Padres pitcher Tyson Ross is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer reclaims top spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreIndians' Corey Kluber tops players for Monday, April 9; Nationals' Scherzer rises to top player rankings
Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rises to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreNationals' Max Scherzer tops players for Friday, March 30; Tanaka tops AL players
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Scherzer struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk, in the 2-0 win over the Reds.
Read MoreBox-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.
Read MoreCarlos Beltran ties Jason Giambi in 2017 for most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points (19)
In 2017, Carlos Beltran tied Jason Giambi for the longest streak of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points at 19. With Beltran's retirement, CC Sabathia and Albert Pujols now have the longest active streaks of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points at 17.
Read MoreCubs' Jose Quintana tops players for Sunday, Sept. 24; Scherzer, Kershaw fail in chances to take Box-Toppers points lead
Cubs pitcher Jose Quintana is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer and Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw both had the chance to take the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings in their starts Sunday—but neither did. Scherzer moved closer to leader Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale, earning Player of the Game honors and Kershaw earned the win in his start, but did not earn Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreBrewers' 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.
Read MorePadres' Chacin tops players for Saturday, April 8; Greinke rises to 14th in Box-Toppers ‘all-time' rankings
Padres pitcher Jhoulys Chacin is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 4 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 186.0 |
| 6 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 185.7 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 182.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 168.7 |
| 10 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 11 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 12 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 13 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 14 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 157.1 |
| 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 | 149.5 |
| 20 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the close of the 2016 season.
Also Saturday, Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke rose to 14th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Chacin pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out five, in the 2-1 win over the Giants.
American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Kendall Graveman allowed one run and two hits over seven innings, striking out five, in the 6-1 win over the Rangers.
National League Batter of the Day—Howie Kendrick of the Phillies tripled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 17-3 win over the Nationals.
Kendrick has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Angels and has 35.5 career points, fifth among active AL second basemen. His best season was 2009 with the Angels when he had 5.5 Box-Toppers points, eighth among AL second basemen.
American League Batter of the Day—Avisail Garcia of the White Sox homered, tripled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 6-2 win over the Twins.
Greinke—Zack Greinke rose to 14th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday (6.2IP 5H R 0BB 6K W in the 11-2 win over the Indians).
Greinke earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season, and now has 157.1 career points, passing Tim Hudson (157.0) on the “all-time” list. Greinke now trails 13th-ranked player John Smoltz (160.9).
Greinke also has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2004 with the Royals, but earned none in 2006, so his 11-season streak begins in 2007 with the Royals. His best season was 2009 with the Royals when he had 21.5 Box-Toppers points to lead all players.
Notable—Three players Saturday became the first to earn Player of the Game honors twice in the 2017 season, which began last week:
- Angels pitcher Cam Bedrosian (1.2IP H 0R 0BB 4K Sv in the 5-4 win over the Mariners). He was also Player of the Game Tuesday.
- Orioles pitcher Mychal Givens (1.0IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 5-4 win over the Yankees). He was also Player of the Game Monday.
- Rockies pitcher Greg Holland (1.0IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv in the 4-2 win over the Dodgers). He was also Player of the Game Tuesday.
All three players now have 2.0 Box-Toppers points on the season. Based on tiebreakers, Bedrosian ranks seventh among all players for the season, Givens ranks ninth and Holland ranks 10th.
Debut—Albert Almora Jr. of the Cubs made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Almora (3-4 R 2BI in the 11-6 win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut June 7, 2016, and was playing in his 49th career game. He is the 3,764th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Chacin earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Graveman earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Kendrick and Garcia each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score| 4/8 | Score | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 7.2 | SD 2, SF 1 | Jhoulys Chacin (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| AL | 7.0 | OAK 6, TEX 1 | Kendall Graveman (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| 6.0 | STL 10, CIN 4 | Michael Wacha (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 5.2 | ARI 11, CLE 2 | Zack Greinke (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | MIA 8, NYM 1 | Adam Conley (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 4.2 | LAA 5, SEA 4 | Cam Bedrosian (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | PHI 17, WSH 3 | Howie Kendrick, LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | CHW 6, MIN 2 | Avisail Garcia, RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.2 | TB 3, TOR 2 (F/11) | Erasmo Ramirez (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | PIT 6, ATL 4 | Gregory Polanco, LF | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | DET 4, BOS 1 | Jose Iglesias, SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | BAL 5, NYY 4 | Mychal Givens (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | COL 4, LAD 2 | Greg Holland (S,4) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | CHC 11, MIL 6 | Albert Almora Jr., CF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | KC 7, HOU 3 | Cheslor Cuthbert, 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi mr sp | sd nl | 2.0 | 7.7 | 14.4 | 29.8 | -3.7 |
| Bedrosian, Cam 3694 | pi cp | ana al | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -1.0 |
| Givens, Mychal 3599 | pi mr | bal al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
| Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 32.0 | 35.0 | 2.0 |
| Graveman, Kendall 3444 | pi sp | oak al | 1.7 | 7.7 | 12.4 | 12.4 | -4.3 |
| Kendrick, Howie 2191 | 2b lf 1b | phi nl | 1.5 | 5.5 | 19.5 | 35.5 | -2.5 |
| Garcia, Avisail 3256 | rf | chi al | 1.5 | 4.0 | 12.5 | 12.5 | -1.0 |
| Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 1.0 | 10.7 | 80.0 | 157.1 | -8.7 |
| Conley, Adam 3594 | pi sp | fla nl | 1.0 | 7.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 | -5.7 |
| Polanco, Gregory 3361 | lf | pit nl | 1.0 | 6.5 | 13.5 | 13.5 | -4.5 |
| Ramirez, Erasmo 1786 | pi cp | tb al | 1.0 | 4.7 | 13.7 | 15.7 | -2.7 |
| Wacha, Michael 3276 | pi sp | stl nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 20.7 | 20.7 | -1.0 |
| Cuthbert, Cheslor 3683 | 3b | kc al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Iglesias, Jose 3532 | ss | det al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 |
| Almora, Albert Jr. 3764 | cf | chi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Padres' Richard tops players for Tuesday, April 4; Yankees' Sabathia resumes lead among active players in career Box-Toppers points
Padres pitcher Clayton Richard is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia resumed the lead among active players in career Box-Toppers points only one day after losing that lead to Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 4 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 186.0 |
| 6 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 185.7 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 182.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 168.7 |
| 10 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 11 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 12 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 13 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 14 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 15 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 156.1 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 17 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 18 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 19 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
| 20 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | atl nl | 148.5 |
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the close of the 2016 season.
Sabathia earned Player of the Game honors in the win over the Rays, earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point and giving him 186.0 for his career. On Monday, Kershaw passed him by earning overall Player of the Day honors, giving him 185.7 career points. With Tuesday’s point, Sabathia resumes his spot in fifth place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.
In addition, Sabathia has now earned Box-Toppers points for 17 straight seasons, tied for the seventh-longest streak in Box-Toppers tracking history and currently the second-longeststreak among active players (behind only Carlos Beltran’s 18-season streak).
Player of the Day—Richard pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, in the 4-0 win over the Dodgers.
Richard now ranks third among all players in season Box-Toppers points with 2.0.
American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander struck out 10 over 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and six hits, in the 6-3 win over the White Sox.
Verlander has now earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons and has 141.0 career Box-Toppers points, 28th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 27th-ranked player Jake Peavy (141.8). Verlander ranks 10th among active players in career Box-Toppers points.
Verlander, who has played his entire career with the Tigers, earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006. His best seasons were 2011 (24.4 points) and 2012 (24.8), when he led all AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Gorkys Hernandez of the Giants doubled and went 2-for-5, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 8-4 win over the Diamondbacks.
This was Hernandez’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut May 21, 2012, and was playing in his 105th career game. He is the 3,758th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because no AL batter earned Player of the Game honors.
Notable—Sabathia, one day after losing the lead, regained the lead among active players in career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Sabathia (5IP 3H 0R 2BB 2K W in the 5-0 win over the Rays) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 186.0 for his career. That puts him ahead of Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (185.7), who only passed Sabathia on Monday. Sabathia again ranks fifth among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when tracking began. He now trails fourth-ranked player Alex Rodriguez (187.0) by only 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Sabathia also has now earned Box-Toppers points for 17 straight seasons, tied for the seventh-longest streak in Box-Toppers history with six others who had 17-year streaks—Mariano Rivera (1995-2011), Derek Jeter (1996-2012), Paul Konerko (1998-2014), Tim Hudson (1999-2015), Torii Hunter (1999-2015) and David Ortiz (2000-2016). Sabathia’s streak is the second-longest streak among active players, behind only Carlos Beltran, who has earned Box-Toppers points for 18 straight seasons from 1999-2016 and could extend it to 19 seasons if he earns Box-Toppers points in 2017.
Sabathia earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2001 with the Indians. His best season was 2008 with the Indians and Brewers when he had 26.7 Box-Toppers points, ending the season ranked first among NL pitchers. In 2014, he barely kept the streak alive earning only 1.0 Box-Toppers point as a Yankee.
Scoring—Richard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Verlander earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Hernandez 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.
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
| 4/4 | Score | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 6.0 | SD 4, LAD 0 | Clayton Richard (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| 5.0 | CHC 2, STL 1 | Jake Arrieta (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| AL | 4.1 | DET 6, CHW 3 | Justin Verlander (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | |
| 4.0 | HOU 2, SEA 1 | Lance McCullers Jr. (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 3.2 | CLE 4, TEX 3 | Carlos Carrasco (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | COL 6, MIL 5 | Greg Holland (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | SF 8, ARI 4 | Gorkys Hernandez, CF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | NYY 5, TB 0 | CC Sabathia (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | LAA 7, OAK 6 | Cam Bedrosian (S,1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 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 (’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 | +/- |
| Richard, Clayton 2584 | pi sp | sd nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 12.2 | 31.6 | 0.0 |
| Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | det al | 1.7 | 16.4 | 61.6 | 141.0 | -13.0 |
| Hernandez, Goryks 3758 | cf | sf nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 1.0 | 16.7 | 71.5 | 76.5 | -14.7 |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 1.0 | 13.4 | 42.1 | 47.5 | -11.4 |
| McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 1.0 | 7.1 | 13.8 | 13.8 | -5.1 |
| Sabathia, C.C. 1492 | pi sp | nyy al | 1.0 | 7.0 | 33.5 | 186.0 | -5.0 |
| Bedrosian, Cam 3694 | pi cp | ana al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | -2.0 |
| Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 31.0 | 34.0 | 1.0 |
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.
Read MoreBox-Toppers All-time All-Star teams, 1995-2016
Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team (since 1995) consists of two active players (Sabathia and Pujols) and 12 retired players.
Read MoreRoyals' 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 |
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 |
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 |
Box-Toppers all-time All-Star teams, 1995-2015
A look at Box-Toppers top players by position "all-time" (since 1995) and a look at the top active players by position with the most career Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreJason Giambi has most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points (19); Carlos Beltran is active leader (17)
Who are the players with the most consecutive seasons earning at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point? A list of consistent, durable players, dominated by batters over pitchers.
Read MoreA 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.
Read MoreZack Greinke, consistent high-ranking pitcher in Box-Toppers points, to sign with Diamondbacks
Greinke agrees to a 6-year, $206 million deal to join the Diamondbacks after three seasons with the Dodgers.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers top 100 players of 'all-time'
Randy Johnson's perch atop 'all-time' 100 is safe. A-Rod is top active player. Pujols rises in top 10. Hernandez, Kershaw both make top 20 rises. Price, Scherzer, Bumgarner all make big jumps up the list.
Read MoreDodgers' Kershaw tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 29, maintains 2nd place in player rankings
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and maintains his spot at second place in season player rankings.
Kershaw pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out 13, in the 8-0 win over the Giants.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 29.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 27.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 21.4 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 21.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 19.0 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 19.0 |
| 10 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 18.0 |
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 24.7 for the season. He still trails overall and National League pitching leader Jake Arrieta (27.1) by 2.4 Box-Toppers points. And with five days left in the season, Kershaw has no realistic shot of catching him, ending his streak of four straight years leading NL pitchers and two straight years of leading all players in Box-Toppers points.
Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +20. It is the eighth time this season that a player has had a Box-Toppers game score of +20 or more.
Kershaw also rose to 13th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Tuesday, Kershaw has 158.3 career Box-Toppers points and passes Tim Hudson (157.0), who had earlier passed Kershaw. John Smoltz (160.9) is ranked just ahead of Kershaw on the “all-time” list at 12th place. Kershaw is the third-ranked active pitcher in career Box-Toppers points, behind CC Sabathia of the Yankees (187.0) and Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (162.7).
American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Nick Tropeano struck out 11 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 8-1 win over the Athletics.
American League Batter of the Day—Blake Swihart of the Red Sox hit two homers and drove in five runs in the 10-4 win over the Yankees.
National League Batter of the Day—A.J. Pierzynski of the Braves hit two homers and went 3-for-3 in the 2-1 win over the Nationals.
With Tuesday’s Player of the Game honor, his first of the season, Pierzynski has now earned Box-Toppers points for 13 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2001 with the Twins, but his current 13-season streak began in 2003 with the Twins. His best year was 2012 with the White Sox, when he had 6.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among AL catchers. In 2014, he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point with the Red Sox (and later played with the Cardinals that season).
Pierzynski has 47.2 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks 331st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. However, he ranks sixth among all catchers in that time and ranks second among active catchers in career Box-Toppers points, behind Brian McCann of the Yankees (55.2).
Notable—Others who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday had notable achievements:
- Adrian Beltre of the Rangers rose to third place among AL batters in season Box-Toppers points. Beltre (3-5 R 2BI in the 7-6 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.5 for the season. He trails Mike Trout of the Angels (12.0) and Prince Fielder of the Rangers (11.5). Beltre becomes the 43rd player—and eighth batter—this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points.
- Phillies pitcher Adam Loewen earned his first Box-Toppers points in four years and his first points as a pitcher in nine years Tuesday. Loewen (0.1IP 0H 0R K W in the 4-3 win over the Mets) last earned Box-Toppers points as a right fielder with the Blue Jays on Sept. 28, 2011. He last earned Box-Toppers points as a pitcher with the Orioles on Aug. 22, 2006.
- Cubs pitcher Dan Haren maintains his rank of 49th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). Haren (7.1IP 3H 0R 6K W in the 4-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 112.2 for his career. He trails 48th-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8). Haren has 4.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.
Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Silvino Bracho made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Bracho (1.2IP 0H 0R 2K ND in the 4-3 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut Aug. 30 and was playing in his 11th career game. He is the 3,605th 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 Tropeano earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Swihart and Pierzynski each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/29 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 20.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W,16-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | |
| AL | 11.2 | Angels | Nick Tropeano (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |
| 10.1 | Cubs | Dan Haren (W,10-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Red Sox | Blake Swihart, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | Braves | A.J. Pierzynski, C | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.2 | `Dbacks | Silvino Bracho (MR) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Brewers | Jean Segura, SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Mariners | Robinson Cano, 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rays | Asdrubal Cabrera, SS | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | White Sox | Carlos Sanchez, 2B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.1 | Phillies | Adam Loewen (MR) (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Rangers | Adrian Beltre, 3B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Twins' Duffey tops players for Sunday, Sept. 20; Pirates' Cole rises to 8th in player rankings
Twins pitcher Tyler Duffey is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Player of the Day—Duffey pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing three hits, in the 8-1 win over the Angels.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 20.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 23.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 20.4 |
| 4 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 20.1 |
| 5 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 6 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 18.0 |
| 9 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 10 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 17.0 |
National League Player of the Day—Braves pitcher Julio Teheran struck out eight over 8 1/3 innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 2-1 win over the Phillies. Teheran was perfect through six innings. He earned no decision, not picking up the win, because he exited the game with the score tied 1-1.
National League Batter of the Day—Yunel Escobar of the Nationals doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 13-3 win over the Marlins.
American League Batter of the Day—Logan Forsythe of the Rays hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-3, scoring twice, in the 7-6 win over the Orioles.
Rankings—Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Cole (7IP 6H 3R 9K W in the 4-3 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 18.0 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL pitchers.
Notable—Two of Sunday's Players of the Game achieved notable milestones:
- Giants pitcher Tim Hudson rose to 13th place among players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Hudson (6IP 4H 0R 3K in the 5-1 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 157.0 for his career. With his point Sunday, he passes Clayton Kershaw (156.3) on the “all-time” list—Kershaw had caught and briefly passed Hudson on the “all-time” list only on Sept. 14. Hudson trails 12th-ranked player John Smoltz (160.9) and regains his spot as fifth among active players, third among active pitchers, behind CC Sabathia (179.0) and Felix Hernandez (162.7). Hudson has 4.0 Box-Toppers points so far in what is expected to be his final season.
- Justin Upton of the Padres rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers points among NL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Upton (2B 3-5 R 3BI in the 10-4 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.0 for the season. He ranks 49th among all players.
- Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, ranked sixth in Box-Toppers player rankings (19.4 points) failed to earn Player of the Game honors in his start Sunday against the Rangers, despite earning the win. Hernandez (5.2IP 4H 2R 5K W in the 9-2 win) had a Box-Toppers game score of -2.8. Player of the Game was Robinson Cano (2-4 R 4BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of 3.0.
Scoring—Duffey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Teheran earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Escobar and Forsythe each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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
| 9/20 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | Twins | Tyler Duffey (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| NL | 8.1 | `Braves | Julio Teheran | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| 8.0 | Astros | Collin McHugh (W,17-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 8.0 | Royals | Danny Duffy (S,1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | Nationals | Yunel Escobar, 3B | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.2 | Indians | Josh Tomlin (W,6-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Rays | Logan Forsythe, 2B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Red Sox | Rich Hill (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 4.0 | Pirates | Gerrit Cole (W,17-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 3.0 | Brewers | Adam Lind, 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Mariners | Robinson Cano, 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Yankees | Greg Bird, 1B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.1 | Cardinals | Trevor Rosenthal (S,46) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Padres | Justin Upton, LF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Giants | Tim Hudson (W,8-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Mariners' Walker tops players for Monday, Sept. 14; Dodgers' Kershaw regains Box-Toppers points lead for 3rd time in September
Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to eighth place among American League pitchers in Box-Toppers points.
Also Monday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw regained the Box-Toppers season points lead, marking the fifth lead change this month between him and Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta, a race for the lead coming down to the wire in the season’s final weeks.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 14.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 2 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 22.1 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 20.4 |
| 4 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 5 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 6 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 19.4 |
| 7 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 19.1 |
| 8 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 9 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 17.0 |
| 10 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 17.0 |
Player of the Day—Walker struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 10-1 win over the Angels.
Walker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.7 for the season. He ranks 16th among all players and eighth among AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher James Shields allowed one run over seven innings, striking out six and giving up four hits, in the 10-3 win over the Diamondbacks.
National League Batter of the Day—Jayson Werth of the Nationals hit two home runs and went 2-for-6, driving in five runs, in the 8-7 win over the Phillies.
American League Batter of the Day—Prince Fielder of the Rangers hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 5-3 win over the Astros.
Fielder earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the 36th player (and sixth batter) this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 36th among all players and fourth among AL batters.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw regained the Box-Toppers season player rankings lead for the third time this month after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Lead changes
Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.| Date | Player | Team | BTP |
| 4/5 | Adam Wainwright | stl nl | 2.0 |
| 4/6 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 2.0 |
| 4/13 | Scott Kazmir | oak al | 3.7 |
| 4/18 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 4.0 |
| 6/26 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 14.0 |
| 7/9 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 14.4 |
| 7/12 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 15.0 |
| 7/24 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 15.4 |
| 7/26 | Jacob deGrom | nym nl | 16.4 |
| 9/2 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 20.7 |
| 9/5 | Jake Arrieta | chi nl | 21.1 |
| 9/8 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 21.7 |
| 9/11 | Jake Arrieta | chi nl | 22.1 |
| 9/14 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 22.7 |
Kershaw (7IP 3H R 5K W in the 4-1 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 22.7 for the season. Kershaw passes Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (22.1 Box-Toppers points) for the lead. Kershaw previously took the lead on Sept. 2 and Sept. 8, only holding it for three days each time when Arrieta passed him. Arrieta is slated to start Wednesday and could regain the lead.
Kershaw also rises to 13th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Kershaw now has 156.3 career Box-Toppers points and passes two players on the “all-time” list—Mike Mussina (155.6) and Tim Hudson (156.0). (Mussina, who pitched for four seasons before Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995, would likely have about 190 Box-Toppers points if his entire career were tracked, based on rough projections.) Kershaw trails 12th-place player John Smoltz (160.9). Passing Hudson, Kershaw rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers points among active players and third among active pitchers, behind CC Sabathia (179.0) and Felix Hernandez (162.7).
Kershaw also had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of 5.0, the same as NL Player of the Day James Shields of the Padres. But Shields won the tiebreaker because he had more strikeouts—six vs. five.
Notable—Two others who earned Player of the Game honors Monday achieved notable milestones:
- Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia extended his lead in career Box-Toppers points among active pitchers. Sabathia (6.2IP 3H 0R 6K ND in the 4-1 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 179.0 for his career. Sabathia ranks fifth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He ranks second among all active players, behind Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees (187.0). Sabathia has 5.7 Box-Toppers points this season.
- Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco rose to 16th place in Box-Toppers player rankings, seventh among AL pitchers. Carrasco (6IP 5H R 9K W in the 8-3 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.0 for the season.
Debut—White Sox pitcher Dan Jennings made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Jennings (2IP 0H 0R 3K W in the 8-7 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut April 30, 2012, and was playing in his 160th career game. He is the 3,591st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Walker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Shields earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Werth and Fielder each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/14 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | Mariners | Taijuan Walker (W,11-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | |
| 7.2 | `Yankees | CC Sabathia | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | `Orioles | Kevin Gausman | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | Indians | Carlos Carrasco (W,13-10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | ||
| NL | 5.0 | Padres | James Shields (W,12-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| 5.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W,14-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | White Sox | Dan Jennings (W,2-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Nationals | Jayson Werth, LF | 6 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 3.0 | Rangers | Prince Fielder, DH | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.1 | Twins | Tyler Duffey (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 2.1 | Giants | George Kontos (MR) (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Mets | Hansel Robles (MR) (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||