Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson is Tuesday’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 28:| 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 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.7 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 10.8 |
| 5 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
| 7 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 10.4 |
| 8 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.0 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.0 |
| 10 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 9.7 |
Also Tuesday, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings (first among American League pitchers) and Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to seventh place. Plus, Matt Carpenter took the lead Tuesday in season Box-Toppers points among National League batters.
Player of the Day—Gibson pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing five hits and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the White Sox.
National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester allowed one run over 7 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and one walk, striking out four, in the 7-2, 15-inning win over the Reds. Lester did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because even though the Cubs led when he exited, the Indians later tied the game before the Cubs went ahead with the winning runs in the 15th inning.
Lester earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 130.8 for his career, rising to 29th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes Trevor Hoffman (129.4) on the “all-time” list. He now trails 28th-ranked player Jason Giambi (133.4). Lester has 9.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 11th among all players and eighth among NL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros hit a three-run homer and a double and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five total runs, in the 7-1 win over the Angels.
National League Batter of the Day—Adrian Gonzalez doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 6-5 win over the Brewers.
Gonzalez has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the 2016 season Tuesday. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Padres and has 67.6 career points, third among active NL first basemen (behind Matt Holliday of the Cardinals, 97.8 and Ryan Howard of the Phillies, 96.7). Gonzalez’s best season was 2010 with the Padres when he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ninth among NL batters. He had 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Dodgers.
Rankings—Two players rise in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday, becoming the eighth and ninth players this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points:
- Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (8IP 3H 2R BB 7K W in the 5-3 win over the Braves) rises to fourth place in player rankings. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.8 for the season. He also takes the Box-Toppers points lead among AL pitchers, passing previous leader, Chris Sale of the White Sox (10.7).
- Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (7IP 6H 0R BB 7K W in the 7-1 win over the Yankees) rises to seventh place in player rankings. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season. Hamels also now has 136.6 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 27th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 26th-ranked player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (136.9). It is the 11th straight season Hamels has earned 10 or more Box-Toppers points. In fact, Hamels has had 10 or more points each season since he made his Box-Toppers debut in 2006.
Notable—Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals took the season lead in Box-Toppers points among NL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Carpenter (HR 2-3 2R 2BI n the 8-4 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.5 for the season. He passes Eugenio Suarez of the Reds (7.0) for the lead among NL batters. Carpenter ranks 23rd among all players.
Debut—Hyun Soo Kim of the Orioles made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Kim (HR 2B 2-3 2R 3BI in the 11-7 win over the Padres) made his Major League debut April 10 and was playing in his 37th career game. He is the 3,671st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Gibson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lester earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Correa and Gonzalez 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
| 6/28 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | MIN 4/CHW 0 | Kyle Gibson (W,1-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| 7.0 | CLE 5/ATL 3 | Corey Kluber (W,8-7) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 7.0 | TEX 7/NYY 1 | Cole Hamels (W,9-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| NL | 5.2 | `CHC 7/CIN 2 | Jon Lester | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | HOU 7/LAA 1 | Carlos Correa, SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | BOS 8/TB 2 | Travis Shaw, 3B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | BAL 11/SD 7 | Hyun Soo Kim, LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | OAK 13/SF 11 | Stephen Vogt, C-1B | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | LAD 6/MIL 5 | Adrian Gonzalez, 1B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | STL 8/KC 4 | Matt Carpenter, 2B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TOR 14/COL 9 | Russell Martin, C | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | DET 7/MIA 5 | Nick Castellanos, 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SEA 5/PIT 2 | Robinson Cano, 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | DC 5/NYM 0 | Bryce Harper, RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | PHI 4/ARI 3 | Andres Blanco, 2B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 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 | +/- |
| Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 10.8 | 24.2 | 55.0 | 55.0 | -2.6 |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 10.4 | 25.8 | 77.4 | 136.6 | -5.0 |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 9.7 | 21.7 | 67.9 | 130.8 | -2.3 |
| Carpenter, Matt 2987 | 3b 1b 2b | stl nl | 7.5 | 13.0 | 27.5 | 27.5 | 2.0 |
| Martin, Russell 2202 | ca | tor al | 7.0 | 12.0 | 28.5 | 49.5 | 2.0 |
| Correa, Carlos 3506 | ss | hou al | 6.7 | 13.9 | 13.9 | 13.9 | -0.5 |
| Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | sea al | 5.5 | 12.0 | 41.0 | 72.9 | -1.0 |
| Castellanos, Nick 3349 | 3b | det al | 4.0 | 10.2 | 12.2 | 12.2 | -2.2 |
| Shaw, Travis 3544 | 1b 3b | bos al | 3.5 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | -0.7 |
| Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 3.0 | 12.0 | 27.4 | 27.4 | -6.0 |
| Blanco, Andres 2980 | ss 3b 2b | phi nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 2.0 |
| Gibson, Kyle 3312 | pi sp | min al | 2.0 | 10.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | -6.0 |
| Gonzalez, Adrian 2193 | 1b | lad nl | 1.5 | 5.5 | 32.2 | 68.1 | -2.5 |
| Vogt, Stephen 3503 | ca 1b | oak al | 1.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | -1.5 |
| Kim, Hyun Soo 3671 | lf | bal al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |