Red Sox pitcher Sean Newcomb is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Thursday’s spring training games.
Other Player of the Game winners Thursday include Jacob Stallings of the Rockies and Paul Goldschmidt of the Yankees.
Read MoreBox-Toppers’ big dippers—players whose 2019 point total declined most from 2018: Corey Kluber leads list
Indians pitcher Corey Kluber had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2018 to 2019.
Kluber, who earned 21.7 Box-Toppers points in 2018 (fourth among all players), earned no points in 2019. His decline of 21.7 points was ahead of Rays pitcher Blake Snell, whose 10.0 points in 2019 represented a 17.2-point drop from the 27.2 points he earned to lead all players in 2018.
Read MoreRays’ Charlie Morton tops players for Monday, June 10, rises to 2nd in player rankings
Rays pitcher Charlie Morton is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to second place in season player rankings.
Morton struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 6-2 win over the Athletics.
Read MoreRays' pitcher Blake Snell is Box-Toppers' Most Improved Player in 2018
Rays pitcher Blake Snell had the biggest improvement in Box-Toppers point totals from 2017 to 2018, and is this season’s Box-Toppers’ Most Improved Player.
Snell had 22.2 more Box-Toppers points in 2018 than he did in 2017. In 2017, he had 5.0 Box-Toppers points and in 2018, he had 27.2 points, first among all players.
Read MoreAstros’ Gerrit Cole, Yankees’ Gary Sanchez top players in Saturday's AL Division Series games
Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole and Gary Sanchez of the Yankees are Saturday’s Box-Toppers top players in a pair of American League Division Series games.
Read MoreBraves’ Sean Newcomb tops players for Monday, Sept. 10; Astros’ Verlander rises to 6th in player rankings
Braves pitcher Sean Newcomb is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming the 35th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points.
Also Monday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Verlander also rises to 11th place in career points since 1995, passing the the 170.7 career point total of the late Roy Halladay.
Read MoreBraves’ Sean Newcomb tops players for Sunday, July 29; Red Sox’ Eovaldi tops AL players
Braves pitcher Sean Newcomb is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Newcomb had a no-hitter intact through 8 2/3 innings before giving up his only hit. He struck out eight over 8 2/3 innings, allowing one run, one hit and one walk, in the 4-1 win over the Dodgers.
Read MoreMariners’ Wade LeBlanc tops players for Saturday, June 16; Yankees’ Severino extends rankings lead among AL pitchers
Mariners pitcher Wade LeBlanc is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Yankees pitcher Luis Severino extended his season Box-Toppers points lead among American League pitchers after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreYankees' Luis Severino tops players for Wednesday, May 2, rises to retake season player rankings lead
Yankees pitcher Luis Severino is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to retake the lead in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, Mookie Betts of the Red Sox rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings—and is the only batter among the top 10—after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreIndians' Carlos Carrasco tops players for Wednesday, June 21, rises to 6th in Box-Toppers player rankings
Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of June 21:| 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 | 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 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 8.2 |
| 8 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.0 |
| 9 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 8.0 |
| 10 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.7 |
Carrasco struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing seven hits and no walks, in the 5-1 win over the Orioles.
Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.4 for the season, rising to sixth place among all players and third among American League pitchers, behind Ervin Santana of the Twins (11.4) and Chris Sale of the Red Sox (10.1).
National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher Dan Straily struck out six over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Nationals. Straily picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because the Marlins trailed, 1-0, when he exited.
Straily earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, rising to sixth place among NL pitchers, 12th overall.
Opposing pitcher Max Scherzer of the Nationals had a no-hitter going into the eighth inning, but gave up two hits and two unearned runs that inning, picking up the loss. Had the Nationals won, Scherzer (8IP 2H 2R 0ER BB 11K L) would have been overall Player of the Day with a Box-Toppers game score of +14.0, beating out Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco’s Box-Toppers game score of +9.0. But Scherzer picks up no Box-Toppers points in the loss.
Scherzer ranks second in Box-Toppers points on the season with 13.0, behind overall leader Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (14.4).
National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Drury of the Diamondbacks doubled and went 4-for-6, scoring once and driving in six runs, in the 16-5 win over the Rockies.
American League Batter of the Day—Salvador Perez of the Royals hit a go-ahead, eighth-inning grand slam in the 6-4 win over the Red Sox. Perez also went 3-for-3.
Notable—Craig Stammen of the Padres (2B 1-1 R in the 3-2 win over the Cubs) became the fourth pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting.
Debuts—Four players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with their first career Player of the Game honors:
- Jose Martinez of the Cardinals (HR 2B 2-2 2R BI in the 7-6, 10-inning win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut Sept. 6, 2016, and was playing in his 48th career game. He is the 3,830th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Braves pitcher Sean Newcomb (6IP 3H R BB 3K ND in the 5-3, 11-inning win over the Giants) made his Major League debut June 10 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,831st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Austin Romine of the Yankees (3-4 R 2BI in the 8-4 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut Sept. 11, 2011, and was playing in his 177th career game. He is the 3,832nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Mariners pitcher Tony Zych (1.2IP 0H 0R BB K W in the 7-5 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut Sept. 4, 2015, and was playing in his 48th career game. He is the 3,833rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Straily earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Drury and Perez each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score| 6/21 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | CLE 5, BAL 1 | Carlos Carrasco (W,8-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| 7.0 | MIN 4, CHW 2 | Jose Berrios (W,7-1) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| NL | 6.0 | `MIA 2, WSH 1 | Dan Straily | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | ARI 16, COL 5 | Brandon Drury, 2B | 6 | 1 | 4 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | KC 6, BOS 4 | Salvador Perez, C | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | LAD 8, NYM 2 | Rich Hill (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 3.0 | STL 7, PHI 6 (F/10) | Jose Martinez, PH-RF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 5, OAK 1 | Mike Fiers (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | `ATL 5, SF 3 (F/11) | Sean Newcomb | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 2.2 | TB 8, CIN 3 | Chase Whitley (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | NYY 8, LAA 4 | Austin Romine, C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIL 4, PIT 3 | Domingo Santana, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TOR 7, TEX 5 | Steve Pearce, LF | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.2 | SEA 7, DET 5 | Tony Zych (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | SD 3, CHC 2 | Craig Stammen, P | 1 | 1 | 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 | +/- |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 9.4 | 21.8 | 50.5 | 55.9 | -3.0 |
| Straily, Dan 3080 | pi sp | fla nl | 7.7 | 14.7 | 25.4 | 25.4 | 0.7 |
| Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Perez, Salvador 2972 | ca | kc al | 3.5 | 7.5 | 22.7 | 25.2 | -0.5 |
| Drury, Brandon 3744 | 2b | ari nl | 3.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 2.0 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 | 17.4 | 21.4 | 41.1 | -11.4 |
| Whitley, Chase 3352 | pi cp mr | tb al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 3.0 |
| Fiers, Michael 3029 | pi sp | hou al | 2.7 | 7.7 | 28.8 | 28.8 | -2.3 |
| Pearce, Steve 2371 | lf | tor al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 16.0 | 18.0 | 0.0 |
| Santana, Domingo 3507 | rf | mil nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2.0 |
| Stammen, Craig 2506 | pi mr | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 9.0 | 13.0 | 1.0 |
| Martinez, Jose 3830 | rf ph | stl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Newcomb, Sean 3831 | pi sp | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Romine, Austin 3832 | ca | nyy al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Zych, Tony 3833 | pi mr | sea al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |