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Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to seventh place in season player rankings.
Nola struck out nine over 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run, four hits and one walk, in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Rockies. Nola did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied when he exited.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Jake Irvin is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s spring training games.
Meanwhile, Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt, who led American League pitchers in 2023 with 20.1 Box-Toppers points, is Wednesday’s AL Player of the Day.
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Source: MLB.com
Both National League Division Series begin Saturday.
The Philadelphia Phillies face the Atlanta Braves in one best-of-five game series and the Arizona Diamondbacks face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the other. The top two NL seeds, the Braves (first) and the Dodgers (second) received byes from the first round of playoffs and face the winners of the best-of-three Wild Card series played this week.
Read MoreBlue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt is the most deserving player not selected to the 2023 Major League Baseball All-Star teams.
Bassitt has 11.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023, fourth among all players and third among American League pitchers.
Read MoreReds pitcher Graham Ashcraft is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s spring training games.
Ashcraft struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Padres.
Read MoreBraves pitcher Robbie Erlin is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Erlin struck out five over four scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 4-0 win over the Marlins. Erlin did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he did not pitch the required five innings needed to earn the win. Also, the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
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Astros pitcher Justin Verlander maintains the lead in Box-Toppers weekly team rankings report for the eighth straight week. But barely.
Meanwhile, there are new batting leaders in each league as Brett Gardner of the Yankees rises to lead American League batters and Josh Bell of the Pirates rises to lead National League batters. Josh Hader of the Brewers continues his lead among NL pitchers.
Read MoreIndians pitcher Shane Bieber is the most deserving player not selected to the 2019 Major League Baseball All-Star teams.
Bieber has 11.1 Box-Toppers points in 2019, eighth among all players and fourth among American League pitchers. Other key players not chosen for the All-Star Game who rank among Box-Toppers top players this season include Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, Marcell Ozuna of the Cardinals and Eloy Jimenez of the White Sox.
Read MoreThere are nine players who lead their league’s positions in Box-Toppers points who are also among the finalists in the newfangled All-Star “general” election being held this week.
But there are eight players who lead their league’s position in Box-Toppers points who are not even listed among the top three finalists (top nine for outfielders) for their positions.
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Astros pitcher Justin Verlander maintains the lead in Box-Toppers weekly team rankings report for the fourth straight week.
Also this week, all four main category leaders maintain their leads from last week: Verlander continues to lead American League pitchers, Brewers pitcher Josh Hader continues to lead National League pitchers, Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers continues to lead NL batters and Joey Gallo of the Rangers continues to lead AL batters.
Read MoreRockies pitcher Jon Gray is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Read MorePirates pitcher Joe Musgrove is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Musgrove struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 2-0 win over the Reds.
Read MoreBrewers pitcher Jhoulys Chacin is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day in the National League Championship Series Game 3.
The Brewers lead the best-of-seven series, 2-1.
Read MoreFour starting pitching aces are Box-Toppers Players of the Games in Friday’s four league division series playoff games:
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is top player in Friday’s 3-0 win over the Braves.
Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is top player in Friday’s 7-2 win over the Indians.
Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale is top player in Friday’s 5-4 win over the Yankees.
And Brewers pitcher Jhoulys Chacin is top player in Friday’s 4-0 win over the Rockies.
Angels pitcher Ricky Nolasco is Saturday’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 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 13.1 |
| 4 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 |
| 5 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 10.4 |
| 6 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 7 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.0 |
| 8 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 9.7 |
| 9 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.4 |
| 10 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 9.4 |
Also Saturday, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to third place in Box-Toppers player rankings—first among American League pitchers—after earning Player of the Game honors. Two others who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday also rise in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings—Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco and Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke.
Player of the Game—Nolasco pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking none, in the 4-0 win over the Mariners.
Nolasco had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +13.0, tied with two others who earned Player of the Game Saturday—Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill and Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale. But Nolasco beat them both on a tiebreaker since he had more innings pitched (9 vs. 7 vs. 7).
National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 8-0 win over the Dodgers.
American League Batter of the Day—Eddie Rosario of the Twins went 5-for-5, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 10-5 win over the Royals.
National League Batter of the Day—Orlando Arcia of the Brewers homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice, in the 8-4 win over the Marlins.
Rankings—Three players who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings:
Streaks—Two players extended streaks of 10 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points after both earned their first Player of the Game honors Saturday:
Scoring—Nolasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hill earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Rosario and Arcia 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.
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| 7/1 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | LAA 4, SEA 0 | Ricky Nolasco (W, 4-9) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| NL | 13.0 | LAD 8, SD 0 | Rich Hill (W, 5-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| 13.0 | BOS 7, TOR 1 | Chris Sale (W, 11-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | ||
| 10.0 | STL 2, WSH 1 | Michael Wacha (W, 5-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 8.0 | ARI 6, COL 2 | Zack Greinke (W, 10-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 7.0 | CLE 4, DET 1 | Carlos Carrasco (W, 9-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 6.2 | TEX 10, CHW 4 | Cole Hamels (W, 3-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | MIN 10, KC 5 | Eddie Rosario (LF) | 5 | 3 | 5 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | HOU 7, NYY 6 | Yuli Gurriel (1B) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | TB 10, BAL 3 | Logan Morrison (1B) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | KC 11, MIN 6 | Brandon Moss (DH) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | DET 7, CLE 4 | Justin Wilson (S, 8) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 4, OAK 3 | Jim Johnson (S, 18) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | `SF 2, PIT 1 (F/11) | George Kontos | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | MIL 8, MIA 4 | Orlando Arcia (SS) | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | NYM 7, PHI 6 | Asdrubal Cabrera (2B) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.1 | CIN 5, CHC 3 | Raisel Iglesias (S, 15) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 13.1 | 26.5 | 94.5 | 99.5 | -0.3 |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 10.4 | 22.8 | 51.5 | 56.9 | -2.0 |
| Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 9.7 | 19.4 | 88.7 | 165.8 | 0.0 |
| Rosario, Eddie 3542 | lf | min al | 5.2 | 8.2 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 2.2 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.7 | 19.1 | 23.1 | 42.8 | -9.7 |
| Morrison, Logan 2794 | 1b | tb al | 4.2 | 6.2 | 16.2 | 21.7 | 2.2 |
| Nolasco, Ricky 2125 | pi sp | ana al | 4.0 | 15.4 | 32.1 | 91.2 | -7.4 |
| Johnson, Jim 2417 | pi cp | atl nl | 4.0 | 8.0 | 19.0 | 25.7 | 0.0 |
| Wilson, Justin 3140 | pi cp | det al | 4.0 | 5.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 3.0 |
| Gurriel, Yuli 3796 | 1b | hou al | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| Moss, Brandon 2520 | dh rf lf 1b | kc al | 2.0 | 6.0 | 27.0 | 29.0 | -2.0 |
| Iglesias, Raisel 3467 | pi cp | cin nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | -1.0 |
| Wacha, Michael 3276 | pi sp | stl nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 21.7 | 21.7 | 0.0 |
| Arcia, Orlando 3717 | ss | mil nl | 1.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 0.5 |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 1.0 | 18.8 | 70.0 | 145.0 | -16.8 |
| Kontos, George 3106 | pi mr cp | sf nl | 1.0 | 4.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | -2.0 |
| Cabrera, Asdrubal 2362 | 2b ss | nym nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 13.0 | 43.7 | -1.0 |
Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth place in season player rankings.
| 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 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.4 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 15.1 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.7 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 13.0 |
Also Tuesday, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia earned his first Player of the Game honor since becoming the active career Box-Toppers points leader after Alex Rodriguez was released earlier this month.
Player of the Day—Arrieta pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits, three walks and striking out six, in the 5-3 win over the Padres.
Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.7 for the season. His rise to ninth place displaces Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ (12.7 points) from the top 10. Arrieta ranks seventh among NL pitchers. Arrieta led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 29.1.
American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Sean Manaea struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 9-1 win over the Indians.
National League Batter of the Day—Andrew Toles of the Dodgers homered, doubled and went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-5 win over the Giants.
American League Batter of the Day—Victor Martinez of the Tigers homered and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 8-3 win over the Twins.
Sabathia—Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia earned his first Player of the Game honor Tuesday since becoming the active career Box-Toppers points leader on Aug. 13, when previous active leader Alex Rodriguez was released.
Sabathia (7IP 3H R B 7K W in the 5-1 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 183.0 for his career, ranking fifth among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began (see updated "all-time" top 20 list on the homepage). He trails fourth-place player (and previous active leader) Rodriguez (187.0). Sabathia leads second-ranked active leader Albert Pujols of the Angels (181.3) by only 1.7 points.
Sabathia had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +8.0, but Mariners pitcher Sean Manaea, who also had a game score of +8.0, won AL Player of the Day honors over Sabathia because he had more strikeouts—eight vs. seven.
Streak—Adam Jones of the Orioles has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2016 Tuesday.
Jones (4-5 R BI in the 8-1 win over the Nationals) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Mariners and has 49.5 career points, fifth among active AL outfielders. His best year was 2014 with the Orioles, when he had 11.5 points, third among AL batters. In 2015, he had 5.5 points with the Orioles.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Manaea earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Toles and Martinez each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/23 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | CHC 5, SD 3 | Jake Arrieta (W,16-5) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | |
| AL | 8.0 | OAK 9, CLE 1 | Sean Manaea (W,5-8) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| 8.0 | NYY 5, SEA 1 | CC Sabathia (W,8-10) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 6.2 | CHW 9, PHI 1 | Carlos Rodon (W,4-8) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 6.1 | BOS 2, TB 1 | Clay Buchholz (W,5-9) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 6.0 | PIT 7, HOU 1 | Ivan Nova (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 6.0 | CIN 3, TEX 0 | Dan Straily (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | LAD 9, SF 5 | Andrew Toles, PH-CF-LF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | KC 1, MIA 0 | Yordano Ventura (W,9-9) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | DET 8, MIN 3 | Victor Martinez, DH | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | NYM 7, STL 4 | Jose Reyes, 3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TOR 7, LAA 2 | Russell Martin, DH | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 7, ARI 4 | Jose Ramirez (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 1.0 | BAL 8, WSH 1 | Adam Jones, CF | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | MIL 6, COL 4 | Orlando Arcia, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.7 | 42.8 | 70.5 | 73.5 | -15.4 |
| Martin, Russell 2202 | ca | tor al | 9.5 | 14.5 | 31.0 | 52.0 | 4.5 |
| Martinez, Victor 1695 | dh | det al | 7.5 | 11.0 | 30.9 | 71.1 | 4.0 |
| Ventura, Yordano 3294 | pi sp | kc al | 7.0 | 18.7 | 28.4 | 28.4 | -4.7 |
| Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| Straily, Dan 3080 | pi sp | cin nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 | 5.0 |
| Sabathia, C.C. 1492 | pi sp | nyy al | 4.0 | 9.7 | 44.5 | 183.0 | -1.7 |
| Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 26.1 | 27.1 | 3.0 |
| Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | chi al | 3.0 | 11.1 | 11.1 | 11.1 | -5.1 |
| Buchholz, Clay 2363 | pi sp mr | bos al | 3.0 | 9.0 | 37.2 | 56.9 | -3.0 |
| Toles, Andrew 3692 | rf cf lf ph | lad nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Jones, Adam 2347 | cf | bal al | 1.0 | 6.5 | 37.5 | 49.5 | -4.5 |
| Reyes, Jose 1759 | 3b ss | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 13.0 | 29.0 | 1.0 |
| Arcia, Orlando 3717 | ph | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Ramirez, Jose A. 3716 | pi mr | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.