Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fourth place in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of Sept. 17:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 23.1 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 23.1 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.0 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.0 |
| 5 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.8 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 20.1 |
| 7 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 20.1 |
| 8 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 19.8 |
| 9 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 |
| 10 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 16.0 |
Also Sunday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, the Cleveland Indians regain the topsy-turvy race for Box-Toppers team rankings lead, passing the Los Angeles Dodgers, after Kluber’s Player of the Day honor.
Player of the Day—Kluber struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and walking none, in the 3-2 win over the Royals.
Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 21.0 for the season, rising from eighth to fourth in season player rankings. He rises to second among American League pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the Red Sox (23.1).
Kluber is the sixth player this season to reach 20 Box-Toppers points. It is the third season he has reached 20 points. In 2014, he had 25.8 points, first among AL pitchers, second among all players. In 2016, he had 21.2 points, first among AL pitchers and fifth among all players.
Kluber’s Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +13.0 just beat the game score of +12.0 by Matthew Boyd of the Tigers, who earned Player of the Game honors in the 12-0 win over the White Sox, pitching a one-hit, complete-game shutout (CG H 0R BB 5K W).
National League Player of the Day—Reds pitcher Robert Stephenson struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and walking three, in the 5-2 win over the Pirates.
American League Batter of the Day—Joe Mauer of the Twins hit a grand slam, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring once and driving in five runs, in the 13-7 win over the Blue Jays.
National League Batter of the Day—Travis Shaw of the Brewers went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 10-3 win over the Brewers.
Rankings—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Strasburg (6IP 3H R 3BB 8K W in the 7-1 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 20.8 for the season, rising from sixth to fifth place. He ranks third among NL pitchers, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (23.1) and teammate Max Scherzer (23.0).
Strasburg is the seventh player this season to reach 20 Box-Toppers points. It is the second season he’s done that. In 2012, he had 20.4 Box-Toppers points with the Nationals, ranked third among all players.
Strasburg now has 103.7 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 69th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 68th-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0).
Box-Toppers points lead—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (23.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked first) has a chance to extend his lead Monday as he starts against the Phillies.
Kershaw has the same Box-Toppers point total as second-place player, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (23.1), but Kershaw ranks ahead on a tie-breaker—he had more 2016 points than Sale, 24.4 vs. 13.4.
Team rankings—The Cleveland Indians rise to regain the Box-Toppers team rankings lead after Indians pitcher Corey Kluber earned Player of the Day honors Sunday:
- Cleveland Indians 129.7 Box-Toppers points, gained 2.0 points thanks to Kluber’s honor.
- Los Angeles Dodgers 127.9 points, gained no points Sunday, losing to the Washington Nationals, 7-1.
- Washington Nationals 126.9 points, gained 1.0 point Sunday, thanks to Strasburg’s Player of the Game honor in the 7-1 win over the second-place Dodgers.
Here’s a recap of the recent lead changes:
- From June 22 to Saturday, Sept. 9—Dodgers led team rankings.
- From Sunday, Sept. 10 to Tuesday, Sept. 12—Nationals led.
- From Wednesday, Sept. 13 to Thursday, Sept. 14—Indians led.
- From Friday, Sept. 15-Saturday, Sept. 16—Dodgers led.
- Sunday, Sept. 17—Indians lead.
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 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 206.8 |
| 4 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 191.0 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 187.8 |
| 7 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 8 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 176.2 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 171.4 |
| 10 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 11 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 12 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 13 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 14 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 15 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 17 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 154.7 |
| 18 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 19 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | min al | 152.2 |
| 20 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 152.0 |
List of top 100 players since 1995 as of July 30, 2017.
Notable—Astros pitcher Justin Verlander rises to 20th place in “all-time” Box-Toppers career points after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Verlander (7IP 3H R BB 10K in the 7-1 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 152.0 career points, rising to 20th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Sunday, he passes three players on the “all-time” list—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (151.4), Greg Maddux (151.7) and Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (151.9). He trails 19th-ranked player, Twins pitcher Bartolo Colon (152.2).
(It should be noted that Maddux made his debut in 1986 and had seven 15-plus win seasons before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and so, based on very rough extrapolations, would likely have about 250 career Box-Toppers points if his entire career were tracked.)
Verlander now has 12.7 Box-Toppers points on the season and ranks seventh among AL pitchers.
Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Stephenson earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Mauer and Shaw each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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.
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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score| 9/17 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | CLE 3, KC 2 | Corey Kluber (W, 17-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| 12.0 | DET 12, CHW 0 | Matthew Boyd (W, 6-10) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 11.0 | HOU 7, SEA 1 | Justin Verlander (W, 13-8) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| NL | 10.0 | CIN 5, PIT 2 | Robert Stephenson (W, 5-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | |
| 9.0 | BAL 6, NYY 4 | Ubaldo Jiménez (W, 6-10) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 6.0 | NYM 5, ATL 1 | Robert Gsellman (W, 7-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 6.0 | WSH 7, LAD 1 | Stephen Strasburg (W, 14-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | TB 3, BOS 2 | Jake Odorizzi (W, 9-8) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | MIN 13, TOR 7 | Joe Mauer 1B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | MIL 10, MIA 3 | Travis Shaw 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | SF 7, ARI 2 | Pablo Sandoval 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | OAK 6, PHI 3 | Joey Wendle 2B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SD 4, COL 3 | Brad Hand (S, 18) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | CHC 4, STL 3 | Jason Heyward RF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.2 | TEX 4, LAA 2 | Jake Diekman (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` 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 (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.0 | 42.2 | 86.4 | 86.4 | -0.2 |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.8 | 35.9 | 95.0 | 103.7 | 5.7 |
| Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 12.7 | 27.4 | 72.6 | 152.0 | -2.0 |
| Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | tb al | 8.1 | 14.5 | 34.2 | 34.2 | 1.7 |
| Shaw, Travis 3544 | 3b | mil nl | 7.0 | 14.0 | 18.2 | 18.2 | 0.0 |
| Hand, Brad 2907 | pi cp | sd nl | 4.7 | 9.7 | 13.7 | 14.7 | -0.3 |
| Jimenez, Ubaldo 2349 | pi sp | bal al | 4.0 | 8.7 | 40.6 | 83.5 | -0.7 |
| Stephenson, Robert 3617 | pi sp cp | cin nl | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 2.7 |
| Mauer, Joe 1869 | 1b | min al | 3.5 | 5.0 | 26.5 | 74.1 | 2.0 |
| Boyd, Matthew 3550 | pi sp | det al | 3.0 | 9.1 | 10.1 | 10.1 | -3.1 |
| Gsellman, Robert 3748 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 1.3 |
| Heyward, Jason 2695 | rf | chi nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 13.5 | 20.5 | 1.0 |
| Sandoval, Pablo 2524 | 3b | sf nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 17.0 | 32.5 | 2.0 |
| Wendle, Joey 3756 | 2b | oak al | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | -0.5 |
| Diekman, Jake 3266 | pi cp | tex al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |