, CF	4	3	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	WSH 4, SF 1	Max Scherzer (W,11-6)	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	2	6
	4.0	CIN 6, SD 0	Brandon Finnegan (W,6-8)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	3	5
BAT	3.0	DET 14, HOU 6	Cameron Maybin, CF	5	3	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	TEX 8, KC 3	Rougned Odor, 2B	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	LAD 9, ARI 7	Joc Pederson, CF	4	1	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	BOS 6, LAA 2	Rick Porcello (W,14-2)	-	-	-	-		9.0	5	2	2	0	3
	2.0	COL 6, NYM 1	Carlos Gonzalez, RF	5	1	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	TOR 6, BAL 5	Edwin Encarnacion, DH	3	2	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	CLE 5, OAK 3	Abraham Almonte, PH	1	1	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	ATL 2, PHI 1	Nick Markakis, RF	3	0	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	17.0	38.0	102.6	123.0	-4.0
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	12.4	24.4	70.6	133.5	0.4
Guerra, Junior 3633	pi sp	mil nl	8.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	8.0
Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	dh	tor al	7.0	17.4	45.6	66.1	-3.4
Porcello, Rick 2573	pi sp	bos al	6.0	10.0	31.7	40.7	2.0
Nolasco, Ricky 2125	pi sp	min al	5.7	7.7	28.4	81.5	3.7
Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	rf	col nl	5.5	17.0	45.7	58.7	-6.0
Markakis, Nick 2116	rf	atl nl	4.0	8.5	19.5	46.1	-0.5
Odor, Rougned 3336	2b	tex al	4.0	7.0	8.5	8.5	1.0
Odorizzi, Jake 3291	pi sp	tb al	3.7	12.4	23.4	23.4	-5.0
Finnegan, Brandon 3535	pi sp	cin nl	3.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	0.0
Maybin, Cameron 2672	cf	det al	3.0	4.0	11.5	15.5	2.0
Pederson, Joc 3621	cf	lad nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Pham, Thomas 3596	cf	stl nl	1.5	3.0	3.0	3.0	0.0
Almonte, Abraham 3554	cf ph	cle al	1.0	2.5	2.5	2.5	-0.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Nationals' Max Scherzer tops players for Saturday, July 9, rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers rankings

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of July 9:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	14.4
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	14.0
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	13.4
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	12.5
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	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	10.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Scherzer struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 6-1 win over the Mets.

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.0 for the season, rising from fifth to third in player rankings, behind two other National League pitchers, Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (20.0) and Jose Fernandez of the Marlins (14.4).

Scherzer also now has 120.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 38th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Cliff Lee (119.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 37th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1).

In addition, Scherzer ranks third among all players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2015 with 35.0, trailing Kershaw (45.7) and Jake Arrieta of the Cubs (39.8). He ranks second among all players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2011 with 99.6, behind only Kershaw (145.8).

American League Player of the Day—Yankees closing pitcher Aroldis Chapman pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing no runs or hits and striking out four, in the 7-6, 11-inning win over the Indians.

National League Batter of the Day—Josh E. Bell of the Pirates hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the 12-6 win over the Cubs.

This was Bell’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Bell made his Major League debut July 8 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,682nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Stephen Vogt of the Athletics homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 3-2 win over the Astros.

Debut—Cheslor Cuthbert of the Royals made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Cuthbert (2B 2-4 R 2BI in the 5-3 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut July 7, 2015, and was playing in his 74th career game. He is the 3,683rd 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 Chapman earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Bell and Vogt 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

7/9	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.0	DC 6/NYM 1	Max Scherzer (W,10-6)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	0	2	9
	6.0	STL 8/MIL 1	Carlos Martinez (W,8-6)	-	-	-	-		5.0	4	1	1	4	11
AL	5.1	NYY 7/CLE 6	Aroldis Chapman (W,3-0)	-	-	-	-		2.1	0	0	0	1	4
BAT	5.0	PIT 12/CHC 6	Josh Bell, PH	1	1	1	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	MIN 8/TEX 6	Eddie Rosario, LF	5	4	4	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	BOS 4/TB 1	Rick Porcello (W,11-2)	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	0	5
	3.2	MIA 4/CIN 2	Adam Conley (W,6-5)	-	-	-	-		5.2	4	2	2	1	7
BAT	3.0	OAK 3/HOU 2	Stephen Vogt, C	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	COL 8/PHI 3	Tony Wolters, C	4	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	`DET 3/TOR 2	Matt Boyd	-	-	-	-		5.0	4	1	1	2	6
	3.0	LAD 4/SD 3	Kenley Jansen (S,26)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.1	SF 4/ARI 2	George Kontos (W,2-1)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	CHW 5/ATL 4	Todd Frazier, 3B	4	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	KC 5/SEA 3	Cheslor Cuthbert, 3B	4	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	BAL 3/LAA 2	Brad Brach (W,6-1)	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	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 of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	14.0	35.0	99.6	120.0	-7.0
Conley, Adam 3594	pi sp	fla nl	6.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	3.7
Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	4.7	18.4	19.4	19.4	-9.0
Chapman, Aroldis 2826	pi cp	nyy al	4.7	12.7	42.7	43.7	-3.3
Frazier, Todd 2929	3b	chi al	4.2	13.1	27.1	27.1	-4.7
Porcello, Rick 2573	pi sp	bos al	4.0	8.0	29.7	38.7	0.0
Jansen, Kenley 2871	pi cp	lad nl	4.0	8.0	34.4	34.4	0.0
Vogt, Stephen 3503	ca 1b	oak al	2.5	5.0	5.0	5.0	0.0
Wolters, Tony 3668	ca	col nl	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Brach, Brad 3374	pi mr	bal al	2.0	5.0	6.0	6.0	-1.0
Kontos, George 3106	pi cp mr	sf nl	2.0	4.0	6.7	6.7	0.0
Bell, Josh E. 2789	ph	pit nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Rosario, Eddie 3542	lf	min al	1.0	2.5	2.5	2.5	-0.5
Boyd, Matt 3550	pi sp	det al	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Cuthbert, Cheslor 3683	3b	kc al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops players for Monday, June 20, extends overwhelming dominance in Box-Toppers player rankings

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Monday’s Player of the Day, extending his overwhelming dominance in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of June 20:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	11.7
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	10.0
6	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
7	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7
8	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	9.4
9	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
10	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	8.8

What are those numbers after players' names?

Kershaw struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, six hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Nationals.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 20.0 for the season. It is the sixth straight season Kershaw has had 20 or more Box-Toppers points. He now has twice as many Box-Toppers points this season than all but two players—Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (11.7) and Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (10.7).

Kershaw’s 20.0 Box-Toppers points on June 20, less than halfway into the season, would have put him in eighth place among all players in 2015—at the end of the season.

Kershaw seems to be on track to earn more than 40.0 Box-Toppers points this season. Randy Johnson holds the record for most Box-Toppers points in a single season (since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began) with 33.5. Johnson did it twice—in 2000 and 2002 with the Diamondbacks.

At this point in the 2000 season, Johnson had 20.7 Box-Toppers points, meaning Kershaw is slightly behind his pace. But at this point in the 2002 season, Johnson had only 11.7 points, putting Kershaw well ahead of that pace.

In Kershaw’s best season, 2014, he had 31.5 Box-Toppers points, tied for the fourth-best single season in Box-Toppers history (since 1995). And at this point in the 2014 season, Kershaw had only 10.7 Box-Toppers points.

Kershaw also now has 179.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of sixth place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails fifth-place player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (182.0). (See homepage for updated rankings of top 20 players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995.)

Kershaw is now 99.5 Box-Toppers points behind “all-time” leader Johnson’s career mark of 278.8 Box-Toppers points. Since the start of the 2013 season—a span of three and a half seasons—Kershaw has earned 98.9 points, meaning at his current torrid pace, Kershaw could catch Johnson’s career points mark by the end of the 2019 season, when he will be 31 years old.

(It should be noted that Johnson began his career in 1988, before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. If his entire career were tracked, Johnson would likely have many more Box-Toppers points. Rough Box-Toppers projections puts his estimated career total at 380—more than 100 more than his total from 1995 to 2009.)

American League Player of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros hit a two-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 10-7 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—Mark Reynolds of the Rockies hit two solo home runs, going 2-for-3, in the 5-3 win over the Marlins.

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 Carlos Correa.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Correa earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Reynolds 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

6/20	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.0	LAD 4/DC 1	Clayton Kershaw (W,11-1)	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	0	8
	4.2	PIT 1/SF 0	Jeff Locke (W,6-5)	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	0	0	0	3
AL	4.0	HOU 10/LAA 7	Carlos Correa, SS	3	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	CLE 7/TB 4	Bryan Shaw (W,1-3)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	3.2	ARI 3/PHI 1	Shelby Miller (W,2-6)	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	1	1	1	5
	3.2	`CHW 3/BOS 1	Miguel Gonzalez	-	-	-	-		6.2	4	1	1	2	5
BAT	3.0	COL 5/MIA 3	Mark Reynolds, 1B	3	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	DET 8/SEA 7	Justin Upton, LF	5	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.2	STL 3/CHC 2	Jaime Garcia (W,5-6)	-	-	-	-		6.2	6	2	2	2	6
	0.0	TEX 4/BAL 3	Elvis Andrus, SS	4	1	3	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0	45.7	145.8	179.3	-5.7
Correa, Carlos 3506	ss	hou al	5.2	12.4	12.4	12.4	-2.0
Garcia, Jaime 2508	pi sp	stl nl	5.0	14.4	32.1	40.8	-4.4
Locke, Jeff 3133	pi sp	pit nl	3.7	9.7	21.1	21.1	-2.3
Andrus, Elvis 2582	ss	tex al	3.7	3.7	11.2	14.2	3.7
Upton, Justin 2411	lf	det al	3.0	12.0	38.9	47.4	-6.0
Reynolds, Mark 2297	1b	col nl	3.0	7.0	27.2	50.4	-1.0
Shaw, Bryan 2995	pi mr	cle al	3.0	4.0	8.0	8.0	2.0
Gonzalez, Miguel 3062	pi sp	chi al	2.7	9.4	31.5	31.5	-4.0
Miller, Shelby 3134	pi sp	ari nl	1.0	11.0	37.1	37.1	-9.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Jake Arrieta tops players for Friday, June 17, rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers rankings

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Friday’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 17:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	11.7
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	10.0
6	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
7	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	9.4
8	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
9	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	8.8
10	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Arrieta pitched six scoreless innings, striking out 11 and allowing two hits, in the 6-0 win over the Pirates.

Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season, rising from ninth to third place among all players. He becomes the sixth player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and has now earned 10 or more points for three straight years. He had 14.7 in 2014 and 29.1 in 2015, when he led all players in Box-Toppers points.

American League Player of the Day—Michael Saunders of the Blue Jays hit three homers and went 3-for-5, driving in eight runs, in the 13-3 win over the Orioles.

National League Batter of the Day—Peter O’Brien of the Diamondbacks hit two home runs and went 2-for-5, driving in four runs, in the 10-2 win over the Phillies.

This was O’Brien’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. O’Brien made his Major League debut Sept. 11, 2015, and was playing in his 14th career game. He is the 3,661st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Michael Saunders.

Notable—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels now has 134.6 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Hamels (7.2IP 3H 0R 3BB 6K W in the 1-0 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game and ranks 27th in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 26th-ranked player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (136.9). 

Hamels has 8.4 Box-Toppers points on the season, 13th among all players and third among AL pitchers.

Debut—Braves pitcher John Gant made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Gant (6.2IP 2H R 2BB 5K W in the 5-1 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut April 6 and was playing in his ninth career game. He is the 3,660th 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 Saunders earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. O’Brien earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

6/17	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	12.0	CHC 6/PIT 0	Jake Arrieta (W,11-1)	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	3	11
AL	9.0	TOR 13/BAL 3	Michael Saunders, LF	5	3	3	8		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.2	TEX 1/STL 0	Cole Hamels (W,7-1)	-	-	-	-		7.2	3	0	0	3	6
	7.0	SEA 8/BOS 4	Franklin Gutierrez, RF	5	3	3	6		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	SF 5/TB 1	Jeff Samardzija (W,8-4)	-	-	-	-		9.0	4	1	1	0	4
	7.0	`CLE 3/CHW 2	Trevor Bauer	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	3	9
	7.0	`LAD 3/MIL 2	Julio Urias	-	-	-	-		5.0	5	0	0	1	8
	5.2	ATL 5/NYM 1	John Gant (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-		6.2	2	1	1	2	5
	5.1	KC 10/DET 3	Yordano Ventura (W,6-4)	-	-	-	-		6.1	6	0	0	0	5
	5.0	`OAK 3/LAA 2	Kendall Graveman	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	1	1	4
	4.1	`CIN 4/HOU 2	John Lamb	-	-	-	-		5.1	3	1	1	4	8
	4.0	NYY 8/MIN 2	Masahiro Tanaka (W,4-2)	-	-	-	-		8.0	7	1	1	0	5
BAT	3.0	ARI 10/PHI 2	Peter O'Brien, LF	5	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	DC 7/SD 5	Daniel Murphy, 2B	4	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.2	`MIA 5/COL 1	Adam Conley	-	-	-	-		5.2	1	1	1	5	5
		`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	+/-
Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7	39.8	67.5	70.5	-18.4
Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	8.4	23.8	75.4	134.6	-7.0
Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	pi sp	nyy al	5.0	13.0	25.7	25.7	-3.0
Murphy, Daniel 2589	2b	dc nl	5.0	6.5	28.5	30.0	3.5
Samardzija, Jeff 2495	pi sp	sf nl	4.7	14.1	42.8	43.8	-4.7
Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	4.7	14.1	22.8	22.8	-4.7
Ventura, Yordano 3294	pi sp	kc al	4.0	15.7	25.4	25.4	-7.7
Conley, Adam 3594	pi sp	fla nl	4.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	1.0
Saunders, Michael 2768	lf	tor al	2.3	2.3	12.0	13.0	2.3
Graveman, Kendall 3444	pi sp	oak al	2.0	6.7	6.7	6.7	-2.7
Lamb, John 3654	pi sp	cin nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Urias, Julio 3652	pi sp	lad nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
O’Brien, Peter 3661	lf	ari nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Gutierrez, Franklin 2242	rf	sea al	1.0	2.0	6.0	21.0	0.0
Gant, John 3660	pi sp	atl nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?