Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreIndians’ Mike Clevinger tops players for Thursday, Aug. 30; Dbacks’ Ray tops NL players
Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming the 31st player this season with 10 Box-Toppers points.
Clevinger struck out nine over 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs (none earned), four hits and one walk, in the 5-3 win over the Twins.
Read MoreCleveland Indians had most players—seven—among Box-Toppers’ top 100 at the All-Star break
The Cleveland Indians had the most players—seven–among the top 100 in Box-Toppers’ 2018 player rankings at the All-Star break.
Five teams were tied for the second-most players with six players each among the top 100—the Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies and Seattle Mariners.
Read MoreIndians’ Mike Clevinger tops players for Thursday, June 14; Braves’ Sanchez tops NL players
Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Clevinger struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing two runs, five hits and one walk, in the 5-2 win over the White Sox.
Read MoreDodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops players in Friday, March 23's spring games
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Friday’s Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day.
Box-Toppers is tracking several days of the 2018 spring training season to demonstrate the Box-Toppers player tracking metric and to prepare for the upcoming 2,430-game season.
Read MoreDiamondbacks' Jake Lamb tops players in Wednesday's NL Wild Card Game
Jake Lamb of the Diamondbacks is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s National League Wild Card game.
Lamb went 4-for-5, scoring three times, in the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-8 win over the Colorado Rockies.
Read MoreBrewers' Anderson top players for Tuesday, Sept. 19; Nationals' Scherzer rises to Box-Toppers lead, passing Kershaw
Brewers pitcher Chase Anderson is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day
Also Tuesday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer retakes the Box-Toppers season player rankings lead, passing previous leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreIndians' Mike Clevinger tops players for Friday, Sept. 8; Scherzer fails in chance to take Box-Toppers points lead
Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, the third day in a row an Indians pitcher has earned that honor. Clevinger also becomes the 26th player this season to reach 10 or more Box-Toppers points.
Also Friday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer failed to retake the Box-Toppers player rankings lead after he did not earn Player of the Game honors in his start, a win over the Phillies. That gives Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale the chance to take the lead in his start Saturday against the Rays.
Read MoreKershaw retakes Box-Toppers points lead in return from DL; Brewers' Nelson tops players for Friday, Sept. 1
Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw retakes the season Box-Toppers player rankings lead only four days after losing it to Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer. Kershaw, making his first start Friday after returning from five weeks on the disabled list, earns Player of the Game honors and retakes the 2017 Box-Toppers points lead he held for more than three months.
Read MoreIndians' Mike Clevinger tops players for Saturday, Aug. 12; Bellinger rises to lead NL batters in 2017 Box-Toppers points
Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers rises to lead National League batters in 2017 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreGiants' Jeff Samardzija tops players for Saturday, May 20; Indians' Clevinger tops AL players
Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija 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 2017 season as of May 20:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.7 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 7.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 6 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 7 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 |
| 8 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 6.0 |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 5.4 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 5.4 |
Samardzija pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing five hits and no walks, in the 3-1, 13-inning win over the Cardinals. Samardzija picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Samardzija has the most 2017 Box-Toppers points of any of the 13 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday. Samardzija earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season and ranks 23rd among all players, ninth among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits, in the 3-0 win over the Astros.
Clevinger had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +11.0, tied with overall Player of the Day Jeff Samardzija. But Samardzija won Player of the Day on a tiebreaker—he had more innings pitched (eight vs. seven).
American League Batter of the Day—Avisail Garcia of the White Sox homered twice and doubled twice, going 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 16-1 win over the Mariners.
National League Batter of the Day—JT Riddle of the Marlins homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-6 win over the Dodgers.
This was Riddle’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Riddle made his Major League debut April 11 and was playing in his 19th career game. He is the 3,805th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Debuts—In addition to Riddle, two other players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Athletics pitcher Frankie Montas (3IP 2H 0R 0BB 5K ND in the 8-3 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut Sept. 2, 2015, and was playing in his 23rd career game. He is the 3,803rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Reds pitcher Asher Wojciechowski (3.2IP H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 12-8 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut Apr 9, 2015, and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,804th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Samardzjia earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Clevinger earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Garcia and Riddle 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.
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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score| 5/20 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | `SF 3, STL 1 (F/13) | Jeff Samardzija | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| AL | 11.0 | CLE 3, HOU 0 | Mike Clevinger (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| 8.2 | ARI 9, SD 1 | Robbie Ray (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 8.0 | CHW 16, SEA 1 | Avisail Garcia, RF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | TB 9, NYY 5 | Corey Dickerson, DH | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 6.0 | `OAK 8, BOS 3 | Frankie Montas | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 5.2 | CIN 12, COL 8 | Asher Wojciechowski (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 3.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 5.0 | DET 9, TEX 3 | Alex Avila, 1B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | MIA 10, LAD 6 | JT Riddle, SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | BAL 7, TOR 5 | Mark Trumbo, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | PIT 6, PHI 3 | David Freese, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYM 7, LAA 5 | Michael Conforto, LF | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | `ATL 5, WSH 2 | Jose Ramirez (H,6) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Samardzija, Jeff 2495 | pi sp | sf nl | 4.0 | 14.7 | 50.8 | 53.8 | -6.7 |
| Garcia, Avisail 3256 | rf | chi al | 4.0 | 6.5 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 1.5 |
| Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 3.0 | 9.7 | 13.7 | 13.7 | -3.7 |
| Conforto, Michael 3622 | cf lf | nym nl | 3.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -2.0 |
| Avila, Alex 2642 | ca 1b | det al | 3.0 | 4.0 | 10.5 | 20.0 | 2.0 |
| Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi sp mr | cle al | 2.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | -0.3 |
| Freese, David 2710 | 3b | pit nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 20.2 | 26.2 | 0.0 |
| Ramirez, Jose A. 3716 | pi mr | atl nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Riddle, JT 3805 | ss | fla nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Trumbo, Mark 2851 | dh rf | bal al | 1.0 | 9.2 | 28.9 | 34.9 | -7.2 |
| Dickerson, Corey 3222 | dh lf | tb al | 1.0 | 5.5 | 17.5 | 17.5 | -3.5 |
| Montas, Frankie 3803 | pi mr | oak al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Wojciechowski, Asher 3804 | pi mr | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Mets' Jacob deGrom tops players for Saturday, Aug. 13; Tigers' Boyd tops AL players
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom 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. 13:| 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 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 12.7 |
| 10 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 12.5 |
deGrom struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 3-2, 11-inning win over the Padres. deGrom did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because when he exited the game, the Mets trailed.
American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Matt Boyd pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out three, in the 2-0 win over the Rangers.
National League Batter of the Day—Daniel Murphy of the Nationals homered and went 1-for-3, driving in four runs, in the 7-6 win over the Braves.
American League Batter of the Day—Russell Martin of the Blue Jays hit a three-run home run and went 1-for-2, in the 4-2 win over the Astros.
Notable—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Bumgarner (7IP 3H 0R 3BB 8K in the 6-2 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.0 for the season. He ranks 12th among all players in Box-Toppers points and eighth among NL pitchers.
Bumgarner also now has 104.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 62nd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Saturday, he passes Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” list and now trails 61st-ranked player, Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1).
Debut—Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday with their first career Player of the Game honors:
- Cardinals pitcher Alex Reyes (3IP H 0R BB 3K W in the 8-4 win over the Cubs) made his Major League debut Aug. 9 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,706th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger (5.2IP H R 4BB 3K W in the 5-1 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut May 18 and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,707th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- White Sox pitcher Chris Beck (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 0K W in the 8-7 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut May 28, 2015, and was playing in his eighth career game. He is the 3,708th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Boyd earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Murphy and Martin 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
| 8/13 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | `NYM 3, SD 2 (11) | Jacob deGrom | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
| 9.0 | SF 6, BAL 2 | Madison Bumgarner (W,11-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| AL | 6.0 | DET 2, TEX 0 | Matt Boyd (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
| 4.0 | STL 8, CHC 4 | Alex Reyes (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | WSH 7, ATL 6 | Daniel Murphy, 1B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | PHI 6, COL 3 | Maikel Franco, 3B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | TOR 4, HOU 2 | Russell Martin, C | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | CIN 11, MIL 5 | Joey Votto, 1B | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | LAD 8, PIT 4 | Joc Pederson, CF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYY 8, TB 4 | Aaron Hicks, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 6, ARI 3 | Brock Holt, LF | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 5, KC 3 | Tyler Duffey (W,8-8) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | SEA 4, OAK 3 | Edwin Diaz (S,6) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.2 | CLE 5, LAA 1 | Mike Clevinger (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | ||
| 1.1 | CHW 8, MIA 7 | Chris Beck (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 12.0 | 29.0 | 99.0 | 104.7 | -5.0 |
| deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 9.7 | 32.1 | 45.1 | 45.1 | -12.7 |
| Martin, Russell 2202 | ca | tor al | 8.5 | 13.5 | 30.0 | 51.0 | 3.5 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 7.5 | 12.5 | 29.2 | 61.2 | 2.5 |
| Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | dc nl | 6.5 | 8.0 | 30.0 | 31.5 | 5.0 |
| Duffey, Tyler 3558 | pi sp | min al | 6.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 2.0 |
| Boyd, Matt 3550 | pi sp | det al | 4.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 3.4 |
| Diaz, Edwin 3690 | pi cp | sea al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Franco, Maikel 3510 | 3b | phi nl | 3.5 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 0.3 |
| Pederson, Joc 3621 | cf | lad nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Holt, Brock 3340 | 3b lf | bos al | 2.5 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 1.5 |
| Hicks, Aaron 3170 | lf | nyy al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -1.0 |
| Beck, Chris 3708 | pi mr | chi al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi sp | cle al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Reyes, Alex 3706 | pi mr | stl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |