Nationals' Scherzer tops players for Wednesday, June 29, rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers rankings

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third in player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of June 29:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	13.4
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	12.0
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	11.7
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	10.8
6	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
7	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	10.7
8	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	10.5
9	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	10.4
10	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Indians pitcher Danny Salazar rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

Player of the Day—Scherzer struck out 10 over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 4-2 win over the Mets.

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.0 for the season, rising to third among all players and third among National League pitchers, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (20.0) and Jose Fernandez of the Marlins (13.4).

Scherzer also now has 118.0 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 39th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Wednesday, he passes five players on the “all-time” list—Todd Helton (116.4), Mark Buehrle (116.7), Cubs pitcher John Lackey (117.2), Barry Zito (117.4) and Carlos Delgado (117.7).

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Danny Salazar pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing five hits and no walks, in the 3-0 win over the Braves.

Salazar earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 10.5 for the season and rising to eighth in player rankings, third among AL pitchers, behind Corey Kluber of the Indians (10.8) and Chris Sale of the White Sox (10.7).

Salazar also becomes the 10th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.

American League Batter of the Day—Brian McCann of the Yankees hit two home runs, going 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in four, in the 9-7 win over the Rangers.

With his first Player of the Game honor of the season, McCann has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons, beginning in 2006 with the Braves. He has 56.7 career Box-Toppers points, first among active catchers and fifth among all catchers since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. His best season was 2009 with the Braves when he had 8.5 points, first among NL catchers. In 2015, he had 6.5 points with the Yankees, first among AL catchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Sean Rodriguez of the Pirates hit two doubles and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-1 win over the Mariners.

Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Salazar earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. McCann and Rodriguez 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/29	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	14.1	DC 4/NYM 2	Max Scherzer (W,9-5)	-	-	-	-		7.1	2	0	0	1	10
	11.0	MIL 7/LAD 0	Junior Guerra (W,5-1)	-	-	-	-		8.0	2	0	0	2	7
AL	10.0	CLE 3/ATL 0	Danny Salazar (W,10-3)	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	0	8
	8.0	TB 4/BOS 0	Matt Moore (W,4-5)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	2	6
BAT	6.0	NYY 9/TEX 7	Brian McCann, C	3	3	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	5.0	PIT 8/SEA 1	Sean Rodriguez, RF	3	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	HOU 10/LAA 4	Jose Altuve, 2B	5	4	4	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.2	`KC 3/STL 2	Edinson Volquez	-	-	-	-		6.2	6	0	0	1	4
	3.0	BAL 12/SD 6	Mark Trumbo, RF	5	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	DET 10/MIA 3	Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C	3	1	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.2	OAK 7/SF 1	Sean Manaea (W,3-4)	-	-	-	-		5.2	6	0	0	1	4
	2.0	CHW 9/MIN 6	Tyler Saladino, 3B	4	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	TOR 5/COL 3	Edwin Encarnacion, 1B	3	2	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	PHI 9/ARI 8	Cody Asche, LF	5	0	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	CHC 9/CIN 2	Javier Baez, 2B	5	1	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the 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 (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	12.0	33.0	97.6	118.0	-9.0
Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	10.5	23.9	33.3	33.3	-2.9
Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	8.5	15.5	25.0	25.0	1.5
Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	kc al	6.4	13.4	38.1	64.2	-0.6
Trumbo, Mark 2851	rf	bal al	6.2	8.7	31.9	31.9	3.7
Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	dh	tor al	6.0	16.4	44.6	65.1	-4.4
Moore, Matt 2975	pi sp	tb al	5.7	5.7	31.2	31.2	5.7
Guerra, Junior 3633	pi sp	mil nl	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0
Manaea, Sean 3637	pi sp	oak al	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Saladino, Tyler 3645	ss 3b	chi al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
McCann, Brian 2179	ca	nyy al	1.5	8.0	33.7	56.7	-5.0
Asche, Cody 3268	lf 3b	phi nl	1.0	4.5	10.0	10.0	-2.5
Rodriguez, Sean 2729	rf1b 2b	pit nl	1.0	1.0	12.5	17.5	1.0
Baez, Javier 3395	2b	chi nl	1.0	1.0	3.5	3.5	1.0
Saltalamacchia, Jarod 2355	ca	det al	1.0	1.0	12.0	18.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Giants' Jeff Samardzija tops players in Thursday, March 31's spring training games

Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija is Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day for Thursday.

Samardzija pitched five scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out five, in the 3-1 win over the Athletics. Samardzija had 9.4 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the White Sox, ranked 20th among American League pitchers. His best season was 2012 with the Cubs when he had 12.7 points, 16th among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—J.D. Martinez of the Tigers hit three homers, going 3-for-4 and driving in four runs, in the 10-6 win over the Yankees. Martinez had 1.7 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Tigers. His best season was 2014 with the Tigers, when he had 5.0 points.

National League Batter of the Day—Sean Rodriguez of the Pirates hit a grand slam, going 1-for-2, in the 13-8 win over the Rays. Rodriguez had no Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Pirates. He had 5.0 points in 2014 with the Rays.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the AL Player of the Day was a batter, J.D. Martinez.

Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Samardzija would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Martinez would earn 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Rodriguez would earn 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Note—Thirteen spring training games were scheduled for Thursday—11 are listed below. Two games are not listed because they involved non-Major League teams (Phillies vs. Phillies Futures and Padres vs. El Paso).

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

3/31	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	Giants	Jeff Samardzija (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	1	0	0	0	5
	7.1	Brewers	Jimmy Nelson (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.1	2	0	0	1	5
	7.0	Cardinals	Mike Leake (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		4.0	2	0	0	0	5
AL	6.0	Tigers	J.D. Martínez RF	4	3	3	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	Orioles	Yovani Gallardo (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	1	0	0	0	2
BAT	4.0	Pirates	Seán Rodríguez CF	2	1	1	4	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Angels	Al Alburquerque (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	3.2	Indians	Carlos Carrasco (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	1	1	2	6
	3.0	Twins	Ryan Pressly (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	3
	2.0	Rockies	Charlie Blackmon CF	3	1	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Cubs	Yasiel Balaguert 1B	1	1	1	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

Cards' Wainwright beats Beckett's no-hitter to top players for Sunday, May 25, takes the Box-Toppers points lead

Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright is Sunday’s Player of the Day and rises to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

Wainwright won Player of the Day honors over Dodgers pitcher Josh Beckett who pitched a no-hitter (CG 0R 0H 3BB 6K) against the Phillies.

In addition Sunday, Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka rose to first place among American League pitchers in Box-Toppers points. And five of Sunday’s Players of the Game are in the top 10 of Box-Toppers season player rankings.

Wainwright pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out 12 in the 4-0 win over the Reds. Wainwright earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Game, giving him 11.0 for the season—he is the first player to 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2014. He passes Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies (9.1 Box-Toppers points) to take the overall Box-Toppers points lead. (See the updated top 10 Box-Toppers player rankings on the home page.)

Tulowitzki had led all players since May 2. Wainwright had 20.2 Box-Toppers points in 2013, in second place overall, behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (21.7).

Wainwright had a Box-Toppers game score of +14.0, beating out Beckett, who despite the no-hitter, had the second-highest Box-Toppers game score of the day, +12.0—still earning Player of the Game honors and picking up 1.0 Box-Toppers point. (See the chart below.)

Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel is American League Player of the Day. Keuchel pitched a complete game, allowing one unearned run, in the 4-1 win over the Mariners. He earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 6.7 for the season. He is in eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, third among AL pitchers. (See the updated top 10 Box-Toppers player rankings on the home page.)

Sean Rodriguez of the Rays is AL Batter of the Day. Rodriguez hit a pinch-hit, three-run home run in the 8-5 win over the Red Sox. Rodriguez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season and is now in fourth place among AL batters.

There is no National League Batter of the Day for Sunday because no NL batters earned Player of the Game honors.

Notables: In addition to Wainwright and Keuchel, three of Sunday’s other Players of the Game rank in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings for the season:

• Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (6.2 IP 6K W in the 7-1 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season, third among all players and first among AL pitchers. He passes previous AL pitching leader, Max Scherzer of the Tigers (7.7 Box-Toppers points).

• Braves pitcher Julio Teheran (6IP 0R 7K W in the 7-0 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.7 for the season and is in fifth place overall, second among NL pitchers.

•  Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (7IP 1R 10K W in the 8-1 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.5 for the season and is in ninth place overall, fifth among NL pitchers.

Wainwright receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Keuchel receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Rodriguez receives 1.5 for being AL Batter of the Day.

All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

525	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	14.0	Cardinals	Adam Wainwright (W, 8-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	5	0	0	1	12
	12.0	Dodgers	Josh Beckett (W, 3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	0	0	0	3	6
	12.0	Giants	Madison Bumgarner (W, 6-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	1	0	10
AL	10.0	Astros	Dallas Keuchel (W, 6-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	4	1	0	0	6
	8.0	Braves	Julio Teheran (W, 4-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	1	7
	7.0	Blue Jays	J.A. Happ (W, 4-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	3	7
	6.0	Padres	Ian Kennedy (W, 3-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	1	1	2	6
BAT	4.0	Rays	Sean Rodriguez PH, DH	1	1	1	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Mets	Daisuke Matsuzaka (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	2	2	1	6
	3.2	Yankees	Masahiro Tanaka (W, 7-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	1	1	2	6
	3.2	Brewers	Jimmy Nelson (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.2	5	0	0	3	6
	2.0	Rangers	Mitch Moreland 1B	5	1	3	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Orioles	Zach Britton (S, 2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.1	Nationals	Doug Fister (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.1	6	1	1	0	4
	1.1	`Dbacks	Oliver Perez	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	1	0	0	1	2
	1.0	Angels	Chris Iannetta C	4	2	2	1	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Mariners' Roenis Elias (7IP 10K) tops players for Thursday, May 1

Mariners pitcher Roenis Elias is Thursday’s Player of the Day. Elias struck out 10 over seven innings in the 4-2 win over the Yankees.

Rockies pitcher Juan Nicasio is National League Player of the Day. Nicasio pitched seven scoreless innings in the 7-4 win over the Mets.

Sean Rodriguez of the Rays is American League Batter of the Day. Rodriguez homered, doubled and went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs in the 6-5 win over the Red Sox.

Bryan Pena of the Reds is NL Batter of the Day. Pena hit a pinch-hit two-run homer in the 8-3 win over the Brewers.

Elias receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Nicasio receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Rodriguez and Pena each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

501	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	6.0	Mariners	Roenis Elias (W, 2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	2	1	2	10
NL	5.0	Rockies	Juan Nicasio (W, 3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	1	2
BAT	4.0	Rays	Sean Rodriguez LF, 2B	4	3	3	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.2	Dodgers	Chris Perez (S, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.2	0	0	0	0	2
	3.1	Blue Jays	Aaron Loup (S, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.1	0	0	0	0	1
BAT	3.0	Reds	Brayan Pena PH	1	1	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Dodgers	Jamey Wright (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.0	1	0	0	1	2
	3.0	Marlins	Mike Dunn (W, 3-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.2	`Orioles	Darren O`Day	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.2	0	0	0	1	2
	2.0	Rays	David DeJesus DH	2	1	1	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.1	Orioles	Tommy Hunter (S, 7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		0.1	0	0	0	0	1

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.