Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Manny Machado of the Orioles regained the Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters after earning AL Batter of the Day honors.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 7:| 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 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 11.7 |
| 10 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.0 |
Player of the Day—Darvish pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing five hits and no walks, in the 5-3, 11-inning win over the Astros. Darvish did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because after he exited, the Astros tied the game in the bottom of the ninth inning.
National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks allowed one run over 7 1/3 innings, allowing three hits, no walks and striking out four, in the 3-1 win over the Athletics.
American League Batter of the Day—Manny Machado of the Orioles hit three homers, going 3-for-6 and driving in seven runs, in the 10-2 win over the White Sox.
Machado earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.2 for the season. He becomes the 20th player with 10 or more Box-Toppers points this season and the second batter. He passes Jose Altuve of the Astros (10.0) to retake the Box-Toppers points lead among AL batters. Machado ranks 19th among all players, the highest-ranked batter.
National League Batter of the Day—Martin Prado of the Marlins doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 10-7 win over the Rockies.
Ichiro Suzuki
Suzuki joined the 3,000-hit club Sunday. Here are his career season-by-season Box-Toppers points totals:| Yr | Team | BTP |
| 2001 | SEA | 4.0 |
| 2002 | SEA | 2.5 |
| 2003 | SEA | 4.2 |
| 2004 | SEA | 5.0 |
| 2005 | SEA | 6.0 |
| 2006 | SEA | 3.5 |
| 2007 | SEA | 8.0* |
| 2008 | SEA | 3.5 |
| 2009 | SEA | 5.5 |
| 2010 | SEA | 1.0 |
| 2011 | SEA | 2.0 |
| 2012 | SEA/NYY | 2.5 |
| 2013 | NYY | 2.0 |
| 2014 | NYY | 1.0 |
| 2015 | MIA | 1.0 |
| 2016 | MIA | 2.0 |
| Total | 53.7 |
16 straight seasons w/B-T pts, tied for 13th-longest streak since ’95
272nd among all players since ’95
7th among active NL OF
Notable—Ichiro Suzuki of the Marlins picked up his 3,000th Major League hit, a triple, Sunday in the 10-7 win over the Rockies. (Teammate Martin Prado was Player of the Game.)
Suzuki has 53.7 career Box-Toppers points. He ranks 272nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He ranks 57th among all outfielders since 1995, ninth among all active outfielders and seventh among active NL outfielders.
Suzuki has earned Box-Toppers points in each of his 16 Major League seasons, tied for the 13th-longest streak in Box-Toppers tracking history. While Suzuki has consistently earned Box-Toppers points, he doesn’t earn very many since he doesn’t frequently hit for power, with few home runs and RBIs. His best season was 2007 with the Mariners when he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ninth among AL outfielders.
He’s had fewer than 3.0 Box-Toppers points in eight seasons—half his Major League career, including three seasons with only 1.0 point, just enough to keep the consecutive season streak with Box-Toppers points alive. In 2015, he had 1.0 point and so far in 2016, he has 2.0 points.
Only two other players in the 3,000-hit club earned nearly all their hits while being tracked by Box-Toppers (which began in 1995):
- Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees has 3,114 hits (including 11 earned in 1994 before Box-Toppers tracking). Rodriguez has 187.0 career Box-Toppers points, most among all batters since 1995 and most among all active players. Rodriguez Sunday announced he will play his final game for the Yankees this Friday.
- Derek Jeter, who played his entire career for the Yankees from 1995 to 2014 (all tracked by Box-Toppers), has 3,465 hits. Jeter, who like Suzuki, didn’t hit primarily for power, has 76.4 Box-Toppers points, 62nd-most among all batters since 1995 and second among all shortstops (behind Miguel Tejada with 102.3).
Scoring—Darvish earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hendricks earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Machado and Prado each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/7 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | `TEX 5, HOU 3 (11) | Yu Darvish | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 7.1 | SEA 3, LAA 1 | James Paxton (W,4-5) | - | - | - | - | 8.1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | BAL 10, CHW 2 | Manny Machado, 3B | 6 | 3 | 3 | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| NL | 6.1 | CHC 3, OAK 1 | Kyle Hendricks (W,11-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |
| 6.0 | NYY 3, CLE 2 | Masahiro Tanaka (W,8-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 4.0 | MIN 6, TB 3 | Miguel Sano, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | MIA 10, COL 7 | Martin Prado, 3B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | WSH 1, SF 0 | Tanner Roark (W,12-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | LAD 8, BOS 5 | Kenley Jansen (S,34) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | `PHI 6, SD 5 | Hector Neris (H,21) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | KC 7, TOR 1 | Kendrys Morales, DH | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | ARI 9, MIL 3 | Phil Gosselin, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CIN 7, PIT 3 | Dan Straily (W,7-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | NYM 3, DET 1 | Jeurys Familia (S,39) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 6, STL 3 | Jim Johnson (S,8) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| `Denotes that the 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 Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 10.2 | 17.7 | 21.2 | 21.2 | 2.7 |
| Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | chi nl | 9.7 | 19.4 | 24.4 | 24.4 | 0.0 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 9.7 | 17.7 | 30.4 | 30.4 | 1.7 |
| Roark, Tanner 3261 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.7 | 10.7 | 25.7 | 25.7 | 8.7 |
| Jansen, Kenley 2871 | pi cp | lad nl | 6.0 | 10.0 | 36.4 | 36.4 | 2.0 |
| Familia, Jeurys 3446 | pi cp | nym nl | 5.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | -3.0 |
| Morales, Kendrys 2142 | dh | kc al | 4.0 | 8.7 | 18.7 | 34.7 | -0.7 |
| Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 3.7 | 3.7 | 48.9 | 48.9 | 3.7 |
| Prado, Martin 2511 | 3b | fla nl | 3.0 | 9.0 | 22.5 | 29.0 | -3.0 |
| Johnson, Jim 2417 | pi cp mr | atl nl | 3.0 | 5.0 | 15.0 | 20.7 | 1.0 |
| Straily, Dan 3080 | pi sp | cin nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 | 3.0 |
| Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 2.7 | 3.7 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 1.7 |
| Sano, Miguel 3527 | rf 3b | min al | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -4.0 |
| Neris, Hector 3553 | pi mr | phi nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Gosselin, Philip 3398 | 2b ph | ari nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 |
