Angels' JC Ramirez tops players for Tuesday, April 25; Dodgers' Kershaw maintains top ranking in Box-Toppers points

Angels pitcher JC Ramirez is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, making his Box-Toppers debut.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 25:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	6.0
2	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	5.7
3	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	5.0
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	4.7
5	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc al	4.0
6	Harper, Bryce 3011	rf	dc nl	4.0
7	Holland, Greg 2906	pi cp	col nl	4.0
8	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	3.7
9	Chacin, Jhoulys 2711	pi mr sp	sd nl	3.7
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	3.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawmaintains his first-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. And Twins pitcher Ervin Santana rises to second place—first among American League players—after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Ramirez pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing two hits, in the 2-1, 11-inning win over the Athletics. Ramirez picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.

This was also Ramirez’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Ramirez made his Major League debut June 23, 2013, and was playing in his 114th career game. He is the 3,778th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Player of the Day—Trea Turner of the Nationals hit for the cycle and went 4-for-6, scoring four times and driving in seven runs, in the 15-12 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—Ian Kinsler of the Tigers doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in two runs, in the 19-9 win over the Mariners.

Kinsler has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Rangers and has 63.6 career points, second Among active AL second basemen (trailing Robinson Cano of the Mariners, who has 75.4). Kinsler’s best season was 2009 with the Rangers, when he had 11.2 points, eighth among AL batters. He had 6.0 points in 2016 with the Tigers, fifth among AL second basemen.

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

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw maintained his spot atop Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Kershaw (7IP 6H R BB 7K W in the 2-1 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season. Kershaw also now has 189.7 career Box-Toppers points, fourth-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails third-ranked player Curt Schilling (194.1). Kershaw leads active players in career Box-Toppers points.

Also, Twins pitcher Ervin Santana rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Santana (7IP 4H R 2BB 6K W in the 8-1 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.7 for the season, rising from fourth to second place among all players and first among AL players, passing Royals pitcher Jason Vargas (5.0). 

Santana also now has 103.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 67th-place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Tuesday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2) and Miguel Tejada (102.3). (It should be noted that if Griffey’s entire career from 1989 were tracked, rough estimates would give him about 150 Box-Toppers points.) Santana now trails 66th-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0).

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

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

4/25	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.0	`LAA 2, OAK 1 (F/11)	JC Ramirez	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	2	7
NL	9.0	WSH 15, COL 12	Trea Turner, SS	6	4	4	7		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	TB 2, BAL 0	Chase Whitley (W,1-0; H,2)	-	-	-	-		3.0	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	5.0	DET 19, SEA 9	Ian Kinsler, 2B	5	4	4	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	ARI 9, SD 3	Paul Goldschmidt, 1B	4	2	4	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	MIL 9, CIN 1	Hernan Perez, SS-CF	3	2	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	LAD 2, SF 1	Clayton Kershaw (W,4-1)	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	1	7
	5.0	MIN 8, TEX 1	Ervin Santana (W,4-0)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	2	6
	4.0	TOR 6, STL 5 (F/11)	Jason Grilli (W,1-2)	-	-	-	-		1	0	0	0	0	3
	3.2	CHW 10, KC 5	Dan Jennings (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-		1.2	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	CHC 1, PIT 0	Kyle Hendricks (W,2-1)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	2	3
	1.0	HOU 4, CLE 2	Norichika Aoki, RF-LF	4	1	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-

MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	6.0	30.4	130.1	189.7	-18.4
Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	5.7	9.7	42.5	103.0	1.7
Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	2.0	6.5	37.9	41.9	-2.5
Grilli, Jason 2209	pi cp mr	tor al	2.0	3.0	16.7	27.4	1.0
Ramirez, JC 3778	pi sp	ana al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Turner, Trea 3730	ss	dc nl	1.7	4.2	4.2	4.2	-0.8
Kinsler, Ian 2144	2b	det al	1.5	7.5	29.5	63.6	-4.5
Hendricks, Kyle 3386	pi sp	chi nl	1.0	14.4	29.1	29.1	-12.4
Perez, Hernan 3577	ss cf 3b 2b	mil nl	1.0	6.0	7.0	7.0	-4.0
Jennings, Dan 3591	pi mr cp	chi al	1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	0.0
Aoki, Norichika 3110	rf lf	hou al	1.0	1.0	9.0	9.0	1.0
Whitley, Chase 3352	pi mr sp	tb al	1.0	1.0	4.7	4.7	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Jake Arrieta tops players for Friday, Sept. 23, rises to 7th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to seventh place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 23:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	24.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	22.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	21.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8
7	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7
8	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym al	15.7
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	15.4
10	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Friday, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels maintained his spot of sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Arrieta pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing five hits and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Cardinals.

Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 15.7 for the season, rising to seventh place in season player rankings, fifth among National League pitchers.

With Arrieta rising back into Box-Toppers top 10 list, he displaces Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ (14.7 points) from the list, who falls to 11th.

Arrieta led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 29.1. This was Arrieta’s first Player of the Game honor in a month—he was Player of the Day on Aug. 23.

American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher James Paxton struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 10-1 win over the Twins.

American League Batter of the Day—Jose Ramirez of the Indians homered, doubled and went 2-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 10-4 win over the White Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—Wil Myers of the Padres hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice, in the 7-2 win over the Giants.

Myers earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL batters, 1.0 point behind leader Nolan Arenado of the Rockies (10.7).

Rankings—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels maintained his rank of sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Hamels (7IP 6H 0R 2BB 7K W in the 3-0 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.8 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Corey Kluber of the Indians (21.2).

Hamels now has 144.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 24th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (143.9) on the “all-time” list and now trails 23rd-ranked player David Ortiz of the Red Sox (144.9). Hamels also rises to eighth place in career points among active players.

Hamels has earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons and in each season has earned 10 or more points. The 17.8 points he’s earned in 2016 is his best season; his previous best was 2011 with the Phillies when he had 15.8.

Notable—Two other players who have more than 10 Box-Toppers points for the season earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

• Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer (7IP 8H R 0BB 9K W in the 8-3 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.7 for the season. He ranks 23rd among all players and seventh among AL pitchers.
• Red Sox pitcher Drew Pomeranz (5IP 4H R 0BB 4K W in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.4 for the season. He ranks 28th among all players and 11th among AL pitchers.

Also notable—Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Liriano now has 103.2 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Liriano (6IP 3H 0R 2BB 6K in the 9-0 win over the Yankees) rises to 66th place among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, passing Miguel Tejada (102.3) on the “all-time” list. He trails 65th-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Liriano has 8.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 24th among AL pitchers.

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

• Rafael Ortega of the Angels (PH 2B 1-1 3BI in the 10-6 win over the Astros) made his Major League debut Sept. 30, 2012, and was playing in his 60th career game. He is the 3,746th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Alen Hanson of the Pirates (2-3 2R in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut May 16 and was playing in his 18th career game. He is the 3,747th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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

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

9/23	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	CHC 5, STL 0	Jake Arrieta (W,18-7)	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	1	10
AL	9.0	SEA 10, MIN 1	James Paxton (W,5-7)	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	0	9
	7.0	TOR 9, NYY 0	Francisco Liriano (W,8-13)	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	2	6
	6.0	DET 8, KC 3	Michael Fulmer (W,11-7)	-	-	-	-		7.0	8	1	1	0	9
	6.0	TEX 3, OAK 0	Cole Hamels (W,15-5)	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	0	0	2	7
	5.2	NYM 10, PHI 5	Hansel Robles (S,1)	-	-	-	-		2.2	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	4.0	CLE 10, CHW 4	Jose Ramirez, 3B	5	3	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	4.0	SD 7, SF 2	Wil Myers, 1B	3	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	LAA 10, HOU 6	Rafael Ortega, PH	1	0	1	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	BOS 2, TB 1	Drew Pomeranz (W,11-12)	-	-	-	-		5.0	4	1	1	0	4
	3.0	LAD 5, COL 2	Ross Stripling (W,5-8)	-	-	-	-		3.0	2	0	0	2	4
	3.0	`BAL 3, ARI 2 (12)	Mychal Givens	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	ATL 3, MIA 2	Brandon Cunniff (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	1.0	MIL 5, CIN 4	Chris Carter, 1B	4	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	PIT 6, WSH 5 (11)	Alen Hanson, 2B	3	2	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8	33.2	84.8	144.0	2.4
Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7	44.8	72.5	75.5	-13.4
Fulmer, Michael 3640	pi sp	det al	12.7	12.7	12.7	12.7	12.7
Pomeranz, Drew 3061	pi sp	bos al	12.4	15.4	23.4	23.4	9.4
Myers, Wil 3228	1b	sd nl	9.7	12.7	18.2	18.2	6.7
Carter, Chris 2828	1b	mil nl	9.5	10.5	28.4	29.4	8.5
Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	tor al	8.0	22.9	63.4	103.2	-6.9
Stripling, Ross 3629	pi sp	lad nl	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7
Paxton, James 3280	pi sp	sea al	4.4	5.4	11.1	11.1	3.4
Givens, Mychal 3599	pi mr	bal al	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	1.0
Cunniff, Brandon 3698	pi mr	atl nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Ramirez, Jose 3436	3b	cle al	1.5	4.0	5.0	5.0	-1.0
Robles, Hansel 3580	pi cp	nym nl	1.0	3.7	3.7	3.7	-1.7
Hanson, Alen 3747	2b	pit nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Ortega, Rafael 3746	ph	ana al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Red Sox' David Price tops players for Monday, Sept. 12; Cubs' Hendricks tops NL players

Red Sox pitcher David Price is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Price struck out nine over eight innings, allowing two runs, two hits and no walks, in the 12-2 win over the Orioles.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 12:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	23.7
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	20.4
3	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	20.2
4	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	18.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
9	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	lad nl	14.4
10	Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	pi sp	nyy al	14.1

What are those numbers after players' names?

Price earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Game, giving him 12.4 for the season. He ranks 20th among all players and sixth among American League pitchers.

Price also now has 106.2 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 59th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Monday, he passes five players on the “all-time” list—Carlos Beltran of the Rangers (104.9), Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1), Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (105.7), Aramis Ramirez (105.8) and Frank Thomas (106.2). He now trails 58th-ranked player Lance Berkman (108.1).

National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks allowed one hit and one run over eight innings, striking out seven and walking two, in the 4-1 win over the Cardinals.

Hendricks earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 13.4 for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. Hendricks ranks 15th among all players and 11th among NL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Yasmany Tomas of the Diamondbacks hit a grand slam and doubled, going 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 12-9 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—Avisail Garcia of the White Sox homered and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 11-4 win over the Indians.

Notable—Phillies pitcher Jeremy Hellickson now has 12.1 Box-Toppers points on the season after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Hellickson (6.1IP 3H R 3BB 6K in the 6-2 win over the Pirates) now ranks 23rd among all players and 13th among NL pitchers.

Also notable—Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Liriano now has 102.2 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Liriano (6.1IP 3H 2R BB 6K ND in the 3-2 win over the Rays) now ranks 67th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes two players on the “all-time” list—Tim Wakefield (101.4) and Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2) and now trails 66th-ranked player Miguel Tejada (102.3). Liriano has 7.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 30th among AL pitchers.

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

• Reds pitcher Keyvius Sampson (4.2IP 4H 0R 2BB 7K ND in the 3-0 win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut July 30, 2015, and was playing in his 29th career game. He is the 3,737th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Mariners pitcher Ariel Miranda (6IP 3H 0R BB 3K W in the 8-1 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut July 3 and was playing in his ninth career game. He is the 3,738th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Price earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hendricks earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Tomas and Garcia 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.

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

9/12	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	BOS 12, BAL 2	David Price (W,16-8)	-	-	-	-		8.0	2	2	2	0	9
NL	10.0	CHC 4, STL 1	Kyle Hendricks (W,15-7)	-	-	-	-		8.0	1	1	1	2	7
BAT	7.0	ARI 12, COL 9	Yasmany Tomas, RF	5	3	4	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	OAK 16, KC 3	Daniel Coulombe (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	5
	6.1	`DET 4, MIN 2	Daniel Norris	-	-	-	-		6.1	5	2	2	2	11
	5.2	`CIN 3, MIL 0	Keyvius Sampson	-	-	-	-		4.2	4	0	0	2	7
	5.1	PHI 6, PIT 2	Jeremy Hellickson (W,11-9)	-	-	-	-		6.1	3	1	0	3	6
	5.0	SEA 8, LAA 1	Ariel Miranda (W,4-1)	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	1	3
	4.1	`TOR 3, TB 2	Francisco Liriano	-	-	-	-		6.1	3	2	2	1	6
	4.0	ATL 12, MIA 7	Nick Markakis, RF	3	3	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	CHW 11, CLE 4	Avisail Garcia, RF	5	3	4	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	TEX 4, HOU 3 (12)	Rougned Odor, 2B	4	1	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	SD 4, SF 0	Paul Clemens (W,3-5)	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	0	0	1	2
	1.0	WSH 8, NYM 1	Anthony Rendon, 3B	4	1	1	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	LAD 8, NYY 2	Howie Kendrick, 1B	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	+/-
Hendricks, Kyle 3386	pi sp	chi nl	13.4	23.1	28.1	28.1	3.7
Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	12.4	33.5	89.5	106.2	-8.7
Hellickson, Jeremy 2778	pi sp	phi nl	12.1	17.1	40.8	43.8	7.1
Tomas, Yasmany 3489	rf lf	ari nl	7.7	11.2	11.2	11.2	4.2
Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	tor al	7.0	21.9	62.4	102.2	-7.9
Odor, Rougned 3336	2b	tex al	6.5	9.5	11.0	11.0	3.5
Rendon, Anthony 3258	3b	dc nl	5.5	6.5	12.0	12.0	4.5
Markakis, Nick 2116	rf	atl nl	5.0	9.5	20.5	47.1	0.5
Kendrick, Howie 2191	2b lf 1b	lad nl	4.0	8.0	20.0	34.0	0.0
Garcia, Avisail 3256	dh rf	chi al	2.5	5.5	11.0	11.0	-0.5
Coulombe, Daniel 3720	pi mr	oak al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Norris, Daniel 3548	pi sp	det al	1.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	-3.0
Clemens, Paul 3185	pi sp	sd nl	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	1.0
Miranda, Ariel 3738	pi sp	sea al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Sampson, Keyvius 3737	pi sp	cin nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Indians' Carlos Carrasco tops players for Monday, Aug. 22; Cubs' Lester rises to 5th in Box-Toppers rankings

Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco 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 Aug. 22:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
4	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	15.1
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	13.0
10	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	12.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Monday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Carrasco pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing four hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Athletics.

Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season. He becomes the 27th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and ranks 24th among all players, 10th among American League pitchers. It is his third straight season with 10 or more points (10.7 in 2014, 18.0 in 2015).

National League Player of the Day—Adrian Gonzalez of the Dodgers hit three home runs and went 3-for-6, driving in eight runs, in the 18-9 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Seager of the Mariners hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice, in the 7-5 win over the Yankees.

Seager earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.5 points for the season, rising to fourth among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Adrian Gonzalez.

Rankings—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Lester (6IP 5H R 2BB 8K W in the 5-1 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.4 for the season, rising from seventh to fifth among all players. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

With Lester’s rise to 15.4 points, it marks the first time this season that all players in Box-Toppers season top 10 list have different Box-Toppers point totals—on Monday, Lester and Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto both had 14.4 points.

Lester now also has 136.5 career Box-Toppers points, 28th-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 27th-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5).

Notable—Red Sox pitcher David Price rises to 64th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, after he earned Player of the Game honors Monday.

Price (8IP 2H 0R 2BB 8K W in the 6-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 103.2 career points. He passes two players on the “all-time” list—Miguel Tejada (102.3) and Carlos Beltran of the Rangers (102.9). He trails 63rd-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Price has 9.4 Box-Toppers points on the season, 13th among AL pitchers.

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

8/22	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	CLE 1, OAK 0	Carlos Carrasco (W,9-6)	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	0	0	0	9
	12.0	BOS 6, TB 2	David Price (W,12-8)	-	-	-	-		8.0	2	0	0	2	8
	9.0	HOU 3, PIT 1	Doug Fister (W,12-8)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	1	6
NL	8.0	LAD 18, CIN 9	Adrian Gonzalez, 1B	6	3	3	8		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	CHC 5, SD 1	Jon Lester (W,14-4)	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	1	1	2	8
BAT	4.0	SEA 7, NYY 5	Kyle Seager, 3B	3	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	ARI 9, ATL 8	Paul Goldschmidt, 1B	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	BAL 4, WSH 3	Zach Britton (S,38)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	MIL 4, COL 2	Tyler Thornburg (S,5)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	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	+/-
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4	27.4	73.6	136.5	3.4
Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	10.4	28.4	44.5	44.5	-7.6
Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	9.4	30.5	86.5	103.2	-11.7
Seager, Kyle 3031	3b	sea al	8.5	13.5	27.5	27.5	3.5
Gonzalez, Adrian 2193	1b	lad nl	5.7	9.7	36.4	72.3	1.7
Britton, Zach 2835	pi cp	bal al	5.0	13.7	33.1	33.1	-3.7
Thornburg, Tyler 3195	pi cp	mil nl	5.0	5.0	11.0	11.0	5.0
Fister, Doug 2688	pi sp	hou al	4.0	6.0	51.5	55.2	2.0
Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	3.5	13.7	38.9	38.9	-6.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Rangers' Yu Darvish tops players for Sunday, Aug. 7; Orioles' Machado regains AL batting Box-Toppers points lead

Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Manny Machado of the Orioles regained the Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters after earning AL Batter of the Day honors.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	16.2
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	14.1
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
8	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	13.4
9	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	11.7
10	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	11.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Darvish pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing five hits and no walks, in the 5-3, 11-inning win over the Astros. Darvish did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because after he exited, the Astros tied the game in the bottom of the ninth inning.

National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks allowed one run over 7 1/3 innings, allowing three hits, no walks and striking out four, in the 3-1 win over the Athletics.

American League Batter of the Day—Manny Machado of the Orioles hit three homers, going 3-for-6 and driving in seven runs, in the 10-2 win over the White Sox.

Machado earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.2 for the season. He becomes the 20th player with 10 or more Box-Toppers points this season and the second batter. He passes Jose Altuve of the Astros (10.0) to retake the Box-Toppers points lead among AL batters. Machado ranks 19th among all players, the highest-ranked batter.

National League Batter of the Day—Martin Prado of the Marlins doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 10-7 win over the Rockies.

Ichiro Suzuki

Suzuki joined the 3,000-hit club Sunday. Here are his career season-by-season Box-Toppers points totals:  

Yr	Team	BTP
2001	SEA	4.0
2002	SEA	2.5
2003	SEA	4.2
2004	SEA	5.0
2005	SEA	6.0
2006	SEA	3.5
2007	SEA	8.0*
2008	SEA	3.5
2009	SEA	5.5
2010	SEA	1.0
2011	SEA	2.0
2012	SEA/NYY	2.5
2013	NYY	2.0
2014	NYY	1.0
2015	MIA	1.0
2016	MIA	2.0
Total		53.7

* Best season, 9th among AL OF
16 straight seasons w/B-T pts, tied for 13th-longest streak since ’95
272nd among all players since ’95
7th among active NL OF

Notable—Ichiro Suzuki of the Marlins picked up his 3,000th Major League hit, a triple, Sunday in the 10-7 win over the Rockies. (Teammate Martin Prado was Player of the Game.) 

Suzuki has 53.7 career Box-Toppers points. He ranks 272nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He ranks 57th among all outfielders since 1995, ninth among all active outfielders and seventh among active NL outfielders.

Suzuki has earned Box-Toppers points in each of his 16 Major League seasons, tied for the 13th-longest streak in Box-Toppers tracking history. While Suzuki has consistently earned Box-Toppers points, he doesn’t earn very many since he doesn’t frequently hit for power, with few home runs and RBIs. His best season was 2007 with the Mariners when he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ninth among AL outfielders.

He’s had fewer than 3.0 Box-Toppers points in eight seasons—half his Major League career, including three seasons with only 1.0 point, just enough to keep the consecutive season streak with Box-Toppers points alive. In 2015, he had 1.0 point and so far in 2016, he has 2.0 points.

Only two other players in the 3,000-hit club earned nearly all their hits while being tracked by Box-Toppers (which began in 1995):

• Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees has 3,114 hits (including 11 earned in 1994 before Box-Toppers tracking). Rodriguez has 187.0 career Box-Toppers points, most among all batters since 1995 and most among all active players. Rodriguez Sunday announced he will play his final game for the Yankees this Friday.
• Derek Jeter, who played his entire career for the Yankees from 1995 to 2014 (all tracked by Box-Toppers), has 3,465 hits. Jeter, who like Suzuki, didn’t hit primarily for power, has 76.4 Box-Toppers points, 62nd-most among all batters since 1995 and second among all shortstops (behind Miguel Tejada with 102.3).

Scoring—Darvish earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hendricks earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Machado and Prado each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

8/7	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.0	`TEX 5, HOU 3 (11)	Yu Darvish	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	0	8
	7.1	SEA 3, LAA 1	James Paxton (W,4-5)	-	-	-	-		8.1	5	1	0	1	6
BAT	7.0	BAL 10, CHW 2	Manny Machado, 3B	6	3	3	7		-	-	-	-	-	-
NL	6.1	CHC 3, OAK 1	Kyle Hendricks (W,11-7)	-	-	-	-		7.1	3	1	1	0	4
	6.0	NYY 3, CLE 2	Masahiro Tanaka (W,8-4)	-	-	-	-		6.0	6	1	1	0	8
	4.0	MIN 6, TB 3	Miguel Sano, 3B	4	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	4.0	MIA 10, COL 7	Martin Prado, 3B	3	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	WSH 1, SF 0	Tanner Roark (W,12-6)	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	3	5
	4.0	LAD 8, BOS 5	Kenley Jansen (S,34)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	4.0	`PHI 6, SD 5	Hector Neris (H,21)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	3.0	KC 7, TOR 1	Kendrys Morales, DH	3	1	1	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	ARI 9, MIL 3	Phil Gosselin, PH	1	1	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	CIN 7, PIT 3	Dan Straily (W,7-6)	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	2	2	0	4
	3.0	NYM 3, DET 1	Jeurys Familia (S,39)	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	3
	3.0	ATL 6, STL 3	Jim Johnson (S,8)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	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	+/-
Machado, Manny 3087	ss 3b	bal al	10.2	17.7	21.2	21.2	2.7
Hendricks, Kyle 3386	pi sp	chi nl	9.7	19.4	24.4	24.4	0.0
Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	pi sp	nyy al	9.7	17.7	30.4	30.4	1.7
Roark, Tanner 3261	pi sp	dc nl	9.7	10.7	25.7	25.7	8.7
Jansen, Kenley 2871	pi cp	lad nl	6.0	10.0	36.4	36.4	2.0
Familia, Jeurys 3446	pi cp	nym nl	5.0	13.0	13.0	13.0	-3.0
Morales, Kendrys 2142	dh	kc al	4.0	8.7	18.7	34.7	-0.7
Darvish, Yu 3003	pi sp	tex al	3.7	3.7	48.9	48.9	3.7
Prado, Martin 2511	3b	fla nl	3.0	9.0	22.5	29.0	-3.0
Johnson, Jim 2417	pi cp mr	atl nl	3.0	5.0	15.0	20.7	1.0
Straily, Dan 3080	pi sp	cin nl	3.0	3.0	13.7	13.7	3.0
Paxton, James 3280	pi sp	sea al	2.7	3.7	9.4	9.4	1.7
Sano, Miguel 3527	rf 3b	min al	2.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	-4.0
Neris, Hector 3553	pi mr	phi nl	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	1.0
Gosselin, Philip 3398	2b ph	ari nl	1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	0.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Blue Jays' J.A. Happ tops players for Sunday, July 24; Astros' Altuve takes Box-Toppers lead among AL batters

Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ is Sunday’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 July 24:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	12.5
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	12.1
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	11.4
8	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	11.0
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	11.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Sunday, Jose Altuve of the Astros rises to lead American League batters in Box-Toppers points after earning AL Batter of the Day honors.

Player of the Day—Happ pitched six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and four walks, striking out six, in the 2-0 win over the Mariners.

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Steven Matz pitched six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks, striking out six, in the 3-0 win over the Marlins.

Matz earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season, the most among the 16 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. Matz becomes the 17th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and now ranks 15th among all players, 10th among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Jose Altuve of the Astros hit two home runs and went 3-for-5, driving in six runs, in the 13-3 win over the Angels.

Altuve earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the 16th player and first batter this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He also takes the lead in season Box-Toppers points among AL batters, passing Manny Machado of the Orioles (8.7). Altuve ranks 17th among all players.

National League Batter of the Day—Adrian Gonzalez of the Dodgers hit a grand slam and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 9-6 win over the Cardinals.

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

Beltran (HR 2-4 2R BI in the 5-2 win over the Giants) now has 102.9 career Box-Toppers points and passes three players on the “all-time” list—Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2, who was inducted Sunday into the Baseball Hall of Fame and now ranks 67th), Red Sox pitcher David Price (102.2) and Miguel Tejada (102.3). Beltran now trails 63rd-ranked player, Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (103.7). Beltran now ranks 21st in career Box-Toppers points among all batters since 1995.

Beltran has 4.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 34th among AL batters.

Scoring—Happ earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Matz earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Altuve and Gonzalez each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

7/24	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.0	TOR 2, SEA 0	J.A. Happ (W,13-3)	-	-	-	-		6.0	1	0	0	4	6
	6.2	`CHW 5, DET 4	Jose Quintana	-	-	-	-		6.2	3	0	0	1	4
BAT	6.0	HOU 13, LAA 3	Jose Altuve, 2B	5	2	3	6		-	-	-	-	-	-
NL	6.0	NYM 3, MIA 0	Steven Matz (W,8-6)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	2	6
	5.2	`OAK 3, TB 2	Jesse Hahn	-	-	-	-		7.2	4	1	1	1	5
BAT	4.0	LAD 9, STL 6	Adrian Gonzalez, 1B	5	2	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	ARI 9, CIN 8	Yasmany Tomas, RF	4	3	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	PIT 5, PHI 4	Matt Joyce, RF	2	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	BAL 5, CLE 3	Darren O'Day (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	3.1	CHW 4, DET 3	David Robertson (W,1-2)	-	-	-	-		1.1	1	0	0	0	3
	3.0	BOS 8, MIN 7	Hanley Ramirez, DH	4	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	`SD 10, WSH 6	Carlos Villanueva	-	-	-	-		3.0	2	1	1	0	4
	2.0	COL 7, ATL 2	Nolan Arenado, 3B	5	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	CHC 6, MIL 5	Tommy La Stella, 2B	3	1	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	NYY 5, SF 2	Carlos Beltran, DH	4	2	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	TEX 2, KC 1	Delino DeShields, LF	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	+/-
Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	10.4	13.9	13.9	13.9	6.9
Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	10.0	17.0	26.5	26.5	3.0
Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	9.0	22.1	37.5	45.5	-4.1
Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	7.7	13.7	32.5	32.5	1.7
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	5.5	14.0	15.5	15.5	-3.0
Robertson, David 2774	pi cp	chi al	5.0	13.0	25.0	26.0	-3.0
Beltran, Carlos 1194	rf dh	nyy al	4.0	7.5	24.9	102.9	0.5
Tomas, Yasmany 3489	lf rf	ari nl	3.5	7.0	7.0	7.0	0.0
Gonzalez, Adrian 2193	1b	lad nl	3.0	7.0	33.7	69.6	-1.0
Ramirez, Hanley 2119	1b dh ss	bos al	4.0	4.0	26.7	54.6	4.0
O’Day, Darren 2577	pi mr cp	bal al	3.0	4.7	12.7	13.7	1.3
Joyce, Matt 2480	rf dh	pit nl	3.0	3.0	19.2	28.7	3.0
DeShields, Delino 3557	cf lf	tex al	2.0	6.5	6.5	6.5	-2.5
Hahn, Jesse 3354	pi sp	oak al	2.0	6.0	12.7	12.7	-2.0
Villanueva, Carlos 2241	pi mr	sd nl	2.0	5.7	16.7	30.4	-1.7
LaStella, Tommy 3367	3b 2b	chi nl	2.0	2.0	4.0	4.0	2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Giants' Madison Bumgarner tops players for Sunday, July 10, rising to 6th in Box-Toppers rankings

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, earning the season’s second-highest Box-Toppers game score and rising to sixth place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	14.4
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	14.0
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	13.4
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	12.5
6	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	11.0
7	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
8	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	10.7
9	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	10.5
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	10.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Bumgarner pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out 14 and walking one in the 4-0 win over the Diamondbacks.

Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season, rising to sixth in player rankings and fifth among National League pitchers.

He had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +21.0, the second-highest of the season, behind only the +22.0 score earned April 14 by Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez. (See chart below for the 12 highest Box-Toppers game score earned by Players of the Games in 2016.)

Also Sunday, Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda had the 11th-highest Box-Toppers game score of the season, +16.0, but since he was beaten out by NL pitcher Bumgarner for Player of the Day, he only earns Player of the Game honors and 1.0 Box-Toppers point. Maeda was Player of the Game in the 3-1 win over the Padres (7IP 2H R 0BB 13K W).

Bumgarner also now has 103.7 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 62nd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Sunday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list—Carlos Beltran (101.9), Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2), Miguel Tejada (102.3) and Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (103.4). He now trails 61st-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0).

American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher David Price pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing four hits and two walks, in the 4-0 win over the Rays.

Price earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and now has 102.2 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 65th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes five players on the “all-time” list—Paul Konerko (100.7), Jason Schmidt (101.2), Tim Wakefield (101.4), Carlos Beltran of the Yankees (101.9) and Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2). Price trails 64th-ranked player Miguel Tejada (102.3). 

American League Batter of the Day—Kennys Vargas of the Twins homered and went 1-for-2, scoring three times, in the 15-5 win over the Rangers.

National League Batter of the Day—Cameron Rupp of the Phillies homered and went 4-for-5, driving in four runs, in the 10-3 win over the Rockies.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

7/10	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	21.0	SF 4/ARI 0	Madison Bumgarner (W,10-4)	-	-	-	-		9.0	1	0	0	1	14
	16.0	LAD 3/SD 1	Kenta Maeda (W,8-6)	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	1	1	0	13
AL	13.0	BOS 4/TB 0	David Price (W,9-6)	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	0	0	1	10
	12.0	ATL 2/CHW 0	Mike Foltynewicz (W,3-3)	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	0	10
	9.0	STL 5/MIL 1	Mike Leake (W,6-7)	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	0	10
	4.1	`DC 3/NYM 2	Tanner Roark	-	-	-	-		2.1	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	4.0	PHI 10/COL 3	Cameron Rupp, C	5	1	4	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	`HOU 2/OAK 1	Dallas Keuchel	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	2	5
	3.1	NYY 11/CLE 7	Nathan Eovaldi (W,7-6)	-	-	-	-		4.1	1	0	0	3	3
BAT	3.0	MIN 15/TEX 5	Kennys Vargas, 1B	2	3	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	TOR 6/DET 1	R.A. Dickey (W,7-9)	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	2	5
	2.1	SEA 8/KC 5	Mike Montgomery (W,3-3)	-	-	-	-		6.1	5	1	1	0	3
	2.0	BAL 4/LAA 2	J.J. Hardy, SS	3	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	MIA 7/CIN 3	Mike Dunn (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	CHC 6/PIT 5	Hector Rondon (S,14)	-	-	-	-		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 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	+/-
Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	11.0	28.0	98.0	103.7	-6.0
Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	8.4	29.5	85.5	102.2	-12.7
Roark, Tanner 3261	pi sp	dc nl	7.7	8.7	23.7	23.7	6.7
Eovaldi, Nathan 2928	pi sp	nyy al	6.7	8.7	25.8	25.8	4.7
Maeda, Kenta 3609	pi sp	lad nl	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0
Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	5.0	26.4	40.8	40.8	-16.4
Dickey, R.A. 1734	pi sp	tor al	5.0	10.0	54.2	75.9	0.0
Rondon, Hector 3201	pi cp	chi nl	4.0	6.0	9.0	9.0	2.0
Rupp, Cameron 3556	ca	phi nl	3.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	2.5
Leake, Mike 2709	pi sp	stl nl	3.0	13.0	38.1	42.6	-7.0
Montgomery, Mike 3513	pi cp mr sp	sea al	3.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	-1.0
Foltynewicz, Mike 3455	pi sp	atl nl	3.0	5.7	5.7	5.7	0.3
Hardy, J.J. 2071	ss	bal al	2.7	2.7	24.1	51.3	2.7
Vargas, Kennys 3511	1b	min al	2.5	4.0	4.0	4.0	1.0
Dunn, Michael 2867	pi mr cp	fla nl	1.0	1.0	9.0	9.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Highest Box-Toppers game scores of 2016

Here are the highest Box-Toppers game scores earned by Players of the Games in 2016. Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez had the highest score of +22.0 on April 14 when he was Player of the Day (earning 2.0 Box-Toppers points). All but two players among the top 12 here earned Player of the Day honors. Cardinals pitcher Jamie Garcia and Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda earned Player of the Game honors (worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point) because they finished behind that day’s overall top player—Garcia finished behind Velasquez on April 14 and Garcia finished behind Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner on July 10.  

	Date	Bonus	Score	Team	Players	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
1	4/14	MLB	22.0	Phillies	Vince Velasquez (W,2-0)	9.0	3	0	0	0	16
2	7/10	MLB	21.0	Giants	Madison Bumgarner (W,10-4)	9.0	1	0	0	1	14
3	5/1	MLB	20.0	Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw (W,3-1)	9.0	3	0	0	0	14
4	4/14		20.0	Cardinals	Jaime Garcia (W,1-0)	9.0	1	0	0	1	13
5	5/11	MLB	19.0	Nationals	Max Scherzer (W,4-2)	9.0	6	2	2	0	20
6	5/12	MLB	18.0	Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw (W,5-1)	9.0	3	0	0	1	13
7	4/23	MLB	17.0	Nationals	Tanner Roark (W,2-2)	7.0	2	0	0	3	15
8	6/5	MLB	17.0	Marlins	Jose Fernandez (W,9-2)	7.0	4	0	0	0	14
9	4/15	MLB	16.0	White Sox	Chris Sale (W,3-0)	9.0	2	0	0	0	9
10	6/8	MLB	16.0	Mariners	Taijuan Walker (W,3-6)	8.0	3	0	0	0	11
11	7/10		16.0	Dodgers	Kenta Maeda (W,8-6)	7.0	2	1	1	0	13
12	4/19	MLB	16.0	`Rays	Drew Smyly	8.0	1	0	0	2	11
				`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Dodgers' Kazmir tops players for Saturday, July 2; Angels' Cron tops AL players

Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir 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 July 2:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	13.4
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	12.0
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	11.7
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	10.8
6	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
7	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	10.7
8	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	10.5
9	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	10.4
10	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Kazmir pitched six scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing three hits and no walks, in the 6-1 win over the Rockies.

Kazmir earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 103.4 for his career, rising to 62nd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Saturday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (101.7), Carlos Beltran of the Yankees (101.9), Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2) and Miguel Tejada (102.3). Kazmir trails 61st-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0).

Kazmir has 7.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 14th among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—C.J. Cron of the Angels hit two homers and doubled, going 6-for-6, scoring five times and driving in five runs, in the 21-2 win over the Red Sox.

Cron had a Box-Toppers game score of +10 Saturday, the highest score for any batter earning Player of the Game honors this season. June 27’s Player of the Day Kris Bryant of the Cubs also had a Box-Toppers game score of +10, but Cron’s score ranks higher than Bryant’s because Cron had more at bats—6 vs. 5.

National League Batter of the Day—Wellington Castillo of the Diamondbacks hit a go-ahead, eighth-inning, three-run homer in the 6-5 win over the Giants. Castillo also doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs.

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

100 career points—In addition to Kazmir, two other players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:

• Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander (7IP 4H 2R BB 8K W in the 3-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 128.6 for his career. He rises to 31st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing two players on the “all-time” list—A.J. Burnett (127.8) and Vladimir Guerrero (128.3). Verlander now trails 30th-ranked player Trevor Hoffman (129.4). Verlander has 4.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 30th among AL pitchers.
• Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (7IP 7H 0R 2BB 5K W in the 3-0 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 106.3 for his career. He rises to 57th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing three players on the “all-time” list—Aramis Ramirez (105.8), Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (105.8) and Frank Thomas (106.2). Wainwright now trails 56th-ranked player Lance Berkman (108.1). Wainwright has 4.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, 35th among NL pitchers.

Notable—Padres pitcher Drew Pomeranz has the most 2016 Box-Toppers points of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Pomeranz (7IP 5H R 0BB 7K ND in the 2-1 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season, 17th among all players, 12th among NL pitchers.

Debut—Reds pitcher Josh Smith made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Smith (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 9-4 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut June 23, 2015, and was playing in his 22nd career game. He is the 3,674th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Kazmir earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cron earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Castillo 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

7/2	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	LAD 6/COL 1	Scott Kazmir (W,7-3)	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	0	10
AL	10.0	LAA 21/BOS 2	C.J. Cron, 1B	6	5	6	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	DET 3/TB 2	Justin Verlander (W,8-6)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	2	1	1	8
	7.0	`SD 2/NYY 1	Drew Pomeranz	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	0	7
	6.0	MIN 17/TEX 5	Max Kepler, RF	5	2	2	7		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.2	KC 6/PHI 2	Danny Duffy (W,4-1)	-	-	-	-		8.2	7	2	2	0	8
	5.0	ATL 9/MIA 1	Lucas Harrell (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	1	1	5
	4.1	`NYM 4/CHC 3	Addison Reed (H,17)	-	-	-	-		1.1	1	0	0	0	4
	4.0	SEA 12/BAL 6	Seth Smith, LF	5	2	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	4.0	ARI 6/SF 5	Welington Castillo, C	4	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	TOR 9/CLE 6	Josh Donaldson, DH	4	3	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	STL 3/MIL 0	Adam Wainwright (W,7-5)	-	-	-	-		7.0	7	0	0	2	5
	2.1	CIN 9/DC 4	Josh Smith (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	CHW 7/HOU 6	Dioner Navarro, DH	4	0	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	PIT 4/OAK 2	Juan Nicasio (W,6-6)	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	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	+/-
Pomeranz, Drew 3061	pi sp	sd nl	8.7	11.7	19.7	19.7	5.7
Donaldson, Josh 3144	3b	tor al	8.2	18.1	38.1	38.1	-1.7
Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	lad nl	7.0	19.7	47.6	103.4	-5.7
Nicasio, Juan 2888	pi sp	pit nl	6.0	7.0	22.4	22.4	5.0
Duffy, Danny 2915	pi sp	kc al	5.7	9.7	24.7	24.7	1.7
Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	4.5	7.5	55.6	106.3	1.5
Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	4.0	10.4	73.6	128.6	-2.4
Cron, C.J. 3338	dh 1b	ana al	2.7	8.7	9.7	9.7	-3.3
Smith, Seth 2489	rf lf	sea al	2.0	3.0	21.0	35.2	1.0
Kepler, Max 3664	rf	min al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Castillo, Wellington 3251	ca	ari nl	1.5	5.0	8.0	8.0	-2.0
Navarro, Dioner 2087	dh ca	chi al	1.0	2.0	10.0	19.0	0.0
Reed, Addison 3023	pi mr	nym nl	1.0	2.0	10.0	10.0	0.0
Harrell, Lucas 2988	pi sp	atl nl	1.0	1.0	5.7	5.7	1.0
Smith, Josh 3674	pi mr	cin nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Colon tops players for Monday, May 2; Cards' Wainwright tops NL batters

Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon 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 2:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	6.0
2	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	5.0
3	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	5.0
4	Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	cf lf dh ph	nym nl	4.5
5	Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	kc al	4.4
6	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	4.4
7	Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	bal al	4.2
8	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	4.0
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	4.0
10	De La Rosa, Rubby 3342	pi sp mr	ari nl	4.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Colon struck out seven over eight scoreless innings, allowing seven hits, in the 4-1 win over the Braves.

Colon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first of the season, giving him 142.1 for his career. Colon ranks 22nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 21st-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7).

American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher A.J. Griffin struck out nine over six innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 3-1 win over the Blue Jays. Griffin did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited the game with the score tied, 1-1.

National League Batter of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-2, in the 10-3 win over the Phillies. Wainwright also won the game on the mound (6IP 5H 3R 4K), but had a higher Box-Toppers game score for batting (+4.0) than pitching (-2.0).

This is the first time in 2016 that a pitcher has earned Player of the Game honors for batting—it happened seven times in 2015. This is the third time in Wainwright’s career he has earned Player of the Game honors for batting.

Wainwright earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, his first of the season, and now has 103.3 career points and rises to 60th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes three players on the “all-time” list—Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2), Miguel Tejada (102.3) and Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (102.8). Wainwright trails 59th-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0).

This is also Wainwright’s first Box-Toppers points in more than a year—he was out much of 2015 with an Achilles injury. He last earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors April 25, 2015, and had 3.0 points for 2015 after he had 18.7 in 2014 (ranked eighth) and 20.2 in 2013 (ranked second).

American League Batter of the Day—Byung Ho Park of the Twins tripled and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 6-2 win over the Astros.

Streak—Nationals closing pitcher Jonathan Papelbon has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Papelbon (1IP 0H 0R K Sv in the 2-0 win over the Royals) first earned Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Red Sox and has 53.4 career points, first among active NL closing pitchers, second among all active closing pitchers (behind Francisco Rodriguez of the Tigers, with 60.4) and 18th among all closing pitchers since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.

Papelbon’s best season was 2012 with the Phillies when he had 7.0 Box-Toppers points and ranked fifth among NL closing pitchers. In 2015, Papelbon had 4.0 points with the Phillies, a season in which he also played for the Nationals. Monday was the first time Papelbon earned Player of the Game honors as a member of the Nationals.

Notable—Ryan Braun of the Brewers is Monday’s highest-ranked Player of the Game. Braun (2B 3-3 R BI in the 8-5 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.5 for the season and ranks 20th in Box-Toppers season player rankings, fourth among NL batters.

Debut—Padres relief pitcher Ryan Buchter made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Buchter (1.1IP 0H 0R 4K ND in the 2-1 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut June 20, 2014, and was playing in his 14th career game. He is the 3,626th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Colon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Griffin earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Wainwright and Park 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

5/2	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	8.0	Mets	Bartolo Colon (W,2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	7	0	0	0	7
AL	8.0	`Rangers	A.J. Griffin	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	1	2	9
	4.1	`Padres	Ryan Buchter	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	1	4
BAT	4.0	Cardinals	Adam Wainwright, SP	2	1	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Mariners	Steve Cishek (S,7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	1	3
	3.0	Giants	Santiago Casilla (S,5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Brewers	Ryan Braun, LF	3	1	3	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	2.0	Twins	Byung Ho Park, DH	3	1	2	2	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Nationals	Jonathan Papelbon (S,9)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Cubs	Ben Zobrist, RF	3	1	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Braun, Ryan J. 2300	lf	mil nl	3.5	8.5	39.5	81.2	-1.5
Park, Byung Ho 3616	dh	min al	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Griffin, A.J. 3074	pi sp	tex al	2.7	2.7	17.4	17.4	2.7
Colon, Bartolo	pi sp	nym nl	2.0	8.7	50.6	142.1	-4.7
Cishek, Steve 2997	pi cp	sea al	2.0	3.0	22.0	22.0	1.0
Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	1.5	4.5	52.6	103.3	-1.5
Casilla, Santiago 2301	pi cp	sf nl	1.0	6.0	18.7	21.7	-4.0
Papelbon, Jonathan 2110	pi cp	dc nl	1.0	5.0	22.7	53.4	-3.0
Zobrist, Ben 2216	rf	chi nl	1.0	2.0	20.0	29.0	0.0
Buchter, Ryan 3626	pi mr	sd nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Phillies' Velasquez tops players for Saturday, April 9; Kershaw extends lead, Beltran extends consecutive season streak to 18

Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, making his Box-Toppers debut.

Also Saturday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extended his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings, becoming the first player in 2016 to earn Player of the Game honors for the second time.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of April 9:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	3.0
2	Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	pit nl	2.0
3	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	2.0
4	Rizzo, Anthony 3063	1b	chi nl	2.0
5	Anderson, Chase 3328	pi sp	mil nl	2.0
6	Nicasio, Juan 2888	pi sp	pit nl	2.0
7	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	tex al	2.0
8	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	1.7
9	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	1.7
10	Odorizzi, Jake 3291	pi sp	tb al	1.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

In addition, Carlos Beltran of the Yankees extended his streak of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points to 18, which is the most of any active player and one short of the record of 19 held by Jason Giambi.

Player of the Day—Velasquez struck out nine over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 1-0 win over the Mets. Velasquez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and ranks seventh in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

This was also Velasquez’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Velasquez made his Major League debut June 10, 2015, and was playing in his 20th career game. He is the 3,611th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Rich Hill struck out 10 over six innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 6-1 win over the Mariners.

National League Player of the Day—Matt Kemp of the Padres hit two home runs and went 3-for-5, driving in six runs, in the 16-3 win over the Rockies.

Kemp has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Dodgers and has 53.1 career points, which ranks fifth among active NL outfielders. His best season was 2012 with the Dodgers when he had 10.0 points, ranked third among NL batters. He had 5.5 points in 2015 with the Padres.

American League Batter of the Day—Colby Rasmus of the Astros hit two homers and went 2-for-3, driving in four runs, in the 6-4 win over the Brewers.

Leader—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw maintained his lead in Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Kershaw (8IP 4H 2R 5K ND in the 3-2 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season. He is the first player this season to earn Player of the Game honors for the second time. (Kershaw did not earn the win because the Dodgers were not leading when he exited the game.)

With his point Saturday, Kershaw now has 162.3 career Box-Toppers points, 12th-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 11th-place player, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, who has 162.7.

Box-Toppers season streaks

Here are the players who have earned Box-Toppers points in the most consecutive seasons. Jason Giambi earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 19 straight seasons from 1995 to 2013, more than any other player. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.) Players are listed by duration of their streak. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.

	Streak	Player	Pos	Duration	Career BTP
1	19	Jason Giambi	1b	1995-2013	133.4
2	18	Jim Thome	1b dh	1995-2012	146.7
2	18	Chipper Jones	3b	1995-2012	149.0
2	18	Johnny Damon	lf	1995-2012	63.0
2	18	Alex Rodriguez	dh	1996-2013	187.0
2	18	Carlos Beltran*	rf	1999-2016	99.9
7	17	Mariano Rivera	pi cp	1995-2011	126.4
7	17	Derek Jeter	ss	1996-2012	76.4
7	17	Paul Konerko	1b	1998-2014	100.7
7	17	Tim Hudson	pi sp	1999-2015	157.0
7	17	Torii Hunter	cf	1999-2015	115.9

BTP: Box-Toppers points
* Active player.

Streak—Carlos Beltran of the Yankees has now earned Box-Toppers points in 18 straight seasons, extending his lead in that category among active players. It is tied for the second-longest streak since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, trailing only Jason Giambi’s record 19-season streak.

Beltran (HR 2-4 2R 2BI) was Player of the Game in the 8-4 win over the Tigers and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point. Beltran earned his first points in 1999 with the Royals and has 99.9 career points, 69th among all players since 1995, 26th among all batters in the span and sixth among all active batters. His best season was 2003 with the Royals, when he had 13.9 points, second among AL batters. He had 3.5 points in 2015 with the Yankees.

Notable—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers rises to 60th place in “all-time” Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Beltre (HR 2-4 2R 2BI in the 4-1 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and now has 102.8 career points, moving to 60th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Beltre passes two players on the “all-time” list, Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2) and Miguel Tejada (102.3). Beltre trails 59th-place player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Beltre’s 102.8 points ranks fifth among active batters.

Scoring—Velasquez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hill earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Kemp and Rasmus 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/9	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	Phillies	Vince Velasquez (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	3	9
AL	8.0	Athletics	Rich Hill (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	1	1	1	10
	7.2	Royals	Ian Kennedy (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	0	0	1	7
BAT	6.0	Padres	Matt Kemp, RF	5	2	3	6	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	5.0	Astros	Colby Rasmus, LF	3	2	2	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	Reds	Eugenio Suarez, 3B	3	3	2	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	`Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	2	2	1	5
	3.0	White Sox	Avisail Garcia, DH	4	2	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Cubs	Hector Rondon (S,1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Yankees	Carlos Beltran, RF	4	2	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Red Sox	Dustin Pedroia, 2B	5	1	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Rangers	Adrian Beltre, 3B	4	1	3	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Cardinals	Matt Carpenter, 3B	3	1	2	1	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Nationals' Scherzer tops players for Monday, Sept. 28, rises to 8th in player rankings

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to eighth in player rankings.

Scherzer struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 5-1 win over the Reds. Scherzer had a no-hitter until allowing his first hit in the eighth inning.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 28.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	27.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
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

What are those numbers after players' names?

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 19.0 for the season, rising to eighth place among all players and fifth among NL pitchers.

Scherzer also rises to 58th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Monday, Scherzer has 104.0 career points and passes three players on the “all-time” list—Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2), Miguel Tejada (102.3) and Jamie Moyer (104.0). Scherzer trails 57th-ranked player Aramis Ramirez (105.8).

Both Griffey and Moyer started their careers before the start of Box-Toppers record keeping in 1995 and so would likely have more actual points if their entire career were tracked. Griffey, who started in 1989, would likely have about 140 career Box-Toppers points, according to rough projections. Moyer, who started in 1986, would likely have about 125 career Box-Toppers points. Tejada made his debut in 1997, so his entire career has been tracked by Box-Toppers.

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers struck out seven over six innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 3-2 win over the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day—Mark Reynolds of the Cardinals homered and drove in two runs in the 3-0 win over the Pirates.

American League Batter of the Day—Travis Shaw of the Red Sox homered and went 3-for-4, driving in two runs, in the 5-1 win over the Yankees.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke, ranked sixth in player rankings (19.7 Box-Toppers points), started Monday but did not earn Player of the Game honors. Greinke (7IP 4H 2R 7K ND in the 3-2, 12-inning loss to the Giants) had a Box-Toppers game score of +3. Player of the Game was Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (7IP 3H R 4K ND) with a Box-Toppers game score of +5.

Notable—Giants pitcher Jake Peavy maintained his rank of 25th among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Peavy (7IP 3H R 4K ND in the 3-2, 12-inning win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 136.8 for his career. He trails 24th-ranked player David Ortiz (137.9). Peavy has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and McCullers earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Reynolds and Shaw 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

9/28	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Nationals	Max Scherzer (W,13-12)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	2	1	1	3	10
	11.0	`Cubs	Kyle Hendricks	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	2	9
	5.0	`Giants	Jake Peavy	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	1	1	4
BAT	3.0	Cardinals	Mark Reynolds, 1B	1	1	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
AL	3.0	Astros	Lance McCullers (W,6-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	2	2	2	7
	3.0	Blue Jays	Brett Cecil (MR) (W,5-5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	2.0	Red Sox	Travis Shaw, 1B	4	1	3	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.2	Twins	Tommy Milone (W,9-5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.2	4	2	2	0	4
	1.0	Tigers	Tyler Collins, LF	4	1	1	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Angels	Chris Iannetta, C	1	1	0	1	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.