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The Houston Astros rocketed to a huge lead in Box-Toppers team rankings this week, mainly due to acquiring Zack Greinke and other players at the July 31 trade deadline.
The Astros lead for the second week, but last week’s narrow lead has exploded to an enormous lead this week, as they gained the most Box-Toppers points of any team in the past week.
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 MoreRed Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Rays pitcher Charlie Morton rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreMets pitcher Jason Vargas is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Meanwhile, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia becomes the fourth player to reach 200 career Box-Toppers points (since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995) after earning American League Player of the Day honors Thursday.
Read MoreMookie Betts of the Red Sox is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming just the second batter this year with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.
Betts hit a three-run homer, doubled twice and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 11-6 win over the Yankees.
Read MoreCardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, Twins pitcher Jose Berrios maintains his fifth-place ranking in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors. Plus, Phillies pitcher Nick Pivetta rises to sixth place in player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
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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 MoreHow did baseball’s statistical leaders do in Box-Toppers points in 2017?
The leaders of five of the seven key statistics were among Box-Toppers’ overall top 100 players for 2017. However, Jose Altuve of the Astros who led the other two statistical categories—batting average and wins above replacement (WAR)—ranked far outside the overall top 100 players. Altuve ranked 387th with just 2.5 Box-Toppers points, 90th among American League batters.
Read MoreThree of the four pitchers who led the Major Leagues in wins in 2017 are among Box-Toppers’ top 10 players for the season.
And seven of the top 12 pitchers in wins in 2017 are among Box-Toppers’ top 10-ranked players.
Read MoreAndrew McCutchen of the Pirates is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, earning the third-highest Box-Toppers game score by a batter this season.
Also Tuesday, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale failed to secure Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors in his start Tuesday, as his team lost, leaving the door open for Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer or Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw to pass him in starts later this week in the season’s final days.
Read MoreRangers pitcher Cole Hamels is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to 18th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995.
Hamels struck out eight over eight innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 4-2 win over the Mariners.
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Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.0 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 12.1 |
| 5 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 6 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.0 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.4 |
| 8 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 9.4 |
| 9 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 9.4 |
| 10 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 9.0 |
Also Friday, two players rise in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors—Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood rises to sixth place and Royals pitcher Jason Vargas rises to 10th.
Player of the Day—deGrom struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Phillies.
deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season. He ranks 16th among all players and seventh among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Brett Gardner of the Yankees hit a grand slam, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 13-4 win over the Astros.
National League Batter of the Day—Hunter Pence of the Giants went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in five runs, in the 13-5 win over the Pirates.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Brett Gardner.
Rankings—Two players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday:
Debut—Deven Marrero of the Red Sox made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Marrero (2-4 R 3BI in the 7-4, 11-inning win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut June 28, 2015, and was playing in his 80th career game. He is the 3,842nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gardner earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Pence earns 1.5 points for being NL 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.
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.
| 6/30 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | NYM 2, PHI 1 | Jacob deGrom, W (8-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |
| 10.0 | CIN 5, CHC 0 | Scott Feldman, W (7-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 9.0 | ATL 3, OAK 1 | Mike Foltynewicz (W, 6-5) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | ||
| AL | 7.0 | NYY 13, HOU 4 | Brett Gardner (LF) | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | SEA 10, LAA 0 | Ariel Miranda (W, 7-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 7.0 | LAD 10, SD 4 | Alex Wood (W, 9-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | SF 13, PIT 5 | Hunter Pence (RF) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | MIL 3, MIA 2 | Stephen Vogt (C) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | COL 6, ARI 3 | Jon Gray (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 4.0 | CHW 8, TEX 7 | Anthony Swarzak (W, 4-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.2 | `TB 6, BAL 4 (F/10) | Jacob Faria | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | STL 8, WSH 1 | Yadier Molina (C) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | KC 8, MIN 1 | Jason Vargas (W, 12-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 7, TOR 4 (F/11) | Deven Marrero (3B) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.0 | 11.0 | 29.4 | 29.4 | 9.0 |
| Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 9.0 | 10.0 | 35.4 | 56.2 | 8.0 |
| deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 7.7 | 17.4 | 52.8 | 52.8 | -2.0 |
| Miranda, Ariel 3738 | pi sp | sea al | 6.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 4.0 |
| Feldman, Scott 2632 | pi sp | cin nl | 6.0 | 6.0 | 22.7 | 30.7 | 6.0 |
| Faria, Jacob 3816 | pi sp | tb al | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| Molina, Yadier 1967 | ca | stl nl | 3.0 | 7.0 | 16.5 | 37.7 | -1.0 |
| Swarzak, Anthony 2603 | pi mr cp | chi al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 10.7 | 3.0 |
| Pence, Hunter 2287 | rf | sf nl | 2.5 | 6.0 | 22.0 | 54.7 | -1.0 |
| Foltynewicz, Mike 3455 | pi sp | atl nl | 2.0 | 6.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | -2.0 |
| Gardner, Brett 2486 | lf | nyy al | 1.7 | 1.7 | 9.7 | 20.2 | 1.7 |
| Gray, Jon 3634 | pi sp | col nl | 1.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -6.0 |
| Vogt, Stephen 3503 | ca | mil nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | -3.0 |
| Marrero, Deven 3842 | 3b | bos al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Cubs pitcher Jon Lester is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.0 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 11.4 |
| 4 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 5 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 6 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 8.2 |
| 7 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 8.0 |
| 8 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.7 |
| 9 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 |
| 10 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 7.5 |
Also Tuesday, Royals pitcher Jason Vargas rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Lester struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and one walk, in the 14-3 win over the Mets.
Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 147.2 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 22nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes three players on the “all-time” list—David Ortiz (145.9), Jim Thome (146.7) and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (146.9). Lester now trails 21st-ranked player Javier Vazquez (148.3).
Lester also rises to seventh among active players in career Box-Toppers points, passing Cabrera. He trails sixth-ranked active player Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon (151.2). Lester has 4.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.
American League Player of the Day—Eddie Rosario of the Twins hit three home runs and went 4-for-5, driving in five runs, in the 20-7 win over the Mariners.
National League Batter of the Day—Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers hit two home runs, including a three-run homer, in the 7-5 win over the Indians. Bellinger also doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in four runs.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Eddie Rosario.
Rankings—Royals pitcher Jason Vargas rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Vargas (7IP 5H R BB 6K W in the 8-1 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers, behind Ervin Santana of the Twins (11.4) and Chris Sale of the Red Sox (8.4).
Debut—Franchy Cordero of the Padres made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Cordero (2HR 3-5 3R 2BI in the 6-2 win over the Reds) made his Major League debut May 27 and was playing in his 16th career game. He is the 3,821st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rosario earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Bellinger earns 1.5 points for being NL 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.
| 6/13 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | CHC 14, NYM 3 | Jon Lester (W,4-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| AL | 7.0 | MIN 20, SEA 7 | Eddie Rosario, LF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | STL 6, MIL 0 | Lance Lynn (W,5-3) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | ||
| 5.1 | TB 8, TOR 1 | Jacob Faria (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | LAD 7, CLE 5 | Cody Bellinger, 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | WSH 10, ATL 5 | Ryan Zimmerman, 1B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | KC 8, SF 1 | Jason Vargas (W,9-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | TEX 4, HOU 2 | Rougned Odor, 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | MIL 8, STL 5 | Keon Broxton, CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | MIA 8, OAK 1 | Jose Urena (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | ARI 7, DET 6 | Brandon Drury, 2B | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SD 6, CIN 2 | Franchy Cordero, CF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | PIT 5, COL 2 | Andrew McCutchen, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CHW 6, BAL 1 | Matt Davidson, 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.2 | `LAA 3, NYY 2 (F/11) | JC Ramirez | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 0.0 | BOS 4, PHI 3 (F/12) | Andrew Benintendi, LF | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 8.0 | 9.0 | 34.4 | 55.2 | 7.0 |
| Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | stl nl | 4.7 | 4.7 | 60.6 | 60.6 | 4.7 |
| Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 | 1b | dc nl | 4.5 | 6.0 | 25.7 | 60.8 | 3.0 |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 4.0 | 26.1 | 71.6 | 147.2 | -18.1 |
| Ramirez, JC 3778 | pi sp | ana al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Rosario, Eddie 3542 | lf | min al | 3.7 | 6.7 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 0.7 |
| Bellinger, Cody 3781 | 1b lf | lad nl | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Broxton, Keon 3785 | cf | mil nl | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | cf | pit nl | 3.0 | 10.0 | 41.5 | 56.9 | -4.0 |
| Benintendi, Andrew 3815 | lf | bos al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Urena, Jose 3492 | pi sp | fla nl | 2.0 | 4.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | -0.7 |
| Drury, Brandon 3744 | 2b lf | ari nl | 2.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 0.5 |
| Faria, Jacob 3816 | pi sp | tb al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Odor, Rougned 3336 | 2b | tex al | 1.0 | 7.5 | 12.0 | 12.0 | -5.5 |
| Davidson, Matt 3292 | 3b | chi al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Cordero, Franchy 3821 | cf | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his spot atop season player rankings.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.7 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.0 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 9.4 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 5 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.7 |
| 6 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 7.4 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 7.4 |
| 8 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.0 |
| 9 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 10 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 7.0 |
Also Friday, three other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel and Royals pitcher Jason Vargas.
Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 14 over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Brewers. Kershaw did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Dodgers trailed 1-0 when he exited.
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.7 for the season, maintaining his first place spot in season player rankings, ahead of second-place player, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (10.0).
Kershaw also now has 196.4 career Box-Toppers points, third among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails second-place player Pedro Martinez (244.8). Kershaw leads all active players in career points.
American League Player of the Day—Danny Valencia of the Mariners homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 12-4 win over the Rays.
National League Batter of the Day—Elias Diaz of the Pirates hit a three-run homer and doubled in the 12-7 win over the Mets. Diaz went 2-for-5, driving in six runs.
This was Diaz’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Diaz made his Major League debut Sept. 12, 2015, and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,813rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Danny Valencia.
Rankings—Three other players who earned Player of the Game honors Friday rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings:
Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg (7IP 4H 2R 3BB 7K W in the 13-3 win over the Athletics) rises to sixth place (from ninth) with 7.4 season Box-Toppers points. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.
Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel (6IP 3H 0R 2BB 7K W in the 7-1 win over the Rangers) rises to seventh place with 7.4 season Box-Toppers points. He ranks third among AL pitchers.
Royals pitcher Jason Vargas (CG 7H 0R BB 3K W in the 4-0 win over the Indians) rises to 10th place with 7.0 season Box-Toppers points. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.
Notable—In addition to Kershaw, two other players with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Friday:
Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (2-2B 3-3 R 4BI in the 15-5 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 146.9 career points. Cabrera rises to 22nd place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing Jim Thome (146.7) on the “all-time” list. Cabrera now trails 21st-ranked player Javier Vazquez (148.3). Cabrera now rises to sixth place among all batters since 1995 in career Box-Toppers points. He has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Cubs pitcher John Lackey (7IP 4H 2R 2BB 6K ND in the 3-2 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 124.2 career points, rising to 38th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Friday, he passes Gary Sheffield (124.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 37th-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4). Lackey has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Valencia earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Diaz earns 1.5 points for being NL 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.
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.
| 6/2 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.0 | `LAD 2, MIL 1 (F/12) | Clayton Kershaw | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | |
| AL | 8.0 | SEA 12, TB 4 | Danny Valencia, 1B | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 8.0 | HOU 7, TEX 1 | Dallas Keuchel (W,9-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | SF 10, PHI 0 | Ty Blach (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 5.0 | DET 15, CHW 5 | Miguel Cabrera, 1B | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.1 | BAL 3, BOS 2 | Alec Asher (W,2-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | PIT 12, NYM 7 | Elias Diaz, C | 5 | 1 | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | TOR 7, NYY 5 | Justin Smoak, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | KC 4, CLE 0 | Jason Vargas (W,7-3) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | MIN 11, LAA 5 | Joe Mauer, 1B | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | MIA 7, ARI 5 | Giancarlo Stanton, RF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | WSH 13, OAK 3 | Stephen Strasburg (W,7-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | `CHC 3, STL 2 | John Lackey | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | SD 8, COL 5 | Allen Cordoba, LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CIN 3, ATL 2 (F/10) | Devin Mesoraco, C | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.7 | 37.1 | 136.8 | 196.4 | -11.7 |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 7.4 | 22.5 | 81.6 | 90.3 | -7.7 |
| Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 7.4 | 14.4 | 50.2 | 50.2 | 0.4 |
| Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 7.0 | 8.0 | 33.4 | 54.2 | 6.0 |
| Smoak, Justin 2731 | 1b | tor al | 5.5 | 9.0 | 22.2 | 28.4 | 2.0 |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 3.0 | 16.4 | 42.8 | 124.2 | -10.4 |
| Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 2.0 | 14.0 | 59.8 | 146.9 | -10.0 |
| Blach, Ty 3754 | pi sp | sf nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Mauer, Joe 1869 | 1b | min al | 2.0 | 3.5 | 25.0 | 72.6 | 0.5 |
| Cordoba, Allen 3780 | lf pr | sd nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Valencia, Danny 2772 | 1b 3b | sea al | 1.7 | 6.2 | 10.7 | 14.7 | -2.8 |
| Diaz, Elias 3813 | ca | pit nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 1.0 | 7.5 | 31.7 | 40.2 | -5.5 |
| Asher, Alec 3735 | pi sp | bal al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Mesoraco, Devin 3037 | ca | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 13.5 | 13.5 | 1.0 |
Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Grienke is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 6.7 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 6.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 5.4 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 5.4 |
| 8 | Triggs, Andrew 3723 | pi sp | oak al | 5.4 |
| 9 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 5.0 |
| 10 | Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 5.0 |
Also Thursday, two players rise in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors—Royals pitcher Jason Vargas rises to fifth place and Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rises to seventh place.
Player of the Day—Greinke struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing one hit—an eighth-inning home run—in the 2-1 win over the Pirates. Greinke allowed just the one run and walked only one.
Greinke earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 160.8 for his career, 14th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 13th-place player John Smoltz (160.9) on the “all-time” list. Greinke ranks fifth among all active players.
American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer struck out nine over six innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 7-1 win over the Angels.
American League Batter of the Day—Justin Smoak of the Blue Jays homered and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 7-2 win over the Mariners.
National League Batter of the Day—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies hit two doubles and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 10-7 win over the Dodgers.
Rankings—Two players rise in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday:
Streak—Mike Napoli of the Rangers has now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday (2HR 2-3 2R 4BI in the 5-2 win over the Padres).
Napoli earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Angels and has 58.7 career points, sixth among active AL first basemen. His best season was 2011 with the Rangers when he had 9.0 Box-Toppers points, ninth among AL batters. In 2016, he had 6.5 points with the Indians, ninth among AL first basemen.
Scoring—Greinke earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Fulmer earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Smoak and Arenado 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.
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.
| 5/11 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | ARI 2, PIT 1 | Zack Greinke (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |
| 8.0 | HOU 3, NYY 2 | Dallas Keuchel (W,6-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| AL | 7.0 | DET 7, LAA 1 | Michael Fulmer (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |
| 7.0 | KC 6, TB 0 | Jason Vargas (W,5-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | TOR 7, SEA 2 | Justin Smoak, 1B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | `BOS 4, MIL 1 | Eduardo Rodriguez | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | TEX 5, SD 2 | Mike Napoli, DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.2 | MIN 7, CHW 6 | Brandon Kintzler (S,8) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | COL 10, LAD 7 | Nolan Arenado, 3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.1 | CIN 3, SF 2 | Wandy Peralta (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 | 7.0 | 32.4 | 53.2 | 5.0 |
| Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 5.4 | 12.4 | 48.2 | 48.2 | -1.6 |
| Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 4.7 | 14.4 | 83.7 | 160.8 | -5.0 |
| Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | bos al | 4.7 | 9.4 | 15.4 | 15.4 | 0.0 |
| Fulmer, Michael 3640 | pi sp | det al | 3.7 | 16.4 | 16.4 | 16.4 | -9.0 |
| Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | col nl | 3.0 | 13.7 | 23.7 | 23.7 | -7.7 |
| Kintzler, Brandon 3150 | pi cp | min al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 |
| Smoak, Justin 2731 | 1b | tor al | 2.5 | 6.0 | 19.2 | 25.4 | -1.0 |
| Peralta, Wandy 3782 | pi mr | cin nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Napoli, Mike 2161 | dh 1b | tex al | 1.0 | 7.5 | 30.7 | 58.7 | -5.5 |
Angels pitcher JC Ramirez is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, making his Box-Toppers debut.
| 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 |
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.
| 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 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 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 |
Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw rises to lead Box-Toppers weekly player rankings. Royals' Jason Vargas continues to lead American League players.
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Royals pitcher Jason Vargas is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to second place in season player rankings.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 5.0 |
| 2 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 4.7 |
| 4 | Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi mr sp | sd nl | 3.7 |
| 5 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 3.4 |
| 6 | Morrison, Logan 2794 | 1b | tb al | 3.2 |
| 7 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 3.0 |
| 8 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 9 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 3.0 |
| 10 | Devenski, Chris 3702 | pi mr cp | hou al | 3.0 |
Also Wednesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw regains first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Vargas pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing four hits, in the 2-0 win over the Giants.
Vargas earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to second in Box-Toppers season player rankings. He trails Kershaw, who also now has 5.0 Box-Toppers points, but ranks ahead on a tiebreaker because he had more 2016 points than Vargas—24.4 vs. 1.0.
National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Jhoulys Chacin pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing three hits, in the 1-0 win over the Diamondbacks.
Chacin earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 for the season, rising to fourth place in season player rankings.
National League Batter of the Day—Bryce Harper of the Nationals hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the 14-4 win over the Braves. Harper also doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five total runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Mitch Haniger of the Mariners doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 10-5 win over the Marlins.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw regained the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Kershaw (7IP 5H 2R BB 10K W in the 4-2 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season, regaining the season points lead for the third time this season. Kershaw passes previous leader, Twins pitcher Ervin Santana (4.7 points), who drops to third place.
Kershaw also now has 188.7 career Box-Toppers points, fourth among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, trailing third-place player Curt Schilling (194.1). Kershaw is the active leader in career Box-Toppers points, ahead of Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (187.0).
Streaks—Two players extended their streaksearning Box-Toppers points for 10 or more consecutive seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday:
Debut—Rays closing pitcher Austin Pruitt made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Pruitt (3.1IP H 0R 0BB 5K W in the 8-7 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut April 2 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,773rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Vargas earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Chacin earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Harper and Haniger 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.
| 4/19 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | KC 2, SF 0 | Jason Vargas (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| NL | 9.0 | SD 1, ARI 0 | Jhoulys Chacin (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| BAT | 8.0 | WSH 14, ATL 4 | Bryce Harper, RF | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.1 | TB 8, DET 7 | Austin Pruitt (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 3.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 7.0 | LAD 4, COL 2 | Clayton Kershaw (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 6.1 | TOR 3, BOS 0 | Francisco Liriano (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 6.0 | NYM 5, PHI 4 | Jay Bruce, RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | SEA 10, MIA 5 | Mitch Haniger, RF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.2 | BAL 2, CIN 0 | Ubaldo Jimenez (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | HOU 5, LAA 1 | Josh Reddick, RF-LF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | STL 2, PIT 1 | Dexter Fowler, CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CHC 7, MIL 4 | Addison Russell, SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | OAK 9, TEX 1 | Khris Davis, LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | NYY 9, CHW 1 | Starlin Castro, 2B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 5.0 | 29.4 | 129.1 | 188.7 | -19.4 |
| Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 | 6.0 | 31.4 | 52.2 | 4.0 |
| Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi mr sp | sd nl | 3.7 | 9.4 | 16.1 | 31.5 | -2.0 |
| Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 30.4 | 30.4 | 0.0 |
| Davis, Khris 3242 | lf | oak al | 2.5 | 9.2 | 19.2 | 19.2 | -4.2 |
| Haniger, MItch 3772 | rf | sea al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Bruce, Jay 2453 | rf | nym nl | 2.0 | 10.5 | 27.7 | 60.8 | -6.5 |
| Castro, Starlin 2767 | 2b | nyy al | 2.0 | 9.0 | 17.5 | 27.5 | -5.0 |
| Reddick, Josh 2936 | rf lf | hou al | 2.0 | 5.5 | 25.4 | 26.4 | -1.5 |
| Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | tor al | 1.0 | 9.0 | 58.7 | 104.2 | -7.0 |
| Jimenez, Ubaldo 2349 | pi sp | bal al | 1.0 | 5.7 | 37.6 | 80.5 | -3.7 |
| Russell, Addison 3559 | ss | chi nl | 1.0 | 4.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -2.5 |
| Fowler, Dexter 2698 | cf | stl nl | 1.0 | 2.5 | 16.5 | 19.0 | -0.5 |
| Pruitt, Austin 3773 | pi cp | tb al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Mets' Syndergaard tops players in first weekly Box-Toppers player rankings report of the season. Royals' Vargas tops AL players.
Read MoreBox-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.