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Angels pitcher Patrick Sandoval is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, three players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors—Giants pitcher Carlos Rodon rises to fourth place, Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert rises to eighth and Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt rises to 10th.
Read MoreRays pitcher Tyler Glasnow is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Thursday’s opening day games.
Also Thursday, Astros pitcher Zack Greinke has now earned Box-Toppers points in 15 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreCubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Meanwhile, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander extended his consecutive streak of seasons earning Box-Toppers points to 15, tied for the third-longest active streak.
Read MoreRockies pitcher Jon Gray is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, Nationals pitcher Patrick Corbin rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MorePhillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Nola struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Dodgers.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, Box-Toppers’ dominant player over the period 2012-2017, remains Box-Toppers’ dominant player over the period 2013-2017.
The 2013-2017 Box-Toppers point total for all players comes from dropping the points they earned in the 2012 season from their 2012-2017 totals. Box-Toppers uses this longer-term total to gauge a players’ staying power over the recent past.
And at the beginning of a season, when the rolling six-year total drops the earliest year of that timeframe, a player’s change in position in the rankings can give a clue to whether that player is improving, holding steady or declining.
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The Cleveland Indians are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2018 preseason rankings, the same position where they finished the 2017 season.
The Nationals top NL teams and the World Series-champion Astros fall to 8th.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Tampa Bay Rays and the Kansas City Royals had the biggest declines.
Read MoreAnthony Rendon of the Nationals had the best single-game performance by a batter in the 2017 season as measured by Box-Toppers game score.
It also appears to be the highest game score for a batter in Box-Toppers’ 23 seasons of record keeping.
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 MoreThe Box-Toppers All-Star teams for 2012-17 consist of the best players over the past six seasons, which includes 12 of the 27 players who are also on Box-Toppers 2016-17 All-Star teams.
Also, among the 27 players on the teams, there are 11 players who are on Box-Toppers 2017 All-Star teams and 10 who are on All-Star teams over all three time spans—for 2017, for 2016-17 and for 2012-17.Leading the 2012-17 All-Stars is Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who ranks first in Box-Toppers points over the past six seasons with 147.2.
Read MoreFive of the top 10 players in batting average for 2017 are among Box-Toppers’ top 100 players.
But two of the top 10 on the list were not even among the top half of players in 2017, including the overall batting average leader, Jose Altuve of the Astros, who ranked 387th among players in 2017 with just 2.5 Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw leads players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2012.
Kershaw has 147.2 Box-Toppers points over the period 2012-2017, 18.3 points ahead of second-place player in that span, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (128.9). However, Kershaw’s lead in the six-year rolling Box-Toppers point total is down from last year and is his narrowest lead since 2013.
Read MoreOnly 7 of 17 Silver Slugger Award winners also led their position in Box-Toppers points
Read MoreCardinals pitcher Luke Weaver is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Yankees pitcher Luis Severino rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, despite throwing a no-hitter for nine innings and having a Box-Toppers game score of +16.0, Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill did not earn Player of the Game honors Wednesday after giving up a walk-off, 10th-inning homer in the 1-0 loss to the Pirates.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers top Box-Toppers team rankings for the fifth straight week.
Meanwhile, the Houston Astros maintain their lead in Box-Toppers rankings among American League teams for the 10th straight week and the Kansas City Royals are the week’s hottest team, thanks in part to recent player trades.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, bolstering his lead among American League pitchers in season player rankings.
Sale struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the Mariners.
Read MoreBlue Jays pitcher Dominic Leone is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Leone pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless middle relief, allowing no hits, no runs, one walk, striking out four and earning the win, in the 8-6 win over the Red Sox.
Read MoreA look at top players in Box-Toppers points by position in both leagues over both 2017 and the combined 2016-17 seasons.
Read More3 of 4 major postseason award winners are among Box-Toppers top-ranked pitchers or batters on their teams. The exception: AL Cy Young Rick Porcello, who ranks 6th among Red Sox players.
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Rockies pitcher Chad Bettis is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Bettis pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking none, in the 6-0 win over the Giants.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 22.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 18.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 18.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 17.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.0 |
| 10 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.7 |
American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez pitched a complete game, allowing three runs, two hits, one walk and striking out six, in the 7-3 win over the Rays.
American League Batter of the Day—Eric Hosmer of the Royals hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 11-5 win over the Twins.
National League Batter of the Day—Chris Coghlan of the Cubs hit the go-ahead, seventh-inning pinch-hit single and went 2-for-2, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 7-2 win over the Brewers.
Notable—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander has the most season Box-Toppers points among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday.
Verlander (7IP 8H 2R BB 11K ND in the 5-3, 11-inning win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season. He ranks 27th among all players and 10th among AL pitchers.
Verander also now has 135.6 career Box-Toppers points, 29th-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 28th-ranked player, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (138.2).
Also notable—For the sixth time this season, a pitcher has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for batting and Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals, who did it Monday, has now done it twice in 2016.
Wainwright (2B 2-3 R 3BI in the 12-6 win over the Pirates) was also Player of the Game for batting May 2. It is the fourth time in his career Wainwright has earned Player of the Game honors for batting. He also did it July 24, 2012 and Sept. 18, 2013.
Wainwright also picked up the win in the game (5IP 7H 4R BB 5K W). His Box-Toppers game score for pitching was −6.0. His Box-Toppers game score for batting was +3.0, best of all Cardinals players Monday.
Wainwright earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 111.0 career points. He rises to 53rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing Tom Glavine (110.6) on the “all-time” list and now trails 52nd-ranked player Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (111.3). Wainwright has 9.2 Box-Toppers points on the season, 20th among NL pitchers.
Debut—Trea Turner of the Nationals made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Turner (HR 2B 3-4 R 3BI in the 6-4 win over the Braves) made his Major League debut Aug. 21, 2015, and was playing in his 75th career game. He is the 3,730th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Bettis earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Jimenez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Hosmer and Coghlan each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/5 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | COL 6, SF 0 | Chad Bettis (W,12-7) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| 12.0 | SD 2, BOS 1 | Edwin Jackson (W,4-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | ||
| 8.1 | LAD 10, ARI 2 | Kenta Maeda (W,14-8) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| AL | 6.0 | BAL 7, TB 3 | Ubaldo Jimenez (W,6-11) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | KC 11, MIN 5 | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | `DET 5, CHW 3 (11) | Justin Verlander | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | ||
| 4.0 | SEA 14, TEX 6 | Franklin Gutierrez, RF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | CHC 7, MIL 2 | Chris Coghlan, PH-RF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | NYY 5, TOR 3 | Jacoby Ellsbury, CF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | WSH 6, ATL 4 | Trea Turner, 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | NYM 5, CIN 0 | Matt Reynolds, SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | STL 12, PIT 6 | Adam Wainwright, P | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | LAA 10, OAK 7 | Andrew Bailey (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | PHI 6, MIA 2 | Peter Bourjos, RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | HOU 6, CLE 2 | Alex Bregman, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | det al | 11.0 | 17.4 | 80.6 | 135.6 | 4.6 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 9.2 | 12.2 | 60.3 | 111.0 | 6.2 |
| Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 7.5 | 16.5 | 30.0 | 30.0 | -1.5 |
| Bettis, Chad 3481 | pi sp | col nl | 5.7 | 11.1 | 11.1 | 11.1 | 0.3 |
| Gutierrez, Franklin 2242 | rf | sea al | 3.5 | 4.5 | 8.5 | 23.5 | 2.5 |
| Jackson, Edwin 1812 | pi sp | sd nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 22.0 | 43.8 | 3.0 |
| Jimenez, Ubaldo 2349 | pi sp | bal al | 2.7 | 11.4 | 39.6 | 77.5 | -6.0 |
| Coghlan, Chris 2610 | 3b rf ph | chi nl | 2.5 | 3.5 | 10.0 | 16.5 | 1.5 |
| Bregman, Alex 3721 | 3b | hou al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Reynolds, Matt 3650 | ss ph | nym nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Ellsbury, Jacoby 2365 | cf | nyy al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 23.0 | 30.0 | -2.0 |
| Bourjos, Peter 2790 | rf | phi nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 12.5 | 13.5 | 0.0 |
| Bailey, Andrew 2549 | pi cp | ana al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 18.0 | 1.0 |
| Turner, Trea 3730 | 2b | dc nl | 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.