Blue Jays’ Gausman tops players for Saturday, Sept. 9, rising to 4th in player rankings

Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fourth place in season player rankings.

Gausman struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 5-1 win over the Royals.

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Angels’ Ohtani tops players for Wednesday, July 6, extending his player rankings lead

Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, extending his lead in season player rankings.

Also Wednesday, Braves pitcher Max Fried rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. He also rises to first place among National League pitchers.

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Astros’ Correa, Yankees’ Hicks top players in Monday's AL Division Series opening games

Carlos Correa of the Astros and Aaron Hicks of the Yankees are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Monday’s two American League Division Series games.

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Yankees’ James Paxton tops players in Friday's ALCS Game 5 over Astros, forcing Game 6

Yankees pitcher James Paxton is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s American League Championship Series Game 5 win over the Astros.

Paxton struck out nine over six innings, allowing one run, four hits and four walks, in the 4-1 win, forcing Game 6 of the series Saturday in Houston. The Astros lead the best-of-seven series, 3-2.

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Giants’ Andrew Suarez tops players for Saturday, June 2; Rangers’ Hamels tops AL players

Giants pitcher Andrew Suarez is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Suarez struck out five over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 2-0 win over the Phillies.

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Astros' Gerrit Cole tops players for Friday, April 13, rises to lead Box-Toppers rankings

Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to first place in season player rankings.

Cole struck out 14 over seven innings, allowing two runs, three hits and one walk, in the 3-2 win over the Rangers. Cole picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because the game was tied, 2-2, when he exited.

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Indians' Corey Kluber tops players for Thursday, June 1; Dbacks' Greinke rises to 5th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Thursday, Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Top 10 players

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


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 10.7
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 Ray, Robbie 3502 pi sp ari nl 7.0
7 Wood, Alex 3246 pi sp lad nl 7.0
8 Judge, Aaron 3767 rf nyy al 6.5
9 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 6.4
10 Carrasco, Carlos 2885 pi sp cle al 6.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Kluber struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 8-0 win over the Athletics.

National League Player of the Day—Brewers pitcher Chase Anderson pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing three hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Mets.

American League Batter of the Day—Aaron Hicks of the Yankees hit three doubles and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 12-2 win over the Blue Jays.

National League Batter of the Day—Gerardo Parra of the Rockies doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring once and driving in one run, in the 6-3 win over the Mariners.

Rankings—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Greinke (7IP 4H 2R 1ER 2BB 8K W in the 3-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.7 for the season, rising from seventh to fifth place among players for 2017. He ranks third among NL pitchers.

Greinke also now has 163.8 career Box-Toppers points, 13th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Greinke trails 12th-ranked player Roger Clemens (164.8).

Notable—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright now has 115.5 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Wainwright (6IP 4H 0R 2BB 6K W in the 2-0 win over the Dodgers) rises to 46th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when player tracking began. With his 1.0 Box-Toppers point earned Thursday, Wainwright passes two players on the “all-time” list—Josh Beckett (114.9) and Tim Lincecum (115.0). He trails 45th-ranked player Torii Hunter (115.9).

Wainwright has 3.5 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Debut—Twins pitcher Adalberto Mejia made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Mejia (6IP 5H R 2BB 5K ND in the 4-2 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut Aug. 20, 2016, and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,812th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Anderson earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Hicks and Parra each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

6/1 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 CLE 8, OAK 0 Corey Kluber (W,4-2) - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 1 10
NL 10.0 MIL 2, NYM 1 Chase Anderson (W,4-1) - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 1 7
BAT 7.0 NYY 12, TOR 2 Aaron Hicks, CF 5 2 4 6 - - - - - -
6.0 ARI 3, MIA 2 Zack Greinke (W,7-3) - - - - 7.0 4 2 1 2 8
6.0 STL 2, LAD 0 Adam Wainwright (W,6-3) - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 2 6
BAT 2.0 COL 6, SEA 3 Gerardo Parra, LF 4 1 4 1 - - - - - -
2.0 BAL 7, BOS 5 Mark Trumbo, RF 4 1 3 2 - - - - - -
2.0 `MIN 4, LAA 2 Adalberto Mejia - - - - 6.0 5 1 1 2 5
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 +/-
Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 7.7 17.4 86.7 163.8 -2.0
Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 4.0 25.2 69.4 69.4 -17.2
Parra, Gerardo 2746 rf lf col nl 4.0 6.5 18.5 25.0 1.5
Anderson, Chase 3328 pi sp mil nl 3.7 10.7 19.7 19.7 -3.3
Wainwright, Adam 2150 pi sp stl nl 3.5 13.7 64.8 115.5 -6.7
Hicks, Aaron 3170 cf nyy al 3.0 4.0 8.0 8.0 2.0
Trumbo, Mark 2851 dh rf bal al 2.0 10.2 29.9 35.9 -6.2
Mejia, Adalberto 3812 pi sp min al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Pirates' Gerrit Cole tops players for Saturday, May 6; Kershaw rises to lead Box-Toppers player rankings

Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rises to lead Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 6:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 7.0
2 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp bos al 6.7
3 Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 6.7
4 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 6.0
5 Kimbrel, Craig 2825 pi cp bos al 5.0
6 Nova, Ivan 2796 pi sp pit nl 5.0
7 Vargas, Jason 2055 pi sp kc al 5.0
8 Holland, Greg 2906 pi cp col nl 5.0
9 Judge, Aaron 3767 rf nyy al 5.0
10 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 4.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Cole struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Brewers. Cole picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because the game was tied, 1-1, when he exited.

American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi struck out six over seven innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 6-1 win over the Blue Jays.

American League Batter of the Day—Aaron Hicks of the Yankees hit a three-run homer and doubled in the 11-6 win over the Cubs. Hicks went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs.

National League Batter of the Day—Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals homered, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 6-2 win over the Phillies.

2017 lead changes

Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.  

Date Player Team BTP
4/2 Carlos Martinez stl nl 2.0
4/3 Clayton Kershaw lad nl 2.0
4/9 Noah Syndergaard nym nl 3.0
4/14 Clayton Kershaw lad nl 4.0
4/15 Ervin Santana min al 4.7
4/19 Clayton Kershaw lad nl 5.0
5/2 Chris Sale bos al 6.7
5/6 Clayton Kershaw lad nl 7.0

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rises to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday (7.1IP 5H R 4BB 9K W in the 10-2 win over the Padres).

Kershaw earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season, passing previous leader, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (6.7 points). This is the fourth time this season Kershaw has led players in Box-Toppers points.

Kershaw also now has 190.7 career Box-Toppers points, most among active players and fourth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails third-place player Curt Schilling (194.1) on the “all-time” list.

Debut—Mariners pitcher James Pazos made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Pazos (1IP H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 8-2 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut Sept. 5, 2015, and was playing in his 31st career game. He is the 3,786th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Cole 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. Hicks and Zimmerman each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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 

5/6 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 `PIT 2, MIL 1 (F/10) Gerrit Cole - - - - 7.0 2 1 1 2 8
AL 8.0 TB 6, TOR 1 Jake Odorizzi (W,2-1) - - - - 7.0 3 1 1 0 6
7.0 COL 9, ARI 1 Tyler Anderson (W,2-3) - - - - 6.0 6 1 1 1 10
5.1 LAD 10, SD 2 Clayton Kershaw (W,5-2) - - - - 7.1 5 1 1 4 9
BAT 5.0 NYY 11, CHC 6 Aaron Hicks, CF 5 3 4 3 - - - - - -
5.0 `CLE 3, KC 1 Josh Tomlin - - - - 7.0 3 1 1 0 3
4.0 BOS 11, MIN 1 Rick Porcello (W,2-4) - - - - 7.0 7 1 1 0 6
4.0 CIN 14, SF 2 Robert Stephenson (S,1) - - - - 3.0 0 0 0 1 2
3.0 OAK 6, DET 5 Yonder Alonso, 1B 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 WSH 6, PHI 2 Ryan Zimmerman, 1B 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 BAL 6, CHW 5 Trey Mancini, LF 3 1 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 SEA 8, TEX 2 James Pazos (W,1-1) - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 3
2.0 LAA 2, HOU 1 Bud Norris (W,1-1) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 NYM 11, MIA 3 Jay Bruce, RF 5 1 2 3 - - - - - -
1.0 STL 5, ATL 3 Aledmys Diaz, SS-LF 4 0 3 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 +/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 7.0 31.4 131.1 190.7 -17.4
Odorizzi, Jake 3291 pi sp tb al 3.4 9.8 29.5 29.5 -3.0
Bruce, Jay 2453 rf nym nl 3.0 11.5 28.7 61.8 -5.5
Mancini, Trey 3766 lf bal al 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7
Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 1b dc nl 2.5 4.0 23.7 58.8 1.0
Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 2.0 8.5 37.9 37.9 -4.5
Hicks, Aaron 3170 cf nyy al 1.5 2.5 6.5 6.5 0.5
Porcello, Rick 2573 pi sp bos al 1.0 9.0 31.7 43.7 -7.0
Norris, Bud 2638 pi cp sp ana al 1.0 6.7 31.4 47.1 -4.7
Diaz, Aledmys 3612 ss lf stl nl 1.0 6.5 6.5 6.5 -4.5
Tomlin, Josh 2771 pi sp cle al 1.0 6.0 19.4 25.4 -4.0
Alonso, Yonder 2945 1b oak al 1.0 3.0 12.5 14.0 -1.0
Anderson, Tyler 3656 pi sp col nl 1.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 -1.0
Stephenson, Robert 3617 pi cp cin nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Pazos, James 3786 pi mr sea al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?