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Orioles pitcher Brandon Young is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, earning his first career Box-Toppers points.
Also Friday, Christian Yelich of the Brewers extends his lead among National League batters in 2025 Box-Toppers points—becoming the first batter to reach 10 Box-Toppers points this season—after earning NL Batter of the Day honors.
Read MoreCardinals pitcher Sonny Gray is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to eighth place in season player rankings.
Other Player of the Game winners Friday include Blue Jays pitcher José Berríos, Gary Sánchez of the Orioles and Trea Turner of the Phillies.
Read MoreAthletics pitcher Jeffrey Springs is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, three players make notable rises in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors:
Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Astros pitcher Hunter Brown rises to fifth place overall.
Christian Yelich of the Brewers rises to first place among National League batters after earning NL Batter of the Day honors.
Orioles pitcher Grayson Rodriguez is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Rodriguez struck out nine over six innings, allowing one run, four hits and one walk, in the 13-4 win over the Angels.
Read MorePadres pitcher Yu Darvish is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Darvish struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 7-1 win over the Dodgers.
Read MoreRays pitcher Corey Kluber is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fourth place in season player rankings.
Kluber struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 3-0 win over the Athletics. Kluber did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
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Robbie Ray of the Blue Jays and Corbin Burnes of the Brewers were voted winners of the 2021 Cy Young Awards. They beat Box-Toppers top-ranked pitchers, Gerrit Cole of the Yankees in the American League and Max Scherzer of the Dodgers in the National League.
Robbie Ray of the Blue Jays and Corbin Burnes of the Brewers won 2021 Cy Young Awards over Box-Toppers’ two top-ranked pitchers for 2021.
Ray won the American League Cy Young Award after ranking second in 2021 Box-Toppers points among AL pitchers, behind Gerrit Cole of the Yankees. Burnes won the National League Cy Young Award after ranking fourth in 2021 Box-Toppers points among NL pitchers, behind Max Scherzer of the Dodgers.
Read MoreIndians pitcher Triston McKenzie is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, two other players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10—Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer rises to fifth place and Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove rises to 10th place.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to first in season player rankings, passing previous leader Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler.
Cole struck out nine over 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Angels.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Jake Odorizzi is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Meanwhile, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is the new Box-Toppers season player rankings leader after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Also, two other players rose in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors Monday—Indians pitcher Aaron Civale rises to sixth place and Padres pitcher Yu Darvish rises to ninth.
Read MoreDerek Jeter and Larry Walker were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Tuesday.
Both received the necessary 75 percent of the vote from members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and will be inducted in the Hall in Cooperstown, N.Y., in July.
Read MoreComparing Box-Toppers’ All-Decade All-Star teams from the 2000s and the 2010s, a couple of interesting things stand out:
Albert Pujols was the leading batter in Box-Toppers points in both decades.
Batters overall earned precipitously fewer Box-Toppers points in the 2010s compared to the 2000s.
Box-Toppers votes Todd Helton, Derek Jeter, Jeff Kent,, Curt Schilling, Billy Wagner and Larry Walker into the Hall of Fame on Internet Baseball Writers of America ballot.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after becoming the sixth pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. Strasburg is Thursday’s National League Player of the Day.
Plus, Alex Bregman of the Astros rises to lead American League batters in 2019 Box-Toppers points after earning AL Batter of the Day honors Thursday.
Read MoreTwins pitcher Devin Smeltzer is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, making his Major League debut.
Smeltzer struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 5-3 win over the Brewers. Smeltzer did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Justin Verlander is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in season player rankings.
Verlander also rises into the top 10 in Box-Toppers career points list (tracked since 1995) and becomes the fourth player with 20 or more points this season, reaching that milestone for the first time in six years.
Also Sunday, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors, becoming the fifth player with 20 or more points this season.
Read MoreMariners pitcher James Paxton is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in season player rankings.
Paxton struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 2-0 win over the Astros.
Read MoreMatt Carpenter of the Cardinals is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for games played Friday, July 20.
Carpenter hit three homers, two doubles and went 5-for-5, scoring four time and driving in seven runs, in the 18-5 win over the Cubs. Carpenter’s Box-Toppers of +11.0 Friday is the second highest of the season, behind only the +13.0 game score recorded July 7 by Mark Reynolds of the Nationals.
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During the 2017 season, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw has taken the lead among active players in career Box-Toppers points, rising to third place on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” top 100 players list.
Kershaw has 205.8 career Box-Toppers points, third-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Kershaw leads all players with 22.1 points in 2017.
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Cubs pitcher John Lackey is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth in season player rankings.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 16.2 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 14.1 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 8 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.4 |
| 9 | Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 12.4 |
| 10 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 11.7 |
Also Tuesday, Jose Altuve of the Astros retakes the Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters after earning AL Batter of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Lackey allowed one run over eight innings, giving up three hits and one walk, striking out six, in the 5-1 win over the Angels.
Lackey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season. Cubs pitchers now occupy the eighth, ninth and 10th place spots in Box-Toppers season player rankings:
Lackey rises to seventh place among National League pitchers in Box-Toppers points.
Lackey also rises to 40th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, Lackey now has 120.2 Box-Toppers points, passing Cliff Lee (119.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 39th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1).
Lackey had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +8.0, the same as Marlins pitcher Tom Koehler, Player of the Game in the 2-0 win over the Giants (7IP 2H 0R 3BB 6K W). But Lackey held the tiebreaker, winning overall Player of the Day, because he pitched more innings—eight vs. seven.
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits, walking two and striking out four, in the 3-1 win over the Nationals.
Nationals’ starting pitcher in the game, Max Scherzer (18.7 Box-Toppers points), had a chance to pass season player rankings leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0). While Scherzer’s Box-Toppers game score of +10 (7IP 3H 2R ER BB 10K) was high enough to earn him Player of the Day honors Tuesday, he did not earn Player of the Game honors because the Nationals did not win and Scherzer himself picked up the loss, his seventh of the season (12-7).
American League Batter of the Day—Jose Altuve of the Astros went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 7-5 win over the Twins.
Altuve earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 11.5 for the season, rising to 11th place in season player rankings and first among AL batters, passing previous leader Manny Machado of the Orioles (10.2). Machado had just retaken the AL batting lead from Altuve on Sunday.
National League Batter of the Day—Howie Kendrick of the Dodgers homered, doubled and went 2-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 9-3 win over the Phillies.
Notable—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers rises to 56th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Beltre (2B 2-4 R 2BI in the 7-5 win over the Rockies) now has 108.3 career Box-Toppers points and passes two players on the “all-time” list—Lance Berkman (108.1) and Kevin Millwood (108.3). He trails 55th-ranked player Billy Wagner (108.7).
Beltre has 6.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, 14th among AL batters.
Debut—Athletics pitcher Zach Neal made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Neal (5.1IP 2H R 0BB K W in the 2-1 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut May 11 and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,700th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Lackey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Bauer earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Altuve and Kendrick each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/9 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | CHC 5, LAA 1 | John Lackey (W, 9-7) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 8.0 | MIA 2, SF 0 | Tom Koehler (W, 9-8) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| AL | 4.1 | CLE 3, WSH 1 | Trevor Bauer (W, 8-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |
| 4.0 | TB 9, TOR 2 | Erasmo Ramirez (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | HOU 7, MIN 5 | Jose Altuve (2B) | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.1 | OAK 2, BAL 1 | Zach Neal (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 5, NYY 3 | Dustin Pedroia (2B) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | LAD 9, PHI 3 | Howie Kendrick (LF) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | CIN 7, STL 4 | Billy Hamilton (CF) | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | ATL 2, MIL 1 | Mauricio Cabrera (S, 3) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.1 | CHW 7, KC 5 (10) | Dan Jennings (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | SEA 6, DET 5 (15) | Kyle Seager (3B) | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | PIT 6, SD 4 | David Freese (3B) | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | TEX 7, COL 5 | Adrian Beltre (3B) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | ARI 5, NYM 3 | Paul Goldschmidt (1B) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 12.4 | 22.1 | 41.8 | 120.2 | 2.7 |
| Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 11.5 | 18.5 | 28.0 | 28.0 | 4.5 |
| Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 9.4 | 18.8 | 27.5 | 27.5 | 0.0 |
| Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | tex al | 6.5 | 19.0 | 44.9 | 108.3 | -6.0 |
| Seager, Kyle 3031 | 3b | sea al | 6.0 | 11.0 | 25.0 | 25.0 | 1.0 |
| Koehler, Tom 3159 | pi sp | fla nl | 5.0 | 9.0 | 17.0 | 17.0 | 1.0 |
| Ramirez, Erasmo 1786 | pi sp mr cp | tb al | 3.7 | 10.7 | 12.7 | 14.7 | -3.3 |
| Kendrick, Howie 2191 | 2b lf | lad nl | 3.0 | 7.0 | 19.0 | 33.0 | -1.0 |
| Cabrera, Mauricio 3689 | pi cp mr | atl nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | ari nl | 2.5 | 12.7 | 37.9 | 37.9 | -7.7 |
| Hamilton, Billy 3287 | cf | cin nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 0.0 |
| Pedroia, Dustin 2320 | 2b | bos al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 22.4 | 34.5 | 2.0 |
| Freese, David 2710 | 1b 3b | pit nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 22.2 | 24.2 | 2.0 |
| Jennings, Dan 3591 | pi cp | chi al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Neal, Zach 3700 | pi sp | oak al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
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.