Active season streaks
Here are the 10 players who have earned Box-Toppers points for 14 or more consecutive seasons who have a chance to extend their streaks in 2020. Players are listed by the length of their streak and with their current team status. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.| Streak | Player | Pos | Team | Duration | BTP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | Albert Pujols | 1b | Angels | 2001‑2019 | 201.8 |
| 17 | Miguel Cabrera | 1b | Tigers | 2003‑2019 | 150.9 |
| 15 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | Astros | 2006‑2020 | 206.6 |
| 15 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | Braves | 2005‑2019 | 175.1 |
| 15 | Edwin Encarnacion | dh | White Sox | 2005‑2019 | 87.2 |
| 15 | Robinson Cano | 2b | Mets | 2005‑2019 | 85.4 |
| 15 | Nelson Cruz | dh | Twins | 2006‑2020 | 76.2 |
| 14 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | Braves | 2006‑2019 | 174.2 |
| 14 | Jon Lester | pi sp | Cubs | 2006‑2019 | 172.6 |
| 14 | Ryan Zimmerman | 1b | Nationals | 2006‑2019 | 67.2 |
Nelson Cruz of the Twins is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, extending his streak of earning Box-Toppers points to 15 consecutive seasons.
Cruz hit two homers and two doubles, going 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in seven runs, in the 14-2 win over the White Sox.
Cruz earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season, rising to second place in early Box-Toppers season player rankings. He trails Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks, who was Player of the Day Friday. Both Cruz and Hendricks have 2.0 Box-Toppers points, but Hendricks holds the tiebreaker advantage because he had more 2019 Box-Toppers points (13.4 vs. 12.5).
Cruz won Player of the Day honors by having the highest Box-Toppers game score (+10.0) of all of Sunday’s 15 Player of the Game winners. In 2019, only one batter won Player of the Game honors with a higher Box-Toppers game score—on July 28, Kyle Schwarber of the Cubs had a Box-Toppers game score of +11.0 (2HR 3-3 4R 7BI in 11-4 win over the Brewers). Two other batters earning Player of the Game honors in 2019 achieved Box-Toppers game scores of +10.0:
Trevor Story of the Rockies on May 31.
Brandon Crawford of the Giants on July 15.
Cruz has now also earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in 15 straight seasons—tied for the third-longest active streak—after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season. He’s the second player already this season to extend a consecutive streak to 15 seasons after Astros pitcher Justin Verlander did it Friday.
Cruz earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Rangers and now has 76.2 career Box-Toppers points, 69th among all batters since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, and fourth among active American League batters. His best season was 2019 with the Twins when he had 12.5 Box-Toppers points, first among AL batters.
Cruz’s 15-season streak earning Box-Toppers points is now tied with four other players for the third-longest active streak—Verlander, who did it Friday, plus Felix Hernandez, Edwin Encarnacion and Robinson Cano, who all reached 15 consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points during the 2019 season. Only two players have longer streaks—Albert Pujols of the Angels (19 seasons) and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (17 seasons). Neither has earned Box-Toppers points so far in 2020. Cruz’s 15-season streak is tied for the 25th longest such streak since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Tyler Chatwood struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 9-1 win over the Brewers.
Chatwood earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, his first points of the season and currently is seventh in early Box-Toppers season player rankings.
National League Batter of the Day—Miguel Rojas of the Marlins homered, tripled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 11-6 win over the Phillies.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall Player of the Day is AL batter Nelson Cruz.
Debut—Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, each earning their first career Player of the Game honor:
Orioles pitcher Cole Sulser (2IP H 0R 0BB 2K Sv in the 7-4 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut Sept. 9, 2019 and was playing in his eighth career game.
Phillip Evans of the Pirates (2B 3-4 R BI in the 5-1 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut Sept. 8, 2017, and was playing in his 36th career game.
Tim Lopes of the Mariners (2B 3-4 2R 0BI in the 7-6 win over the Astros) made his Major League debut July 24, 2019, and was playing in his 43rd career game.
Scoring—Cruz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Chatwood earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Rojas earns 1.5 points for being NL 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 (BTG)| 7/26 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +10.0 | MIN 14, CHW 2 | Nelson Cruz, DH | 5 | 4 | 4 | 7 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| NL | +7.0 | CHC 9, MIL 1 | Tyler Chatwood, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| +6.0 | CLE 9, KC 2 | Jose Ramírez, DH | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +6.0 | MIA 11, PHI 6 | Miguel Rojas, SS | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | ATL 14, NYM 1 | Dansby Swanson, SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +5.0 | COL 5, TEX 2 | Trevor Story, SS | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | `DET 3, CIN 2 | Spencer Turnbull | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | ||
| +3.0 | NYY 3, WSH 2 | Chad Green, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | BAL 7, BOS 4 | Cole Sulser, (S 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.1 | OAK 6, LAA 4 | Liam Hendriks, (S 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +2.0 | SF 3, LAD 1 | Wandy Peralta, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.0 | PIT 5, STL 1 | Phillip Evans, 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | SEA 7, HOU 6 | Tim Lopes, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | ARI 4, SD 3 | Ketel Marte, 2B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | TB 6, TOR 5 (F/10) | Joey Wendle, PH‑3B | 1 | 1 | 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 Player of the Game winners. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’20). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’19-20), the period 2015-2020 (’15-20) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2020 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2019 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’20 | ’19‑20 | ’15‑20 | Career | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cruz, Nelson 2224 | dh | min al | 2.0 | 14.5 | 31.0 | 76.2 | ‑10.5 |
| Chatwood, Tyler 2856 | pi sp cp mr | chi nl | 1.7 | 4.7 | 21.1 | 30.8 | ‑1.3 |
| Rojas, Miguel 3642 | ss | fla nl | 1.5 | 5.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | ‑2.0 |
| Story, Trevor 3607 | ss | col nl | 1.0 | 8.0 | 23.0 | 23.0 | ‑6.0 |
| Marte, Ketel 3630 | 2b cf | ari nl | 1.0 | 8.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | ‑6.0 |
| Hendriks, Liam 3339 | pi cp | oak al | 1.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 11.0 | ‑6.0 |
| Swanson, Dansby 3751 | ss | atl nl | 1.0 | 4.5 | 13.5 | 13.5 | ‑2.5 |
| Turnbull, Spencer 4086 | pi sp | det al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | ‑2.0 |
| Ramirez, Jose 3436 | dh 3b | cle al | 1.0 | 2.5 | 22.5 | 23.5 | ‑0.5 |
| Green, Chad 3675 | pi mr | nyy al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +0.0 |
| Wendle, Joey 3756 | 3b 2b ph | tb al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | +1.0 |
| Peralta, Wandy 3782 | pi mr | sf nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +1.0 |
| Evans, Phillip 4271 | 3b | pit nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Lopes, Tim 4272 | lf | sea al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Sulser, Cole 4270 | pi cp | bal al | 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.