Angels' Nolasco tops players for Saturday, July 1; Red Sox' Sale rises to lead AL pitchers in '17 Box-Toppers points

Angels pitcher Ricky Nolasco 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 2017 season as of July 1:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.1
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	14.0
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	13.1
4	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	12.4
5	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	10.4
6	Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	10.0
7	Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	10.0
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7
9	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	9.4
10	McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	hou al	9.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to third place in Box-Toppers player rankings—first among American League pitchers—after earning Player of the Game honors. Two others who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday also rise in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings—Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco and Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke.

Player of the Game—Nolasco pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking none, in the 4-0 win over the Mariners.

Nolasco had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +13.0, tied with two others who earned Player of the Game Saturday—Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill and Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale. But Nolasco beat them both on a tiebreaker since he had more innings pitched (9 vs. 7 vs. 7).

National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 8-0 win over the Dodgers.

American League Batter of the Day—Eddie Rosario of the Twins went 5-for-5, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 10-5 win over the Royals.

National League Batter of the Day—Orlando Arcia of the Brewers homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice, in the 8-4 win over the Marlins.

Rankings—Three players who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings:

• Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (7IP 4H 0R BB 11K W in the 7-1 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.1 for the season. He rises from fourth to third place in season player rankings, behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (18.1) and Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (14.0). Sale also rises to first place among AL pitchers, passing previous leader Ervin Santana of the Twins (12.4).
• Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco (7IP 4H R BB 7K W in the 4-1 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season. He rises from eighth to fifth place in season player rankings and third among AL pitchers. He is the seventh player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. It is the fourth straight season Carrasco has earned 10 or more points.
• Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke (7IP 3H 2R 0BB 8K in the 6-2 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.7 for the season. He rises to eighth in Box-Toppers season player rankings, fifth among NL pitchers. He also now has 165.8 career Box-Toppers points, 12th-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 11th-place player Johan Santana (166.6).

Streaks—Two players extended streaks of 10 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points after both earned their first Player of the Game honors Saturday:

• Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (6.2IP 2H 2R 0BB 6K W in the 10–4 win over the White Sox) has now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Phillies and has 145.0 career points, 27th-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 26th-ranked player, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (145.7). Hamels’ best season was 2016 with the Rangers when he had 17.8 Box-Toppers points, second among AL pitchers.
• Asdrubal Cabrera of the Mets (HR 2B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 7-6 win over the Phillies) has now earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Indians and has 43.7 career points, 21st among active NL batters. His best season was 2011 with the Indians, when he had 14.7 points, first among AL batters. Interestingly, his second-best season is not within 10 Box-Toppers points of that—he had 4.5 points in both 2008 and 2009 with the Indians. He had 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016 with the Mets.

Scoring—Nolasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hill earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Rosario and Arcia 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 

7/1	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	LAA 4, SEA 0	Ricky Nolasco (W, 4-9)	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	0	0	0	7
NL	13.0	LAD 8, SD 0	Rich Hill (W, 5-4)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	1	11
	13.0	BOS 7, TOR 1	Chris Sale (W, 11-3)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	1	11
	10.0	STL 2, WSH 1	Michael Wacha (W, 5-3)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	1	9
	8.0	ARI 6, COL 2	Zack Greinke (W, 10-4)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	2	2	0	8
	7.0	CLE 4, DET 1	Carlos Carrasco (W, 9-3)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	1	7
	6.2	TEX 10, CHW 4	Cole Hamels (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-		6.2	2	2	2	0	6
BAT	4.0	MIN 10, KC 5	Eddie Rosario (LF)	5	3	5	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	HOU 7, NYY 6	Yuli Gurriel (1B)	4	1	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	TB 10, BAL 3	Logan Morrison (1B)	3	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	KC 11, MIN 6	Brandon Moss (DH)	4	3	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	DET 7, CLE 4	Justin Wilson (S, 8)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	ATL 4, OAK 3	Jim Johnson (S, 18)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.1	`SF 2, PIT 1 (F/11)	George Kontos	-	-	-	-		1.1	1	0	0	0	2
BAT	2.0	MIL 8, MIA 4	Orlando Arcia (SS)	4	2	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	NYM 7, PHI 6	Asdrubal Cabrera (2B)	4	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.1	CIN 5, CHC 3	Raisel Iglesias (S, 15)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	0

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	+/-
Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	13.1	26.5	94.5	99.5	-0.3
Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	10.4	22.8	51.5	56.9	-2.0
Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7	19.4	88.7	165.8	0.0
Rosario, Eddie 3542	lf	min al	5.2	8.2	9.7	9.7	2.2
Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	lad nl	4.7	19.1	23.1	42.8	-9.7
Morrison, Logan 2794	1b	tb al	4.2	6.2	16.2	21.7	2.2
Nolasco, Ricky 2125	pi sp	ana al	4.0	15.4	32.1	91.2	-7.4
Johnson, Jim 2417	pi cp	atl nl	4.0	8.0	19.0	25.7	0.0
Wilson, Justin 3140	pi cp	det al	4.0	5.0	10.0	10.0	3.0
Gurriel, Yuli 3796	1b	hou al	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7
Moss, Brandon 2520	dh rf lf 1b	kc al	2.0	6.0	27.0	29.0	-2.0
Iglesias, Raisel 3467	pi cp	cin nl	2.0	5.0	7.7	7.7	-1.0
Wacha, Michael 3276	pi sp	stl nl	2.0	4.0	21.7	21.7	0.0
Arcia, Orlando 3717	ss	mil nl	1.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	0.5
Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	1.0	18.8	70.0	145.0	-16.8
Kontos, George 3106	pi mr cp	sf nl	1.0	4.0	8.7	8.7	-2.0
Cabrera, Asdrubal 2362	2b ss	nym nl	1.0	3.0	13.0	43.7	-1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Red Sox' Chris Sale tops players for Monday, June 26, ranks 4th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and ranks fourth in season player rankings.

Also Monday, Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of June 26:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	16.4
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	13.0
3	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	12.4
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	12.1
5	Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	10.0
6	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	9.4
7	McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	hou al	9.4
8	Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	9.0
9	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	8.7
10	Judge, Aaron 3767	rf	nyy al	8.2

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Sale struck out nine over 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run, four hits and two walks, in the 4-1 win over the Twins.

Sale earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.1 for the season. He maintains his rank of fourth place in season player rankings, second place among American League pitchers, behind Ervin Santana of the Twins (12.4).

National League Player of the Day—Jedd Gyorko of the Cardinals homered and went 2-for-3, driving in three runs, in the 8-2 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Lonnie Chisenhall of the Indians went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 15-9 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	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	200.1
4	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	190.0
6	Alex Rodriguez	dh	released	187.0
7	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	184.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	169.7
10	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
11	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
12	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	164.8
13	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
14	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
15	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
16	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
17	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
18	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
19	Bartolo Colon	pi sp	atl nl	151.2
20	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0

BTP: Box-Toppers points
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the close of the 2016 season.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Jedd Gyorko.

Rankings—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Greinke (5IP 3H R 3BB 5K W in the 6-1 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL pitchers.

Greinke also now rises to 12th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Monday, Greinke has 164.8 career points and passes Roger Clemens (164.8) on the “all-time” list. (Though both Greinke and Clemens have identical career Box-Toppers point totals, Greinke ranks higher because he has more Box-Toppers points in 2017.) And it should be noted that Clemens’ entire career from 1984 was not tracked by Box-Toppers—only his career from 1995 on. If his entire career were tracked, rough projections put his career Box-Toppers point total at 320.

Greinke now trails 11th-ranked player Johan Santana (166.6) on the “all-time” Box-Toppers career points list.

Scoring—Sale earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gyorko earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Chisenhall earns 1.5 points for being AL 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 

6/26	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.1	BOS 4, MIN 1	Chris Sale (W, 10-3)	-	-	-	-		6.1	4	1	1	2	9
	7.0	NYY 6, CHW 5	Jordan Montgomery (W, 6-4)	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	1	8
	4.1	LAA 4, LAD 0	Ricky Nolasco (W, 3-9)	-	-	-	-		6.1	5	0	0	2	5
BAT	3.0	CLE 15, TEX 9	Lonnie Chisenhall (RF)	5	2	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
NL	3.0	STL 8, CIN 2	Jedd Gyorko (3B)	3	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	SF 9, COL 2	Buster Posey (C)	4	0	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	ARI 6, PHI 1	Zack Greinke (W, 9-4)	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	1	1	3	5
	1.0	CHC 5, WSH 4	Albert Almora Jr. (CF)	1	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	+/-
Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	12.1	25.5	93.5	98.5	-1.3
Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	8.7	18.4	87.7	164.8	-1.0
Posey, Buster 2745	ca 1b	sf nl	5.5	9.0	34.0	38.5	2.0
Chisenhall, Lonnie 2959	rf cf	cle al	3.5	7.0	15.0	17.0	0.0
Montgomery, Jordan 3814	pi sp	nyy al	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Nolasco, Ricky 2125	pi sp	ana al	2.0	13.4	30.1	89.2	-9.4
Almora, Albert Jr. 3764	cf	chi nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Gyorko, Jedd 3164	3b	stl nl	1.7	4.2	16.9	16.9	-0.8

What are those numbers after players' names?

Tigers' Justin Verlander tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 27; Nationals' Scherzer extends Box-Toppers points lead

Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander 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 Sept. 27:  

	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	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	15.4
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 Tuesday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer extended his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. But Scherzer (25.7 Box-Toppers points) is now just 1.3 points ahead of second-place player Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (24.4), meaning Kershaw could still pass Scherzer for the season points title in his scheduled start Saturday. The season ends Sunday.

In addition Tuesday, Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Verlander pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out 12 and allowing four hits and one walk, in the 12-0 win over the Indians.

Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.7 for the season, rising to 12th place among all players and fourth place among American League pitchers.

Verlander also rises to 28th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he now has 139.3 points, passing 29th-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5). He trails 27th-ranked player, Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8).

National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Matt Moore struck out 11 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run, six hits and no walks, in the 12-3 win over the Rockies.

Moore earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 11.4 for the season. He becomes the 49th player in 2016 with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and rises to 33rd place among all players, 16th among NL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Hunter Renfroe of the Padres hit a grand slam and a three-run homer in the 7-1 win over the Dodgers. Renfroe went 2-for-4.

This was Renfroe’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Renfroe made his Major League debut Sept. 21 and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,749th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Tim Anderson of the White Sox homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 13-6 win over the Rays.

Best seasons

Here are all players who have earned 25 or more Box-Toppers points in a single season since 1995, ranked by their single-season Box-Toppers point total. Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer’s 2016 point total of 25.7 now is tied for the 20th-best in a single season.  

Rank	Player	Team	Pos	Year	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2000	33.7
1	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2002	33.7
3	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	2000	33.5
4	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	1999	31.5
4	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2014	31.5
6	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	1999	31.4
7	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2001	29.4
8	Jake Arrieta	Cubs	pi sp	2015	29.1
9	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	2002	28.8
10	Curt Schilling	Dbacks	pi sp	2002	28.4
11	Roger Clemens	Blue Jays	pi sp	1997	27.4
12	Johan Santana	Twins	pi sp	2004	26.8
13	Pedro Martinez	Expos	pi sp	1997	26.7
13	CC Sabathia	Indians/Brewers	pi sp	2008	26.7
15	Randy Johnson	Mariners/Astros	pi sp	1998	26.4
16	John Smoltz	Braves	pi sp	1996	26.1
16	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2011	26.1
18	Roger Clemens	Blue Jays	pi sp	1998	25.8
18	Corey Kluber	Indians	pi sp	2014	25.8
20	Johan Santana	Twins	pi sp	2006	25.7
20	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2015	25.7
20	*Max Scherzer	Nationals	pi sp	2016	25.7
23	Cliff Lee	Phillies	pi sp	2011	25.4
	* Current season

Box-Toppers points leader—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer extended his lead in Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday. Scherzer now has 25.7 Box-Toppers points, the 23rd time in Box-Toppers’ 22-season history that a player has earned 25 or more Box-Toppers points in a season.

Scherzer (6IP 6H 2R 2BB 10K W in the 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks) is now 1.3 points ahead of second-place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (24.4). Kershaw is scheduled to start Saturday, meaning he could pass Scherzer if he earns NL Player of the Day (worth 1.7 points) or overall Player of the Day (worth 2.0 points). However, Scherzer is also in line to make his final start of the season Sunday.

Scherzer took the Box-Toppers points lead from Kershaw on Aug. 25. Kershaw had been in the lead since May 7 and raced to a commanding lead with 20.0 points by the end of June, but went on the disabled list for two months after that, allowing Scherzer to catch and pass him.

Scherzer’s 25.7 points now ranks tied for 20th among the highest single-season Box-Toppers points since tracking began in 1995. Two other players achieved 25.7 in a single season—Johan Santana of the Twins in 2006 and Kershaw in 2015. (See the Best seasons chart.)

Scherzer also now has 131.7 career Box-Toppers points, 31st-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 30th-ranked player Jason Giambi (133.4).

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

Syndergaard (6IP 5H R 0BB 8K W in the 12-1 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.7 for the season, passing Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (15.7) on the season top 10 list and now trails sixth-place player, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (17.8). Syndergaard ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

Notable—Angels pitcher Ricky Nolasco now has 11.4 Box-Toppers points on the season after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Nolasco (8IP 5H R 2BB 4K W in the 8-1 win over the Athletics) ranks 32nd among all players and 13th among AL pitchers.

Debut—Raul A. Mondesi of the Royals made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Mondesi (BB R 0-0 in the 4-3, 11-inning win over the Twins) made his Major League debut Oct. 30, 2015, and was playing in his 46th career game. He is the 3,750th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Mondesi is the son of outfielder Raul R. Mondesi, who played from 1993 to 2005. The elder Mondesi earned 59.9 career Box-Toppers points from 1995, when tracking began, through 2003, when he last earned points.

Scoring—Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Moore earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Renfroe and Anderson each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/27	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	14.2	DET 12, CLE 0	Justin Verlander (W,16-8)	-	-	-	-		7.2	4	0	0	1	12
NL	10.2	SF 12, COL 3	Matt Moore (W,12-12)	-	-	-	-		7.2	6	1	1	0	11
BAT	7.0	SD 7, LAD 1	Hunter Renfroe, RF	4	2	2	7		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	NYM 12, MIA 1	Noah Syndergaard (W,14-9)	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	1	1	0	8
	6.0	TOR 5, BAL 1	Aaron Sanchez (W,14-2)	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	1	1	3	10
	5.0	STL 12, CIN 5	Jhonny Peralta, 3B	4	2	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	LAA 8, OAK 1	Ricky Nolasco (W,8-14)	-	-	-	-		8.0	5	1	0	2	4
	4.0	WSH 4, ARI 2	Max Scherzer (W,19-7)	-	-	-	-		6.0	6	2	2	2	10
BAT	3.0	CHW 13, TB 6	Tim Anderson, SS	5	2	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	ATL 7, PHI 6	Tyler Flowers, C	4	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	NYY 6, BOS 4	Tyler Austin, 1B	3	1	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	HOU 8, SEA 4	George Springer, RF	5	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	`CHC 6, PIT 4	Trevor Cahill (H,3)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	TEX 6, MIL 4	Carlos Gomez, LF	4	1	1	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	KC 4, MIN 3 (11)	Raul Mondesi, 2B	0	1	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	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	25.7	46.7	111.3	131.7	4.7
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	16.7	27.1	27.1	27.1	6.3
Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	14.7	21.1	84.3	139.3	8.3
Nolasco, Ricky 2125	pi sp	ana al	11.4	13.4	34.1	87.2	9.4
Moore, Matt 2975	pi sp	sf nl	11.4	11.4	36.9	36.9	11.4
Sanchez, Aaron 3392	pi sp	tor al	9.7	11.7	13.7	13.7	7.7
Springer, George 3337	rf	hou al	6.5	7.5	10.5	10.5	5.5
Anderson, Tim 3659	ss	chi al	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5
Gomez, Carlos 2397	lf cf	tex al	3.0	9.0	19.5	30.5	-3.0
Cahill, Trevor 2658	pi mr sp	chi nl	3.0	4.0	27.1	40.2	2.0
Flowers, Tyler 3101	ca	atl nl	2.5	3.5	11.0	11.0	1.5
Austin, Tyler 3732	1b	nyy al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Renfroe, Hunter 3749	rf	sd nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Peralta, Jhonny 1815	3b ss	stl nl	1.0	1.0	12.0	39.4	1.0
Mondesi, Raul A. 3750	2b	kc al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Yankees' Chad Green tops players for Monday, Aug. 15; Mariners' Hernandez rises to 10th on career Box-Toppers points list

Yankees pitcher Chad Green 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 2016 season as of Aug. 15:  

	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	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	16.2
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	14.1
8	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	13.4
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 Monday, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rises to 10th place in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors. Hernandez passes Johan Santana who had been among Box-Toppers “all-time” top 10 players for more than six years.

Player of the Day—Green pitched six scoreless innings, striking out 11 and allowing two hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Blue Jays.

National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher David Phelps struck out eight over 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs, four hits and one walk, in the 6-3 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit a grand slam, going 1-for-2, in the 5-2 win over the Athletics.

Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 109.8 for his career, rising to 53rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Monday, Beltre passes three players on the “all-time” list—Billy Wagner (108.7), Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (109.0) and Jeff Kent (109.7). Beltre now trails 52nd-ranked player Tom Glavine (110.6).

Beltre also has 8.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, rising to seventh place among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—Wellington Castillo of the Diamondbacks hit two doubles and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 10-6 win over the Mets.

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	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
10	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	166.7
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 10th place in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Hernandez (6.2IP 4H 2R 4BB 8K W in the 3-2 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 166.7 for his career. He passes Johan Santana (166.6) on the “all-time” list. Santana has been in the top 10 since July 23, 2010, when he reached 151.9 career Box-Toppers points, passing Greg Maddux (151.7). Hernandez now trails ninth-place player Manny Ramirez (167.2).

Hernandez has 4.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 15.4 points below his 2015 total of 19.4, when he ranked eighth among all players.

Notable—Red Sox pitcher Drew Pomeranz has the highest Box-Toppers season point total of the 10 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday.

Pomeranz (7.2IP 5H 2R 2BB 6K W in the 3-2 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season, rising to 15th place among all players and fourth among AL pitchers. It is the first point he has earned since being traded from the Padres to the Red Sox July 15.

Scherzer—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer had the chance to take the season Box-Toppers points lead Monday, but did not earn Player of the Game honors in his team’s 5-4 win over the Rockies.

Scherzer (4IP 7H 4R 2BB 3K ND) had a Box-Toppers game score of −10, uncharacteristically low for him. Player of the Game was Jayson Werth (HR 2-4 R 2BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +1.0.

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw has led Box-Toppers season player rankings since May 7 and continues to lead even after being on the disabled list for six weeks. Kershaw has 20.0 Box-Toppers points, Scherzer has 18.7. Had Scherzer won overall Player of the Day or NL Player of the Day honors, he would have passed Kershaw for the lead. Kershaw could return to pitch as soon as late August.

Scoring—Green earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Phelps earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Beltre and Castillo 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

8/15	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	15.0	NYY 1, TOR 0	Chad Green (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	0	11
	6.0	TB 8, SD 2	Drew Smyly (W,5-11)	-	-	-	-		7.0	1	1	1	2	4
NL	4.1	MIA 6, CIN 3	David Phelps (W,6-6)	-	-	-	-		5.1	4	2	2	1	8
BAT	4.0	TEX 5, OAK 2	Adrian Beltre, 3B	2	1	1	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.2	KC 3, DET 1	Ian Kennedy (W,7-9)	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	1	1	1	5
BAT	3.0	ARI 10, NYM 6	Welington Castillo, C	5	2	4	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	PIT 8, SF 5	Gregory Polanco, RF	4	1	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.2	BOS 3, CLE 2	Drew Pomeranz (W,9-9)	-	-	-	-		7.2	5	2	2	2	6
	2.2	SEA 3, LAA 2	Felix Hernandez (W,7-4)	-	-	-	-		6.2	4	2	2	4	8
	1.0	WSH 5, COL 4	Jayson Werth, LF	4	1	2	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	+/-
Pomeranz, Drew 3061	pi sp	bos al	11.4	14.4	22.4	22.4	8.4
Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	8.0	20.5	46.4	109.8	-4.5
Kennedy, Ian 2723	pi sp	kc al	8.0	14.7	58.5	64.5	1.3
Smyly, Drew 3009	pi sp	tb al	7.4	13.4	35.5	35.5	1.4
Phelps, David 2994	pi mr sp	fla nl	5.7	9.1	22.5	22.5	2.3
Polanco, Gregory 3361	rf	pit nl	5.5	8.5	12.5	12.5	2.5
Werth, Jayson 1664	lf	dc nl	4.5	7.5	21.5	48.7	1.5
Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	4.0	23.4	89.4	166.7	-15.4
Castillo, Wellington 3251	ca	ari nl	3.0	6.5	9.5	9.5	-0.5
Green, Chad 3675	pi sp	nyy al	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Padres' Edwin Jackson tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 10; Blue Jays' Happ rises to 9th in Box-Toppers points

Padres pitcher Edwin Jackson is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

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

	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	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	16.2
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	14.1
8	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	13.4
9	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	12.7
10	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	12.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals extends his Box-Toppers points lead among National League batters after both earned Player of the Game honors.

Plus, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez passes Roger Clemens on the career Box-Toppers points list, rising to 11th place.

Player of the Day—Jackson pitched seven scoreless innings,allowing two hit and three walks and striking out seven, in the 4-0 win over the Pirates.

American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ pitched six scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing four hits and two walks, in the 7-0 win over the Rays.

Happ earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.7 for the season, rising to ninth in season player rankings, third among AL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Jayson Werth of the Nationals hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 7-4 win over the Indians.

American League Batter of the Day—Gary Sanchez of the Yankees homered and went 4-for-5, scoring twice, in the 9-4 win over the Red Sox.

This was Sanchez’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Sanchez made his Major League debut Oct. 3, 2015, and was playing in his ninth career game. He is the 3,701st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Rankings—Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals extended his season Box-Toppers points lead among NL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Carpenter (HR 3B 2-3 2R BI in the 3-2 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.5 for the season. He ranks 34th among all players. This was his first Player of the Game honor and first Box-Toppers point since June 28, when he took the lead among NL batters.

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	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	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
10	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
11	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	165.7
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)

Notable—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez passes Roger Clemens in Box-Toppers “all-time” rankings, rising to 11th place, after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Hernandez (7IP 3H R 4BB 8K ND in the 3-1 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 165.7 career points. He rises to 11th place among all players and eighth place among all pitchers (passing Clemens’s 164.8) in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Hernandez now trails 10th-place player Johan Santana (166.6).

While Hernandez passes Clemens on the “all-time” list, it should be noted that Clemens’s career began in 1984, before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, and so he would likely have more Box-Toppers points (rough estimates based on projections put his career total at about 320 Box-Toppers points).

Hernandez’s meteoric rise up Box-Toppers “all-time” rankings has been slowed somewhat this year by injury. He only has 3.0 Box-Toppers points this year and has not earned points since May 21, when he inched within 0.1 point of Clemens’s career total. From 2009 to 2015, Hernandez had seven straight seasons with 10 or more Box-Toppers points, including two with more than 20 and five with 18 or more. He had 20.8 points in 2014 and 19.4 in 2015. Despite his consistently high totals, Hernandez has never led AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points in any season.

Also notable—Phillies pitcher Jeremy Hellickson became the 21st player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Hellickson (5IP 3H R BB 7K ND in the 6-2 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.1 for the season, rising to 21st place among all players and 12th among NL pitchers. It is Hellickson’s first 10-point season. His previous season high was 9.0 Box-Toppers points in 2012 with the Rays.

Scoring—Jackson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Happ earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Werth and Sanchez 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

8/10	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	SD 4, PIT 0	Edwin Jackson (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	3	7
	8.0	`ARI 3, NYM 2 (12)	Robbie Ray	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	0	4
	7.0	CHC 3, LAA 1	Jason Hammel (W,12-5)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	2	6
AL	7.0	TOR 7, TB 0	J.A. Happ (W,16-3)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	2	7
	6.0	`SEA 3, DET 1	Felix Hernandez	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	1	4	8
	6.0	`PHI 6, LAD 2	Jeremy Hellickson	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	1	1	1	7
BAT	5.0	WSH 7, CLE 4	Jayson Werth, LF	3	3	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	KC 3, CHW 2 (14)	Dillon Gee (W,4-5)	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	3
	4.0	OAK 1, BAL 0	Ross Detwiler (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		8.0	6	0	0	0	2
	2.2	SF 1, MIA 0	Jeff Samardzija (W,10-8)	-	-	-	-		5.2	3	0	0	3	3
BAT	2.0	NYY 9, BOS 4	Gary Sanchez, DH	5	2	4	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	STL 3, CIN 2	Matt Carpenter, 1B	3	2	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	TEX 5, COL 4	Matt Bush (S,1)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	MIL 4, ATL 3	Tyler Thornburg (S,4)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	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	+/-
Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	12.7	25.8	41.2	49.2	-0.4
Hellickson, Jeremy 2778	pi sp	phi nl	10.1	15.1	38.8	41.8	5.1
Hammel, Jason 2235	pi sp	chi nl	9.0	18.7	42.1	55.2	-0.7
Carpenter, Matt 2987	3b 1b 2b	stl nl	8.5	14.0	28.5	28.5	3.0
Samardzija, Jeff 2495	pi sp	sf nl	5.7	15.1	43.8	44.8	-3.7
Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	4.7	8.7	8.7	8.7	0.7
Werth, Jayson 1664	lf	dc nl	3.5	6.5	20.5	47.7	0.5
Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	3.0	22.4	88.4	165.7	-16.4
Thornburg, Tyler 3195	pi cp mr	mil nl	3.0	3.0	9.0	9.0	3.0
Gee, Dillon 2808	pi sp	kc al	2.0	3.0	29.8	30.8	1.0
Jackson, Edwin 1812	pi sp	sd nl	2.0	2.0	21.0	42.8	2.0
Bush, Matt 3673	pi mr cp	tex al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Sanchez, Gary 3701	dh	nyy al	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Detwiler, Ross 2971	pi sp	oak al	1.0	2.0	10.0	10.0	0.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops players for Thursday, May 12, solidifies lead in season Box-Toppers points, rises to 8th in ‘all-time' points

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, pitching a three-hit shutout, is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and solidifies his lead 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 12:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	9.0
2	Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	bal al	6.7
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	6.0
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	6.0
5	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	5.7
6	Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	5.7
7	De La Rosa, Rubby 3342	pi sp	ari nl	5.7
8	Davis, Chris 2478	1b	bal al	5.5
9	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	5.4
10	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	5.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Kershaw also rises two spots to eighth place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when tracking began.

Kershaw pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, allowing one walk and striking out 13, in the 5-0 win over the Mets. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.0 for the season, 2.3 more than second-place player, Manny Machado of the Orioles.

Kershaw also now has 168.3 career Box-Toppers points and rises from 10th to eighth on Box-Toppers “all-time” player rankings, passing two players—Johan Santana (166.6) and Manny Ramirez (167.2). Kershaw trails seventh-place player Roy Halladay (170.7).

American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher David Price struck out 12 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run and six hits, in the 11-1 win over the Astros.

National League Batter of the Day—Matt Holliday of the Cardinals hit two homers and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 12-10 win over the Angels.

All-time leaders

Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	pi sp	retired	278.8
2	Pedro Martinez	pi sp	retired	244.8
3	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
4	Alex Rodriguez	dh	nyy al	187.0
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	180.0
6	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	175.3
7	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
8	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	168.3
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	163.7
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
16	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
17	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
18	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	149.4
19	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
20	Javier Vazquez	pi sp	retired	148.3

List of top 100 players since 1995 (through the 2015 season)

American League Batter of the Day—Chase Headley of the Yankees homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-3 win over the Royals.

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

• Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (7IP 8H 2R 9K W in the 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season, rising to fourth place. He ranks third among NL pitchers.
• Chris Davis of the Orioles (2B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 7-5 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.5 for the season, rising to eighth place. He ranks second among AL batters, behind teammate Manny Machado (6.7). In addition, Davis Thursday earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day—he was Player of the Game Wednesday in the 9-2 win over the Twins.

Streak—Padres pitcher James Shields has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Shields (7IP 7H 0R 9K W in the 3-0 win over the Brewers) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Rays and has 97.4 career points, 11th among active NL pitchers. His best season was 2011 with the Rays when he had 20.1 points, third among AL pitchers. He had 5.7 points in 2015 with the Padres.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Price earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Holliday and Headley 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

5/12	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	18.0	Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw (W,5-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	0	0	1	13
AL	9.2	Red Sox	David Price (W,5-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	6	1	1	1	12
	8.0	Padres	James Shields (W,2-5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	7	0	0	1	9
BAT	5.0	Cardinals	Matt Holliday, DH	5	3	4	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Yankees	Chase Headley, 3B	3	2	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Phillies	Odubel Herrera, CF	4	2	4	0	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Orioles	Chris Davis, 1B	4	2	2	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Giants	Johnny Cueto (W,5-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	8	2	2	2	9

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	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	9.0	34.7	134.8	168.3	-16.7
Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	6.0	18.8	70.0	89.4	-6.8
Davis, Chris 2478	1b	bal al	5.5	16.5	47.4	55.9	-5.5
Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	4.7	25.8	81.8	98.5	-16.4
Holliday, Matt 1836	1b dh lf	stl nl	3.0	4.5	34.7	94.8	1.5
Herrera, Odubel 3449	cf	phi nl	2.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	-2.0
Headley, Chase 2552	3b	nyy al	1.5	3.5	15.0	25.5	-0.5
Shields, James 2157	pi sp	sd nl	1.0	8.4	66.6	97.4	-6.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Brewers' Hill tops players for Saturday, May 7; Dodgers' Kershaw takes Box-Toppers points lead

Aaron Hill of the Brewers 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 May 7:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	7.0
2	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	6.0
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	5.7
4	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	5.4
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	5.0
6	Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	5.0
7	Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	5.0
8	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	5.0
9	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	4.7
10	Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	4.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Meanwhile, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rises to take the lead in season Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Hill hit three homers, including a 10th-inning, go-ahead grand slam, in the 13-7 win over the Reds. Hill went 3-for-5 and drove in seven total runs.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale struck out nine over seven innings, allowing two runs and three hits, in the 7-2 win over the Twins.

Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season, rising to third place in season player rankings, first among AL players.

American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit two homers and went 2-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 10-5 win over the Tigers.

Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 104.3 for his career. He rises to 59th place in points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Saturday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (103.3) and Jamie Moyer (104.0). Beltre has 2.5 Box-Toppers points for the season.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall Player of the Day was an NL batter, Aaron Hill of the Brewers.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rose to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Kershaw (7IP 8H 2R 10K W in the 6-2 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season. He passes previous leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (6.0).

Also, Kershaw now has 166.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 10th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails ninth-place player, Johan Santana (166.6).

Notable—Two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday:

• Athletics pitcher Rich Hill (5.2IP 2H R 5K W in the 8-4 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.4 for the season, rising to fourth place.
• Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (8.1IP 8H 0R 3K ND in the 2-1, 13-inning win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to fifth place.

Scoring—Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Sale earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Beltre earns 1.5 points for being AL 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

5/7	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	8.0	Brewers	Aaron Hill, 3B	5	3	3	7	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
AL	8.0	White Sox	Chris Sale (W,7-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	2	2	1	9
	7.0	Royals	Ian Kennedy (W,4-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	2	6
	5.1	`Mariners	Nathan Karns	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	6	1	1	2	9
	5.0	Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw (W,4-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	8	2	2	0	10
BAT	4.0	Rangers	Adrian Beltre, 3B	4	2	2	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Yankees	Nathan Eovaldi (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	6	2	2	0	6
	3.2	Athletics	Rich Hill (W,4-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.2	2	1	1	3	5
	3.0	Cardinals	Stephen Piscotty, RF	3	3	2	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Mets	David Wright, 3B	2	2	2	1	3	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.1	`Giants	Johnny Cueto	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.1	8	0	0	1	3
	2.0	Cubs	Addison Russell, SS	4	1	2	3	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Phillies	Brett Oberholtzer (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	2
	2.0	`Dbacks	Tyler Clippard	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	Orioles	Zach Britton (S,7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Rays	Steven Souza, RF	4	1	2	2	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	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	7.0	32.7	132.8	166.3	-18.7
Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	5.7	24.5	76.7	78.7	-13.1
Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	5.4	9.4	9.4	29.1	1.4
Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	5.0	17.8	69.0	88.4	-7.8
Kennedy, Ian 2723	pi sp	kc al	4.0	10.7	54.5	60.5	-2.7
Souza, Steven Jr. 3461	rf	tb al	2.7	8.2	8.2	8.2	-2.8
Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	2.5	15.0	40.9	104.3	-10.0
Karns, Nathan 3414	pi sp	sea al	2.0	7.0	8.0	8.0	-3.0
Hill, Aaron 2056	3b 2b	mil nl	2.0	5.0	19.0	38.0	-1.0
Russell, Addison 3559	ss	chi nl	2.0	4.5	4.5	4.5	-0.5
Eovaldi, Nathan 2928	pi sp	nyy al	2.0	4.0	21.1	21.1	0.0
Britton, Zachary 2835	pi cp	bal al	1.0	9.7	29.1	29.1	-7.7
Piscotty, Stephen 3570	rf	stl nl	1.0	5.2	5.2	5.2	-3.2
Clippard, Tyler 2291	pi mr	ari nl	1.0	2.0	17.0	28.4	0.0
Oberholtzer, Brett 3244	pi mr	phi nl	1.0	2.0	4.0	4.0	0.0
Wright, David 1911	3b	nym nl	1.0	1.0	24.5	75.1	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Kershaw tops players for Sunday, May 1, rises to 1st in season player rankings, 10th in ‘all-time' rankings

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to first 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 1:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	6.0
2	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	5.0
3	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	5.0
4	Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	cf lf dh ph	nym nl	4.5
5	Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	kc al	4.4
6	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	4.4
7	Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	bal al	4.2
8	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	4.0
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	4.0
10	De La Rosa, Rubby 3342	pi sp mr	ari nl	4.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

In addition, Kershaw rises to 10th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began).

Kershaw pitched a complete game shutout, striking out 14 and allowing three hits, in the 1-0 win over the Padres.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, rising to first place in player rankings, displacing previous leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (5.0 Box-Toppers points).

Kershaw also now has 165.3 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 10th place in “all-time” rankings, passing two players—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (163.7) and Roger Clemens (164.8). Kershaw now trails ninth-place player Johan Santana (166.6).

Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +20.0, the third time this season a player has had a game score of +20.0 or more. It is the second-highest game score of the season, behind only the +22.0 earned April 14 by Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez.

American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 5-1 win over the Rays.

All-time leaders

Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	pi sp	retired	278.8
2	Pedro Martinez	pi sp	retired	244.8
3	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
4	Alex Rodriguez	dh	nyy al	187.0
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	179.0
6	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	175.3
7	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
8	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
9	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
10	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	165.3
11	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
12	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	163.7
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
16	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
17	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
18	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
19	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	148.4
20	Javier Vazquez	pi sp	retired	148.3

List of top 100 players since 1995 (through the 2015 season)

National League Batter of the Day—Chris Carter of the Brewers homered twice and doubled, going 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 14-5 win over the Marlins.

American League Batter of the Day—Nick Castellanos of the Tigers homered and went 1-for-3, driving in four runs, in the 6-5 win over the Twins.

Rankings—Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez rose to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Velasquez (6IP 2H 0R 6K W in the 2-1 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season.

Notable—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rose to 53rd place in “all-time” Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. 

Scherzer (7IP 4H 0R 9K W in the 6-1 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 109.0 for his career. With his point, he passes three players on Box-Toppers “all-time” list—Lance Berkman (108.1), Kevin Millwood (108.3) and Billy Wagner (108.7). Scherzer now trails the 52nd-ranked player on the list, Jeff Kent (109.7). (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.) Scherzer has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Debut—Reds pitcher Tim Adleman made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Adleman (6IP 3H 2R 6K ND in the 6-5 win over the Pirates) was making his Major League debut. He is the 3,625th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Stroman earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Carter and Castellanos 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

5/1	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	20.0	Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	0	0	0	14
	13.0	`Braves	Julio Teheran	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	1	9
	12.0	Nationals	Max Scherzer (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	0	9
AL	10.0	Blue Jays	Marcus Stroman (W,4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	1	1	2	9
	6.0	Phillies	Vince Velasquez (W,4-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	4	6
BAT	4.0	Brewers	Chris Carter, 1B	5	3	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Giants	Madison Bumgarner (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	6	0	0	3	7
	3.0	Rockies	Nolan Arenado, 3B	4	2	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Tigers	Nick Castellanos, 3B	3	1	1	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	`Reds	Tim Adleman	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	2	2	2	6
	3.0	Royals	Ian Kennedy (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	4	1	1	2	6
	3.0	Red Sox	Craig Kimbrel (S,8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Angels	Kole Calhoun, RF	4	1	3	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	White Sox	Melky Cabrera, LF	4	2	3	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Astros	Luke Gregerson (S,5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	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	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	6.0	31.7	131.8	165.3	-19.7
Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	3.5	12.0	13.5	13.5	-5.0
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	3.0	24.0	88.6	109.0	-18.0
Kennedy, Ian 2723	pi sp	kc al	3.0	9.7	53.5	59.5	-3.7
Castellanos, Nick 3349	3b	det al	3.0	9.2	11.2	11.2	-3.2
Carter, Chris 2828	1b dh	mil nl	2.5	3.5	21.4	22.4	1.5
Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	2.0	19.0	89.0	94.7	-15.0
Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	bos al	2.0	8.0	51.7	52.7	-4.0
Gregerson, Luke 2563	pi cp	hou al	2.0	8.0	12.0	17.0	-4.0
Stroman, Marcus 3327	pi sp	tor al	1.7	4.4	18.1	18.1	-1.0
Teheran, Julio 3176	pi sp	atl nl	1.0	8.7	36.8	36.8	-6.7
Calhoun, Kole 3279	rf	ana al	1.0	4.2	11.7	11.7	-2.2
Cabrera, Melky 2143	lf	chi al	1.0	2.0	16.5	27.5	0.0
Adleman, Tim 3625	pi sp	cin nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Braves' Miller tops players for Sunday, Oct. 4; Kershaw picks up 3rd season with 25+ Box-Toppers points

Braves pitcher Shelby Miller is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day on the season’s final day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Oct. 4 (Final standings).  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	29.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	25.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	22.4
4	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	21.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	21.1
6	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	21.0
7	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	20.7
8	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
9	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	19.0
10	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	18.8

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Sunday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw passed 25 Box-Toppers points in a single season for the third time, only the third player to do that since 1995.

Plus, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom maintained his spot in third place in player rankings, behind Kershaw. In addition, eight players who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday had more than 10 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Player of the Day—Miller pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out seven, in the 6-0 win over the Cardinals.

Miller earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the 46th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points and ranks 44th among all players, 17th among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels pitched a complete game three-hitter, allowing two runs and striking out eight, in the 9-2 win over the Angels.

Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 15.4 for the season. He ranks 15th among all players, eighth among AL pitchers.

Hamels rises to 33rd place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Sunday, he has 126.2 career points and passes Justin Verlander (124.6) on the “all-time” list. He trails 32nd-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4).

American League Batter of the Day—Joey Butler of the Rays hit two home runs—a grand slam and a two-run homer—and went 3-for-4, in the 12-3 win over the Blue Jays.

This was Butler’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Butler made his Major League debut Aug. 7, 2013, and was playing in his 102nd career game. He is the 3,607th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. He is the 172nd and final player to debut in Box-Toppers during the 2015 season.

National League Batter of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-3 win over the Astros.

Goldschmidt earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.2 for the season. He becomes the 47th and final player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points, 10th among batters. He ranks 42nd among all players and fourth among NL batters.

Best seasons

Here are all players who have earned 25 or more Box-Toppers points in a single season since 1995, ranked by their single-season Box-Toppers point total. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw picked up his third 25+ point season of his career Sunday—his 25.7 Box-Toppers points in 2015 are tied for the 20th-most points in a single season since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began.  

Rank	Player	Team	Pos	Year	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2000	33.7
1	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2002	33.7
3	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	2000	33.5
4	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	1999	31.5
4	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2014	31.5
6	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	1999	31.4
7	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2001	29.4
8	*Jake Arrieta	Cubs	pi sp	2015	29.1
9	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	2002	28.8
10	Curt Schilling	Dbacks	pi sp	2002	28.4
11	Roger Clemens	Blue Jays	pi sp	1997	27.4
12	Johan Santana	Twins	pi sp	2004	26.8
13	Pedro Martinez	Expos	pi sp	1997	26.7
13	CC Sabathia	Indians/Brewers	pi sp	2008	26.7
15	Randy Johnson	Mariners/Astros	pi sp	1998	26.4
16	John Smoltz	Braves	pi sp	1996	26.1
16	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2011	26.1
18	Roger Clemens	Blue Jays	pi sp	1998	25.8
18	Corey Kluber	Indians	pi sp	2014	25.8
20	Johan Santana	Twins	pi sp	2006	25.7
20	*Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2015	25.7
22	Cliff Lee	Phillies	pi sp	2011	25.4
	* Current season

Kershaw—Clayton Kershaw (3.2IP 2H 0R 7K ND in the 6-3 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 25.7 for the season. He maintains his rank of second among all players and among NL pitchers, behind overall leader Jake Arrieta of the Cubs (29.1).

But Kershaw has now earned more than 25 Box-Toppers points for the third time in his career, a feat only done by two other players in the 21-season history of Box-Toppers:

Randy Johnson did it five times—1998 (26.4), 1999 (31.5), 2000 (33.7), 2001 (29.4) and 2002 (33.7).

Pedro Martinez did it four times—1997 (26.7), 1999 (31.4), 2000 (33.5) and 2002 (28.8).

Roger Clemens and Johan Santana are the only other players who have earned 25 points in a single season more than once. (See Best seasons chart.)

Kershaw earned 26.1 points in 2011 and 31.5 points in 2014. Despite earning 25.7 points this season, Kershaw’s streak of four straight seasons leading NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points comes to an end this year as he was topped by Arrieta. Kershaw also led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2011, 2013 and 2014.

Kershaw now has 159.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his spot in 13th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Kershaw trails 12th-place player John Smoltz (160.9).

Other notables who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday—

• Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (4IP 0H 0R 7K ND in the 1-0 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 22.4 for the season, maintaining his rank of third among all players and among NL pitchers, behind Arrieta and Kershaw.
• Indians pitcher Danny Salazar (5.1IP 4H R 6K W in the 3-1 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.4 for the season. He ranks 22nd among all players and 11th among AL pitchers.
• Pirates pitcher J.A. Happ (6IP 3H 0R 7K W in the 4-0 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.1 for the season. He ranks 24th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.
• Chris Davis of the Orioles (2HR 2B 3-4 3R 4BI in the 9-4 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season. He ranks 42nd among all players and fourth among AL batters.
• Cubs pitcher Dan Haren rose to 47th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Haren (6IP 3H R 3K W in the 3-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 113.2 for his career. With his point Sunday, he passes Sammy Sosa (113.2) on the “all-time” list. (It should be noted that Sosa began his career in 1989, before the advent of Box-Toppers. Were his entire career tracked, he would have about 135 career Box-Toppers points, according to rough estimates.) Haren trails 46th-ranked player Chris Carpenter (113.3).

Scoring—Miller earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Butler and Goldschmidt each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

10/4	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	Braves	Shelby Miller (W,6-17)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	3	7
	9.0	`Mets	Jacob deGrom	-	-	-	-	-	-		4.0	0	0	0	2	7
	8.2	`Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.2	2	0	0	0	7
AL	8.0	Rangers	Cole Hamels (W,13-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	2	2	2	8
BAT	7.0	Rays	Joey Butler, DH	4	2	3	6	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	Pirates	J.A. Happ (W,11-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	3	7
	6.2	Braves	Matt Wisler (W,8-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.2	4	0	0	1	3
	6.0	Orioles	Chris Davis, 1B	4	3	3	4	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	Tigers	Daniel Norris (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	1	0	0	1	3
	4.1	Indians	Danny Salazar (W,14-10)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.1	4	1	1	1	6
	4.0	Mariners	Tom Wilhelmsen (S,13)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	3.2	`Phillies	David Buchanan	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	6	2	1	1	7
	3.0	Royals	Salvador Perez, C	3	2	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Dbacks	Paul Goldschmidt, 1B	3	2	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Rockies	Justin Morneau, PH	1	1	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Cubs	Dan Haren (W,11-9)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	1	1	3
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Pirates' Cole tops players for Friday, May 22, rises to 2nd in player rankings; Hernandez extends player rankings lead

Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole is Friday’s Player of the Day and rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Also Friday, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez extended his overall player rankings lead and Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rose to third place in player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 22.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	9.7
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	8.0
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	7.0
4	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	7.0
5	Miller, Shelby 3134	pi sp	atl nl	7.0
6	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	6.7
7	Harper, Bryce 3011	lf rf	dc nl	6.5
8	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	5.7
9	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	5.7
10	Lincecum, Tim 2288	pi sp	sf nl	5.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Cole struck out 10 over 8 1/3 innings and allowed one run in the 4-1 win over the Mets. Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season, rising to second in Box-Toppers player rankings. He passes Braves pitcher Shelby Miller (7.0 Box-Toppers points) to lead National League pitchers on the season.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Jeff Samardzija struck out nine over eight innings and allowed two runs in the 3-2 win over the Twins.

American League Batter of the Day—Kendrys Morales of the Royals homered twice and drove in five runs, going 3-for-4, in the 5-0 win over the Cardinals.

National League Batter of the Day—Ryan Braun of the Brewers homered, hit two doubles and drove in four runs, going 3-for-3 and scoring twice, in the 11-0 win over the Braves.

Leader—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez maintained his top spot in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Hernandez (7IP R 8K W in the 4-3 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.7 for the season. He has led player rankings all but six days this season (Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals led April 5, Scott Kazmir of the Athletics led from April 13 to 17).

Hernandez now has 153.0 career Box-Toppers points, 15th among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He is just behind Barry Bonds (153.2) and Tim Hudson (154.0). Hernandez’s 153.0 career points ranks third among active pitchers currently in the AL, behind CC Sabathia of the Yankees (174.3) and Johan Santana of the Blue Jays (166.6).

Rankings—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rose to third place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. Scherzer (8IP R 6K W in the 2-1 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season. While Scherzer and two other players have 7.0 points this season, Scherzer holds the tiebreaker because he had more points in 2014—Scherzer (22.1), Chris Archer (12.4), Shelby Miller (9.0).

Notable—Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rises to 27th place in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began, after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Grienke (7.2IP R 5K ND in the 2-1 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season and 130.7 for his career. With his point Friday, he passes Trevor Hoffman (129.4) in Box-Toppers points earned since 1995. Greinke now trails Jake Peavy (131.8) on that list.

Scoring—Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Samardzija earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Morales and Braun each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/22	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.1	Pirates	Gerrit Cole (W, 6-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.1	6	1	0	1	10
AL	9.0	White Sox	Jeff Samardzija (W, 4-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	2	2	1	9
	7.0	Nationals	Max Scherzer (W, 5-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	1	1	1	6
	7.0	Mariners	Felix Hernandez (W, 7-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	2	8
BAT	6.0	Royals	Kendrys Morales DH	4	2	3	5	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	6.0	Brewers	Ryan Braun RF	3	2	3	4	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	Giants	Ryan Vogelsong (W, 3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	3	5
	5.0	Tigers	Alfredo Simon (W, 5-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	2	0	1	5
	3.2	`Dodgers	Zack Greinke	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	6	1	1	1	5
	3.0	Rangers	Prince Fielder DH	5	2	2	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Orioles	Caleb Joseph C	4	2	3	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Indians	Jason Kipnis 2B	4	2	3	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Rays	Evan Longoria 3B	3	1	2	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Dbacks	Paul Goldschmidt 1B	5	1	3	3	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Angels	Chris Iannetta C	3	1	1	3	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.