Twins' Dillon Gee tops players for Monday, Aug. 21; Dodgers' Granderson tops NL players

Twins pitcher Dillon Gee is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Gee gave up one run over six innings, allowing two hits, no walks and striking out four, in the 10-2 win over the White Sox.

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Indians' Mike Clevinger tops players for Saturday, Aug. 12; Bellinger rises to lead NL batters in 2017 Box-Toppers points

Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers rises to lead National League batters in 2017 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.

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

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?

Indians' Corey Kluber tops players for Thursday, June 1; Dbacks' Greinke rises to 5th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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

Top 10 players

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


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 10.7
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 Ray, Robbie 3502 pi sp ari nl 7.0
7 Wood, Alex 3246 pi sp lad nl 7.0
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—Kluber struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 8-0 win over the Athletics.

National League Player of the Day—Brewers pitcher Chase Anderson pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing three hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Mets.

American League Batter of the Day—Aaron Hicks of the Yankees hit three doubles and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 12-2 win over the Blue Jays.

National League Batter of the Day—Gerardo Parra of the Rockies doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring once and driving in one run, in the 6-3 win over the Mariners.

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

Greinke (7IP 4H 2R 1ER 2BB 8K W in the 3-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.7 for the season, rising from seventh to fifth place among players for 2017. He ranks third among NL pitchers.

Greinke also now has 163.8 career Box-Toppers points, 13th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Greinke trails 12th-ranked player Roger Clemens (164.8).

Notable—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright now has 115.5 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Wainwright (6IP 4H 0R 2BB 6K W in the 2-0 win over the Dodgers) rises to 46th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when player tracking began. With his 1.0 Box-Toppers point earned Thursday, Wainwright passes two players on the “all-time” list—Josh Beckett (114.9) and Tim Lincecum (115.0). He trails 45th-ranked player Torii Hunter (115.9).

Wainwright has 3.5 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Debut—Twins pitcher Adalberto Mejia made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Mejia (6IP 5H R 2BB 5K ND in the 4-2 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut Aug. 20, 2016, and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,812th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Anderson earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Hicks and Parra 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.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

6/1 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 CLE 8, OAK 0 Corey Kluber (W,4-2) - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 1 10
NL 10.0 MIL 2, NYM 1 Chase Anderson (W,4-1) - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 1 7
BAT 7.0 NYY 12, TOR 2 Aaron Hicks, CF 5 2 4 6 - - - - - -
6.0 ARI 3, MIA 2 Zack Greinke (W,7-3) - - - - 7.0 4 2 1 2 8
6.0 STL 2, LAD 0 Adam Wainwright (W,6-3) - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 2 6
BAT 2.0 COL 6, SEA 3 Gerardo Parra, LF 4 1 4 1 - - - - - -
2.0 BAL 7, BOS 5 Mark Trumbo, RF 4 1 3 2 - - - - - -
2.0 `MIN 4, LAA 2 Adalberto Mejia - - - - 6.0 5 1 1 2 5
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 +/-
Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 7.7 17.4 86.7 163.8 -2.0
Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 4.0 25.2 69.4 69.4 -17.2
Parra, Gerardo 2746 rf lf col nl 4.0 6.5 18.5 25.0 1.5
Anderson, Chase 3328 pi sp mil nl 3.7 10.7 19.7 19.7 -3.3
Wainwright, Adam 2150 pi sp stl nl 3.5 13.7 64.8 115.5 -6.7
Hicks, Aaron 3170 cf nyy al 3.0 4.0 8.0 8.0 2.0
Trumbo, Mark 2851 dh rf bal al 2.0 10.2 29.9 35.9 -6.2
Mejia, Adalberto 3812 pi sp min al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Indians' Corey Kluber tops players for Friday, April 21; Harper, Holland rise into Box-Toppers top 10

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Kluber pitched a three-hit, complete-game shutout, striking out nine and walking two, in the 3-0 win over the White Sox.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 21:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 5.0
2 Vargas, Jason 2055 pi sp kc al 5.0
3 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp bos al 4.7
4 Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 4.7
5 Harper, Bryce 3011 rf dc nl 4.0
6 Holland, Greg 2906 pi cp col nl 4.0
7 Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 pi mr sp sd nl 3.7
8 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 3.4
9 Morrison, Logan 2794 1b tb al 3.2
10 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 3.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Kluber led AL players in Box-Toppers points in 2016 with 21.2. This was Kluber’s first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor for 2017.

National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Trevor Cahill allowed one run and three hits over seven innings, striking out six, in the 5-3 win over the Marlins.

National League Batter of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright homered and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 6-3 win over the Brewers.

This is the first time this season that a pitcher has earned Player of the Game honors for batting. It was done eight times in 2016 (including twice by Wainwright) and seven times in 2015. Wainwright has earned Player of the Game honors four times in his career for batting: July 24, 2012, May 2, 2016 and Sept. 5, 2016. He’s earned NL Batter of the Day three times (the only time he didn’t was Sept. 5, 2016).

Wainwright had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 for batting, which was the same as his Box-Toppers game score for pitching (5IP 6H 2R 0BB 9K W). But in cases of game score ties, batters beat pitchers, so Wainwright the batter beat out Wainwright the pitcher on the tiebreaker to earn Player of the Game honors.

Wainwright also now has 113.5 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 48th 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). He now trails 47th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9).

American League Batter of the Day—Joey Gallo of the Rangers hit two homers, going 2-for-3 and driving in three runs, in the 6-2 win over the Royals.

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

  • Bryce Harper of the Nationals (HR 2B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 4-3, 11-inning win over the Mets) rises to fifth place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 4.0 for the season.
  • Rockies closing pitcher Greg Holland (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv in the 6-5 win over the Giants) rises to sixth place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 4.0 for the season.

Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Blue Jays pitcher Ryan Tepera (3IP H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 8-7, 13-inning win over the Angels) made his Major League debut May 10, 2015, and was playing in his 59th career game. He is the 3,774th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Cubs pitcher Carl Edwards Jr. (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the Reds) made his Major League debut Sept. 7, 2015, and was playing in his 48th career game. He is the 3,775th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cahill earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Wainwright and Gallo 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.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

4/21 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 CLE 3, CHW 0 Corey Kluber (W,2-1) - - - - 9.0 3 0 0 2 9
NL 7.0 SD 5, MIA 3 Trevor Cahill (W,1-2) - - - - 7.0 3 1 1 1 6
5.0 PHI 4, ATL 3 Jeremy Hellickson (W,3-0) - - - - 7.0 3 2 2 0 5
5.0 TOR 8, LAA 7 (F/13) Ryan Tepera (W,1-0) - - - - 3.0 1 0 0 0 3
BAT 4.0 STL 6, MIL 3 Adam Wainwright, P 3 1 2 4 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 TEX 6, KC 2 Joey Gallo, 3B 3 2 2 3 - - - - - -
3.1 PIT 6, NYY 3 Juan Nicasio (W,1-2) - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 ARI 13, LAD 5 Daniel Descalso, PH-1B 1 1 1 2 - - - - - -
3.0 BAL 2, BOS 0 Dylan Bundy (W,3-1) - - - - 7.0 6 0 0 1 3
3.0 CHC 6, CIN 5 (F/11) Carl Edwards Jr. (W,1-0) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 HOU 6, TB 3 Ken Giles (S,4) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 COL 6, SF 5 Greg Holland (S,9) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 WSH 4, NYM 3 (F/11) Bryce Harper, RF 4 2 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 MIN 6, DET 3 Eddie Rosario, LF 3 1 1 3 - - - - - -
2.0 OAK 3, SEA 1 Sean Manaea (W,1-1) - - - - 6.0 5 1 1 3 6
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 +/-
Harper, Bryce 3011 rf dc nl 4.0 7.0 31.4 31.4 1.0
Holland, Greg 2906 pi cp col nl 4.0 4.0 34.0 37.0 4.0
Bundy, Dylan 3655 pi sp bal al 3.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 -3.0
Gallo, Joey 3485 3b tex al 3.0 3.0 4.5 4.5 3.0
Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 2.0 23.2 67.4 67.4 -19.2
Hellickson, Jeremy 2778 pi sp phi nl 2.0 15.1 36.1 46.8 -11.1
Cahill, Trevor 2658 pi sp mr sd nl 1.7 4.7 19.4 41.9 -1.3
Wainwright, Adam 2150 pi sp stl nl 1.5 11.7 62.8 113.5 -8.7
Nicasio, Juan 2888 pi mr sp pit nl 1.0 10.0 22.4 26.4 -8.0
Manaea, Sean 3637 pi sp oak al 1.0 7.7 7.7 7.7 -5.7
Giles, Ken 3402 pi cp mr hou al 1.0 4.0 9.0 9.0 -2.0
Rosario, Eddie 3542 lf min al 1.0 4.0 5.5 5.5 -2.0
Descalso, Daniel 2855 ph 1b ari nl 1.0 2.0 8.7 11.2 0.0
Edwards, Carl Jr. 3775 pi mr chi nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Tepera, Ryan 3774 pi mr tor al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Nationals' Max Scherzer tops players for Monday, June 13, rising to 3rd in Box-Toppers rankings

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of June 13:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 17.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 11.7
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 10.0
4 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
5 Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 8.8
6 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
7 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
8 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 8.7
9 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7
10 Lackey, John 1640 pi sp chi nl 8.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Scherzer struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Cubs.

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the third player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. It is the sixth season—and fifth straight season—Scherzer has had 10 or more points in a season.

Scherzer also rises to 44th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Monday, Scherzer now has 116.0 career Box-Toppers points and passes three players on the “all-time” list—Josh Beckett (114.9), Angels pitcher Tim Lincecum (115.0) and Torii Hunter (115.9). Scherzer trails 43rd-ranked player, Cubs pitcher John Lackey (116.2).

American League Player of the Day—Khris Davis of the Athletics hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 14-5 win over the Rangers.

National League Batter of the Day—Martin Prado of the Marlins hit a two-run homer and went 3-for-3, driving in three total runs, in the 13-4 win over the Padres.

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 Khris Davis.

Debut—Giants pitcher Derek Law made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Law (1.1IP H 0R 2K Sv in the 3-2 win over the the Dodgers) made his Major League debut April 15 and was playing in his 22nd career game. He is the 3,657th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Davis earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Prado 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.

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

6/13 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 DC 4/CHC 1 Max Scherzer (W,8-4) - - - - 7.0 2 1 1 0 11
AL 6.0 OAK 14/TEX 5 Khris Davis, LF 4 3 2 5 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 MIA 13/SD 4 Martin Prado, 3B 3 1 3 3 - - - - - -
4.0 KC 2/CIN 1 Edinson Volquez (W,6-6) - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 4 3
4.0 PHI 7/TOR 0 Jerad Eickhoff (W,4-8) - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 4 5
3.0 CHW 10/DET 9 Adam Eaton, CF 5 2 4 2 - - - - - -
2.2 ARI 3/LAD 2 Brad Ziegler (S,13) - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 0 1
2.1 SF 11/MIL 5 Derek Law (S,1) - - - - 1.1 1 0 0 0 2
2.0 MIN 9/LAA 4 Robbie Grossman, LF 4 3 2 1 - - - - - -
1.0 CIN 9/ATL 8 Adam Duvall, LF 4 1 1 3 - - - - - -

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

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

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 10.0 31.0 95.6 116.0 -11.0
Eickhoff, Jerad 3566 pi sp phi nl 6.0 11.0 11.0 11.0 1.0
Volquez, Edinson 2220 pi sp kc al 5.4 12.4 37.1 63.2 -1.6
Duvall, Adam 3573 lf cin nl 4.5 6.0 6.0 6.0 3.0
Davis, Khris 3242 lf oak al 3.2 7.2 13.2 13.2 -0.8
Eaton, Adam 3253 rf cf chi al 2.0 7.5 10.0 10.0 -3.5
Prado, Martin 2511 3b fla nl 1.5 7.5 21.0 27.5 -4.5
Ziegler, Brad 2504 pi cp ari nl 1.0 4.0 10.0 13.0 -2.0
Grossman, Robbie 3267 lf min al 1.0 1.0 8.0 8.0 1.0
Law, Derek 3657 pi sp sf nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Mariners' Walker tops players for Wednesday, June 8; Lackey, Scherzer rise into Box-Toppers top 10

Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of June 8:  


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?

Also Wednesday, Cubs pitcher John Lackey and Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer both rose into Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner became the 71st player since 1995 with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points.

Player of the Day—Walker pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 11 and allowing three hits, in the 5-0 win over the Indians.

National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher John Lackey pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing three hits, in the 8-1 win over the Phillies.

Lackey earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 8.4 for the season and rising to eighth in season player rankings. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.

Lackey also rises to 43rd place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Lackey now has 116.2 career Box-Toppers points and passes three players on the “all-time” list—Josh Beckett (114.9), Angels pitcher Tim Lincecum (115.0) and Torii Hunter (115.9). Lackey now trails 42nd-ranked player Todd Helton (116.4).

American League Batter of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays homered, tripled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 7-2 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Moss of the Cardinals hit two homers and went 2-for-5, driving in three runs, in the 12-7 win over the Reds.

Rankings—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Scherzer (7IP 5H 0R 6K W in the 11-4 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks seventh among NL pitchers.

Scherzer also rises to 47th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Wednesday, Scherzer has 114.0 for his career and passes three players on the “all-time” list—Sammy Sosa (113.2), Dan Haren (113.2) and Chris Carpenter (113.3). Scherzer now trails 46th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9).

Notable—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner becomes the 71st player with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points (since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Bumgarner (6IP 4H R 5K ND in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 100.7 for his career. He rises to 68th place among all players since 1995, passing three players on the “all-time” list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Paul Konerko (100.7). Bumgarner now trails 67th-ranked player Carlos Beltran of the Yankees (100.9).

Bumgarner also has 8.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 12th among all players and ninth among NL pitchers.

Scoring—Walker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lackey earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Donaldson and Moss each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/8 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 16.0 SEA 5/CLE 0 Taijuan Walker (W,3-6) - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 0 11
NL 12.0 CHC 8/PHI 1 John Lackey (W,7-2) - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 0 8
8.2 MIL 4/OAK 0 Chase Anderson (W,4-6) - - - - 6.2 2 0 0 0 4
8.1 BAL 4/KC 0 Chris Tillman (W,8-1) - - - - 7.1 8 0 0 0 9
7.0 DC 11/CHW 4 Max Scherzer (W,7-4) - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 1 6
6.0 ATL 4/SD 2 Julio Teheran (W,2-6) - - - - 8.0 5 2 2 1 8
BAT 5.0 TOR 7/DET 2 Josh Donaldson, 3B 4 3 3 3 - - - - - -
5.0 COL 1/LAD 0 Chris Rusin (W,2-4) - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 1 3
4.0 NYY 12/LAA 6 Chris Parmelee, 1B 5 3 3 3 - - - - - -
4.0 `SF 2/BOS 1 Madison Bumgarner - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 1 5
3.0 TB 6/ARI 3 Corey Dickerson, LF 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 MIN 7/MIA 5 Trevor Plouffe, 3B 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
BAT 2.0 STL 12/CIN 7 Brandon Moss, LF-1B 5 2 2 3 - - - - - -
2.0 NYM 6/PIT 5 Michael Conforto, LF 3 1 1 3 - - - - - -
1.0 HOU 3/TEX 1 Jose Altuve, 2B 3 0 2 2 - - - - - -
`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 +/-
Lackey, John 1640 pi sp chi nl 8.4 18.1 37.8 116.2 -1.3
Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 8.0 29.0 93.6 114.0 -13.0
Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 8.0 25.0 95.0 100.7 -9.0
Altuve, Jose 3007 2b hou al 6.0 13.0 22.5 22.5 -1.0
Donaldson, Josh 3144 3b tor al 5.5 15.4 35.4 35.4 -4.4
Tillman, Chris 2754 pi sp bal al 5.0 9.7 38.8 40.8 0.3
Anderson, Chase 3328 pi sp mil nl 5.0 9.0 14.0 14.0 1.0
Conforto, Michael 3622 lf nym nl 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
Walker, Taijuan 3453 pi sp sea al 4.7 18.4 18.4 18.4 -9.0
Teheran, Julio 3176 pi sp atl nl 3.0 10.7 38.8 38.8 -4.7
Rusin, Chris 3236 pi sp col nl 2.7 3.7 5.7 5.7 1.7
Plouffe, Trevor 2869 3b min al 2.5 5.5 21.5 21.5 -0.5
Moss, Brandon 2520 rf lf stl nl 1.5 6.5 22.5 24.5 -3.5
Dickerson, Corey 3222 lf tb al 1.0 4.0 13.0 13.0 -2.0
Parmelee, Chris 2996 1b nyy al 1.0 3.0 6.5 6.5 -1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Padres' Pomeranz tops players for Friday, June 3; Syndergaard, Salazar rise into Box-Toppers top 10

Padres pitcher Drew Pomeranz 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 2016 season as of June 3:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 14.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 9.7
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 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 8.4
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 8.0
10 Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 7.8
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Friday, two players rose into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard and Indians pitcher Danny Salazar. Plus, Eugenio Suarez of the Reds earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day to take the season Box-Toppers points lead among National League batters, passing Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets.

Player of the Day—Pomeranz pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits, in the 4-0 win over the Rockies.

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Danny Salazar struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 6-1 win over the Royals.

Salazar earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.8 for the season, rising to 10th place in season player rankings, third among AL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Corey Seager of the Dodgers hit three home runs, going 3-for-4, in the 4-2 win over the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-3 and driving in five total runs, in the 7-3 win over the Mariners.

Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 105.8 for his career, rising to 58th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Aramis Ramirez (105.8) on the “all-time” list and now trails 57th-ranked player Frank Thomas (106.2). Beltre ranks fifth in career Box-Toppers points among active AL batters.

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

Syndergaard (7IP 6H 2R 9K W in the 6-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.

Suarez—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Friday and takes the Box-Toppers points lead among NL batters, passing Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets.

Suarez (HR 3-4 2R 2BI in the 7-2 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season, passing previous NL batting leader, Cespedes (6.0). Suarez ranks 14th among all players.

Suarez also earned NL Batter of the Day honors Thursday.

Notable—Cubs pitcher John Lackey now has 114.5 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Lackey (6.2IP 5H 0R 9K W in the 6-0 win over the Diamondbacks) maintains his rank of 46th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 45th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9). Lackey has 6.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 10th-most among NL pitchers.

Debut—James McCann of the Tigers made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

McCann (HR 3B 3-4 2R 2BI in the 10-3 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2014, and was playing in his 149th career game. He is the 3,649th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Pomeranz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Salazar earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Seager 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/3 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 SD 4/COL 0 Drew Pomeranz (W,5-5) - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 2 8
8.2 CHC 6/ARI 0 John Lackey (W,6-2) - - - - 6.2 5 0 0 2 9
AL 7.0 CLE 6/KC 1 Danny Salazar (W,6-3) - - - - 8.0 3 1 1 5 9
BAT 5.0 LAD 4/ATL 2 Corey Seager, SS 4 3 3 3 - - - - - -
BAT 5.0 TEX 7/SEA 3 Adrian Beltre, 3B 3 1 2 5 - - - - - -
5.0 NYM 6/MIA 2 Noah Syndergaard (W,6-2) - - - - 7.0 6 2 2 1 9
4.0 HOU 12/OAK 2 Evan Gattis, C 5 1 4 4 - - - - - -
3.0 DET 10/CHW 3 James McCann, C 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 CIN 7/DC 2 Eugenio Suarez, 3B 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 PHI 6/MIL 3 Cameron Rupp, C 2 2 2 1 - - - - - -
2.2 TOR 5/BOS 2 R.A. Dickey (W,3-6) - - - - 6.2 2 1 0 5 4
2.0 LAA 9/PIT 2 Kole Calhoun, RF 4 2 2 2 - - - - - -
1.1 BAL 6/NYY 5 Mychal Givens (W,5-0) - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 0
1.0 SF 5/STL 1 Kelby Tomlinson, PH 0 1 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 TB 4/MIN 2 Erasmo Ramirez (W,7-4) - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 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 +/-
Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 8.0 18.4 18.4 18.4 -2.4
Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 7.8 21.2 30.6 30.6 -5.6
Suarez, Eugenio 3355 3b cin nl 7.0 10.0 12.5 12.5 4.0
Lackey, John 1640 pi sp chi nl 6.7 16.4 36.1 114.5 -3.0
Pomeranz, Drew 3061 pi sp mr sd nl 6.0 9.0 17.0 17.0 3.0
Beltre, Adrian 1141 3b tex al 4.0 16.5 42.4 105.8 -8.5
Dickey, R.A. 1734 pi sp tor al 3.0 8.0 52.2 73.9 -2.0
Calhoun, Kole 3279 rf ana al 3.0 6.2 13.7 13.7 -0.2
Ramirez, Erasmo 1786 pi sp mr tb al 2.7 9.7 11.7 13.7 -4.3
Tomlinson, Kelby 3619 ph sf nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Seager, Corey 3587 ss lad nl 1.5 3.0 3.0 3.0 0.0
Gattis, Evan 3179 ca dh hou al 1.0 5.0 7.0 7.0 -3.0
Givens, Mychal 3599 pi mr bal al 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Rupp, Cameron 3556 ca phi nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
McCann, James 3649 ca det al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Kershaw tops players for Sunday, May 29, extends lead in season Box-Toppers points

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and extends his lead in season Box-Toppers player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 29:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 14.0
2 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
3 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
5 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 8.7
6 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 8.7
7 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7
8 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 8.4
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 7.0
10 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 6.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Sunday, Athletics pitcher Rich Hill maintained his rank of eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 10 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 4-2 win over the Mets. Kershaw picked up a no decision and did not earn the win because the Mets tied the game after he exited.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.0 for the season. He holds a dominating lead in player rankings, 5.0 points ahead of second-place player, Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (9.0).

Kershaw also has 173.3 career Box-Toppers points, seventh among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails sixth-ranked player, Albert Pujols of the Angels (176.3).

American League Player of the Day—Twins pitcher Ricky Nolasco struck out seven over six innings, allowing two runs and three hits, in the 5-4 win over the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day—Wilson Ramos of the Nationals homered and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-2 win over the Cardinals.

American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros hit a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the 13th inning in the 8-6 win over the Angels.

Rankings—Athletics pitcher Rich Hill maintained his rank of eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Hill (6.1IP 5H 2R 9K W in the 4-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.4 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the White Sox (8.7).

Streak—Hunter Pence of the Giants has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Pence (3-2B 3-5 2R 3BI in the 8-3 win over the Rockies) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Astros and has 49.7 career points, 10th among active NL outfielders. His best season was 2008 with the Astros, when he had 8.2 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL outfielders. In 2015, Pence had 2.0 Box-Toppers points with the Giants.

Notable—Cubs pitcher John Lackey rises to 46th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Lackey (7IP 4H R 6K W in the 7-2 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 113.5 for his career. Since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, Lackey now ranks 46th and with his point Sunday, he passes four players on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” list—Kevin Brown (112.8), Sammy Sosa (113.2), Dan Haren (113.2) and Chris Carpenter (113.3). Lackey now trails 45th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9). Lackey has 5.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 11th among NL pitchers.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/29 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.2 `LAD 4/NYM 2 Clayton Kershaw - - - - 7.2 4 2 2 0 10
BAT 6.0 DC 10/STL 2 Wilson Ramos, C 3 2 3 4 - - - - - -
5.1 ARI 6/SD 3 Archie Bradley (W,2-0) - - - - 7.1 4 3 3 1 9
5.0 MIA 7/ATL 3 Derek Dietrich, 2B 3 1 3 4 - - - - - -
AL 5.0 MIN 5/SEA 4 Ricky Nolasco (W,2-3) - - - - 6.0 3 2 2 1 7
4.0 MIL 5/CIN 4 Jonathan Villar, SS 2 3 2 1 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 HOU 8/LAA 6 Carlos Correa, SS 1 1 1 3 - - - - - -
3.1 OAK 4/DET 2 Rich Hill (W,8-3) - - - - 6.1 5 2 2 3 9
3.0 SF 8/COL 3 Hunter Pence, RF 5 2 3 3 - - - - - -
3.0 CHC 7/PHI 2 John Lackey (W,5-2) - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 4 6
3.0 NYY 2/TB 1 Nathan Eovaldi (W,6-2) - - - - 6.0 6 1 1 2 7
3.0 BOS 5/TOR 3 Koji Uehara (S,1) - - - - 1 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 KC 5/CHW 4 Lorenzo Cain, CF 4 2 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 `BAL 6/CLE 4 Darren O'Day - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 2
1.0 TEX 6/PIT 2 Mitch Moreland, 1B 4 1 1 3 - - - - - -
`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 +/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 14.0 39.7 139.8 173.3 -11.7
Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 8.4 12.4 12.4 32.1 4.4
Lackey, John 1640 pi sp chi nl 5.7 15.4 35.1 113.5 -4.0
Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 pi sp nyy al 5.7 7.7 24.8 24.8 3.7
Cain, Lorenzo 3171 cf kc al 4.0 12.2 18.2 18.2 -4.2
Nolasco, Ricky 2125 pi sp min al 3.7 5.7 26.4 79.5 1.7
Correa, Carlos 3506 ss hou al 2.5 9.7 9.7 9.7 -4.7
Uehara, Koji 2802 pi mr cp bos al 2.0 7.0 24.0 28.0 -3.0
O’Day, Darren 2577 pi mr bal al 2.0 3.7 11.7 12.7 0.3
Ramos, Wilson 2904 ca dc nl 1.5 2.5 16.0 16.0 0.5
Moreland, Mitch 2799 1b tex al 1.0 7.2 15.2 16.2 -5.2
Pence, Hunter 2287 rf sf nl 1.0 3.0 22.0 49.7 -1.0
Dietrich, Derek 3199 2b fla nl 1.0 2.0 4.0 4.0 0.0
Bradley, Archie 3438 pi sp ari nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Villar, Jonathan 3233 ss mil nl 1.0 1.0 3.0 3.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Box-Toppers' big dippers—players whose 2015 point total declined most from 2014

Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals, out with injury much of 2015, had the biggest Box-Toppers point decline from 2014. Jose Abreu of the White Sox had biggest dip among AL players.

Read More

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops players for Saturday, July 18, rises to 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to 10th in season player rankings.

Also Saturday, Robinson Cano of the Mariners earned a Box-Toppers point in his 11th straight season and three players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points—Kershaw, Aramis Ramirez and Jon Lester—earned Player of the Game honors.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of July 18.  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 15.0
2 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 14.4
3 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 13.4
4 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 13.4
5 Price, David 2593 pi sp det al 13.1
6 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 12.0
7 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 12.0
8 Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 11.7
9 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp hou al 11.1
10 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 11.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Kershaw pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 14 and allowing three hits, in the 4-2 win over the Nationals.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season and rises to 10th place in season Box-Toppers player rankings. Kershaw led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2014 with 31.5. He also led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2011 and 2013.

Kershaw is the 15th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. It is the seventh straight season Kershaw has had 10.0 or more points.

Kershaw has 144.6 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 20th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 19th-place player Jim Thome (146.7).

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Chris Tillman pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing one hit, in the 3-0 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals hit two home runs, going 3-for-3 and driving in six runs, in the 12-2 win over the Mets.

American League Batter of the Day—Robinson Cano of the Mariners hit a pair of two-run homers and went 3-for-4 in the 4-3 win over the Yankees.

Cano has now earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons with his first Player of the Game honor for 2015. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2005 with the Yankees. His best season was 2013 with the Yankees, when he had 12.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among AL batters. In 2014, he had 6.5 Box-Toppers points with the Mariners.

Cano has 62.4 career Box-Toppers points and ranks sixth among all second baseman since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. He ranks second in career points among active second basemen, behind Chase Utley of the Phillies (72.1).

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

  • Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (7.1IP 2H 0R 7K W in the 4-0 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 115.1 career Box-Toppers points. He rises to 42nd place among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his point Saturday, he passes three players on the “all-time” list—Torii Hunter (114.4), Josh Beckett (114.9) and Tim Lincecum (115.0). He trails 41st-place player Todd Helton (116.4).
  • Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers (HR 3-3 2R 2BI in the 8-5 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 103.3 career Box-Toppers points. He ranks 58th place among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 57th-place player John Lackey (103.8).

Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Matt den Dekker of the Nationals (2-R HR in the 5-3 win over the Dodgers) made his Major League debut Aug. 29, 2013, and was playing in his 98th career game. He is the 3,534th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Royals pitcher Brandon Finnegan (2IP H 0R 2K W in the 7-6, 13-inning win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut Sept. 6, 2014, and was playing in his 21st career game. He is the 3,535th 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 Tillman earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Grichuk and Cano each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

7/18 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 19.0 Dodgers Clayton Kershaw (W,7-6) - - - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 0 14
AL 14.0 Orioles Chris Tillman (W,7-7) - - - - - - 8.0 1 0 0 1 8
12.0 Angels Garrett Richards (W,10-6) - - - - - - 9.0 2 0 0 1 6
11.1 Cubs Jon Lester (W,5-8) - - - - - - 7.1 2 0 0 1 7
BAT 8.0 Cardinals Randal Grichuk, CF-LF-RF 3 2 3 6 1 0 - - - - - -
6.1 Rangers Colby Lewis (W,9-4) - - - - - - 7.1 4 2 2 0 7
5.1 `Athletics Scott Kazmir - - - - - - 8.1 5 1 1 1 5
BAT 5.0 Mariners Robinson Cano, 2B 4 2 3 4 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Giants Buster Posey, 1B-C 4 1 3 4 1 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Brewers Aramis Ramirez, 3B 3 2 3 2 1 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Padres Craig Kimbrel (S,25) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.0 Nationals Matt den Dekker PH LF 1 1 1 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Royals Brandon Finnegan (W,3-0) - - - - - - 2.0 1 0 0 0 2
2.2 `Rays Erasmo Ramirez - - - - - - 4.2 4 1 1 0 4
2.0 Indians Carlos Santana, 1B 3 2 2 1 2 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Phillies Chad Billingsley (W,2-3) - - - - - - 5.0 4 0 0 1 2
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Rays' Andriese tops players for Saturday, June 27; Twins' Hunter rises in Box-Toppers 'all-time' player rankings

Rays pitcher Matt Andriese is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, Torii Hunter of the Twins rose to 44th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 after earning American League Batter of the Day honors.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of June 27.  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 14.0
2 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 13.4
3 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 12.0
4 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 12.0
5 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 11.4
6 Price, David 2593 pi sp det al 11.1
7 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 10.4
8 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 9.7
9 Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 9.7
10 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 9.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Andriese pitched six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out five, in the 4-1 win over the Red Sox.

National League Player of the Day—Matt Duffy of the Giants homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 7-5 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—Torii Hunter of the Twins homered twice, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 5-2 win over the Brewers.

Hunter earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 114.4 points for his career and rising to 44th place among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Saturday, Hunter passes three players on the “all-time” list: Jon Lester (113.1), Sammy Sosa (113.2) and Chris Carpenter (113.3). Hunter now trails the 43rd-ranked player on the list, Josh Beckett (114.9).

Hunter’s 114.4 career Box-Toppers points ranks 14th among all batters since 1995 and fifth among active batters.

Hunter now has 6.5 Box-Toppers points for the season and ranks second among AL batters, behind Prince Fielder of the Rangers (7.5 Box-Toppers points). This is the most Box-Toppers points Hunter has had in a single season since he had 8.5 in 2010 with the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall NL Player of the Day was a batter (Matt Duffy).

Notable—Justin Upton of the Padres has the highest Box-Toppers player ranking of any of the 11 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Upton has 7.0 Box-Toppers points and ranks 23rd among all players, second among NL batters, behind Todd Frazier of the Reds (7.2). Upton (HR 2-3 R 2BI in the 7-2 win over the Diamondbacks) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/27 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 10.0 Rays Matt Andriese (W, 3-2) - - - - - - 6.0 1 0 0 0 5
7.1 Rangers Yovani Gallardo (W, 7-6) - - - - - - 8.1 3 0 0 2 4
BAT 4.0 Twins Torii Hunter RF 4 3 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
NL 4.0 Giants Matt Duffy 3B 4 3 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Cardinals Xavier Scruggs 1B 4 2 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Pirates Starling Marte LF, CF 4 3 3 1 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Yankees Brian McCann C 4 1 2 4 1 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Royals Greg Holland (S, 16) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 Marlins A.J. Ramos (S, 10) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Padres Justin Upton LF 3 1 2 2 1 0 - - - - - -
1.2 Angels Garrett Richards (W, 8-5) - - - - - - 7.2 7 2 2 1 6

Giants' Lincecum tops players for Wednesday, May 20, rises to 9th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum is Wednesday’s Player of the Day and rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.

Also Wednesday, Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings and A.J. Pollock of the Diamondbacks earned National League Batter of the Day for the second day in a row.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 20.  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 8.7
2 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 7.0
3 Miller, Shelby 3134 pi sp atl nl 7.0
4 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 6.7
5 Harper, Bryce 3011 lf rf dc nl 6.5
6 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 6.0
7 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 6.0
8 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 5.7
9 Lincecum, Tim 2288 pi sp sf nl 5.7
10 Harang, Aaron 1599 pi sp phi nl 5.1
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Lincecum pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up three hits, in the 4-0 win over the Dodgers. Lincecum earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points, giving him 5.7 for the season, moving up to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings, fifth among NL pitchers.

Lincecum also now has 115.0 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 41st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his 2.0 points Wednesday, Lincecum passed four players on that list—Josh Beckett (114.9), Mark Buehrle (114.7), Chris Carpenter (113.3) and Sammy Sosa (113.2). Lincecum’s 115.0 career points ranks ninth among active pitchers currently in the NL.

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Shaun Marcum struck out six over 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 4-3 win over the White Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—A.J. Pollock of the Diamondbacks went 3-for-4, scoring four runs, including a steal of home—one of his three stolen bases—in the 6-1 win over the Marlins. This was the second straight day Pollock earned NL Batter of the Day honors.

American League Batter of the Day—Mike Trout of the Angels homered and went 2-for-3, scoring three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Blue Jays.

Rankings—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday. Keuchel (7IP R W in the 6-1 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.7 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:

  •  Braves pitcher Williams Perez (5IP R 7K ND in the 2-1 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut May 8 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,476th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Rangers pitcher Phil Klein (5.1IP R W in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut Aug. 1, 2014, and was playing in his 24th career game. He is the 3,477th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Fishy—A.J. Pollock and Mike Trout were the two Box-Toppers Batters of the Day for Wednesday. However, neither Mike Carp nor any player from the Marlins earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday. 

Scoring—Lincecum earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Marcum earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Pollock and Trout each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/20 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 6.0 Giants Tim Lincecum (W, 4-2) - - - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 2 4
5.1 Cardinals Carlos Martinez (W, 4-2) - - - - - - 6.1 4 0 0 2 5
AL 4.2 Indians Shaun Marcum (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 6.2 4 2 2 0 6
4.2 `Cubs Tsuyoshi Wada - - - - - - 4.2 4 2 2 1 9
4.0 `Twins Mike Pelfrey - - - - - - 6.0 5 1 1 0 5
3.2 Mariners Roenis Elias (W, 1-1) - - - - - - 7.2 6 1 1 0 4
3.1 `Tigers Shane Greene - - - - - - 6.1 3 2 2 2 6
BAT 3.0 Dbacks A.J. Pollock CF 4 4 3 0 1 0 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Angels Mike Trout CF 3 3 2 1 2 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Nationals Jordan Zimmermann (W, 4-2) - - - - - - 7.0 5 2 2 1 6
3.0 `Braves Williams Perez - - - - - - 5.0 6 1 1 1 7
3.0 Phillies Jonathan Papelbon (S, 11) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Astros Dallas Keuchel (W, 6-0) - - - - - - 7.0 6 1 0 2 4
2.0 Royals Jeremy Guthrie (W, 4-2) - - - - - - 6.0 5 0 0 2 3
1.1 Rangers Phil Klein (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 5.1 5 1 1 1 4
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Mets' Matt Harvey (8IP 9K ND) tops players for Monday, May 18, rises to 4th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Mets pitcher Matt Harvey is Monday’s Player of the Day and rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.

Also Monday, Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels rose to ninth place in player rankings for the season and 40th among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 18.  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 8.7
2 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 7.0
3 Miller, Shelby 3134 pi sp atl nl 7.0
4 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 6.7
5 Harper, Bryce 3011 lf rf dc nl 6.5
6 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 6.0
7 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 6.0
8 Harang, Aaron 1599 pi sp phi nl 5.1
9 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp phi nl 5.0
10 Hosmer, Eric 2886 1b kc al 5.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Harvey pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out nine in the 2-1, 14-inning win over the Cardinals. Harvey did not pick up the win in the game because after he exited, the Cardinals tied the game.

Harvey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.7 for the season, rising to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for 2015. He ranks second among NL pitchers, behind Shelby Miller of the Braves (7.0).

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale struck out seven over eight innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Indians. Sale did not earn the win because he exited with the game tied, 1-1.

American League Batter of the Day—Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three, in the 10-6 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day for Monday because no NL batter earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.

Notable—Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels rose to ninth place in season Box-Toppers player rankings and 40th among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Hamels (7IP R 7K W in the 4-3 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season and 115.8 for his career. With his point Monday, Hamels passes Josh Beckett (114.9 Box-Toppers points) on the list of players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He now trails the 39th-place player on that list, Todd Helton (116.4). Hamels’ 115.4 career points ranks 27th among all pitchers since 1995 and eighth among active pitchers currently in the NL.

Debut—Brewers pitcher Jeremy Jeffress made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Jeffress (1IP R 3K W in the 3-2 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2010, and was playing in his 100th career game. He is the 3,473rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/18 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 10.0 `Mets Matt Harvey - - - - - - 8.0 6 0 0 1 9
AL 7.0 `White Sox Chris Sale - - - - - - 8.0 4 1 1 2 7
5.1 Phillies Cole Hamels (W, 4-3) - - - - - - 7.1 6 1 1 1 7
BAT 5.0 Blue Jays Jose Bautista DH 4 3 3 3 1 0 - - - - - -
4.0 `Dbacks Rubby De La Rosa - - - - - - 9.0 6 2 2 0 5
4.0 `Athletics Evan Scribner (H, 5) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.1 Brewers Jeremy Jeffress (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 1.1 1 0 0 0 3
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Indians' Corey Kluber (8IP H 0R 18K) tops players for Wednesday, May 13 with highest Box-Toppers game score of 2015

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber, who struck out 18 and allowed one hit over eight innings, is Wednesday’s Player of the Day.

Kluber did not allow a hit until the seventh inning in the 2-0 win over the Cardinals. His Box-Toppers game score of 25 is the highest of the season, far outdistancing the previous high game scores of 15.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 13.  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 8.7
2 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 6.0
3 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 6.0
4 Miller, Shelby 3134 pi sp atl nl 5.0
5 Hosmer, Eric 2886 1b kc al 5.0
6 Harper, Bryce 3011 lf rf dc nl 5.0
7 Heston, Chris 3437 pi sp sf nl 5.0
8 Cabrera, Miguel 1776 1b det al 4.7
9 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 4.7
10 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 4.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Kluber led American League players in Box-Toppers points in 2014 with 25.8. This was his first Player of the Game honor this season and first Box-Toppers points of the season. Until now, he held the distinction of the player with the highest 2014 Box-Toppers point total who had yet to earn points in 2015, a dubious honor that now goes to Twins pitcher Phil Hughes (14.1 points in 2014).

Though it was Kluber’s first points of the season, he is not very far off pace from his 2014 point total. As Wednesday’s Player of the Day, Kluber now has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season. As of May 14, 2014, Kluber had 3.0 Box-Toppers points. His 25.8 Box-Toppers points were the 17th-most points scored by a player in a single season since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Player of the Day—Reds pitcher Raisel Iglesias allowed one run and two hits over eight innings in the 5-1 win over the Braves.

This was Iglesias’ Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut April 12 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,467th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Batter of the Day—Michael Taylor of the Nationals hit a grand slam in the 9-6 win over the Diamondbacks.

American League Batter of the Day—Prince Fielder of the Rangers homered and went 3-for-4 with two RBIs in the 5-2 win over the Royals.

Fielder has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 11 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2005 with the Brewers. His best year was 2011 with the Brewers when he had 15.7 Box-Toppers points, first among NL batters. In 2014, he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point with the Rangers.

Fielder has 71.8 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 73rd among all batters since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. His career 71.8 points ranks ninth among active batters currently in the AL.

Notable—Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels moves up to 41st place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Hamels now has 114.8 Box-Toppers points and moves past Blue Jays pitcher Mark Buehrle (114.7). He trails 40th-place player Josh Beckett (114.9).

Hamels (7IP 2R 9K W in the 3-2 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 4.0 for the season, 19th among all players for 2015.

Hammel, Hamels—Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel and Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels have been Box-Toppers Players of the Game on the same day three times this season, including Wednesday. Obviously, the similarly-named hurlers are on the same starting rotation schedule and both are doing well so far—Hamels has earned Player of the Game honors four times and has 4.0 Box-Toppers points. Hammel has earned Player of the Game honors three times and also has 4.0 Box-Toppers points. Both were top players in their games on April 27, May 8 and May 13. In addition, the two have shared Player of the Game honors on the same day in previous seasons three different times—April 25, 2012, June 6, 2014, and Sept. 1, 2014.

Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Iglesias earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Taylor and Fielder each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/13 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 25.0 Indians Corey Kluber (W, 1-5) - - - - - - 8.0 1 0 0 0 18
10.0 White Sox Jose Quintana (W, 2-3) - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 1 10
NL 6.0 Reds Raisel Iglesias (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 8.0 2 1 1 3 5
6.0 Phillies Cole Hamels (W, 3-3) - - - - - - 7.0 5 2 2 1 9
6.0 `Cubs Jason Hammel - - - - - - 8.0 5 1 1 1 6
5.2 Orioles Miguel Gonzalez (W, 4-2) - - - - - - 7.2 3 1 0 3 5
BAT 5.0 Nationals Michael Taylor RF 1 1 1 4 0 0 - - - - - -
5.0 `Angels Hector Santiago - - - - - - 6.0 7 1 1 0 8
4.0 Padres James Shields (W, 5-0) - - - - - - 6.0 6 1 1 3 9
3.1 Twins Ricky Nolasco (W, 3-1) - - - - - - 5.1 4 2 0 3 7
3.0 Rays Brad Boxberger (S, 10) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 Marlins A.J. Ramos (S, 1) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
BAT 2.0 Rangers Prince Fielder DH 4 1 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Astros Chad Qualls (W, 1-2) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 Red Sox Daniel Nava 1B 3 1 2 1 1 0 - - - - - -
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Washington Nationals top Box-Toppers' 2015 preseason team rankings

Nationals' offseason net gain in Box-Toppers points pushes them to top of preseason team rankings. Meanwhile, the Yankees and Athletics plummet in rankings and the Cubs and Red Sox make big leaps upward.

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A Box-Toppers look at Dodgers’ winter meeting moves

The Los Angeles Dodgers, one of the most active shoppers for players at this week’s winter meetings, picked up 10 players with a combined 21.0 Box-Toppers points in 2014 and dealt seven players with a total of 18.0 Box-Toppers points.

Read More

Rays' Odorizzi tops players for Saturday, June 21, Wainwright reclaims Box-Toppers points lead

Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi is Saturday’s Player of the Day, while Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright reclaims the top spot in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Odorizzi pitched 7 1/3 shutout innings and struck out 10 in the 8-0 win over the Astros.

Wainwright rose to first place in season Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday (see the updated top 10 player list on the home page). Wainwright (8IP 1R 7K W in the 4-1 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.0 for the season. He passes Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (12.7 Box-Toppers points), who only took the top spot from Wainwright on Tuesday. Wainwright previously held the top spot from May 25 to June 16.

Dodgers pitcher Josh Beckett is National League Player of the Day. Beckett pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out eight in the 4-2 win over the Padres.

Mark Reynolds of the Brewers is NL Batter of the Day. Reynolds doubled and went 2-for-3, scored twice and drove in two runs in the 9-4 win over the Rockies.

Dustin Ackley of the Mariners is American League Batter of the Day. Ackley hit the go-ahead ninth-inning single in the 2-1 win over the Royals.

Odorizzi receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Beckett receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Reynolds and Ackley each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed Saturday, click here.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

621 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.1 Rays Jake Odorizzi (W, 3-7) - - - - - - 7.1 1 0 0 2 10
NL 9.0 Dodgers Josh Beckett (W, 5-4) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 2 8
7.0 Cardinals Adam Wainwright (W, 10-3) - - - - - - 8.0 6 1 1 0 7
7.0 `Tigers Justin Verlander - - - - - - 7.0 4 2 1 1 8
6.0 Reds Mike Leake (W, 5-6) - - - - - - 8.0 4 1 1 2 6
6.0 Mets Jacob deGrom (W, 1-4) - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 3 7
5.0 `Angels Jered Weaver - - - - - - 8.0 4 1 1 2 5
5.0 Nationals Doug Fister (W, 6-2) - - - - - - 8.0 5 0 0 1 3
4.0 `Athletics Jesse Chavez - - - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 4 4
4.0 Pirates Mark Melancon (S, 11) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
BAT 3.0 Brewers Mark Reynolds 1B 3 2 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Orioles Bud Norris (W, 7-5) - - - - - - 5.0 3 1 1 2 4
1.0 Giants Pablo Sandoval 3B 5 1 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 1.0 Mariners Dustin Ackley PR, DH 1 0 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Twins Joe Mauer DH 4 1 1 2 0 2 - - - - - -

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

 

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw, pitching no-hitter, tops players for Wednesday, June 18, rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers points

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, pitching a no-hitter, is Wednesday’s Player of the Day and rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

Kershaw struck out 15 over nine innings, allowing no runs, hits or walks in the 8-0 win over the Rockies. The Rockies only baserunner reached on an error. This was Kershaw’s first no-hitter and the second thrown this season—the other by Dodgers pitcher Josh Beckett on May 25.

Kershaw receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season. He rises from eighth to third place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season (see the updated top 10 list on the home page). He is now in second place in Box-Toppers points among National League pitchers, behind Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals (12.0).

Kershaw led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2013 with 21.7.

Red Sox pitcher John Lackey is American League Player of the Day. Lackey pitched nine shutout innings and struck out nine in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Twins. Lackey, however, did not pick up the win because he left with the game tied 0-0 after nine innings.

Brian McCann of the Yankees is AL Batter of the Day. McCann homered, tripled and drove in five runs in the 7-3 win over the Blue Jays.

Marlon Byrd of the Phillies is NL Batter of the Day. Byrd homered, went 3-for-5, scored twice and drove in three runs in the 10-5 win over the Braves.

Kershaw receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Lackey receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. McCann and Byrd each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed Wednesday, click here.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

618 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 24.0 Dodgers Clayton Kershaw (W, 7-2) - - - - - - 9.0 0 0 0 0 15
AL 14.0 `Red Sox John Lackey - - - - - - 9.0 3 0 0 1 9
10.0 Cubs Jake Arrieta (W, 3-1) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 1 11
8.2 Royals Jeremy Guthrie (W, 4-6) - - - - - - 6.2 4 1 1 1 9
BAT 5.0 Yankees Brian McCann C 3 1 2 5 1 0 - - - - - -
5.0 Padres Kevin Gausman (W, 3-1) - - - - - - 6.0 5 0 0 1 5
4.1 Dbacks Brad Ziegler (W, 3-1) - - - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 3
BAT 3.0 Phillies Marlon Byrd RF 5 2 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 White Sox Adamn Dunn DH 3 2 1 3 1 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Mets Bartolo Colon (W, 7-5) - - - - - - 8.0 4 1 1 0 1
3.0 Padres Joaquin Benoit (W, 3-0) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 Athletics Sean Doolittle (S, 9) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Reds Skip Schumaker LF 4 1 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Nationals Rafael Soriano (S, 15) - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 2

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

 

Dodgers' Josh Beckett (6IP 0R 7K) tops players for Tuesday, June 10

Dodgers pitcher Josh Beckett is Tuesday’s Player of the Day. Beckett pitched six scoreless innings and struck out seven in the 6-1 win over the Reds.

Angels pitcher Hector Santiago is American League Player of the Day. Santiago pitched six scoreless innings and struck out eight in the 14-inning, 2-1 win over the Athletics. Santiago did not pick up the win. Though he left the game with the Angels leading 1-0, the Athletics later scored to tie the game before the Angels won the game in the 14th inning.

Beckett and Santiago had identical Box-Toppers game scores of 10.0, but Beckett earned Player of the Day honors because he earned the win and Santiago did not.

Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs is National League Batter of the Day. Rizzo homered, doubled, went 3-for-4, scored three times and drove in three runs in the 7-3 win over the Pirates. Rizzo earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.5 for the season, moving him into 37th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings. He is ranked third among NL batters, behind Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies (9.1) and Freddie Freeman of the Braves (6.2).

Mike Moustakas of the Royals is AL Batter of the Day. Moustakas hit a two-run homer and scored twice in the 9-5 win over the Indians.

Beckett receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Santiago receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Rizzo and Moustakas each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

610 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 10.0 Dodgers Josh Beckett (W, 4-3) - - - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 1 7
AL 10.0 `Angels Hector Santiago - - - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 1 8
8.2 Red Sox Brandon Workman (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 6.2 1 0 0 1 4
BAT 5.0 Cubs Anthony Rizzo 1B 4 3 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
5.0 Braves Evan Gattis C 4 4 3 2 1 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Marlins Christian Yelich LF 6 1 4 4 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Phillies Marlon Byrd RF 3 1 1 4 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Mets Daisuke Matsuzaka (W, 3-0) - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 3 5
3.0 Yankees David Robertson (S, 15) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 3
3.0 Dbacks Addison Reed (S, 16) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.1 Cardinals Trevor Rosenthal (S, 17) - - - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 1 2
BAT 2.0 Royals Mike Moustakas 3B 3 2 1 2 1 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Nationals Doug Fister (W, 5-1) - - - - - - 7.0 8 0 0 1 3
0.0 Twins Danny Santana CF 4 1 2 1 1 1 - - - - - -

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