Rays' Jake Odorizzi tops players for Saturday, Sept. 23, 1 of 3 players to reach 10 Box-Toppers points

Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and is one of three players Saturday to reach 10 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Odorizzi struck out nine over six innings, allowing one run (none earned), three hits and two walks, in the 9-6 win over the Orioles.

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Rays' Jake Odorizzi tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 5; Nationals' Strasburg rises to 5th in rankings

Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Tuesday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors. Plus, Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke maintains his fourth-place spot in player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

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Red Sox' Chris Sale tops players for Sunday, Aug. 13; Sale, Scherzer both move within 1 point of Box-Toppers leader Kershaw

Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming the third player this season to reach 20 Box-Toppers points and is now only 1.0 point away from overall leader Clayton Kershaw.

Also Sunday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, Box-Toppers’ second-ranked player in 2017, moved within 0.1 point of Kershaw after earning Player of the Game honors. In addition, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to fifth in season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

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Tigers' Justin Verlander tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 9; Colon rises to 19th in career Box-Toppers points

Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Verlander is one of three with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points to earn Player of the Game honors. Twins pitcher Bartolo Colon rises to 19th place in career points since 1995 (with 152.2) after earning Player of the Game honors.

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Red Sox' Chris Sale tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 8, bolsters Box-Toppers points lead among AL pitchers

Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, bolstering his Box-Toppers points lead among American League pitchers.

Also Tuesday, Buster Posey of the Giants rises to lead National League batters in 2017 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to seventh place in overall Box-Toppers player rankings.

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Red Sox' Mookie Betts tops players for Wednesday, June 14; Mets' Blevins tops NL players

Mookie Betts of the Red Sox is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Betts homered twice and doubled in the 7-3 win over the Phillies. Betts also went 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in three runs.

Top 10 players

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


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

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Jerry Blevins pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless middle relief, striking out three, allowing no hits and no walks and earning the win in the 9-4 win over the Cubs.

National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Phillips of the Braves hit two doubles and went 4-for-6, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 13-2 win over the Nationals.

Phillips has now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 straight seasons with his first Player of the Game honor for 2017. He earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2002 with the Indians, but began his current 12-season streak in 2006 with the Reds. He has 65.6 career Box-Toppers points, fifth among all second basemen since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He ranks third in career points among active second basemen, behind Robinson Cano of the Mariners (78.4) and Chase Utley of the Dodgers (75.1).

Phillips’ best season was 2012 with the Reds when he had 9.5 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL batters. He had 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016 with the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because the overall Player of the Day is AL batter Mookie Betts.

Notable—Trey Mancini of the Orioles has the most 2017 Box-Toppers points of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Mancini (2B 3-4 3R BI in the 10-6 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.2 for the season and ranks 30th among all players in 2017 season player rankings, fifth among AL batters.

Also notable—Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Liriano now has 105.2 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Liriano (7IP 5H 3R 2ER 2BB 9K ND in the 7-6 win over the Rays) rises to 65th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when tracking began. He passes Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 64th-ranked player Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (105.7).

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

  • Astros pitcher Francis Martes (5IP 3H R 2B 7K W in the 13-2 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut June 9 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,822nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Angels pitcher Blake Parker (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 7-5 win over the Yankees) made his Major League debut May 17, 2012, and was playing in his 124th career game. He is the 3,823rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Raimel Tapia of the Rockies (2B 4-4 3R 0BI in the 5-1 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut Sept. 2, 2016, and was playing in his 36th career game. He is the 3,824th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Betts earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Blevins earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Phillips earns 1.5 points for being NL 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.

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 

6/14 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 6.0 BOS 7, PHI 3 Mookie Betts, RF 5 4 4 3 - - - - - -
5.0 HOU 13, TEX 2 Francis Martes (W,1-0) - - - - 5.0 3 1 1 2 7
NL 4.1 NYM 9, CHC 4 Jerry Blevins (W,4-0) - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 3
BAT 4.0 ATL 13, WSH 2 Brandon Phillips, 2B 6 3 4 3 - - - - - -
4.0 ARI 2, DET 1 Fernando Rodney (S,18) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
4.0 `TOR 7, TB 6 Francisco Liriano - - - - 7.0 5 3 2 2 9
3.1 LAA 7, NYY 5 Blake Parker (W,2-2) - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 COL 5, PIT 1 Raimel Tapia, RF 4 3 4 0 - - - - - -
3.0 KC 7, SF 2 Lorenzo Cain, CF 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 BAL 10, CHW 6 Trey Mancini, 1B 4 3 3 1 - - - - - -
2.0 MIL 7, STL 6 Eric Thames, 1B 5 2 2 3 - - - - - -
2.0 MIA 11, OAK 6 Dee Gordon, 2B 4 2 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 LAD 6, CLE 4 Enrique Hernandez, PH-2B 2 1 2 1 - - - - - -
2.0 SD 4, CIN 2 Brandon Maurer (S,12) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.2 `SEA 6, MIN 4 James Pazos (H,5) - - - - 1.2 1 0 0 1 2
MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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 +/-
Mancini, Trey 3766 lf 1b ph bal al 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2
Thames, Eric 2909 1b lf mil nl 4.0 4.0 5.0 6.5 4.0
Cain, Lorenzo 3171 cf kc al 3.5 10.0 24.2 24.2 -3.0
Betts, Mookie 3404 rf bos al 3.5 9.7 14.7 14.7 -2.7
Rodney, Fernando 1803 pi cp ari nl 3.0 8.0 26.0 38.0 -2.0
Liriano, Francisco 2104 pi sp tor al 2.0 10.0 59.7 105.2 -6.0
Pazos, James 3786 pi mr sea al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Blevins, Jerry 2788 pi mr nym nl 1.7 1.7 6.7 7.7 1.7
Phillips, Brandon 1691 2b atl nl 1.5 3.5 25.2 65.6 -0.5
Maurer, Brandon 3157 pi cp sd nl 1.0 3.0 6.0 6.0 -1.0
Hernandez, Enrique 3541 2b ph lad nl 1.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 0.0
Gordon, Dee 2990 2b fla nl 1.0 1.0 8.5 8.5 1.0
Martes, Francis 3822 pi sp hou al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Parker, Blake 3823 pi mr ana al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Tapia, Raimel 3824 rf col nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

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

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

Top 10 players

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


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

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

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

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

All-time leaders

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


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Randy Johnson pi sp retired 278.8
2 Pedro Martinez pi sp retired 244.8
3 Clayton Kershaw pi sp lad nl 194.4
4 Curt Schilling pi sp retired 194.1
5 CC Sabathia pi sp nyy al 188.0
6 Alex Rodriguez dh released 187.0
7 Albert Pujols 1b dh ana al 182.3
8 Roy Halladay pi sp retired 170.7
9 Felix Hernandez pi sp sea al 169.7
10 Manny Ramirez lf dh retired 167.2
11 Johan Santana pi sp free agent 166.6
12 Roger Clemens pi sp retired 164.8
13 Zack Greinke pi sp ari nl 162.8
14 John Smoltz pi sp retired 160.9
15 Tim Hudson pi sp retired 157.0
16 Mike Mussina pi sp retired 155.6
17 Barry Bonds lf retired 153.2
18 Greg Maddux pi sp retired 151.7
19 Bartolo Colon pi sp atl nl 151.2
20 Chipper Jones 3b retired 149.0
BTP: Box-Toppers points
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the close of the 2016 season.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Barnes (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 4-3 win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut Aug. 2, 2016, and was playing in his 26th career game. He is the 3,807th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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 

5/23 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 `LAD 2, STL 1 (F/13) Clayton Kershaw - - - - 9.0 3 1 1 0 10
13.0 CHC 4, SF 1 Jon Lester (W,3-2) - - - - 9.0 4 1 1 0 10
AL 11.0 MIN 2, BAL 0 Ervin Santana (W,7-2) - - - - 9.0 2 0 0 2 6
BAT 7.0 WSH 10, SEA 1 Anthony Rendon, 3B 4 3 3 5 - - - - - -
7.0 HOU 6, DET 2 Lance McCullers Jr. (W,5-1) - - - - 5.0 1 0 0 2 5
5.1 LAA 4, TB 0 Matt Shoemaker (W,4-2) - - - - 6.1 3 0 0 3 5
5.0 MIA 11, OAK 9 Justin Bour, 1B 5 4 4 2 - - - - - -
BAT 5.0 BOS 11, TEX 6 Xander Bogaerts, SS 5 4 3 3 - - - - - -
5.0 NYM 9, SD 3 Michael Conforto, LF 4 2 3 4 - - - - - -
4.2 TOR 4, MIL 3 Danny Barnes (W,1-2) - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 0 3
4.0 COL 8, PHI 2 Charlie Blackmon, CF 4 2 2 4 - - - - - -
4.0 CLE 8, CIN 7 Edwin Encarnacion, 1B 4 3 2 3 - - - - - -
2.0 ATL 6, PIT 5 Matt Adams, 1B 5 2 3 2 - - - - - -
1.0 KC 6, NYY 2 Danny Duffy (W,4-3) - - - - 7.0 6 2 2 3 7
1.0 ARI 5, CHW 4 Fernando Rodney (S,11) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 0
MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Cubs' Lackey tops players for Tuesday, May 9; Astros' Beltran ties Box-Toppers record, earning points in 19 straight seasons

Cubs pitcher John Lackey is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 9:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 7.0
2 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp bos al 6.7
3 Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 6.7
4 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 6.0
5 Carrasco, Carlos 2885 pi sp cle al 5.4
6 Kimbrel, Craig 2825 pi cp bos al 5.0
7 Nova, Ivan 2796 pi sp pit nl 5.0
8 Vargas, Jason 2055 pi sp kc al 5.0
9 Holland, Greg 2906 pi cp col nl 5.0
10 Judge, Aaron 3767 rf nyy al 5.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Carlos Beltran of the Astros has now earned Box-Toppers points for 19 straight seasons, tying the “all-time” record set by Jason Giambi, after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday. Plus, Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Lackey struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks, in the 8-1 win over the Rockies.

Lackey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 123.2 career points, ranked 39th among all player since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 38th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1).

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 6-0 win over the Blue Jays.

Box-Toppers season streaks

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



Streak

Player

Pos

Duration
Career
BTP
1 19 Jason Giambi 1b 1995-2013 133.4
1 19 Carlos Beltran* rf 1999-2017 105.9
3 18 Jim Thome 1b dh 1995-2012 146.7
3 18 Chipper Jones 3b 1995-2012 149.0
3 18 Johnny Damon lf 1995-2012 63.0
3 18 Alex Rodriguez 3b 1996-2013 187.0
7 17 Mariano Rivera pi cp 1995-2011 126.4
7 17 Derek Jeter ss 1996-2012 76.4
7 17 Paul Konerko 1b 1998-2014 100.7
7 17 Tim Hudson pi sp 1999-2015 157.0
7 17 Torii Hunter cf 1999-2015 115.9
7 17 David Ortiz dh 2000-2016 145.9
7 17 CC Sabathia* pi sp 2001-2017 187.0
14 16 Manny Ramirez lf 1995-2010 167.2
14 16 Andy Pettitte pi sp 1995-2010 138.5
14 16 Jamie Moyer pi sp 1995-2010 104.0
14 16 Scott Rolen 3b 1996-2011 97.6
14 16 Kevin Millwood pi sp 1997-2012 108.3
14 16 Derek Lowe pi sp 1998-2013 91.5
14 16 Aramis Ramirez 3b 2000-2015 105.8
14 16 Mark Buehrle pi sp 2000-2015 116.7
14 16 Albert Pujols* dh 1b 2001-2016 182.3
14 16 Ichiro Suzuki* rf 2001-2016 53.7
24 15 Randy Johnson pi sp 1995-2009 278.8
24 15 Garret Anderson lf 1995-2009 86.5
24 15 Ivan Rodriguez ca 1995-2009 79.0
24 15 Tony Clark 1b 1995-2009 63.8
24 15 Gary Sheffield lf 1995-2009 124.1
24 15 Jason Kendall ca 1996-2010 40.9
24 15 Vladimir Guerrero rf 1997-2011 128.3
24 15 Bobby Abreu rf 1997-2011 95.5
24 15 Mike Cameron cf 1997-2011 70.3
24 15 Miguel Tejada ss 1997-2011 102.3
24 15 Jorge Posada ca 1997-2011 79.5
24 15 Livan Hernandez pi sp 1997-2011 76.7
24 15 Kyle Lohse pi sp 2001-2015 89.0
24 15 Jake Peavy pi sp 2002-2016 141.8
BTP: Box-Toppers points
* Active streak of a player active in 2017
Updated Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Details

Carrasco earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 5.4 for the season, rising to fifth place in season player rankings and third among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the Red Sox (6.7) and Ervin Santana of the Twins (6.7).

National League Batter of the Day—Keon Broxton of the Brewers homered, tripled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 11-7 win over the Red Sox.

American League Batter of the Day—Ben Gamel of the Mariners hit a three-run homer and doubled in the 10-9 win over the Phillies. Gamel went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs.

Streak—Carlos Beltran of the Astros tied Box-Toppers’ record for the longest consecutive season streak in which a player has earned Player of the Game honors. 

Beltran was Player of the Game Tuesday in the 8-3 win over the Braves (HR 2-4 2R BI), marking the 19th straight season in which he has earned Box-Toppers points (1999 to 2017). That ties the record of Jason Giambi, who earned Box-Toppers points for 19 straight seasons from 1995 to 2013. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, the same year Giambi began his Major League career. Giambi earned points in each season he played except for his last season in 2014.)

Beltran earned his first Box-Toppers points in 1999 with the Royals and has 105.9 career points, rising to 61st place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Beltran earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point Tuesday, passing three players on the “all-time” list—Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1), Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (105.7) and Aramis Ramirez (105.8). Beltran now trails 60th-ranked player Frank Thomas (106.2).

Beltran’s 105.9 career Box-Toppers points also ranks fourth among active AL batters.

Beltran’s best season was 2003 with the Royals when he had 13.9 Box-Toppers points, second among AL batters, behind Carlos Delgado of the Blue Jays (17.7). In 2016, Beltran had 6.0 points with the Yankees and Rangers, eighth among AL designated hitters.

Beltran barely kept the streak alive earning only 1.0 Box-Toppers points in two different seasons—in 2010 with the Mets and in 2014 with the Yankees.

Besides Beltran, there are only three other Major League players who earned Box-Toppers points in 1999 or earlier who are still listed as active players today:

  • Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon, who has 2.7 points this season, but he earned no points in 2010, so his consecutive season streak stands only at seven.
  • Adrian Beltre of the Rangers, though he hasn’t earned Box-Toppers points yet this season. Also, Beltre did not earn points in 2005 or 2014, so his longest consecutive season streak earning Box-Toppers points is eight. His current streak is two seasons (2015 and 2016). 
  • Pitcher Joe Nathan of the Nationals, though he hasn’t earned Box-Toppers points since Sept. 25, 2014.

Scoring—Lackey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Carrasco earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Broxton and Gamel each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

5/9 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 CHC 8, COL 1 John Lackey (W,3-3) - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 2 10
AL 11.0 CLE 6, TOR 0 Carlos Carrasco (W,4-2) - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 0 7
8.0 TEX 11, SD 0 A.J. Griffin (W,4-0) - - - - 9.0 4 0 0 1 4
BAT 7.0 MIL 11, BOS 7 Keon Broxton, CF 3 3 3 4 - - - - - -
6.1 `LAD 4, PIT 3 (F/10) Julio Urias - - - - 6.1 1 1 1 2 5
BAT 6.0 SEA 10, PHI 9 Ben Gamel, RF 5 3 4 4 - - - - - -
5.0 COL 10, CHC 4 Mark Reynolds, 1B 4 3 3 3 - - - - - -
3.0 KC 7, TB 6 (F/12) Salvador Perez, C 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
2.0 STL 6, MIA 5 Matt Adams, PH 1 1 1 1 - - - - - -
2.0 NYM 6, SF 1 Zack Wheeler (W,2-2) - - - - 6.0 2 1 1 4 4
2.0 BAL 5, WSH 4 (F/12) Logan Verrett (W,2-0) - - - - 3.0 2 0 0 1 2
1.0 LAA 7, OAK 3 Yunel Escobar, 3B 5 1 1 4 - - - - - -
1.0 MIN 7, CHW 2 Byron Buxton, CF 4 1 3 1 - - - - - -
1.0 HOU 8, ATL 3 Carlos Beltran, DH 4 2 2 1 - - - - - -
1.0 CIN 5, NYY 3 Joey Votto, 1B 2 0 1 2 - - - - - -
0.0 DET 7, ARI 3 Nicholas Castellanos, 3B 3 0 1 2 - - - - - -
MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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 +/-
Carrasco, Carlos 2885 pi sp cle al 5.4 17.8 46.5 51.9 -7.0
Reynolds, Mark 2297 1b col nl 3.5 7.5 22.2 54.9 -0.5
Griffin, A.J. 3074 pi sp tex al 3.0 8.7 23.4 23.4 -2.7
Gamel, Ben 3784 rf sea al 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
Votto, Joey 2366 1b cin nl 2.5 13.0 27.7 66.7 -8.0
Broxton, Keon 3785 cf mil nl 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5
Lackey, John 1640 pi sp chi nl 2.0 15.4 41.8 123.2 -11.4
Castellanos, Nick 3349 3b det al 2.0 7.5 15.7 15.7 -3.5
Verrett, Logan 3518 pi cp bal al 2.0 3.0 6.0 6.0 1.0
Beltran, Carlos 1194 dh rf hou al 1.0 7.0 19.2 105.9 -5.0
Urias, Julio 3652 pi sp lad nl 1.0 6.7 6.7 6.7 -4.7
Buxton, Byron 3604 cf min al 1.0 5.7 6.7 6.7 -3.7
Perez, Salvador 2972 ca kc al 1.0 5.0 20.2 22.7 -3.0
Escobar, Yunel 2331 3b ana al 1.0 2.0 17.5 42.0 0.0
Adams, Matt 3220 1b ph stl nl 1.0 2.0 10.5 10.5 0.0
Wheeler, Zack 3204 pi sp nym nl 1.0 1.0 12.7 12.7 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Cardinals' Carlos Martinez tops players on opening day, Sunday, April 2

Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez is Sunday’s opening day Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Martinez pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing six hits, no walks and striking out 10 in the 4-3 win over the Cubs. Martinez did not earn the win because after he exited, the Cubs tied the game in the top of the ninth inning before the Cardinals won the game in the bottom of the ninth.

While it is relatively rare for a pitcher to earn overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day without earning a win or a save, it did happen nine times in 2016, including once by Martinez on Aug. 29.

American League Player of the Day—Logan Morrison of the Rays homered and went 3-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 7-3 win over the Yankees.

National League Batter of the Day—A.J. Pollock of the Diamondbacks hit a two-run homer and went 3-for-5, scoring twice, in the 6-5 win over the Giants.

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner had a magnificent day, hitting two home runs and pitching a perfect game through five innings (his final line was 7IP 6H 3R 0BB 11K ND), but earns no Box-Toppers points for his effort (despite having a Box-Toppers game score of +6.0 for pitching, highest of any player on either team) simply because the Giants did not win.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Logan Morrison. Also, only one AL game was played Sunday.

Scoring—Martinez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and becomes the de facto early leader in season Box-Toppers points. Morrison earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Pollock earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day.

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

4/2 Score Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.1 `STL 4, CHC 3 Carlos Martinez - - - - 7.1 6 0 0 0 10
AL 3.0 TB 7, NYY 3 Logan Morrison, 1B 4 1 3 3 - - - - - -
BAT 2.0 ARI 6, SF 5 A.J. Pollock, CF 5 2 3 2 - - - - - -
` 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 Game Pos Team '17 '16-17 '12-17 Career +/-
Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 2.0 14.4 29.1 29.1 -10.4
Morrison, Logan 2794 1b tb al 1.7 3.7 13.7 19.2 -0.3
Pollock, A.J. 3142 cf ari nl 1.5 1.5 16.2 16.2 1.5
What are those numbers after players' names?

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Nationals' Jayson Werth tops players in Monday's League Division Series playoff games

Jayson Werth of the Nationals is top player in Monday’s three league division series playoff games.

Other Players of the Game Monday:

  • Giants middle reliever Derek Law.
  • Coco Crisp of the Indians.

National League Division Series Game 3: Nationals 8, Dodgers 3

Werth homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs to earn Player of the Game.

Werth had 6.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranked 165th among all players and 23rd among NL batters.

Werth had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 Monday to lead all Nationals players.

The Nationals now lead the Dodgers in the best-of-five game series, 2-1, which resumes Tuesday in Los Angeles.

National League Division Series Game 3: Giants 6, Cubs 5 (13 innings)

Giants middle reliever Derek Law pitched two scoreless innings—the sixth and seventh—and allowed no hits, one walk and struck out two.

So how did Law earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game? Under Box-Toppers rules, pitchers can qualify to earn Player of the Game honors if they pitch a minimum of three innings or earn the win or save. Law did not meet any of those requirements. However, pitchers can also earn Player of the Game honors if their Box-Toppers game score is higher than the pitcher who otherwise would have earned Player of the Game—if they have the same or more innings pitched. Closer Ty Blach (2IP 2H 0R 0BB K W) was in line to earn Player of the Game based on the fact that he earned the decision and had the highest Box-Toppers game score of qualifying pitchers (+1.0). But since Law pitched the same number of innings and had a higher Box-Toppers game score (+3.0), he wins Player of the Game.

Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner would have qualified to earn Player of the Game honors (because he had more than three innings pitched) but he had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of −5.0 (5IP 7H 3R BB 4K ND). Giants top batter was catcher Buster Posey (3-5 R BI) who had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0.

Law has 2.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta (15.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked ninth among all players) had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of 0.0 in the loss (6IP 6H 2R BB 5K ND).

The Giants now trail the Cubs in the best-of-five game series, 2-1, which resumes Tuesday in San Francisco.

American League Division Series Game 3: Indians 4, Red Sox 3

Coco Crisp of the Indians hit a sixth-inning two-run homer to earn Player of the Game honors as the Indians swept the Red Sox to advance to the AL Championship Series.

Crisp went 1-for-2 and had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0.

During the regular season, Crisp had 3.0 Box-Toppers points.

The Indians sweep the Red Sox in the NL Division Series in three games and now face the Blue Jays in the AL Championship Series beginning Friday in Cleveland.

The Red Sox ranked first among all AL teams in Box-Toppers rankings with 128.3 Box-Toppers points (ranking second overall behind the Cubs). The Indians ranked fourth with 123.7, second among AL teams.

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

BTG Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
3.0 WSH 8, LAD 3 Jayson Werth, LF 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 `SF 6, CHC 5 (13) Derek Law - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 1 2
2.0 CLE 4, BOS 3 Coco Crisp, LF 2 1 1 2 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
BTG: Box-Toppers game score

Coming Tuesday, the NL Division Series playoff games resume:

NL Division Series Game 4: Nationals lead Dodgers, 2-1

The pitching matchup Tuesday:

Nationals—Joe Ross, 5.7 Box-Toppers points, 173rd among all players, 50th among NL pitchers.

Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 24.4 Box-Toppers points, second among all players, second among NL pitchers.

See the season Box-Toppers point totals of all Dodgers and Nationals players who earned Player of the Game honors in 2016.

NL Division Series Game 4: Cubs lead Giants, 2-1

The pitching matchup Tuesday:

Cubs—John Lackey, 13.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 16th, ninth among NL pitchers.

Giants—Matt Moore, 12.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 31st, 16th among NL pitchers.

See the season Box-Toppers point totals of all Dodgers and Nationals players who earned Player of the Game honors in 2016.

Two relievers are Box-Toppers top players in Sunday's two Division Series games

Two relief pitchers were Box-Toppers’ top players in two League Division Series playoff games Sunday:

  • Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna was Player of the Game in the 7-6, 10-inning win over the Rangers, as his team swept Texas in the series. 
  • And Nationals middle reliever Blake Treinen was Player of the Game in the 5-2 win over the Dodgers to even that series at one game apiece.

ALDS Game 3, Blue Jays 7, Rangers 6 (10 innings)

Osuna pitched two scoreless innings, allowing no hits, no walks, striking out two and earning the win. The Blue Jays win the best-of-five game series, 3-0 and advance to the American League Championship Series beginning Friday against the winner of the Red Sox-Indians series.

Osuna was also Player of the Game in the Blue Jays’ Game 2 win agains the Rangers on Friday. He is the first player this postseason to earn Player of the Game honors more than once.

During the regular season, Osuna had 3.0 Box-Toppers points (all in April) and ranked 319th among all players, 87th among AL pitchers and 15th among AL closers.

Osuna had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +4.0. Blue Jays’ top batter in the game was Edwin Encarnacion, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 (HR 2-3 R 3BI).

NLDS Game 2: Nationals 5, Dodgers 2

Nationals middle reliever Blake Treinen pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits, no walks, striking out two and earning the win.

Treinen had no Box-Toppers points during the regular season. He has 1.0 for his career, earned June 10, 2015.

Treinen had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +3.1. Nationals’ top batter in the game, Daniel Murphy, had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 (3-3 R 2BI).

The best-of-five game series is now tied 1-1 and resumes Monday in Los Angeles.

 

ALDS Game 3 between the Red Sox and Indians was rained out Sunday and rescheduled for Monday. More details below.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

BTG Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
4.0 TOR 7, TEX 6 (10) Roberto Osuna (W,1-0) - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.1 WSH 5, LAD 2 Blake Treinen (W,1-0; H,1) - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 2
BTG: Box-Toppers game score

Coming Monday: League Division playoff games resume:

NL Division Series Game 3, Nationals at Dodgers, series tied, 1-1

The pitching matchup Monday:

Nationals—Gio Gonzalez, 6.0 Box-Toppers points, 158th among all players, 45th among NL pitchers.

Dodgers—Kenta Maeada, 10.0 Box-Toppers points, 54th among all players, 21st among NL pitchers.

See the season Box-Toppers point totals of all Dodgers and Nationals players who earned Player of the Game honors in 2016.

AL Division Series Game 3, Indians lead Red Sox, 2-0

The pitching matchup Monday:

Indians—Josh Tomlin, 5.0 Box-Toppers points, 202nd among all players, 63rd among AL pitchers.

Red Sox—Clay Buchholz, 5.0 Box-Toppers points, 200th among all players, 62nd among AL pitchers.

See the season Box-Toppers point totals of all Red Sox and Indians players who earned Player of the Game honors in 2016.

NL Division Series Game 3, Cubs lead Giants, 2-0

The pitching matchup Monday:

Cubs—Jake Arrieta, 15.7 Box-Toppers points, ninth among all players, sixth among NL pitchers.

Giants—Madison Bumgarner, 13.0 Box-Toppers points, 19th among all players, 12th among NL pitchers.

See the season Box-Toppers point totals of all Cubs and Giants players who earned Player of the Game honors in 2016.

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
What are those numbers after players' names?

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
What are those numbers after players' names?

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.

Marcus Stroman tops players as Blue Jays beat Orioles in AL Wild Card Game

Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Tuesday’s American League Wild Card game.

Stroman pitched six innings, allowing two runs on four hits, striking out six and walking none, in the 5-2, 11-inning win over the Orioles. Stroman did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied 2-2 when he exited.

Stroman had 6.7 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranked 43rd among AL pitchers, 112th overall.

While the Blue Jays were the top-ranked Wild Card team, they rank lower in Box-Toppers team rankings. The Blue Jays rank ninth among all teams with 114.0 accumulated Box-Toppers points. The Orioles ranked seventh with 116.6.

The Blue Jays will face the Texas Rangers in the best-of-five AL Division Series beginning Thursday in Texas. The Rangers have the AL’s best winning percentage (.586), but rank third among AL teams and fifth among all teams in Box-Toppers team rankings with 122.5 points.

Top player from AL Wild Card Game

BTG Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
4.0 `TOR 5, BAL 2 (11) Marcus Stroman - - - -
6.0 4 2 2 0 6
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
BTG: Box-Toppers game score

Box-Toppers’ NL Wild Card Preview

Coming Wednesday—The National League Wild Card Game is in New York, with the Giants facing the Mets. Here is the pitching match-up:

Giants—Madison Bumgarner, 13.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 19th among all players, 12th among NL pitchers.

Mets—Noah Syndergaard, 16.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked seventh among all players, fourth among NL pitchers.

Bumgarner and Syndergaard also both rank among the top 10 NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons. Bumgarner has 30.0 points over 2015 and 2016, ranking seventh. Syndergaard has 27.1 points in that span, ranking 10th. Bumgarner also ranks third among pitchers in Box-Toppers points earned since the start of 2011—he has an even 100.0 points and trails only Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers (150.2), and Max Scherzer, Nationals (111.3). Syndergaard was a rookie in 2015.

The Mets are sixth in Box-Toppers team rankings with 119.1 accumulated points, third-most among NL teams. The Giants rank 10th, fifth among NL teams, with 112.7, the lowest-ranked team to qualify for the postseason. However, in the final 10 days of the season, the Giants were the slightly hotter team, picking up 8.7 Box-Toppers points, while the Mets picked up 6.7.

The Mets have two players among Box-Toppers top 10 NL batters:

  • Outfielder Jay Bruce has 8.5 Box-Toppers points, ranking eighth.
  • Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes has 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking 10th.

The Giants highest-ranking batter is first baseman Brandon Belt with 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking 18th among NL batters.

The winner of the NL Wild Card game will face the Chicago Cubs in the best-of-five NL Divisional Series beginning Friday in Chicago. The Cubs have baseball’s best winning percentage (.640) and rank first in Box-Toppers team rankings with 139.5 points.

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 vs. Mets

Here are players for both teams in the NL Wild Card Game Wednesday. 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 New York Mets
Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp 16.4 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp 16.7
Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp 13.0 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp 12.1
Moore, Matt 2975 pi sp 12.4 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp 9.7
Samardzija, Jeff 2495 pi sp 10.7 Bruce, Jay 2453 rf 8.5
Belt, Brandon 2943 1b 7.0 Colon, Bartolo pi sp 8.4
Panik, Joe 3401 2b 5.5 Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 cf lf 8.0
Nunez, Eduardo 2795 3b 2b ss 5.5 Familia, Jeurys 3446 pi cp 8.0
Peavy, Jake 1635 pi sp 5.0 Conforto, Michael 3622 lf 5.0
Posey, Buster 2745 ca 1b 3.5 Granderson, Curtis 2051 rf cf ph 4.5
Pence, Hunter 2287 rf 3.5 Flores, Wilmer 3345 3b 1b 2b ph 4.5
Casilla, Santiago 2301 pi cp 3.0 Walker, Neil 2756 2b 3.5
Kontos, George 3106 pi cp mr 3.0 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp 3.0
Span, Denard 2502 cf 3.0 Niese, Jonathon 2531 pi sp 2.0
Tomlinson, Kelby 3619 2b ph 3.0 Cabrera, Asdrubal 2362 ss 2.0
Cain, Matt 2081 pi sp 2.7 Reed, Addison 3023 pi mr 2.0
Brown, Trevor 3610 ca 2.5 Salas, Fernando 2853 pi cp 2.0
Crawford, Brandon 2878 ss 2.0 Reyes, Jose 1759 3b ss 2.0
Gillaspie, Conor 3218 3b ph 2.0 Loney, James 2206 1b ph 2.0
Blach, Ty 3754 pi sp 2.0 Reynolds, Matt 3650 ss ph 2.0
Law, Derek 3657 pi sp mr 2.0 Smoker, Josh 3725 pi cp mr 2.0
Pagan, Angel 2184 lf 1.0 Gsellman, Robert 3748 pi sp 1.7
Beckham, Gordon 2620 2b 1.0 De Aza, Alejandro 2950 cf 1.5
Strickland, Hunter 3546 pi mr 1.0 Verrett, Logan 3518 pi sp 1.0
Okert, Steven 3745 pi mr 1.0 Robles, Hansel 3580 pi cp 1.0
Osich, Josh 3677 pi mr 1.0 d’Arnaud, Travis 3384 ca 1.0
Wright, David 1911 3b 1.0
Goeddel, Erik 3672 pi mr 1.0
Lugo, Seth 3729 pi sp 1.0
Rivera, T.J. 3710 3b 2b 1.0
Ynoa, Gabriel 3743 pi sp 1.0
Totals 112.7 Totals 119.1
What are those numbers after players' names?

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
What are those numbers after players' names?

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
What are those numbers after players' names?