Blog
Twins pitcher Ervin Santana had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2017 to 2018.
Santana, who earned 16.1 Box-Toppers points in 2017 (ninth among all players), earned no points in 2018. His decline of 16.1 points was just ahead of Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, whose 6.7 points in 2018 represented a 15.1-point drop from the 22.5 points he earned in 2017.
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 MoreIndians 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 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 MoreYankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka had the best single-game performance of the 2017 season as measured by Box-Toppers game score.
There were 2,430 games played in 2017. Here are the 10 games in which the Box-Toppers Player of the Game had the highest Box-Toppers game scores.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Chris Sale, 2017’s leader in Box-Toppers points, also was the season’s leader in strikeouts.
Six of the 10 leaders in strikeouts in 2017 were among the top 10 pitchers in their league in Box-Toppers points. All 10 strikeout leaders were among the overall top 100 players in Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreCorey Kluber of the Indians had the lowest earned run average of any pitcher in 2017 and ranked fifth in Box-Toppers player rankings.
The overall Box-Toppers points leader, Chris Sale of the Red Sox (25.1), finished sixth place in ERA (2.90). Eight of the top 10 ERA leaders finished in the top 10 in Box-Toppers points in 2017.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Luis Severino had the biggest improvement in Box-Toppers point totals from 2016 to 2017, and is this season’s Box-Toppers’ Most Improved Player.
Severino had 19.1 more Box-Toppers points in 2017 than he did in 2016. In 2016, he had 2.0 Box-Toppers points and in 2017, he had 21.1 points, seventh among all players, fourth among American League pitchers.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who led all National League players in 2017 Box-Toppers points, was voted NL Cy Young Award winner Wednesday.
However, Box-Toppers overall top player, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale, finished second in voting for the American League Cy Young Award. He lost to Indians pitcher Corey Kluber, who ranked second among AL pitchers in Box-Toppers rankings, fifth overall.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Kenley Jansen and Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Saturday’s pair of National League League Division Series games.
Read MoreCubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks is Box-Toppers top player in Friday’s four league division series playoff games.
The other three Players of the Game Friday:
Trevor Bauer of the Indians and Jose Altuve of the Astros are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Thursday’s pair of American League Division Series openers.
Bauer struck out eight over 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the Yankees. The Indians now lead the Yankees 1-0 in the best-of-five series.
Read MoreJake 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 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 MoreRays pitcher Blake Snell is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day on the final day of the regular season.
Snell struck out 13 over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 6-0 win over the Orioles. Snell had the seventh-highest Box-Toppers game score of the season Sunday (+18.0). (See chart below: Highest Box-Toppers game scores of 2017.)
Read MoreYankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, earning the highest Box-Toppers game score of the season.
Also Friday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreAndrew McCutchen of the Pirates is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, earning the third-highest Box-Toppers game score by a batter this season.
Also Tuesday, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale failed to secure Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors in his start Tuesday, as his team lost, leaving the door open for Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer or Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw to pass him in starts later this week in the season’s final days.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to lead season player rankings, passing Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who only took the lead Tuesday.
Sale struck out 13 over eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 9-0 win over the Orioles.
Read MoreAthletics pitcher Daniel Mengden is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Yankees pitcher Luis Severino rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray rises to 10th after both earned Player of the Game honors. Plus, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale failed in his chance to rise to the Box-Toppers points lead after he did not earn Player of the Game honors in his team’s win.
Read MoreDiamondbacks pitcher Zack Godley is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors, extending his dominating lead among National League batters. Rizzo becomes the first batter since June 27 to be ranked among the season’s top 10 players.
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.