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The Los Angeles Dodgers are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2021 preseason rankings. They also ended 2020 as Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team and World Series champions.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Chicago Cubs saw the biggest decline.
Read MoreWhite Sox pitcher Dane Dunning is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Dunning struck out seven over five scoreless and hitless innings, allowing one walk, in the 5-2, 10-inning win over the Royals. Dunning did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Royals tied the game after he exited.
Read MoreJosh Bell of the Pirates is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to 10th place in season player rankings and taking the lead among National League batters.
Bell hit three home runs, including a three-run shot, in the 18-5 win over the Cubs. Bell went 4-for-6, scoring four times and driving in seven runs.
Read MoreBraves pitcher Julio Teheran is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Teheran struck out 11 over six scoreless and no-hit innings, allowing three walks, in the 4-1 win over the Padres. Teheran was pitching a no-hitter when he was pulled after 95 pitches, experiencing cramping. The bullpen gave up seven hits and a run in the final three innings.
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The Cleveland Indians are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2018 preseason rankings, the same position where they finished the 2017 season.
The Nationals top NL teams and the World Series-champion Astros fall to 8th.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Tampa Bay Rays and the Kansas City Royals had the biggest declines.
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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Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Thursday’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 | 14.0 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 12.1 |
| 5 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 6 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.4 |
| 7 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 9.4 |
| 8 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 9.4 |
| 9 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 9.0 |
| 10 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 8.7 |
Also Thursday, Box-Toppers season points leader Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers extended his lead after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to 20th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Kluber struck out 12 over eight innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 5-1 win over the Rangers.
Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season, rising to 13th among all players, fifth among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw struck of 12 over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 6-2 win over the Angels.
Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 18.1 for the season, extending his season player rankings lead over second-place player, Max Scherzer of the Nationals (14.0 Box-Toppers points). With his lead of 4.1 points, Scherzer would now need at least three starts to catch or pass Scherzer.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 201.8 |
| 4 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 190.0 |
| 6 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 184.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 169.7 |
| 10 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 11 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 12 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 164.8 |
| 13 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 14 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 15 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 17 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 18 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 19 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | dfa by braves | 151.2 |
| 20 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 149.2 |
With the season at the halfway point, Kershaw is now on pace to earn 36.2 Box-Toppers points this season, which would break the single-season record of 33.7 set by Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson, who did it twice, in 2000 and 2002 (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995). However, at this time last year, Kershaw led all players with 20.0 Box-Toppers points and was on pace to earn 40.0 points, but spent more than two months on the disabled list beginning in late June, and had only 4.4 points in the second half of the season, finishing with 24.4, in second place behind Scherzer’s 25.7.
The most Box-Toppers points Kershaw has earned in a single season is 31.5 in 2014, when he led all players. It is tied for the fourth-highest single-season Box-Toppers points by a player since tracking began in 1995.
Also, Kershaw now has 201.8 career Box-Toppers points, third-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails second-place player Pedro Martinez (244.8). Kershaw ranks first among all active players in career Box-Toppers points.
National League Batter of the Day—Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals hit a go-ahead, three-run, seventh-inning homer in the 10-4 win over the Diamondbacks. Grichuk also doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros hit two home runs and went 2-for-3, driving in four runs, in the 6-1 win over the Athletics.
Notable—Two other players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points also earned Player of the Game honors Thursday:
Rankings—Jay Bruce of the Mets rises to lead NL batters in season Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Bruce (2B 2-3 2R 2BI in the 6-3 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season, passing previous NL batting leader Matt Adams of the Braves (6.5). Bruce ranks 21st among all players.
Debut—Willy Garcia of the White Sox made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Garcia (2B 2-3 0R 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Yankees) made his Major League debut April 14 and was playing in his 29th career game. He is the 3,841st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kershaw earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Grichuk and Correa each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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.
| 6/29 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | CLE 5, TEX 1 | Corey Kluber (W, 7-2) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |
| 13.0 | BAL 2, TOR 0 | Ubaldo Jimenez (W, 3-3) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| NL | 13.0 | LAD 6, LAA 2 | Clayton Kershaw (W, 12-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | |
| 10.0 | MIL 11, CIN 3 | Jimmy Nelson (W, 6-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | ||
| 10.0 | SD 6, ATL 0 | Dinelson Lamet (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | STL 10, ARI 4 | Randal Grichuk (CF-LF) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | HOU 6, OAK 1 | Carlos Correa (SS) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | `CHC 5, WSH 4 | Jon Lester | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 3.2 | DET 7, KC 3 | Michael Fulmer (W, 7-6) | - | - | - | - | 8.2 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | NYM 6, MIA 3 | Jay Bruce (RF) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 6, MIN 3 | David Price (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 1.1 | PIT 4, TB 0 | Jameson Taillon (W, 4-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 1.0 | CHW 4, NYY 3 | Willy Garcia (RF) | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.1 | 42.5 | 142.2 | 201.8 | -6.3 |
| Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 8.0 | 29.2 | 73.4 | 73.4 | -13.2 |
| Bruce, Jay 2453 | rf | nym nl | 7.0 | 15.5 | 32.7 | 65.8 | -1.5 |
| Nelson, Jimmy 3299 | pi sp | mil nl | 7.0 | 10.0 | 20.4 | 20.4 | 4.0 |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 6.0 | 28.1 | 73.6 | 149.2 | -16.1 |
| Fulmer, Michael 3640 | pi sp | det al | 4.7 | 17.4 | 17.4 | 17.4 | -8.0 |
| Correa, Carlos 3506 | ss | hou al | 4.0 | 11.7 | 18.9 | 18.9 | -3.7 |
| Grichuk, Randal 3474 | rf cf lf | stl nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 14.5 | 14.5 | 3.0 |
| Lamet, Dinelson 3808 | pi sp | sd nl | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| Taillon, Jameson 3658 | pi sp | pit nl | 3.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -2.0 |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 2.7 | 15.1 | 77.1 | 108.9 | -9.7 |
| Jimenez, Ubaldo 2349 | pi sp | bal al | 2.0 | 6.7 | 38.6 | 81.5 | -2.7 |
| Garcia Willy 3841 | rf | chi al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Diamondbacks pitcher Taijuan Walker is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Walker struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing two runs on four hits, in the 6-2 win over the Padres.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 2 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 5.7 |
| 3 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 4.7 |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 4.0 |
| 6 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 4.0 |
| 7 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 4.0 |
| 8 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 4.0 |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 3.7 |
| 10 | Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi mr sp | sd nl | 3.7 |
Walker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, most among the 11 Thursday who earned Player of the Game honors. Walker rises to 17th place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka pitched a complete-game, three-hit, shutout in the 3-0 win over the Red Sox. Tanaka struck out three and walked none.
National League Batter of the Day—Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals hit a two-run, ninth-inning homer to tie the game, in the 8-4, 11-inning win over the Blue Jays. Grichuk went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in three runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Yan Gomes of the Indians doubled and went 1-for-1, scoring a run, in the 4-3 win over the Astros.
Streaks—Two players extended their streaks of 10 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points after both earned Player of the Game honors Thursday:
Scoring—Walker 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. Grichuk and Gomes each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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.
| 4/27 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | ARI 6, SD 2 | Taijuan Walker (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | |
| AL | 9.0 | NYY 3, BOS 0 | Masahiro Tanaka (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | STL 8, TOR 4 (F/11) | Randal Grichuk, RF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.2 | `SEA 2, DET 1 | Hisashi Iwakuma | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | WSH 16, COL 5 | Daniel Murphy, 2B | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 7, NYM 5 | Kurt Suzuki, C | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | LAD 5, SF 1 (F/10) | Kenley Jansen (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | `PHI 3, MIA 2 | Joaquin Benoit (H,6) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | STL 6, TOR 4 | Trevor Rosenthal (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | LAA 2, OAK 1 | Ricky Nolasco (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | CLE 4, HOU 3 | Yan Gomes, C | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Walker, Taijuan 3453 | pi sp | ari nl | 3.0 | 10.7 | 24.4 | 24.4 | -4.7 |
| Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | dc nl | 2.0 | 9.5 | 30.5 | 34.5 | -5.5 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 1.7 | 15.8 | 36.5 | 36.5 | -12.4 |
| Grichuk, Randal 3474 | rf | stl nl | 1.5 | 2.5 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 0.5 |
| Gomes, Yan 3177 | ca | cle al | 1.5 | 2.5 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 0.5 |
| Nolasco, Ricky 2125 | pi sp | ana al | 1.0 | 12.4 | 29.1 | 88.2 | -10.4 |
| Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048 | pi sp | sea al | 1.0 | 7.0 | 55.2 | 55.2 | -5.0 |
| Jansen, Kenley 2871 | pi cp mr | lad nl | 1.0 | 7.0 | 32.7 | 37.4 | -5.0 |
| Rosenthal, Trevor 3124 | pi cp | stl nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 23.0 | 23.0 | -3.0 |
| Suzuki, Kurt 2344 | ca | atl nl | 1.0 | 2.5 | 13.5 | 33.0 | -0.5 |
| Benoit, Joaquin 1663 | pi mr | phi nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 9.0 | 30.5 | 0.0 |
Padres pitcher Andrew Cashner is Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day for Saturday.
Cashner pitched three scoreless innings, allowing no hits and striking out five, in the 6-3 win over the Indians. Cashner started the game but did not pick up the win. In 2015, Cashner had 3.0 Box-Toppers points.
American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Buck Farmer pitched two scoreless innings, allowed two hits, struck out five and earned the save, in the 3-0 win over the Pirates. Farmer has appeared in 18 regular season Major League games since 2014, but has yet to earn his first Box-Toppers point by earning Player of the Game honors during the regular season.
National League Batter of the Day—Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four, in the 14-9 win over the Mets. Grichuk had 9.5 Box-Toppers points in 2015, fifth among NL batters.
American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, driving in four runs, in the 14-5 win over the Athletics. Beltre led AL batters in 2015 with 12.5 Box-Toppers points. He also led AL batters in 2012 with 13.0 points.
Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Cashner would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Farmer would earn 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Grichuk and Beltre would earn 1.5 points for being top batter in their league for the day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 3/12 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 7.0 | `Padres | Andrew Cashner | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| BAT | 6.0 | Cardinals | Randal Grichuk CF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | Cubs | Jason Hammel (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 6.0 | `Rockies | Taylor Jungmann | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 5.0 | Dbacks | Rubby De La Rosa (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| AL | 5.0 | Tigers | Buck Farmer (SV, 1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 4.2 | `Rays | Matt Moore | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Rangers | Adrian Beltre 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Phillies | Nick Williams RF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Mariners | Tyler O'Neill PR-LF-RF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Nationals | Michael A. Taylor CF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Angels | Todd Cunningham PH-CF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Orioles | Steve Tolleson 3B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Marlins | Derek Dietrich 1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Cardinals | Daniel Poncedeleon (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Dodgers | Elian Herrera 2B | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Dodgers | Austin Barnes C | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Dbacks | Michael Freeman LF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| ` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets had the highest single-game Box-Toppers game score for a batter in 2015 of +11. Here's a look at the 16 best batting performances in 2015 as measured by Box-Toppers game score.
Read MoreBox-Toppers' top pitchers Jake Arrieta of the Cubs and Dallas Keuchel of the Astros are Cy Young Award finalists. But Box-Toppers' top batters Adrian Beltre of the Rangers and Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies are not MVP finalists.
Read MoreGiants pitcher Chris Heston led NL rookies in Box-Toppers points and Indians pitcher Carlos Rodon led AL rookies. Both were shut out of Rookie of the Year voting, losing to Kris Bryant (NL) and Carlos Correa (AL).
Read MoreJosh Donaldson of the Blue Jays wins Players Choice top player award, though Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Box-Toppers Player of the Year.
Read MoreComing back from injury, Matt Harvey had the biggest gain in Box-Toppers points from 2014 to 2015. Rangers' Prince Fielder had big comeback year in AL, but 2 AL players had bigger gains from 2014 to 2015.
Read More
Baseball proceeds whether we are ready or not.
In the past few weeks, other duties put me behind staying up-to-date with the Box-Toppers daily blog and I have been scrambling to catch up. I fell behind three weeks and three days ago, on Aug. 13 and only caught up today (Monday, Sept. 7) with yesterday’s games.
Usually when a person falls behind doing something, it’s best to just move ahead and ignore most of what was missed. But when you’re trying to keep comprehensive track of the baseball season, to assess and evaluate teams and players across an entire season, it is a mistake to simply ignore a chunk of the season, simply due to lack of convenience or lack of attention. So I’ve gone back and picked up the days I’ve missed, posting each day’s summary in the blog, even if was sometimes more than a week late.
During my catch-up phase, I did not post daily highlights to Box-Toppers’ Twitter and Facebook feeds. Instead, I’ve opted to post a summary of highlights of what was missed in the interim while I wasn’t posting to social media here in this post, with links to the relevant posts in the Box-Toppers blog:
New Box-Toppers leaders—Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta took over the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings on Saturday, Sept. 5. Arrieta has 21.1 Box-Toppers points and passed previous leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who took the lead Wednesday, Sept. 2. (Kershaw has 20.7 Box-Toppers points.) Previously, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom led from July 26 to Sept. 1. He currently ranks third with 19.4 points.
Arrieta picked up 6.7 Box-Toppers points during the catch-up period (Aug. 13 to Sept. 6), including earning Player of the Day honors twice—on Sunday, Aug. 30 (when he pitched a no-hitter) and on Sept. 5.
New American League pitching leader—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel took the lead among AL pitchers on Sunday, Sept. 6 with 19.4 Box-Toppers points. Previously, Blue Jays pitcher David Price led AL pitchers. He currently ranks second among AL pitchers with 19.1 points.
New American League batting leader—Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays took the lead among AL batters on Saturday, Aug. 29 with 10.4 Box-Toppers points. Previously, Mike Trout of the Angels led AL batters. Trout currently has 10.0 Box-Toppers points and ranks second among AL batters.
New National League batting leader—Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies took the lead among NL batters on Thursday, Sept. 3 with 11.5 Box-Toppers points. Previously, Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets took the lead among NL batters on Friday, Aug. 21 with 9.9 points. Before that, Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals led NL batters. He currently ranks fourth with 9.5 points.
New Box-Toppers team rankings leader—The Kansas City Royals took over the lead among teams at the last Box-Toppers team ranking report, as of Thursday, Sept. 3. The St. Louis Cardinals rose to top NL teams. For three weeks previously (Aug. 13, 20 and 27), the Pittsburgh Pirates were the top-ranked team. The Pirates ranked third as of Sept. 3.
Notable—Here are some notable achievements by players that happened during the catch-up phase (Aug. 13 to Sept. 6):
Debuts—Twenty-three players made their Box-Toppers debut during the catch-up phase. Here is the list with links to the blog post for the day they made their debut with more information:
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So what was I doing that was keeping me from Box-Toppers? I served as a volunteer coordinator for our local high school band’s major fundraiser. Over the course of the 11-day Iowa State Fair, I helped wrangle nearly 300 student and parent volunteers to fill 550 volunteer spots to serve ice cream and shakes at the fair’s Dairy Barn.
It’s a task that requires a few months of preparation to set up—to get volunteers signed up, to comply with various red-tape regulations and to develop and implement logistics to make it all work. But when the fair starts, the task can sometimes become even more time-consuming. As soon as the fair started on Aug. 13, Box-Toppers fell to the wayside.
My last “on-time” post was Thursday, Aug. 13, covering the games of Wednesday, Aug. 12. The very next post was more than a week later on Friday, Aug. 21, covering the games of Thursday, Aug. 13. After the fair ended on Aug. 23, I kept plugging away, finally catching up two more weeks later.
The fundraiser went well, by the way. All our volunteers made it, worked hard, had a little fun (and a little ice cream) and raised a lot of money for our high school band program. It was my fifth and final year of coordinating volunteers for the fundraiser. And though it put me a little behind updating the Box-Toppers blog, it was a lot of fun and now that it’s over, tremendously satisfying.
And now, with my attention returned more fully to baseball, onto the homestretch of the season …
Royals, with hot week, rise to led team rankings. Cardinals regain NL team lead. Pirates fall to third.
Read MoreMets' Jacob deGrom leads player rankings. Yoenis Cespedes takes the lead among NL batters. David Price keeps lead among AL pitchers and Mike Trout still leads AL batters.
Read More
(Other duties have put us behind updating Box-Toppers. Playing catch up …)
Astros pitcher Mike Fiers, pitching a no-hitter, is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Friday, Aug. 21.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 19.4 |
| 2 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 17.1 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.7 |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.0 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.0 |
| 7 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 15.8 |
| 8 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 15.4 |
| 9 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.4 |
| 10 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.4 |
Also Friday, Blue Jays pitcher David Price rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to third. Plus, Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets took the lead among NL batters in Box-Toppers points.
Player of the Day—Fiers threw 134 pitches in the 3-0 no-hitter over the Dodgers. He struck out 10 and walked three.
Fiers earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season. They were his first Box-Toppers points since being traded from the Brewers.
National League Player of the Day—Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets hit three home runs—a grand-slam, a two-run homer and a solo shot—in the 14-9 win over the Rockies. Cespedes also hit a double and went 5-for-6, scoring five times and driving in seven runs.
Cespedes earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 9.9 for the season and rising to first among NL batters. He passes previous leader Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals (9.5 Box-Toppers points). Cespedes has 3.2 of his Box-Toppers points since being traded from the Tigers.
American League Batter of the Day—Blake Swihart of the Red Sox doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 7-2 win over the Royals.
This was Swihart’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Swihart made his Major League debut May 2 and was playing in his 59th career game. He is the 3,565th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall NL Player of the Day is a batter—Yoenis Cespedes.
Rankings—Two players rose in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 after earning Player of the Game honors Friday:
Notable—Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco (6IP 5H R 11K W in the 7-3 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 15.0 for the season. He ranks 12th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers.
Debut—In addition to Swihart, one other player made his Box-Toppers debut Friday—Phillies pitcher Jerad Eickhoff (6IP 5H 0R 5K W in the 7-1 win over the Marlins), who also was making his Major League debut. He is the 3,566th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Fiers earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cespedes earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Swihart earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/21 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.0 | Astros | Mike Fiers (W,6-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | |
| NL | 11.0 | Mets | Yoenis Cespedes, CF-LF | 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 10.0 | White Sox | Chris Sale (W,12-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 14 | ||
| 9.2 | Indians | Carlos Carrasco (W,12-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | ||
| 7.0 | Padres | Andrew Cashner (W,5-12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 6.0 | Blue Jays | David Price (W,12-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Red Sox | Blake Swihart, C | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Phillies | Jerad Eickhoff (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | Twins | Kevin Jepsen (S,6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | Dbacks | A.J. Pollock, CF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Rangers | Shawn Tolleson (S,24) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | Brewers | Kyle Lohse (S,1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | Cubs | Jason Motte (MR) (W,8-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.2 | Rays | Drew Smyly (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | Giants | Marlon Byrd, RF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Jacob deGrom leads players with 19.4 Box-Toppers points. Price leads AL pitchers, Trout leads AL batters, Grichuk leads NL batters.
Read MoreJacob deGrom leads all players. David Price takes over AL pitching lead. Trout, Grichuk lead league batting categories.
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.