Cubs' Jake Arrieta tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 23, rises to 9th in Box-Toppers rankings

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 23:  

	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

What are those numbers after players' names?

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:

• Braves pitcher Jose Ramirez (1IP H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 7-4 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut June 4, 2014, and was playing in his 32nd career game. He is the 3,716th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Orlando Arcia of the Brewers (PH 2B 1-1 R in the 6-4 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut Aug. 2 and was playing in his 20th career game. He is the 3,717th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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.

Top player from each game

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		-	-	-	-	-	-

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	+/-
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

What are those numbers after players' names?

Orioles' Wilson tops players for Thursday, June 16; Mets' Colon tops NL players

Orioles pitcher Tyler Wilson 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 2016 season as of June 16:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	11.7
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	10.0
5	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
6	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	9.4
7	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
8	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	8.8
9	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	8.7
10	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Wilson pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, one walk and striking out six, in the 5-1 win over the Red Sox.

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon struck out eight over 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, in the 6-4 win over the Pirates.

Colon earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 143.8 for his career. Colon ranks 22nd in career points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 21st-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7). Colon has 3.7 Box-Toppers points for the season.

American League Batter of the Day—Victor Martinez of the Tigers hit three solo home runs, going 3-for-5, in the 10-4 win over the Royals.

National League Batter of the Day—Freddie Freeman of the Braves hit a two-run homer and went 3-for-4, scoring twice, in the 7-2 win over the Reds.

Notable—Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis has the most 2016 Box-Toppers points of any of Thursday’s 10 Players of the Games.

Lewis (CG 2H R BB 4K W in the 5-1 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 7.7 for the season. He ranks 18th among all players and fifth among AL pitchers.

Scoring—Wilson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Colon earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Martinez and Freeman 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/16	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.0	BAL 5/BOS 1	Tyler Wilson (W,3-5)	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	1	6
	8.0	TEX 5/OAK 1	Colby Lewis (W,6-0)	-	-	-	-		9.0	2	1	1	1	4
	6.0	TOR 13/PHI 2	J.A. Happ (W,8-3)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	0	2	5
NL	4.2	NYM 6/PIT 4	Bartolo Colon (W,6-3)	-	-	-	-		7.2	7	2	2	0	8
BAT	4.0	DET 10/KC 4	Victor Martinez, DH	5	3	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	NYY 4/MIN 1	Didi Gregorius, SS	3	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	ATL 7/CIN 2	Freddie Freeman, 1B	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	SEA 6/TB 4	Dae-Ho Lee, 1B	3	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	DC 8/SD 5	Bryce Harper, RF	4	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	MIL 8/LAD 6	Tyler Thornburg (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1

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	+/-
Lewis, Colby 1567	pi sp	tex al	7.7	15.4	33.6	45.0	0.0
Lee, Dae-Ho 3627	1b ph	sea al	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.7
Martinez, Victor 1695	dh 1b	det al	5.0	8.5	28.4	68.6	1.5
Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	4.0	17.1	32.5	40.5	-9.1
Colon, Bartolo	pi sp	nym nl	3.7	10.4	52.3	143.8	-3.0
Wilson, Tyler 3608	pi mr sp	bal al	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Harper, Bryce 3011	rf	dc nl	2.0	11.0	26.4	26.4	-7.0
Gregorius, Didi 3184	ss	nyy al	2.0	4.5	6.5	6.5	-0.5
Freeman, Freddie 2887	1b	atl nl	1.5	4.5	32.7	32.7	-1.5
Thornburg, Tyler 3195	pi mr	mil nl	1.0	1.0	7.0	7.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Pirates' Nicasio tops players for Friday, April 29; Mets' Cespedes rises to 2nd in player rankings

Pirates pitcher Juan Nicasio is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	5.0
2	Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	cf lf dh ph	nym nl	4.5
3	Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	kc al	4.4
4	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	4.4
5	Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	bal al	4.2
6	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	4.0
7	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	4.0
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	4.0
9	De La Rosa, Rubby 3342	pi sp mr	ari nl	4.0
10	Nicasio, Juan 2888	pi sp	pit nl	4.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Meanwhile, Yoenis Cespedes rises to second in Box-Toppers player rankings, first among National League batters, and Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez regains his spot in 11th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995.

Player of the Day—Nicasio struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 4-1 win over the Reds.

Nicasio earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season and rising to 10th in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher Aaron Sanchez pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing six hits, in the 6-1 win over the Rays.

National League Batter of the Day—Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in six total runs, in the 13-1 win over the Giants.

Cespedes earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season, rising to second in overall Box-Toppers player rankings, behind only Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (5.0). Cespedes now leads NL batters in season Box-Toppers points.

American League Batter of the Day—Victor Martinez of the Tigers homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 9-2 win over the Twins.

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	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
4	Alex Rodriguez	dh	nyy al	187.0
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	179.0
6	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	175.3
7	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
8	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
9	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
10	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
11	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	163.7
12	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	163.3
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
16	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
17	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
18	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
19	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	148.4
20	Javier Vazquez	pi sp	retired	148.3

List of top 100 players since 1995 (through the 2015 season)

Rankings—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez regained his spot in 11th place in Box-Toppers “all-time” player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. He also extended his consecutive season streak earning Box-Toppers points to 12.

Hernandez (7.2IP 5H 0R 4K W in the 1-0 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 163.7 for his career. He now ranks 11th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began), passing Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (163.3), who previously passed Hernandez in career points for the first time on April 21. Hernandez now trails 10th-place player Roger Clemens (164.8).

Hernandez has also now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 consecutive seasons. He earned his first points in 2005 with the Mariners and with 163.7 points is the highest-ranked active player to never lead a season category (i.e., AL pitchers) in Box-Toppers points. He has earned 19.0 or more Box-Toppers points four times in his career (2009, 2010, 2014 and 2015), with his best year being 2014 with 20.8 points, third among AL pitchers. In 2015, he had 19.4 points, third among AL pitchers.

Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rose to 35th place in Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Lester (7IP 7H R 10K ND in the 6-1 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 124.1 career points, passing Gary Sheffield (124.1) on the “all-time” Box-Toppers points list. (Lester beats Sheffield on a tiebreaker because he has more Box-Toppers points this season—3.0 vs. 0.0.) Lester now trails 34th-place player, Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander (124.6). Lester has 3.0 Box-Toppers points on the season and ranks eighth among NL pitchers.

Debut—Padres pitcher Cesar Vargas made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Vargas (5.1IP 4H 0R 6K ND in the 5-1 win over the Dodgers) made his Major League debut April 23 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,624th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Nicasio earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sanchez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Cespedes and Martinez each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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

4/29	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Pirates	Juan Nicasio (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	1	8
	10.2	Marlins	Adam Conley (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	0	0	0	4	7
BAT	6.0	Mets	Yoenis Cespedes, CF	4	2	2	6	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	Phillies	David Hernandez (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	4
	6.0	`Cubs	Jon Lester	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	7	1	1	2	10
AL	5.0	Blue Jays	Aaron Sanchez (W,2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	0	0	2	6
	4.1	`Padres	Cesar Vargas	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.1	4	0	0	3	6
BAT	4.0	Tigers	Victor Martinez, DH	5	3	4	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Orioles	Nolan Reimold, LF	3	2	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.2	Mariners	Felix Hernandez (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	5	0	0	3	4
	3.0	Athletics	Coco Crisp, LF	3	2	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Nationals	Stephen Strasburg (W,4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	8	2	2	1	9
	3.0	Rangers	Shawn Tolleson (S,8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.1	Rockies	Tyler Chatwood (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	5	0	0	3	4
	2.0	Red Sox	Koji Uehara (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	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.

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	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	cf lf dh ph	nym nl	4.5	15.4	36.4	36.4	-6.4
Nicasio, Juan 2888	pi sp	pit nl	4.0	5.0	20.4	20.4	3.0
Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	3.7	17.7	63.8	71.5	-10.3
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	3.0	15.0	61.2	124.1	-9.0
Sanchez, Aaron 3392	pi sp	tor al	2.7	4.7	6.7	6.7	0.7
Martinez, Victor 1695	dh ph	det al	2.5	6.0	25.9	66.1	-1.0
Chatwood, Tyler 2856	pi sp	col nl	2.0	2.0	11.7	11.7	2.0
Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	1.0	20.4	86.4	163.7	-18.4
Tolleson, Shawn 3077	pi cp	tex al	1.0	7.0	9.0	9.0	-5.0
Uehara, Koji 2802	pi mr cp	bos al	1.0	6.0	23.0	27.0	-4.0
Conley, Adam 3594	pi sp	fla nl	1.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	-2.0
Crisp, Coco 1876	lf	oak al	1.0	3.0	19.5	36.7	-1.0
Hernandez, David 2649	pi cp	phi nl	1.0	1.0	9.0	13.0	1.0
Reimold, Nolan 2607	lf	bal al	1.0	1.0	6.7	7.7	1.0
Vargas, Cesar 3624	pi sp	sd nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Rangers' Hamels tops players for Saturday, Sept. 19; Kershaw fails to unseat Arrieta for player rankings lead

Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to eighth place among American League pitchers in player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 19.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	23.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	20.4
4	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	20.1
5	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	19.7
6	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
7	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	19.4
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

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw failed to retake the top spot in Box-Toppers player rankings after falling to the Pirates. Kershaw (22.7 Box-Toppers points) remains in second place behind Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (23.1), with whom he has traded leads every two or three days since Sept. 2. Arrieta’s lead is now safe at least until Kershaw’s next start later this week.

Player of the Day—Hamels struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run and seven hits, in the 10-1 win over the Mariners.

Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.7 for the season, rising to 17th among all players and eighth among AL pitchers.

Hammels also rises to 34th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when record keeping began. With his points Saturday, Hamels has 124.5 career Box-Toppers points and passes two players on the “all-time” list—Jered Weaver (123.1) and Gary Sheffield (124.1). (Sheffield, who started his career in 1988, seven years prior to the start of Box-Toppers record keeping, would likely have about 150 career Box-Toppers points based on rough projections, if his entire career were tracked.) Hamels now trails 33rd-ranked player Justin Verlander (124.6), who also passed Weaver and Sheffield on Friday.

National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, in the 6-0 win over the Giants.

American League Batter of the Day—Victor Martinez of the Tigers homered, doubled and drove in three runs, in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the Royals.

National League Batter of the Day—Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in a run, in the 10-2 win over the Padres.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw failed to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Saturday in his start, preventing him from retaking the player rankings lead.

Kershaw (7IP 7H 3H 8K L in the 3-2 loss to the Pirates) had a Box-Toppers game score of 0. Player of the Game was Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano.

Had Kershaw won Player of the Game honors, he would have passed Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta for the Box-Toppers season points lead and it would have been the seventh lead change in September between Kershaw (22.7 Box-Toppers points) and Arrieta (23.1 Box-Toppers points). Kershaw has led NL pitchers the past four seasons in Box-Toppers points—with days and starts dwindling to only a few this season, his chances for a fifth straight season leading NL pitchers is diminishing.

Notable—Several other Player of the Game honorees from Saturday achieved notable Box-Toppers milestones:

• Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano rose to 16th place among all players and ninth place among NL pitchers. Liriano (7IP 5H 2R 9K W in the 3-2 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.9 for the season.
• Angels pitcher Garrett Richards rose to 29th place among all players and 15th among AL pitchers. Richards (8.2IP 5H 2R 7K W in the 5-2 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season.
• Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda becomes the 40th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. Pineda (5.1IP 4H 0R 4K W in the 5-0 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, rising to 33rd among all players and 17th among AL pitchers.
• Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox (2-4 R 3BI in the 7-6 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.5 for the season, rising to sixth among AL batters.
• Bryce Harper of the Nationals (1-3 R 3BI in the 5-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.0 for the season, rising to fifth among NL batters.

Debut—Braves pitcher Ryan Weber made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Weber (7IP 2H R 5K ND in the 2-1 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut Sept. 8 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,598th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Corbin earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Martinez and Blackmon each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/19	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.0	Rangers	Cole Hamels (W,10-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	7	1	1	0	12
NL	7.0	Dbacks	Patrick Corbin (W,6-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	0	5
	6.0	Orioles	Wei-Yin Chen (W,10-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	0	7
	6.0	`Braves	Ryan Weber	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	1	1	2	5
	5.0	Pirates	Francisco Liriano (W,11-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	2	2	2	9
	4.1	Yankees	Michael Pineda (W,11-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.1	4	0	0	1	4
BAT	4.0	Tigers	Victor Martinez, DH	2	1	2	3	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	`Angels	Andrew Heaney	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	2	2	2	6
	3.1	Cubs	Trevor Cahill (MR) (W,1-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.1	2	0	0	1	3
BAT	3.0	Rockies	Charlie Blackmon, CF	4	3	3	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Astros	Evan Gattis, DH	3	1	2	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	`Reds	J.J. Hoover (MR) (H,18)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	3
	2.2	Angels	Garrett Richards (W,14-11)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.2	5	2	2	4	7
	2.2	White Sox	Carlos Rodon (W,8-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	6	1	1	1	4
	2.0	Red Sox	Jackie Bradley Jr., CF	4	1	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Nationals	Bryce Harper, RF	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.

Rays' Chris Archer (7IP 12K) tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 13

Rays pitcher Chris Archer is Wednesday’s Player of the Day. Archer struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run, in the 10-1 win over the Rangers.

Cardinals pitcher Justin Masterson is National League Player of the Day. Masterson pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 5-2 win over the Marlins.

Victor Martinez of the Tigers is American League Batter of the Day. Martinez went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 8-4 win over the Pirates.

Jedd Gyorko of the Padres is NL Batter of the Day. Gyorko doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring a run, in the 5-3 win over the Rockies.

Notables: Braves pitcher Ervin Santana rose to 21st place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday. Santana (6IP 9K W in the 3-2 win over the Dodgers) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season. He ranks eighth among NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points.

Nationals pitcher Jordan Zimmermann became the 28th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday. Zimmermann (6.1IP R W in the 3-2 win over the Mets) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He is in 27th place in Box-Toppers player rankings and ranks 12th among NL pitchers.

Archer receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Masterson receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Martinez and Gyorko each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

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

Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed Wednesday, click here.

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

813	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Rays	Chris Archer (W, 8-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	2	12
	10.0	Royals	Jason Vargas (W, 9-5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	0	0	0	4
NL	7.0	Cardinals	Justin Masterson (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	0	3
	7.0	`Indians	Trevor Bauer	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	2	2	2	9
	5.2	Mariners	Hisashi Iwakuma (W, 11-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	0	0	1	5
	4.1	Nationals	Jordan Zimmermann (W, 8-5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	5	1	0	0	4
BAT	3.0	Tigers	Victor Martinez DH	4	1	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	`Dbacks	Andrew Chafin	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	0	0	2	3
	2.0	Twins	Glen Perkins (S, 30)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.2	Cubs	Tsuyoshi Wada (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	2	2	1	5
BAT	1.0	Padres	Jedd Gyorko 2B	4	1	4	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Orioles	Adam Jones CF	4	1	1	3	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Red Sox	Mike Napoli 1B	4	1	1	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Giants	Joaquin Arias PH	0	1	0	0	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Braves	Ervin Santana (W, 12-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	8	2	2	2	9
	1.0	Angels	Huston Street (S, 7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	0

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

Dodgers' Zack Greinke, Tigers' Victor Martinez top players for Saturday, June 22

Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke is Saturday's Player of the Day. Greinke struck out eight over eight innings and allowed only one run in the 6-1 win over the Padres.

Victor Martinez of the Tigers is American League Player of the Day. Martinez hit a grand slam and went 2-for-3 in the 10-3 win over the Red Sox. 

Ryan Howard of the Phillies is National League Batter of the Day. Howard hit two home runs and drove in four runs in the 8-7 win over the Mets. 

Standings update: Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin rises to fourth place among players in Box-Toppers season points standings (see the updated top 10 list on the home page). Corbin (8IP 1R ND) was Player of the Game in the 4-3 win over the Reds. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 10.4 for the season.

Greinke receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Martinez receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Howard receives 1.5 for being NL  Batter of the Day.

All of Saturday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point:

622	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	9.0	Dodgers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Zack Greinke (W, 4-2)	8.0	4	1	1	1	8
AL	7.0	Tigers	Victor Martinez DH	3	3	2	5	2	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
BAT	5.0	Phillies	Ryan Howard 1B	4	2	3	4	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	4.2	`Brewers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Donovan Hand	4.2	2	0	0	1	3
	4.0	`Diamondbacks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Patrick Corbin	8.0	3	1	1	4	5
	4.0	Rockies	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jhoulys Chacin (W, 6-3)	7.0	5	0	0	1	3
	3.2	`Giants	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Sergio Romo	1.2	1	0	0	0	3
	3.1	`Blue Jays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Chien-Ming Wang	6.1	4	1	0	0	2
	3.0	Indians	Michael Bourn CF	4	1	3	3	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Yankees	Zoilo Almonte LF	2	1	1	3	2	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Astros	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jose Veras (S, 15)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	Rangers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Joe Nathan (S, 24)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.1	Mariners	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Yoervis Medina (W, 2-2)	2.1	3	0	0	0	2
	1.0	Pirates	Gaby Sanchez 1B	4	2	2	1	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	White Sox	Jeff Keppinger 2B	3	0	3	1	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0

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

Pirates' Francisco Liriano (7IP 2H 0R 8K) is top player for Friday, June 7

Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano is Friday's Player of the Day. Liriano struck out eight and allowed no runs and only two hits over seven innings in the 2-0 win over the Cubs. 

Blue Jays pitcher Esmil Rogers is American League Player of the Day. Rogers struck out six over four innings in the 6-1 win over the Rangers. 

Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies is National League Batter of the Day. Gonzalez went 2-for-3 with three RBIs in the 10-9 win over the Padres. It is the second time in three days that Gonzalez has been Box-Toppers' National League Batter of the Day. 

Victor Martinez of the Tigers is AL Batter of the Day. Martinez homered and went 3-for-4 in the 7-5 win over the Indians. 

Standings update: Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers player standings (see updated standings on the home page) for the 2013 season. Corbin (7.1IP 1R ND) was Player of the Game in the 3-1 win over the Giants. Corbin earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game and now has 9.4 points for the season.

Liriano receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Rogers receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Gonzalez and Martinez each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Friday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point:

607	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	8.0	Pirates	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Francisco Liriano (W, 4-2)	7.0	2	0	0	5	8
	4.2	`Dodgers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Hyun-Jin Ryu	7.2	6	1	1	1	6
BAT	4.0	Rockies	Carlos Gonzalez LF	3	2	2	3	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
AL	4.0	`Blue Jays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Esmil Rogers	4.0	3	1	1	1	6
BAT	3.0	Tigers	Victor Martinez DH	4	3	3	1	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Cardinals	David Freese 3B	3	2	2	2	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Rays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Chris Archer (W, 1-1)	7.0	2	1	1	2	2
	2.1	`Diamondbacks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Patrick Corbin	7.1	7	1	1	0	4
	2.0	Athletics	Josh Donaldson 3B	4	1	1	4	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Mariners	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jeremy Bonderman (W, 1-1)	6.0	3	1	1	1	2
	2.0	Royals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Kelvin Herrera (W, 3-4)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	Brewers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Francisco Rodriguez (W, 1-0)	1.0	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.