An overview of Box-Toppers category leaders over several time frames

Box-Toppers’ leaderboard overview

Here are Box-Toppers points category leaders over different time frames. Overall leaders and leaders for AL and NL pitchers and batters are shown for 2016, for 2015-16 (past two seasons), for 2011-16 (past six seasons) and for 1995-16 (“all-time,” since the start of Box-Toppers tracking). Each top-ranked player is shown with their category timeframe-leading Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.

	OVERALL	POS	TEAM	BTP
2016	Max Scherzer	pi sp	Nationals	25.7
2015-16	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	Dodgers	50.1
2011-16	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	Dodgers	150.2
1995-16	Randy Johnson	pi sp	Retired	278.8
	AL PITCHERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
2016	Corey Kluber	pi sp	Indians	21.2
2015-16	Corey Kluber	pi sp	Indians	34.6
2011-16	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	Mariners	91.4
	AL BATTERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
2016	Manny Machado	3b ss	Orioles	12.7
2015-16	Mike Trout	cf	Angels	24.5
2011-16	Miguel Cabrera	1b	Tigers	65.3
	NL PITCHERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
2016	Max Scherzer	pi sp	Nationals	25.7
2015-16	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	Dodgers	50.1
2011-16	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	Dodgers	150.2
	NL BATTERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
2016	Nolan Arenado	3b	Rockies	10.7
2015-16	Nolan Arenado	3b	Rockies	19.2
2011-16	Andrew McCutchen	cf	Pirates	48.2
	PITCHERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1995-16	Randy Johnson	pi sp	Retired	278.8
	BATTERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1995-16	Alex Rodriguez	3b	Released	187.0

BTP: Box-Toppers points
NOTE: Players are listed with their playing status at the close of 2016. Only active players are included in the 2016, 2015-16 and 2011-16 lists. All players, including retired and released players, are included in the “all-time” list, 1995-2016. Since retired and released players have no current team or league affiliation, there are no separate AL and NL lists for 1995-2016 leaders—all players are grouped into a single batting or pitching list.

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw leads two of Box-Toppers’ four main leaderboards:

• He leads all players in Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons (2015-16) with 50.1.

• He leads all players in Box-Toppers points over the past six seasons (2011-16) with 150.2.

Kershaw finished second among all players in Box-Toppers points in both 2015 (25.7) and 2016 (24.4) and finished either first or second among all players in each of the past six seasons. (A look at Kershaw’s Box-Toppers points for the past six seasons.)

Pitcher Randy Johnson tops Box-Toppers’ all-time leaderboard with 278.8 points, recorded from 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began until his retirement in 2009.

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.

Other highlights from the leaderboards:

• Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer leads all players in 2016 with 25.7 Box-Toppers points, also leading National League pitchers.
• Indians pitcher Corey Kluber leads American League pitchers in 2016 with 21.2 Box-Toppers points. Kluber also leads AL pitchers over the past two seasons with 34.6 points. Felix Hernandez of the Mariners leads AL pitchers over 2011-16 with 105.8 Box-Toppers points, even though he had only 6.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016 (his lowest total in his 12-year career) and has never led AL pitcher in Box-Toppers points in any season.
• Manny Machado of the Orioles leads AL batters in 2016 with 12.7 Box-Toppers points. But Mike Trout of the Angels leads AL batters over 2015 and 2016 with 24.5 points. Trout finished second in Box-Toppers points among AL batters in both 2015 (12.0) and 2016 (12.5). Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers leads AL batters over the past six seasons (2011-16) with 65.3 Box-Toppers points. Cabrera led all AL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2013 with 16.9 and had 12.0 in 2016, fourth among AL batters.
• Nolan Arenado of the Rockies leads NL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 10.7. He also has the most Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons (2015-16) with 19.2 (he had 8.5 points in 2015, 10th among NL batters). Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates leads NL batters over 2011-16 with 48.2 Box-Toppers points. McCutchen has never led NL batters in Box-Toppers points in a season; he had 10.5 points in 2015, third among NL batters.
• Alex Rodriguez has the most Box-Toppers points of any batter over the past 22 seasons—187.0. Rodriguez, who was released by the Yankees in August, apparently ending his baseball career, had no Box-Toppers points in 2016.

Box-Toppers maintains separate AL and NL categories for three of the main leaderboards—2016, 2015-16 and 2011-16. But the 1995-2016 “all-time” leaderboard includes players who are retired, released or not currently affiliated with a team, so all players are grouped into single pitching leader or batting leader lists.

Detailed leaderboards

Box-Toppers leaderboards, showing the top 10 players in each category (overall and AL and NL pitchers and batters):

• 2016
• 2015-16
• 2011-16
• 1995-2016

Rockies' Tyler Chatwood tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 28; White Sox' Gonzalez tops AL players

Rockies pitcher Tyler Chatwood is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	25.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.4
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	died*	22.4
4	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	22.1
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	16.7
8	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	15.4
10	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1

What are those numbers after players' names?
* Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident Sept. 25. His team was the Miami Marlins.

Chatwood pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing three hits and two walks, in the 2-0 win over the Giants.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Miguel Gonzalez pitched 8 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits, no walks and striking out five, in the 1-0 win over the Rays.

National League Batter of the Day—John Jaso of the Pirates hit for the cycle (single, double, triple and three-run homer) in the 8-4 win over the Cubs. Jaso went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs.

American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Gomez of the Rangers hit a go-ahead, eighth-inning, three-run homer in the 8-5 win over the Brewers. Gomez also doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice. This was the second straight day Gomez earned Player of the Game honors. He has 4.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, 2.5 earned in the past two days.

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

• Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (HR 2-3 R 3BI in the 6-3, five-inning win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 144.9 for his career. He rises to 23rd among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, passing two players on the “all-time” list—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (144.0) and David Ortiz of the Red Sox (144.9). (Though Ortiz and Cabrera are tied, Cabrera holds the tiebreaker and ranks higher because he has more 2016 Box-Toppers points—12 vs. 7.) Cabrera now trails 22nd-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7). Cabrera also rises from ninth to seventh place in career points among active players, second among active batters behind only Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.3).

Cabrera also has the highest season Box-Toppers point total (12.0) of any of the 15 who earnedPlayer of the Game honors Wednesday. Cabrera ranks 31st among all players, fourth among AL batters, behind Manny Machado of the Orioles (12.7), Mike Trout of the Angels (12.5) and Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5).

• Mark Teixeira of the Yankees (GS 1-3 R 4BI in the 5-3 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 101.3 for his career. Teixeira rises to 70th place among players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, passing three players on the “all-time” list—Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7) and Jason Schmidt (101.2). He trails 69th-ranked player Tim Wakefield (101.4). Teixeria, who is retiring at season’s end, has 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016.

Also notable—Hunter Renfroe of the Padres, who made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Wednesday, one of two players who earned Box-Toppers points two days in a row. (The other was AL Batter of the Day Carlos Gomez.)

Renfroe (HR 2-4 2R 4BI in the 6-5 win over the Dodgers) now has 2.5 Box-Toppers points.

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

• Dansby Swanson of the Braves (3B 2B 2-3 3R 2BI in the 12-2 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut Aug. 17 and was playing in his 34th career game. He is the 3,751st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Angels pitcher A.J. Achter (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 8-6 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut Sept. 3, 2014, and was playing in his 44th career game. He is the 3,752nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Chatwood earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gonzalez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Jaso and Gomez each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/28	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	12.0	COL 2, SF 0	Tyler Chatwood (W,12-9)	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	2	9
AL	10.1	CHW 1, TB 0	Miguel Gonzalez (W,5-8)	-	-	-	-		8.1	3	0	0	0	5
BAT	7.0	PIT 8, CHC 4	John Jaso, 1B	4	2	4	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	`KC 5, MIN 2	Jason Vargas	-	-	-	-		5.0	4	0	0	1	6
BAT	4.0	TEX 8, MIL 5	Carlos Gomez, LF	4	2	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	SD 6, LAD 5	Hunter Renfroe, RF	4	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	ATL 12, PHI 2	Dansby Swanson, SS	3	3	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	ARI 3, WSH 0 (6)	Shelby Miller (W,3-12)	-	-	-	-		5.0	5	0	0	1	5
	3.0	SEA 12, HOU 4	Leonys Martin, CF	4	3	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	DET 6, CLE 3 (5)	Miguel Cabrera, 1B	3	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	NYY 5, BOS 3	Mark Teixeira, 1B	3	1	1	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	BAL 3, TOR 2	Hyun Soo Kim, PH-LF	1	1	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	NYM 5, MIA 2	Jeurys Familia (S,50)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	LAA 8, OAK 6	A.J. Achter (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	1.0	CIN 2, STL 1	Raisel Iglesias (S,5)	-	-	-	-		2.0	1	0	0	1	1
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	12.0	16.7	65.3	144.9	7.3
Gonzalez, Miguel 3062	pi sp	chi al	9.1	15.8	37.9	37.9	2.4
Familia, Jeurys 3446	pi cp	nym nl	8.0	16.0	16.0	16.0	0.0
Chatwood, Tyler 2856	pi sp	col nl	7.0	7.0	16.7	16.7	7.0
Jaso, John 2705	1b	pit nl	5.5	5.5	10.5	16.5	5.5
Gomez, Carlos 2397	lf	tex al	4.5	10.5	21.0	32.0	-1.5
Teixeira, Mark 1738	1b	nyy al	4.0	11.5	32.2	101.3	-3.5
Iglesias, Raisel 3467	pi sp cp	cin nl	3.0	5.7	5.7	5.7	0.3
Renfroe, Hunter 3749	rf	sd nl	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Miller, Shelby 3134	pi sp	ari nl	2.0	12.0	38.1	38.1	-8.0
Kim, Hyun Soo 3671	lf	bal al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	1.0	2.0	35.5	47.2	0.0
Martin, Leonys 3053	cf	sea al	1.0	1.0	7.5	7.5	1.0
Achter, A.J. 3752	pi mr	ana al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Swanson, Dansby 3751	ss	atl nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Rangers' Darvish tops players for Saturday, Sept. 24; Kershaw edges closer to '16 Box-Toppers leader Scherzer, rises to 6th in career points, passing Pujols

Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish 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 Sept. 24:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	24.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.4
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	22.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	21.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8
7	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7
8	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym al	15.7
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	15.4
10	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw edged to within 0.3 points of season Box-Toppers points leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, after earning National League Player of the Day. Kershaw also rises to sixth place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, passing Albert Pujols of the Angels.

Player of the Day—Darvish struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Athletics.

National League Player of the Day—Kershaw pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out six and walking none in the 14-1 win over the Rockies.

Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 24.4 for the season. He maintains his rank of second among all players, behind Scherzer (24.7). Kershaw had the chance to regain the points lead if he had earned overall Player of the Day honors, worth 2.0 Box-Toppers points. While he would have tied Scherzer at 24.7 points, Kershaw held the tiebreaker—he had more 2015 Box-Toppers points (25.7 vs. 21.0).

Kershaw led in Box-Toppers points much of the season (from May 7 to Aug. 24) despite being on the disabled list nearly two months from late June to late August. Kershaw had 20.0 Box-Toppers points when he went on the disabled list in late June. Scherzer passed him on Aug. 25 with 20.7 points.

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	released	187.0
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	184.0
6	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	183.7
7	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	182.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	168.7
10	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
11	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
12	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
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

List of top 100 players since 1995 (as of July 15, 2016's All-Star break)

Kershaw also now has 183.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to sixth place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.3) on the “all-time” list and now trails fifth-ranked player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (184.0), by just 0.3 points. Sabathia is the active leader in points and Kershaw now rises to second among active players.

Kershaw had passed Pujols earlier this season to rise to sixth place in career points but after Kershaw went on the disabled list, Pujols regained the sixth-place spot. On June 11, Kershaw passed Pujols with 176.3 points, but on July 25, Pujols regained sixth place with 180.3 points. Kershaw, now with 183.7 points, reclaims sixth place.

National League Batter of the Day—Yadier Molina of the Cardinals doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 10-4 win over the Cubs.

American League Batter of the Day—Mike Trout of the Angels doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 10-4 win over the Astros.

Trout earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 12.5 for the season. He rises to 25th among all players and second among AL batters, behind Manny Machado of the Orioles (12.7).

Notable—Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello earned his league-leading 22nd win of the season Saturday but did not earn Player of the Game honors. While he leads in wins, he has just 8.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 82nd among all players and 29th among AL pitchers. (From Sept. 17: Why does wins leader Rick Porcello have so few Box-Toppers points?)

Porcello (6.1IP 8H 3R BB 9K W in the 6-4 win over the Rays) had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +0.1. Player of the Game was Dustin Pedroia (HR 2-4 R 4BI) who had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0. Pedroia has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season—4.0 of them have been earned in a game in which Porcello has earned the win.

Scoring—Darvish earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kershaw earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Molina and Trout 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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/24	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	TEX 5, OAK 0	Yu Darvish (W,6-5)	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	1	9
	10.2	BAL 6, ARI 1	Wade Miley (W,9-13)	-	-	-	-		8.2	7	1	1	0	11
NL	10.0	LAD 14, COL 1	Clayton Kershaw (W,12-3)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	0	6
	8.0	`TOR 3, NYY 0	Marcus Stroman	-	-	-	-		7.0	1	0	0	3	5
	6.1	WSH 6, PIT 1	Reynaldo Lopez (W,4-3)	-	-	-	-		5.1	3	0	0	2	6
BAT	4.0	STL 10, CHC 4	Yadier Molina, C	4	1	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	4.0	LAA 10, HOU 4	Mike Trout, CF	3	3	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	PHI 10, NYM 8	Darin Ruf, LF	5	2	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	BOS 6, TB 4	Dustin Pedroia, 2B	4	1	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	MIN 3, SEA 2	Tyler Duffey (W,9-11)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	2	2	0	4
	3.0	MIA 6, ATL 4	A.J. Ramos (S,39)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.2	CIN 6, MIL 1	Dan Straily (W,14-8)	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	1	1	2	5
	1.0	CHW 8, CLE 1	Carlos Sanchez, 2B	4	1	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	KC 7, DET 4	Kendrys Morales, 1B	4	2	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	SF 9, SD 6 (10)	Kelby Tomlinson, 2B	1	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.4	50.1	150.2	183.7	-1.3
Trout, Mike 2949	cf	ana al	12.5	24.5	49.0	49.0	0.5
Morales, Kendrys 2142	dh	kc al	8.5	13.2	23.2	39.2	3.8
Darvish, Yu 3003	pi sp	tex al	8.4	8.4	53.6	53.6	8.4
Duffey, Tyler 3558	pi sp	min al	7.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	3.0
Straily, Dan 3080	pi sp	cin nl	7.0	7.0	17.7	17.7	7.0
Stroman, Marcus 3327	pi sp	tor al	6.7	9.4	23.1	23.1	4.0
Miley, Wade 3006	pi sp	bal al	6.0	13.0	36.4	36.4	-1.0
Molina, Yadier 1967	ca ph	stl nl	4.0	5.0	17.7	34.7	3.0
Pedroia, Dustin 2320	2b	bos al	4.0	4.0	24.4	36.5	4.0
Tomlinson, Kelby 3619	2b ph	sf nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Ramos, A.J. 3210	pi cp	fla nl	2.0	7.0	12.0	12.0	-3.0
Lopez, Reynaldo 3712	pi sp mr	dc nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Sanchez, Carlos 3589	2b	chi al	1.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	-2.0
Ruf, Darin 3575	lf	phi nl	1.0	2.5	2.5	2.5	-0.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Yankees' Gary Sanchez tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 21; Scherzer extends Box-Toppers lead, Kluber secures AL Player of Year, Arenado rises to lead NL batters

Gary Sanchez of the Yankees is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 21:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	24.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	22.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	21.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym al	15.7
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	15.4
9	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1
10	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	14.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, three players reached notable milestones after earning Player of the Game honors:

• Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer extended his Box-Toppers season player rankings lead.
• Indians pitcher Corey Kluber all but secured his status as Box-Toppers American League Player of the Year, rising to fourth place in season player rankings.
• Nolan Arenado of the Rockies rose to lead National League batters in Box-Toppers points.

Player of the Day—Sanchez hit two home runs—including a three-run shot—in the 11-5 win over the Rays. Sanchez went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs.

National League Player of the Day—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies hit a grand slam and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 11-1 win over the Cardinals.

Arenado earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season, rising to first place among NL batters, passing previous leader Kris Bryant of the Cubs (10.5).

If Arenado’s lead with 10.7 points stands with a little more than week to go in the season, it will be the lowest point total to lead a category in Box-Toppers’ 22-season history. The record was set in 2015 when Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies led NL batters with 11.5 points. Interestingly, the previous record was 2014 when Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies led NL batters with 11.6. So if Arenado’s lead holds, not only will the low-point record be broken three years in a row, it will be broken each time by a batter from the Colorado Rockies.

Arenado becomes the 45th player (and ninth batter) in 2016 with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.

Batters of the Day—There are no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day for Wednesday because both the overall Player of the Day (Gary Sanchez) and NL Player of the Day (Nolan Arenado) are batters.

Rankings—Two players among Box-Toppers top five in season player rankings earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

• Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (6.2IP 4H 3R 2BB 8K W in the 8-3 win over the Marlins) extended his Box-Toppers season player rankings lead, earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 24.7 for the season. He is now 2.0 Box-Toppers points ahead of second-place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22.7), meaning Kershaw still has a chance to pass Scherzer on his next start.

Scherzer now has 130.7 career Box-Toppers points, 31st-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 30th-ranked player Jason Giambi (133.4) on the “all-time” list.

• Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (6.1IP 6H 2R 2BB 9K W in the 4-3 win over the Royals) all but secured his status as Box-Toppers American League Player of the Year. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.2 for the season, extending his lead among AL pitchers and is now 4.4 points ahead of second-place AL pitcher Cole Hamels of the Rangers (16.8). Hamels would need at least three starts to pass Kluber in Box-Toppers points—he likely only has two starts remaining in the season’s final 10 days.

This will be the second time Kluber has led AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points in a season. He also did it in 2014 when he had 25.8 points and also won the AL Cy Young Award. In 2015 he had 13.4 Box-Toppers points, 10th among AL pitchers. Kluber also rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

Notable—Two other players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points on the season earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

• Mike Trout of the Angels (HR 1-4 R 3BI in the 5-4 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season, rising to third among AL batters, behind leader Manny Machado of the Orioles (12.7) and Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5).
• Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda (5IP 3H 2R 2BB 6K W in the 9-3 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the 46th player in 2016 with 10 or more points and ranks 46th among all players, 19th among NL pitchers.

Also notable—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez now has 168.7 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Hernandez (7IP 2H 0R 3BB 4K ND in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Blue Jays) maintains his ninth-place rank in career Box-Toppers points since Box-Toppers player tracking began in 1995. He trails eighth-place player Roy Halladay (170.7) on the “all-time” list. (See Box-Toppers career top 20 list on the home page.) Hernandez has 6.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.  If that total stands, it would be his lowest season total in his 12-year career. His previous low was 7.4 in 2008 with the Mariners.

Scoring—Sanchez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Arenado earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/21	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.0	NYY 11, TB 5	Gary Sanchez, C	4	3	3	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	`SEA 2, TOR 1 (12)	Felix Hernandez	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	3	4
NL	5.0	COL 11, STL 1	Nolan Arenado, 3B	3	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	BOS 5, BAL 1	Clay Buchholz (W,8-10)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	1	2	4
	4.0	PIT 4, MIL 1	Chad Kuhl (W,5-3)	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	1	1	1	6
	3.1	CLE 4, KC 3	Corey Kluber (W,18-9)	-	-	-	-		6.1	6	2	2	2	9
	3.0	HOU 6, OAK 5	Evan Gattis, DH	4	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	ARI 3, SD 2	Paul Goldschmidt, 1B	4	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	LAD 9, SF 3	Kenta Maeda (W,16-9)	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	2	1	2	6
	2.2	WSH 8, MIA 3	Max Scherzer (W,18-7)	-	-	-	-		6.2	4	3	3	2	8
	2.0	CHC 9, CIN 2	Miguel Montero, C	5	1	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	PHI 8, CHW 3	Tommy Joseph, 1B	5	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.1	`ATL 4, NYM 3	Chaz Roe	-	-	-	-		0.1	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	LAA 5, TEX 4	Mike Trout, CF	4	1	1	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	24.7	45.7	110.3	130.7	3.7
Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2	34.6	65.4	65.4	7.8
Trout, Mike 2949	cf	ana al	11.0	23.0	47.5	47.5	-1.0
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	10.7	19.2	20.7	20.7	2.2
Maeda, Kenta 3609	pi sp	lad nl	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0
Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0	25.4	91.4	168.7	-13.4
Buchholz, Clay 2363	pi sp	bos al	5.0	11.0	39.2	58.9	-1.0
Gattis, Evan 3179	ca	hou al	5.0	9.0	11.0	11.0	1.0
Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	4.5	14.7	39.9	39.9	-5.7
Sanchez, Gary 3701	ca dh	nyy al	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5
Joseph, Tommy 3681	1b ph	phi nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Kuhl, Chad 3687	pi sp	pit nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Montero, Miguel 2304	ca	chi nl	1.0	6.5	20.7	30.9	-4.5
Roe, Chaz 3597	pi mr	atl nl	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	20.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	18.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
5	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
6	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	14.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8/29	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	`STL 6, MIL 5	Carlos Martinez	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	1	1	2	13
	7.0	WSH 4, PHI 0	Tanner Roark (W,14-7)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	1	5
	7.0	COL 8, LAD 1	Jon Gray (W,9-6)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	3	8
AL	6.1	HOU 6, OAK 0	Joe Musgrove (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-		5.1	3	0	0	3	7
	4.0	TOR 5, BAL 1	Marco Estrada (W,8-6)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	1	4
	4.0	`CLE 1, MIN 0 (10)	Trevor Bauer	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	0	0	1	4
BAT	3.0	LAA 9, CIN 2	Mike Trout, CF	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	TEX 6, SEA 3	Carlos Beltran, DH	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	KC 8, NYY 5	Dillon Gee (W,6-7)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	1	1	1	4
	3.0	NYM 2, MIA 1 (10)	Josh Smoker (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	BOS 9, TB 4	Travis Shaw, 3B-1B	4	2	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	1.0	CHC 8, PIT 7 (13)	Jorge Soler, LF	5	1	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	DET 4, CHW 3	Francisco Rodriguez (S,37)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	0
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

What are those numbers after players' names?