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Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who led National League players in Box-Toppers points in 2018, led all pitchers in strikeouts in 2018.
In fact, seven of the overall top 10-ranked players in 2018 Box-Toppers points are among the top 10 season strikeout leaders. And all 10 strikeout leaders rank among the top 17 players in 2018 Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreStriving to create a more perfect Box-Toppers, I discovered some errors in player tracking in 2018 and have been correcting them in recent weeks.
There were 10 total errors I discovered that changed the Box-Toppers point totals for 17 different players. Those errors were discovered after re-examining about one-third of the 2,430 games played in the 2018 season. So in other words, after looking at about 830 games, I found 10 errors.
Read MoreAbout 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 MoreAstros 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 MoreBoth National League Division Series begin Thursday.
The Wild Card Colorado Rockies face the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers in one best-of-five game series and the NL East winners, the Atlanta Braves take on the Los Angeles Dodgers, champions of the NL West in the other series.
Read MoreThe Colorado Rockies visit the Chicago Cubs in the National League one-game Wild Card playoff game Tuesday.
Read MoreMets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to 10th place in season player rankings.
deGrom struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 3-0 win over the Braves.
Read MoreMarlins pitcher Wei-Yin Chen is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Chen struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 1-0, 10-inning win over the Reds. Chen did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Read MoreBraves pitcher Sean Newcomb is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming the 35th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points.
Also Monday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Verlander also rises to 11th place in career points since 1995, passing the the 170.7 career point total of the late Roy Halladay.
Read MoreDiamondbacks 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 MoreRockies pitcher German Marquez is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Marquez struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 9-1 win over the Cardinals. Marquez did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied when he exited. The Rockies scored eight runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take the lead.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to eighth place in season player rankings.
Sale struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 11-0 win over the Yankees.
Read MoreBox-Toppers top-ranked rookies, Aaron Judge of the Yankees and Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers, were unanimously named 2017 Rookies of the Year Monday.
Read MoreRockies pitcher German Marquez is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
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Rays pitcher Chris Archer is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 6.7 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 6.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 5.4 |
| 6 | Triggs, Andrew 3723 | pi sp | oak al | 5.4 |
| 7 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 5.0 |
| 8 | Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 5.0 |
| 9 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 |
| 10 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 5.0 |
Also Wednesday, Athletics pitcher Andrew Triggs rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Archer struck out 11 over eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits and no walks, in the 12-1 win over the Royals.
National League Player of the Day—Rockies pitcher German Marquez struck out eight over eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk-in the 3-0 win over the Cubs.
This was Marquez’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Marquez made his Major League debut Sept. 8, 2016, and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,788th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—Robinson Cano of the Mariners homered and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 11-6 win over the Phillies.
Cano has now earned Box-Toppers points in 13 consecutive seasons. He earned his first points in 2005 with the Yankees and has 76.9 career points, sixth among active AL batters. His best season was 2013 with the Yankees, when he had 12.5 points, fourth among AL batters. In 2016, Cano had 8.0 points with the Mariners, second among AL second basemen.
National League Batter of the Day—Dexter Fowler of the Cardinals hit a pinch-hit, go-ahead triple in the 7-5 win over the Marlins. Fowler went 1-for-1, scoring once and driving in two runs.
Rankings—Athletics pitcher Andrew Triggs rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Triggs (6IP 3H R 3BB 4K W in the 3-1 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.4 for the season. Triggs ranks fourth among AL pitchers.
Scoring—Archer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Marquez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Cano and Fowler each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter 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.
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| 5/10 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | TB 12, KC 1 | Chris Archer (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | |
| NL | 12.0 | COL 3, CHC 0 | German Marquez (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 6.0 | ARI 7, DET 1 | Zack Godley (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 4.1 | LAD 5, PIT 2 | Kenta Maeda (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 8.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | SEA 11, PHI 6 | Robinson Cano, 2B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | WSH 7, BAL 6 | Matt Albers (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | TOR 8, CLE 7 | Ezequiel Carrera, RF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | STL 7, MIA 5 | Dexter Fowler, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | SF 6, NYM 5 | Buster Posey, 1B-C | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TEX 4, SD 3 | Shin-Soo Choo, DH | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | HOU 4, ATL 2 | Carlos Correa, SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | OAK 3, LAA 1 | Andrew Triggs (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 1.0 | MIL 7, BOS 4 | Travis Shaw, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Triggs, Andrew 3723 | pi sp | oak al | 5.4 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 4.4 |
| Shaw, Travis 3544 | 3b 1b | mil nl | 2.5 | 9.5 | 13.7 | 13.7 | -4.5 |
| Fowler, Dexter 2698 | cf ph | stl nl | 2.5 | 4.0 | 18.0 | 20.5 | 1.0 |
| Choo, Shin-Soo 2267 | rf dh | tex al | 2.5 | 3.5 | 23.5 | 50.2 | 1.5 |
| Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp | lad nl | 2.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | -8.0 |
| Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 2.0 | 11.0 | 51.1 | 51.1 | -7.0 |
| Posey, Buster 2745 | ca 1b | sf nl | 2.0 | 5.5 | 30.5 | 35.0 | -1.5 |
| Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | sea al | 1.5 | 9.5 | 39.0 | 76.9 | -6.5 |
| Correa, Carlos 3506 | ss | hou al | 1.0 | 8.7 | 15.9 | 15.9 | -6.7 |
| Godley, Zack 3538 | pi sp | ari nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 0.0 |
| Albers, Matt 2274 | pi cp | dc nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 | 0.0 |
| Carrera, Ezequiel 2873 | rf | tor al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.5 | 5.5 | 1.0 |
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.