Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer and Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka are top players in Saturday’s pair of league championship games.
Read MoreIndians’ Bauer tops players for Sunday, June 16; Hader, Ryu rise in player rankings top 10
Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Brewers pitcher Josh Hader rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings—increasing his lead among National League pitchers—after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, becoming the sixth player in 2019 to reach 10 Box-Toppers points.
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Yankees top Box-Toppers 2019 preseason team rankings; champion Red Sox fall to 2nd
The New York Yankees are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2019 preseason rankings, rising from second place at the end of the 2018 season.
The 2018 World Series-champion Boston Red Sox fall from first at the end of last season to second place in the 2019 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Reds made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Arizona Diamondbacks had the biggest decline.
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Boston Red Sox hold Box-Toppers team rankings lead for fourth week
The Boston Red Sox maintain their lead in Box-Toppers team rankings for the fourth straight week.
Meanwhile, the Arizona Diamondbacks squeak past the Chicago Cubs to top National League teams and the St. Louis Cardinals are the week’s hottest team.
Read MoreTwins' Fernando Romero tops players for Monday, May 7; Rangers' Mazara rises to 10th in player rankings
Twins pitcher Fernando Romero is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, Nomar Mazara of the Rangers rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors, becoming only the second batter currently in the top 10.
Read MoreRockies' Jon Gray tops players for Wednesday, April 25; Astros' Verlander tops AL players
Rockies pitcher Jon Gray is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors. Plus, Mookie Betts of the Red Sox rises to 10th place in player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
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Indians top Box-Toppers 2018 preseason team rankings; champion Astros fall to 8th
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 MoreMore pitchers lead their team in 2017 Box-Toppers points than batters at the All-Star break
A look at who leads each of the 30 teams in 2017 Box-Toppers points at the All-Star break.
Read MoreAthletics' Ryon Healy ‘most worthy but unchosen’ player for the 2017 All-Star Game
A look at the All-Star Game rosters through the Box-Toppers lens, including a look at the worthy left in the lurch and players whose selection Box-Toppers deems questionable.
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Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops Box-Toppers player rankings for 8th straight week
Kershaw maintains top spot in player rankings. Athletics' Ryon Healy is new leader among AL batters, Mets' Jay Bruce regains lead among NL batters.
Read MoreIndians' Corey Kluber tops players for Thursday, June 29; Kershaw extends Box-Toppers season player rankings lead
Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of June 29:| 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 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.4 |
| 7 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 9.4 |
| 8 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 9.4 |
| 9 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 9.0 |
| 10 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 8.7 |
Also Thursday, Box-Toppers season points leader Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers extended his lead after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to 20th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Kluber struck out 12 over eight innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 5-1 win over the Rangers.
Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season, rising to 13th among all players, fifth among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw struck of 12 over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 6-2 win over the Angels.
Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 18.1 for the season, extending his season player rankings lead over second-place player, Max Scherzer of the Nationals (14.0 Box-Toppers points). With his lead of 4.1 points, Scherzer would now need at least three starts to catch or pass Scherzer.
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 201.8 |
| 4 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 190.0 |
| 6 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 184.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 169.7 |
| 10 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 11 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 12 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 164.8 |
| 13 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 14 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 15 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 17 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 18 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 19 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | dfa by braves | 151.2 |
| 20 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 149.2 |
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the close of the 2016 season.
With the season at the halfway point, Kershaw is now on pace to earn 36.2 Box-Toppers points this season, which would break the single-season record of 33.7 set by Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson, who did it twice, in 2000 and 2002 (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995). However, at this time last year, Kershaw led all players with 20.0 Box-Toppers points and was on pace to earn 40.0 points, but spent more than two months on the disabled list beginning in late June, and had only 4.4 points in the second half of the season, finishing with 24.4, in second place behind Scherzer’s 25.7.
The most Box-Toppers points Kershaw has earned in a single season is 31.5 in 2014, when he led all players. It is tied for the fourth-highest single-season Box-Toppers points by a player since tracking began in 1995.
Also, Kershaw now has 201.8 career Box-Toppers points, third-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails second-place player Pedro Martinez (244.8). Kershaw ranks first among all active players in career Box-Toppers points.
National League Batter of the Day—Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals hit a go-ahead, three-run, seventh-inning homer in the 10-4 win over the Diamondbacks. Grichuk also doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros hit two home runs and went 2-for-3, driving in four runs, in the 6-1 win over the Athletics.
Notable—Two other players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points also earned Player of the Game honors Thursday:
- Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (6IP 3H R 3BB 7K ND in the 5-4 win over the Nationals) now has 149.2 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 20th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Thursday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Javier Vazquez (148.3) and Chipper Jones (149.0). Lester trails 19th-ranked player, Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon (151.2). Lester also now has 6.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 12th among NL pitchers.
- Red Sox pitcher David Price (7IP 6H 3R 0BB 7K W in the 6-3 win over the Twins) now has 108.9 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 57th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Thursday, he passes three players on the “all-time” list—Lance Berkman (108.1), Kevin Millwood (108.3) and Billy Wagner (108.7). He trails 56th-ranked player Jeff Kent (109.7). Price has 2.7 Box-Toppers points on the season, 63rd among AL pitchers.
Rankings—Jay Bruce of the Mets rises to lead NL batters in season Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Bruce (2B 2-3 2R 2BI in the 6-3 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season, passing previous NL batting leader Matt Adams of the Braves (6.5). Bruce ranks 21st among all players.
Debut—Willy Garcia of the White Sox made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Garcia (2B 2-3 0R 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Yankees) made his Major League debut April 14 and was playing in his 29th career game. He is the 3,841st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kershaw earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Grichuk and Correa 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score| 6/29 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | CLE 5, TEX 1 | Corey Kluber (W, 7-2) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |
| 13.0 | BAL 2, TOR 0 | Ubaldo Jimenez (W, 3-3) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| NL | 13.0 | LAD 6, LAA 2 | Clayton Kershaw (W, 12-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | |
| 10.0 | MIL 11, CIN 3 | Jimmy Nelson (W, 6-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | ||
| 10.0 | SD 6, ATL 0 | Dinelson Lamet (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | STL 10, ARI 4 | Randal Grichuk (CF-LF) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | HOU 6, OAK 1 | Carlos Correa (SS) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | `CHC 5, WSH 4 | Jon Lester | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 3.2 | DET 7, KC 3 | Michael Fulmer (W, 7-6) | - | - | - | - | 8.2 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | NYM 6, MIA 3 | Jay Bruce (RF) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 6, MIN 3 | David Price (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 1.1 | PIT 4, TB 0 | Jameson Taillon (W, 4-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 1.0 | CHW 4, NYY 3 | Willy Garcia (RF) | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 | 18.1 | 42.5 | 142.2 | 201.8 | -6.3 |
| Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 8.0 | 29.2 | 73.4 | 73.4 | -13.2 |
| Bruce, Jay 2453 | rf | nym nl | 7.0 | 15.5 | 32.7 | 65.8 | -1.5 |
| Nelson, Jimmy 3299 | pi sp | mil nl | 7.0 | 10.0 | 20.4 | 20.4 | 4.0 |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 6.0 | 28.1 | 73.6 | 149.2 | -16.1 |
| Fulmer, Michael 3640 | pi sp | det al | 4.7 | 17.4 | 17.4 | 17.4 | -8.0 |
| Correa, Carlos 3506 | ss | hou al | 4.0 | 11.7 | 18.9 | 18.9 | -3.7 |
| Grichuk, Randal 3474 | rf cf lf | stl nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 14.5 | 14.5 | 3.0 |
| Lamet, Dinelson 3808 | pi sp | sd nl | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| Taillon, Jameson 3658 | pi sp | pit nl | 3.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -2.0 |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 2.7 | 15.1 | 77.1 | 108.9 | -9.7 |
| Jimenez, Ubaldo 2349 | pi sp | bal al | 2.0 | 6.7 | 38.6 | 81.5 | -2.7 |
| Garcia Willy 3841 | rf | chi al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Athletics' Sonny Gray tops players for Sunday, June 25; Twins' Santana maintains 3rd-place rank in Box-Toppers points
Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Twins pitcher Ervin Santana earns Player of the Game honors, maintaining his rank of third place in season player rankings, first among American League pitchers.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of June 25:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 13.0 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 10.1 |
| 5 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 9.4 |
| 7 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 9.4 |
| 8 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 9.0 |
| 9 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 8.2 |
| 10 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 8.0 |
Player of the Day—Gray struck out seven over seven innings, allowing two runs, four hits and one walk, in the 5-3 win over the White Sox.
National League Player of the Day—Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers hit two home runs and went 3-for-5, driving in four runs, in the 12-6 win over the Rockies.
Bellinger earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 6.2 for the season, rising to second among NL batters, behind Matt Adams of the Braves (6.5).
American League Batter of the Day—Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays homered and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-2 win over the Royals.
Bautista has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2017. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Pirates and has 64.4 career points, 10th among active AL batters. His best season was 2010 with the Blue Jays when he had 15.2 Box-Toppers points, first among AL batters. He’s had three seasons with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He’s barely kept the streak alive in two seasons, earning just 1.0 Box-Toppers point in both 2009 and 2016, both with the Blue Jays.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Cody Bellinger.
Rankings—Twins pitcher Ervin Santana, third in Box-Toppers season player rankings, earns Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Santana (6IP 9H 0R 0BB 7K W in the 4-0 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.4 for the season. He maintains his rank of third among all players in 2017 points, behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (16.4) and Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (13.0). Santana ranks first among AL pitchers, ahead of Chris Sale of the Red Sox (10.1).
Santana also now has 109.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 55th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Sunday, he passes Jeff Kent (109.7) on the “all-time” list and now trails 54th-ranked player Tom Glavine (110.6).
Debut—Kaleb Cowart of the Angels made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Cowart (2B 2-3 R 2BI in the 4-2 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut Aug. 18, 2015, and was playing in his 66th career game. He is the 3,837th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Gray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Bellinger earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Bautista 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.
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| 6/25 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 6.0 | OAK 5, CHW 3 | Sonny Gray (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| 6.0 | HOU 8, SEA 2 | Michael Feliz (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| NL | 4.0 | LAD 12, COL 6 | Cody Bellinger, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | MIN 4, CLE 0 | Ervin Santana (W,10-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 4.0 | `ARI 2, PHI 1 (F/11) | Randall Delgado | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3.2 | NYM 8, SF 2 | Rafael Montero (W,1-4) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | CIN 6, WSH 2 | Scooter Gennett, 2B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | TOR 8, KC 2 | Jose Bautista, RF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | MIL 7, ATL 0 | Keon Broxton, CF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | BAL 8, TB 5 | Caleb Joseph, C | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | STL 8, PIT 4 | Yadier Molina, C | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | DET 7, SD 5 | Justin Wilson (S,6) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | MIA 4, CHC 2 | AJ Ramos (S,12) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | LAA 4, BOS 2 | Kaleb Cowart, 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TEX 7, NYY 6 | Shin-Soo Choo, RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 | +/- |
| Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 | 16.4 | 49.2 | 109.7 | 8.4 |
| Bellinger, Cody 3781 | 1b | lad nl | 6.2 | 6.2 | 6.2 | 6.2 | 6.2 |
| Gennett, Scooter 3254 | 2b | cin nl | 4.5 | 7.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 2.0 |
| Broxton, Keon 3785 | cf | mil nl | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Ramos, A.J. 3210 | pi cp | fla nl | 4.0 | 6.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 2.0 |
| Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 4.0 | 5.0 | 36.8 | 36.8 | 3.0 |
| Choo, Shin-Soo 2267 | rf dh | tex al | 3.5 | 4.5 | 24.5 | 51.2 | 2.5 |
| Molina, Yadier 1967 | ca | stl nl | 2.0 | 6.0 | 15.5 | 36.7 | -2.0 |
| Wilson, Justin 3140 | pi cp | det al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 1.0 |
| Bautista, Jose 2169 | rf | tor al | 1.5 | 2.5 | 25.5 | 64.4 | 0.5 |
| Feliz, Michael 3632 | pi mr cp | hou al | 1.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | -2.7 |
| Joseph, Caleb 3368 | ca | bal al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 1.0 |
| Delgado, Randall 2939 | pi sp | ari nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 9.4 | 10.4 | 1.0 |
| Montero, Rafael 3410 | pi sp | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 |
| Cowart, Kaleb 3837 | 3b | ana al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops Box-Toppers player rankings for 7th week
Kershaw tops players in Box-Toppers player rankings for seventh straight week. Matt Adams takes the lead among NL batters. Santana, Judge lead AL players.
Read MoreAngels' Alex Meyer tops players for Saturday, June 17; Braves' Adams rises to lead NL batters in Box-Toppers points
Angels pitcher Alex Meyer is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of June 17:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 13.0 |
| 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 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.0 |
| 8 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 8.0 |
| 9 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.7 |
| 10 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 7.7 |
Also Saturday, Matt Adams of the Braves rises to lead National League batters in Box-Toppers points after earning NL Batter of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Meyer struck out nine over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 9-0 win over the Royals.
National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Dinelson Lamet struck out 12 over six innings, allowing three runs, four hits and no walks, in the 7-5, 11-inning win over the Brewers. Lamet earned a no-decision and did not pick up the win because the game was tied, 3-3, when he exited.
American League Batter of the Day—Jonathan Schoop of the Orioles hit two home runs and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 15-7 win over the Cardinals.
National League Batter of the Day—Matt Adams of the Braves homered and doubled twice in the 8-7, 10-inning win over the Marlins. Adams went 3-for-4, driving in four runs.
Adams earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.5 for the season. He rises to lead NL batters in season Box-Toppers points, passing previous leader Jay Bruce of the Mets (6.0). Adams ranks 19th among all players in season player rankings.
Notable—Ryon Healy of the Athletics has the most 2017 Box-Toppers points of any of the 16 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Healy (2HR 3-4 2R 2BI in the 5-2 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.2 for the season. He ranks 16th among all players and second among AL batters, behind Aaron Judge of the Yankees (8.2).
Debut—Astros pitcher David Paulino made his Box-Toppers debut with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Paulino (6IP 3H R BB 4K W in the 7-1 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut Sept. 8, 2016, and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,828th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Meyer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lamet earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Schoop and Adams each earn 1.5 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.
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| 6/17 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | LAA 9, KC 0 | Alex Meyer (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| NL | 8.0 | `SD 7, MIL 5 (F/11) | Dinelson Lamet | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 12 | |
| BAT | 6.0 | BAL 15, STL 7 | Jonathan Schoop, 2B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | CHW 5, TOR 2 | Mike Pelfrey (W,3-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | CLE 9, MIN 3 | Jose Ramirez, 3B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | ATL 8, MIA 7 (F/10) | Matt Adams, 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | TEX 10, SEA 4 | Mike Napoli, DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | CLE 6, MIN 2 | Lonnie Chisenhall, RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | HOU 7, BOS 1 | David Paulino (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3.2 | `ARI 5, PHI 1 | Zack Godley | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 3.0 | LAD 10, CIN 2 | Cody Bellinger, 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | OAK 5, NYY 2 | Ryon Healy, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TB 3, DET 2 | Chris Archer (W,5-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 2.0 | PIT 4, CHC 3 | Gregory Polanco, RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | WSH 7, NYM 4 | Jose Lobaton, C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | COL 5, SF 1 | Carlos Gonzalez, RF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 | +/- |
| Healy, Ryon 3685 | dh 1b 3b | oak al | 7.2 | 10.2 | 10.2 | 10.2 | 4.2 |
| Adams, Matt 3220 | 1b | atl nl | 6.5 | 7.5 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 5.5 |
| Godley, Zack 3538 | pi sp | ari nl | 6.0 | 7.0 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 5.0 |
| Schoop, Jonathan 3307 | 2b | bal al | 4.5 | 9.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 0.0 |
| Bellinger, Cody 3781 | 1b | lad nl | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 4.0 | 13.0 | 53.1 | 53.1 | -5.0 |
| Meyer, Alex 3742 | pi sp | ana al | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 |
| Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | cle al | 3.5 | 5.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 2.0 |
| Lamet, Dinelson 3808 | pi sp | sd nl | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| Napoli, Mike 2161 | dh 1b | tex al | 2.0 | 8.5 | 31.7 | 59.7 | -4.5 |
| Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | rf | col nl | 2.0 | 7.5 | 40.7 | 60.7 | -3.5 |
| Polanco, Gregory 3361 | lf rf | pit nl | 2.0 | 7.5 | 14.5 | 14.5 | -3.5 |
| Chisenhall, Lonnie 2959 | cf rf | cle al | 2.0 | 5.5 | 13.5 | 15.5 | -1.5 |
| Lobaton, Jose 3216 | ca | dc nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 0.0 |
| Pelfrey, Mike 2364 | pi sp | chi al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 8.0 | 31.8 | 1.0 |
| Paulino, David 3828 | pi sp | hou al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Braves' Matt Adams tops players for Monday, June 12; White Sox' Petricka tops AL players
Matt Adams of the Braves is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Adams homered twice and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 11-10 win over the Nationals.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of June 12:| 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 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.7 |
| 8 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 |
| 9 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 7.5 |
| 10 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 7.4 |
American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Jake Petricka pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless middle relief, allowing one hit, no walks and striking out four, in the 10-7 win over the Orioles.
American League Batter of the Day—Nelson Cruz of the Mariners doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 14-3 win over the Twins.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall Player of the Day is NL batter Matt Adams.
Notable—Rangers pitcher Yu Davish is Box-Toppers’ highest ranked player among the nine who earned Player of the Game honors Monday.
Darvish (7IP H R 3BB 4K W in the 6-1 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season and ranks 21st among all players, ninth among AL pitchers.
Also notable—Jay Bruce of the Mets rises to lead NL batters in Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Bruce (HR 2B 3-3 2R 2BI in the 6-1 win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season. He passes Bryce Harper of the Nationals for the NL batting lead in Box-Toppers points. Though both Harper and Bruce have 6.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, Bruce ranks ahead because he has more 2016 Box-Toppers points—8.5 vs. 3.0. Bruce ranks 22nd among all players in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Scoring—Adams earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Petricka earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Cruz earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
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| 6/12 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 6.0 | ATL 11, WSH 10 | Matt Adams, 1B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AL | 5.1 | CHW 10, BAL 7 | Jake Petricka (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 2.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | SEA 14, MIN 3 | Nelson Cruz, DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | TEX 6, HOU 1 | Yu Darvish (W,6-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 4.2 | `NYY 5, LAA 3 | Masahiro Tanaka | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 4.0 | NYM 6, CHC 1 | Jay Bruce, RF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | BOS 6, PHI 5 (F/11) | Matt Barnes (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | SD 9, CIN 3 | Austin Hedges, C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | PIT 7, COL 2 | Jameson Taillon (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
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 | +/- |
| Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 6.0 | 16.4 | 61.6 | 61.6 | -4.4 |
| Bruce, Jay 2453 | rf | nym nl | 6.0 | 14.5 | 31.7 | 64.8 | -2.5 |
| Adams, Matt 3220 | 1b | atl nl | 5.0 | 6.0 | 14.5 | 14.5 | 4.0 |
| Cruz, Nelson 2224 | dh rf | sea al | 3.5 | 10.0 | 31.0 | 57.2 | -3.0 |
| Hedges, Austin 3790 | ca | sd nl | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 2.7 | 16.8 | 37.5 | 37.5 | -11.4 |
| Barnes, Matt 3466 | pi mr cp | bos al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 |
| Petricka, Jake 3388 | pi mr | chi al | 1.7 | 1.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 1.7 |
| Taillon, Jameson 3658 | pi sp | pit nl | 1.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -4.0 |
Red Sox' Hill tops players for Sunday, Sept. 13; Dodgers' Greinke rises to 4th in player rankings
Red Sox pitcher Rich Hill is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, marking the first time he’s earned Box-Toppers points in more than six years.
Also Sunday, Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings and Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rose to 10th.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 13.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 22.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 20.4 |
| 4 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 5 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 6 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 19.4 |
| 7 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 19.1 |
| 8 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 9 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 17.0 |
| 10 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 17.0 |
Player of the Day—Hill pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out 10, in the 2-0, 13-inning win over the Rays. Hill did not pick up the win, earning a no-decision, because he exited with the game in a scoreless tie.
This was the first time Hill has earned Player of the Game honors since June 1, 2009, with the Orioles, when he was Player of the Day. Hill’s best season was 2007 with the Cubs when he had 11.7 Box-Toppers points.
National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out 10, in the 4-3 win over the Diamondbacks.
Greinke earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 19.7 for the season and rising to fourth place in player rankings. He also ranks fourth place among NL pitchers.
Greinke now also has 145.4 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 21st place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 20th-place player Jim Thome (146.7).
American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit two homers and drove in five runs in the 12-4 win over the Athletics.
National League Batter of the Day—Matt Adams of the Cardinals hit a two-run, pinch-hit home run in the 9-2 win over the Reds.
Rankings—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Scherzer (8IP 5H 0R 6K W in the 5-0 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.0 for the season. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.
Scherzer also rises to 61st place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his point Sunday, Scherzer now has 102.0 career Box-Toppers points and passes three players on the “all-time” list—Jason Schmidt (101.2), Tim Wakefield (101.4) and Adam Wainwright (101.8). He trails 60th-place player Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2).
Debut—Dixon Machado of the Tigers made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Machado (2B 2-3 2R 2BI in the 9-2 win over the Indians) made his Major League debut May 25 and was playing in his ninth career game. He is the 3,590th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Greinke earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Beltre and Adams each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/13 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | `Red Sox | Rich Hill | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| NL | 11.0 | Dodgers | Zack Greinke (W,17-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| 10.0 | Yankees | Masahiro Tanaka (W,12-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 9.0 | Nationals | Max Scherzer (W,12-11) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 8.2 | Twins | Kyle Gibson (W,10-10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Rangers | Adrian Beltre, 3B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Astros | Jed Lowrie, DH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Orioles | Jonathan Schoop, 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Tigers | Dixon Machado, SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Cardinals | Matt Adams, PH-1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Giants | Angel Pagan, CF | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Mets | Curtis Granderson, RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Phillies | Ryan Howard, 1B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Pirates | Pedro Alvarez, 1B | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rockies | John Axford (S,23) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | Indians | Chris Johnson, 1B | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Giants' Vogelsong, Cardinals' Adams top players for Tuesday, Oct. 7, leading their teams into the NLCS
Ryan Vogelsong allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings and led the San Francisco Giants to a National League Division Series Game 4 win, eliminating the Washington Nationals. He is Box-Toppers.com Player of the Day for Tuesday.
Vogelsong also allowed two hits, two walks and struck out four, earning a Box-Toppers game score of +3.2, the highest of any Giants player, in the 3-2 win. Vogelsong did not earn the win because after he exited the game, the Nationals tied the score, 2-2 in the top of the seventh, before the Giants took the lead, 3-2, in the bottom of the seventh.
During the regular season Vogelsong had 8.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 74th among all players, 36th among NL pitchers.
The Giants eliminate the Nationals in the best-of-five game series, 3-1, and will face the Cardinals in the NL Championship series beginning Saturday in St. Louis.
The Giants were ranked eighth in Box-Toppers team rankings with their players accumulating 110.8 Box-Toppers points during the regular season. The Nationals were ranked fourth with 115.5 Box-Toppers points.
NLDS Game 4: Cardinals 3, Dodgers 2
Matt Adams hit a three-run homer and led the St. Louis Cardinals to a National League Division Series Game 4 win, eliminating the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is Player of the Game in the 3-2 win.
Adams hit his go-ahead homer in the seventh inning off Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw (who led all players in Box-Toppers points for 2014). Adams had a Box-Toppers game score of 2.0. The Cardinals win the best-of-five game series, 3-1.
Kershaw uncharacteristically lost two consecutive starts (he also lost Game 1 of the NLDS). The last time he did that was last October in the NL Championship Series, also against the Cardinals. Kershaw had 31.5 Box-Toppers points in 2014, tied for the fourth-most Box-Toppers points in a single season in the past 20 years.
Kershaw allowed only one hit through six innings. In the end, he gave up three runs, four hits and two walks over six innings, striking out nine. He had a Box-Toppers game score of +3—which was actually the highest of any player in the game.
Adams, meanwhile, had 1.0 Box-Toppers point during the regular season, ranked 530th among all players and 127th among NL batters.
The Cardinals were ranked fifth in Box-Toppers team rankings with 114.8 Box-Toppers points. The Dodgers were the highest-rated NL team, ranked second with 123.2 Box-Toppers points.
The Cardinals face the Giants in the NL Championship Series beginning Saturday.
•
With the elimination of the Angels, Dodgers, Athletics and Nationals, the Cardinals now have the highest Box-Toppers ranking of remaining playoff teams. They are ranked fifth with 114.8 Box-Toppers points.
No playoff games are scheduled Wednesday or Thursday. Baseball resumes Friday with Game 1 of the American League Championship Series between the Royals and Orioles in Baltimore.
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
Players of the Game (POG) listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 1007 | Score | Team | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POG | 3.2 | `Giants | Ryan Vogelsong | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |
| POG | 2.0 | Cardinals | Matt Adams 1B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
NLCS Preview: Cardinals-Dodgers features 2 top-ranked NL Box-Toppers teams, top 3 overall players—Kershaw, Wainwright, Greinke
The National League Championship Series beginning Friday features the top two NL teams in Box-Toppers Team Rankings and the top three players in overall Box-Toppers points.
Game 1 of the best-of-seven series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers begins in St. Louis. The Dodgers just edged out the Cardinals as top NL team in Box-Toppers points for the season with 122.7 (second place overall, behind the Detroit Tigers). The Cardinals were in second in the NL (third overall) with 122.4.
The Cardinals had the best actual winning percentage in the NL (.599). The Dodgers were in fourth (.568), behind the Cardinals, Braves and Pirates.
The Cardinals prevailed over the Pirates in the National League Division Series. The Pirates had 115.6 Box-Toppers points for the season, ranked seventh overall. The Dodgers beat the Braves in their NLDS. The Braves had 111.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 11th overall.
The NLCS between the Cardinals and Dodgers features the top three players in Box-Toppers Player Rankings for the season:
- Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw has 21.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked first in player rankings.
- Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright has 20.2 points, ranked second.
- Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke has 19.4 points, ranked third.
In addition, Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn and Shelby Miller are both in the top 10 in Box-Toppers points among NL pitchers. Lynn ranks seventh with 16.1 points and Miller ranks ninth with 15.4.
Below are position-by-position match-ups of each player likely in the starting line-up for both teams, along with the four most likely starting pitchers, the team's top closer and an extra pitcher. Also listed are each player's Box-Toppers points earned in 2013, along with their overall rank among players for the season.
If you simply add together the Box-Toppers points of these 14 key players from each team, the Cardinals have 103.7 points and the Dodgers 98.7.
If you compare them position-by-position, the Cardinals have more players with higher Box-Toppers points totals. The Cardinals have the edge in seven positions, the Dodgers in six and they tie in one position (both first basemen Matt Adams and Adrian Gonzalez have 5.0 Box-Toppers points).
In general, the Cardinals edge the Dodgers among batters, with more offensive players with higher Box-Toppers points—in fact, Hanley Ramirez is the only Dodger batter with a higher Box-Toppers point total (5.0) than his Cardinals shortstop counterpart Pete Kozma (2.5).
All three likely starting outfielders for the Dodgers have Box-Toppers point totals of 2.0 or less, meaning they were very rarely the key contributor to Dodgers wins. Carl Crawford was Player of the Game twice during the season earning 2.0 Box-Toppers points. Rookie sensation Yasiel Puig was NL Batter of the Day in his second career game June 4, earning 1.5 points, his only points of the season. And Skip Schumaker, though he appeared in 125 games, did not earn Player of the Game honors during the season, earning 0.0 Box-Toppers points.
To be fair, Dodgers pitchers were often the key contributor to the team's wins, with higher Box-Toppers game scores and earning Player of the Game honors. In fact, Dodgers pitchers have a slight edge over the Cardinals, with two of the three top overall players in Box-Toppers points (Kershaw and Greinke). The Dodgers' closer, Kenley Jansen has more Box-Toppers points than Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal (9.7 to 6.0).
So: The Dodgers have the overall higher Box-Toppers Team Ranking. The Cardinals have a better winning percentage. The Dodgers have a slight edge in pitching. The Cardinals have a seeming clear edge among batters. The Dodgers have the edge in the pitching match-up in Game 1. The Cardinals have home-field advantage. Baseball's best three players this season (by Box-Toppers measures) will be in action. It promises to be a great series.
Coming Friday: Here is the pitching match-up for Game 1 of the NL Championship Series:
NLCS Game 1, Dodgers at Cardinals
Dodgers: Zack Greinke, 19.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked third overall (see the Top 10 Player ranking list on the home page)
Cardinals: Joe Kelly, 4.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 264th overall
In regular season games, 2.0 Box-Toppers points are awarded for Player of the Day, 1.7 for top player in the opposite league, 1.5 for top batter in each league and 1.0 for the top player in each of the other games. However, no Box-Toppers points are awarded during the postseason.
NL Championship Series player comparisons
Likely starting players for the Cardinals and Dodgers listed by position with their Box-Toppers point total (BTP) for the 2013 regular season and their overall player rank among all players
| Cardinals | BTP | Rank | Dodgers | BTP | Rank | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | Matt Adams | 5.0 | 198 | Adrian Gonzalez | 5.0 | 175 | |
| 2B | Matt Carpenter | 7.5 | 100 | Mark Ellis | 3.5 | 295 | |
| SS | Pete Kozma | 2.5 | 408 | Hanley Ramirez | 5.0 | 177 | |
| 3B | David Freese | 5.5 | 154 | Juan Uribe | 3.0 | 323 | |
| CA | Yadier Molina | 4.0 | 253 | A.J. Ellis | 2.5 | 387 | |
| CF | Jon Jay | 5.5 | 162 | Skip Schumaker | 0.0 | 920 | |
| LF | Matt Holliday | 6.5 | 121 | Carl Crawford | 2.0 | 450 | |
| RF | Carlos Beltran | 2.5 | 378 | Yasiel Puig | 1.5 | 542 | |
| SP | Adam Wainwright | 20.2 | 2 | Clayton Kershaw | 21.7 | 1 | |
| SP | Lance Lynn | 16.1 | 11 | Zack Greinke | 19.4 | 3 | |
| SP | Joe Kelly | 4.0 | 264 | Hyun-Jin Ryu | 9.7 | 61 | |
| SP | Michael Wacha | 3.0 | 361 | Ricky Nolasco | 9.7 | 60 | |
| CP | Trevor Rosenthal | 6.0 | 147 | Kenley Jansen | 9.7 | 59 | |
| PI | Shelby Miller | 15.4 | 17 | Chris Capuano | 6.0 | 134 |