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The Cleveland Indians are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2018 preseason rankings, the same position where they finished the 2017 season.
The Nationals top NL teams and the World Series-champion Astros fall to 8th.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Tampa Bay Rays and the Kansas City Royals had the biggest declines.
Read MoreA look at top players in Box-Toppers points by position in both leagues over both 2017 and the combined 2016-17 seasons.
Read More
Phillies pitcher Jerad Eickhoff is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Eickhoff struck out nine over seven scoreless innings in the 2-1 win over the Padres.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 |
| 2 | Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 2.7 |
| 3 | Davis, Chris 2478 | 1b | bal al | 2.5 |
| 4 | Brown, Trevor 3610 | ca | sf nl | 2.5 |
| 5 | Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 |
| 6 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.0 |
| 7 | Wacha, Michael 3276 | pi sp | stl nl | 2.0 |
| 8 | Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | chi nl | 2.0 |
| 9 | Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 2.0 |
| 10 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | phi nl | 2.0 |
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco struck out eight over eight innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 4-1 win over the Rays.
National League Batter of the Day—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies hit two home runs, a double and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in seven runs, in the 10-6 win over the Giants.
American League Batter of the Day—Ryan Goins of the Blue Jays hit two doubles and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 7-2 win over the Yankees.
Scoring—Eickhoff earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Carrasco earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Arenado and Goins 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/13 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | Phillies | Jerad Eickhoff (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| AL | 9.0 | Indians | Carlos Carrasco (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| BAT | 8.0 | Rockies | Nolan Arenado, 3B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | `Mets | Logan Verrett | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | Angels | Matt Shoemaker (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | Mariners | Steve Cishek (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | Nationals | Tanner Roark (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | White Sox | Carlos Rodon (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | Red Sox | Craig Kimbrel (S,2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.2 | Dodgers | Kenley Jansen (S,3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Brewers | Jonathan Lucroy, C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Tigers | Shane Greene (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | `Royals | Yordano Ventura | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Blue Jays | Ryan Goins, 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Cubs | Kris Bryant, 3B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Ryan Goins homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, as the Blue Jays beat the Royals Monday in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series.
Goins is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Monday in the 11-8 win, the Blue Jays’ first in the best-of-seven series, which the Royals now lead 2-1.
Goins, who started at second base and moved to shortstop, had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0, tied for highest among all Blue Jays players with second baseman Troy Tulowitzki, who had an identical line (HR 2-4 2R 3BI). But Goins won Player of the Game on a tiebreaker because he had fewer strikeouts—one vs. two. After Tulowitzki’s second strikeout in the seventh inning, he was ejected for arguing and Goins replaced him defensively at shortstop.
During the regular season, Goins had 4.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked 221st among all players, 52nd among AL batters, fourth among AL shortstops and sixth among AL second basemen (Goins was Player of the Game four times in 2015—twice at shortstop and twice at second base).
In a game dominated by offense, neither starting pitcher fared well in Box-Toppers game score. Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman picked up the win, but had a Box-Toppers game score of −12.9 (6.1IP 11H 4R K). Royals starter Johnny Cueto, who picked up the loss, had a Box-Toppers game score of −22.0 (2IP 6H 8R 2K).
The series resumes Tuesday with Game 4 in Toronto (more details below).
See Box-Toppers ALCS series preview with player-by-player match ups.
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
| 10/19 | Score | Team | Players | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| POG | 3.0 | Blue Jays | Ryan Goins, 2B-SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Coming Tuesday:
The pitching match-up Tuesday:
Royals—Chris Young, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, 78th among all players, 29th among AL pitchers.
Blue Jays—R.A. Dickey, 5.0 Box-Toppers points, 180th among all players, 64th among AL pitchers.
See Box-Toppers ALCS series preview with player-by-player match ups.
The pitching match-up Tuesday:
Mets—Jacob deGrom, 22.4 Box-Toppers points, third among all players, third among NL pitchers.
Cubs—Kyle Hendricks, 9.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 54th among all players, 24th among NL pitchers.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player match ups.
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Also Sunday, Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rises to ninth in player rankings. Plus, Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett now has 125.8 career Box-Toppers points.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 12.4 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 12.0 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 11.0 |
| 4 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 11.0 |
| 5 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.4 |
| 6 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 10.1 |
| 7 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 9.7 |
| 8 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 9.7 |
| 9 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 9.4 |
| 10 | Heston, Chris 3437 | pi sp | sf nl | 8.7 |
Player of the Day—Scherzer pitched a complete game, one-hit shutout, striking out 16, in the 4-0 win over the Brewers. Scherzer allowed only two base runners, giving up one walk and one hit. He had a Box-Toppers game score of 23, the second-highest of the season. (Indians pitcher Corey Kluber had a higher Box-Toppers game score of 25 when he was Player of the Day on May 13.)
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season and moving him to third in season Box-Toppers player rankings. He ranks second among American League pitchers, behind overall leader Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (12.4). Scherzer is the sixth player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points.
American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray struck out nine over 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run, in the 8-1 win over the Angels.
Gray rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 9.4 for the season. He ranks fifth among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Ryan Goins of the Blue Jays homered, doubled and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 13-5 win over the Red Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day for Sunday because no NL batters earned Player of the Game honors. In fact, in all 14 games completed Sunday, only one batter earned Player of the Game honors.
Notable—Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett now has 125.8 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Burnett (9IP 5H 0R 4K ND in the 1-0, 11-inning win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point. His 125.8 career Box-Toppers points ranks 32nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 31st-place player Mariano Rivera (126.4). Burnett has 4.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Rankings—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale, ranked in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings, started Sunday but did not earn Player of the Game honors. Sale (6.2IP 3H 2R 12K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of 8.2, but the White Sox lost to the Rays, 2-1. Rays pitcher Nathan Karns (6IP 7H R 8K ND, Box-Toppers game score of 4) was Player of the Game.
Sale has 10.4 Box-Toppers points for the season and fell from fourth to fifth in Box-Toppers player rankings Sunday.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gray earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Goins earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 6/14 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 23.0 | Nationals | Max Scherzer (W, 7-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | |
| AL | 10.2 | Athletics | Sonny Gray (W, 8-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| 7.0 | `Pirates | A.J. Burnett | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 6.0 | Tigers | Alfredo Simon (W, 7-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | Astros | Lance McCullers (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 5.0 | `Yankees | Justin Wilson (H, 9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Blue Jays | Ryan Goins 2B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Dbacks | Rubby De La Rosa (W, 5-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | `Cubs | Jon Lester | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | `Rays | Nathan Karns | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 4.0 | Twins | Casey Fien (W, 2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | Mets | Sean Gilmartin (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | Dodgers | Josh Ravin (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | Rockies | John Axford (S, 12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson is Sunday’s Player of the Day.
Gibson struck out eight over eight innings, allowing one run, in the 8-1 win over the White Sox.
National League Player of the Day—Braves pitcher Mike Foltynewicz struck out seven over 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run, in the 2-1 win over the Brewers.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 9.7 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 8.0 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 7.0 |
| 4 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 7.0 |
| 5 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | atl nl | 7.0 |
| 6 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 6.7 |
| 7 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf rf | dc nl | 6.5 |
| 8 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | phi nl | 6.0 |
| 9 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 5.7 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 5.7 |
National League Batter of the Day—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies hit a three-run homer, tripled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 11-2 win over the Giants.
American League Batter of the Day—Evan Gattis of the Astros homered, tripled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 10-8 win over the Tigers.
Notable—Mike Napoli of the Red Sox earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day. Napoli (two-run HR, two-run 2B, 2-3 2R 4BI in the 6-1 win over the Angels) was also Player of the Game Saturday. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point each day and has 3.5 Box-Toppers points this season, ranked ninth among AL batters.
Debut—Ryan Goins of the Blue Jays made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Goins (2R HR 2-3 3BI in the 8-2 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut Aug. 23, 2013, and was playing in his 134th career game. He is the 3,478th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Gibson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Foltynewicz earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Arenado and Gattis each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/24 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | Twins | Kyle Gibson (W, 4-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |
| NL | 8.2 | Braves | Mike Foltynewicz (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| 8.0 | Pirates | Francisco Liriano (W, 2-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | Rockies | Nolan Arenado 3B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | Padres | Justin Upton LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Astros | Evan Gattis DH | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Red Sox | Mike Napoli 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | Athletics | Sonny Gray (W, 5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.2 | Indians | Trevor Bauer (W, 4-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | Rangers | Shawn Tolleson (S, 3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.1 | Nationals | Gio Gonzalez (W, 4-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | Dbacks | Paul Goldschmidt 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Blue Jays | Ryan Goins SS | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Cardinals | Michael Wacha (W, 7-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | Marlins | Martin Prado 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 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.