Chris Sale tops Box-Toppers list of the top 100 players in 2017. Indians, Nationals and Astros each have seven players on the list, most of any team.
Read MoreYankees' Tanaka, Red Sox' Ramirez top players in Sunday's AL Division Series games
Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka and Hanley Ramirez of the Red Sox are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Sunday’s two American League Division Series games.
Read More
Nationals, Astros each have most players (seven) in Box-Toppers top 100 of 2017 at All-Star break
A look at the top 100 players in Box-Toppers points at the midseason break. League-leading teams—Nationals, Astros, Dodgers—have the most players on the list.
Read MoreA Box-Toppers look back at 2016, with a preview of the coming 2017 season
A compilation of player and team standings from the end of the 2016 season, featuring a plethora of posts to prep for the 2017 season, including preseason team standings and Box-Toppers 2017 playoff and World Series picks.
Read MoreBox-Toppers top pitchers and batters by team in 2016
3 of 4 major postseason award winners are among Box-Toppers top-ranked pitchers or batters on their teams. The exception: AL Cy Young Rick Porcello, who ranks 6th among Red Sox players.
Read MoreAn overview look at how baseball's 2016 statistical leaders ranked in Box-Toppers points
Seven leaders of key statistical categories are among Box-Toppers' overall top 100-ranked players, but only one of the seven is among Box-Toppers' top 10 players for 2016.
Read MoreWins leaders generally coincide with Box-Toppers points leaders—except for overall wins leader Porcello, who ranks 91st
While wins leaders generally coincided with Box-Toppers points leaders, overall leader Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello (22 wins) lagged far behind in Box-Toppers points with only 8.0, 91st among all players.
Read MoreClayton Kershaw leads players in Box-Toppers points over past 2 seasons for 4th straight year
Though Kershaw finished runner-up in Box-Toppers points in both 2015 and 2016, he leads all players in combined points over the past two seasons.
Read MorePostseason awards wrap-up: Box-Toppers leaders win 2 of 6 major honors for 2016
AL Rookie of the Year Michael Fulmer and NL Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer also both led their category in Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreBox-Toppers leader Max Scherzer wins NL Cy Young Award; wins leader Porcello wins AL Cy Young despite low Box-Toppers ranking
Box-Toppers points leader Max Scherzer of the Nationals wins the NL Cy Young Award. But Rick Porcello of the Red Sox, who ranked just 31st among AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points, win the AL Cy Young.
Read MoreJose Fernandez is Box-Toppers' Most Improved Player in 2016
The late Jose Fernandez had the biggest gain in Box-Toppers points from 2015 to 2016, 17.7, far outdistancing second-place player, Tigers rookie pitcher Michael Fulmer (12.7).
Read MoreBox-Toppers rookie, pitching leaders among finalists for top postseason awards, but batting leaders excluded from MVP finalists
Rookie of the Year finlists Fulmer, Maeda lead newcomers in Box-Toppers points. Cy Young finalists Scherzer, Kluber lead pitchers in points. But Box-Toppers batting leaders Arenado, Machado not among MVP finalists.
Read MoreBlue Jays' Estrada, Indians' Miller top players in pair of opening ALDS games for Thursday, Oct. 6
Marco Estrada of the Blue Jays and Andrew Miller of the Indians are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Thursday’s pair of American League Division Series openers.
Estrada allowed one run over 8 1/3 innings, allowing four hits, no walks and striking out six, in the 10-1 win over the Rangers. The Blue Jays now lead the Rangers 1-0 in the best-of-five series.
Estrada had 11.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 37th among all players and 15th among AL pitchers.
Estrada had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +8.1. Blue Jays’ top batter in the game was third baseman Josh Donaldson (two doubles, 4-4 2R 2BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0. Rangers starting pitcher Cole Hamels had a bad day (3.1IP 6H 7R 3BB K L), earning a Box-Toppers game score of −17.9. During the regular year, Hamels had 15.4 Box-Toppers points, sixth among all players and second among AL pitchers.
Indians 5, Red Sox 4—In the other ALDS Game 1, Indians pitcher Andrew Miller earned Player of the Game, allowing no runs over two innings of middle relief. He allowed one hit, one walk and struck out four.
During the regular season, Miller had 8.0 Box-Toppers points as a closer and middle reliever. He earned 4.0 points for the Yankees before his midseason trade to the Indians. He ranks 92nd among all players in Box-Toppers points, 32nd among AL pitchers, third among AL closing pitchers and first among AL middle relievers.
Indians’ top batter Thursday was second baseman Jason Kipnis (HR 3-4 R 2BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0.
Neither starting pitcher fared particularly well. Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello (4.1IP 6H 5R 0BB 6K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of −5.9. Indians starter Trevor Bauer (4.2IP 6H 3R 0BB 6K ND) had a game score of −1.8.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| BTG | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 8.1 | TOR 10, TEX 1 | Marco Estrada (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| 4.0 | CLE 5, BOS 4 | Andrew Miller (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| BTG: Box-Toppers game score | |||||||||||||||
AL Division Series Game 2, Blue Jays lead Rangers, 1-0
The pitching matchup Friday:
Blue Jays—J.A. Happ, 14.7 Box-Toppers points, 11th among all players, third among AL pitchers.
Rangers—Yu Darvish, 10.4 Box-Toppers points, 51st among all players, 21st among AL pitchers.
AL Division Series Game 2, Indians lead Red Sox, 1-0
The pitching matchup Friday:
Red Sox—David Price, 12.4 Box-Toppers points, 27th among all players, ninth among AL pitchers.
Indians—Corey Kluber, 21.2 Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players, first among AL pitchers.
Price and Kluber are the top two AL pitchers over the past two seasons. Over 2015 and 2016, Kluber ranks first among AL pitchers with 34.6 Box-Toppers points; Price ranks second with 33.5.
NL Division Series Game 1, Dodgers at Nationals
Though the Washington Nationals have the better winning percentage (.586 vs. .562), the Los Angeles Dodgers rank higher in Box-Toppers team rankings. Dodgers players have accumulated 125.2 Box-Toppers points, third-most among all teams, while the Nationals have 116.1, ranked eighth.
The pitching matchup Friday features the season’s top two players in Box-Toppers player rankings:
Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 24.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked second among all players, ranked second among NL pitchers.
Nationals—Max Scherzer, 25.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked first among all players, ranked first among NL pitchers.
Kershaw led in Box-Toppers points much of the season and had earned 20.0 Box-Toppers points before the end of June, on pace to shatter the single-season Box-Toppers point record of 33.7. But then in late June, he went on the disabled list for two months. Despite his time away, Kershaw did not slip much down Box-Toppers rankings and was only passed by Scherzer in late August.
Kershaw and Scherzer are also the top two NL pitchers over the past two seasons. Over 2015 and 2016, Kershaw ranks first with 50.1 Box-Toppers points and Scherzer ranks second with 46.7. They are also the top two NL pitchers over the past six seasons. From 2011 to the present, Kershaw ranks first with 150.2 points and Scherzer ranks second with 111.3.
In addition to Kershaw, the Dodgers have one other player in a season’s top 10 Box-Toppers category list: Rich Hill with 14.4 Box-Toppers points ranks eighth among NL pitchers.
In addition to Scherzer, the Nationals have one other player a season’s top 10 Box-Toppers category list: Stephen Strasburg with 15.1 Box-Toppers points ranks 10th among all players and seventh among NL pitchers.
Dodgers vs. Nationals
Here are players for both teams in the NL Divisional Series beginning Friday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2016. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.| Los Angeles Dodgers | Washington Nationals | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | 24.4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | 25.7 | |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | 14.4 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | 15.1 | |
| Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp | 10.0 | Roark, Tanner 3261 | pi sp | 12.7 | |
| Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | 8.7 | Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | 7.5 | |
| Grandal, Yasmani 3058 | ca | 7.2 | Gonzalez, Gio 2626 | pi sp | 6.0 | |
| Jansen, Kenley 2871 | pi cp | 6.0 | Werth, Jayson 1664 | lf | 6.0 | |
| Gonzalez, Adrian 2193 | 1b | 5.7 | Ross, Joe 3499 | pi sp | 5.7 | |
| Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | 5.7 | Rendon, Anthony 3258 | 3b | 5.5 | |
| Stripling, Ross 3629 | pi sp | 4.7 | Latos, Mat 2644 | pi sp | 3.7 | |
| Kendrick, Howie 2191 | 2b lf 1b | 4.0 | Espinosa, Danny 2804 | ss 2b | 3.2 | |
| Seager, Corey 3587 | ss | 4.0 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | 3.0 | |
| Pederson, Joc 3621 | cf | 4.0 | Melancon, Mark 2792 | pi cp | 3.0 | |
| Toles, Andrew 3692 | rf lf cf ph | 4.0 | Turner, Trea 3730 | 2b cf | 2.5 | |
| Reddick, Josh 2936 | rf | 3.5 | Petit, Yusmeiro 2337 | pi mr sp | 2.0 | |
| Puig, Yasiel 3193 | rf | 3.5 | Lopez, Reynaldo 3712 | pi sp mr | 2.0 | |
| McCarthy, Brandon 2082 | pi sp | 2.7 | Solis, Sammy 3651 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Turner, Justin 2865 | 3b 2b | 2.5 | Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 | 1b 3b | 1.5 | |
| Howell, J.P. 2016 | pi mr | 2.0 | Ramos, Wilson 2904 | ca | 1.5 | |
| Stewart, Brock 3722 | pi sp | 1.7 | den Dekker, Matt 3534 | lf ph | 1.5 | |
| Taylor, Chris 3684 | 2b | 1.5 | Taylor, Michael 3447 | cf | 1.0 | |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | 1.0 | Robinson, Clint 3475 | 1b | 1.0 | |
| Hatcher, Chris 3420 | pi mr | 1.0 | Kelley, Shawn 2630 | pi cp mr | 1.0 | |
| Hernandez, Enrique 3541 | lf | 1.0 | Revere, Ben 2886 | cf | 1.0 | |
| Utley, Chase 1861 | 2b | 1.0 | Lobaton, Jose 3216 | ca | 1.0 | |
| Baez, Pedro 3678 | pi mr | 1.0 | Cole, A.J. 3727 | pi sp | 1.0 | |
| Totals | 125.2 | Totals | 116.1 | |||
NL Division Series Game 1, Giants at Cubs
The Cubs are the runaway leader in Box-Toppers team rankings, leading nearly all the season with 139.5 Box-Toppers points. The Giants are the lowest-ranking team to qualify for the postseason, ranked 10th with 112.7.
But the Giants have won the World Series each of the past three even-numbered years (2010, 2012 and 2014)—2016 is an even-numbered year. The Cubs last won the World Series in an even-numbered year, but that year was 1908, 106 years ago.
The pitching matchup Friday:
Giants—Johnny Cueto, 16.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked eighth among all players, fifth among NL pitchers.
Cubs—Jon Lester, 22.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among all players, third among NL pitchers.
Cueto is the only Giants players in the top 10 in a Box-Toppers category.
The Cubs have four other players in season top 10 lists:
- Jake Arrieta, 15.7 Box-Toppers points, ranks ninth among all players and sixth among NL pitchers. (Arrieta led all players in 2015 with 29.1 Box-Toppers points).
- John Lackey, 13.4 Box-Toppers points, ranks ninth among NL pitchers.
- Kyle Hendricks, 13.4 Box-Toppers points, ranks 10th among NL pitchers.
- Kris Bryant, 10.5 Box-Toppers points, ranks second among NL batters.
Giants vs. Cubs
Here are players for both teams in the NL Divisional Series beginning Friday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2016. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.| San Francisco Giants | Chicago Cubs | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | 16.4 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | 22.1 | |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | 13.0 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | 15.7 | |
| Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | 12.4 | Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | 13.4 | |
| Samardzija, Jeff 2495 | pi sp | 10.7 | Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | 13.4 | |
| Belt, Brandon 2943 | 1b | 7.0 | Hammel, Jason 2235 | pi sp | 13.0 | |
| Panik, Joe 3401 | 2b | 5.5 | Bryant, Kris 3465 | lf 3b rf | 10.5 | |
| Nunez, Eduardo 2795 | 3b 2b ss | 5.5 | Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | pi cp | 7.4 | |
| Peavy, Jake 1635 | pi sp | 5.0 | Montgomery, Mike 3513 | pi cp mr sp | 5.0 | |
| Posey, Buster 2745 | ca 1b | 3.5 | Rondon, Hector 3201 | pi cp | 5.0 | |
| Pence, Hunter 2287 | rf | 3.5 | Zobrist, Ben 2216 | 2b rf lf | 4.0 | |
| Casilla, Santiago 2301 | pi cp | 3.0 | Russell, Addison 3559 | ss | 3.5 | |
| Kontos, George 3106 | pi cp mr | 3.0 | Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | 3.0 | |
| Span, Denard 2502 | cf | 3.0 | Cahill, Trevor 2658 | pi mr sp | 3.0 | |
| Tomlinson, Kelby 3619 | 2b ph | 3.0 | Soler, Jorge 3403 | lf | 2.5 | |
| Cain, Matt 2081 | pi sp | 2.7 | Coghlan, Chris 2610 | 3b rf ph | 2.5 | |
| Brown, Trevor 3610 | ca | 2.5 | Ross, David 1729 | ca | 2.5 | |
| Crawford, Brandon 2878 | ss | 2.0 | Montero, Miguel 2304 | ca ph | 2.0 | |
| Gillaspie, Conor 3218 | 3b ph | 2.0 | Smith, Joe 2388 | pi cp mr | 2.0 | |
| Blach, Ty 3754 | pi sp | 2.0 | Baez, Javier 3395 | 2b ss | 2.0 | |
| Law, Derek 3657 | pi sp mr | 2.0 | LaStella, Tommy 3367 | 3b 2b | 2.0 | |
| Pagan, Angel 2184 | lf | 1.0 | Fowler, Dexter 2698 | cf | 1.5 | |
| Beckham, Gordon 2620 | 2b | 1.0 | Szczur, Matt 3704 | cf | 1.5 | |
| Strickland, Hunter 3546 | pi mr | 1.0 | Wood, Travis 2777 | pi mr sp | 1.0 | |
| Okert, Steven 3745 | pi mr | 1.0 | Heyward, Jason 2695 | rf | 1.0 | |
| Osich, Josh 3677 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 112.7 | Totals | 139.5 | |||
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.
Giants' Madison Bumgarner tops players in NL Wild Card Game win over Mets
Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s National League Wild Card game.
Bumgarner pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, striking out six and walking two, in the 3-0 win over the Mets.
Bumgarner had a Box-Toppers game score of +9.0. Third baseman Conor Gillaspie who hit the ninth-inning, three-run homer that put the Giants ahead, had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (HR 2-4 R 3BI).
Bumgarner had 13.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 19th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers. Over the past two seasons, Bumgarner has 30.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked seventh among NL pitchers. Gillaspie had 2.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season.
The Giants, 10th-ranked in Box-Toppers team rankings (112.7), beat the Mets, ranked sixth (119.1). The Giants are the lowest-ranked team to qualify for the postseason but among the 10 teams in the playoffs, they were hottest down the stretch—in the season’s final 10 games, they picked up 8.7 Box-Toppers points.
The Giants will face the Cubs in the best-of-five NL Divisional Series beginning Friday in Chicago. The Cubs have baseball’s best record and highest accumulated Box-Toppers point total of 139.5.
Top player from NL Wild Card Game
| BTG | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 9.0 | SF 3, NYM 0 | Madison Bumgarner (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| BTG: Box-Toppers game score | |||||||||||||
Coming Thursday: The American League begins both division playoff series:
AL Division Series, Game 1: Blue Jays at Rangers
The Blue Jays rank 10th in Box-Toppers team rankings (114.0 Box-Toppers points) while the Rangers rank fifth (122.5). In the final 10 days of the season, the Rangers picked up 7.5 Box-Toppers points while the Blue Jays picked up 6.0.
The pitching matchup Thursday:
Blue Jays—Marco Estrada, 11.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 37th among all players, 15th among AL pitchers.
Rangers—Cole Hamels, 17.8 Box-Toppers points, ranked sixth among all players, second among AL pitchers.
The Blue Jays have three players who are among the top 10 in their Box-Toppers category:
- J.A. Happ, 14.7 Box-Toppers points, ranks third among AL pitchers.
- Catcher Russell Martin, 10.5 Box-Toppers points, ranks sixth among AL batters.
- Third baseman Josh Donaldson, 9.7 Box-Toppers poitns, ranks seventh among AL batters.
The Rangers also have three players who are among the top 10 in their Box-Toppers category:
- Hamels, 17.8 Box-Toppers points, second among AL pitchers, sixth among all players.
- Third baseman Adrian Beltre, 9.5 Box-Toppers points, eighth among AL batters.
- Shortstop Elvis Andrus, 9.2 Box-Toppers points, 10th among AL batters.
Blue Jays vs. Rangers
Here are players for both teams in the AL Divisional Series beginning Thursday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2016. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.| Toronto Blue Jays | Texas Rangers | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | 14.7 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | 17.8 | |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | 11.0 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | 10.4 | |
| Sanchez, Aaron 3392 | pi sp | 10.7 | Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | 9.5 | |
| Martin, Russell 2202 | ca | 10.5 | Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | 9.2 | |
| Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | 9.7 | Lewis, Colby 1567 | pi sp | 7.7 | |
| Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | 8.0 | Mazara, Nomar 3614 | rf lf | 7.0 | |
| Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh 1b | 8.0 | Odor, Rougned 3336 | 2b | 6.5 | |
| Dickey, R.A. 1734 | pi sp | 7.0 | Beltran, Carlos 1194 | dh rf | 6.0 | |
| Stroman, Marcus 3327 | pi sp | 6.7 | Lucroy, Jonathan 2744 | ca | 5.7 | |
| Saunders, Michael 2768 | lf | 5.2 | Griffin, A.J. 3074 | pi sp | 5.7 | |
| Smoak, Justin 2731 | 1b | 3.5 | Gomez, Carlos 2397 | lf | 4.5 | |
| Osuna, Roberto 3512 | pi cp | 3.0 | Holland, Derek 2634 | pi sp | 4.0 | |
| Upton, Melvin 1922 | lf cf | 2.5 | Desmond, Ian 2673 | cf lf | 4.0 | |
| Pillar, Kevin 3486 | cf | 2.0 | Moreland, Mitch 2799 | 1b | 3.5 | |
| Biagini, Joe 3646 | pi mr | 2.0 | Harrell, Lucas 2988 | pi sp | 3.0 | |
| Goins, Ryan 3478 | 2b | 1.5 | Rua, Ryan 3631 | 1b lf | 3.0 | |
| Bautista, Jose 2169 | rf | 1.0 | DeShields, Delino 3557 | cf lf | 2.0 | |
| Tulowitzki, Troy 2308 | ss | 1.0 | Perez, Martin 3213 | pi sp | 2.0 | |
| Bolsinger, Mike 3318 | pi sp | 1.0 | Barnette, Tony 3670 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Grilli, Jason 2209 | pi mr cp | 1.0 | Bush, Matt 3673 | pi mr cp | 2.0 | |
| Travis, Devon 3436 | 2b | 1.0 | Tolleson, Shawn 3077 | pi cp | 1.0 | |
| Benoit, Joaquin 1663 | pi mr | 1.0 | Choo, Shin-Soo 2267 | rf | 1.0 | |
| Cecil, Brett 2566 | pi mr | 1.0 | Claudio, Alex 3459 | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Navarro, Dioner 2087 | dh ca | 1.0 | Jeffress, Jeremy 3473 | pi cp | 1.0 | |
| Diekman, Jake 3266 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Alvarez, Dario 3663 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Profar, Jurickson 3665 | ph | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 114.0 | Totals | 122.5 | |||
AL Division Series, Game 1: Red Sox at Indians
The Red Sox rank second in Box-Toppers team rankings (128.3 Box-Toppers points) while the Indians rank fourth (123.7). In the final 10 days of the season, the Indians picked up 6.0 Box-Toppers points while the Red Sox picked up 5.0.
The pitching matchup Thursday:
Red Sox—Rick Porcello, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, 91st among all players, 31st among AL pitchers. (Despite leading all pitchers with 22 wins, Porcello did not rank highly in Box-Toppers player rankings in 2016.)
Indians—Trevor Bauer, 11.4 Box-Toppers points, 34th among all players, 12th among AL pitchers. (Bauer ranks higher than Porcello in Box-Toppers player rankings but has 10 fewer wins—he was 12-8 in 2016.)
The Red Sox are the AL’s top-ranked team in Box-Toppers points, but have only one player ranked in the top 10 in a Box-Toppers category—David Price, 12.4 Box-Toppers points, ranks ninth among AL pitchers.
The Indians have three pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 pitchers list, none of whom is starting Game 1:
- Corey Kluber, 21.2 Box-Toppers points, ranks first among AL pitchers and fifth among all players.
- Danny Salazar, 12.5 Box-Toppers points, ranks eighth among AL pitchers.
- Carlos Carrasco, 12.4 Box-Toppers points, ranks 10th among AL pitchers.
Red Sox vs. Indians
Here are players for both teams in the AL Divisional Series beginning Thursday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2016. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.| Boston Red Sox | Cleveland Indians | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | 12.4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | 21.2 | |
| Pomeranz, Drew 3061 | pi sp | 12.4 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | 12.5 | |
| Wright, Steven 3224 | pi sp | 8.4 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | 12.4 | |
| Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | 8.0 | Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | 11.4 | |
| Ortiz, David | dh | 8.0 | Miller, Andrew 2436 | pi cp mr | 8.0 | |
| Porcello, Rick 2573 | pi sp | 8.0 | Allen, Cody 3265 | pi cp mr | 7.0 | |
| Shaw, Travis 3544 | 1b 3b | 7.0 | Lindor, Francisco 3586 | ss | 7.0 | |
| Ramirez, Hanley 2119 | 1b | 7.0 | Napoli, Mike 2161 | 1b | 6.5 | |
| Betts, Mookie 3404 | rf | 6.2 | Tomlin, Josh 2771 | pi sp | 5.0 | |
| Bradley, Jackie Jr. 3293 | cf | 5.5 | Chisenhall, Lonnie 2959 | rf | 3.5 | |
| Hill, Aaron 2056 | 2b | 5.5 | Crisp, Coco 1876 | lf | 3.0 | |
| Buchholz, Clay 2363 | pi sp | 5.0 | Otero, Dan 3365 | pi mr | 3.0 | |
| Pedroia, Dustin 2320 | 2b | 5.0 | Shaw, Bryan 2995 | pi mr | 3.0 | |
| Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | 4.7 | Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi mr sp | 3.0 | |
| Uehara, Koji 2802 | pi cp | 4.0 | Byrd, Marlon 1751 | rf | 2.5 | |
| Ross, Robbie Jr. 2999 | pi cp mr sp | 3.0 | Santana, Carlos 2757 | dh 1b | 2.5 | |
| Leon, Sandy 3676 | ca | 3.0 | Almonte, Abraham 3554 | rf ph | 2.0 | |
| Holt, Brock 3340 | 3b lf | 2.5 | Naquin, Tyler 3662 | cf ph | 2.0 | |
| Ziegler, Brad 2504 | pi cp | 2.0 | Anderson, Cody 3509 | pi sp | 1.7 | |
| Abad, Fernando 3653 | pi mr | 2.0 | Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | 1.5 | |
| Hembree, Heath 3620 | pi cp | 1.7 | Brantley, Michael 2785 | lf | 1.0 | |
| Swihart, Blake 3565 | lf ca | 1.0 | McAllister, Zach 3088 | pi mr sp | 1.0 | |
| Kelly, Joe 3066 | pi sp | 1.0 | Gomes, Yan 3177 | ca | 1.0 | |
| Bogaerts, Xander 3383 | ss | 1.0 | Guyer, Brandon 3363 | lf | 1.0 | |
| Hanigan, Ryan 2708 | ca | 1.0 | Gimenez, Chris 2870 | ca | 1.0 | |
| Tazawa, Junichi 3151 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Vazquez, Christian 3380 | ca | 1.0 | ||||
| Brentz, Bryce 3680 | lf | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 128.3 | Totals | 123.7 | |||
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.
Rangers' Darvish tops players for Saturday, Sept. 24; Kershaw edges closer to '16 Box-Toppers leader Scherzer, rises to 6th in career points, passing Pujols
Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 24:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 24.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.4 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 22.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 21.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 17.8 |
| 7 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.7 |
| 8 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym al | 15.7 |
| 9 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 |
| 10 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
Also Saturday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw edged to within 0.3 points of season Box-Toppers points leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, after earning National League Player of the Day. Kershaw also rises to sixth place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, passing Albert Pujols of the Angels.
Player of the Day—Darvish struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Athletics.
National League Player of the Day—Kershaw pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out six and walking none in the 14-1 win over the Rockies.
Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 24.4 for the season. He maintains his rank of second among all players, behind Scherzer (24.7). Kershaw had the chance to regain the points lead if he had earned overall Player of the Day honors, worth 2.0 Box-Toppers points. While he would have tied Scherzer at 24.7 points, Kershaw held the tiebreaker—he had more 2015 Box-Toppers points (25.7 vs. 21.0).
Kershaw led in Box-Toppers points much of the season (from May 7 to Aug. 24) despite being on the disabled list nearly two months from late June to late August. Kershaw had 20.0 Box-Toppers points when he went on the disabled list in late June. Scherzer passed him on Aug. 25 with 20.7 points.
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 4 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 184.0 |
| 6 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 183.7 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 182.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 168.7 |
| 10 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 11 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 12 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 13 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 14 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 15 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 156.1 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 17 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 18 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 19 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
| 20 | Javier Vazquez | pi sp | retired | 148.3 |
Kershaw also now has 183.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to sixth place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.3) on the “all-time” list and now trails fifth-ranked player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (184.0), by just 0.3 points. Sabathia is the active leader in points and Kershaw now rises to second among active players.
Kershaw had passed Pujols earlier this season to rise to sixth place in career points but after Kershaw went on the disabled list, Pujols regained the sixth-place spot. On June 11, Kershaw passed Pujols with 176.3 points, but on July 25, Pujols regained sixth place with 180.3 points. Kershaw, now with 183.7 points, reclaims sixth place.
National League Batter of the Day—Yadier Molina of the Cardinals doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 10-4 win over the Cubs.
American League Batter of the Day—Mike Trout of the Angels doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 10-4 win over the Astros.
Trout earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 12.5 for the season. He rises to 25th among all players and second among AL batters, behind Manny Machado of the Orioles (12.7).
Notable—Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello earned his league-leading 22nd win of the season Saturday but did not earn Player of the Game honors. While he leads in wins, he has just 8.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 82nd among all players and 29th among AL pitchers. (From Sept. 17: Why does wins leader Rick Porcello have so few Box-Toppers points?)
Porcello (6.1IP 8H 3R BB 9K W in the 6-4 win over the Rays) had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +0.1. Player of the Game was Dustin Pedroia (HR 2-4 R 4BI) who had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0. Pedroia has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season—4.0 of them have been earned in a game in which Porcello has earned the win.
Scoring—Darvish earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kershaw earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Molina and Trout each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/24 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | TEX 5, OAK 0 | Yu Darvish (W,6-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| 10.2 | BAL 6, ARI 1 | Wade Miley (W,9-13) | - | - | - | - | 8.2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | ||
| NL | 10.0 | LAD 14, COL 1 | Clayton Kershaw (W,12-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 8.0 | `TOR 3, NYY 0 | Marcus Stroman | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 6.1 | WSH 6, PIT 1 | Reynaldo Lopez (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | STL 10, CHC 4 | Yadier Molina, C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | LAA 10, HOU 4 | Mike Trout, CF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | PHI 10, NYM 8 | Darin Ruf, LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | BOS 6, TB 4 | Dustin Pedroia, 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | MIN 3, SEA 2 | Tyler Duffey (W,9-11) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | MIA 6, ATL 4 | A.J. Ramos (S,39) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | CIN 6, MIL 1 | Dan Straily (W,14-8) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 1.0 | CHW 8, CLE 1 | Carlos Sanchez, 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | KC 7, DET 4 | Kendrys Morales, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | SF 9, SD 6 (10) | Kelby Tomlinson, 2B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.4 | 50.1 | 150.2 | 183.7 | -1.3 |
| Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 12.5 | 24.5 | 49.0 | 49.0 | 0.5 |
| Morales, Kendrys 2142 | dh | kc al | 8.5 | 13.2 | 23.2 | 39.2 | 3.8 |
| Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 8.4 | 8.4 | 53.6 | 53.6 | 8.4 |
| Duffey, Tyler 3558 | pi sp | min al | 7.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 3.0 |
| Straily, Dan 3080 | pi sp | cin nl | 7.0 | 7.0 | 17.7 | 17.7 | 7.0 |
| Stroman, Marcus 3327 | pi sp | tor al | 6.7 | 9.4 | 23.1 | 23.1 | 4.0 |
| Miley, Wade 3006 | pi sp | bal al | 6.0 | 13.0 | 36.4 | 36.4 | -1.0 |
| Molina, Yadier 1967 | ca ph | stl nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 17.7 | 34.7 | 3.0 |
| Pedroia, Dustin 2320 | 2b | bos al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 24.4 | 36.5 | 4.0 |
| Tomlinson, Kelby 3619 | 2b ph | sf nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Ramos, A.J. 3210 | pi cp | fla nl | 2.0 | 7.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | -3.0 |
| Lopez, Reynaldo 3712 | pi sp mr | dc nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Sanchez, Carlos 3589 | 2b | chi al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | -2.0 |
| Ruf, Darin 3575 | lf | phi nl | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | -0.5 |
Blue Jays' Marco Estrada tops players for Monday, Sept. 19; Dodgers' Kershaw moves within 1.0 point of Scherzer for season Box-Toppers lead
Blue Jays pitcher Marco Estrada is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 19:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 20.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 20.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 20.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym al | 15.7 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 |
| 9 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| 10 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
Also Monday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, edged within 1.0 Box-Toppers point of season leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Estrada pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing one hit and three walks, in the 3-2 win over the Mariners.
Estrada earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the 43rd player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 43rd among all players and 17th among AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Giants. Kershaw did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because when he exited the Dodgers trailed 1-0, before scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth to win.
Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 22.7 for the season, maintaining his spot in second place among all players and among NL pitchers. He moves within 1.0 Box-Toppers point of overall leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (23.7). Scherzer assumed the lead on Aug. 25. Previously, Kershaw led from May 7.
Madison Bumgarner, who started the game for the Giants, was in line to win Player of the Game (and overall Player of the Day) until the Dodgers made their ninth-inning comeback. Bumgarner (7IP H 0R 0BB 10K ND) had a Box-Toppers game score of +16.0 (Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score of +8.0). But because the bullpen blew the lead and the Giants lost, Bumgarner earns no Box-Toppers points, despite the impressive performance.
Bumgarner has 13.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 18th among all players and 13th among NL pitchers.
Kershaw now has 182.0 career Box-Toppers points, seventh-most among players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails sixth-ranked player Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.0) by just 0.3 points. He trails fifth-ranked player (and active career pitching leader) CC Sabathia of the Yankees (184.0) by just 2.0 points. (See the updated list of the top 20 players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 on the home page.)
National League Batter of the Day—Freddie Freeman of the Braves homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-3 win over the Mets.
American League Batter of the Day—Elvis Andrus of the Rangers homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice, in the 3-2 win over the Angels.
Notable—Two other players with more than 10 Box-Toppers points also earned Player of the Game honors Monday:
- Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel (7IP 4H 2R BB 6K W in the 5-2 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.0 for the season, 19th among all players and 14th among NL pitchers.
- Carlos Martinez of the Cardinals became the seventh pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting (2B 1-1 R 2BI in the 5-3 win over the Rockies). It is the eighth time this season a pitcher has earned Player of the Game honors for batting (Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals did it twice). Martinez earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He becomes the 44th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points and ranks 33rd among all players and 17th among NL pitchers.
Porcello—Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello earned Player of the Game honors Monday while also picking up his Major League-leading 21st win.
Porcello (CG 4H 2R 0BB 7K W in the 5-2 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, but still has just 8.0 points for the season. Despite ranking first in wins, he ranks 76th among all players in Box-Toppers points, 26th among AL pitchers. (More on Porcello here: Why does wins leader Rick Porcello have so few Box-Toppers points?)
Porcello had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +8.0, his highest game score during any of his 21 wins. But it still wasn’t enough to earn him his first overall or league Player of the Day honor of the season (he lost Player of the Day Monday to Marco Estrada of the Blue Jays who had a Box-Toppers game score of +11.0). So Porcello still hasn’t earned any Box-Toppers bonus points this season in the eight times he earned Player of the Game honors.
This was also Porcello’s first Player of the Game honor in a month. He last earned Player of the Game on Aug. 19, even though he has earned the win in three more games since then.
Scoring—Estrada earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kershaw earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Freeman and Andrus each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/19 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | TOR 3, SEA 2 | Marco Estrada (W,9-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | |
| 8.0 | BOS 5, BAL 2 | Rick Porcello (W,21-4) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| NL | 8.0 | `LAD 2, SF 1 | Clayton Kershaw | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| BAT | 4.0 | ATL 7, NYM 3 | Freddie Freeman, 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | CHC 5, CIN 2 | Jason Hammel (W,15-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | STL 5, COL 3 | Carlos Martinez, P | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SD 3, ARI 2 | Brandon Maurer (S,11) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 4, OAK 2 | Ken Giles (S,12) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | TEX 3, LAA 2 | Elvis Andrus, SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | KC 8, CHW 3 | Kendrys Morales, DH | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | MIA 4, WSH 3 | Giancarlo Stanton, RF | 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. | ||||||||||||||
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 | 22.7 | 48.4 | 148.5 | 182.0 | -3.0 |
| Hammel, Jason 2235 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.0 | 22.7 | 46.1 | 59.2 | 3.3 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 10.7 | 24.4 | 25.4 | 25.4 | -3.0 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 10.0 | 18.0 | 42.1 | 42.1 | 2.0 |
| Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | tex al | 9.2 | 9.2 | 16.7 | 19.7 | 9.2 |
| Porcello, Rick 2573 | pi sp | bos al | 8.0 | 12.0 | 33.7 | 42.7 | 4.0 |
| Morales, Kendrys 2142 | dh | kc al | 7.5 | 12.2 | 22.2 | 38.2 | 2.8 |
| Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 7.5 | 10.5 | 38.7 | 38.7 | 4.5 |
| Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 6.5 | 12.0 | 33.7 | 39.2 | 1.0 |
| Giles, Ken 3402 | pi cp mr | hou nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 0.0 |
| Maurer, Brandon 3157 | pi mr cp | sd nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
Why does wins leader Rick Porcello have so few Box-Toppers points?
Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello has been beaten by teammates for Player of the Game in 13 of his 20 wins. Though he leads in wins, he ranks 102nd among players with 7.0 Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreBrewers' Davies tops players for Wednesday, June 1; Nationals' Scherzer rises to 9th in Box-Toppers rankings
Brewers pitcher Zach Davies 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 1:| 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 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc al | 7.0 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 7.0 |
Also Wednesday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Davies pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out nine, in the 3-1 win over the Cardinals.
American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out eight, in the 3-0 win over the Angels.
National League Batter of the Day—Alexei Ramirez of the Padres hit two homers and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 14-6 win over the Mariners.
American League Batter of the Day—Lorenzo Cain of the Royals went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 6-3 win over the Rays. Cain earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.5 for the season ranking second among AL batters, behind Manny Machado of the Orioles (8.7).
Rankings—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Scherzer (8IP 5H 2R 11K W in the 7-2 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.
Scherzer also now has 113.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 50th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Kevin Brown (112.8) on the “all-time” list and now trails 49th-ranked player Sammy Sosa (113.2).
Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester now has 126.1 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Lester (CG 4H R 10K W in the 2-1 win over the Dodgers) maintains his rank of 35th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 34th-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4). Lester has 5.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Also notable—Matt Albers of the White Sox became the fourth pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. He is the first AL pitcher to earn Player of the Game honors for batting in nearly seven years.
Albers (2B 1-1 R in the 2-1, 13-inning win over the Mets) had a Box-Toppers game score of +1.0 for batting and a score of 0.0 for pitching (2IPH 0R 2BB K W).
The last time an AL pitcher won Player of the Game honors for batting was June 12, 2009, by Rick Porcello of the Tigers.
Scoring—Davies earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Fulmer earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Ramirez and Cain 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
| 6/1 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | MIL 3/STL 1 | Zach Davies (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| 13.0 | CHC 2/LAD 1 | Jon Lester (W,6-3) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | ||
| AL | 11.2 | DET 3/LAA 0 | Michael Fulmer (W,5-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| 10.0 | `MIA 3/PIT 2 | Adam Conley | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | ||
| 8.0 | DC 7/PHI 2 | Max Scherzer (W,6-4) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | SD 14/SEA 6 | Alexei Ramirez, SS | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | HOU 5/ARI 4 | Michael Feliz (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | OAK 5/MIN 1 | Sean Manaea (W,2-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 3.2 | TOR 7/NYY 0 | Aaron Sanchez (W,5-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 5/SF 4 | Chris Withrow (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | KC 6/TB 3 | Lorenzo Cain, CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | BAL 13/BOS 9 | Matt Wieters, C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | `CLE 5/TEX 4 | Dan Otero | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | CIN 7/COL 2 | Billy Hamilton, CF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | CHW 2/NYM 1 | Matt Albers, P | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 7.0 | 28.0 | 92.6 | 113.0 | -14.0 |
| Cain, Lorenzo 3171 | cf | kc al | 6.5 | 14.7 | 20.7 | 20.7 | -1.7 |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 5.0 | 17.0 | 63.2 | 126.1 | -7.0 |
| Sanchez, Aaron 3392 | pi sp | tor al | 4.7 | 6.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 2.7 |
| Fulmer, Michael 3640 | pi sp | det al | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| Wieters, Matt 2643 | ca | bal al | 3.5 | 4.5 | 22.5 | 28.2 | 2.5 |
| Conley, Adam 3594 | pi sp | fla nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.0 |
| Davies, Zach 3581 | pi sp | mil nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.0 |
| Feliz, Michael 3632 | pi cp | hou al | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Ramirez, Alexei 2537 | ss | sd nl | 1.5 | 3.5 | 22.0 | 34.0 | -0.5 |
| Hamilton, Billy 3287 | cf | cin nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | -1.0 |
| Otero, Dan 3365 | pi mr | cle al | 1.0 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | -0.7 |
| Albers, Matt 2274 | pi cp | chi al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
| Withrow, Chris 3273 | pi cp | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 |
For second straight year, Boston Red Sox projected to be Box-Toppers' most improved team
Box-Toppers projects the Boston Red Sox to be the most improved team in baseball in 2016.
But Box-Toppers also projected the Red Sox to be the most improved team going into 2015, a prediction that didn’t quite pan out.
Projecting the Red Sox
For the second straight year, the Boston Red Sox are projected by Box-Toppers to be baseball’s most improved team. Their 2015 rise wasn’t as great as projected. Here are Box-Toppers’ preseason rankings for the Red Sox from 2014 to 2016, including their projected Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for the season and their rank among all 30 teams, followed by their actual Box-Toppers point total and rank at the end of each season.| Preseason projection |
Actual result |
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| BTP | Rank | BTP | Rank | ||
| 2014 | 121.7 | 4th | 68.7 | 30th | |
| 2015 | 92.0 | 17th | 77.6 | 23rd | |
| 2016 | 103.9 | 10th | ? | ? | |
Both years the prediction happened because the Red Sox had a previous lackluster season followed by an active offseason in which it picked up star players.
This year, the Red Sox picked up 26.3 Box-Toppers points in the offseason, mainly on the strength of signing free agent pitcher David Price, who had 21.1 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Tigers and the Blue Jays, second among American League pitchers.
At the end of 2015, the Red Sox ranked 23rd among the 30 teams in Box-Toppers points. They are now ranked 10th in preseason standings. Last year, they finished fifth in the AL East with 78 wins. This year, Box-Toppers projects them to finish in second (to the Toronto Blue Jays) with 95 wins and earn a wild-card spot.
But Box-Toppers also projected a big Red Sox jump going into 2015, which didn’t quite happen. At the end of 2014, the Red Sox ranked 30th in Box-Toppers team rankings. But in the offseason, they made winter moves and signings that gave them a net gain of 23.3 points. Among Red Sox additions going into 2015 were pitchers Rick Porcello, Justin Masterson and batters Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. None of those players matched their Box-Toppers point totals from 2014 in 2015.
Those additions helped the Red Sox rise to 17th place in Box-Toppers preseason team rankings in 2015. However, they foundered and finished 2015 ranked 23rd—an improvement from 2014, but not as great as the projected improvement. Box-Toppers projected them having 85 wins in 2015—they fell seven wins short.
In addition to Price, the Red Sox picked up other notable players going into the 2016 season—outfielder Chris B. Young (who had 4.5 Box-Toppers points with the Yankees in 2015) and closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel (who had 6.0 points with the Padres in 2015).
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers points are a measure of how much a player provides key contributions to his team’s wins. Specifically, 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.
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Pirates' Gerrit Cole tops players for Wednesday, April 29, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings
Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole is Wednesday’s Player of the Day and rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Cole struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, in the 8-1 win over the Cubs. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season.
While Cole has the same number of Box-Toppers points as overall leader Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, Cole is in second place in player rankings because he had fewer points in 2014—Hernandez had 20.8, Cole had 5.7.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 29.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 6.0 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 5 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 |
| 6 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.4 |
| 7 | Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | oak al | 3.7 |
| 8 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 3.7 |
| 9 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.7 |
| 10 | DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | pi sp | cin nl | 3.7 |
American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel allowed one run over eight innings in the 7-2 win over the Padres. Keuchel rose to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season.
Keuchel had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of 7.0, tied with three other AL players—Orioles pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez, Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello and Rays pitcher Drew Smyly. But Keuchel beat Smyly in a tiebreaker because he earned the win in his game, while Smyly had a no-decision. And Keuchel beat Jimenez and Porcello in a tiebreaker because he had more innings pitched—he had eight, while the other two both had seven.
National League League Batter of the Day—Ryan Braun of the Brewers hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and went 3-for-5, in the 8-3 win over the Reds.
American League Batter of the Day—Roberto Perez of the Indians homered, doubled and went 3-for-3 with three runs and two RBIs, in the 7-5 win over the Royals.
Rankings—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday (2HR 2B 3-5 2R 4BI in the 10-7 win over the Twins). Cabrera earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.7 for the season. He leads all American League batters.
Cabrera now has 131.9 career Box-Toppers points and moves up to 25th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With Wednesday’s point, Cabrera passes Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (131.8 Box-Toppers points). Cabrera now trails Jason Giambi and David Ortiz (who both have 133.4)
Cabrera ranks ninth among all batters since 1995 and is the fourth-ranked active batter, behind Alex Rodriguez (181.8), Albert Pujols (167.3) and David Ortiz (133.4).
Scoring—Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Keuchel earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Braun and Perez 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
| 4/29 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | Pirates | Gerrit Cole (W, 4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 8.0 | Dbacks | Josh Collmenter (W, 2-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| AL | 7.0 | Astros | Dallas Keuchel (W, 3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |
| 7.0 | Orioles | Ubaldo Jimenez (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | Red Sox | Rick Porcello (W, 2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | `Rays | Drew Smyly | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Brewers | Ryan Braun RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | Indians | Roberto Perez C | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Tigers | Miguel Cabrera 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Angels | Mike Trout CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Marlins | Sam Dyson (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Nationals | Danny Espinosa 3B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.1 | `Mariners | Danny Farquhar (H, 4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | `Cardinals | Jordan Walden (H, 8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Dodgers | Scott Van Slyke LF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||