Rangers’ Gibson tops players for Saturday, June 26; Mets’ deGrom extends player rankings lead

Rangers pitcher Kyle Gibson is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom extended his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

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Phillies’ Nola tops players for Sunday, April 18; Indians’ Bieber rises to 2nd in player rankings

Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to seventh place in season player rankings.

Meanwhile, Indians pitcher Shane Bieber rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

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Marlins’ Alcantara tops players in Wednesday, March 17’s spring training games

Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s spring training games.

Alcantara struck out nine over five scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 3-2 win over the Mets. Alcantara did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Mets took the lead after he exited.

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Reds’ Luis Castillo tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 16; Rangers’ Gibson tops AL players

Reds pitcher Luis Castillo is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Castillo struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 1-0 win over the Pirates.

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Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg tops players for Sunday, July 28, rises to 5th in player rankings

Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fifth in season player rankings.

Strasburg struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and no walks, in the 11-4 win over the Dodgers.

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Twins’ Kyle Gibson tops players for Friday, June 14; Astros’ Cole rises to 4th in player rankings

Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rises to ninth place on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list, passing Alex Rodriguez.

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Wins leader Blake Snell also led players in Box-Toppers points in 2018

Blake Snell of the Rays, who led all pitchers in wins in 2018 with 21, also led all players in Box-Toppers points during the season with 27.2.

Six of the overall top 11 players in Box-Toppers points in 2018 are also among the top 11 pitchers in wins for the season. Plus, all 11 pitchers leading in wins are among the overall top 40 players in Box-Toppers points for the season.

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Twins’ Kyle Gibson tops players for Thursday, July 12; Pujols earns Box-Toppers points in 18th straight season

Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Thursday, Albert Pujols of the Angels has now earned Box-Toppers points in 18 consecutive seasons, tied with Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia for the longest active season streak; it is tied for the third-longest streak since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.

In addition Thursday, Box-Toppers’ two top-ranked players for 2018 started Thursday but neither earned Player of the Game honors in their teams’ wins. Neither top-ranked Luis Severino of the Yankees nor second-ranked Max Scherzer of the Nationals were top players in their games.

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Twins' Gibson tops players for Tuesday, June 28; Kluber, Hamels rise in Box-Toppers top 10 rankings

Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of June 28:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 20.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 13.4
3 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 11.7
4 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 10.8
5 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 10.7
6 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 10.7
7 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 10.4
8 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 10.0
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 10.0
10 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 9.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings (first among American League pitchers) and Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to seventh place. Plus, Matt Carpenter took the lead Tuesday in season Box-Toppers points among National League batters.

Player of the Day—Gibson pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing five hits and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the White Sox.

National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester allowed one run over 7 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and one walk, striking out four, in the 7-2, 15-inning win over the Reds. Lester did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because even though the Cubs led when he exited, the Indians later tied the game before the Cubs went ahead with the winning runs in the 15th inning.

Lester earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 130.8 for his career, rising to 29th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes Trevor Hoffman (129.4) on the “all-time” list. He now trails 28th-ranked player Jason Giambi (133.4). Lester has 9.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 11th among all players and eighth among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros hit a three-run homer and a double and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five total runs, in the 7-1 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—Adrian Gonzalez doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 6-5 win over the Brewers.

Gonzalez has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the 2016 season Tuesday. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Padres and has 67.6 career points, third among active NL first basemen (behind Matt Holliday of the Cardinals, 97.8 and Ryan Howard of the Phillies, 96.7). Gonzalez’s best season was 2010 with the Padres when he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ninth among NL batters. He had 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Dodgers.

Rankings—Two players rise in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday, becoming the eighth and ninth players this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points:

  • Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (8IP 3H 2R BB 7K W in the 5-3 win over the Braves) rises to fourth place in player rankings. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.8 for the season. He also takes the Box-Toppers points lead among AL pitchers, passing previous leader, Chris Sale of the White Sox (10.7).
  • Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (7IP 6H 0R BB 7K W in the 7-1 win over the Yankees) rises to seventh place in player rankings. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season. Hamels also now has 136.6 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 27th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 26th-ranked player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (136.9). It is the 11th straight season Hamels has earned 10 or more Box-Toppers points. In fact, Hamels has had 10 or more points each season since he made his Box-Toppers debut in 2006.

Notable—Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals took the season lead in Box-Toppers points among NL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Carpenter (HR 2-3 2R 2BI n the 8-4 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.5 for the season. He passes Eugenio Suarez of the Reds (7.0) for the lead among NL batters. Carpenter ranks 23rd among all players.

Debut—Hyun Soo Kim of the Orioles made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Kim (HR 2B 2-3 2R 3BI in the 11-7 win over the Padres) made his Major League debut April 10 and was playing in his 37th career game. He is the 3,671st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Gibson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lester earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Correa and Gonzalez each earn 1.5 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/28 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 MIN 4/CHW 0 Kyle Gibson (W,1-5) - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 1 7
7.0 CLE 5/ATL 3 Corey Kluber (W,8-7) - - - - 8.0 3 2 2 1 7
7.0 TEX 7/NYY 1 Cole Hamels (W,9-1) - - - - 7.0 6 0 0 1 7
NL 5.2 `CHC 7/CIN 2 Jon Lester - - - - 7.2 3 1 1 1 4
BAT 5.0 HOU 7/LAA 1 Carlos Correa, SS 4 2 3 4 - - - - - -
4.0 BOS 8/TB 2 Travis Shaw, 3B 5 1 3 5 - - - - - -
4.0 BAL 11/SD 7 Hyun Soo Kim, LF 3 2 2 3 - - - - - -
4.0 OAK 13/SF 11 Stephen Vogt, C-1B 3 3 2 2 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 LAD 6/MIL 5 Adrian Gonzalez, 1B 3 2 3 1 - - - - - -
3.0 STL 8/KC 4 Matt Carpenter, 2B 3 2 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 TOR 14/COL 9 Russell Martin, C 5 3 3 1 - - - - - -
2.0 DET 7/MIA 5 Nick Castellanos, 3B 4 1 3 2 - - - - - -
2.0 SEA 5/PIT 2 Robinson Cano, 2B 4 2 3 1 - - - - - -
2.0 DC 5/NYM 0 Bryce Harper, RF 4 2 2 2 - - - - - -
1.0 PHI 4/ARI 3 Andres Blanco, 2B 2 1 1 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 10.8 24.2 55.0 55.0 -2.6
Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 10.4 25.8 77.4 136.6 -5.0
Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 9.7 21.7 67.9 130.8 -2.3
Carpenter, Matt 2987 3b 1b 2b stl nl 7.5 13.0 27.5 27.5 2.0
Martin, Russell 2202 ca tor al 7.0 12.0 28.5 49.5 2.0
Correa, Carlos 3506 ss hou al 6.7 13.9 13.9 13.9 -0.5
Cano, Robinson 2092 2b sea al 5.5 12.0 41.0 72.9 -1.0
Castellanos, Nick 3349 3b det al 4.0 10.2 12.2 12.2 -2.2
Shaw, Travis 3544 1b 3b bos al 3.5 7.7 7.7 7.7 -0.7
Harper, Bryce 3011 rf dc nl 3.0 12.0 27.4 27.4 -6.0
Blanco, Andres 2980 ss 3b 2b phi nl 3.0 4.0 5.0 5.0 2.0
Gibson, Kyle 3312 pi sp min al 2.0 10.0 16.0 16.0 -6.0
Gonzalez, Adrian 2193 1b lad nl 1.5 5.5 32.2 68.1 -2.5
Vogt, Stephen 3503 ca 1b oak al 1.0 3.5 3.5 3.5 -1.5
Kim, Hyun Soo 3671 lf bal al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Twins' Kyle Gibson tops players in Saturday, March 26's spring training games

Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson is Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day for Saturday.

Gibson pitched six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out eight, in the 3-0 win over the Pirates. Gibson had 8.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015, most among Twins players and 33rd among American League pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Matt Duffy of the Giants homered and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 5-2 win over the Cubs. Duffy had 6.2 Box-Toppers points in 2015, fourth among NL third basemen.

American League Batter of the Day—Audry Perez of the Orioles hit a three-run homer an went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 16-8 win over the Red Sox. Perez has played in three regular season Major League games, but has yet to earn Player of the Game honors and so has no Box-Toppers points.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall NL Player of the Day is a batter, Matt Duffy.

Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Gibson would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Duffy would earn 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day and Perez would earn 1.5 points for AL Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Note—Eighteen spring training games were scheduled for Saturday—15 are listed below. Two games are not included because they ended in ties (Mets vs. Braves and Diamondbacks vs. Brewers) and one other game was postponed (Marlins vs. Astros).

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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

3/26 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 Twins Kyle Gibson (W, 3-1) - - - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 0 8
8.1 `Astros Chris Devenski - - - - - - 4.1 3 0 0 0 7
7.0 `Yankees Bryan Mitchell - - - - - - 4.0 1 0 0 0 4
BAT 6.0 Orioles Audry Pérez C 2 2 2 4 0 0 - - - - - -
5.0 Tigers Justin Upton LF 4 3 4 2 0 0 - - - - - -
NL 4.0 Giants Matt Duffy 3B 4 3 3 2 0 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Rockies Trevor Story SS 3 3 3 1 0 0 - - - - - -
3.1 Rays Jake Odorizzi (W, 1-1) - - - - - - 6.1 5 1 1 2 6
3.1 Reds Caleb Cotham (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 2.1 2 0 0 0 3
3.1 Reds Tony Cingrani (Sv, 1) - - - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 Mariners Kyle Seager 3B 4 1 3 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.1 Dodgers Chris Hatcher (W, 1-1) - - - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 1
2.0 Royals Eric Hosmer 1B 2 2 1 1 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Angels Todd Cunningham PR-CF 1 2 0 1 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Nationals Tanner Roark (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 5.0 6 0 0 1 4
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Twins' Kyle Gibson tops players in Wednesday, March 16's spring training games

Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson is Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day for Thursday.

Gibson pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowing one run on two hits and striking out seven, in the 9-4 win over the Red Sox. Gibson had 8.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015, 33rd among AL pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Blake Treinen pitched two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out four, in the 4-2 win over the Marlins. Treinen had 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2015.

American League Batter of the Day—Gregorio Petit of the Angels homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 6-3 win over the Indians. Petit had 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2015 with the Yankees.

National League Batter of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 10-6 win over the Reds. Goldschmidt had 10.2 Box-Toppers points in 2015, fourth among NL batters.

Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Gibson would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Treinen would earn 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Petit and Goldschmidt would earn 1.5 points for being top batter in their league for the day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Note—Twelve spring training games were scheduled for Thursday—11 are listed below. One game is not include because it ended in a tie (Cardinals vs. Astros).

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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

3/16 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 5.1 Twins Kyle Gibson (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 3.1 2 1 1 1 7
5.0 Royals Chris Young (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 4.0 2 0 0 2 5
BAT 4.0 Angels Gregorio Petit SS 3 2 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Orioles Christian Walker 1B 1 1 1 3 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Tigers Jordan Zimmermann (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 3.0 2 0 0 0 3
NL 4.0 Nationals Blake Treinen (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 2.0 1 0 0 1 4
BAT 3.0 Dbacks Paul Goldschmidt 1B 4 2 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Mariners Leonys Martín CF 3 1 2 3 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Dodgers Shawn Zarraga C 2 1 2 1 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Brewers Ryan Braun LF 1 1 1 1 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Yankees Nathan Eovaldi (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 2 2

Cubs' Jon Lester (8IP R 9K) tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 30

Cubs pitcher Jon Lester is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Lester struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 10-3 win over the Reds.

Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.0 for the season. He ranks 26th among all players and 13th among NL pitchers.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 30.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 27.1
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 24.7
3 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 21.4
4 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 21.4
5 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 21.1
6 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 19.7
7 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 19.4
8 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 19.0
9 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 19.0
10 Carrasco, Carlos 2885 pi sp cle al 18.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Lester also now has 121.1 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 37th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 36th-ranked player Jered Weaver (123.1).

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 8-1 win over the Blue Jays.

American League Batter of the Day—Jose Ramirez of the Indians hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-2 win over the Twins.

National League Batter of the Day—Francisco Cervelli of the Pirates hit a grand slam and doubled, going 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-2 win over the Cardinals.

Rankings—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers maintained his rank of third among AL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Beltre (HR 2B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 6-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.5 for the season. He ranks 31st among all players and third among AL batters behind Mike Trout of the Angels (12.0) and Prince Fielder of the Rangers (11.5).

This was the second straight day Beltre earned Player of the Game honors. It was the fifth time in September Beltre earned the honor—he earned 6.0 total Box-Toppers points in September. In fact, Beltre has earned all his points since earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season on July 31. He had 4.5 Box-Toppers points in August. And despite a season when he had very similar numbers to this year, Beltre earned no Box-Toppers points in 2014—in fact this year, he has a lower batting average (.281 to .324) and lower home run totals (16 to 19) than in 2014. (One notable difference—the Rangers had 67 wins in 2014 and already have 86 in 2015, so Beltre has had more opportunity for Box-Toppers points this year, since players can only earn Player of the Game honors when their team wins.)

Beltre also Wednesday became the 68th player since 1995 to earn 100 or more career Box-Toppers points. Beltre now has 100.8 career points and rises to 65th place among all players since 1995. He passes three players on the “all-time” list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Paul Konerko (100.7). He trails 67th-ranked player Jason Schmidt (101.2).

It should be noted that Walker and Bagwell both started their careers before the advent of Box-Toppers in 1995 and that if their entire career were tracked they would likely have more points. Walker’s first year was 1989 and rough estimates would put his Box-Toppers career point total at 135. Bagwell began in 1991 and his estimated career total would be 125. Konerko began in 1997, so his entire career was tracked by Box-Toppers.

Notable—Giants pitcher Mike Leake became the 44th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Leake (CG 2H 0R K W in the 5-0 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He ranks 41st among all players and 17th among NL pitchers.

Top 10—Two pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings started Wednesday, but did not earn Player of the Game honors:

  • Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole (7IP 7H 2R 2K W in the 8-2 win over the Cardinals) had a Box-Toppers game score of -2. Player of the Game was Francisco Cervelli (GS 2B 2-4 2R 4BI), with a Box-Toppers game score of +4. Cole ranks ninth in Box-Toppers points with 19.0.
  • Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco (3IP 5H 5R 5K L in the 7-1 loss to the Twins) had a Box-Toppers game score of -9. Player of the Game was Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson (6IP 4H 0R 9K W), with a Box-Toppers game score of +9. Carrasco ranks 10th in Box-Toppers points with 18.0.

Scoring—Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gausman earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Ramirez and Cervelli each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/30 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 Cubs Jon Lester (W,11-12) - - - - - - 8.0 3 1 1 0 9
AL 11.0 Orioles Kevin Gausman (W,4-7) - - - - - - 8.0 5 1 1 0 10
9.0 Twins Kyle Gibson (W,11-11) - - - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 2 9
8.0 Cardinals Tyler Lyons (W,3-1) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 0 5
7.0 Blue Jays Marcus Stroman (W,4-0) - - - - - - 8.0 5 1 1 2 8
6.0 Brewers Zach Davies (W,3-2) - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 2 6
6.0 Rays Drew Smyly (W,5-2) - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 3 8
5.0 Giants Mike Leake (W,11-10) - - - - - - 9.0 2 0 0 3 1
BAT 4.0 Indians Jose Ramirez, 2B 4 2 2 4 1 0 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 Pirates Francisco Cervelli, C 4 2 2 4 0 2 - - - - - -
3.0 Phillies Freddy Galvis, SS 3 2 2 2 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Red Sox Travis Shaw, 1B 5 2 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Rangers Adrian Beltre, 3B 4 2 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Astros Luis Valbuena, 3B 3 2 2 1 1 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Royals Wade Davis (S,15) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
2.0 Braves Arodys Vizcaino (S,9) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 Athletics Eric Sogard, 2B 4 1 1 3 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Dbacks David Peralta, LF 2 0 2 1 1 0 - - - - - -

Twins' Gibson (8IP R 8K), Braves' Foltynewicz (7.2IP R 7K) top players for Sunday, May 23

Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson is Sunday’s Player of the Day.

Gibson struck out eight over eight innings, allowing one run, in the 8-1 win over the White Sox.

National League Player of the Day—Braves pitcher Mike Foltynewicz struck out seven over 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run, in the 2-1 win over the Brewers.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 24.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 9.7
2 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 8.0
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 7.0
4 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 7.0
5 Miller, Shelby 3134 pi sp atl nl 7.0
6 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 6.7
7 Harper, Bryce 3011 lf rf dc nl 6.5
8 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp phi nl 6.0
9 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 5.7
10 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 5.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Batter of the Day—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies hit a three-run homer, tripled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 11-2 win over the Giants.

American League Batter of the Day—Evan Gattis of the Astros homered, tripled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 10-8 win over the Tigers.

Notable—Mike Napoli of the Red Sox earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day. Napoli (two-run HR, two-run 2B, 2-3 2R 4BI in the 6-1 win over the Angels) was also Player of the Game Saturday. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point each day and has 3.5 Box-Toppers points this season, ranked ninth among AL batters.

Debut—Ryan Goins of the Blue Jays made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Goins (2R HR 2-3 3BI in the 8-2 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut Aug. 23, 2013, and was playing in his 134th career game. He is the 3,478th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Gibson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Foltynewicz earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Arenado and Gattis 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/24 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 10.0 Twins Kyle Gibson (W, 4-3) - - - - - - 8.0 4 1 1 0 8
NL 8.2 Braves Mike Foltynewicz (W, 3-1) - - - - - - 7.2 3 1 1 1 7
8.0 Pirates Francisco Liriano (W, 2-4) - - - - - - 6.0 6 1 1 2 12
BAT 6.0 Rockies Nolan Arenado 3B 5 3 4 4 0 0 - - - - - -
6.0 Padres Justin Upton LF 4 2 2 6 0 1 - - - - - -
BAT 5.0 Astros Evan Gattis DH 4 3 3 3 1 0 - - - - - -
5.0 Red Sox Mike Napoli 1B 3 2 2 4 1 1 - - - - - -
5.0 Athletics Sonny Gray (W, 5-2) - - - - - - 5.0 4 0 0 0 4
4.2 Indians Trevor Bauer (W, 4-1) - - - - - - 7.2 5 1 1 0 4
4.0 Rangers Shawn Tolleson (S, 3) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.1 Nationals Gio Gonzalez (W, 4-2) - - - - - - 6.1 7 1 1 1 7
3.0 Dbacks Paul Goldschmidt 1B 3 1 2 3 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Blue Jays Ryan Goins SS 2 1 1 3 2 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Cardinals Michael Wacha (W, 7-0) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 0 2 4
2.0 Marlins Martin Prado 3B 4 2 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -