Angels' JC Ramirez tops players for Tuesday, April 25; Dodgers' Kershaw maintains top ranking in Box-Toppers points

Angels pitcher JC Ramirez is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, making his Box-Toppers debut.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 25:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	6.0
2	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	5.7
3	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	5.0
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	4.7
5	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc al	4.0
6	Harper, Bryce 3011	rf	dc nl	4.0
7	Holland, Greg 2906	pi cp	col nl	4.0
8	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	3.7
9	Chacin, Jhoulys 2711	pi mr sp	sd nl	3.7
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	3.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawmaintains his first-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. And Twins pitcher Ervin Santana rises to second place—first among American League players—after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Ramirez pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing two hits, in the 2-1, 11-inning win over the Athletics. Ramirez picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.

This was also Ramirez’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Ramirez made his Major League debut June 23, 2013, and was playing in his 114th career game. He is the 3,778th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Player of the Day—Trea Turner of the Nationals hit for the cycle and went 4-for-6, scoring four times and driving in seven runs, in the 15-12 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—Ian Kinsler of the Tigers doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in two runs, in the 19-9 win over the Mariners.

Kinsler has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Rangers and has 63.6 career points, second Among active AL second basemen (trailing Robinson Cano of the Mariners, who has 75.4). Kinsler’s best season was 2009 with the Rangers, when he had 11.2 points, eighth among AL batters. He had 6.0 points in 2016 with the Tigers, fifth among AL second basemen.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Trea Turner.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw maintained his spot atop Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Kershaw (7IP 6H R BB 7K W in the 2-1 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season. Kershaw also now has 189.7 career Box-Toppers points, fourth-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails third-ranked player Curt Schilling (194.1). Kershaw leads active players in career Box-Toppers points.

Also, Twins pitcher Ervin Santana rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Santana (7IP 4H R 2BB 6K W in the 8-1 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.7 for the season, rising from fourth to second place among all players and first among AL players, passing Royals pitcher Jason Vargas (5.0). 

Santana also now has 103.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 67th-place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Tuesday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2) and Miguel Tejada (102.3). (It should be noted that if Griffey’s entire career from 1989 were tracked, rough estimates would give him about 150 Box-Toppers points.) Santana now trails 66th-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0).

Scoring—Ramirez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Turner earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Kinsler earns 1.5 points for being AL 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

4/25	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.0	`LAA 2, OAK 1 (F/11)	JC Ramirez	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	2	7
NL	9.0	WSH 15, COL 12	Trea Turner, SS	6	4	4	7		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	TB 2, BAL 0	Chase Whitley (W,1-0; H,2)	-	-	-	-		3.0	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	5.0	DET 19, SEA 9	Ian Kinsler, 2B	5	4	4	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	ARI 9, SD 3	Paul Goldschmidt, 1B	4	2	4	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	MIL 9, CIN 1	Hernan Perez, SS-CF	3	2	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	LAD 2, SF 1	Clayton Kershaw (W,4-1)	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	1	7
	5.0	MIN 8, TEX 1	Ervin Santana (W,4-0)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	2	6
	4.0	TOR 6, STL 5 (F/11)	Jason Grilli (W,1-2)	-	-	-	-		1	0	0	0	0	3
	3.2	CHW 10, KC 5	Dan Jennings (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-		1.2	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	CHC 1, PIT 0	Kyle Hendricks (W,2-1)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	2	3
	1.0	HOU 4, CLE 2	Norichika Aoki, RF-LF	4	1	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-

MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
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	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	6.0	30.4	130.1	189.7	-18.4
Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	5.7	9.7	42.5	103.0	1.7
Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	2.0	6.5	37.9	41.9	-2.5
Grilli, Jason 2209	pi cp mr	tor al	2.0	3.0	16.7	27.4	1.0
Ramirez, JC 3778	pi sp	ana al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Turner, Trea 3730	ss	dc nl	1.7	4.2	4.2	4.2	-0.8
Kinsler, Ian 2144	2b	det al	1.5	7.5	29.5	63.6	-4.5
Hendricks, Kyle 3386	pi sp	chi nl	1.0	14.4	29.1	29.1	-12.4
Perez, Hernan 3577	ss cf 3b 2b	mil nl	1.0	6.0	7.0	7.0	-4.0
Jennings, Dan 3591	pi mr cp	chi al	1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	0.0
Aoki, Norichika 3110	rf lf	hou al	1.0	1.0	9.0	9.0	1.0
Whitley, Chase 3352	pi mr sp	tb al	1.0	1.0	4.7	4.7	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Jon Lester tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 14; Dodgers' Kershaw rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Cubs pitcher Jon Lester is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming the fifth player this season with 20 Box-Toppers points.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 14:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	23.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	21.0
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	20.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	20.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	20.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym al	15.7
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
10	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	lad nl	14.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw earns his first Box-Toppers point in nearly three months and despite not earning points for almost half the season, rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings for 2016.

Player of the Day—Lester pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, one walk and striking out eight, in the 7-0 win over the Cardinals.

Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 20.1 for the season. He maintains his rank of fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, fourth among National League pitchers.

This is Lester’s second season with 20 or more Box-Toppers points. In 2010, he had 23.4 points with the Red Sox, leading American League pitchers.

Lester also now has 141.2 career Box-Toppers points, 27th-most among players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 26th-ranked player Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8) on the “all-time” list.

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits, one walk and striking out six, in the 1-0 win over the Red Sox.

Gausman earns 1.7 Box-Toppers point for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 10.8 for the season. He becomes the 40th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 32nd among all players, 13th among AL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Jean Segura of the Diamondbacks hit two homers and went 5-for-6, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 11-6 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—Ian Kinsler of the Tigers tripled, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-6 win over the Twins.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning his first Player of the Game honor Wednesday in nearly three months.

Kershaw (5IP H 0R 0BB 5K ND in the 2-0 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.0 for the season, rising from fourth to second in player rankings. Kershaw trails overall leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (23.7 Box-Toppers points) by 2.7.

Kershaw’s second-place spot is remarkable since he was on the disabled list for two months with lower back issues and last earned Player of the Game honors June 20. Kershaw held a dominant lead in Box-Toppers points for much of the middle of the season, leading in points from May 7 to Aug. 25, when Scherzer passed him.

Kershaw also now has 180.3 career Box-Toppers points, seventh-most among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and third-most among all active players, behind Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (184.0) and Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.3). (See the homepage for the updated top 20 list of all players since 1995.)

Fernandez—Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez, now ranked third in Box-Toppers player rankings with 20.4 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game in his start Wednesday.

Fernandez (7IP 6H 4R 2BB 3K W in the 7-5 win over the Braves) had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of −6.0. Teammate Marcell Ozuna earned Player of the Game honors (HR 2-4 R 4BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0.

Notable—Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark now has 12.7 Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Roark (7IP 3H 0R 4BB 7K W in the 1-0 win over the Mets) now ranks 18th among all players and 13th among NL pitchers.

Scoring—Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gausman earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Segura and Kinsler each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/14	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	12.0	CHC 7, STL 0	Jon Lester (W,17-4)	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	1	8
AL	9.0	BAL 1, BOS 0	Kevin Gausman (W,8-10)	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	0	0	1	6
	9.0	`LAD 2, NYY 0	Clayton Kershaw	-	-	-	-		5.0	1	0	0	0	5
	7.0	WSH 1, NYM 0	Tanner Roark (W,15-8)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	4	7
	6.0	MIL 7, CIN 0	Junior Guerra (W,9-3)	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	2	5
	6.0	OAK 8, KC 0	Sean Manaea (W,6-9)	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	0	0	1	5
BAT	5.0	ARI 11, COL 6	Jean Segura, 2B	6	3	5	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.1	SD 3, SF 1	Luis Perdomo (W,8-9)	-	-	-	-		6.1	4	1	1	1	5
BAT	4.0	DET 9, MIN 6	Ian Kinsler, 2B	5	2	4	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	TB 8, TOR 1	Corey Dickerson, LF	5	1	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	MIA 7, ATL 5	Marcell Ozuna, RF	4	1	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	CLE 6, CHW 1	Coco Crisp, LF	4	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	PHI 6, PIT 2	Tommy Joseph, 1B	4	3	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	HOU 8, TEX 4	Evan Gattis, C	3	2	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	SEA 2, LAA 1	Edwin Diaz (S,16)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
		`Denotes that the 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 (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	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	21.0	46.7	146.8	180.3	-4.7
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	20.1	32.1	78.3	141.2	8.1
Roark, Tanner 3261	pi sp	dc nl	12.7	13.7	28.7	28.7	11.7
Gausman, Kevin 3191	pi sp	bal al	10.8	16.5	24.2	24.2	5.1
Guerra, Junior 3633	pi sp	mil nl	9.0	9.0	9.0	9.0	9.0
Diaz, Edwin 3690	pi cp	sea al	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0
Manaea, Sean 3637	pi sp	oak al	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.7
Kinsler, Ian 2144	2b	det al	6.0	12.5	31.7	62.1	-0.5
Ozuna, Marcell 3190	cf rf	fla nl	5.0	8.0	18.5	18.5	2.0
Dickerson, Corey 3222	lf	tb al	4.5	7.5	16.5	16.5	1.5
Segura, Jean 3173	2b	ari nl	4.5	6.5	11.0	11.0	2.5
Gattis, Evan 3179	ca	hou al	4.0	8.0	10.0	10.0	0.0
Crisp, Coco 1876	lf	cle al	3.0	5.0	21.5	38.7	1.0
Joseph, Tommy 3681	1b ph	phi nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Perdomo, Luis D. 3715	pi sp	sd nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Giants' Cueto tops players for Wednesday, May 18, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to second place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 18:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	10.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	8.0
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	7.7
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	6.7
5	Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	bal al	6.7
6	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	6.4
7	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	6.1
8	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	6.0
9	Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	5.7
10	Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	5.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cueto pitched a complete game, allowing one run, four hits and striking out eight, in the 2-1 win over the Padres.

Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season, rising to second in season player rankings, behind overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (10.0).

American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Nathan Eovaldi allowed one run and one hit over six innings, striking out five, in the 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks.

American League Batter of the Day—Matt Wieters of the Orioles homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-2 win over the Mariners.

Wieters had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 and won AL Batter of the Day honors on a tiebreaker over Ian Kinsler of the Tigers, who had an identical game score and nearly identical batting line. Kinsler was Player of the Game in the 6-3 win over the Twins (HR 3-4 2R 2BI). Wieters beat Kinsler because he had two extra base hits (a home run and a double) while Kinsler had one (home run).

National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors.

Rankings—In addition to Cueto, two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

• Athletics pitcher Rich Hill (6IP 3H R 6K W in the 8-1 win over the Rangers) rises to sixth place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.4 for the season. Hill ranks second among AL pitchers.
• Red Sox pitcher David Price (7.1IP 5H 2R 5K W in the 5-2 win over the Royals) rises to ninth place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.7 for the season. Price ranks fourth among AL pitchers.

Notable—Two players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points also won Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

• Cubs pitcher John Lackey (6IP 4H R 5K ND in the 13-inning, 2-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 112.5 for his career. He ranks 50th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began and trails 49th-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8). Lackey has 4.7 points for the season.
• Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (6.2IP 6H 0R 5K W in the 2-0 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 104.3 for his career. He rises to 60th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” list. He trails 59th-ranked player, Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (104.3). (Beltre is ranked ahead of Wainwright on a tiebreaker because he had more 2015 Box-Toppers points—12.5 vs. 3.0.) Wainwright has 2.5 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Scoring—Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Eovaldi earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Wieters earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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

5/18	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	Giants	Johnny Cueto (W, 6-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	4	1	1	2	8
AL	8.0	Yankees	Nathan Eovaldi (W,4-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	1	1	1	0	5
	6.0	Athletics	Rich Hill (W,6-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	1	1	6
	5.2	Braves	Julio Teheran (W,1-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	5	0	0	0	3
	4.2	Cardinals	Adam Wainwright (W,4-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	6	0	0	1	5
	4.1	Rays	Alex Colome (S,10)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	3
	4.0	Indians	Cody Allen (W,1-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.2	`Royals	Ian Kennedy	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.2	6	2	2	1	9
	3.1	Nationals	Gio Gonzalez (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	5	1	1	1	5
BAT	3.0	Orioles	Matt Wieters, C	4	2	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Tigers	Ian Kinsler, 2B	4	2	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Angels	Mike Trout, CF	4	3	3	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Astros	Jason Castro, C	3	3	2	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	`Cubs	John Lackey	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	1	1	2	5
	2.1	Red Sox	David Price (W,6-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	5	2	2	1	5
	2.0	Phillies	Jeanmar Gomez (S,16)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
		`Denotes that the 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 (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	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	8.0	20.8	72.0	91.4	-4.8
Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	6.4	10.4	10.4	30.1	2.4
Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	5.7	26.8	82.8	99.5	-15.4
Kennedy, Ian 2723	pi sp	kc al	5.0	11.7	55.5	61.5	-1.7
Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	4.7	14.4	34.1	112.5	-5.0
Eovaldi, Nathan 2928	pi sp	nyy al	3.7	5.7	22.8	22.8	1.7
Trout, Mike 2949	cf	ana al	3.0	15.0	39.5	39.5	-9.0
Colome, Alex 3189	pi cp	tb al	3.0	8.0	11.7	11.7	-2.0
Kinsler, Ian 2144	2b	det al	2.5	9.0	28.2	58.6	-4.0
Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	2.5	5.5	53.6	104.3	-0.5
Gonzalez, Gio 2626	pi sp	dc nl	2.0	11.7	68.8	82.5	-7.7
Teheran, Julio 3176	pi sp	atl nl	2.0	9.7	37.8	37.8	-5.7
Gomez, Jeanmar 2759	pi cp	phi nl	2.0	2.0	7.0	9.0	2.0
Wieters, Matt 2643	ca	bal al	1.5	2.5	20.5	26.2	0.5
Allen, Cody 3265	pi mr cp	cle al	1.0	5.0	10.0	10.0	-3.0
Castro, Jason 2743	ca	hou al	1.0	1.0	7.5	8.5	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Noah Syndergaard tops players for Tuesday, April 5; Rays' Odorizzi tops AL players

Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Syndergaard struck out nine over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 2-0 win over the Royals.

American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi struck out 10 over 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 3-2 win over the Blue Jays. Odorizzi did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because when he exited, the Rays trailed 2-1.

American League Batter of the Day—Ian Kinsler of the Tigers hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-6, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-7 win over the Marlins.

Kinsler has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 11 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Rangers and has 57.6 career points, second among active AL second basemen (behind Robinson Cano of the Mariners who has 67.4). Kinsler’s best season was 2009 with the Rangers when he had 11.2 points, eighth among AL batters. In 2015, he had 6.5 points, fourth among AL second basemen.

National League Batter of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks homered, tripled and went 2-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 11-6 win over the Rockies. Goldschmidt ranked fourth among NL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 10.2.

Notable—David Price (6IP 5H 2R 10K W in the 6-2 win over the Indians) earns his first Player of the Game honor pitching for the Red Sox. Price had 21.1 Box-Toppers points in 2015 pitching for the Tigers and Blue Jays, second among AL pitchers.

Streak—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons. Lester (7IP 4H R 4K W) was Player of the Game in the 6-1 win over the Angels. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Red Sox and has 122.1 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks fifth among active NL pitchers. His best year was 2010 with the Red Sox when he led AL pitchers with 23.4 Box-Toppers points. In 2015, he had 12.0 points with the Cubs, 13th among NL pitchers.

Scoring—Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Odorizzi earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Kinsler and Goldschmidt each earn 1.5 points for being top batter in their league for 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/5	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Mets	Noah Syndergaard (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	1	9
	10.0	Dodgers	Scott Kazmir (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	1	0	0	0	5
AL	6.2	`Rays	Jake Odorizzi	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.2	4	2	1	2	10
	5.0	Cubs	Jon Lester (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	0	4
	5.0	Red Sox	David Price (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	2	2	2	10
BAT	3.0	Tigers	Ian Kinsler, 2B	6	2	3	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Dbacks	Paul Goldschmidt, 1B	4	1	2	4	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Mariners	Seth Smith, RF	3	2	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Giants	Johnny Cueto (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	0	4
	3.0	Pirates	Kyle Lobstein (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	1	0	0	1	3
	2.0	White Sox	David Robertson (S,2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	Astros	Luke Gregerson (S,1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Orioles' Ubaldo Jimenez (7IP 0R H 8K) tops players for Saturday, April 11

Orioles pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez is Saturday’s Player of the Day. 

Jimenez pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out eight, in the 7-1 win over the Blue Jays.

National League Player of the Day—Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out nine, in the 6-0 win over the Pirates.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 11.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	2.0
2	Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	2.0
3	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	2.0
4	Wilson, C.J. 2074	pi sp	ana al	2.0
5	Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	2.0
6	Pomeranz, Drew 3061	pi sp	oak al	2.0
7	Jimenez, Ubaldo 2349	pi sp	bal al	2.0
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	1.7
9	Harang, Aaron 1599	pi sp	phi nl	1.7
10	Peralta, David 3370	lf	ari nl	1.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Batter of the Day—Ian Kinsler of the Tigers went 4-for-5, scored three times and drove in two runs, in the 9-6 win over the Indians.

National League Batter of the Day—Dexter Fowler of the Cubs hit two triples, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-5 win over the Rockies.

Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Archie Bradley made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. It was also his Major League debut. Bradley (6IP H 0R 6K in the 6-0 win over the Dodgers) is the 3,438th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Kershaw—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, last year’s overall leader in Box-Toppers points with 31.5, has yet to earn his first Box-Toppers points of the season after two starts. Only once last season did Kershaw have two straight starts when he failed to win Player of the Game honors and earn Box-Toppers points (May 11 and May 17). Saturday he gave up 10 hits and six runs (five earned) over 6 1/3 innings, striking out five, and picking up the loss in the 6-0 loss to the Diamondbacks.

Scoring—Jimenez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Nelson earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Kinsler and Fowler each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

411	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	Orioles	Ubaldo Jimenez (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	1	0	0	1	8
NL	12.0	Brewers	Jimmy Nelson (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	2	9
	10.0	Rays	Chris Archer (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	1	0	0	1	5
	8.0	Padres	James Shields (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	1	1	7
	7.0	Dbacks	Archie Bradley (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	1	0	0	4	6
	6.0	`Phillies	Cole Hamels	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	1	1	2	5
BAT	4.0	Tigers	Ian Kinsler 2B	5	3	4	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	White Sox	David Robertson (S, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	3.2	Cardinals	Trevor Rosenthal (S, 2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.2	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	3.0	Cubs	Dexter Fowler CF	3	2	2	2	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Mariners	Nelson Cruz RF	5	1	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Royals	Greg Holland (S, 3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Yankees	Chris Young CF	4	1	1	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Braves	Julio Teheran (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	3	1	4	5
	0.0	Rangers	Rougned Odor 2B	3	1	1	1	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Blue Jays' Hutchison tops players for Saturday, Aug. 30; White Sox' Sale rises to 8th in Box-Toppers rankings

Blue Jays pitcher Drew Hutchison is Saturday’s Player of the Day, while White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Hutchison pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out nine, in the 2-0 win over the Yankees. Hutchison earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks 18th among all players and 10th among American League pitchers.

Sale rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.) Sale (7IP 13K W in the 6-3 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.7 for the season. He ranks fifth among AL pitchers.

Giants pitcher Jake Peavy is National League Player of the Day. Peavy took a no-hitter into the eighth inning before giving up a one-out single. He pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just the one hit and striking out eight, in the 3-1 win over the Brewers.

Matt Holliday of the Cardinals is NL Batter of the Day. Holliday hit two home runs and drove in five runs in the 13-2 win over the Cubs.

Ian Kinsler of the Tigers is AL Batter of the Day. Kinsler went 3-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 8-4 win over the White Sox.

Notable: Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rose to 15th place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Strasburg (7.2IP R 8K W in the 3-1 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.7 for the season. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.

Hutchison receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Peavy receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Holliday and Kinsler each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

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

Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed, click here.

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

830	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	Blue Jays	Drew Hutchison (W, 9-11)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	1	0	0	2	9
NL	11.2	Giants	Jake Peavy (W, 3-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	1	0	0	3	8
	10.0	Astros	Scott Feldman (W, 8-10)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	0	0	1	5
	10.0	Rays	Jake Odorizzi (W, 10-11)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	1	0	0	3	7
	8.0	`Angels	Cory Rasmus	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.0	1	0	0	0	6
	7.2	Nationals	Stephen Strasburg (W, 11-10)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	6	1	1	0	8
BAT	6.0	Cardinals	Matt Holliday LF	3	2	2	5	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	White Sox	Chris Sale (W, 11-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	3	3	2	13
	6.0	`Padres	Ian Kennedy	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	3	8
	5.0	Rockies	Tyler Matzek (W, 4-9)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	3	4
	4.0	Marlins	Jarred Cosart (W, 3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	7	0	0	1	5
	3.0	Orioles	Zach Britton (S, 30)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.2	`Indians	Trevor Bauer	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.2	4	0	0	5	6
	2.1	`Pirates	Vance Worley (W, 6-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	3	2	1	2	4
BAT	2.0	Tigers	Ian Kinsler 2B	5	1	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Cubs	Logan Watkins RF	3	2	2	1	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Phillies	Ryan Howard 1B	4	1	1	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-

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