Padres' Pomeranz tops players for Friday, June 3; Syndergaard, Salazar rise into Box-Toppers top 10

Padres pitcher Drew Pomeranz 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 June 3:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 14.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 9.7
3 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
4 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
5 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
6 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 8.7
7 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7
8 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 8.4
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 8.0
10 Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 7.8
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Friday, two players rose into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard and Indians pitcher Danny Salazar. Plus, Eugenio Suarez of the Reds earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day to take the season Box-Toppers points lead among National League batters, passing Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets.

Player of the Day—Pomeranz pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits, in the 4-0 win over the Rockies.

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Danny Salazar struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 6-1 win over the Royals.

Salazar earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.8 for the season, rising to 10th place in season player rankings, third among AL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Corey Seager of the Dodgers hit three home runs, going 3-for-4, in the 4-2 win over the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-3 and driving in five total runs, in the 7-3 win over the Mariners.

Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 105.8 for his career, rising to 58th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Aramis Ramirez (105.8) on the “all-time” list and now trails 57th-ranked player Frank Thomas (106.2). Beltre ranks fifth in career Box-Toppers points among active AL batters.

Rankings—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Syndergaard (7IP 6H 2R 9K W in the 6-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.

Suarez—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Friday and takes the Box-Toppers points lead among NL batters, passing Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets.

Suarez (HR 3-4 2R 2BI in the 7-2 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season, passing previous NL batting leader, Cespedes (6.0). Suarez ranks 14th among all players.

Suarez also earned NL Batter of the Day honors Thursday.

Notable—Cubs pitcher John Lackey now has 114.5 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Lackey (6.2IP 5H 0R 9K W in the 6-0 win over the Diamondbacks) maintains his rank of 46th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 45th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9). Lackey has 6.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 10th-most among NL pitchers.

Debut—James McCann of the Tigers made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

McCann (HR 3B 3-4 2R 2BI in the 10-3 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2014, and was playing in his 149th career game. He is the 3,649th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Pomeranz 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. Seager and Beltre 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

6/3 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 SD 4/COL 0 Drew Pomeranz (W,5-5) - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 2 8
8.2 CHC 6/ARI 0 John Lackey (W,6-2) - - - - 6.2 5 0 0 2 9
AL 7.0 CLE 6/KC 1 Danny Salazar (W,6-3) - - - - 8.0 3 1 1 5 9
BAT 5.0 LAD 4/ATL 2 Corey Seager, SS 4 3 3 3 - - - - - -
BAT 5.0 TEX 7/SEA 3 Adrian Beltre, 3B 3 1 2 5 - - - - - -
5.0 NYM 6/MIA 2 Noah Syndergaard (W,6-2) - - - - 7.0 6 2 2 1 9
4.0 HOU 12/OAK 2 Evan Gattis, C 5 1 4 4 - - - - - -
3.0 DET 10/CHW 3 James McCann, C 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 CIN 7/DC 2 Eugenio Suarez, 3B 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 PHI 6/MIL 3 Cameron Rupp, C 2 2 2 1 - - - - - -
2.2 TOR 5/BOS 2 R.A. Dickey (W,3-6) - - - - 6.2 2 1 0 5 4
2.0 LAA 9/PIT 2 Kole Calhoun, RF 4 2 2 2 - - - - - -
1.1 BAL 6/NYY 5 Mychal Givens (W,5-0) - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 0
1.0 SF 5/STL 1 Kelby Tomlinson, PH 0 1 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 TB 4/MIN 2 Erasmo Ramirez (W,7-4) - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 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 of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 8.0 18.4 18.4 18.4 -2.4
Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 7.8 21.2 30.6 30.6 -5.6
Suarez, Eugenio 3355 3b cin nl 7.0 10.0 12.5 12.5 4.0
Lackey, John 1640 pi sp chi nl 6.7 16.4 36.1 114.5 -3.0
Pomeranz, Drew 3061 pi sp mr sd nl 6.0 9.0 17.0 17.0 3.0
Beltre, Adrian 1141 3b tex al 4.0 16.5 42.4 105.8 -8.5
Dickey, R.A. 1734 pi sp tor al 3.0 8.0 52.2 73.9 -2.0
Calhoun, Kole 3279 rf ana al 3.0 6.2 13.7 13.7 -0.2
Ramirez, Erasmo 1786 pi sp mr tb al 2.7 9.7 11.7 13.7 -4.3
Tomlinson, Kelby 3619 ph sf nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Seager, Corey 3587 ss lad nl 1.5 3.0 3.0 3.0 0.0
Gattis, Evan 3179 ca dh hou al 1.0 5.0 7.0 7.0 -3.0
Givens, Mychal 3599 pi mr bal al 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Rupp, Cameron 3556 ca phi nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
McCann, James 3649 ca det al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw leads All-Stars in Box-Toppers points over both 2016 and 2015-16

Kershaw passes Jake Arrieta of the Cubs as Box-Toppers points leader over both 2015-2016, 39.7-37.8. Kershaw also leads players for 2016.

Read More

Chicago Cubs, hottest team of week, remain atop Box-Toppers team rankings for 7th week

Cubs continue reign among teams, picking up 7.0 Box-Toppers points in past week. Red Sox remain top AL team for second week.

Read More

Diamondbacks' Greinke tops players for Thursday, June 2, rises to 10th in season player rankings, 16th in all-time rankings

Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to 10th 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 June 2:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 14.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 9.7
3 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
4 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
5 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
6 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 8.7
7 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7
8 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 8.4
9 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc al 7.0
10 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 7.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Greinke also rises two spots to 16th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.

Greinke pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 11 and allowing four hits, in the 3-0 win over the Astros.

Greinke earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points, giving him 7.0 for the season, rising to 10th in season player rankings, seventh among National League pitchers. 

Greinke also now has 153.4 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 16th in “all-time” rankings, passing two players—Greg Maddux (151.7) and Barry Bonds (153.2). (It should be noted that both Bonds and Maddux began their careers before 1995 when tracking began and so both would likely have many more Box-Toppers points if their entire careers were tracked.) Greinke now trails 15th-ranked player Mike Mussina (155.6).

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 181.0
6 Albert Pujols 1b dh ana al 176.3
7 Clayton Kershaw pi sp lad nl 173.3
8 Roy Halladay pi sp retired 170.7
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 164.7
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 Zack Greinke pi sp ari nl 153.4
17 Barry Bonds lf retired 153.2
18 Greg Maddux pi sp retired 151.7
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 Player of the Day—Dae-Ho Lee of the Mariners homered and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 16-13 win over the Padres.

National League Batter of the Day—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds hit two homers, including a three-run shot, in the 11-4 win over the Rockies. Suarez also doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four total runs.

Suarez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season and now ranks second among NL batters in season Box-Toppers points.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the AL Player of the Day was batter Dae-Ho Lee.

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

  • Marlins pitcher Nick Wittgren (3IP 0H 0R 3K W in the 4-3 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut April 19 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,647th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Twins pitcher Taylor Rogers (2IP 0H 0R 2K W in the 6-4 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut April 14 and was playing in his ninth career game. He is the 3,648th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Greinke earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lee earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Suarez earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/2 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 ARI 3/HOU 0 Zack Greinke (W,7-3) - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 0 11
12.2 SF 6/ATL 0 Madison Bumgarner (W,7-2) - - - - 7.2 4 0 0 2 11
6.2 MIL 4/PHI 1 Chase Anderson (W,3-6) - - - - 5.2 3 1 1 0 6
AL 6.0 SEA 16/SD 13 Dae-Ho Lee, PH-1B 3 2 3 4 - - - - - -
6.0 CHC 7/LAD 2 Kyle Hendricks (W,4-4) - - - - 8.0 3 2 2 1 6
6.0 MIA 4/PIT 3 Nick Wittgren (W,1-0) - - - - 3.0 0 0 0 0 3
BAT 5.0 CIN 11/COL 4 Eugenio Suarez, 3B 5 3 3 4 - - - - - -
4.2 `NYY 5/DET 4 Michael Pineda - - - - 5.2 7 1 1 0 8
4.0 MIN 6/TB 4 Taylor Rogers (W,1-0) - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 BAL 12/BOS 7 Mark Trumbo, RF 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
1.2 CLE 5/KC 4 Tommy Hunter (W,2-1) - - - - 1.2 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 of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 7.0 27.7 92.8 153.4 -13.7
Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 7.0 24.0 94.0 99.7 -10.0
Suarez, Eugenio 3355 3b cin nl 6.0 9.0 11.5 11.5 3.0
Lee, Dae-Ho 3627 1b ph sea al 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2
Hendricks, Kyle 3386 pi sp chi nl 4.0 13.7 18.7 18.7 -5.7
Anderson, Chase 3328 pi sp mil nl 4.0 8.0 13.0 13.0 0.0
Trumbo, Mark 2851 dh rf bal al 2.5 5.0 28.2 28.2 0.0
Pineda, Michael 2841 pi sp nyy al 1.0 11.7 29.1 29.1 -9.7
Hunter, Tommy 2623 pi cp cle al 1.0 2.0 9.0 16.0 0.0
Rogers, Taylor 3648 pi mr min al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Wittgren, Nick 3647 pi cp fla nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Brewers' Davies tops players for Wednesday, June 1; Nationals' Scherzer rises to 9th in Box-Toppers rankings

Brewers pitcher Zach Davies 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 June 1:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 14.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 9.7
3 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
4 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
5 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
6 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 8.7
7 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7
8 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 8.4
9 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc al 7.0
10 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 7.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Davies pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out nine, in the 3-1 win over the Cardinals.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out eight, in the 3-0 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—Alexei Ramirez of the Padres hit two homers and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 14-6 win over the Mariners.

American League Batter of the Day—Lorenzo Cain of the Royals went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 6-3 win over the Rays. Cain earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.5 for the season ranking second among AL batters, behind Manny Machado of the Orioles (8.7).

Rankings—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Scherzer (8IP 5H 2R 11K W in the 7-2 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.

Scherzer also now has 113.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 50th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Kevin Brown (112.8) on the “all-time” list and now trails 49th-ranked player Sammy Sosa (113.2).

Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester now has 126.1 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Lester (CG 4H R 10K W in the 2-1 win over the Dodgers) maintains his rank of 35th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 34th-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4). Lester has 5.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Also notable—Matt Albers of the White Sox became the fourth pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. He is the first AL pitcher to earn Player of the Game honors for batting in nearly seven years.

Albers (2B 1-1 R in the 2-1, 13-inning win over the Mets) had a Box-Toppers game score of +1.0 for batting and a score of 0.0 for pitching (2IPH 0R 2BB K W).

The last time an AL pitcher won Player of the Game honors for batting was June 12, 2009, by Rick Porcello of the Tigers.

Scoring—Davies earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Fulmer earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Ramirez and Cain 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

6/1 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 MIL 3/STL 1 Zach Davies (W,3-3) - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 0 9
13.0 CHC 2/LAD 1 Jon Lester (W,6-3) - - - - 9.0 4 1 1 0 10
AL 11.2 DET 3/LAA 0 Michael Fulmer (W,5-1) - - - - 7.2 2 0 0 2 8
10.0 `MIA 3/PIT 2 Adam Conley - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 3 9
8.0 DC 7/PHI 2 Max Scherzer (W,6-4) - - - - 8.0 5 2 2 2 11
BAT 6.0 SD 14/SEA 6 Alexei Ramirez, SS 5 3 3 5 - - - - - -
6.0 HOU 5/ARI 4 Michael Feliz (W,4-1) - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 4
4.0 OAK 5/MIN 1 Sean Manaea (W,2-3) - - - - 6.0 5 1 1 3 8
3.2 TOR 7/NYY 0 Aaron Sanchez (W,5-1) - - - - 6.2 7 0 0 2 6
3.0 ATL 5/SF 4 Chris Withrow (W,1-0) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
BAT 2.0 KC 6/TB 3 Lorenzo Cain, CF 4 2 3 1 - - - - - -
2.0 BAL 13/BOS 9 Matt Wieters, C 3 1 1 3 - - - - - -
2.0 `CLE 5/TEX 4 Dan Otero - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 CIN 7/COL 2 Billy Hamilton, CF 5 1 3 2 - - - - - -
1.0 CHW 2/NYM 1 Matt Albers, P 1 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 of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 7.0 28.0 92.6 113.0 -14.0
Cain, Lorenzo 3171 cf kc al 6.5 14.7 20.7 20.7 -1.7
Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 5.0 17.0 63.2 126.1 -7.0
Sanchez, Aaron 3392 pi sp tor al 4.7 6.7 8.7 8.7 2.7
Fulmer, Michael 3640 pi sp det al 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.7
Wieters, Matt 2643 ca bal al 3.5 4.5 22.5 28.2 2.5
Conley, Adam 3594 pi sp fla nl 3.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 0.0
Davies, Zach 3581 pi sp mil nl 3.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 0.0
Feliz, Michael 3632 pi cp hou al 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7
Manaea, Sean 3637 pi sp oak al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Ramirez, Alexei 2537 ss sd nl 1.5 3.5 22.0 34.0 -0.5
Hamilton, Billy 3287 cf cin nl 1.0 3.0 7.5 7.5 -1.0
Otero, Dan 3365 pi mr cle al 1.0 2.7 3.7 3.7 -0.7
Albers, Matt 2274 pi cp chi al 1.0 2.0 3.0 5.0 0.0
Withrow, Chris 3273 pi cp atl nl 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Kazmir tops players for Tuesday, May 31; Marlins' Fernandez rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers rankings

Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and becomes the 70th player since 1995 to earn 100 or more career Box-Toppers points.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 31:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 14.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 9.7
3 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
4 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
5 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
6 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 8.7
7 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7
8 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 8.4
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 7.0
10 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 6.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Kazmir pitched six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out seven, in the 5-0 win over the Cubs. Kazmir did not earn the win, picking up a no decision because the game was tied when he exited.

Kazmir earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 101.4 career Box-Toppers points. He becomes the 70th player with 100 or more points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he rises to 64th place on Box-Toppers “all-time” list, passing seven players—Red Sox pitcher David Price (99.5), Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7), Carlos Beltran of the Yankees (100.9), Jason Schmidt (101.2) and Tim Wakefield (101.4). Kazmir trails 63rd-ranked player Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2).

Kazmir has 5.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 15th among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Mookie Betts of the Red Sox hit three home runs, going 3-for-5 and driving in five runs, in the 6-2 win over the Orioles.

National League Batter of the Day—DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies homered and hit two doubles, going 4-for-4, scoring four times and driving in two runs, in the 17-4 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the AL Player of the Day is a batter, Mookie Betts.

Rankings—Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Fernandez (7IP 3H 0R 6K W in the 3-1 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.7 for the season, rising to second in season player rankings, trailing only Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (14.0). 

Notable—Giants pitcher Jake Peavy rises to 24th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Peavy (7IP H 0R 3K W in the 4-0 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 138.8 career points, passing Andy Pettitte (138.5) on the “all-time” list. He now trails 23rd-ranked player David Ortiz of the Red Sox (141.4). Peavy has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.

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

  • Tyler Saladino of the White Sox (HR 2-2 2R 2BI in the 6-4 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut July 10, 2015, and was playing in his 93rd career game. He is the 3,645th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Blue Jays pitcher Joe Biagini (1IP H 0R 2K W in the 4-1 win over the Yankees) made his Major League debut April 8 and was playing in his 17th career game. He is the 3,646th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Kazmir earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Betts earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. LeMahieu earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/31 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 `LAD 5/CHC 0 Scott Kazmir - - - - 6.0 1 0 0 1 7
10.0 MIA 3/PIT 1 Jose Fernandez (W,8-2) - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 0 6
9.0 SF 4/ATL 0 Jake Peavy (W,2-5) - - - - 7.0 1 0 0 0 3
AL 6.0 BOS 6/BAL 2 Mookie Betts, RF 5 3 3 5 - - - - - -
BAT 6.0 COL 17/CIN 4 DJ LeMahieu, 2B 4 4 4 2 - - - - - -
5.0 STL 10/MIL 3 Matt Carpenter, 3B 5 4 4 2 - - - - - -
5.0 SEA 16/SD 4 Kyle Seager, 3B 4 2 3 4 - - - - - -
5.0 HOU 8/ARI 5 George Springer, RF 4 2 3 4 - - - - - -
5.0 LAA 11/DET 9 C.J. Cron, DH 4 2 2 5 - - - - - -
5.0 DC 5/PHI 1 Joe Ross (W,5-4) - - - - 7.0 3 1 1 2 5
4.0 KC 10/TB 5 Lorenzo Cain, CF 4 2 2 4 - - - - - -
4.0 CHW 6/NYM 4 Tyler Saladino, SS 2 2 2 2 - - - - - -
4.0 TEX 7/CLE 3 Colby Lewis (W,5-0) - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 2 2
3.0 OAK 7/MIN 4 Danny Valencia, 3B 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
2.0 TOR 4/NYY 1 Joe Biagini (W,3-1) - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 2
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 9.7 14.4 40.4 40.4 5.0
Lewis, Colby 1567 pi sp tex al 5.7 13.4 31.6 43.0 -2.0
Kazmir, Scott 1947 pi sp lad nl 5.0 17.7 45.6 101.4 -7.7
Cain, Lorenzo 3171 cf kc al 5.0 13.2 19.2 19.2 -3.2
Ross, Joe 3499 pi sp dc nl 4.7 9.7 9.7 9.7 -0.3
Betts, Mookie 3404 rf bos al 4.7 7.7 9.7 9.7 1.7
Valencia, Danny 2772 3b oak al 4.5 8.0 10.0 13.0 1.0
LeMahieu, DJ 3091 2b col nl 3.5 10.5 16.5 16.5 -3.5
Carpenter, Matt 2987 3b 1b stl nl 3.5 9.0 23.5 23.5 -2.0
Seager, Kyle 3031 3b sea al 3.5 8.5 22.5 22.5 -1.5
Springer, George 3337 rf hou al 3.5 4.5 7.5 7.5 2.5
Peavy, Jake 1635 pi sp sf nl 2.0 7.0 35.1 138.8 -3.0
Cron, C.J. 3338 dh 1b ana al 1.0 7.0 8.0 8.0 -5.0
Biagini, Joe 3646 pi mr tor al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Saladino, Tyler 3645 ss chi al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Angels' Chacin tops players for Monday, May 30; Cardinals' Martinez tops NL players

Angels pitcher Jhoulys Chacin 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 30:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 14.0
2 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
3 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
5 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 8.7
6 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 8.7
7 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7
8 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 8.4
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 7.0
10 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 6.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Chacin pitched a complete game, allowing one run, four hits and striking out 10, in the 5-1 win over the Twins.

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out eight, in the 6-0 win over the Brewers.

National League Batter of the Day—Daniel Murphy of the Nationals homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Phillies.

American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Seager of the Mariners homered and went 1-for-2, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-3 win over the Padres.

Notable—Royals pitcher Ian Kennedy holds the highest spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings among Monday’s Players of the Games.

Kennedy (6IP 3H R 6K ND in the 6-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season, ranking 16th among all players in 2016, fifth among AL pitchers.

Scoring—Chacin earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Martinez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Murphy and Seager each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/29 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 LAA 5/DET 1 Jhoulys Chacin (W,2-3) - - - - 9.0 4 1 1 1 10
NL 10.0 STL 6/MIL 0 Carlos Martinez (W,5-5) - - - - 8.0 5 0 0 1 8
10.0 NYM 1/CHW 0 Matt Harvey (W,4-7) - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 1 6
8.0 TOR 4/NYY 2 Marco Estrada (W,3-2) - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 3 6
8.0 CHC 2/LAD 0 Travis Wood (W,3-0) - - - - 4.0 0 0 0 0 4
7.0 PIT 10/MIA 0 Jeff Locke (W,4-3) - - - - 9.0 3 0 0 0 1
5.0 HOU 8/ARI 3 Collin McHugh (W,5-4) - - - - 9.0 5 3 3 1 8
BAT 3.0 DC 4/PHI 3 Daniel Murphy, 2B 4 1 3 3 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 SEA 9/SD 3 Kyle Seager, 3B 2 2 1 2 - - - - - -
3.0 BOS 7/BAL 2 Steven Wright (W,5-4) - - - - 9.0 4 2 2 5 7
3.0 `KC 6/TB 2 Ian Kennedy - - - - 6.0 3 1 0 5 6
3.0 ATL 5/SF 3 Mike Foltynewicz (W,2-2) - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 2 4
3.0 OAK 3/MIN 2 Ryan Madson (S,12) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 CIN 11/COL 8 Adam Duvall, LF 5 2 2 3 - - - - - -
1.0 TEX 9/CLE 2 Ian Desmond, CF 5 2 2 2 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Kennedy, Ian 2723 pi sp kc al 6.0 12.7 56.5 62.5 -0.7
Estrada, Marco 2847 pi sp tor al 4.0 12.0 36.1 36.1 -4.0
Wright, Steven 3224 pi sp bos al 4.0 7.7 8.7 8.7 0.3
Murphy, Daniel 2589 2b dc nl 4.0 5.5 27.5 29.0 2.5
Desmond, Ian 2673 cf lf tex al 4.0 5.0 20.7 27.2 3.0
Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 3.7 17.4 18.4 18.4 -10.0
Locke, Jeff 3133 pi sp pit nl 2.7 8.7 20.1 20.1 -3.3
Seager, Kyle 3031 3b sea al 2.5 7.5 21.5 21.5 -2.5
Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 2.0 17.4 35.4 35.4 -13.4
McHugh, Collin 3316 pi sp hou al 2.0 11.7 23.5 23.5 -7.7
Foltynewicz, Mike 3455 pi sp atl nl 2.0 4.7 4.7 4.7 -0.7
Duvall, Adam 3573 lf cin nl 2.0 3.5 3.5 3.5 0.5
Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 pi sp ana al 2.0 2.0 16.4 24.1 2.0
Madson, Ryan 1841 pi cp oak al 2.0 2.0 5.0 22.7 2.0
Wood, Travis 2777 pi mr sp chi nl 1.0 4.0 28.7 31.7 -2.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Kershaw tops players for Sunday, May 29, extends lead in season Box-Toppers points

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and extends his lead in season Box-Toppers player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 29:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 14.0
2 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
3 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
5 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 8.7
6 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 8.7
7 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7
8 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 8.4
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 7.0
10 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 6.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Sunday, Athletics pitcher Rich Hill maintained his rank of eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 10 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 4-2 win over the Mets. Kershaw picked up a no decision and did not earn the win because the Mets tied the game after he exited.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.0 for the season. He holds a dominating lead in player rankings, 5.0 points ahead of second-place player, Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (9.0).

Kershaw also has 173.3 career Box-Toppers points, seventh among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails sixth-ranked player, Albert Pujols of the Angels (176.3).

American League Player of the Day—Twins pitcher Ricky Nolasco struck out seven over six innings, allowing two runs and three hits, in the 5-4 win over the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day—Wilson Ramos of the Nationals homered and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-2 win over the Cardinals.

American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros hit a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the 13th inning in the 8-6 win over the Angels.

Rankings—Athletics pitcher Rich Hill maintained his rank of eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Hill (6.1IP 5H 2R 9K W in the 4-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.4 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the White Sox (8.7).

Streak—Hunter Pence of the Giants has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Pence (3-2B 3-5 2R 3BI in the 8-3 win over the Rockies) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Astros and has 49.7 career points, 10th among active NL outfielders. His best season was 2008 with the Astros, when he had 8.2 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL outfielders. In 2015, Pence had 2.0 Box-Toppers points with the Giants.

Notable—Cubs pitcher John Lackey rises to 46th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Lackey (7IP 4H R 6K W in the 7-2 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 113.5 for his career. Since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, Lackey now ranks 46th and with his point Sunday, he passes four players on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” list—Kevin Brown (112.8), Sammy Sosa (113.2), Dan Haren (113.2) and Chris Carpenter (113.3). Lackey now trails 45th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9). Lackey has 5.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 11th among NL pitchers.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Nolasco earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Ramos and Correa 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

5/29 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.2 `LAD 4/NYM 2 Clayton Kershaw - - - - 7.2 4 2 2 0 10
BAT 6.0 DC 10/STL 2 Wilson Ramos, C 3 2 3 4 - - - - - -
5.1 ARI 6/SD 3 Archie Bradley (W,2-0) - - - - 7.1 4 3 3 1 9
5.0 MIA 7/ATL 3 Derek Dietrich, 2B 3 1 3 4 - - - - - -
AL 5.0 MIN 5/SEA 4 Ricky Nolasco (W,2-3) - - - - 6.0 3 2 2 1 7
4.0 MIL 5/CIN 4 Jonathan Villar, SS 2 3 2 1 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 HOU 8/LAA 6 Carlos Correa, SS 1 1 1 3 - - - - - -
3.1 OAK 4/DET 2 Rich Hill (W,8-3) - - - - 6.1 5 2 2 3 9
3.0 SF 8/COL 3 Hunter Pence, RF 5 2 3 3 - - - - - -
3.0 CHC 7/PHI 2 John Lackey (W,5-2) - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 4 6
3.0 NYY 2/TB 1 Nathan Eovaldi (W,6-2) - - - - 6.0 6 1 1 2 7
3.0 BOS 5/TOR 3 Koji Uehara (S,1) - - - - 1 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 KC 5/CHW 4 Lorenzo Cain, CF 4 2 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 `BAL 6/CLE 4 Darren O'Day - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 2
1.0 TEX 6/PIT 2 Mitch Moreland, 1B 4 1 1 3 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 14.0 39.7 139.8 173.3 -11.7
Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 8.4 12.4 12.4 32.1 4.4
Lackey, John 1640 pi sp chi nl 5.7 15.4 35.1 113.5 -4.0
Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 pi sp nyy al 5.7 7.7 24.8 24.8 3.7
Cain, Lorenzo 3171 cf kc al 4.0 12.2 18.2 18.2 -4.2
Nolasco, Ricky 2125 pi sp min al 3.7 5.7 26.4 79.5 1.7
Correa, Carlos 3506 ss hou al 2.5 9.7 9.7 9.7 -4.7
Uehara, Koji 2802 pi mr cp bos al 2.0 7.0 24.0 28.0 -3.0
O’Day, Darren 2577 pi mr bal al 2.0 3.7 11.7 12.7 0.3
Ramos, Wilson 2904 ca dc nl 1.5 2.5 16.0 16.0 0.5
Moreland, Mitch 2799 1b tex al 1.0 7.2 15.2 16.2 -5.2
Pence, Hunter 2287 rf sf nl 1.0 3.0 22.0 49.7 -1.0
Dietrich, Derek 3199 2b fla nl 1.0 2.0 4.0 4.0 0.0
Bradley, Archie 3438 pi sp ari nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Villar, Jonathan 3233 ss mil nl 1.0 1.0 3.0 3.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Hendricks tops players for Saturday, May 28; Rangers' Darvish tops AL players

Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Hendricks pitched a complete game, allowing one run and five hits, striking out seven, in the 4-1 win over the Phillies.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 28:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 12.0
2 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
3 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
5 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 8.7
6 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 8.7
7 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7
8 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 7.4
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 7.0
10 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 6.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish struck out seven over five innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 5-2 win over the Pirates.

National League Batter of the Day—Buster Posey of the Giants hit two three-run homers in the 10-5 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—Russell Martin of the Blue Jays homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 10-9 win over the Red Sox.

Scoring—Hendricks earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Darvish earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Posey and Martin 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

5/28 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 CHC 4/PHI 1 Kyle Hendricks (W,3-4) - - - - 9.0 5 1 1 0 7
AL 6.0 TEX 5/PIT 2 Yu Darvish (W,1-0) - - - - 5.0 3 1 1 1 7
BAT 5.0 SF 10/COL 5 Buster Posey, C 5 2 2 6 - - - - - -
5.0 HOU 4/LAA 2 Dallas Keuchel (W,3-6) - - - - 7.0 3 2 2 0 5
BAT 4.0 TOR 10/BOS 9 Russell Martin, C 5 3 3 3 - - - - - -
4.0 LAD 9/NYM 1 Chase Utley, 2B 5 2 2 5 - - - - - -
4.0 TB 9/NYY 5 Hank Conger, C 4 2 3 3 - - - - - -
3.0 CIN 7/MIL 6 Adam Duvall, LF 5 2 2 4 - - - - - -
3.0 ARI 8/SD 7 Michael Bourn, RF 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 OAK 12/DET 3 Danny Valencia, 3B 4 3 3 1 - - - - - -
3.0 ATL 7/MIA 2 Gordon Beckham, 2B 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
2.0 MIN 6/SEA 5 Eduardo Nunez, 3B 5 2 4 1 - - - - - -
2.0 STL 9/DC 4 Greg Garcia, 3B 4 2 3 1 - - - - - -
2.0 KC 8/CHW 7 Drew Butera, C 1 1 1 1 - - - - - -
1.0 CLE 11/BAL 4 Juan Uribe, 3B 4 2 2 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 of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Valencia, Danny 2772 3b oak al 3.5 7.0 9.0 12.0 0.0
Nunez, Eduardo 2795 2b ss 3b min al 3.5 5.5 11.5 13.0 1.5
Hendricks, Kyle 3386 pi sp chi nl 3.0 12.7 17.7 17.7 -6.7
Martin, Russell 2202 ca tor al 2.5 7.5 24.0 45.0 -2.5
Posey, Buster 2745 1b ca sf nl 2.5 6.5 27.5 32.0 -1.5
Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 2.0 23.4 37.8 37.8 -19.4
Darvish, Yu 3003 pi sp tex al 1.7 1.7 46.9 46.9 1.7
Uribe, Juan 1542 3b cle al 1.0 4.0 12.0 47.7 -2.0
Bourn, Michael 2505 rf ari nl 1.0 3.5 5.5 12.0 -1.5
Duvall, Adam 3573 lf cin nl 1.0 2.5 2.5 2.5 -0.5
Conger, Hank 2843 ca tb al 1.0 2.0 6.5 6.5 0.0
Garcia, Greg 3331 3b stl nl 1.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 0.0
Beckham, Gordon 2620 2b atl nl 1.0 2.0 7.5 13.5 0.0
Utley, Chase 1861 2b lad nl 1.0 1.0 13.0 73.1 1.0
Butera, Drew 2883 ca kc al 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Yankees' Tanaka tops players for Friday, May 27; Orioles' Machado rises to 5th in Box-Toppers rankings

Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Manny Machado of the Orioles rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 27:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 12.0
2 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
3 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
5 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 8.7
6 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 8.7
7 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7
8 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 7.4
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 7.0
10 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 6.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Tanaka pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out four, in the 4-1 win over the Rays.

National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Christian Friedrich pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out five, in the 10-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

American League Batter of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays hit two homers, doubled and went 4-for-5, driving in five runs, in the 7-5 win over the Red Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—Aaron Hill of the Brewers hit two homers and went 3-for-4, in the 9-5 win over the Reds.

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

Machado (2B 4-5 2R BI in the 6-4 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season. He extends his lead among AL batters.

Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester now has 125.1 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. Lester (6.1IP 6H 2R 7K W in the 6-2 win over the Phillies) ranks 35th in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 34th-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4).

Debut—Twins pitcher Pat Dean made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Dean (7IP 4H 2R 8K W in the 7-2 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut May 11 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,644th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Tanaka earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Friedrich earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Donaldson and Hill 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

5/27 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 NYY 4/TB 1 Masahiro Tanaka (W,3-0) - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 0 4
8.1 LAA 7/HOU 2 Matt Shoemaker (W,3-5) - - - - 8.1 7 2 2 0 11
NL 8.0 SD 10/ARI 3 Christian Friedrich (W,1-1) - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 1 5
7.0 MIN 7/SEA 2 Pat Dean (W,1-1) - - - - 7.0 4 2 2 0 8
6.2 DET 4/OAK 1 Michael Fulmer (W,4-1) - - - - 7.2 3 0 0 1 3
BAT 6.0 TOR 7/BOS 5 Josh Donaldson, 3B 5 2 4 5 - - - - - -
6.0 `NYM 6/LAD 5 Jacob deGrom - - - - 7.0 3 1 1 3 7
5.0 COL 5/SF 2 Tyler Chatwood (W,6-3) - - - - 7.0 4 1 0 0 3
4.0 KC 7/CHW 5 Eric Hosmer, 1B 4 1 3 4 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 MIL 9/CIN 5 Aaron Hill, 2B 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
2.1 CHC 6/PHI 2 Jon Lester (W,5-3) - - - - 6.1 6 2 1 2 7
2.0 BAL 6/CLE 4 Manny Machado, SS 5 2 4 1 - - - - - -
2.0 PIT 9/TEX 1 Starling Marte, LF 4 2 3 1 - - - - - -
2.0 STL 6/DC 2 Stephen Piscotty, RF 4 1 1 4 - - - - - -
2.0 ATL 4/MIA 2 Arodys Vizcaino (S,6) - - - - 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 of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 8.7 16.2 19.7 19.7 1.2
Hill, Aaron 2056 2b 3b mil nl 4.5 7.5 21.5 40.5 1.5
Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 4.0 16.0 62.2 125.1 -8.0
Donaldson, Josh 3144 3b tor al 4.0 13.9 33.9 33.9 -5.9
Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 pi sp nyy al 4.0 12.0 24.7 24.7 -4.0
Chatwood, Tyler 2856 pi sp col nl 4.0 4.0 13.7 13.7 4.0
Fulmer, Michael 3640 pi sp det al 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
Marte, Starling 3122 lf pit nl 2.5 7.5 12.0 12.0 -2.5
deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 2.0 24.4 37.4 37.4 -20.4
Hosmer, Eric 2886 1b kc al 2.0 11.0 24.5 24.5 -7.0
Shoemaker, Matt 3290 pi sp ana al 2.0 7.7 20.4 20.4 -3.7
Piscotty, Stephen 3570 rf stl nl 2.0 6.2 6.2 6.2 -2.2
Friedrich, Christian 3024 pi sp sd nl 1.7 1.7 5.4 5.4 1.7
Vizcaino, Arodys 3533 pi cp atl nl 1.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 -3.0
Dean, Pat 3644 pi sp min al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Marlins' Jose Fernandez tops players for Thursday, May 26, rises to 5th in player rankings

Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in season player rankings.

Fernandez struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run and six hits, in the 9-1 win over the Rays.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 26:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 12.0
2 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
3 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
5 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 8.7
6 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7
7 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 7.7
8 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 7.4
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 7.0
10 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 6.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season, rising to fifth place in season player rankings, fourth among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers struck out 10 over five innings, allowing one run and one hit, in the 4-2 win over the Orioles.

National League Batter of the Day—Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-2, in the 8-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

Cole becomes the third pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. It was done previously by Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright on May 2 and by Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard on May 11. It is the first time in Cole’s career he has earned Player of the Game honors for batting.

Cole had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 for batting and a score of +1.0 for his pitching performance (5IP 7H R 3BB 5K ND).

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

Debut—Dustin Garneau of the Rockies made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Garneau (HR 2B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 8-2 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut Aug. 20, 2015, and was playing in his 33rd career game. He is the 3,643rd 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 and McCullers earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Cole earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/26 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 10.0 MIA 9/TB 1 Jose Fernandez (W,7-2) - - - - 7.0 6 1 1 1 12
AL 6.0 HOU 4/BAL 2 Lance McCullers (W,1-1) - - - - 5.0 1 1 1 6 10
BAT 4.0 PIT 8/ARI 3 Gerrit Cole, P 2 1 2 3 - - - - - -
4.0 TOR 3/NYY 1 J.A. Happ (W,6-2) - - - - 7.0 3 1 1 3 5
2.0 COL 8/BOS 2 Dustin Garneau, C 4 2 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 MIL 6/ATL 2 Hernan Perez, PH-3B 1 0 1 2 - - - - - -
2.0 DC 2/STL 1 Joe Ross (W,4-4) - - - - 7.0 6 1 1 1 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 of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 8.7 13.4 39.4 39.4 4.0
Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 4.5 23.5 33.9 33.9 -14.5
Ross, Joe 3499 pi sp dc nl 3.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 -1.3
Happ, J.A. 2536 pi sp tor al 3.0 16.1 31.5 39.5 -10.1
McCullers, Lance 3488 pi sp hou al 1.7 8.4 8.4 8.4 -5.0
Perez, Hernan 3577 3b ph mil nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Garneau, Dustin 3643 ca col nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Steven Matz tops players for Wednesday, May 25, rises to 5th in player rankings

Mets pitcher Steven Matz is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth 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 25:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 12.0
2 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
3 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
5 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7
6 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 7.7
7 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 7.4
8 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 7.0
9 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 6.7
10 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 6.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Matz pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing four hits, in the 2-0 win over the Nationals.

Matz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season, rising to fifth in player rankings, fourth among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Adam Lind of the Mariners hit two homers and a double, going 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 13-3 win over the Athletics.

Lind has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Blue Jays and has 55.8 career points, seventh among active AL first basemen. His best season was 2009 with the Blue Jays when he had 16.4 Box-Toppers points, second among AL batters. He had 6.5 points in 2015 with the Brewers.

National League Batter of the Day—Kris Bryant of the Cubs hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-8 win over the Cardinals.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because the overall AL Player of the Day was a batter, Adam Lind.

Streak—Russell Martin of the Blue Jays has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Martin (2HR 2-5 2R 3BI in the 8-4 win over the Yankees) earned his first points in 2006 with the Dodgers and has 43.5 career points, second among active AL catchers, behind Brian McCann of the Yankees (55.2). His best season was 2007 with the Dodgers when he had 8.5 points, first among NL catchers. He had 5.0 points in 2015 with the Blue Jays.

 Scoring—Matz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lind earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Bryant earns 1.5 points for being NL 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

5/25 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 10.0 NYM 2/DC 0 Steven Matz (W,7-1) - - - - 8.0 4 0 0 1 7
10.0 LAD 3/CIN 1 Scott Kazmir (W,4-3) - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 2 12
AL 9.0 SEA 13/OAK 3 Adam Lind, 1B 4 3 4 6 - - - - - -
5.1 CLE 4/CHW 3 Corey Kluber (W,4-5) - - - - 7.1 7 2 1 1 9
4.0 TEX 15/LAA 9 Ryan Rua, LF 4 3 3 2 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 CHC 9/STL 8 Kris Bryant, LF 3 2 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 `MIL 3/ATL 2 Junior Guerra - - - - 5.0 4 0 0 4 6
3.0 `MIA 4/TB 3 David Phelps (H,11) - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 3
3.0 `HOU 4/BAL 3 Ken Giles (H,9) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 3
2.0 TOR 8/NYY 4 Russell Martin, C 5 2 2 3 - - - - - -
2.0 BOS 10/COL 3 Travis Shaw, 3B 4 1 2 3 - - - - - -
2.0 PHI 8/DET 5 Andres Blanco, 3B 3 2 2 1 - - - - - -
2.0 MIN 7/KC 5 Miguel Sano, RF 3 2 1 2 - - - - - -
1.2 SF 4/SD 3 George Kontos (W,1-1) - - - - 0.2 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 PIT 5/ARI 4 Gregory Polanco, RF 4 1 3 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 of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 8.7 12.2 12.2 12.2 5.2
Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 4.4 17.8 48.6 48.6 -9.0
Bryant, Kris 3465 lf 3b chi nl 3.5 12.0 12.0 12.0 -5.0
Polanco, Gregory 3361 rf lf pit nl 3.5 6.5 10.5 10.5 0.5
Kazmir, Scott 1947 pi sp lad nl 3.0 15.7 43.6 99.4 -9.7
Phelps, David 2994 pi mr fla nl 3.0 6.4 19.8 19.8 -0.4
Guerra, Junior 3633 pi sp mil nl 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
Shaw, Travis 3544 1b bos al 2.5 6.7 6.7 6.7 -1.7
Blanco, Andres 2980 ss 3b phi nl 2.0 3.0 4.0 4.0 1.0
Rua, Ryan 3631 lf 1b tex al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Lind, Adam 2238 1b sea al 1.7 8.2 28.2 55.8 -4.8
Sano, Miguel 3527 rf dh min al 1.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 -5.0
Martin, Russell 2202 ca tor al 1.0 6.0 22.5 43.5 -4.0
Giles, Ken 3402 pi mr hou nl 1.0 4.0 6.0 6.0 -2.0
Kontos, George 3106 pi cp sf nl 1.0 3.0 5.7 5.7 -1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Tigers' Verlander tops players for Tuesday, May 24; Nationals' Strasburg tops NL players

Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander 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 24:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 12.0
2 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
3 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
5 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 7.7
6 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 7.4
7 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 7.0
8 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 6.7
9 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 6.7
10 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 6.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Verlander pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing three hits, in the 3-1 win over the Phillies.

Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season and has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons, all with the Tigers. He earned his first points in 2006 and has 126.6 career points, rising to 33rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Verlander passes Mariano Rivera (126.4) on the “all-time” list and now trails 32nd-ranked player Roy Oswalt (127.2). Verlander ranks fourth among active American League pitchers in career Box-Toppers points.

Verlander’s best season was 2012 when he led all players with 24.8 Box-Toppers points. In 2011, he led all AL pitchers with 24.4 points. In 2015, Verlander had 6.4 points.

National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg struck out 11 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 7-4 win over the Mets.

Strasburg earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 6.4 for the season and rising to 11th in Box-Toppers player rankings, seventh among NL pitchers. Strasburg is the highest-ranked player among Tuesday’s Players of the Games.

National League Batter of the Day—Gregory Polanco of the Pirates homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 12-1 win over the Diamondbacks.

American League Batter of the Day—David Ortiz of the Red Sox doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 8-3 win over the Rockies.

Ortiz earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 141.4 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 23rd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 22nd-ranked player, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (142.1). Ortiz ranks eighth among all active players in career Box-Toppers points, third among active batters, behind Alex Rodriguez (187.0) and Albert Pujols (176.3).

Scoring—Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Strasburg earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Polanco and Ortiz 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

5/24 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 Tigers Justin Verlander (W,4-4) - - - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 2 10
NL 7.2 Nationals Stephen Strasburg (W,8-0) - - - - - - 6.2 4 2 2 2 11
7.0 Rays Jake Odorizzi (W,2-2) - - - - - - 5.0 2 0 0 3 7
6.0 Yankees Nathan Eovaldi (W,5-2) - - - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 3 5
5.1 Mariners Mike Montgomery (W,2-0) - - - - - - 3.1 2 0 0 0 4
BAT 5.0 Pirates Gregory Polanco, RF-LF 5 2 3 5 0 0 - - - - - -
5.0 Rangers Martin Perez (W,2-4) - - - - - - 6.0 5 0 0 2 6
5.0 `Brewers Jimmy Nelson - - - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 3 8
4.1 `Astros Tony Sipp - - - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 3
4.0 Giants Brandon Crawford, SS 3 1 2 4 1 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Cubs Jorge Soler, LF 3 2 2 3 2 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Indians Josh Tomlin (W,7-0) - - - - - - 8.0 5 2 2 1 6
3.2 Dodgers Mike Bolsinger (W,1-1) - - - - - - 5.2 3 2 2 1 6
BAT 3.0 Red Sox David Ortiz, DH 4 1 2 4 1 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Royals Lorenzo Cain, CF 5 0 4 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 +/-
Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 6.4 20.4 66.5 74.2 -7.6
Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 pi sp nyy al 4.7 6.7 23.8 23.8 2.7
Tomlin, Josh 2771 pi sp cle al 4.0 8.7 21.4 23.4 -0.7
Ortiz, David dh bos al 3.5 8.0 39.4 141.4 -1.0
Cain, Lorenzo 3171 cf kc al 3.0 11.2 17.2 17.2 -5.2
Odorizzi, Jake 3291 pi sp tb al 2.7 11.4 22.4 22.4 -6.0
Polanco, Gregory 3361 rf lf pit nl 2.5 5.5 9.5 9.5 -0.5
Nelson, Jimmy 3299 pi sp mil nl 2.0 10.4 12.4 12.4 -6.4
Verlander, Justin 2112 pi sp det al 2.0 8.4 71.6 126.6 -4.4
Bolsinger, Mike 3318 pi sp lad nl 1.0 6.7 7.7 7.7 -4.7
Montgomery, Mike 3513 pi cp sea al 1.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 -3.0
Crawford, Brandon 2878 ss sf nl 1.0 4.5 15.5 15.5 -2.5
Soler, Jorge 3403 lf chi nl 1.0 4.2 5.2 5.2 -2.2
Perez, Martin 3213 pi sp tex al 1.0 2.0 12.0 12.0 0.0
Sipp, Tony 2852 pi mr hou al 1.0 1.0 9.0 9.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Kershaw tops players for Monday, May 23, extends season lead, rises to 7th in Box-Toppers all-time rankings

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, extending his lead in season player rankings and rising to seventh place in Box-Toppers “all-time” rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 23:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 12.0
2 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0
3 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 8.7
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 8.7
5 Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 7.7
6 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 7.4
7 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 7.0
8 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 6.7
9 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 6.7
10 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 6.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Monday, Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Kershaw pitched a two-hit shutout, striking out seven, in the 1-0 win over the Reds.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.0 for the season, extending his lead in season player rankings. Kershaw also now has 171.3 career Box-Toppers points and rises to seventh among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Roy Halladay (170.7) on the “all-time” list to become the fifth-ranked pitcher since 1995. Kershaw now trails sixth-ranked player Albert Pujols of the Angels (176.3).

Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +13.0, tied with Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto, who was Player of the Game in the 1-0 win over the Padres. But Kershaw won overall Player of the Day honors on a tiebreaker: He had more strikeouts than Cueto—7 vs. 6.

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 181.0
6 Albert Pujols 1b dh ana al 176.3
7 Clayton Kershaw pi sp lad nl 171.3
8 Roy Halladay pi sp retired 170.7
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 164.7
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 151.4
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 Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Cody Anderson struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 5-1 win over the White Sox.

American League Batter of the Day—Miguel Cabrera hit two homers and went 3-for-3 in the 5-4 win over the Phillies. It is the second straight day Cabrera has earned Player of the Game honors.

Cabrera earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 136.9 for his career. He maintains his rank of 26th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began and trails 25th-ranked player Jake Peavy of the Giants (137.8).

National League Batter of the Day—Miguel Rojas of the Marlins doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-6 win over the Rays.

This was Rojas’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Rojas made his Major League debut June 6, 2014, and was playing in his 178th career game. He is the 3,642nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Rankings—In addition to Kershaw, two players in Box-Toppers top 10 season rankings earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (CG 2H 0R 6K in the 1-0 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.0 for the season, rising from fourth to second in player rankings. Cueto trails overall leader Kershaw by 3.0 Box-Toppers points (12.0 vs. 9.0). Cueto barely missed beating out Kershaw for Player of the Day. Had Cueto won Player of the Day Monday over Kershaw, he still would trail Kershaw in season points, but the margin would be closer (11.0 vs. 10.0).
  • Athletics pitcher Rich Hill (8IP 8H 0R 6K W in the 5-0 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.4 for the season, rising to sixth in player rankings. Hill ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the White Sox (8.7).

Notable—Neil Walker won Player of the Game honors over Yoenis Cespedes in the Mets’ 7-1 win over the Nationals Monday in one of the lowest-level tiebreakers ever used in Box-Toppers tracking.

Both Walker and Cespedes had Box-Toppers game scores of +1.0, the highest on the team and both had extremely similar batting lines (HR 2-4 2R BI). Both struck out once and did not walk. Both left two runners on base. Both had five total bases. Walker won Player of the Game over Cespedes simply because he batted lower in the lineup—fifth vs. fourth.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Anderson earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Cabrera and Rojas each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/23 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 Dodgers Clayton Kershaw (W,7-1) - - - - - - 9.0 2 0 0 1 7
13.0 Giants Johnny Cueto (W,7-1) - - - - - - 9.0 2 0 0 0 6
AL 9.0 Indians Cody Anderson (W,1-3) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 0 9
7.2 Angels Nick Tropeano (W,3-2) - - - - - - 6.2 4 0 0 1 6
6.0 Athletics Rich Hill (W,7-3) - - - - - - 8.0 8 0 0 0 6
BAT 5.0 Tigers Miguel Cabrera, 1B 3 3 3 2 1 0 - - - - - -
5.0 White Sox Brett Lawrie, DH 2 2 2 3 3 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Royals Salvador Perez, C 5 3 5 1 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Marlins Miguel Rojas, 2B 4 2 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Cardinals Matt Adams, PH 1 1 1 2 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Pirates Josh Harrison, 2B 4 1 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Mets Neil Walker, 2B 4 2 2 1 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 +/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 12.0 37.7 137.8 171.3 -13.7
Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 9.0 21.8 73.0 92.4 -3.8
Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 7.4 11.4 11.4 31.1 3.4
Cabrera, Miguel 1776 1b det al 4.0 8.7 57.3 136.9 -0.7
Perez, Salvador 2972 ca kc al 2.5 7.0 20.2 20.2 -2.0
Walker, Neil 2756 2b nym nl 2.0 6.0 23.5 29.0 -2.0
Tropeano, Nick 3451 pi sp ana al 2.0 5.7 5.7 5.7 -1.7
Anderson, Cody 3509 pi sp cle al 1.7 4.7 4.7 4.7 -1.3
Rojas, Miguel 3642 2b fla nl 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5
Adams, Matt 3220 1b ph stl nl 1.0 3.5 9.5 9.5 -1.5
Lawrie, Brett 2934 dh 3b chi al 1.0 2.5 10.7 10.7 -0.5
Harrison, Josh 2947 2b 3b pit nl 1.0 2.0 7.0 7.0 0.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Syndergaard tops players for Sunday, May 22, rises to 6th in Box-Toppers rankings

Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth 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 22:  


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 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 7.0
7 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 6.7
8 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 6.7
9 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 6.4
10 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 6.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Sunday, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and five players with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors—Zack Greinke, David Ortiz, Miguel Cabrera, Cole Hamels and Max Scherzer.

Player of the Day—Syndergaard struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing one run (none earned) and six hits, in the 3-1 win over the Brewers.

Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, rising to sixth in player rankings, fourth among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing two runs (one earned) and five hits, in the 9-2 win over the Astros.

Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 6.4 for the season, rising to ninth in player rankings, second among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the White Sox (8.7).

Hamels also now has 132.6 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his spot in 28th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 27th-ranked player Jason Giambi (133.4).

American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Perez of the Angels hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 10-2 win over the Orioles.

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

Notable—Five players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. In addition to Hamels, mentioned previously (132.6 points, 28th “all-time”), they are:

  • Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke (8IP 6H 2R 8K W in the 7-2 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 151.4 career points, maintaining his rank of 18th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 17th-ranked player Greg Maddux (151.7).
  • David Ortiz of the Red Sox (HR 2B 4-4 R 3BI in the 5-2 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 139.9 career points, maintaining his rank of 23rd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 22nd-ranked player, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (142.1).
  • Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (HR 3-3 R 2BI in the 9-4 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 135.4 career points, maintaining his rank of 26th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 25th-ranked player, Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (137.8).
  • Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (8IP 6H 2R 8K W in the 8-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 112.0 for his career, maintaining his rank of 51st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 50th-ranked player, Cubs pitcher John Lackey (112.5).

Scoring—Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hamels earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Perez earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/22 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 Mets Noah Syndergaard (W,5-2) - - - - - - 7.0 6 1 0 0 11
AL 9.0 Rangers Cole Hamels (W,5-0) - - - - - - 8.0 5 2 1 2 11
8.2 Giants Madison Bumgarner (W,6-2) - - - - - - 7.2 3 0 0 2 6
7.0 Dbacks Zack Greinke (W,5-3) - - - - - - 8.0 5 1 1 1 7
6.0 Nationals Max Scherzer (W,5-3) - - - - - - 8.0 6 2 2 0 8
BAT 5.0 Angels Carlos Perez, C 4 1 3 5 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Red Sox David Ortiz, DH 4 1 4 3 1 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Phillies Jerad Eickhoff (W,2-6) - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 1 3
3.2 Blue Jays Marcus Stroman (W,5-1) - - - - - - 7.2 3 1 1 2 3
3.0 Tigers Miguel Cabrera, 1B 3 1 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 `Dodgers J.P. Howell - - - - - - 3.0 1 0 0 0 1
3.0 `Yankees Dellin Betances - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 White Sox David Robertson (S,11) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
2.0 Mariners Steve Cishek (S,12) - - - - - - 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 +/-
Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 7.0 17.4 17.4 17.4 -3.4
Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 6.4 21.8 73.4 132.6 -9.0
Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 6.0 27.0 91.6 112.0 -15.0
Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 6.0 23.0 93.0 98.7 -11.0
Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 5.0 25.7 90.8 151.4 -15.7
Cishek, Steve 2997 pi cp sea al 4.0 5.0 24.0 24.0 3.0
Robertson, David 2774 pi cp chi al 3.0 11.0 23.0 24.0 -5.0
Eickhoff, Jerad 3566 pi sp phi nl 3.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 -2.0
Stroman, Marcus 3327 pi sp tor al 2.7 5.4 19.1 19.1 0.0
Cabrera, Miguel 1776 1b det al 2.5 7.2 55.8 135.4 -2.2
Ortiz, David dh bos al 2.0 6.5 37.9 139.9 -2.5
Howell, J.P. 2016 pi mr lad nl 2.0 3.0 3.0 20.0 1.0
Perez, Carlos 3484 ca ana al 1.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 0.5
Betances, Dellin 3333 pi mr cp nyy al 1.0 5.0 9.7 9.7 -3.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Tigers' Fulmer tops players for Saturday, May 21; Marlins' Fernandez rises to 6th in player rankings

Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer 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 21:  


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 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 6.7
7 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 6.7
8 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 6.4
9 Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 6.1
10 Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 cf lf nym nl 6.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez rose to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings and Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets rose to 10th after both earned Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Fulmer struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 5-4 win over the Rays.

This was Fulmer’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut April 29 and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,640th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez struck out nine over six innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 3-2 win over the Mets.

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

American League Batter of the Day—Eduardo Nunez of the Twins hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-4, in the 5-3 win over the Blue Jays.

Nunez had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +2.0, tied with Matt Wieters of the Orioles, who was Player of the Game in the 3-1 win over the Angels. Both Nunez and Wieters also had similar batting lines and Nunez won AL Batter of the Day honors on a low-level tiebreaker—he left fewer runners on base—0 vs. 1.

National League Batter of the Day—Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice, in the 5-4 win over the Brewers. Cespedes earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, rising to 10th place in player rankings. He also extends his lead among NL batters in Box-Toppers points for the season.

Notable—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez now has 164.7 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday, moving closer to 11th place on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list.

Hernandez (6IP 4H 0R 5K in the 4-0 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, maintaining his rank of 12th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since player tracking began in 1995. He trails 11th-place player Roger Clemens (164.8) by only 0.1 point. It should be noted that Clemens’s career began in 1984, before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, and so he would likely have more Box-Toppers points (rough estimates based on projections would put his career total at about 320 Box-Toppers points).

Hernandez has 2.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Debut—Rockies pitcher Carlos Estevez made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Estevez (1.1IP 0H 0R 2K W in the 5-1 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut April 23 and was playing in his 13th career game. He is the 3,641st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Fulmer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Fernandez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Nunez and Cespedes 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

5/20 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 Tigers Michael Fulmer (W,3-1) - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 1 11
9.2 Red Sox Joe Kelly (W,2-0) - - - - - - 6.2 1 0 0 3 7
NL 8.0 Marlins Jose Fernandez (W,6-2) - - - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 1 9
7.1 Braves Williams Perez (W,2-1) - - - - - - 6.1 2 0 0 1 4
6.0 Cardinals Mike Leake (W,3-3) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 0 3
5.0 Rangers Cesar Ramos (W,1-2) - - - - - - 6.0 2 1 1 1 4
5.0 `Padres Cesar Vargas - - - - - - 7.0 4 2 2 1 7
4.0 Mariners Felix Hernandez (W,4-3) - - - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 3 5
3.1 `Royals Danny Duffy - - - - - - 4.1 4 0 0 0 3
2.1 Rockies Carlos Estevez (W,1-1) - - - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 1 2
BAT 2.0 Twins Eduardo Nunez, SS 4 1 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Orioles Matt Wieters, C 4 1 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 2.0 Mets Yoenis Cespedes, CF 4 2 2 2 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Yankees Masahiro Tanaka (W,2-0) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 2 4
1.0 Giants Buster Posey, 1B 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 +/-
Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 6.7 11.4 37.4 37.4 2.0
Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 cf lf nym nl 6.0 16.9 37.9 37.9 -4.9
Nunez, Eduardo 2795 2b ss lf min al 2.5 4.5 10.5 12.0 0.5
Wieters, Matt 2643 ca bal al 2.5 3.5 21.5 27.2 1.5
Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 2.0 21.4 87.4 164.7 -17.4
Leake, Mike 2709 pi sp stl nl 2.0 12.0 37.1 41.6 -8.0
Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 pi sp nyy al 2.0 10.0 22.7 22.7 -6.0
Duffy, Danny 2915 pi sp kc al 2.0 6.0 21.0 21.0 -2.0
Perez, Williams 3476 pi sp atl nl 2.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 -2.0
Fulmer, Michael 3640 pi sp det al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Vargas, Cesar 3624 pi sp sd nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Posey, Buster 2745 1b ca sf nl 1.0 5.0 26.0 30.5 -3.0
Kelly, Joe 3066 pi sp bos al 1.0 3.0 10.0 10.0 -1.0
Ramos, Cesar 3168 pi sp tex al 1.0 1.0 3.0 3.0 1.0
Estevez, Carlos 3641 pi mr col nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?