Reds' Brandon Finnegan tops players for Thursday, Aug. 4; Blue Jays' Happ rises to 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Reds pitcher Brandon Finnegan is Thursday’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 Aug. 4:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	14.5
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	14.1
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
8	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	12.4
9	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	11.0
10	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	11.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Thursday, Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Finnegan pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits, no walks and striking out four, in the 7-0 win over the Cardinals.

American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Drew Smyly struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing two runs, five hits and one walk, in the 3-2 win over the Royals. Smyly did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because he exited the game with the Rays trailing 2-0.

National League Batter of the Day—Denard Span of the Giants hit a 10th-inning, go-ahead home run in the 3-2, 10-inning win over the Phillies. Span also went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs.

American League Batter of the Day—Billy Butler of the Athletics hit a 10th-inning, pinch-hit single and scored a run, in the 8-6, 10-inning win over the Angels.

This was Butler’s first Player of the Game honor of 2016 and he has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons. Butler earned his first points in 2007 with the Royals and has 47.6 career points, 28th among active AL batters. His best season was 2012 with the Royals when he had 9.7 points, seventh among AL batters. In 2015, he had 1.5 points with the Athletics.

Rankings—Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Happ (6IP 4H R BB 6K W in the 4-1 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season. He displaces Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard (11.0 Box-Toppers points) from the top 10 season player rankings list and ranks third among AL pitchers.

Scoring—Finnegan earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Smyly earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Span and Butler 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

8/4	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	8.0	CIN 7, STL 0	Brandon Finnegan (W,7-8)	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	0	4
AL	7.0	`TB 3, KC 2	Drew Smyly	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	2	2	1	10
	5.0	TOR 4, HOU 1	J.A. Happ (W,15-3)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	1	1	1	6
	4.1	BOS 3, SEA 2 (11)	Craig Kimbrel (W,2-3)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	3.0	SF 3, PHI 2 (10)	Denard Span, CF	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	LAD 4, COL 2	Kenley Jansen (S,32)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.1	CLE 9, MIN 2	Dan Otero (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	ATL 5, PIT 2	Jim Johnson (S,7)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	NYM 4, NYY 1	Jay Bruce, RF	4	1	1	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	1.0	OAK 8, LAA 6 (10)	Billy Butler, PH-DH	1	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	CHW 6, DET 3	Tim Anderson, SS	0	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.2	TEX 5, BAL 3	A.J. Griffin (W,5-1)	-	-	-	-		5.2	5	3	3	0	6

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	+/-
Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	11.0	24.1	39.5	47.5	-2.1
Bruce, Jay 2453	rf	nym nl	7.5	10.7	30.7	57.8	4.3
Smyly, Drew 3009	pi sp	tb al	6.4	12.4	34.5	34.5	0.4
Jansen, Kenley 2871	pi cp	lad nl	5.0	9.0	35.4	35.4	1.0
Finnegan, Brandon 3535	pi sp	cin nl	5.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	2.0
Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	bos al	4.0	10.0	53.7	54.7	-2.0
Griffin, A.J. 3074	pi sp	tex al	3.7	3.7	18.4	18.4	3.7
Span, Denard 2502	cf	sf nl	3.0	3.0	11.7	25.7	3.0
Johnson, Jim 2417	pi mr cp	atl nl	2.0	4.0	14.0	19.7	0.0
Otero, Dan 3365	pi mr	cle al	2.0	3.7	4.7	4.7	0.3
Anderson, Tim 3659	ss	chi al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Butler, Billy 2330	dh ph	oak al	1.5	3.0	28.2	47.6	0.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops players for Monday, April 4, moves into 12th in Box-Toppers' 'all-time' rankings

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Kershaw struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit, in the 15-0 win over the Padres.

Kershaw receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and takes the lead in Box-Toppers player rankings after the second day of the season. He passes Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano, who was Sunday’s Player of the Day. While both players have 2.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, Kershaw ranks ahead on a tiebreaker because he had more Box-Toppers points in 2015—25.7 vs. 14.9.

Kershaw’s 25.7 points ranked second among all players in 2015 (behind Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta’s 29.1). Kershaw led all National League pitchers in points from 2011 to 2014. He led all players in 2011, 2013 and 2014.

In addition, Kershaw passes John Smoltz to move into 12th place in career Box-Toppers player rankings since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Kershaw now has 161.3 career Box-Toppers points, passing Smoltz’s 160.9 points. Kershaw trails 11th place player, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (162.7).

American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels struck out eight over seven innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 3-2 win over the Mariners. Hamels ranked eighth among AL pitchers in 2015 with 15.4 Box-Toppers points.

Hamels also has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 11 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Phillies and in each of his 10 previous seasons, has earned at least 10.0 Box-Toppers points per season. He has 127.9 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks 30th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began). It ranks third among active AL pitchers, behind CC Sabathia of the Yankees (179.0) and Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (162.7). His best season was 2011 with the Phillies, when he had 15.8 points, ranked eighth among NL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Denard Span of the Giants hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 12-3 win over the Brewers.

American League Batter of the Day—Michael Saunders of the Blue Jays hit a two-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-4, in the 5-3 win over the Rays.

Notable—Two other pitchers who ranked among Box-Toppers’ top 10 players in 2015 also earned Player of the Game honors Monday:

• Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (7.0IP 2H 0R 6K W in the 9-0 win over the Angels) had the second-highest Box-Toppers game score (+10.0) of Monday’s Players of the Day, but only earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, since he lost overall Player of the Day and NL Player of the Day honors to Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +14.0. Arrieta led all players in 2015 with 29.1 Box-Toppers points.
• Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (7.0IP 3H 2R 7K ND in the 4-3 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point. He had 21.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015, sixth among all players and fourth among NL pitchers.

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

• Trevor Story of the Rockies (2HR 2-6 2R 4BI in the 10-6 win over the Diamondbacks) was making his Major League debut Monday. He is the 3,607th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Tyler Wilson of the Orioles (3.0IP 2H 0R K ND in the 3-2 win over the Twins) made his Major League debut May 20, 2015, and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,608th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hamels earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Span and Saunders each earn 1.5 points for being top batter in their league for 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/4	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	14.0	Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	1	0	0	1	9
	10.0	Cubs	Jake Arrieta (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	1	6
BAT	5.0	Giants	Denard Span, CF	4	2	2	5	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	`Nationals	Max Scherzer	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	2	2	2	7
AL	4.0	Rangers	Cole Hamels (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	2	2	3	8
	3.0	`Reds	Raisel Iglesias	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	6	2	2	0	7
	2.0	Rockies	Trevor Story, SS	6	2	2	4	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	`Orioles	Tyler Wilson	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.0	2	0	0	0	1
BAT	1.0	Blue Jays	Michael Saunders, LF	4	1	2	2	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	White Sox	Adam Eaton, RF	3	1	2	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Cards' Adam Wainwright, with a one-hit shutout, tops players for Tuesday, May 20, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright, Tuesday’s Player of the Day, rises to second place among all players in Box-Toppers points this season and takes the lead among National League pitchers.

Wainwright pitched a complete game, one-hit shutout, striking out nine—allowing just the one baserunner in the fourth inning—in the 5-0 win over the Diamondbacks.

Wainwright earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.0 for the season. He moves from fifth to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings (see the updated top 10 list on the home page). He passes previous NL pitching leader, Johnny Cueto of the Reds (7.7). He trails only Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies (9.1) in Box-Toppers points this season.

Chris Davis of the Orioles is American League Player of the Day. Davis hit three homers, went 4-for-5 and drove in five runs in the 9-2 win over the Pirates.

Denard Span of the Nationals is NL Batter of the Day. Span went 5-for-5, scored twice and drove in two runs in the 9-4 win over the Reds.

Notable: Braves pitcher Julio Teheran rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday. Teheran (CG 0R 8K W in the 5-0 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 6.7 for the season. He is in seventh among all players in Box-Toppers points and fourth among NL pitchers. (See the updated top 10 player rankings on the home page.)

Wainwright receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Davis receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Span receives 1.5 for being NL Batter of the Day.

All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

520	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	17.0	Cardinals	Adam Wainwright (W, 7-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	1	0	0	0	9
	9.0	Braves	Julio Teheran (W, 3-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	6	0	0	2	8
AL	8.0	Orioles	Chris Davis 1B	5	4	4	5	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	Angels	Tyler Skaggs (W, 4-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	1	6
	4.2	Cubs	Jason Hammel (W, 5-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.2	4	1	1	1	6
BAT	4.0	Nationals	Denard Span CF	5	2	5	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Blue Jays	Melky Cabrera LF	5	3	4	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	White Sox	Andre Rienzo (W, 4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	2	2	2	8
	3.0	Athletics	Drew Pomeranz (W, 4-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	0	0	2	3
	2.0	Dodgers	Adrian Gonzalez 1B	4	1	3	2	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Rockies	Wilin Rosario C	4	1	2	3	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Phillies	Jimmy Rollins SS	4	2	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Twins	Glen Perkins (S, 13)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Indians	Asdrubal Cabrera SS	3	1	2	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Mariners	Nick Franklin DH	3	1	2	1	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-

Marlins' Jose Fernandez tops players for Sunday, July 28, rising to 15th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Note: Box-Toppers is playing catch-up after time away. These are Box-Toppers results for Sunday, July 28:

Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez is Sunday's Player of the Day. Fernandez struck out 13 over eight innings in the 3-2 win over the Pirates.

Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season. He rises to 15th place among all players. He is the 22nd player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. 

Indians pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez is American League Player of the Day. Jimenez allowed no runs and two hits over eight innings in the 6-0 win over the Rangers. 

Denard Span of the Nationals is National League Batter of the Day. Span hit a two-run home run and went 4-for-4 in the 14-1 win over the Mets. 

Nick Franklin of the Mariners is AL Batter of the Day. Franklin hit two home runs, drove in four and went 3-for-4 in the 6-4 win over the Twins. 

Fernandez receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Jimenez receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Span and Franklin each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Sunday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

728	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	12.0	Marlins	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jose Fernandez (W, 7-5)	8.0	5	2	2	0	13
	11.0	Padres	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Tyson Ross (W, 2-4)	8.0	3	0	0	1	7
AL	9.0	Indians	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Ubaldo Jimenez (W, 8-5)	8.0	2	0	0	3	6
	9.0	Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jon Lester (W, 10-6)	7.0	4	0	0	2	8
	9.0	`Blue Jays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Todd Redmond	6.0	3	1	1	2	10
	7.2	`Dodgers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Chris Capuano	6.2	3	0	0	0	4
BAT	6.0	Nationals	Denard Span CF	4	3	4	3	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
BAT	5.0	Mariners	Nick Franklin 2B	4	2	3	4	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	5.0	Cubs	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Travis Wood (W, 7-7)	7.0	4	1	0	4	7
	4.0	Yankees	Alfonso Soriano LF	5	2	4	3	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	4.0	`Royals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Luke Hochevar	2.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	Athletics	Eric Sogard 2B	4	2	3	2	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Tigers	Jhonny Peralta SS	5	1	2	4	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Braves	Chris Johnson 3B	4	3	3	0	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Rockies	Michael Cuddyer RF	4	2	2	2	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.