Dodgers' Alex Wood tops players for Monday, May 8; Cardinals' Martinez rises to 10th in player rankings

Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Monday, Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez rises to 10th place in season Box-Toppers player rankings after becoming the second pitcher of the season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 8:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 7.0
2 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp bos al 6.7
3 Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 6.7
4 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 6.0
5 Kimbrel, Craig 2825 pi cp bos al 5.0
6 Nova, Ivan 2796 pi sp pit nl 5.0
7 Vargas, Jason 2055 pi sp kc al 5.0
8 Holland, Greg 2906 pi cp col nl 5.0
9 Judge, Aaron 3767 rf nyy al 5.0
10 Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 4.5
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Wood struck out 11 over five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 12-1 win over the Pirates.

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman struck out eight over seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 6-4 win over the Nationals.

National League Batter of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 9-4 win over the Marlins.

Martinez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season, rising to 10th in Box-Toppers season player rankings and fifth among NL pitchers.

He also becomes the second pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright did it on April 21. Not only has the feat been accomplished both times by Cardinals, but both pitchers also earned NL Batter of the Day honors when they did it.

This is the second time in his career Martinez has earned Player of the Game honors for batting. He also did it Sept. 19, 2016. During the 2016 season, pitchers won Player of the Game honors for batting eight times.

Martinez had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 for batting, highest among all Cardinals players Monday. He had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 for pitching (6IP 5H 3R 3ER 2BB 7K W).

American League Batter of the Day—Matt Holliday of the Yankees homered and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 10-4 win over the Reds.

Holliday earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 100.8 for his career. He becomes the 77th player to earn 100 Box-Toppers points since 1995, when player tracking began. With his points Monday, he rises to 73rd on the “all-time” player list, passing six players—White Sox pitcher James Shields (99.4), Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (99.8), Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7) and Giants pitcher Matt Cain (100.7). Holliday now trails 72nd-ranked player Jason Schmidt (101.2).

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

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

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 

5/8 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 LAD 12, PIT 1 Alex Wood (W,3-0) - - - - 5.0 2 0 0 1 11
6.1 SD 5, TEX 1 Trevor Cahill (W,3-2) - - - - 5.1 1 0 0 5 7
AL 5.0 BAL 6, WSH 4 Kevin Gausman (W,2-3) - - - - 7.0 5 2 2 1 8
4.1 KC 7, TB 3 Nate Karns (W,2-2) - - - - 6.1 6 2 2 2 10
BAT 4.0 STL 9, MIA 4 Carlos Martinez, P 3 1 2 4 - - - - - -
4.0 `NYM 4, SF 3 Jacob deGrom - - - - 6.0 4 3 3 3 11
BAT 2.0 NYY 10, CIN 4 Matt Holliday, 1B 4 3 2 1 - - - - - -
2.0 TOR 4, CLE 2 Ryan Goins, SS 2 1 1 2 - - - - - -
1.0 OAK 3, LAA 2 (F/11) Jed Lowrie, 2B 5 2 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 the Game Pos Team ’17 ’16-17 ’12-17 Career +/-
Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 4.5 16.9 31.6 31.6 -7.9
Cahill, Trevor 2658 pi sp sd nl 4.4 7.4 22.1 44.6 1.4
Holliday, Matt 1836 dh 1b lf nyy al 3.0 9.0 36.2 100.8 -3.0
Wood, Alex 3246 pi sp mr lad nl 3.0 4.0 22.4 22.4 2.0
Karns, Nathan 3414 pi sp kc al 2.7 5.7 11.7 11.7 -0.3
Goins, Ryan 3478 ss 2b tor al 2.0 3.5 8.0 8.0 0.5
Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp bal al 1.7 12.5 25.9 25.9 -9.1
deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 1.0 10.7 46.1 46.1 -8.7
Lowrie, Jed 2437 2b ss oak al 1.0 2.0 16.5 28.0 0.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

White Sox' Miguel Gonzalez tops players for Monday, April 24; Dbacks' Greinke tops NL players

White Sox pitcher Miguel Gonzalez is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 24:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 5.0
2 Vargas, Jason 2055 pi sp kc al 5.0
3 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp bos al 4.7
4 Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 4.7
5 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc al 4.0
6 Harper, Bryce 3011 rf dc nl 4.0
7 Holland, Greg 2906 pi cp col nl 4.0
8 Carrasco, Carlos 2885 pi sp cle al 3.7
9 Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 pi mr sp sd nl 3.7
10 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 3.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Gonzalez allowed one run and two hits over eight innings, striking out five, in the 12-1 win over the Royals. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, most of any of Monday’s top players and rises to 13th in season player rankings.

National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke struck out 11 over six innings, allowing one run and six hits, in the 7-6 win over the Padres. Greinke had a Box-Toppers game score of +9.0, same as overall Player of the Day Gonzalez, but Gonzalez ranks ahead on a tiebreaker because he had more innings pitched than Greinke, eight vs. six.

Greinke earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 158.8 for his career, 14th-most among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 13th-ranked player John Smoltz (160.9).

National League Batter of the Day—Eric Thames of the Brewers hit two home runs and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 11-7 win over the Reds.

This was Thames’ first Box-Toppers point in more than four years. He last earned Player of the Game honors on Aug. 1, 2012, when he was with the Mariners. It is only his third career Player of the Game honor—he was also Player of the Game on July 10, 2011, with the Blue Jays and now has 4.0 career Box-Toppers points.

Thames spent 2014, 2015 and 2016 playing in Korea, winning the the Korea Baseball Organization Most Valuable Player award in 2015. He currently leads Major League Baseball in season runs (24) and home runs (10).

American League Batter of the Day—Adam Jones of the Orioles homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, driving in two runs, in the 6-3 win over the Rays.

Jones has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons with his first Player of the Game honor of 2017. He earned his first points in 2007 with the Mariners and has 51.0 career points, fifth among active AL outfielders. His best season was 2014 with the Orioles when he had 11.5 points, third among AL batters. In 2016 with the Orioles, he barely kept the streak alive, earning only 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Streak—Giants pitcher Matt Cain has now earned Box-Toppers points in 13 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Cain (6IP 2H 0R BB 3K W in the 2-1 win over the Dodgers) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2005 with the Giants and now has 100.7 career Box-Toppers points, 11th among active NL pitchers. His best season was 2010 with the Giants when he had 16.1 points, seventh among NL pitchers. During the last three seasons he barely kept the streak alive earning Player of the Game honors two or fewer times each season. In 2014, he had just 1.0 Box-Toppers point, in 2015, he had 2.0 and in 2016 he had 2.7.

Cain also becomes the 76th player since 1995 to reach 100 career Box-Toppers points (100.7). With his point Monday, he rises to 73rd on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list, passing four players—Johnny Cueto of the Giants (99.8), Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Paul Konerko (100.7).

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

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

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 

4/24 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 CHW 12, KC 1 Miguel Gonzalez (W,3-0) - - - - 8.0 2 1 0 1 5
NL 9.0 ARI 7, SD 6 Zack Greinke (W,2-2) - - - - 6.0 6 1 1 0 11
6.0 SF 2, LAD 1 Matt Cain (W,2-0) - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 1 3
BAT 5.0 MIL 11, CIN 7 Eric Thames, 1B-LF 3 3 2 3 - - - - - -
3.1 COL 8, WSH 4 Carlos Estevez (W,2-0) - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 2
BAT 3.0 BAL 6, TB 3 Adam Jones, CF 3 1 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 LAA 2, TOR 1 Jesse Chavez (W,2-3) - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 4 7
2.0 CHC 14, PIT 3 Addison Russell, SS 6 3 4 1 - - - - - -
1.0 MIN 3, TEX 2 Brandon Kintzler (S,5) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 1
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 the Game Pos Team ’17 ’16-17 ’12-17 Career +/-
Gonzalez, Miguel 3062 pi sp chi al 3.0 12.1 40.9 40.9 -6.1
Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 2.7 12.4 81.7 158.8 -7.0
Russell, Addison 3559 ss chi nl 2.0 5.5 8.0 8.0 -1.5
Chavez, Jesse 2780 pi sp ana al 2.0 2.0 21.1 22.1 2.0
Kintzler, Brandon 3150 pi cp min al 2.0 2.0 4.0 4.0 2.0
Jones, Adam 2347 cf bal al 1.5 2.5 33.5 51.0 0.5
Thames, Eric 2909 1b lf mil nl 1.5 1.5 2.5 4.0 1.5
Estevez, Carlos 3641 pi cp mr col nl 1.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 -4.0
Cain, Matt 2081 pi sp sf nl 1.0 3.7 27.4 100.7 -1.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Syndergaard tops players for Sunday, April 9, rises to lead Box-Toppers season player rankings

Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to lead all players in season Box-Toppers points.

Syndergaard struck out nine over seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 5-2 win over the Marlins.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 9:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 3.0
2 Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 2.7
3 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 2.0
4 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 2.0
5 Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 2.0
6 Finnegan, Brandon 3535 pi sp cin nl 2.0
7 Mazara, Nomar 3614 rf tex al 2.0
8 Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 pi mr sp sd nl 2.0
9 Devenski, Chris 3702 pi mr cp hou al 2.0
10 Puig, Yasiel 3193 rf lad nl 2.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, passing previous leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (2.0).

American League Player of the Day—Twins pitcher Ervin Santana pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out four, in the 4-1 win over the White Sox.

Santana earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season and rising to second place in season Box-Toppers rankings.

Santana also becomes the 75th player since Box-Toppers inception in 1995 to reach 100 career Box-Toppers points. With his points Sunday, he has exactly 100.0 and ranks 75th among all players since 1995. He passes five players on the “all-time” list—Ryan Howard of the Braves (98.7), Jim Edmonds (98.8), White Sox pitcher James Shields (99.4), Giants pitcher Matt Cain (99.7) and Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (99.8). Santana now trails 74th-ranked player Larry Walker (100.1).

American League Batter of the Day—Joey Gallo of the Rangers homered and went 2-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 8-1 win over the Athletics.

National League Batter of the Day—Starling Marte of the Pirates hit a walk-off 10th-inning home run in the 6-5 win over the Braves. Marte also went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs.

Notable—Two other players who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday are among the top 10 players in season Box-Toppers rankings:

  • Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta rises to fourth place with 2.0 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors in the 7-4 win against Brewers (7IP 3H 3R 2BB 10K W).
  • Astros pitcher Chris Devenski rises to ninth place with 2.0 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors in the 5-4, 12-inning win over the Royals (4IP 3H R 0BB 7K W).

Currently, 12 players have 2.0 Box-Toppers points on the season. Ties are broken among those players based on how many Box-Toppers points the players had in 2016. For example, Kershaw ranks highest among those 13 players because he had 24.4 Box-Toppers points in 2016, while Arrieta, who ranks third, had 15.7.

Scoring—Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Santana earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Gallo and Marte 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 

4/9 Score Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 NYM 5, MIA 2 Noah Syndergaard (W,1-0) - - - - 7.0 5 2 1 0 9
7.0 CIN 8, STL 0 Scott Feldman (W,1-1) - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 1 6
6.0 CHC 7, MIL 4 Jake Arrieta (W,2-0) - - - - 7.0 3 3 3 2 10
AL 6.0 MIN 4, CHW 1 Ervin Santana (W,2-0) - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 2 4
6.0 HOU 5, KC 4 (F/12) Chris Devenski (W,1-0) - - - - 4.0 3 1 1 0 7
5.0 `PHI 4, WSH 3 Jeremy Hellickson - - - - 5.0 1 0 0 1 2
BAT 4.0 TEX 8, OAK 1 Joey Gallo, 3B 4 1 2 5 - - - - - -
4.0 TB 7, TOR 2 Steven Souza, RF 2 2 1 3 - - - - - -
4.0 BOS 7, DET 5 Matt Barnes (W,1-0) - - - - 2.0 1 0 0 0 3
BAT 3.0 PIT 6, ATL 5 (F/10) Starling Marte, CF 5 2 4 2 - - - - - -
3.0 ARI 3, CLE 2 Patrick Corbin (W,1-1) - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 2 3
3.0 NYY 7, BAL 3 Dellin Betances (W,1-1) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 LAD 10, COL 6 Corey Seager, SS 4 2 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 SF 5, SD 3 Buster Posey, C 3 2 2 1 - - - - - -
2.0 LAA 10, SEA 9 Jefry Marte, PH 1 0 1 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 +/-
Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 3.0 19.7 30.1 30.1 -13.7
Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 2.7 6.7 39.5 100.0 -1.3
Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 2.0 17.7 72.5 77.5 -13.7
Devenski, Chris 3702 pi mr cp hou al 2.0 5.7 5.7 5.7 -1.7
Marte, Starling 3122 lf pit nl 1.5 4.0 13.5 13.5 -1.0
Gallo, Joey 3485 3b tex al 1.5 1.5 3.0 3.0 1.5
Hellickson, Jeremy 2778 pi sp phi nl 1.0 14.1 35.1 45.8 -12.1
Souza, Steven Jr. 3461 rf tb al 1.0 6.7 12.2 12.2 -4.7
Betances, Dellin 3333 pi mr nyy al 1.0 5.0 13.7 13.7 -3.0
Seager, Corey 3587 ss lad nl 1.0 5.0 6.5 6.5 -3.0
Corbin, Patrick 3027 pi sp cp ari nl 1.0 4.7 33.5 33.5 -2.7
Posey, Buster 2745 ca 1b sf nl 1.0 4.5 29.5 34.0 -2.5
Marte, Jefry 3529 1b ph ana al 1.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 0.0
Feldman, Scott 2632 pi sp cin nl 1.0 1.0 17.7 25.7 1.0
Barnes, Matt 3466 pi mr bos al 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

A 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 More

Indians' Corey Kluber tops players for Sunday, July 31, rises to lead AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to lead American League pitchers in season player rankings.

Kluber pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing five hits and two walks, in the 8-0 win over the Athletics.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of July 31:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 20.0
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 17.0
3 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 16.4
4 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 14.5
5 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 14.4
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 14.1
7 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 12.4
8 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 12.4
9 Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 11.0
10 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 11.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.5 for the season, rising to fourth among all players. He rises to first among AL pitchers, passing previous leader Cole Hamels of the Rangers (14.1).

National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Matt Cain pitched five scoreless innings, allowing no hits, four walks and striking out five, in the 3-1 win over the Nationals.

American League Batter of the Day—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers hit two homers and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 11-0 win over the Astros.

Cabrera earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 139.9 for his career, rising to 26th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Sunday, Cabrera passes Andy Pettitte (138.5) on the “all-time” list and now trails 25th-ranked player, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (140.3).

Cabrera has 7.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 10th among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—Neil Walker of the Mets homered, tripled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 6-4 win over the Rockies.

Streak—Brewers pitcher Matt Garza has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season Sunday.

Garza (5IP 4H 2R BB 5K W in the 4-2 win over the Pirates) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2007 with the Twins and has 69.1 career points, 18th among active NL pitchers. His best season was 2008 with the Rays when he had 12.7 points, ninth among AL pitchers. He had 1.7 points in 2015 with the Brewers.

Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cain earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Cabrera and Walker each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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

7/31 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 7.0 CLE 8, OAK 0 Corey Kluber (W,10-8) - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 2 7
BAT 6.0 DET 11, HOU 0 Miguel Cabrera, 1B 4 3 3 4 - - - - - -
NL 6.0 SF 3, WSH 1 Matt Cain (W,3-6) - - - - 5.0 0 0 0 4 5
BAT 5.0 NYM 6, COL 4 Neil Walker, 2B 4 2 3 4 - - - - - -
5.0 LAD 14, ARI 3 Yasmani Grandal, C 4 3 3 3 - - - - - -
4.0 MIN 6, CHW 4 Brian Dozier, DH 4 3 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 TEX 5, KC 3 Mitch Moreland, 1B 3 2 2 2 - - - - - -
3.0 BOS 5, LAA 3 Clay Buchholz (W,4-9) - - - - 3.0 0 0 0 1 1
3.0 CHC 7, SEA 6 (12) Hector Rondon (W,2-2) - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 1
3.0 TB 5, NYY 3 Alex Colome (S,25) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 CIN 3, SD 2 Tony Cingrani (S,13) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 MIL 4, PIT 2 Matt Garza (W,2-4) - - - - 5.0 4 2 1 1 5
1.0 MIA 5, STL 4 J.T. Realmuto, C 3 0 2 2 - - - - - -
1.0 ATL 2, PHI 1 Mauricio Cabrera (W,2-0) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 1
0.0 BAL 6, TOR 2 (12) Jonathan Schoop, 2B 5 1 3 1 - - - - - -
Correction made Feb. 27, 2017: Jonathan Schoop, Player of the Game in the Orioles 6-2, 12-inning win over the Blue Jays, was previously incorrectly listed as a pitcher.

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 14.5 27.9 58.7 58.7 1.1
Cabrera, Miguel 1776 1b det al 7.0 11.7 60.3 139.9 2.3
Colome, Alex 3189 pi cp tb al 6.0 11.0 14.7 14.7 1.0
Rondon, Hector 3201 pi cp chi nl 5.0 7.0 10.0 10.0 3.0
Realmuto, J.T. 3491 ca fla nl 4.5 9.5 9.5 9.5 -0.5
Grandal, Yasmani 3058 ca lad nl 4.0 6.0 14.0 14.0 2.0
Moreland, Mitch 2799 1b tex al 3.5 9.7 17.7 18.7 -2.7
Walker, Neil 2756 2b nym nl 3.5 7.5 25.0 30.5 -0.5
Schoop, Jonathan 3307 2b bal al 3.5 6.0 8.5 8.5 1.0
Cain, Matt 2081 pi sp sf nl 2.7 4.7 37.5 99.7 0.7
Buchholz, Clay 2363 pi sp mr bos al 2.0 8.0 36.2 55.9 -4.0
Dozier, Brian 3219 2b dh min al 2.0 5.7 13.7 13.7 -1.7
Cingrani, Tony 3158 pi cp cin nl 2.0 2.0 9.4 9.4 2.0
Cabrera, Mauricio 3689 pi cp mr atl nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Garza, Matt 2343 pi sp mil nl 1.0 2.7 32.4 69.1 -0.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Bartolo Colon tops players for Tuesday, July 26; Angels' Skaggs tops AL players

Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon 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 July 26:  


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

Colon struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 3-1 win over the Cardinals.

Colon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 145.8 for his career. He ranks 22nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, and now trails 21st-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7).

Colon has 5.7 Box-Toppers points this season, most of any of the 16 who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday. He ranks 78th among all players, 31st among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits, one walk and striking out five, in the 13-0 win over the Royals.

American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Seager of the Mariners homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-4 win over the Pirates.

National League Batter of the Day—Scooter Gennett of the Brewers went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 9-4 win over the Diamondbacks.

Notable—Matt Cain of the Giants becomes the fifth pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting and also has now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 straight seasons.

It is the second time in his career that Cain (3-R HR 1-2 in the 9-7 win over the Reds) has earned Player of the Game honors for batting. He also did it Aug. 23, 2007.

With his first point of the season, Cain has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2005 with the Giants and has 98.0 career points, 12th among active NL pitchers and third among active Giants, behind Jake Peavy (141.8) and Madison Bumgarner (103.7). His best season was 2010 with the Giants when he had 16.1 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL pitchers. In 2015, he had 2.0 Box-Toppers points with the Giants.

Scoring—Colon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Skaggs earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Seager and Gennett 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

7/26 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 10.0 NYM 3, STL 1 Bartolo Colon (W,9-5) - - - - 7.0 3 1 1 0 8
8.1 LAD 3, TB 2 Bud Norris (W,6-9) - - - - 6.1 2 0 0 2 6
AL 8.0 LAA 13, KC 0 Tyler Skaggs (W,1-0) - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 1 5
7.0 MIA 5, PHI 0 Tom Koehler (W,8-8) - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 1 5
4.2 CHW 3, CHC 0 James Shields (W,5-12) - - - - 7.2 4 0 0 4 5
BAT 3.0 SEA 7, PIT 4 Kyle Seager, 3B 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 MIL 9, ARI 4 Scooter Gennett, 2B 3 1 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 SF 9, CIN 7 Matt Cain, P 2 1 1 3 - - - - - -
3.0 ATL 2, MIN 0 Lucas Harrell (W,2-2) - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 3 4
2.0 OAK 6, TEX 3 Josh Reddick, RF 4 1 2 3 - - - - - -
2.0 CLE 7, WSH 6 Tyler Naquin, PH 1 1 1 1 - - - - - -
2.0 NYY 6, HOU 3 Andrew Miller (S,9) - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 2
2.0 COL 6, BAL 3 Carlos Estevez (S,9) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 DET 9, BOS 8 Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C 4 0 3 2 - - - - - -
1.0 TOR 7, SD 6 (12) Justin Smoak, 1B 2 1 1 1 - - - - - -
0.0 STL 3, NYM 2 Jedd Gyorko, 3B 4 1 1 2 - - - - - -

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 +/-
Colon, Bartolo pi sp nym nl 5.7 12.4 54.3 145.8 -1.0
Norris, Bud 2638 pi sp lad nl 5.7 6.7 37.1 46.1 4.7
Seager, Kyle 3031 3b sea al 5.0 10.0 24.0 24.0 0.0
Koehler, Tom 3159 pi sp fla nl 4.0 8.0 16.0 16.0 0.0
Miller, Andrew 2436 pi cp nyy al 4.0 8.0 12.0 19.0 0.0
Reddick, Josh 2936 rf oak al 3.5 11.7 24.4 24.4 -4.7
Harrell, Lucas 2988 pi sp atl nl 3.0 3.0 7.7 7.7 3.0
Estevez, Carlos 3641 pi cp mr col nl 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
Gyorko, Jedd 3164 3b 2b stl nl 2.5 6.0 15.2 15.2 -1.0
Shields, James 2157 pi sp chi al 2.0 9.4 67.6 98.4 -5.4
Smoak, Justin 2731 1b tor al 2.0 7.0 16.9 21.4 -3.0
Saltalamacchia, Jarod 2355 ca det al 2.0 2.0 13.0 19.0 2.0
Naquin, Tyler 3662 cf ph cle al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Skaggs, Tyler 3183 pi sp ana al 1.7 1.7 11.4 11.4 1.7
Gennett, Scooter 3254 2b mil nl 1.5 3.5 10.5 10.5 -0.5
Cain, Matt 2081 pi sp sf nl 1.0 3.0 35.8 98.0 -1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

A 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.

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Reds' Johnny Cueto (CG 0R 2H 11K) tops players for Tuesday, July 7, rises to 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to 10th in player rankings.

Also Tuesday, Giants pitcher Matt Cain, who earned his first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor of the season, has now earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of July 7.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 14.0
2 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 13.4
3 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 12.4
4 Price, David 2593 pi sp det al 12.1
5 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 12.0
6 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 12.0
7 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 11.4
8 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 10.7
9 Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 10.7
10 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp cin nl 9.8
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Cueto pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout, striking out 11 and walking one, in the 5-0 win over the Nationals.

Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.8 for the season, rising to 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings. He ranks fifth among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out seven, in the 2-0 win over the Astros.

American League Batter of the Day—Alex Gordon of the Royals doubled and went 4-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 7-1 win over the Rays.

National League Batter of the Day—Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-4 win over the Cardinals.

Streak—Giants pitcher Matt Cain has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 11 straight seasons.

Cain was Player of the Game in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over the Mets (6IP 2H 0R 7K W) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.

Cain earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2005 with the Giants. His best season was 2010 with the Giants, when he had 16.1 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL pitchers. In 2014, he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point with the Giants.

Cain has 96.0 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 45th among all pitchers since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. His 96.0 career points ranks 15th among active NL pitchers.

Debut—Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Paulo Orlando of the Royals (HR 2-5 2R 4BI in the 9-5 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut April 19 and was playing in his 33rd career game. He is the 3,526th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Miguel Sano of the Twins (HR 2-3 R 3BI in the 8-3 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut July 2 and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,527th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

  • Cubs pitcher Dallas Beeler (5IP 4H 2R 6K ND in the 5-3 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut July 28, 2014, and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,528th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kluber earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Gordon and Rizzo each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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

7/7 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 17.0 Reds Johnny Cueto (W,6-5) - - - - - - 9.0 2 0 0 1 11
9.0 Giants Matt Cain (W,1-1) - - - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 2 7
AL 6.2 Indians Corey Kluber (W,4-9) - - - - - - 6.2 5 0 0 2 7
4.2 Dbacks Robbie Ray (W,3-4) - - - - - - 7.2 4 2 0 1 4
4.0 Braves Jason Grilli (S,24) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.2 Blue Jays Felix Doubront (W,1-0) - - - - - - 6.2 6 1 1 1 6
BAT 3.0 Royals Alex Gordon, LF 5 0 4 4 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Royals Paulo Orlando, CF 5 2 2 4 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Angels Mike Trout, CF 4 2 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Mariners Austin Jackson, CF 4 2 1 4 1 2 - - - - - -
3.0 Twins Miguel Sano, DH 3 1 2 3 1 0 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Cubs Anthony Rizzo, 1B 3 2 2 2 2 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Red Sox Koji Uehara (S,20) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 `Pirates Francisco Liriano - - - - - - 6.0 4 2 2 1 6
2.0 Phillies Jeff Francoeur, LF 5 2 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Athletics Drew Pomeranz (W,3-3) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 0
1.0 `Cubs Dallas Beeler - - - - - - 5.0 4 2 2 2 6
`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 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.

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