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The Chicago White Sox rise to lead Box-Toppers weekly player rankings report, while the Los Angeles Dodgers tumble from first to eighth place.
Also, the Philadelphia Phillies rise to lead National League teams in Box-Toppers rankings and the New York Yankees are the week’s hottest team.
Read MoreOrioles pitcher John Means, pitching a no-hitter, is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fourth place in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, Padres pitcher Yu Darvish rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read More
The Los Angeles Dodgers lead Box-Toppers weekly team rankings report for the third week in a row.
Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox, the week’s hottest team, rise to lead American League teams.
Read MoreWhite Sox pitcher Dylan Cease is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Cease struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 11-0, seven-inning win over the Tigers.
Read MoreWhite Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon, pitching a no-hitter, is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to seventh place in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, Red Sox pitcher Matt Barnes rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning his fourth Player of the Game honor of the 2021 season.
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 MoreReds pitcher Anthony DeSclafani is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Meanwhile, Rays pitcher Blake Snell rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Read MoreThree of the four players who won Cy Young or Most Valuable Player awards in 2017 also led their teams in Box-Toppers points for the season.
The only exception: American League Most Valuable Player Jose Altuve did not lead Astros batters in Box-Toppers points. In fact, with only 2.5 Box-Toppers points, he finished 11th among Astros batters and 21st among all Astros players.
Read More
White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 24.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.4 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | died* | 22.4 |
| 4 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 22.1 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.2 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 17.8 |
| 7 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.7 |
| 8 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym al | 15.7 |
| 9 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 |
| 10 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
Also Sunday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Plus, Sunday: Jose Fernandez, 24, died in a Miami boating accident. Two of his friends also died. The Miami Marlins pitcher ranked third in Box-Toppers season player rankings with 22.4 Box-Toppers points. Box-Toppers will have more on Fernandez in a coming, separate post.
Player of the Day—Rodon struck out 11 over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and walking three, in the 3-0 win over the Indians.
National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Robert Gsellman struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 17-0 win over the Phillies.
This was Gsellman’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Gsellman made his Major League debut Aug. 23 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,748th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—Alex Gordon of the Royals hit a homer and two doubles, going 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 12-9 win over the Tigers.
National League Batter of the Day—Jayson Werth of the Nationals hit a game-tying, eighth-inning, pinch-hit, two-run homer in the 10-7 win over the Pirates.
Rankings—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Lester (6.2IP 3H 0R BB 7K W in the 3-1 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 22.1 for the season.
Lester now has 143.2 career Box-Toppers points, 26th-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 25th-ranked player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (143.9) on the “all-time” list.
Scoring—Rodon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gsellman earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Gordon and Werth each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/25 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | CHW 3, CLE 0 | Carlos Rodon (W,8-10) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | |
| 11.1 | `BOS 3, TB 2 (10) | Eduardo Rodriguez | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 13 | ||
| NL | 10.0 | NYM 17, PHI 0 | Robert Gsellman (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| 9.2 | CHC 3, STL 1 | Jon Lester (W,19-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | KC 12, DET 9 | Alex Gordon, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7.0 | OAK 7, TEX 1 | Jharel Cotton (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 6.0 | `TOR 4, NYY 3 | Marco Estrada | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | CIN 4, MIL 2 | Brandon Finnegan (W,10-11) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | BAL 2, ARI 1 | Dylan Bundy (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | SEA 4, MIN 3 | Nelson Cruz, DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | WSH 10, PIT 7 | Jayson Werth, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.1 | `LAD 4, COL 3 (10) | Brandon McCarthy | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | HOU 4, LAA 1 | Joe Musgrove (W,4-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1.2 | SD 4, SF 3 | Brad Hand (S,1) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0.0 | stl-chc | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 22.1 | 34.1 | 80.3 | 143.2 | 10.1 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 11.0 | 19.0 | 43.1 | 43.1 | 3.0 |
| Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | chi al | 7.0 | 15.1 | 15.1 | 15.1 | -1.1 |
| Finnegan, Brandon 3535 | pi sp | cin nl | 7.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 4.0 |
| Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224 | dh | sea al | 6.5 | 8.5 | 34.2 | 53.7 | 4.5 |
| Werth, Jayson 1664 | lf | dc nl | 6.0 | 9.0 | 23.0 | 50.2 | 3.0 |
| Bundy, Dylan 3655 | pi sp | bal al | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Hand, Brad 2907 | pi mr | sd nl | 5.0 | 6.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 4.0 |
| Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | bos al | 4.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 | -1.3 |
| Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | hou al | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| McCarthy, Brandon 2082 | pi sp | lad nl | 2.7 | 4.7 | 27.8 | 36.5 | 0.7 |
| Cotton, Jharel 3733 | pi sp | oak al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Gsellman, Robert 3748 | pi sp | nym nl | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| Gordon, Alex 2328 | lf | kc al | 1.5 | 6.0 | 22.0 | 31.5 | -3.0 |
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 pitching leaders Jake Arrieta and Dallas Keuchel won Cy Young Awards. But Box-Toppers leaders in four other award categories did not win awards.
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 MoreJake Arrieta of the Cubs tops Box-Toppers player rankings in 2015. The World Champion Kansas City Royals have the most representatives among the top 100 players—seven.
Read More
Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.7 |
| 2 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 21.1 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 19.4 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 19.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 19.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.0 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 17.4 |
| 8 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 17.0 |
| 10 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 16.8 |
Also Tuesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw regained the lead in Box-Toppers player rankings and Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to 10th. Also, two players with more than 150 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday—Kershaw and Giants pitcher Tim Hudson, who rose to 13th place among all players since 1995.
Player of the Day—Liriano struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 7-3 win over the Reds.
Liriano earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.9 for the season. He rises to 16th place among all players and ninth among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 7-4 win over the Indians.
National League Batter of the Day—Starlin Castro of the Cubs hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 8-5 win over the Cardinals.
American League Batter of the Day—Eric Hosmer of the Royals hit a three-run double in the 4-2 win over the Twins.
Hosmer earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 9.0 for the season and rises to fifth among AL batters.
New leader—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw regained the top spot in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
| Date | Player | Team | BTP |
| 4/5 | Adam Wainwright | stl nl | 2.0 |
| 4/6 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 2.0 |
| 4/13 | Scott Kazmir | oak al | 3.7 |
| 4/18 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 4.0 |
| 6/26 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 14.0 |
| 7/9 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 14.4 |
| 7/12 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 15.0 |
| 7/24 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 15.4 |
| 7/26 | Jacob deGrom | nym nl | 16.4 |
| 9/2 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 20.7 |
| 9/5 | Jake Arrieta | chi nl | 21.1 |
| 9/8 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 21.7 |
Kershaw (7IP 4H 2R 8K W in the 6-4 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.7 for the season. He passes previous leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (21.1 points), who took the lead from Kershaw on Saturday, Sept. 5.
Kershaw also now has 155.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 15th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 14th-place player Mike Mussina (155.6).
Rankings—Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings Tuesday. Gray (7IP 5H 0R 4K W in the 4-0 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.8 for the season. He ranks fifth among AL pitchers.
Notable—Giants pitcher Tim Hudson rose to 13th place among all players in Box-Toppers since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Hudson (6IP 4H R 4K W in the 6-2 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 156.0 career Box-Toppers points. With his point Tuesday, he passes Mike Mussina (155.6) on the “all-time” list and trails 12th-place player Felix Hernandez (160.7). (Mussina started his career in 1991, before Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995, and would likely have an estimated 190 total Box-Toppers points if his entire career were tracked.) Hudson has 3.0 Box-Toppers points this season.
Debuts—Four players made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Liriano earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rodon earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Castro and Hosmer each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’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
| 9/8 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | Pirates | Francisco Liriano (W,10-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| AL | 7.0 | White Sox | Carlos Rodon (W,7-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| 7.0 | Phillies | Aaron Nola (W,6-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W,13-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 6.0 | `Padres | Colin Rea | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 5.2 | Marlins | Kyle Barraclough (MR) (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Cubs | Starlin Castro, 2B | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Athletics | Sonny Gray (W,13-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | Giants | Tim Hudson (W,7-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 3.1 | `Tigers | Drew VerHagen (MR) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | `Blue Jays | R.A. Dickey | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | Rangers | Shawn Tolleson (S,31) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | `Orioles | T.J. McFarland (MR) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Mets | Kirk Nieuwenhuis, PH-LF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | Royals | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to 18th in player rankings.
Also Tuesday, two players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings:
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 17.4 |
| 2 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 16.1 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.0 |
| 4 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 15.8 |
| 5 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 15.4 |
| 6 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.4 |
| 7 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.0 |
| 8 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.0 |
| 9 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 14.4 |
| 10 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 14.4 |
Plus, Ichiro Suzuki of the Marlins, with his first Player of the Game honor of the season, has now earned Box-Toppers points in 15 straight seasons.
Player of the Day—Bumgarner pitched a complete game five-hitter, allowing one run and striking out 12, in the 3-1 win over the Astros.
Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season. He is the 24th player with 10 or more Box-Toppers points this season and ranks 18th among all players, ninth among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 11 and allowing four hits, in the 3-0 win over the Angels.
National League Batter of the Day—Jedd Gyorko of the Padres homered and went 2-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 11-6 win over the Reds.
American League Batter of the Day—Joe Mauer of the Twins doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in one run, in the 3-2 win over the Rangers.
Rankings—Two players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday:
Notable—There were five players who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday who now have more than 10 Box-Toppers points on the season. In addition to Bumgarner, Harvey and Greinke, the other two are:
Streak—Ichiro Suzuki of the Marlins has now earned Box-Toppers points for 15 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season on Tuesday.
Suzuki (1-2 R BI in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point. He earned his first points in 2001 with the Mariners. His best season was 2007 with the Mariners, when he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ninth among AL outfielders. In 2014, he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point with the Yankees. He has 51.7 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks sixth among active NL outfielders.
Scoring—Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rodon earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Gyorko and Mauer each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’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
| 8/11 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | Giants | Madison Bumgarner (W,13-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | |
| AL | 13.0 | White Sox | Carlos Rodon (W,5-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| 8.0 | Mets | Matt Harvey (W,11-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 8.0 | `Indians | Carlos Carrasco | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 6.0 | Dbacks | Jeremy Hellickson (W,8-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 6.0 | Rays | Erasmo Ramirez (W,9-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 6.0 | Royals | Yordano Ventura (W,7-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | Dodgers | Zack Greinke (W,12-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | Cardinals | Trevor Rosenthal (S,34) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Padres | Jedd Gyorko, 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Blue Jays | Drew Hutchison (W,11-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | `Mariners | Taijuan Walker | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 1.0 | Cubs | Anthony Rizzo, 1B | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | Twins | Joe Mauer, 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.0 | Marlins | Ichiro Suzuki, RF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to the top of season player rankings.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.4 |
| 2 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 15.4 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.0 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 14.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 13.1 |
| 6 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.0 |
| 7 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 13.0 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 13.0 |
| 9 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 12.7 |
| 10 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 12.7 |
Also Sunday, Mike Trout of the Angels becomes the first batter with 10 Box-Toppers points, Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole rises to eighth place in season Box-Toppers player rankings and David Ortiz of the Red Sox now has 135.9 career Box-Toppers points.
Player of the Day—deGrom pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out eight, in the 3-2, 10-inning win over the Dodgers. deGrom picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because after he exited, the Dodgers tied the game, 2-2.
deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 16.4 Box-Toppers points for the season, rising from fourth to first place in season player rankings. DeGrom passes previous Box-Toppers points leader, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (15.4 Box-Toppers points) who only regained the overall lead on Friday.
American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing five hits, in the 2-1 win over the Indians.
American League Batter of the Day—David Ortiz of the Red Sox hit two three-run homers and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in seven runs, in the 11-1 win over the Tigers.
Ortiz earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 135.9 career Box-Toppers points. He ranks 24th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 23rd-place player Bartolo Colon (136.4). Ortiz has 2.5 Box-Toppers points this season.
National League Batter of the Day—Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies hit two homers and went 3-for-4, scoring four times and driving in six runs, in the 17-7 win over the Reds.
Gonzalez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.5 for the season, fourth among NL batters.
| Date | Player | Team | BTP |
| 4/5 | Adam Wainwright | stl nl | 2.0 |
| 4/6 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 2.0 |
| 4/13 | Scott Kazmir | oak al | 3.7 |
| 4/18 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 4.0 |
| 6/26 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 14.0 |
| 7/9 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 14.4 |
| 7/12 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 15.0 |
| 7/24 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 15.4 |
| 7/26 | Jacob deGrom | nym nl | 16.4 |
Notable—Mike Trout of the Angels is the first batter this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Trout (2HR GS 4-4 3R 5BI in the 13-7 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 Box-Toppers points for the season. He maintains his rank as first among AL batters and ranks 21st among all players. Trout is the 21st overall player with 10 Box-Toppers points this season.
Rankings—Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole rises to eighth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Cole (7.2IP 7H R 8K W in the 3-1 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.
Scoring—deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rodon earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Ortiz and Gonzalez each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 7/26 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.2 | `Mets | Jacob deGrom | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| AL | 10.2 | White Sox | Carlos Rodon (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| BAT | 9.0 | Red Sox | David Ortiz, DH | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 9.0 | Rockies | Carlos Gonzalez, RF | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 8.0 | Angels | Mike Trout, CF | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 6.2 | Pirates | Gerrit Cole (W,14-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | Dbacks | Jeremy Hellickson (W,7-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | Royals | Yordano Ventura (W,5-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | Yankees | Chase Headley, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Padres | Odrisamer Despaigne (W,4-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | Orioles | Zach Britton (S,25) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | Phillies | Domonic Brown, RF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Giants | Matt Duffy, 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Mariners | Joe Beimel (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | `Braves | Arodys Vizcaino | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Giants pitcher Chris Heston, pitching a no-hitter, is Tuesday's Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to eighth in season player rankings.
Heston struck out 11 over nine innings, allowing no hits, runs or walks, in the 5-0 win over the Mets. Heston allowed three base runners—he hit three batters with pitches.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 12.4 |
| 2 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 11.0 |
| 3 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 11.0 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.4 |
| 5 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 9.7 |
| 6 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 9.7 |
| 7 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.0 |
| 8 | Heston, Chris 3437 | pi sp | sf nl | 8.7 |
| 9 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 8.1 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 |
Heston earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season, rising to eighth in player rankings and fifth among NL pitchers.
Heston had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of 20, the second-highest score of the season. On May 13, Corey Kluber of the Indians had the season’s highest Box-Toppers game score so far—25 (8IP H 0R 0BB 18K).
American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out seven in the 6-0 win over the Cubs.
National League Batter of the Day—Joey Votto of the Reds hit three home runs, going 3-for-4, scoring four times and driving in four runs, in the 11-2 win over the Phillies.
American League Batter of the Day—Kole Calhoun of the Angels doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 8-2 win over the Rays.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Heston earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sanchez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Votto and Calhoun each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’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
| 6/9 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 20.0 | Giants | Chris Heston (W, 6-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | |
| BAT | 7.0 | Reds | Joey Votto 1B | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AL | 6.2 | Tigers | Anibal Sanchez (W, 4-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| 6.0 | Rockies | Jorge De La Rosa (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 6.0 | Yankees | Masahiro Tanaka (W, 4-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 6.0 | Brewers | Taylor Jungmann (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | White Sox | Carlos Rodon (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | Rangers | Nick Martinez (W, 5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||
| 4.1 | Royals | Chris Young (W, 5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Angels | Kole Calhoun RF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Dodgers | Kenley Jansen (S, 7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | Orioles | Zach Britton (S, 16) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Braves | Andrelton Simmons SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Edwin Encarnacion DH | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Mariners | Dustin Ackley PH, LF | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 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.