Dodgers’ Walker Buehler tops players for Friday, Sept. 14; Braves’ Acuna rises to lead NL batter rankings

Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Meanwhile, Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves rises to lead National League batters in 2018 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

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Red Sox' Chris Sale tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 20, rises to lead Box-Toppers player rankings

Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to lead season player rankings, passing Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who only took the lead Tuesday.

Sale struck out 13 over eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 9-0 win over the Orioles.

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More pitchers lead their team in 2017 Box-Toppers points than batters at the All-Star break

A look at who leads each of the 30 teams in 2017 Box-Toppers points at the All-Star break.

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Athletics' Ryon Healy ‘most worthy but unchosen’ player for the 2017 All-Star Game

A look at the All-Star Game rosters through the Box-Toppers lens, including a look at the worthy left in the lurch and players whose selection Box-Toppers deems questionable.

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A look at Box-Toppers All-Star leaders and how they compare to All-Star vote-getters

A look at top players in Box-Toppers points by position in both leagues over both 2017 and the combined 2016-17 seasons.

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Giants' Jeff Samardzija tops players for Monday, June 5; Athletics' Healy tops AL players

Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of June 5:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 12.7
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 10.0
3 Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 9.4
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp bos al 8.4
5 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 7.7
6 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 7.4
7 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 7.4
8 Ray, Robbie 3502 pi sp ari nl 7.0
9 Wood, Alex 3246 pi sp lad nl 7.0
10 Vargas, Jason 2055 pi sp kc al 7.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Samardzija struck out 10 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing six hits, two runs and no walks, in the 7-2 win over the Brewers.

American League Player of the Day—Ryon Healy of the Athletics hit two home runs and went 2-for-3, driving in five runs, in the 5-3 win over the Blue Jays.

Healy earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 6.2 for the season, most of any of the seven who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. Healy ranks 14th in Box-Toppers season player rankings, third among AL batters behind Miguel Sano of the Twins (6.5) and Aaron Judge of the Yankees (6.5).

National League Batter of the Day—Aaron Altherr of the Phillies homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 11-4 win over the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Ryon Healy.

Scoring—Samardzija earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Healy earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Altherr earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

6/5 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.2 SF 7, MIL 2 Jeff Samardzija (W,2-7) - - - - 7.2 6 2 1 0 10
AL 6.0 OAK 5, TOR 3 Ryon Healy, DH 3 2 2 5 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 PHI 11, ATL 4 Aaron Altherr, LF 4 2 3 3 - - - - - -
3.2 CHC 3, MIA 1 Eddie Butler (W,3-1) - - - - 5.2 3 1 1 1 4
3.0 HOU 7, KC 3 Brian McCann, C 4 3 2 2 - - - - - -
3.0 CIN 4, STL 2 Raisel Iglesias (S,10) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 3
2.0 WSH 4, LAD 2 Anthony Rendon, 3B 3 2 2 1 - - - - - -
MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` 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 (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).  

Player of the Game Pos Team ’17 ’16-17 ’12-17 Career +/-
Healy, Ryon 3685 1b dh 3b oak al 6.2 9.2 9.2 9.2 3.2
Samardzija, Jeff 2495 pi sp sf nl 6.0 16.7 52.8 55.8 -4.7
Altherr, Aaron 3563 lf rf cf phi nl 6.0 8.5 9.5 9.5 3.5
Rendon, Anthony 3258 3b dc nl 4.5 10.0 16.5 16.5 -1.0
Butler, Eddie 3483 pi sp chi nl 2.7 3.7 4.7 4.7 1.7
McCann, Brian 2179 ca hou al 2.0 5.2 31.2 60.4 -1.2
Iglesias, Raisel 3467 pi cp cin nl 1.0 4.0 6.7 6.7 -2.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Angels' Alex Meyer tops players for Sunday, May 14; Rockies' Valaika tops NL players

Angels pitcher Alex Meyer is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Meyer struck out seven over 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 4-1 win over the Tigers.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 14:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp bos al 8.4
2 Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 7.7
3 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 7.0
4 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 6.0
5 Vargas, Jason 2055 pi sp kc al 6.0
6 Carrasco, Carlos 2885 pi sp cle al 5.4
7 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 5.4
8 Triggs, Andrew 3723 pi sp oak al 5.4
9 Kimbrel, Craig 2825 pi cp bos al 5.0
10 Nova, Ivan 2796 pi sp pit nl 5.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Player of the Day—Patrick Valaika of the Rockies hit two homers and went 2-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 9-6 win over the Dodgers.

This was Valaika’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Valaika made his Major League debut Sept. 6, 2016, and was playing in his 33rd career game. He is the 3,793rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Jason Kipnis of the Indians homered twice and went 4-for-5, driving in four runs, in the 8-3 win over the Twins.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall NL Player of the Day was batter Patrick Valaika.

Notable—Aaron Altherr of the Phillies has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of the 17 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Altherr (HR 2-3 R BI in the 4-3 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.5 for the season. He ranks 19th among all players and third among NL batters.

Debut—Besides Valaika, two other players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday with their first career Player of the Game honor:

  • Jesus Sucre of the Rays (2-3 R 3BI in the 11-2 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut May 24, 2013, and was playing in his 104th career game. He is the 3,794th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Jose Osuna of the Pirates (HR 1-2 R 2BI in the 6-4, 10-inning win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut April 18 and was playing in his 24th career game. He is the 3,795th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Minor oddity—Of the 17 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday, a large majority of them—13—were batters, including five who were catchers, generally the position that generates the lowest Box-Toppers point totals.

Scoring—Meyer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Valaika earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Kipnis earns 1.5 points for being AL 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

5/14 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 6.1 LAA 4, DET 1 Alex Meyer (W,2-1) - - - - 6.1 3 1 1 2 7
BAT 5.0 CLE 8, MIN 3 Jason Kipnis, 2B 5 2 4 4 - - - - - -
4.2 `NYY 11, HOU 6 Chad Green - - - - 3.2 1 0 0 1 3
4.1 TOR 3, SEA 2 Ryan Tepera (W,3-1) - - - - 2.1 0 0 0 0 2
4.0 KC 9, BAL 8 Drew Butera, C 4 3 3 2 - - - - - -
NL 4.0 COL 9, LAD 6 Patrick Valaika, SS 4 2 2 4 - - - - - -
4.0 MIA 3, ATL 1 Tyler Moore, PH 1 1 1 3 - - - - - -
3.0 TEX 6, OAK 4 Elvis Andrus, SS 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 STL 5, CHC 0 Yadier Molina, C 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 HOU 10, NYY 7 George Springer, CF 4 3 2 2 - - - - - -
3.0 TB 11, BOS 2 Jesus Sucre, C 3 1 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 SF 8, CIN 3 Buster Posey, C 2 2 2 1 - - - - - -
3.0 CHW 9, SD 3 Melky Cabrera, PH 1 1 1 2 - - - - - -
2.0 MIL 11, NYM 9 Manny Pina, C 5 2 2 3 - - - - - -
2.0 PIT 6, ARI 4 (F/10) Jose Osuna, 1B 2 1 1 2 - - - - - -
2.0 WSH 6, PHI 5 Matt Albers (S,2) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 PHI 4, WSH 3 Aaron Altherr, CF 3 1 2 1 - - - - - -
MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` 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 (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).  

Player of the Game Pos Team ’17 ’16-17 ’12-17 Career +/-
Altherr, Aaron 3563 lf rf cf ph phi nl 4.5 7.0 8.0 8.0 2.0
Tepera, Ryan 3774 pi mr tor al 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
Posey, Buster 2745 ca 1b sf nl 3.0 6.5 31.5 36.0 -0.5
Pina, Manny 3769 ca mil nl 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5
Meyer, Alex 3742 pi sp ana al 2.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 1.0
Valaika, Patrick 3793 ss col nl 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7
Kipnis, Jason 2933 2b cle al 1.5 1.5 20.5 23.5 1.5
Andrus, Elvis 2582 ss tex al 1.0 10.2 15.2 20.7 -8.2
Springer, George 3337 rf hou al 1.0 7.5 11.5 11.5 -5.5
Cabrera, Melky 2143 lf ph chi al 1.0 5.0 15.0 31.5 -3.0
Molina, Yadier 1967 ca stl nl 1.0 5.0 14.5 35.7 -3.0
Green, Chad 3675 pi mr nyy al 1.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 -2.0
Butera, Drew 2883 ca kc al 1.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 0.0
Moore, Tyler 3045 lf 1b ph fla nl 1.0 1.0 5.5 5.5 1.0
Osuna, Jose 3795 1b pit nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Sucre, Jesus 3794 ca tb al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Reds' Michael Lorenzen tops players for Monday, May 1; Rays' Odorizzi tops AL players

Reds pitcher Michael Lorenzen is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Lorenzen pitched two scoreless innings, striking out three and earning the win, in the 4-3, 10-inning win over the Pirates.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 1:  


 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 Nova, Ivan 2796 pi sp pit nl 5.0
4 Vargas, Jason 2055 pi sp kc al 5.0
5 Holland, Greg 2906 pi cp col nl 5.0
6 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp bos al 4.7
7 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 4.4
8 Triggs, Andrew 3723 pi sp oak al 4.4
9 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 4.0
10 Kimbrel, Craig 2825 pi cp bos al 4.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi struck out six over five innings, allowing two hits and two runs, in the 4-2 win over the Marlins. Odorizzi picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because the game was tied, 2-2, when he exited.

Lorenzen and Odorizzi had identical Box-Toppers game scores Monday (+5.0), but Lorenzen wins overall Player of the Day honors on a tiebreaker—he earned the win his game, while Odorizzi picked up a no-decision, even though Odorizzi pitched more innings than Lorenzen (5.0 vs. 2.0).

American League Batter of the Day—Tyler Collins of the Tigers hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice, in the 7-1 win over the Indians.

National League Batter of the Day—Aaron Altherr of the Phillies hit two doubles and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 10-2 win over the Cubs.

Rankings—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. has the most season Box-Toppers points of the 11 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. McCullers (6.1IP 6H 2R 2BB 10K ND in the 6-2 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season. He ranks 24th among all players and 12th among AL pitchers.

Debut—Jorge Bonifacio of the Royals made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Bonifacio (HR 2-3 R 2BI in the 6-1 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut April 21 and was playing in his eighth career game. He is the 3,783rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Comment—After Sunday’s record-breaking day in Box-Toppers, in which Anthony Rendon of the Nationals had what seems to be the highest Box-Toppers game score for a batter (+15.0) in Box-Toppers’ 23-season tracking history, Monday’s game scores were some of the lowest of the season. In fact, the +5.0 game score earned by Lorenzen was the lowest such score to earn Player of the Day honors all season. If Lorenzen had earned Player of the Game honors with that score Sunday, he would have ranked ninth among the 15 games played and earned only 1.0 Box-Toppers point, rather than the 2.0 he received Monday, and would have received barely a mention. But in a comparatively lackluster, ho-hum Monday, he is the top dog, the lead story.

Scoring—Lorenzen earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Odorizzi earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Collins and Altherr each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

5/1 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 5.0 CIN 4, PIT 3 (F/10) Michael Lorenzen (W,2-0) - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 3
AL 5.0 `TB 4, MIA 2 Jake Odorizzi - - - - 5.0 2 2 1 1 6
4.1 `HOU 6, TEX 2 Lance McCullers Jr. - - - - 6.1 6 2 2 2 10
BAT 3.0 DET 7, CLE 1 Tyler Collins, CF 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 PHI 10, CHC 2 Aaron Altherr, LF 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 MIL 7, STL 5 (F/10) Jonathan Villar, 2B 3 2 2 2 - - - - - -
3.0 TOR 7, NYY 1 Ryan Goins, SS 3 1 1 4 - - - - - -
2.2 `SF 4, LAD 3 Steven Okert (H,2) - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 0 1
2.0 NYM 7, ATL 5 Michael Conforto, LF 4 1 2 3 - - - - - -
2.0 KC 6, CHW 1 Jorge Bonifacio, RF 3 1 2 2 - - - - - -
1.0 BAL 5, BOS 2 Manny Machado, 3B 4 2 1 2 - - - - - -
MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` 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 (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).  

Player of the Game Pos Team ’17 ’16-17 ’12-17 Career +/-
McCullers, Lance 3488 pi sp hou al 3.0 9.1 15.8 15.8 -3.1
Altherr, Aaron 3563 lf ph phi nl 2.5 5.0 6.0 6.0 0.0
Conforto, Michael 3622 cf nym nl 2.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 -3.0
Lorenzen, Michael 3479 pi cp cin nl 2.0 3.0 4.0 4.0 1.0
Odorizzi, Jake 3291 pi sp tb al 1.7 8.1 27.8 27.8 -4.7
Collins, Tyler 3302 cf det al 1.5 1.5 4.5 4.5 1.5
Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 1.0 13.7 24.7 24.7 -11.7
Villar, Jonathan 3233 2b ss mil nl 1.0 5.0 7.0 7.0 -3.0
Goins, Ryan 3478 ss 2b tor al 1.0 2.5 7.0 7.0 -0.5
Okert, Steven 3745 pi mr sf nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Bonifacio, Jorge 3783 rf kc al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Rangers' Cole Hamels tops players for Thursday, July 28, takes lead among AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points

Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to take the season Box-Toppers points lead among American League pitchers.

Top 10 players

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


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 20.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 16.4
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
4 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 14.4
5 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 14.1
6 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 12.5
7 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 12.4
8 Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 11.0
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 11.0
10 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 10.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Hamels struck out 12 over eight innings, allowing two runs, six hits and one walk, in the 3-2 win over the Royals.

Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.1 for the season, rising from seventh to fifth in overall season player rankings. He rises to first among AL pitchers, passing previous leader Corey Kluber of the Indians (12.5).

Hamels also takes the lead among AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2015. He has 29.5 Box-Toppers points in the span, the same totals as Chris Sale of the White Sox and David Price of the Red Sox, but Hamels holds the tiebreaker and ranks higher because he has more points in 2016.

Hamels also now has 140.3 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 25th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Thursday, Hamels passes two players on the “all-time” list—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (138.4) and Andy Pettitte (138.5). Hamels now trails 24th-ranked player, Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8). Hamels also now ranks 10th in career Box-Toppers points among active players.

National League Player of the Day—Cubs closing pitcher Aroldis Chapman pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits or walks and striking out two, in the 3-1 win over the White Sox. It is his first Player of the Game honor he has earned since being traded from the Yankees earlier this week.

Chapman earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 6.4 for the season, rising to first among all closing pitchers, passing previous leader David Robertson of the White Sox (5.0).

National League Batter of the Day—Aaron Altherr of the Phillies hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 5-4 win over the Marlins.

American League Batter of the Day—Max Kepler of the Twins homered, tripled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 6-2 win over the Orioles.

Debut—Angels closing pitcher Cam Bedrosian made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Bedrosian (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut June 3, 2014, and was playing in his 93rd career game. He is the 3,694th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Chapman earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Altherr and Kepler 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

7/28 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 TEX 3, KC 2 Cole Hamels (W,12-2) - - - - 8.0 6 2 2 1 12
NL 3.1 CHC 3, CHW 1 Aroldis Chapman (S,21) - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 2
BAT 3.0 PHI 7, ATL 5 Aaron Altherr, RF 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 MIN 6, BAL 2 Max Kepler, RF 3 2 2 2 - - - - - -
3.0 LAA 2, BOS 1 Cam Bedrosian (W,2-0) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 STL 5, MIA 4 Aledmys Diaz, SS 5 2 2 3 - - - - - -
2.0 MIL 6, ARI 4 Hernan Perez, SS 4 2 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 COL 2, NYM 1 Carlos Estevez (S,11) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.1 WSH 4, SF 2 Shawn Kelley (S,5) - - - - 0.1 0 0 0 0 1

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 +/-
Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 14.1 29.5 81.1 140.3 -1.3
Chapman, Aroldis 2826 pi cp chi nl 6.4 14.4 44.4 45.4 -1.6
Diaz, Aledmys 3612 ss stl nl 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5
Estevez, Carlos 3641 pi cp col nl 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
Kepler, Max 3664 rf min al 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5
Perez, Hernan 3577 3b ss ph mil nl 2.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 1.0
Altherr, Aaron 3563 rf phi nl 1.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 0.5
Kelley, Shawn 2630 pi cp mr dc nl 1.0 3.0 7.0 10.0 -1.0
Bedrosian, Cam 3694 pi cp ana al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Catching up on baseball with Box-Toppers, after falling behind by a ‘fair’ amount

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):

  • Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw was the first player with 20.0 or more points this season, earning it on Wednesday, Sept. 2, the same day he took the Box-Toppers points lead. Kershaw, who led players in Box-Toppers points in three of the past four seasons (2011, 2013 and 2014) and led National League pitchers the past four seasons, has now exceeded 20.0 Box-Toppers points for five straight seasons. Kershaw also rose to 15th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He has 154.3 career Box-Toppers points.
  • Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon rose to 22nd place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995. He earned Player of the Day for Monday, Aug. 31, giving him 138.5 Box-Toppers points.
  • Michael Cuddyer of the Mets extended to 12 the number of consecutive seasons in which he’s earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point on Sunday, Aug. 30.
  • Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points during the catch-up period and is currently ranked sixth among all players with 18.0 points. In addition, with his point earned Tuesday, Sept. 1, Greinke has 143.7 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 21st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began.
  • Astros pitcher Mike Fiers pitched a no-hitter on Friday, Aug. 21, earning Box-Toppers Player of the Day honors.
  • Carlos Beltran of the Yankees earned Box-Toppers points in his 17th straight season, tying the record for the longest-active season streak on Friday, Aug. 14. 

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 …

Nationals' Strasburg (7IP R H 5K) tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 19

(Other duties have put us behind updating Box-Toppers. Playing catch up …)

Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Wednesday, Aug. 19.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 19.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 19.4
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 16.7
3 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 16.1
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 16.1
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 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 15.4
10 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 14.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Angels pitcher Jered Weaver earned Player of the Game honors, giving him 122.1 career Box-Toppers points, 34th-most among all players since 1995.

Player of the Day—Strasburg allowed one run and two hits over seven innings, striking out five, in the 4-1 win over the Rockies.

American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver pitched six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, in the 1-0 win over the White Sox.

Weaver earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 122.1 career points, rising to 34th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Wednesday, Weaver passes two players on the “all-time” list—Cole Hamels (120.8 Box-Toppers points) and Justin Verlander (120.9 points). Weaver trails 33rd-ranked player Gary Sheffield (122.1).

Weaver ranks third among active AL pitchers in career Box-Toppers points, trailing CC Sabathia of the Yankees (178.0 Box-Toppers points) and Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (158.7 points). Weaver has 6.7 Box-Toppers points this season, ranking 31st among AL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Nick Castellanos of the Tigers hit two homers, including a grand slam, and two doubles in the 15-8 win over the Cubs. Castellanos went 4-for-5 and drove in five runs.

National League Batter of the Day—Khris Davis of the Brewers hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 8-7 win over the Marlins.

Notable—Athletics pitcher Jesse Chavez had the highest Box-Toppers player ranking of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday. Chavez (8IP 2H 2R 6K W in the 5-2 win over the Dodgers) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.4 for the season. He ranks 40th among all players and 20th among AL pitchers.

Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Greg Bird of the Yankees (HR 2-4 2R 4BI in the 4-3 win over the Twins) made his Major League debut Aug. 13 and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,562nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Aaron Altherr of the Phillies (HR 2B 2-3 R 3BI in the 7-4 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut June 16, 2014, and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,563rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Strasburg earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Weaver earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Castellanos and Davis 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

8/19 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 Nationals Stephen Strasburg (W,7-6) - - - - - - 7.0 2 1 0 0 5
AL 6.1 Angels Jered Weaver (W,5-9) - - - - - - 6.0 5 0 0 0 5
BAT 6.0 Tigers Nick Castellanos, 3B 5 2 4 5 0 0 - - - - - -
6.0 Athletics Jesse Chavez (W,7-12) - - - - - - 8.0 2 2 2 2 6
BAT 5.0 Brewers Khris Davis, LF 4 2 2 5 0 1 - - - - - -
5.0 Pirates J.A. Happ (W,5-7) - - - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 2 3
4.0 Yankees Greg Bird, 1B 4 2 2 4 0 1 - - - - - -
3.2 Royals Luke Hochevar (MR) (W,1-0) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 Padres Yangervis Solarte, 3B 3 1 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Phillies Aaron Altherr, LF 3 1 2 3 1 - - - - - -
3.0 `Astros Chad Qualls (MR) - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 3
3.0 Cardinals Trevor Rosenthal (S,38) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Rangers Mitch Moreland, DH 5 2 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Orioles Adam Jones, CF 3 2 2 1 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Red Sox Jackie Bradley Jr., CF 3 1 1 3 0 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.