Cardinals' Mike Leake tops players for Wednesday, April 12; Orioles' Mancini tops AL players

Cardinals pitcher Mike Leake is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Leake pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out seven, in the 6-1 win over the Nationals.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 12:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 3.0
2 Verlander, Justin 2112 pi sp det al 2.7
3 Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 2.7
4 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 2.0
5 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 2.0
6 Carrasco, Carlos 2885 pi sp cle al 2.0
7 Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 2.0
8 Finnegan, Brandon 3535 pi sp cin nl 2.0
9 Mazara, Nomar 3614 rf tex al 2.0
10 Boyd, Matthew 3550 pi sp det al 2.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Trey Mancini of the Orioles hit two home runs and went 2-for-3, driving in four runs, in the 12-5 win over the Red Sox.

This was Mancini’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Mancini made his Major League debut Sept. 20, 2016, and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,766th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Batter of the Day—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 9-2 win over the Pirates.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Trey Mancini.

Debuts—In addition to Mancini, two other players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Aaron Judge of the Yankees (HR 2-3 2R 3BI in the 8-4 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut Aug. 13, 2016, and was playing in his 35th career game. He is the 3,767th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Rangers pitcher Jose Leclerc (1.2IP H 0R 0BB 2K Sv in the 8-3 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut July 6, 2016, and was playing in his 16th career game. He is the 3,768th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Leake earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Mancini earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Suarez earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

4/12 Score Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 10.0 STL 6, WSH 1 Mike Leake (W,1-1) - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 0 7
9.0 MIL 2, TOR 0 Chase Anderson (W,1-0) - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 2 7
AL 5.0 BAL 12, BOS 5 Trey Mancini, LF 3 2 2 4 - - - - - -
5.0 CHW 2, CLE 1 Derek Holland (W,1-1) - - - - 6.0 1 0 0 4 4
4.0 DET 5, MIN 3 Andrew Romine, CF 3 1 2 4 - - - - - -
4.0 NYY 8, TB 4 Aaron Judge, RF 3 2 2 3 - - - - - -
4.0 HOU 10, SEA 5 Josh Reddick, RF-LF 3 3 2 2 - - - - - -
4.0 OAK 8, KC 3 Andrew Triggs (W,2-0) - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 1 3
BAT 3.0 CIN 9, PIT 2 Eugenio Suarez, 3B 4 1 3 3 - - - - - -
3.0 ATL 5, MIA 4 Ender Inciarte, CF 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 SD 6, COL 0 Ryan Schimpf, 3B 2 1 1 3 - - - - - -
3.0 LAD 2, CHC 0 Brandon McCarthy (W,2-0) - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 3 4
2.2 TEX 8, LAA 3 Jose Leclerc (S,1) - - - - 1.2 1 0 0 0 2
2.0 NYM 5, PHI 4 Michael Conforto, CF 4 3 2 1 - - - - - -
1.0 SF 6, ARI 2 Jarrett Parker, LF 3 0 2 2 - - - - - -
MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` 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 (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).  

Player of Game Pos Team ’17 ’16-17 ’12-17 Career +/-
Leake, Mike 2709 pi sp stl nl 2.0 7.0 37.4 46.6 -3.0
Mancini, Trey 3766 lf bal al 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7
Suarez, Eugenio 3355 3b cin nl 1.5 10.0 15.5 15.5 -7.0
Anderson, Chase 3328 pi sp mil nl 1.0 8.0 17.0 17.0 -6.0
Schimpf, Ryan 3686 3b 2b sd nl 1.0 6.2 6.2 6.2 -4.2
Conforto, Michael 3622 cf nym nl 1.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 -4.0
Holland, Derek 2634 pi sp chi al 1.0 5.0 27.1 46.8 -3.0
Reddick, Josh 2936 rf lf hou al 1.0 4.5 24.4 25.4 -2.5
McCarthy, Brandon 2082 pi sp lad nl 1.0 3.7 23.4 37.5 -1.7
Inciarte, Ender 3360 cf atl nl 1.0 3.0 7.0 7.0 -1.0
Romine, Andrew 3666 cf dh det al 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Triggs, Andrew 3723 pi sp oak al 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Parker, Jarrett 3600 lf sf nl 1.0 1.0 2.5 2.5 1.0
Judge, Aaron 3767 rf nyy al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Leclerc, Jose 3768 pi cp tex al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Giants' 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
What are those numbers after players' names?
* 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
List of top 100 players since 1995 (as of July 15, 2016's All-Star break)

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.

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

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
What are those numbers after players' names?

Nationals' Max Scherzer ‘most worthy but unchosen' player for 2016 All-Star Game

A look at the All-Star rosters based on Box-Toppers points. Which players were worthy but unchosen? Which players made it but probably shouldn't have?

Read More

Though Clayton Kershaw is on DL, he still holds commanding Box-Toppers player rankings lead

If Kershaw comes back, he could break single-season Box-Toppers points record of 33.7. If he doesn't come back, his 20 points could still lead NL pitchers.

Read More

Twins' Gibson tops players for Tuesday, June 28; Kluber, Hamels rise in Box-Toppers top 10 rankings

Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

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


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 20.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 13.4
3 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 11.7
4 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 10.8
5 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 10.7
6 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 10.7
7 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 10.4
8 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 10.0
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 10.0
10 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 9.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings (first among American League pitchers) and Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to seventh place. Plus, Matt Carpenter took the lead Tuesday in season Box-Toppers points among National League batters.

Player of the Day—Gibson pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing five hits and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the White Sox.

National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester allowed one run over 7 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and one walk, striking out four, in the 7-2, 15-inning win over the Reds. Lester did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because even though the Cubs led when he exited, the Indians later tied the game before the Cubs went ahead with the winning runs in the 15th inning.

Lester earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 130.8 for his career, rising to 29th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes Trevor Hoffman (129.4) on the “all-time” list. He now trails 28th-ranked player Jason Giambi (133.4). Lester has 9.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 11th among all players and eighth among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros hit a three-run homer and a double and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five total runs, in the 7-1 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—Adrian Gonzalez doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 6-5 win over the Brewers.

Gonzalez has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the 2016 season Tuesday. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Padres and has 67.6 career points, third among active NL first basemen (behind Matt Holliday of the Cardinals, 97.8 and Ryan Howard of the Phillies, 96.7). Gonzalez’s best season was 2010 with the Padres when he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ninth among NL batters. He had 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Dodgers.

Rankings—Two players rise in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday, becoming the eighth and ninth players this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points:

  • Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (8IP 3H 2R BB 7K W in the 5-3 win over the Braves) rises to fourth place in player rankings. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.8 for the season. He also takes the Box-Toppers points lead among AL pitchers, passing previous leader, Chris Sale of the White Sox (10.7).
  • Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (7IP 6H 0R BB 7K W in the 7-1 win over the Yankees) rises to seventh place in player rankings. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season. Hamels also now has 136.6 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 27th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 26th-ranked player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (136.9). It is the 11th straight season Hamels has earned 10 or more Box-Toppers points. In fact, Hamels has had 10 or more points each season since he made his Box-Toppers debut in 2006.

Notable—Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals took the season lead in Box-Toppers points among NL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Carpenter (HR 2-3 2R 2BI n the 8-4 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.5 for the season. He passes Eugenio Suarez of the Reds (7.0) for the lead among NL batters. Carpenter ranks 23rd among all players.

Debut—Hyun Soo Kim of the Orioles made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Kim (HR 2B 2-3 2R 3BI in the 11-7 win over the Padres) made his Major League debut April 10 and was playing in his 37th career game. He is the 3,671st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Gibson 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. Correa and Gonzalez 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/28 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 MIN 4/CHW 0 Kyle Gibson (W,1-5) - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 1 7
7.0 CLE 5/ATL 3 Corey Kluber (W,8-7) - - - - 8.0 3 2 2 1 7
7.0 TEX 7/NYY 1 Cole Hamels (W,9-1) - - - - 7.0 6 0 0 1 7
NL 5.2 `CHC 7/CIN 2 Jon Lester - - - - 7.2 3 1 1 1 4
BAT 5.0 HOU 7/LAA 1 Carlos Correa, SS 4 2 3 4 - - - - - -
4.0 BOS 8/TB 2 Travis Shaw, 3B 5 1 3 5 - - - - - -
4.0 BAL 11/SD 7 Hyun Soo Kim, LF 3 2 2 3 - - - - - -
4.0 OAK 13/SF 11 Stephen Vogt, C-1B 3 3 2 2 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 LAD 6/MIL 5 Adrian Gonzalez, 1B 3 2 3 1 - - - - - -
3.0 STL 8/KC 4 Matt Carpenter, 2B 3 2 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 TOR 14/COL 9 Russell Martin, C 5 3 3 1 - - - - - -
2.0 DET 7/MIA 5 Nick Castellanos, 3B 4 1 3 2 - - - - - -
2.0 SEA 5/PIT 2 Robinson Cano, 2B 4 2 3 1 - - - - - -
2.0 DC 5/NYM 0 Bryce Harper, RF 4 2 2 2 - - - - - -
1.0 PHI 4/ARI 3 Andres Blanco, 2B 2 1 1 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 10.8 24.2 55.0 55.0 -2.6
Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 10.4 25.8 77.4 136.6 -5.0
Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 9.7 21.7 67.9 130.8 -2.3
Carpenter, Matt 2987 3b 1b 2b stl nl 7.5 13.0 27.5 27.5 2.0
Martin, Russell 2202 ca tor al 7.0 12.0 28.5 49.5 2.0
Correa, Carlos 3506 ss hou al 6.7 13.9 13.9 13.9 -0.5
Cano, Robinson 2092 2b sea al 5.5 12.0 41.0 72.9 -1.0
Castellanos, Nick 3349 3b det al 4.0 10.2 12.2 12.2 -2.2
Shaw, Travis 3544 1b 3b bos al 3.5 7.7 7.7 7.7 -0.7
Harper, Bryce 3011 rf dc nl 3.0 12.0 27.4 27.4 -6.0
Blanco, Andres 2980 ss 3b 2b phi nl 3.0 4.0 5.0 5.0 2.0
Gibson, Kyle 3312 pi sp min al 2.0 10.0 16.0 16.0 -6.0
Gonzalez, Adrian 2193 1b lad nl 1.5 5.5 32.2 68.1 -2.5
Vogt, Stephen 3503 ca 1b oak al 1.0 3.5 3.5 3.5 -1.5
Kim, Hyun Soo 3671 lf bal al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Syndergaard tops players for Wednesday, June 15; Kershaw extends dominant season Box-Toppers lead

Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth 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 June 15:


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 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 10.0
4 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 10.0
5 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 10.0
6 Lackey, John 1640 pi sp chi nl 9.4
7 Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 9.0
8 Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 8.8
9 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
10 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extended his dominant lead in season player rankings and Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rose to fourth in player rankings.

Player of the Day—Syndergaard struck out 11 over 8 1/3 innings, allowing two runs, five hits and no walks, in the 11-2 win over the Pirates.

Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season, becoming the fourth player this season with 10 or more points. It is the second straight year Syndergaard has reached 10 points—in 2015, he had 10.4.

American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Drew Smyly struck out 12 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, four hits and no walks, in the 3-2, 13-inning win over the Mariners. Smyly did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied when he exited.

National League Batter of the Day—Melvin Upton of the Padres homered and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 6-3 win over the Marlins.

Upton had a Box-Toppers game score of +4, the same as DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies, who was Player of the Game in the 6-3 win over the Yankees. While both players also had similar batting lines (3-3 2R 2BI), Upton won NL Batter of the Day honors on a tiebreaker because he hit a home run.

American League Batter of the Day—Hanley Ramirez of the Red Sox hit a three-run homer, going 2-for-3 and scoring twice, in the 6-4 win over the Orioles.

Kershaw—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extends his dominant lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Kershaw (7.1IP 5H 2R BB 11K W in the 3-2 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 18.0 for the season. He now leads second-place player, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (11.7) by 6.3 points, meaning Fernandez would need at least four starts to have a chance of catching Kershaw.

Kershaw also now has 177.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of sixth place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began (see homepage for updated list of “all-time” top 20 players in career points). Kershaw trails fifth-ranked player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (182.0).

Rankings—Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Cueto (7IP 7H R BB 9K W in the 10-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the fifth player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. It is the fifth season Cueto has reached 10 points, the third straight season.

Notable—With the rise of Syndergaard and Cueto in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings, the only batter—Manny Machado of the Orioles—has slipped off the top 10 list. Machado, who leads AL batters with 8.7 Box-Toppers points, now ranks 11th among all players. Machado had been in the top 10 overall rankings since May 8. 

The top NL batter, Eugenio Suarez of the Reds (7.0), ranks 20th among all players. 

Also, with Machado sliding out of the top 10, eight of the top 10 players are now from the NL. The only two from the AL are Indians pitcher Danny Salazar (8.8 points, eighth place) and White Sox pitcher Chris Sale (8.7 points, 10th place).

Debut—Tim Anderson of the White Sox made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Anderson (3B 3-5 3R in the 5-3 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut June 10 and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,659th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Smyly earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Upton and Ramirez 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

6/15 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.1 NYM 11/PIT 2 Noah Syndergaard (W,7-2) - - - - 8.1 5 2 1 0 11
AL 10.2 `TB 3/SEA 2 Drew Smyly - - - - 6.2 4 2 2 0 12
8.1 LAD 3/ARI 2 Clayton Kershaw (W,10-1) - - - - 7.1 5 2 2 1 11
6.0 SF 10/MIL 1 Johnny Cueto (W,10-1) - - - - 7.0 7 1 1 1 9
6.0 `DC 5/CHC 4 Stephen Strasburg - - - - 7.0 6 1 1 1 8
5.0 LAA 10/MIN 2 Hector Santiago (W,4-4) - - - - 6.0 2 1 1 2 5
BAT 4.0 SD 6/MIA 3 Melvin Upton, LF 3 2 3 2 - - - - - -
4.0 COL 6/NYY 3 DJ LeMahieu, 2B 3 2 3 2 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 BOS 6/BAL 4 Hanley Ramirez, 1B 3 2 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 TEX 7/OAK 5 Rougned Odor, 2B 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
2.2 TOR 7/PHI 2 Marco Estrada (W,5-2) - - - - 6.2 4 2 2 1 5
1.2 `HOU 4/STL 1 Collin McHugh - - - - 6.2 7 1 1 2 6
1.0 CHW 5/DET 3 Tim Anderson, SS 5 3 3 0 - - - - - -
1.0 KC 9/CLE 4 Eric Hosmer, 1B 5 2 2 2 - - - - - -
1.0 `ATL 9/CIN 8 Bud Norris - - - - 5.0 3 3 3 2 7
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 18.0 43.7 143.8 177.3 -7.7
Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 10.0 22.8 74.0 93.4 -2.8
Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 10.0 20.4 20.4 20.4 -0.4
Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 8.4 22.4 68.5 76.2 -5.6
Santiago, Hector 3109 pi sp ana al 6.4 14.4 26.8 26.8 -1.6
Estrada, Marco 2847 pi sp tor al 6.0 14.0 38.1 38.1 -2.0
Smyly, Drew 3009 pi sp tb al 4.7 10.7 32.8 32.8 -1.3
LeMahieu, DJ 3091 2b col nl 4.5 11.5 17.5 17.5 -2.5
McHugh, Collin 3316 pi sp hou al 3.0 12.7 24.5 24.5 -6.7
Hosmer, Eric 2886 1b kc al 3.0 12.0 25.5 25.5 -6.0
Odor, Rougned 3336 2b tex al 3.0 6.0 7.5 7.5 0.0
Norris, Bud 2638 pi sp atl nl 2.0 3.0 33.4 42.4 1.0
Ramirez, Hanley 2119 1b ss bos al 1.5 1.5 24.2 52.1 1.5
Upton, Melvin 1922 lf sd nl 1.5 1.5 14.5 36.2 1.5
Anderson, Tim 3659 ss chi al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Padres' Pomeranz tops players for Friday, June 3; Syndergaard, Salazar rise into Box-Toppers top 10

Padres pitcher Drew Pomeranz 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 June 3:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 14.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 9.7
3 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
4 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
5 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
6 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 8.7
7 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7
8 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 8.4
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 8.0
10 Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 7.8
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Friday, two players rose into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard and Indians pitcher Danny Salazar. Plus, Eugenio Suarez of the Reds earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day to take the season Box-Toppers points lead among National League batters, passing Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets.

Player of the Day—Pomeranz pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits, in the 4-0 win over the Rockies.

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Danny Salazar struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 6-1 win over the Royals.

Salazar earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.8 for the season, rising to 10th place in season player rankings, third among AL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Corey Seager of the Dodgers hit three home runs, going 3-for-4, in the 4-2 win over the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-3 and driving in five total runs, in the 7-3 win over the Mariners.

Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 105.8 for his career, rising to 58th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Aramis Ramirez (105.8) on the “all-time” list and now trails 57th-ranked player Frank Thomas (106.2). Beltre ranks fifth in career Box-Toppers points among active AL batters.

Rankings—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Syndergaard (7IP 6H 2R 9K W in the 6-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.

Suarez—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Friday and takes the Box-Toppers points lead among NL batters, passing Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets.

Suarez (HR 3-4 2R 2BI in the 7-2 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season, passing previous NL batting leader, Cespedes (6.0). Suarez ranks 14th among all players.

Suarez also earned NL Batter of the Day honors Thursday.

Notable—Cubs pitcher John Lackey now has 114.5 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Lackey (6.2IP 5H 0R 9K W in the 6-0 win over the Diamondbacks) maintains his rank of 46th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 45th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9). Lackey has 6.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 10th-most among NL pitchers.

Debut—James McCann of the Tigers made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

McCann (HR 3B 3-4 2R 2BI in the 10-3 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2014, and was playing in his 149th career game. He is the 3,649th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Pomeranz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Salazar earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Seager and Beltre 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

6/3 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 SD 4/COL 0 Drew Pomeranz (W,5-5) - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 2 8
8.2 CHC 6/ARI 0 John Lackey (W,6-2) - - - - 6.2 5 0 0 2 9
AL 7.0 CLE 6/KC 1 Danny Salazar (W,6-3) - - - - 8.0 3 1 1 5 9
BAT 5.0 LAD 4/ATL 2 Corey Seager, SS 4 3 3 3 - - - - - -
BAT 5.0 TEX 7/SEA 3 Adrian Beltre, 3B 3 1 2 5 - - - - - -
5.0 NYM 6/MIA 2 Noah Syndergaard (W,6-2) - - - - 7.0 6 2 2 1 9
4.0 HOU 12/OAK 2 Evan Gattis, C 5 1 4 4 - - - - - -
3.0 DET 10/CHW 3 James McCann, C 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 CIN 7/DC 2 Eugenio Suarez, 3B 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 PHI 6/MIL 3 Cameron Rupp, C 2 2 2 1 - - - - - -
2.2 TOR 5/BOS 2 R.A. Dickey (W,3-6) - - - - 6.2 2 1 0 5 4
2.0 LAA 9/PIT 2 Kole Calhoun, RF 4 2 2 2 - - - - - -
1.1 BAL 6/NYY 5 Mychal Givens (W,5-0) - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 0
1.0 SF 5/STL 1 Kelby Tomlinson, PH 0 1 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 TB 4/MIN 2 Erasmo Ramirez (W,7-4) - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 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 of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 8.0 18.4 18.4 18.4 -2.4
Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 7.8 21.2 30.6 30.6 -5.6
Suarez, Eugenio 3355 3b cin nl 7.0 10.0 12.5 12.5 4.0
Lackey, John 1640 pi sp chi nl 6.7 16.4 36.1 114.5 -3.0
Pomeranz, Drew 3061 pi sp mr sd nl 6.0 9.0 17.0 17.0 3.0
Beltre, Adrian 1141 3b tex al 4.0 16.5 42.4 105.8 -8.5
Dickey, R.A. 1734 pi sp tor al 3.0 8.0 52.2 73.9 -2.0
Calhoun, Kole 3279 rf ana al 3.0 6.2 13.7 13.7 -0.2
Ramirez, Erasmo 1786 pi sp mr tb al 2.7 9.7 11.7 13.7 -4.3
Tomlinson, Kelby 3619 ph sf nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Seager, Corey 3587 ss lad nl 1.5 3.0 3.0 3.0 0.0
Gattis, Evan 3179 ca dh hou al 1.0 5.0 7.0 7.0 -3.0
Givens, Mychal 3599 pi mr bal al 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Rupp, Cameron 3556 ca phi nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
McCann, James 3649 ca det al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Diamondbacks' Greinke tops players for Thursday, June 2, rises to 10th in season player rankings, 16th in all-time rankings

Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to 10th 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 June 2:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 14.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 9.7
3 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
4 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
5 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
6 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 8.7
7 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7
8 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 8.4
9 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc al 7.0
10 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 7.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Greinke also rises two spots to 16th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.

Greinke pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 11 and allowing four hits, in the 3-0 win over the Astros.

Greinke earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points, giving him 7.0 for the season, rising to 10th in season player rankings, seventh among National League pitchers. 

Greinke also now has 153.4 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 16th in “all-time” rankings, passing two players—Greg Maddux (151.7) and Barry Bonds (153.2). (It should be noted that both Bonds and Maddux began their careers before 1995 when tracking began and so both would likely have many more Box-Toppers points if their entire careers were tracked.) Greinke now trails 15th-ranked player Mike Mussina (155.6).

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 181.0
6 Albert Pujols 1b dh ana al 176.3
7 Clayton Kershaw pi sp lad nl 173.3
8 Roy Halladay pi sp retired 170.7
9 Manny Ramirez lf dh retired 167.2
10 Johan Santana pi sp free agent 166.6
11 Roger Clemens pi sp retired 164.8
12 Felix Hernandez pi sp sea al 164.7
13 John Smoltz pi sp retired 160.9
14 Tim Hudson pi sp retired 157.0
15 Mike Mussina pi sp retired 155.6
16 Zack Greinke pi sp ari nl 153.4
17 Barry Bonds lf retired 153.2
18 Greg Maddux pi sp retired 151.7
19 Chipper Jones 3b retired 149.0
20 Javier Vazquez pi sp retired 148.3
List of top 100 players since 1995 (through the 2015 season)

American League Player of the Day—Dae-Ho Lee of the Mariners homered and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 16-13 win over the Padres.

National League Batter of the Day—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds hit two homers, including a three-run shot, in the 11-4 win over the Rockies. Suarez also doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four total runs.

Suarez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season and now ranks second among NL batters in season Box-Toppers points.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the AL Player of the Day was batter Dae-Ho Lee.

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

  • Marlins pitcher Nick Wittgren (3IP 0H 0R 3K W in the 4-3 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut April 19 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,647th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Twins pitcher Taylor Rogers (2IP 0H 0R 2K W in the 6-4 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut April 14 and was playing in his ninth career game. He is the 3,648th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Greinke earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lee earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Suarez earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/2 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 ARI 3/HOU 0 Zack Greinke (W,7-3) - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 0 11
12.2 SF 6/ATL 0 Madison Bumgarner (W,7-2) - - - - 7.2 4 0 0 2 11
6.2 MIL 4/PHI 1 Chase Anderson (W,3-6) - - - - 5.2 3 1 1 0 6
AL 6.0 SEA 16/SD 13 Dae-Ho Lee, PH-1B 3 2 3 4 - - - - - -
6.0 CHC 7/LAD 2 Kyle Hendricks (W,4-4) - - - - 8.0 3 2 2 1 6
6.0 MIA 4/PIT 3 Nick Wittgren (W,1-0) - - - - 3.0 0 0 0 0 3
BAT 5.0 CIN 11/COL 4 Eugenio Suarez, 3B 5 3 3 4 - - - - - -
4.2 `NYY 5/DET 4 Michael Pineda - - - - 5.2 7 1 1 0 8
4.0 MIN 6/TB 4 Taylor Rogers (W,1-0) - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 BAL 12/BOS 7 Mark Trumbo, RF 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
1.2 CLE 5/KC 4 Tommy Hunter (W,2-1) - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 0 0
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 7.0 27.7 92.8 153.4 -13.7
Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 7.0 24.0 94.0 99.7 -10.0
Suarez, Eugenio 3355 3b cin nl 6.0 9.0 11.5 11.5 3.0
Lee, Dae-Ho 3627 1b ph sea al 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2
Hendricks, Kyle 3386 pi sp chi nl 4.0 13.7 18.7 18.7 -5.7
Anderson, Chase 3328 pi sp mil nl 4.0 8.0 13.0 13.0 0.0
Trumbo, Mark 2851 dh rf bal al 2.5 5.0 28.2 28.2 0.0
Pineda, Michael 2841 pi sp nyy al 1.0 11.7 29.1 29.1 -9.7
Hunter, Tommy 2623 pi cp cle al 1.0 2.0 9.0 16.0 0.0
Rogers, Taylor 3648 pi mr min al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Wittgren, Nick 3647 pi cp fla nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Matz tops players for Wednesday, May 4; Yankees' Sabathia extends consecutive season streak to 16

Mets pitcher Steven Matz is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fourth 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 4:  


 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 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 4.7
7 Nola, Aaron 3569 pi sp phi nl 4.7
8 Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 cf lf dh ph nym nl 4.5
9 Suarez, Eugenio 3355 3b cin nl 4.5
10 Volquez, Edinson 2220 pi sp kc al 4.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia extended his consecutive season streak earning Box-Toppers points to 16 and Jose Altuve of the Astros rose to lead American League players in Box-Toppers points.

Player of the Day—Matz struck out eight over 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, in the 8-0 win over the Braves. Matz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to fourth in season player rankings, third among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber pitched a complete game shutout, striking out seven and allowing five hits, in the 4-0 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Daniel Murphy of the Nationals homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in three runs, in the 13-2 win over the Royals.

American League Batter of the Day—Jose Altuve of the Astros homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 16-4 win over the Twins. Altuve earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to third in season player rankings, first among all AL players.

Box-Toppers season streaks

Here are the players who have earned Box-Toppers points in the most consecutive seasons. Jason Giambi earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 19 straight seasons from 1995 to 2013, more than any other player. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.) Players are listed by duration of their streak. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.

Streak Player Pos Duration Career
BTP
1 19 Jason Giambi 1b 1995-2013 133.4
2 18 Jim Thome 1b dh 1995-2012 146.7
2 18 Chipper Jones 3b 1995-2012 149.0
2 18 Johnny Damon lf 1995-2012 63.0
2 18 Alex Rodriguez dh 1996-2013 187.0
2 18 Carlos Beltran* rf 1999-2016 99.9
7 17 Mariano Rivera pi cp 1995-2011 126.4
7 17 Derek Jeter ss 1996-2012 76.4
7 17 Paul Konerko 1b 1998-2014 100.7
7 17 Tim Hudson pi sp 1999-2015 157.0
7 17 Torii Hunter cf 1999-2015 115.9
12 16 Manny Ramirez lf 1995-2010 167.2
12 16 Andy Pettitte pi sp 1995-2010 138.5
12 16 Jamie Moyer pi sp 1995-2010 104.0
12 16 Scott Rolen 3b 1996-2011 97.6
12 16 Kevin Millwood pi sp 1997-2012 108.3
12 16 Derek Lowe pi sp 1998-2013 91.5
12 16 David Ortiz* dh 2000-2015 137.9
12 16 Aramis Ramirez 3b 2000-2015 105.8
12 16 Mark Buehrle* pi sp 2000-2015 116.7
12 16 Albert Pujols* dh 1b 2001-2016 175.3
12 16 Ichiro Suzuki* rf 2001-2016 52.7
12 16 CC Sabathia* pi sp 2001-2016 180.0
BTP: Box-Toppers points
* Active streak

Streaks—Two players extended their lengthy consecutive season streaks earning Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

  • Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (7IP 6H 0R 6K W in the 7-0 win over the Orioles) has now earned Box-Toppers points in 16 straight seasons, tied for the 12th-longest streak since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. Sabathia earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2001 with the Indians and has 180.0 career points, ranked fifth among all players since 1995, second among all active players (behind teammate Alex Rodriguez, who has 187.0) and first among all active pitchers. His best year was 2008 with the Indians and Brewers, when he had 26.7 points, ranked first among all players. He had 5.7 points in 2015 with the Yankees.
  • Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays (HR 2-4 R 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Rangers) has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2005 with the Reds and has 60.1 career points, seventh among active AL designated hitters. His best season was 2015 with the Blue Jays when he had 10.4 points, fifth among AL batters.

Rankings—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday. Suarez (HR 3-4 R 3BI in the 7-4 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.5 for the season. He ranks second among NL batters, behind Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets (4.5).

Debut—Dae-Ho Lee of the Mariners made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Lee (2HR 2-4 2R 3BI in the 9-8 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut April 4 and was playing in his 15th career game. He is the 3,627th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Matz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kluber earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Murphy and Altuve 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

5/4 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.2 Mets Steven Matz (W,4-1) - - - - - - 7.2 2 0 0 0 8
11.0 Rockies Tyler Chatwood (W,4-2) - - - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 1 7
AL 9.0 Indians Corey Kluber (W,2-3) - - - - - - 9.0 5 0 0 2 7
BAT 6.0 Nationals Daniel Murphy, 2B 5 4 4 3 0 0 - - - - - -
5.0 Yankees CC Sabathia (W,2-2) - - - - - - 7.0 6 0 0 2 6
BAT 4.0 Astros Jose Altuve, 2B 5 3 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Red Sox Clay Buchholz (W,1-3) - - - - - - 7.0 3 2 2 2 6
3.0 Reds Eugenio Suarez, 3B 4 1 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Mariners Dae-Ho Lee, 1B 4 2 2 3 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Marlins Giancarlo Stanton, RF 3 2 2 2 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Angels Joe Smith (S,2) - - - - - - 2.0 1 0 0 0 2
3.0 Cardinals Kevin Siegrist (W,4-0) - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 3
2.0 Cubs Anthony Rizzo, 1B 5 3 3 1 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Rays Steve Pearce, 1B 4 1 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Blue Jays Edwin Encarnacion, DH 4 1 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -

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 +/-
Altuve, Jose 3007 2b hou al 5.0 12.0 21.5 21.5 -2.0
Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 5.0 8.5 8.5 8.5 1.5
Suarez, Eugenio 3355 3b cin nl 4.5 7.5 10.0 10.0 1.5
Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 3.4 16.8 47.6 47.6 -10.0
Rizzo, Anthony 3063 1b chi nl 3.0 11.5 27.0 27.0 -5.5
Siegrist, Kevin 3260 pi mr cp stl nl 3.0 7.0 9.0 9.0 -1.0
Chatwood, Tyler 2856 pi sp col nl 3.0 3.0 12.7 12.7 3.0
Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 rf fla nl 2.0 7.5 29.2 34.7 -3.5
Murphy, Daniel 2589 2b dc nl 1.5 3.0 25.0 26.5 0.0
Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 dh tor al 1.0 11.4 39.6 60.1 -9.4
Buchholz, Clay 2363 pi sp bos al 1.0 7.0 35.2 54.9 -5.0
Sabathia, C.C. 1492 pi sp nyy al 1.0 6.7 41.5 180.0 -4.7
Smith, Joe 2388 pi cp ana al 1.0 4.0 12.0 13.0 -2.0
Pearce, Steve 2371 1b tb al 1.0 3.5 13.0 15.0 -1.5
Lee, Dae-Ho 3627 1b sea al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Nationals' Roark tops players for Saturday, April 23; Indians' Kluber tops AL players

Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Roark struck out 15 over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits, in the 2-0 win over the Twins.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of April 23:  


 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 Santiago, Hector 3109 pi sp ana al 3.7
6 Latos, Mat 2644 pi sp chi al 3.7
7 Davis, Chris 2478 1b ba al 3.5
8 Cano, Robinson 2092 2b sea al 3.5
9 Suarez, Eugenio 3355 3b cin nl 3.5
10 Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 3.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 10-1 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs in the 13-5 win over the Cubs.

Suarez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 3.5 for the season and rising to ninth in player rankings. He also rises to lead all NL batters in Box-Toppers points for the season.

American League Batter of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 9-3 win over the Athletics.

Rankings—Besides Suarez, two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings Saturday after earning Player of the Game honors:

  • Angels pitcher Hector Santiago (6IP 4H 2R 7K W in the 4-2 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.7 for the season, rising to fifth among all players and second among AL pitchers (behind Edinson Volquez of the Royals with 4.4).
  • Chris Davis of the Orioles (HR 4-5 3R 2BI in the 8-3 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.5 for the season, rising to seventh among all players and first among AL batters.

Debut—Kelby Tomlinson of the Giants made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Tomlinson (1-1 R BI in the 7-2 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut Aug. 3, 2015, and was playing in his 61st career game. He is the 3,619th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/23 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 17.0 Nationals Tanner Roark (W,2-2) - - - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 3 15
AL 14.0 Indians Corey Kluber (W,1-3) - - - - - - 8.0 2 1 1 0 10
10.1 Dodgers Kenta Maeda (W,3-0) - - - - - - 6.1 3 0 0 1 8
BAT 6.0 Reds Eugenio Suarez, 3B 4 3 3 4 1 1 - - - - - -
6.0 Dbacks Rubby De La Rosa (W,2-3) - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 1 6
5.2 `White Sox Carlos Rodon - - - - - - 6.2 2 2 2 2 7
BAT 5.0 Blue Jays Josh Donaldson, 3B 4 2 3 4 0 0 - - - - - -
5.0 Phillies Odubel Herrera, CF 4 4 3 2 2 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Orioles Chris Davis, 1B 5 3 4 2 0 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Astros Colby Rasmus, LF 4 1 2 5 1 1 - - - - - -
4.0 `Yankees Masahiro Tanaka - - - - - - 7.0 5 2 2 1 7
3.0 Cardinals Aledmys Diaz, SS 5 1 5 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Angels Hector Santiago (W,2-0) - - - - - - 6.0 4 2 2 2 7
2.0 Giants Kelby Tomlinson, PH 1 1 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
1.1 Mets Steven Matz (W,2-1) - - - - - - 6.1 9 2 2 0 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 Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Santiago, Hector 3109 pi sp ana al 3.7 11.7 24.1 24.1 -4.3
Davis, Chris 2478 1b bal al 3.5 14.5 45.4 53.9 -7.5
Suarez, Eugenio 3355 3b cin nl 3.5 6.5 9.0 9.0 0.5
Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 3.0 6.5 6.5 6.5 -0.5
Roark, Tanner 3261 pi sp dc nl 3.0 4.0 19.0 19.0 2.0
Maeda, Kenta 3609 pi sp lad nl 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
Donaldson, Josh 3144 3b tor al 2.5 12.4 32.4 32.4 -7.4
Rasmus, Colby 2608 lf hou al 2.5 8.5 22.7 34.2 -3.5
Rodon, Carlos 3494 pi sp chi al 2.0 10.1 10.1 10.1 -6.1
De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 pi mr ari nl 2.0 8.0 12.0 12.0 -4.0
Diaz, Aledmys 3612 ss stl nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 1.7 15.1 45.9 45.9 -11.7
Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 pi sp nyy al 1.0 9.0 21.7 21.7 -7.0
Herrera, Odubel 3449 cf phi nl 1.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 -3.0
Tomlinson, Kelby 3619 ph sf nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Blue Jays' Estrada tops players for Sunday, April 10; Royals' Volquez rises to 2nd in player rankings

Blue Jays pitcher Marco Estrada is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Royals pitcher Edinson Volquez rose to second in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season and Eugenio Suarez of the Reds earned 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 2016 season as of April 10:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 3.0
2 Volquez, Edinson 2220 pi sp kc al 2.7
3 Liriano, Francisco 2104 pi sp pit nl 2.0
4 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 2.0
5 Rizzo, Anthony 3063 1b chi nl 2.0
6 Estrada, Marco 2847 pi sp tor al 2.0
7 Anderson, Chase 3328 pi sp mil nl 2.0
8 Suarez, Eugenio 3355 3b ss cin nl 2.0
9 Nicasio, Juan 2888 pi sp pit nl 2.0
10 Velasquez, Vince 3611 pi sp tex al 2.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Estrada struck out eight over seven scoreless innings in the 3-0 win over the Red Sox.

National League Player of the Day—Rockies pitcher Chad Bettis struck out six over seven innings, allowing two runs, in the 6-3 win over the Padres.

American League Batter of the Day—Manny Machado of the Orioles homered, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-3 win over the Rays.

National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Belt of the Giants homered and went 2-for-3, driving in three runs, in the 9-6 win over the Dodgers.

Notable—Two players earned Box-Toppers points for the second time this season Sunday:

  • Royals pitcher Edinson Volquez rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Volquez (5.2IP 8H 2R 10K ND in the 4-3 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.7 for the season.
  • Eugenio Suarez of the Reds earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Sunday. Suarez (HR 3-4 R BI in the 2-1 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.0 for the season. He ranks eighth in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

Debut—Aledmys Diaz of the Cardinals made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Diaz (2B 1-1 R 2BI in the 12-7 win over the Braves) made his Major League debut April 5 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,612th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Streak—Huston Street of the Angels has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Street (1IP 0H 0R 2K Sv in the 3-1 win over the Rangers) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2005 with the Athletics. He has 51.0 career points, ranked second among active AL closing pitchers (behind Francisco Rodriguez of the Tigers who has 60.4). His best season was 2008 with the Athletics, when he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points and ranked fourth among AL closing pitchers. He had 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Angels.

Scoring—Estrada earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Bettis earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Machado and Belt 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

4/10 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 Blue Jays Marco Estrada (W,1-0) - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 2 8
BAT 4.0 Orioles Manny Machado, 3B 4 2 4 2 0 0 - - - - - -
NL 4.0 Rockies Chad Bettis (W,1-0) - - - - - - 7.0 6 2 1 0 6
4.0 Brewers Jimmy Nelson (W,1-1) - - - - - - 6.0 3 2 2 4 9
3.2 `Royals Edinson Volquez - - - - - - 5.2 8 2 2 0 10
BAT 3.0 Giants Brandon Belt, 1B 3 1 2 3 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Cardinals Aledmys Diaz, SS 1 1 1 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Nationals Joe Ross (W,1-0) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 2 5
3.0 Angels Huston Street (S,1) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.2 Phillies Jeremy Hellickson (W,1-0) - - - - - - 5.2 3 2 2 1 5
2.0 Athletics Sean Doolittle (S,1) - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 2
1.0 Reds Eugenio Suarez, 3B 4 1 3 1 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Cubs Tommy La Stella, 3B 4 1 3 1 0 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Royals' Danny Duffy, Padres' Jesse Hahn top players for Saturday, June 14

Royals pitcher Danny Duffy is Saturday’s Player of the Day. Duffy pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out nine in the 9-1 win over the White Sox.

Padres pitcher Jesse Hahn is National League Player of the Day. Hahn pitched six shutout innings and struck out seven in the 5-0 win over the Mets. This was Hahn’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors. He is the 3,354th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. Hahn made his Major League debut June 3 and was pitching in his second game.

Eugenio Suarez of the Tigers is American League Batter of the Day. Suarez doubled, tripled and homered (going 3-for-4 with three runs and three RBIs) in the 12-9 win over the Twins. This was Suarez’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors. He is the 3,355th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. Suarez made his Major League debut June 4 and was playing in his eighth game.

Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates is NL Batter of the Day. McCutchen homered and went 2-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 8-6 win over the Marlins.

Notable: Dodgers pitcher Dan Haren earned Player of the Game honors Saturday for batting—he is the fifth pitcher this season to earn Box-Toppers points for batting. Haren drove in three runs with a double to earn Player of the Game honors and also earned the win on the mound in the 6-4 win over the Diamondbacks.

Duffy receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Hahn receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Suarez and McCutchen each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed Saturday, click here.

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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

614 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 10.0 Royals Danny Duffy (W, 4-5) - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 1 9
9.0 `Angels Garrett Richards - - - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 3 10
NL 9.0 Padres Jesse Hahn (W, 1-1) - - - - - - 6.0 1 0 0 3 7
5.0 `Brewers Yovani Gallardo - - - - - - 7.0 6 1 1 2 8
4.2 Rangers Neal Cotts (W, 2-3) - - - - - - 1.2 1 0 0 0 4
BAT 4.0 Tigers Eugenio Suarez SS 4 3 3 2 1 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Rockies Rex Brothers (W, 3-4) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.2 `Cardinals Shelby Miller - - - - - - 6.2 4 1 1 4 7
3.0 Indians Cody Allen (S, 7) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 Phillies Jonathan Papelbon (S, 15) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
BAT 2.0 Pirates Andrew McCutchen CF 4 1 2 3 1 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Dodgers Dan Haren P 2 0 1 3 0 1 - - - - - -
1.2 Orioles Bud Norris (W, 6-5) - - - - - - 6.2 7 1 1 1 5
1.0 Astros Marwin Gonzalez 2B 4 2 3 0 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Athletics Eric Sogard 2B 3 1 1 2 1 0 - - - - - -

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