Orioles' Dylan Bundy tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 29; Sale maintains 3rd-place rank in Box-Toppers points

Orioles pitcher Dylan Bundy is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Tuesday, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale maintained his third-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Sale also bolstered his Box-Toppers points lead among American League pitchers.

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Pirates' Trevor Williams tops players for Monday, Aug. 7; Nationals' Scherzer moves within striking distance of Box-Toppers points lead

Pirates pitcher Trevor Williams is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Monday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, ranked second in Box-Toppers season player rankings, earns Player of the Game honors and moves within 1.1 Box-Toppers points of season leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.

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Dodgers' Kenta Maeda tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 1; Rockies' Arenado rises to lead NL batters in Box-Toppers points

Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Tuesday, Nolan Arenado of the Rockies rises to lead National League batter in Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Albert Pujols of the Angels moves with 0.2 career Box-Toppers points of “all-time” batting leader Alex Rodriguez.

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Orioles' Dylan Bundy tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 2; Mets' deGrom tops NL players

Orioles pitcher Dylan Bundy 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 Aug. 2:  


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

Bundy pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit, one walk and striking out seven, in the 5-1 win over the Rangers.

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing four hits and one walk, in the 7-1 win over the Yankees.

National League Batter of the Day—Maikel Franco of the Phillies hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 13-8 win over the Giants.

American League Batter of the Day—Max Kepler of the Twins homered and went 1-for-2, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 10-6 win over the Indians.

Tuesday was the second straight day Kepler earned AL Batter of the Day honors and the third time he’s done it in less than a week. In other words, he’s earned 4.5 Box-Toppers points in that span (1.5 points for each AL Batter of the Day honor) on July 28, Aug. 1 and Aug. 2. Kepler has 6.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, 14th among AL batters.

Notable—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers rises to 25th among all players in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Cabrera (HR 2B 3-5 2R 3BI in the 11-5 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 140.9 career points, passing Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (140.3) on the “all-time” list. Cabrera now trails 24th-ranked player, Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8).

Cabrera and Hamels have been passing each other in the career points list recently and with Tuesday’s honor, Cabrera again regains the 10th-place spot in career points among active players.

This was the second time in three days Cabrera has earned Player of the Game honors—he was AL Batter of the Day Sunday. Cabrera has 8.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, rising to fourth among AL batters.

Also notable—Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel is the season’s highest-ranked player among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Hammel (6IP 4H 0R 2BB 3K W in the 3-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks 33rd among all players and 17th among NL pitchers.

Hammel and another of Tuesday’s top players, Miguel Cabrera, both have 8.0 Box-Toppers points but Hammel ranks higher because he had more Box-Toppers points in 2015—9.7 vs. 4.7. Cabrera ranks 35th among all players.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

8/2 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 BAL 5, TEX 1 Dylan Bundy (W,4-3) - - - - 7.0 1 0 0 1 7
NL 10.0 NYM 7, NYY 1 Jacob deGrom (W,7-5) - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 1 8
BAT 7.0 PHI 13, SF 8 Maikel Franco, 3B 4 3 4 4 - - - - - -
7.0 COL 7, LAD 3 Jon Gray (W,8-4) - - - - 5.0 2 0 0 2 6
BAT 4.0 MIN 10, CLE 6 Max Kepler, RF 2 3 1 2 - - - - - -
4.0 TOR 2, HOU 1 R.A. Dickey (W,8-12) - - - - 7.0 6 1 1 0 5
4.0 LAA 5, OAK 4 Cam Bedrosian (S,1) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.0 DET 11, CHW 5 Miguel Cabrera, 1B 5 2 3 3 - - - - - -
3.0 CIN 7, STL 5 Joey Votto, 1B 4 2 4 1 - - - - - -
3.0 CHC 3, MIA 2 Jason Hammel (W,11-5) - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 2 3
3.0 SEA 5, BOS 4 Edwin Diaz (S,1) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 3
3.0 MIL 3, SD 2 Tyler Thornburg (S,3) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
1.1 KC 3, TB 2 Chris Young (W,3-8) - - - - 1.1 1 0 0 1 2
1.0 WSH 10, ARI 4 Jayson Werth, LF 5 2 3 1 - - - - - -
1.0 PIT 5, ATL 3 Tony Watson (S,1) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 1

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

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

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Hammel, Jason 2235 pi sp chi nl 8.0 17.7 41.1 54.2 -1.7
Cabrera, Miguel 1776 1b det al 8.0 12.7 61.3 140.9 3.3
deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 7.7 30.1 43.1 43.1 -14.7
Votto, Joey 2366 1b cin nl 6.5 11.5 28.2 60.2 1.5
Kepler, Max 3664 rf min al 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5
Dickey, R.A. 1734 pi sp tor al 6.0 11.0 55.2 76.9 1.0
Young, Chris R. 1933 pi sp mr kc al 4.7 12.7 28.8 78.8 -3.3
Bundy, Dylan 3655 pi sp mr bal al 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
Gray, Jon 3634 pi sp col nl 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
Bedrosian, Cam 3694 pi cp mr ana al 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
Franco, Maikel 3510 3b phi nl 2.5 5.7 5.7 5.7 -0.7
Werth, Jayson 1664 lf dc nl 2.0 5.0 19.0 46.2 -1.0
Watson, Tony 3215 pi mr cp pit nl 2.0 3.0 6.0 6.0 1.0
Thornburg, Tyler 3195 pi mr cp mil nl 2.0 2.0 8.0 8.0 2.0
Diaz, Edwin 3690 pi mr cp sea al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Rockies' De La Rosa tops players for Thursday, June 9; White Sox' Gonzalez tops AL players

Rockies pitcher Jorge De La Rosa is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of June 9:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 11.7
3 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
4 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
5 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
6 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 8.7
7 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7
8 Lackey, John 1640 pi sp chi nl 8.4
9 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 8.4
10 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 8.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

De La Rosa pitched four scoreless innings of middle relief, allowing no hits and striking out five, in the 11-5 win over the Pirates.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Miguel Gonzalez allowed one run over six innings, striking out five, in the 3-1 win over the Nationals.

National League Batter of the Day—Marcell Ozuna of the Marlins doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 10-3 win over the Twins.

American League Batter of the Day—Mitch Moreland of the Rangers doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in one run, in the 5-3 win over the Astros.

Notable—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright now has 105.3 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Wainwright (6IP 2H 2R 9K ND in the 3-2 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and maintains his rank of 60th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 59th-ranked player Aramis Ramirez (105.8).

Wainwright has 3.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, 33rd among NL pitchers.

Debut—Orioles pitcher Dylan Bundy made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Bundy (2.1IP H 0R 3K W in the 6-5 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut Sept. 23, 2012, and was playing in his 19th career game. He is the 3,655th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—De La Rosa earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gonzalez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Ozuna and Moreland 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

6/8 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 COL 11/PIT 5 Jorge De La Rosa (W,2-4) - - - - 4.0 0 0 0 0 5
8.0 `STL 3/CIN 2 Adam Wainwright - - - - 6.0 2 2 2 1 9
AL 6.0 CHW 3/DC 1 Miguel Gonzalez (W,1-1) - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 0 5
3.1 BAL 6/TOR 5 Dylan Bundy (W,2-1) - - - - 2.1 1 0 0 1 3
BAT 3.0 MIA 10/MIN 3 Marcell Ozuna, CF 5 1 4 3 - - - - - -
3.0 NYM 5/MIL 2 Jeurys Familia (S,20) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 NYY 6/LAA 3 Aroldis Chapman (S,11) - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 2
1.1 CLE 5/SEA 3 Cody Allen (S,13) - - - - 1.1 2 0 0 0 2
BAT 0.0 TEX 5/HOU 3 Mitch Moreland, 1B 4 1 2 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 +/-
Wainwright, Adam 2150 pi sp stl nl 3.5 6.5 54.6 105.3 0.5
Allen, Cody 3265 pi mr cp cle al 3.0 7.0 12.0 12.0 -1.0
Ozuna, Marcell 3190 cf fla nl 3.0 6.0 16.5 16.5 0.0
Moreland, Mitch 2799 1b tex al 2.5 8.7 16.7 17.7 -3.7
Chapman, Aroldis 2826 pi cp nyy al 2.0 10.0 40.0 41.0 -6.0
Familia, Jeurys 3446 pi cp nym nl 2.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 -6.0
De La Rosa, Jorge 1970 pi sp mr col nl 2.0 8.0 21.8 48.6 -4.0
Gonzalez, Miguel 3062 pi sp chi al 1.7 8.4 30.5 30.5 -5.0
Bundy, Dylan 3655 pi mr bal al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?