Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola 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 2019 season through the games of June 27.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 14.8 |
| 2 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 14.7 |
| 3 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | tb al | 11.8 |
| 4 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.7 |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.4 |
| 6 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 10.4 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.2 |
| 8 | Giolito, Lucas 3900 | sp pi | chi al | 9.7 |
| 9 | Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 9.4 |
| 10 | Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | min al | 9.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Thursday, Brewers pitcher Josh Hader maintains his second-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings—increasing his lead among National League pitchers—after earning Player of the Game honors. Exactly halfway through the season, Hader already has the fifth-most Box-Toppers points (14.7) by any closing pitcher in a full single season, since closer tracking began in 1998.
Player of the Day—Nola struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 6-3 win over the Mets. Nola did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Mets took the lead after he exited.
Nola earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, 57th among all players and 23rd among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Ryan Yarbrough struck out five over three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 5-2, 18-inning win over the Twins.
National League Batter of the Day—Max Muncy of the Dodgers hit two homers and doubled, going 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 12-8 win over the Rockies.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because no AL batter earned Player of the Game honors.
Best seasons by closers
Through 81 games, exactly halfway through the season, Josh Hader of the Brewers already has the fifth-most Box-Toppers points by a closing pitcher in any single season since tracking of closers began in 1998. Here are the closing pitchers with the most Box-Toppers points in a single season, led by Eric Gagne of the Dodgers, who earned 19.7 points in 2004.| Player | Team | Year | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Gagne | Dodgers | 2004 | 19.7 |
| 2 | Eric Gagne | Dodgers | 2003 | 19.0 |
| 3 | Billy Wagner | Astros | 1999 | 15.0 |
| 3 | Craig Kimbrel | Braves | 2012 | 15.0 |
| 5 | * Josh Hader | Brewers | 2019 | 14.7 |
| 6 | Troy Percival | Angels | 1998 | 14.0 |
| 6 | Mariano Rivera | Yankees | 2008 | 14.0 |
| 6 | Aroldis Chapman | Reds | 2012 | 14.0 |
| 9 | Brad Lidge | Astros | 2004 | 13.7 |
| 10 | Eric Gagne | Dodgers | 2002 | 13.0 |
| 10 | Billy Wagner | Braves | 2010 | 13.0 |
Rankings—Brewers pitcher Josh Hader edges to within 0.1 Box-Toppers point of season rankings leader, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander, and continues his pace to shatter the single-season points record for closers.
Hader (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K Sv in the 4-2 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.7 for the season, second among all players, just behind Verlander’s 14.8 points. Hader also increases his lead among all NL pitchers to 4.0 points, ahead of second-place Hyun-Jin Ryu of the Dodgers (10.7).
Hader’s 14.7 Box-Toppers points for 2019 is already the fifth-highest single-season point total for any closing pitcher in a complete season since 1998, when Box-Toppers began separately tracking closing pitchers (overall Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995). With the Brewers just completing their 81st game, they are exactly halfway through the season, meaning that Hader is on pace to earn 29.4 points in 2019, which would shatter the single season record for closers of 19.7 points, set in 2004 by Eric Gagne of the Dodgers. The projected 29.4 points would also be tied for the seventh-highest single-season point total among all players since 1995.
[NOTE: The previous paragraph and other parts of this post were revised Friday, August 23, 2019, to correct an error about Hader’s place in the standings among best seasons in Box-Toppers points by closers. Previously, Box-Toppers had him ranked fourth on this date, but that was based on incomplete information. This post and the chart on this page reflect the corrections.]
Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Alex Young made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Young (5IP 3H R BB 5K W in the 5-1 win over the Giants) was also making his Major League debut.
Scoring—Nola earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Yarbrough earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Muncy earns 1.5 points for being NL 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.
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Note—The weekly team and player rankings normally posted on Fridays may be delayed this week.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (BTG)| 6/27 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +15.0 | `PHI 6, NYM 3 | Aaron Nola | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| AL | +6.0 | TB 5, MIN 2 (F/18) | Ryan Yarbrough (W, 7‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| BAT | +5.0 | LAD 12, COL 8 | Max Muncy 2B‑1B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | MIL 4, SEA 2 | Josh Hader (S, 19) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +4.0 | PIT 10, HOU 0 | Jacob Stallings C | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | TEX 3, DET 1 | Ariel Jurado (W, 5‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +4.0 | LAA 8, OAK 3 | Griffin Canning (W, 3‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +4.0 | ARI 5, SF 1 | Alex Young (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +3.0 | CHC 9, ATL 7 | Jason Heyward CF‑RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | WSH 8, MIA 5 | Kurt Suzuki C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 Player of the Game winners. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’19). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’18-19), the period 2014-2019 (’14-19) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2019 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2018 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’19 | ’18‑19 | ’14‑19 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 14.7 | 26.4 | 29.4 | 29.4 | +3.0 |
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 5.0 | 26.1 | 50.6 | 50.6 | -16.1 |
| Yarbrough, Ryan 3962 | pi sp mr cp | tb al | 4.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 | -2.3 |
| Canning, Griffin 4134 | pi sp | ana al | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | +4.7 |
| Muncy, Max 3969 | 1b 2b | lad nl | 4.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | -0.5 |
| Suzuki, Kurt 2344 | ca ph | dc nl | 3.5 | 5.5 | 19.0 | 43.0 | +1.5 |
| Heyward, Jason 2695 | rf cf | chi nl | 2.5 | 4.5 | 10.0 | 25.0 | +0.5 |
| Stallings, Jacob 4176 | ca ph | pit nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Jurado, Ariel 4089 | pi sp | tex al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Young, Alex 4180 | pi sp | ari nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Box-Toppers
Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.
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.