Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team (since 1995) consists of two active players (Sabathia and Pujols) and 12 retired players.
Read MoreCarlos Beltran could tie Jason Giambi in 2017 for most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points (19)
Jason Giambi leads list of players who earned Box-Toppers points in most consecutive seasons (19). Carlos Beltran, with 18 straight seasons earning points, could tie Giambi if he earns Box-Toppers points in 2017.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers season-by-season AL & NL pitching & batting leaders, 1995-2016
An analysis of 22 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching & batting in both leagues.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers top 100 players of 'all-time'
Randy Johnson holds commanding lead in career Box-Toppers points since 1995. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw jumped from 13th to 6th on career list and at current pace could catch Johnson in 2020.
Read MoreGiants' Blach tops players for Saturday Oct. 1; Nationals' Scherzer wraps up Box-Toppers Player of the Year as Kershaw loses
Giants pitcher Ty Blach is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Oct. 1:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 25.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.4 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | died* | 22.4 |
| 4 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 22.1 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.2 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 17.8 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 16.4 |
| 9 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.7 |
| 10 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
* Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident Sept. 25. His team was the Miami Marlins.
Also Saturday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer secured Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors for 2016 after Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw failed to earn Box-Toppers points in his team’s loss Saturday against the Giants. Scherzer, who starts Sunday, has 25.7 Box-Toppers points. Kershaw finishes second with 24.4.
In addition Saturday, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon rises to 20th place in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995) after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Blach pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, one walk and striking out six, in the 3-0 win over the Dodgers.
This was Blach’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Blach made his Major League debut Sept. 5 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,754th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Rangers.
American League Batter of the Day—Joey Wendle of the Athletics doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-8, 10-inning win over the Mariners.
This was Wendle’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Wendle made his Major League debut Aug. 31 and was playing in his 27th career game. He is the 3,756th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds hit a two-run homer and went 1-for-2, driving in three runs, in the 7-4 win over the Cubs.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw had a chance to take the Box-Toppers season points lead on the next-to-last day of the season Saturday if he earned NL Player of the Day or overall Player of the Day. But Kershaw did not earn points as the Dodgers lost to the Giants, 3-0.
Kershaw (7IP 6H 3R BB 4K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of −1.0. Player of the Game was overall Player of the Day, Giants pitcher Ty Blach.
Kershaw finishes the season with 24.4 Box-Toppers points, the second year in a row he finishes second. In 2015, he had 25.7 points, behind leader Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (29.1). Previously, Kershaw led NL pitchers for four straight seasons (2011-2014) and led all players in three seasons (2011, 2013 and 2014).
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who took the season lead from Kershaw on Aug. 25, will end the season atop Box-Toppers season player rankings for the first time in his career. He has 25.7 Box-Toppers points and has a chance to earn up to 2.0 more Sunday in his start against the Marlins.
This will be the second time Scherzer has ended the season as a Box-Toppers category leader. In 2013, Scherzer, then with the Tigers, led AL pitchers in points with 18.1. (He finished fifth in 2013 in overall points when Kershaw led with 21.7.)
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 4 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 185.0 |
| 6 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 183.7 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 182.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 168.7 |
| 10 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 11 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 12 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 13 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 14 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 15 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 156.1 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 17 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 18 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 19 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
| 20 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | nym nl | 148.5 |
Notable—Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon rises to 20th place in career Box-Toppers points (since tracking began in 1995) after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Colon (5IP 5H 2R 0BB 6K W in the 5-3 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 148.5 for his career. He passes Javier Vazquez (148.3) on the “all-time” list and now trails Chipper Jones (149.0).
Colon now has 8.4 Box-Toppers points on the season, 27th among NL pitchers.
Also notable—Two players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points on the season earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:
- Twins pitcher Hector Santiago (6.1IP 3H 0R 3BB 6K W in the 6-0 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday. Santiago ranks 34th among all players and 13th among AL pitchers.
- Astros pitcher Collin McHugh (7.2IP 3H 0R BB 5K W in the 3-0 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He becomes the 51st player this season with 10 or more points. He ranks 39th among all players and 17th among AL pitchers.
Debut—Braves pitcher Aaron Blair also made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Blair (6IP 4H 2R BB 10K W in the 5-3 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut April 24 and was playing in his 15th career game. He is the 3,755th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Blach earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Odorizzi earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Wendle and Suarez each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 10/1 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | SF 3, LAD 0 | Ty Blach (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| AL | 9.0 | TB 4, TEX 1 | Jake Odorizzi (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |
| 8.2 | HOU 3, LAA 0 | Collin McHugh (W,13-10) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 7.0 | ARI 9, SD 5 | Archie Bradley (W,8-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | ||
| 7.0 | ATL 5, DET 3 | Aaron Blair (W,2-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 6.1 | MIN 6, CHW 0 | Hector Santiago (W,13-10) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | `MIL 4, COL 3 (10) | Wily Peralta | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | `STL 4, PIT 3 | Trevor Rosenthal | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | OAK 9, SEA 8 (10) | Joey Wendle, 2B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 3.0 | CIN 7, CHC 4 | Eugenio Suarez, 3B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | `CLE 6, KC 3 | Andrew Miller (H,25) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | WSH 2, MIA 1 | Mark Melancon (S,46) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | TOR 4, BOS 3 | Kevin Pillar, CF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYY 7, BAL 3 | Chase Headley, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYM 5, PHI 3 | Bartolo Colon (W,15-8) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| `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 | +/- |
| Santiago, Hector 3109 | pi sp | min al | 11.4 | 19.4 | 31.8 | 31.8 | 3.4 |
| McHugh, Collin 3316 | pi sp | hou al | 10.7 | 20.4 | 32.2 | 32.2 | 1.0 |
| Suarez, Eugenio 3355 | 3b | cin nl | 8.5 | 11.5 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 5.5 |
| Colon, Bartolo | pi sp | nym nl | 8.4 | 15.1 | 57.0 | 148.5 | 1.7 |
| Miller, Andrew 2436 | pi cp mr | cle al | 8.0 | 12.0 | 16.0 | 23.0 | 4.0 |
| Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | tb al | 6.4 | 15.1 | 26.1 | 26.1 | -2.3 |
| Headley, Chase 2552 | 3b | nyy al | 4.5 | 6.5 | 18.0 | 28.5 | 2.5 |
| Rosenthal, Trevor 3124 | pi cp | stl nl | 4.0 | 10.0 | 22.0 | 22.0 | -2.0 |
| Melancon, Mark 2792 | pi cp | dc nl | 3.0 | 10.0 | 23.0 | 24.0 | -4.0 |
| Bradley, Archie 3438 | pi sp | ari nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 |
| Pillar, Kevin 3486 | cf | tor al | 2.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | -1.5 |
| Blach, Ty 3754 | pi sp | sf nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Wendle, Joey 3756 | 2b | oak al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Peralta, Wily 3123 | pi sp | mil nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 19.0 | 19.0 | -1.0 |
| Blair, Aaron 3755 | pi sp | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Clayton Kershaw rockets up ‘All-Time' Top 100 list, earning 36.7 Box-Toppers points since last year's All-Star break
Dodgers pitcher Kershaw has earned more Box-Toppers points in past year (36.7) than the 33.7 Randy Johnson earned in his record breaking single seasons (2000 and 2002).
Read MoreRangers' Hamels top players for Friday, May 6, rises to 6th in Box-Toppers rankings
Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 6:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 6.0 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 5.0 |
| 5 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 5.0 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | chi al | 4.7 |
| 8 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 4.7 |
| 9 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | cf lf dh ph | nym nl | 4.5 |
| 10 | Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | sea al | 4.5 |
Hamels struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit, in the 5-1 win over the Tigers. Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season, rising to sixth in player rankings, first among American League pitchers.
Hamels also now has 130.9 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 28th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes one player on the “all-time” list, Trevor Hoffman (129.4) and now trails 27th-ranked player, Jason Giambi (133.4).
National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher John Lackey struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing two runs and six hits, in the 8-6 win over the Nationals.
Lackey now has 111.5 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 50th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes one player on the “all-time” list, Tom Glavine (110.6) and now trails 49th-ranked player, Kevin Brown (112.8).
American League Batter of the Day—Melky Cabrera of the White Sox doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 10-4 win over the Twins.
National League Batter of the Day—Christian Yelich of the Marlins hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice, in the 6-4 win over the Phillies.
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 | 180.0 |
| 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 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 165.3 |
| 11 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 12 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 163.7 |
| 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 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 149.4 |
| 19 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
| 20 | Javier Vazquez | pi sp | retired | 148.3 |
Rankings—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke rose to 18th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when player tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Greinke (6IP 7H 2R 8K W in the 7-2 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 149.4 for his career. He passes one player on the “all-time” list, Chipper Jones (149.0) and now trails 17th-ranked player, Greg Maddux (151.7). Greinke has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Debut—Yankees pitcher Kirby Yates made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Yates (0.2IP 0H 0R K W in the 3-2 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut June 7, 2014, and was playing in his 68th career game. He is the 3,628th 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 Lackey earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Cabrera and Yelich each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/6 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | Rangers | Cole Hamels (W,4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| 11.2 | Indians | Danny Salazar (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| NL | 7.0 | Cubs | John Lackey (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | |
| 6.0 | Pirates | Francisco Liriano (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 6.0 | Padres | Drew Pomeranz (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | Rays | Chris Archer (W,2-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | White Sox | Melky Cabrera, LF | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Astros | Carlos Correa, SS | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Giants | Santiago Casilla (S,7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Marlins | Christian Yelich, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Reds | Joey Votto, 1B | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Dbacks | Zack Greinke (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 1.2 | Yankees | Kirby Yates (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Blue Jays | Kevin Pillar, CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 4.7 | 20.1 | 71.7 | 130.9 | -10.7 |
| Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 4.4 | 17.8 | 27.2 | 27.2 | -9.0 |
| Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 4.0 | 18.9 | 59.4 | 99.2 | -10.9 |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 3.7 | 13.4 | 33.1 | 111.5 | -6.0 |
| Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 3.0 | 23.7 | 88.8 | 149.4 | -17.7 |
| Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 3.0 | 19.0 | 43.1 | 43.1 | -13.0 |
| Pomeranz, Drew 3061 | pi sp mr | sd nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 0.0 |
| Yelich, Christian 3334 | lf | fla nl | 2.5 | 5.0 | 12.5 | 12.5 | 0.0 |
| Cabrera, Melky 2143 | lf | chi al | 2.5 | 3.5 | 18.0 | 29.0 | 1.5 |
| Casilla, Santiago 2301 | pi cp | sf nl | 2.0 | 7.0 | 19.7 | 22.7 | -3.0 |
| Correa, Carlos 3506 | ss | hou al | 1.0 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 | -6.2 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 1.0 | 6.0 | 22.7 | 54.7 | -4.0 |
| Pillar, Kevin 3486 | cf | tor al | 1.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | -2.5 |
| Yates, Kirby 3628 | pi mr | nyy al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Padres' Pomeranz tops players for Wednesday, April 20; D-Backs' Greinke rises to 19th on Box-Toppers ‘all-time' list
Padres pitcher Drew Pomeranz 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 April 20:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 4.0 |
| 2 | Latos, Mat 2644 | pi sp | chi al | 3.7 |
| 3 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 3.4 |
| 4 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 3.0 |
| 5 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 3.0 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 8 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.0 |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 2.7 |
| 10 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 2.7 |
Pomeranz struck out 10 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 8-2 win over the Pirates.
American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker struck out six over six innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 2-1 win over the Indians.
American League Batter of the Day—Mookie Betts of the Red Sox homered and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 7-3 win over the Rays.
National League Batter of the Day—Ryan Braun of the Brewers went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 10-5 win over the Twins.
Rankings—Two players rose into Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday:
- White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to sixth place (7IP 2H R 3K W in the 2-1 win over the Angels), earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.
- Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rose to 10th place (6.2IP 5H R 7K W in the 2-1 win over the Astros), earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.7 for the season. In addition, Hamels now has 128.9 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 29th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Wednesday, Hamels passes Vladimir Guerrero (128.3) on the “all-time” list and trails 28th-place player Trevor Hoffman (129.4).
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 | 174.3 |
| 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 | 162.7 |
| 12 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 162.3 |
| 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 |
Notable—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke rises to 19th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Greinke (6.2IP 6H R 7K W in the 2-1 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 148.4 career points. He passes Javier Vazquez (148.3) on the “all-time” list (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995) and trails 18th-place player Chipper Jones (149.0). Greinke has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Scoring—Pomeranz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Walker earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Betts and Braun each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/20 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.2 | Padres | Drew Pomeranz (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 | |
| AL | 8.0 | Mariners | Taijuan Walker (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 7.0 | White Sox | Chris Sale (W,4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 6.2 | `Phillies | Hector Neris | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 6.1 | Athletics | Kendall Graveman (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 6.1 | Tigers | Jordan Zimmermann (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 4.2 | Dbacks | Zack Greinke (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Red Sox | Mookie Betts, RF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Cardinals | Carlos Martinez (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 3.2 | `Reds | Raisel Iglesias | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 3.2 | Rangers | Cole Hamels (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | Nationals | Yusmeiro Petit (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.1 | `Dodgers | Chris Hatcher | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Brewers | Ryan Braun, LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.0 | Orioles | Manny Machado, 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 3.0 | 21.8 | 74.0 | 76.0 | -15.8 |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 2.7 | 18.1 | 69.7 | 128.9 | -12.7 |
| Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b | bal al | 2.5 | 10.0 | 13.5 | 13.5 | -5.0 |
| Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | lf | mil nl | 2.5 | 7.5 | 38.5 | 80.2 | -2.5 |
| Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 2.0 | 22.7 | 87.8 | 148.4 | -18.7 |
| Zimmermann, Jordan 2612 | pi sp | det al | 2.0 | 9.0 | 58.4 | 59.4 | -5.0 |
| Pomeranz, Drew 3061 | pi sp mr | sd nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | -1.0 |
| Iglesias, Raisel 3467 | pi sp | cin nl | 2.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | -0.7 |
| Walker, Taijuan 3453 | pi sp | sea al | 1.7 | 15.4 | 15.4 | 15.4 | -12.0 |
| Betts, Mookie 3404 | rf | bos al | 1.5 | 4.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | -1.5 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 1.0 | 14.7 | 15.7 | 15.7 | -12.7 |
| Graveman, Kendall 3444 | pi sp | oak al | 1.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | -3.7 |
| Hatcher, Chris 3420 | pi mr | lad nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 |
| Neris, Hector 3553 | pi mr | phi nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Petit, Yusmeiro 2337 | pi mr sp | dc nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 8.0 | 17.7 | 1.0 |
Box-Toppers' Franchise Four
Who are each franchise's top 4 players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995?
Read MoreJason Giambi has most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points (19); Carlos Beltran is active leader (17)
Who are the players with the most consecutive seasons earning at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point? A list of consistent, durable players, dominated by batters over pitchers.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers season-by-season AL & NL pitching & batting leaders, 1995-2015
Analyzing 21 years of Box-Toppers season point leaders in pitching and batting in both leagues.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers top 100 players of 'all-time'
Randy Johnson's perch atop 'all-time' 100 is safe. A-Rod is top active player. Pujols rises in top 10. Hernandez, Kershaw both make top 20 rises. Price, Scherzer, Bumgarner all make big jumps up the list.
Read MoreGiants' Bumgarner tops players for Sunday, Aug. 16; Sale, Greinke rise in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings
(Other duties have put us behind updating Box-Toppers. Playing catch up …)
Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Sunday, Aug. 16.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 16.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 18.4 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.7 |
| 3 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 16.1 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 16.1 |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.0 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.0 |
| 7 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 15.8 |
| 8 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 15.4 |
| 9 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.4 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 14.7 |
Also Sunday, White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings and Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to sixth. Plus, two players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors—Greinke and Aramis Ramirez of the Pirates.
Player of the Day—Bumgarner pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out 14, in the 5-0 win over the Nationals.
Bumgarner earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks 13th among all players and seventh among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 15 and allowing one hit, in the 3-1 win over the Cubs.
Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 16.1 for the season and rises to fourth in player rankings, second among AL pitchers, behind David Price of the Blue Jays. (Both Price and Sale have 16.1 Box-Toppers points for the season, but Price ranks ahead of Sale because he had more Box-Toppers points in 2014—19.1 vs. 17.4.)
Sale had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of 19.0, the same as Bumgarner. But Bumgarner won overall Player of the Day on a tiebreaker—he had more innings pitched than Sale—nine vs. Seven.
American League Batter of the Day—Orioles pitcher Caleb Joseph homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 18-2 win over the Athletics.
National League Batter of the Day—Aramis Ramirez of the Pirates doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 8-1 win over the Mets.
Ramirez earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 104.8 career points and rises to 56th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Sunday, Ramirez passes two players on the “all-time” list—John Lackey (103.8 Box-Toppers points) and Jamie Moyer (104.0 points). He trails 55th-place player Frank Thomas (106.2).
Ramirez ranks first among active third basemen in career Box-Toppers points. He ranks second among all third baseman since 1995, behind Chipper Jones (149.0 Box-Toppers points).
Ramirez has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season and ranks fifth among NL third basemen. This was Ramirez’ first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor since returning to the Pirates. The last time he earned Box-Toppers points as a Pirate was Aug. 29, 2002.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Zack Grienke rose to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Greinke (7IP 6H R 8K W in the 2-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.0 for the season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.
Also, Greinke now has 141.7 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 21st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Greinke trails 20th-place player Jim Thome (146.7 Box-Toppers points).
Debut—Ryan Strausborger of the Rangers made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Strausborger (HR 3-4 R BI in the 5-3 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut Aug. 5 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,560th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Joseph and Ramirez each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/16 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 19.0 | Giants | Madison Bumgarner (W,14-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | |
| AL | 19.0 | White Sox | Chris Sale (W,11-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | |
| 10.1 | Brewers | Taylor Jungmann (W,7-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 9.0 | Braves | Shelby Miller | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 10 | ||
| 7.0 | Rockies | Chris Rusin (W,4-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | Orioles | Caleb Joseph, C | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | Dodgers | Zack Greinke (W,13-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 5.2 | Blue Jays | Drew Hutchison (W,12-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | `Royals | Yordano Ventura | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | Mariners | Robinson Cano, 2B | 7 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Pirates | Aramis Ramirez, 3B | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Astros | Will Harris (W,5-2; BS,4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | Marlins | A.J. Ramos (S,19) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | Rangers | Ryan Strausborger, LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Twins | Trevor Plouffe, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Mariners' Hisashi Iwakuma pitches no-hitter, tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 12
Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma, pitching a no-hitter, is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings and Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rises to second place.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 12.| 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 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 14.4 |
| 10 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 14.4 |
Player of the Day—Iwakuma no-hit the Orioles, striking out seven and walking three, in the 3-0 win.
Iwakuma earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season and ranks 19th among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out eight, in the 3-0 win over the Nationals. Kershaw had a perfect game into the sixth inning.
His Box-Toppers game score Wednesday was 13, the same as Iwakuma’s, but Iwakuma won overall Player of the Day because he had more innings pitched, nine vs. eight.
Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 16.7 for the season. He rises to second place among all players in Box-Toppers player rankings, trailing overall leader, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (18.4 Box-Toppers points).
Kershaw also rises to 17th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. With his points Wednesday, Kershaw has 150.3 career Box-Toppers points and passes one player on the “all-time” list—Chipper Jones (149.0 Box-Toppers points). Kershaw ranks sixth among all active players.
American League Batter of the Day—Miguel Sano of the Twins hit two homers and went 3-for-3, driving in six runs, in the 11-1 win over the Rangers.
National League Batter of the Day—J.T. Realmuto of the Marlins hit a grand slam and a triple, going 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 14-6 win over the Red Sox.
Rankings—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom extended his season Box-Toppers points lead after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
deGrom (7IP 2H 0R 10K W in the 3-0 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 18.4 for the season.
Debut—Cameron Rupp of the Phillies made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Rupp (3-R HR 1-3 4BI in the 7-6 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut Sept. 10, 2013, and was playing in his 71st career game. He is the 3,556th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Iwakuma earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Sano and Realmuto 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.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/12 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | Mariners | Hisashi Iwakuma (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | |
| NL | 13.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 11.0 | Mets | Jacob deGrom (W,11-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | ||
| BAT | 8.0 | Twins | Miguel Sano, DH | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 7.0 | Marlins | J.T. Realmuto, C | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Reds | Joey Votto, 1B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | Astros | Scott Feldman (W,5-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.2 | Indians | Cody Allen (S,23) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | Blue Jays | Chris Colabello, DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.2 | `Cubs | Jason Hammel | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | Phillies | Cameron Rupp, C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | `Cardinals | Kevin Siegrist (H,22) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | White Sox | Matt Albers (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | Rays | Alex Colome (W,5-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Tigers | Ian Kinsler, 2B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops players for Saturday, Aug. 1, rises to 4th in Box-Toppers player rankings
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fourth in season player rankings.
Also Saturday, Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rises to sixth in Box-Toppers player rankings and Ryan Howard of the Phillies earns Player of the Game honors for the second straight day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 1.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.0 |
| 3 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 15.4 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.0 |
| 5 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 14.4 |
| 6 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 13.7 |
| 7 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 13.1 |
| 8 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 13.1 |
| 9 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.0 |
| 10 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 13.0 |
Player of the Day—Kershaw pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out seven, in the 3-1 win over the Angels.
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 15.0 for the season, rising to fourth place among all players and third among National League pitchers, behind overall leader Jacob deGrom of the Mets (16.4) and Max Scherzer of the Nationals (16.0). Kershaw led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2014 with 31.5.
Kershaw also rises to 18th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when record keeping began. Kershaw has 148.6 career Box-Toppers points and with his points Saturday passes two players on the “all-time” list—Jim Thome (146.7) and Javier Vazquez (148.3). He trails 17th-place player, Chipper Jones (149.0).
American League Player of the Day—Travis Shaw of the Red Sox hit two home runs, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring five times and driving in three runs, in the 11-7 win over the Rays.
This was Shaw’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut May 8 and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,544th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—Lucas Duda of the Mets homered twice, doubled and went 3-for-3, driving in three runs, in the 3-2 win over the Nationals.
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 (Travis Shaw).
Rankings—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rose to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Keuchel (6IP 2H 2R 8K W in the 9-2 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.7 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.
Notable—Ryan Howard of the Phillies earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Saturday. Howard (2B 3-4 2R BI in the 12-2 win over the Braves) was also NL Batter of the Day Friday. Howard has 4.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, 17th among NL batters. He has 95.7 for his career, 74th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began) and first among active NL first basemen.
Debuts—In addition to Shaw, three other players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, earning their first career Player of the Game honors:
- Athletics pitcher Aaron Brooks (7.1IP 5H R 5K W in the 5-1 win over the Indians) made his Major League debut May 3, 2014, and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,545th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Giants pitcher Hunter Strickland (2IP 0H 0R K W in the 9-7 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2014, and was playing in his 37th career game. He is the 3,546th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Ben Paulsen of the Rockies (HR 2B 2-5 R 3BI in the 6-2 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut July 21, 2014, and was playing in his 95th career game. He is the 3,547th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Shaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Duda earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/1 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W,9-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| AL | 8.0 | Red Sox | Travis Shaw, 3B | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.1 | Athletics | Aaron Brooks (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Mets | Lucas Duda, 1B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Orioles | Kevin Gausman (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | Cubs | Kyle Hendricks (W,5-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | Astros | Dallas Keuchel (W,13-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 4.2 | White Sox | John Danks (W,6-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | ||
| 4.0 | Royals | Ben Zobrist, LF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Giants | Hunter Strickland (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Phillies | Ryan Howard, 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Reds | Eugenio Suarez, SS | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Padres | Craig Kimbrel (S,31) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Twins | Trevor May (W,7-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Rockies | Ben Paulsen, 1B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
A look at Box-Toppers 'all-time' top 100 player list, led by Hall inductee Randy Johnson
The Big Unit leads the list of the top 100 players in Box-Toppers points since record keeping began in 1995. A look at all 100 ...
Read MoreMariners' Hernandez, pitching complete game shutout, tops players for Friday, April 24, extends his Box-Toppers player rankings lead
Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, pitching a complete game shutout, is Friday’s Player of the Day and extends his lead in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Hernandez struck out nine over nine innings, allowing five hits, in the 2-0 win over the Twins. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season and is now 2.0 points ahead of the second-place player, Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole (4.0 Box-Toppers points).
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 24.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 6.0 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 4.0 |
| 3 | Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | oak al | 3.7 |
| 4 | DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | pi sp | cin nl | 3.7 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 3.4 |
| 6 | Harang, Aaron 1599 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.4 |
| 7 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 3.0 |
| 8 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 |
| 9 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 3.0 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 3.0 |
Hernandez now has 149.3 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 16th among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1994. With Friday's points, he passes Chipper Jones (149.0 Box-Toppers points) on the "all-time" list (since 1995).
National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Aaron Harang pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing two hits, in the 1-0 win over the Braves. Harang had a no-decision because he left the game with the score tied 0-0. The Phillies won the game in the bottom of the ninth on a walk-off run by Freddy Galvis.
Harang earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.4 for the season. He rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for 2015.
American League Batter of the Day—Brandon Moss of the Indians homered twice, doubled and drove in seven runs in the 13-1 win over the Tigers.
National League Batter of the Day—DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies hit two doubles and went 3-for-4, driving in two runs and scoring another, in the 6-4 win over the Giants.
Rankings—Besides Hernandez and Harang, three other players who earned Player of the Game honors Friday rose in Box-Toppers player rankings:
- Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole (7.2IP R 7K W in the 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks) rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season.
- Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke (7IP 0R 7K W in the 3-0 win over the Padres) rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season. Greinke now has 128.7 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 28th among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With Friday's point, he passes Vladimir Guerrero (128.3 Box-Toppers points) on the "all-time" list (since 1995).
- Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel (9IP 2H 0R 4K ND in the 5-4 win over the Athletics) rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.
Streak—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons. Lester was Player of the Game in Friday’s 7-3 win over the Reds (6IP 3R 10K ND) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.
Lester earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Red Sox. His best season was 2010 with the Red Sox when he had 23.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked first among all players. In 2014, he had 16.4 Box-Toppers points in a season split between the Red Sox (10.0 Box-Toppers points) and the Athletics (6.4 points). He ranked sixth among AL pitchers in 2014.
Lester has 110.1 career Box-Toppers points, moving him up to 47th place among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. (With Friday’s 1.0 Box-Toppers point, he passes Jeff Kent—109.7 and Tim Lincecum—109.3.) Lester ranks 33rd among all pitchers in Box-Toppers points since 1995 and ranks ninth among active pitchers currently in the NL.
Debut—Tim Beckham of the Rays made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Beckham (HR 2-2 R 2BI in the 12-3 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut Sept. 19, 2013, and was playing in the 21st game of his career. He is the 3,452nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Hernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Harang earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Moss and LeMahieu 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.
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
| 4/24 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | Mariners | Felix Hernandez (W, 3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| NL | 11.0 | `Phillies | Aaron Harang | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| 9.0 | Cardinals | Carlos Martinez (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 9.0 | `Astros | Dallas Keuchel | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 7.2 | Yankees | Michael Pineda (W, 3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | Indians | Brandon Moss RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | Dodgers | Zack Greinke (W, 3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 4.0 | `Cubs | Jon Lester | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 3.2 | Pirates | Gerrit Cole (W, 3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | Rays | Tim Beckham PH, DH | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Rockies | DJ LeMahieu 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Red Sox | Brock Holt SS, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Angels | Garrett Richards (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 1.0 | Marlins | Adeiny Hechavarria SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
A look at Box-Toppers season-by-season AL & NL pitching & batting leaders, 1995-2014
Box-Toppers leading pitchers win postseason awards four times as often as Box-Toppers leading batters. Randy Johnson has led his league category in Box-Toppers points more than any other player (six). And the Cardinals and Red Sox have had more players win season Box-Toppers points titles than any other team.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers top 100 players of 'all-time'
Randy Johnson’s perch atop Box-Toppers’ “all-time” player standings was safe during 2014.The flame-throwing, likely Hall-of-Fame pitcher retired in 2009 with 278.8 Box-Toppers points, the most of any player since record keeping began in 1995.
Read MoreJason Giambi's 19-season Box-Toppers scoring streak ends—no points in 2014
BOX-TOPPERS EXTRA
Jason Giambi of the Indians had been the only player to earn at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in each season since record keeping began in 1995.
However, in 2014, Giambi failed to earn Player of the Game honors even once and so earned no Box-Toppers points for the season. That means his streak of 19 straight seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point, which lasted from 1995 to 2013, has come to an end.
Giambi, 43, was hampered by injury this season and played in only 26 games, making 70 plate appearances.
Giambi has 133.4 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks eighth among all batters since record keeping began in 1995. During his 19-season streak, Giambi has had as many as 17.0 Box-Toppers points (he did it twice—in 2000 with the Athletics and in 2002 with the Yankees) and as few as 1.0 (in 2012 with the Rockies). In 2013, he had 3.5 with the Indians.
Giambi broke into the Majors in 1995, the same year as Box-Toppers record keeping began. He started as primarily a first baseman and late in his career has been primarily a designated hitter.
Giambi hasn’t decided whether to retire at the end of this season. He is a free agent.
With Giambi’s streak of 19 seasons at an end, the longest current streak of seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point is 17, held by Paul Konerko of the White Sox. Konerko has scored at least 1.0 point in each season from 1998 to 2014—he scored 1.0 point each in 2013 and 2014.
However, Konerko’s 17-year streak is now at an end because he played his last game Sunday and retired.
That means the longest streak is now 16 seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point held by three veteran players:
• Pitcher Tim Hudson of the Giants.
• Outfielder Carlos Beltran of the Yankees.
• Outfielder Torii Hunter of the Tigers.
All three players have at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in each season from 1999 to 2014.
Derek Jeter of the Yankees had a streak of 17 seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point from 1996 to 2012. However, he scored no Box-Toppers points in either 2013 or 2014.
Three other players had 18-year streaks with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point come to an end after the 2012 season: Jim Thome, Chipper Jones and Johnny Damon. Alex Rodriguez had an 18-year streak with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point come to an end after the 2013 season.
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.