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Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Astros pitcher Hunter Brown rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Other Player of the Game winners include Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon, Jo Adell of the Angels, Jesús Sánchez of the Marlins and Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals.
Read MoreShohei Ohtani, who signed a record free-agent deal with the Dodgers, has consistently been among Box-Toppers' highest-ranking players over the past three seasons.
However, his second surgery to repair his pitching elbow's ulnar collateral ligament, raises concerns about his future effectiveness. A Box-Toppers look at Ohtani’s career and the mixed outcomes of pitchers with a second elbow surgery.
Read MoreRangers pitcher Dane Dunning is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Dunning struck out 11 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 11-1 win over the White Sox.
Read MoreGuardians pitcher Tanner Bibee is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Orioles closing pitcher Felix Bautista rises to seventh in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Twins pitcher Sonny Gray rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreRays pitcher Drew Rasmussen is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to first place in season player rankings.
Also Sunday, Giants pitcher Anthony DeSclafani rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreCardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Rangers pitcher Martin Perez rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreThough Box-Toppers would not have voted David Ortiz as a first-ballot Hall of Famer, it’s hard to argue that his performance on the field was not worthy.
Yet, several other candidates with Hall-of-Fame worthy careers were not voted for induction Tuesday because of their ties to the steroid era. In fact, it can be argued that righteous baseball writers did a noble thing Tuesday by blocking three such candidates—Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa—for their 10th and final time on the ballot.
Read MoreDavid Ortiz is the only player inducted into internet baseball writers’ Hall of Fame for 2022.
None of the nine candidates Box-Toppers voted for Hall induction received the necessary 75 percent support. And Box-Toppers also did not vote for Ortiz.
Read MoreBox-Toppers is voting for nine players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the 2022 Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) ballot.
Of the nine players, three are in their first year on the ballot—Tim Lincecum, Jake Peavy and Mark Teixeira. The other six all return after not receiving the necessary votes to make the hall last year, including Curt Schilling, who is on the ballot for his 10th and final year.
Read MoreAthletics pitcher Frankie Montas is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third place in season player rankings.
Also Saturday, Aaron Judge of the Yankees rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly rises to 10th after both earned Player of the Game honors.
Plus, Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers has now earned Box-Toppers points for 18 straight seasons—tied for the fifth-longest streak since 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Read MoreAlbert Pujols of the Angels has the most Box-Toppers points of any first baseman since tracking began in 1995.
Pujols also has the distinction of leading all American League first basemen in Box-Toppers points over the past season (2019), the past two seasons (2018-19) and the past six seasons (2014-19).
Read MoreAlbert Pujols has the chance in 2020 to break the record for most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points.
If Pujols of the Angels earns Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors once in 2020, he will have earned Box-Toppers points for 20 straight seasons (2001-2020). Pujols is currently tied for the longest streak at 19 seasons with three other players—CC Sabathia, Jason Giambi and Carlos Beltran.
Read MoreIn 2019, CC Sabathia and Albert Pujols have tied Box-Toppers’ record for the longest streak of consecutive seasons earning at least one Player of the Game honor.
Both Sabathia and Pujols this season have earned Box-Toppers points for their 19th straight season (from 2001 to 2019). That ties the record held by Jason Giambi (1995 to 2013) and Carlos Beltran (1999 to 2017).
Read MoreBlue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia earned Box-Toppers points in his 18th straight season after earning Player of the Game honors, setting the record for longest such streak among pitchers (since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began) and taking sole possession of the longest active streak.
Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers has the most Box-Toppers points of any first basemen since tracking began in 1995, passing previous leader Jim Thome.
Cabrera has 146.9 career Box-Toppers points and in 2017 passed former player and newly elected Hall of Famer Thome, who has 146.7 points. Other leaders at first base include Anthony Rizzo, Edwin Encarnacion and Paul Goldschmidt.
Read MoreFour players—Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome and Trevor Hoffman—were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Wednesday. Key players overlooked: Curt Schilling, Jeff Kent, Johan Santana and the PED-clouded five of Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Gary Sheffield and Sammy Sosa.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw leads the list of Box-Toppers Active Career All-Stars and is one of three active players to be included on Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team.
The Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team consists of the best players by position since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and includes 12 players who have retired and three who are still active—Kershaw, along with Albert Pujols of the Angels and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers.
Read MoreIn 2017, Carlos Beltran tied Jason Giambi for the longest streak of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points at 19. With Beltran's retirement, CC Sabathia and Albert Pujols now have the longest active streaks of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points at 17.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rose to third place in Box-Toppers’ overall “all-time” list in 2017, becoming the active leader in career points. Also in 2017, Albert Pujols became the “all-time” leader in career Box-Toppers points among batters and Zack Greinke rose into the overall top 10 in career Box-Toppers points since 1995.
Read MoreBox-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.