Nationals' Max Scherzer passes Kershaw for Box-Toppers points lead after topping players for Thursday, Aug. 25

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and takes the season lead in Box-Toppers points, passing Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who had led since May 7.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 25:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 20.7
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 20.0
3 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 18.4
4 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 17.2
5 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 16.8
6 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 15.4
7 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 14.4
8 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 14.1
9 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 13.7
10 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 13.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Thursday, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to fifth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.

Player of the Day—Scherzer pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing two hits and no walks, in the 4-0 win over the Orioles.

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 20.7 for the season, rising from second to first among all players. Scherzer becomes the second player this season to 20 points; previous leader Kershaw (20.0 Box-Toppers points) did it first it more than two months ago on June 20, the last time he earned Player of the Game before going on the disabled list.

Kershaw has led all players in Box-Toppers points this season since May 7, nearly 16 weeks, despite going on the disabled list two months ago on June 26. Kershaw is eligible to return from the disabled list Saturday and reports indicate he could return to pitch by mid-September.

Kershaw finished second in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 25.7, behind overall leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (29.1). Kershaw led all National League players in Box-Toppers points from 2011 to 2014 and led all players in 2011, 2013 and 2014.

Lead changes

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

Date Player Team BTP
4/3 Francisco Liriano pit nl 2.0
4/4 Clayton Kershaw lad nl 2.0
4/14 Vince Velasquez phi nl 4.0
4/21 Jake Arrieta chi nl 5.0
5/1 Clayton Kershaw lad nl 6.0
5/3 Jake Arrieta chi nl 6.0
5/7 Clayton Kershaw lad nl 7.0
8/25 Max Scherzer dc nl 20.7

This is Scherzer’s third straight 20-point season. He earned 22.1 points in 2014 with the Tigers, when he ranked fifth overall and second among American League pitchers. He earned 21.0 points in 2015 with the Nationals, when he ranked sixth overall and fourth among NL pitchers.

Scherzer now has 126.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 35th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Thursday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver (125.1) and Mariano Rivera (126.4). Scherzer now trails 34th-ranked player Roy Oswalt (127.2).

American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits and no walks, in the 9-0 win over the Indians.

Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 16.8 for the season, rising to fifth among all players and maintaining his spot in second place among AL pitchers, behind Corey Kluber of the Indians (17.2).

Hamels also now has 143.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 23rd place among players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Thursday, he passes three players (all active) on the “all-time” list—Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8), David Ortiz of the Red Sox (142.9) and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (142.9). Hamels now has the seventh-most career Box-Toppers points among active players. Hamels now trails 22nd-ranked player, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (145.8).

National League Batter of the Day—Alejandro De Aza of the Mets hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 10-6 win over the Cardinals.

American League Batter of the Day—James McCann of the Tigers hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-5 win over the Twins.

Debut—Rays pitcher Tyler Sturdevant made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Sturdevant (0.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K ND in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut May 24 and was playing in his 16th career game. He is the 3,718th 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 Hamels earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. De Aza and McCann each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

8/25 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 16.0 WSH 4, BAL 0 Max Scherzer (W,14-7) - - - - 8.0 2 0 0 0 10
AL 14.0 TEX 9, CLE 0 Cole Hamels (W,14-4) - - - - 8.0 2 0 0 0 8
11.2 SF 4, LAD 0 Matt Moore (W,8-10) - - - - 8.2 1 0 0 3 7
BAT 5.0 NYM 10, STL 6 Alejandro De Aza, CF 4 2 2 5 - - - - - -
5.0 ATL 3, ARI 1 Matt Wisler (W,5-11) - - - - 8.0 2 1 1 3 4
BAT 4.0 DET 8, MIN 5 James McCann, C 5 2 4 3 - - - - - -
4.0 LAA 6, TOR 3 Mike Trout, CF 4 1 3 4 - - - - - -
3.0 KC 5, MIA 2 Kelvin Herrera (S,9) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.2 `TB 2, BOS 1 Tyler Sturdevant - - - - 0.2 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 PIT 3, MIL 2 (10) Andrew McCutchen, CF 5 1 3 3 - - - - - -
2.0 CHW 7, SEA 6 Tim Anderson, SS 4 2 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 20.7 41.7 106.3 126.7 -0.3
Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 16.8 32.2 83.8 143.0 1.4
Trout, Mike 2949 cf ana al 8.5 20.5 45.0 45.0 -3.5
Moore, Matt 2975 pi sp sf nl 7.7 7.7 33.2 33.2 7.7
McCutchen, Andrew 2637 cf pit nl 5.5 16.0 46.7 52.4 -5.0
Wisler, Matt 3522 pi sp atl nl 3.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 0.0
Anderson, Tim 3659 ss chi al 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
McCann, James 3649 ca det al 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5
De Aza, Alejandro 2950 cf nym nl 1.5 3.0 11.7 11.7 0.0
Herrera, Kelvin 3149 pi cp kc al 1.0 1.0 5.0 5.0 1.0
Sturdevant, Tyler 3718 pi mr tb al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Athletics' Kendall Graveman tops players for Friday, Aug. 19; Rangers' Hamels rises to 5th in Box-Toppers rankings

Athletics pitcher Kendall Graveman is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to fifth in Box-Toppers 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 Aug. 19:  


 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 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 17.2
4 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 16.4
5 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 15.1
6 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 14.4
7 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 14.4
8 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 14.1
9 Happ, J.A. 2536 pi sp tor al 12.7
10 Altuve, Jose 3007 2b hou al 12.5
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Graveman pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout, striking out five and walking none, in the 9-0 win over the White Sox.

National League Player of the Day—Ryan Schimpf of the Padres hit a walk-off, three-run homer in the 7-4, 10-inning win over the Diamondbacks. Schimpf hit two homers in the game and also doubled twice, going 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs.

American League Batter of the Day—Teoscar Hernandez of the Astros homered and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 15-8 win over the Orioles.

This was Hernandez’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Hernandez made his Major League debut Aug. 12 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,713rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Rankings—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises from seventh to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Hamels (7.1IP 3H R 2BB 10K W in the 6-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.1 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Corey Kluber of the Indians (17.2).

Hamels also now has 141.3 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 26th since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 25th-ranked player, Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8).

Notable—Two players became the 25th and 26th players this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points after they earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

  • Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (7.2IP 5H 0R 0BB 9K W in the 7-0 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, becoming the 25th player with 10 or more points in 2016. Tanaka ranks 19th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers. It is his second season with 10 or more points; he had 12.7 points in 2014 with the Yankees.
  • Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer (8IP 5H 2R 2BB 13K ND in the 3-2 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season, becoming the 26th player with 10 or more points in 2016. Bauer ranks 23rd among all players and 10th among AL pitchers. This is Bauer's first season with 10 or more points.

Debut—David Dahl of the Rockies made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Dahl (HR 2-4 2R BI in the 7-6, 11-inning win over the Cubs) made his Major League debut July 25 and was playing in his 24th career game. He is the 3,714th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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

8/19 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 OAK 9, CHW 0 Kendall Graveman (W,9-8) - - - - 9.0 2 0 0 0 5
11.2 NYY 7, LAA 0 Masahiro Tanaka (W,10-4) - - - - 7.2 5 0 0 0 9
10.1 TEX 6, TB 2 Cole Hamels (W,13-4) - - - - 7.1 3 1 1 2 10
10.0 `CLE 3, TOR 2 Trevor Bauer - - - - 8.0 5 2 2 2 13
NL 7.0 SD 7, ARI 4 (10) Ryan Schimpf, 2B 5 3 4 5 - - - - - -
6.0 BOS 10, DET 2 Rick Porcello (W,17-3) - - - - 7.0 4 2 1 2 8
BAT 5.0 HOU 15, BAL 8 Teoscar Hernandez, CF 4 3 3 3 - - - - - -
5.0 CIN 9, LAD 2 Joey Votto, 1B 3 2 2 4 - - - - - -
3.0 MIA 6, PIT 5 J.T. Realmuto, C 3 2 3 1 - - - - - -
3.0 SF 8, NYM 1 Conor Gillaspie, PH 1 1 1 2 - - - - - -
2.0 WSH 7, ATL 6 Clint Robinson, 1B 3 2 2 1 - - - - - -
2.0 STL 4, PHI 3 (11) Seung Hwan Oh (W,3-2) - - - - 2.0 1 0 0 1 2
1.0 COL 7, CHC 6 (11) David Dahl, CF 4 2 2 1 - - - - - -
1.0 SEA 7, MIL 6 Adam Lind, PH-1B 2 1 1 1 - - - - - -
1.0 KC 5, MIN 4 (11) Chien-Ming Wang (W,6-0) - - - - 2.0 1 0 0 0 0
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 15.1 30.5 82.1 141.3 -0.3
Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 pi sp nyy al 10.7 18.7 31.4 31.4 2.7
Bauer, Trevor 3065 pi sp cle al 10.4 19.8 28.5 28.5 1.0
Votto, Joey 2366 1b cin nl 8.5 13.5 30.2 62.2 3.5
Porcello, Rick 2573 pi sp bos al 7.0 11.0 32.7 41.7 3.0
Realmuto, J.T. 3491 ca fla nl 5.5 10.5 10.5 10.5 0.5
Graveman, Kendall 3444 pi sp oak al 5.0 9.7 9.7 9.7 0.3
Schimpf, Ryan 3686 2b 3b sd nl 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2
Oh, Seung Hwan 3693 pi cp stl nl 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
Lind, Adam 2238 1b ph sea al 3.7 10.2 30.2 57.8 -2.8
Gillaspie, Conor 3218 3b ph sf nl 2.0 2.0 8.5 8.5 2.0
Hernandez, Teoscar 3713 cf hou al 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5
Robinson, Clint 3475 1b dc nl 1.0 4.5 4.5 4.5 -2.5
Wang, Chien-Ming 2023 pi cp kc al 1.0 1.0 5.0 28.1 1.0
Dahl, David 3714 cf col nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Jason Hammel tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 16; Indians' Kluber rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers points

Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel 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 Aug. 16:  


 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 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 17.2
4 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 16.4
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 Happ, J.A. 2536 pi sp tor al 12.7
10 Altuve, Jose 3007 2b hou al 12.5
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Hammel pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing two hits and three walks, in the 4-1 win over the Brewers.

Hammel earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season, becoming the 23rd player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. Hammel ranks 17th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez pitched four scoreless innings, allowing no hits, walking two and striking out seven, in the 5-3 win over the Orioles. Rodriguez did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because he did not pitch the requisite five innings to earn the win, exiting the game with an injury.

National League Batter of the Day—DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies homered, tripled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 6-2 win over the Nationals.

American League Batter of the Day—Luke Maile of the Rays doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 15-1 win over the Padres.

This was Maile’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Maile made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2015, and was playing in his 35th career game. He is the 3,709th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Rankings—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Kluber (6IP 7H R 2BB 7K W in the 3-1 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.2 for the season. He extends his lead among AL pitchers ahead of second-place Cole Hamels of the Rangers (14.1).

Notable—Royals pitcher Danny Duffy becomes the 24th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Duffy (7.2IP 3H R 2BB 5K W in the 6-1 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. Duffy ranks 19th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers.

Streak—Troy Tulowitzki of the Blue Jays has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2016 on Tuesday.

Tulowitzki (HR 4-5 2R 2BI in the 12-6 win over the Yankees) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2007 with the Rockies and has 59.8 career points, 15th among active AL batters and first among active AL shortstops. His best year was 2014 with the Rockies, when he had 11.6 Box-Toppers points, the season leader among NL batters. In 2015, he had 6.0 Box-Toppers points with the Rockies and the Blue Jays.

Debut—In addition to Maile, two other players made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, with their first career Player of the Game honors:

  • T.J. Rivera of the Mets (4-4 2R in the 7-5 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut Aug. 10 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,710th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Jett Bandy of the Angels (HR 2-4 2R BI in the 7-6 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut Sept. 14, 2015, and was playing in his 45th career game. He is the 3,711th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Hammel earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rodriguez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. LeMahieu and Maile 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

8/16 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 CHC 4, MIL 1 Jason Hammel (W,13-5) - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 3 7
AL 9.0 `BOS 5, BAL 3 Eduardo Rodriguez - - - - 4.0 0 0 0 2 7
7.0 MIN 4, ATL 2 Ervin Santana (W,6-9) - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 2 6
7.0 LAD 15, PHI 5 Kenta Maeda (W,12-7) - - - - 6.0 3 2 2 1 9
5.2 KC 6, DET 1 Danny Duffy (W,10-1) - - - - 7.2 3 1 1 2 5
BAT 5.0 COL 6, WSH 2 DJ LeMahieu, 2B 3 3 3 2 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 TB 15, SD 1 Luke Maile, C 4 1 3 4 - - - - - -
4.0 CHC 4, MIL 0 Trevor Cahill (W,2-3) - - - - 5.0 2 0 0 2 3
4.0 `TEX 5, OAK 4 (10) Alex Claudio - - - - 4.0 2 0 0 1 3
3.0 TOR 12, NYY 6 Troy Tulowitzki, SS 5 2 4 2 - - - - - -
3.0 CIN 6, MIA 3 Tucker Barnhart, C 3 1 1 4 - - - - - -
3.0 STL 8, HOU 5 Seung Hwan Oh (S,12) - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 3
2.0 NYM 7, ARI 5 T.J. Rivera, 3B-2B 4 2 4 0 - - - - - -
2.0 CLE 3, CHW 1 Corey Kluber (W,13-8) - - - - 6.0 7 1 1 2 7
1.0 LAA 7, SEA 6 Jett Bandy, C 4 2 2 1 - - - - - -
0.0 PIT 4, SF 3 Andrew McCutchen, CF 3 1 2 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 +/-
Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 17.2 30.6 61.4 61.4 3.8
Hammel, Jason 2235 pi sp chi nl 11.0 20.7 44.1 57.2 1.3
Duffy, Danny 2915 pi sp kc al 10.7 14.7 29.7 29.7 6.7
LeMahieu, DJ 3091 2b col nl 7.0 14.0 20.0 20.0 0.0
Maeda, Kenta 3609 pi sp lad nl 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0
McCutchen, Andrew 2637 cf pit nl 4.5 15.0 45.7 51.4 -6.0
Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 4.0 9.4 47.8 97.3 -1.4
Oh, Seung Hwan 3693 pi cp stl nl 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 pi sp bos al 2.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 -3.3
Cahill, Trevor 2658 pi mr sp chi nl 2.0 3.0 26.1 39.2 1.0
Maile, Luke 3709 ca tb al 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5
Tulowitzki, Troy 2308 ss tor al 1.0 7.0 39.1 59.8 -5.0
Barnhart, Tucker 3519 ca cin nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Claudio, Alex 3459 pi mr tex al 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Bandy, Jett 3711 ca ana al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Rivera, T.J. 3710 3b 2b nym nl 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?

Orioles' Dylan Bundy tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 2; Mets' deGrom tops NL players

Orioles pitcher Dylan Bundy 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 Aug. 2:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 20.0
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 17.0
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?

Bundy pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit, one walk and striking out seven, in the 5-1 win over the Rangers.

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing four hits and one walk, in the 7-1 win over the Yankees.

National League Batter of the Day—Maikel Franco of the Phillies hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 13-8 win over the Giants.

American League Batter of the Day—Max Kepler of the Twins homered and went 1-for-2, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 10-6 win over the Indians.

Tuesday was the second straight day Kepler earned AL Batter of the Day honors and the third time he’s done it in less than a week. In other words, he’s earned 4.5 Box-Toppers points in that span (1.5 points for each AL Batter of the Day honor) on July 28, Aug. 1 and Aug. 2. Kepler has 6.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, 14th among AL batters.

Notable—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers rises to 25th among all players in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Cabrera (HR 2B 3-5 2R 3BI in the 11-5 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 140.9 career points, passing Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (140.3) on the “all-time” list. Cabrera now trails 24th-ranked player, Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8).

Cabrera and Hamels have been passing each other in the career points list recently and with Tuesday’s honor, Cabrera again regains the 10th-place spot in career points among active players.

This was the second time in three days Cabrera has earned Player of the Game honors—he was AL Batter of the Day Sunday. Cabrera has 8.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, rising to fourth among AL batters.

Also notable—Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel is the season’s highest-ranked player among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Hammel (6IP 4H 0R 2BB 3K W in the 3-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks 33rd among all players and 17th among NL pitchers.

Hammel and another of Tuesday’s top players, Miguel Cabrera, both have 8.0 Box-Toppers points but Hammel ranks higher because he had more Box-Toppers points in 2015—9.7 vs. 4.7. Cabrera ranks 35th among all players.

Scoring—Bundy earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and deGrom earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Franco and Kepler 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

8/2 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 BAL 5, TEX 1 Dylan Bundy (W,4-3) - - - - 7.0 1 0 0 1 7
NL 10.0 NYM 7, NYY 1 Jacob deGrom (W,7-5) - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 1 8
BAT 7.0 PHI 13, SF 8 Maikel Franco, 3B 4 3 4 4 - - - - - -
7.0 COL 7, LAD 3 Jon Gray (W,8-4) - - - - 5.0 2 0 0 2 6
BAT 4.0 MIN 10, CLE 6 Max Kepler, RF 2 3 1 2 - - - - - -
4.0 TOR 2, HOU 1 R.A. Dickey (W,8-12) - - - - 7.0 6 1 1 0 5
4.0 LAA 5, OAK 4 Cam Bedrosian (S,1) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.0 DET 11, CHW 5 Miguel Cabrera, 1B 5 2 3 3 - - - - - -
3.0 CIN 7, STL 5 Joey Votto, 1B 4 2 4 1 - - - - - -
3.0 CHC 3, MIA 2 Jason Hammel (W,11-5) - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 2 3
3.0 SEA 5, BOS 4 Edwin Diaz (S,1) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 3
3.0 MIL 3, SD 2 Tyler Thornburg (S,3) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
1.1 KC 3, TB 2 Chris Young (W,3-8) - - - - 1.1 1 0 0 1 2
1.0 WSH 10, ARI 4 Jayson Werth, LF 5 2 3 1 - - - - - -
1.0 PIT 5, ATL 3 Tony Watson (S,1) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 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 +/-
Hammel, Jason 2235 pi sp chi nl 8.0 17.7 41.1 54.2 -1.7
Cabrera, Miguel 1776 1b det al 8.0 12.7 61.3 140.9 3.3
deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 7.7 30.1 43.1 43.1 -14.7
Votto, Joey 2366 1b cin nl 6.5 11.5 28.2 60.2 1.5
Kepler, Max 3664 rf min al 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5
Dickey, R.A. 1734 pi sp tor al 6.0 11.0 55.2 76.9 1.0
Young, Chris R. 1933 pi sp mr kc al 4.7 12.7 28.8 78.8 -3.3
Bundy, Dylan 3655 pi sp mr bal al 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
Gray, Jon 3634 pi sp col nl 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
Bedrosian, Cam 3694 pi cp mr ana al 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
Franco, Maikel 3510 3b phi nl 2.5 5.7 5.7 5.7 -0.7
Werth, Jayson 1664 lf dc nl 2.0 5.0 19.0 46.2 -1.0
Watson, Tony 3215 pi mr cp pit nl 2.0 3.0 6.0 6.0 1.0
Thornburg, Tyler 3195 pi mr cp mil nl 2.0 2.0 8.0 8.0 2.0
Diaz, Edwin 3690 pi mr cp sea al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Indians' Corey Kluber tops players for Sunday, July 31, rises to lead AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to lead American League pitchers in season player rankings.

Kluber pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing five hits and two walks, in the 8-0 win over the Athletics.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of July 31:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 20.0
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 17.0
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 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?

Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.5 for the season, rising to fourth among all players. He rises to first among AL pitchers, passing previous leader Cole Hamels of the Rangers (14.1).

National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Matt Cain pitched five scoreless innings, allowing no hits, four walks and striking out five, in the 3-1 win over the Nationals.

American League Batter of the Day—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers hit two homers and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 11-0 win over the Astros.

Cabrera earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 139.9 for his career, rising to 26th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Sunday, Cabrera passes Andy Pettitte (138.5) on the “all-time” list and now trails 25th-ranked player, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (140.3).

Cabrera has 7.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 10th among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—Neil Walker of the Mets homered, tripled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 6-4 win over the Rockies.

Streak—Brewers pitcher Matt Garza has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season Sunday.

Garza (5IP 4H 2R BB 5K W in the 4-2 win over the Pirates) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2007 with the Twins and has 69.1 career points, 18th among active NL pitchers. His best season was 2008 with the Rays when he had 12.7 points, ninth among AL pitchers. He had 1.7 points in 2015 with the Brewers.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

7/31 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 7.0 CLE 8, OAK 0 Corey Kluber (W,10-8) - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 2 7
BAT 6.0 DET 11, HOU 0 Miguel Cabrera, 1B 4 3 3 4 - - - - - -
NL 6.0 SF 3, WSH 1 Matt Cain (W,3-6) - - - - 5.0 0 0 0 4 5
BAT 5.0 NYM 6, COL 4 Neil Walker, 2B 4 2 3 4 - - - - - -
5.0 LAD 14, ARI 3 Yasmani Grandal, C 4 3 3 3 - - - - - -
4.0 MIN 6, CHW 4 Brian Dozier, DH 4 3 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 TEX 5, KC 3 Mitch Moreland, 1B 3 2 2 2 - - - - - -
3.0 BOS 5, LAA 3 Clay Buchholz (W,4-9) - - - - 3.0 0 0 0 1 1
3.0 CHC 7, SEA 6 (12) Hector Rondon (W,2-2) - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 1
3.0 TB 5, NYY 3 Alex Colome (S,25) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 CIN 3, SD 2 Tony Cingrani (S,13) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 MIL 4, PIT 2 Matt Garza (W,2-4) - - - - 5.0 4 2 1 1 5
1.0 MIA 5, STL 4 J.T. Realmuto, C 3 0 2 2 - - - - - -
1.0 ATL 2, PHI 1 Mauricio Cabrera (W,2-0) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 1
0.0 BAL 6, TOR 2 (12) Jonathan Schoop, 2B 5 1 3 1 - - - - - -
Correction made Feb. 27, 2017: Jonathan Schoop, Player of the Game in the Orioles 6-2, 12-inning win over the Blue Jays, was previously incorrectly listed as a pitcher.

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 14.5 27.9 58.7 58.7 1.1
Cabrera, Miguel 1776 1b det al 7.0 11.7 60.3 139.9 2.3
Colome, Alex 3189 pi cp tb al 6.0 11.0 14.7 14.7 1.0
Rondon, Hector 3201 pi cp chi nl 5.0 7.0 10.0 10.0 3.0
Realmuto, J.T. 3491 ca fla nl 4.5 9.5 9.5 9.5 -0.5
Grandal, Yasmani 3058 ca lad nl 4.0 6.0 14.0 14.0 2.0
Moreland, Mitch 2799 1b tex al 3.5 9.7 17.7 18.7 -2.7
Walker, Neil 2756 2b nym nl 3.5 7.5 25.0 30.5 -0.5
Schoop, Jonathan 3307 2b bal al 3.5 6.0 8.5 8.5 1.0
Cain, Matt 2081 pi sp sf nl 2.7 4.7 37.5 99.7 0.7
Buchholz, Clay 2363 pi sp mr bos al 2.0 8.0 36.2 55.9 -4.0
Dozier, Brian 3219 2b dh min al 2.0 5.7 13.7 13.7 -1.7
Cingrani, Tony 3158 pi cp cin nl 2.0 2.0 9.4 9.4 2.0
Cabrera, Mauricio 3689 pi cp mr atl nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Garza, Matt 2343 pi sp mil nl 1.0 2.7 32.4 69.1 -0.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Rangers' Cole Hamels tops players for Thursday, July 28, takes lead among AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points

Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to take the season Box-Toppers points lead among American League pitchers.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of July 28:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 20.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 16.4
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
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 Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 11.0
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 11.0
10 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 10.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Hamels struck out 12 over eight innings, allowing two runs, six hits and one walk, in the 3-2 win over the Royals.

Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.1 for the season, rising from seventh to fifth in overall season player rankings. He rises to first among AL pitchers, passing previous leader Corey Kluber of the Indians (12.5).

Hamels also takes the lead among AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2015. He has 29.5 Box-Toppers points in the span, the same totals as Chris Sale of the White Sox and David Price of the Red Sox, but Hamels holds the tiebreaker and ranks higher because he has more points in 2016.

Hamels also now has 140.3 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 25th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Thursday, Hamels passes two players on the “all-time” list—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (138.4) and Andy Pettitte (138.5). Hamels now trails 24th-ranked player, Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8). Hamels also now ranks 10th in career Box-Toppers points among active players.

National League Player of the Day—Cubs closing pitcher Aroldis Chapman pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits or walks and striking out two, in the 3-1 win over the White Sox. It is his first Player of the Game honor he has earned since being traded from the Yankees earlier this week.

Chapman earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 6.4 for the season, rising to first among all closing pitchers, passing previous leader David Robertson of the White Sox (5.0).

National League Batter of the Day—Aaron Altherr of the Phillies hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 5-4 win over the Marlins.

American League Batter of the Day—Max Kepler of the Twins homered, tripled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 6-2 win over the Orioles.

Debut—Angels closing pitcher Cam Bedrosian made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Bedrosian (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut June 3, 2014, and was playing in his 93rd career game. He is the 3,694th 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 Chapman earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Altherr and Kepler each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

7/28 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 TEX 3, KC 2 Cole Hamels (W,12-2) - - - - 8.0 6 2 2 1 12
NL 3.1 CHC 3, CHW 1 Aroldis Chapman (S,21) - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 2
BAT 3.0 PHI 7, ATL 5 Aaron Altherr, RF 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 MIN 6, BAL 2 Max Kepler, RF 3 2 2 2 - - - - - -
3.0 LAA 2, BOS 1 Cam Bedrosian (W,2-0) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 STL 5, MIA 4 Aledmys Diaz, SS 5 2 2 3 - - - - - -
2.0 MIL 6, ARI 4 Hernan Perez, SS 4 2 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 COL 2, NYM 1 Carlos Estevez (S,11) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.1 WSH 4, SF 2 Shawn Kelley (S,5) - - - - 0.1 0 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 +/-
Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 14.1 29.5 81.1 140.3 -1.3
Chapman, Aroldis 2826 pi cp chi nl 6.4 14.4 44.4 45.4 -1.6
Diaz, Aledmys 3612 ss stl nl 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5
Estevez, Carlos 3641 pi cp col nl 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
Kepler, Max 3664 rf min al 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5
Perez, Hernan 3577 3b ss ph mil nl 2.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 1.0
Altherr, Aaron 3563 rf phi nl 1.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 0.5
Kelley, Shawn 2630 pi cp mr dc nl 1.0 3.0 7.0 10.0 -1.0
Bedrosian, Cam 3694 pi cp ana al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Phillies' Zach Eflin tops players for Friday, July 22; Mariners' Paxton tops AL players

Phillies pitcher Zach Eflin is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Eflin pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out six and walking none, in the 4-0 win over the Pirates.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of July 22:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 20.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 16.4
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 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 12.1
7 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 11.4
8 Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 11.0
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 11.0
10 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 10.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher James Paxton struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Blue Jays.

Paxton had a Box-Toppers game score of +10.0, tied with Athletics pitcher Sean Manaea, who was Player of the Game in the 1-0, 13-inning win over the Blue Jays. But Paxton edged Manaea to earn AL Player of the Day because he earned the win in his game, while Manaea picked up a no decision (8IP 5H 0R 7K ND).

National League Batter of the Day—Dexter Fowler of the Cubs homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 5-2 win over the Brewers.

American League Batter of the Day—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers hit two doubles and went 4-for-4, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 7-5 win over the White Sox.

Cabrera earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 138.4 for his career, regaining the 26th place spot among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (138.3) on the “all-time” list. Hamels had passed Cabrera on July 17 when he earned Player of the Day. Cabrera now trails 25th-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5). Cabrera again ranks 10th among active players in career Box-Toppers points. 

Cabrera has 5.5 points on the season, more than the 4.7 points he earned in 2015, which was his lowest total since his 2003 rookie season. Cabrera’s 5.5 points ranks 15th among AL batters this season.

Notable—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka has the most season Box-Toppers points among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Friday.

Tanaka (6IP 4H 0R 2BB 4K ND in the 3-2 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season, 20th among all players and eighth among AL pitchers.

Scoring—Eflin earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Paxton earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Fowler and Cabrera 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

7/22 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 PHI 4, PIT 0 Zach Eflin (W,3-3) - - - - 9.0 3 0 0 0 6
AL 10.0 SEA 2, TOR 1 James Paxton (W,3-4) - - - - 7.0 3 1 1 1 9
10.0 `OAK 1, TB 0 (13) Sean Manaea - - - - 8.0 5 0 0 0 7
9.0 MIN 2, BOS 1 Kyle Gibson (W,3-6) - - - - 8.0 2 1 1 1 6
8.0 HOU 2, LAA 1 Lance McCullers (W,5-4) - - - - 8.0 4 1 1 4 10
6.0 COL 4, ATL 3 Jon Gray (W,6-4) - - - - 7.0 6 1 1 1 8
4.2 `STL 4, LAD 3 (16) Tyler Lyons - - - - 4.2 1 0 0 1 2
BAT 4.0 CHC 5, MIL 2 Dexter Fowler, CF 4 2 3 3 - - - - - -
4.0 SD 5, WSH 3 Matt Kemp, RF 4 2 2 4 - - - - - -
4.0 `NYY 3, SF 2 Masahiro Tanaka - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 2 4
4.0 BAL 5, CLE 1 Dylan Bundy (W,3-2) - - - - 5.0 5 1 0 0 5
BAT 3.0 DET 7, CHW 5 Miguel Cabrera, 1B 4 1 4 2 - - - - - -
3.0 CIN 6, ARI 2 Joey Votto, 1B 3 2 1 3 - - - - - -
3.0 NYM 5, MIA 3 James Loney, PH 1 1 1 2 - - - - - -
2.2 KC 3, TEX 1 Danny Duffy (W,6-1) - - - - 6.2 4 1 1 2 4
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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 +/-
Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 pi sp nyy al 8.7 16.7 29.4 29.4 0.7
Duffy, Danny 2915 pi sp kc al 6.7 10.7 25.7 25.7 2.7
Votto, Joey 2366 1b cin nl 5.5 10.5 27.2 59.2 0.5
Cabrera, Miguel 1776 1b det al 5.5 10.2 58.8 138.4 0.8
McCullers, Lance 3488 pi sp hou al 4.4 11.1 11.1 11.1 -2.3
Kemp, Matt 2151 rf sd nl 4.0 9.5 34.0 55.6 -1.5
Eflin, Zach 3679 pi sp phi nl 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
Manaea, Sean 3637 pi sp oak al 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
Gibson, Kyle 3312 pi sp min al 3.0 11.0 17.0 17.0 -5.0
Gray, Jon 3634 pi sp col nl 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
Loney, James 2206 1b ph nym nl 2.0 2.0 13.0 34.4 2.0
Bundy, Dylan 3655 pi mr sp bal al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Paxton, James 3280 pi sp sea al 1.7 2.7 8.4 8.4 0.7
Fowler, Dexter 2698 cf chi nl 1.5 4.0 17.0 18.0 -1.0
Lyons, Tyler 3178 pi mr sp stl nl 1.0 4.0 6.0 6.0 -2.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

A look at Box-Toppers All-Stars: Top players by position & league for July 21

11 AL players and seven NL players are leaders in Box-Toppers points for their position for both 2016 and 2015-16.

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Nationals' Max Scherzer ‘most worthy but unchosen' player for 2016 All-Star Game

A look at the All-Star rosters based on Box-Toppers points. Which players were worthy but unchosen? Which players made it but probably shouldn't have?

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A look at Box-Toppers All-Stars at the season's halfway point

Box-Toppers points leaders by position and league in both the 2016 season the combined 2015-16 seasons.

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Twins' Gibson tops players for Tuesday, June 28; Kluber, Hamels rise in Box-Toppers top 10 rankings

Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson 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 28:  


 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 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 11.7
4 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 10.8
5 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 10.7
6 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 10.7
7 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 10.4
8 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 10.0
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 10.0
10 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 9.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings (first among American League pitchers) and Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to seventh place. Plus, Matt Carpenter took the lead Tuesday in season Box-Toppers points among National League batters.

Player of the Day—Gibson pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing five hits and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the White Sox.

National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester allowed one run over 7 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and one walk, striking out four, in the 7-2, 15-inning win over the Reds. Lester did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because even though the Cubs led when he exited, the Indians later tied the game before the Cubs went ahead with the winning runs in the 15th inning.

Lester earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 130.8 for his career, rising to 29th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes Trevor Hoffman (129.4) on the “all-time” list. He now trails 28th-ranked player Jason Giambi (133.4). Lester has 9.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 11th among all players and eighth among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros hit a three-run homer and a double and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five total runs, in the 7-1 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—Adrian Gonzalez doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 6-5 win over the Brewers.

Gonzalez has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the 2016 season Tuesday. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Padres and has 67.6 career points, third among active NL first basemen (behind Matt Holliday of the Cardinals, 97.8 and Ryan Howard of the Phillies, 96.7). Gonzalez’s best season was 2010 with the Padres when he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ninth among NL batters. He had 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Dodgers.

Rankings—Two players rise in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday, becoming the eighth and ninth players this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points:

  • Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (8IP 3H 2R BB 7K W in the 5-3 win over the Braves) rises to fourth place in player rankings. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.8 for the season. He also takes the Box-Toppers points lead among AL pitchers, passing previous leader, Chris Sale of the White Sox (10.7).
  • Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (7IP 6H 0R BB 7K W in the 7-1 win over the Yankees) rises to seventh place in player rankings. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season. Hamels also now has 136.6 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 27th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 26th-ranked player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (136.9). It is the 11th straight season Hamels has earned 10 or more Box-Toppers points. In fact, Hamels has had 10 or more points each season since he made his Box-Toppers debut in 2006.

Notable—Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals took the season lead in Box-Toppers points among NL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Carpenter (HR 2-3 2R 2BI n the 8-4 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.5 for the season. He passes Eugenio Suarez of the Reds (7.0) for the lead among NL batters. Carpenter ranks 23rd among all players.

Debut—Hyun Soo Kim of the Orioles made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Kim (HR 2B 2-3 2R 3BI in the 11-7 win over the Padres) made his Major League debut April 10 and was playing in his 37th career game. He is the 3,671st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Gibson 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. Correa and Gonzalez 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

6/28 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 MIN 4/CHW 0 Kyle Gibson (W,1-5) - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 1 7
7.0 CLE 5/ATL 3 Corey Kluber (W,8-7) - - - - 8.0 3 2 2 1 7
7.0 TEX 7/NYY 1 Cole Hamels (W,9-1) - - - - 7.0 6 0 0 1 7
NL 5.2 `CHC 7/CIN 2 Jon Lester - - - - 7.2 3 1 1 1 4
BAT 5.0 HOU 7/LAA 1 Carlos Correa, SS 4 2 3 4 - - - - - -
4.0 BOS 8/TB 2 Travis Shaw, 3B 5 1 3 5 - - - - - -
4.0 BAL 11/SD 7 Hyun Soo Kim, LF 3 2 2 3 - - - - - -
4.0 OAK 13/SF 11 Stephen Vogt, C-1B 3 3 2 2 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 LAD 6/MIL 5 Adrian Gonzalez, 1B 3 2 3 1 - - - - - -
3.0 STL 8/KC 4 Matt Carpenter, 2B 3 2 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 TOR 14/COL 9 Russell Martin, C 5 3 3 1 - - - - - -
2.0 DET 7/MIA 5 Nick Castellanos, 3B 4 1 3 2 - - - - - -
2.0 SEA 5/PIT 2 Robinson Cano, 2B 4 2 3 1 - - - - - -
2.0 DC 5/NYM 0 Bryce Harper, RF 4 2 2 2 - - - - - -
1.0 PHI 4/ARI 3 Andres Blanco, 2B 2 1 1 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 +/-
Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 10.8 24.2 55.0 55.0 -2.6
Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 10.4 25.8 77.4 136.6 -5.0
Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 9.7 21.7 67.9 130.8 -2.3
Carpenter, Matt 2987 3b 1b 2b stl nl 7.5 13.0 27.5 27.5 2.0
Martin, Russell 2202 ca tor al 7.0 12.0 28.5 49.5 2.0
Correa, Carlos 3506 ss hou al 6.7 13.9 13.9 13.9 -0.5
Cano, Robinson 2092 2b sea al 5.5 12.0 41.0 72.9 -1.0
Castellanos, Nick 3349 3b det al 4.0 10.2 12.2 12.2 -2.2
Shaw, Travis 3544 1b 3b bos al 3.5 7.7 7.7 7.7 -0.7
Harper, Bryce 3011 rf dc nl 3.0 12.0 27.4 27.4 -6.0
Blanco, Andres 2980 ss 3b 2b phi nl 3.0 4.0 5.0 5.0 2.0
Gibson, Kyle 3312 pi sp min al 2.0 10.0 16.0 16.0 -6.0
Gonzalez, Adrian 2193 1b lad nl 1.5 5.5 32.2 68.1 -2.5
Vogt, Stephen 3503 ca 1b oak al 1.0 3.5 3.5 3.5 -1.5
Kim, Hyun Soo 3671 lf bal al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

A late June look at Box-Toppers All-Star teams, led by Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw

Eight AL players and five NL players occupy All-Star spots at their position in both the 2016 season and the combined 2015-16 seasons.

Read More

Indians' Bauer tops players for Wednesday, June 22; Rangers' Hamels rises to 10th in player rankings

Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer 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 21:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 20.0
2 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 11.7
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
6 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 10.0
7 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 9.8
8 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 9.7
9 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 9.7
10 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 9.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Bauer pitched a complete game, allowing one run, three hits, one walk and striking out 10, in the 6-1 win over the Rays.

National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher Adam Conley pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits, one walk and striking out four, in the 3-0 win over the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day—Melky Cabrera of the White Sox homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-6 win over the Red Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—Aledmys Diaz of the Cardinals hit a two-run homer and went 3-for-4, scoring twice, in the 7-2 win over the Cubs.

Rankings—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Hamels (6IP 5H R 2BB 8K W in the 6-4 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.4 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

Hamels also now has 135.6 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 27th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 26th-ranked player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (136.9).

Streak—Asdrubal Cabrera of the Mets has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season Wednesday.

Cabrera (HR 2-3 2R 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Royals) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Indians and has 41.7 career points, first among active NL shortstops. His best season was 2011 with the Indians, when he had 14.7 points, first among AL batters. That season was a career anomaly, however, as his next-highest season point total was 4.5, which he earned in both 2008 and 2009 with the Indians. Cabrera had 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Rays.

Scoring—Bauer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Conley earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Melky Cabrera and Diaz 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

6/22 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 CLE 6/TB 1 Trevor Bauer (W,5-2) - - - - 9.0 3 1 1 1 10
NL 7.0 MIA 3/ATL 0 Adam Conley (W,4-4) - - - - 8.0 4 0 0 1 4
BAT 5.0 CHW 8/BOS 6 Melky Cabrera, LF 5 2 4 4 - - - - - -
5.0 MIL 4/OAK 2 Junior Guerra (W,4-1) - - - - 7.0 5 2 2 1 8
5.0 TEX 6/CIN 4 Cole Hamels (W,8-1) - - - - 6.0 5 1 1 2 8
4.2 DET 5/SEA 1 Kyle Ryan (W,2-2) - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 0 3
BAT 3.0 STL 7/CHC 2 Aledmys Diaz, SS 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 NYM 4/KC 3 Asdrubal Cabrera, SS 3 2 2 2 - - - - - -
3.0 NYY 9/COL 8 Chase Headley, 3B 3 1 1 4 - - - - - -
3.0 SF 7/PIT 6 Derek Law (W,3-1) - - - - 2.0 2 0 0 0 3
2.0 BAL 7/SD 2 Mark Trumbo, RF 4 2 3 1 - - - - - -
2.0 MIN 6/PHI 5 Trevor Plouffe, DH 4 2 3 1 - - - - - -
2.0 TOR 5/ARI 2 Russell Martin, C 3 1 1 3 - - - - - -
2.0 HOU 3/LAA 2 Luke Gregerson (W,2-1) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 LAD 4/DC 3 Corey Seager, SS 4 1 3 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 +/-
Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 9.4 24.8 76.4 135.6 -6.0
Bauer, Trevor 3065 pi sp cle al 6.7 16.1 24.8 24.8 -2.7
Martin, Russell 2202 ca tor al 6.0 11.0 27.5 48.5 1.0
Conley, Adam 3594 pi sp fla nl 5.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 2.7
Trumbo, Mark 2851 rf bal al 5.2 7.7 30.9 30.9 2.7
Diaz, Aledmys 3612 ss stl nl 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5
Seager, Corey 3587 ss lad nl 4.0 5.5 5.5 5.5 2.5
Cabrera, Melky 2143 lf chi al 4.0 5.0 19.5 30.5 3.0
Guerra, Junior 3633 pi sp mil nl 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
Plouffe, Trevor 2869 3b dh min al 3.5 6.5 22.5 22.5 0.5
Gregerson, Luke 2563 pi cp mr hou al 3.0 9.0 13.0 18.0 -3.0
Headley, Chase 2552 3b nyy al 2.5 4.5 16.0 26.5 0.5
Law, Derek 3657 pi sp mr sf nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Ryan, Kyle 3639 pi mr det al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Cabrera, Asdrubal 2362 ss nym nl 1.0 4.0 25.7 41.7 -2.0
What are those numbers after players' names?