How 2017 Hall of Fame candidates fared in Box-Toppers

Shawn Plank January 18, 2017

Bagwell, Raines, Rodriguez elected to Hall of Fame; Schilling, Hoffman, Kent, Guerrero among the Box-Toppers leaders who were overlooked.

Indians' Danny Salazar tops players for Sunday, Sept. 4; Braves' Teheran tops NL players

Shawn Plank September 5, 2016

Indians pitcher Danny Salazar is Sunday’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. 4:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	22.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	18.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	18.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	17.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	14.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Salazar struck out 11 over 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run, six hits and two walks, in the 6-5 win over the Marlins. Salazar did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited the game with the Indians trailing, 1-0.

Salazar earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.5 for the season. He ranks 14th among all players and fourth among American League pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Braves pitcher Julio Teheran pitched six scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing five hits and two walks, in the 2-0 win over the Phillies.

American League Batter of the Day—Jose Abreu of the White Sox hit a pair of three-run homers in the 13-11, 12-inning win over the Twins. Abreu went 3-for-7, driving in seven total runs.

Abreu earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, his first points of the 2016 season. Abreu led AL batters in Box-Toppers points in his rookie year of 2014 with 15.5 and had 3.0 points in 2015.

National League Batter of the Day—Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers hit a three-run homer and went 1-for-2, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 7-4 win over the Padres.

Puig earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day and has 2.5 points for the season. It is his first Player of the Game honor since being called back up after spending a month in the minors. Puig, despite his star status, has only 8.5 career Box-Toppers points over four seasons—1.5 in 2013, 1.0 in 2014, 3.5 in 2015 and 2.5 in 2016.

Notable—Cubs pitcher John Lackey has the most season Box-Toppers points among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Lackey (5IP H 2R BB 4K ND in the 3-2, 13-inning win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.4 for the season. He ranks 11th among all players and ninth among NL pitchers. He is the third Cubs starting pitcher among Box-Toppers top 10 NL pitchers—Jon Lester (17.1) ranks fourth and Jake Arrieta (13.7) ranks eighth.

Lackey now has 121.1 career Box-Toppers points, 39th-most among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 38th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1).

Also notable—Albert Pujols of the Angels extends his lead in career Box-Toppers points among active batters after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Pujols (HR 3-4 R 2BI in the 4-2 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 182.3 career points. It is the first point Pujols has earned since becoming the active career leader in points after the Yankees released previous leader Alex Rodriguez (187.0) on Aug. 13. Pujols ranks sixth among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began and trails fifth-ranked player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (183.0) by only 0.7 points. Sabathia is the active career leader in points. (See the updated list of top 20 players in career Box-Toppers points on the home page.)

Pujols has 8.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, his best year since 2011 when he had 12.5 points with the Cardinals. Pujols ranks 11th among AL batters this season.

Debut—Mets pitcher Seth Lugo made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Lugo (7IP 6H R 0BB 4K W in the 5-1 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut July 1 and was playing in his 13th career game. He is the 3,729th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Salazar earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Teheran earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Abreu and Puig 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/4
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    6.2
    `CLE 6, MIA 5
    Danny Salazar
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    6
    1
    1
    2
    11
  

    NL
    6.0
    ATL 2, PHI 0
    Julio Teheran (W,5-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    0
    0
    2
    7
  

    
    5.1
    `OAK 1, BOS 0
    Kendall Graveman
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    6
    0
    0
    2
    7
  

    BAT
    5.0
    CHW 13, MIN 11 (12)
    Jose Abreu, 1B
    7
    2
    3
    7
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    5.0
    LAD 7, SD 4
    Yasiel Puig, RF
    2
    3
    1
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    MIL 10, PIT 0
    Jonathan Villar, PH
    1
    1
    1
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    `CHC 3, SF 2 (13)
    John Lackey
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    1
    2
    1
    1
    4
  

    
    3.1
    NYY 5, BAL 2
    Dellin Betances (S,8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    NYM 5, WSH 1
    Seth Lugo (W,3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    1
    1
    0
    4
  

    
    3.0
    TOR 5, TB 3
    Joaquin Benoit (W,3-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    2.2
    HOU 7, TEX 6
    Chris Devenski (W,3-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.2
    1
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    LAA 4, SEA 2
    Albert Pujols, DH
    4
    1
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    DET 6, KC 5
    Justin Upton, LF
    4
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    STL 5, CIN 2
    Seung Hwan Oh (S,15)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    1.0
    ARI 8, COL 5
    Jean Segura, 2B
    4
    2
    3
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

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

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	13.4	23.1	42.8	121.2	3.7
Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	12.5	25.9	35.3	35.3	-0.9
Teheran, Julio 3176	pi sp	atl nl	8.7	16.4	44.5	44.5	1.0
Pujols, Albert 1438	dh 1b	ana al	8.0	15.0	45.0	182.3	1.0
Upton, Justin 2411	lf	det al	6.7	15.7	42.6	51.1	-2.3
Graveman, Kendall 3444	pi sp	oak al	6.0	10.7	10.7	10.7	1.3
Oh, Seung Hwan 3693	pi cp	stl nl	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0
Betances, Dellin 3333	pi mr cp	nyy al	4.0	8.0	12.7	12.7	0.0
Segura, Jean 3173	2b	ari nl	3.0	5.0	9.5	9.5	1.0
Villar, Jonathan 3233	ss ph	mil nl	3.0	3.0	5.0	5.0	3.0
Devenski, Chris 3702	pi sp	hou nl	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7
Puig, Yasiel 3193	rf	lad nl	2.5	6.0	8.5	8.5	-1.0
Abreu, Jose 3308	1b	chi al	1.5	4.5	20.0	20.0	-1.5
Benoit, Joaquin 1663	pi mr	tor al	1.0	3.0	9.0	29.5	-1.0
Lugo, Seth 3729	pi sp	nym nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

Shawn Plank August 10, 2016

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

Top 10 players

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


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

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/9
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    8.0
    CHC 5, LAA 1
    John Lackey (W, 9-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    
    8.0
    MIA 2, SF 0
    Tom Koehler (W, 9-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    0
    0
    3
    6
  

    AL
    4.1
    CLE 3, WSH 1
    Trevor Bauer (W, 8-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    4
    0
    0
    2
    4
  

    
    4.0
    TB 9, TOR 2
    Erasmo Ramirez (S, 1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    BAT
    3.0
    HOU 7, MIN 5
    Jose Altuve (2B)
    4
    2
    4
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.1
    OAK 2, BAL 1
    Zach Neal (W, 2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.1
    2
    1
    1
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    BOS 5, NYY 3
    Dustin Pedroia (2B)
    4
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    2.0
    LAD 9, PHI 3
    Howie Kendrick (LF)
    4
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    CIN 7, STL 4
    Billy Hamilton (CF)
    3
    3
    2
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    ATL 2, MIL 1
    Mauricio Cabrera (S, 3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.1
    CHW 7, KC 5 (10)
    Dan Jennings (S, 1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    0.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.0
    SEA 6, DET 5 (15)
    Kyle Seager (3B)
    7
    1
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    PIT 6, SD 4
    David Freese (3B)
    5
    3
    3
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    TEX 7, COL 5
    Adrian Beltre (3B)
    4
    1
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    ARI 5, NYM 3
    Paul Goldschmidt (1B)
    4
    1
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	12.4	22.1	41.8	120.2	2.7
Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	11.5	18.5	28.0	28.0	4.5
Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	9.4	18.8	27.5	27.5	0.0
Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	6.5	19.0	44.9	108.3	-6.0
Seager, Kyle 3031	3b	sea al	6.0	11.0	25.0	25.0	1.0
Koehler, Tom 3159	pi sp	fla nl	5.0	9.0	17.0	17.0	1.0
Ramirez, Erasmo 1786	pi sp mr cp	tb al	3.7	10.7	12.7	14.7	-3.3
Kendrick, Howie 2191	2b lf	lad nl	3.0	7.0	19.0	33.0	-1.0
Cabrera, Mauricio 3689	pi cp mr	atl nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	2.5	12.7	37.9	37.9	-7.7
Hamilton, Billy 3287	cf	cin nl	2.0	4.0	8.5	8.5	0.0
Pedroia, Dustin 2320	2b	bos al	2.0	2.0	22.4	34.5	2.0
Freese, David 2710	1b 3b	pit nl	2.0	2.0	22.2	24.2	2.0
Jennings, Dan 3591	pi cp	chi al	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Neal, Zach 3700	pi sp	oak al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

Shawn Plank August 4, 2016

Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

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


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

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scoring—Iwakuma earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Scherzer earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Mauer and Solarte each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/3
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.1
    SEA 3, BOS 1
    Hisashi Iwakuma (W,12-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.1
    5
    0
    0
    0
    7
  

    NL
    8.0
    WSH 8, ARI 3
    Max Scherzer (W,12-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    3
    3
    1
    11
  

    
    8.0
    TOR 3, HOU 1
    Marco Estrada (W,7-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    1
    0
    7
  

    
    8.0
    TB 12, KC 0
    Jake Odorizzi (W,6-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    
    6.1
    NYY 9, NYM 5
    Luis Severino (W,1-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    4.1
    1
    1
    0
    1
    5
  

    BAT
    5.0
    MIN 13, CLE 5
    Joe Mauer, 1B
    5
    2
    4
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    5.0
    SD 12, MIL 3
    Yangervis Solarte, 3B
    5
    4
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    COL 12, LAD 2
    Nolan Arenado, 3B
    3
    3
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.1
    DET 2, CHW 1
    Shane Greene (W,2-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    LAA 8, OAK 6
    Albert Pujols, DH
    5
    2
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    ATL 8, PIT 4
    Ender Inciarte, CF
    4
    2
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    BAL 3, TEX 2
    Kevin Gausman (W,3-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    2
    2
    1
    7
  

    
    2.0
    `CHC 5, MIA 4
    John Lackey
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    3
    3
    0
    8
  

    
    1.0
    PHI 5, SF 4 (12)
    Ryan Howard, 1B
    4
    1
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    STL 5, CIN 4
    Brandon Moss, 1B
    4
    1
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7	39.7	104.3	124.7	-2.3
Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	10.4	20.1	39.8	118.2	0.7
Estrada, Marco 2847	pi sp	tor al	7.0	15.0	39.1	39.1	-1.0
Pujols, Albert 1438	dh 1b	ana al	7.0	14.0	44.0	181.3	0.0
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	6.5	15.0	16.5	16.5	-2.0
Gausman, Kevin 3191	pi sp	bal al	5.4	11.1	18.8	18.8	-0.3
Odorizzi, Jake 3291	pi sp	tb al	4.7	13.4	24.4	24.4	-4.0
Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048	pi sp	sea al	4.0	17.1	52.2	52.2	-9.1
Solarte, Yangervis 3304	3b	sd nl	3.0	8.0	9.0	9.0	-2.0
Greene, Shane 3381	pi sp	det al	3.0	6.0	13.0	13.0	0.0
Moss, Brandon 2520	rf lf 1b	stl nl	2.5	7.5	23.5	25.5	-2.5
Mauer, Joe 1869	1b	min al	1.5	4.0	26.0	70.6	-1.0
Howard, Ryan 2040	1b	phi nl	1.0	6.5	31.4	97.7	-4.5
Inciarte, Ender 3360	cf	atl nl	1.0	4.0	5.0	5.0	-2.0
Severino, Luis 3567	pi mr sp	nyy al	1.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	-2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

Shawn Plank July 30, 2016

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

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

Top 10 players

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


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

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    7/29
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    8.0
    `MIN 2, CHW 1 (12)
    Ricky Nolasco
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    NL
    7.0
    CHC 12, SEA 1
    Jon Lester (W,11-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    0
    0
    2
    7
  

    
    6.2
    MIL 3, PIT 1
    Junior Guerra (W,7-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.2
    4
    1
    1
    1
    5
  

    
    5.2
    TB 5, NYY 1
    Jake Odorizzi (W,5-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    6
    0
    0
    0
    5
  

    BAT
    4.0
    STL 11, MIA 6
    Tommy Pham, CF
    4
    3
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    WSH 4, SF 1
    Max Scherzer (W,11-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    2
    6
  

    
    4.0
    CIN 6, SD 0
    Brandon Finnegan (W,6-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    0
    0
    3
    5
  

    BAT
    3.0
    DET 14, HOU 6
    Cameron Maybin, CF
    5
    3
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    TEX 8, KC 3
    Rougned Odor, 2B
    4
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    LAD 9, ARI 7
    Joc Pederson, CF
    4
    1
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    BOS 6, LAA 2
    Rick Porcello (W,14-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    5
    2
    2
    0
    3
  

    
    2.0
    COL 6, NYM 1
    Carlos Gonzalez, RF
    5
    1
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    TOR 6, BAL 5
    Edwin Encarnacion, DH
    3
    2
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    CLE 5, OAK 3
    Abraham Almonte, PH
    1
    1
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    ATL 2, PHI 1
    Nick Markakis, RF
    3
    0
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	17.0	38.0	102.6	123.0	-4.0
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	12.4	24.4	70.6	133.5	0.4
Guerra, Junior 3633	pi sp	mil nl	8.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	8.0
Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	dh	tor al	7.0	17.4	45.6	66.1	-3.4
Porcello, Rick 2573	pi sp	bos al	6.0	10.0	31.7	40.7	2.0
Nolasco, Ricky 2125	pi sp	min al	5.7	7.7	28.4	81.5	3.7
Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	rf	col nl	5.5	17.0	45.7	58.7	-6.0
Markakis, Nick 2116	rf	atl nl	4.0	8.5	19.5	46.1	-0.5
Odor, Rougned 3336	2b	tex al	4.0	7.0	8.5	8.5	1.0
Odorizzi, Jake 3291	pi sp	tb al	3.7	12.4	23.4	23.4	-5.0
Finnegan, Brandon 3535	pi sp	cin nl	3.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	0.0
Maybin, Cameron 2672	cf	det al	3.0	4.0	11.5	15.5	2.0
Pederson, Joc 3621	cf	lad nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Pham, Thomas 3596	cf	stl nl	1.5	3.0	3.0	3.0	0.0
Almonte, Abraham 3554	cf ph	cle al	1.0	2.5	2.5	2.5	-0.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Nationals' Max Scherzer tops players for Saturday, July 23, ranks 3rd in Box-Toppers points

Shawn Plank July 24, 2016

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his third-place spot 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 23:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	12.5
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	12.1
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	11.4
8	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	11.0
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	11.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto maintained his fourth-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Scherzer struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing two runs, four hits and no walks, in the 3-2 win over the Padres. Scherzer did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because he exited with the game tied.

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 16.0 for the season, maintaining his spot in third place in season player rankings. He also ranks third among National League pitchers, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (20.0) and Jose Fernandez of the Marlins (16.4).

Scherzer also now has 122.0 Box-Toppers points for his career, 38th-most since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 37th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1).

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven, in the 5-2 win over the Indians. Gausman also allowed four hits and walked three.

National League Batter of the Day—Trevor Story of the Rockies hit two home runs and went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five, in the 8-4 win over the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day—Nelson Cruz of the Mariners hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the 14-5 win over the Blue Jays. Cruz went 2-for-5, driving in seven total runs.

Rankings—Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto maintained his fourth-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Cueto (6IP 6H R BB 9K ND in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.4 for the season. Cueto also ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

Debut—Andrew Toles of the Dodgers made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Toles (2B 3-4 2R in the 7-2 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut July 8 and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,692nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    7/23
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.0
    `WSH 3, SD 2
    Max Scherzer
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    2
    2
    0
    10
  

    BAT
    8.0
    COL 8, ATL 4
    Trevor Story, SS
    4
    3
    4
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    AL
    7.0
    BAL 5, CLE 2
    Kevin Gausman (W,2-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    3
    7
  

    
    7.0
    `SF 2, NYY 1 (12)
    Johnny Cueto
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    6
    1
    0
    1
    9
  

    BAT
    6.0
    SEA 14, TOR 5
    Nelson Cruz, DH
    5
    2
    2
    7
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    MIL 6, CHC 1
    Kirk Nieuwenhuis, CF
    3
    2
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    HOU 7, LAA 2
    Evan Gattis, C
    3
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.2
    CIN 6, ARI 1
    Michael Lorenzen (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    4.0
    MIN 11, BOS 9
    Eddie Rosario, LF
    4
    3
    4
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    TEX 7, KC 4
    Nomar Mazara, RF
    4
    2
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    MIA 7, NYM 2
    Giancarlo Stanton, RF
    5
    1
    4
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    PIT 7, PHI 4
    Mark Melancon (S,29)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    1.0
    LAD 7, STL 2
    Andrew Toles, RF
    4
    2
    3
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    OAK 4, TB 3
    Jake Smolinski, RF
    4
    1
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0	37.0	101.6	122.0	-5.0
Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4	27.2	78.4	97.8	1.6
Story, Trevor 3607	ss	col nl	6.5	6.5	6.5	6.5	6.5
Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	5.5	11.0	32.7	38.2	0.0
Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224	dh	sea al	4.5	6.5	32.2	51.7	2.5
Gausman, Kevin 3191	pi sp	bal al	4.4	10.1	17.8	17.8	-1.3
Mazara, Nomar 3614	rf	tex al	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5
Melancon, Mark 2792	pi cp	pit nl	2.0	9.0	22.0	23.0	-5.0
Gattis, Evan 3179	ca dh	hou al	2.0	6.0	8.0	8.0	-2.0
Rosario, Eddie 3542	lf	min al	2.0	3.5	3.5	3.5	0.5
Nieuwenhuis, Kirk 3022	cf	mil nl	1.0	5.0	12.5	12.5	-3.0
Lorenzen, Michael 3479	pi mr	cin nl	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Smolinski, Jake 3424	rf	oak al	1.0	1.0	3.5	3.5	1.0
Toles, Andrew 3692	rf	lad nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

Shawn Plank July 10, 2016

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

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	14.4
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	14.0
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	13.4
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	12.5
6	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
7	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	10.7
8	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	10.5
9	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	10.4
10	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	10.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cuthbert (2B 2-4 R 2BI in the 5-3 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut July 7, 2015, and was playing in his 74th career game. He is the 3,683rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

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

    MLB
    10.0
    DC 6/NYM 1
    Max Scherzer (W,10-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    0
    2
    9
  

    
    6.0
    STL 8/MIL 1
    Carlos Martinez (W,8-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    4
    1
    1
    4
    11
  

    AL
    5.1
    NYY 7/CLE 6
    Aroldis Chapman (W,3-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.1
    0
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    BAT
    5.0
    PIT 12/CHC 6
    Josh Bell, PH
    1
    1
    1
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    MIN 8/TEX 6
    Eddie Rosario, LF
    5
    4
    4
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    BOS 4/TB 1
    Rick Porcello (W,11-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    
    3.2
    MIA 4/CIN 2
    Adam Conley (W,6-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    4
    2
    2
    1
    7
  

    BAT
    3.0
    OAK 3/HOU 2
    Stephen Vogt, C
    4
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    COL 8/PHI 3
    Tony Wolters, C
    4
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `DET 3/TOR 2
    Matt Boyd
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    4
    1
    1
    2
    6
  

    
    3.0
    LAD 4/SD 3
    Kenley Jansen (S,26)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.1
    SF 4/ARI 2
    George Kontos (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    CHW 5/ATL 4
    Todd Frazier, 3B
    4
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    KC 5/SEA 3
    Cheslor Cuthbert, 3B
    4
    1
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    BAL 3/LAA 2
    Brad Brach (W,6-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

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

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	14.0	35.0	99.6	120.0	-7.0
Conley, Adam 3594	pi sp	fla nl	6.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	3.7
Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	4.7	18.4	19.4	19.4	-9.0
Chapman, Aroldis 2826	pi cp	nyy al	4.7	12.7	42.7	43.7	-3.3
Frazier, Todd 2929	3b	chi al	4.2	13.1	27.1	27.1	-4.7
Porcello, Rick 2573	pi sp	bos al	4.0	8.0	29.7	38.7	0.0
Jansen, Kenley 2871	pi cp	lad nl	4.0	8.0	34.4	34.4	0.0
Vogt, Stephen 3503	ca 1b	oak al	2.5	5.0	5.0	5.0	0.0
Wolters, Tony 3668	ca	col nl	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Brach, Brad 3374	pi mr	bal al	2.0	5.0	6.0	6.0	-1.0
Kontos, George 3106	pi cp mr	sf nl	2.0	4.0	6.7	6.7	0.0
Bell, Josh E. 2789	ph	pit nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Rosario, Eddie 3542	lf	min al	1.0	2.5	2.5	2.5	-0.5
Boyd, Matt 3550	pi sp	det al	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Cuthbert, Cheslor 3683	3b	kc al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Braves' Teheran tops players for Sunday, June 19; Royals' Young tops AL players

Shawn Plank June 20, 2016

Braves pitcher Julio Teheran is Sunday’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 19:


	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

What are those numbers after players' names?

Teheran pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking none, in the 6-0 win over the Mets.

American League Player of the Day—Royals pitcher Chris Young struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 2-1, 13-inning win over the Tigers. Young did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied 1-1 when he exited.

American League Batter of the Day—Matt Wieters of the Orioles homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 11-6 win over the Blue Jays.

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

Streak—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday, his first of the season.

Weaver (CG 3H 0R BB K W in the 2-0 win over the Athletics) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Angels and has 124.1 points for his career, rising to 37th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Sunday, he passes one player on the “all-time” list, Gary Sheffield (124.1).

Weaver’s best season was 2011 with the Angels when he had 22.8 Box-Toppers points, second-most among AL pitchers. He had four straight seasons with 15.0 or more points (2009—15.0, 2010—19.4, 2011—22.8, 2012—15.4) all with the Angels. Weaver had 7.7 points in 2015 with the Angels.

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

Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (6IP 4H R BB 8K ND in the 5-1 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 140.8 for his career. He ranks 24th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, and trails 23rd-ranked player David Ortiz of the Red Sox (141.4). Peavy has 4.0 points on the season.
Red Sox pitcher David Price (8IP 8H R 0BB 7K W in the 2-1 win over the Mariners) becomes the 72nd player since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points. He earns 1.0 point, giving him 100.5 for his career, rising to 70th among all players and passing two players—Larry Walker (100.1) and Jeff Bagwell (100.4)—on the “all-time” list. He now trails 69th-ranked player Paul Konerko (100.7). Price also has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of Sunday’s 15 Players of the Games. Price has 6.7 points on the season, ranking 22nd among all players, seventh among AL pitchers.

Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debuts Sunday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:

Max Kepler of the Twins (HR 2B 3-4 3R 2BI in the 7-4 win over the Yankees) made his Major League debut Sept. 27, 2015, and was playing in his 30th career game. He is the 3,664th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Jurickson Profar of the Rangers (1-1 2BI in the 5-4 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut Sept. 2, 2012, and was playing in his 115th career game. He is the 3,665th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Teheran earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Young earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Wieters earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/19
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    15.0
    ATL 6/NYM 0
    Julio Teheran (W,3-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    7
  

    
    9.0
    CHC 10/PIT 5
    Kyle Hendricks (W,5-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    7
    1
    1
    0
    12
  

    
    7.0
    `SF 5/TB 1
    Jake Peavy
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    1
    8
  

    AL
    7.0
    `KC 2/DET 1
    Chris Young
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    7
  

    BAT
    6.0
    BAL 11/TOR 6
    Matt Wieters, C
    5
    3
    4
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    LAA 2/OAK 0
    Jered Weaver (W,6-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    1
  

    
    5.2
    HOU 6/CIN 0
    Mike Fiers (W,5-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    4
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    5.0
    BOS 2/SEA 1
    David Price (W,8-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    8
    1
    1
    0
    7
  

    
    5.0
    ARI 5/PHI 1
    Archie Bradley (W,3-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    0
    2
    5
  

    
    4.0
    MIN 7/NYY 4
    Max Kepler, RF
    4
    3
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    MIA 3/COL 0
    Tom Koehler (W,6-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    0
    0
    6
    6
  

    
    4.0
    SD 6/DC 3
    Fernando Rodney (S,14)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    3.1
    `LAD 2/MIL 1
    Kenta Maeda
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    6
    1
    1
    3
    8
  

    
    3.0
    `CLE 3/CHW 2
    Cody Allen
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    2.0
    TEX 5/STL 4
    Jurickson Profar, PH
    1
    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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	6.7	27.8	83.8	100.5	-14.4
Wieters, Matt 2643	ca	bal al	6.0	7.0	25.0	30.7	5.0
Hendricks, Kyle 3386	pi sp	chi nl	5.0	14.7	19.7	19.7	-4.7
Teheran, Julio 3176	pi sp	atl nl	5.0	12.7	40.8	40.8	-2.7
Peavy, Jake 1635	pi sp	sf nl	4.0	9.0	37.1	140.8	-1.0
Allen, Cody 3265	pi mr	cle al	4.0	8.0	13.0	13.0	0.0
Maeda, Kenta 3609	pi sp	lad nl	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
Young, Chris R. 1933	pi sp	kc al	3.7	11.7	27.8	77.8	-4.3
Rodney, Fernando 1803	pi cp	sd nl	3.0	4.0	21.0	33.0	2.0
Fiers, Michael 3029	pi sp	hou al	2.0	9.0	23.1	23.1	-5.0
Koehler, Tom 3159	pi sp	fla nl	2.0	6.0	14.0	14.0	-2.0
Bradley, Archie 3438	pi sp	ari nl	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	1.0
Weaver, Jered 2178	pi sp	ana al	1.0	8.7	63.3	124.1	-6.7
Kepler, Max 3664	rf	min al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Profar, Jurickson 3665	ph	tex al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Pirates' Nicasio tops players for Friday, April 29; Mets' Cespedes rises to 2nd in player rankings

Shawn Plank April 30, 2016

Pirates pitcher Juan Nicasio is Friday’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 April 29:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	5.0
2	Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	cf lf dh ph	nym nl	4.5
3	Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	kc al	4.4
4	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	4.4
5	Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	bal al	4.2
6	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	4.0
7	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	4.0
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	4.0
9	De La Rosa, Rubby 3342	pi sp mr	ari nl	4.0
10	Nicasio, Juan 2888	pi sp	pit nl	4.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Meanwhile, Yoenis Cespedes rises to second in Box-Toppers player rankings, first among National League batters, and Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez regains his spot in 11th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995.

Player of the Day—Nicasio struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 4-1 win over the Reds.

Nicasio earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season and rising to 10th in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher Aaron Sanchez pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing six hits, in the 6-1 win over the Rays.

National League Batter of the Day—Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in six total runs, in the 13-1 win over the Giants.

Cespedes earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season, rising to second in overall Box-Toppers player rankings, behind only Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (5.0). Cespedes now leads NL batters in season Box-Toppers points.

American League Batter of the Day—Victor Martinez of the Tigers homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 9-2 win over the Twins.

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	179.0
6	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	175.3
7	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
8	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
9	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
10	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
11	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	163.7
12	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	163.3
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
16	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
17	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
18	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
19	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	148.4
20	Javier Vazquez	pi sp	retired	148.3

List of top 100 players since 1995 (through the 2015 season)

Rankings—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez regained his spot in 11th place in Box-Toppers “all-time” player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. He also extended his consecutive season streak earning Box-Toppers points to 12.

Hernandez (7.2IP 5H 0R 4K W in the 1-0 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 163.7 for his career. He now ranks 11th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began), passing Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (163.3), who previously passed Hernandez in career points for the first time on April 21. Hernandez now trails 10th-place player Roger Clemens (164.8).

Hernandez has also now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 consecutive seasons. He earned his first points in 2005 with the Mariners and with 163.7 points is the highest-ranked active player to never lead a season category (i.e., AL pitchers) in Box-Toppers points. He has earned 19.0 or more Box-Toppers points four times in his career (2009, 2010, 2014 and 2015), with his best year being 2014 with 20.8 points, third among AL pitchers. In 2015, he had 19.4 points, third among AL pitchers.

Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rose to 35th place in Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Lester (7IP 7H R 10K ND in the 6-1 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 124.1 career points, passing Gary Sheffield (124.1) on the “all-time” Box-Toppers points list. (Lester beats Sheffield on a tiebreaker because he has more Box-Toppers points this season—3.0 vs. 0.0.) Lester now trails 34th-place player, Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander (124.6). Lester has 3.0 Box-Toppers points on the season and ranks eighth among NL pitchers.

Debut—Padres pitcher Cesar Vargas made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Vargas (5.1IP 4H 0R 6K ND in the 5-1 win over the Dodgers) made his Major League debut April 23 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,624th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    4/29
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    Pirates
    Juan Nicasio (W,3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    8
  

    
    10.2
    Marlins
    Adam Conley (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    0
    0
    0
    4
    7
  

    BAT
    6.0
    Mets
    Yoenis Cespedes, CF
    4
    2
    2
    6
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    Phillies
    David Hernandez (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    
    6.0
    `Cubs
    Jon Lester
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    1
    1
    2
    10
  

    AL
    5.0
    Blue Jays
    Aaron Sanchez (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    
    4.1
    `Padres
    Cesar Vargas
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.1
    4
    0
    0
    3
    6
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Tigers
    Victor Martinez, DH
    5
    3
    4
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Orioles
    Nolan Reimold, LF
    3
    2
    2
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.2
    Mariners
    Felix Hernandez (W,2-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    5
    0
    0
    3
    4
  

    
    3.0
    Athletics
    Coco Crisp, LF
    3
    2
    2
    2
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Nationals
    Stephen Strasburg (W,4-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    8
    2
    2
    1
    9
  

    
    3.0
    Rangers
    Shawn Tolleson (S,8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.1
    Rockies
    Tyler Chatwood (W,3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    5
    0
    0
    3
    4
  

    
    2.0
    Red Sox
    Koji Uehara (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

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

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


Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	cf lf dh ph	nym nl	4.5	15.4	36.4	36.4	-6.4
Nicasio, Juan 2888	pi sp	pit nl	4.0	5.0	20.4	20.4	3.0
Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	3.7	17.7	63.8	71.5	-10.3
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	3.0	15.0	61.2	124.1	-9.0
Sanchez, Aaron 3392	pi sp	tor al	2.7	4.7	6.7	6.7	0.7
Martinez, Victor 1695	dh ph	det al	2.5	6.0	25.9	66.1	-1.0
Chatwood, Tyler 2856	pi sp	col nl	2.0	2.0	11.7	11.7	2.0
Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	1.0	20.4	86.4	163.7	-18.4
Tolleson, Shawn 3077	pi cp	tex al	1.0	7.0	9.0	9.0	-5.0
Uehara, Koji 2802	pi mr cp	bos al	1.0	6.0	23.0	27.0	-4.0
Conley, Adam 3594	pi sp	fla nl	1.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	-2.0
Crisp, Coco 1876	lf	oak al	1.0	3.0	19.5	36.7	-1.0
Hernandez, David 2649	pi cp	phi nl	1.0	1.0	9.0	13.0	1.0
Reimold, Nolan 2607	lf	bal al	1.0	1.0	6.7	7.7	1.0
Vargas, Cesar 3624	pi sp	sd nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Royals' Young tops players for Friday, April 22; Phillies' Nola tops NL players

Shawn Plank April 23, 2016

Royals pitcher Chris Young is Friday’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 April 22:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	5.0
2	Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	kc al	4.4
3	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	4.0
4	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	4.0
5	Latos, Mat 2644	pi sp	chi al	3.7
6	Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	sea al	3.5
7	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	3.4
8	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	3.0
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	3.0
10	Morton, Charlie 2503	pi sp	phi nl	3.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Young struck out 10 over six innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 4-2 win over the Orioles.

National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 5-2 win over the Brewers.

National League Batter of the Day—Curtis Granderson of the Mets hit two homers, including a grand slam, and went 3-for-5, in the 6-3 win over the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day—Mookie Betts of the Red Sox tripled, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in a run, in the 6-2 win over the Astros. Betts earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, most of any of Friday’s Players of the Games. He ranks second among AL batters in season rankings, behind Robinson Cano of the Mariners (3.5). He ranks 11th among all players.

Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to 36th place in Box-Toppers “all-time” player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Lester (7IP 5H R 4K W in the 8-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 123.1 career points. Lester rises to 36th place among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began), passing Angels pitcher Jered Weaver (123.1), beating him on a tiebreaker. He trails 35th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1). Lester now has 2.0 Box-Toppers points this season.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    4/22
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    7.0
    Royals
    Chris Young (W,1-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    2
    2
    1
    10
  

    NL
    6.0
    Phillies
    Aaron Nola (W,1-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    BAT
    5.0
    Mets
    Curtis Granderson, RF
    5
    2
    3
    5
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    White Sox
    Jose Quintana (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    2
    4
  

    
    4.2
    Giants
    Jeff Samardzija (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    6
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    
    4.1
    Yankees
    Ivan Nova (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    4.0
    Padres
    Wil Myers, 1B
    3
    1
    3
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.2
    Indians
    Josh Tomlin (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    4
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Red Sox
    Mookie Betts, RF
    5
    3
    4
    1
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Nationals
    Jose Lobaton, C
    3
    1
    2
    3
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Rockies
    Nolan Arenado, 3B
    3
    3
    2
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Cubs
    Jon Lester (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    
    2.0
    Pirates
    Jordy Mercer, SS
    4
    2
    3
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Athletics
    Chris Coghlan, 3B
    4
    2
    1
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Mariners
    Joel Peralta (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

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


Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Betts, Mookie 3404	rf	bos al	3.0	6.0	8.0	8.0	0.0
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	2.5	11.0	12.5	12.5	-6.0
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	2.0	14.0	60.2	123.1	-10.0
Young, Chris R. 1933	pi sp	kc al	2.0	10.0	26.1	76.1	-6.0
Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	2.0	8.0	26.8	26.8	-4.0
Tomlin, Josh 2771	pi sp	cle al	2.0	6.7	19.4	21.4	-2.7
Nola, Aaron 3569	pi sp	phi nl	1.7	3.7	3.7	3.7	-0.3
Granderson, Curtis 2051	rf	nym nl	1.5	5.5	30.4	62.8	-2.5
Samardzija, Jeff 2495	pi sp	sf nl	1.0	10.4	39.1	40.1	-8.4
Myers, Wil 3228	1b cf	sd nl	1.0	4.0	9.5	9.5	-2.0
Coghlan, Chris 2610	3b lf	oak al	1.0	2.0	8.5	15.0	0.0
Lobaton, Jose 3216	ca	dc nl	1.0	2.0	6.5	6.5	0.0
Nova, Ivan 2796	pi mr sp	nyy al	1.0	2.0	23.1	24.1	0.0
Mercer, Jordy 3206	ss	pit nl	1.0	1.0	7.0	7.0	1.0
Peralta, Joel 2292	pi mr	sea al	1.0	1.0	10.0	11.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Box-Toppers' Franchise Four

Shawn Plank January 14, 2016

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

How 2016 Hall of Fame candidates fared in Box-Toppers

Shawn Plank January 7, 2016

Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Piazza elected to Hall; Curt Schilling, Mike Mussina, Jim Edmonds among players snubbed in voting.

Rangers' Hamels tops players for Saturday, Sept. 19; Kershaw fails to unseat Arrieta for player rankings lead

Shawn Plank September 20, 2015

Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to eighth place among American League pitchers in player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 19.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	23.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	20.4
4	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	20.1
5	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	19.7
6	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
7	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	19.4
8	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	17.1
9	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	17.0
10	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	17.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw failed to retake the top spot in Box-Toppers player rankings after falling to the Pirates. Kershaw (22.7 Box-Toppers points) remains in second place behind Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (23.1), with whom he has traded leads every two or three days since Sept. 2. Arrieta’s lead is now safe at least until Kershaw’s next start later this week.

Player of the Day—Hamels struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run and seven hits, in the 10-1 win over the Mariners.

Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.7 for the season, rising to 17th among all players and eighth among AL pitchers.

Hammels also rises to 34th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when record keeping began. With his points Saturday, Hamels has 124.5 career Box-Toppers points and passes two players on the “all-time” list—Jered Weaver (123.1) and Gary Sheffield (124.1). (Sheffield, who started his career in 1988, seven years prior to the start of Box-Toppers record keeping, would likely have about 150 career Box-Toppers points based on rough projections, if his entire career were tracked.) Hamels now trails 33rd-ranked player Justin Verlander (124.6), who also passed Weaver and Sheffield on Friday.

National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, in the 6-0 win over the Giants.

American League Batter of the Day—Victor Martinez of the Tigers homered, doubled and drove in three runs, in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the Royals.

National League Batter of the Day—Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in a run, in the 10-2 win over the Padres.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw failed to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Saturday in his start, preventing him from retaking the player rankings lead.

Kershaw (7IP 7H 3H 8K L in the 3-2 loss to the Pirates) had a Box-Toppers game score of 0. Player of the Game was Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano.

Had Kershaw won Player of the Game honors, he would have passed Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta for the Box-Toppers season points lead and it would have been the seventh lead change in September between Kershaw (22.7 Box-Toppers points) and Arrieta (23.1 Box-Toppers points). Kershaw has led NL pitchers the past four seasons in Box-Toppers points—with days and starts dwindling to only a few this season, his chances for a fifth straight season leading NL pitchers is diminishing.

Notable—Several other Player of the Game honorees from Saturday achieved notable Box-Toppers milestones:

Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano rose to 16th place among all players and ninth place among NL pitchers. Liriano (7IP 5H 2R 9K W in the 3-2 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.9 for the season.
Angels pitcher Garrett Richards rose to 29th place among all players and 15th among AL pitchers. Richards (8.2IP 5H 2R 7K W in the 5-2 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season.
Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda becomes the 40th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. Pineda (5.1IP 4H 0R 4K W in the 5-0 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, rising to 33rd among all players and 17th among AL pitchers.
Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox (2-4 R 3BI in the 7-6 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.5 for the season, rising to sixth among AL batters.
Bryce Harper of the Nationals (1-3 R 3BI in the 5-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.0 for the season, rising to fifth among NL batters.

Debut—Braves pitcher Ryan Weber made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Weber (7IP 2H R 5K ND in the 2-1 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut Sept. 8 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,598th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Corbin earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Martinez and Blackmon each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/19
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    10.0
    Rangers
    Cole Hamels (W,10-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    1
    1
    0
    12
  

    NL
    7.0
    Dbacks
    Patrick Corbin (W,6-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    0
    5
  

    
    6.0
    Orioles
    Wei-Yin Chen (W,10-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    1
    1
    0
    7
  

    
    6.0
    `Braves
    Ryan Weber
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    1
    1
    2
    5
  

    
    5.0
    Pirates
    Francisco Liriano (W,11-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    2
    2
    2
    9
  

    
    4.1
    Yankees
    Michael Pineda (W,11-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.1
    4
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Tigers
    Victor Martinez, DH
    2
    1
    2
    3
    2
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    `Angels
    Andrew Heaney
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    2
    2
    2
    6
  

    
    3.1
    Cubs
    Trevor Cahill (MR) (W,1-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.1
    2
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Rockies
    Charlie Blackmon, CF
    4
    3
    3
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Astros
    Evan Gattis, DH
    3
    1
    2
    3
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `Reds
    J.J. Hoover (MR) (H,18)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    2.2
    Angels
    Garrett Richards (W,14-11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.2
    5
    2
    2
    4
    7
  

    
    2.2
    White Sox
    Carlos Rodon (W,8-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    6
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    
    2.0
    Red Sox
    Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
    4
    1
    2
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Nationals
    Bryce Harper, RF
    3
    1
    1
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Cubs' Starlin Castro (2HR 6RBI) tops players for Friday, Sept. 18; 4 top 10 pitchers fail to earn Box-Toppers points

Shawn Plank September 19, 2015

Starlin Castro of the Cubs is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also, despite four top 10 pitchers from Box-Toppers player rankings starting Friday, none of them earned Player of the Game honors.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 18.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	23.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	20.4
4	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	20.1
5	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	19.7
6	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
7	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	19.4
8	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	17.1
9	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	17.0
10	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	17.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Castro hit a three-run homer and a two-run homer, going 3-for-3 and driving in six runs, in the 8-3 win over the Cardinals.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander struck out seven over 8 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 5-4, 12-inning win over the Royals. Verlander did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision because the Royals tied the game after he exited with a 3-2 lead.

Verlander earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 124.6 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 33rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Friday, Verlander passes two players on the “all-time” list—Jered Weaver (123.1) and Gary Sheffield (124.1). (Sheffield, who started his career in 1988, seven years prior to the start of Box-Toppers record keeping, would likely have about 150 career Box-Toppers points based on rough projections, if his entire career were tracked.) Verlander now trails 32nd-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4).

Among Friday’s 14 Players of the Game, Verlander has the most Box-Toppers points this season—6.4, ranking 111th among all players and 43rd among AL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Danny Valencia of the Athletics hit two homers and went 3-for-3, driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Astros.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day Friday because the overall Player of the Day was batter Starlin Castro.

Notable—Four pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings started Friday but none of them earned Player of the Game honors:

Fifth-ranked Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke, 19.7 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors, though the Dodgers beat the Pirates 6-2. Greinke (7IP 4H 2R 3K W) had a Box-Toppers game score of 0. Justin Ruggiano of the Dodgers (2-3 R BI) won Player of the Game honors with a Box-Toppers game score of +1.
Eighth-ranked White Sox pitcher Chris Sale, 17.1 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors in the 12-1 loss to the Indians. Sale (7IP 8H 7R 9K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of −3. Player of the Game was Carlos Santana of the Indians (1-4 R 4BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +2.
Ninth-ranked Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner, 17.0 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors in the 2-0 loss to the Diamondbacks. Bumgarner (8IP 5H 2R 7K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of +4. Player of the Game was Diamondbacks pitcher Rubby De La Rosa (5.2IP H 0R 5K W) with a Box-Toppers game score of +5.2.
Tenth-ranked Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, 17.0 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors, though the Nationals beat the Marlins, 5-4 in 10 innings. Scherzer (7IP 5H 2R 6K ND) had a Box-Toppers game score of +1. Player of the Game was Nationals closing pitcher Casey Janssen (0.2IP 0H 0R K W) with a Box-Toppers game score of +1.2.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/18
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    8.0
    Cubs
    Starlin Castro, 2B
    3
    2
    3
    6
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.2
    Dbacks
    Rubby De La Rosa (W,13-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    1
    0
    0
    4
    5
  

    AL
    5.2
    `Tigers
    Justin Verlander
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.2
    5
    2
    2
    1
    7
  

    BAT
    5.0
    Athletics
    Danny Valencia, 3B
    3
    2
    3
    3
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Rockies
    Chad Bettis (W,8-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    4
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    
    3.0
    Mets
    Juan Uribe, PH
    1
    1
    1
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Braves
    Arodys Vizcaino (S,5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    3.0
    Mariners
    Tom Wilhelmsen (S,12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    Rays
    Grady Sizemore, LF
    4
    1
    2
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Indians
    Carlos Santana, 1B
    4
    1
    1
    4
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.2
    Nationals
    Casey Janssen (W,2-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    0.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.0
    Blue Jays
    Justin Smoak, 1B
    4
    1
    2
    2
    0
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Dodgers
    Justin Ruggiano, LF
    3
    1
    2
    1
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    0.0
    Reds
    Brandon Finnegan (W,4-0)
    5
    3
    1
    1
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Rangers' Lewis tops players for Friday, Sept. 11; Cubs' Arrieta regains Box-Toppers points lead

Shawn Plank September 12, 2015

Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta regained the top spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings, three days after losing the lead to Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 11.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	22.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	21.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	20.4
4	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
5	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	19.4
6	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	19.1
7	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	18.0
8	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	17.1
9	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	17.0
10	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	16.8

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Lewis pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout, striking out four, in the 4-0 win over the Athletics. He allowed no hits until the eighth inning.

National League Player of the Day—Rockies pitcher Chad Bettis pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out six, in the 4-2 win over the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day—Nick Ahmed of the Diamondbacks hit a two-run homer, a double and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 12-4 win over the Dodgers.

American League Batter of the Day—Steve Clevenger of the Orioles hit a grand slam and scored two runs in the 14-8 win over the Royals.

Rankings—Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta regained the top spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. Arrieta (8IP 6H R 7K W in the 5-1 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 22.1. He passes previous leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (21.7). Arrieta and Kershaw have traded three-day turns with the Box-Toppers season points lead since since Sept. 2, with Arrieta leading twice and Kershaw leading twice.

Notable—Three other Players of the Game from Friday hit notable milestones:

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





  
    
    
    
    
  

    Date
    Player
    Team
    BTP
  

    4/5
    Adam Wainwright
    stl nl
    2.0
  

    4/6
    Felix Hernandez
    sea al
    2.0
  

    4/13
    Scott Kazmir
    oak al
    3.7
  

    4/18
    Felix Hernandez
    sea al
    4.0
  

    6/26
    Max Scherzer
    dc nl
    14.0
  

    7/9
    Felix Hernandez
    sea al
    14.4
  

    7/12
    Max Scherzer
    dc nl
    15.0
  

    7/24
    Felix Hernandez
    sea al
    15.4
  

    7/26
    Jacob deGrom
    nym nl
    16.4
  

    9/2
    Clayton Kershaw
    lad nl
    20.7
  

    9/5
    Jake Arrieta
    chi nl
    21.1
  

    9/8
    Clayton Kershaw
    lad nl
    21.7
  

    9/11
    Jake Arrieta
    chi nl
    22.1
  
 

Giants pitcher Jake Peavy now has 134.8 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 25th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Peavy (7IP 2H R 2K W in the 9-1 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point. He trails 24th-ranked player David Ortiz (136.9) and has 3.0 Box-Toppers points this season.
Angels pitcher Jered Weaver rises to 36th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 (when record keeping began). Weaver (6IP 5H 2R 7K W in the 3-2 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 123.1 for his career. With his point Friday, he passes Justin Verlander (122.9) on the “all-time” list and trails 33rd-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1). Weaver has 7.7 Box-Toppers points this season.
Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets became the 35th player (and fifth batter) with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points this season. Cespedes (HR 2B 3-5 R 3BI in the 5-1 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.9 for the season. He rises to second place among NL batters —behind Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies (11.5)—and 26th among all players.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/11
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    Rangers
    Colby Lewis (W,15-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    2
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    AL
    7.0
    Rockies
    Chad Bettis (W,7-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    3
    6
  

    BAT
    5.0
    Dbacks
    Nick Ahmed, SS
    4
    2
    4
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    5.0
    Orioles
    Steve Clevenger, PH-C
    2
    2
    1
    4
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    Cubs
    Jake Arrieta (W,19-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    6
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    
    5.0
    Giants
    Jake Peavy (W,6-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    1
    1
    0
    2
  

    
    4.0
    Blue Jays
    Russell Martin, C
    5
    2
    3
    4
    0
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Cubs
    Kyle Schwarber, LF
    4
    3
    2
    3
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Twins
    Trevor Plouffe, 3B
    5
    2
    3
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Pirates
    Mark Melancon (S,45)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    `Marlins
    Jarred Cosart
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    4
    0
    0
    3
    5
  

    
    2.0
    Mets
    Yoenis Cespedes, CF
    5
    1
    3
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Rays
    J.P. Arencibia, PH-C
    2
    1
    1
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Angels
    Jered Weaver (W,7-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    2
    2
    2
    7
  

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

Tigers' Verlander tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 26; Price, Hernandez rise in Box-Toppers top 10 rankings

Shawn Plank September 4, 2015

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

Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander, pitching a complete-game one-hit shutout, is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Wednesday, Aug. 26.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 26.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	19.4
2	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	18.1
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	17.1
4	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	17.1
5	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	16.7
6	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	16.7
7	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	16.4
8	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
9	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	16.0
10	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	15.8

What are those numbers after players' names?

Verlander now has 122.9 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 34th place among all players since 1995.

In addition Wednesday:

Blue Jays pitcher David Price maintained his lead among American League pitchers and his second-place overall rank in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rose to seventh place in player rankings.
Two other players besides Verlander who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday have more than 100 career Box-Toppers points—Hernandez and Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon.

Player of the Day—Verlander allowed one hit in the ninth inning, striking out nine and walking two, in the 5-0 shutout of the Angels.

Verlander earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 122.9 for his career, rising to 34th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With his points Wednesday, Verlander passes Jered Weaver (122.1) on the “all-time” list and trails 33rd-ranked player, Gary Sheffield (124.1). Verlander has 4.7 Box-Toppers points this season.

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out eight, in the 9-4 win over the Phillies.

Colon earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 138.1 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 23rd among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). Colon trails 22nd-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.1). Colon has 4.7 Box-Toppers points this season.

National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Barnes of the Rockies homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 6-3 win over the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day—Eduardo Escobar of the Twins hit two solo home runs, going 2-for-4, in the 5-3 win over the Rays.

Rankings—Two players in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

Blue Jays pitcher David Price (6IP 5H 2R 8K W in the 12-4 win over the Rangers) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 18.1 for the season. He maintains his lead among AL pitchers and is second to overall leader Jacob deGrom (19.4 Box-Toppers points).
Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (8IP 3H 2R 7K W in the 8-2 win over the Athletics) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.4 for the season, rising to seventh among all players and fourth among AL pitchers. Hernandez, who led all players in Box-Toppers points for much of the season, was in danger in recent days of falling out of Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings, falling to 10th place before Wednesday’s Player of the Game honor.

Hernandez also now has 159.7 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 12th place among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). Hernandez trails 11th-place player John Smoltz (160.9). Hernandez ranks fourth among active players in Box-Toppers points and second among active pitchers, behind CC Sabathia of the Yankees (187.0).

Notable—Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates rose to second place in Box-Toppers points among NL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday. McCutchen (HR 2-5 R 4BI in the 7-2 win over the Marlins) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.5 for the season. He trails NL batting leader Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets (9.9 Box-Toppers points).

Debut—Indians pitcher Jeff Manship made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Manship (1IP 0H 0R K W in the 6-2 win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut Aug. 15, 2009, and was playing in his 91st career game. He is the 3,571st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Colon earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Barnes and Escobar each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/26
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    15.0
    Tigers
    Justin Verlander (W,2-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    1
    0
    0
    2
    9
  

    NL
    8.0
    Mets
    Bartolo Colon (W,11-11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    2
    8
  

    
    7.0
    Mariners
    Felix Hernandez (W,15-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    2
    2
    1
    7
  

    
    7.0
    Red Sox
    Rick Porcello (W,6-11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    0
    5
  

    
    4.0
    Blue Jays
    David Price (W,13-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    2
    2
    1
    8
  

    
    3.1
    Astros
    Collin McHugh (W,14-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    5
    2
    2
    2
    8
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Rockies
    Brandon Barnes, LF
    4
    2
    3
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Padres
    Justin Upton, LF
    4
    2
    2
    3
    0
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Giants
    Santiago Casilla (S,31)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.1
    Indians
    Jeff Manship (MR) (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    Pirates
    Andrew McCutchen, CF
    5
    1
    2
    4
    0
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    2.0
    Twins
    Eduardo Escobar, SS
    4
    2
    2
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Orioles
    Ryan Flaherty, SS
    3
    2
    2
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Cardinals
    Trevor Rosenthal (S,40)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    1
    2
  

    
    1.2
    Dodgers
    Brett Anderson (W,8-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    5
    3
    0
    1
    4
  

Nationals' Strasburg (7IP R H 5K) tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 19

Shawn Plank August 30, 2015

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

Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Wednesday, Aug. 19.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 19.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	19.4
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	16.7
3	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	16.1
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	16.1
5	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	16.0
7	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	15.8
8	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	15.4
9	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	15.4
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	14.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Angels pitcher Jered Weaver earned Player of the Game honors, giving him 122.1 career Box-Toppers points, 34th-most among all players since 1995.

Player of the Day—Strasburg allowed one run and two hits over seven innings, striking out five, in the 4-1 win over the Rockies.

American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver pitched six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, in the 1-0 win over the White Sox.

Weaver earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 122.1 career points, rising to 34th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Wednesday, Weaver passes two players on the “all-time” list—Cole Hamels (120.8 Box-Toppers points) and Justin Verlander (120.9 points). Weaver trails 33rd-ranked player Gary Sheffield (122.1).

Weaver ranks third among active AL pitchers in career Box-Toppers points, trailing CC Sabathia of the Yankees (178.0 Box-Toppers points) and Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (158.7 points). Weaver has 6.7 Box-Toppers points this season, ranking 31st among AL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Nick Castellanos of the Tigers hit two homers, including a grand slam, and two doubles in the 15-8 win over the Cubs. Castellanos went 4-for-5 and drove in five runs.

National League Batter of the Day—Khris Davis of the Brewers hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 8-7 win over the Marlins.

Notable—Athletics pitcher Jesse Chavez had the highest Box-Toppers player ranking of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday. Chavez (8IP 2H 2R 6K W in the 5-2 win over the Dodgers) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.4 for the season. He ranks 40th among all players and 20th among AL pitchers.

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

Greg Bird of the Yankees (HR 2-4 2R 4BI in the 4-3 win over the Twins) made his Major League debut Aug. 13 and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,562nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Aaron Altherr of the Phillies (HR 2B 2-3 R 3BI in the 7-4 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut June 16, 2014, and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,563rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Strasburg earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Weaver earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Castellanos and Davis each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/19
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.0
    Nationals
    Stephen Strasburg (W,7-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    1
    0
    0
    5
  

    AL
    6.1
    Angels
    Jered Weaver (W,5-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    0
    0
    0
    5
  

    BAT
    6.0
    Tigers
    Nick Castellanos, 3B
    5
    2
    4
    5
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    Athletics
    Jesse Chavez (W,7-12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    2
    2
    2
    6
  

    BAT
    5.0
    Brewers
    Khris Davis, LF
    4
    2
    2
    5
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    Pirates
    J.A. Happ (W,5-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    3
  

    
    4.0
    Yankees
    Greg Bird, 1B
    4
    2
    2
    4
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.2
    Royals
    Luke Hochevar (MR) (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    Padres
    Yangervis Solarte, 3B
    3
    1
    3
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Phillies
    Aaron Altherr, LF
    3
    1
    2
    3
    1
    
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `Astros
    Chad Qualls (MR)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    3.0
    Cardinals
    Trevor Rosenthal (S,38)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    Rangers
    Mitch Moreland, DH
    5
    2
    2
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Orioles
    Adam Jones, CF
    3
    2
    2
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Red Sox
    Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
    3
    1
    1
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Red Sox' Jackie Bradley (2HR 5-6 5R 7BI) tops players for Saturday, Aug. 15

Shawn Plank August 28, 2015

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

Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Saturday, Aug. 15.

Also, Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander rose to 34th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995.

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	18.4
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	16.7
3	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	16.1
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
5	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	15.8
6	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	15.4
7	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	15.4
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	15.0
9	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	14.7
10	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	14.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Bradley hit two homers and three doubles, going 5-for-6, scoring five times and driving in seven runs, in the 22-10 win over the Mariners.

National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 8-4 win over the Braves.

National League Batter of the Day—Matt Duffy of the Giants doubled twice, scored twice and drove in four runs, in the 12-6 win over the Nationals.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Saturday, Aug. 15, because the overall Player of the Day was AL batter Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox.

Notable—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander rose to 34th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Verlander (7IP 3H 0R 7K ND in the 4-2 win over the Astros) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 120.9 for his career. He passed two players on the “all-time” list (since record keeping began in 1995), Jered Weaver (120.4 Box-Toppers points) and Cole Hamels (120.8 points). Verlander trails 33rd-place player Gary Sheffield (124.1).

Verlander’s 120.9 Box-Toppers points ranks third among active AL pitchers, behind CC Sabathia of the Yankees (178.0 Box-Toppers points) and Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (158.7 points).

Verlander has 2.7 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Also notable—Chris Davis of the Orioles has the highest Box-Toppers season player ranking of all 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Davis (2HR 2-4 2R 3BI in the 4-3 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks 41st among all players and third among AL batters.

Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors.

Twins pitcher Tyler Duffey (6IP H 0R 7K W in the 4-1 win over the Indians) made his Major League debut Aug. 5 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,558th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Addison Russell of the Cubs (2B 2-3 2R in the 6-3 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut April 21 and was playing in his 98th career game. He is the 3,559th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Bradley earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Corbin earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Duffy 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/15
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    Red Sox
    Jackie Bradley Jr., RF
    6
    5
    5
    7
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    9.0
    `Tigers
    Justin Verlander
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    7
  

    NL
    8.2
    Dbacks
    Patrick Corbin (W,3-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    0
    0
    3
    8
  

    
    7.0
    Yankees
    Masahiro Tanaka (W,9-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    5
    1
    1
    3
    8
  

    
    7.0
    Twins
    Tyler Duffey (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    1
    0
    0
    5
    7
  

    
    7.0
    Pirates
    Joe Blanton (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.0
    1
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    
    5.0
    Rangers
    Shin-Soo Choo, RF
    4
    3
    3
    3
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Royals
    Jarrod Dyson, CF
    4
    2
    3
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Giants
    Matt Duffy, 3B
    5
    2
    2
    4
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Brewers
    Scooter Gennett, 2B
    4
    1
    4
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Orioles
    Chris Davis, 1B
    4
    2
    2
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Cardinals
    Mark Reynolds, 1B
    4
    2
    2
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Dodgers
    Yasiel Puig, RF
    3
    2
    2
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Padres
    Kevin Quackenbush (W,2-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.0
    Cubs
    Addison Russell, SS
    3
    2
    2
    0
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Phillies' Cole Hamels, throwing a no-hitter, tops players for Saturday, July 25; Sale, Martinez rise in Box-Toppers' top 10

Shawn Plank July 26, 2015

Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels, throwing a no-hitter against the Cubs, 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 2015 season as of July 25.


	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	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	14.4
4	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	14.4
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	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	12.7
10	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	12.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, two players rose in Box-Toppers player rankings top 10 after earning Player of the Game honors—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to third place and Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez rose to ninth place. Plus, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees, the active career Box-Toppers points leader, now has 187.0 career Box-Toppers points.

Player of the Day—Hamels pitched a no-hitter in the 5-0 win over the Cubs. He faced 29 batters and allowed two walks and struck out 13.

Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season. He is the 19th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and now ranks 20th among all players, 12th among NL pitchers.

Hamels has now earned at least 10 Box-Toppers points in each of his first 10 seasons.

In addition, Hamels now has 120.8 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 34th place in among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Saturday, Hamels passes two players on the “all-time” list—Cliff Lee (119.1) and Jered Weaver (119.4). He trails 33rd-place player Gary Sheffield (124.1). Hamels ranks seventh in career Box-Toppers points among active NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees hit three home runs and drove in four runs in the 8-5 win over the Twins.

Rodriguez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, rising to third among AL batters.

Rodriguez also now has 187.0 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank in fourth place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails third-place player Curt Schilling (194.1). Rodriguez leads all batters and all active players in career Box-Toppers points.

National League Batter of the Day—Kirk Nieuwenhuis of the Mets doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 15-2 win over the Dodgers.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day Saturday because the overall AL Player of the Day is a batter (Alex Rodriguez).

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

White Sox pitcher Chris Sale (7IP 7H 2R 7K W in the 10-3 win over the Indians) rose to third place with 14.4 Box-Toppers points. Sale, who earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point Saturday, ranks second among AL pitchers, behind overall leader Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (15.4).
Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez (8IP 6H 0R 6K W in the 1-0 win over the Braves) rose to ninth place with 12.7 Box-Toppers points. Martinez, who earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point Saturday, ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

Notable—Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto became the 20th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Cueto (8IP 4H 0R 5K W in the 5-2 win over the Rockies) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.8 for the season. He ranks 14th among all players and eighth among NL pitchers.

Scoring—Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rodriguez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Nieuwenhuis 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    7/25
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    20.0
    Phillies
    Cole Hamels (W,6-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    0
    0
    0
    2
    13
  

    
    8.0
    Dbacks
    Rubby De La Rosa (W,8-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    
    8.0
    Reds
    Johnny Cueto (W,7-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    7.0
    Cardinals
    Carlos Martinez (W,11-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    6
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    BAT
    6.0
    Mets
    Kirk Nieuwenhuis, CF-RF
    4
    2
    4
    4
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    AL
    6.0
    Yankees
    Alex Rodriguez, DH
    4
    3
    3
    4
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.2
    Orioles
    Miguel Gonzalez (W,9-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    5
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    
    5.0
    Giants
    Madison Bumgarner (W,11-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    
    3.0
    Nationals
    Michael Taylor, CF
    5
    1
    4
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    White Sox
    Chris Sale (W,9-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    2
    2
    0
    7
  

    
    3.0
    Padres
    Ian Kennedy (W,6-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    7
    1
    1
    1
    7
  

    
    3.0
    `Royals
    Danny Duffy
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    3
  

    
    2.0
    Tigers
    Nick Castellanos, 3B
    4
    1
    2
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    Blue Jays
    Ezequiel Carrera, PH-LF
    2
    1
    1
    2
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    Rangers
    Rougned Odor, 2B
    4
    2
    2
    1
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Blue Jays' Hutchison tops players for Monday, May 25; Rangers' Fielder now leads AL batters in Box-Toppers points

Shawn Plank May 26, 2015

Blue Jays pitcher Drew Hutchison is Monday’s Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 25.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	9.7
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	8.0
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	7.0
4	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	7.0
5	Miller, Shelby 3134	pi sp	atl nl	7.0
6	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	6.7
7	Harper, Bryce 3011	lf rf	dc nl	6.5
8	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	phi nl	6.0
9	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	5.7
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	5.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Monday, Prince Fielder of the Rangers earned Player of the Game honors for the third time in four days and takes the Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters. In addition, Nolan Arenado of the Rockies earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day and Angels pitcher Jered Weaver rose to 34th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995.

Player of the Day—Hutchison pitched a complete game shutout, striking out eight and allowing four hits, in the 6-0 win over the White Sox.

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out eight in the 3-2, 10-inning win over the Diamondbacks. Martinez did not earn the win, picking up a no decision. After he exited, the Diamondbacks tied the game 2-2 before the Cardinals won 3-2 in the bottom of the 10th.

American League Batter of the Day—Rangers pitcher Prince Fielder homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 10-8 win over the Indians. It is the third time in four days Fielder has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He was also Player of the Game Friday, May 22 and AL Batter of the Day Saturday, May 23.

Fielder earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day Monday and has earned 4.0 Box-Toppers points over the four-day period. He has 5.5 Box-Toppers points for the season and now leads all AL batters, passing Colby Rasmus of the Astros (5.0 Box-Toppers points). He ranks 14th in Box-Toppers points among all players this season.

National League Batter of the Day—Norichika Aoki of the Giants homered and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-4 win over the Brewers.

Notable—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Monday. Arenado (HR 3-4 R 3BI in the 5-4 win over the Reds) was also NL Batter of the Day Monday, May 25. Arenado now has 4.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, ranking sixth among NL batters.

Rankings—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver rises to 34th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. Weaver was Player of the Game in the 4-3 win over the Padres (6.2IP 6H R 7K ND) and earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 119.4 for his career. He passes Cliff Lee (119.1 Box-Toppers points) on the list of players since 1995 and now trails the 33rd-place player, Gary Sheffield (124.1). Weaver’s 119.4 career Box-Toppers points ranks fourth among active pitchers currently in the AL. Weaver has 4.0 Box-Toppers points for the season and ranks 14th among AL pitchers for 2015.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/25
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    13.0
    Blue Jays
    Drew Hutchison (W, 4-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    4
    0
    0
    0
    8
  

    
    9.0
    Athletics
    Jesse Hahn (W, 2-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    NL
    8.0
    `Cardinals
    Carlos Martinez
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    2
    8
  

    
    5.0
    Orioles
    Brad Brach (W, 2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    4.2
    `Angels
    Jered Weaver
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    6
    1
    1
    1
    7
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Rangers
    Prince Fielder   DH
    5
    3
    3
    3
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    4.0
    Giants
    Norichika Aoki   LF
    4
    2
    4
    2
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Yankees
    Brett Gardner   LF
    4
    3
    2
    3
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    Pirates
    Francisco Cervelli   C
    2
    1
    2
    3
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Rockies
    Nolan Arenado   3B
    4
    1
    3
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Dodgers
    Alex Guerrero   PH
    1
    1
    1
    2
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Mets
    Jeurys Familia (S, 14)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    Nationals
    Tanner Roark (W, 1-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    3
  

    
    1.2
    Twins
    Ricky Nolasco (W, 5-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    7
    2
    2
    0
    5
  

    
    1.0
    Mariners
    Roenis Elias (W, 2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    6
    1
    1
    3
    6
  

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

All-time leaders

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Lead changes

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers

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