Indians pitcher Shane Bieber is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2019 season through the games of July 24.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 16.8 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 16.1 |
| 3 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | tb al | 15.8 |
| 4 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 15.7 |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.4 |
| 6 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 14.1 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 13.7 |
| 8 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 13.2 |
| 9 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.7 |
| 10 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | sp pi | dc nl | 12.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Wednesday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander regains the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after falling to second place two days ago. In addition, three other players in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday—Rays pitcher Charlie Morton (third place), Brewers pitcher Josh Hader (fourth place) and Nationals pitcher Patrick Corbin (10th place).
Player of the Day—Bieber pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out 10 and walking one, in the 4-0 win over the Blue Jays. Bieber carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
Bieber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.1 for the season, rising from 10th to sixth place in season player rankings, fourth among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher Zac Gallen struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 2-0 win over the White Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Paul DeJong of the Cardinals hit three home runs and went 4-for-4, scoring four times and driving in five runs, in the 14-8 win over the Pirates.
American League Batter of the Day—Didi Gregorius of the Yankees tripled, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 10-7 win over the Twins.
This is the second straight day Gregorius has earned Player of the Game honors. He was AL Player of the Day Tuesday in the 14-12, 10-inning win over the Twins (HR 2-2B 5-5 2R 7BI).
With 1.5 Box-Toppers points earned Wednesday for being AL Batter of the Day and his 1.7 points earned Tuesday for being AL Player of the Day, Gregorius has earned 3.2 Box-Toppers points in the past two days, which is more than he earned in any previous entire season. He had 3.0 points total in 2018 with the Yankees, his best previous season. He has 15.7 career Box-Toppers points over seven seasons.
Gregorius now has 4.2 Box-Toppers points on the season, 25th among AL batters. All his 2019 points have been earned since July 16.
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 | 223.5 |
| 4 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 203.4 |
| 5 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 202.4 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 198.8 |
| 7 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 196.2 |
| 8 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 194.9 |
| 9 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 10 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | retired | 187.0 |
| 11 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 174.1 |
| 12 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 171.6 |
| 13 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | chi nl | 171.2 |
| 14 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 15 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 16 | Johan Santana | pi sp | retired | 166.6 |
| 17 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 18 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 19 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 20 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | free agent | 155.9 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
List of top 100 players since 1995 as of the 2019 All-Star break.
New leader—Astros pitcher Justin Verlander regains the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings just two days after falling to second after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Verlander (6IP 2H R 0ER 2BB 11K W in the 4-2 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.8 for the season, passing teammate Gerrit Cole (16.1), who falls to second place, both overall and among AL pitchers. Verlander led all players from May 10 to July 21, before Cole passed him Monday.
Verlander also now has 194.9 career Box-Toppers points, rising to eighth place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his 1.0 point Wednesday, he passes Curt Schilling (194.1) on the “all-time” list. (It should be noted that Schilling would have an estimated 232 career points if his career from 1988 were tracked.) Verlander now trails seventh-ranked player, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (196.2) by 1.3 points. Verlander ranks sixth among active players in career points.
There are just 8.5 points separating Verlander and the four active players ranked ahead of him on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list, with Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia ranking fourth on the “all-time” list with 203.4 career points.
There are now six active players grouped together in the top 10 list from third to eighth place, with spots four to eight tigthtly grouped with just 8.5 points separating them. In our 25 years of tracking, it is unusual to have so many active players among the top 10 and extremely unusual to have so many in the top 10 to be ranked so closely together. In fact, the next spot where there are six or more active players ranked together on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list is the nine players ranked from 1,047th to 1,055th on the “all-time” list, with all the players having 19.7 career points, led by Diamondbacks pitcher Luke Weaver. (There are 4,199 players who have earned Player of the Game honors since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.)
Morton—Rays pitcher Charlie Morton maintains his third-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Morton (7IP 5H 2R 0BB 11K W in the 3-2 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.8 for the season. He also maintains his third-place ranking among AL pitchers, behind Verlander (16.8) and Cole (16.1). Morton becomes the third player this season to reach 15.0 Box-Toppers points. It is his first season with 15.0 or more points; his previous high was 14.8 in 2018, 11th among AL pitchers.
Best seasons by closers
Josh Hader of the Brewers has the third-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 | * Josh Hader | Brewers | 2019 | 15.7 |
| 4 | Billy Wagner | Astros | 1999 | 15.0 |
| 4 | Craig Kimbrel | Braves | 2012 | 15.0 |
| 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 |
NOTE: An earlier version of this chart inadvertently left out some key data, including three of the top 10 single-season point totals for a closing pitcher. Previous versions of this chart left out Eric Gagne’s record 19.7 points in 2004. Also not included were Aroldis Chapman’s 14.0-point 2012 season and Brad Lidge’s 13.7-point 2004 season.
Hader—Brewers pitcher Josh Hader maintains his fourth-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Hader (2IP H 0R 0BB 5K ND in the 5-4 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.7 for the season. He increases his lead among NL pitchers, ahead of second-place Max Scherzer of the Nationals (14.4).
Hader now has the third-most Box-Toppers points by a closing pitcher in a single season, behind only Eric Gagne of the Dodgers, who had two better seasons—19.7 points in 2004 and 19.0 points in 2003 (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995). Hader earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday as a middle reliever, but since his other 14 Player of the Game honors this season were as a closer, he is still listed as a closing pitcher. [NOTE: This paragraph was edited Friday, August 23, 2019, to correct Hader’s standing among closing pitchers. Previously, Box-Toppers had him ranked second, but that was based on incomplete information. The chart elsewhere on this page reflects the correction, adding three players left out of previous charts whose season Box-Toppers point totals rank among the top 10 among closing pitchers since tracking began in 1998.]
Hader is just 4.0 points behind Gagne’s mark, but his pace has slowed—it has been nearly a month since Hader last earned Player of the Game honors, the longest he has gone this season without earning Box-Toppers points. He was last Player of the Game on June 27.
Hader also becomes the fourth player this season to reach 15.0 Box-Toppers points. It is his best season; his previous high was 11.7 in 2018 with the Brewers, when he led all closing pitchers.
Corbin—Nationals pitcher Patrick Corbin rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Corbin (6IP 3H 0R 2BB 7K W in the 2-0 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.4 for the season. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.
Notable—Kole Calhoun of the Angels earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Wednesday.
Calhoun (HR 2-2B 3-4 R 2BI in the 3-2 win over the Dodgers) was also Player of the Game Tuesday in the 5-4 win over the Dodgers. He has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 2.0 earned in the past two days.
Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Taylor Clarke made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Clarke (6IP 4H 2R 0BB 7K W in the 5-2 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut April 20 and was playing in his 12th career game.
Scoring—Bieber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gallen earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. DeJong and Gregorius each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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 (BTG)| 7/24 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +17.0 | CLE 4, TOR 0 | Shane Bieber (W, 10‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| NL | +13.0 | MIA 2, CHW 0 | Zac Gallen (W, 1‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| +12.0 | HOU 4, OAK 2 | Justin Verlander (W, 13‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 11 | ||
| BAT | +9.0 | STL 14, PIT 8 | Paul DeJong SS | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +9.0 | TB 3, BOS 2 | Charlie Morton (W, 12‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | ||
| +8.2 | PHI 4, DET 0 | Vince Velasquez (W, 3‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||
| +7.0 | WSH 2, COL 0 | Patrick Corbin (W, 8‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| +6.0 | SD 7, NYM 2 | Matt Strahm (W, 4‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +6.0 | `MIL 5, CIN 4 | Josh Hader (H, 6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| +5.0 | KC 2, ATL 0 | Brad Keller (W, 7‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +5.0 | ARI 5, BAL 2 | Taylor Clarke (W, 3‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| +3.2 | CHC 4, SF 1 | Kyle Ryan (W, 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | NYY 10, MIN 7 | Didi Gregorius SS | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.0 | LAA 3, LAD 2 | Kole Calhoun RF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | SEA 5, TEX 3 | Daniel Vogelbach 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | WSH 3, COL 2 | Sean Doolittle (S, 23) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 16.8 | 40.9 | 80.7 | 194.9 | -7.3 |
| Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | tb al | 15.8 | 30.6 | 52.0 | 66.0 | +1.0 |
| Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 15.7 | 27.4 | 30.4 | 30.4 | +4.0 |
| Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 14.1 | 20.5 | 20.5 | 20.5 | +7.7 |
| Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.4 | 28.4 | 47.2 | 70.6 | -3.6 |
| Vogelbach, Daniel 4070 | dh | sea al | 5.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | +4.0 |
| DeJong, Paul 3827 | ss | stl nl | 5.0 | 11.0 | 15.5 | 15.5 | -1.0 |
| Keller, Brad 4008 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +1.0 |
| Gregorius, Didi 3184 | ss | nyy al | 4.2 | 7.2 | 14.7 | 15.7 | +1.2 |
| Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp mr | phi nl | 3.0 | 11.4 | 20.4 | 20.4 | -5.4 |
| Doolittle, Sean 3052 | pi cp | dc nl | 3.0 | 8.0 | 24.0 | 27.0 | -2.0 |
| Calhoun, Kole 3279 | rf | ana al | 3.0 | 6.0 | 24.2 | 25.2 | 0.0 |
| Strahm, Matt 3724 | pi sp mr | sd nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 0.0 |
| Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | fla nl | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | +2.7 |
| Ryan, Kyle 3639 | pi mr | chi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +1.0 |
| Clarke, Taylor 4199 | 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.