Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez has best single-game Box-Toppers game score in 2016. Clayton Kershaw, Jose Fernandez each had two of the 12 best game scores of the year.
Read MoreBox-Toppers top pitchers and batters by team in 2016
3 of 4 major postseason award winners are among Box-Toppers top-ranked pitchers or batters on their teams. The exception: AL Cy Young Rick Porcello, who ranks 6th among Red Sox players.
Read MoreBox-Toppers' leader Max Scherzer also led pitchers in strikeouts in 2016
Seven of the 10 leaders in strikeouts in 2016 were among the top 10 pitchers in their league in Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreWins leaders generally coincide with Box-Toppers points leaders—except for overall wins leader Porcello, who ranks 91st
While wins leaders generally coincided with Box-Toppers points leaders, overall leader Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello (22 wins) lagged far behind in Box-Toppers points with only 8.0, 91st among all players.
Read More5 of top 10 ERA leaders also rank in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings
The top 10 ERA leaders had some correlation with Box-Toppers points leaders. Five of 10 are also among Box-Toppers’ 10 most highly ranked players. All 10 rank among the top 50.
Read MoreClayton Kershaw leads players in Box-Toppers points over past 2 seasons for 4th straight year
Though Kershaw finished runner-up in Box-Toppers points in both 2015 and 2016, he leads all players in combined points over the past two seasons.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers' top 100 players for 2015-16 and 2011-16
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Box-Toppers’ top-ranked player over both the past two seasons and the past six seasons. Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer ranks second on both lists.
Read MoreBox-Toppers' big dippers—players whose 2016 point total declined most from 2015; Sonny Gray, Cy Young winners lead list
Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers point total from 2015 to 2016—16.8. Both 2015 Cy Young Award winners, Dallas Keuchel and Jake Arrieta, are among the top four "big dippers" in points from 2015 to 2016.
Read MoreBox-Toppers leader Max Scherzer wins NL Cy Young Award; wins leader Porcello wins AL Cy Young despite low Box-Toppers ranking
Box-Toppers points leader Max Scherzer of the Nationals wins the NL Cy Young Award. But Rick Porcello of the Red Sox, who ranked just 31st among AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points, win the AL Cy Young.
Read MoreJose Fernandez is Box-Toppers' Most Improved Player in 2016
The late Jose Fernandez had the biggest gain in Box-Toppers points from 2015 to 2016, 17.7, far outdistancing second-place player, Tigers rookie pitcher Michael Fulmer (12.7).
Read MoreBox-Toppers rookie, pitching leaders among finalists for top postseason awards, but batting leaders excluded from MVP finalists
Rookie of the Year finlists Fulmer, Maeda lead newcomers in Box-Toppers points. Cy Young finalists Scherzer, Kluber lead pitchers in points. But Box-Toppers batting leaders Arenado, Machado not among MVP finalists.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers' top 100 players for 2016
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer leads the list of the top 100 players for 2016 with 25.7 Box-Toppers points, the 20th-highest single-season point total since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.
Read MoreBox-Toppers 2016 year-end All-Star teams
Nationals' Max Scherzer is Box-Toppers All-Star for the 5th straight year; Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw is All-Star for 7th straight year.
Read More
Jose Fernandez twice led players in Box-Toppers points & contended for 2016 points lead
Jose Fernandez, who died Sept. 25, twice led all players in Box-Toppers points and was in contention to earn 2016 Player of the Year honors.
Read More
Nationals' Max Scherzer wins Box-Toppers Player of the Year for 2016; Kluber tops AL players
Scherzer tops all players in Box-Toppers points to win Player of the Year honors. Kluber tops AL players. Machado tops AL batters. Arenado tops NL batters with record-low score to lead a category.
Read More
Chicago Cubs—Box-Toppers’ top team for most of 2016—finish season atop team rankings
Chicago Cubs topped 22 of 24 weekly team rankings reports in 2016, including this final one. Red Sox top AL teams. All top 10 teams qualified for 10 postseason spots.
Read More
Jose Fernandez 1992-2016: Most prominent player to die in Box-Toppers’ 22 seasons
No player so highly ranked (or so promising) has died in Box-Toppers’ 22-season history. Fernandez ranked 3rd in Box-Toppers points but ranked 1st among players in improvement over 2015 with a 17.7-point gain.
Read MoreWhite Sox' Carlos Rodon tops players for Sunday, Sept. 25; Cubs' Lester rises to 4th in Box-Toppers rankings
White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon 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. 25:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 24.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.4 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | 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 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.7 |
| 8 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym al | 15.7 |
| 9 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 |
| 10 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
* Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident Sept. 25. His team was the Miami Marlins.
Also Sunday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Plus, Sunday: Jose Fernandez, 24, died in a Miami boating accident. Two of his friends also died. The Miami Marlins pitcher ranked third in Box-Toppers season player rankings with 22.4 Box-Toppers points. Box-Toppers will have more on Fernandez in a coming, separate post.
Player of the Day—Rodon struck out 11 over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and walking three, in the 3-0 win over the Indians.
National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Robert Gsellman struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 17-0 win over the Phillies.
This was Gsellman’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Gsellman made his Major League debut Aug. 23 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,748th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—Alex Gordon of the Royals hit a homer and two doubles, going 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 12-9 win over the Tigers.
National League Batter of the Day—Jayson Werth of the Nationals hit a game-tying, eighth-inning, pinch-hit, two-run homer in the 10-7 win over the Pirates.
Rankings—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Lester (6.2IP 3H 0R BB 7K W in the 3-1 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 22.1 for the season.
Lester now has 143.2 career Box-Toppers points, 26th-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 25th-ranked player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (143.9) on the “all-time” list.
Scoring—Rodon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gsellman earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Gordon and Werth 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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/25 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | CHW 3, CLE 0 | Carlos Rodon (W,8-10) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | |
| 11.1 | `BOS 3, TB 2 (10) | Eduardo Rodriguez | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 13 | ||
| NL | 10.0 | NYM 17, PHI 0 | Robert Gsellman (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| 9.2 | CHC 3, STL 1 | Jon Lester (W,19-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | KC 12, DET 9 | Alex Gordon, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7.0 | OAK 7, TEX 1 | Jharel Cotton (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 6.0 | `TOR 4, NYY 3 | Marco Estrada | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | CIN 4, MIL 2 | Brandon Finnegan (W,10-11) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | BAL 2, ARI 1 | Dylan Bundy (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | SEA 4, MIN 3 | Nelson Cruz, DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | WSH 10, PIT 7 | Jayson Werth, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.1 | `LAD 4, COL 3 (10) | Brandon McCarthy | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | HOU 4, LAA 1 | Joe Musgrove (W,4-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1.2 | SD 4, SF 3 | Brad Hand (S,1) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0.0 | stl-chc | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `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 | +/- |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 22.1 | 34.1 | 80.3 | 143.2 | 10.1 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 11.0 | 19.0 | 43.1 | 43.1 | 3.0 |
| Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | chi al | 7.0 | 15.1 | 15.1 | 15.1 | -1.1 |
| Finnegan, Brandon 3535 | pi sp | cin nl | 7.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 4.0 |
| Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224 | dh | sea al | 6.5 | 8.5 | 34.2 | 53.7 | 4.5 |
| Werth, Jayson 1664 | lf | dc nl | 6.0 | 9.0 | 23.0 | 50.2 | 3.0 |
| Bundy, Dylan 3655 | pi sp | bal al | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Hand, Brad 2907 | pi mr | sd nl | 5.0 | 6.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 4.0 |
| Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | bos al | 4.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 | -1.3 |
| Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | hou al | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| McCarthy, Brandon 2082 | pi sp | lad nl | 2.7 | 4.7 | 27.8 | 36.5 | 0.7 |
| Cotton, Jharel 3733 | pi sp | oak al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Gsellman, Robert 3748 | pi sp | nym nl | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| Gordon, Alex 2328 | lf | kc al | 1.5 | 6.0 | 22.0 | 31.5 | -3.0 |
With a week to go, Scherzer leads 5-player race for 2016 Box-Toppers points crown
Nationals pitcher Scherzer leads Box-Toppers points for 5th week. Indians' Kluber secures 2016 Box-Toppers AL pitching crown. Rockies' Arenado takes narrow lead in wide-open race among NL batters.
Read MoreMarlins' Jose Fernandez tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 20, ranks 3rd in Box-Toppers season player rankings
Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his spot in third 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 Sept. 20:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 22.4 |
| 4 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 21.1 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 20.2 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym al | 15.7 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 |
| 9 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| 10 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 14.7 |
Also Tuesday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ rises to 10th after both earned Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Fernandez pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 12 and allowing three hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Nationals.
Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 22.4 for the season. He moves to within 0.3 points of second-place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22.7) and within 1.3 points of season Box-Toppers points leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (23.7). That means with one or two more starts remaining this season, Fernandez has a chance to rise to the overall lead for the first time this year.
American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Matt Boyd struck out seven over eight innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 8-1 win over the Twins.
National League Batter of the Day—Odubel Herrera of the Phillies homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-6 win over the White Sox.
American League Batter of the Day—Nomar Mazara of the Rangers homered and went 2-for-3, driving in two runs, in the 5-4 win over the Angels.
Rankings—Two players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday:
- Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (7IP 6H R 0BB 5K W in the 6-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.1 for the season, rising from fifth to fourth place in season rankings.
Lester now also has 142.2 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 26th place among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He passes Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8) on the “all-time” list and now trails 25th-ranked player, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (143.0). Lester now ranks 10th among all active players in career points, seventh among active pitchers.
- Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ (5IP 6H 2R BB 8K W in the 10-2 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.7 for the season, rising to 10th in season player rankings. He rises to third among AL pitchers, behind Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (20.2) and Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (16.8). Happ displaces Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill (14.4) from the top 10 list.
Debut—Giants pitcher Steven Okert made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Okert (1.2IP H 0R 0BB 3K ND in the 2-0 win over the Dodgers) made his Major League debut April 19 and was playing in his 14th career game. He is the 3,745th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Boyd earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Herrera and Mazara 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.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/20 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 17.0 | MIA 1, WSH 0 | Jose Fernandez (W,16-8) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |
| AL | 9.0 | DET 8, MIN 1 | Matt Boyd (W,6-4) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| 7.2 | HOU 2, OAK 1 (10) | Chris Devenski (W,4-4) | - | - | - | - | 3.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 6.1 | `NYY 5, TB 3 | Michael Pineda | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | ||
| 4.2 | CLE 2, KC 1 | Andrew Miller (W,9-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.1 | BOS 5, BAL 2 | Eduardo Rodriguez (W,3-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | PHI 7, CHW 6 | Odubel Herrera, CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | STL 10, COL 5 | Randal Grichuk, CF | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | SD 5, ARI 2 | Adam Rosales, 2B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | CHC 6, CIN 1 | Jon Lester (W,18-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 3.2 | `SF 2, LAD 0 | Steven Okert (H,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 5, NYM 4 | Adonis Garcia, 3B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | PIT 6, MIL 3 | Tony Watson (S,14) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | TEX 5, LAA 4 | Nomar Mazara, RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | TOR 10, SEA 2 | J.A. Happ (W,20-4) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 22.4 | 27.1 | 53.1 | 53.1 | 17.7 |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 21.1 | 33.1 | 79.3 | 142.2 | 9.1 |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 14.7 | 27.8 | 43.2 | 51.2 | 1.6 |
| Mazara, Nomar 3614 | rf lf | tex al | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Boyd, Matt 3550 | pi sp | det al | 6.1 | 7.1 | 7.1 | 7.1 | 5.1 |
| Pineda, Michael 2841 | pi sp | nyy al | 6.0 | 16.7 | 34.1 | 34.1 | -4.7 |
| Miller, Andrew 2436 | pi cp | cle al | 6.0 | 10.0 | 14.0 | 21.0 | 2.0 |
| Garcia, Adonis 3613 | 3b | atl nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Watson, Tony 3215 | pi cp | pit nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 3.0 |
| Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | bos al | 3.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | -2.3 |
| Devenski, Chris 3702 | pi mr sp | hou nl | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| Herrera, Odubel 3449 | cf | phi nl | 3.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | -0.5 |
| Grichuk, Randal 3474 | cf | stl nl | 1.0 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 10.5 | -8.5 |
| Rosales, Adam 2647 | 2b | sd nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 | 11.7 | -1.0 |
| Okert, Steven 3745 | pi mr | sf nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |