Red Sox’ Rick Porcello tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 14; Corbin, Kluber rise in player rankings top 10

Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Tuesday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 after earning Player of the Game honors—Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin rises to eighth place and Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to ninth place.

Porcello, Corbin and Kluber are among five players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points this season who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

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Marlins’ Trevor Richards tops players for Saturday, July 28; Angels’ Arcia tops AL players

Marlins pitcher Trevor Richards is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Richards struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Nationals. Richards did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Nationals tied the game after he exited.

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Brewers’ Jhoulys Chacin tops players for Monday, July 23; Diamondbacks’ Corbin rises to 10th in player rankings

Brewers pitcher Jhoulys Chacin is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Monday, Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

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

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

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

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Royals' Vargas tops players for Wednesday, April 19; Dodgers' Kershaw regains Box-Toppers season points lead

Royals pitcher Jason Vargas is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to second place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 19:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 5.0
2 Vargas, Jason 2055 pi sp kc al 5.0
3 Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 4.7
4 Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 pi mr sp sd nl 3.7
5 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 3.4
6 Morrison, Logan 2794 1b tb al 3.2
7 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 3.0
8 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 3.0
9 Kimbrel, Craig 2825 pi cp bos al 3.0
10 Devenski, Chris 3702 pi mr cp hou al 3.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw regains first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Vargas pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing four hits, in the 2-0 win over the Giants.

Vargas earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to second in Box-Toppers season player rankings. He trails Kershaw, who also now has 5.0 Box-Toppers points, but ranks ahead on a tiebreaker because he had more 2016 points than Vargas—24.4 vs. 1.0.

National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Jhoulys Chacin pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing three hits, in the 1-0 win over the Diamondbacks.

Chacin earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 for the season, rising to fourth place in season player rankings.

National League Batter of the Day—Bryce Harper of the Nationals hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the 14-4 win over the Braves. Harper also doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five total runs.

American League Batter of the Day—Mitch Haniger of the Mariners doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 10-5 win over the Marlins.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw regained the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Kershaw (7IP 5H 2R BB 10K W in the 4-2 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season, regaining the season points lead for the third time this season. Kershaw passes previous leader, Twins pitcher Ervin Santana (4.7 points), who drops to third place.

Kershaw also now has 188.7 career Box-Toppers points, fourth among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, trailing third-place player Curt Schilling (194.1). Kershaw is the active leader in career Box-Toppers points, ahead of Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (187.0).

Streaks—Two players extended their streaksearning Box-Toppers points for 10 or more consecutive seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

  • Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Liriano (5.1IP 4H 0R BB 6K W in the 3-0 win over the Red Sox) has now earned Box-Toppers points for 10 straight seasons. Liriano earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2005 with the Twins, but his consecutive seasons streak earning points began in 2008 with the Twins. He has 104.2 career Box-Toppers points, 65th-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Wednesday, he passes Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” list and now trails 64th-ranked player Carlos Beltran of the Astros (104.9). Liriano’s best season was 2013 with the Pirates when he had 16.7 Box-Toppers points, sixth among NL pitchers.
  • Orioles pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez (7.2IP 2H 0R 4BB 3K W in the 2-0 win over the Reds) has now earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons and has 80.5 career points, 12th among active AL pitchers. His best year was 2013, when he had 14.5 Box-Toppers points with the Indians, ninth among AL pitchers.

Debut—Rays closing pitcher Austin Pruitt made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Pruitt (3.1IP H 0R 0BB 5K W in the 8-7 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut April 2 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,773rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Vargas earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Chacin earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Harper and Haniger each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

4/19 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 KC 2, SF 0 Jason Vargas (W,3-0) - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 0 9
NL 9.0 SD 1, ARI 0 Jhoulys Chacin (W,2-2) - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 1 5
BAT 8.0 WSH 14, ATL 4 Bryce Harper, RF 4 3 4 5 - - - - - -
7.1 TB 8, DET 7 Austin Pruitt (W,1-0) - - - - 3.1 1 0 0 0 5
7.0 LAD 4, COL 2 Clayton Kershaw (W,3-1) - - - - 7.0 5 2 2 1 10
6.1 TOR 3, BOS 0 Francisco Liriano (W,1-1) - - - - 5.1 4 0 0 1 6
6.0 NYM 5, PHI 4 Jay Bruce, RF 4 2 3 5 - - - - - -
BAT 6.0 SEA 10, MIA 5 Mitch Haniger, RF 4 3 3 4 - - - - - -
4.2 BAL 2, CIN 0 Ubaldo Jimenez (W,1-0) - - - - 7.2 2 0 0 4 3
4.0 HOU 5, LAA 1 Josh Reddick, RF-LF 4 3 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 STL 2, PIT 1 Dexter Fowler, CF 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 CHC 7, MIL 4 Addison Russell, SS 4 1 2 4 - - - - - -
3.0 OAK 9, TEX 1 Khris Davis, LF 3 2 2 2 - - - - - -
3.0 NYY 9, CHW 1 Starlin Castro, 2B 2 1 1 3 - - - - - -
MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).  

Player of the Game Pos Team ’17 ’16-17 ’12-17 Career +/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 5.0 29.4 129.1 188.7 -19.4
Vargas, Jason 2055 pi sp kc al 5.0 6.0 31.4 52.2 4.0
Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 pi mr sp sd nl 3.7 9.4 16.1 31.5 -2.0
Harper, Bryce 3011 rf dc nl 3.0 6.0 30.4 30.4 0.0
Davis, Khris 3242 lf oak al 2.5 9.2 19.2 19.2 -4.2
Haniger, MItch 3772 rf sea al 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5
Bruce, Jay 2453 rf nym nl 2.0 10.5 27.7 60.8 -6.5
Castro, Starlin 2767 2b nyy al 2.0 9.0 17.5 27.5 -5.0
Reddick, Josh 2936 rf lf hou al 2.0 5.5 25.4 26.4 -1.5
Liriano, Francisco 2104 pi sp tor al 1.0 9.0 58.7 104.2 -7.0
Jimenez, Ubaldo 2349 pi sp bal al 1.0 5.7 37.6 80.5 -3.7
Russell, Addison 3559 ss chi nl 1.0 4.5 7.0 7.0 -2.5
Fowler, Dexter 2698 cf stl nl 1.0 2.5 16.5 19.0 -0.5
Pruitt, Austin 3773 pi cp tb al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Padres' 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
BTP: Box-Toppers points
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 - - - - - -
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 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
What are those numbers after players' names?

Braves' Teheran tops players for Sunday, Oct. 1; Player of the Year Scherzer does not extend Box-Toppers points lead

Braves pitcher Julio Teheran is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day on the final day of the 2016 season.

Top 10 players

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


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 25.7
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 24.4
3 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp died* 22.4
4 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 22.1
5 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 21.2
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 17.8
7 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 16.7
8 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 16.4
9 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 15.7
10 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 15.1
What are those numbers after players' names?
* Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident Sept. 25. His team was the Miami Marlins.

Also Sunday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, Box-Toppers Player of the Year, did not earn Player of the Game honors in his final regular season start. He ends with 25.7 Box-Toppers points, tied for the 20th-best single-season Box-Toppers point total since tracking began in 1995.

Player of the Day—Teheran struck out 12 over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 1-0 win over the Tigers.

Teheran earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season. He becomes the 52nd player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 43rd among all players and 19th among NL pitchers.

This is Teheran’s third season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. In 2013, he had 13.7 and in 2014, he had 14.4.

American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Jhoulys Chacin pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing four hits and one walk, in the 8-1 win over the Astros.

National League Batter of the Day—Danny Espinosa of the Nationals hit a two-run homer and went 1-for-1, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 10-7 win over the Marlins.

American League Batter of the Day—Matt Wieters of the Orioles hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 5-2 win over the Yankees.

Wieters earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season. He becomes the 54th and final player in 2016 with 10 or more Box-Toppers points, the 10th batter. Wieters ranks 38th among all players and fifth among AL batters.

This is Wieter’s first season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. His previous high was 7.0 in 2011.

Notable—Box-Toppers Player of the Year Max Scherzer had a chance to increase his 2016 Box-Toppers point total, but did not earn Player of the Game Sunday in the Nationals’ win.

Scherzer (5IP 9H 5R 2BB 7K W in the 10-7 win over the Marlins) had a Box-Toppers game score of −9.0. Player of the Game Danny Espinosa, who was also NL Batter of the Day, had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0.

Scherzer ends the season with 25.7 Box-Toppers points, a 1.3-point lead over second place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (24.4), who on Saturday failed to gain Box-Toppers points, which could have propelled him past Scherzer for the lead.

Scherzer’s 25.7 Box-Toppers points is tied for the 20th-best single-season point total in the 22-year history of Box-Toppers tracking. This is the first time he has won overall Player of the Year honors. In 2013, when he was with the Tigers, he led AL pitchers with 18.1 Box-Toppers points.

Also notable—Two other players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points on the season earned Player of the Game honors Sunday:

  • Giants pitcher Matt Moore (8IP 3H R 2BB 6K W in the 7-1 win over the Dodgers) has 12.4 Box-Toppers points, most of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. He ranks 31st among all players and 16th among NL pitchers.
  • Blue Jays pitcher Aaron Sanchez (7IP 2H R 2BB 6K W in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox) now has 10.7 Box-Toppers points and becomes the 53rd player this season with 10 or more points. Sanchez ranks 45th among all players and 19th among AL pitchers. This is his first season with 10 Box-Toppers points. In his previous two seasons, he had 2.0 points each year.

Debut—Brewers pitcher Corey Knebel made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Knebel (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv in the 6-4, 10-inning win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut May 24, 2014, and was playing in his 91st career game. He is the 3,757th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. Knebel is the 151st and final player to make his Box-Toppers debut in 2016.

Scoring—Teheran earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Chacin earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Espinosa and Wieters 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.

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

10/2 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 15.0 ATL 1, DET 0 Julio Teheran (W,7-10) - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 1 12
AL 9.0 LAA 8, HOU 1 Jhoulys Chacin (W,6-8) - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 1 7
7.0 SF 7, LAD 1 Matt Moore (W,13-12) - - - - 8.0 3 1 1 2 6
7.0 TOR 2, BOS 1 Aaron Sanchez (W,15-2) - - - - 7.0 2 1 1 2 6
7.0 `PHI 5, NYM 2 Jerad Eickhoff - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 1 8
BAT 5.0 WSH 10, MIA 7 Danny Espinosa, SS 1 3 1 2 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 BAL 5, NYY 2 Matt Wieters, C 4 2 2 4 - - - - - -
4.0 STL 10, PIT 4 Matt Carpenter, 1B 2 1 1 4 - - - - - -
3.0 CHC 7, CIN 4 Miguel Montero, PH 1 1 1 2 - - - - - -
3.0 OAK 3, SEA 2 John Axford (S,3) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 ARI 3, SD 2 Daniel Hudson (W,3-2) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 MIL 6, COL 4 (10) Corey Knebel (S,2) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 TB 6, TEX 4 (10) Alexei Ramirez, SS 5 2 4 1 - - - - - -
2.0 MIN 6, CHW 3 Miguel Sano, 3B 4 1 2 3 - - - - - -
2.0 CLE 3, KC 2 Yan Gomes, C 2 1 1 2 - - - - - -

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 +/-
Moore, Matt 2975 pi sp sf nl 12.4 12.4 37.9 37.9 12.4
Wieters, Matt 2643 ca bal al 11.0 12.0 30.0 35.7 10.0
Teheran, Julio 3176 pi sp atl nl 10.7 18.4 46.5 46.5 3.0
Sanchez, Aaron 3392 pi sp tor al 10.7 12.7 14.7 14.7 8.7
Carpenter, Matt 2987 3b 1b 2b stl nl 9.5 15.0 29.5 29.5 4.0
Eickhoff, Jerad 3566 pi sp phi nl 8.0 13.0 13.0 13.0 3.0
Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 pi mr sp ana al 5.7 5.7 20.1 27.8 5.7
Espinosa, Danny 2804 ss 2b dc nl 3.2 6.2 14.9 16.9 0.2
Sano, Miguel 3527 3b rf min al 3.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 -3.0
Ramirez, Alexei 2537 ss tb al 2.5 4.5 23.0 35.0 0.5
Montero, Miguel 2304 ca ph chi nl 2.0 7.5 21.7 31.9 -3.5
Axford, John 2726 pi cp oak al 1.0 4.0 12.0 18.0 -2.0
Hudson, Dan 2776 pi cp ari nl 1.0 3.0 14.0 20.0 -1.0
Gomes, Yan 3177 ca cle al 1.0 2.0 9.2 9.2 0.0
Knebel, Corey 3757 pi cp mil nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Angels' Chacin tops players for Monday, May 30; Cardinals' Martinez tops NL players

Angels pitcher Jhoulys Chacin is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 30:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 14.0
2 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
3 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
5 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 8.7
6 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 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 7.0
10 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 6.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Chacin pitched a complete game, allowing one run, four hits and striking out 10, in the 5-1 win over the Twins.

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out eight, in the 6-0 win over the Brewers.

National League Batter of the Day—Daniel Murphy of the Nationals homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Phillies.

American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Seager of the Mariners homered and went 1-for-2, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-3 win over the Padres.

Notable—Royals pitcher Ian Kennedy holds the highest spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings among Monday’s Players of the Games.

Kennedy (6IP 3H R 6K ND in the 6-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season, ranking 16th among all players in 2016, fifth among AL pitchers.

Scoring—Chacin earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Martinez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Murphy and Seager each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/29 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 LAA 5/DET 1 Jhoulys Chacin (W,2-3) - - - - 9.0 4 1 1 1 10
NL 10.0 STL 6/MIL 0 Carlos Martinez (W,5-5) - - - - 8.0 5 0 0 1 8
10.0 NYM 1/CHW 0 Matt Harvey (W,4-7) - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 1 6
8.0 TOR 4/NYY 2 Marco Estrada (W,3-2) - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 3 6
8.0 CHC 2/LAD 0 Travis Wood (W,3-0) - - - - 4.0 0 0 0 0 4
7.0 PIT 10/MIA 0 Jeff Locke (W,4-3) - - - - 9.0 3 0 0 0 1
5.0 HOU 8/ARI 3 Collin McHugh (W,5-4) - - - - 9.0 5 3 3 1 8
BAT 3.0 DC 4/PHI 3 Daniel Murphy, 2B 4 1 3 3 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 SEA 9/SD 3 Kyle Seager, 3B 2 2 1 2 - - - - - -
3.0 BOS 7/BAL 2 Steven Wright (W,5-4) - - - - 9.0 4 2 2 5 7
3.0 `KC 6/TB 2 Ian Kennedy - - - - 6.0 3 1 0 5 6
3.0 ATL 5/SF 3 Mike Foltynewicz (W,2-2) - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 2 4
3.0 OAK 3/MIN 2 Ryan Madson (S,12) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 CIN 11/COL 8 Adam Duvall, LF 5 2 2 3 - - - - - -
1.0 TEX 9/CLE 2 Ian Desmond, CF 5 2 2 2 - - - - - -
`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 +/-
Kennedy, Ian 2723 pi sp kc al 6.0 12.7 56.5 62.5 -0.7
Estrada, Marco 2847 pi sp tor al 4.0 12.0 36.1 36.1 -4.0
Wright, Steven 3224 pi sp bos al 4.0 7.7 8.7 8.7 0.3
Murphy, Daniel 2589 2b dc nl 4.0 5.5 27.5 29.0 2.5
Desmond, Ian 2673 cf lf tex al 4.0 5.0 20.7 27.2 3.0
Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 3.7 17.4 18.4 18.4 -10.0
Locke, Jeff 3133 pi sp pit nl 2.7 8.7 20.1 20.1 -3.3
Seager, Kyle 3031 3b sea al 2.5 7.5 21.5 21.5 -2.5
Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 2.0 17.4 35.4 35.4 -13.4
McHugh, Collin 3316 pi sp hou al 2.0 11.7 23.5 23.5 -7.7
Foltynewicz, Mike 3455 pi sp atl nl 2.0 4.7 4.7 4.7 -0.7
Duvall, Adam 3573 lf cin nl 2.0 3.5 3.5 3.5 0.5
Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 pi sp ana al 2.0 2.0 16.4 24.1 2.0
Madson, Ryan 1841 pi cp oak al 2.0 2.0 5.0 22.7 2.0
Wood, Travis 2777 pi mr sp chi nl 1.0 4.0 28.7 31.7 -2.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Tigers' Max Scherzer tops players for Thursday, June 12, rises to 5th place in Box-Toppers points

Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer is Thursday’s Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

Scherzer pitched a complete game shutout and struck out eight in the 4-0 win over the White Sox. Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season. He rises to fifth place among all players in Box-Toppers points this season (see the updated top 10 player list on the home page) and second place among American League pitchers, behind only Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees (11.7).

Rockies pitcher Jhoulys Chacin is National League Player of the Day. Chacin pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up only two hits, in the 10-3 win over the Braves.

John Mayberry of the Phillies is NL Batter of the Day. Mayberry hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 3-for-4 in the 7-3 win over the Padres.

Delmon Young of the Orioles is AL Batter of the Day. Young hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-4 in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays.

Scherzer receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Chacin receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Mayberry and Young each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed Thursday, click here.

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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

612 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 Tigers Max Scherzer (W, 8-2) - - - - - - 9.0 3 0 0 3 8
NL 8.0 Rockies Jhoulys Chacin (W, 1-4) - - - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 2 5
6.0 `Brewers Kyle Lohse - - - - - - 8.0 4 1 0 0 3
4.2 Yankees Chase Whitley (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 7.2 5 2 2 0 6
4.0 Reds Alfredo Simon (W, 9-3) - - - - - - 8.0 7 1 1 0 5
3.1 `Astros Scott Feldman - - - - - - 6.1 4 3 2 0 6
BAT 3.0 Phillies John Mayberry 1B 4 1 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Giants Tim Hudson (W, 7-2) - - - - - - 7.0 6 1 0 2 5
3.0 Pirates Edinson Volquez (W, 4-5) - - - - - - 7.0 7 0 0 2 5
2.0 Red Sox Koji Uehara (S, 14) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
BAT 1.0 Orioles Delmon Young DH 4 1 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.