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Astros pitcher Cristian Javier is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Pete Alonso of the Mets extends his lead among National League batters and now has the most Box-Toppers points for any batter in a single season since 2017 and the eighth-most for any batter in a single season from 2010 forward.
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After massive reshuffling during the 2019 season, Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points top 10 list remained unchanged during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
There were also few changes among the top 10 pitchers and top 10 batters in career Box-Toppers points. Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to ninth place among all pitchers in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, with 176.3. Lester had ranked 11th among pitchers at the end of 2019 with 172.6.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw leads the list of Box-Toppers Active Career All-Stars and is one of four active players included on Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team.
The Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team consists of the best players by position since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and includes 10 players who have retired and four who are still active—Kershaw, along with Albert Pujols of the Angels, Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers and Astros pitcher Zack Greinke, who joined the All-Time All-Star team in 2019.
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The Box-Toppers career points top 10 list had no new members during the 2019 season but saw a massive reshuffling among players ranked fourth through 10th.
Meanwhile, there was one new player rising into the top 10 list among pitchers in “all-time” career Box-Toppers points in 2019 (Cole Hamels of the Cubs). Plus, the top 10 “all-time” points list for batters was largely dormant during 2019 and included just two active players—Albert Pujols of the Angels and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers. However, Cabrera actually rose from sixth to fifth place, while earning just 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2019.
Read MoreClayton Kershaw and Albert Pujols lead Box-Toppers All-Decade All-Star team for the 2010s.
Kershaw earned the most Box-Toppers points of any player from 2010-2019 (210.1) and Pujols earned the most of any batter over that span (79.9), which is 25th among all players. The All-Decade All-Star team is made up of players who led their position in Box-Toppers points over the span of 2010-2019.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after becoming the sixth pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. Strasburg is Thursday’s National League Player of the Day.
Plus, Alex Bregman of the Astros rises to lead American League batters in 2019 Box-Toppers points after earning AL Batter of the Day honors Thursday.
Read MoreBraves pitcher Mike Soroka is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Soroka struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing six hits and one walk, in the 4-1 win over the Padres.
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Randy Johnson leads all players in career Box-Toppers points and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Johnson earned 278.8 Box-Toppers points from the time Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995 until he retired in 2009.
Read MoreStriving to create a more perfect Box-Toppers, I discovered some errors in player tracking in 2018 and have been correcting them in recent weeks.
There were 10 total errors I discovered that changed the Box-Toppers point totals for 17 different players. Those errors were discovered after re-examining about one-third of the 2,430 games played in the 2018 season. So in other words, after looking at about 830 games, I found 10 errors.
Read MoreAnalyzing 24 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching & batting in both leagues
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With Max Scherzer’s rise into Box-Toppers career points top 10 list during 2018, there are now six active players in the top 10, the most since 2008, when there were eight.
Box-Toppers player tracking began in 1995 and the overall top 10 players in career points was composed entirely of active players until 2008. The number of active players on the list slipped to as low as two as recently as 2014, but grew to six on June 5, when Nationals pitcher Scherzer joined the list, rising to 10th place with 172.1 Box-Toppers points, displacing retired pitcher Roy Halladay. Scherzer finished the season with 181.8 points, ranked ninth.
Read MoreRandy Johnson leads all players in career Box-Toppers points and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
The most likely rival to Johnson’s throne at the moment is Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw who has 214.8 career Box-Toppers points, third among all players since 1995 and most among active players.
Read MoreBraves pitcher Mike Foltynewicz is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Twins pitcher Jose Berrios rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreIndians pitcher Trevor Bauer is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreCubs pitcher Mike Montgomery is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MorePhillies pitcher Nick Pivetta is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Pivetta struck out nine over 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 5-0 win over the Marlins.
Read MoreIndians pitcher Danny Salazar is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to 18th place on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreA look at top players in Box-Toppers points by position in both leagues over both 2017 and the combined 2016-17 seasons.
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Rangers pitcher A.J. Griffin is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Griffin struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 7-0 win over the Athletics.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 4.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.0 |
| 3 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 3.4 |
| 4 | Morrison, Logan 2794 | 1b | tb al | 3.2 |
| 5 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 6 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 3.0 |
| 7 | Devenski, Chris 3702 | pi mr cp | hou al | 3.0 |
| 8 | Marte, Starling 3122 | lf cf | pit nl | 3.0 |
| 9 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 3.0 |
| 10 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 3.0 |
National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out five, in the 2-1 win over the Pirates.
National League Batter of the Day—Freddie Freeman of the Braves hit two home runs and two doubles in the 5-4 win over the Padres. Freeman went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Aaron Judge of the Yankees hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-4, driving in three total runs, in the 7-4 win over the White Sox.
Streak—Ryan Braun of the Brewers has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Braun (HR 2B 3-4 2R 3BI in the 6-3 win over the Cubs) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Brewers and has 89.2 career points, second among active NL batters (trailing Ryan Howard of the Braves with 98.7). Braun’s best season was 2012 with the Brewers when he had 12.5 Box-Toppers points, first among NL batters.
Rankings—Two players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday:
Scoring—Griffin earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lynn earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Freeman and Judge each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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.
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| 4/17 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | TEX 7, OAK 0 | A.J. Griffin (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| NL | 8.0 | STL 2, PIT 1 | Lance Lynn (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 8.0 | SEA 6, MIA 1 | Ariel Miranda (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 6.0 | `ARI 4, LAD 2 | Robbie Ray | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 10 | ||
| 6.0 | `HOU 3, LAA 0 | Chris Devenski | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | ATL 5, SD 4 | Freddie Freeman, 1B | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | MIL 6, CHC 3 | Ryan Braun, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | BOS 4, TB 3 | Craig Kimbrel (S,6) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | NYY 7, CHW 4 | Aaron Judge, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | CLE 3, MIN 1 | Danny Salazar (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 3.0 | 11.0 | 55.7 | 61.7 | -5.0 |
| Devenski, Chris 3702 | pi mr cp | hou al | 3.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | -0.7 |
| Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 2.0 | 8.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 | -4.7 |
| Griffin, A.J. 3074 | pi sp | tex al | 2.0 | 7.7 | 22.4 | 22.4 | -3.7 |
| Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | stl nl | 1.7 | 1.7 | 57.6 | 57.6 | 1.7 |
| Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 1.5 | 9.0 | 34.7 | 40.2 | -6.0 |
| Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 1.0 | 13.5 | 36.3 | 36.3 | -11.5 |
| Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | lf | mil nl | 1.0 | 11.5 | 37.0 | 89.2 | -9.5 |
| Miranda, Ariel 3738 | pi sp | sea al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer hold dominant lead among players in Box-Toppers points over last several years. Using longer term measure, Chris Sale rises to lead AL pitchers, Yoenis Cespedes rises to lead NL batters.
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.