Justin Upton of the Angels is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Thursday’s spring training games.
Upton hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, going 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 10-5 win over the Brewers.
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Justin Upton of the Angels is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Thursday’s spring training games.
Upton hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, going 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 10-5 win over the Brewers.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to seventh place in Box-Toppers’ “all-time” rankings.
Scherzer struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 1-0 win over the Diamondbacks. Scherzer did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Read MoreAlex Rodriguez has the most career Box-Toppers points of all Major League Baseball number-one draft picks since 1990.
Rodriguez, who was the first pick in the 1993 draft, earned 187.0 Box-Toppers points during his career from 1994 to 2016, which is 10th overall since 1995 and second among all batters (behind Albert Pujols of the Angels with 201.8).
Read MoreAlbert Pujols has the chance in 2020 to break the record for most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points.
If Pujols of the Angels earns Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors once in 2020, he will have earned Box-Toppers points for 20 straight seasons (2001-2020). Pujols is currently tied for the longest streak at 19 seasons with three other players—CC Sabathia, Jason Giambi and Carlos Beltran.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Rodriguez struck out eight over five scoreless innings, allowing one hit and walking three, in the 5-4 win over the Yankees.
Read MoreThe Los Angeles Angels lead Box-Toppers’ first team rankings report of 2018.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets are the top-ranked National League team and the Cleveland Indians are the hottest team of the past week.
Read MorePadres pitcher Jordan Lyles is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Lyles struck out four over two scoreless innings of middle relief, allowing no hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Astros. Lyles picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win or the save. He pitched the sixth and seventh innings, holding the Padres’ lead, before handing it off to two subsequent relievers.
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 MoreHalf of the top 10 runs batted in leaders are among their league’s top 10 batters in Box-Toppers points in 2017.
Overall RBI leader Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins (132) ranked second among National League batters in Box-Toppers points with 14.2.
Read MoreOnly 7 of 17 Silver Slugger Award winners also led their position in Box-Toppers points
Read MoreThe Los Angeles Dodgers top Box-Toppers team rankings for the 10th straight week despite earning only 1.0 Box-Toppers point during the past week.
Meanwhile, the Houston Astros bounce back to lead American League teams in Box-Toppers rankings on the strength of two August deadline acquisitions. The Astros also gained more Box-Toppers points than any other team during the past week mainly because of those trades.
Read MoreReds pitcher Luis Castillo is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Mariners pitcher James Paxton rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreA look at who leads each of the 30 teams in 2017 Box-Toppers points at the All-Star break.
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 MoreAnthony Rendon of the Nationals is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, recording what is possibly the highest Box-Toppers game score by a batter in Box-Toppers’ 23-season history.
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 | Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 5.0 |
4 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 |
5 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 5.0 |
6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 4.7 |
7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.4 |
8 | Triggs, Andrew 3723 | pi sp | oak al | 4.4 |
9 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 4.0 |
10 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 4.0 |
Also Sunday, Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Rendon hit three home runs, doubled, went 6-for-6, scored five times and drove in 10 runs, in the 23-5 win over the Mets.
Rendon had a Box-Toppers game score of +15.0, which appears to be the highest score by a batter since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
While Box-Toppers has records for each Player of the Game since the start of 1995, the data from actual game score records from box scores only goes back to the start of 2011. The previous high game score for a batter since 2011 was +12.0, done twice:
However, looking back at some of the most likely games to produce high Box-Toppers game scores for batters from 1995 to 2010, it appears no batter had a higher game score than Rendon had Sunday.
Rendon became the 13th player in Major League history to have a game with 10 runs batted in. That’s a club that’s even rarer than the four-home run club, which has been done 16 times in Major League history.
During the Box-Toppers era (since 1995), there have been three games in which a player has had 10 RBIs and no player had a Box-Toppers game score of more than +12.0:
Rendon also had a six-hit game, something that’s been done 101 times in Major League history (30 of those games happened in the 1800s). There have been 22 six-hit games in the Box-Toppers era (since 1995). The highest Box-Toppers game score of those games and what appears to be the previous high Box-Toppers game score for a batter (since 1995) was +13.0, achieved by Shawn Green of the Dodgers on May 23, 2002 (4HR 2B 6-6 6R 7BI in the 16-3 win over the Brewers).
Batters have hit four home runs in a game 16 times in Major League history, including four times during the Box-Toppers era (since 1995), however Green’s +13.0 score is the highest for those games. The other four-home run games during the Box-Toppers era:
While Rendon seems to have broken the “all-time” (since 1995) record for Box-Toppers game score for a batter, it is still only the second-best game score of 2017. On April 20, Chris Sale of the Red Sox had a Box-Toppers game score of +16.0 (8IP 4H 0R BB 13K ND in the 4-3, 10-inning win over the Blue Jays). Pitchers generally have more opportunity to earn high game scores than batters. In 2016, the highest overall game score was +22.0, earned by Vince Velasquez of the Phillies on April 14 (CG 3H 0R 0BB 16K W in the 3-0 win over the Padres).
(Related: Highest Box-Toppers game scores by batters in the 2016 season and 2015 season.)
American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher Ryan Tepera pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless middle relief, allowing one hit and striking out five, in the 3-1 win over the Rays. Tepera picked up a no decision and did not earn the win because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
American League Batter of the Day—Miguel Sano of the Twins homered and went 3-for-5, driving in five runs, in the 7-5 win over the Royals.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall Player of the Day was NL batter Anthony Rendon.
Rankings—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rises to seventh in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Keuchel (7.2IP 3H R 2BB 9K W in the 7-2 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.4 for the season. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.
Streak—Justin Upton of the Tigers has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Upton (HR 2-3 2R BI in the 7-3 win over the White Sox) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2008 with the Diamondbacks and has 52.1 career points, fourth among active AL outfielders. His best season was 2011 with the Diamondbacks, when he had 9.7 points, 10th among NL batters. In 2016, he had 6.7 points with the Tigers, fourth among AL outfielders.
Debut—Reds pitcher Wandy Peralta made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Peralta (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 5-4 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut Sept. 4, 2016, and was playing in his 22nd career game. He is the 3,782nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Rendon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tepera earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Sano earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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.
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4/30 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
MLB | 15.0 | WSH 23, NYM 5 | Anthony Rendon, 3B | 6 | 5 | 6 | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
9.2 | HOU 7, OAK 2 | Dallas Keuchel (W,5-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | ||
8.1 | `ARI 2, COL 0 (F/13) | Patrick Corbin | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
AL | 7.1 | `TOR 3, TB 1 | Ryan Tepera | - | - | - | - | 3.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
6.1 | LAD 5, PHI 3 | Hyun-Jin Ryu (W,1-4) | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | ||
6.0 | MIA 10, PIT 3 | Justin Bour, 1B | 5 | 1 | 4 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
6.0 | `BOS 6, CHC 2 | Eduardo Rodriguez | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | ||
5.0 | MIL 4, ATL 3 | Domingo Santana, RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
4.1 | LAA 5, TEX 2 | JC Ramirez (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||
BAT | 4.0 | MIN 7, KC 5 | Miguel Sano, 3B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
4.0 | SD 5, SF 2 (F/12) | Ryan Buchter (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
3.0 | CLE 12, SEA 4 | Abraham Almonte, RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
3.0 | BAL 7, NYY 4 | Logan Verrett (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
3.0 | CIN 5, STL 4 | Wandy Peralta (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
2.0 | DET 7, CHW 3 | Justin Upton, LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.4 | 11.4 | 47.2 | 47.2 | -2.6 |
Sano, Miguel 3527 | 3b | min al | 4.0 | 7.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 1.0 |
Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | bos al | 3.7 | 8.4 | 14.4 | 14.4 | -1.0 |
Ramirez, JC 3778 | pi sp | ana al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
Rendon, Anthony 3258 | 3b | dc nl | 2.0 | 7.5 | 14.0 | 14.0 | -3.5 |
Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp cp | ari nl | 2.0 | 5.7 | 34.5 | 34.5 | -1.7 |
Tepera, Ryan 3774 | pi mr | tor al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | det al | 1.0 | 7.7 | 33.9 | 52.1 | -5.7 |
Bour, Justin 3433 | 1b | fla nl | 1.0 | 3.5 | 13.5 | 13.5 | -1.5 |
Almonte, Abraham 3554 | rf | cle al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | -1.0 |
Verrett, Logan 3518 | pi cp | bal al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
Buchter, Ryan 3626 | pi mr | sd nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
Santana, Domingo 3507 | rf | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 1.0 |
Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 22.1 | 22.1 | 1.0 |
Peralta, Wandy 3782 | pi mr | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Manny Ramirez leads outfielders in career Box-Toppers points. Carlos Beltran leads active outfielders in career points. Mike Trout leads outfielders in recent seasons.
Read MoreMets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth place in season player rankings.
Syndergaard pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out six, in the 2-0 win over the Giants.
Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
3 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
4 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
5 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 15.1 |
6 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
7 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 14.4 |
8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 13.0 |
10 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 12.7 |
Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks seventh among National League pitchers. Rising to ninth place overall, he displaces Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5 Box-Toppers points) from the top 10 list. Altuve, who was the only batter in the top 10, falls to 11th place.
American League Player of the Day—Justin Upton of the Tigers hit a pair of three-run homers in the 10-5 win over the Red Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies hit a pair of three-run homers and went 4-for-5 in the 11-4 win over the Cubs.
Arenado earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season, rising to fourth place among NL batters.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Justin Upton.
Debut—Padres pitcher Luis Perdomo made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Perdomo (7IP 5H R 0BB 5K W in the 9-1 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut April 4 and was playing in his 29th career game. He is the 3,715th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Upton earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Arenado earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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
8/21 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
MLB | 10.0 | NYM 2, SF 0 | Noah Syndergaard (W,11-7) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
BAT | 7.0 | COL 11, CHC 4 | Nolan Arenado, 3B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
7.0 | STL 9, PHI 0 | Mike Leake (W,9-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
AL | 6.0 | DET 10, BOS 5 | Justin Upton, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
6.0 | SD 9, ARI 1 | Luis Perdomo (W,6-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
6.0 | LAD 4, CIN 0 | Julio Urias (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
5.0 | HOU 5, BAL 3 | Dallas Keuchel (W,8-12) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
4.0 | `ATL 7, WSH 6 (10) | Jim Johnson | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
3.0 | MIL 7, SEA 6 | Tyler Thornburg (W,5-4) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
3.0 | LAA 2, NYY 0 | Fernando Salas (S,4) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
2.1 | CLE 3, TOR 2 | Mike Clevinger (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
2.0 | TB 8, TEX 4 | Steven Souza Jr., RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2.0 | KC 2, MIN 1 | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1.0 | CHW 4, OAK 2 | Todd Frazier, 3B | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1.0 | MIA 3, PIT 2 | Fernando Rodney (S,24) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
`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 | +/- |
Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 13.0 | 23.4 | 23.4 | 23.4 | 2.6 |
Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | col nl | 8.0 | 16.5 | 18.0 | 18.0 | -0.5 |
Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 7.0 | 28.4 | 42.8 | 42.8 | -14.4 |
Frazier, Todd 2929 | 3b | chi al | 6.2 | 15.1 | 29.1 | 29.1 | -2.7 |
Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | det al | 5.7 | 14.7 | 41.6 | 50.1 | -3.3 |
Leake, Mike 2709 | pi sp | stl nl | 5.0 | 15.0 | 40.1 | 44.6 | -5.0 |
Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 5.0 | 14.0 | 27.5 | 27.5 | -4.0 |
Souza, Steven Jr. 3461 | rf | tb al | 4.7 | 10.2 | 10.2 | 10.2 | -0.8 |
Johnson, Jim 2417 | pi cp mr | atl nl | 4.0 | 6.0 | 16.0 | 21.7 | 2.0 |
Rodney, Fernando 1803 | pi cp | fla nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 22.0 | 34.0 | 3.0 |
Thornburg, Tyler 3195 | pi cp | mil nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 4.0 |
Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi mr sp | cle al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
Salas, Fernando 2853 | pi cp | ana al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 1.0 |
Perdomo, Luis D. 3715 | pi sp | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Eight AL players and five NL players occupy All-Star spots at their position in both the 2016 season and the combined 2015-16 seasons.
Read MoreAndrew McCutchen replaces Ryan Braun as leader among NL batters in six-year rolling Box-Toppers totals (2011-2016 vs. 2010-2015).
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.