Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Meanwhile, Albert Pujols of the Angels regains sixth place on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2019 season through the games of Aug. 14.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 20.8 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 18.8 |
| 3 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 16.1 |
| 4 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | tb al | 15.8 |
| 5 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 15.7 |
| 6 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.7 |
| 7 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.4 |
| 8 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.4 |
| 9 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | sp pi | dc nl | 13.4 |
| 10 | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | pi sp | cin nl | 13.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 9-1 win over the Marlins.
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.7 for the season, 16th among all players and ninth among National League pitchers.
Kershaw becomes the 25th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. It is his 10th season with 10 or more points. He reached 10 points for nine straight seasons from 2009 to 2017 and fell just short in 2018 with 8.0 points. He had seven straight seasons with 20 or more points from 2011 to 2017, leading all players in points in 2011 (26.1), 2013 (21.7) and 2014 (31.5).
Kershaw now has 226.5 career Box-Toppers points, third-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails Randy Johnson (278.8) and Pedro Martinez (244.8), both of whom would have more career Box-Toppers points if their pre-1995 careers were tracked. Kershaw leads active players in career points, ahead of Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (203.4).
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 | 226.5 |
| 4 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 203.4 |
| 5 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | hou al | 202.4 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 199.8 |
| 7 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 198.9 |
| 8 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 196.2 |
| 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 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | chi nl | 172.2 |
| 13 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 171.6 |
| 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.
American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Homer Bailey struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 9-5 win over the Giants.
American League Batter of the Day—Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, going 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 5-1 win over the Indians.
National League Batter of the Day—Asdrubal Cabrera of the Nationals hit two doubles and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 17-7 win over the Reds.
Notable—Albert Pujols of the Angels regains sixth place on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Pujols (2-4 2R 3BI in the 7-4 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 199.8 career points, passing Astros pitcher Justin Verlander (198.9) on the “all-time” list (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995). Verlander had passed Pujols on the “all-time” list on Aug. 4. Pujols now trails fifth-ranked player, Astros pitcher Zack Greinke (202.4). Passing Verlander, Pujols ranks fourth among active players in career points. Pujols leads all batters in career points since 1995, ahead of Alex Rodriguez (187.0).
Pujols also now has 9.0 Box-Toppers points in 2019, 31st among all players and third among AL batters, behind Nelson Cruz of the Twins (9.5) and Gleyber Torres of the Yankees (9.5).
Debut—Luis Urias of the Padres made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Urias (2B 1-2 R 3BI in the 7-2 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut Aug. 28, 2018, and was playing in his 44th career game.
Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Bailey earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Bogaerts and Cabrera 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)| 8/14 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +15.0 | LAD 9, MIA 1 | Clayton Kershaw (W, 12‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| AL | +11.0 | OAK 9, SF 5 | Homer Bailey (W, 10‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| +8.0 | PHI 11, CHC 1 | Aaron Nola (W, 11‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +6.0 | `ATL 6, NYM 4 | Dallas Keuchel | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | BOS 5, CLE 1 | Xander Bogaerts SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | NYY 6, BAL 5 | Gary Sanchez C | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | MIL 6, MIN 5 | Junior Guerra (W, 6‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.1 | `DET 3, SEA 2 | Buck Farmer (H, 10) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | WSH 17, CIN 7 | Asdrubal Cabrera 2B‑3B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | CHW 13, HOU 9 | James McCann C | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | TEX 7, TOR 3 | Danny Santana 1B | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | LAA 7, PIT 4 | Albert Pujols 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | COL 7, ARI 6 | Ryan McMahon PH‑2B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | SD 7, TB 2 | Luis Urias SS | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | STL 6, KC 0 | Dakota Hudson (W, 11‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 11.7 | 19.7 | 124.4 | 226.5 | +3.7 |
| Pujols, Albert 1438 | 1b | ana al | 9.0 | 12.0 | 40.0 | 199.8 | +6.0 |
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 8.7 | 29.8 | 54.3 | 54.3 | -12.4 |
| McMahon, Ryan 4004 | 2b 3b | col nl | 6.5 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 | +4.8 |
| Bailey, Homer 2324 | pi sp | oak al | 6.4 | 6.4 | 17.1 | 55.5 | +6.4 |
| Cabrera, Asdrubal 2362 | 3b | dc nl | 5.0 | 8.5 | 19.0 | 54.2 | +1.5 |
| McCann, James 3649 | ca | chi al | 5.0 | 6.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | +4.0 |
| Bogaerts, Xander 3383 | ss | bos al | 4.7 | 10.2 | 22.2 | 22.2 | -0.8 |
| Santana, Danny 3350 | 1b cf lf | tex al | 4.5 | 4.5 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +4.5 |
| Hudson, Dakota 4035 | pi sp | stl nl | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | +2.7 |
| Sanchez, Gary 3701 | ca dh | nyy al | 3.0 | 8.5 | 16.5 | 16.5 | -2.5 |
| Guerra, Junior 3633 | pi cp mr sp | mil nl | 2.0 | 7.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | -3.0 |
| Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | atl nl | 1.0 | 7.7 | 57.9 | 59.9 | -5.7 |
| Farmer, Buck 3809 | pi mr | det al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 0.0 |
| Urias, Luis 4218 | ss | sd 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.