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Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer maintains his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings for the third straight week.
Scherzer has 20.1 Box-Toppers points, holding a narrow lead over second-place player, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (19.1 points).
Read MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer leads Box-Toppers season player rankings for the second straight week.
Scherzer and all other major category points leaders maintain their leads from last week: Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale leads American League players, J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox leads American League batters and Eugenio Suarez of the Reds leads National League batters.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer has regained the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings this week, passing last week’s leader, Yankees pitcher Luis Severino.
Meanwhile, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to lead American League players in Box-Toppers points, also passing Severino. Both players leading their league’s batters in Box-Toppers points remain the same—J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox leads the American League and Eugenio Suarez of the Reds leads the National League.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Luis Severino maintains his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Severino has 16.7 Box-Toppers points through the games of July 26. He’s picked up no points since the last player rankings report at the All-Star break July 15 and leads over second-place player, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (16.4 points).
Read MoreYankees pitcher Luis Severino maintains his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Severino has 16.7 Box-Toppers points at the All-Star break through the game of July 15. He picked up no points since the last player rankings report July 5 and continues his lead over second-place player, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (16.4 points).
Read MoreYankees pitcher Luis Severino rises to lead Box-Toppers season player rankings this week, passing Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who held the lead the past seven weeks.
Severino has 16.7 Box-Toppers points, picking up 1.0 point in the past week, rising from second place last week. He continues to lead American League pitchers in 2018 Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreFrancisco Lindor, Javier Baez and Willson Contreras are among the players rising onto Box-Toppers’ All-Star teams in the past week.
With Major League All-Star voting coming to a close today (Thursday, July 5), here is a look at who is leading at Box-Toppers points at each position in both leagues.
Read MoreJ.D. Martinez, Zack Greinke and Joc Pederson are among the players rising into Box-Toppers’ All-Star teams in the past week.
With Major League All-Star voting underway, here is a look at who is leading at Box-Toppers points at each position in both leagues.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer leads Box-Toppers season player rankings for the seventh week in a row.
Meanwhile, American League batters have a new Box-Toppers points leader this week—J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox moves ahead of last week’s leader, Nomar Mazara of the Rangers.
Read MoreDiamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Greinke struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 7-2 win over the Pirates.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer leads Box-Toppers season player rankings for the third week in a row.
Meanwhile, Yankees pitcher Luis Severino continues to lead American League players for the sixth straight week, Mookie Betts of the Red Sox continues to lead AL batters for the sixth straight week and Eugenio Suarez of the Reds leads National League batters for the second week.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, extending his lead in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, Yankees pitcher Luis Severino extends his Box-Toppers points lead among American League pitchers after earning Player of the Game honors. Severino maintains his second place spot in season player rankings.
Read MoreAthletics pitcher Daniel Mengden is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Brandon Crawford of the Giants rises to lead National League batters in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreMariners pitcher James Paxton is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in season player rankings.
Paxton pitched a complete game, striking out eight and allowing two runs, three hits and one walk, in the 7-2 win over the Tigers.
Read MoreAthletics pitcher Trevor Cahill is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Cahill struck out 12 over six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 2-0, 12-inning win over the Orioles. Cahill picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Read MoreManny Machado of the Orioles is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Machado hit three home runs, including a walk-off, ninth-inning grand slam, in the 9-7 win over the Angels. Machado, who also hit a three-run homer, went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in seven runs.
Read MoreOnly 5 of 17 Silver Slugger Award winners also led their position in Box-Toppers points.
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Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Saturday’s Player of the Day and rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 8.7 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 6.0 |
| 4 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | Harang, Aaron 1599 | pi sp | phi nl | 5.1 |
| 6 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | atl nl | 5.0 |
| 7 | Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 5.0 |
| 8 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf rf | dc nl | 5.0 |
| 9 | Heston, Chris 3437 | pi sp | sf nl | 5.0 |
| 10 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.7 |
Also Saturday, CC Sabathia and Jonathan Papelbon extended their streaks of consecutive seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point—Sabathia now has 15 seasons and Papelbon has 10—and Kris Bryant earned Player of the Game honors two days in a row, the third time in six days.
Player of the Day—Scherzer struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits, in the 4-1 win over the Padres.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, rising to second place in overall player rankings for the season. He now ranks first among all NL players, passing Gerrit Cole of the Pirates. Both Scherzer and Cole have 6.0 Box-Toppers points, but Scherzer wins the tie-breaker because he had more Box-Toppers points in 2014—22.1 vs. 5.7.
American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 6-1 win over the Orioles.
National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Crawford of the Giants homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 11-2 win over the Reds.
American League Batter of the Day—Eduardo Escobar of the Twins doubled and went 4-for-4, with one run and one RBI, in the 6-4 win over the Rays.
Streaks—Two players extended their streaks of consecutive seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point after earning Player of the Game honors Friday:
Sabathia (7IP R 5K W in the 5-1 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season. He earned his first points in 2001 with the Indians. His best year was 2008 with the Indians and Brewers when he had 26.7 Box-Toppers points, first among NL pitchers that year (while he played in both leagues in 2008, he is counted as an NL pitcher since that’s where he ended his season).
In 2014, Sabathia had 1.0 Box-Toppers point with the Yankees. Saturday marked the first time Sabathia earned Player of the Game honors since April 24, 2014.
Sabathia’s career 174.3 Box-Toppers points is fifth among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). He trails Randy Johnson (278.8), Pedro Martinez (244.8), Curt Schilling (194.1) and Alex Rodriguez (183.8).
Papelbon earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Red Sox. His two best seasons were 2006 with the Red Sox and 2012 with the Phillies—he had 7.0 Box-Toppers points in both seasons. In 2006, he ranked seventh among AL closing pitchers. In 2012, he ranked fifth among NL closing pitchers.
In 2014, he had 3.0 Box-Toppers points with the Phillies.
Papelbon has 49.4 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks 20th among all closing pitchers since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. His career 49.4 points ranks second among active closing pitchers currently in the NL (behind Francisco Rodriguez of the Brewers with 59.4).
Notable—Kris Bryant of the Cubs earned Player of the Game honors for the second day in a row and the third time in six days.
Bryant (2-2 2R in the 4-1 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point. He was also Player of the Game Thursday and on May 11, when he made his Box-Toppers debut. He has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season (and for his career) and currently ranks eighth among NL batters for 2015.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Shoemaker earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Crawford and Escobar each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/16 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | Nationals | Max Scherzer (W, 4-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | |
| AL | 9.0 | Angels | Matt Shoemaker (W, 3-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | |
| 8.1 | Rockies | Jorge De La Rosa (W, 1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | Giants | Brandon Crawford SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Mets | Wilmer Flores SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Yankees | CC Sabathia (W, 2-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | White Sox | John Danks (W, 2-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | `Red Sox | Tommy Layne (H, 1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Phillies | Jonathan Papelbon (S, 9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | Astros | Scott Feldman (W, 3-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | ||
| 2.0 | Braves | Jace Peterson 2B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Twins | Eduardo Escobar SS | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Cubs | Kris Bryant 3B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Tigers | Blaine Hardy (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Indians | Cody Allen (S, 6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 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. | ||||||||||||||||
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.