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Giants pitcher Carlos Rodon is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to seventh in season player rankings.
Also Sunday, White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease maintains his third place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Braves pitcher Max Fried rises to sixth place.
Read MoreThree of the four players who won Cy Young or Most Valuable Player awards in 2017 also led their teams in Box-Toppers points for the season.
The only exception: American League Most Valuable Player Jose Altuve did not lead Astros batters in Box-Toppers points. In fact, with only 2.5 Box-Toppers points, he finished 11th among Astros batters and 21st among all Astros players.
Read More
A look at the top 100 players in Box-Toppers points at the midseason break. League-leading teams—Nationals, Astros, Dodgers—have the most players on the list.
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Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth in season player rankings.
Also Tuesday, Albert Pujols of the Angels extends his streak of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points to 17—only six players in Box-Toppers tracking history (since 1995) have longer streaks.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.7 |
| 2 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 9.4 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 8.0 |
| 5 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.0 |
| 6 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 6.7 |
| 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 |
Player of the Day—Ray pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, striking out 10 and walking none, in the 3-0 win over the Pirates.
Ray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, rising to fifth among all players and third among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Royals pitcher Eric Skoglund pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, one walk and striking out five, in the 1-0 win over the Tigers.
This was Skoglund’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Skoglund was also making his Major League debut. He is the 3,811th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Streak |
Player |
Pos |
Duration |
Career BTP |
|
| 1 | 19 | Jason Giambi | 1b | 1995-2013 | 133.4 |
| 1 | 19 | Carlos Beltran* | rf | 1999-2017 | 107.6 |
| 3 | 18 | Jim Thome | 1b dh | 1995-2012 | 146.7 |
| 3 | 18 | Chipper Jones | 3b | 1995-2012 | 149.0 |
| 3 | 18 | Johnny Damon | lf | 1995-2012 | 63.0 |
| 3 | 18 | Alex Rodriguez | 3b | 1996-2013 | 187.0 |
| 7 | 17 | Mariano Rivera | pi cp | 1995-2011 | 126.4 |
| 7 | 17 | Derek Jeter | ss | 1996-2012 | 76.4 |
| 7 | 17 | Paul Konerko | 1b | 1998-2014 | 100.7 |
| 7 | 17 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | 1999-2015 | 157.0 |
| 7 | 17 | Torii Hunter | cf | 1999-2015 | 115.9 |
| 7 | 17 | David Ortiz | dh | 2000-2016 | 145.9 |
| 7 | 17 | CC Sabathia* | pi sp | 2001-2017 | 188.0 |
| 7 | 17 | Albert Pujols* | dh 1b | 2001-2017 | 183.3 |
| 15 | 16 | Manny Ramirez | lf | 1995-2010 | 167.2 |
| 15 | 16 | Andy Pettitte | pi sp | 1995-2010 | 138.5 |
| 15 | 16 | Jamie Moyer | pi sp | 1995-2010 | 104.0 |
| 15 | 16 | Scott Rolen | 3b | 1996-2011 | 97.6 |
| 15 | 16 | Kevin Millwood | pi sp | 1997-2012 | 108.3 |
| 15 | 16 | Derek Lowe | pi sp | 1998-2013 | 91.5 |
| 15 | 16 | Aramis Ramirez | 3b | 2000-2015 | 105.8 |
| 15 | 16 | Mark Buehrle | pi sp | 2000-2015 | 116.7 |
| 15 | 16 | Ichiro Suzuki* | rf | 2001-2016 | 53.7 |
| 24 | 15 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | 1995-2009 | 278.8 |
| 24 | 15 | Garret Anderson | lf | 1995-2009 | 86.5 |
| 24 | 15 | Ivan Rodriguez | ca | 1995-2009 | 79.0 |
| 24 | 15 | Tony Clark | 1b | 1995-2009 | 63.8 |
| 24 | 15 | Gary Sheffield | lf | 1995-2009 | 124.1 |
| 24 | 15 | Jason Kendall | ca | 1996-2010 | 40.9 |
| 24 | 15 | Vladimir Guerrero | rf | 1997-2011 | 128.3 |
| 24 | 15 | Bobby Abreu | rf | 1997-2011 | 95.5 |
| 24 | 15 | Mike Cameron | cf | 1997-2011 | 70.3 |
| 24 | 15 | Miguel Tejada | ss | 1997-2011 | 102.3 |
| 24 | 15 | Jorge Posada | ca | 1997-2011 | 79.5 |
| 24 | 15 | Livan Hernandez | pi sp | 1997-2011 | 76.7 |
| 24 | 15 | Kyle Lohse | pi sp | 2001-2015 | 89.0 |
| 24 | 15 | Jake Peavy | pi sp | 2002-2016 | 141.8 |
| 24 | 15 | Miguel Cabrera* | 1b | 2003-2017 | 145.9 |
American League Batter of the Day—Elvis Andrus of the Rangers hit a three-run homer and doubled in the 9-5 win over the Rays. Andrus went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five total runs.
National League Batter of the Day—Austin Hedges of the Padres homered, doubled and went 2-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 6-2 win over the Cubs.
Streak—Albert Pujols of the Angels has now earned Box-Toppers points for 17 straight seasons—tied for the seventh-longest streak in Box-Toppers tracking history—after earning his first Player of the Game honors of the season Tuesday. He also hit his 599th career home run.
Pujols (HR 2-4 R 3BI in the 9-3 win over the Braves) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2001 with the Cardinals and now has 183.3 career points, seventh among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails sixth-ranked player Alex Rodriguez (187.0).
In career Box-Toppers points Pujols is second among all batters (behind Rodriguez), third among all active players (behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw’s 194.3 and Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia’s 188.0) and first among all active batters (ahead of second-place Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, who has 145.9).
Pujols’ best season was 2009 with the Cardinals when he had 16.7 Box-Toppers points, leading all NL batters and ranking eighth among all players that season. Pujols has led NL batters in Box-Toppers points five times—leading the league in season Box-Toppers points more than any other batter—all with the Cardinals:
In 2016, Pujols had 8.0 Box-Toppers points with the Angels, fourth among AL designated hitters.
Pujols’ 17 consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points is tied for the second-longest currently active streak. Only Carlos Beltran of the Astros (19 seasons) has a longer streak among active players (his streak is tied for the longest since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995). Pujols streak is tied with Sabathia’s 17-season streak.
Pujols’ 17-season streak is tied with seven other players. (See Box-Toppers season streaks chart for details.)
Scoring—Ray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Skoglund earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Andrus and Hedges 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.
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.
| 5/30 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | ARI 3, PIT 0 | Robbie Ray (W,5-3) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| AL | 8.1 | KC 1, DET 0 | Eric Skoglund (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 7.0 | CLE 9, OAK 4 | Trevor Bauer (W,5-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 14 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | TEX 9, TB 5 | Elvis Andrus, SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | SEA 10, COL 4 | Kyle Seager, 3B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | BOS 13, CHW 7 | Jackie Bradley Jr., CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.1 | NYY 8, BAL 3 | Luis Severino (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 4.0 | NYM 5, MIL 4 (F/12) | Josh Smoker (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | `MIA 7, PHI 2 | Justin Nicolino | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | SD 6, CHC 2 | Austin Hedges, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | HOU 7, MIN 2 | Alex Bregman, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | `TOR 6, CIN 4 | Danny Barnes | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2.0 | LAD 9, STL 4 | Chase Utley, 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | LAA 9, ATL 3 | Albert Pujols, DH | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | WSH 6, SF 3 | Michael Taylor, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.0 | 13.7 | 17.7 | 17.7 | 0.3 |
| Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 5.7 | 7.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 3.7 |
| Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | tex al | 3.5 | 12.7 | 17.7 | 23.2 | -5.7 |
| Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 3.0 | 14.4 | 32.5 | 32.5 | -8.4 |
| Smoker, Josh 3725 | pi mr cp | nym nl | 2.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 0.7 |
| Hedges, Austin 3790 | ca | sd nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Bradley, Jackie Jr. 3293 | cf | bos al | 2.0 | 7.5 | 18.0 | 18.0 | -3.5 |
| Utley, Chase 1861 | 2b 1b | lad nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 14.0 | 75.1 | 1.0 |
| Barnes, Danny 3807 | pi mr | tor al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Skoglund, Eric 3811 | pi sp | kc al | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| Seager, Kyle 3031 | 3b | sea al | 1.0 | 10.5 | 29.5 | 29.5 | -8.5 |
| Pujols, Albert 1438 | dh 1b | ana al | 1.0 | 9.0 | 33.5 | 183.3 | -7.0 |
| Nicolino, Justin 3576 | pi sp | fla nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | -1.0 |
| Bregman, Alex 3721 | 3b | hou al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Taylor, Michael 3447 | cf | dc nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 0.0 |
Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 7.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 6.7 |
| 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 |
Also Friday, Twins pitcher Ervin Santana regains the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Shoemaker pitched six scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing three hits, in the 7-0 win over the Tigers.
Shoemaker had a Box-Toppers game score of +9.0, tied with Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr., who was Player of the Game in the 5-1 win over the Yankees (6IP 4H 0R 0BB 7K W). But Shoemaker won overall Player of the Day honors on a tiebreaker—he allowed one fewer hit than McCullers (three vs. four). Yet, because of that one-hit difference, Shoemaker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day while McCullers earns only 1.0 point for being Player of the Game.
National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Eddie Butler pitched six scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing two hits, in the 3-2 win over the Cardinals.
National League Batter of the Day—Tyler Flowers of the Braves homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-4 win over the Marlins.
| 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 |
| 5/12 | Ervin Santana | min al | 7.7 |
American League Batter of the Day—There is no AL Batter of the Day for Friday because no AL batters earned Player of the Game honors.
Rankings—Twins pitcher Ervin Santana rises to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday in the 1-0 win over the Indians (7IP 2H 0R 4K W).
Santana earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.7 for the season, passing previous leader Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (7.0 Box-Toppers points). It is the second time this season Santana has led players in Box-Toppers points; he previously led from April 15 to 18. Santana also takes the lead in Box-Toppers points among AL pitchers, passing previous leader Chris Sale of the Red Sox (6.7).
Santana also now has 105.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 65th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Friday, he passes Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Liriano (104.2) on the “all-time” list and now trails 64th-ranked player, Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1).
Streak—Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto has now earned Box-Toppers points for 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the 2017 season.
Cueto (8IP 5H 2R 3BB 6K ND in the 3-2, 17-inning win over the Reds) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2008 with the Reds and has 100.8 career Box-Toppers points, becoming the 78th player with 100 or more Box-Toppers points since tracking began in 1995.
Cueto ranks 74th among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 and Friday passed four players on the “all-time” list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7) and Giants pitcher Matt Cain (100.7). Cueto now trails 73rd-ranked player Matt Holliday of the Yankees (100.8). Though both Cueto and Holliday both have 100.8 career Box-Toppers points, Holliday ranks higher because he has more 2017 Box-Toppers points than Cueto (3.0 vs. 1.0).
Cueto’s best season was 2014 with the Reds, when he had 22.4 Box-Toppers points, fourth among all players. In 2016, he had 16.4 points with the Giants, eighth among all players.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debuts Friday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Shoemaker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Butler earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Flowers 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.
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.
| 5/12 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | LAA 7, DET 0 | Matt Shoemaker (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| 9.0 | HOU 5, NYY 1 | Lance McCullers Jr. (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| NL | 6.0 | CHC 3, STL 2 | Eddie Butler (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
| BAT | 4.0 | ATL 8, MIA 4 | Tyler Flowers, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | MIN 1, CLE 0 | Ervin Santana (W,6-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | TOR 4, SEA 0 | Joe Biagini (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | MIL 7, NYM 4 | Eric Sogard, SS | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TEX 5, OAK 2 | Keone Kela (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | TB 5, BOS 4 | Alex Colome (S,9) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | ARI 11, PIT 4 | Brandon Drury, 2B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SD 6, CHW 3 | Austin Hedges, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | LAD 6, COL 2 | Chase Utley, 1B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | `SF 3, CIN 2 (F/17) | Johnny Cueto | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 1.0 | KC 3, BAL 2 | Joakim Soria (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 7.7 | 11.7 | 44.5 | 105.0 | 3.7 |
| McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 4.0 | 10.1 | 16.8 | 16.8 | -2.1 |
| Colome, Alex 3189 | pi cp | tb al | 3.0 | 12.0 | 20.7 | 20.7 | -6.0 |
| Shoemaker, Matt 3290 | pi sp | ana al | 2.0 | 9.0 | 27.4 | 27.4 | -5.0 |
| Soria, Joakim 2258 | pi mr cp | kc al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 11.7 | 47.7 | 1.0 |
| Butler, Eddie 3483 | pi sp | chi nl | 1.7 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 0.7 |
| Flowers, Tyler 3101 | ca | atl nl | 1.5 | 4.0 | 12.5 | 12.5 | -1.0 |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 1.0 | 17.4 | 71.0 | 100.8 | -15.4 |
| Biagini, Joe 3646 | pi sp | tor al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Drury, Brandon 3744 | 2b lf | ari nl | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | -0.5 |
| Utley, Chase 1861 | 1b 2b | lad nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 13.0 | 74.1 | 0.0 |
| Sogard, Eric 3174 | ss 2b | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 1.0 |
| Hedges, Austin 3790 | ca | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Kela, Keone 3789 | pi cp | tex 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.