Marlins' Andrew Cashner tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 7; Nationals' Strasburg rises to 7th in Box-Toppers player rankings, despite injury

Shawn Plank September 8, 2016

Marlins pitcher Andrew Cashner 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 Sept. 7:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	22.7
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	18.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	17.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	14.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Cashner pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing four hits and two walks, in the 6-0 win over the Phillies.

American League Player of the Day—Adam Lind of the Mariners hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the 8-3 win over the Rangers. Lind went 2-for-3, driving in five runs.

National League Batter of the Day—Jung Ho Kang of the Pirates homered and went 3-for-4, driving in two runs, in the 4-3 win over the Cardinals.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Adam Lind.

Rankings—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday, despite leaving the game early with an injury.

Strasburg (2.1IP 2H R 0BB 4K ND in the 5-4, 11-inning win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.1 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL pitchers.

Strasburg left the game in the third inning after experiencing elbow pain. He had been on the disabled list prior to his start Wednesday. He will undergo further testing today (Thursday).

It is rare for starting pitchers to earn Player of the Game honors pitching fewer than three innings, but Wednesday’s game presented those rare circumstances, helped by the fact that the Nationals used nine pitchers and the highest Box-Toppers game score achieved by a batter was +1.0. Strasburg won Player of the Game honors because he had a higher Box-Toppers game score and more innings pitched than the pitcher who otherwise would have won. Mat Latos, who served as closer, had a Box-Toppers game score of +1.1 (0.1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W) and would have been Player of the Game, but Strasburg had a higher Box-Toppers game score (+2.1) and more innings pitched (2.1).

Notable—Red Sox pitcher David Price becomes the 35th player in 2016 with 10 or more season Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Price (7IP 6H 2R 0BB 8K W in the 7-2 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season. He ranks 33rd among all players and 13th among AL pitchers. This is his sixth 10-point season in the past seven years.

Price now has 104.2 career Box-Toppers points, 64th-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He passes Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” list and now trails 63rd-ranked player Carlos Beltran of the Rangers (104.9).

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

Athletics pitcher Jharel Cotton (6.1IP 2H R 2BB 3K W in the 4-1 win over the Angels) was making his Major League debut. He is the 3,733rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Cristhian Adames of the Rockies (2B 1-1 2BI in the 6-5 win over the Giants) made his Major League debut July 29, 2014, and was playing in his 136th career game. He is the 3,734th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Cashner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lind earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Kang earns 1.5 points for being NL 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/7
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    8.1
    MIA 6, PHI 0
    Andrew Cashner (W,5-11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.1
    4
    0
    0
    2
    9
  

    AL
    6.0
    SEA 8, TEX 3
    Adam Lind, 1B
    3
    2
    2
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    BOS 7, SD 2
    David Price (W,15-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    2
    2
    0
    8
  

    
    4.0
    `MIL 2, CHC 1
    Matt Garza
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    2
    5
  

    
    4.0
    `NYY 2, TOR 0
    Luis Severino (H,1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.0
    1
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    3.1
    OAK 4, LAA 1
    Jharel Cotton (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    2
    1
    1
    2
    3
  

    
    3.0
    TB 7, BAL 6
    Kevin Kiermaier, CF
    4
    1
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    CLE 6, HOU 5
    Cody Allen (S,25)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    2.1
    `WSH 5, ATL 4 (11)
    Stephen Strasburg
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.1
    2
    1
    1
    0
    4
  

    BAT
    2.0
    PIT 4, STL 3
    Jung Ho Kang, 3B
    4
    1
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    MIN 6, KC 5
    Robbie Grossman, LF
    4
    1
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    NYM 6, CIN 3
    Wilmer Flores, PH-2B-1B
    2
    1
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    LAD 3, ARI 1
    Yasiel Puig, RF
    2
    1
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    COL 6, SF 5
    Cristhian Adames, PH
    1
    0
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.1
    CHW 7, DET 4
    Chris Beck (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    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	+/-
Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1	29.1	75.2	82.9	1.1
Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	10.4	31.5	87.5	104.2	-10.7
Allen, Cody 3265	pi mr cp	cle al	6.0	10.0	15.0	15.0	2.0
Lind, Adam 2238	1b ph	sea al	5.4	11.9	31.9	59.5	-1.1
Cashner, Andrew 2807	pi sp	fla nl	4.7	7.7	27.4	30.4	1.7
Flores, Wilmer 3345	3b 1b 2b ph	nym nl	4.5	7.0	9.5	9.5	2.0
Garza, Matt 2343	pi sp	mil nl	3.7	5.4	35.1	71.8	2.0
Puig, Yasiel 3193	rf	lad nl	3.5	7.0	9.5	9.5	0.0
Kang, Jung-Ho 3464	ss 3b	pit nl	2.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	-0.5
Severino, Luis 3567	pi mr sp	nyy al	2.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	-1.0
Kiermaier, Kevin 3373	cf	tb al	2.0	3.0	5.5	5.5	1.0
Grossman, Robbie 3267	lf	min al	2.0	2.0	9.0	9.0	2.0
Beck, Chris 3708	pi mr	chi al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Adames, Cristhian 3734	ph	col nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Cotton, Jharel 3733	pi sp	oak al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Rich Hill tops players for Saturday, Sept. 3; Orioles' Gausman tops AL players

Shawn Plank September 4, 2016

Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Hill pitched six scoreless innings, allowing one hit, two walks and striking out eight, in the 5-1 win over the Padres.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 3:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	22.7
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	18.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	17.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	14.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season. He ranks 18th among all players and 11th among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman pitched six scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits and two walks, in the 2-0 win over the Yankees.

National League Batter of the Day—Chris Carter of the Brewers hit a two-run homer and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-4 win over the Pirates.

American League Batter of the Day—Byron Buxton of the Twins homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 11-3 win over the White Sox.

Notable—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner has the most season Box-Toppers points among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Bumgarner (6IP 5H 2R 0BB 10K in the 3-2 win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks 11th among all players and ninth among NL pitchers.

Bumgarner now also has 105.7 career points, 61st-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. With his point Saturday, he passes Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 60th-ranked player Aramis Ramirez (105.8).

Also notable—Two other players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:

David Ortiz of the Red Sox (2-2B 3-4 R 2BI in the 11-2 win over the Athletics) now has 143.9 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 24th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Saturday, he passes Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (143.0) on the “all-time” list and now ranks eighth among active players in career points. Ortiz trails 23rd-ranked player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers. Both Cabrera and Ortiz have 143.9 career points, but Cabrera holds the tiebreaking edge because he has more 2016 Box-Toppers points—11.0 vs. 6.0.
Carlos Beltran of the Rangers (2B 2-3 R 2BI in the 12-4 win over the Astros) now has 104.9 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 63rd place since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Saturday, he passes Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” list and now trails 62nd-ranked player, Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1). Beltran has 6.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Scoring—Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gausman earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Carter and Buxton 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/3
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    LAD 5, SD 1
    Rich Hill (W,11-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    1
    0
    0
    2
    8
  

    AL
    10.0
    BAL 2, NYY 0
    Kevin Gausman (W,7-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    8
  

    
    7.0
    SF 3, CHC 2
    Madison Bumgarner (W,14-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    2
    2
    0
    10
  

    
    7.0
    TB 7, TOR 5
    Blake Snell (W,5-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    BAT
    4.0
    MIL 7, PIT 4
    Chris Carter, 1B
    5
    2
    4
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    ATL 6, PHI 4 (10)
    Adonis Garcia, 3B
    4
    3
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    MIN 11, CHW 3
    Byron Buxton, CF
    4
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    LAA 10, SEA 3
    Kole Calhoun, RF
    4
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    NYM 3, WSH 1
    Jeurys Familia (S,45)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.2
    KC 5, DET 2
    Wade Davis (S,22)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    0.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    CLE 8, MIA 3
    Francisco Lindor, SS
    4
    1
    4
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    ARI 9, COL 4
    Chris Owings, SS
    4
    1
    4
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    BOS 11, OAK 2
    David Ortiz, DH
    4
    1
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    TEX 12, HOU 4
    Carlos Beltran, DH
    3
    1
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    CIN 9, STL 1
    Joey Votto, 1B
    2
    2
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	13.0	30.0	100.0	105.7	-4.0
Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	lad nl	12.4	16.4	16.4	36.1	8.4
Votto, Joey 2366	1b	cin nl	9.5	14.5	31.2	63.2	4.5
Gausman, Kevin 3191	pi sp	bal al	9.1	14.8	22.5	22.5	3.4
Carter, Chris 2828	1b	mil nl	8.5	9.5	27.4	28.4	7.5
Familia, Jeurys 3446	pi cp	nym nl	6.0	14.0	14.0	14.0	-2.0
Ortiz, David	dh	bos al	6.0	10.5	41.9	143.9	1.5
Beltran, Carlos 1194	dh rf	tex al	6.0	9.5	26.9	104.9	2.5
Calhoun, Kole 3279	rf	ana al	5.0	8.2	15.7	15.7	1.8
Lindor, Francisco 3586	ss	cle al	4.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	3.5
Buxton, Byron 3604	cf	min al	3.2	4.2	4.2	4.2	2.2
Davis, Wade 2681	pi cp	kc al	3.0	7.0	22.0	25.0	-1.0
Garcia, Adonis 3613	3b	atl nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Snell, Blake 3688	pi sp	tb al	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Owings, Chris 3347	cf ss	ari nl	2.0	3.0	5.5	5.5	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cardinals' Carlos Martinez top players for Monday, Aug. 29; Astros' Musgrove tops AL players

Shawn Plank August 30, 2016

Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez is Monday’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. 29:


	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	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	14.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Martinez struck out 13 over six innings, allowing one run, four hits and two walks, in the 6-5 win over the Brewers. Martinez did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because after he exited, the Brewers went ahead before the Cardinals came back to take the lead in the ninth inning.

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Joe Musgrove pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing three hits and three walks, in the 6-0 win over the Athletics.

American League Batter of the Day—Mike Trout of the Angels homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-2 win over the Reds.

Trout earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.0 points for the season. He becomes the 33rd player—and fifth batter—this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 32nd among all players and third among AL batters, behind Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5) and Manny Machado of the Orioles (11.7). This is Trout’s second straight 10-point season, his third overall.

Trout had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +3.0 and had an identical line score (HR 2B 3-4 2R 2BI) with teammate C.J. Cron. But Trout won Player of the Game honors on a tiebreaker because he had one walk and Cron had none.

National League Batter of the Day—Jorge Soler of the Cubs homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, driving in two runs, in the 8-7, 13-inning win over the Pirates.

Notable—Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of the 13 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday.

Bauer (6IP 5H 0R BB 4K ND in the 1-0, 10-inning win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season. He ranks 19th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers.

Also notable—Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark became the 32nd player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Roark (7IP 4H 0R BB 5K W in the 4-0 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He ranks 25th among all players and 15th among NL pitchers.

Additionally notable—Carlos Beltran of the Rangers now has 103.9 career Box-Toppers points—64th-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Beltran (HR 2B 3-4 2R 2BI in the 6-3 win over the Mariners) passes Red Sox pitcher David Price (103.2) on the “all-time” list and now trails 63rd-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Beltran has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season. This was his first Player of the Game honor since being traded from the Yankees.

Beltran had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +3.0, tied with AL Batter of the Day Mike Trout. Both Beltran and Trout had identical line scores, but Trout won AL Batter of the Day honors on a tiebreaker because he had fewer strikeouts than Beltran—zero vs. one.

Debut—Mets pitcher Josh Smoker made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Smoker (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut Aug. 19 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,725th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/29
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    `STL 6, MIL 5
    Carlos Martinez
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    2
    13
  

    
    7.0
    WSH 4, PHI 0
    Tanner Roark (W,14-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    7.0
    COL 8, LAD 1
    Jon Gray (W,9-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    0
    0
    3
    8
  

    AL
    6.1
    HOU 6, OAK 0
    Joe Musgrove (W,2-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.1
    3
    0
    0
    3
    7
  

    
    4.0
    TOR 5, BAL 1
    Marco Estrada (W,8-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    
    4.0
    `CLE 1, MIN 0 (10)
    Trevor Bauer
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    BAT
    3.0
    LAA 9, CIN 2
    Mike Trout, CF
    4
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    TEX 6, SEA 3
    Carlos Beltran, DH
    4
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    KC 8, NYY 5
    Dillon Gee (W,6-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    
    3.0
    NYM 2, MIA 1 (10)
    Josh Smoker (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    BOS 9, TB 4
    Travis Shaw, 3B-1B
    4
    2
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    1.0
    CHC 8, PIT 7 (13)
    Jorge Soler, LF
    5
    1
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    DET 4, CHW 3
    Francisco Rodriguez (S,37)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	11.4	20.8	29.5	29.5	2.0
Roark, Tanner 3261	pi sp	dc nl	10.7	11.7	26.7	26.7	9.7
Trout, Mike 2949	cf	ana al	10.0	22.0	46.5	46.5	-2.0
Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	9.7	23.4	24.4	24.4	-4.0
Estrada, Marco 2847	pi sp	tor al	8.0	16.0	40.1	40.1	0.0
Shaw, Travis 3544	1b 3b	bos al	5.5	9.7	9.7	9.7	1.3
Beltran, Carlos 1194	dh rf	tex al	5.0	8.5	25.9	103.9	1.5
Gray, Jon 3634	pi sp	col nl	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0
Gee, Dillon 2808	pi sp	kc al	4.7	5.7	32.5	33.5	3.7
Rodriguez, Francisco 1707	pi cp	det al	3.0	4.0	17.0	63.4	2.0
Musgrove, Joe 3705	pi sp	hou al	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7
Soler, Jorge 3403	lf	chi nl	2.5	5.7	6.7	6.7	-0.7
Smoker, Josh 3725	pi cp	nym nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Indians' Carlos Carrasco tops players for Monday, Aug. 22; Cubs' Lester rises to 5th in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank August 23, 2016

Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco is Monday’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. 22:


	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	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	15.1
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	13.0
10	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	12.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Monday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Carrasco pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing four hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Athletics.

Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season. He becomes the 27th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and ranks 24th among all players, 10th among American League pitchers. It is his third straight season with 10 or more points (10.7 in 2014, 18.0 in 2015).

National League Player of the Day—Adrian Gonzalez of the Dodgers hit three home runs and went 3-for-6, driving in eight runs, in the 18-9 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Seager of the Mariners hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice, in the 7-5 win over the Yankees.

Seager earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.5 points for the season, rising to fourth among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Adrian Gonzalez.

Rankings—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Lester (6IP 5H R 2BB 8K W in the 5-1 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.4 for the season, rising from seventh to fifth among all players. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

With Lester’s rise to 15.4 points, it marks the first time this season that all players in Box-Toppers season top 10 list have different Box-Toppers point totals—on Monday, Lester and Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto both had 14.4 points.

Lester now also has 136.5 career Box-Toppers points, 28th-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 27th-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5).

Notable—Red Sox pitcher David Price rises to 64th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, after he earned Player of the Game honors Monday.

Price (8IP 2H 0R 2BB 8K W in the 6-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 103.2 career points. He passes two players on the “all-time” list—Miguel Tejada (102.3) and Carlos Beltran of the Rangers (102.9). He trails 63rd-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Price has 9.4 Box-Toppers points on the season, 13th among AL pitchers.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/22
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    13.0
    CLE 1, OAK 0
    Carlos Carrasco (W,9-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    0
    0
    0
    9
  

    
    12.0
    BOS 6, TB 2
    David Price (W,12-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    8
  

    
    9.0
    HOU 3, PIT 1
    Doug Fister (W,12-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    NL
    8.0
    LAD 18, CIN 9
    Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
    6
    3
    3
    8
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    CHC 5, SD 1
    Jon Lester (W,14-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    1
    1
    2
    8
  

    BAT
    4.0
    SEA 7, NYY 5
    Kyle Seager, 3B
    3
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    ARI 9, ATL 8
    Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
    4
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    BAL 4, WSH 3
    Zach Britton (S,38)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    MIL 4, COL 2
    Tyler Thornburg (S,5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4	27.4	73.6	136.5	3.4
Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	10.4	28.4	44.5	44.5	-7.6
Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	9.4	30.5	86.5	103.2	-11.7
Seager, Kyle 3031	3b	sea al	8.5	13.5	27.5	27.5	3.5
Gonzalez, Adrian 2193	1b	lad nl	5.7	9.7	36.4	72.3	1.7
Britton, Zach 2835	pi cp	bal al	5.0	13.7	33.1	33.1	-3.7
Thornburg, Tyler 3195	pi cp	mil nl	5.0	5.0	11.0	11.0	5.0
Fister, Doug 2688	pi sp	hou al	4.0	6.0	51.5	55.2	2.0
Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	3.5	13.7	38.9	38.9	-6.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Jacob deGrom tops players for Saturday, Aug. 13; Tigers' Boyd tops AL players

Shawn Plank August 14, 2016

Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 13:


	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	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?

deGrom struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 3-2, 11-inning win over the Padres. deGrom did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because when he exited the game, the Mets trailed.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Matt Boyd pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out three, in the 2-0 win over the Rangers.

National League Batter of the Day—Daniel Murphy of the Nationals homered and went 1-for-3, driving in four runs, in the 7-6 win over the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day—Russell Martin of the Blue Jays hit a three-run home run and went 1-for-2, in the 4-2 win over the Astros.

Notable—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Bumgarner (7IP 3H 0R 3BB 8K in the 6-2 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.0 for the season. He ranks 12th among all players in Box-Toppers points and eighth among NL pitchers.

Bumgarner also now has 104.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 62nd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Saturday, he passes Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” list and now trails 61st-ranked player, Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1).

Debut—Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday with their first career Player of the Game honors:

Cardinals pitcher Alex Reyes (3IP H 0R BB 3K W in the 8-4 win over the Cubs) made his Major League debut Aug. 9 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,706th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger (5.2IP H R 4BB 3K W in the 5-1 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut May 18 and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,707th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
White Sox pitcher Chris Beck (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 0K W in the 8-7 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut May 28, 2015, and was playing in his eighth career game. He is the 3,708th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Boyd earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Murphy and Martin 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/13
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    10.0
    `NYM 3, SD 2 (11)
    Jacob deGrom
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    9
  

    
    9.0
    SF 6, BAL 2
    Madison Bumgarner (W,11-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    3
    8
  

    AL
    6.0
    DET 2, TEX 0
    Matt Boyd (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    3
  

    
    4.0
    STL 8, CHC 4
    Alex Reyes (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.0
    1
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    BAT
    3.0
    WSH 7, ATL 6
    Daniel Murphy, 1B
    3
    1
    1
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    PHI 6, COL 3
    Maikel Franco, 3B
    3
    2
    1
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    TOR 4, HOU 2
    Russell Martin, C
    2
    1
    1
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    CIN 11, MIL 5
    Joey Votto, 1B
    5
    1
    4
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    LAD 8, PIT 4
    Joc Pederson, CF
    5
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    NYY 8, TB 4
    Aaron Hicks, LF
    4
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    BOS 6, ARI 3
    Brock Holt, LF
    4
    3
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    MIN 5, KC 3
    Tyler Duffey (W,8-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    2
    2
    1
    6
  

    
    2.0
    SEA 4, OAK 3
    Edwin Diaz (S,6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.2
    CLE 5, LAA 1
    Mike Clevinger (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    1
    1
    1
    4
    3
  

    
    1.1
    CHW 8, MIA 7
    Chris Beck (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	12.0	29.0	99.0	104.7	-5.0
deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	9.7	32.1	45.1	45.1	-12.7
Martin, Russell 2202	ca	tor al	8.5	13.5	30.0	51.0	3.5
Votto, Joey 2366	1b	cin nl	7.5	12.5	29.2	61.2	2.5
Murphy, Daniel 2589	2b	dc nl	6.5	8.0	30.0	31.5	5.0
Duffey, Tyler 3558	pi sp	min al	6.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	2.0
Boyd, Matt 3550	pi sp	det al	4.4	5.4	5.4	5.4	3.4
Diaz, Edwin 3690	pi cp	sea al	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
Franco, Maikel 3510	3b	phi nl	3.5	6.7	6.7	6.7	0.3
Pederson, Joc 3621	cf	lad nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Holt, Brock 3340	3b lf	bos al	2.5	3.5	4.5	4.5	1.5
Hicks, Aaron 3170	lf	nyy al	1.0	3.0	5.0	5.0	-1.0
Beck, Chris 3708	pi mr	chi al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Clevinger, Mike 3707	pi sp	cle al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Reyes, Alex 3706	pi mr	stl nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Rays' Blake Snell tops players for Tuesday, July 19; Mets' Syndergaard rises to 9th in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank July 20, 2016

Rays pitcher Blake Snell is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, making his Box-Toppers debut.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of July 18:


	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?

Also Tuesday, Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Snell pitched six scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing one hit and three walks, in the 10-1 win over the Rockies.

This was Snell’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Snell made his Major League debut April 23 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,688th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, in the 8-4 win over the Nationals.

Kazmir earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 105.1 for his career, rising to 61st place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (103.7) and Jamie Moyer (104.0). Kazmir now trails 60th-ranked player Aramis Ramirez (105.8). Kazmir has 8.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 12th among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Albert Pujols of the Angels hit two three-run home runs, going 3-for-3, in the 8-6 win over the Rangers.

Pujols earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 179.3 for his career, the same total as Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who ranks sixth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. While Pujols and Kershaw are now tied in career points, Kershaw still holds the edge and is ranked ahead of Pujols because he has more Box-Toppers points in 2016—20.0 vs. 5.0. Pujols maintains his rank of seventh place in career points since 1995 (see the updated list of the “all-time” top 20 players on the home page). Pujols’ 5.0 Box-Toppers points for the season puts him at 18th place among AL batters.

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

Rankings—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Syndergaard (5.2IP 7H R 2BB 8K ND in the 2-1 win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season. He ranks seventh among NL pitchers.

Debut—Braves closing pitcher Mauricio Cabrera made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Cabrera (1.2IP H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 5-4, 11-inning win over the Reds) made his Major League debut June 27 and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,689th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    7/19
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    TB 10, COL 1
    Blake Snell (W,2-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    1
    0
    0
    3
    9
  

    NL
    9.0
    LAD 8, WSH 4
    Scott Kazmir (W,8-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    1
    0
    8
  

    BAT
    8.0
    LAA 8, TEX 6
    Albert Pujols, DH
    3
    2
    3
    6
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    NYY 7, BAL 1
    Starlin Castro, 2B
    4
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    TOR 5, ARI 1
    Aaron Sanchez (W,10-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    
    3.2
    `NYM 2, CHC 1
    Noah Syndergaard
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    7
    1
    0
    2
    8
  

    
    3.2
    `MIA 2, PHI 1 (10)
    Jose Urena
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    4
    1
    1
    1
    5
  

    
    3.1
    BOS 4, SF 0
    Rick Porcello (W,12-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    4
    0
    0
    2
    3
  

    
    3.0
    CLE 7, KC 3
    Francisco Lindor, SS
    4
    3
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.2
    ATL 5, CIN 4 (11)
    Mauricio Cabrera (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.2
    1
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.1
    MIN 6, DET 2
    Tommy Milone (W,3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.1
    4
    2
    2
    2
    4
  

    
    2.0
    CHW 6, SEA 1
    Todd Frazier, 3B
    4
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    `PIT 3, MIL 2
    Jameson Taillon
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    1
    1
    0
    3
  

    
    0.0
    OAK 4, HOU 3 (10)
    Ryon Healy, 3B
    4
    0
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	11.0	21.4	21.4	21.4	0.6
Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	lad nl	8.7	21.4	49.3	105.1	-4.0
Sanchez, Aaron 3392	pi sp	tor al	6.7	8.7	10.7	10.7	4.7
Frazier, Todd 2929	3b	chi al	5.2	14.1	28.1	28.1	-3.7
Pujols, Albert 1438	1b dh	ana al	5.0	12.0	42.0	179.3	-2.0
Porcello, Rick 2573	pi sp	bos al	5.0	9.0	30.7	39.7	1.0
Castro, Starlin 2767	ss 2b	nyy al	4.0	8.5	21.5	22.5	-0.5
Lindor, Francisco 3586	ss	cle al	3.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	2.5
Taillon, Jameson 3658	pi sp	pit nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Healy, Ryon 3685	3b	oak al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Snell, Blake 3688	pi sp	tb al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Milone, Tommy 2954	pi sp	min al	1.0	7.7	25.1	25.1	-5.7
Urena, Jose 3492	pi sp	fla nl	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Cabrera, Mauricio 3689	pi cp	atl nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Giants' Madison Bumgarner tops players for Sunday, July 10, rising to 6th in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank July 11, 2016

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, earning the season’s second-highest Box-Toppers game score and rising to sixth place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

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


	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	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	11.0
7	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
8	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	10.7
9	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	10.5
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	10.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Bumgarner pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out 14 and walking one in the 4-0 win over the Diamondbacks.

Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season, rising to sixth in player rankings and fifth among National League pitchers.

He had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +21.0, the second-highest of the season, behind only the +22.0 score earned April 14 by Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez. (See chart below for the 12 highest Box-Toppers game score earned by Players of the Games in 2016.)

Also Sunday, Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda had the 11th-highest Box-Toppers game score of the season, +16.0, but since he was beaten out by NL pitcher Bumgarner for Player of the Day, he only earns Player of the Game honors and 1.0 Box-Toppers point. Maeda was Player of the Game in the 3-1 win over the Padres (7IP 2H R 0BB 13K W).

Bumgarner also now has 103.7 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 62nd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Sunday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list—Carlos Beltran (101.9), Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2), Miguel Tejada (102.3) and Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (103.4). He now trails 61st-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0).

American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher David Price pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing four hits and two walks, in the 4-0 win over the Rays.

Price earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and now has 102.2 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 65th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes five players on the “all-time” list—Paul Konerko (100.7), Jason Schmidt (101.2), Tim Wakefield (101.4), Carlos Beltran of the Yankees (101.9) and Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2). Price trails 64th-ranked player Miguel Tejada (102.3).

American League Batter of the Day—Kennys Vargas of the Twins homered and went 1-for-2, scoring three times, in the 15-5 win over the Rangers.

National League Batter of the Day—Cameron Rupp of the Phillies homered and went 4-for-5, driving in four runs, in the 10-3 win over the Rockies.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    7/10
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    21.0
    SF 4/ARI 0
    Madison Bumgarner (W,10-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    1
    0
    0
    1
    14
  

    
    16.0
    LAD 3/SD 1
    Kenta Maeda (W,8-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    1
    1
    0
    13
  

    AL
    13.0
    BOS 4/TB 0
    David Price (W,9-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    10
  

    
    12.0
    ATL 2/CHW 0
    Mike Foltynewicz (W,3-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    0
    10
  

    
    9.0
    STL 5/MIL 1
    Mike Leake (W,6-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    1
    1
    0
    10
  

    
    4.1
    `DC 3/NYM 2
    Tanner Roark
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    BAT
    4.0
    PHI 10/COL 3
    Cameron Rupp, C
    5
    1
    4
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    `HOU 2/OAK 1
    Dallas Keuchel
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    1
    2
    5
  

    
    3.1
    NYY 11/CLE 7
    Nathan Eovaldi (W,7-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    4.1
    1
    0
    0
    3
    3
  

    BAT
    3.0
    MIN 15/TEX 5
    Kennys Vargas, 1B
    2
    3
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    TOR 6/DET 1
    R.A. Dickey (W,7-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    2
    5
  

    
    2.1
    SEA 8/KC 5
    Mike Montgomery (W,3-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    5
    1
    1
    0
    3
  

    
    2.0
    BAL 4/LAA 2
    J.J. Hardy, SS
    3
    1
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    MIA 7/CIN 3
    Mike Dunn (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    CHC 6/PIT 5
    Hector Rondon (S,14)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

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

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	11.0	28.0	98.0	103.7	-6.0
Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	8.4	29.5	85.5	102.2	-12.7
Roark, Tanner 3261	pi sp	dc nl	7.7	8.7	23.7	23.7	6.7
Eovaldi, Nathan 2928	pi sp	nyy al	6.7	8.7	25.8	25.8	4.7
Maeda, Kenta 3609	pi sp	lad nl	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0
Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	5.0	26.4	40.8	40.8	-16.4
Dickey, R.A. 1734	pi sp	tor al	5.0	10.0	54.2	75.9	0.0
Rondon, Hector 3201	pi cp	chi nl	4.0	6.0	9.0	9.0	2.0
Rupp, Cameron 3556	ca	phi nl	3.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	2.5
Leake, Mike 2709	pi sp	stl nl	3.0	13.0	38.1	42.6	-7.0
Montgomery, Mike 3513	pi cp mr sp	sea al	3.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	-1.0
Foltynewicz, Mike 3455	pi sp	atl nl	3.0	5.7	5.7	5.7	0.3
Hardy, J.J. 2071	ss	bal al	2.7	2.7	24.1	51.3	2.7
Vargas, Kennys 3511	1b	min al	2.5	4.0	4.0	4.0	1.0
Dunn, Michael 2867	pi mr cp	fla nl	1.0	1.0	9.0	9.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Highest Box-Toppers game scores of 2016
Here are the highest Box-Toppers game scores earned by Players of the Games in 2016. Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez had the highest score of +22.0 on April 14 when he was Player of the Day (earning 2.0 Box-Toppers points). All but two players among the top 12 here earned Player of the Day honors. Cardinals pitcher Jamie Garcia and Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda earned Player of the Game honors (worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point) because they finished behind that day’s overall top player—Garcia finished behind Velasquez on April 14 and Garcia finished behind Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner on July 10.
 





  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    

    Date
    Bonus
    Score
    Team
    Players
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    1
    4/14
    MLB
    22.0
    Phillies
    Vince Velasquez (W,2-0)
    9.0
    3
    0
    0
    0
    16
  

    2
    7/10
    MLB
    21.0
    Giants
    Madison Bumgarner (W,10-4)
    9.0
    1
    0
    0
    1
    14
  

    3
    5/1
    MLB
    20.0
    Dodgers
    Clayton Kershaw (W,3-1)
    9.0
    3
    0
    0
    0
    14
  

    4
    4/14
    
    20.0
    Cardinals
    Jaime Garcia (W,1-0)
    9.0
    1
    0
    0
    1
    13
  

    5
    5/11
    MLB
    19.0
    Nationals
    Max Scherzer (W,4-2)
    9.0
    6
    2
    2
    0
    20
  

    6
    5/12
    MLB
    18.0
    Dodgers
    Clayton Kershaw (W,5-1)
    9.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    13
  

    7
    4/23
    MLB
    17.0
    Nationals
    Tanner Roark (W,2-2)
    7.0
    2
    0
    0
    3
    15
  

    8
    6/5
    MLB
    17.0
    Marlins
    Jose Fernandez (W,9-2)
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    0
    14
  

    9
    4/15
    MLB
    16.0
    White Sox
    Chris Sale (W,3-0)
    9.0
    2
    0
    0
    0
    9
  

    10
    6/8
    MLB
    16.0
    Mariners
    Taijuan Walker (W,3-6)
    8.0
    3
    0
    0
    0
    11
  

    11
    7/10
    
    16.0
    Dodgers
    Kenta Maeda (W,8-6)
    7.0
    2
    1
    1
    0
    13
  

    12
    4/19
    MLB
    16.0
    `Rays
    Drew Smyly
    8.0
    1
    0
    0
    2
    11
  

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

Dodgers' Kazmir tops players for Saturday, July 2; Angels' Cron tops AL players

Shawn Plank July 3, 2016

Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of July 2:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	13.4
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	12.0
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	11.7
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	10.8
6	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
7	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	10.7
8	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	10.5
9	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	10.4
10	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Kazmir pitched six scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing three hits and no walks, in the 6-1 win over the Rockies.

Kazmir earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 103.4 for his career, rising to 62nd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Saturday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (101.7), Carlos Beltran of the Yankees (101.9), Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2) and Miguel Tejada (102.3). Kazmir trails 61st-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0).

Kazmir has 7.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 14th among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—C.J. Cron of the Angels hit two homers and doubled, going 6-for-6, scoring five times and driving in five runs, in the 21-2 win over the Red Sox.

Cron had a Box-Toppers game score of +10 Saturday, the highest score for any batter earning Player of the Game honors this season. June 27’s Player of the Day Kris Bryant of the Cubs also had a Box-Toppers game score of +10, but Cron’s score ranks higher than Bryant’s because Cron had more at bats—6 vs. 5.

National League Batter of the Day—Wellington Castillo of the Diamondbacks hit a go-ahead, eighth-inning, three-run homer in the 6-5 win over the Giants. Castillo also doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter C.J. Cron.

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

Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander (7IP 4H 2R BB 8K W in the 3-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 128.6 for his career. He rises to 31st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing two players on the “all-time” list—A.J. Burnett (127.8) and Vladimir Guerrero (128.3). Verlander now trails 30th-ranked player Trevor Hoffman (129.4). Verlander has 4.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 30th among AL pitchers.
Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (7IP 7H 0R 2BB 5K W in the 3-0 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 106.3 for his career. He rises to 57th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing three players on the “all-time” list—Aramis Ramirez (105.8), Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (105.8) and Frank Thomas (106.2). Wainwright now trails 56th-ranked player Lance Berkman (108.1). Wainwright has 4.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, 35th among NL pitchers.

Notable—Padres pitcher Drew Pomeranz has the most 2016 Box-Toppers points of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Pomeranz (7IP 5H R 0BB 7K ND in the 2-1 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season, 17th among all players, 12th among NL pitchers.

Debut—Reds pitcher Josh Smith made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Smith (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 9-4 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut June 23, 2015, and was playing in his 22nd career game. He is the 3,674th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    7/2
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    13.0
    LAD 6/COL 1
    Scott Kazmir (W,7-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    0
    0
    0
    10
  

    AL
    10.0
    LAA 21/BOS 2
    C.J. Cron, 1B
    6
    5
    6
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    7.0
    DET 3/TB 2
    Justin Verlander (W,8-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    2
    1
    1
    8
  

    
    7.0
    `SD 2/NYY 1
    Drew Pomeranz
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    0
    7
  

    
    6.0
    MIN 17/TEX 5
    Max Kepler, RF
    5
    2
    2
    7
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.2
    KC 6/PHI 2
    Danny Duffy (W,4-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.2
    7
    2
    2
    0
    8
  

    
    5.0
    ATL 9/MIA 1
    Lucas Harrell (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    5
  

    
    4.1
    `NYM 4/CHC 3
    Addison Reed (H,17)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    1
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    
    4.0
    SEA 12/BAL 6
    Seth Smith, LF
    5
    2
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    4.0
    ARI 6/SF 5
    Welington Castillo, C
    4
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    TOR 9/CLE 6
    Josh Donaldson, DH
    4
    3
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    STL 3/MIL 0
    Adam Wainwright (W,7-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    0
    0
    2
    5
  

    
    2.1
    CIN 9/DC 4
    Josh Smith (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    CHW 7/HOU 6
    Dioner Navarro, DH
    4
    0
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    PIT 4/OAK 2
    Juan Nicasio (W,6-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Pomeranz, Drew 3061	pi sp	sd nl	8.7	11.7	19.7	19.7	5.7
Donaldson, Josh 3144	3b	tor al	8.2	18.1	38.1	38.1	-1.7
Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	lad nl	7.0	19.7	47.6	103.4	-5.7
Nicasio, Juan 2888	pi sp	pit nl	6.0	7.0	22.4	22.4	5.0
Duffy, Danny 2915	pi sp	kc al	5.7	9.7	24.7	24.7	1.7
Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	4.5	7.5	55.6	106.3	1.5
Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	4.0	10.4	73.6	128.6	-2.4
Cron, C.J. 3338	dh 1b	ana al	2.7	8.7	9.7	9.7	-3.3
Smith, Seth 2489	rf lf	sea al	2.0	3.0	21.0	35.2	1.0
Kepler, Max 3664	rf	min al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Castillo, Wellington 3251	ca	ari nl	1.5	5.0	8.0	8.0	-2.0
Navarro, Dioner 2087	dh ca	chi al	1.0	2.0	10.0	19.0	0.0
Reed, Addison 3023	pi mr	nym nl	1.0	2.0	10.0	10.0	0.0
Harrell, Lucas 2988	pi sp	atl nl	1.0	1.0	5.7	5.7	1.0
Smith, Josh 3674	pi mr	cin nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Giants' Cueto tops players for Wednesday, May 18, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank May 19, 2016

Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to second place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 18:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	10.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	8.0
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	7.7
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	6.7
5	Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	bal al	6.7
6	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	6.4
7	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	6.1
8	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	6.0
9	Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	5.7
10	Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	5.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cueto pitched a complete game, allowing one run, four hits and striking out eight, in the 2-1 win over the Padres.

Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season, rising to second in season player rankings, behind overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (10.0).

American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Nathan Eovaldi allowed one run and one hit over six innings, striking out five, in the 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks.

American League Batter of the Day—Matt Wieters of the Orioles homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-2 win over the Mariners.

Wieters had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 and won AL Batter of the Day honors on a tiebreaker over Ian Kinsler of the Tigers, who had an identical game score and nearly identical batting line. Kinsler was Player of the Game in the 6-3 win over the Twins (HR 3-4 2R 2BI). Wieters beat Kinsler because he had two extra base hits (a home run and a double) while Kinsler had one (home run).

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

Rankings—In addition to Cueto, two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

Athletics pitcher Rich Hill (6IP 3H R 6K W in the 8-1 win over the Rangers) rises to sixth place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.4 for the season. Hill ranks second among AL pitchers.
Red Sox pitcher David Price (7.1IP 5H 2R 5K W in the 5-2 win over the Royals) rises to ninth place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.7 for the season. Price ranks fourth among AL pitchers.

Notable—Two players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points also won Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

Cubs pitcher John Lackey (6IP 4H R 5K ND in the 13-inning, 2-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 112.5 for his career. He ranks 50th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began and trails 49th-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8). Lackey has 4.7 points for the season.
Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (6.2IP 6H 0R 5K W in the 2-0 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 104.3 for his career. He rises to 60th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” list. He trails 59th-ranked player, Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (104.3). (Beltre is ranked ahead of Wainwright on a tiebreaker because he had more 2015 Box-Toppers points—12.5 vs. 3.0.) Wainwright has 2.5 Box-Toppers points on the season.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/18
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.0
    Giants
    Johnny Cueto (W, 6-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    4
    1
    1
    2
    8
  

    AL
    8.0
    Yankees
    Nathan Eovaldi (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    1
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    
    6.0
    Athletics
    Rich Hill (W,6-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    
    5.2
    Braves
    Julio Teheran (W,1-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    5
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    4.2
    Cardinals
    Adam Wainwright (W,4-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    6
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    4.1
    Rays
    Alex Colome (S,10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    4.0
    Indians
    Cody Allen (W,1-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.2
    `Royals
    Ian Kennedy
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    6
    2
    2
    1
    9
  

    
    3.1
    Nationals
    Gio Gonzalez (W,3-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    5
    1
    1
    1
    5
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Orioles
    Matt Wieters, C
    4
    2
    3
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Tigers
    Ian Kinsler, 2B
    4
    2
    3
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Angels
    Mike Trout, CF
    4
    3
    3
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Astros
    Jason Castro, C
    3
    3
    2
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `Cubs
    John Lackey
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    2
    5
  

    
    2.1
    Red Sox
    David Price (W,6-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.1
    5
    2
    2
    1
    5
  

    
    2.0
    Phillies
    Jeanmar Gomez (S,16)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

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

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


Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	8.0	20.8	72.0	91.4	-4.8
Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	6.4	10.4	10.4	30.1	2.4
Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	5.7	26.8	82.8	99.5	-15.4
Kennedy, Ian 2723	pi sp	kc al	5.0	11.7	55.5	61.5	-1.7
Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	4.7	14.4	34.1	112.5	-5.0
Eovaldi, Nathan 2928	pi sp	nyy al	3.7	5.7	22.8	22.8	1.7
Trout, Mike 2949	cf	ana al	3.0	15.0	39.5	39.5	-9.0
Colome, Alex 3189	pi cp	tb al	3.0	8.0	11.7	11.7	-2.0
Kinsler, Ian 2144	2b	det al	2.5	9.0	28.2	58.6	-4.0
Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	2.5	5.5	53.6	104.3	-0.5
Gonzalez, Gio 2626	pi sp	dc nl	2.0	11.7	68.8	82.5	-7.7
Teheran, Julio 3176	pi sp	atl nl	2.0	9.7	37.8	37.8	-5.7
Gomez, Jeanmar 2759	pi cp	phi nl	2.0	2.0	7.0	9.0	2.0
Wieters, Matt 2643	ca	bal al	1.5	2.5	20.5	26.2	0.5
Allen, Cody 3265	pi mr cp	cle al	1.0	5.0	10.0	10.0	-3.0
Castro, Jason 2743	ca	hou al	1.0	1.0	7.5	8.5	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Brewers' Hill tops players for Saturday, May 7; Dodgers' Kershaw takes Box-Toppers points lead

Shawn Plank May 8, 2016

Aaron Hill of the Brewers is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 7:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	7.0
2	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	6.0
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	5.7
4	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	5.4
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	5.0
6	Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	5.0
7	Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	5.0
8	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	5.0
9	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	4.7
10	Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	4.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Meanwhile, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rises to take the lead in season Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Hill hit three homers, including a 10th-inning, go-ahead grand slam, in the 13-7 win over the Reds. Hill went 3-for-5 and drove in seven total runs.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale struck out nine over seven innings, allowing two runs and three hits, in the 7-2 win over the Twins.

Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season, rising to third place in season player rankings, first among AL players.

American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit two homers and went 2-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 10-5 win over the Tigers.

Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 104.3 for his career. He rises to 59th place in points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Saturday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (103.3) and Jamie Moyer (104.0). Beltre has 2.5 Box-Toppers points for the season.

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 an NL batter, Aaron Hill of the Brewers.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rose to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Kershaw (7IP 8H 2R 10K W in the 6-2 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season. He passes previous leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (6.0).

Also, Kershaw now has 166.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 10th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails ninth-place player, Johan Santana (166.6).

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

Athletics pitcher Rich Hill (5.2IP 2H R 5K W in the 8-4 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.4 for the season, rising to fourth place.
Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (8.1IP 8H 0R 3K ND in the 2-1, 13-inning win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to fifth place.

Scoring—Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Sale earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Beltre 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/7
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    8.0
    Brewers
    Aaron Hill, 3B
    5
    3
    3
    7
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    AL
    8.0
    White Sox
    Chris Sale (W,7-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    2
    2
    1
    9
  

    
    7.0
    Royals
    Ian Kennedy (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    
    5.1
    `Mariners
    Nathan Karns
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    6
    1
    1
    2
    9
  

    
    5.0
    Dodgers
    Clayton Kershaw (W,4-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    8
    2
    2
    0
    10
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Rangers
    Adrian Beltre, 3B
    4
    2
    2
    4
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Yankees
    Nathan Eovaldi (W,2-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    6
    2
    2
    0
    6
  

    
    3.2
    Athletics
    Rich Hill (W,4-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    2
    1
    1
    3
    5
  

    
    3.0
    Cardinals
    Stephen Piscotty, RF
    3
    3
    2
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Mets
    David Wright, 3B
    2
    2
    2
    1
    3
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.1
    `Giants
    Johnny Cueto
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.1
    8
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    2.0
    Cubs
    Addison Russell, SS
    4
    1
    2
    3
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Phillies
    Brett Oberholtzer (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    `Dbacks
    Tyler Clippard
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    Orioles
    Zach Britton (S,7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.0
    Rays
    Steven Souza, RF
    4
    1
    2
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

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


Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	7.0	32.7	132.8	166.3	-18.7
Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	5.7	24.5	76.7	78.7	-13.1
Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	5.4	9.4	9.4	29.1	1.4
Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	5.0	17.8	69.0	88.4	-7.8
Kennedy, Ian 2723	pi sp	kc al	4.0	10.7	54.5	60.5	-2.7
Souza, Steven Jr. 3461	rf	tb al	2.7	8.2	8.2	8.2	-2.8
Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	2.5	15.0	40.9	104.3	-10.0
Karns, Nathan 3414	pi sp	sea al	2.0	7.0	8.0	8.0	-3.0
Hill, Aaron 2056	3b 2b	mil nl	2.0	5.0	19.0	38.0	-1.0
Russell, Addison 3559	ss	chi nl	2.0	4.5	4.5	4.5	-0.5
Eovaldi, Nathan 2928	pi sp	nyy al	2.0	4.0	21.1	21.1	0.0
Britton, Zachary 2835	pi cp	bal al	1.0	9.7	29.1	29.1	-7.7
Piscotty, Stephen 3570	rf	stl nl	1.0	5.2	5.2	5.2	-3.2
Clippard, Tyler 2291	pi mr	ari nl	1.0	2.0	17.0	28.4	0.0
Oberholtzer, Brett 3244	pi mr	phi nl	1.0	2.0	4.0	4.0	0.0
Wright, David 1911	3b	nym nl	1.0	1.0	24.5	75.1	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Colon tops players for Monday, May 2; Cards' Wainwright tops NL batters

Shawn Plank May 3, 2016

Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 2:


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

What are those numbers after players' names?

Colon struck out seven over eight scoreless innings, allowing seven hits, in the 4-1 win over the Braves.

Colon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first of the season, giving him 142.1 for his career. Colon ranks 22nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 21st-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7).

American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher A.J. Griffin struck out nine over six innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 3-1 win over the Blue Jays. Griffin did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited the game with the score tied, 1-1.

National League Batter of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-2, in the 10-3 win over the Phillies. Wainwright also won the game on the mound (6IP 5H 3R 4K), but had a higher Box-Toppers game score for batting (+4.0) than pitching (-2.0).

This is the first time in 2016 that a pitcher has earned Player of the Game honors for batting—it happened seven times in 2015. This is the third time in Wainwright’s career he has earned Player of the Game honors for batting.

Wainwright earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, his first of the season, and now has 103.3 career points and rises to 60th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes three players on the “all-time” list—Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2), Miguel Tejada (102.3) and Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (102.8). Wainwright trails 59th-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0).

This is also Wainwright’s first Box-Toppers points in more than a year—he was out much of 2015 with an Achilles injury. He last earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors April 25, 2015, and had 3.0 points for 2015 after he had 18.7 in 2014 (ranked eighth) and 20.2 in 2013 (ranked second).

American League Batter of the Day—Byung Ho Park of the Twins tripled and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 6-2 win over the Astros.

Streak—Nationals closing pitcher Jonathan Papelbon has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Papelbon (1IP 0H 0R K Sv in the 2-0 win over the Royals) first earned Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Red Sox and has 53.4 career points, first among active NL closing pitchers, second among all active closing pitchers (behind Francisco Rodriguez of the Tigers, with 60.4) and 18th among all closing pitchers since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.

Papelbon’s best season was 2012 with the Phillies when he had 7.0 Box-Toppers points and ranked fifth among NL closing pitchers. In 2015, Papelbon had 4.0 points with the Phillies, a season in which he also played for the Nationals. Monday was the first time Papelbon earned Player of the Game honors as a member of the Nationals.

Notable—Ryan Braun of the Brewers is Monday’s highest-ranked Player of the Game. Braun (2B 3-3 R BI in the 8-5 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.5 for the season and ranks 20th in Box-Toppers season player rankings, fourth among NL batters.

Debut—Padres relief pitcher Ryan Buchter made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Buchter (1.1IP 0H 0R 4K ND in the 2-1 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut June 20, 2014, and was playing in his 14th career game. He is the 3,626th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Colon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Griffin earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Wainwright and Park each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/2
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    8.0
    Mets
    Bartolo Colon (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    7
    0
    0
    0
    7
  

    AL
    8.0
    `Rangers
    A.J. Griffin
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    2
    9
  

    
    4.1
    `Padres
    Ryan Buchter
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Cardinals
    Adam Wainwright, SP
    2
    1
    2
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Mariners
    Steve Cishek (S,7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    3.0
    Giants
    Santiago Casilla (S,5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    Brewers
    Ryan Braun, LF
    3
    1
    3
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    2.0
    Twins
    Byung Ho Park, DH
    3
    1
    2
    2
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Nationals
    Jonathan Papelbon (S,9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.0
    Cubs
    Ben Zobrist, RF
    3
    1
    1
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

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


Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Braun, Ryan J. 2300	lf	mil nl	3.5	8.5	39.5	81.2	-1.5
Park, Byung Ho 3616	dh	min al	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Griffin, A.J. 3074	pi sp	tex al	2.7	2.7	17.4	17.4	2.7
Colon, Bartolo	pi sp	nym nl	2.0	8.7	50.6	142.1	-4.7
Cishek, Steve 2997	pi cp	sea al	2.0	3.0	22.0	22.0	1.0
Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	1.5	4.5	52.6	103.3	-1.5
Casilla, Santiago 2301	pi cp	sf nl	1.0	6.0	18.7	21.7	-4.0
Papelbon, Jonathan 2110	pi cp	dc nl	1.0	5.0	22.7	53.4	-3.0
Zobrist, Ben 2216	rf	chi nl	1.0	2.0	20.0	29.0	0.0
Buchter, Ryan 3626	pi mr	sd nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Box-Toppers' Franchise Four

Shawn Plank January 14, 2016

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

Jason Giambi has most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points (19); Carlos Beltran is active leader (17)

Shawn Plank December 16, 2015

Who are the players with the most consecutive seasons earning at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point? A list of consistent, durable players, dominated by batters over pitchers.

Nationals' Scherzer tops players for Monday, Sept. 28, rises to 8th in player rankings

Shawn Plank September 29, 2015

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

Scherzer struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 5-1 win over the Reds. Scherzer had a no-hitter until allowing his first hit in the eighth inning.

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	27.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	21.4
4	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	21.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	21.1
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	19.7
7	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
8	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	19.0
9	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	19.0
10	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	18.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 19.0 for the season, rising to eighth place among all players and fifth among NL pitchers.

Scherzer also rises to 58th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Monday, Scherzer has 104.0 career points and passes three players on the “all-time” list—Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2), Miguel Tejada (102.3) and Jamie Moyer (104.0). Scherzer trails 57th-ranked player Aramis Ramirez (105.8).

Both Griffey and Moyer started their careers before the start of Box-Toppers record keeping in 1995 and so would likely have more actual points if their entire career were tracked. Griffey, who started in 1989, would likely have about 140 career Box-Toppers points, according to rough projections. Moyer, who started in 1986, would likely have about 125 career Box-Toppers points. Tejada made his debut in 1997, so his entire career has been tracked by Box-Toppers.

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers struck out seven over six innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 3-2 win over the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day—Mark Reynolds of the Cardinals homered and drove in two runs in the 3-0 win over the Pirates.

American League Batter of the Day—Travis Shaw of the Red Sox homered and went 3-for-4, driving in two runs, in the 5-1 win over the Yankees.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke, ranked sixth in player rankings (19.7 Box-Toppers points), started Monday but did not earn Player of the Game honors. Greinke (7IP 4H 2R 7K ND in the 3-2, 12-inning loss to the Giants) had a Box-Toppers game score of +3. Player of the Game was Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (7IP 3H R 4K ND) with a Box-Toppers game score of +5.

Notable—Giants pitcher Jake Peavy maintained his rank of 25th among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Peavy (7IP 3H R 4K ND in the 3-2, 12-inning win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 136.8 for his career. He trails 24th-ranked player David Ortiz (137.9). Peavy has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/28
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    Nationals
    Max Scherzer (W,13-12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    1
    1
    3
    10
  

    
    11.0
    `Cubs
    Kyle Hendricks
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    9
  

    
    5.0
    `Giants
    Jake Peavy
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Cardinals
    Mark Reynolds, 1B
    1
    1
    1
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    AL
    3.0
    Astros
    Lance McCullers (W,6-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    2
    2
    2
    7
  

    
    3.0
    Blue Jays
    Brett Cecil (MR) (W,5-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    BAT
    2.0
    Red Sox
    Travis Shaw, 1B
    4
    1
    3
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.2
    Twins
    Tommy Milone (W,9-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    4
    2
    2
    0
    4
  

    
    1.0
    Tigers
    Tyler Collins, LF
    4
    1
    1
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Angels
    Chris Iannetta, C
    1
    1
    0
    1
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Mets' Colon tops players for Monday, Aug. 31; Keuchel rises to 5th in player rankings, Archer rises to 10th

Shawn Plank September 5, 2015

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

Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Monday, Aug. 31.

Also Monday, Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and Rays pitcher Chris Archer rises to 10th place.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 31.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	19.4
2	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	19.1
3	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.7
4	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	18.1
5	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	17.7
6	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	17.1
7	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	17.0
8	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	16.4
9	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
10	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	16.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Colon pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing four hits, in the 3-1 win over the Phillies.

Colon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 140.1 for his career, rising to 22nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Monday, he passes Andy Pettitte (138.5 Box-Toppers points) on the “all-time” list. He trails 21st-ranked player Zack Greinke (142.7 points).

Colon has 6.7 Box-Toppers points this season.

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Danny Salazar struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing two runs and six hits, in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays.

Salazar earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 11.4 Box-Toppers points on the season. He becomes the 29th player with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points this season and ranks 22nd among all players, 13th among AL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Mark Canha of the Athletics homered, scored twice and drove in four runs, in the 11-5 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—Adam Duvall of the Reds hit a two-run, pinch-hit homer in the 13-6 win over the Cubs.

This was Duvall’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Duvall made his Major League debut June 26, 2014, and was playing in his 29th career game. He is the 3,573rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel (7IP 6H 2R 10K W in the 8-3 win over the Mariners) rose to fifth place with 17.7 Box-Toppers points. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind David Price of the Blue Jays (18.1 Box-Toppers points).
Rays pitcher Chris Archer (6IP 4H 0R 6K W in the 6-3 win over the Orioles) rose to 10th place with 16.0 Box-Toppers points. He ranks fifth among AL pitchers.

Notable—Cardinals pitcher John Lackey rises to 57th place among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Lackey (6IP 4H 2R 8K ND in the 8-5 win over the Nationals) now has 104.8 career Box-Toppers points. With his point Monday, he passes Jamie Moyer (104.0 points) on the “all-time” list and trails 56th-ranked player Aramis Ramirez (105.8). Lackey has 6.7 Box-Toppers points this season.

Debut—In addition to Duvall, one other player made his Box-Toppers debut Monday: Rockies pitcher Simon Castro earned his first career Player of the Game honor. Castro (2IP 0R 0H K W in the 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut July 5, 2013, and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,574th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Colon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Salazar earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Canha and Duvall each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/31
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    12.0
    Mets
    Bartolo Colon (W,12-11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    9
  

    
    9.0
    Padres
    Tyson Ross (W,10-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    7
  

    AL
    6.0
    Indians
    Danny Salazar (W,12-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    2
    2
    1
    10
  

    
    6.0
    Astros
    Dallas Keuchel (W,16-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    1
    1
    1
    8
  

    
    5.0
    Rays
    Chris Archer (W,12-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    0
    0
    3
    6
  

    
    4.1
    Marlins
    Chris Narveson (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.1
    2
    0
    0
    2
    3
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Athletics
    Mark Canha, 1B
    3
    2
    1
    4
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Dodgers
    Chris Hatcher (W,2-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.0
    3
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Reds
    Adam Duvall, PH
    1
    1
    1
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `Cardinals
    John Lackey
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    2
    1
    4
    8
  

    
    3.0
    Rockies
    Simon Castro (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    Red Sox
    Jackie Bradley Jr., LF
    3
    2
    3
    0
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Giants' Bumgarner tops players for Sunday, Aug. 16; Sale, Greinke rise in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings

Shawn Plank August 29, 2015

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

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Sunday, Aug. 16.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 16.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	18.4
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	16.7
3	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	16.1
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	16.1
5	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	16.0
7	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	15.8
8	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	15.4
9	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	15.4
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	14.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Sunday, White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings and Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to sixth. Plus, two players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors—Greinke and Aramis Ramirez of the Pirates.

Player of the Day—Bumgarner pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out 14, in the 5-0 win over the Nationals.

Bumgarner earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks 13th among all players and seventh among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 15 and allowing one hit, in the 3-1 win over the Cubs.

Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 16.1 for the season and rises to fourth in player rankings, second among AL pitchers, behind David Price of the Blue Jays. (Both Price and Sale have 16.1 Box-Toppers points for the season, but Price ranks ahead of Sale because he had more Box-Toppers points in 2014—19.1 vs. 17.4.)

Sale had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of 19.0, the same as Bumgarner. But Bumgarner won overall Player of the Day on a tiebreaker—he had more innings pitched than Sale—nine vs. Seven.

American League Batter of the Day—Orioles pitcher Caleb Joseph homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 18-2 win over the Athletics.

National League Batter of the Day—Aramis Ramirez of the Pirates doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 8-1 win over the Mets.

Ramirez earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 104.8 career points and rises to 56th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Sunday, Ramirez passes two players on the “all-time” list—John Lackey (103.8 Box-Toppers points) and Jamie Moyer (104.0 points). He trails 55th-place player Frank Thomas (106.2).

Ramirez ranks first among active third basemen in career Box-Toppers points. He ranks second among all third baseman since 1995, behind Chipper Jones (149.0 Box-Toppers points).

Ramirez has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season and ranks fifth among NL third basemen. This was Ramirez’ first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor since returning to the Pirates. The last time he earned Box-Toppers points as a Pirate was Aug. 29, 2002.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Zack Grienke rose to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Greinke (7IP 6H R 8K W in the 2-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.0 for the season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

Also, Greinke now has 141.7 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 21st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Greinke trails 20th-place player Jim Thome (146.7 Box-Toppers points).

Debut—Ryan Strausborger of the Rangers made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Strausborger (HR 3-4 R BI in the 5-3 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut Aug. 5 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,560th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/16
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    19.0
    Giants
    Madison Bumgarner (W,14-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    14
  

    AL
    19.0
    White Sox
    Chris Sale (W,11-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    1
    0
    0
    2
    15
  

    
    10.1
    Brewers
    Taylor Jungmann (W,7-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    9
  

    
    9.0
    Braves
    Shelby Miller
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    1
    1
    4
    10
  

    
    7.0
    Rockies
    Chris Rusin (W,4-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    5
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    BAT
    6.0
    Orioles
    Caleb Joseph, C
    4
    3
    3
    4
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    Dodgers
    Zack Greinke (W,13-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    1
    1
    1
    8
  

    
    5.2
    Blue Jays
    Drew Hutchison (W,12-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    5
  

    
    4.0
    `Royals
    Yordano Ventura
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    2
    2
    1
    7
  

    
    3.0
    Mariners
    Robinson Cano, 2B
    7
    2
    5
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Pirates
    Aramis Ramirez, 3B
    5
    1
    4
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Astros
    Will Harris (W,5-2; BS,4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    2
    1
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    3.0
    Marlins
    A.J. Ramos (S,19)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    1.0
    Rangers
    Ryan Strausborger, LF
    4
    1
    3
    1
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    0.0
    Twins
    Trevor Plouffe, 1B
    4
    1
    2
    1
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Mets' Niese tops players for Monday, July 6; White Sox' Sale rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank July 7, 2015

Mets pitcher Jonathon Niese is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Monday, White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, two players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game Monday—Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett and Cardinals pitcher John Lackey.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of July 6.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	14.0
2	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	13.4
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	12.4
4	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	12.1
5	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	12.0
6	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	12.0
7	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	11.4
8	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	10.7
9	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	10.7
10	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	9.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Niese pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out four, in the 3-0 win over the Giants.

American League Player of the Day—Nick Castellanos of the Tigers homered and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 12-5 win over the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day—Howie Kendrick of the Dodgers tripled, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 10-7 win over the Phillies.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day Monday since the overall AL Player of the Day was a batter (Nick Castellanos).

Rankings—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to third place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Sale (CG 6H 2R 6K W in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.4 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (13.4).

Notable—Two pitchers with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Monday:

A.J. Burnett of the Pirates rose to 31st place among players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Burnett (7.2IP 5H R 4K ND in the 2-1 win over the Padres) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 126.8 for his career. With his point, he passes Mariano Rivera (126.4) on the “all-time” list and now trails 30th-place player Roy Oswalt (127.2). Burnett has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 27th among NL pitchers.
John Lackey of the Cardinals (7IP 6H 0R 4K in the 6-0 win over the Cubs) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 103.8 for his career. He maintains his spot in 57th place among players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. He trails 56th-place player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Lackey has 5.7 Box-Toppers points on the season, ranking 21st among NL pitchers.

Debut—Preston Tucker of the Astros made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Tucker (HR 2B 4-5 2R 2BI in the 9-4 win over the Indians) made his Major League debut May 7 and was playing in his 48th career game. He is the 3,525th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Niese earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Castellanos earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Kendrick earns 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    7/6
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    7.0
    Mets
    Jonathon Niese (W, 4-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    4
  

    AL
    5.0
    Tigers
    Nick Castellanos 3B
    5
    2
    4
    4
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    White Sox
    Chris Sale (W, 7-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    6
    2
    2
    0
    6
  

    
    4.0
    Cardinals
    John Lackey (W, 7-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    
    3.0
    Astros
    Preston Tucker RF
    5
    2
    4
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `Twins
    Glen Perkins
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    BAT
    2.0
    Dodgers
    Howie Kendrick 2B
    5
    2
    4
    1
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Reds
    Eugenio Suarez SS
    4
    1
    3
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Braves
    Kelly Johnson 1B
    4
    1
    2
    3
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.2
    `Pirates
    A.J. Burnett
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    5
    1
    1
    3
    4
  

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

Pirates' Francisco Liriano, Tigers' Anibal Sanchez top players for Monday, June 15

Shawn Plank June 16, 2015

Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Monday, Cardinals pitcher John Lackey now has 102.8 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 57th among all players since 1995.

Player of the Day—Liriano pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 12 and allowing two hits, in the 11-0 win over the White Sox.

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	12.4
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	12.0
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	11.0
4	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	11.0
5	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	10.4
6	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	10.1
7	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	9.7
8	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	9.7
9	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	9.4
10	Heston, Chris 3437	pi sp	sf nl	8.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Liriano is the season’s highest-ranked among the 14 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. Liriano earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.4 for the season. He ranks 19th among all players and 10th among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez pitched a complete game shutout, striking out seven and allowing two hits, in the 6-0 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Stephen Vogt of the Athletics hit a grand slam and went 3-for-5, driving in five total runs, in the 9-1 win over the Padres.

This was Vogt’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut April 6, 2012, and was playing in his 211th career game. He is the 3,503rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Notable—Cardinals pitcher John Lackey rose to 57th place among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Lackey (8IP 5H 2R 6K W in the 3-2 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 102.8 for his career. With his point Monday, Lackey passes three players on Box-Toppers “all-time” list: Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2), Miguel Tejada (102.3) and Aramis Ramirez (102.3). He trails 56th-place player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Lackey has 4.7 Box-Toppers points on the season and ranks 20th among NL pitchers.

Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray also made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Ray (7IP 2H 0R 3K W in the 7-3 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut May 6, 2014, and was playing in his 13th career game. He is the 3,502nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/15
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    17.0
    Pirates
    Francisco Liriano (W, 4-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    0
    0
    1
    12
  

    AL
    14.0
    Tigers
    Anibal Sanchez (W, 5-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    2
    0
    0
    0
    7
  

    
    12.0
    Orioles
    Wei-Yin Chen (W, 3-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    9
  

    
    11.0
    `Mets
    Noah Syndergaard
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    1
    1
    2
    11
  

    
    6.0
    Dbacks
    Robbie Ray (W, 2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    3
  

    
    5.0
    Marlins
    Tom Koehler (W, 5-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    1
    2
    5
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Athletics
    Stephen Vogt   C
    5
    1
    3
    5
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Astros
    George Springer   RF
    4
    3
    3
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Cardinals
    John Lackey (W, 5-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    5
    2
    2
    1
    6
  

    
    4.0
    Mariners
    Taijuan Walker (W, 4-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    1
    1
    0
    6
  

    
    4.0
    Rangers
    Yovani Gallardo (W, 6-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    3
    4
  

    
    2.0
    Royals
    Mike Moustakas   3B
    2
    2
    1
    1
    3
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Rays
    Evan Longoria   3B
    1
    1
    1
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Braves
    Williams Perez (W, 3-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    0
    0
    2
    2
  

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

Tigers' Price tops players for Friday, June 12, rises to 5th in player rankings; Kershaw debuts in top 10

Shawn Plank June 13, 2015

Tigers pitcher David Price is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in player rankings.

Also Friday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rose to 10th place in player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of June 12.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	12.4
2	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	11.0
3	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	11.0
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	10.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	10.1
6	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	9.7
7	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	9.7
8	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	9.0
9	Heston, Chris 3437	pi sp	sf nl	8.7
10	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	8.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Price pitched a complete game shutout, striking out eight and allowing seven hits, in the 4-0 win over the Indians.

Price earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.1 points for the season and rises to fifth place in season player rankings, fourth among American League pitchers. He is the fifth player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points.

Price had a Box-Toppers game score of 10, tied with Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia (Player of the Game in the win over the Royals), but Price won overall Player of the Day on a tiebreaker because he had more innings pitched—nine vs. eight.

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out six, in the 4-0 win over the Royals.

National League Batter of the Day—Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers drove in five runs on three doubles in the 8-4 win over the Nationals.

Ramirez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day and rises to 57th place among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Ramirez now has 102.3 career Box-Toppers points and with his points Friday, passes six players on Box-Toppers “all-time” list:

Jason Schmidt 101.2
Tim Wakefield 101.4
Adam Wainwright 101.8
John Lackey 101.8
Ken Griffey Jr. 102.2
Miguel Tejada 102.3

Ramirez, who has 2.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, now trails 56th-place player Jamie Moyer (104.0 Box-Toppers points).

American League Batter of the Day—Chris Davis of the Orioles hit a three-run home run and went 3-for-5, driving in four total runs, in the 11-3 win over the Yankees.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. Kershaw (6.2IP 4H R 11K ND in the 4-3 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.

Kershaw led all players in Box-Toppers points with 31.5, the fourth-highest single-season total since record keeping began in 1995. While Kershaw is just now making his debut in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings, he is actually just ahead of his pace for 2014. At this point in 2014, Kershaw had 7.7 Box-Toppers points.

With his point Friday, Kershaw now has 141.6 career Box-Toppers points and remains in 20th place among all players since record keeping began in 1995. He ranks 14th among all pitchers on that list.

Notable—Box-Toppers points leader for 2015 Felix Hernandez had a very un-Box-Toppers points leader kind of day Friday.

Hernandez allowed eight runs and five hits in only one-third of an inning in the 10-0 loss to the Astros. Astros pitcher Brett Oberholtzer (8IP 3H 0R 5K W) was Player of the Game.

Hernandez leads players in Box-Toppers points this season with 12.4.

Debut—Pirates pitcher Arquimedes Caminero made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Caminero (1IP 0H 0R 2K ND in the 1-0 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut Aug. 16, 2013, and was playing in his 60th career game. He is the 3,498th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/12
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    10.0
    Tigers
    David Price (W, 6-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    7
    0
    0
    0
    8
  

    NL
    10.0
    Cardinals
    Jaime Garcia (W, 2-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    0
    0
    0
    6
  

    
    8.2
    `Dodgers
    Clayton Kershaw
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    4
    1
    1
    3
    11
  

    
    8.0
    Astros
    Brett Oberholtzer (W, 1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    5
  

    
    7.0
    Dbacks
    Chase Anderson (W, 2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    1
    0
    0
    1
    2
  

    
    4.2
    `Rangers
    Wandy Rodriguez
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    3
    1
    1
    3
    6
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Brewers
    Aramis Ramirez   3B
    4
    0
    3
    5
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Mets
    John Mayberry Jr.   LF
    2
    2
    2
    2
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Orioles
    Chris Davis   1B
    5
    1
    3
    4
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Blue Jays
    Justin Smoak   1B
    5
    2
    3
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Angels
    Mike Trout   CF
    3
    2
    3
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Rays
    Jake McGee (S, 2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    `Pirates
    Arquimedes Caminero
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    Reds
    Todd Frazier   3B
    5
    3
    2
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Marlins
    J.T. Realmuto   C
    4
    1
    1
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

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

Highest Box-Toppers game scores of 2016

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

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Top 10 players

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Top 10 players

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Box-Toppers

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