Box-Toppers 2016-17 All-Star teams

The Box-Toppers All-Star teams for 2016-17 consist of the best players at each position in each league over the past two seasons.

Among the 27 players included on the American and National League teams are 17 who are also on Box-Toppers 2017 All-Star teams. Leading the 2016-17 All-Stars is Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who ranks first in Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons with 50.7.

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How 2017 Silver Sluggers winners fared in Box-Toppers points and rankings

Only 7 of 17 Silver Slugger Award winners also led their position in Box-Toppers points

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Box-Toppers 2017 year-end All-Star teams

The Box-Toppers All-Star teams for the 2017 regular season are led by overall Box-Toppers points leader, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale.

The American League and National League All-Star teams are composed of the players with the highest Box-Toppers point totals by position in each league. In addition to the batters—eight in the NL and nine (including the designated hitter) in the AL—are the top four starting pitchers in each league and the top closing pitcher.

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NLCS preview: Dodgers enter rematch against Cubs with more favorable stats, but L.A. declining since midseason, while Chicago is rising

The 2017 National League Championship Series is a rematch of the 2016 series between the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers. But this year, the tables are turned.

Last year, the Cubs were kings, leading Box-Toppers team rankings in 2016 almost wire-to-wire, and coming into their NLCS matchup against the Dodgers holding practically every advantage. This year, they’ve scraped together their success with a pitching staff that is little more than half as good as it was when it led them to a World Series title in 2016.

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

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

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Dodgers' Corey Seager tops players for Tuesday, June 20; Red Sox' Sale rises to 4th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Corey Seager of the Dodgers is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of June 20:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 14.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 13.0
3 Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 11.4
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp bos al 10.1
5 Ray, Robbie 3502 pi sp ari nl 10.0
6 Judge, Aaron 3767 rf nyy al 8.2
7 Wood, Alex 3246 pi sp lad nl 8.0
8 Vargas, Jason 2055 pi sp kc al 8.0
9 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 7.7
10 Kimbrel, Craig 2825 pi cp bos al 7.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors, becoming the fifth player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.

Player of the Day—Seager homered three times and doubled in the 12-0 win over the Mets. Seager also went 4-for-5 and drove in six runs.

American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale struck out 10 over 8 1/3 innings, allowing three runs, four hits and one walk, in the 8-3 win over the Royals.

Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 10.1 for the season, rising from fifth to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Ervin Santana of the Twins (11.4).

Sale is the fifth player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. It is also the sixth straight season in which Sale has earned 10 or more points.

American League Batter of the Day—Manny Machado of the Orioles homered twice, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 6-5 win over the Indians.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the overall Player of the Day is NL batter Corey Seager.

Scoring—Seager earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sale earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Machado earns 1.5 points for being AL 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 

6/20 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 LAD 12, NYM 0 Corey Seager, SS 5 3 4 6 - - - - - -
AL 7.1 BOS 8, KC 3 Chris Sale (W,9-3) - - - - 8.1 4 3 3 1 10
BAT 7.0 BAL 6, CLE 5 Manny Machado, 3B 4 3 4 4 - - - - - -
5.0 PIT 7, MIL 3 Andrew McCutchen, CF 3 2 3 3 - - - - - -
5.0 CHC 4, SD 0 Mike Montgomery (W,1-3) - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 2 4
4.0 `STL 8, PHI 1 (F/11) Mike Leake - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 2 5
3.0 MIN 9, CHW 7 Miguel Sano, 3B 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 WSH 12, MIA 3 Daniel Murphy, 2B 3 2 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 LAA 8, NYY 3 Cameron Maybin, CF 5 2 3 2 - - - - - -
2.0 TB 6, CIN 5 Corey Dickerson, LF 4 2 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 HOU 8, OAK 4 Alex Bregman, 3B 3 1 2 2 - - - - - -
1.1 TEX 6, TOR 1 Nick Martinez (W,2-3) - - - - 6.1 2 1 1 3 2
1.0 SEA 5, DET 4 (F/10) Ben Gamel, LF 5 2 3 1 - - - - - -
1.0 SF 6, ATL 3 Austin Slater, LF 4 1 1 3 - - - - - -
1.0 COL 4, ARI 3 Greg Holland (S,25) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 1
MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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 +/-
Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp bos al 10.1 23.5 91.5 96.5 -3.3
Sano, Miguel 3527 3b min al 7.5 10.5 16.5 16.5 4.5
Holland, Greg 2906 pi cp col nl 7.0 7.0 37.0 40.0 7.0
McCutchen, Andrew 2637 cf pit nl 4.0 11.0 42.5 57.9 -3.0
Leake, Mike 2709 pi sp stl nl 4.0 9.0 39.4 48.6 -1.0
Seager, Corey 3587 ss lad nl 4.0 8.0 9.5 9.5 0.0
Maybin, Cameron 2672 lf cf ana al 4.0 7.0 12.5 19.5 1.0
Gamel, Ben 3784 rf lf sea al 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
Murphy, Daniel 2589 2b dc nl 3.0 10.5 31.5 35.5 -4.5
Martinez, Nick 3430 pi sp tex al 3.0 3.0 6.7 6.7 3.0
Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 2.5 15.2 26.2 26.2 -10.2
Montgomery, Mike 3513 pi cp sp chi nl 2.0 7.0 11.0 11.0 -3.0
Dickerson, Corey 3222 dh lf tb al 2.0 6.5 18.5 18.5 -2.5
Bregman, Alex 3721 3b hou al 2.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 0.0
Slater, Austin 3818 lf sf nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

A 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.

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Postseason 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. 

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Box-Toppers' top-ranked rookie Michael Fulmer wins AL Rookie of the Year; Corey Seager wins NL rookie honors despite low Box-Toppers ranking

Tigers' Michael Fulmer wins AL Rookie of the Year and is Box-Toppers' top-ranked rookie. Corey Seager of the Dodgers is unanimous NL Rookie of the Year, but isn't among Box-Toppers' top five NL rookies.

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Box-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.

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How 2016 Silver Slugger winners fared in Box-Toppers points and rankings

Only 6 of 17 Silver Slugger Award winners also led their position in Box-Toppers points in 2016.

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A late June look at Box-Toppers All-Star teams, led by Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw

Eight AL players and five NL players occupy All-Star spots at their position in both the 2016 season and the combined 2015-16 seasons.

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Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw continues leading Box-Toppers All-Stars over 2016 and combined 2015-16 seasons

A look at Box-Toppers points leaders by position over the 2016 season so far and the combined 2015 and 2016 seasons.

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Marlins' Fernandez tops players for Sunday, June 5, ranks 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his spot in second place in season player rankings.

Fernandez struck out 14 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits, in the 1-0 win over the Mets.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of June 5:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 11.7
3 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
4 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
5 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
6 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 8.7
7 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7
8 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 8.4
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 8.0
10 Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 7.8
What are those numbers after players' names?

Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.7 for the season. He becomes the second player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and trails only season leader Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (15.0 Box-Toppers points).

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six, in the 7-0 win over the Royals.

American League Batter of the Day—Evan Longoria of the Rays hit two homers and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 7-5 win over the Twins.

National League Batter of the Day—Corey Seager of the Dodgers hit two home runs and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 12-6 win over the Braves.

Notable—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander rose to 32nd place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.

Verlander was Player of the Game Sunday in the 5-2 win over the White Sox (7IP 5H 2R 8K W). He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 127.6 for his career. With his point Sunday, he passes Roy Oswalt (127.2) on the “all-time” list and now trails 31st-ranked player, A.J. Burnett (127.8).

Debut—Nationals pitcher Sammy Solis made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Solis (3IP H 0R 6K W in the 10-9 win over the Reds) made his Major League debut April 30, 2015, and was playing in his 31st career game. He is the 3,651st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/5 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 17.0 MIA 1/NYM 0 Jose Fernandez (W,9-2) - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 0 14
9.0 COL 10/SD 3 Jon Gray (W,4-2) - - - - 7.0 5 2 2 1 12
AL 8.0 CLE 7/KC 0 Corey Kluber (W,5-6) - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 2 6
7.0 DC 10/CIN 9 Sammy Solis (W,1-1) - - - - 3.0 1 0 0 1 6
BAT 5.0 TB 7/MIN 5 Evan Longoria, 3B 4 3 3 3 - - - - - -
5.0 DET 5/CHW 2 Justin Verlander (W,5-5) - - - - 7.0 5 2 2 1 8
5.0 PHI 8/MIL 1 Aaron Nola (W,5-4) - - - - 6.0 8 0 0 2 9
4.2 LAA 5/PIT 4 Deolis Guerra (W,1-0) - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 0 3
BAT 4.0 LAD 12/ATL 6 Corey Seager, SS 5 2 3 4 - - - - - -
4.0 TOR 5/BOS 4 Marco Estrada (W,4-2) - - - - 8.0 2 2 2 3 5
4.0 TEX 3/SEA 2 Derek Holland (W,5-4) - - - - 7.0 3 2 2 2 6
3.0 ARI 3/CHC 2 Patrick Corbin (W,3-5) - - - - 7.0 5 2 2 0 5
2.0 BAL 3/NYY 1 Matt Wieters, C 1 0 1 2 - - - - - -
2.0 HOU 5/OAK 2 Will Harris (S, 1) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 STL 6/SF 3 Matt Carpenter, 3B 4 1 3 1 - - - - - -

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

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

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 11.7 16.4 42.4 42.4 7.0
Nola, Aaron 3569 pi sp phi nl 6.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 4.7
Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 6.1 19.5 50.3 50.3 -7.3
Estrada, Marco 2847 pi sp tor al 5.0 13.0 37.1 37.1 -3.0
Carpenter, Matt 2987 3b stl nl 4.5 10.0 24.5 24.5 -1.0
Wieters, Matt 2643 ca bal al 4.5 5.5 23.5 29.2 3.5
Verlander, Justin 2112 pi sp det al 3.0 9.4 72.6 127.6 -3.4
Holland, Derek 2634 pi sp tex al 3.0 5.7 37.8 44.8 0.3
Seager, Corey 3587 ss lad nl 3.0 4.5 4.5 4.5 1.5
Corbin, Patrick 3027 pi sp ari nl 2.0 7.4 30.8 30.8 -3.4
Gray, Jon 3634 pi sp col nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Longoria, Evan 2423 3b tb al 1.5 4.5 21.0 42.0 -1.5
Harris, Will 3093 pi cp mr hou al 1.0 4.7 6.7 6.7 -2.7
Guerra, Deolis 3521 pi mr cp ana al 1.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 -1.0
Solis, Sammy 3651 pi mr dc nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

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

Padres pitcher Drew Pomeranz is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of June 3:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 14.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 9.7
3 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
4 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
5 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
6 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 8.7
7 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7
8 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 8.4
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 8.0
10 Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 7.8
What are those numbers after players' names?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Suarez also earned NL Batter of the Day honors Thursday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/3 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 SD 4/COL 0 Drew Pomeranz (W,5-5) - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 2 8
8.2 CHC 6/ARI 0 John Lackey (W,6-2) - - - - 6.2 5 0 0 2 9
AL 7.0 CLE 6/KC 1 Danny Salazar (W,6-3) - - - - 8.0 3 1 1 5 9
BAT 5.0 LAD 4/ATL 2 Corey Seager, SS 4 3 3 3 - - - - - -
BAT 5.0 TEX 7/SEA 3 Adrian Beltre, 3B 3 1 2 5 - - - - - -
5.0 NYM 6/MIA 2 Noah Syndergaard (W,6-2) - - - - 7.0 6 2 2 1 9
4.0 HOU 12/OAK 2 Evan Gattis, C 5 1 4 4 - - - - - -
3.0 DET 10/CHW 3 James McCann, C 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 CIN 7/DC 2 Eugenio Suarez, 3B 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 PHI 6/MIL 3 Cameron Rupp, C 2 2 2 1 - - - - - -
2.2 TOR 5/BOS 2 R.A. Dickey (W,3-6) - - - - 6.2 2 1 0 5 4
2.0 LAA 9/PIT 2 Kole Calhoun, RF 4 2 2 2 - - - - - -
1.1 BAL 6/NYY 5 Mychal Givens (W,5-0) - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 0
1.0 SF 5/STL 1 Kelby Tomlinson, PH 0 1 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 TB 4/MIN 2 Erasmo Ramirez (W,7-4) - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 1

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

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

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 8.0 18.4 18.4 18.4 -2.4
Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 7.8 21.2 30.6 30.6 -5.6
Suarez, Eugenio 3355 3b cin nl 7.0 10.0 12.5 12.5 4.0
Lackey, John 1640 pi sp chi nl 6.7 16.4 36.1 114.5 -3.0
Pomeranz, Drew 3061 pi sp mr sd nl 6.0 9.0 17.0 17.0 3.0
Beltre, Adrian 1141 3b tex al 4.0 16.5 42.4 105.8 -8.5
Dickey, R.A. 1734 pi sp tor al 3.0 8.0 52.2 73.9 -2.0
Calhoun, Kole 3279 rf ana al 3.0 6.2 13.7 13.7 -0.2
Ramirez, Erasmo 1786 pi sp mr tb al 2.7 9.7 11.7 13.7 -4.3
Tomlinson, Kelby 3619 ph sf nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Seager, Corey 3587 ss lad nl 1.5 3.0 3.0 3.0 0.0
Gattis, Evan 3179 ca dh hou al 1.0 5.0 7.0 7.0 -3.0
Givens, Mychal 3599 pi mr bal al 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Rupp, Cameron 3556 ca phi nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
McCann, James 3649 ca det al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Giants' Bumgarner, nearly perfect, tops players for Saturday, Sept. 12, rises to 9th in player rankings

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 12.  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 22.1
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 21.7
3 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 20.4
4 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 19.4
5 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 19.4
6 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 19.1
7 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 18.0
8 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 17.1
9 Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 17.0
10 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 17.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Bumgarner pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out nine, in the 8-0 win over the Padres. Bumgarner was perfect through 7 2/3 innings before allowing the only hit and only baserunner of the game.

Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 17.0 for the season. He ranks fifth among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Mike Moustakas of the Royals hit a grand slam and a three-run homer, going 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in nine runs, in the 14-6 win over the Orioles.

National League Batter of the Day—Corey Seager of the Dodgers homered, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 9-5 win over the Diamondbacks.

This was Seager’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Seager made his Major League debut Sept. 3 and was playing in his ninth career game. He is the 3,587th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Mike Moustakas.

Notable—David Ortiz of the Red Sox now has 137.9 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Ortiz (2HR 3-4 2R 4BI in the 10-4 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and maintains his rank of 24th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Ortiz trails 23rd-place player Andy Pettitte (138.5). 

Ortiz ranks seventh among all batters since 1995. He ranks third among active batters, behind Alex Rodriguez (187.0) and Albert Pujols (174.3). He has 4.5 Box-Toppers points this season. On Saturday, Ortiz became the 27th player to hit 500 career home runs.

Debuts—In addition to Seager, two other players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Athletics pitcher Sean Nolin (5.2IP 5H R 5K W in the 5-2 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut May 23, 2013, and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,588th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Carlos Sanchez of the White Sox (2B 2-4 R 2BI in the 8-2 win over the Twins) made his Major League debut July 13, 2014, and was playing in his 132nd career game. He is the 3,589th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/12 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 17.0 Giants Madison Bumgarner (W,18-7) - - - - - - 9.0 1 0 0 0 9
AL 10.0 Royals Mike Moustakas, 3B 5 3 3 9 0 1 - - - - - -
9.0 Reds Anthony DeSclafani (W,9-10) - - - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 1 10
9.0 Marlins Jose Fernandez (W,5-0) - - - - - - 5.0 2 0 0 1 7
7.1 Mariners Roenis Elias (W,5-8) - - - - - - 5.1 1 2 0 3 8
7.0 `Phillies Jerad Eickhoff - - - - - - 7.0 3 1 1 3 8
6.1 Pirates Jeff Locke (W,8-10) - - - - - - 6.1 3 1 1 2 7
BAT 6.0 Dodgers Corey Seager, SS 4 3 4 3 1 0 - - - - - -
5.0 Red Sox David Ortiz, DH 4 2 3 4 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Blue Jays Jose Bautista, RF 4 3 2 3 2 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Reds Aroldis Chapman (S,30) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.0 Angels Huston Street (S,35) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Blue Jays Ben Revere, LF 6 2 4 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Mets Jeurys Familia (S,40) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.2 Athletics Sean Nolin (W,1-1) - - - - - - 5.2 5 1 1 2 5
1.0 White Sox Carlos Sanchez, 2B 4 1 2 2 0 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.