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Braves pitcher Sean Newcomb is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Newcomb had a no-hitter intact through 8 2/3 innings before giving up his only hit. He struck out eight over 8 2/3 innings, allowing one run, one hit and one walk, in the 4-1 win over the Dodgers.
Read MoreMariners pitcher James Paxton is the most deserving player not selected to the 2018 Major League Baseball All-Star teams.
Paxton has 14.0 Box-Toppers points in 2018, fifth among all players and fourth among American League pitchers.
Read MoreMets pitcher Zack Wheeler is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Wheeler struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 4-1 win over the Marlins.
Read MoreHere are Box-Toppers points leaders at each position over a variety of time frames.
For example, the all-time leader, Randy Johnson leads with 278.8 career Box-Toppers points (earned since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began). Johnson also leads in Box-Toppers points among all pitchers since 1995. Chris Sale leads over past season, Max Scherzer leads over past two seasons and Clayton Kershaw leads over past six seasons and also leads all active players in career Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreMike Piazza has the most Box-Toppers points of any catcher since tracking began in 1995.
Brian McCann leads active catchers in career points. Buster Posey leads catchers in
Box-Toppers points over the past season, past two seasons and past six seasons.
Read MoreThe Box-Toppers All-Star teams for 2012-17 consist of the best players over the past six seasons, which includes 12 of the 27 players who are also on Box-Toppers 2016-17 All-Star teams.
Also, among the 27 players on the teams, there are 11 players who are on Box-Toppers 2017 All-Star teams and 10 who are on All-Star teams over all three time spans—for 2017, for 2016-17 and for 2012-17.Leading the 2012-17 All-Stars is Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who ranks first in Box-Toppers points over the past six seasons with 147.2.
Read MoreThe Box-Toppers All-Star teams for 2016-17 consist of the best players at each position in each league over the past two seasons.
Among the 27 players included on the American and National League teams are 17 who are also on Box-Toppers 2017 All-Star teams. Leading the 2016-17 All-Stars is Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who ranks first in Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons with 50.7.
Read MoreFive of the top 10 players in batting average for 2017 are among Box-Toppers’ top 100 players.
But two of the top 10 on the list were not even among the top half of players in 2017, including the overall batting average leader, Jose Altuve of the Astros, who ranked 387th among players in 2017 with just 2.5 Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw leads players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2012.
Kershaw has 147.2 Box-Toppers points over the period 2012-2017, 18.3 points ahead of second-place player in that span, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (128.9). However, Kershaw’s lead in the six-year rolling Box-Toppers point total is down from last year and is his narrowest lead since 2013.
Read MoreOnly 7 of 17 Silver Slugger Award winners also led their position in Box-Toppers points
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.)
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Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw remains atop Box-Toppers weekly player rankings for the 14th straight week, despite being on the disabled list since July 24.
Meanwhile, Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs takes the lead among National League batters in Box-Toppers points, passing last week’s leader Buster Posey of the Giants.
Read MoreIndians 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.
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Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw remains atop Box-Toppers weekly player rankings for the 13th straight week, despite being on the disabled list since July 24.
Meanwhile, Buster Posey of the Giants takes the lead among National League batters in Box-Toppers points, passing last week’s leader, Nolan Arenado of the Rockies.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, bolstering his Box-Toppers points lead among American League pitchers.
Also Tuesday, Buster Posey of the Giants rises to lead National League batters in 2017 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to seventh place in overall Box-Toppers player rankings.
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Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 13.1 |
| 4 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 |
| 5 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.4 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 10.4 |
| 7 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 8 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.0 |
| 9 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 9.7 |
| 10 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 9.4 |
Also Monday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Nola struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hit and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the Pirates.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and one walk, in the 6-3 win over the Blue Jays.
American League Batter of the Day—Max Kepler of the Twins homered, doubled and went 4-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 9-5 win over the Angels.
National League Batter of the Day—Yadier Molina of the Cardinals hit two doubles and went 3-for-3, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 14-6 win over the Marlins.
Molina earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season, tied for his highest single-season Box-Toppers point total just barely halfway into the season. He previously had 4.5 Box-Toppers points in both 2010 and 2012 with the Cardinals. Molina has been earning Box-Toppers points since 2004. He currently ranks 12th among among NL batters this season and second among NL catchers, behind Buster Posey of the Giants (5.5).
Rankings—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises from ninth to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Strasburg (7IP 2H 0R 3BB 6K ND in the 3-2 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season. He becomes the eighth player this season to reach 10 or more Box-Toppers points and has now reached 10 points in five seasons, including four in a row currently. Strasburg ranks third among NL pitchers in season Box-Toppers points, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (18.1) and Max Scherzer of the Nationals (16.0).
Debut—Brewers pitcher Brent Suter made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Suter (6IP 4H R 0ER BB 8K W in the 8-1 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut Aug. 19, 2016, and was playing in his 23rd career game. He is the 3,843rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Nola earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tanaka earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Kepler and Molina each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
| 7/3 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | PHI 4, PIT 0 | Aaron Nola (W, 6-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 8.0 | MIL 8, BAL 1 | Brent Suter (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 8.0 | `WSH 3, NYM 2 | Stephen Strasburg | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| AL | 7.0 | NYY 6, TOR 3 | Masahiro Tanaka (W, 7-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| 5.2 | KC 3, SEA 1 | Ian Kennedy (W, 3-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 5.1 | CHW 7, OAK 2 | Carlos Rodon (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | ||
| 5.0 | BOS 7, TEX 5 (F/11) | Heath Hembree (W, 1-2) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | MIN 9, LAA 5 | Max Kepler (RF) | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | STL 14, MIA 6 | Yadier Molina (C) | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | COL 5, CIN 3 | Greg Holland (S, 27) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.4 | 25.5 | 84.6 | 93.3 | -4.7 |
| Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 8.0 | 8.0 | 38.0 | 41.0 | 8.0 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 6.4 | 20.5 | 41.2 | 41.2 | -7.7 |
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 5.7 | 12.4 | 14.4 | 14.4 | -1.0 |
| Molina, Yadier 1967 | ca | stl nl | 4.5 | 8.5 | 18.0 | 39.2 | 0.5 |
| Kennedy, Ian 2723 | pi sp | kc al | 4.0 | 14.0 | 45.1 | 70.5 | -6.0 |
| Kepler, Max 3664 | rf | min al | 1.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -5.0 |
| Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | chi al | 1.0 | 9.0 | 17.1 | 17.1 | -7.0 |
| Hembree, Heath 3620 | pi cp | bos al | 1.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | -0.7 |
| Suter, Brent 3843 | pi sp | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
A look at top players in Box-Toppers points by position in both leagues over both 2017 and the combined 2016-17 seasons.
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Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and becomes the fourth player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.0 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 11.4 |
| 4 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 5 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 6 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 8.2 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.7 |
| 8 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 |
| 9 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 7.5 |
| 10 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 7.4 |
Also Sunday, Aaron Judge of the Yankees rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings—first among all batters—after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Ray struck out 12 over 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and four walks, in the 11-1 win over the Brewers.
Ray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season, rising from fifth to fourth place in season player rankings. He ranks third among National League pitchers, behind overall leader Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (14.4) and Max Scherzer of the Nationals (12.0). This is Ray’s first season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points—in 2015 he had 4.0 and in 2016 he had 6.7.
American League Player of the Day—Aaron Judge of the Yankees hit two homers and doubled, going 4-for-4, scoring four times and driving in three runs, in the 14-3 win over the Orioles.
Judge earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 8.2 for the season, rising to sixth place in season player rankings, first among all batters and the only batter among the overall top 10 players. He passes previous AL batting leader Miguel Sano of the Twins (6.5).
National League Batter of the Day—Buster Posey of the Giants doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 13-8 win over the Twins.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Aaron Judge.
Streak—Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Happ (6IP 6H 0R BB 8K W in the 4-0 win over the Mariners) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2008 with the Phillies and has 52.2 career points, 26th among active AL pitchers. His best season was 2016 with the Blue Jays when he had 14.7 Box-Toppers points, third among AL pitchers.
Debut—Rangers pitcher Austin Bibens-Dirkx made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Bibens-Dirkx (7IP 3H R BB 2K W in the 5-1 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut May 17 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,820th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Ray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Judge earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Posey earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
| 6/11 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.2 | ARI 11, MIL 1 | Robbie Ray (W,7-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | |
| 9.0 | PIT 3, MIA 1 | Ivan Nova (W,6-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| AL | 7.0 | NYY 14, BAL 3 | Aaron Judge, RF | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | TOR 4, SEA 0 | J.A. Happ (W,1-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 4.2 | `CLE 4, CHW 2 | Andrew Miller | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | DET 8, BOS 3 | Justin Upton, LF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | SF 13, MIN 8 | Buster Posey, 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | KC 8, SD 3 | Mike Moustakas, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | LAA 12, HOU 6 | Eric Young Jr., LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | LAD 9, CIN 7 | Corey Seager, SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TB 5, OAK 4 | Mallex Smith, CF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | NYM 2, ATL 1 | Seth Lugo (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | TEX 5, WSH 1 | Austin Bibens-Dirkx (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | CHC 7, COL 5 | Carl Edwards Jr. (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | STL 6, PHI 5 | Dexter Fowler, CF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 | 16.7 | 20.7 | 20.7 | 3.3 |
| Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 |
| Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 | 14.0 | 29.7 | 37.1 | -2.0 |
| Posey, Buster 2745 | ca 1b | sf nl | 4.5 | 8.0 | 33.0 | 37.5 | 1.0 |
| Fowler, Dexter 2698 | cf ph | stl nl | 3.5 | 5.0 | 19.0 | 21.5 | 2.0 |
| Miller, Andrew 2436 | pi mr | cle al | 3.0 | 11.0 | 18.0 | 26.0 | -5.0 |
| Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | det al | 3.0 | 9.7 | 35.9 | 54.1 | -3.7 |
| Edwards, Carl Jr. 3775 | pi mr | chi nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Smith, Mallex 3819 | cf | tb al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Seager, Corey 3587 | ss | lad nl | 2.0 | 6.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | -2.0 |
| Moustakas, Mike 2967 | dh 3b | kc al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 22.2 | 24.2 | 1.0 |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 1.0 | 15.7 | 41.2 | 52.2 | -13.7 |
| Lugo, Seth 3729 | pi sp | nym nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Young, Eric Jr. 2941 | lf | ana al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 1.0 |
| Bibens-Dirks, Austin 3820 | pi sp | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Mike Piazza leads catchers in career Box-Toppers points. Brian McCann leads active catchers in career points.
Read MoreFour players appear on Box-Toppers All-Star teams over all three major time periods (2016, 2015-16, 2011-16)—Kershaw, Scherzer, Hamels and Trout.
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.