Reds' Luis Castillo tops players for Sunday, July 30; Mariners' Paxton rises to 6th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank July 31, 2017

Reds pitcher Luis Castillo is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Mariners pitcher James Paxton rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.

Mets' Jacob deGrom tops players for Friday, July 14, rises to 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank July 15, 2017

Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to 10th place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of July 14:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	21.1
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	17.0
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	13.1
4	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	12.4
5	Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	12.0
6	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	11.4
7	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	11.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	10.4
9	Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	10.0
10	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	9.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

deGrom struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing two runs, four hits and one walk, in the 14-2 win over the Rockies.

deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season, rising to 10th place in player rankings, seventh place among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits, one walk and striking out five, in the 5-0 win over the Indians.

National League Batter of the Day—Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers hit two homers, including a ninth-inning, three-run shot, in the 6-4 win over the Marlins. Puig went 2-for-4, driving in four total runs.

Puig earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.5 Box-Toppers points for 2017, which is his highest single-season total of his five-season career. His previous best seasons were 2015 and 2016 when he had 3.5 each season. He had just 1.5 points in 2013 and just 1.0 point in 2014.

American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, in the 5-3 win over the Royals.

Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 113.8 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 49th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Friday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list—Kevin Brown (112.8), Sammy Sosa (113.2), Dan Haren (113.2) and Chris Carpenter (113.3). Beltre now trails 48th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9).

Passing Sosa, Beltre now ranks 15th among all batters since 1995, trailing 14th-ranked Torii Hunter (115.9). Beltre also ranks 15th among active players in career Box-Toppers points, trailing 14th-ranked player, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (117.5). He ranks third among active batters in career points, behind second-ranked Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (146.9).

Beltre has 2.5 Box-Toppers points on the season.

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

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

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 





  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    7/14
    Score
    Game
    Player of the Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    NYM 14, COL 2
    Jacob deGrom (W, 10-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    2
    1
    1
    11
  

    
    8.1
    WSH 5, CIN 0
    Gio Gonzalez (W, 8-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.1
    4
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    AL
    8.0
    OAK 5, CLE 0
    Sonny Gray (W, 5-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    6.0
    SEA 4, CHW 2
    James Paxton (W, 8-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    2
    2
    0
    9
  

    BAT
    4.0
    LAD 6, MIA 4
    Yasiel Puig (RF)
    4
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    PIT 5, STL 2
    Josh Bell (1B)
    3
    1
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    `BOS 5, NYY 4
    Matt Barnes
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    BAT
    3.0
    TEX 5, KC 3
    Adrian Beltre (3B)
    3
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    CHC 9, BAL 8
    Wade Davis (S, 17)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    HOU 10, MIN 5
    Marwin Gonzalez (LF)
    5
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    MIL 9, PHI 6
    Ryan Braun (LF)
    4
    1
    1
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    TOR 7, DET 2
    Jose Bautista (RF)
    3
    2
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    ATL 4, ARI 3
    Jim Johnson (S, 20)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    TB 2, LAA 1 (F/10)
    Alex Colome (S, 26)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.0
    SF 5, SD 4
    Gorkys Hernandez (LF)
    4
    1
    4
    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	+/-
deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	9.7	19.4	54.8	54.8	0.0
Paxton, James 3280	pi sp	sea al	8.0	12.4	19.1	19.1	3.6
Johnson, Jim 2417	pi cp	atl nl	6.0	10.0	21.0	27.7	2.0
Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	5.7	6.7	38.5	38.5	4.7
Colome, Alex 3189	pi cp	tb al	5.0	14.0	22.7	22.7	-4.0
Puig, Yasiel 3193	rf	lad nl	4.5	8.0	14.0	14.0	1.0
Gonzalez, Gio 2626	pi sp	dc nl	3.0	9.0	60.1	89.5	-3.0
Barnes, Matt 3466	pi mr cp	bos al	3.0	3.0	4.0	4.0	3.0
Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	2.5	12.0	45.9	113.8	-7.0
Bautista, Jose 2169	rf	tor al	2.5	3.5	26.5	65.4	1.5
Gonzalez, Marwin 3078	lf	hou al	2.5	3.5	8.0	8.0	1.5
Hernandez, Goryks 3758	cf lf	sf nl	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Braun, Ryan J. 2300	lf	mil nl	2.0	12.5	38.0	90.2	-8.5
Davis, Wade 2681	pi cp	chi nl	2.0	6.0	21.0	28.0	-2.0
Bell, Josh E. 3682	1b	pit nl	1.0	2.5	2.5	2.5	-0.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Rangers' Cole Hamels tops players for Friday, July 7; Dbacks' Greinke rises to 10th in career Box-Toppers points

Shawn Plank July 8, 2017

Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke rises to 10th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 after earning National League Player of the Day honors.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of July 7:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.1
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	17.0
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	13.1
4	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	12.4
5	Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	12.0
6	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	11.4
7	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	11.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	10.4
9	Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	10.0
10	McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	hou al	9.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Plus, three players in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings earned Player of the Game honors:

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer maintained his spot in second place.
Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco rose from seventh to sixth place.
Greinke rose from ninth to seventh place.

Player of the Day—Hamels pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits, one walk and striking out six, in the 10-0 win over the Angels.

Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 147.0 for his career, rising to 24th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Friday, he passes three players on the “all-time” list—David Ortiz (145.9), Jim Thome (146.7) and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (146.9). Hamels now trails 23rd-ranked player Javier Vazquez (148.3).

Passing Cabrera, Hamels now ranks eighth among active players in career points, trailing the seventh-ranked player, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (148.7).

All-time leaders

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	pi sp	retired	278.8
2	Pedro Martinez	pi sp	retired	244.8
3	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	203.8
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	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	167.5
11	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
12	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
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	min al	151.2
20	Jon Lester	pi sp	chi nl	149.2

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

Hamels has 3.0 Box-Toppers points this season.

National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 6-3 win over the Reds.

Greinke earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 11.4 for the season, rising from ninth to seventh place in season player rankings, fourth among NL pitchers.

Greinke also rises to 10th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when player tracking began. He now has 167.5 career Box-Toppers points and with his points Friday, passes two players on the “all-time” list—Johan Santana (166.6) and Manny Ramirez (167.2). Greinke now trails ninth-place player, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (169.7).

American League Batter of the Day—George Springer of the Astros hit two homers, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring four times and driving in five runs, in the 12-2 win over the Blue Jays.

National League Batter of the Day—Jesus Aguilar of the Brewers hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the 9-4 win over the Yankees. Aguilar also went 3-for-4 and drove in seven runs.

Rankings—In addition to Greinke, two other players in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (7.2IP 6H 4R BB 10K ND in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.0 for the season, maintaining his second-place spot in season player rankings, behind overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.1). Scherzer now has 148.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 22nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Javier Vazquez (148.3) on the “all-time” list and now trails 21st-ranked player Chipper Jones (149.0).
Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco (7IP 9H 2R BB 11K W in the 11-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season, rising from seventh to sixth in season player rankings, third among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the Red Sox (13.1) and Ervin Santana of the Twins (12.4).

Debut—Twins pitcher Trevor Hildenberger made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Hildenberger (2.1IP 2H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 9-6 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut June 23 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,846th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 





  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    7/7
    Score
    Game
    Player of the Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.2
    TEX 10, LAA 0
    Cole Hamels (W, 4-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    3
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    BAT
    9.0
    HOU 12, TOR 2
    George Springer (CF)
    4
    4
    4
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    NL
    9.0
    ARI 6, CIN 3
    Zack Greinke (W, 11-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    7
  

    BAT
    8.0
    MIL 9, NYY 4
    Jesus Aguilar (1B)
    4
    2
    3
    7
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    7.0
    SEA 7, OAK 2
    James Paxton (W, 7-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    2
    2
    3
    9
  

    
    6.0
    CHC 6, PIT 1
    Kris Bryant (3B)
    5
    3
    4
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.1
    MIA 6, SF 1
    Dan Straily (W, 7-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.1
    4
    1
    1
    0
    3
  

    
    5.0
    COL 12, CHW 4
    Nolan Arenado (3B)
    5
    2
    3
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    SD 4, PHI 3
    Austin Hedges (C)
    3
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    CLE 11, DET 2
    Carlos Carrasco (W, 10-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    9
    2
    2
    1
    11
  

    
    3.1
    MIN 9, BAL 6
    Trevor Hildenberger (W, 1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.1
    2
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    2.2
    `WSH 5, ATL 4 (F/10)
    Max Scherzer
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    6
    4
    4
    1
    10
  

    
    2.0
    NYM 6, STL 5
    Jose Reyes (SS)
    3
    2
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    LAD 4, KC 1
    Kenta Maeda (W, 7-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    4
    1
    1
    2
    5
  

    
    1.0
    BOS 8, TB 3
    Dustin Pedroia (2B)
    5
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  


MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.

  AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.

  NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.

  BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.

All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

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


Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	17.0	42.7	120.9	148.7	-8.7
Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	11.4	23.8	52.5	57.9	-1.0
Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	11.4	21.1	90.4	167.5	1.7
Straily, Dan 3080	pi sp	fla nl	8.7	15.7	26.4	26.4	1.7
Maeda, Kenta 3609	pi sp	lad nl	7.0	17.0	17.0	17.0	-3.0
Paxton, James 3280	pi sp	sea al	7.0	11.4	18.1	18.1	2.6
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	5.5	16.2	26.2	26.2	-5.2
Springer, George 3337	rf dh cf	hou al	5.0	11.5	15.5	15.5	-1.5
Hedges, Austin 3790	ca	sd nl	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5
Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	3.0	20.8	72.0	147.0	-14.8
Bryant, Kris 3465	3b lf	chi nl	2.5	13.0	21.5	21.5	-8.0
Reyes, Jose 1759	ss 3b	nym nl	2.5	4.5	13.5	32.5	0.5
Aguilar, Jesus 3787	1b	mil nl	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Pedroia, Dustin 2320	2b	bos al	1.0	6.0	19.0	38.5	-4.0
Hildenberger, Trevor 3846	pi mr	min al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Nationals' Max Scherzer tops players for Sunday, July 2, maintains 2nd place in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank July 3, 2017

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his second-place spot in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of July 2:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.1
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
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?

Scherzer struck out 12 over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 7-2 win over the Cardinals.

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 16.0 for the season. He trails only overall leader Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (18.1 Box-Toppers points), who also leads all National League pitchers.

Scherzer also rises to 23rd place among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Sunday, Scherzer now has 147.7 career points and passes three players on the “all-time” list—David Ortiz (145.9), Jim Thome (146.7) and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (146.9). Passing Cabrera, Scherzer also rises to seventh place in career points among all active players, trailing sixth-ranked Jon Lester of the Cubs (149.2).

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 7-1 win over the Rays.

American League Batter of the Day—Mookie Betts of the Red Sox hit two home runs and drove in eight total runs, in the 15-1 win over the Blue Jays. Betts hit a three-run homer and a two-run homer and went 4-for-6, scoring three times.

National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Belt of the Giants homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 5-3 win over the Pirates.

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

Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 





  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    7/2
    Score
    Game
    Player of the Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    15.0
    WSH 7, STL 2
    Max Scherzer (W, 10-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    12
  

    AL
    12.0
    BAL 7, TB 1
    Kevin Gausman (W, 5-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    9
  

    
    10.0
    CHC 6, CIN 2
    Jake Arrieta (W, 8-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    1
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    BAT
    9.0
    BOS 15, TOR 1
    Mookie Betts (RF)
    6
    3
    4
    8
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    7.0
    CLE 11, DET 8
    Jose Ramirez (3B)
    4
    4
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    HOU 8, NYY 1
    Chris Devenski (W, 5-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    
    5.0
    `ARI 4, COL 3
    Taijuan Walker
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    2
    1
    1
    8
  

    BAT
    4.0
    SF 5, PIT 3
    Brandon Belt (1B)
    4
    2
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    PHI 7, NYM 1
    Nick Pivetta (W, 2-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    1
    1
    1
    4
    4
  

    
    4.0
    SD 5, LAD 3
    Jhoulys Chacin (W, 7-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    4
    0
    0
    3
    6
  

    
    3.1
    SEA 5, LAA 3
    James Paxton (W, 6-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    2
    1
    1
    2
    3
  

    
    3.1
    `ATL 4, OAK 3 (F/12)
    Julio Teheran
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    3
    2
    2
    4
    8
  

    
    3.0
    MIA 10, MIL 3
    Marcell Ozuna (LF)
    6
    2
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    CHW 6, TEX 5
    Melky Cabrera (LF)
    2
    2
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    KC 6, MIN 2
    Alcides Escobar (SS)
    4
    1
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  


MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.

  AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.

  NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.

  BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.

All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

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


Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0	41.7	119.9	147.7	-9.7
Paxton, James 3280	pi sp	sea al	6.0	10.4	17.1	17.1	1.6
Chacin, Jhoulys 2711	pi sp	sd nl	5.7	11.4	18.1	33.5	0.0
Cabrera, Melky 2143	lf	chi al	5.7	9.7	19.7	36.2	1.7
Betts, Mookie 3404	rf	bos al	5.0	11.2	16.2	16.2	-1.2
Devenski, Chris 3702	pi mr	hou al	5.0	8.7	8.7	8.7	1.3
Ramirez, Jose 3436	3b	cle al	4.5	6.0	9.5	9.5	3.0
Gausman, Kevin 3191	pi sp	bal al	4.4	15.2	28.6	28.6	-6.4
Walker, Taijuan 3453	pi sp	ari nl	4.0	11.7	25.4	25.4	-3.7
Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	3.0	18.7	73.5	78.5	-12.7
Pivetta, Nick 3825	pi sp	phi nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Ozuna, Marcell 3190	lf	fla nl	2.7	7.7	21.2	21.2	-2.3
Belt, Brandon 2943	1b lf	sf nl	2.5	9.5	21.5	23.0	-4.5
Teheran, Julio 3176	pi sp	atl nl	2.0	12.7	48.5	48.5	-8.7
Escobar, Alcides 2663	ss	kc al	2.0	2.0	19.0	23.5	2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

A look at Box-Toppers All-Star leaders and how they compare to All-Star vote-getters

Shawn Plank June 27, 2017

A look at top players in Box-Toppers points by position in both leagues over both 2017 and the combined 2016-17 seasons.

Marlins' Dan Straily tops players for Friday, June 16; Scherzer, 2nd in player rankings, earns Player of the Game

Shawn Plank June 17, 2017

Marlins pitcher Dan Straily is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of June 16:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	14.4
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	13.0
3	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	11.4
4	Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	10.0
5	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	8.4
6	Judge, Aaron 3767	rf	nyy al	8.2
7	Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	8.0
8	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	8.0
9	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	7.7
10	Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	bos al	7.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Friday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, earned Player of the Game honors. Plus, two other players rose into Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings for the season—Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood rose to seventh and Red Sox closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel rose to 10th.

Player of the Day—Straily struck out eight over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 5-0 win over the Braves.

American League Player of the Day—Melky Cabrera of the White Sox homered, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 11-4 win over the Blue Jays.

National League Batter of the Day—Paul DeJong of the Cardinals homered and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 11-2 win over the Orioles.

This was DeJong’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. DeJong made his Major League debut May 28 and was playing in his 14th career game. He is the 3,827th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Melky Cabrera.

Scherzer—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer maintains his second-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Scherzer (8IP 4H R 2BB 10K W in the 7-2 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.0 for the season. He trails overall leader and NL pitching leader Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (14.4 Box-Toppers points).

Scherzer also rises to 26th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Friday he has 144.7 career points, passing Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (144.0) on the “all-time” list. He now trails 25th-ranked player David Ortiz (145.9).

Passing Hamels, Scherzer now ranks ninth among active players in career Box-Toppers points, seventh among active pitchers. He trails the eighth-ranked active player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (146.9) and the sixth-ranked active pitcher Jon Lester of the Cubs (147.2).

Scherzer narrowly missed out on earning overall Player of the Day honors Friday. His Box-Toppers game score of 10.0 was topped by Straily’s game score of 10.1.

Rankings—Two players rose into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors Friday:

Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood (8IP 4H R 0BB 5K W in the 3-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season, rising to seventh place in player rankings, fourth among NL pitchers.
Red Sox closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K Sv in the 2-1 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.7 for the season, rising to 10th in player rankings, fourth among AL pitchers and most among all closing pitchers.

Notable—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers now has 112.3 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Beltre (1-2 2R 2BI in the 10-4 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season, and ranks 53rd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 52nd-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8). Beltre ranks 16th among all batters since 1995 and third among all active batters in career points, behind Albert Pujols of the Angels (184.3) and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (146.9).

Also notable—DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Friday.

LeMahieu (2B 4-4 2R 2BI in the 10-8 win over the Giants) was also Box-Toppers NL Batter of the Day Thursday in the 10-9 win over the Giants. LeMahieu has 2.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, all earned in the past two days.

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

Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 





  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/16
    Score
    Game
    Player of the Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    10.1
    MIA 5, ATL 0
    Dan Straily (W,5-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    4
    0
    0
    0
    8
  

    
    10.0
    WSH 7, NYM 2
    Max Scherzer (W,8-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    1
    1
    2
    10
  

    
    7.0
    LAD 3, CIN 1
    Alex Wood (W,7-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    AL
    6.0
    CHW 11, TOR 4
    Melky Cabrera, LF
    4
    3
    2
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    5.0
    STL 11, BAL 2
    Paul DeJong, 2B
    4
    3
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    KC 3, LAA 1
    Ian Kennedy (W,1-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    
    4.1
    CLE 8, MIN 1
    Carlos Carrasco (W,7-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    4
    1
    1
    3
    7
  

    
    4.0
    COL 10, SF 8
    DJ LeMahieu, 2B
    4
    2
    4
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    DET 13, TB 4
    Justin Upton, LF
    4
    3
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.1
    `ARI 5, PHI 4
    Archie Bradley (H,11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    CHC 9, PIT 5
    Willson Contreras, C
    3
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    TEX 10, SEA 4
    Adrian Beltre, 3B
    2
    2
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    OAK 7, NYY 6
    Santiago Casilla (S,11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    2.0
    BOS 2, HOU 1
    Craig Kimbrel (S,19)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.0
    MIL 6, SD 5 (F/10)
    Manny Pina, C
    4
    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


Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	13.0	38.7	116.9	144.7	-12.7
Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	8.0	9.0	27.4	27.4	7.0
Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	bos al	7.7	15.7	60.4	66.4	-0.3
Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	7.4	19.8	48.5	53.9	-5.0
Straily, Dan 3080	pi sp	fla nl	6.0	13.0	23.7	23.7	-1.0
Cabrera, Melky 2143	lf	chi al	4.7	8.7	18.7	35.2	0.7
Upton, Justin 2411	lf	det al	4.0	10.7	36.9	55.1	-2.7
Contreras, Willson 3776	ca ph	chi nl	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5
Pina, Manny 3769	ca	mil nl	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5
Kennedy, Ian 2723	pi sp	kc al	3.0	13.0	44.1	69.5	-7.0
LeMahieu, DJ 3091	2b	col nl	2.5	10.5	23.5	23.5	-5.5
Dejong, Paul 3827	2b	stl nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	1.0	10.5	44.4	112.3	-8.5
Casilla, Santiago 2301	pi cp	oak al	1.0	4.0	19.7	24.7	-2.0
Bradley, Archie 3438	pi mr sp	ari nl	1.0	4.0	5.0	5.0	-2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Jon Lester tops players for Tuesday, June 13; Royals' Vargas rises to 7th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank June 14, 2017

Cubs pitcher Jon Lester 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 2017 season as of June 13:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	14.4
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	12.0
3	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	11.4
4	Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	10.0
5	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	8.4
6	Judge, Aaron 3767	rf	nyy al	8.2
7	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	8.0
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	7.7
9	McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	hou al	7.7
10	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	7.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Royals pitcher Jason Vargas rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Lester struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and one walk, in the 14-3 win over the Mets.

Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 147.2 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 22nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes three players on the “all-time” list—David Ortiz (145.9), Jim Thome (146.7) and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (146.9). Lester now trails 21st-ranked player Javier Vazquez (148.3).

Lester also rises to seventh among active players in career Box-Toppers points, passing Cabrera. He trails sixth-ranked active player Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon (151.2). Lester has 4.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.

American League Player of the Day—Eddie Rosario of the Twins hit three home runs and went 4-for-5, driving in five runs, in the 20-7 win over the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day—Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers hit two home runs, including a three-run homer, in the 7-5 win over the Indians. Bellinger also doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in four runs.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Eddie Rosario.

Rankings—Royals pitcher Jason Vargas rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Vargas (7IP 5H R BB 6K W in the 8-1 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers, behind Ervin Santana of the Twins (11.4) and Chris Sale of the Red Sox (8.4).

Debut—Franchy Cordero of the Padres made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Cordero (2HR 3-5 3R 2BI in the 6-2 win over the Reds) made his Major League debut May 27 and was playing in his 16th career game. He is the 3,821st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/13
    Score
    Game
    Player of the Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.0
    CHC 14, NYM 3
    Jon Lester (W,4-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    1
    10
  

    AL
    7.0
    MIN 20, SEA 7
    Eddie Rosario, LF
    5
    3
    4
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    STL 6, MIL 0
    Lance Lynn (W,5-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    3
    0
    0
    4
    8
  

    
    5.1
    TB 8, TOR 1
    Jacob Faria (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    6
    1
    1
    1
    8
  

    BAT
    5.0
    LAD 7, CLE 5
    Cody Bellinger, 1B
    4
    2
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    WSH 10, ATL 5
    Ryan Zimmerman, 1B
    4
    3
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    KC 8, SF 1
    Jason Vargas (W,9-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    
    4.0
    TEX 4, HOU 2
    Rougned Odor, 2B
    4
    2
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    MIL 8, STL 5
    Keon Broxton, CF
    3
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    MIA 8, OAK 1
    Jose Urena (W,5-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    
    3.0
    ARI 7, DET 6
    Brandon Drury, 2B
    5
    1
    4
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    SD 6, CIN 2
    Franchy Cordero, CF
    5
    3
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    PIT 5, COL 2
    Andrew McCutchen, CF
    4
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    CHW 6, BAL 1
    Matt Davidson, 3B
    4
    1
    1
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.2
    `LAA 3, NYY 2 (F/11)
    JC Ramirez
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    5
    2
    2
    3
    7
  

    
    0.0
    BOS 4, PHI 3 (F/12)
    Andrew Benintendi, LF
    5
    0
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 





  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    Player of the Game
    Pos
    Team
    ’17
    ’16-17
    ’12-17
    Career
    +/-
  

    Vargas, Jason 2055
    pi sp
    kc al
    8.0
    9.0
    34.4
    55.2
    7.0
  

    Lynn, Lance 2992
    pi sp
    stl nl
    4.7
    4.7
    60.6
    60.6
    4.7
  

    Zimmerman, Ryan 2180
    1b
    dc nl
    4.5
    6.0
    25.7
    60.8
    3.0
  

    Lester, Jon 2173
    pi sp
    chi nl
    4.0
    26.1
    71.6
    147.2
    -18.1
  

    Ramirez, JC 3778
    pi sp
    ana al
    4.0
    4.0
    4.0
    4.0
    4.0
  

    Rosario, Eddie 3542
    lf
    min al
    3.7
    6.7
    8.2
    8.2
    0.7
  

    Bellinger, Cody 3781
    1b lf
    lad nl
    3.5
    3.5
    3.5
    3.5
    3.5
  

    Broxton, Keon 3785
    cf
    mil nl
    3.5
    3.5
    3.5
    3.5
    3.5
  

    McCutchen, Andrew 2637
    cf
    pit nl
    3.0
    10.0
    41.5
    56.9
    -4.0
  

    Benintendi, Andrew 3815
    lf
    bos al
    2.5
    2.5
    2.5
    2.5
    2.5
  

    Urena, Jose 3492
    pi sp
    fla nl
    2.0
    4.7
    5.7
    5.7
    -0.7
  

    Drury, Brandon 3744
    2b lf
    ari nl
    2.0
    3.5
    3.5
    3.5
    0.5
  

    Faria, Jacob 3816
    pi sp
    tb al
    2.0
    2.0
    2.0
    2.0
    2.0
  

    Odor, Rougned 3336
    2b
    tex al
    1.0
    7.5
    12.0
    12.0
    -5.5
  

    Davidson, Matt 3292
    3b
    chi al
    1.0
    1.0
    3.0
    3.0
    1.0
  

    Cordero, Franchy 3821
    cf
    sd nl
    1.0
    1.0
    1.0
    1.0
    1.0
  

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.

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops players for Friday, June 2, maintaining first place in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank June 3, 2017

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his spot atop season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of June 2:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	12.7
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
3	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	9.4
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	8.4
5	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	7.7
6	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	7.4
7	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	7.4
8	Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	7.0
9	Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	7.0
10	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	7.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Friday, three other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel and Royals pitcher Jason Vargas.

Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 14 over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Brewers. Kershaw did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Dodgers trailed 1-0 when he exited.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.7 for the season, maintaining his first place spot in season player rankings, ahead of second-place player, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (10.0).

Kershaw also now has 196.4 career Box-Toppers points, third among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails second-place player Pedro Martinez (244.8). Kershaw leads all active players in career points.

American League Player of the Day—Danny Valencia of the Mariners homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 12-4 win over the Rays.

National League Batter of the Day—Elias Diaz of the Pirates hit a three-run homer and doubled in the 12-7 win over the Mets. Diaz went 2-for-5, driving in six runs.

This was Diaz’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Diaz made his Major League debut Sept. 12, 2015, and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,813rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Danny Valencia.

Rankings—Three other players who earned Player of the Game honors Friday rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings:

Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg (7IP 4H 2R 3BB 7K W in the 13-3 win over the Athletics) rises to sixth place (from ninth) with 7.4 season Box-Toppers points. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.
Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel (6IP 3H 0R 2BB 7K W in the 7-1 win over the Rangers) rises to seventh place with 7.4 season Box-Toppers points. He ranks third among AL pitchers.
Royals pitcher Jason Vargas (CG 7H 0R BB 3K W in the 4-0 win over the Indians) rises to 10th place with 7.0 season Box-Toppers points. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.

Notable—In addition to Kershaw, two other players with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (2-2B 3-3 R 4BI in the 15-5 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 146.9 career points. Cabrera rises to 22nd place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing Jim Thome (146.7) on the “all-time” list. Cabrera now trails 21st-ranked player Javier Vazquez (148.3). Cabrera now rises to sixth place among all batters since 1995 in career Box-Toppers points. He has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Cubs pitcher John Lackey (7IP 4H 2R 2BB 6K ND in the 3-2 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 124.2 career points, rising to 38th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Friday, he passes Gary Sheffield (124.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 37th-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4). Lackey has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.

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

Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 





  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/2
    Score
    Game
    Player of the Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    16.0
    `LAD 2, MIL 1 (F/12)
    Clayton Kershaw
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    1
    1
    1
    14
  

    AL
    8.0
    SEA 12, TB 4
    Danny Valencia, 1B
    3
    3
    3
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    8.0
    HOU 7, TEX 1
    Dallas Keuchel (W,9-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    7
  

    
    6.0
    SF 10, PHI 0
    Ty Blach (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    7
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    
    5.0
    DET 15, CHW 5
    Miguel Cabrera, 1B
    3
    1
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.1
    BAL 3, BOS 2
    Alec Asher (W,2-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    3
    2
    2
    0
    5
  

    BAT
    4.0
    PIT 12, NYM 7
    Elias Diaz, C
    5
    1
    2
    6
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    TOR 7, NYY 5
    Justin Smoak, 1B
    3
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    KC 4, CLE 0
    Jason Vargas (W,7-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    7
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    3.0
    MIN 11, LAA 5
    Joe Mauer, 1B
    5
    1
    4
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    MIA 7, ARI 5
    Giancarlo Stanton, RF
    3
    3
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    WSH 13, OAK 3
    Stephen Strasburg (W,7-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    2
    2
    3
    7
  

    
    3.0
    `CHC 3, STL 2
    John Lackey
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    2
    2
    2
    6
  

    
    2.0
    SD 8, COL 5
    Allen Cordoba, LF
    4
    1
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    CIN 3, ATL 2 (F/10)
    Devin Mesoraco, C
    1
    1
    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


Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	12.7	37.1	136.8	196.4	-11.7
Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	7.4	22.5	81.6	90.3	-7.7
Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	7.4	14.4	50.2	50.2	0.4
Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	7.0	8.0	33.4	54.2	6.0
Smoak, Justin 2731	1b	tor al	5.5	9.0	22.2	28.4	2.0
Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	3.0	16.4	42.8	124.2	-10.4
Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	2.0	14.0	59.8	146.9	-10.0
Blach, Ty 3754	pi sp	sf nl	2.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	0.0
Mauer, Joe 1869	1b	min al	2.0	3.5	25.0	72.6	0.5
Cordoba, Allen 3780	lf pr	sd nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Valencia, Danny 2772	1b 3b	sea al	1.7	6.2	10.7	14.7	-2.8
Diaz, Elias 3813	ca	pit nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	1.0	7.5	31.7	40.2	-5.5
Asher, Alec 3735	pi sp	bal al	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Mesoraco, Devin 3037	ca	cin nl	1.0	1.0	13.5	13.5	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dbacks' Robbie Ray tops players for Tuesday, May 30, rises to 5th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank May 31, 2017

Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth in season player rankings.

Also Tuesday, Albert Pujols of the Angels extends his streak of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points to 17—only six players in Box-Toppers tracking history (since 1995) have longer streaks.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 30:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	10.7
2	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	9.4
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	8.4
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	8.0
5	Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	7.0
6	Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	7.0
7	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	6.7
8	Judge, Aaron 3767	rf	nyy al	6.5
9	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	6.4
10	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	6.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Ray pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, striking out 10 and walking none, in the 3-0 win over the Pirates.

Ray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, rising to fifth among all players and third among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Royals pitcher Eric Skoglund pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, one walk and striking out five, in the 1-0 win over the Tigers.

This was Skoglund’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Skoglund was also making his Major League debut. He is the 3,811th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Box-Toppers season streaks

Here are the players who have earned Box-Toppers points in the most consecutive seasons. Carlos Beltran has tied Jason Giambi for the longest streak—19 straight seasons. Beltran has earned points each season from 1999 to 2017; Giambi earned points each season from 1995 to 2013. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.) Players are listed by length of their streak. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.


	Streak	Player	Pos	Duration	Career BTP
1	19	Jason Giambi	1b	1995-2013	133.4
1	19	Carlos Beltran*	rf	1999-2017	107.6
3	18	Jim Thome	1b dh	1995-2012	146.7
3	18	Chipper Jones	3b	1995-2012	149.0
3	18	Johnny Damon	lf	1995-2012	63.0
3	18	Alex Rodriguez	3b	1996-2013	187.0
7	17	Mariano Rivera	pi cp	1995-2011	126.4
7	17	Derek Jeter	ss	1996-2012	76.4
7	17	Paul Konerko	1b	1998-2014	100.7
7	17	Tim Hudson	pi sp	1999-2015	157.0
7	17	Torii Hunter	cf	1999-2015	115.9
7	17	David Ortiz	dh	2000-2016	145.9
7	17	CC Sabathia*	pi sp	2001-2017	188.0
7	17	Albert Pujols*	dh 1b	2001-2017	183.3
15	16	Manny Ramirez	lf	1995-2010	167.2
15	16	Andy Pettitte	pi sp	1995-2010	138.5
15	16	Jamie Moyer	pi sp	1995-2010	104.0
15	16	Scott Rolen	3b	1996-2011	97.6
15	16	Kevin Millwood	pi sp	1997-2012	108.3
15	16	Derek Lowe	pi sp	1998-2013	91.5
15	16	Aramis Ramirez	3b	2000-2015	105.8
15	16	Mark Buehrle	pi sp	2000-2015	116.7
15	16	Ichiro Suzuki*	rf	2001-2016	53.7
24	15	Randy Johnson	pi sp	1995-2009	278.8
24	15	Garret Anderson	lf	1995-2009	86.5
24	15	Ivan Rodriguez	ca	1995-2009	79.0
24	15	Tony Clark	1b	1995-2009	63.8
24	15	Gary Sheffield	lf	1995-2009	124.1
24	15	Jason Kendall	ca	1996-2010	40.9
24	15	Vladimir Guerrero	rf	1997-2011	128.3
24	15	Bobby Abreu	rf	1997-2011	95.5
24	15	Mike Cameron	cf	1997-2011	70.3
24	15	Miguel Tejada	ss	1997-2011	102.3
24	15	Jorge Posada	ca	1997-2011	79.5
24	15	Livan Hernandez	pi sp	1997-2011	76.7
24	15	Kyle Lohse	pi sp	2001-2015	89.0
24	15	Jake Peavy	pi sp	2002-2016	141.8
24	15	Miguel Cabrera*	1b	2003-2017	145.9

BTP: Box-Toppers points
* Active streak of a player active in 2017
Updated Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Details

American League Batter of the Day—Elvis Andrus of the Rangers hit a three-run homer and doubled in the 9-5 win over the Rays. Andrus went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five total runs.

National League Batter of the Day—Austin Hedges of the Padres homered, doubled and went 2-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 6-2 win over the Cubs.

Streak—Albert Pujols of the Angels has now earned Box-Toppers points for 17 straight seasons—tied for the seventh-longest streak in Box-Toppers tracking history—after earning his first Player of the Game honors of the season Tuesday. He also hit his 599th career home run.

Pujols (HR 2-4 R 3BI in the 9-3 win over the Braves) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2001 with the Cardinals and now has 183.3 career points, seventh among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails sixth-ranked player Alex Rodriguez (187.0).

In career Box-Toppers points Pujols is second among all batters (behind Rodriguez), third among all active players (behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw’s 194.3 and Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia’s 188.0) and first among all active batters (ahead of second-place Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, who has 145.9).

Pujols’ best season was 2009 with the Cardinals when he had 16.7 Box-Toppers points, leading all NL batters and ranking eighth among all players that season. Pujols has led NL batters in Box-Toppers points five times—leading the league in season Box-Toppers points more than any other batter—all with the Cardinals:

In 2003, he had 16.5 points.
In 2004—15.9.
2008—15.2.
2009—16.7.
2010—15.4.

In 2016, Pujols had 8.0 Box-Toppers points with the Angels, fourth among AL designated hitters.

Pujols’ 17 consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points is tied for the second-longest currently active streak. Only Carlos Beltran of the Astros (19 seasons) has a longer streak among active players (his streak is tied for the longest since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995). Pujols streak is tied with Sabathia’s 17-season streak.

Pujols’ 17-season streak is tied with seven other players. (See Box-Toppers season streaks chart for details.)

Scoring—Ray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Skoglund earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Andrus and Hedges 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.

Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 





  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/30
    Score
    Game
    Player of the Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    15.0
    ARI 3, PIT 0
    Robbie Ray (W,5-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    4
    0
    0
    0
    10
  

    AL
    8.1
    KC 1, DET 0
    Eric Skoglund (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    2
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    7.0
    CLE 9, OAK 4
    Trevor Bauer (W,5-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    3
    3
    1
    14
  

    BAT
    5.0
    TEX 9, TB 5
    Elvis Andrus, SS
    5
    2
    3
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    SEA 10, COL 4
    Kyle Seager, 3B
    5
    3
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    BOS 13, CHW 7
    Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
    3
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.1
    NYY 8, BAL 3
    Luis Severino (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    7
    1
    1
    1
    8
  

    
    4.0
    NYM 5, MIL 4 (F/12)
    Josh Smoker (W,1-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.0
    2
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    
    4.0
    `MIA 7, PHI 2
    Justin Nicolino
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    BAT
    3.0
    SD 6, CHC 2
    Austin Hedges, C
    4
    1
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    HOU 7, MIN 2
    Alex Bregman, 3B
    3
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `TOR 6, CIN 4
    Danny Barnes
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    1
    1
    1
    1
    5
  

    
    2.0
    LAD 9, STL 4
    Chase Utley, 2B
    4
    2
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    LAA 9, ATL 3
    Albert Pujols, DH
    4
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    WSH 6, SF 3
    Michael Taylor, CF
    4
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.

  AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.

  NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.

  BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.

All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

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


Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	7.0	13.7	17.7	17.7	0.3
Severino, Luis 3567	pi sp	nyy al	5.7	7.7	10.7	10.7	3.7
Andrus, Elvis 2582	ss	tex al	3.5	12.7	17.7	23.2	-5.7
Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	3.0	14.4	32.5	32.5	-8.4
Smoker, Josh 3725	pi mr cp	nym nl	2.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	0.7
Hedges, Austin 3790	ca	sd nl	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Bradley, Jackie Jr. 3293	cf	bos al	2.0	7.5	18.0	18.0	-3.5
Utley, Chase 1861	2b 1b	lad nl	2.0	3.0	14.0	75.1	1.0
Barnes, Danny 3807	pi mr	tor al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Skoglund, Eric 3811	pi sp	kc al	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7
Seager, Kyle 3031	3b	sea al	1.0	10.5	29.5	29.5	-8.5
Pujols, Albert 1438	dh 1b	ana al	1.0	9.0	33.5	183.3	-7.0
Nicolino, Justin 3576	pi sp	fla nl	1.0	3.0	4.0	4.0	-1.0
Bregman, Alex 3721	3b	hou al	1.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	-1.0
Taylor, Michael 3447	cf	dc nl	1.0	2.0	7.5	7.5	0.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Nationals' Tanner Roark tops players for Monday, May 29; Indians' Carrasco rises to 9th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank May 30, 2017

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

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	10.7
2	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	9.4
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	8.4
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	8.0
5	Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	7.0
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	6.7
7	Judge, Aaron 3767	rf	nyy al	6.5
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	6.4
9	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	6.4
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	6.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Monday, Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Roark pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing six hits, in the 3-0 win over the Giants.

American League Player of the Day—Carlos Beltran of the Astros hit a three-run homer and went 4-for-5, scoring three times, in the 16-8 win over the Twins.

Beltran earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 107.6 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 59th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Monday, he passes three players on the “all-time” list—Frank Thomas (106.2), Red Sox pitcher David Price (106.2) and Twins pitcher Ervin Santana (106.7), who was the starting opposing pitcher in Beltran’s game Monday. Beltran ranks 19th among all batters in career points since 1995 and fourth among all active batters.

Beltran has 2.7 Box-Toppers points in 2017 and earlier this season tied the record for longest consecutive season streak earning Box-Toppers points at 19 (1999-2017).

Box-Toppers season streaks


	Streak	Player	Pos	Duration	Career BTP
1	19	Jason Giambi	1b	1995-2013	133.4
1	19	Carlos Beltran*	rf	1999-2017	107.6
3	18	Jim Thome	1b dh	1995-2012	146.7
3	18	Chipper Jones	3b	1995-2012	149.0
3	18	Johnny Damon	lf	1995-2012	63.0
3	18	Alex Rodriguez	3b	1996-2013	187.0
7	17	Mariano Rivera	pi cp	1995-2011	126.4
7	17	Derek Jeter	ss	1996-2012	76.4
7	17	Paul Konerko	1b	1998-2014	100.7
7	17	Tim Hudson	pi sp	1999-2015	157.0
7	17	Torii Hunter	cf	1999-2015	115.9
7	17	David Ortiz	dh	2000-2016	145.9
7	17	CC Sabathia*	pi sp	2001-2017	188.0
14	16	Manny Ramirez	lf	1995-2010	167.2
14	16	Andy Pettitte	pi sp	1995-2010	138.5
14	16	Jamie Moyer	pi sp	1995-2010	104.0
14	16	Scott Rolen	3b	1996-2011	97.6
14	16	Kevin Millwood	pi sp	1997-2012	108.3
14	16	Derek Lowe	pi sp	1998-2013	91.5
14	16	Aramis Ramirez	3b	2000-2015	105.8
14	16	Mark Buehrle	pi sp	2000-2015	116.7
14	16	Albert Pujols*	dh 1b	2001-2016	182.3
14	16	Ichiro Suzuki*	rf	2001-2016	53.7
24	15	Randy Johnson	pi sp	1995-2009	278.8
24	15	Garret Anderson	lf	1995-2009	86.5
24	15	Ivan Rodriguez	ca	1995-2009	79.0
24	15	Tony Clark	1b	1995-2009	63.8
24	15	Gary Sheffield	lf	1995-2009	124.1
24	15	Jason Kendall	ca	1996-2010	40.9
24	15	Vladimir Guerrero	rf	1997-2011	128.3
24	15	Bobby Abreu	rf	1997-2011	95.5
24	15	Mike Cameron	cf	1997-2011	70.3
24	15	Miguel Tejada	ss	1997-2011	102.3
24	15	Jorge Posada	ca	1997-2011	79.5
24	15	Livan Hernandez	pi sp	1997-2011	76.7
24	15	Kyle Lohse	pi sp	2001-2015	89.0
24	15	Jake Peavy	pi sp	2002-2016	141.8
24	15	Miguel Cabrera*	1b	2003-2017	145.9

BTP: Box-Toppers points
* Active streak of a player active in 2017
Updated Monday, May 29, 2017
Details

National League Batter of the Day—Hunter Renfroe of the Padres hit a grand slam, going 1-for-4, in the 5-2 win over the Cubs.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Carlos Beltran.

Rankings—Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Carrasco (7IP 4H 2R BB 7K W in the 5-3 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.4 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

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

Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers has now earned Box-Toppers points for 15 straight seasons.
Marlins pitcher Edinson Volquez has now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 straight seasons.

Cabrera (2-3 R 3BI in the 10-7 win over the Royals) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2003 with the Marlins, making his 15-season streak tied (with 14 others) for the 24th-longest streak in Box-Toppers tracking history. It is the fifth-longest currently active streak.

Cabrera has 145.9 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 23rd place among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Monday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (145.2) and David Ortiz (145.9). (While Cabrera and Ortiz both have the same career Box-Toppers point total, Cabrera ranks ahead because he has more 2017 points—1.0 vs. 0.0.) Cabrera now trails 22nd-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7).

Cabrera now has the seventh-most career Box-Toppers points among active players after passing Lester. And he has the seventh-most career points among all batters since 1995, passing Ortiz and trailing sixth-ranked Thome (146.7). Cabrera maintains his second-place rank in career points among active batters, trailing Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.3).

Cabrera’s best season was 2013 with the Tigers when he had 16.9 Box-Toppers points, first among AL batters and eighth among all players. Cabrera also led AL batters in 2009 with the Tigers with 16.5 points, ninth among all players that season. In 2016, Cabrera had 12.0 Box-Toppers points, fourth among AL batters.

Volquez (6IP 3H R 2BB 4K W in the 4-1 win over the Phillies) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Rangers and has 65.2 career points, 19th among active NL pitchers. His best season was 2008 with the Reds when he had 15.1 Box-Toppers points, sixth among NL pitchers. In 2016, he had 6.4 points with the Royals.

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

Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 





  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/29
    Score
    Game
    Player of the Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    6.0
    WSH 3, SF 0
    Tanner Roark (W,5-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    AL
    5.0
    HOU 16, MIN 8
    Carlos Beltran, DH
    5
    3
    4
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    TOR 17, CIN 2
    Justin Smoak, 1B
    5
    3
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    CLE 5, OAK 3
    Carlos Carrasco (W,5-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    2
    2
    1
    7
  

    
    4.0
    NYM 4, MIL 2
    Robert Gsellman (W,3-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    2
    1
    2
    5
  

    
    4.0
    TB 10, TEX 8
    Alex Colome (S,14)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    3.0
    CHW 5, BOS 4
    Melky Cabrera, LF
    4
    1
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    DET 10, KC 7
    Miguel Cabrera, 1B
    3
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    SD 5, CHC 2
    Hunter Renfroe, RF
    3
    1
    1
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    MIA 4, PHI 1
    Edinson Volquez (W,1-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    2
    4
  

    
    3.0
    `PIT 4, ARI 3
    Trevor Williams
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    0
    3
  

    
    3.0
    LAD 5, STL 1
    Rich Hill (W,2-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    2
    1
    1
    2
    4
  

    
    3.0
    BAL 3, NYY 2
    Brad Brach (S,10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    SEA 6, COL 5
    Edwin Diaz (S,9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    ATL 6, LAA 3
    Jim Johnson (S,11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    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


Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	6.4	18.8	47.5	52.9	-6.0
Roark, Tanner 3261	pi sp	dc nl	4.0	16.7	32.7	32.7	-8.7
Colome, Alex 3189	pi cp	tb al	4.0	13.0	21.7	21.7	-5.0
Smoak, Justin 2731	1b	tor al	3.5	7.0	20.2	26.4	0.0
Johnson, Jim 2417	pi cp	atl nl	3.0	7.0	18.0	24.7	-1.0
Cabrera, Melky 2143	lf ph	chi al	3.0	7.0	17.0	33.5	-1.0
Renfroe, Hunter 3749	rf	sd nl	3.0	5.5	5.5	5.5	0.5
Beltran, Carlos 1194	dh rf	hou al	2.7	8.7	20.9	107.6	-3.3
Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	lad nl	2.0	16.4	20.4	40.1	-12.4
Diaz, Edwin 3690	pi cp	sea al	2.0	9.0	9.0	9.0	-5.0
Williams, Trevor 3792	pi sp	pit nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	1.0	13.0	58.8	145.9	-11.0
Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	fla nl	1.0	7.4	37.1	65.2	-5.4
Brach, Brad 3374	pi cp mr	bal al	1.0	4.0	8.0	8.0	-2.0
Gsellman, Robert 3748	pi sp	nym nl	1.0	2.7	2.7	2.7	-0.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops players for Tuesday, May 23, rises to 3rd in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, passing Schilling

Shawn Plank May 24, 2017

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his top spot in season player rankings and rising to third place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 23:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	10.7
2	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	9.4
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	8.4
4	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	6.7
5	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	6.0
6	McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	hou al	6.0
7	Harper, Bryce 3011	rf	dc nl	6.0
8	Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	6.0
9	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	6.0
10	Holland, Greg 2906	pi cp	col nl	6.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors: Twins pitcher Ervin Santana rose to second place and Astros pitcher Lance McCullers rose to sixth place.

Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 10 over nine innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 2-1, 13-inning win over the Cardinals. Kershaw did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied 1-1 when he exited after nine innings.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season. He is the first player to reach 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2017, the ninth straight season he’s earned 10 or more points in a season. Kershaw was also the first player to 10 points in 2016, reaching the milestone a week earlier than this year (May 17).

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	194.4
4	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	188.0
6	Alex Rodriguez	dh	released	187.0
7	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	182.3
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	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
13	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	162.8
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.

Kershaw maintains his top spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings, ahead of second-place player, Twins pitcher Ervin Santana (9.4 Box-Toppers points), who was American League Player of the Day Tuesday.

Kershaw also rises to third place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Kershaw now has 194.4 career Box-Toppers points and passes Curt Schilling (194.1) on the “all-time” list. It should be noted that Schilling began his career in 1988, before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, and so would likely have more total career points. Rough Box-Toppers projected estimates put Schilling’s actual career total at 232. (A look at projected Box-Toppers point totals for pitchers who began their careers before 1995.)

Kershaw has risen steadily up Box-Toppers career points rankings in recent years but his rise will now become more difficult. Kershaw now trails second-place player Pedro Martinez on the “all-time” list, who has 244.8 career Box-Toppers points since 1995. The 50.4-point gap between Martinez and Kershaw is the largest between any two players in “all-time” Box-Toppers rankings. In essence, Kershaw has whizzed by the close-together “inner planets” of players with fewer than 200 Box-Toppers points and now has to travel much greater distances to reach the “gas giants” of players with more than 200 career Box-Toppers points since 1995—Martinez and Randy Johnson (the overall leader with 278.8 points).

However, given Kershaw’s pace, perhaps the 50.4-point gap between Martinez and Kershaw is not so great and insurmountable. Kershaw has earned 50.8 points since July 23, 2015, less than two complete seasons (which included time on the disabled list). If Kershaw were able to maintain that pace, he might catch Martinez by the end of the 2018 season.

American League Player of the Day—Twins pitcher Ervin Santana pitched a two-hit, complete-game shutout, striking out six and walking two, in the 2-0 win over the Orioles.

Santana earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 9.4 for the season, rising from third to second place in season player rankings, first among AL pitchers, passing previous AL pitching leader, Chris Sale of the Red Sox (8.4 points). Santana trails overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (10.7 points).

Santana also now has 106.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 59th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes six players on the “all-time” list: Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1), Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (105.7), Aramis Ramirez (105.8), Carlos Beltran of the Astros (105.9), Frank Thomas (106.2) and Red Sox pitcher David Price (106.2). Santana now trails 58th-ranked player Lance Berkman (108.1).

National League Batter of the Day—Anthony Rendon of the Nationals homered twice and doubled in the 10-1 win over the Mariners. Rendon went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs.

American League Batter of the Day—Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring four times and driving in three runs, in the 11-6 win over the Rangers.

Rankings—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. Rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

McCullers (5IP H 0R 2BB 5K W in the 6-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester now has 145.2 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday (CG 4H R 0BB 10K W in the 4-1 win over the Giants). Lester had a Box-Toppers game score of +13.0, but lost out on earning Player of the Game honors to Kershaw, who had a game score of +14.0. So Lester only earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game.

That point boosts him to 24th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when tracking began. He passes Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (144.9) on the “all-time” list and now trails 23rd-ranked player David Ortiz (145.9). Lester now ranks seventh among active players in career points, trailing Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon (151.2).

Debut—Blue Jays pitcher Danny Barnes made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Barnes (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 4-3 win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut Aug. 2, 2016, and was playing in his 26th career game. He is the 3,807th 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 Santana earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Rendon and Bogaerts 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.

Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 





  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    5/23
    Score
    Game
    Player of the Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    14.0
    `LAD 2, STL 1 (F/13)
    Clayton Kershaw
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    3
    1
    1
    0
    10
  

    
    13.0
    CHC 4, SF 1
    Jon Lester (W,3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    4
    1
    1
    0
    10
  

    AL
    11.0
    MIN 2, BAL 0
    Ervin Santana (W,7-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    BAT
    7.0
    WSH 10, SEA 1
    Anthony Rendon, 3B
    4
    3
    3
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    7.0
    HOU 6, DET 2
    Lance McCullers Jr. (W,5-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    1
    0
    0
    2
    5
  

    
    5.1
    LAA 4, TB 0
    Matt Shoemaker (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    3
    0
    0
    3
    5
  

    
    5.0
    MIA 11, OAK 9
    Justin Bour, 1B
    5
    4
    4
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    5.0
    BOS 11, TEX 6
    Xander Bogaerts, SS
    5
    4
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    NYM 9, SD 3
    Michael Conforto, LF
    4
    2
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.2
    TOR 4, MIL 3
    Danny Barnes (W,1-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    4.0
    COL 8, PHI 2
    Charlie Blackmon, CF
    4
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    CLE 8, CIN 7
    Edwin Encarnacion, 1B
    4
    3
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    ATL 6, PIT 5
    Matt Adams, 1B
    5
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    KC 6, NYY 2
    Danny Duffy (W,4-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    2
    2
    3
    7
  

    
    1.0
    ARI 5, CHW 4
    Fernando Rodney (S,11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    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


Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	10.7	35.1	134.8	194.4	-13.7
Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	9.4	13.4	46.2	106.7	5.4
McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	hou al	6.0	12.1	18.8	18.8	-0.1
Conforto, Michael 3622	cf lf	nym nl	4.0	9.0	9.0	9.0	-1.0
Rendon, Anthony 3258	3b	dc nl	3.5	9.0	15.5	15.5	-2.0
Duffy, Danny 2915	pi sp	kc al	3.0	13.7	31.7	32.7	-7.7
Shoemaker, Matt 3290	pi sp	ana al	3.0	10.0	28.4	28.4	-4.0
Blackmon, Charlie 2891	cf	col nl	2.7	6.7	13.2	14.7	-1.3
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	2.0	24.1	69.6	145.2	-20.1
Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	dh 1b	cle al	2.0	10.0	45.1	69.1	-6.0
Rodney, Fernando 1803	pi cp	ari nl	2.0	7.0	25.0	37.0	-3.0
Bour, Justin 3433	1b	fla nl	2.0	4.5	14.5	14.5	-0.5
Adams, Matt 3220	1b ph	atl nl	2.0	3.0	11.5	11.5	1.0
Bogaerts, Xander 3383	ss	bos al	1.5	2.5	8.0	8.0	0.5
Barnes, Danny 3807	pi mr	tor al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Yankees' Micheal Pineda tops players for Monday, April 10; Giants' Moore tops NL players

Shawn Plank April 11, 2017

Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Pineda struck out 11 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 8-1 win over the Rays. Pineda retired the first 20 Rays batters.

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	3.0
2	Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	2.7
3	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	2.7
4	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	2.0
5	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	2.0
6	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	2.0
7	Finnegan, Brandon 3535	pi sp	cin nl	2.0
8	Mazara, Nomar 3614	rf	tex al	2.0
9	Pineda, Michael 2841	pi sp	nyy al	2.0
10	Chacin, Jhoulys 2711	pi mr sp	sd nl	2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Pineda receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first of the season and rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Matt Moore allowed one run and three hits over eight innings, striking out five, in the 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks.

National League Batter of the Day—Stephen Drew of the Nationals doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 14-6 win over the Cardinals.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Monday because no AL batter earned Player of the Game honors.

Rankings—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Verlander (7IP 3H R 2BB 4K ND in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.7 for the season.

Verlander now has 142.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 27th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Jake Peavy (141.8) on the “all-time” list and now trails 26th-ranked player, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (144.0).

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

Cubs pitcher Jon Lester has now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors in the 3-2 win over the Dodgers (6IP 4H R BB 7K ND). Lester earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Red Sox and has 144.2 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 25th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (144.0) on the “all-time” list. He now trails 24th-ranked player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (144.9). Lester also rises to eighth among active players in career Box-Toppers points. Lester’s best season was 2010 with the Red Sox when he led all players with 23.4 points. In 2016, he was fourth among all players with 22.1.
Jay Bruce of the Mets has now earned Box-Toppers points for 10 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors in the 4-3 win over the Phillies (2HR 2-3 3R 3BI). Bruce earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2008 with the Reds and has 59.8 career Box-Toppers points, 10th among active NL batters. His best season was 2010 with the Reds when he had 12.7 Box-Toppers points, third among active NL batters. In 2016, he had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, eighth among NL batters.

Debut—Reds pitcher Cody Reed made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Reed (3IP 0H 0R 0BB 4K ND in the 7-1 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut June 18, 2016, and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,765th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Pineda 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. Drew earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 





  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    4/10
    Score
    Game
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    14.2
    NYY 8, TB 1
    Michael Pineda (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    2
    1
    1
    0
    11
  

    
    9.0
    SEA 6, HOU 0
    James Paxton (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    2
    8
  

    NL
    8.0
    SF 4, ARI 1
    Matt Moore (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    
    8.0
    OAK 2, KC 0
    Jharel Cotton (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    0
    0
    3
    6
  

    
    7.0
    `CIN 7, PIT 1
    Cody Reed
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    BAT
    6.0
    WSH 14, STL 6
    Stephen Drew, SS
    4
    3
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    `CHC 3, LAD 2
    Jon Lester
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    1
    7
  

    
    5.0
    NYM 4, PHI 3
    Jay Bruce, RF
    3
    3
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    `DET 2, BOS 1
    Justin Verlander
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    0
    2
    4
  

    
    4.0
    SD 5, COL 3
    Wil Myers, 1B
    4
    2
    4
    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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	2.7	17.4	62.6	142.0	-12.0
Pineda, Michael 2841	pi sp	nyy al	2.0	8.0	24.4	36.1	-4.0
Moore, Matt 2975	pi sp	sf nl	1.7	14.1	37.6	39.6	-10.7
Drew, Stephen 2210	ss 2b	dc nl	1.5	1.5	17.5	37.5	1.5
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	1.0	23.1	68.6	144.2	-21.1
Myers, Wil 3228	1b	sd nl	1.0	10.7	19.2	19.2	-8.7
Bruce, Jay 2453	rf	nym nl	1.0	9.5	26.7	59.8	-7.5
Paxton, James 3280	pi sp	sea al	1.0	5.4	12.1	12.1	-3.4
Cotton, Jharel 3733	pi sp	oak al	1.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	-1.0
Reed, Cody 3765	pi mr	cin nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Clayton Kershaw leads list of most mentioned players & teams on Box-Toppers.com since 2013

Shawn Plank March 29, 2017

Kershaw, Scherzer, Cabrera are the most frequently mentioned players on Box-Toppers.com since its debut in 2013. The Chicago Cubs hold narrow lead among the most-tagged teams on the website.

How baseball stars are trending: Kershaw remains strong over past half decade—who is rising & who is declining

Shawn Plank March 7, 2017

Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer hold dominant lead among players in Box-Toppers points over last several years. Using longer term measure, Chris Sale rises to lead AL pitchers, Yoenis Cespedes rises to lead NL batters.

Box-Toppers top players by position over several time frames

Shawn Plank February 17, 2017

A look at Box-Toppers points leaders by position over several time frames, summarizing the series of nine High by Position posts.

Box-Toppers' top first basemen by time frame

Shawn Plank January 25, 2017

Albert Pujols leads all first basemen in career Box-Toppers points since 1995. Miguel Cabrera leads first basemen over past season and past six seasons.

Box-Toppers All-time All-Star teams, 1995-2016

Shawn Plank January 11, 2017

Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team (since 1995) consists of two active players (Sabathia and Pujols) and 12 retired players.

Box-Toppers 2011-16 All-Star teams

Shawn Plank January 7, 2017

Four players appear on Box-Toppers All-Star teams over all three major time periods (2016, 2015-16, 2011-16)—Kershaw, Scherzer, Hamels and Trout.

Carlos Beltran could tie Jason Giambi in 2017 for most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points (19)

Shawn Plank January 4, 2017

Jason Giambi leads list of players who earned Box-Toppers points in most consecutive seasons (19). Carlos Beltran, with 18 straight seasons earning points, could tie Giambi if he earns Box-Toppers points in 2017.

Only two of top 10 RBI leaders are among their league's top 10 batters in Box-Toppers points

Shawn Plank December 19, 2016

Nolan Arenado of the Rockies leads all players with 133 runs batted in and also ranks first among NL batters in Box-Toppers points with 10.7.

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

All-time leaders

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Box-Toppers season streaks

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Box-Toppers season streaks

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

All-time leaders

Top player from each game

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

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

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

Box-Toppers tag cloud

Box-Toppers

Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.