Reds' Michael Lorenzen tops players for Monday, May 1; Rays' Odorizzi tops AL players

Reds pitcher Michael Lorenzen is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Lorenzen pitched two scoreless innings, striking out three and earning the win, in the 4-3, 10-inning win over the Pirates.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 1:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 6.0
2 Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 5.7
3 Nova, Ivan 2796 pi sp pit nl 5.0
4 Vargas, Jason 2055 pi sp kc al 5.0
5 Holland, Greg 2906 pi cp col nl 5.0
6 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp bos al 4.7
7 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 4.4
8 Triggs, Andrew 3723 pi sp oak al 4.4
9 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 4.0
10 Kimbrel, Craig 2825 pi cp bos al 4.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi struck out six over five innings, allowing two hits and two runs, in the 4-2 win over the Marlins. Odorizzi picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because the game was tied, 2-2, when he exited.

Lorenzen and Odorizzi had identical Box-Toppers game scores Monday (+5.0), but Lorenzen wins overall Player of the Day honors on a tiebreaker—he earned the win his game, while Odorizzi picked up a no-decision, even though Odorizzi pitched more innings than Lorenzen (5.0 vs. 2.0).

American League Batter of the Day—Tyler Collins of the Tigers hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice, in the 7-1 win over the Indians.

National League Batter of the Day—Aaron Altherr of the Phillies hit two doubles and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 10-2 win over the Cubs.

Rankings—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. has the most season Box-Toppers points of the 11 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. McCullers (6.1IP 6H 2R 2BB 10K ND in the 6-2 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season. He ranks 24th among all players and 12th among AL pitchers.

Debut—Jorge Bonifacio of the Royals made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Bonifacio (HR 2-3 R 2BI in the 6-1 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut April 21 and was playing in his eighth career game. He is the 3,783rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Comment—After Sunday’s record-breaking day in Box-Toppers, in which Anthony Rendon of the Nationals had what seems to be the highest Box-Toppers game score for a batter (+15.0) in Box-Toppers’ 23-season tracking history, Monday’s game scores were some of the lowest of the season. In fact, the +5.0 game score earned by Lorenzen was the lowest such score to earn Player of the Day honors all season. If Lorenzen had earned Player of the Game honors with that score Sunday, he would have ranked ninth among the 15 games played and earned only 1.0 Box-Toppers point, rather than the 2.0 he received Monday, and would have received barely a mention. But in a comparatively lackluster, ho-hum Monday, he is the top dog, the lead story.

Scoring—Lorenzen 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. Collins and Altherr 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 

5/1 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 5.0 CIN 4, PIT 3 (F/10) Michael Lorenzen (W,2-0) - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 3
AL 5.0 `TB 4, MIA 2 Jake Odorizzi - - - - 5.0 2 2 1 1 6
4.1 `HOU 6, TEX 2 Lance McCullers Jr. - - - - 6.1 6 2 2 2 10
BAT 3.0 DET 7, CLE 1 Tyler Collins, CF 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 PHI 10, CHC 2 Aaron Altherr, LF 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 MIL 7, STL 5 (F/10) Jonathan Villar, 2B 3 2 2 2 - - - - - -
3.0 TOR 7, NYY 1 Ryan Goins, SS 3 1 1 4 - - - - - -
2.2 `SF 4, LAD 3 Steven Okert (H,2) - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 0 1
2.0 NYM 7, ATL 5 Michael Conforto, LF 4 1 2 3 - - - - - -
2.0 KC 6, CHW 1 Jorge Bonifacio, RF 3 1 2 2 - - - - - -
1.0 BAL 5, BOS 2 Manny Machado, 3B 4 2 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 the Game Pos Team ’17 ’16-17 ’12-17 Career +/-
McCullers, Lance 3488 pi sp hou al 3.0 9.1 15.8 15.8 -3.1
Altherr, Aaron 3563 lf ph phi nl 2.5 5.0 6.0 6.0 0.0
Conforto, Michael 3622 cf nym nl 2.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 -3.0
Lorenzen, Michael 3479 pi cp cin nl 2.0 3.0 4.0 4.0 1.0
Odorizzi, Jake 3291 pi sp tb al 1.7 8.1 27.8 27.8 -4.7
Collins, Tyler 3302 cf det al 1.5 1.5 4.5 4.5 1.5
Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 1.0 13.7 24.7 24.7 -11.7
Villar, Jonathan 3233 2b ss mil nl 1.0 5.0 7.0 7.0 -3.0
Goins, Ryan 3478 ss 2b tor al 1.0 2.5 7.0 7.0 -0.5
Okert, Steven 3745 pi mr sf nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Bonifacio, Jorge 3783 rf kc al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Nationals' Anthony Rendon tops players for Sunday, April 30, recording possibly highest Box-Toppers game score by batter since 1995

Anthony Rendon of the Nationals is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, recording what is possibly the highest Box-Toppers game score by a batter in Box-Toppers’ 23-season history.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 29:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 6.0
2 Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 5.7
3 Nova, Ivan 2796 pi sp pit nl 5.0
4 Vargas, Jason 2055 pi sp kc al 5.0
5 Holland, Greg 2906 pi cp col nl 5.0
6 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp bos al 4.7
7 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 4.4
8 Triggs, Andrew 3723 pi sp oak al 4.4
9 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 4.0
10 Kimbrel, Craig 2825 pi cp bos al 4.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Sunday, Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Rendon hit three home runs, doubled, went 6-for-6, scored five times and drove in 10 runs, in the 23-5 win over the Mets.

Rendon had a Box-Toppers game score of +15.0, which appears to be the highest score by a batter since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.

While Box-Toppers has records for each Player of the Game since the start of 1995, the data from actual game score records from box scores only goes back to the start of 2011. The previous high game score for a batter since 2011 was +12.0, done twice:

  • On June 9, 2014, Lonnie Chisenhall of the Indians (3HR 5-5 3R 9BI in the 17-7 win over the Rangers) earned Player of the Day honors.
  • On May 8, 2012, Josh Hamilton of the Rangers (4HR 2B 5-5 4R 8BI in the 10-3 win over the Orioles) earned Player of the Day honors.

However, looking back at some of the most likely games to produce high Box-Toppers game scores for batters from 1995 to 2010, it appears no batter had a higher game score than Rendon had Sunday.

Rendon became the 13th player in Major League history to have a game with 10 runs batted in. That’s a club that’s even rarer than the four-home run club, which has been done 16 times in Major League history.

During the Box-Toppers era (since 1995), there have been three games in which a player has had 10 RBIs and no player had a Box-Toppers game score of more than +12.0:

  • On May 10, 1999, Nomar Garciaparra of the Red Sox (3HR 3-4 3R 10BI in the 12-4 win over the Mariners) had a Box-Toppers game score of +12.0.
  • On April 26, 2005, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees (3HR 4-5 3R 10BI in the 12-4 win over the Angels) had a Box-Toppers game score of +12.0.
  • On Aug. 21, 2007, Garret Anderson of the Angels (2HR 2-2B 4-6 3R 10BI in the 18-9 win over the Yankees) had a Box-Toppers game score of +11.0.

Rendon also had a six-hit game, something that’s been done 101 times in Major League history (30 of those games happened in the 1800s). There have been 22 six-hit games in the Box-Toppers era (since 1995). The highest Box-Toppers game score of those games and what appears to be the previous high Box-Toppers game score for a batter (since 1995) was +13.0, achieved by Shawn Green of the Dodgers on May 23, 2002 (4HR 2B 6-6 6R 7BI in the 16-3 win over the Brewers).

Batters have hit four home runs in a game 16 times in Major League history, including four times during the Box-Toppers era (since 1995), however Green’s +13.0 score is the highest for those games. The other four-home run games during the Box-Toppers era:

  • On May 2, 2002, Mike Cameron of the Mariners (4HR 4-5 4R 4BI in the 15-4 win over the White Sox) had a Box-Toppers game score of +7.0.
  • On Sept. 25, 2002, Carlos Delgado of the Blue Jays (4HR 4-4 4R 6BI in the 10-8 win over the Devil Rays) had a Box-Toppers game score of +10.0.
  • On May 8, 2012, Josh Hamilton of the Rangers (4HR 2B 5-5 4R 8BI in the 10-3 win over the Orioles) had a Box-Toppers game score of +12.0.

While Rendon seems to have broken the “all-time” (since 1995) record for Box-Toppers game score for a batter, it is still only the second-best game score of 2017. On April 20, Chris Sale of the Red Sox had a Box-Toppers game score of +16.0 (8IP 4H 0R BB 13K ND in the 4-3, 10-inning win over the Blue Jays). Pitchers generally have more opportunity to earn high game scores than batters. In 2016, the highest overall game score was +22.0, earned by Vince Velasquez of the Phillies on April 14 (CG 3H 0R 0BB 16K W in the 3-0 win over the Padres).

(Related: Highest Box-Toppers game scores by batters in the 2016 season and 2015 season.)

American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher Ryan Tepera pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless middle relief, allowing one hit and striking out five, in the 3-1 win over the Rays. Tepera picked up a no decision and did not earn the win because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.

American League Batter of the Day—Miguel Sano of the Twins homered and went 3-for-5, driving in five runs, in the 7-5 win over the Royals.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall Player of the Day was NL batter Anthony Rendon.

Rankings—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rises to seventh in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Keuchel (7.2IP 3H R 2BB 9K W in the 7-2 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.4 for the season. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.

Streak—Justin Upton of the Tigers has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Upton (HR 2-3 2R BI in the 7-3 win over the White Sox) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2008 with the Diamondbacks and has 52.1 career points, fourth among active AL outfielders. His best season was 2011 with the Diamondbacks, when he had 9.7 points, 10th among NL batters. In 2016, he had 6.7 points with the Tigers, fourth among AL outfielders.

Debut—Reds pitcher Wandy Peralta made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Peralta (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 5-4 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut Sept. 4, 2016, and was playing in his 22nd career game. He is the 3,782nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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

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 

4/30 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 15.0 WSH 23, NYM 5 Anthony Rendon, 3B 6 5 6 10 - - - - - -
9.2 HOU 7, OAK 2 Dallas Keuchel (W,5-0) - - - - 7.2 3 1 1 2 9
8.1 `ARI 2, COL 0 (F/13) Patrick Corbin - - - - 6.1 2 0 0 2 6
AL 7.1 `TOR 3, TB 1 Ryan Tepera - - - - 3.1 1 0 0 0 5
6.1 LAD 5, PHI 3 Hyun-Jin Ryu (W,1-4) - - - - 5.1 3 1 1 3 9
6.0 MIA 10, PIT 3 Justin Bour, 1B 5 1 4 6 - - - - - -
6.0 `BOS 6, CHC 2 Eduardo Rodriguez - - - - 6.0 5 1 1 2 9
5.0 MIL 4, ATL 3 Domingo Santana, RF 3 2 2 4 - - - - - -
4.1 LAA 5, TEX 2 JC Ramirez (W,3-2) - - - - 5.1 4 2 2 2 9
BAT 4.0 MIN 7, KC 5 Miguel Sano, 3B 5 1 3 5 - - - - - -
4.0 SD 5, SF 2 (F/12) Ryan Buchter (W,2-1) - - - - 2.0 1 0 0 0 3
3.0 CLE 12, SEA 4 Abraham Almonte, RF 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 BAL 7, NYY 4 Logan Verrett (W,1-0) - - - - 2.0 1 0 0 0 2
3.0 CIN 5, STL 4 Wandy Peralta (W,1-0) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 DET 7, CHW 3 Justin Upton, LF 3 2 2 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 +/-
Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 4.4 11.4 47.2 47.2 -2.6
Sano, Miguel 3527 3b min al 4.0 7.0 13.0 13.0 1.0
Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 pi sp bos al 3.7 8.4 14.4 14.4 -1.0
Ramirez, JC 3778 pi sp ana al 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
Rendon, Anthony 3258 3b dc nl 2.0 7.5 14.0 14.0 -3.5
Corbin, Patrick 3027 pi sp cp ari nl 2.0 5.7 34.5 34.5 -1.7
Tepera, Ryan 3774 pi mr tor al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Upton, Justin 2411 lf det al 1.0 7.7 33.9 52.1 -5.7
Bour, Justin 3433 1b fla nl 1.0 3.5 13.5 13.5 -1.5
Almonte, Abraham 3554 rf cle al 1.0 3.0 4.5 4.5 -1.0
Verrett, Logan 3518 pi cp bal al 1.0 2.0 5.0 5.0 0.0
Buchter, Ryan 3626 pi mr sd nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Santana, Domingo 3507 rf mil nl 1.0 1.0 2.5 2.5 1.0
Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 pi sp lad nl 1.0 1.0 22.1 22.1 1.0
Peralta, Wandy 3782 pi mr cin nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Jose Fernandez is Box-Toppers' Most Improved Player in 2016

The late Jose Fernandez had the biggest gain in Box-Toppers points from 2015 to 2016, 17.7, far outdistancing second-place player, Tigers rookie pitcher Michael Fulmer (12.7).

Read More

Dbacks' Robbie Ray tops players for Saturday, Aug. 20; Mariners' Hernandez rises to 9th in career Box-Toppers points

Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray 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 Aug. 20:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 20.0
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 18.7
3 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 17.2
4 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 16.4
5 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 15.1
6 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 14.4
7 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 14.4
8 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 14.1
9 Happ, J.A. 2536 pi sp tor al 12.7
10 Altuve, Jose 3007 2b hou al 12.5
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rises to ninth place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began), passing Manny Ramirez on the “all-time” list. Plus, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw maintains his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings (with 20.0 Box-Toppers points) after Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (18.7 points) did not earn Player of the Game honors in his start Saturday.

Player of the Day—Ray struck out 13 over seven innings, allowing one run, one hit and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Padres.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing three hits and three walks, in the 6-2 win over the Athletics.

Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, most of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday. Sale ranks 11th among all players and fourth among AL pitchers. It was Sale’s first Player of the Game honor since June 26.

National League Batter of the Day—Anthony Rendon of the Nationals doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 11-9 win over the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day—Evan Longoria of the Rays homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-2 win over the Rangers.

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 182.0
6 Albert Pujols 1b dh ana al 181.3
7 Clayton Kershaw pi sp lad nl 179.3
8 Roy Halladay pi sp retired 170.7
9 Felix Hernandez pi sp sea al 167.7
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 Javier Vazquez pi sp retired 148.3
List of top 100 players since 1995 (as of July 15, 2016's All-Star break)

Hernandez—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rises to ninth place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Hernandez (8IP 7H 2R BB 8K W in the 8-2 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 167.7 for his career. He passes Manny Ramirez (167.2) on the “all-time” list and now trails eighth-ranked player, Roy Halladay (170.7). Hernandez has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Scherzer—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer did not pass Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw for the Box-Toppers points lead Saturday, despite earning the win in the 11-9 victory over the Braves.

Scherzer (6.1IP 6H 4R 3BB 6K W) had a Box-Toppers game score of −4.9. Player of the Game was Anthony Rendon (2B 4-5 3R BI), who had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0.

Scherzer could have passed Kershaw if he had won overall Player of the Day or NL Player of the Day. Scherzer ranks second in season Box-Toppers points with 18.7, behind Kershaw’s 20.0. It is the third start Scherzer has had when he’s been within striking distance of Kershaw, but all three times he has failed to capitalize. 

Kershaw has led in season Box-Toppers points since May 7 and maintains his lead even though he’s been on the disabled list for more than seven weeks. He could return as soon as late August.

Scoring—Ray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sale earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Rendon and Longoria 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

8/20 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 16.0 ARI 2, SD 1 Robbie Ray (W,7-11) - - - - 7.0 1 1 1 1 13
12.0 CIN 11, LAD 1 Brandon Finnegan (W,8-9) - - - - 7.0 1 0 0 2 8
11.0 MIA 3, PIT 1 David Phelps (W,7-6) - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 2 9
AL 10.0 CHW 6, OAK 2 Chris Sale (W,15-6) - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 3 8
10.0 KC 10, MIN 0 Ian Kennedy (W,8-9) - - - - 8.0 4 0 0 0 6
7.0 NYY 5, LAA 1 Luis Cessa (W,3-0) - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 1 5
6.0 HOU 12, BAL 2 Mike Fiers (W,9-6) - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 1 7
4.1 `CHC 9, COL 2 Mike Montgomery - - - - 4.1 1 1 1 2 5
4.0 SEA 8, MIL 2 Felix Hernandez (W,8-4) - - - - 8.0 7 2 2 1 8
BAT 3.0 WSH 11, ATL 9 Anthony Rendon, 3B 5 3 4 1 - - - - - -
3.0 NYM 9, SF 5 Yoenis Cespedes, LF 5 2 3 3 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 TB 8, TEX 2 Evan Longoria, 3B 3 2 2 2 - - - - - -
3.0 PHI 4, STL 2 Jeremy Hellickson (W,10-7) - - - - 7.0 7 2 2 1 8
2.1 BOS 3, DET 2 Craig Kimbrel (S,22) - - - - 1.1 1 0 0 0 2
2.0 TOR 6, CLE 5 Joe Biagini (W,4-2) - - - - 2.0 1 0 0 0 1
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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 +/-
Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 12.4 31.2 83.4 85.4 -6.4
Hellickson, Jeremy 2778 pi sp phi nl 11.1 16.1 39.8 42.8 6.1
Kennedy, Ian 2723 pi sp kc al 9.0 15.7 59.5 65.5 2.3
Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 cf lf nym nl 7.0 17.9 38.9 38.9 -3.9
Ray, Robbie 3502 pi sp ari nl 6.7 10.7 10.7 10.7 2.7
Phelps, David 2994 pi sp mr fla nl 6.7 10.1 23.5 23.5 3.3
Finnegan, Brandon 3535 pi sp cin nl 6.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 3.0
Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 5.0 24.4 90.4 167.7 -14.4
Kimbrel, Craig 2825 pi cp bos al 5.0 11.0 54.7 55.7 -1.0
Montgomery, Mike 3513 pi cp mr sp chi nl 5.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 1.0
Fiers, Michael 3029 pi sp hou al 4.0 11.0 25.1 25.1 -3.0
Longoria, Evan 2423 3b tb al 4.0 7.0 23.5 44.5 1.0
Rendon, Anthony 3258 3b dc nl 3.5 4.5 10.0 10.0 2.5
Biagini, Joe 3646 pi mr tor al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Cessa, Luis 3703 pi mr sp nyy al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Box-Toppers' top player Clayton Kershaw wins NL MVP; top-ranked AL batter Jose Abreu finishes behind Mike Trout for AL MVP

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2014, was voted National League Most Valuable Player Thursday.

Center fielder Mike Trout of the Angels was the unanimous choice for American League Most Valuable Player, though Trout ranked seventh among AL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2014.

Read More

If Box-Toppers points measured Silver Sluggers, most winners would be different

Only four of this year’s 18 Silver Slugger-award winners announced this week would receive the honor if it were measured by Box-Toppers points.

Read More

Pirates' Liriano tops players for Thursday, Sept. 11; trio of Box-Toppers top 10 players earn points

Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano is Thursday’s Player of the Day, while three pitchers in Box-Toppers player rankings top 10 also earned Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Liriano pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out 12 in the 4-1 win over the Phillies. Liriano earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.1 for the season. He ranks 45th among all players and 21st among National League pitchers. He is the 46th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points.

The three pitchers among Box-Toppers top 10 who earned Player of the Game honors Thursday are Corey Kluber of the Indians, Johnny Cueto of the Reds and Chris Sale of the White Sox. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.)

Kluber becomes the fourth player this season with 20.0 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors. Kluber (8.1IP 2R 7K W in the 8-2 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 20.4 for the season. He maintains his spot in fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings and is second among American League pitchers. He now trails AL pitching leader Max Scherzer of the Tigers (21.1 Box-Toppers points) by only 0.7 points.

Cueto maintained his spot in fifth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Cueto (8IP 0R 7K W in the 1-0 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 19.4 for the season. He ranks third among NL pitchers.

Sale moves up from eighth to seventh place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning AL Player of the Day honors. Sale pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out nine, in the 1-0 win over the Athletics. Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 17.4 for the season. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.

Chris Young of the Yankees is AL Batter of the Day. Young hit a walk-off three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice, in the 5-4 win over the Rays.

Anthony Rendon of the Nationals is NL Batter of the Day. Rendon hit a two-run homer and went 3-for-5, scoring twice, in the 6-2 win over the Mets.

Liriano receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Sale receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Young and Rendon each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Thursday’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, 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

911 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 Pirates Francisco Liriano (W, 5-10) - - - - - - 8.0 4 0 0 2 12
AL 13.0 White Sox Chris Sale (W, 12-3) - - - - - - 8.0 2 0 0 2 9
11.0 Reds Johnny Cueto (W, 18-8) - - - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 1 7
11.0 Indians T.J. House (W, 3-3) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 0 8
7.0 Brewers Mike Fiers (W, 6-2) - - - - - - 5.0 3 0 0 3 8
5.2 Giants Jake Peavy (W, 5-4) - - - - - - 5.2 6 1 1 0 8
3.1 Indians Corey Kluber (W, 15-9) - - - - - - 8.1 8 2 2 0 7
BAT 3.0 Yankees Chris Young LF 4 2 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
2.1 `Angels Cory Rasmus - - - - - - 3.1 2 1 1 0 3
BAT 2.0 Nationals Anthony Rendon 3B 5 2 3 2 0 1 - - - - - -
1.0 Red Sox Will Middlebrooks 3B 4 2 2 1 1 0 - - - - - -

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

 

Angels' Richards, Cubs' Rizzo lead in Box-Toppers points among All-Star Final Vote candidates

Angels pitcher Garrett Richards and Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo are the most deserving players to be chosen in the All-Star Game Final Vote, according to their Box-Toppers point total.

All-Star Final Vote

Here are the candidates for the 2014 All-Star Final Vote. There are five candidates from each league. One from each league will be chosen by fans in online voting for the final All-Star roster spots. Voting ends Thursday. Players are shown here in order of their Box-Toppers points total this season.

AL players Pos Team BTP
1 Garrett Richards pi sp ana al 10.7
2 Corey Kluber pi sp cle al 10.4
3 Chris Sale pi sp chi al 10.0
4 Dallas Keuchel pi sp hou nl 8.7
5 Rick Porcello pi sp det al 5.0
NL players Pos Team BTP
1 Anthony Rizzo 1b chi nl 5.5
2 Justin Upton lf atl nl 5.2
3 Casey McGehee 3b fla nl 3.5
4 Anthony Rendon 2b dc nl 2.0
5 Justin Morneau 1b col nl 1.5
BTP: Box-Toppers points

Richards has the most points among the five American League players on the ballot and Rizzo has the most among the five National League players on the ballot in which fans vote for the 34th and final roster spots for both teams in the July 15 All-Star Game. Voting ends Thursday.

Richards has 10.7 Box-Toppers points, 10th among all players and fifth among AL pitchers, narrowly ahead of Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (10.4 Box-Toppers points, 12th among all players).

Richards is also the top-ranked AL player in Box-Toppers points who was not selected to the All-Star team.

Rizzo is the top player among the five NL players on the Final Vote ballot, but is far from the top-ranked NL player in Box-Toppers points who was not selected to the All-Star team. That honor would go to non-All-Star Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, who has 9.0 Box-Toppers points and ranks eighth among NL players.

Rizzo, by comparison, with 5.5 Box-Toppers points, ranks 29th among NL players. However, he ranks third among NL batters and is the top-ranked NL batter not selected to the All-Star team.

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.