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Twins pitcher Joe Ryan is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third place in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, Marlins pitcher Pablo Lopez rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
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The Chicago White Sox rise to lead Box-Toppers weekly player rankings report, while the Los Angeles Dodgers tumble from first to eighth place.
Also, the Philadelphia Phillies rise to lead National League teams in Box-Toppers rankings and the New York Yankees are the week’s hottest team.
Read MoreOnly three of the 18 batters winning Silver Slugger Awards this week also were among the leaders at their positions in 2020 Box-Toppers point totals.
The awards are given to the top batter in each position in both leagues, voted on by Major League Baseball coaches and managers. Box-Toppers analyzes traditional box scores and tracks which player most helps his team win the most games, awarding points for the top player in each game.
Read MoreJose Abreu of the White Sox is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Abreu hit two three-run homers and went 4-for-4, scoring five times and driving in seven runs, in the 14-0 win over the Tigers.
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The New York Yankees are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2020 preseason rankings, rising from fifth place at the end of the 2019 season.
The 2019 World Series-champion Washington Nationals, ranked second at the end of 2019, maintain second place in the 2020 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Houston Astros—2019’s top-ranked team and American League champion—had the biggest decline.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Gerrit Cole and Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka are Saturday’s Box-Toppers top players in a pair of American League Division Series games.
Read MoreIndians pitcher Shane Bieber is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander regains the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after falling to second place two days ago. In addition, three other players in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday—Rays pitcher Charlie Morton (third place), Brewers pitcher Josh Hader (fourth place) and Nationals pitcher Patrick Corbin (10th place).
Read MoreMarlins pitcher Caleb Smith is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreMark Reynolds of the Nationals is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, recording the highest Box-Toppers game score for a batter this season.
Also Saturday, Rays pitcher Blake Snell rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
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The New York Yankees lead Box-Toppers weekly team rankings report for the second straight week.
Meanwhile, the Arizona Diamondbacks maintain their top spot among National League teams for the fourth straight week. And the Minnesota Twins were the hottest team of the past week.
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The New York Yankees, the past week’s hottest team, rise to lead Box-Toppers weekly team rankings report.
Meanwhile, the Arizona Diamondbacks maintain their top spot among National League teams.
Read MoreJose Abreu of the White Sox is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Monday was a slightly unusual day in which batters won both overall Player of the Day (Abreu) and NL Player of the Day honors (Carlos Asuaje of the Padres). In five of the nine games played, batters earned Player of the Game honors. And in the four games in which pitchers earned Player of the Game, their Box-Toppers game scores were relatively low, allowing batters to carry the day.
Read MoreDidi Gregorius of the Yankees is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Gregorius hit a pair of three-run homers and doubled in the 11-4 win over the Rays. Gregorius also went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in eight runs.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg and Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman are Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Players of the Day in two League Division Series games.
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(Other duties have put us behind updating Box-Toppers. Playing catch up …)
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Friday, Aug. 28 and rises to second place in season player rankings.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 19.4 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 18.1 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 5 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 17.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 17.0 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 16.7 |
| 8 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 16.4 |
| 9 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.0 |
| 10 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 15.8 |
Also, Kershaw rises to 16th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 and Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to 35th among all players since 1995.
Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 14 over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 4-1 win over the Cubs.
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 18.7 for the season and rising to second place among all players, behind overall leader, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (19.4 Box-Toppers points).
Kershaw also has 152.3 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 16th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With his points Friday, Kershaw passes one player on the “all-time” list, Greg Maddux (151.7 Box-Toppers points). (It should be noted that Maddux made his debut in 1986 and had seven 15-plus win seasons before Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995 and so, based on very rough extrapolations, would likely have about 250 career Box-Toppers points.) Kershaw now trails 15th-place player, Barry Bonds (153.2 points).
American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 4-1 win over the Orioles.
Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 122.5 for his career, rising to 35th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With his points Friday, Hamels passes Jered Weaver (122.1 Box-Toppers points). He trails 34th-place player Justin Verlander (122.9 points).
This was Hamels first Player of the Game honor since his trade from the Phillies.
Hamels now has 11.7 Box-Toppers points on the season and ranks 20th among all players, 11th among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Didi Gregorius of the Yankees homered and went 4-for-5, driving in six runs, in the 15-4 win over the Braves.
National League Batter of the Day—Martin Prado of the Marlins homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 4-3 win over the Nationals.
Notable—In addition to Kershaw and Hamels, one other player with more than 10 Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Friday—Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker (6.1IP 3H 0R 6K W in the 2-0 win over the White Sox). He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season. He ranks 21st among all players and 12th among AL pitchers.
Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Gregorius and Prado each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/28 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W,11-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | |
| AL | 10.0 | Rangers | Cole Hamels (W,8-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 10 | |
| 8.1 | Mariners | Taijuan Walker (W,10-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | Phillies | Aaron Nola (W,5-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | Yankees | Didi Gregorius, SS | 5 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Indians | Trevor Bauer (W,10-10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | Brewers | Taylor Jungmann (W,8-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | Blue Jays | Roberto Osuna (S,16) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | Royals | Greg Holland (S,29) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | Twins | Kyle Gibson (W,9-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Marlins | Martin Prado, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Red Sox | Jackie Bradley Jr., LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Dbacks | Aaron Hill, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Pirates | Gregory Polanco, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Giants | Marlon Byrd, RF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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.