Box-Toppers top pitchers by time frame (after 2017)

Randy Johnson has the most Box-Toppers points of any pitcher since tracking began in 1995.

Meanwhile, Chris Sale of the Red Sox led all pitchers in Box-Toppers points in 2017, Max Scherzer of the Nationals led all pitchers in points over the past two seasons and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers led all pitchers in points over the past six seasons. Kershaw also leads all active pitchers in career Box-Toppers points.

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Box-Toppers top shortstops by time frame (after 2017)

Miguel Tejada has the most Box-Toppers points of any shortstop since tracking began in 1995. Derek Jeter ranks a distant second.

Other leaders at shorstop include Troy Tulowitzki, Elvis Andrus, Corey Seager and Stephen Drew.

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How 2018 Hall of Fame candidates fared in Box-Toppers

Four players—Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome and Trevor Hoffman—were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Wednesday. Key players overlooked: Curt Schilling, Jeff Kent, Johan Santana and the PED-clouded five of Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Gary Sheffield and Sammy Sosa.

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A look at Box-Toppers' ‘all-time' top 10 lists—top overall players, top pitchers, top batters—since tracking began in 1995

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rose to third place in Box-Toppers’ overall “all-time” list in 2017, becoming the active leader in career points. Also in 2017, Albert Pujols became the “all-time” leader in career Box-Toppers points among batters and Zack Greinke rose into the overall top 10 in career Box-Toppers points since 1995.

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Dodgers' Rich Hill tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 27; Yankees' Severino rises to 5th in Box-Toppers rankings

Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Wednesday, Yankees pitcher Luis Severino rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

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Rangers' Cole Hamels tops players for Thursday, Sept. 21, rises to 18th on Box-Toppers ‘all-time' list

Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to 18th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995.

Hamels struck out eight over eight innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 4-2 win over the Mariners.

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Brewers' Anderson top players for Tuesday, Sept. 19; Nationals' Scherzer rises to Box-Toppers lead, passing Kershaw

Brewers pitcher Chase Anderson is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day

Also Tuesday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer retakes the Box-Toppers season player rankings lead, passing previous leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, after earning Player of the Game honors.

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Nationals' Max Scherzer passes Kershaw in 2017 Box-Toppers points; Giants' Samardzija tops players for Monday, Aug. 28

Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Monday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (23.0 Box-Toppers points) rises to first place in season player rankings, passing previous leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, after earning Player of the Game honors. Kershaw (22.1 Box-Toppers points) had led since May 17, even though he had been on the disabled list since July 24.

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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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Box-Toppers top closing pitchers by time frame

Trevor Hoffman leads closing pitchers in career Box-Toppers points, ahead of Mariano Rivera, the all-time saves leader.

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Box-Toppers top pitchers by time frame

Randy Johnson leads pitchers in career Box-Toppers points. CC Sabathia and Clayton Kershaw lead active pitchers in points.

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Box-Toppers top shortstops by time frame

Miguel Tejada leads shortstops in career Box-Toppers points, though 2nd-place Derek Jeter seen as superior shortstop.

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How 2017 Hall of Fame candidates fared in Box-Toppers

Bagwell, Raines, Rodriguez elected to Hall of Fame; Schilling, Hoffman, Kent, Guerrero among the Box-Toppers leaders who were overlooked.

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Royals' Kendrys Morales tops players for Saturday, June 18; Dbacks' Greinke rises to 7th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Kendrys Morales of the Royals is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of June 18:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 18.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 11.7
3 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 10.7
4 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 10.0
5 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 10.0
6 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 10.0
7 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 9.7
8 Lackey, John 1640 pi sp chi nl 9.4
9 Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 9.0
10 Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 8.8
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning NL Player of the Day honors.

Player of the Day—Morales hit two doubles, going 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in five runs, in the 16-5 win over the Tigers.

Morales had a Box-Toppers game score of +8.0, tied with Greinke, who was Player of the Game in the Diamondbacks’ 4-1 win over the Phillies. But when batters and pitchers have the same Box-Toppers game score, batters win the tiebreaker, giving Morales overall Player of the Day honors.

National League Player of the Day—Greinke allowed one run and three hits over eight innings, striking out six and walking one, in the 4-1 win over the Phillies.

Greinke earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season, rising to seventh among all player and among NL pitchers.

Greinke also now has 156.1 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 15th place in career points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Saturday, Greinke passes Mike Mussina (155.6) and now trails 14th-ranked player Tim Hudson (157.0).

All-time leaders

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


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Randy Johnson pi sp retired 278.8
2 Pedro Martinez pi sp retired 244.8
3 Curt Schilling pi sp retired 194.1
4 Alex Rodriguez dh nyy al 187.0
5 CC Sabathia pi sp nyy al 182.0
6 Clayton Kershaw pi sp lad nl 177.3
7 Albert Pujols 1b dh ana al 176.3
8 Roy Halladay pi sp retired 170.7
9 Manny Ramirez lf dh retired 167.2
10 Johan Santana pi sp free agent 166.6
11 Roger Clemens pi sp retired 164.8
12 Felix Hernandez pi sp sea al 164.7
13 John Smoltz pi sp retired 160.9
14 Tim Hudson pi sp retired 157.0
15 Zack Greinke pi sp ari nl 156.1
16 Mike Mussina pi sp retired 155.6
17 Barry Bonds lf retired 153.2
18 Greg Maddux pi sp retired 151.7
19 Chipper Jones 3b retired 149.0
20 Javier Vazquez pi sp retired 148.3
List of top 100 players since 1995 (through the 2015 season)

National League Batter of the Day—J.T. Realmuto of the Marlins hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 4-for-5, in the 9-6 win over the Rockies.

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

Notable—Carlos Beltran of the Yankees rises to 64th place in Box-Toppers among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Beltran (HR 3-5 2R 2BI in the 7-6 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 101.9 for his career. With his point Saturday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list—Jason Schmidt (101.2), Tim Wakefield (101.4), Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (101.4) and Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (101.7). Beltran now trails 63rd-ranked player Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2).

Beltran has 3.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.

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

  • Tyler Naquin of the Indians (HR 3B 3-3 R 4BI in the 13-2 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut April 5 and was playing in his 41st career game. He is the 3,662nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Braves pitcher Dario Alvarez (0.2IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 4-3 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut Sept. 3, 2014, and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,663rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Morales earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Greinke earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Realmuto earns 1.5 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

6/18 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 KC 16/DET 5 Kendrys Morales, DH 5 4 4 5 - - - - - -
NL 8.0 ARI 4/PHI 1 Zack Greinke (W,10-3) - - - - 8.0 3 1 1 1 6
5.0 CLE 13/CHW 2 Tyler Naquin, CF 3 1 3 4 - - - - - -
4.0 SD 7/DC 3 Wil Myers, 1B 4 2 3 3 - - - - - -
4.0 `HOU 5/CIN 4 Dallas Keuchel - - - - 7.0 5 2 2 0 6
3.2 `TEX 4/STL 3 Cesar Ramos - - - - 2.2 1 0 0 0 2
BAT 3.0 MIA 9/COL 6 J.T. Realmuto, C 5 1 4 3 - - - - - -
3.0 BAL 4/TOR 2 Jonathan Schoop, 2B 4 3 3 1 - - - - - -
3.0 LAD 10/MIL 6 Justin Turner, 3B 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 CHC 4/PIT 3 David Ross, C 1 1 1 2 - - - - - -
2.0 NYY 7/MIN 6 Carlos Beltran, RF 5 2 3 2 - - - - - -
2.0 SF 6/TB 4 Joe Panik, 2B 4 1 1 4 - - - - - -
1.2 ATL 4/NYM 3 Dario Alvarez (W,1-0) - - - - 0.2 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 LAA 7/OAK 1 Mike Trout, CF 5 1 2 3 - - - - - -
1.0 BOS 6/SEA 2 Christian Vazquez, C 3 1 2 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 9.7 30.4 95.5 156.1 -11.0
Trout, Mike 2949 cf ana al 5.5 17.5 42.0 42.0 -6.5
Panik, Joe 3401 2b sf nl 4.0 8.0 9.0 9.0 0.0
Myers, Wil 3228 1b sd nl 4.0 7.0 12.5 12.5 1.0
Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 3.0 24.4 38.8 38.8 -18.4
Beltran, Carlos 1194 rf dh nyy al 3.0 6.5 23.9 101.9 -0.5
Realmuto, J.T. 3491 ca fla nl 2.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 -2.5
Schoop, Jonathan 3307 2b bal al 2.5 5.0 7.5 7.5 0.0
Ross, David 1729 ca chi nl 2.5 2.5 11.0 27.1 2.5
Morales, Kendrys 2142 dh kc al 2.0 6.7 16.7 32.7 -2.7
Ramos, Cesar 3168 pi sp mr tex al 2.0 2.0 4.0 4.0 2.0
Turner, Justin 2865 3b 2b lad nl 1.0 5.0 10.5 10.5 -3.0
Vazquez, Christian 3380 ca bos al 1.0 1.0 4.0 4.0 1.0
Alvarez, Dario 3663 pi mr atl nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Naquin, Tyler 3662 cf cle al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Phillies' Eickhoff tops players for Tuesday, June 7; Dbacks' Greinke rises to 9th in Box-Toppers '16 rankings

Phillies pitcher Jerad Eickhoff is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of June 7:  


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 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 8.0
10 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 8.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

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

Player of the Day—Eickhoff struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 3-2 win over the Cubs.

American League Player of the Day—Mark Trumbo of the Orioles homered, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 9-1 win over the Royals.

National League Batter of the Day—Chris Carter of the Brewers hit two homers and went 2-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 5-4 win over the Athletics.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Mark Trumbo.

Rankings—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Grienke rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Greinke (CG 3H 0R 2K in the 5-0 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.

Greinke also now has 154.4 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 16th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. (See list of Box-Toppers’ updated top 20 players since 1995.) Greinke trails 15th-ranked player, Mike Mussina (155.6).

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

  • Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias (4IP 3H R 7K ND in the 5-3 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut May 27 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,652nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. 
  • Twins pitcher Fernando Abad (1IP H 0R 3K ND in the 6-4 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut July 28, 2010, and was playing in his 284th career game. He is the 3,653rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Reds pitcher John Lamb (7.1IP 4H 3R 5K ND in the 7-6 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut Aug. 14, 2015, and was playing in his 17th career game. He is the 3,654th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/7 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 PHI 3/CHC 2 Jerad Eickhoff (W,3-8) - - - - 7.0 2 1 1 2 8
6.0 ARI 5/TB 0 Zack Greinke (W,8-3) - - - - 9.0 3 0 0 2 2
BAT 5.0 MIL 5/OAK 4 Chris Carter, 1B 4 2 2 5 - - - - - -
5.0 PIT 3/NYM 1 Juan Nicasio (W,5-4) - - - - 5.0 3 1 1 2 7
5.0 `LAD 5/COL 3 Julio Urias - - - - 4.0 3 1 1 1 7
AL 4.0 BAL 9/KC 1 Mark Trumbo, RF 4 2 2 4 - - - - - -
4.0 SEA 7/CLE 1 Nelson Cruz, RF 3 2 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 DC 10/CHW 5 Anthony Rendon, 3B 5 2 3 3 - - - - - -
3.0 PIT 3/NYM 1 Jonathon Niese (W,6-2) - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 2 2
3.0 `MIN 6/MIA 4 Fernando Abad - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 3
2.1 `CIN 7/STL 6 John Lamb - - - - 7.1 4 3 1 2 5
2.0 TEX 4/HOU 3 Jake Diekman (W,1-1) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 2
2.0 DET 3/TOR 2 Justin Wilson (W,2-1) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
2.0 BOS 5/SF 3 Junichi Tazawa (W,1-1) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 NYY 6/LAA 3 Starlin Castro, 2B 4 2 2 1 - - - - - -
1.0 SD 4/ATL 3 Matt Thornton (W,1-0) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 0
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 8.0 28.7 93.8 154.4 -12.7
Eickhoff, Jerad 3566 pi sp phi nl 5.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 0.0
Carter, Chris 2828 1b mil nl 5.0 6.0 23.9 24.9 4.0
Nicasio, Juan 2888 pi sp pit nl 5.0 6.0 21.4 21.4 4.0
Trumbo, Mark 2851 rf dh bal al 4.2 6.7 29.9 29.9 1.7
Castro, Starlin 2767 ss 2b nyy al 3.0 7.5 20.5 21.5 -1.5
Cruz, Nelson 2224 dh rf sea al 3.0 5.0 30.7 50.2 1.0
Niese, Jonathon 2531 pi sp pit nl 2.0 8.0 23.7 30.7 -4.0
Rendon, Anthony 3258 3b dc nl 1.0 2.0 7.5 7.5 0.0
Tazawa, Junichi 3151 pi mr bos al 1.0 2.0 7.0 7.0 0.0
Wilson, Justin 3140 pi cp det al 1.0 2.0 6.0 6.0 0.0
Diekman, Jake 3266 pi mr tex al 1.0 1.0 4.0 4.0 1.0
Thornton, Matt 1928 pi cp mr sd nl 1.0 1.0 4.7 26.4 1.0
Abad, Fernando 3653 pi mr min al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Lamb, John 3654 pi sp cin nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Urias, Julio 3652 pi sp lad nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Diamondbacks' Greinke tops players for Thursday, June 2, rises to 10th in season player rankings, 16th in all-time rankings

Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to 10th place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of June 2:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 14.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 9.7
3 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
4 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
5 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
6 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 8.7
7 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7
8 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 8.4
9 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc al 7.0
10 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 7.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Greinke also rises two spots to 16th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.

Greinke pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 11 and allowing four hits, in the 3-0 win over the Astros.

Greinke earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points, giving him 7.0 for the season, rising to 10th in season player rankings, seventh among National League pitchers. 

Greinke also now has 153.4 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 16th in “all-time” rankings, passing two players—Greg Maddux (151.7) and Barry Bonds (153.2). (It should be noted that both Bonds and Maddux began their careers before 1995 when tracking began and so both would likely have many more Box-Toppers points if their entire careers were tracked.) Greinke now trails 15th-ranked player Mike Mussina (155.6).

All-time leaders

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


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Randy Johnson pi sp retired 278.8
2 Pedro Martinez pi sp retired 244.8
3 Curt Schilling pi sp retired 194.1
4 Alex Rodriguez dh nyy al 187.0
5 CC Sabathia pi sp nyy al 181.0
6 Albert Pujols 1b dh ana al 176.3
7 Clayton Kershaw pi sp lad nl 173.3
8 Roy Halladay pi sp retired 170.7
9 Manny Ramirez lf dh retired 167.2
10 Johan Santana pi sp free agent 166.6
11 Roger Clemens pi sp retired 164.8
12 Felix Hernandez pi sp sea al 164.7
13 John Smoltz pi sp retired 160.9
14 Tim Hudson pi sp retired 157.0
15 Mike Mussina pi sp retired 155.6
16 Zack Greinke pi sp ari nl 153.4
17 Barry Bonds lf retired 153.2
18 Greg Maddux pi sp retired 151.7
19 Chipper Jones 3b retired 149.0
20 Javier Vazquez pi sp retired 148.3
List of top 100 players since 1995 (through the 2015 season)

American League Player of the Day—Dae-Ho Lee of the Mariners homered and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 16-13 win over the Padres.

National League Batter of the Day—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds hit two homers, including a three-run shot, in the 11-4 win over the Rockies. Suarez also doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four total runs.

Suarez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season and now ranks second among NL batters in season Box-Toppers points.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the AL Player of the Day was batter Dae-Ho Lee.

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

  • Marlins pitcher Nick Wittgren (3IP 0H 0R 3K W in the 4-3 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut April 19 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,647th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Twins pitcher Taylor Rogers (2IP 0H 0R 2K W in the 6-4 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut April 14 and was playing in his ninth career game. He is the 3,648th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/2 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 ARI 3/HOU 0 Zack Greinke (W,7-3) - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 0 11
12.2 SF 6/ATL 0 Madison Bumgarner (W,7-2) - - - - 7.2 4 0 0 2 11
6.2 MIL 4/PHI 1 Chase Anderson (W,3-6) - - - - 5.2 3 1 1 0 6
AL 6.0 SEA 16/SD 13 Dae-Ho Lee, PH-1B 3 2 3 4 - - - - - -
6.0 CHC 7/LAD 2 Kyle Hendricks (W,4-4) - - - - 8.0 3 2 2 1 6
6.0 MIA 4/PIT 3 Nick Wittgren (W,1-0) - - - - 3.0 0 0 0 0 3
BAT 5.0 CIN 11/COL 4 Eugenio Suarez, 3B 5 3 3 4 - - - - - -
4.2 `NYY 5/DET 4 Michael Pineda - - - - 5.2 7 1 1 0 8
4.0 MIN 6/TB 4 Taylor Rogers (W,1-0) - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 BAL 12/BOS 7 Mark Trumbo, RF 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
1.2 CLE 5/KC 4 Tommy Hunter (W,2-1) - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 0 0
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 7.0 27.7 92.8 153.4 -13.7
Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 7.0 24.0 94.0 99.7 -10.0
Suarez, Eugenio 3355 3b cin nl 6.0 9.0 11.5 11.5 3.0
Lee, Dae-Ho 3627 1b ph sea al 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2
Hendricks, Kyle 3386 pi sp chi nl 4.0 13.7 18.7 18.7 -5.7
Anderson, Chase 3328 pi sp mil nl 4.0 8.0 13.0 13.0 0.0
Trumbo, Mark 2851 dh rf bal al 2.5 5.0 28.2 28.2 0.0
Pineda, Michael 2841 pi sp nyy al 1.0 11.7 29.1 29.1 -9.7
Hunter, Tommy 2623 pi cp cle al 1.0 2.0 9.0 16.0 0.0
Rogers, Taylor 3648 pi mr min al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Wittgren, Nick 3647 pi cp fla nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Box-Toppers' Franchise Four

Who are each franchise's top 4 players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995?

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A look at Box-Toppers 'all-time' top 10 pitchers, top 10 batters since record keeping began in 1995

During 2015, two joined the "all-time" pitching top 10 list—Felix Hernandez of the Mariners and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers. Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera also moved up top 10 lists during 2015.

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