White Sox' Chris Sale tops players for Monday, June 8, rises to 4th in Box-Toppers player rankings

White Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fourth in player rankings.

Sale struck out 14 over eight innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 3-1 win over the Astros. Sale earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season, rising from seventh to fourth among players this season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of June 8.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 12.4
2 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 11.0
3 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 11.0
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 10.4
5 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 9.7
6 Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 9.7
7 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 9.0
8 Price, David 2593 pi sp det al 8.1
9 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 7.7
10 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 7.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Sale is the fourth player with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points this season and has now earned 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points for four straight seasons.

National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Mike Bolsinger struck out eight over seven innings, allowing two runs and three hits, in the 9-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

National League Batter of the Day—Zack Cozart of the Reds homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 6-4 win over the Phillies.

American League Batter of the Day—Kevin Pillar of the Blue Jays went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 11-3 win over the Marlins.

Scoring—Sale earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Bolsinger earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Cozart and Pillar each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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

6/8 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 White Sox Chris Sale (W, 6-2) - - - - - - 8.0 5 1 1 1 14
NL 6.0 Dodgers Mike Bolsinger (W, 4-1) - - - - - - 7.0 3 2 2 2 8
6.0 Brewers Jimmy Nelson (W, 3-6) - - - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 3 7
BAT 3.0 Reds Zack Cozart SS 4 2 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Rockies Troy Tulowitzki SS 4 2 2 3 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Royals Jason Vargas (W, 5-2) - - - - - - 6.0 5 0 0 0 2
BAT 2.0 Blue Jays Kevin Pillar CF 3 1 2 2 2 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Padres Brandon Maurer (W, 3-0) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1

Rays' Archer tops players for Sunday, June 7, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Rays pitcher Chris Archer is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to second in player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of June 7.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 12.4
2 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 11.0
3 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 11.0
4 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 9.7
5 Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 9.7
6 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 9.0
7 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.4
8 Price, David 2593 pi sp det al 8.1
9 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 7.7
10 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 7.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Sunday, Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole maintains his lead among National League pitchers, but falls from second to third in overall player rankings, despite earning Player of the Game honors. In addition, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom rises to fourth place in player rankings. Plus, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia now has 175.3 career Box-Toppers points, the most of any active pitcher.

Player of the Day—Archer struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing one unearned run and six hits, in the 3-1 win over the Mariners. 

Archer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season, rising to second among all players, behind overall leader, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (12.4 Box-Toppers points). Archer also ranks second among AL pitchers behind Hernandez. Archer is the third player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points.

National League Player of the Day—Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out nine in the 4-0 win over the Padres.

American League Batter of the Day—Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring three times, in the 7-6 win over the Astros.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day for Sunday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors.

Rankings—Two other players in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings earned Player of the Game honors Sunday:

  • Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole maintained his lead among NL pitchers after earning Player of the Game honors. Cole (7IP 6H 0R 7K W in the 3-0 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season. 

While Cole maintains his lead among NL pitchers, he actually falls from second to third in overall player rankings because he was passed by Sunday’s overall Player of the Day Chris Archer. Cole and Archer both have 11.0 Box-Toppers points for the season but Archer holds the tiebreaker because he has more Box-Toppers points in 2014—12.4 vs. 5.7.

  • Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom rose to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings. deGrom (7IP 10K W in the 6-3 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.7 for the season. He ranks second among NL pitchers, behind Cole.

Notable—Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia now has 175.3 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Sabathia (6IP 2R 7K W in the 6-2 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and now has 2.0 for the season. His 175.3 career Box-Toppers points ranks fifth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He ranks fourth among pitchers, behind Curt Schilling (194.1) and second among active players, behind Alex Rodriguez (183.8). He is the top-ranked active pitcher in Box-Toppers points.

Debut—Marlins pitcher Jose Urena made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Urena (6IP R 4K ND in the 3-2 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut April 14 and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,492nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Archer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cueto earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Bautista earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/7 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 Rays Chris Archer (W, 7-4) - - - - - - 7.0 6 1 0 0 11
NL 10.0 Reds Johnny Cueto (W, 4-4) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 2 9
6.0 Twins Mike Pelfrey (W, 5-2) - - - - - - 8.0 8 0 0 1 7
5.0 Pirates Gerrit Cole (W, 9-2) - - - - - - 7.0 6 0 0 3 7
4.0 Mets Jacob deGrom (W, 7-4) - - - - - - 7.0 5 3 2 3 10
BAT 4.0 Blue Jays Jose Bautista RF 4 3 3 2 1 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Orioles Bud Norris (W, 2-4) - - - - - - 5.0 4 1 1 2 7
4.0 Cardinals Kevin Siegrist (W, 3-0) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.2 Phillies Ken Giles (W, 2-1) - - - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 1 3
3.1 Red Sox Steven Wright (W, 3-2) - - - - - - 3.1 1 0 0 1 2
3.0 Tigers Tyler Collins LF 3 2 3 1 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Yankees CC Sabathia (W, 3-7) - - - - - - 6.0 5 2 2 1 7
3.0 `Marlins Jose Urena - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 2 4
2.1 `Royals Jeremy Guthrie - - - - - - 6.1 3 2 2 2 5
2.1 `Cubs Justin Grimm (H, 4) - - - - - - 1.1 1 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.

Dodgers' Kershaw tops players for Saturday, June 6, Mariners' Hernandez rises to 12th on Box-Toppers 'all-time' list

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez extended his lead in season Box-Toppers player rankings and rose to 12th place among all players since 1995. In addition, Tigers pitcher David Price rose to eighth in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of June 6.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 12.4
2 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 10.0
3 Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 9.7
4 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 9.0
5 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 9.0
6 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 8.7
7 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.4
8 Price, David 2593 pi sp det al 8.1
9 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 7.7
10 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 7.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Kershaw pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out 11, in the 2-0 win over the Cardinals.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 140.6 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 20th among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He ranks 14th among all pitchers.

Kershaw also now has 7.0 Box-Toppers points for the season and ranks 12th among all players in season player rankings, sixth among NL pitchers. Last year, he led all players with 31.5 Box-Toppers points, the fourth-highest single-season total since 1995. And although he still is not in the top 10 player rankings, he is actually ahead of his pace from 2014—on June 7, 2014, Kershaw had 6.7 Box-Toppers points.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher David Price pitched a complete game, allowing one run and striking out 11, in the 7-1 win over the White Sox. Price earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 8.1 for the season and rising to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Matt Kemp of the Padres homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 9-7 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Brett Gardner of the Yankees went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs in the 8-2 win over the Angels.

Rankings—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez extended his lead in season Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Hernandez (7IP 2H R 6K W in the 2-1 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.4 for the season. Hernandez has led Box-Toppers player rankings all but six days this season.

With the point earned Saturday, Hernandez now rises to 12th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 when record keeping began. Hernandez now has 155.7 career Box-Toppers points and passes two players on the “all-time” list Saturday—Tim Hudson (155.0) and Mike Mussina (155.6).  Hernandez trails the 11th-place player on the list, John Smoltz (160.9). Hernandez also rises to ninth place among all pitchers since 1995.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Price earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Kemp and Gardner each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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

6/6 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 16.0 Dodgers Clayton Kershaw (W, 5-3) - - - - - - 8.0 1 0 0 2 11
AL 11.0 Tigers David Price (W, 5-2) - - - - - - 9.0 5 1 1 2 11
8.0 Indians Danny Salazar (W, 6-1) - - - - - - 7.0 6 1 1 1 10
BAT 6.0 Padres Matt Kemp RF 4 2 3 5 1 0 - - - - - -
6.0 Mariners Felix Hernandez (W, 9-2) - - - - - - 7.0 2 1 1 3 6
4.0 Rockies Wilin Rosario 1B 5 3 3 3 0 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Cubs Jason Hammel (W, 5-2) - - - - - - 8.0 5 2 2 2 7
4.0 Red Sox Joe Kelly (W, 2-4) - - - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 2 6
3.0 Brewers Carlos Gomez CF 4 0 4 3 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Braves Christian Bethancourt C 4 2 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Giants Norichika Aoki LF 3 1 3 2 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Rangers Wandy Rodriguez (W, 3-2) - - - - - - 7.0 6 1 1 0 4
2.1 Blue Jays Drew Hutchison (W, 5-1) - - - - - - 6.1 6 1 1 1 5
2.0 Dbacks Welington Castillo C 2 1 1 2 1 0 - - - - - -
BAT 1.0 Yankees Brett Gardner CF 4 1 2 2 1 0 - - - - - -

Cardinals' Carlos Martinez tops players for Friday, June 5, rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third place in player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of June 5.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 11.4
2 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 10.0
3 Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 9.7
4 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 9.0
5 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 9.0
6 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 8.7
7 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.4
8 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 7.7
9 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 7.7
10 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 7.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Martinez struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 2-1 win over the Dodgers. Martinez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season, rising from ninth to third in Box-Toppers player rankings. He ranks second among NL pitchers, behind Gerrit Cole of the Pirates (10.0).

American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Chi Chi Gonzalez pitched a complete game, three-hit shutout in the 4-0 win over the Royals. This was Gonzalez’ Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut May 30 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,490th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Batter of the Day—Adam Lind of the Brewers hit a three-run homer and drove in six total runs in the 10-5 win over the Twins. Lind also doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice.

American League Batter of the Day—Stephen Drew of the Yankees hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 8-7 win over the Angels.

Debut—J.T. Realmuto of the Marlins made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Realmuto (3B 4-4 R BI in the 6-2 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut June 5, 2014, and was playing in his 53rd career game. He is the 3,491st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Martinez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gonzalez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Lind and Drew each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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

6/5 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 Cardinals Carlos Martinez (W, 6-2) - - - - - - 7.0 3 1 1 4 11
BAT 6.0 Brewers Adam Lind DH 5 2 3 6 0 0 - - - - - -
AL 6.0 Rangers Chi Chi Gonzalez (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 9.0 3 0 0 2 2
5.0 Pirates Starling Marte LF 3 3 2 3 2 0 - - - - - -
5.0 `White Sox David Robertson - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.1 `Rays Jake Odorizzi - - - - - - 4.1 4 0 0 1 4
3.0 Dbacks A.J. Pollock CF 4 2 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Yankees Stephen Drew 2B, 3B 4 2 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Nationals Danny Espinosa 2B 4 2 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.1 Red Sox Wade Miley (W, 5-5) - - - - - - 7.1 6 2 2 1 6
2.0 Marlins J.T. Realmuto C 4 1 4 1 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Orioles Adam Jones CF 4 2 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Blue Jays Aaron Sanchez (W, 5-4) - - - - - - 8.0 6 2 1 0 3
2.0 Giants Santiago Casilla (S, 16) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 Padres Will Middlebrooks 3B 3 1 1 2 0 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Cubs' Arrieta tops players for Thursday, June 4; Mets' Harvey rises to 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Thursday, Mets pitcher Matt Harvey rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings. Plus, Torii Hunter of the Twins rose to 46th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 after earning AL Batter of the Day honors.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of June 4.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 11.4
2 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 10.0
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 9.0
4 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 9.0
5 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 8.7
6 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.4
7 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 7.7
8 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 7.7
9 Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 7.7
10 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 7.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Arrieta struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, in the 2-1 win over the Nationals.

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Zach Britton struck out three over 1 2/3 scoreless innings and picked up the save in the 3-2 win over the Astros.

American League Batter of the Day—Torii Hunter of the Twins hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-5 with two runs in the 8-4 win over the Red Sox.

Hunter earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 112.9 career Box-Toppers points. He rises to 46th place among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began, passing Kevin Brown (112.8 Box-Toppers points). Hunter’s 112.9 career Box-Toppers points ranks fifth among active batters currently in the AL. Hunter also has 5.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, third-most among AL batters, behind Prince Fielder (6.5) and Josh Donaldson (5.2).

National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day because no NL batters earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.

Rankings—Mets pitcher Matt Harvey rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Harvey (7IP 6H R 8K W in the 6-2 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.7 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL pitchers.

Notable—Rays pitcher Kevin Jepsen received a Box-Toppers point for the first time in more than five years after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Jepsen (1IP 0R 2K Sv in the 2-1 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point. The only other time in his career he received Box-Toppers points was July 31, 2009 with the Angels, when he was AL Player of the Day.

Scoring—Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Britton earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Hunter earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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

6/4 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 6.0 Cubs Jake Arrieta (W, 5-4) - - - - - - 6.0 6 1 1 0 8
5.0 Mets Matt Harvey (W, 6-3) - - - - - - 7.0 6 2 2 1 9
AL 4.2 Orioles Zach Britton (S, 14) - - - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 0 3
4.0 Athletics Jesse Hahn (W, 3-5) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 1 5
4.0 `Rangers Yovani Gallardo - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 0 2 4
4.0 Reds Aroldis Chapman (S, 10) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
BAT 3.0 Twins Torii Hunter DH 5 2 3 3 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Cardinals Michael Wacha (W, 8-1) - - - - - - 7.0 7 1 1 0 5
2.0 Rays Kevin Jepsen (S, 2) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 2
1.0 Indians Brandon Moss RF 3 1 1 2 1 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

White Sox' Sale tops players for Wednesday, June 3, rises to 6th in Box-Toppers player rankings

White Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth in season player rankings.

Also Wednesday, Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray and Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings. Plus, Blue Jays pitcher Mark Buehrle earned a Box-Toppers point in his 16th straight season.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of June 3.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 11.4
2 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 10.0
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 9.0
4 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 9.0
5 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 8.7
6 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.4
7 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 7.7
8 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 7.7
9 Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 7.7
10 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp phi nl 7.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Sale pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out 13, allowing three hits, in the 9-2 win over the Rangers. Sale earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.4 for the season. He rises to sixth among players in Box-Toppers player rankings, third among American League pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano allowed one run over seven innings, striking out six, in the 5-2 win over the Giants.

National League Batter of the Day—Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies hit a three-run homer and drove in five runs, going 2-for-3, in the 7-6 win over the Dodgers. Tulowitzki led all NL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2014 with 11.6 (despite playing just over half the season). Tulowitzki earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day Wednesday, his first points of the season.

American League Batter of the Day—Steven Souza Jr. of the Rays hit a three-run homer in the 6-5 win over the Angels.

Rankings—Two other players who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings for the season:

  • Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray (8IP 2H 0R 7K W in the 6-1 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.7 for the season, rising to eighth in player rankings. Gray ranks fifth among AL pitchers.
  • Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels (7IP 2R 8K ND in the 5-4 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season, rising to 10th in player rankings. Cole ranks fifth among NL pitchers. Hamels also rises to 37th place among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his point earned Wednesday, Hamels now has 117.8 career Box-Toppers points and passes two players on Box-Toppers “all-time” list—Barry Zito (117.4 Box-Toppers points) and Carlos Delgado (117.7 Box-Toppers points). Hamels now trails 36th-place player on the list, Justin Verlander (118.2 Box-Toppers points).

Streak—Blue Jays pitcher Mark Buehrle has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 16 straight seasons.

Buehrle was Player of the Game in Wednesday’s 8-0 win over the Nationals (CG 0R 6H 2K W) and earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.

Buehrle earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2000 with the White Sox. His best season was 2005 with the White Sox when he had 17.7 Box-Toppers points, second among AL pitchers. In 2014, he had 9.7 Box-Toppers points with the Blue Jays, 28th among AL pitchers.

Buehrle has 115.7 career Box-Toppers points, 41st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his point Wednesday, he passes Tim Lincecum (115.0 Box-Toppers points) on that list. He trails 40th-place player Todd Helton (116.4 Box-Toppers points).

Buehrle’s 115.7 career Box-Toppers points ranks seventh among active pitchers currently in the AL.

Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Astros pitcher Lance McCullers (CG 4H R 11K W in the 3-1 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut May 18 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,488th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Yasmany Tomas of the Diamondbacks (3-5 2R RBI in the 9-8 win over the Braves) made his Major League debut April 15 and was playing in his 38th career game. He is the 3,489th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Sale earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Liriano earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Tulowitzki and Souza each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/3 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 15.0 White Sox Chris Sale (W, 5-2) - - - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 2 13
14.0 Astros Lance McCullers (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 9.0 4 1 1 0 11
14.0 Twins Trevor May (W, 4-3) - - - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 0 9
12.0 Athletics Sonny Gray (W, 7-2) - - - - - - 8.0 2 0 0 1 7
11.0 Yankees Masahiro Tanaka (W, 3-1) - - - - - - 7.0 3 1 1 0 9
8.0 Red Sox Eduardo Rodriguez (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 7.0 2 1 1 2 7
NL 6.0 Pirates Francisco Liriano (W, 3-4) - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 1 6
BAT 5.0 Rockies Troy Tulowitzki SS 3 1 2 5 2 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Blue Jays Mark Buehrle (W, 7-4) - - - - - - 9.0 6 0 0 1 2
2.0 Royals Greg Holland (S, 8) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
2.0 `Phillies Cole Hamels - - - - - - 7.0 6 2 2 3 8
1.0 Dbacks Yasmany Tomas 3B 5 2 3 1 0 2 - - - - - -
1.0 Cardinals Matt Carpenter 3B 4 1 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Marlins Adeiny Hechavarria SS 4 2 2 1 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 1.0 Rays Steven Souza Jr. RF 4 1 1 3 0 1 - - - - - -
1.0 Padres Justin Upton LF 3 2 2 0 1 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Rays' Archer tops players for Tuesday, June 2, rises to 4th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Rays pitcher Chris Archer is Tuesday’s Player of the Day and rises to fourth in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of June 2.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 11.4
2 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 10.0
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 9.0
4 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 9.0
5 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 8.7
6 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 7.7
7 Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 7.7
8 Miller, Shelby 3134 pi sp atl nl 7.0
9 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 6.7
10 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 6.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Archer struck out 15 over eight innings, allowing one run on six hits, in the 6-1 win over the Angels. Archer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.0 for the season, moving up to fourth among all players this season and second among AL pitchers, behind Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (11.4 Box-Toppers points).

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out five in the 1-0 win over the Brewers.

American League Batter of the Day—Joey Gallo of the Rangers homered, doubled and went 3-for-4 with three runs and four RBIs in the 15-2 win over the White Sox. This was Gallo’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. It was also his Major League debut. He is the 3,485th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Batter of the Day—Alex Guerrero of the Dodgers hit a ninth-inning, go-ahead grand slam in the 9-8 win over the Dodgers.

Debuts—In addition to Gallo, two other players also made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Kevin Pillar of the Blue Jays (2HR 3-4 2R 4BI in the 7-3 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut Aug. 14, 2013, and was playing in his 142nd career game. He is the 3,486th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Cory Spangenberg of the Padres (3B 3-3 R BI in the 7-2 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2014, and was playing in his 66th career game. He is the 3,487th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Archer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lynn earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Gallo and Guerrero each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/2 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 15.0 Rays Chris Archer (W, 6-4) - - - - - - 8.0 6 1 1 0 15
11.0 Red Sox Clay Buchholz (W, 3-6) - - - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 2 8
NL 6.2 Cardinals Lance Lynn (W, 4-4) - - - - - - 7.2 5 0 0 1 5
BAT 6.0 Rangers Joey Gallo 3B 4 3 3 4 1 1 - - - - - -
6.0 Indians Carlos Carrasco (W, 7-4) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 2 8
5.0 Blue Jays Kevin Pillar CF 4 2 3 4 0 1 - - - - - -
BAT 5.0 Dodgers Alex Guerrero LF 1 1 1 4 0 0 - - - - - -
5.0 Nationals Jordan Zimmermann (W, 5-2) - - - - - - 8.0 6 0 0 1 4
4.0 `Athletics Evan Scribner (H, 6) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 Pirates Andrew McCutchen CF 5 2 4 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Yankees Garrett Jones PH, LF, RF 3 1 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Phillies Jonathan Papelbon (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 Astros Luke Gregerson (S, 15) - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 3
2.0 Rockies Michael McKenry C 4 1 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Marlins Marcell Ozuna CF 4 1 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Padres Cory Spangenberg 2B 3 1 3 1 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Dbacks Ender Inciarte LF 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.

Mets' deGrom tops players for Monday, June 1, rises to 4th in player rankings; Pirates' Cole rises to 2nd

Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Monday’s Player of the Day and rises to fourth in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Also Monday, Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole rises to second in Box-Toppers player rankings. Plus, two players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors—Albert Pujols of the Angels and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of June 1.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 11.4
2 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 10.0
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 9.0
4 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 8.7
5 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 7.7
6 Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 7.7
7 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 7.0
8 Miller, Shelby 3134 pi sp atl nl 7.0
9 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 6.7
10 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 6.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—deGrom pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out eight, in the 7-0 win over the Padres. deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season, rising to fourth in player rankings. He ranks third among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Will Harris pitched 1 2/3 innings of middle relief, allowing no runs and striking out two, in the 5-2 win over the Orioles.

American League Batter of the Day—Albert Pujols of the Angels hit two home runs and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-3 win over the Rays.

Pujols earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 169.8 points for his career, ranking seventh among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails sixth-place player Roy Halladay (170.7). Pujols ranks second among all batters in that time (behind Alex Rodriguez with 183.8). Pujols has 2.5 Box-Toppers points this season.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day for Monday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors.

Rankings—Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Cole (7IP 5H 2R 0ER 9K W in the 4-3 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He is the second player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points (Felix Hernandez has 11.4). Cole takes the lead among NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points, passing Max Scherzer of the Nationals (9.0).

Notable—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rises to 20th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when record keeping began) after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. 

Kershaw (7IP 5H 2R 7K W in the 11-4 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 138.6, passing Andy Pettitte (138.5) among all players since 1995. He now trails 19th-place player Jim Thome (146.7).

Kershaw now also has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season. While he’s not among the current season leaders, he is keeping pace with his Box-Toppers point total in 2014 when he led all players with 31.5 points. At this point in 2014, Kershaw also had 5.0 Box-Toppers points.

Scoring—deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Harris earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Pujols earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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

6/1 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 Mets Jacob deGrom (W, 6-4) - - - - - - 8.0 2 0 0 0 8
10.2 Cubs Jason Hammel (W, 4-2) - - - - - - 6.2 5 1 1 0 11
7.0 Pirates Gerrit Cole (W, 8-2) - - - - - - 7.0 5 2 0 2 9
6.0 Brewers Mike Fiers (W, 2-5) - - - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 2 6
4.0 Dodgers Clayton Kershaw (W, 4-3) - - - - - - 7.0 5 2 2 1 7
AL 3.2 Astros Will Harris (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 0 2
BAT 3.0 Angels Albert Pujols 1B 5 2 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Yankees Mark Teixeira 1B 3 1 1 4 1 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Braves Alex Wood (W, 4-2) - - - - - - 8.0 7 1 1 0 4

Cardinals' Martinez (7IP 0R H 8K) tops players for Sunday, May 31, rises to 5th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez is Sunday’s Player of the Day and rises to fifth in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.

Martinez pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out eight, in the 3-1 win over the Dodgers. Martinez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season. He ranks third among NL pitchers.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 31.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 11.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 9.0
3 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 9.0
4 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 7.7
5 Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 7.7
6 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 7.0
7 Miller, Shelby 3134 pi sp atl nl 7.0
8 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 6.7
9 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 6.7
10 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 6.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Jesse Chavez pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out six in the 3-0 win over the Yankees.

National League Batter of the Day—Martin Maldonado of the Brewers hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 17th inning in the 7-6 win over the Diamondbacks. Maldonado also hit two doubles, went 4-for-6, scored three times and drove in two runs.

American League Batter of the Day—Steven Souza Jr. of the Rays homered and hit two doubles, going 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-5 win over the Orioles.

Notable—Josh Hamilton of the Rangers earned Player of the Game honors for the second time in three days Sunday. Hamilton hit a pinch-hit, two-run, walk-off double in the 4-3 win over the Red Sox. Hamilton also earned AL Batter of the Day honors on May 29. Hamilton has 2.5 Box-Toppers points this season.

Scoring—Martinez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Chavez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Maldonado and Souza 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/31 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 Cardinals Carlos Martinez (W, 5-2) - - - - - - 7.0 1 0 0 3 8
AL 7.0 Athletics Jesse Chavez (W, 2-5) - - - - - - 8.0 7 0 0 0 6
5.0 `Indians Bryan Shaw - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 3
4.0 White Sox John Danks (W, 3-4) - - - - - - 9.0 10 0 0 1 6
3.2 `Cubs Tsuyoshi Wada - - - - - - 5.2 2 1 1 2 4
BAT 3.0 Brewers Martin Maldonado C 6 3 4 2 2 1 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Rays Steven Souza Jr. RF 5 2 3 3 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Reds Todd Frazier 3B 4 2 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Rockies DJ LeMahieu 2B 4 2 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Twins Brian Dozier 2B 4 3 3 0 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Rangers Josh Hamilton PH 1 0 1 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Braves Freddie Freeman 1B 1 1 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Padres Odrisamer Despaigne (W, 3-3) - - - - - - 8.0 7 1 1 1 4
2.0 Angels Joe Smith (W, 2-2) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.2 Mets Jeurys Familia (S, 15) - - - - - - 1.2 2 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.

Astros' Dallas Keuchel (CG 0R 11K) tops players for Saturday, May 30, rises to 4th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel is Saturday’s Player of the Day and rises to fourth in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 30.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 11.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 9.0
3 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 9.0
4 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 7.7
5 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 7.0
6 Miller, Shelby 3134 pi sp atl nl 7.0
7 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 6.7
8 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 6.7
9 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 6.7
10 Heston, Chris 3437 pi sp sf nl 6.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Keuchel pitched a complete game shutout, striking out 11 and allowing four hits, in the 3-0 win over the White Sox. Keuchel earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, rising to fourth in season player rankings. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (11.4 Box-Toppers points).

National League Player of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks hit two home runs, including a three-run homer, in the 7-3 win over the Brewers. Goldschmidt also went 3-for-5.

American League Batter of the Day—Jerry Sands of the Indians hit a two-run homer in the 4-3 win over the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall NL Player of the Day was a batter (Paul Goldschmidt).

Streak—Howie Kendrick of the Dodgers has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons. Kendrick was Player of the Game in Saturday’s 5-1 win over the Cardinals (2-3 2R BI) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.

Kendrick earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2006 with the Angels. His best year was 2009 with the Angels, when he had 5.5 Box-Toppers points. In 2014, he had 4.5 points with the Angels. Kendrick has 27.0 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks him fifth among active second basemen currently in the NL.

Debuts—Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Yankees pitcher Chasen Shreve (1.1IP 0R 4K W in the 5-3 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut July 19, 2014, and was playing in his 32nd career game. He is the 3,482nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Rockies pitcher Eddie Butler (6IP R 3K W in the 5-2 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut June 6, 2014, and was playing in his 13th career game. He is the 3,483rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Carlos Perez of the Angels (HR 2B 2-4 R 2BI in the 8-6 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut May 5 and was playing in his 14th career game. He is the 3,484th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Keuchel earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Goldschmidt earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Sands earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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

5/30 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 16.0 Astros Dallas Keuchel (W, 7-1) - - - - - - 9.0 4 0 0 0 11
10.0 Rays Erasmo Ramirez (W, 3-2) - - - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 1 7
5.1 Yankees Chasen Shreve (W, 2-1) - - - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 4
NL 4.0 Dbacks Paul Goldschmidt 1B 5 2 3 4 0 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Braves Juan Uribe 3B 4 3 3 2 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Reds Joey Votto 1B 3 2 2 2 1 0 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Indians Jerry Sands RF 1 1 1 2 1 0 - - - - - -
2.1 Marlins A.J. Ramos (S, 4) - - - - - - 1.1 1 0 0 0 2
2.0 Rangers Adam Rosales 1B 4 2 4 0 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Dodgers Howie Kendrick 2B 3 2 2 1 1 1 - - - - - -
2.0 `Pirates Charlie Morton (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 7.0 3 2 1 1 2
2.0 Rockies Eddie Butler (W, 3-5) - - - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 1 3
2.0 Twins Ryan Pressly (W, 2-1) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 Angels Carlos Perez C 4 1 2 2 0 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Mariners' Walker tops players for Friday, May 29; Athletics' Gray rises to 7th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker is Friday’s Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to seventh place in Box-Toppers player rankings. Plus, three pitchers with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Friday—Tim Hudson of the Giants, Dan Haren of the Marlins and John Lackey of the Cardinals.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 29.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 11.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 9.0
3 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 9.0
4 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 7.0
5 Miller, Shelby 3134 pi sp atl nl 7.0
6 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 6.7
7 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 6.7
8 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 6.7
9 Heston, Chris 3437 pi sp sf nl 6.7
10 Fielder, Prince 2029 dh tex al 6.5
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Walker pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits, in the 2-1 win over the Indians.

National League Player of the Day—Rockies pitcher Chad Bettis pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing two hits, in the 4-1 win over the Phillies. Bettis had a perfect game into the seventh inning and a no-hitter into the eighth inning, before giving up a one-out single.

This was Bettis’ Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut Aug. 1, 2013, and was playing in his 41st career game. He is the 3,481st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Josh Hamilton of the Rangers hit two home runs and scored three total runs in the 7-4 win over the Red Sox. It was Hamilton’s first Player of the Game honor of the season and the first since his return to the Rangers after two seasons with the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day for Friday because no NL batters earned Player of the Game honors.

Rankings—Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to seventh place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. Gray (8IP 4H 2R 5K W in the 6-2 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.7 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

Notable—Three players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

  • Giants pitcher Tim Hudson rose to 13th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. Hudson earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game in the 4-2 win over the Braves (7IP 5H R 4K W), giving him 155.0 career Box-Toppers points. Hudson passes Felix Hernandez (154.7) on that list and trails 12th-place player, Mike Mussina (155.6). Hudson has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
  • Marlins pitcher Dan Haren rose to 48th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. Haren earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game in the 4-3 win over the Mets (7IP 4H 2R 4K W), giving him 111.2 career Box-Toppers points. Haren passes Jon Lester (111.1) and Tom Glavine (110.6) on that list and trails 47th-place player Torii Hunter (111.4). Haren has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
  • Cardinals pitcher John Lackey rose to 59th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. Lackey earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game in the 3-0 win over the Dodgers (7IP 5H 0R 9K W), giving him 101.8 career Box-Toppers points. Lackey passes Jason Schmidt (101.2), Tim Wakefield (101.4) and Adam Wainwright (101.8) on that list and trails Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2). Lackey has 3.7 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Scoring—Walker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Bettis earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Hamilton earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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

5/29 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 Mariners Taijuan Walker (W, 2-5) - - - - - - 8.0 2 0 0 0 8
NL 13.0 Rockies Chad Bettis (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 8.0 2 0 0 0 7
10.0 Cardinals John Lackey (W, 3-3) - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 1 9
9.0 `Orioles Miguel Gonzalez - - - - - - 8.0 3 1 1 0 6
8.1 Angels Hector Santiago (W, 4-3) - - - - - - 7.1 3 0 0 3 7
BAT 4.0 Rangers Josh Hamilton LF 3 3 2 2 1 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Giants Tim Hudson (W, 3-4) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 0 4
3.0 White Sox Geovany Soto C 1 1 1 2 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Athletics Sonny Gray (W, 6-2) - - - - - - 8.0 4 2 2 2 5
3.0 Padres Craig Kimbrel (W, 1-1) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.2 Dbacks Addison Reed (W, 2-2) - - - - - - 1.2 1 0 0 0 2
2.0 Royals Lorenzo Cain CF 4 2 3 1 1 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Marlins Dan Haren (W, 5-2) - - - - - - 7.0 4 2 2 1 4
2.0 Reds Aroldis Chapman (S, 8) - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 2
1.0 Blue Jays Josh Donaldson 3B 5 1 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

San Francisco Giants rise to top Box-Toppers weekly team rankings

Giants rise from 5th to take top spot. Royals fall from 1st to 4th but still top AL teams. Pirates are hot team of the week.

Read More

White Sox' Sale tops players for Thursday, May 28; Giants' Heston rises to 8th in Box-Toppers player rankings

White Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Thursday’s Player of the Day.

Also Thursday, Giants pitcher Chris Heston rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.

Player of the Day—Sale pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out 12, allowing four hits, in the 3-2 win over the Orioles.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 28.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 11.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 9.0
3 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 9.0
4 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 7.0
5 Miller, Shelby 3134 pi sp atl nl 7.0
6 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 6.7
7 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 6.7
8 Heston, Chris 3437 pi sp sf nl 6.7
9 Fielder, Prince 2029 dh tex al 6.5
10 Harper, Bryce 3011 lf rf dc nl 6.5
What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Chris Heston pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing four hits, in the 7-0 win over the Braves.

Heston rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season. He earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 6.7 for the season. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates went 3-for-5 with two doubles, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 11-5 win over the Padres.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because no AL batters earned Player of the Game honors.

Debut—Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Rodriguez (7.2IP 3H 0R 7K W in the 5-1 win over the Rangers) was also making his Major League debut Thursday, playing in his first career game. He is the 3,480th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Sale earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Heston earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. McCutchen earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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

5/28 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 15.2 White Sox Chris Sale (W, 4-2) - - - - - - 7.2 4 0 0 0 12
9.2 Red Sox Eduardo Rodriguez (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 7.2 3 0 0 2 7
NL 8.1 Giants Chris Heston (W, 5-3) - - - - - - 7.1 4 0 0 1 6
6.0 Indians Corey Kluber (W, 3-5) - - - - - - 7.0 7 3 3 1 13
4.0 Angels C.J. Wilson (W, 3-3) - - - - - - 6.0 2 1 1 5 7
3.2 Athletics Evan Scribner (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 0 2
BAT 2.0 Pirates Andrew McCutchen CF 5 2 3 2 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Orioles Zach Britton (S, 13) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1

Nationals' Scherzer tops players for Wednesday, May 27, rises to 2nd in player rankings, Mariners' Hernandez extends Box-Toppers points lead

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Wednesday’s Player of the Day and rises to second in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 27.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 11.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 9.0
3 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 9.0
4 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 7.0
5 Miller, Shelby 3134 pi sp atl nl 7.0
6 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 6.7
7 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 6.7
8 Fielder, Prince 2029 dh tex al 6.5
9 Harper, Bryce 3011 lf rf dc nl 6.5
10 Price, David 2593 pi sp det al 6.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez maintained his overall Box-Toppers points lead, earning American League Player of the Day honors and becoming the first player in 2015 with 10.0 Box-Toppers points. Plus, despite earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday, Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole actually fell from second to third place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Player of the Day—Scherzer pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 13 and allowing five hits, in the 3-0 win over the Cubs.

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.0 for the season, rising to second in Box-Toppers player rankings and first among National League pitchers, passing Gerrit Cole of the Pirates. Both Scherzer and Cole have 9.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, but Scherzer holds the tiebreaker because he had more 2014 Box-Toppers points (22.1 vs. 5.7).

American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez pitched a complete game, four-hit shutout, striking out eight, in the 3-0 win over the Rays.

Hernandez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 11.4 for the season, extending his lead among players in Box-Toppers points for the season. Hernandez is the first player with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points this season. It is the seventh straight season Hernandez has had 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points in a season.

Hernandez now has 154.7 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 13th among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 12th-place player Mike Mussina (155.6).

American League Batter of the Day—Chris Davis of the Orioles hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 5-4 win over the Astros. It is Davis’s first Box-Toppers points of the season and the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors since his drug-related suspension at the end of 2014.

National League Batter of the Day—Will Middlebrooks of the Padres homered, doubled and drove in three runs in the 5-4 win over the Angels. Middlebrooks had a Box-Toppers game score of 2.0, tied with Nolan Arenado of the Rockies, who was Player of the Game Wednesday in the 6-4 win over the Reds. But Middlebrooks won the tiebreaker to earn NL Batter of the Day because he had two extra base hits (home run and double) while Arenado had one (home run).

Rankings—Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole was Player of the Game Wednesday in the 5-2 win over the Marlins (7IP 2R 7K W) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.0 for the season.

Cole actually fell in Box-Toppers player rankings from second to third, despite earning Box-Toppers points Wednesday, because he was passed by overall Player of the Day, Max Scherzer of the Nationals.

Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hernandez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Davis and Middlebrooks each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/27 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 Nationals Max Scherzer (W, 6-3) - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 1 13
AL 12.0 Mariners Felix Hernandez (W, 8-1) - - - - - - 9.0 4 0 0 1 8
8.0 Indians Carlos Carrasco (W, 6-4) - - - - - - 8.0 5 1 1 1 8
7.1 Mets Noah Syndergaard (W, 2-2) - - - - - - 7.1 6 0 0 0 6
5.2 Yankees Michael Pineda (W, 6-2) - - - - - - 6.2 6 1 1 1 8
BAT 3.0 Orioles Chris Davis 1B 4 2 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Tigers Yoenis Cespedes LF 3 1 2 3 1 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Twins Aaron Hicks CF 2 2 1 2 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Pirates Gerrit Cole (W, 7-2) - - - - - - 7.0 7 2 2 0 7
3.0 Giants Ryan Vogelsong (W, 4-2) - - - - - - 6.0 6 1 1 0 5
BAT 2.0 Padres Will Middlebrooks 3B 4 1 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Rockies Nolan Arenado 3B 4 1 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Braves Alex Wood (W, 3-2) - - - - - - 7.0 7 1 1 2 6
2.0 `White Sox Jeff Samardzija - - - - - - 7.0 8 1 0 1 5
1.2 Cardinals Seth Maness (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 0.2 0 0 0 0 1
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Dodgers' Kershaw tops players for Tuesday, May 26; Rangers' Fielder, Player of the Game 4 times in 5 days, rises to 8th in player rankings

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Tuesday’s Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 26.  


 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 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 6.7
7 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 6.7
8 Fielder, Prince 2029 dh tex al 6.5
9 Harper, Bryce 3011 lf rf dc nl 6.5
10 Price, David 2593 pi sp det al 6.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Prince Fielder of the Rangers earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day—and fourth time in five days—rising into Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings. Two other players who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday also rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings for the season—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom and Tigers pitcher David Price.

Player of the Day—Kershaw pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out 10, in the 8-0 win over the Braves.

Kershaw rises to 21st place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He now has 137.6 career Box-Toppers points and passes Bartolo Colon (136.4) on that list. He trails 20th-place player Andy Pettitte (138.5).

Kershaw led all players in 2014 with 31.5 Box-Toppers points, the fourth-highest single-season total in 20 seasons of Box-Toppers record keeping. Tuesday marked the first time this season he earned overall Player of the Day honors, something he did eight times last year. However, despite his high point total last season, he is not that far off his 2014 pace. At this point last season, he had 5.0 Box-Toppers points and had earned Player of the Day honors twice. With the 2.0 Box-Toppers points he earned Tuesday for being Player of the Day, he has 4.0 points this season and ranks 14th among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays hit two home runs, including a walk-off, three-run homer in the 10-9 win over the White Sox. Donaldson also doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring five times and driving in four.

National League Batter of the Day—Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals homered and went 2-for-3, driving in two runs, in the 6-4 win over the Diamondbacks.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day Tuesday since the overall AL Player of the Day was a batter (Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays).

Notable—Prince Fielder of the Rangers earned Player of the Game honors for the second time in as many days and the fourth time in five days, rising into Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings.

Fielder (3R-HR 2B 3-5 in the 4-3 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.5 for the season, rising to eighth place among all players. Fielder, who Monday rose to lead all AL batters in Box-Toppers points for 2015, now ranks ahead of all batters in baseball this season, passing Bryce Harper of the Nationals, who also has 6.5 points this season. (Harper ranks behind Fielder because he had fewer Box-Toppers points in 2014. Fielder had 1.0 point in 2014, Harper had 0.0.)

Fielder has earned 5.0 Box-Toppers points in the past five days:

Fielder has earned all 6.5 of his points in the past 14 days. He was AL Batter of the Day on May 13, the first time this season he earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.

Rankings—Two other player rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings after they earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday:

  • Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom rose to sixth place (7.1IP 6H 2R 9K ND in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Phillies), earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.7 for the season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.
  • Tigers pitcher David Price rose to 10th place (7IP 5H 0R W in the 1-0 win over the Athletics), earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.4 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

Debut—Reds pitcher Michael Lorenzen made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Lorenzen (7IP 2H R ND in the 2-1 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut April 29 and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,479th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Donaldson earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Grichuk earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/26 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 Dodgers Clayton Kershaw (W, 3-3) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 0 10
AL 9.0 Blue Jays Josh Donaldson 3B 4 5 4 4 1 0 - - - - - -
7.1 Yankees Adam Warren (W, 3-3) - - - - - - 6.1 2 1 1 0 5
6.1 `Mets Jacob deGrom - - - - - - 7.1 6 2 2 0 9
6.0 Mariners Kyle Seager 3B 5 2 3 6 0 0 - - - - - -
6.0 `Padres Odrisamer Despaigne - - - - - - 6.0 5 0 0 0 5
4.0 Tigers David Price (W, 4-1) - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 1 3
3.2 Pirates Jeff Locke (W, 3-2) - - - - - - 5.2 4 0 0 4 6
3.0 Twins Mike Pelfrey (W, 4-1) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 1 4
3.0 `Cubs Kyle Hendricks - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 2 4
3.0 `Reds Michael Lorenzen - - - - - - 7.0 2 1 1 3 3
3.0 Astros Luke Gregerson (S, 13) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Rangers Prince Fielder DH 5 1 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 2.0 Cardinals Randal Grichuk CF 3 1 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
1.1 `Giants Sergio Romo - - - - - - 1.1 1 0 0 0 1
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Blue Jays' Hutchison tops players for Monday, May 25; Rangers' Fielder now leads AL batters in Box-Toppers points

Blue Jays pitcher Drew Hutchison is Monday’s Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 25.  


 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
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Monday, Prince Fielder of the Rangers earned Player of the Game honors for the third time in four days and takes the Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters. In addition, Nolan Arenado of the Rockies earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day and Angels pitcher Jered Weaver rose to 34th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995.

Player of the Day—Hutchison pitched a complete game shutout, striking out eight and allowing four hits, in the 6-0 win over the White Sox.

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out eight in the 3-2, 10-inning win over the Diamondbacks. Martinez did not earn the win, picking up a no decision. After he exited, the Diamondbacks tied the game 2-2 before the Cardinals won 3-2 in the bottom of the 10th.

American League Batter of the Day—Rangers pitcher Prince Fielder homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 10-8 win over the Indians. It is the third time in four days Fielder has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He was also Player of the Game Friday, May 22 and AL Batter of the Day Saturday, May 23. 

Fielder earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day Monday and has earned 4.0 Box-Toppers points over the four-day period. He has 5.5 Box-Toppers points for the season and now leads all AL batters, passing Colby Rasmus of the Astros (5.0 Box-Toppers points). He ranks 14th in Box-Toppers points among all players this season.

National League Batter of the Day—Norichika Aoki of the Giants homered and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-4 win over the Brewers.

Notable—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Monday. Arenado (HR 3-4 R 3BI in the 5-4 win over the Reds) was also NL Batter of the Day Monday, May 25. Arenado now has 4.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, ranking sixth among NL batters.

Rankings—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver rises to 34th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. Weaver was Player of the Game in the 4-3 win over the Padres (6.2IP 6H R 7K ND) and earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 119.4 for his career. He passes Cliff Lee (119.1 Box-Toppers points) on the list of players since 1995 and now trails the 33rd-place player, Gary Sheffield (124.1). Weaver’s 119.4 career Box-Toppers points ranks fourth among active pitchers currently in the AL. Weaver has 4.0 Box-Toppers points for the season and ranks 14th among AL pitchers for 2015.

Scoring—Hutchison earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Martinez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Fielder and Aoki each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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

5/25 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 Blue Jays Drew Hutchison (W, 4-1) - - - - - - 9.0 4 0 0 0 8
9.0 Athletics Jesse Hahn (W, 2-4) - - - - - - 9.0 4 0 0 1 5
NL 8.0 `Cardinals Carlos Martinez - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 2 8
5.0 Orioles Brad Brach (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 3
4.2 `Angels Jered Weaver - - - - - - 6.2 6 1 1 1 7
BAT 4.0 Rangers Prince Fielder DH 5 3 3 3 0 1 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 Giants Norichika Aoki LF 4 2 4 2 1 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Yankees Brett Gardner LF 4 3 2 3 1 2 - - - - - -
4.0 Pirates Francisco Cervelli C 2 1 2 3 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Rockies Nolan Arenado 3B 4 1 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Dodgers Alex Guerrero PH 1 1 1 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Mets Jeurys Familia (S, 14) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Nationals Tanner Roark (W, 1-2) - - - - - - 5.0 3 1 1 1 3
1.2 Twins Ricky Nolasco (W, 5-1) - - - - - - 7.2 7 2 2 0 5
1.0 Mariners Roenis Elias (W, 2-1) - - - - - - 6.0 6 1 1 3 6
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Twins' Gibson (8IP R 8K), Braves' Foltynewicz (7.2IP R 7K) top players for Sunday, May 23

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.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 24.  


 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
What are those numbers after players' names?

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.

Top player from each game

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 - - - - - -