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About half of the top batters by position as measured by Box-Toppers points are among Silver Slugger Award winners announced Thursday.
The awards are given to the top batter in each position in both leagues. But as measured by Box-Toppers points, only seven (maybe eight) of the 17 announced winners would have been the same.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer maintains top spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings this week.
Meanwhile, all of last week’s category leaders remain the same, even though none of them picked up any points in the past week:
Scherzer still leads NL pitchers.
Chris Sale of the Red Sox still leads American League pitchers.
J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox still leads AL batters.
David Peralta of the Diamondbacks still leads NL batters.
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer maintained top spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings this week.
Meanwhile, David Peralta of the Diamondbacks is the new leader this week among National League batters in 2018 Box-Toppers points. Leaders in all other categories remain the same.
Read MoreAthletics pitcher Brett Anderson is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Rays pitcher Blake Snell rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, David Peralta of the Diamondbacks rises to lead National League batters in 2018 Box-Toppers points after earning NL Batter of the Day honors.
Read MorePhillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third place in season player rankings.
Also Friday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
In addition, Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks rises to lead National League batters in 2018 Box-Toppers points after earning NL Batter of the Day honors.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and maintains his rank of second place in season player rankings.
Sale struck out 12 over five scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Orioles.
Read MoreRoyals pitcher Danny Duffy is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Duffy struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and three walks, in the 2-0 win over the Athletics.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, Box-Toppers’ dominant player over the period 2012-2017, remains Box-Toppers’ dominant player over the period 2013-2017.
The 2013-2017 Box-Toppers point total for all players comes from dropping the points they earned in the 2012 season from their 2012-2017 totals. Box-Toppers uses this longer-term total to gauge a players’ staying power over the recent past.
And at the beginning of a season, when the rolling six-year total drops the earliest year of that timeframe, a player’s change in position in the rankings can give a clue to whether that player is improving, holding steady or declining.
Read MoreAnthony Rendon of the Nationals had the best single-game performance by a batter in the 2017 season as measured by Box-Toppers game score.
It also appears to be the highest game score for a batter in Box-Toppers’ 23 seasons of record keeping.
Read MoreMiguel Cabrera of the Tigers has the most Box-Toppers points of any first basemen since tracking began in 1995, passing previous leader Jim Thome.
Cabrera has 146.9 career Box-Toppers points and in 2017 passed former player and newly elected Hall of Famer Thome, who has 146.7 points. Other leaders at first base include Anthony Rizzo, Edwin Encarnacion and Paul Goldschmidt.
Read MoreHalf of the top 10 runs batted in leaders are among their league’s top 10 batters in Box-Toppers points in 2017.
Overall RBI leader Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins (132) ranked second among National League batters in Box-Toppers points with 14.2.
Read MoreAn analysis of 23 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching & batting in both leagues.
Read MoreOnly 7 of 17 Silver Slugger Award winners also led their position in Box-Toppers points
Read MoreBox-Toppers pitching leaders and top rookies are among the finalists for the Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year honors. But Box-Toppers batting leaders are excluded from the list of finalists for Most Valuable Player Awards.
Read MoreYankees pitcher David Robertson is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Tuesday’s American League Wild Card Game.
Robertson pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings of middle relief, allowing three hits, one walk, striking out three and earning the win, in the 8-4 win over the Royals.
Read MoreMets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in season player rankings.
deGrom struck out 10 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run, five hits and one walk, in the 4-2 win over the Nationals.
Read MoreIndians pitcher Corey Kluber is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth place in season player rankings.
Kluber pitched a complete game three-hitter, allowing one run, one walk and striking out
Read More
Diamondbacks top Box-Toppers team rankings after being hottest team of the week. Astros continue to lead AL but fall from 1st to 3rd overall.
Read More
Kendrys Morales of the Blue Jays is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Morales hit two homers and doubled, going 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 8-4 win over the Rays.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 6.7 |
| 2 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 6.7 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 5.0 |
| 6 | Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 5.0 |
| 7 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 |
| 8 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 5.0 |
| 9 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 5.0 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.4 |
National League Player of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks hit two homers and went 3-for-3, driving in five runs, in the 6-3 win over the Rockies.
Goldschmidt earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 points for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Friday. Goldschmidt ranks 19th among all players and second among NL batters, behind Bryce Harper of the Nationals (4.0 Box-Toppers points).
Batters of the Day—There are no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day for Friday because the overall Player of the Day was AL batter Kendrys Morales and the overall NL Player of the Day was NL batter Paul Goldschmidt.
Streaks—Three players extended streaks of 10 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points after all three earned Player of the Game honors Friday:
Scoring—Morales earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Goldschmidt earns 1.7 points for being NL Player 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.
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| 5/5 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 7.0 | TOR 8, TB 4 | Kendrys Morales, DH | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| NL | 7.0 | ARI 6, COL 3 | Paul Goldschmidt, 1B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | STL 10, ATL 0 | Lance Lynn (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | CIN 13, SF 3 | Billy Hamilton, CF | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | KC 3, CLE 1 | Jason Hammel (W,1-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | BAL 4, CHW 2 | Gabriel Ynoa (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | PIT 4, MIL 0 | Wade LeBlanc (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.1 | `WSH 4, PHI 2 | Enny Romero (H,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | LAD 8, SD 2 | Cody Bellinger, 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | DET 7, OAK 2 | Michael Fulmer (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 4.0 | `NYY 3, CHC 2 | Michael Pineda | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 7, LAA 6 (F/10) | Brian McCann, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYM 8, MIA 7 | T.J. Rivera, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 4, BOS 3 | Joe Mauer, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | `TEX 3, SEA 1 (F/13) | Tony Barnette | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | ari nl | 3.7 | 8.2 | 39.6 | 43.6 | -0.8 |
| Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | stl nl | 3.7 | 3.7 | 59.6 | 59.6 | 3.7 |
| Pineda, Michael 2841 | pi sp | nyy al | 3.0 | 9.0 | 25.4 | 37.1 | -3.0 |
| Fulmer, Michael 3640 | pi sp | det al | 2.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 | 14.7 | -10.7 |
| Morales, Kendrys 2142 | dh | tor al | 2.0 | 10.5 | 25.2 | 41.2 | -6.5 |
| LeBlanc, Wade 2669 | pi cp mr sp | pit nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 12.0 | -1.0 |
| Bellinger, Cody 3781 | lf 1b | lad nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Hammel, Jason 2235 | pi sp | kc al | 1.0 | 14.0 | 45.1 | 60.2 | -12.0 |
| McCann, Brian 2179 | ca | hou al | 1.0 | 4.2 | 30.2 | 59.4 | -2.2 |
| Hamilton, Billy 3287 | cf | cin nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | -1.0 |
| Barnette, Tony 3670 | pi mr | tex al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Mauer, Joe 1869 | 1b | min al | 1.0 | 2.5 | 24.0 | 71.6 | -0.5 |
| Rivera, T.J. 3710 | 1b | nym nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Romero, Enny 3726 | pi mr | dc nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Ynoa, Gabriel 3743 | pi mr | bal al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
Albert Pujols leads all first basemen in career Box-Toppers points since 1995. Miguel Cabrera leads first basemen over past season and past six seasons.
Read MoreBox-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.