Cubs rank higher in Box-Toppers team rankings, its four starters rank among the top 10 NL pitchers, they have Kris Bryant. Dodgers have Kershaw who they needed for each NLDS win.
Read MoreRed Sox' David Price tops players for Monday, Sept. 12; Cubs' Hendricks tops NL players
Red Sox pitcher David Price is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Price struck out nine over eight innings, allowing two runs, two hits and no walks, in the 12-2 win over the Orioles.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 12:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 20.4 |
| 3 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 20.2 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 18.1 |
| 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 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
| 10 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 14.1 |
Price earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Game, giving him 12.4 for the season. He ranks 20th among all players and sixth among American League pitchers.
Price also now has 106.2 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 59th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Monday, he passes five players on the “all-time” list—Carlos Beltran of the Rangers (104.9), Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1), Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (105.7), Aramis Ramirez (105.8) and Frank Thomas (106.2). He now trails 58th-ranked player Lance Berkman (108.1).
National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks allowed one hit and one run over eight innings, striking out seven and walking two, in the 4-1 win over the Cardinals.
Hendricks earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 13.4 for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. Hendricks ranks 15th among all players and 11th among NL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Yasmany Tomas of the Diamondbacks hit a grand slam and doubled, going 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 12-9 win over the Rockies.
American League Batter of the Day—Avisail Garcia of the White Sox homered and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 11-4 win over the Indians.
Notable—Phillies pitcher Jeremy Hellickson now has 12.1 Box-Toppers points on the season after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Hellickson (6.1IP 3H R 3BB 6K in the 6-2 win over the Pirates) now ranks 23rd among all players and 13th among NL pitchers.
Also notable—Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Liriano now has 102.2 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Liriano (6.1IP 3H 2R BB 6K ND in the 3-2 win over the Rays) now ranks 67th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes two players on the “all-time” list—Tim Wakefield (101.4) and Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2) and now trails 66th-ranked player Miguel Tejada (102.3). Liriano has 7.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 30th among AL pitchers.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Reds pitcher Keyvius Sampson (4.2IP 4H 0R 2BB 7K ND in the 3-0 win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut July 30, 2015, and was playing in his 29th career game. He is the 3,737th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Mariners pitcher Ariel Miranda (6IP 3H 0R BB 3K W in the 8-1 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut July 3 and was playing in his ninth career game. He is the 3,738th 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 Hendricks earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Tomas and Garcia 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.
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.
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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/12 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | BOS 12, BAL 2 | David Price (W,16-8) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | |
| NL | 10.0 | CHC 4, STL 1 | Kyle Hendricks (W,15-7) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |
| BAT | 7.0 | ARI 12, COL 9 | Yasmany Tomas, RF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | OAK 16, KC 3 | Daniel Coulombe (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 6.1 | `DET 4, MIN 2 | Daniel Norris | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | ||
| 5.2 | `CIN 3, MIL 0 | Keyvius Sampson | - | - | - | - | 4.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 5.1 | PHI 6, PIT 2 | Jeremy Hellickson (W,11-9) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | SEA 8, LAA 1 | Ariel Miranda (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 4.1 | `TOR 3, TB 2 | Francisco Liriano | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | ATL 12, MIA 7 | Nick Markakis, RF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | CHW 11, CLE 4 | Avisail Garcia, RF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | TEX 4, HOU 3 (12) | Rougned Odor, 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SD 4, SF 0 | Paul Clemens (W,3-5) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | WSH 8, NYM 1 | Anthony Rendon, 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | LAD 8, NYY 2 | Howie Kendrick, 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.4 | 23.1 | 28.1 | 28.1 | 3.7 |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 12.4 | 33.5 | 89.5 | 106.2 | -8.7 |
| Hellickson, Jeremy 2778 | pi sp | phi nl | 12.1 | 17.1 | 40.8 | 43.8 | 7.1 |
| Tomas, Yasmany 3489 | rf lf | ari nl | 7.7 | 11.2 | 11.2 | 11.2 | 4.2 |
| Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | tor al | 7.0 | 21.9 | 62.4 | 102.2 | -7.9 |
| Odor, Rougned 3336 | 2b | tex al | 6.5 | 9.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 3.5 |
| Rendon, Anthony 3258 | 3b | dc nl | 5.5 | 6.5 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 4.5 |
| Markakis, Nick 2116 | rf | atl nl | 5.0 | 9.5 | 20.5 | 47.1 | 0.5 |
| Kendrick, Howie 2191 | 2b lf 1b | lad nl | 4.0 | 8.0 | 20.0 | 34.0 | 0.0 |
| Garcia, Avisail 3256 | dh rf | chi al | 2.5 | 5.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | -0.5 |
| Coulombe, Daniel 3720 | pi mr | oak al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Norris, Daniel 3548 | pi sp | det al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -3.0 |
| Clemens, Paul 3185 | pi sp | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 |
| Miranda, Ariel 3738 | pi sp | sea al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Sampson, Keyvius 3737 | pi sp | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Dodgers' Rich Hill tops players for Saturday, Sept. 3; Orioles' Gausman tops AL players
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 |
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.
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
| 9/3 | 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
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 | +/- |
| 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 |
Mets' Jacob deGrom tops players for Saturday, Aug. 13; Tigers' Boyd tops AL players
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 |
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.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/13 | 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
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 | +/- |
| 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 |
Rays' Blake Snell tops players for Tuesday, July 19; Mets' Syndergaard rises to 9th in Box-Toppers rankings
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 |
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.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 7/19 | 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
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 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 |
Giants' Madison Bumgarner tops players for Sunday, July 10, rising to 6th in Box-Toppers rankings
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 |
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.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 7/10 | 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
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 | +/- |
| 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 |
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
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 |
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.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 7/2 | 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
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 | +/- |
| 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 |
Royals' Kendrys Morales tops players for Saturday, June 18; Dbacks' Greinke rises to 7th in Box-Toppers player rankings
Kendrys Morales of the Royals 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 June 18:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 11.7 |
| 3 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.0 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 10.0 |
| 6 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.0 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 9.7 |
| 8 | Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 9.4 |
| 9 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 |
| 10 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 8.8 |
Also Saturday, Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning NL Player of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Morales hit two doubles, going 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in five runs, in the 16-5 win over the Tigers.
Morales had a Box-Toppers game score of +8.0, tied with Greinke, who was Player of the Game in the Diamondbacks’ 4-1 win over the Phillies. But when batters and pitchers have the same Box-Toppers game score, batters win the tiebreaker, giving Morales overall Player of the Day honors.
National League Player of the Day—Greinke allowed one run and three hits over eight innings, striking out six and walking one, in the 4-1 win over the Phillies.
Greinke earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season, rising to seventh among all player and among NL pitchers.
Greinke also now has 156.1 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 15th place in career points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Saturday, Greinke passes Mike Mussina (155.6) and now trails 14th-ranked player Tim Hudson (157.0).
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 4 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | nyy al | 187.0 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 182.0 |
| 6 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 177.3 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 176.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 10 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 11 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 12 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 164.7 |
| 13 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 14 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 15 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 156.1 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 17 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 18 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 19 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
| 20 | Javier Vazquez | pi sp | retired | 148.3 |
National League Batter of the Day—J.T. Realmuto of the Marlins hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 4-for-5, in the 9-6 win over the Rockies.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall Player of the Day was AL batter Kendrys Morales.
Notable—Carlos Beltran of the Yankees rises to 64th place in Box-Toppers among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Beltran (HR 3-5 2R 2BI in the 7-6 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 101.9 for his career. With his point Saturday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list—Jason Schmidt (101.2), Tim Wakefield (101.4), Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (101.4) and Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (101.7). Beltran now trails 63rd-ranked player Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2).
Beltran has 3.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debuts Saturday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Tyler Naquin of the Indians (HR 3B 3-3 R 4BI in the 13-2 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut April 5 and was playing in his 41st career game. He is the 3,662nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Braves pitcher Dario Alvarez (0.2IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 4-3 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut Sept. 3, 2014, and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,663rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Morales earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Greinke earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Realmuto 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.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 6/18 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | KC 16/DET 5 | Kendrys Morales, DH | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| NL | 8.0 | ARI 4/PHI 1 | Zack Greinke (W,10-3) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 5.0 | CLE 13/CHW 2 | Tyler Naquin, CF | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | SD 7/DC 3 | Wil Myers, 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | `HOU 5/CIN 4 | Dallas Keuchel | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 3.2 | `TEX 4/STL 3 | Cesar Ramos | - | - | - | - | 2.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | MIA 9/COL 6 | J.T. Realmuto, C | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | BAL 4/TOR 2 | Jonathan Schoop, 2B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | LAD 10/MIL 6 | Justin Turner, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CHC 4/PIT 3 | David Ross, C | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYY 7/MIN 6 | Carlos Beltran, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SF 6/TB 4 | Joe Panik, 2B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.2 | ATL 4/NYM 3 | Dario Alvarez (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | LAA 7/OAK 1 | Mike Trout, CF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | BOS 6/SEA 2 | Christian Vazquez, C | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 9.7 | 30.4 | 95.5 | 156.1 | -11.0 |
| Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 5.5 | 17.5 | 42.0 | 42.0 | -6.5 |
| Panik, Joe 3401 | 2b | sf nl | 4.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 0.0 |
| Myers, Wil 3228 | 1b | sd nl | 4.0 | 7.0 | 12.5 | 12.5 | 1.0 |
| Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 3.0 | 24.4 | 38.8 | 38.8 | -18.4 |
| Beltran, Carlos 1194 | rf dh | nyy al | 3.0 | 6.5 | 23.9 | 101.9 | -0.5 |
| Realmuto, J.T. 3491 | ca | fla nl | 2.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | -2.5 |
| Schoop, Jonathan 3307 | 2b | bal al | 2.5 | 5.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 0.0 |
| Ross, David 1729 | ca | chi nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 11.0 | 27.1 | 2.5 |
| Morales, Kendrys 2142 | dh | kc al | 2.0 | 6.7 | 16.7 | 32.7 | -2.7 |
| Ramos, Cesar 3168 | pi sp mr | tex al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 |
| Turner, Justin 2865 | 3b 2b | lad nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 10.5 | 10.5 | -3.0 |
| Vazquez, Christian 3380 | ca | bos al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 |
| Alvarez, Dario 3663 | pi mr | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Naquin, Tyler 3662 | cf | cle al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Pirates' Jameson Taillon tops players for Tuesday, June 14; Lackey, Bumgarner rise in Box-Toppers top 10 rankings
Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of June 14:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 17.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 11.7 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.0 |
| 4 | Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 9.4 |
| 5 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 |
| 6 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 |
| 7 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 8.8 |
| 8 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 |
| 9 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 8.7 |
| 10 | Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 8.7 |
Also Tuesday, Cubs pitcher John Lackey and Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner rise in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Taillon pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits, one walk and striking out five, in the 4-0 win over the Mets.
This was Taillon’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Taillon made his Major League debut June 8 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,658th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Player of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays hit a grand slam and two doubles, going 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five total runs, in the 11-3 win over the Phillies.
Donaldson earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.2 for the season, rising to second place among AL batters, trailing only Manny Machado of the Orioles (8.7 Box-Toppers points). Donaldson ranks 19th among all players.
National League Batter of the Day—Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies homered and doubled, going 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 13-10 win over the Yankees.
Gonzalez, who led NL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 11.5, has 2.5 points in 2016.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Josh Donaldson.
Rankings—Two players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday:
- Cubs pitcher John Lackey rises to fourth place in season rankings with 9.4 Box-Toppers points. Lackey (6IP 4H 2R 7K ND in the 4-3 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point Tuesday and now has 117.2 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 41st place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes two players on the “all-time” list—Todd Helton (116.4) and Mark Buehrle (116.7). Lackey now trails 40th-ranked player Barry Zito (117.4).
- Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner rises to fifth place in season rankings with 9.0 Box-Toppers points. Bumgarner (8IP 4H 2R 8K W in the 3-2 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point Tuesday and now has 101.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 64th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes four players on the “all-time” list—Carlos Beltran of the Yankees (100.9), Jason Schmidt (101.2), Tim Wakefield (101.4) and Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (101.4). Bumgarner now trails 63rd-ranked player Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2).
Scoring—Taillon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Donaldson earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Gonzalez earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 6/14 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | PIT 4/NYM 0 | Jameson Taillon (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| AL | 7.0 | TOR 11/PHI 3 | Josh Donaldson, 3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | SF 3/MIL 2 | Madison Bumgarner (W,8-2) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | BAL 3/BOS 2 | Chris Tillman (W,9-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | COL 13/NYY 10 | Carlos Gonzalez, RF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | TB 8/SEA 7 | Corey Dickerson, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | DET 11/CHW 8 | Justin Upton, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | TEX 10/OAK 6 | Ryan Rua, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | LAD 7/ARI 4 | Kenley Jansen (S,18) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.1 | HOU 5/STL 2 | Doug Fister (W,7-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | MIA 5/SD 2 | Jeff Mathis, C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | `CHC 4/DC 3 | John Lackey | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 2.0 | LAA 5/MIN 4 | Kole Calhoun, RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CIN 3/ATL 1 | Brandon Finnegan (W,3-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 1.2 | KC 3/CLE 2 | Joakim Soria (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 9.4 | 19.1 | 38.8 | 117.2 | -0.3 |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 | 26.0 | 96.0 | 101.7 | -8.0 |
| Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | tor al | 7.2 | 17.1 | 37.1 | 37.1 | -2.7 |
| Tillman, Chris 2754 | pi sp | bal al | 6.0 | 10.7 | 39.8 | 41.8 | 1.3 |
| Calhoun, Kole 3279 | rf | ana al | 4.0 | 7.2 | 14.7 | 14.7 | 0.8 |
| Rua, Ryan 3631 | 1b lf | tex al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | rf | col nl | 2.5 | 14.0 | 42.7 | 55.7 | -9.0 |
| Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | det al | 2.0 | 11.0 | 37.9 | 46.4 | -7.0 |
| Jansen, Kenley 2871 | pi cp | lad nl | 2.0 | 6.0 | 32.4 | 32.4 | -2.0 |
| Dickerson, Corey 3222 | lf | tb al | 2.0 | 5.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | -1.0 |
| Finnegan, Brandon 3535 | pi sp | cin nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -1.0 |
| Taillon, Jameson 3658 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Soria, Joakim 2258 | pi cp | kc al | 1.0 | 6.7 | 13.7 | 45.7 | -4.7 |
| Fister, Doug 2688 | pi sp | hou al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 48.5 | 52.2 | -1.0 |
| Mathis, Jeff 2412 | ca | fla nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 11.5 | 1.0 |
Dodgers' Kazmir tops players for Tuesday, May 31; Marlins' Fernandez rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers rankings
Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and becomes the 70th player since 1995 to earn 100 or more career Box-Toppers points.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 31:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 9.7 |
| 3 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 |
| 4 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 |
| 5 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 8.7 |
| 6 | Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 8.7 |
| 7 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 8.7 |
| 8 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 8.4 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 7.0 |
| 10 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 6.4 |
Also Tuesday, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Kazmir pitched six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out seven, in the 5-0 win over the Cubs. Kazmir did not earn the win, picking up a no decision because the game was tied when he exited.
Kazmir earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 101.4 career Box-Toppers points. He becomes the 70th player with 100 or more points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he rises to 64th place on Box-Toppers “all-time” list, passing seven players—Red Sox pitcher David Price (99.5), Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7), Carlos Beltran of the Yankees (100.9), Jason Schmidt (101.2) and Tim Wakefield (101.4). Kazmir trails 63rd-ranked player Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2).
Kazmir has 5.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 15th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Mookie Betts of the Red Sox hit three home runs, going 3-for-5 and driving in five runs, in the 6-2 win over the Orioles.
National League Batter of the Day—DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies homered and hit two doubles, going 4-for-4, scoring four times and driving in two runs, in the 17-4 win over the Reds.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the AL Player of the Day is a batter, Mookie Betts.
Rankings—Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Fernandez (7IP 3H 0R 6K W in the 3-1 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.7 for the season, rising to second in season player rankings, trailing only Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (14.0).
Notable—Giants pitcher Jake Peavy rises to 24th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Peavy (7IP H 0R 3K W in the 4-0 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 138.8 career points, passing Andy Pettitte (138.5) on the “all-time” list. He now trails 23rd-ranked player David Ortiz of the Red Sox (141.4). Peavy has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Tyler Saladino of the White Sox (HR 2-2 2R 2BI in the 6-4 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut July 10, 2015, and was playing in his 93rd career game. He is the 3,645th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Blue Jays pitcher Joe Biagini (1IP H 0R 2K W in the 4-1 win over the Yankees) made his Major League debut April 8 and was playing in his 17th career game. He is the 3,646th 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 Betts earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. LeMahieu earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/31 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | `LAD 5/CHC 0 | Scott Kazmir | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| 10.0 | MIA 3/PIT 1 | Jose Fernandez (W,8-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 9.0 | SF 4/ATL 0 | Jake Peavy (W,2-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| AL | 6.0 | BOS 6/BAL 2 | Mookie Betts, RF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 6.0 | COL 17/CIN 4 | DJ LeMahieu, 2B | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | STL 10/MIL 3 | Matt Carpenter, 3B | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | SEA 16/SD 4 | Kyle Seager, 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | HOU 8/ARI 5 | George Springer, RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | LAA 11/DET 9 | C.J. Cron, DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | DC 5/PHI 1 | Joe Ross (W,5-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | KC 10/TB 5 | Lorenzo Cain, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | CHW 6/NYM 4 | Tyler Saladino, SS | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | TEX 7/CLE 3 | Colby Lewis (W,5-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | OAK 7/MIN 4 | Danny Valencia, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TOR 4/NYY 1 | Joe Biagini (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 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
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 | +/- |
| Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 9.7 | 14.4 | 40.4 | 40.4 | 5.0 |
| Lewis, Colby 1567 | pi sp | tex al | 5.7 | 13.4 | 31.6 | 43.0 | -2.0 |
| Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | lad nl | 5.0 | 17.7 | 45.6 | 101.4 | -7.7 |
| Cain, Lorenzo 3171 | cf | kc al | 5.0 | 13.2 | 19.2 | 19.2 | -3.2 |
| Ross, Joe 3499 | pi sp | dc nl | 4.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | -0.3 |
| Betts, Mookie 3404 | rf | bos al | 4.7 | 7.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 1.7 |
| Valencia, Danny 2772 | 3b | oak al | 4.5 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 13.0 | 1.0 |
| LeMahieu, DJ 3091 | 2b | col nl | 3.5 | 10.5 | 16.5 | 16.5 | -3.5 |
| Carpenter, Matt 2987 | 3b 1b | stl nl | 3.5 | 9.0 | 23.5 | 23.5 | -2.0 |
| Seager, Kyle 3031 | 3b | sea al | 3.5 | 8.5 | 22.5 | 22.5 | -1.5 |
| Springer, George 3337 | rf | hou al | 3.5 | 4.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 2.5 |
| Peavy, Jake 1635 | pi sp | sf nl | 2.0 | 7.0 | 35.1 | 138.8 | -3.0 |
| Cron, C.J. 3338 | dh 1b | ana al | 1.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -5.0 |
| Biagini, Joe 3646 | pi mr | tor al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Saladino, Tyler 3645 | ss | chi al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Box-Toppers' Franchise Four
Who are each franchise's top 4 players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995?
Read MoreRangers' Odor, Astros' Gregerson top players in pair of opening ALDS games for Thursday, Oct. 8
Rougned Odor of the Rangers and Luke Gregerson of the Astros are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Thursday’s pair of American League Division Series openers.
Odor homered and scored three runs in the 5-3 win over the Blue Jays in Game 1 of the AL Division Series. The Rangers lead the best-of-five series, 1-0.
During the regular season, Odor earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points, 337th among all players, 76th among AL batters.
Blue Jays pitcher David Price, Box-Toppers’ fifth-ranked player, started the game and picked up the loss. Price (7IP 5H 5R 5K) had a Box-Toppers game score of −5. He had 21.1 Box-Toppers points for the season, ranked second among AL pitchers.
Astros closing pitcher Luke Gregerson is Player of the Game in the other AL Division Series Game 1. Gregerson picked up the save, pitching a scoreless ninth inning, allowing no hits and striking out two, in the 5-2 win over the Royals. The Astros lead the best-of-five series, 1-0.
Gregerson had 6.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 150th among all players, 53rd among AL pitchers and sixth among AL closing pitchers.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 10/8 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| POG | 3.0 | Rangers | Rougned Odor, 2B | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| POG | 3.0 | Astros | Luke Gregerson (S,1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Coming Friday: The National League Division Series playoffs begin with two Game 1s and the American League Division Series resume with two Game 2s:
AL Division Series Game 2, Rangers lead Blue Jays, 1-0
The pitching matchup Friday:
Rangers—Cole Hamels, 15.4 Box-Toppers points, 15th among all players, eighth among AL pitchers.
Blue Jays—Marcus Stroman, 2.7 Box-Toppers points, 368th among all players, 105th among AL pitchers. (Stroman was out recovering from injury much of 2015. In 2014, he had 13.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 12th among AL pitchers.)
AL Division Series Game 2, Astros lead Royals, 1-0
The pitching matchup Friday:
Astros—Scott Kazmir, 12.7 Box-Toppers points, 26th among all players, 14th among AL pitchers,
Royals—Johnny Cueto, 12.8 Box-Toppers points, 25th among all players, 13th among AL pitchers.
NL Division Series Game 1, Cubs at Cardinals
Though the Chicago Cubs are the Wild Card team and have a lesser win-loss record than the NL Central champ St. Louis Cardinals, they have an edge in Box-Toppers team rankings. The Cubs passed the Cardinals in the final 10 days of the season to rank third in Box-Toppers team points with 127.4. The Cardinals, with baseball’s best record, rank fourth with 124.3. The Cubs surged at the end of the season, earning 11.0 Box-Toppers points in the final 10 days of the season. The Cardinals, by comparison, picked up only 3.5 during that period.
The two teams are the highest ranked NL teams remaining in the playoffs after the Cubs knocked off the top-rated Pittsburgh Pirates (129.6) in the NL Wild Card playoff.
The pitching matchup Friday:
Cubs—Jon Lester, 12.0 Box-Toppers points, 28th among all players, 13th among NL pitchers.
Cardinals—John Lackey, 9.7 Box-Toppers points, 51st among all players, 21st among NL pitchers.
Cubs vs. Cardinals
Here are players for both teams in the NL Divisional Series beginning Friday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2015. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.| Chicago Cubs | St. Louis Cardinals | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | 29.1 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | 13.7 | |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | 12.0 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | 11.4 | |
| Hammel, Jason 2235 | pi sp | 9.7 | Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | 9.7 | |
| Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | 9.7 | Wacha, Michael 3276 | pi sp | 9.7 | |
| Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | 8.5 | Grichuk, Randal 3474 | rf lf cf | 9.5 | |
| Bryant, Kris 3465 | 3b | 8.5 | Garcia, Jaime 2508 | pi sp | 9.4 | |
| Montero, Miguel 2304 | ca | 5.5 | Rosenthal, Trevor 3124 | pi cp | 6.0 | |
| Haren, Danny 1787 | pi sp | 5.0 | Carpenter, Matt 2987 | 3b | 5.5 | |
| Schwarber, Kyle 3536 | lf ca | 5.0 | Moss, Brandon 2520 | rf lf | 5.0 | |
| Castro, Starlin 2767 | ss 2b | 4.5 | Piscotty, Stephen 3570 | lf rf 1b | 4.2 | |
| Wada, Tsuyoshi 3389 | pi sp | 3.7 | Wong, Kolten 3377 | 2b | 4.0 | |
| Soler, Jorge 3403 | rf ph | 3.2 | Reynolds, Mark 2297 | 1b | 4.0 | |
| Wood, Travis 2777 | pi sp | 3.0 | Siegrist, Kevin 3260 | pi mr | 4.0 | |
| Fowler, Dexter 2698 | cf | 2.5 | Villanueva, Carlos 2241 | pi mr cp | 3.7 | |
| Russell, Addison 3559 | ss | 2.5 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | 3.0 | |
| Jackson, Austin 2694 | cf | 2.0 | Lyons, Tyler 3178 | pi sp | 3.0 | |
| Rondon, Hector 3201 | pi cp | 2.0 | Adams, Matt 3220 | 1b ph | 2.5 | |
| Strop, Pedro 3005 | pi mr | 2.0 | Maness, Seth 3362 | pi cp mr | 2.0 | |
| Coghlan, Chris 2610 | lf | 1.0 | Kozma, Pete 3138 | 2b pr | 2.0 | |
| Rodney, Fernando 1803 | pi cp mr | 1.0 | Scruggs, Xavier 3514 | 1b | 2.0 | |
| Cahill, Trevor 2658 | pi mr | 1.0 | Holliday, Matt 1836 | lf dh | 1.5 | |
| Hunter, Tommy 2623 | pi mr | 1.0 | Pham, Thomas 3596 | lf cf | 1.5 | |
| Grimm, Justin 3153 | pi mr | 1.0 | Cishek, Steve 2997 | pi cp | 1.0 | |
| Richard, Clayton 2584 | pi sp | 1.0 | Bourjos, Peter 2790 | cf ph | 1.0 | |
| Motte, Jason 2926 | pi mr | 1.0 | Garcia, Greg 3331 | ph | 1.0 | |
| Beeler, Dallas 3528 | pi sp | 1.0 | Molina, Yadier 1967 | ca | 1.0 | |
| Ramirez, Neil 3439 | pi mr | 1.0 | Walden, Jordan 2864 | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Broxton, Jonathan 2108 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Socolovich, Miguel 3456 | pi cp | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 127.4 | Totals | 124.3 | |||
NL Division Series Game 1, Mets at Dodgers
In Box-Toppers team rankings, the Dodgers and the Mets are almost identical.
The Dodgers hold the slight edge, ranking sixth among all teams, with 122.5 Box-Toppers points. But the Mets are only 0.5 points behind, with 122.0, ranking seventh among all teams. During the final 10 days of the season, the Dodgers picked up 6.0 Box-Toppers points, while the Mets earned 4.7.
The pitching matchup Friday:
Mets—Jacob deGrom, 22.4 Box-Toppers points, third among all players, third among NL pitchers.
Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 25.7 Box-Toppers points, second among all players, second among NL pitchers.
Mets vs. Dodgers
Here are players for both teams in the NL Divisional Series beginning Friday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2015. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.| New York Mets | Los Angeles Dodgers | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | 22.4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | 25.7 | |
| Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | 15.4 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | 20.7 | |
| Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | lf cf | 10.9 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | 7.7 | |
| Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | 10.4 | Ethier, Andre 2137 | rf lf | 6.5 | |
| Familia, Jeurys 3446 | pi cp | 8.0 | Anderson, Brett 2597 | pi sp | 6.0 | |
| Colon, Bartolo | pi sp | 6.7 | Bolsinger, Mike 3318 | pi sp | 5.7 | |
| Niese, Jonathon 2531 | pi sp | 6.0 | Gonzalez, Adrian 2193 | 1b | 4.0 | |
| Granderson, Curtis 2051 | rf | 4.0 | Jansen, Kenley 2871 | pi cp | 4.0 | |
| Nieuwenhuis, Kirk 3022 | cf rf lf ph | 4.0 | Kendrick, Howie 2191 | 2b | 4.0 | |
| Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | 3.5 | Van Slyke, Scott 3033 | cf lf 1b | 4.0 | |
| Uribe, Juan 1542 | 3b ph | 3.0 | Turner, Justin 2865 | 2b 3b ph | 4.0 | |
| Verrett, Logan 3518 | pi mr | 3.0 | Puig, Yasiel 3193 | rf | 3.5 | |
| Robles, Hansel 3580 | pi mr | 2.7 | Guerrero, Alex 3442 | lf ph | 3.5 | |
| Duda, Lucas 2818 | 1b | 2.5 | Rollins, Jimmy 1516 | ss | 3.0 | |
| d’Arnaud, Travis 3384 | ca | 2.5 | McCarthy, Brandon 2082 | pi sp | 2.0 | |
| Flores, Wilmer 3345 | ss 2b | 2.5 | Grandal, Yasmani 3058 | ca 1b | 2.0 | |
| Tejada, Ruben 2801 | ss | 2.0 | Ruggiano, Justin 2396 | lf ph | 2.0 | |
| Johnson, Kelly 2018 | lf 1b | 2.0 | Frias, Carlos 3434 | pi sp | 2.0 | |
| Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | 1.5 | Johnson, Jim 2417 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Gee, Dillon 2808 | pi sp | 1.0 | Thomas, Ian 3539 | pi sp | 1.7 | |
| Lagares, Juan 3243 | cf ph | 1.0 | Seager, Corey 3587 | ss | 1.5 | |
| Cuddyer, Michael 1826 | lf 1b | 1.0 | Heisey, Chris 2866 | cf rf | 1.0 | |
| Reed, Addison 3023 | pi mr cp | 1.0 | Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi sp | 1.0 | |
| Torres, Carlos 2668 | pi mr | 1.0 | Hatcher, Chris 3420 | pi cp | 1.0 | |
| Blevins, Jerry 2788 | pi mr | 1.0 | Howell, J.P. 2016 | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Clippard, Tyler 2291 | pi cp | 1.0 | Garcia, Yimi 3440 | pi cp | 1.0 | |
| Gilmartin, Sean 3500 | pi mr | 1.0 | Hernandez, Enrique 3541 | ph | 1.0 | |
| Monell, Johnny 3463 | ph | 1.0 | Ravin, Josh 3501 | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Total | 122.0 | Total | 122.5 | |||
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.
Blue Jays' Josh Donaldson (HR 2B 4-5 3R 6BI) tops players for Saturday, Aug. 22
(Other duties have put us behind updating Box-Toppers. Playing catch up …)
Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Saturday, Aug. 22.
Donaldson homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 15-3 win over the Angels.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 22.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 19.4 |
| 2 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 17.1 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.7 |
| 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 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.4 |
| 10 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.4 |
Donaldson earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.9 for the season and rises to second among American League batters, behind Mike Trout of the Angels (10.0 Box-Toppers points). Donaldson ranks 28th among all players.
National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Ian Kennedy pitched six scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing seven hits, in the 8-0 win over the Cardinals.
National League Batter of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks hit two home runs and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 11-7 win over the Reds.
Goldschmidt earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season and rises to sixth place among NL batters. He ranks 55th among all players.
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 Josh Donaldson.
Notable—Two players with more than 10.0 Box-Toppers points on the season earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:
- Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole rose to 14th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings with 14.0 Box-Toppers points. Cole (7IP 3H R 8K ND in the 3-2 win over the Giants) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point Saturday and ranks seventh among NL pitchers.
- Astros pitcher Scott Kazmir rose to 17th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings with 12.7 Box-Toppers points. Kazmir (6IP 6H R 8K W in the 3-1 win over the Dodgers) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point Saturday and ranks ninth among AL pitchers.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Yankees pitcher Luis Severino (6IP 3H R 6K W in the 6-2 win over the Indians) made his Major League debut Aug. 5 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,567th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Darnell Sweeney of the Phillies (HR 1-1 R BI in the 4-2 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut Aug. 20 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,568th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Donaldson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kennedy earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Goldschmidt earns 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/22 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | Blue Jays | Josh Donaldson, 3B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| NL | 8.0 | Padres | Ian Kennedy (W,8-11) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| 8.0 | `Pirates | Gerrit Cole | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | Dbacks | Paul Goldschmidt, 1B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Astros | Scott Kazmir (W,7-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 4.0 | Rays | Alex Colome (W,6-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Nationals | Michael Taylor, CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Yankees | Luis Severino (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | Royals | Yordano Ventura (W,8-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2.1 | Twins | Casey Fien (MR) (W,4-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Mets | Curtis Granderson, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Phillies | Darnell Sweeney, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | White Sox | Nate Jones (MR) (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Cubs | Hector Rondon (S,23) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Rangers | Adrian Beltre, 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Los Angeles Dodgers pass Houston Astros to top weekly Box-Toppers team rankings report
Dodgers rise to top team rankings. Astros fall to 2nd but remain top AL team. New York Mets had hottest week thanks to winning streak and trade for Cespedes.
Read MoreHouston Astros maintain Box-Toppers team rankings lead in trade-deadline shake-up
Astros remain active buyers and stay atop team rankings. Dodgers pass Cardinals in NL. Blue Jays, picking up Price & Tulo, gain most points in past week.
Read MoreIndians' Carrasco tops players for Thursday, July 30; Nationals' Scherzer rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings
Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings and Brandon Phillips of the Reds earned Box-Toppers points for the 10th straight season.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of July 30.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.0 |
| 3 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 15.4 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 14.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 13.1 |
| 6 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 13.1 |
| 7 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.0 |
| 8 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 13.0 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 13.0 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 12.7 |
Player of the Day—Carrasco pitched a two-hit complete game, allowing one run and striking out seven, in the 3-1 win over the Athletics.
Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season and becomes the 22nd player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 15th among all players and eighth among AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Brandon Phillips of the Reds hit two homers and went 4-for-5, driving in seven runs, in the 15-5 win over the Pirates.
Phillips earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and has now earned Box-Toppers points for 10 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2002 with the Indians, but did not earn points in 2004 or 2005. His 10-season streak began in 2006 when he earned Box-Toppers points with both the Indians and the Reds. His best year was 2012 with the Reds, when he earned 9.5 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL batters. In 2014, he had 2.0 Box-Toppers points with the Reds.
Phillips has 61.1 career Box-Toppers points and ranks eighth among second basemen since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). He ranks second among active NL second basemen, behind Chase Utley of the Phillies (72.1).
American League Batter of the Day—Eddie Rosario of the Twins hit a three-run homer and also tripled and doubled, going 3-for-5 and scoring three times, in the 9-5 win over the Mariners.
This was Rosario’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Rosario made his Major League debut May 6 and was playing in his 66th career game. He is the 3,542nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall NL Player of the Day is a batter (Brandon Phillips).
Rankings—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Scherzer (7IP 3H 0R 6K W in the 1-0 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.0 for the season. He also ranks second among NL pitchers, behind overall leader Jacob deGrom of the Mets (16.4).
Scherzer also rises to 64th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his point Thursday, Scherzer now has 101.0 career Box-Toppers points and passes three players on the “all-time” list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Paul Konerko (100.7). Scherzer trails 63rd-place player Jason Schmidt (101.2).
Notable—Astros pitcher Scott Kazmir rose to 13th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Kazmir (7.2IP 3H 0R 5K ND in the 3-0 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season. He ranks seventh among AL pitchers.
Debuts—In addition to Rosario, one other player made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors:
- Phillies pitcher Elvis Araujo (1IP 0H 0R 2K ND in the 4-1 win over the Braves) made his Major League debut May 5 and was playing in his 29th career game. He is the 3,543rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Phillips earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Rosario earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 7/30 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Indians | Carlos Carrasco (W,11-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| NL | 8.0 | Reds | Brandon Phillips, 2B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | Cardinals | Matt Carpenter, 3B-1B | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 7.0 | Nationals | Max Scherzer (W,11-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 6.2 | `Astros | Scott Kazmir | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 6.0 | Padres | Derek Norris, C | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Twins | Eddie Rosario, LF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Tigers | Yoenis Cespedes, LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Cubs | Anthony Rizzo, 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Rangers | Josh Hamilton, DH | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Red Sox | Steven Wright (W,4-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 3.0 | `Phillies | Elvis Araujo (H,1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Dioner Navarro, C | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
White Sox' Quintana tops players for Friday, July 24; Mariners' Hernandez regains lead in Box-Toppers player rankings
White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other highlights Friday:
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of July 24.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 15.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.0 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.4 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 13.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 13.1 |
| 6 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.0 |
| 7 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 13.0 |
| 8 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 12.7 |
| 9 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.0 |
| 10 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 12.0 |
- Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez regains the lead in Box-Toppers player rankings.
- Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals takes the Box-Toppers points lead among National League batters after earning NL Batter of the Day honors for the second straight day.
- Rays pitcher Chris Archer rises to seventh in Box-Toppers player rankings.
- Pitcher Scott Kazmir, newly traded from the Athletics to the Astros, becomes the 18th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.
Player of the Day—Quintana pitched a seven-hit, complete-game shutout, striking out eight, in the 6-0 win over the Indians.
National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Ian Thomas allowed one run on three hits in five innings, striking out five, in the 7-2 win over the Mets.
This was Thomas’ Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Thomas made his Major League debut March 31, 2014, and was playing in his 24th career game. He is the 3,539th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice, in the 4-2 win over the Braves. It is the second straight day Grichuk has earned NL Batter of the Day honors and the third time since July 18, meaning he’s earned 4.5 Box-Toppers points in eight days.
Grichuk also rose to top NL batters in Box-Toppers points. He earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.5 for the season and passes previous leader Todd Frazier of the Reds (7.2 Box-Toppers points). Grichuk ranks 24th among all players in Box-Toppers points this season.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no AL Batter of the Day for Friday because no AL batter earned Player of the Game honors.
New leader—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rose to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Hernandez (7IP 6H 2R 7K W in the 5-2 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.4 for the season. He rises from second to first in player rankings, passing previous leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (15.0 Box-Toppers points).
It is the fourth separate time this season Hernandez has led players in Box-Toppers points. He led from April 6 to April 12, April 18 to June 26 and July 9 to July 11.
Hernandez also now has 158.7 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his 12th-place rank among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 11th-place player John Smoltz (160.9 Box-Toppers points).
Rankings—Rays pitcher Chris Archer rose to seventh place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Archer (6IP 5H R 9K ND in the 3-1 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.
Notable—Astros pitcher Scott Kazmir became the 18th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Kazmir, in his first start since being traded from the Athletics (7IP 3H 0R 3K W in the 4-0 win over the Royals), earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He ranks 14th among all players and seventh among AL pitchers.
Scoring—Quintana earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Thomas earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Grichuk earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 7/24 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | White Sox | Jose Quintana (W,5-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 6.2 | Rangers | Colby Lewis (W,10-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 6.0 | Astros | Scott Kazmir (W,6-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 6.0 | `Red Sox | Rick Porcello | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 6.0 | `Rays | Chris Archer | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | ||
| NL | 5.0 | Dodgers | Ian Thomas (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| 4.0 | Mariners | Felix Hernandez (W,12-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 4.0 | Brewers | Jimmy Nelson (W,8-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | Padres | Andrew Cashner (W,4-10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Cardinals | Randal Grichuk, CF-LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Twins | Phil Hughes (W,9-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | Giants | Hunter Pence, RF | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rockies | Carlos Gonzalez, RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Pirates | Gregory Polanco, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Phillies | Cody Asche, LF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Nationals' Max Scherzer continues lead in Box-Toppers player rankings
All 4 category leaders remain unchanged: NL pitcher—Scherzer, AL pitcher—Hernandez, AL batter—Trout, NL batter—Frazier.
Read MoreWith trade for Scott Kazmir, Houston Astros rise to top Box-Toppers team rankings
Astros rocket from 8th to 1st in team rankings with Kazmir trade. St. Louis Cardinals fall from 1st to 2nd but remain top NL team.
Read MoreAthletics' Scott Kazmir (8IP 0R 7K) tops players for Thursday, July 2
Athletics pitcher Scott Kazmir is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Kazmir pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out seven, in the 4-0 win over the Mariners.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of July 2.| 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 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 12.0 |
| 4 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 12.0 |
| 5 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 11.4 |
| 6 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 11.4 |
| 7 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 11.1 |
| 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 |
Kazmir also has the highest Box-Toppers player ranking of any of the 12 who earned Player of the Game honors Thursday. Kazmir earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season and is ranked 12th among all players. He ranks seventh among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Braves pitcher Manny Banuelos pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out seven, in the 2-1 win over the Nationals.
This was Baneulos’ Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. It was also his Major League debut. He is the 3,523rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—Alejandro De Aza of the Red Sox tripled, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 12-6 win over the Blue Jays.
National League Batter of the Day—Justin Bour of the Marlins hit a three-run homer in the 5-4 win over the Giants. This was the second day in a row Bour earned Player of the Game honors.
Notables—Two pitchers with more than 10.0 Box-Toppers points started games Thursday but neither earned Player of the Game honors:
- Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (ranked first with 14.0 Box-Toppers points) did not earn Player of the Game in the 2-1 loss to the Braves. Scherzer (8.1IP 5H 2R 9K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of 8.1. Player of the Game was Braves pitcher Manny Banuelos, who had a Box-Toppers game score of 10.2.
- Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (ranked sixth with 11.4 Box-Toppers points) did not earn Player of the Game honors in the 6-1 loss to the Cubs. deGrom (5.1IP 7H 4R 2K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of −8.9. Player of the Game was Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta, who had a Box-Toppers game score of 8.
Scoring—Kazmir earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Banuelos earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. De Aza and Bour each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 7/2 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | Athletics | Scott Kazmir (W, 5-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| NL | 10.2 | `Braves | Manny Banuelos | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| 8.0 | Cubs | Jake Arrieta (W, 8-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 8.0 | Dbacks | Jeremy Hellickson (W, 6-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | `Indians | Corey Kluber | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 14 | ||
| 7.0 | Twins | Kyle Gibson (W, 6-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Red Sox | Alejandro De Aza RF LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Pirates | Francisco Liriano (W, 5-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | Padres | Shawn Kelley (W, 1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | `Rangers | Yovani Gallardo | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Marlins | Justin Bour 1B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Brewers | Michael Blazek (W, 5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||