Rangers pitcher Jon Gray is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Gray struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 2-1 win over the Giants.
Read MorePadres’ Darvish tops players for Friday, Sept. 2; Blue Jays’ Manoah tops AL players
Padres pitcher Yu Darvish is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Darvish struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 7-1 win over the Dodgers.
Read MoreBraves’ Strider tops players for Thursday, Sept . 1, with highest game score of 2022
Braves pitcher Spencer Strider is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, recording the highest Box-Toppers game score for any Player of the Game winner in 2022.
Strider struck out 16 over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 3-0 win over the Rockies.
Read MoreDiamondbacks’ Gallen tops players for Friday, July 22; Athletics’ Irvin tops AL players
Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Gallen struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 10-1 win over the Nationals.
Read MoreRays’ Kluber tops players for Wednesday, May 4, rising to 4th in player rankings
Rays pitcher Corey Kluber is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fourth place in season player rankings.
Kluber struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 3-0 win over the Athletics. Kluber did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Read MoreYankees’ Cole tops players for Monday, Aug. 16, regaining Box-Toppers player rankings lead
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to first in season player rankings, passing previous leader Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler.
Cole struck out nine over 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Angels.
Read MoreWhite Sox’ Giolito tops players for Saturday, July 17; Cole, Woodruff rise in player rankings top 10
White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole maintains his second-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff rises to third place after he also earns Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreReds’ Mahle tops players for Wednesday, June 16; Yankees’ Cole rises to lead player rankings
Reds pitcher Tyler Mahle is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole rises to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom rises to second place in player rankings and Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler maintained his fifth-place spot in rankings after both earned Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreIndians’ Civale tops players for Friday, June 11; Mets’ deGrom rises to lead NL pitchers in player rankings
Indians pitcher Aaron Civale is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to seventh place in season player rankings.
Also Friday, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, first place among National League pitchers, after earning NL Player of the Day honors. Plus, two other players in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 earn Player of the Game honors—Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff and Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.
Read MoreBox-Toppers selects seven players for 2021 Hall of Fame induction in internet writers’ ballot
Box-Toppers is voting for seven players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) ballot—Todd Helton, Tim Hudson, Torii Hunter, Jeff Kent, Aramis Ramirez, Curt Schilling and Billy Wagner.
Read MoreBox-Toppers top shortstops by time frame (after 2019 season)
Miguel Tejada has the most Box-Toppers points of any shortstop since tracking began in 1995.
Tejada, who played from 1997 to 2013 primarily for the Athletics and Orioles, but also for the Astros, Giants, Padres and Royals, earned 102.3 career Box-Toppers points. That is 25.9 Box-Toppers points ahead of the second-place shortstop in career Box-Toppers points, Derek Jeter (76.4), who played for the Yankees from 1995 to 2014.
Read MoreNationals‘ Max Scherzer tops players for Tuesday, June 25, rises to 5th in season player rankings
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fifth place in season player rankings.
Scherzer struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 6-1 win over the Marlins.
Read MoreMarlins’ Pablo Lopez tops players for Saturday, May 18; Rays’ Snell rises to 6th in player rankings
Marlins pitcher Pablo Lopez is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Rays pitcher Blake Snell rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreMets’ Noah Syndergaard tops players for Thursday, May 2; Nationals’ Strasburg rises to 7th in player rankings
Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreMarlins’ Wei-Yin Chen tops players for Friday, Sept. 21; Astros’ Gurriel tops AL players
Marlins pitcher Wei-Yin Chen is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Chen struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 1-0, 10-inning win over the Reds. Chen did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Read MoreCardinals’ Matt Carpenter tops players for Friday, July 20; Mariners’ LeBlanc tops AL players
Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for games played Friday, July 20.
Carpenter hit three homers, two doubles and went 5-for-5, scoring four time and driving in seven runs, in the 18-5 win over the Cubs. Carpenter’s Box-Toppers of +11.0 Friday is the second highest of the season, behind only the +13.0 game score recorded July 7 by Mark Reynolds of the Nationals.
Read MoreIndians’ Mike Clevinger tops players for Thursday, June 14; Braves’ Sanchez tops NL players
Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Clevinger struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing two runs, five hits and one walk, in the 5-2 win over the White Sox.
Read MoreBox-Toppers top shortstops by time frame (after 2017)
Miguel Tejada has the most Box-Toppers points of any shortstop since tracking began in 1995. Derek Jeter ranks a distant second.
Other leaders at shorstop include Troy Tulowitzki, Elvis Andrus, Corey Seager and Stephen Drew.
Read MoreReds' Luis Castillo tops players for Saturday, July 8; Dodgers' Bellinger rises to lead NL batters in '17 Box-Toppers points
Reds pitcher Luis Castillo is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers rises to lead National League batters in 2017 Box-Toppers points after earning NL Batter of the Day honors.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of July 8:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 17.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 13.1 |
| 4 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 |
| 5 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.0 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 11.4 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 11.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.4 |
| 9 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 10 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 9.4 |
Player of the Day—Castillo struck out eight over 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 7-0 win over the Diamondbacks.
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Alex Cobb pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, one walk and striking out three, in the 1-0 win over the Red Sox.
American League Batter of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays hit a three-run homer and went 1-for-1, scoring twice, in the 7-2 win over the Astros.
National League Batter of the Day—Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers homered, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Royals.
Bellinger earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, rising to first among NL batters this season, passing previous leader Jay Bruce of the Mets (7.0).
Bellinger’s 7.7 Box-Toppers points is the most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday. He ranks 22nd among all players.
Notable—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright rises to 42nd place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Wainwright (6.2IP 5H R 0BB 7K W in the 4-1 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 117.5 career points. He passes two players on the “all-time” list—Mark Buehrle (116.7) and Barry Zito (117.4) and now trails 41st-ranked player Carlos Delgado (117.7). Wainwright has 5.5 Box-Toppers points this season, 23rd among NL pitchers.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Clint Frazier of the Yankees (HR 3B 3-4 R 4BI in the 5-3 win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut July 1 and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,847th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Drew Robinson of the Rangers (HR 1-2 R 2BI in the 5-2 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut April 5 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,848th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Castillo earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cobb earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Donaldson and Bellinger 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.
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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score| 7/8 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.2 | CIN 7, ARI 0 | Luis Castillo (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| AL | 7.2 | TB 1, BOS 0 | Alex Cobb (W, 7-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| 6.2 | STL 4, NYM 1 | Adam Wainwright (W, 10-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | ATL 13, WSH 0 | Julio Teheran (W, 7-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 5.1 | SD 2, PHI 1 | Jhoulys Chacin (W, 8-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | TOR 7, HOU 2 | Josh Donaldson (3B) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | CLE 4, DET 0 | Mike Clevinger (W, 5-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 4.2 | PIT 4, CHC 2 | Ivan Nova (W, 9-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | NYY 5, MIL 3 | Clint Frazier (LF) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | LAD 5, KC 4 (F/10) | Cody Bellinger (1B-RF) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | CHW 5, COL 4 | David Robertson (S, 13) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | TEX 5, LAA 2 | Drew Robinson (LF) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | OAK 4, SEA 3 | Sean Doolittle (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | BAL 5, MIN 1 | Manny Machado (3B) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | MIA 5, SF 4 | Marcell Ozuna (LF) | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 | +/- |
| Bellinger, Cody 3781 | 1b rf lf | lad nl | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 7.0 | 15.0 | 30.7 | 38.1 | -1.0 |
| Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi sp | sd nl | 6.7 | 12.4 | 19.1 | 34.5 | 1.0 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 5.5 | 15.7 | 66.8 | 117.5 | -4.7 |
| Cobb, Alex 2916 | pi sp | tb al | 4.4 | 4.4 | 34.8 | 35.8 | 4.4 |
| Robertson, David 2774 | pi cp | chi al | 4.0 | 9.0 | 26.0 | 30.0 | -1.0 |
| Ozuna, Marcell 3190 | lf | fla nl | 3.7 | 8.7 | 22.2 | 22.2 | -1.3 |
| Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi sp | cle al | 3.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 0.7 |
| Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b | bal al | 3.5 | 16.2 | 27.2 | 27.2 | -9.2 |
| Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 3.0 | 13.7 | 49.5 | 49.5 | -7.7 |
| Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | pi sp | cin nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Doolittle, Sean 3052 | pi cp | oak al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 1.0 |
| Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | tor al | 1.5 | 11.2 | 41.1 | 41.1 | -8.2 |
| Frazier, Clint 3847 | lf | nyy al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Robinson, Drew 3848 | lf | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Box-Toppers top shortstops by time frame
Miguel Tejada leads shortstops in career Box-Toppers points, though 2nd-place Derek Jeter seen as superior shortstop.
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