Rangers' Lewis tops players for Friday, May 20; Cubs' Arrieta rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers rankings

Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 20:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 10.0
2 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
3 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
4 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 8.0
5 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 7.7
6 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 6.7
7 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 6.4
8 Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 6.1
9 Velasquez, Vince 3611 pi sp phi nl 6.0
10 Price, David 2593 pi sp bos al 5.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Friday, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings, Manny Machado of the Orioles extended his Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters and Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia extended his career Box-Toppers points lead among all active pitchers.

Player of the Day—Lewis pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out six, in the 2-1 win over the Astros.

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Steven Matz struck out eight over seven innings, allowing two runs and three hits, in the 3-2 win over the Brewers.

Matz earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 6.7 for the season, rising to sixth in season player rankings, fourth among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Dae-Ho Lee of the Mariners homered and went 2-for-2, driving in three runs, in the 8-3 win over the Reds.

National League Batter of the Day—Christian Bethancourt of the Padres hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the 7-6 win over the Dodgers.

Rankings—Besides Matz, two other players in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

  • Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (7IP 4H R 8K W in the 8-1 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season and rising to second place in player rankings, trailing only Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (10.0).
  • Manny Machado of the Orioles (HR 2-4 2R BI in the 9-4 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.7 for the season, maintaining his rank of fifth place among all players and his rank of first among AL batters. He is the only batter among the top 10 players. Also, his 7.7 Box-Toppers points this season is already better than the 7.5 he earned in all of 2015 (his previous best year), when he finished the season ranked 18th among AL batters.

Streak—Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Bautista (HR 2-5 2R 3BI in the 9-3 win over the Twins) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Pirates and has 62.9 career points, 12th among active AL batters and second among active AL outfielders. His best year was 2010 with the Blue Jays when he led AL batters with 15.2 points. In 2015, he had 10.0 points with the Blue Jays, sixth among AL batters.

Notable—Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, the active leader among pitchers in career Box-Toppers points, earned Player of the Game honors Friday.

Sabathia (6IP 3H R 8K W in the 8-3 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 181.0 career Box-Toppers points. He ranks fifth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, behind teammate Alex Rodriguez (187.0), and first among active pitchers. Sabathia has 2.0 points for the season.

Scoring—Lewis earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Matz earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Lee and Bethancourt each earn 1.5 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

5/20 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 Rangers Colby Lewis (W,3-0) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 0 6
NL 8.0 Mets Steven Matz (W,6-1) - - - - - - 7.0 3 2 2 0 8
8.0 Yankees CC Sabathia (W,3-2) - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 1 8
7.0 Cubs Jake Arrieta (W,8-0) - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 2 8
4.2 Braves Matt Wisler (W,2-3) - - - - - - 6.2 5 1 1 2 7
BAT 4.0 Mariners Dae-Ho Lee, PH-1B 2 1 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.2 Nationals Tanner Roark (W,3-3) - - - - - - 6.2 6 1 1 2 7
BAT 3.0 Padres Christian Bethancourt, PH 1 1 1 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Royals Dillon Gee (W,1-1) - - - - - - 5.0 4 1 1 1 5
3.0 Indians Cody Allen (S,10) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 3
2.0 Blue Jays Jose Bautista, RF 5 2 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Dbacks Chris Herrmann, C 4 1 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Orioles Manny Machado, SS 4 3 2 1 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Rays Alex Colome (S,11) - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 2
1.0 `Pirates Tony Watson (H,10) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 1
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7 37.8 65.5 68.5 -20.4
Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 7.7 15.2 18.7 18.7 0.2
Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 6.7 10.2 10.2 10.2 3.2
Lewis, Colby 1567 pi sp tex al 4.7 12.4 30.6 42.0 -3.0
Colome, Alex 3189 pi cp tb al 4.0 9.0 12.7 12.7 -1.0
Roark, Tanner 3261 pi sp dc nl 4.0 5.0 20.0 20.0 3.0
Lee, Dae-Ho 3627 1b ph sea al 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5
Sabathia, C.C. 1492 pi sp nyy al 2.0 7.7 42.5 181.0 -3.7
Allen, Cody 3265 pi mr cp cle al 2.0 6.0 11.0 11.0 -2.0
Wisler, Matt 3522 pi sp atl nl 2.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 -1.0
Bethancourt, Christian 3407 ca ph sd nl 1.5 2.5 3.5 3.5 0.5
Bautista, Jose 2169 rf tor al 1.0 11.0 35.7 62.9 -9.0
Gee, Dillon 2808 pi sp kc al 1.0 2.0 28.8 29.8 0.0
Watson, Tony 3215 pi mr pit nl 1.0 2.0 5.0 5.0 0.0
Herrmann, Chris 3196 ca ari nl 1.0 1.0 5.5 5.5 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

White Sox' Sale tops players for Thursday, May 19, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

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

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 19:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 10.0
2 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
3 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 8.0
4 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 7.7
5 Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 6.7
6 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 6.4
7 Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 6.1
8 Velasquez, Vince 3611 pi sp phi nl 6.0
9 Price, David 2593 pi sp bos al 5.7
10 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 5.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Sale pitched a complete game, allowing one run and four hits, striking out nine, in the 2-1 win over the Astros. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season, rising to second in season player rankings, trailing only Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (10.0). Sale also extends his Box-Toppers points lead among American League players.

National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija allowed one run over eight innings, allowing three hits and striking out eight, in the 3-1 win over the Padres.

National League Batter of the Day—Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals hit a three-run homer, doubled twice and drove in six runs, in the 13-7 win over the Rockies. Carpenter went 3-for-5 and scored twice.

American League Batter of the Day—Mike Trout of the Angels homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-4 win over the Dodgers.

Notable—Thursday marked the first time this season that all of the Players of the Games had already earned Player of the Game honors at least once this season. In other words, none of Thursday’s Players of the Games were making their Box-Toppers season debut and already had at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2016. (See the chart below, Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players, for details.)

Scoring—Sale earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Samardzija earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Carpenter and Trout each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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

5/19 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 White Sox Chris Sale (W,9-0) - - - - - - 9.0 4 1 1 0 9
NL 11.0 Giants Jeff Samardzija (W,6-2) - - - - - - 8.0 3 1 1 0 8
10.0 `Blue Jays Marco Estrada - - - - - - 8.0 3 2 1 1 9
7.0 Nationals Stephen Strasburg (W,7-0) - - - - - - 6.0 6 1 1 1 10
BAT 6.0 Cardinals Matt Carpenter, 1B 5 2 3 6 0 1 - - - - - -
4.2 Indians Josh Tomlin (W,6-0) - - - - - - 7.2 5 2 2 1 7
BAT 4.0 Angels Mike Trout, CF 3 2 2 3 1 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Brewers Junior Guerra (W,3-0) - - - - - - 7.0 5 3 3 3 11
4.0 Mariners Nathan Karns (W,4-1) - - - - - - 5.0 4 1 1 0 5
3.0 Yankees Ivan Nova (W,3-1) - - - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 0 3
2.0 Pirates John Jaso, 1B 4 2 3 1 1 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7 27.5 79.7 81.7 -10.1
Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 4.7 18.7 64.8 72.5 -9.3
Trout, Mike 2949 cf ana al 4.5 16.5 41.0 41.0 -7.5
Jaso, John 2705 1b pit nl 4.0 4.0 9.0 15.0 4.0
Samardzija, Jeff 2495 pi sp sf nl 3.7 13.1 41.8 42.8 -5.7
Estrada, Marco 2847 pi sp tor al 3.0 11.0 35.1 35.1 -5.0
Karns, Nathan 3414 pi sp sea al 3.0 8.0 9.0 9.0 -2.0
Tomlin, Josh 2771 pi sp cle al 3.0 7.7 20.4 22.4 -1.7
Carpenter, Matt 2987 3b 1b stl nl 2.5 8.0 22.5 22.5 -3.0
Nova, Ivan 2796 pi sp mr nyy al 2.0 3.0 24.1 25.1 1.0
Guerra, Junior 3633 pi sp mil nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Giants' Cueto tops players for Wednesday, May 18, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to second place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 18:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 10.0
2 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 8.0
3 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 7.7
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 6.7
5 Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 6.7
6 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 6.4
7 Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 6.1
8 Velasquez, Vince 3611 pi sp phi nl 6.0
9 Price, David 2593 pi sp bos al 5.7
10 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 5.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Cueto pitched a complete game, allowing one run, four hits and striking out eight, in the 2-1 win over the Padres.

Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season, rising to second in season player rankings, behind overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (10.0).

American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Nathan Eovaldi allowed one run and one hit over six innings, striking out five, in the 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks.

American League Batter of the Day—Matt Wieters of the Orioles homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-2 win over the Mariners.

Wieters had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 and won AL Batter of the Day honors on a tiebreaker over Ian Kinsler of the Tigers, who had an identical game score and nearly identical batting line. Kinsler was Player of the Game in the 6-3 win over the Twins (HR 3-4 2R 2BI). Wieters beat Kinsler because he had two extra base hits (a home run and a double) while Kinsler had one (home run).

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

Rankings—In addition to Cueto, two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

  • Athletics pitcher Rich Hill (6IP 3H R 6K W in the 8-1 win over the Rangers) rises to sixth place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.4 for the season. Hill ranks second among AL pitchers.
  • Red Sox pitcher David Price (7.1IP 5H 2R 5K W in the 5-2 win over the Royals) rises to ninth place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.7 for the season. Price ranks fourth among AL pitchers.

Notable—Two players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points also won Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

  • Cubs pitcher John Lackey (6IP 4H R 5K ND in the 13-inning, 2-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 112.5 for his career. He ranks 50th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began and trails 49th-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8). Lackey has 4.7 points for the season.
  • Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (6.2IP 6H 0R 5K W in the 2-0 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 104.3 for his career. He rises to 60th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” list. He trails 59th-ranked player, Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (104.3). (Beltre is ranked ahead of Wainwright on a tiebreaker because he had more 2015 Box-Toppers points—12.5 vs. 3.0.) Wainwright has 2.5 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Scoring—Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Eovaldi earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Wieters earns 1.5 points for being AL 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

5/18 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 Giants Johnny Cueto (W, 6-1) - - - - - - 9.0 4 1 1 2 8
AL 8.0 Yankees Nathan Eovaldi (W,4-2) - - - - - - 6.0 1 1 1 0 5
6.0 Athletics Rich Hill (W,6-3) - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 1 6
5.2 Braves Julio Teheran (W,1-4) - - - - - - 7.2 5 0 0 0 3
4.2 Cardinals Adam Wainwright (W,4-3) - - - - - - 6.2 6 0 0 1 5
4.1 Rays Alex Colome (S,10) - - - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 3
4.0 Indians Cody Allen (W,1-3) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.2 `Royals Ian Kennedy - - - - - - 5.2 6 2 2 1 9
3.1 Nationals Gio Gonzalez (W,3-1) - - - - - - 6.1 5 1 1 1 5
BAT 3.0 Orioles Matt Wieters, C 4 2 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Tigers Ian Kinsler, 2B 4 2 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Angels Mike Trout, CF 4 3 3 1 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Astros Jason Castro, C 3 3 2 1 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 `Cubs John Lackey - - - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 2 5
2.1 Red Sox David Price (W,6-1) - - - - - - 7.1 5 2 2 1 5
2.0 Phillies Jeanmar Gomez (S,16) - - - - - - 1.0 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.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 8.0 20.8 72.0 91.4 -4.8
Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 6.4 10.4 10.4 30.1 2.4
Price, David 2593 pi sp bos al 5.7 26.8 82.8 99.5 -15.4
Kennedy, Ian 2723 pi sp kc al 5.0 11.7 55.5 61.5 -1.7
Lackey, John 1640 pi sp chi nl 4.7 14.4 34.1 112.5 -5.0
Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 pi sp nyy al 3.7 5.7 22.8 22.8 1.7
Trout, Mike 2949 cf ana al 3.0 15.0 39.5 39.5 -9.0
Colome, Alex 3189 pi cp tb al 3.0 8.0 11.7 11.7 -2.0
Kinsler, Ian 2144 2b det al 2.5 9.0 28.2 58.6 -4.0
Wainwright, Adam 2150 pi sp stl nl 2.5 5.5 53.6 104.3 -0.5
Gonzalez, Gio 2626 pi sp dc nl 2.0 11.7 68.8 82.5 -7.7
Teheran, Julio 3176 pi sp atl nl 2.0 9.7 37.8 37.8 -5.7
Gomez, Jeanmar 2759 pi cp phi nl 2.0 2.0 7.0 9.0 2.0
Wieters, Matt 2643 ca bal al 1.5 2.5 20.5 26.2 0.5
Allen, Cody 3265 pi mr cp cle al 1.0 5.0 10.0 10.0 -3.0
Castro, Jason 2743 ca hou al 1.0 1.0 7.5 8.5 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Giants' Bumgarner tops players for Tuesday, May 17; Kershaw extends Box-Toppers points lead

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 17:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 10.0
2 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 7.7
3 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 6.7
4 Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 6.7
5 Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 6.1
6 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 6.0
7 Velasquez, Vince 3611 pi sp phi nl 6.0
8 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 5.7
9 De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 pi sp ari nl 5.7
10 Nola, Aaron 3569 pi sp phi nl 5.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extended his lead in Box-Toppers player rankings and Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke became the 18th player since 1995 with 150 or more career Box-Toppers points.

Player of the Day—Bumgarner pitched a complete game five-hitter, allowing one run and striking out 11, in the 5-1 win over the Padres.

Bumgarner had a Box-Toppers game score of +13.0, tied with Kershaw’s Tuesday game score, but Bumgarner won overall Player of the Game honors on a tiebreaker because he had more innings pitched—9 vs. 8.

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Danny Salazar struck out eight over 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 13-1 win over the Reds.

Salazar earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 6.1 for the season, rising to fifth in season player rankings, second among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the White Sox (6.7).

American League Batter of the Day—Khris Davis of the Athletics hit three home runs, including a walk-off grand slam, in the 8-5 win over the Rangers. Davis went 3-for-5 with six total RBIs.

National League Batter of the Day—John Jaso of the Pirates doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 12-9 win over the Braves.

All-time leaders

Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Randy Johnson pi sp retired 278.8
2 Pedro Martinez pi sp retired 244.8
3 Curt Schilling pi sp retired 194.1
4 Alex Rodriguez dh nyy al 187.0
5 CC Sabathia pi sp nyy al 180.0
6 Albert Pujols 1b dh ana al 176.3
7 Roy Halladay pi sp retired 170.7
8 Clayton Kershaw pi sp lad nl 169.3
9 Manny Ramirez lf dh retired 167.2
10 Johan Santana pi sp free agent 166.6
11 Roger Clemens pi sp retired 164.8
12 Felix Hernandez pi sp sea al 163.7
13 John Smoltz pi sp retired 160.9
14 Tim Hudson pi sp retired 157.0
15 Mike Mussina pi sp retired 155.6
16 Barry Bonds lf retired 153.2
17 Greg Maddux pi sp retired 151.7
18 Zack Greinke pi sp ari nl 150.4
19 Chipper Jones 3b retired 149.0
20 Javier Vazquez pi sp retired 148.3
List of top 100 players since 1995 (through the 2015 season)

Kershaw—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extended his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Kershaw (8IP 4H R 11K W in the 5-1 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. Kershaw is the first player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and it is the eighth straight season in which he has earned 10 or more points.

Kershaw also now has 169.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of eighth place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails seventh-place player Roy Halladay (170.7).

Greinke—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke becomes the 18th player with 150 or more Box-Toppers points since 1995, when player tracking began, after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Greinke (7IP 5H 3R 7K W in the 5-3 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 150.4 career points. He maintains his rank of 18th place on the “all-time” Box-Toppers points list, trailing 17th-ranked player Greg Maddux (151.7). Greinke has 4.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Rankings—Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Velasquez (5IP 3H 0R 10K W in the 3-1 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

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

  • Tyler White of the Astros (2HR 2B 3-4 2R 2BI in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut April 5 and was playing in his 35th career game. He is the 3,638th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Kyle Ryan of the Tigers (1.2IP 0H 0R K W in the 7-2 win over the Twins) made his Major League debut Aug. 30, 2014, and was playing in his 38th career game. He is the 3,639th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Salazar earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Davis and Jaso each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/17 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 Giants Madison Bumgarner (W,5-2) - - - - - - 9.0 5 1 1 0 11
13.0 Dodgers Clayton Kershaw (W,6-1) - - - - - - 8.0 4 1 1 0 11
12.0 Mets Noah Syndergaard (W,4-2) - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 0 10
10.0 Phillies Vince Velasquez (W,5-1) - - - - - - 5.0 3 0 0 2 10
AL 7.1 Indians Danny Salazar (W,4-2) - - - - - - 7.1 5 1 1 1 8
BAT 7.0 Athletics Khris Davis, LF 5 3 3 6 0 2 - - - - - -
7.0 Mariners Nelson Cruz, DH 3 2 3 5 1 0 - - - - - -
6.2 Brewers Chase Anderson (W,2-5) - - - - - - 8.2 3 2 2 1 6
5.0 Royals Paulo Orlando, RF 4 2 3 4 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Astros Tyler White, 1B 4 2 3 2 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Rays Kevin Kiermaier, CF 4 3 3 1 1 0 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Pirates John Jaso, 1B 3 1 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Dbacks Zack Greinke (W,4-3) - - - - - - 7.0 5 3 3 0 7
2.2 Tigers Kyle Ryan (W,1-1) - - - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 0 1
1.2 Rockies Chad Bettis (W,4-2) - - - - - - 6.2 5 1 1 2 4

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 10.0 35.7 135.8 169.3 -15.7
Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 6.1 19.5 28.9 28.9 -7.3
Velasquez, Vince 3611 pi sp phi nl 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0
Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 5.0 22.0 92.0 97.7 -12.0
Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 5.0 15.4 15.4 15.4 -5.4
Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 4.0 24.7 89.8 150.4 -16.7
Bettis, Chad 3481 pi sp col nl 3.7 9.1 9.1 9.1 -1.7
Anderson, Chase 3328 pi sp mil nl 3.0 7.0 12.0 12.0 -1.0
Jaso, John 2705 1b ca pit nl 3.0 3.0 8.0 14.0 3.0
Cruz, Nelson 2224 dh rf sea al 2.0 4.0 29.7 49.2 0.0
Davis, Khris 3242 lf oak al 1.5 5.5 11.5 11.5 -2.5
Kiermaier, Kevin 3373 cf tb al 1.0 2.0 4.5 4.5 0.0
Orlando, Paulo 3526 rf kc al 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Ryan, Kyle 3639 pi mr det al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
White, Tyler 3638 1b hou al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Pirates' Joyce tops players for Monday, May 16; Rays' Jennings tops AL players

Matt Joyce of the Pirates is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 16:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 9.0
2 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 7.7
3 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 6.7
4 Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 6.7
5 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 6.0
6 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 5.7
7 De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 pi sp ari nl 5.7
8 Nola, Aaron 3569 pi sp phi nl 5.7
9 Davis, Chris 2478 1b bal al 5.5
10 Santiago, Hector 3109 pi sp ana al 5.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Joyce homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-5 win over the Braves.

American League Player of the Day—Desmond Jennings of the Rays homered and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 13-2 win over the Blue Jays.

American League and National League Batters of the Day—There are no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day for Monday because the overall Player of the Day is NL batter Matt Joyce and the overall AL Player of the Day is AL batter Desmond Jennings. In fact, most of Monday’s Players of the Games are batters—only one of eight is a pitcher.

Notable—Albert Pujols of the Angels, who ranks sixth among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, now has 176.3 points after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Pujols (3-4 3BI in the 7-6 win over the Dodgers) trails the fifth-ranked player on the “all-time” Box-Toppers points list, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (180.0). Pujols ranks second among all batters since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began), behind Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees (187.0). Pujols has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Debut—Athletics pitcher Sean Manaea made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Manaea (6.2IP 4H R 3K W in the 3-1 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut April 29 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,637th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Joyce earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Jennings earns 1.7 points for being AL Player 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

5/16 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 4.0 Pirates Matt Joyce, RF 4 2 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
AL 3.0 Rays Desmond Jennings, LF 5 2 3 3 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Indians Marlon Byrd, RF 5 3 3 2 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Dbacks Jake Lamb, 3B 4 1 3 3 1 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Tigers J.D. Martinez, RF 4 2 3 2 1 0 - - - - - -
2.2 Athletics Sean Manaea (W,1-1) - - - - - - 6.2 4 1 1 1 3
2.0 Angels Albert Pujols, 1B 4 0 3 3 1 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Marlins Ichiro Suzuki, PH 0 1 0 0 1 0 - - - - - -

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Byrd, Marlon 1751 rf cle al 2.5 7.5 16.5 41.0 -2.5
Martinez, J.D. 2922 rf det al 2.5 4.2 14.2 14.2 0.8
Lamb, Jake 3517 3b ari nl 2.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 1.5
Pujols, Albert 1438 1b dh ana al 2.0 9.0 39.0 176.3 -5.0
Suzuki, Ichiro 1467 rf ph fla nl 2.0 3.0 10.5 53.7 1.0
Joyce, Matt 2480 lf rf dh pit nl 2.0 2.0 18.2 27.7 2.0
Jennings, Desmond 2919 lf tb al 1.7 1.7 11.2 11.2 1.7
Manaea, Sean 3637 pi sp oak al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Pirates' Cole tops players for Sunday, May 15; Beltran becomes 69th player to 100 career Box-Toppers points

Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 15:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 9.0
2 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 7.7
3 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 6.7
4 Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 6.7
5 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 6.0
6 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 5.7
7 De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 pi sp ari nl 5.7
8 Nola, Aaron 3569 pi sp phi nl 5.7
9 Davis, Chris 2478 1b bal al 5.5
10 Santiago, Hector 3109 pi sp ana al 5.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Sunday, Carlos Beltran of the Yankees becomes the 69th player with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points (since player tracking began in 1995).

Player of the Day—Cole struck out seven over eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 2-1 win over the Cubs.

American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Hector Santiago pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out five, in the 3-0 win over the Mariners.

Santiago earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 5.4 for the season, rising to 10th place in season player rankings. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Danny Valencia of the Athletics hit three home runs, including a go-ahead two-run homer in the ninth, in the 7-6 win over the Rays. Valencia went 3-for-5 with five total RBIs.

National League Batter of the Day—Jay Bruce of the Reds doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times, in the 9-4 win over the Phillies.

Notable—Carlos Beltran of the Yankees becomes the 69th player—and 26th batter—with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Beltran (HR 1-3 2R 3BI in the 7-5 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 100.9 for his career. He rises to 66th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when player tracking began), passing three players on the “all-time” list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Paul Konerko (100.7). Beltran now trails 65th-ranked player Jason Schmidt (101.2). Beltran has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Debut—Tigers pitcher Warwick Saupold made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Saupold (2.2IP 2H 0R 4K W in the 6-5 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut May 14 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,636th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. He is the only player among the 3,636 to be named “Warwick.”

Scoring—Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Santiago earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Valencia and Bruce each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/15 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 Pirates Gerrit Cole (W,4-3) - - - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 0 7
AL 10.0 Angels Hector Santiago (W,3-2) - - - - - - 8.0 2 0 0 1 5
9.0 Marlins Jose Fernandez (W,5-2) - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 3 11
BAT 6.0 Athletics Danny Valencia, 3B 5 3 3 5 0 2 - - - - - -
6.0 Twins Tyler Duffey (W,1-2) - - - - - - 7.0 6 0 0 1 6
5.1 `Brewers Zach Davies - - - - - - 6.1 3 2 2 0 6
5.0 Red Sox Ryan Hanigan, C 4 2 3 4 0 0 - - - - - -
5.0 `Royals Danny Duffy - - - - - - 3.0 1 0 0 2 5
3.0 Rangers Ian Desmond, CF 4 1 2 4 0 1 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Reds Jay Bruce, RF 3 3 3 0 2 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Yankees Carlos Beltran, DH 3 2 1 3 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Rockies Ryan Raburn, PH 1 1 1 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.2 Tigers Warwick Saupold (W,1-0) - - - - - - 2.2 2 0 0 2 4
2.0 Cardinals Yadier Molina, PH-C 2 1 1 2 0 1 - - - - - -
1.0 Giants Hunter Strickland (W,2-0) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 0
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Santiago, Hector 3109 pi sp ana al 5.4 13.4 25.8 25.8 -2.6
Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 5.0 9.7 35.7 35.7 0.3
Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 3.0 22.0 32.4 32.4 -16.0
Desmond, Ian 2673 cf lf tex al 3.0 4.0 19.7 26.2 2.0
Valencia, Danny 2772 3b oak al 2.5 6.0 8.0 11.0 -1.0
Bruce, Jay 2453 rf cin nl 2.5 5.7 25.7 52.8 -0.7
Beltran, Carlos 1194 rf dh nyy al 2.0 5.5 22.9 100.9 -1.5
Duffy, Danny 2915 pi sp kc al 1.0 5.0 20.0 20.0 -3.0
Duffey, Tyler 3558 pi sp min al 1.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 -3.0
Davies, Zach 3581 pi sp mil nl 1.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 -2.0
Raburn, Ryan 2340 dh rf ph col nl 1.0 3.0 18.7 36.7 -1.0
Hanigan, Ryan 2708 ca bos al 1.0 2.5 8.0 11.0 -0.5
Molina, Yadier 1967 ca stl nl 1.0 2.0 14.7 31.7 0.0
Strickland, Hunter 3546 pi mr sf nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Saupold, Warwick 3636 pi mr det al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Rays' Andriese tops players for Saturday, May 14; Cubs' Arrieta rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers rankings

Rays pitcher Matt Andriese is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 14:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 9.0
2 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 7.7
3 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 6.7
4 Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 6.7
5 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 6.0
6 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 5.7
7 De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 pi sp ari nl 5.7
8 Nola, Aaron 3569 pi sp phi nl 5.7
9 Davis, Chris 2478 1b bal al 5.5
10 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 5.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta rose to second in Box-Toppers season player rankings and David Ortiz of the Red Sox extended his consecutive season streak earning Box-Toppers points to 17.

Player of the Day—Andriese pitched a complete game two-hit shutout, striking out five, in the 6-0 win over the Athletics.

National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing two runs and three hits, in the 8-2 win over the Pirates.

Arrieta earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season and rising from fourth to second in season player rankings, trailing Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (9.0).

American League Batter of the Day—Jonathan Schoop of the Orioles hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the 9-3 win over the Tigers. Schoop went 2-for-3 with five total RBIs.

National League Batter of the Day—Marcell Ozuna of the Marlins tripled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-1 win over the Nationals.

Rankings—Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Nola (7IP 5H 2R 9K W in the 4-3 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.7 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL pitchers.

Box-Toppers season streaks

Here are the players who have earned Box-Toppers points in the most consecutive seasons. Jason Giambi earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 19 straight seasons from 1995 to 2013, more than any other player. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.) Players are listed by duration of their streak. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.

Streak Player Pos Duration Career
BTP
1 19 Jason Giambi 1b 1995-2013 133.4
2 18 Jim Thome 1b dh 1995-2012 146.7
2 18 Chipper Jones 3b 1995-2012 149.0
2 18 Johnny Damon lf 1995-2012 63.0
2 18 Alex Rodriguez dh 1996-2013 187.0
2 18 Carlos Beltran* rf 1999-2016 99.9
7 17 Mariano Rivera pi cp 1995-2011 126.4
7 17 Derek Jeter ss 1996-2012 76.4
7 17 Paul Konerko 1b 1998-2014 100.7
7 17 Tim Hudson pi sp 1999-2015 157.0
7 17 Torii Hunter cf 1999-2015 115.9
7 17 David Ortiz* dh 2000-2016 138.9
13 16 Manny Ramirez lf 1995-2010 167.2
13 16 Andy Pettitte pi sp 1995-2010 138.5
13 16 Jamie Moyer pi sp 1995-2010 104.0
13 16 Scott Rolen 3b 1996-2011 97.6
13 16 Kevin Millwood pi sp 1997-2012 108.3
13 16 Derek Lowe pi sp 1998-2013 91.5
13 16 Aramis Ramirez 3b 2000-2015 105.8
13 16 Mark Buehrle* pi sp 2000-2015 116.7
13 16 Albert Pujols* dh 1b 2001-2016 175.3
13 16 Ichiro Suzuki* rf 2001-2016 52.7
13 16 CC Sabathia* pi sp 2001-2016 180.0
BTP: Box-Toppers points
* Active streak

Streak—Two players extended notable streaks of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday:

  • David Ortiz of the Red Sox (HR 3B 2B 3-5 R 3BI in the 6-5 win over the Astros) has now earned Box-Toppers points in 17 straight seasons—only six players in Box-Toppers tracking history (going back to 1995) have longer streaks.

Ortiz had his first Box-Toppers points in 1997 with the Twins, but his current 17-season streak began in 2000 with the Twins. He has 138.9 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 23rd among all players since 1995, passing Andy Pettitte (138.5) on the “all-time” list. Ortiz now trails 22nd-ranked player Bartolo Colon of the Mets (142.1). Ortiz ranks seventh among all batters since 1995 and third among active batters.

Ortiz had his best seasons in 2005 and 2006 with the Red Sox, when he led AL batters in Box-Toppers points both seasons (14.7 in 2005 and 16.7 in 2006). He had 4.5 points in 2015 with the Red Sox.

  • Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (6IP 3H R 5K ND in the 8-7 win over the Brewers) has now earned Box-Toppers points in 15 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2002 with the Padres and has 137.8 career points, 25th among all players since 1995. He trails 24th-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5). Peavy’s best season was 2007 with the Padres when he had 23.4 Box-Toppers points, first among NL pitchers. He had 5.0 points in 2015 with the Giants.

Debut—Juan Centeno of the Twins made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Centeno (HR 2B 2-3 2R 2BI in the 6-3 win over the Indians) made his Major League debut Sept. 18, 2013, and was playing in his 28th career game. He is the 3,635th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Andriese earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Arrieta earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Schoop and Ozuna each earn 1.5 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

5/14 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 Rays Matt Andriese (W,2-0) - - - - - - 9.0 2 0 0 0 5
NL 10.0 Cubs Jake Arrieta (W,7-0) - - - - - - 8.0 3 2 2 2 11
7.0 Phillies Aaron Nola (W,3-2) - - - - - - 7.0 5 2 1 1 9
BAT 6.0 Orioles Jonathan Schoop, 2B 3 2 2 5 1 0 - - - - - -
5.0 Braves Mike Foltynewicz (W,1-1) - - - - - - 8.0 7 0 0 0 4
5.0 `Rangers Colby Lewis - - - - - - 7.0 4 2 2 0 6
5.0 `Padres Brad Hand - - - - - - 4.0 2 0 0 2 5
4.2 Dodgers Scott Kazmir (W,3-3) - - - - - - 8.2 5 3 2 1 7
4.0 Angels Kole Calhoun, RF 4 3 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 `Giants Jake Peavy - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 2 5
3.0 Twins Juan Centeno, C 3 2 2 2 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Yankees Aroldis Chapman (S,2) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Red Sox David Ortiz, DH 5 1 3 3 1 1 - - - - - -
BAT 2.0 Marlins Marcell Ozuna, CF 5 2 3 2 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Rockies DJ LeMahieu, 2B 3 1 2 2 1 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Nationals Michael Taylor, CF 3 2 2 0 2 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 7.7 36.8 64.5 67.5 -21.4
Nola, Aaron 3569 pi sp phi nl 5.7 7.7 7.7 7.7 3.7
Lewis, Colby 1567 pi sp tex al 2.7 10.4 28.6 40 -5
Kazmir, Scott 1947 pi sp lad nl 2.0 14.7 42.6 98.4 -10.7
LeMahieu, DJ 3091 2b col nl 2.0 9.0 15.0 15.0 -5.0
Calhoun, Kole 3279 rf ana al 2.0 5.2 12.7 12.7 -1.2
Andriese, Matt 3505 pi mr tb al 2.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 -1.0
Ozuna, Marcell 3190 cf fla nl 1.5 4.5 15.0 15.0 -1.5
Schoop, Jonathan 3307 2b bal al 1.5 4.0 6.5 6.5 -1.0
Chapman, Aroldis 2826 pi cp nyy al 1.0 9.0 39.0 40.0 -7.0
Taylor, Michael 3447 cf dc nl 1.0 6.5 6.5 6.5 -4.5
Peavy, Jake 1635 pi sp sf nl 1.0 6.0 34.1 137.8 -4.0
Ortiz, David dh bos al 1.0 5.5 36.9 138.9 -3.5
Foltynewicz, Mike 3455 pi sp atl nl 1.0 3.7 3.7 3.7 -1.7
Hand, Brad 2907 pi mr sp sd nl 1.0 2.0 6.0 6.0 0.0
Centeno, Juan 3635 ca min al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Blue Jays' Dickey tops players for Friday, May 13; White Sox' Sale rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers rankings

Blue Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 12:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 9.0
2 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 6.7
3 Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 6.7
4 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 6.0
5 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 6.0
6 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 5.7
7 De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 pi sp ari nl 5.7
8 Davis, Chris 2478 1b bal al 5.5
9 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 5.4
10 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 5.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Friday, White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors, passing Manny Machado of the Orioles for the lead among all American League players.

Player of the Day—Dickey pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out six, in the 5-0 win over the Rangers.

National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Jeremy Hellickson struck out nine over seven innings, allowing two runs (both unearned), in the 3-2 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—George Springer of the Astros hit a two-run homer and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 7-6 win over the Red Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—David Ross of the Cubs hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4, scoring twice, in the 9-4 win over the Pirates. This was Ross’ first Player of the Game honor in more than three years. He last earned Box-Toppers points on April 26, 2013, when he was AL Batter of the Day while playing for the Red Sox.

Rankings—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Sale (CG 6H R 6K W in the 7-1 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.7 for the season. Sale also passes Manny Machado of the Orioles (6.7 points) to lead all AL players in Box-Toppers points. Though both Sale and Machado have 6.7 points, Sale wins the tiebreaker because he had more 2015 Box-Toppers points—18.8 vs. 7.5.

Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Brewers pitcher Junior Guerra (6IP 2H 0R 4K W in the 1-0 win over the Padres) made his Major League debut June 12, 2015, and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,633rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Rockies pitcher Jon Gray (7IP 5H 2R 8K W in the 5-2 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut Aug. 4, 2015, and was playing in his 14th career game. He is the 3,634th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Dickey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hellickson earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Springer and Ross each earn 1.5 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

5/13 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 10.0 Blue Jays R.A. Dickey (W,2-4) - - - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 1 6
NL 9.0 Phillies Jeremy Hellickson (W,3-2) - - - - - - 7.0 4 2 0 1 9
7.0 White Sox Chris Sale (W,8-0) - - - - - - 9.0 6 1 1 0 6
7.0 Orioles Chris Tillman (W,5-1) - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 2 7
6.0 Brewers Junior Guerra (W,2-0) - - - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 2 4
5.0 Rockies Jon Gray (W,1-1) - - - - - - 7.0 5 2 2 1 8
BAT 4.0 Astros George Springer, RF 5 2 3 4 0 1 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 Cubs David Ross, C 4 2 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Giants Joe Panik, 2B 3 1 2 3 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Nationals Bryce Harper, RF 2 1 2 2 2 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Angels Fernando Salas (S,1) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.2 Indians Zach McAllister (W,2-1) - - - - - - 0.2 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Dodgers Yasiel Puig, RF 5 2 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Athletics Danny Valencia, 3B 4 2 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Royals Eric Hosmer, 1B 1 1 1 0 3 0 - - - - - -

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 6.7 25.5 77.7 79.7 -12.1
Hellickson, Jeremy 2778 pi sp phi nl 4.4 9.4 33.1 36.1 -0.6
Tillman, Chris 2754 pi sp bal al 4.0 8.7 37.8 39.8 -0.7
Springer, George 3337 rf hou al 2.5 3.5 6.5 6.5 1.5
Dickey, R.A. 1734 pi sp tor al 2.0 7.0 51.2 72.9 -3.0
Panik, Joe 3401 2b sf nl 2.0 6.0 7.0 7.0 -2.0
Ross, David 1729 ca chi nl 1.5 1.5 10.0 26.1 1.5
Hosmer, Eric 2886 1b kc al 1.0 10.0 23.5 23.5 -8.0
Harper, Bryce 3011 rf dc nl 1.0 10.0 25.4 25.4 -8.0
Puig, Yasiel 3193 rf lad nl 1.0 4.5 7.0 7.0 -2.5
Valencia, Danny 2772 3b oak al 1.0 4.5 6.5 9.5 -2.5
McAllister, Zach 3088 pi mr sp cle al 1.0 2.0 12.7 12.7 0.0
Salas, Fernando 2853 pi cp ana al 1.0 2.0 9.0 9.0 0.0
Gray, Jon 3634 pi sp col nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Guerra, Junior 3633 pi sp mil nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops players for Thursday, May 12, solidifies lead in season Box-Toppers points, rises to 8th in ‘all-time' points

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, pitching a three-hit shutout, is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and solidifies his lead in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 12:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 9.0
2 Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 6.7
3 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 6.0
4 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 6.0
5 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 5.7
6 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 5.7
7 De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 pi sp ari nl 5.7
8 Davis, Chris 2478 1b bal al 5.5
9 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 5.4
10 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 5.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Kershaw also rises two spots to eighth place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when tracking began.

Kershaw pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, allowing one walk and striking out 13, in the 5-0 win over the Mets. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.0 for the season, 2.3 more than second-place player, Manny Machado of the Orioles.

Kershaw also now has 168.3 career Box-Toppers points and rises from 10th to eighth on Box-Toppers “all-time” player rankings, passing two players—Johan Santana (166.6) and Manny Ramirez (167.2). Kershaw trails seventh-place player Roy Halladay (170.7).

American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher David Price struck out 12 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run and six hits, in the 11-1 win over the Astros.

National League Batter of the Day—Matt Holliday of the Cardinals hit two homers and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 12-10 win over the Angels.

All-time leaders

Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Randy Johnson pi sp retired 278.8
2 Pedro Martinez pi sp retired 244.8
3 Curt Schilling pi sp retired 194.1
4 Alex Rodriguez dh nyy al 187.0
5 CC Sabathia pi sp nyy al 180.0
6 Albert Pujols 1b dh ana al 175.3
7 Roy Halladay pi sp retired 170.7
8 Clayton Kershaw pi sp lad nl 168.3
9 Manny Ramirez lf dh retired 167.2
10 Johan Santana pi sp free agent 166.6
11 Roger Clemens pi sp retired 164.8
12 Felix Hernandez pi sp sea al 163.7
13 John Smoltz pi sp retired 160.9
14 Tim Hudson pi sp retired 157.0
15 Mike Mussina pi sp retired 155.6
16 Barry Bonds lf retired 153.2
17 Greg Maddux pi sp retired 151.7
18 Zack Greinke pi sp ari nl 149.4
19 Chipper Jones 3b retired 149.0
20 Javier Vazquez pi sp retired 148.3
List of top 100 players since 1995 (through the 2015 season)

American League Batter of the Day—Chase Headley of the Yankees homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-3 win over the Royals.

Rankings—Besides Kershaw, two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday:

  • Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (7IP 8H 2R 9K W in the 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season, rising to fourth place. He ranks third among NL pitchers.
  • Chris Davis of the Orioles (2B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 7-5 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.5 for the season, rising to eighth place. He ranks second among AL batters, behind teammate Manny Machado (6.7). In addition, Davis Thursday earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day—he was Player of the Game Wednesday in the 9-2 win over the Twins.

Streak—Padres pitcher James Shields has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Shields (7IP 7H 0R 9K W in the 3-0 win over the Brewers) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Rays and has 97.4 career points, 11th among active NL pitchers. His best season was 2011 with the Rays when he had 20.1 points, third among AL pitchers. He had 5.7 points in 2015 with the Padres.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Price earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Holliday and Headley each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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

5/12 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 18.0 Dodgers Clayton Kershaw (W,5-1) - - - - - - 9.0 3 0 0 1 13
AL 9.2 Red Sox David Price (W,5-1) - - - - - - 6.2 6 1 1 1 12
8.0 Padres James Shields (W,2-5) - - - - - - 7.0 7 0 0 1 9
BAT 5.0 Cardinals Matt Holliday, DH 5 3 4 3 1 0 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Yankees Chase Headley, 3B 3 2 2 2 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Phillies Odubel Herrera, CF 4 2 4 0 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Orioles Chris Davis, 1B 4 2 2 2 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Giants Johnny Cueto (W,5-1) - - - - - - 7.0 8 2 2 2 9

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 9.0 34.7 134.8 168.3 -16.7
Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 6.0 18.8 70.0 89.4 -6.8
Davis, Chris 2478 1b bal al 5.5 16.5 47.4 55.9 -5.5
Price, David 2593 pi sp bos al 4.7 25.8 81.8 98.5 -16.4
Holliday, Matt 1836 1b dh lf stl nl 3.0 4.5 34.7 94.8 1.5
Herrera, Odubel 3449 cf phi nl 2.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 -2.0
Headley, Chase 2552 3b nyy al 1.5 3.5 15.0 25.5 -0.5
Shields, James 2157 pi sp sd nl 1.0 8.4 66.6 97.4 -6.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Nationals' Max Scherzer strikes out 20, tops players for Wednesday, May 11, rises to 8th in Box-Toppers rankings

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who tied a Major League record by striking out 20 in a single game, is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 11:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 7.0
2 Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 6.7
3 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 6.0
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 5.7
5 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 5.7
6 De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 pi sp ari nl 5.7
7 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 5.4
8 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 5.0
9 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 5.0
10 Altuve, Jose 3007 2b hou al 5.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Scherzer pitched a complete game, allowing two runs, six hits and no walks, in the 3-2 win over the Tigers. His 20 strikeouts in a nine-inning game ties the record of Roger Clemens of the Red Sox (who did it twice, in 1986 and 1996) and Kerry Wood of the Cubs (1998). (In 2001, Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks also struck out 20 in nine innings in a game that lasted 11 innings.)

While his 20 strikeouts tie a record, Scherzer’s Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +19.0 is only the fourth-highest score of the season. (See chart at the bottom of the page for the four highest Box-Toppers game scores of 2016.) In 2015, Scherzer had three games with a Box-Toppers game score of +19.0 or more, including the season’s highest score of +26.0 in his Oct. 3 no-hitter. He also had the season’s third-highest score (+23.0 on June 14 in a one-hitter) and 11th-highest score (+19.0 on June 20 in a no-hitter).

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points Wednesday for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to eighth place in season player rankings, fourth among NL pitchers. He also rises to 51st place among players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) with 111.0 career points, moving past Tom Glavine (110.6) on the “all-time” list. Scherzer now trails 50th-ranked player, Cubs pitcher John Lackey (111.5).

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Michael Feliz struck out five over three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and earning the save, in the 5-3, 16-inning win over the Indians.

This was Feliz’ Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Feliz made his Major League debut May 31, 2015, and was playing in his 11th career game. He is the 3,632nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox hit a three-run homer, a two-run homer and a double in the 13-3 win over the Athletics. Bradley also went 3-for-6, driving in six total runs.

National League Batter of the Day—Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies homered and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 8-7 win over the Diamondbacks.

Notable—Noah Syndergaard of the Mets became the second pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting.

Syndergaard (2HR 2-4 2R 4BI in the 4-3 win over the Dodgers) had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 for batting and a score of +3.0 for pitching (8IP 6H 2R BB K W). Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals is the other pitcher who earned Player of the Game honors for batting this season when he did it on May 2. In 2015, pitchers won Player of the Game honors for batting seven times.

Streak—Nelson Cruz of the Mariners has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Cruz (HR 1-3 2R 2BI in the 6-5 win over the Rays) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Rangers and has 48.2 career points, fifth among active AL outfielders and 10th among active AL designated hitters. His best season was 2014 with the Orioles when he had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, sixth among AL batters. He had 2.0 points in 2015 with the Mariners.

Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Feliz earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Bradley and Blackmon 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/11 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 19.0 Nationals Max Scherzer (W,4-2) - - - - - - 9.0 6 2 2 0 20
10.0 Padres Drew Pomeranz (W,4-3) - - - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 3 10
8.0 Braves Williams Perez (W,1-0) - - - - - - 8.0 2 1 1 0 4
8.0 Cardinals Jaime Garcia (W,3-2) - - - - - - 7.0 4 2 0 1 8
AL 7.0 Astros Michael Feliz (W,1-0) - - - - - - 3.0 1 0 0 0 5
6.1 Marlins Wei-Yin Chen (W,3-1) - - - - - - 6.1 6 2 2 2 12
BAT 6.0 Red Sox Jackie Bradley Jr., CF 5 2 3 6 0 1 - - - - - -
5.0 Orioles Chris Davis, 1B 5 2 4 4 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 Rockies Charlie Blackmon, CF 5 3 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Mets Noah Syndergaard, P 4 2 2 4 0 2 - - - - - -
2.2 `Giants Madison Bumgarner - - - - - - 6.2 3 1 1 4 5
2.0 Rangers Ian Desmond, CF-LF 4 2 2 2 1 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Pirates Jung Ho Kang, 3B 3 2 2 1 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Padres Brett Wallace, 3B 3 1 1 3 1 2 - - - - - -
2.0 Mariners Nelson Cruz, DH 3 2 1 2 1 2 - - - - - -
2.0 Royals Lorenzo Cain, CF 2 1 1 2 2 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 5.0 26.0 90.6 111.0 -16.0
Davis, Chris 2478 1b bal al 4.5 15.5 46.4 54.9 -6.5
Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 4.0 14.4 14.4 14.4 -6.4
Garcia, Jaime 2508 pi sp stl nl 4.0 13.4 31.1 39.8 -5.4
Pomeranz, Drew 3061 pi sp mr sd nl 4.0 7.0 15.0 15.0 1.0
Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 3.0 20.0 90.0 95.7 -14.0
Bradley, Jackie Jr. 3293 cf bos al 2.5 12.0 13.0 13.0 -7.0
Cain, Lorenzo 3171 cf kc al 2.0 10.2 16.2 16.2 -6.2
Desmond, Ian 2673 lf cf ss tex al 2.0 3.0 18.7 25.2 1.0
Feliz, Michael 3632 pi cp hou al 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7
Blackmon, Charlie 2891 cf col nl 1.5 4.0 9.5 9.5 -1.0
Chen, Wei-Yin 3026 pi sp fla nl 1.0 6.7 26.1 26.1 -4.7
Perez, Williams 3476 pi sp atl nl 1.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 -3.0
Kang, Jung-Ho 3464 ss 3b pit nl 1.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 -2.0
Cruz, Nelson 2224 dh rf sea al 1.0 3.0 28.7 48.2 -1.0
Wallace, Brett 2837 3b sd nl 1.0 1.0 3.5 3.5 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Top Box-Toppers game scores of 2016

Here are the top Box-Toppers game scores of 2016. Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez had the highest score of +22.0 on April 14. Also shown are the Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the game by the player. Note that Jaime Garcia of the Cardinals earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point because he earned his Box-Toppers game score of +20 on April 14, the same day Velasquez bested him for Player of the Day with +22.0.

Date BTP Score Team Player of the Game IP H R ER BB K
4/14 2.0 22.0 Phillies Vince Velasquez (W,2-0) 9.0 3 0 0 0 16
4/14 1.0 20.0 Cardinals Jaime Garcia (W,1-0) 9.0 1 0 0 1 13
5/1 2.0 20.0 Dodgers Clayton Kershaw (W,3-1) 9.0 3 0 0 0 14
5/11 2.0 19.0 Nationals Max Scherzer (W,4-2) 9.0 6 2 2 0 20

Indians' Bauer tops players for Tuesday, May 10; Orioles' Machado rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers points

Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 10:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 7.0
2 Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 6.7
3 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 6.0
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 5.7
5 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 5.7
6 De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 pi sp ari nl 5.7
7 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 5.4
8 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 5.0
9 Altuve, Jose 3007 2b hou al 5.0
10 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 5.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Manny Machado of the Orioles rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, taking the lead among all American League players.

Player of the Day—Bauer struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 4-0 win over the Astros.

National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Rubby De La Rosa allowed one run over 7 1/3 innings, striking out six, in the 5-1 win over the Rockies. 

De La Rosa earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season and rises to sixth in season player rankings, third among NL pitchers, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (7.0) and Jake Arrieta of the Cubs (6.0).

American League Batter of the Day—Travis Shaw of the Red Sox hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 13-5 win over the Athletics.

National League Batter of the Day—Ben Zobrist of the Cubs went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 8-7 win over the Padres.

Rankings—Manny Machado of the Orioles rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Machado (HR 3-3 2R BI in the 5-3 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.7 for the season. He passes White Sox pitcher Chris Sale (5.7) for the AL lead in Box-Toppers points and trails only Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (7.0).

Debut—Ryan Rua of the Rangers made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Rua (HR 3-5 2R 4BI in the 13-11 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut Aug. 29, 2014, and was playing in his 71st career game. He is the 3,631st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Bauer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and De La Rosa earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Shaw and Zobrist each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/10 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 Indians Trevor Bauer (W,3-0) - - - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 3 7
NL 6.1 Dbacks Rubby De La Rosa (W,4-4) - - - - - - 7.1 4 1 1 1 6
6.1 `Dodgers Alex Wood - - - - - - 6.1 4 2 1 2 9
BAT 6.0 Red Sox Travis Shaw, 1B 4 2 3 5 1 0 - - - - - -
BAT 5.0 Cubs Ben Zobrist, 2B 4 3 4 2 0 0 - - - - - -
4.2 Blue Jays J.A. Happ (W,5-0) - - - - - - 8.2 6 0 0 3 5
4.0 Rangers Ryan Rua, 1B-LF 5 2 3 4 0 2 - - - - - -
4.0 Cardinals Mike Leake (W,1-3) - - - - - - 8.0 6 1 1 1 5
4.0 Phillies Adam Morgan (W,1-0) - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 1 4
3.0 Orioles Manny Machado, SS 3 2 3 1 2 0 - - - - - -
2.1 Mariners Steve Cishek (S,11) - - - - - - 1.1 1 0 0 1 3
2.0 Brewers Aaron Hill, 2B 4 1 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Yankees Didi Gregorius, SS 4 1 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Tigers Victor Martinez, 1B 5 2 4 0 0 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 6.7 14.2 17.7 17.7 -0.8
De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 pi sp ari nl 5.7 11.7 15.7 15.7 -0.3
Martinez, Victor 1695 dh 1b ph det al 3.5 7.0 26.9 67.1 0.0
Hill, Aaron 2056 3b 2b mil nl 3.0 6.0 20.0 39.0 0.0
Cishek, Steve 2997 pi cp sea al 3.0 4.0 23.0 23.0 2.0
Zobrist, Ben 2216 rf 2b chi nl 2.5 3.5 21.5 30.5 1.5
Happ, J.A. 2536 pi sp tor al 2.0 15.1 30.5 38.5 -11.1
Bauer, Trevor 3065 pi sp cle al 2.0 11.4 20.1 20.1 -7.4
Shaw, Travis 3544 1b bos al 1.5 5.7 5.7 5.7 -2.7
Leake, Mike 2709 pi sp stl nl 1.0 11.0 36.1 40.6 -9.0
Wood, Alex 3246 pi sp lad nl 1.0 8.7 19.4 19.4 -6.7
Gregorius, Didi 3184 ss nyy al 1.0 3.5 5.5 5.5 -1.5
Morgan, Adam 3572 pi sp phi nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Rua, Ryan 3631 1b lf tex al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Marlins' Fernandez tops players for Monday, May 9; White Sox' Frazier tops AL players

Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 9:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 7.0
2 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 6.0
3 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 5.7
4 Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 5.7
5 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 5.7
6 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 5.4
7 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 5.0
8 Altuve, Jose 3007 2b hou al 5.0
9 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 5.0
10 Velasquez, Vince 3611 pi sp phi nl 5.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Fernandez struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits, in the 4-1 win over the Brewers. Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, ranking 21st among all players, the highest ranking of any of Monday’s 11 Players of the Games.

American League Player of the Day—Todd Frazier of the White Sox hit two home runs, including a 12-inning, tie-breaking grand slam, in the 8-4 win over the Twins. Frazier also went 4-for-6.

National League Batter of the Day—Jake Lamb of the Diamondbacks hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 10-5 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Todd Frazier.

Debut—Ketel Marte of the Mariners made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Marte (HR 2B 4-5 3R 3BI in the 5-2 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut July 31, 2015, and was playing in his 87th career game. He is the 3,630th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Frazier earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Lamb earns 1.5 points for being NL 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

5/9 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 10.0 Marlins Jose Fernandez (W,4-2) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 4 11
AL 6.0 White Sox Todd Frazier, 3B 6 2 4 6 0 1 - - - - - -
6.0 Red Sox Jackie Bradley Jr., CF 5 2 3 6 0 1 - - - - - -
BAT 6.0 Dbacks Jake Lamb, 3B 3 3 2 4 2 0 - - - - - -
5.0 Mariners Ketel Marte, SS 5 3 4 3 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Astros Mike Fiers (W,3-1) - - - - - - 7.0 3 1 1 2 4
2.2 Yankees Kirby Yates (W,2-0) - - - - - - 1.2 1 0 0 0 2
2.0 Nationals Daniel Murphy, 2B 4 1 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Blue Jays Aaron Sanchez (W,3-1) - - - - - - 7.0 3 1 1 5 5
2.0 Mets Jeurys Familia (S,11) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 Reds Joey Votto, 1B 2 1 1 1 1 0 - - - - - -

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 4.0 8.7 34.7 34.7 -0.7
Sanchez, Aaron 3392 pi sp tor al 3.7 5.7 7.7 7.7 1.7
Murphy, Daniel 2589 2b dc nl 2.5 4.0 26.0 27.5 1.0
Votto, Joey 2366 1b cin nl 2.0 7.0 23.7 55.7 -3.0
Yates, Kirby 3628 pi mr nyy al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Frazier, Todd 2929 3b chi al 1.7 10.6 24.6 24.6 -7.2
Lamb, Jake 3517 3b ari nl 1.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 0.5
Bradley, Jackie Jr. 3293 cf bos al 1.0 10.5 11.5 11.5 -8.5
Familia, Jeurys 3446 pi cp nym nl 1.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 -7.0
Fiers, Michael 3029 pi sp hou al 1.0 8.0 22.1 22.1 -6.0
Marte, Ketel 3630 ss sea al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Red Sox' Wright tops players for Sunday, May 8; Orioles' Machado leads AL batters in Box-Toppers points

Red Sox Steven Wright is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 8:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 7.0
2 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 6.0
3 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 5.7
4 Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 5.7
5 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 5.7
6 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 5.4
7 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 5.0
8 Altuve, Jose 3007 2b hou al 5.0
9 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 5.0
10 Velasquez, Vince 3611 pi sp phi nl 5.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Sunday, Manny Machado of the Orioles earned American League Batter of the Day and rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, first among AL batters.

Player of the Day—Wright pitched a complete-game three-hitter, striking out seven and allowing one run, in the 5-1 win over the Yankees.

National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Ross Stripling struck out six over six innings, allowing one run and one hit, in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays. Stripling did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited the game with the Dodgers trailing 1-0.

This was Stripling’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut April 8 and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,629th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Machado hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the 11-3 win over the Athletics. Machado also went 2-for-4 and drove in six runs.

Machado earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season, rising to fourth among all players this season and first among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—John Jaso of the Pirates homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in two runs, in the 10-5 win over the Cardinals.

Jaso had a Box-Toppers game score of +2, the same as Jonathan Lucroy of the Brewers, who was Player of the Game in the 5-4 win over the Reds (HR 2B 3-4 R 2BI). Jaso and Lucroy had very similar batting lines and Jaso won NL Batter of the Day honors on a low-level tiebreaker—he left fewer runners on base—0 vs. 1.

Rankings—White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Quintana (7IP 6H R 5K W in the 3-1 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.7 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind teammate Chris Sale, who has the same Box-Toppers point total (5.7) but ranks ahead of Quintana because he had more 2015 Box-Toppers points—18.8 vs. 6.0.

Scoring—Wright earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Stripling earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Machado and Jaso each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/8 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 10.0 Red Sox Steven Wright (W,3-3) - - - - - - 9.0 3 1 1 1 7
NL 9.0 `Dodgers Ross Stripling - - - - - - 6.0 1 1 1 0 6
BAT 6.0 Orioles Manny Machado, SS 4 2 2 6 1 1 - - - - - -
6.0 Mets Matt Harvey (W,3-4) - - - - - - 6.0 4 2 2 2 10
6.0 Rockies Eddie Butler (W,1-1) - - - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 2 6
6.0 `Dbacks Patrick Corbin - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 1 5
4.0 Rangers Bobby Wilson, C 4 1 3 4 1 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Astros Collin McHugh (W,4-3) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 1 5
3.0 White Sox Jose Quintana (W,5-1) - - - - - - 7.0 6 1 1 1 5
2.2 `Indians Bryan Shaw - - - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 1 2
BAT 2.0 Pirates John Jaso, 1B 4 1 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Brewers Jonathan Lucroy, C 4 1 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 `Cubs Trevor Cahill - - - - - - 3.0 1 0 0 2 2
2.0 Phillies Jeanmar Gomez (S,11) - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 2
2.0 Rays Alex Colome (S, 9) - - - - - - 1.0 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.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 5.7 13.2 16.7 16.7 -1.8
Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 5.7 11.7 30.5 30.5 -0.3
Wright, Steven 3224 pi sp bos al 3.0 6.7 7.7 7.7 -0.7
Colome, Alex 3189 pi cp tb al 2.0 7.0 10.7 10.7 -3.0
Lucroy, Jonathan 2744 ca mil nl 2.0 3.7 22.6 23.6 0.3
Shaw, Bryan 2995 pi mr cle al 2.0 3.0 7.0 7.0 1.0
Stripling, Ross 3629 pi sp lad nl 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7
Jaso, John 2705 1b ca pit nl 1.5 1.5 6.5 12.5 1.5
Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 1.0 16.4 34.4 34.4 -14.4
McHugh, Collin 3316 pi sp hou al 1.0 10.7 22.5 22.5 -8.7
Corbin, Patrick 3027 pi sp ari nl 1.0 6.4 29.8 29.8 -4.4
Cahill, Trevor 2658 pi mr chi nl 1.0 2.0 25.1 38.2 0.0
Butler, Eddie 3483 pi sp col nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Gomez, Jeanmar 2759 pi cp phi nl 1.0 1.0 6.0 8.0 1.0
Wilson, Bobby 3071 ca tex al 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Brewers' Hill tops players for Saturday, May 7; Dodgers' Kershaw takes Box-Toppers points lead

Aaron Hill of the Brewers is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 7:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 7.0
2 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 6.0
3 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 5.7
4 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 5.4
5 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 5.0
6 Altuve, Jose 3007 2b hou al 5.0
7 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 5.0
8 Velasquez, Vince 3611 pi sp phi nl 5.0
9 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 4.7
10 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 4.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Meanwhile, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rises to take the lead in season Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Hill hit three homers, including a 10th-inning, go-ahead grand slam, in the 13-7 win over the Reds. Hill went 3-for-5 and drove in seven total runs.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale struck out nine over seven innings, allowing two runs and three hits, in the 7-2 win over the Twins.

Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season, rising to third place in season player rankings, first among AL players.

American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit two homers and went 2-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 10-5 win over the Tigers.

Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 104.3 for his career. He rises to 59th place in points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Saturday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (103.3) and Jamie Moyer (104.0). Beltre has 2.5 Box-Toppers points for the season.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall Player of the Day was an NL batter, Aaron Hill of the Brewers.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rose to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Kershaw (7IP 8H 2R 10K W in the 6-2 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season. He passes previous leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (6.0).

Also, Kershaw now has 166.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 10th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails ninth-place player, Johan Santana (166.6).

Notable—Two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday:

  • Athletics pitcher Rich Hill (5.2IP 2H R 5K W in the 8-4 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.4 for the season, rising to fourth place.
  • Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (8.1IP 8H 0R 3K ND in the 2-1, 13-inning win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to fifth place.

Scoring—Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Sale earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Beltre earns 1.5 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

5/7 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 Brewers Aaron Hill, 3B 5 3 3 7 0 0 - - - - - -
AL 8.0 White Sox Chris Sale (W,7-0) - - - - - - 7.0 3 2 2 1 9
7.0 Royals Ian Kennedy (W,4-2) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 2 6
5.1 `Mariners Nathan Karns - - - - - - 6.1 6 1 1 2 9
5.0 Dodgers Clayton Kershaw (W,4-1) - - - - - - 7.0 8 2 2 0 10
BAT 4.0 Rangers Adrian Beltre, 3B 4 2 2 4 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Yankees Nathan Eovaldi (W,2-2) - - - - - - 8.0 6 2 2 0 6
3.2 Athletics Rich Hill (W,4-3) - - - - - - 5.2 2 1 1 3 5
3.0 Cardinals Stephen Piscotty, RF 3 3 2 1 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Mets David Wright, 3B 2 2 2 1 3 0 - - - - - -
2.1 `Giants Johnny Cueto - - - - - - 8.1 8 0 0 1 3
2.0 Cubs Addison Russell, SS 4 1 2 3 1 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Phillies Brett Oberholtzer (W,2-0) - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 2
2.0 `Dbacks Tyler Clippard - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
2.0 Orioles Zach Britton (S,7) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 Rays Steven Souza, RF 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.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 7.0 32.7 132.8 166.3 -18.7
Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 5.7 24.5 76.7 78.7 -13.1
Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 5.4 9.4 9.4 29.1 1.4
Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 5.0 17.8 69.0 88.4 -7.8
Kennedy, Ian 2723 pi sp kc al 4.0 10.7 54.5 60.5 -2.7
Souza, Steven Jr. 3461 rf tb al 2.7 8.2 8.2 8.2 -2.8
Beltre, Adrian 1141 3b tex al 2.5 15.0 40.9 104.3 -10.0
Karns, Nathan 3414 pi sp sea al 2.0 7.0 8.0 8.0 -3.0
Hill, Aaron 2056 3b 2b mil nl 2.0 5.0 19.0 38.0 -1.0
Russell, Addison 3559 ss chi nl 2.0 4.5 4.5 4.5 -0.5
Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 pi sp nyy al 2.0 4.0 21.1 21.1 0.0
Britton, Zachary 2835 pi cp bal al 1.0 9.7 29.1 29.1 -7.7
Piscotty, Stephen 3570 rf stl nl 1.0 5.2 5.2 5.2 -3.2
Clippard, Tyler 2291 pi mr ari nl 1.0 2.0 17.0 28.4 0.0
Oberholtzer, Brett 3244 pi mr phi nl 1.0 2.0 4.0 4.0 0.0
Wright, David 1911 3b nym nl 1.0 1.0 24.5 75.1 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Rangers' Hamels top players for Friday, May 6, rises to 6th in Box-Toppers rankings

Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 6:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 6.0
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 6.0
3 Altuve, Jose 3007 2b hou al 5.0
4 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 5.0
5 Velasquez, Vince 3611 pi sp phi nl 5.0
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 4.7
7 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 4.7
8 Nola, Aaron 3569 pi sp phi nl 4.7
9 Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 cf lf dh ph nym nl 4.5
10 Cano, Robinson 2092 2b sea al 4.5
What are those numbers after players' names?

Hamels struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit, in the 5-1 win over the Tigers. Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season, rising to sixth in player rankings, first among American League pitchers.

Hamels also now has 130.9 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 28th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes one player on the “all-time” list, Trevor Hoffman (129.4) and now trails 27th-ranked player, Jason Giambi (133.4).

National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher John Lackey struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing two runs and six hits, in the 8-6 win over the Nationals.

Lackey now has 111.5 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 50th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes one player on the “all-time” list, Tom Glavine (110.6) and now trails 49th-ranked player, Kevin Brown (112.8).

American League Batter of the Day—Melky Cabrera of the White Sox doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 10-4 win over the Twins.

National League Batter of the Day—Christian Yelich of the Marlins hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice, in the 6-4 win over the Phillies.

All-time leaders

Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Randy Johnson pi sp retired 278.8
2 Pedro Martinez pi sp retired 244.8
3 Curt Schilling pi sp retired 194.1
4 Alex Rodriguez dh nyy al 187.0
5 CC Sabathia pi sp nyy al 180.0
6 Albert Pujols 1b dh ana al 175.3
7 Roy Halladay pi sp retired 170.7
8 Manny Ramirez lf dh retired 167.2
9 Johan Santana pi sp free agent 166.6
10 Clayton Kershaw pi sp lad nl 165.3
11 Roger Clemens pi sp retired 164.8
12 Felix Hernandez pi sp sea al 163.7
13 John Smoltz pi sp retired 160.9
14 Tim Hudson pi sp retired 157.0
15 Mike Mussina pi sp retired 155.6
16 Barry Bonds lf retired 153.2
17 Greg Maddux pi sp retired 151.7
18 Zack Greinke pi sp ari nl 149.4
19 Chipper Jones 3b retired 149.0
20 Javier Vazquez pi sp retired 148.3
List of top 100 players since 1995 (through the 2015 season)

Rankings—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke rose to 18th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when player tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Greinke (6IP 7H 2R 8K W in the 7-2 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 149.4 for his career. He passes one player on the “all-time” list, Chipper Jones (149.0) and now trails 17th-ranked player, Greg Maddux (151.7). Greinke has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Debut—Yankees pitcher Kirby Yates made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Yates (0.2IP 0H 0R K W in the 3-2 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut June 7, 2014, and was playing in his 68th career game. He is the 3,628th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lackey earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Cabrera and Yelich each earn 1.5 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

5/6 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 Rangers Cole Hamels (W,4-0) - - - - - - 7.0 1 0 0 2 9
11.2 Indians Danny Salazar (W,3-2) - - - - - - 7.2 4 0 0 1 9
NL 7.0 Cubs John Lackey (W,4-1) - - - - - - 7.0 6 2 2 1 11
6.0 Pirates Francisco Liriano (W,3-1) - - - - - - 7.0 5 2 2 2 10
6.0 Padres Drew Pomeranz (W,3-3) - - - - - - 5.0 1 0 0 3 5
5.0 Rays Chris Archer (W,2-4) - - - - - - 6.0 5 0 0 2 6
BAT 3.0 White Sox Melky Cabrera, LF 5 1 4 3 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Astros Carlos Correa, SS 3 1 3 2 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Giants Santiago Casilla (S,7) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
BAT 2.0 Marlins Christian Yelich, LF 4 2 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Reds Joey Votto, 1B 2 2 1 1 2 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Dbacks Zack Greinke (W,3-2) - - - - - - 6.0 7 2 2 1 8
1.2 Yankees Kirby Yates (W,1-0) - - - - - - 0.2 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 Blue Jays Kevin Pillar, CF 4 1 1 3 0 1 - - - - - -

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 4.7 20.1 71.7 130.9 -10.7
Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 4.4 17.8 27.2 27.2 -9.0
Liriano, Francisco 2104 pi sp pit nl 4.0 18.9 59.4 99.2 -10.9
Lackey, John 1640 pi sp chi nl 3.7 13.4 33.1 111.5 -6.0
Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 3.0 23.7 88.8 149.4 -17.7
Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 3.0 19.0 43.1 43.1 -13.0
Pomeranz, Drew 3061 pi sp mr sd nl 3.0 6.0 14.0 14.0 0.0
Yelich, Christian 3334 lf fla nl 2.5 5.0 12.5 12.5 0.0
Cabrera, Melky 2143 lf chi al 2.5 3.5 18.0 29.0 1.5
Casilla, Santiago 2301 pi cp sf nl 2.0 7.0 19.7 22.7 -3.0
Correa, Carlos 3506 ss hou al 1.0 8.2 8.2 8.2 -6.2
Votto, Joey 2366 1b cin nl 1.0 6.0 22.7 54.7 -4.0
Pillar, Kevin 3486 cf tor al 1.0 4.5 4.5 4.5 -2.5
Yates, Kirby 3628 pi mr nyy al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?