Cubs' Jake Arrieta tops players for Friday, Sept. 23, rises to 7th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to seventh 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 Sept. 23:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	24.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	22.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	21.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8
7	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7
8	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym al	15.7
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	15.4
10	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Friday, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels maintained his spot of sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Arrieta pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing five hits and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Cardinals.

Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 15.7 for the season, rising to seventh place in season player rankings, fifth among National League pitchers.

With Arrieta rising back into Box-Toppers top 10 list, he displaces Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ (14.7 points) from the list, who falls to 11th.

Arrieta led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 29.1. This was Arrieta’s first Player of the Game honor in a month—he was Player of the Day on Aug. 23.

American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher James Paxton struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 10-1 win over the Twins.

American League Batter of the Day—Jose Ramirez of the Indians homered, doubled and went 2-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 10-4 win over the White Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—Wil Myers of the Padres hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice, in the 7-2 win over the Giants.

Myers earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL batters, 1.0 point behind leader Nolan Arenado of the Rockies (10.7).

Rankings—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels maintained his rank of sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Hamels (7IP 6H 0R 2BB 7K W in the 3-0 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.8 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Corey Kluber of the Indians (21.2).

Hamels now has 144.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 24th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (143.9) on the “all-time” list and now trails 23rd-ranked player David Ortiz of the Red Sox (144.9). Hamels also rises to eighth place in career points among active players.

Hamels has earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons and in each season has earned 10 or more points. The 17.8 points he’s earned in 2016 is his best season; his previous best was 2011 with the Phillies when he had 15.8.

Notable—Two other players who have more than 10 Box-Toppers points for the season earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

• Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer (7IP 8H R 0BB 9K W in the 8-3 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.7 for the season. He ranks 23rd among all players and seventh among AL pitchers.
• Red Sox pitcher Drew Pomeranz (5IP 4H R 0BB 4K W in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.4 for the season. He ranks 28th among all players and 11th among AL pitchers.

Also notable—Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Liriano now has 103.2 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Liriano (6IP 3H 0R 2BB 6K in the 9-0 win over the Yankees) rises to 66th place among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, passing Miguel Tejada (102.3) on the “all-time” list. He trails 65th-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Liriano has 8.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 24th among AL pitchers.

Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:

• Rafael Ortega of the Angels (PH 2B 1-1 3BI in the 10-6 win over the Astros) made his Major League debut Sept. 30, 2012, and was playing in his 60th career game. He is the 3,746th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Alen Hanson of the Pirates (2-3 2R in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut May 16 and was playing in his 18th career game. He is the 3,747th 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 Paxton earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Ramirez and Myers 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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/23	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	CHC 5, STL 0	Jake Arrieta (W,18-7)	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	1	10
AL	9.0	SEA 10, MIN 1	James Paxton (W,5-7)	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	0	9
	7.0	TOR 9, NYY 0	Francisco Liriano (W,8-13)	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	2	6
	6.0	DET 8, KC 3	Michael Fulmer (W,11-7)	-	-	-	-		7.0	8	1	1	0	9
	6.0	TEX 3, OAK 0	Cole Hamels (W,15-5)	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	0	0	2	7
	5.2	NYM 10, PHI 5	Hansel Robles (S,1)	-	-	-	-		2.2	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	4.0	CLE 10, CHW 4	Jose Ramirez, 3B	5	3	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	4.0	SD 7, SF 2	Wil Myers, 1B	3	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	LAA 10, HOU 6	Rafael Ortega, PH	1	0	1	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	BOS 2, TB 1	Drew Pomeranz (W,11-12)	-	-	-	-		5.0	4	1	1	0	4
	3.0	LAD 5, COL 2	Ross Stripling (W,5-8)	-	-	-	-		3.0	2	0	0	2	4
	3.0	`BAL 3, ARI 2 (12)	Mychal Givens	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	ATL 3, MIA 2	Brandon Cunniff (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	1.0	MIL 5, CIN 4	Chris Carter, 1B	4	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	PIT 6, WSH 5 (11)	Alen Hanson, 2B	3	2	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`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	+/-
Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8	33.2	84.8	144.0	2.4
Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7	44.8	72.5	75.5	-13.4
Fulmer, Michael 3640	pi sp	det al	12.7	12.7	12.7	12.7	12.7
Pomeranz, Drew 3061	pi sp	bos al	12.4	15.4	23.4	23.4	9.4
Myers, Wil 3228	1b	sd nl	9.7	12.7	18.2	18.2	6.7
Carter, Chris 2828	1b	mil nl	9.5	10.5	28.4	29.4	8.5
Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	tor al	8.0	22.9	63.4	103.2	-6.9
Stripling, Ross 3629	pi sp	lad nl	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7
Paxton, James 3280	pi sp	sea al	4.4	5.4	11.1	11.1	3.4
Givens, Mychal 3599	pi mr	bal al	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	1.0
Cunniff, Brandon 3698	pi mr	atl nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Ramirez, Jose 3436	3b	cle al	1.5	4.0	5.0	5.0	-1.0
Robles, Hansel 3580	pi cp	nym nl	1.0	3.7	3.7	3.7	-1.7
Hanson, Alen 3747	2b	pit nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Ortega, Rafael 3746	ph	ana al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Brewers' Guerra tops players for Monday, July 4; Astros' McCullers tops NL players

Brewers pitcher Junior Guerra is Monday’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 July 4:  

	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?

Guerra pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing two hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Nationals.

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day—Kris Bryant of the Cubs hit a two-run homer, going 1-for-1 and scoring three times, in the 10-4 win over the Reds.

Bryant earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, most of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. Bryant rises to 29th place among all players and third among NL batters, behind Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals (7.5) and Wil Myers of the Padres (7.2).

American League Batter of the Day—Todd Frazier of the White Sox hit two doubles and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 8-2 win over the Yankees.

Streak—Mike Napoli of the Indians has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season Monday.

Napoli (HR 2B 2-3 2R 2BI in the 5-3 win over the Tigers) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Angels and has 52.2 career points, ninth among active AL first basemen. His best season was 2011 with the Rangers when he had 9.0 Box-Toppers points, ninth among AL batters. In 2015, he had 4.5 points with the Red Sox, a season in which he also played for the Rangers.

Notable—Giants pitcher Jake Peavy now has 141.8 career Box-Toppers points—24th-most since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began—after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Peavy (6.2IP 5H R 2BB 6K W in the 3-1 win over the Rockies) trails 23rd-ranked player on the “all-time” list, David Ortiz of the Red Sox (142.9). Peavy has 5.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 29th among NL pitchers.

Debut—Dodgers pitcher Pedro Baez made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Baez (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K ND in the 7-5 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut May 5, 2014, and was playing in his 110th career game. He is the 3,678th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Guerra earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and McCullers earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Bryant and Frazier 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

7/4	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.1	MIL 1/DC 0	Junior Guerra (W,6-1)	-	-	-	-		7.1	2	0	0	2	7
AL	9.0	HOU 2/SEA 1	Lance McCullers (W,4-2)	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	1	10
BAT	5.0	CHC 10/CIN 4	Kris Bryant, LF	1	3	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	TOR 6/KC 2	Aaron Sanchez (W,9-1)	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	1	1	1	3
	4.0	`LAD 7/BAL 5	Pedro Baez	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.2	PHI 8/ATL 2	Jerad Eickhoff (W,6-9)	-	-	-	-		7.2	5	2	2	3	8
	3.2	SF 3/COL 1	Jake Peavy (W,5-7)	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	1	1	2	6
	3.0	NYM 8/MIA 6	Travis d'Arnaud, C	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	SD 8/ARI 4	Derek Norris, C	4	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	CHW 8/NYY 2	Todd Frazier, 3B	3	2	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	CLE 5/DET 3	Mike Napoli, 1B	3	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	BOS 12/TEX 5	Travis Shaw, 3B	5	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	PIT 4/STL 2	Gregory Polanco, RF	5	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	TB 4/LAA 2	Logan Morrison, 1B	4	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.2	OAK 3/MIN 1	Kendall Graveman (W,4-6)	-	-	-	-		6.2	3	1	1	4	3
		`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	+/-
Bryant, Kris 3465	lf 3b rf	chi nl	7.0	15.5	15.5	15.5	-1.5
Eickhoff, Jerad 3566	pi sp	phi nl	7.0	12.0	12.0	12.0	2.0
Guerra, Junior 3633	pi sp	mil nl	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0
Sanchez, Aaron 3392	pi sp	tor al	5.7	7.7	9.7	9.7	3.7
Peavy, Jake 1635	pi sp	sf nl	5.0	10.0	38.1	141.8	0.0
Shaw, Travis 3544	1b 3b	bos al	4.5	8.7	8.7	8.7	0.3
Polanco, Gregory 3361	rf	pit nl	4.5	7.5	11.5	11.5	1.5
McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	hou al	3.4	10.1	10.1	10.1	-3.3
Frazier, Todd 2929	3b	chi al	3.2	12.1	26.1	26.1	-5.7
Graveman, Kendall 3444	pi sp	oak al	3.0	7.7	7.7	7.7	-1.7
Napoli, Mike 2161	1b	cle al	1.0	5.5	33.2	52.2	-3.5
Norris, Derek 3198	ca	sd nl	1.0	5.5	13.0	13.0	-3.5
Morrison, Logan 2794	1b	tb al	1.0	5.0	15.0	16.5	-3.0
d’Arnaud, Travis 3384	ca	nym nl	1.0	3.5	7.5	7.5	-1.5
Baez, Pedro 3678	pi mr	lad nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Tigers' Fulmer tops players for Friday, July 1; Dodgers' Norris is ‘Kershavian,' topping NL players

Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer 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 July 1:  

	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?

Fulmer pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing two hits and one walk, in the 10-2 win over the Rays.

Fulmer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season, most of any of Friday’s 15 Players of the Games. Fulmer ranks 17th among all players and fifth among American League pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Bud Norris of the Dodgers performed in a very “Kershavian” manner, pitching six scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Rockies. 

This was Norris’ first start with the Dodgers after being traded from the Braves to fill in for the injured ace Clayton Kershaw (20.0 Box-Toppers points and leader in player rankings). Norris now has 4.7 Box-Toppers points on the season.

National League Batter of the Day—Wil Myers of the Padres homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-6 win over the Yankees.

Myers earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.2 for the season, rising to second place among NL batters, behind Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals (7.5).

American League Batter of the Day—David Ortiz of the Red Sox homered and went 3-for-4, in the 5-4 win over the Angels. His homer was his 522nd for his career, putting him in 19th place on the all-time list.

Ortiz earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 142.9 for his career, 23rd-most of any player since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 22nd-ranked player, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (143.8). Ortiz ranks eighth in career points among all active players and third among active batters, behind Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees (187.0) and Albert Pujols of the Angels (176.3).

Ortiz has 5.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 15th among AL batters.

Debut—Rangers pitcher Matt Bush made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Bush (2IP H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 3-2 win over the Twins) made his Major League debut May 13 and was playing in his 23rd career game. He is the 3,673rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Fulmer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Norris earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Myers and Ortiz 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

7/1	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	14.0	DET 10/TB 2	Michael Fulmer (W,8-2)	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	1	10
NL	11.0	LAD 5/COL 0	Bud Norris (W,4-7)	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	1	8
	6.0	NYM 10/CHC 2	Jacob deGrom (W,4-4)	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	1	1	1	7
	5.0	`DC 3/CIN 2	Sammy Solis	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	3
	4.0	STL 7/MIL 1	Jaime Garcia (W,6-6)	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	1	1	4	6
	4.0	PHI 4/KC 3	Jeremy Hellickson (W,6-6)	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	1	1	1	6
	4.0	HOU 5/CHW 0	Mike Fiers (W,6-3)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	2	4
BAT	3.0	SD 7/NYY 6	Wil Myers, 1B	3	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	SEA 5/BAL 2	Wade LeBlanc (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	2	2	1	5
	3.0	CLE 2/TOR 1	Trevor Bauer (W,7-2)	-	-	-	-		5.0	2	0	0	3	3
	3.0	TEX 3/MIN 2	Matt Bush (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-		2.0	1	0	0	0	2
	2.0	MIA 7/ATL 5	Marcell Ozuna, CF	6	1	4	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	SF 6/ARI 4	Conor Gillaspie, 3B	4	2	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	1.0	BOS 5/LAA 4	David Ortiz, DH	4	1	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	PIT 7/OAK 3	Jordy Mercer, SS	4	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`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	+/-
Fulmer, Michael 3640	pi sp	det al	8.7	8.7	8.7	8.7	8.7
Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	7.7	17.1	25.8	25.8	-1.7
Myers, Wil 3228	1b	sd nl	7.2	10.2	15.7	15.7	4.2
Garcia, Jaime 2508	pi sp	stl nl	6.0	15.4	33.1	41.8	-3.4
Hellickson, Jeremy 2778	pi sp	phi nl	5.4	10.4	34.1	37.1	0.4
Ortiz, David	dh	bos al	5.0	9.5	40.9	142.9	0.5
Norris, Bud 2638	pi sp	lad nl	4.7	5.7	36.1	45.1	3.7
deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	4.0	26.4	39.4	39.4	-18.4
Ozuna, Marcell 3190	cf	fla nl	4.0	7.0	17.5	17.5	1.0
Fiers, Michael 3029	pi sp	hou al	3.0	10.0	24.1	24.1	-4.0
Mercer, Jordy 3206	ss	pit nl	2.0	2.0	8.0	8.0	2.0
LeBlanc, Wade 2669	pi sp	sea al	2.0	2.0	2.0	9.0	2.0
Solis, Sammy 3651	pi mr	dc nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Gillaspie, Conor 3218	3b	sf nl	1.0	1.0	7.5	7.5	1.0
Bush, Matt 3673	pi mr	tex al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Astros' George Springer tops players for Friday, June 24, a second straight lackluster day of performances

George Springer of the Astros 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 June 24:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	11.7
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	11.7
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
6	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
7	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	9.8
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7
9	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	9.7
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	9.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Springer hit a grand slam and a triple in the 13-4 win over the Royals. Springer went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five total runs.

National League Player of the Day—Wil Myers of the Padres homered and doubled, going 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 13-4 win over the Reds.

Both Springer and Myers had Box-Toppers game scores Friday of +5.0, but Springer held the tiebreaker to earn overall Player of the Day honors because he hit a homer and a triple, while Myers hit a homer and a double. 

Batters of the Day—There are no separate American League or National League Batters of the Day for Friday because both the overall Player of the Day and the NL Player of the Day were batters—Springer and Myers.

Notable—Mariners pitcher Wade LeBlanc earned his first Box-Toppers point in nearly six years after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

LeBlanc (6IP 3H 0R BB 3K ND in the 4-3 win over the Cardinals) last earned Player of the Game honors and a Box-Toppers point on Aug. 15, 2010, when he was with the Padres.

Commentary—It was the second unremarkable day in a row for Box-Toppers Players of the Games, with no particularly outstanding performances contributing to team wins. Thursday’s Player of the Day had the season’s second-lowest Box-Toppers game score to win that honor; Friday had the third-lowest high score of the season.

And while some of the blame on low scores Thursday was placed on the light schedule (only nine games played), Friday’s scores did not fare much better with a complete slate of 15 games.

It was a rare occurrence Friday when no pitchers earned Box-Toppers bonus points for being overall or league Player of the Day—batters won both spots.

Starting pitchers generally are the players with each day’s highest Box-Toppers game scores, but for the past two days only two starting pitchers have even earned Player of the Game honors (Friday—Wade LeBlanc of the Mariners, Thursday—Wei-Yin Chen of the Marlins. Interestingly, both pitchers earned no decisions.) There have been 12 middle relievers or closers with two or fewer innings pitched who earned Player of the Game honors over the 24 games played Thursday and Friday.

In addition, over the past two days, players earning Player of the Game honors have had relatively fewer season Box-Toppers points. It is as if the big stars have mostly taken the past two days off. Friday’s Player of the Game with the most season Box-Toppers points is Chris Davis of the Orioles (2B 2-4 R 2BI in the 6-3 win over the Rays). Davis earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.5 for the season, 27th among all players and fourth among AL batters.

Interestingly (or not), baseball’s other Khris Davis (of the Athletics) also earned Player of the Game honors Friday in the 7-4 win over the Angels (2-4 R 3BI).

Scoring—Springer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Myers earns 1.7 points for being NL Player 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

6/24	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	5.0	HOU 13/KC 4	George Springer, RF	5	2	3	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
NL	5.0	SD 13/CIN 4	Wil Myers, 1B	5	2	3	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	NYM 8/ATL 6	James Loney, 1B	3	3	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	`SEA 4/STL 3	Wade LeBlanc	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	1	3
	4.0	ARI 10/COL 9	Yasmany Tomas, RF	5	2	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	NYY 5/MIN 3	Aroldis Chapman (S,14)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	4.0	BOS 8/TEX 7	Koji Uehara (S,2)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	3.2	PIT 8/LAD 6	Neftali Feliz (W,2-0; H,17)	-	-	-	-		1.2	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	MIL 5/DC 3	Carlos Torres (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.1	CHC 5/MIA 4	Hector Rondon (S,13)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	OAK 7/LAA 4	Khris Davis, LF	4	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	SF 5/PHI 4	Brandon Belt, 1B	4	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	CHW 3/TOR 2	Nate Jones (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	BAL 6/TB 3	Chris Davis, 1B	4	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	CLE 7/DET 4	Chris Gimenez, C	4	2	2	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	+/-
Davis, Chris 2478	1b	bal al	6.5	17.5	48.4	56.9	-4.5
Myers, Wil 3228	1b	sd nl	5.7	8.7	14.2	14.2	2.7
Springer, George 3337	rf	hou al	5.5	6.5	9.5	9.5	4.5
Davis, Khris 3242	lf	oak al	4.2	8.2	14.2	14.2	0.2
Belt, Brandon 2943	1b	sf nl	4.0	5.5	17.5	17.5	2.5
Chapman, Aroldis 2826	pi cp	nyy al	3.0	11.0	41.0	42.0	-5.0
Uehara, Koji 2802	pi cp mr	bos al	3.0	8.0	25.0	29.0	-2.0
Rondon, Hector 3201	pi cp	chi nl	3.0	5.0	8.0	8.0	1.0
Tomas, Yasmany 3489	lf rf	ari nl	2.5	6.0	6.0	6.0	-1.0
Jones, Nate 3125	pi cp mr	chi al	2.0	3.0	10.0	10.0	1.0
Feliz, Neftali 2651	pi mr cp	pit nl	1.0	2.0	10.7	18.7	0.0
Torres, Carlos 2668	pi mr	mil nl	1.0	2.0	8.0	9.7	0.0
Gimenez, Chris 2870	ca	cle al	1.0	2.0	4.0	4.0	0.0
Loney, James 2206	1b	nym nl	1.0	1.0	12.0	33.4	1.0
LeBlanc, Wade 2669	pi sp	sea al	1.0	1.0	1.0	8.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Pirates' Juan Nicasio tops players in Monday, March 21's spring training games

Pirates pitcher Juan Nicasio is Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day for Monday.

Nicasio pitched five scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out eight, in the 2-0 win over the Twins. Nicasio had 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2015 with the Dodgers. His best year was 2013, when he had 7.7 points with the Rockies.

American League Player of the Day—Roberto Perez of the Indians doubled and went 2-for-2, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 9-4 win over the White Sox. Perez had 1.5 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Indians.

National League Batter of the Day—Wil Myers of the Padres homered, doubled and went 2-for-3, driving in five runs, in the 8-5 win over the Reds. Myers had 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Padres.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall AL Player of the Day is a batter, Roberto Perez.

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

3/21	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	6.0	Pirates	Juan Nicasio (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	5	0	0	2	8
	5.1	`Dbacks	Patrick Corbin	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.1	5	1	0	1	7
BAT	5.0	Padres	Wil Myers 1B	3	1	2	5	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Braves	Nick Swisher 1B	2	2	2	2	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
AL	3.0	Indians	Roberto Pérez C	2	1	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Phillies	Aaron Nola (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	1	1	2	3
	3.0	Mariners	Donn Roach (SV, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.0	3	0	0	0	3
	2.2	`Marlins	Jarred Cosart	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.2	3	0	0	2	4
	2.0	Rockies	Cristhian Adames 2B	4	2	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Red Sox	Pablo Sandoval DH	3	1	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Brewers	Yadiel Rivera SS	3	1	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Nationals	Cutter Dykstra PR-2B	1	1	1	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Athletics	Chris Coghlan 2B	3	1	1	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Oakland Athletics have most players on Box-Toppers Top 100 list

The Oakland Athletics, baseball’s best team at the All-Star break, has seven players on Box-Toppers Top 100 players list, the most of any team.

The list is led by Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw who has earned 18.1 Box-Toppers points this season and Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer with 16.1. Kershaw led all players in 2013 with 21.7 Box-Toppers points and Scherzer led all American League players in 2013 with 18.1.

Top 100 list 2014

Here is Box-Toppers Top 100, listing players with the highest Box-Toppers points totals at the All-Star break.

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.1
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	det al	16.1
3	Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	14.0
4	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	13.5
5	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	13.1
6	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	12.8
7	Richards, Garrett 3042	pi sp	ana al	12.7
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	12.7
9	Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	pi sp	nyy al	12.7
10	Tulowitzki, Troy 2308	ss	col nl	11.6
11	Teheran, Julio 3176	pi sp	atl nl	11.4
12	Lincecum, Tim 2288	pi sp	sf nl	10.4
13	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tb al	10.4
14	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	10.4
15	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	10.1
16	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	10.0
17	Abreu, Jose 3308	1b	chi al	9.5
18	Darvish, Yu 3003	pi sp	tex al	9.4
19	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	9.0
20	Hutchison, Drew 3038	pi sp	tor al	9.0
21	Colon, Bartolo	pi sp	nym nl	8.7
22	Alvarez, Henderson 2951	pi sp	fla nl	8.7
23	Simon, Alfredo 2718	pi sp	cin nl	8.7
24	Hammel, Jason 2235	pi sp	oak al	8.7
25	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	8.7
26	Lohse, Kyle 1487	pi sp	mil nl	8.4
27	Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139	pi sp	lad nl	8.4
28	Hughes, Phil 2272	pi sp	min al	8.4
29	Young, Chris 1933	pi sp	sea al	8.4
30	Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	atl nl	8.0
31	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	bos al	8.0
32	Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	1b dh lf	tor al	8.0
33	Freeman, Freddie 2887	1b	atl nl	7.7
34	Hudson, Tim 1231	pi sp	sf nl	7.7
35	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	bos al	7.7
36	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	7.7
37	Chavez, Jesse 2780	pi sp	oak al	7.7
38	Beckett, Josh 1544	pi sp	lad nl	7.7
39	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	7.5
40	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	7.0
41	Lynn, Lance 2992	pi sp	stl nl	7.0
42	Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048	pi sp	sea al	7.0
43	Zimmermann, Jordan 2612	pi sp	dc nl	7.0
44	Gonzalez, Gio 2626	pi sp	dc nl	7.0
45	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	atl nl	7.0
46	Uehara, Koji 2802	pi cp	bos al	7.0
47	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	7.0
48	Shields, James 2157	pi sp	kc al	6.7
49	Kennedy, Ian 2723	pi sp	sd nl	6.7
50	Donaldson, Josh 3144	3b	oak al	6.5
51	Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	lf	oak al	6.5
52	McCutchen, Andrew 2637	cf	pit nl	6.5
53	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	6.4
54	McHugh, Collin 3316	pi sp	hou al	6.4
55	Colabello, Chris 3235	1b dh rf	min al	6.2
56	Gallardo, Yovani 2333	pi sp	mil nl	6.0
57	Collmenter, Josh 2863	pi sp	ari nl	6.0
58	Aybar, Erick 2416	ss	ana al	6.0
59	Duffy, Danny 2915	pi sp mr	kc al	6.0
60	Doolittle, Sean 3052	pi cp	oak al	6.0
61	Elias, Roenis 3309	pi sp	sea al	6.0
62	Buehrle, Mark 1407	pi sp	tor al	5.7
63	Wilson, C.J. 2074	pi sp	ana al	5.7
64	Fister, Doug 2688	pi sp	dc nl	5.7
65	Ross, Tyson 2840	pi sp	sd nl	5.7
66	Vogelsong, Ryan 1820	pi sp	sf nl	5.7
67	Hahn, Jesse 3354	pi sp	sd nl	5.7
68	Hunter, Torii 1190	rf	det al	5.5
69	Rizzo, Anthony 3063	1b	chi nl	5.5
70	Ramirez, Alexei 2537	ss	chi al	5.5
71	Morse, Michael 2020	lf	sf nl	5.5
72	Upton, Justin 2411	lf	atl nl	5.2
73	Masterson, Justin 2462	pi sp	cle al	5.0
74	Miller, Shelby 3134	pi sp	stl nl	5.0
75	Bailey, Homer 2324	pi sp	cin nl	5.0
76	Holland, Greg 2906	pi cp	kc al	5.0
77	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	phi nl	5.0
78	Burnett, A.J. 1300	pi sp	phi nl	5.0
79	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	5.0
80	Cashner, Andrew 2807	pi sp	sd nl	5.0
81	Wood, Travis 2777	pi sp	chi nl	5.0
82	Chapman, Aroldis 2826	pi cp	cin nl	5.0
83	Leake, Mike 2709	pi sp	cin nl	5.0
84	Porcello, Rick 2573	pi sp	det al	5.0
85	Smyly, Drew 3009	pi sp mr	det al	5.0
86	Cishek, Steve 2997	pi cp	fla nl	5.0
87	Perez, Martin 3213	pi sp	tex al	5.0
88	Roark, Tanner 3261	pi sp	dc nl	5.0
89	Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	pit nl	5.0
90	Wacha, Michael 3276	pi sp	stl nl	5.0
91	Suzuki, Kurt 2344	ca	min al	5.0
92	Seager, Kyle 3031	3b	sea al	5.0
93	Koehler, Tom 3159	pi sp	fla nl	5.0
94	Dozier, Brian 3219	2b	min al	5.0
95	Robertson, David 2774	pi cp	nyy al	5.0
96	Tomlin, Josh 2771	pi sp cp	cle al	5.0
97	Rodriguez, Sean 2729	lf 1b 2b dh ph	tb al	5.0
98	Duda, Lucas 2818	1b	nym nl	5.0
99	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	5.0
100	Cobb, Alex 2916	pi sp	tb al	4.7

BTP: Box-Toppers points

Pitcher Scott Kazmir leads the seven Athletics on the top 100 list, he has 13.1 Box-Toppers points and is in fifth place overall (second among AL pitchers). The other Athletics players are:

• Jason Hammel, starting pitcher, in 24th place with 8.7. (Hammel earned all 8.7 Box-Toppers points with the Cubs, prior to being traded to the Athletics.)

• Jesse Chavez, starting pitcher, in 37th place with 7.7.

• Sonny Gray, starting pitcher, in 47th place with 7.0.

• Josh Donaldson, third base, in 50th place with 6.5.

• Yoenis Cespedes, left field, in 51st place with 6.5.

• Sean Doolittle, closing pitcher, in 60th place with 6.0.

Athletics players have accumulated 79.0 Box-Toppers points this season, the most of any team. The Los Angeles Dodgers, in second place, have 69.7.

While the addition of Hammel gives the Athletics seven players in the top 100, they would still have the most players on the list without him, with six. No other team has more than five players on the list. There are five teams with five players each—the Atlanta Braves, the Cincinnati Reds, the Washington Nationals, the Detroit Tigers and the Seattle Mariners.

All but one team is represented on the top 100 list. The only team without a member is the Baltimore Orioles. That team’s leader in Box-Toppers points, Nelson Cruz, designated hitter and left fielder, has 4.5 points, in 109th place. The Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies both have one player on the top 100 list.

Pitchers dominate the top 100 list, with 80 members—73 of them starting pitchers. Box-Toppers tends to favor pitchers over batters, especially in the short-term. Star pitchers tend to rack up points in quick batches while batters tend to pick up points steadily over long periods of time. For example, the Box-Toppers “all-time” top 100 list has 45 batters and 55 pitchers (the “all-time” list tracks players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began).

Here is a breakdown of the top 100 list by position:

• Starting pitchers 73

• Closing pitchers 7

• First base 7

• Outfield 6 (4 LF, 1 CF, 1 RF)

• Shortstop 3

• Third base 2

• Second base 1

• Catcher 1

Here are some notable players’ statuses in the top 100.

• Last year’s Cy Young Award winners are ranked No. 1 and 2. Kershaw, the reigning National League winner, is in first place with 18.1 Box-Toppers points and Scherzer, the reigning AL winner, is in second place with 16.1.

• Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies leads all NL batters and is in 10th place overall, with 11.6 Box-Toppers points.

• Jose Abreu of the White Sox leads all AL batters and is in 17th place overall, with 9.5 Box-Toppers points.

• Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, 2013’s AL Most Valuable Player is in 39th place overall with 7.5 Box-Toppers points. He ranks third among AL batters.

• Pitcher Jose Fernandez of the Marlins, 2013’s NL Rookie of the Year is in 40th place overall with 7.0 Box-Toppers points. However, Fernandez is injured and now out for the rest of the season.

• Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates, 2013’s NL MVP, is in 52nd place overall with 6.5 Box-Toppers points (already more than the 6.0 he earned last season, when he ranked 22nd among NL batters). McCutchen currently ranks third among NL batters.

• Pitcher Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals, who started the All-Star Game for the NL, is ranked third overall with 14.0 Box-Toppers points. He ranks second among NL pitchers.

• Pitcher Felix Hernandez of the Mariners, who started the All-Star Game for the AL, is ranked sixth overall with 12.8 Box-Toppers points. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

• Wil Myers of the Rays, 2013’s AL Rookie of the Year has 1.0 Box-Toppers point and is not on this year’s top 100. (He had 3.5 Box-Toppers points in 2013.)

• Pitcher Chris Archer of the Rays, who led AL Rookies in Box-Toppers points in 2013, is in 53rd place with 6.4 Box-Toppers points. (Last season, he had 11.7 Box-Toppers points.)

So far this season, 578 players have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors and so have at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point. Eighty new players have earned Player of the Game honors for the first time this season, making their Box-Toppers debut.

 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.

What are those numbers after players' names?

Box-Toppers top rookie Jose Fernandez wins NL newcomer award

Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez led the way in voting and in Box-Toppers points on the way to earning National League Rookie of the Year Monday.

But the player voted American League Rookie of the Year ranked fourth among AL rookies in Box-Toppers points, behind a teammate. Wil Myers of the Rays, who served as designated hitter and right fielder, was voted top AL rookie, though his teammate, pitcher Chris Archer, had the most Box-Toppers points among AL rookie vote-getters.

Fernandez, who ranked fourth among all players, briefly led in Box-Toppers overall player rankings in September. He finished with 19.0 Box-Toppers points, in fourth place among all NL players and more than any other AL player.

Dodgers rightfielder Yasiel Puig finished second in voting, though he only earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points during the season.

The National League featured strong rookie pitchers among the top vote-getters. Shelby Miller of the Cardinals (third in voting) had the second-most Box-Toppers points among rookies with 15.4. Julio Teheran of the Braves (fifth in voting) had the third-most Box-Toppers points among rookies with 13.7. Hyun-Jin Ryu of the Dodgers (fourth in voting) had 9.7 Box-Toppers points.

Archer far outdistanced all other AL rookies in Box-Toppers points, though he was only voted in third place. Archer had 11.7 Box-Toppers points. Myers, who finished first, had 3.5 Box-Toppers points, tied for the most among AL batters in rookie voting.

Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias (who earlier in the season played for the Red Sox) finished in second in voting, though he earned no Box-Toppers points. In fact, two rookie vote-getters, Iglesias and Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, have yet to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors and so neither have any Box-Toppers points.

One other notable rookie, Athletics pitcher Dan Straily finished fourth in AL rookie voting. He had 7.7 Box-Toppers points, the second-most among AL rookie vote-getters.

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Top players from the winning team of each game are determined by a formula using standard box score statistics. The player on the winning team with the highest Box-Toppers game score is Player of the Game and receives 1.0 Box-Toppers point. The Player of the Game with the highest overall Box-Toppers game score for all the games played that day is Player of the Day and earns a total of 2.0 Box-Toppers points. The top player in the opposite league receives a total of 1.7 Box-Toppers points. If both the day’s top overall player and top player in the opposite league are pitchers, then the top American League and top National League batter of the day receive a total of 1.5 Box-Toppers points each.

Jose Fernandez

Here is how Fernandez scored his 19.0 Box-Toppers points this season:

April 13: Player of the Game, 1.0 Box-Toppers point

May 4: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

June 1: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

June 14: Player of the Game, 1.0 BTP.

July 1: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

July 23: Player of the Game, 1.0 BTP.

July 28: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

Aug. 2: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

Aug. 13: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

Aug. 19: Player of the Game, 1.0 BTP.

Aug. 24: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

Sept. 6: Player of the Game, 1.0 BTP.

Chris Archer

Here is how Archer scored his 11.7 Box-Toppers points:

June 7: Player of the Game, 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

July 9: Player of the Game, 1.0 BTP.

July 14: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

July 27: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

Aug. 18: American League Player of the Day, 1.7 BTP.

Aug. 28: Player of the Day, 1.0 BTP.

Sept. 13: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

Sept. 18: Player of the Game, 1.0 BTP

Wil Myers

Here is how Myers scored his 3.5 Box-Toppers points:

July 19: Player of the Game, 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Aug. 15: American League Batter of the Day, 1.5 BTP.

Sept. 4: Player of the Game, 1.0 BTP

How top rookies fared in Box-Toppers points 

Here are the results of Rookie of the Year voting in both leagues. Players are listed in order of their vote total. The far right column shows how many Box-Toppers points (BTP) they earned during the 2013 season. For more: MLB.com’s coverage of the vote.

Top rookies
AL
Player	Pos	Club	1st	2nd	3rd	Points	BTP
Wil Myers	dh rf	Rays	23	5	1	131	3.5
Jose Iglesias	ss	Tigers*	5	17	4	80	0
Chris Archer	pi sp	Rays	1	5	15	35	11.7
Dan Straily	pi sp	Athletics	1	2	4	15	7.7
J.B. Shuck	lf	Angels		1	1	4	3.0
Cody Allen	pi mr	Indians			2	2	1.0
Martin Perez	pi sp	Rangers			2	2	5.0
David Lough	rf	Royals			1	1	3.5
NL
Player		Club	1st	2nd	3rd	Points	BTP
Jose Fernandez	pi sp	Marlins	26	4		142	19.0
Yasiel Puig	rf	Dodgers	4	25		95	1.5
Shelby Miller	pi sp	Cardinals		1	9	12	15.4
Hyun-Jin Ryu	pi sp	Dodgers			10	10	9.7
Julio Teheran	pi sp	Braves			7	7	13.7
Jedd Gyorko	2b	Padres			2	2	2.0
Nolan Arenado	3b	Rockies			1	1	0.0
Evan Gattis	ca	Braves			1	1	1.0

* Jose Iglesias began the season playing for the Red Sox. 

Athletics' Sonny Gray (8IP 0R 9K) tops players for Thursday, Aug. 15

Note: Box-Toppers is playing catch-up after time away. These are Box-Toppers results for Thursday, Aug. 15:

Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray is Thursday's Player of the Day. Gray pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out nine in the 5-0 win over the Astros. 

It is Gray's Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors. He is the 3,259th player to debut on Box-Toppers since record-keeping began in 1995. 

Reds pitcher Tony Cingrani is National League Player of the Day. Cingrani struck out nine over 6 1/3 innings in the 2-1 win over the Brewers. 

Wil Myers of the Rays is American League Batter of the Day. He went 3-for-4 and drove in four runs in the 7-1 win over the Mariners. 

Hector Sanchez of the Giants is NL Batter of the Day. He hit a pinch-hit three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to beat the Nationals, 4-3.

Notable: Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez rose to 18th place in Box-Toppers player season standings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Sanchez (7.1IP 1R 5K W in the 4-1 win vs. the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.7 for the season. 

Gray receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Cingrani receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Myers and Sanchez 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

815	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	12.0	Athletics	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Sonny Gray (W, 1-1)	8.0	4	0	0	1	9
NL	8.1	Reds	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Tony Cingrani (W, 6-2)	6.1	4	1	1	1	9
	8.0	`Mets	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Zack Wheeler	6.0	7	1	1	1	12
BAT	5.0	Rays	Wil Myers DH	4	2	3	4	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	5.0	Angels	Chris Nelson 3B	4	2	2	5	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
BAT	4.0	Giants	Hector Sanchez PH	1	1	1	3	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Cardinals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Kevin Siegrist (W, 1-1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.1	Tigers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Anibal Sanchez (W, 11-7)	7.1	7	1	1	1	5
	1.0	Twins	Chris Herrmann PH	1	0	1	1	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Blue Jays	Mark DeRosa PH, 1B	0	0	0	1	0	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.