Rockies' Kyle Freeland tops players for Sunday, July 9; Kershaw extends lead in season Box-Toppers points

Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland 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 2017 season as of July 9:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	21.1
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	17.0
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	13.1
4	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	12.4
5	Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	12.0
6	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	11.4
7	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	11.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	10.4
9	Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	10.0
10	McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	hou al	9.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Sunday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extends his lead in season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rises to eighth place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 after earning American League Player of the Day honors.

Player of the Day—Freeland pitched 8 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit, three walks and striking out nine, in the 10-0 win over the White Sox. Freeland had a no-hitter intact until giving up a hit with one out in the ninth inning.

American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks, in the 4-0 win over the Athletics.

Hernandez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 171.4 career points, rising to eighth in career points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Sunday, he passes Roy Halladay (170.7) on the “all-time” list and now trails seventh-ranked player Albert Pujols (184.3).

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	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	204.8
4	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	190.0
6	Alex Rodriguez	dh	released	187.0
7	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	184.3
8	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	171.4
9	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
10	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	167.5
11	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
12	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
13	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
14	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
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	min al	151.2
20	Jon Lester	pi sp	chi nl	149.2

BTP: Box-Toppers points
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the close of the 2016 season.

Hernandez has just 2.7 Box-Toppers points on the season and had just 6.0 in 2016, after seven straight seasons of 10 or more points. Hernandez earned 0.7 Box-Toppers bonus points Sunday; the last time he earned bonus points was Sept. 10, 2015, when as Player of the Day, he earned an extra 1.0 Box-Toppers bonus point.

American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros hit two homers and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 19-1 win over the Blue Jays.

National League Batter of the Day—Francisco Cervelli of the Pirates hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 14-3 win over the Cubs.

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

Kershaw (CG 6H 2R 0BB 13K W in the 5-2 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.1 for the season, leading second-place player, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (17.0 Box-Toppers points).

Kershaw also now has 204.8 career points, third-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails second-ranked player Pedro Martinez (244.8). Kershaw leads all active players in career points.

Scoring—Freeland earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hernandez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Correa and Cervelli 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 

7/9	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.1	COL 10, CHW 0	Kyle Freeland (W, 9-7)	-	-	-	-		8.1	1	0	0	3	9
	12.0	LAD 5, KC 2	Clayton Kershaw (W, 14-2)	-	-	-	-		9.0	6	2	2	0	13
AL	9.0	SEA 4, OAK 0	Felix Hernandez (W, 4-3)	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	3	8
BAT	7.0	HOU 19, TOR 1	Carlos Correa (SS)	5	3	4	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	PHI 7, SD 1	Jerad Eickhoff (W, 1-7)	-	-	-	-		5.0	5	0	0	1	8
	6.0	MIA 10, SF 8 (F/11)	Nick Wittgren (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	4
	5.0	BAL 11, MIN 5	Adam Jones (CF)	4	2	2	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	STL 6, NYM 0	Lance Lynn (W, 7-6)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	1	2
BAT	4.0	PIT 14, CHC 3	Francisco Cervelli (C)	4	1	2	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	MIL 5, NYY 3	Travis Shaw (3B)	4	1	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	WSH 10, ATL 5	Anthony Rendon (3B)	3	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	CIN 2, ARI 1	Raisel Iglesias (S, 16)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	LAA 3, TEX 0	Bud Norris (S, 13)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	DET 5, CLE 3	Jose Iglesias (SS)	4	1	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	TB 5, BOS 3	Steven Souza Jr. (RF)	3	2	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

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	21.1	45.5	145.2	204.8	-3.3
Freeland, Kyle 3763	pi sp	col nl	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0
Lynn, Lance 2992	pi sp	stl nl	5.7	5.7	61.6	61.6	5.7
Correa, Carlos 3506	ss	hou al	5.5	13.2	20.4	20.4	-2.2
Shaw, Travis 3544	3b	mil nl	5.5	12.5	16.7	16.7	-1.5
Rendon, Anthony 3258	3b	dc nl	5.5	11.0	17.5	17.5	0.0
Iglesias, Jose 3532	ss	det al	4.5	4.5	5.5	5.5	4.5
Souza, Steven Jr. 3461	rf	tb al	4.0	9.7	15.2	15.2	-1.7
Norris, Bud 2638	pi cp	ana al	4.0	9.7	34.4	50.1	-1.7
Jones, Adam 2347	cf	bal al	3.5	4.5	35.5	53.0	2.5
Iglesias, Raisel 3467	pi cp	cin nl	3.0	6.0	8.7	8.7	0.0
Cervelli, Francisco 3387	ca	pit nl	3.0	4.0	9.0	9.0	2.0
Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	2.7	8.7	82.4	171.4	-3.3
Eickhoff, Jerad 3566	pi sp	phi nl	2.0	10.0	15.0	15.0	-6.0
Wittgren, Nick 3647	pi mr	fla nl	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Kershaw tops players for Friday, April 14, rising in 3 Box-Toppers player rankings

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises in three significant Box-Toppers player rankings:

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 14:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	4.0
2	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	3.4
3	Morrison, Logan 2794	1b	tb al	3.2
4	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	3.0
5	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	3.0
6	Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	2.7
7	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	2.7
8	Garcia, Avisail 3256	rf	chi al	2.5
9	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	2.0
10	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

• He takes the overall season Box-Toppers points lead (earning 2.0 points, giving him 4.0 for the season), passing previous leader Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard (3.0).
• He takes the lead in career Box-Toppers points among active players with 187.7, passing previous leader Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (186.0).
• He rises to fourth place among all players in Box-Toppers points since tracking began in 1995. Kershaw’s 187.7 career points puts him past Alex Rodriguez (187.0).

Kershaw struck out eight over 8 1/3 innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 7-1 win over the Diamondbacks.

It is the second time this season Kershaw has led players in season Box-Toppers points, also leading from April 3 to 8. It is also the second time this season Kershaw has led active players in career Box-Toppers points. He briefly passed Sabathia for the lead on April 3 before Sabathia regained the lead the next day.

Kershaw now trails the third-place player on the “all-time” Box-Toppers points list, Curt Schilling (194.1). With his 2.0 points Friday, he actually moved up two spots on the "all-time" list, passing both Sabathia and Rodriguez.

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 7-2 win over the Athletics.

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	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	187.7
5	Alex Rodriguez	dh	released	187.0
6	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	186.0
7	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	182.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	169.7
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.

Keuchel earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 3.4 for the season and rising to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, first among AL players.

Keuchel had a Box-Toppers game score of +6.0, tied with Royals pitcher Danny Duffy, who was Player of the Game in the 7-1 win over the Angels (7IP 3H R 2BB 6K W). But Keuchel won the tiebreaker to earn AL Player of the Day honors because he had more strikeouts—seven vs. six.

National League Batter of the Day—Manny Pina of the Brewers hit two doubles and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 10-4 win over the Reds.

This was Pina’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Pina made his Major League debut Aug. 3, 2011, and was playing in his 45th career game. He is the 3,679th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Logan Morrison of the Rays hit a grand slam and doubled, going 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-5 win over the Red Sox.

Morrison earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 3.2 for the season, rising to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, first among AL batters.

Streak—Two players extended their streaks of 10 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points after both earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

• Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez has now earned Box-Toppers points for 13 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors in the 2-1 win over the Rangers (7.1IP 6H R 0BB 3K W). Hernandez earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2005 with the Mariners and has 169.7 career points, ninth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails eighth-place player Roy Halladay (170.7). Hernandez’s best season was 2014 with the Mariners when he had 20.8 Box-Toppers points, third among AL pitchers. Hernandez is the highest-ranked player in Box-Toppers career points (ranked ninth) who has never led his league category (AL pitching) in Box-Toppers points during a season.
• Hunter Pence of the Giants has now earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors in the 8-2 win over the Rockies (3-4 R 2BI). Pence earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Astros and has 53.2 career points, eighth among active NL outfielders. His best season was 2008 with the Astros, when he had 8.2 points, seventh among NL outfielders.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Keuchel earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Pina and Morrison 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 

4/14	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.1	LAD 7, ARI 1	Clayton Kershaw (W,2-1)	-	-	-	-		8.1	4	1	1	1	8
AL	6.0	HOU 7, OAK 2	Dallas Keuchel (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	2	7
	6.0	KC 7, LAA 1	Danny Duffy (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	1	2	6
	5.0	DET 7, CLE 6	Daniel Norris (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	4	5
	4.0	`WSH 3, PHI 2 (F/10)	Stephen Strasburg	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	2	2	2	8
BAT	3.0	MIL 10, CIN 4	Manny Pina, C	5	2	4	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	TB 10, BOS 5	Logan Morrison, 1B	5	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	BAL 6, TOR 4	Wade Miley (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	3	3	0	8
	3.0	CHW 2, MIN 1	David Robertson (S,2)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.1	SEA 2, TEX 1	Felix Hernandez (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-		7.1	6	1	1	0	3
	2.0	PIT 4, CHC 2	David Freese, 3B	4	1	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	SF 8, COL 2	Hunter Pence, RF	4	1	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	ATL 5, SD 2	Ender Inciarte, CF	4	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	MIA 3, NYM 2	Miguel Rojas, SS-3B	3	2	3	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	NYY 4, STL 3	Starlin Castro, 2B	4	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-

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	4.0	28.4	128.1	187.7	-20.4
Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	3.4	10.4	46.2	46.2	-3.6
Morrison, Logan 2794	1b	tb al	3.2	5.2	15.2	20.7	1.2
Inciarte, Ender 3360	cf	atl nl	2.0	4.0	8.0	8.0	0.0
Pina, Manny 3769	ca	mil nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	1.0	16.1	75.2	83.9	-14.1
Duffy, Danny 2915	pi sp	kc al	1.0	11.7	29.7	30.7	-9.7
Castro, Starlin 2767	2b	nyy al	1.0	8.0	16.5	26.5	-6.0
Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	1.0	7.0	80.7	169.7	-5.0
Miley, Wade 3006	pi sp	bal al	1.0	7.0	37.4	37.4	-5.0
Robertson, David 2774	pi cp	chi al	1.0	6.0	23.0	27.0	-4.0
Pence, Hunter 2287	rf	sf nl	1.0	4.5	20.5	53.2	-2.5
Norris, Daniel 3548	pi sp	det al	1.0	3.0	7.0	7.0	-1.0
Freese, David 2710	3b	pit nl	1.0	3.0	19.2	25.2	-1.0
Rojas, Miguel 3642	ss 3b	fla nl	1.0	2.5	2.5	2.5	-0.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Yankees' Gary Sanchez tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 21; Scherzer extends Box-Toppers lead, Kluber secures AL Player of Year, Arenado rises to lead NL batters

Gary Sanchez of the Yankees is Wednesday’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 Sept. 21:  

	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	16.8
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym al	15.7
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	15.4
9	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1
10	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	14.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, three players reached notable milestones after earning Player of the Game honors:

• Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer extended his Box-Toppers season player rankings lead.
• Indians pitcher Corey Kluber all but secured his status as Box-Toppers American League Player of the Year, rising to fourth place in season player rankings.
• Nolan Arenado of the Rockies rose to lead National League batters in Box-Toppers points.

Player of the Day—Sanchez hit two home runs—including a three-run shot—in the 11-5 win over the Rays. Sanchez went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs.

National League Player of the Day—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies hit a grand slam and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 11-1 win over the Cardinals.

Arenado earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season, rising to first place among NL batters, passing previous leader Kris Bryant of the Cubs (10.5).

If Arenado’s lead with 10.7 points stands with a little more than week to go in the season, it will be the lowest point total to lead a category in Box-Toppers’ 22-season history. The record was set in 2015 when Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies led NL batters with 11.5 points. Interestingly, the previous record was 2014 when Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies led NL batters with 11.6. So if Arenado’s lead holds, not only will the low-point record be broken three years in a row, it will be broken each time by a batter from the Colorado Rockies.

Arenado becomes the 45th player (and ninth batter) in 2016 with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.

Batters of the Day—There are no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day for Wednesday because both the overall Player of the Day (Gary Sanchez) and NL Player of the Day (Nolan Arenado) are batters.

Rankings—Two players among Box-Toppers top five in season player rankings earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

• Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (6.2IP 4H 3R 2BB 8K W in the 8-3 win over the Marlins) extended his Box-Toppers season player rankings lead, earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 24.7 for the season. He is now 2.0 Box-Toppers points ahead of second-place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22.7), meaning Kershaw still has a chance to pass Scherzer on his next start.

Scherzer now has 130.7 career Box-Toppers points, 31st-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 30th-ranked player Jason Giambi (133.4) on the “all-time” list.

• Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (6.1IP 6H 2R 2BB 9K W in the 4-3 win over the Royals) all but secured his status as Box-Toppers American League Player of the Year. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.2 for the season, extending his lead among AL pitchers and is now 4.4 points ahead of second-place AL pitcher Cole Hamels of the Rangers (16.8). Hamels would need at least three starts to pass Kluber in Box-Toppers points—he likely only has two starts remaining in the season’s final 10 days.

This will be the second time Kluber has led AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points in a season. He also did it in 2014 when he had 25.8 points and also won the AL Cy Young Award. In 2015 he had 13.4 Box-Toppers points, 10th among AL pitchers. Kluber also rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

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

• Mike Trout of the Angels (HR 1-4 R 3BI in the 5-4 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season, rising to third among AL batters, behind leader Manny Machado of the Orioles (12.7) and Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5).
• Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda (5IP 3H 2R 2BB 6K W in the 9-3 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the 46th player in 2016 with 10 or more points and ranks 46th among all players, 19th among NL pitchers.

Also notable—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez now has 168.7 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Hernandez (7IP 2H 0R 3BB 4K ND in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Blue Jays) maintains his ninth-place rank in career Box-Toppers points since Box-Toppers player tracking began in 1995. He trails eighth-place player Roy Halladay (170.7) on the “all-time” list. (See Box-Toppers career top 20 list on the home page.) Hernandez has 6.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.  If that total stands, it would be his lowest season total in his 12-year career. His previous low was 7.4 in 2008 with the Mariners.

Scoring—Sanchez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Arenado earns 1.7 points for being NL Player 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

9/21	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.0	NYY 11, TB 5	Gary Sanchez, C	4	3	3	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	`SEA 2, TOR 1 (12)	Felix Hernandez	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	3	4
NL	5.0	COL 11, STL 1	Nolan Arenado, 3B	3	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	BOS 5, BAL 1	Clay Buchholz (W,8-10)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	1	2	4
	4.0	PIT 4, MIL 1	Chad Kuhl (W,5-3)	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	1	1	1	6
	3.1	CLE 4, KC 3	Corey Kluber (W,18-9)	-	-	-	-		6.1	6	2	2	2	9
	3.0	HOU 6, OAK 5	Evan Gattis, DH	4	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	ARI 3, SD 2	Paul Goldschmidt, 1B	4	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	LAD 9, SF 3	Kenta Maeda (W,16-9)	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	2	1	2	6
	2.2	WSH 8, MIA 3	Max Scherzer (W,18-7)	-	-	-	-		6.2	4	3	3	2	8
	2.0	CHC 9, CIN 2	Miguel Montero, C	5	1	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	PHI 8, CHW 3	Tommy Joseph, 1B	5	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.1	`ATL 4, NYM 3	Chaz Roe	-	-	-	-		0.1	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	LAA 5, TEX 4	Mike Trout, CF	4	1	1	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`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	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	24.7	45.7	110.3	130.7	3.7
Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2	34.6	65.4	65.4	7.8
Trout, Mike 2949	cf	ana al	11.0	23.0	47.5	47.5	-1.0
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	10.7	19.2	20.7	20.7	2.2
Maeda, Kenta 3609	pi sp	lad nl	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0
Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0	25.4	91.4	168.7	-13.4
Buchholz, Clay 2363	pi sp	bos al	5.0	11.0	39.2	58.9	-1.0
Gattis, Evan 3179	ca	hou al	5.0	9.0	11.0	11.0	1.0
Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	4.5	14.7	39.9	39.9	-5.7
Sanchez, Gary 3701	ca dh	nyy al	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5
Joseph, Tommy 3681	1b ph	phi nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Kuhl, Chad 3687	pi sp	pit nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Montero, Miguel 2304	ca	chi nl	1.0	6.5	20.7	30.9	-4.5
Roe, Chaz 3597	pi mr	atl nl	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dbacks' Robbie Ray tops players for Saturday, Aug. 20; Mariners' Hernandez rises to 9th in career Box-Toppers points

Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray 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 Aug. 20:  

	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	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	15.1
6	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
7	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	12.7
10	Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	12.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rises to ninth place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began), passing Manny Ramirez on the “all-time” list. Plus, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw maintains his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings (with 20.0 Box-Toppers points) after Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (18.7 points) did not earn Player of the Game honors in his start Saturday.

Player of the Day—Ray struck out 13 over seven innings, allowing one run, one hit and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Padres.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing three hits and three walks, in the 6-2 win over the Athletics.

Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, most of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday. Sale ranks 11th among all players and fourth among AL pitchers. It was Sale’s first Player of the Game honor since June 26.

National League Batter of the Day—Anthony Rendon of the Nationals doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 11-9 win over the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day—Evan Longoria of the Rays homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-2 win over the Rangers.

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	182.0
6	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	181.3
7	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	179.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	167.7
10	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
11	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
12	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	156.1
16	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
17	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
18	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
19	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
20	Javier Vazquez	pi sp	retired	148.3

List of top 100 players since 1995 (as of July 15, 2016's All-Star break)

Hernandez—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rises to ninth place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Hernandez (8IP 7H 2R BB 8K W in the 8-2 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 167.7 for his career. He passes Manny Ramirez (167.2) on the “all-time” list and now trails eighth-ranked player, Roy Halladay (170.7). Hernandez has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Scherzer—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer did not pass Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw for the Box-Toppers points lead Saturday, despite earning the win in the 11-9 victory over the Braves.

Scherzer (6.1IP 6H 4R 3BB 6K W) had a Box-Toppers game score of −4.9. Player of the Game was Anthony Rendon (2B 4-5 3R BI), who had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0.

Scherzer could have passed Kershaw if he had won overall Player of the Day or NL Player of the Day. Scherzer ranks second in season Box-Toppers points with 18.7, behind Kershaw’s 20.0. It is the third start Scherzer has had when he’s been within striking distance of Kershaw, but all three times he has failed to capitalize. 

Kershaw has led in season Box-Toppers points since May 7 and maintains his lead even though he’s been on the disabled list for more than seven weeks. He could return as soon as late August.

Scoring—Ray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sale earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Rendon and Longoria 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

8/20	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	16.0	ARI 2, SD 1	Robbie Ray (W,7-11)	-	-	-	-		7.0	1	1	1	1	13
	12.0	CIN 11, LAD 1	Brandon Finnegan (W,8-9)	-	-	-	-		7.0	1	0	0	2	8
	11.0	MIA 3, PIT 1	David Phelps (W,7-6)	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	2	9
AL	10.0	CHW 6, OAK 2	Chris Sale (W,15-6)	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	3	8
	10.0	KC 10, MIN 0	Ian Kennedy (W,8-9)	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	0	0	0	6
	7.0	NYY 5, LAA 1	Luis Cessa (W,3-0)	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	1	5
	6.0	HOU 12, BAL 2	Mike Fiers (W,9-6)	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	1	7
	4.1	`CHC 9, COL 2	Mike Montgomery	-	-	-	-		4.1	1	1	1	2	5
	4.0	SEA 8, MIL 2	Felix Hernandez (W,8-4)	-	-	-	-		8.0	7	2	2	1	8
BAT	3.0	WSH 11, ATL 9	Anthony Rendon, 3B	5	3	4	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	NYM 9, SF 5	Yoenis Cespedes, LF	5	2	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	TB 8, TEX 2	Evan Longoria, 3B	3	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	PHI 4, STL 2	Jeremy Hellickson (W,10-7)	-	-	-	-		7.0	7	2	2	1	8
	2.1	BOS 3, DET 2	Craig Kimbrel (S,22)	-	-	-	-		1.1	1	0	0	0	2
	2.0	TOR 6, CLE 5	Joe Biagini (W,4-2)	-	-	-	-		2.0	1	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	+/-
Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	12.4	31.2	83.4	85.4	-6.4
Hellickson, Jeremy 2778	pi sp	phi nl	11.1	16.1	39.8	42.8	6.1
Kennedy, Ian 2723	pi sp	kc al	9.0	15.7	59.5	65.5	2.3
Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	cf lf	nym nl	7.0	17.9	38.9	38.9	-3.9
Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	6.7	10.7	10.7	10.7	2.7
Phelps, David 2994	pi sp mr	fla nl	6.7	10.1	23.5	23.5	3.3
Finnegan, Brandon 3535	pi sp	cin nl	6.0	9.0	9.0	9.0	3.0
Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	5.0	24.4	90.4	167.7	-14.4
Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	bos al	5.0	11.0	54.7	55.7	-1.0
Montgomery, Mike 3513	pi cp mr sp	chi nl	5.0	9.0	9.0	9.0	1.0
Fiers, Michael 3029	pi sp	hou al	4.0	11.0	25.1	25.1	-3.0
Longoria, Evan 2423	3b	tb al	4.0	7.0	23.5	44.5	1.0
Rendon, Anthony 3258	3b	dc nl	3.5	4.5	10.0	10.0	2.5
Biagini, Joe 3646	pi mr	tor al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Cessa, Luis 3703	pi mr sp	nyy al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Kershaw tops players for Monday, May 23, extends season lead, rises to 7th in Box-Toppers all-time rankings

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, extending his lead in season player rankings and rising to seventh place in Box-Toppers “all-time” rankings.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	12.0
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	7.7
6	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	7.4
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	7.0
8	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	6.7
9	Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	6.7
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	6.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Monday, Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Kershaw pitched a two-hit shutout, striking out seven, in the 1-0 win over the Reds.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.0 for the season, extending his lead in season player rankings. Kershaw also now has 171.3 career Box-Toppers points and rises to seventh among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Roy Halladay (170.7) on the “all-time” list to become the fifth-ranked pitcher since 1995. Kershaw now trails sixth-ranked player Albert Pujols of the Angels (176.3).

Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +13.0, tied with Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto, who was Player of the Game in the 1-0 win over the Padres. But Kershaw won overall Player of the Day honors on a tiebreaker: He had more strikeouts than Cueto—7 vs. 6.

All-time leaders

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	pi sp	retired	278.8
2	Pedro Martinez	pi sp	retired	244.8
3	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
4	Alex Rodriguez	dh	nyy al	187.0
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	181.0
6	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	176.3
7	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	171.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
10	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
11	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
12	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	164.7
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
16	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
17	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
18	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	151.4
19	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
20	Javier Vazquez	pi sp	retired	148.3

List of top 100 players since 1995 (through the 2015 season)

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Cody Anderson struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 5-1 win over the White Sox.

American League Batter of the Day—Miguel Cabrera hit two homers and went 3-for-3 in the 5-4 win over the Phillies. It is the second straight day Cabrera has earned Player of the Game honors.

Cabrera earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 136.9 for his career. He maintains his rank of 26th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began and trails 25th-ranked player Jake Peavy of the Giants (137.8).

National League Batter of the Day—Miguel Rojas of the Marlins doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-6 win over the Rays.

This was Rojas’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Rojas made his Major League debut June 6, 2014, and was playing in his 178th career game. He is the 3,642nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Rankings—In addition to Kershaw, two players in Box-Toppers top 10 season rankings earned Player of the Game honors:

• Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (CG 2H 0R 6K in the 1-0 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.0 for the season, rising from fourth to second in player rankings. Cueto trails overall leader Kershaw by 3.0 Box-Toppers points (12.0 vs. 9.0). Cueto barely missed beating out Kershaw for Player of the Day. Had Cueto won Player of the Day Monday over Kershaw, he still would trail Kershaw in season points, but the margin would be closer (11.0 vs. 10.0).
• Athletics pitcher Rich Hill (8IP 8H 0R 6K W in the 5-0 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.4 for the season, rising to sixth in player rankings. Hill ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the White Sox (8.7).

Notable—Neil Walker won Player of the Game honors over Yoenis Cespedes in the Mets’ 7-1 win over the Nationals Monday in one of the lowest-level tiebreakers ever used in Box-Toppers tracking.

Both Walker and Cespedes had Box-Toppers game scores of +1.0, the highest on the team and both had extremely similar batting lines (HR 2-4 2R BI). Both struck out once and did not walk. Both left two runners on base. Both had five total bases. Walker won Player of the Game over Cespedes simply because he batted lower in the lineup—fifth vs. fourth.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Anderson earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Cabrera and Rojas 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

5/23	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw (W,7-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	2	0	0	1	7
	13.0	Giants	Johnny Cueto (W,7-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	2	0	0	0	6
AL	9.0	Indians	Cody Anderson (W,1-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	0	9
	7.2	Angels	Nick Tropeano (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	4	0	0	1	6
	6.0	Athletics	Rich Hill (W,7-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	8	0	0	0	6
BAT	5.0	Tigers	Miguel Cabrera, 1B	3	3	3	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	White Sox	Brett Lawrie, DH	2	2	2	3	3	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Royals	Salvador Perez, C	5	3	5	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Marlins	Miguel Rojas, 2B	4	2	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Cardinals	Matt Adams, PH	1	1	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Pirates	Josh Harrison, 2B	4	1	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Mets	Neil Walker, 2B	4	2	2	1	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-

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

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (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	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	12.0	37.7	137.8	171.3	-13.7
Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	9.0	21.8	73.0	92.4	-3.8
Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	7.4	11.4	11.4	31.1	3.4
Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	4.0	8.7	57.3	136.9	-0.7
Perez, Salvador 2972	ca	kc al	2.5	7.0	20.2	20.2	-2.0
Walker, Neil 2756	2b	nym nl	2.0	6.0	23.5	29.0	-2.0
Tropeano, Nick 3451	pi sp	ana al	2.0	5.7	5.7	5.7	-1.7
Anderson, Cody 3509	pi sp	cle al	1.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	-1.3
Rojas, Miguel 3642	2b	fla nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Adams, Matt 3220	1b ph	stl nl	1.0	3.5	9.5	9.5	-1.5
Lawrie, Brett 2934	dh 3b	chi al	1.0	2.5	10.7	10.7	-0.5
Harrison, Josh 2947	2b 3b	pit nl	1.0	2.0	7.0	7.0	0.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Giants' Bumgarner tops players for Tuesday, May 17; Kershaw extends Box-Toppers points lead

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 17:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	10.0
2	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	7.7
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	6.7
4	Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	bal al	6.7
5	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	6.1
6	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	6.0
7	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	6.0
8	Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	5.7
9	De La Rosa, Rubby 3342	pi sp	ari nl	5.7
10	Nola, Aaron 3569	pi sp	phi nl	5.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extended his lead in Box-Toppers player rankings and Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke became the 18th player since 1995 with 150 or more career Box-Toppers points.

Player of the Day—Bumgarner pitched a complete game five-hitter, allowing one run and striking out 11, in the 5-1 win over the Padres.

Bumgarner had a Box-Toppers game score of +13.0, tied with Kershaw’s Tuesday game score, but Bumgarner won overall Player of the Game honors on a tiebreaker because he had more innings pitched—9 vs. 8.

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Danny Salazar struck out eight over 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 13-1 win over the Reds.

Salazar earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 6.1 for the season, rising to fifth in season player rankings, second among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the White Sox (6.7).

American League Batter of the Day—Khris Davis of the Athletics hit three home runs, including a walk-off grand slam, in the 8-5 win over the Rangers. Davis went 3-for-5 with six total RBIs.

National League Batter of the Day—John Jaso of the Pirates doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 12-9 win over the Braves.

All-time leaders

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	pi sp	retired	278.8
2	Pedro Martinez	pi sp	retired	244.8
3	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
4	Alex Rodriguez	dh	nyy al	187.0
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	180.0
6	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	176.3
7	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
8	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	169.3
9	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
10	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
11	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
12	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	163.7
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
16	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
17	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
18	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	150.4
19	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
20	Javier Vazquez	pi sp	retired	148.3

List of top 100 players since 1995 (through the 2015 season)

Kershaw—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extended his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Kershaw (8IP 4H R 11K W in the 5-1 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. Kershaw is the first player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and it is the eighth straight season in which he has earned 10 or more points.

Kershaw also now has 169.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of eighth place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails seventh-place player Roy Halladay (170.7).

Greinke—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke becomes the 18th player with 150 or more Box-Toppers points since 1995, when player tracking began, after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Greinke (7IP 5H 3R 7K W in the 5-3 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 150.4 career points. He maintains his rank of 18th place on the “all-time” Box-Toppers points list, trailing 17th-ranked player Greg Maddux (151.7). Greinke has 4.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Rankings—Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Velasquez (5IP 3H 0R 10K W in the 3-1 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

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

• Tyler White of the Astros (2HR 2B 3-4 2R 2BI in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut April 5 and was playing in his 35th career game. He is the 3,638th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Kyle Ryan of the Tigers (1.2IP 0H 0R K W in the 7-2 win over the Twins) made his Major League debut Aug. 30, 2014, and was playing in his 38th career game. He is the 3,639th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/17	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	Giants	Madison Bumgarner (W,5-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	5	1	1	0	11
	13.0	Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw (W,6-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	1	1	0	11
	12.0	Mets	Noah Syndergaard (W,4-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	0	10
	10.0	Phillies	Vince Velasquez (W,5-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	0	0	2	10
AL	7.1	Indians	Danny Salazar (W,4-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	5	1	1	1	8
BAT	7.0	Athletics	Khris Davis, LF	5	3	3	6	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	Mariners	Nelson Cruz, DH	3	2	3	5	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.2	Brewers	Chase Anderson (W,2-5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.2	3	2	2	1	6
	5.0	Royals	Paulo Orlando, RF	4	2	3	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Astros	Tyler White, 1B	4	2	3	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Rays	Kevin Kiermaier, CF	4	3	3	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Pirates	John Jaso, 1B	3	1	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Dbacks	Zack Greinke (W,4-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	3	3	0	7
	2.2	Tigers	Kyle Ryan (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.2	0	0	0	0	1
	1.2	Rockies	Chad Bettis (W,4-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	1	1	2	4

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	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	10.0	35.7	135.8	169.3	-15.7
Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	6.1	19.5	28.9	28.9	-7.3
Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0
Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	5.0	22.0	92.0	97.7	-12.0
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	5.0	15.4	15.4	15.4	-5.4
Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	4.0	24.7	89.8	150.4	-16.7
Bettis, Chad 3481	pi sp	col nl	3.7	9.1	9.1	9.1	-1.7
Anderson, Chase 3328	pi sp	mil nl	3.0	7.0	12.0	12.0	-1.0
Jaso, John 2705	1b ca	pit nl	3.0	3.0	8.0	14.0	3.0
Cruz, Nelson 2224	dh rf	sea al	2.0	4.0	29.7	49.2	0.0
Davis, Khris 3242	lf	oak al	1.5	5.5	11.5	11.5	-2.5
Kiermaier, Kevin 3373	cf	tb al	1.0	2.0	4.5	4.5	0.0
Orlando, Paulo 3526	rf	kc al	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Ryan, Kyle 3639	pi mr	det al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
White, Tyler 3638	1b	hou al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?