Blog
Orioles 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 MoreMets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fourth place in season player rankings.
Also Friday, Padres pitcher Yu Darvish rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read More
Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow leads Box-Toppers weekly season player rankings report for the second straight week.
Meanwhile, J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox continues to lead American League batters, Trevor Rogers of the Marlins rises to lead National League pitchers and Bryan Reynolds of the Pirates rises to lead NL batters.
Read MoreMets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow extended his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, the two active players with the most career Box-Toppers points both earned Player of the Game honors—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and Astros pitcher Zack Greinke.
Read More
Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow leads Box-Toppers first weekly season player rankings report of the 2021 season.
Meanwhile, Pirates pitcher Joe Musgrove leads National League pitchers, J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox leads American League batters and Justin Turner of the Dodgers leads NL batters.
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 MoreIndians pitcher Shane Bieber is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to second place in season player rankings.
Also Tuesday, two other players rise into Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors—Red Sox pitcher Matt Barnes and Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer.
Read MoreRays pitcher Tyler Glasnow is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to first place in season player rankings.
Also Monday, three other players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors—Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta and Padres pitcher Yu Darvish.
Read MoreDiamondbacks pitcher Luke Weaver is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Meanwhile, J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox takes the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors Sunday.
Read MoreMarlins pitcher Trevor Rogers is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Indians pitcher Aaron Civale rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Read MorePadres pitcher Joe Musgrove, pitching a no-hitter, is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Musgrove struck out 10 in a complete-game shutout, allowing no walks, in the 3-0 win over the Rangers. Musgrove faced 28 batters, one over the minimum, allowing only one baserunner on a hit by pitch.
Read More
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 MoreCubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fourth place in season player rankings.
Also Tuesday, Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings—first place among National League players—after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MorePirates pitcher Joe Musgrove is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Musgrove struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 2-0 win over the Reds.
Read MoreRockies pitcher Tyler Anderson is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Anderson struck out eight over eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 3-1 win over the Dodgers.
Read MoreGeorge Springer of the Astros is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in World Series Game 2 Wednesday.
The Houston Astros win 7-6 in 11 innings to tie the best-of-seven game series at 1-1.
Read More
Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 18.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
| 5 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 6 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.4 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.0 |
| 10 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.7 |
Martinez struck out 13 over six innings, allowing one run, four hits and two walks, in the 6-5 win over the Brewers. Martinez did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because after he exited, the Brewers went ahead before the Cardinals came back to take the lead in the ninth inning.
American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Joe Musgrove pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing three hits and three walks, in the 6-0 win over the Athletics.
American League Batter of the Day—Mike Trout of the Angels homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-2 win over the Reds.
Trout earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.0 points for the season. He becomes the 33rd player—and fifth batter—this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 32nd among all players and third among AL batters, behind Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5) and Manny Machado of the Orioles (11.7). This is Trout’s second straight 10-point season, his third overall.
Trout had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +3.0 and had an identical line score (HR 2B 3-4 2R 2BI) with teammate C.J. Cron. But Trout won Player of the Game honors on a tiebreaker because he had one walk and Cron had none.
National League Batter of the Day—Jorge Soler of the Cubs homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, driving in two runs, in the 8-7, 13-inning win over the Pirates.
Notable—Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of the 13 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday.
Bauer (6IP 5H 0R BB 4K ND in the 1-0, 10-inning win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season. He ranks 19th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers.
Also notable—Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark became the 32nd player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Roark (7IP 4H 0R BB 5K W in the 4-0 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He ranks 25th among all players and 15th among NL pitchers.
Additionally notable—Carlos Beltran of the Rangers now has 103.9 career Box-Toppers points—64th-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Beltran (HR 2B 3-4 2R 2BI in the 6-3 win over the Mariners) passes Red Sox pitcher David Price (103.2) on the “all-time” list and now trails 63rd-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Beltran has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season. This was his first Player of the Game honor since being traded from the Yankees.
Beltran had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +3.0, tied with AL Batter of the Day Mike Trout. Both Beltran and Trout had identical line scores, but Trout won AL Batter of the Day honors on a tiebreaker because he had fewer strikeouts than Beltran—zero vs. one.
Debut—Mets pitcher Josh Smoker made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Smoker (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut Aug. 19 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,725th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Martinez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Musgrove earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Trout and Soler 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/29 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | `STL 6, MIL 5 | Carlos Martinez | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 13 | |
| 7.0 | WSH 4, PHI 0 | Tanner Roark (W,14-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 7.0 | COL 8, LAD 1 | Jon Gray (W,9-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| AL | 6.1 | HOU 6, OAK 0 | Joe Musgrove (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | |
| 4.0 | TOR 5, BAL 1 | Marco Estrada (W,8-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | `CLE 1, MIN 0 (10) | Trevor Bauer | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | LAA 9, CIN 2 | Mike Trout, CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | TEX 6, SEA 3 | Carlos Beltran, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | KC 8, NYY 5 | Dillon Gee (W,6-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | NYM 2, MIA 1 (10) | Josh Smoker (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 9, TB 4 | Travis Shaw, 3B-1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | CHC 8, PIT 7 (13) | Jorge Soler, LF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.0 | DET 4, CHW 3 | Francisco Rodriguez (S,37) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| `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 | +/- |
| Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 11.4 | 20.8 | 29.5 | 29.5 | 2.0 |
| Roark, Tanner 3261 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.7 | 11.7 | 26.7 | 26.7 | 9.7 |
| Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 10.0 | 22.0 | 46.5 | 46.5 | -2.0 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 9.7 | 23.4 | 24.4 | 24.4 | -4.0 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 8.0 | 16.0 | 40.1 | 40.1 | 0.0 |
| Shaw, Travis 3544 | 1b 3b | bos al | 5.5 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 1.3 |
| Beltran, Carlos 1194 | dh rf | tex al | 5.0 | 8.5 | 25.9 | 103.9 | 1.5 |
| Gray, Jon 3634 | pi sp | col nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Gee, Dillon 2808 | pi sp | kc al | 4.7 | 5.7 | 32.5 | 33.5 | 3.7 |
| Rodriguez, Francisco 1707 | pi cp | det al | 3.0 | 4.0 | 17.0 | 63.4 | 2.0 |
| Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | hou al | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| Soler, Jorge 3403 | lf | chi nl | 2.5 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | -0.7 |
| Smoker, Josh 3725 | pi cp | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Reds pitcher Homer Bailey is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 16.2 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 14.1 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 8 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.4 |
| 9 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 12.7 |
| 10 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 12.5 |
Bailey struck out 11 over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 7-4 win over the Brewers.
American League Player of the Day—Jonathan Lucroy of the Rangers hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 8-5 win over the Tigers.
Lucroy earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Friday. Lucroy ranks 110th among all players, 20th among AL batters and third among AL catchers (behind Russell Martin of the Blue Jays and Matt Wieters of the Orioles, both of whom have 7.0 Box-Toppers points).
National League Batter of the Day—Matt Szczur of the Cubs hit two homers, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring four times and driving in three runs, in the 13-2 win over the Cardinals.
This was Szczur’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Szczur made his Major League debut Aug. 17, 2014, and was playing in his 156th career game. He is the 3,704th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Jonathan Lucroy.
Notable—Four batters Friday had Box-Toppers game scores of +6.0—Lucroy, Szczur, Hanley Ramirez of the Red Sox and Ryan Schimpf of the Padres.
Lucroy and Szczur ranked ahead of Ramirez and Schmipf because they both had three hits, while the other two had two hits. And Lucroy ranked ahead of Szczur because he had more RBIs—five vs. three.
Debut—Astros pitcher Joe Musgrove made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Musgrove (7IP 6H 2R BB 7K W in the 5-3 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut Aug. 2 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,705th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
A-Rod—Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees played in the apparent final game of his career Friday, a 6-3 win over the Rays.
Rodriguez doubled and went 1-for-4, driving in a run, giving him a Box-Toppers game score of −2.0. Player of the Game for the Yankees was closer Delin Betances (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K Sv).
If that truly is the end for Rodriguez, 41, he exits with 187.0 career Box-Toppers points, which as of Friday, was the highest total for any active player, the most points earned by any batter since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) and the fourth-highest total of any player since 1995.
However, Rodriguez did not earn any Box-Toppers points in 2016. He earned 7.7 points in 2015, the year after he returned from a 2014 yearlong suspension for violating baseball’s performance enhancing drug policy. More on Rodriguez’s career through a Box-Toppers perspective here.
Scoring—Bailey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lucroy earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Szczur earns 1.5 points for being NL 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
| 8/12 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | CIN 7, MIL 4 | Homer Bailey (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| AL | 6.0 | TEX 8, DET 5 | Jonathan Lucroy, C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 6.0 | CHC 13, STL 2 | Matt Szczur, CF | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | BOS 9, ARI 4 | Hanley Ramirez, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 6.0 | SD 8, NYM 6 | Ryan Schimpf, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | PHI 10, COL 6 | Ryan Howard, 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | CLE 13, LAA 3 | Brandon Guyer, LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | ATL 8, WSH 5 | Freddie Freeman, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | KC 7, MIN 3 | Yordano Ventura (W,8-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 4.0 | NYY 6, TB 3 | Dellin Betances (S,4) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.1 | `CHW 4, MIA 2 | Nate Jones (H,23) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 5, TOR 3 | Joe Musgrove (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | BAL 5, SF 2 | Zach Britton (S,36) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | OAK 6, SEA 3 | Marcus Semien, SS | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | PIT 5, LAD 1 | Andrew McCutchen, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `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 | +/- |
| Lucroy, Jonathan 2744 | ca | tex al | 5.7 | 7.4 | 26.3 | 27.3 | 4.0 |
| Ventura, Yordano 3294 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 | 16.7 | 26.4 | 26.4 | -6.7 |
| Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 5.0 | 8.0 | 36.2 | 36.2 | 2.0 |
| Ramirez, Hanley 2119 | 1b | bos al | 5.0 | 5.0 | 27.7 | 55.6 | 5.0 |
| Semien, Marcus 3302 | ss | oak al | 4.5 | 4.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 4.5 |
| Britton, Zach 2835 | pi cp | bal al | 4.0 | 12.7 | 32.1 | 32.1 | -4.7 |
| Jones, Nate 3125 | pi mr | chi al | 4.0 | 5.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 3.0 |
| McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | cf | pit nl | 3.5 | 14.0 | 44.7 | 50.4 | -7.0 |
| Schimpf, Ryan 3686 | 3b 2b | sd nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Howard, Ryan 2040 | 1b | phi nl | 2.0 | 7.5 | 32.4 | 98.7 | -3.5 |
| Betances, Dellin 3333 | pi mr cp | nyy al | 2.0 | 6.0 | 10.7 | 10.7 | -2.0 |
| Bailey, Homer 2324 | pi sp | cin nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 36.4 | 47.1 | 2.0 |
| Szczur, Matt 3704 | cf | chi nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Guyer, Brandon 3363 | lf | cle al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 0.0 |
| Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | hou al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 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.