Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes and Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves are Sunday’s Box-Toppers top players in a pair of National League Division Series games.
Read MoreAstros’ Gerrit Cole, Yankees’ Gary Sanchez top players in Saturday's AL Division Series games
Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole and Gary Sanchez of the Yankees are Saturday’s Box-Toppers top players in a pair of American League Division Series games.
Read MoreMets' Jacob deGrom tops players for Thursday, Aug. 10, rises to 9th in Box-Toppers player rankings
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth in season player rankings.
deGrom struck out nine over 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 10-0 win over the Phillies.
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Chicago Cubs hold slim edge over Los Angeles Dodgers in Box-Toppers team rankings report
With trade deadline acquisitions, Dodgers are hottest team of the week. Other teams strengthened by trades include Mets, Blue Jays, Rangers, Giants, Twins, Orioles.
Read MoreMariners' Wade Miley tops players for Saturday, July 30; Marlins' Rea tops NL players
Mariners pitcher Wade Miley 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 30:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 17.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 5 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 14.1 |
| 6 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 12.5 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.4 |
| 8 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 12.4 |
| 9 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.0 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 11.0 |
Miley struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, one hit and one walk, in the 4-1 win over the Cubs.
National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher Colin Rea pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit, no walks and striking out four, in the 11-0 win over the Cardinals. Rea did not pitch the requisite five innings to earn the win, picking up a no decision. He exited in the fourth with elbow soreness.
American League Batter of the Day—Mike Napoli of the Indians homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, driving in two runs, in the 6-3 win over the Athletics.
National League Batter of the Day—Cameron Rupp of the Phillies went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in one run, in the 9-5 win over the Braves.
Notable—Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ became the 18th player with 10 or more Box-Toppers points on the season after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Happ (7IP 3H R 3BB 11K W in the 9-1 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season, most of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday. Happ now ranks 17th among all players and seventh among AL pitchers.
Also notable—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander now has 130.6 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Verlander (CG 5H 2R BB 11K W in the 3-2 win over the Astros) now ranks 30th among all players in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 29th-ranked player Jason Giambi (133.4). Verlander has 6.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 26th among AL pitchers.
Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Braden Shipley made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Shipley (6IP 5H 0R BB 4K in the 4-2 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut July 25 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,695th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Miley earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rea earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Napoli and Rupp 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
| 7/30 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | SEA 4, CHC 1 | Wade Miley (W,7-8) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
| 10.0 | DET 3, HOU 2 | Justin Verlander (W,11-6) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | ||
| 10.0 | TOR 9, BAL 1 | J.A. Happ (W,14-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11 | ||
| NL | 6.1 | `MIA 11, STL 0 | Colin Rea | - | - | - | - | 3.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 5.0 | MIL 5, PIT 3 | Chase Anderson (W,6-10) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 4.0 | ARI 4, LAD 2 | Braden Shipley (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | TB 6, NYY 3 | Alex Colome (S,24) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | CLE 6, OAK 3 | Mike Napoli, 1B | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | `TEX 2, KC 1 | Martin Perez | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | `LAA 5, BOS 2 | Cam Bedrosian (H,7) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | `CHW 6, MIN 5 (10) | Miguel Gonzalez | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2.0 | SD 2, CIN 1 (10) | Brad Hand (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | PHI 9, ATL 5 | Cameron Rupp, C | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.0 | SF 5, WSH 3 | Brandon Belt, 1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | COL 7, NYM 2 | Daniel Descalso, PH | 0 | 1 | 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 | +/- |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 10.0 | 23.1 | 38.5 | 46.5 | -3.1 |
| Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | det al | 6.0 | 12.4 | 75.6 | 130.6 | -0.4 |
| Anderson, Chase 3328 | pi sp | mil nl | 6.0 | 10.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 2.0 |
| Belt, Brandon 2943 | 1b | sf nl | 6.0 | 7.5 | 19.5 | 19.5 | 4.5 |
| Gonzalez, Miguel 3062 | pi sp | chi al | 5.7 | 12.4 | 34.5 | 34.5 | -1.0 |
| Colome, Alex 3189 | pi cp | tb al | 5.0 | 10.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 | 0.0 |
| Rupp, Cameron 3556 | ca | phi nl | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 4.0 |
| Miley, Wade 3006 | pi sp | sea al | 4.0 | 11.0 | 34.4 | 34.4 | -3.0 |
| Napoli, Mike 2161 | 1b | cle al | 3.5 | 8.0 | 35.7 | 54.7 | -1.0 |
| Hand, Brad 2907 | pi mr cp sp | sd nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.0 |
| Rea, Colin 3582 | pi sp | fla nl | 2.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 1.7 |
| Perez, Martin 3213 | pi sp | tex al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 1.0 |
| Bedrosian, Cam 3694 | pi cp mr | ana al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Descalso, Daniel 2855 | ss ph | col nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 10.2 | 10.2 | 0.0 |
| Shipley, Braden 3695 | pi sp | ari nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Mariners' Miley tops players for Saturday, April 30; Rockies' Rusin tops NL players
Mariners pitcher Wade Miley 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 April 30:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 5.0 |
| 2 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | cf lf dh ph | nym nl | 4.5 |
| 3 | Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 4.4 |
| 4 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 4.4 |
| 5 | Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b ss | bal al | 4.2 |
| 6 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.0 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 4.0 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 4.0 |
| 9 | De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 | pi sp mr | ari nl | 4.0 |
| 10 | Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi sp | pit nl | 4.0 |
Miley pitched a complete game shutout, allowing five hits and striking out four, in the 6-0 win over the Royals.
National League Player of the Day—Rockies pitcher Chris Rusin struck out six over five scoreless innings, allowing one hit, in the 5-2 win over the Diamondbacks. Rusin did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Diamondbacks tied the game after he exited.
National League Batter of the Day—Michael Conforto of the Mets homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 6-5 win over the Giants. Conforto earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, the most of any of Saturday’s 14 Players of the Games. Conforto now ranks 11th in Box-Toppers season player rankings, second among NL batters, behind teammate Yoenis Cespedes (4.5).
American League Batter of the Day—Logan Forsythe of the Rays homered and went 3-for-3, driving two runs, in the 4-3 win over the Blue Jays.
Streak—Jason Werth of the Nationals has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 consecutive seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Werth (HR 2-3 R 4BI in the 6-1 win over the Cardinals) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2002 with the Blue Jays, but his current 10-year streak began in 2007 with the Phillies. He has 45.2 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks 13th among active NL outfielders. His best year was 2010 with the Phillies when he had 9.0 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL batters. He had 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Nationals.
Scoring—Miley earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rusin earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Conforto and Forsythe 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
| 4/30 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | Mariners | Wade Miley (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 7.0 | Red Sox | Rick Porcello (W,5-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| NL | 7.0 | `Rockies | Chris Rusin | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | |
| 6.0 | Tigers | Jordan Zimmermann (W,5-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 5.2 | Pirates | Francisco Liriano (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 5.2 | Athletics | Jesse Hahn (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Mets | Michael Conforto, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Nationals | Jayson Werth, LF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Rays | Logan Forsythe, 2B | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Rangers | Derek Holland (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.1 | White Sox | Nate Jones (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Phillies | Freddy Galvis, SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Padres | Wil Myers, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Marlins | Adeiny Hechavarria, SS | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 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 | +/- |
| Conforto, Michael 3622 | lf | nym nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 3.0 | 17.9 | 58.4 | 98.2 | -11.9 |
| Zimmermann, Jordan 2612 | pi sp | det al | 3.0 | 10.0 | 59.4 | 60.4 | -4.0 |
| Porcello, Rick 2573 | pi sp | bos al | 3.0 | 7.0 | 28.7 | 37.7 | -1.0 |
| Forsythe, Logan 3364 | 2b | tb al | 2.5 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 1.0 |
| Miley, Wade 3006 | pi sp | sea al | 2.0 | 9.0 | 32.4 | 32.4 | -5.0 |
| Myers, Wil 3228 | 1b cf | sd nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 10.5 | 10.5 | -1.0 |
| Holland, Derek 2634 | pi sp | tex al | 2.0 | 4.7 | 36.8 | 43.8 | -0.7 |
| Rusin, Chris 3236 | pi sp | col nl | 1.7 | 2.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 0.7 |
| Hechavarria, Adeiny 3445 | ss | fla nl | 1.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | -3.5 |
| Hahn, Jesse 3354 | pi sp | oak al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 | -3.0 |
| Galvis, Freddy 3202 | ss | phi nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -3.0 |
| Werth, Jayson 1664 | lf | dc nl | 1.0 | 4.0 | 18.0 | 45.2 | -2.0 |
| Jones, Nate 3125 | pi cp | chi al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 0.0 |
Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays top Box-Toppers 2016 preseason team rankings
Cubs, Blue Jays top preseason rankings. 2015 champ Royals fall to 11th. Red Sox, Dbacks make big offseason gains in Box-Toppers points, signing marquee pitchers.
Read MoreBox-Toppers top pitchers and batters by team in 2015
Box-Toppers' high players by team does not include AL MVP Donaldson, who ranked 3rd among Blue Jays batters.
Read MoreWashington Nationals top Box-Toppers' 2015 preseason team rankings
Nationals' offseason net gain in Box-Toppers points pushes them to top of preseason team rankings. Meanwhile, the Yankees and Athletics plummet in rankings and the Cubs and Red Sox make big leaps upward.
Read MoreIndians' Corey Kluber (8.1IP 1R 10K) tops players for Sunday, July 6, Angels' Richards rises to 10th in Box-Toppers rankings
Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Sunday’s Player of the Day. Kluber struck out 10 over 8 1/3 innings, allowing one run, in the 4-1 win over the Royals.
Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season and rising to 12th in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Diamondbacks pitcher Wade Miley is National League Player of the Day. Miley struck out eight over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, in the 3-1 win over the Braves.
Jacoby Ellsbury of the Yankees is American League Batter of the Day. Ellsbury homered and went 2-for-5, driving in four runs, in the 9-7 win over the Twins.
Kirk Nieuwenhuis of the Mets is NL Batter of the Day. Nieuwenhuis homered and scored three times in the 8-4 win over the Rangers.
Notable: Angels pitcher Garrett Richards rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.) Richards (7.1IP 1R 11K W in the 6-1 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He ranks fifth in Box-Toppers points among AL pitchers. His move up to 10th place bumps the only batter, Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies (10.6 Box-Toppers points), off the top 10 list.
There are now 14 players with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points—Richards and Kluber both joined that group Sunday.
Also, pitcher Jeff Samardzija, traded this weekend from the Cubs, earned Player of the Game honors in his debut with his new team, the Athletics. Samardzija (7IP 1R 5K W in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season.
Kluber receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Miley receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Ellsbury and Nieuwenhuis each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed Sunday, click here.
Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 706 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 11.1 | Indians | Corey Kluber (W, 8-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| 9.1 | Angels | Garrett Richards (W, 10-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | ||
| NL | 6.2 | Dbacks | Wade Miley (W, 4-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| 5.0 | Pirates | Jeff Locke (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 5.0 | Athletics | Jeff Samardzija (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | Orioles | Brad Brach (W, 4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.2 | White Sox | Hector Noesi (W, 3-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 3.1 | Giants | Tim Lincecum (W, 8-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Yankees | Jacoby Ellsbury CF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 3.0 | Mets | Kirk Nieuwenhuis LF | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | `Nationals | Jordan Zimmermann | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2.0 | Dodgers | Matt Kemp LF | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rays | Ben Zobrist SS | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Reds | Jay Bruce RF | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Marlins | Henderson Alvarez (W, 6-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.