(Other duties have put us behind updating Box-Toppers. Playing catch up …)
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Friday, Aug. 28 and rises to second place in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 28.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 19.4 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 18.1 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 5 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 17.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 17.0 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 16.7 |
| 8 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 16.4 |
| 9 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.0 |
| 10 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 15.8 |
Also, Kershaw rises to 16th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 and Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to 35th among all players since 1995.
Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 14 over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 4-1 win over the Cubs.
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 18.7 for the season and rising to second place among all players, behind overall leader, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (19.4 Box-Toppers points).
Kershaw also has 152.3 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 16th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With his points Friday, Kershaw passes one player on the “all-time” list, Greg Maddux (151.7 Box-Toppers points). (It should be noted that Maddux made his debut in 1986 and had seven 15-plus win seasons before Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995 and so, based on very rough extrapolations, would likely have about 250 career Box-Toppers points.) Kershaw now trails 15th-place player, Barry Bonds (153.2 points).
American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 4-1 win over the Orioles.
Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 122.5 for his career, rising to 35th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With his points Friday, Hamels passes Jered Weaver (122.1 Box-Toppers points). He trails 34th-place player Justin Verlander (122.9 points).
This was Hamels first Player of the Game honor since his trade from the Phillies.
Hamels now has 11.7 Box-Toppers points on the season and ranks 20th among all players, 11th among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Didi Gregorius of the Yankees homered and went 4-for-5, driving in six runs, in the 15-4 win over the Braves.
National League Batter of the Day—Martin Prado of the Marlins homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 4-3 win over the Nationals.
Notable—In addition to Kershaw and Hamels, one other player with more than 10 Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Friday—Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker (6.1IP 3H 0R 6K W in the 2-0 win over the White Sox). He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season. He ranks 21st among all players and 12th among AL pitchers.
Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Gregorius and Prado each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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
| 8/28 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W,11-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | |
| AL | 10.0 | Rangers | Cole Hamels (W,8-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 10 | |
| 8.1 | Mariners | Taijuan Walker (W,10-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | Phillies | Aaron Nola (W,5-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | Yankees | Didi Gregorius, SS | 5 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Indians | Trevor Bauer (W,10-10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | Brewers | Taylor Jungmann (W,8-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | Blue Jays | Roberto Osuna (S,16) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | Royals | Greg Holland (S,29) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | Twins | Kyle Gibson (W,9-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Marlins | Martin Prado, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Red Sox | Jackie Bradley Jr., LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Dbacks | Aaron Hill, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Pirates | Gregory Polanco, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Giants | Marlon Byrd, RF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |