A look at Box-Toppers 100 top-ranked players for 2016 at the All-Star break. Blue Jays and top-ranked Cubs have most representatives on the list.
Read MoreAn All-Star break look at who Box-Toppers deems to be All-Stars
A look at Box-Toppers points leaders by position and by league for the 2016 season and for the combined 2015-16 seasons.
Read MoreDodgers' Clayton Kershaw leads Box-Toppers player rankings at All-Star break
Despite being on disabled list, Kershaw's dominating lead has only been reduced by 1.0 Box-Toppers point since start of July.
Read MoreDespite losses, Chicago Cubs cling to lead in Box-Toppers team rankings at All-Star break
Nationals, Dodgers close in on Cubs. Indians maintain AL lead. Red Sox make big jump as hottest team since June 30.
Read MoreGiants' Madison Bumgarner tops players for Sunday, July 10, rising to 6th in Box-Toppers rankings
Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, earning the season’s second-highest Box-Toppers game score and rising 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 July 10:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 14.4 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 13.4 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 12.5 |
| 6 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.0 |
| 7 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 8 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
| 9 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 10.5 |
| 10 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 10.4 |
Bumgarner pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out 14 and walking one in the 4-0 win over the Diamondbacks.
Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season, rising to sixth in player rankings and fifth among National League pitchers.
He had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +21.0, the second-highest of the season, behind only the +22.0 score earned April 14 by Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez. (See chart below for the 12 highest Box-Toppers game score earned by Players of the Games in 2016.)
Also Sunday, Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda had the 11th-highest Box-Toppers game score of the season, +16.0, but since he was beaten out by NL pitcher Bumgarner for Player of the Day, he only earns Player of the Game honors and 1.0 Box-Toppers point. Maeda was Player of the Game in the 3-1 win over the Padres (7IP 2H R 0BB 13K W).
Bumgarner also now has 103.7 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 62nd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Sunday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list—Carlos Beltran (101.9), Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2), Miguel Tejada (102.3) and Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (103.4). He now trails 61st-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0).
American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher David Price pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing four hits and two walks, in the 4-0 win over the Rays.
Price earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and now has 102.2 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 65th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes five players on the “all-time” list—Paul Konerko (100.7), Jason Schmidt (101.2), Tim Wakefield (101.4), Carlos Beltran of the Yankees (101.9) and Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2). Price trails 64th-ranked player Miguel Tejada (102.3).
American League Batter of the Day—Kennys Vargas of the Twins homered and went 1-for-2, scoring three times, in the 15-5 win over the Rangers.
National League Batter of the Day—Cameron Rupp of the Phillies homered and went 4-for-5, driving in four runs, in the 10-3 win over the Rockies.
Scoring—Bumgarner 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. Vargas and Rupp 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
| 7/10 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 21.0 | SF 4/ARI 0 | Madison Bumgarner (W,10-4) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | |
| 16.0 | LAD 3/SD 1 | Kenta Maeda (W,8-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 13 | ||
| AL | 13.0 | BOS 4/TB 0 | David Price (W,9-6) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| 12.0 | ATL 2/CHW 0 | Mike Foltynewicz (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 9.0 | STL 5/MIL 1 | Mike Leake (W,6-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 4.1 | `DC 3/NYM 2 | Tanner Roark | - | - | - | - | 2.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | PHI 10/COL 3 | Cameron Rupp, C | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | `HOU 2/OAK 1 | Dallas Keuchel | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 3.1 | NYY 11/CLE 7 | Nathan Eovaldi (W,7-6) | - | - | - | - | 4.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | MIN 15/TEX 5 | Kennys Vargas, 1B | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | TOR 6/DET 1 | R.A. Dickey (W,7-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 2.1 | SEA 8/KC 5 | Mike Montgomery (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | BAL 4/LAA 2 | J.J. Hardy, SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIA 7/CIN 3 | Mike Dunn (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | CHC 6/PIT 5 | Hector Rondon (S,14) | - | - | - | - | 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 | +/- |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.0 | 28.0 | 98.0 | 103.7 | -6.0 |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 | 29.5 | 85.5 | 102.2 | -12.7 |
| Roark, Tanner 3261 | pi sp | dc nl | 7.7 | 8.7 | 23.7 | 23.7 | 6.7 |
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | nyy al | 6.7 | 8.7 | 25.8 | 25.8 | 4.7 |
| Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 5.0 | 26.4 | 40.8 | 40.8 | -16.4 |
| Dickey, R.A. 1734 | pi sp | tor al | 5.0 | 10.0 | 54.2 | 75.9 | 0.0 |
| Rondon, Hector 3201 | pi cp | chi nl | 4.0 | 6.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 2.0 |
| Rupp, Cameron 3556 | ca | phi nl | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 2.5 |
| Leake, Mike 2709 | pi sp | stl nl | 3.0 | 13.0 | 38.1 | 42.6 | -7.0 |
| Montgomery, Mike 3513 | pi cp mr sp | sea al | 3.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -1.0 |
| Foltynewicz, Mike 3455 | pi sp | atl nl | 3.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 0.3 |
| Hardy, J.J. 2071 | ss | bal al | 2.7 | 2.7 | 24.1 | 51.3 | 2.7 |
| Vargas, Kennys 3511 | 1b | min al | 2.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 |
| Dunn, Michael 2867 | pi mr cp | fla nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 1.0 |
Highest Box-Toppers game scores of 2016
Here are the highest Box-Toppers game scores earned by Players of the Games in 2016. Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez had the highest score of +22.0 on April 14 when he was Player of the Day (earning 2.0 Box-Toppers points). All but two players among the top 12 here earned Player of the Day honors. Cardinals pitcher Jamie Garcia and Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda earned Player of the Game honors (worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point) because they finished behind that day’s overall top player—Garcia finished behind Velasquez on April 14 and Garcia finished behind Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner on July 10.| Date | Bonus | Score | Team | Players | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 1 | 4/14 | MLB | 22.0 | Phillies | Vince Velasquez (W,2-0) | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 2 | 7/10 | MLB | 21.0 | Giants | Madison Bumgarner (W,10-4) | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| 3 | 5/1 | MLB | 20.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W,3-1) | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 4 | 4/14 | 20.0 | Cardinals | Jaime Garcia (W,1-0) | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | |
| 5 | 5/11 | MLB | 19.0 | Nationals | Max Scherzer (W,4-2) | 9.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 20 |
| 6 | 5/12 | MLB | 18.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W,5-1) | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| 7 | 4/23 | MLB | 17.0 | Nationals | Tanner Roark (W,2-2) | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| 8 | 6/5 | MLB | 17.0 | Marlins | Jose Fernandez (W,9-2) | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 9 | 4/15 | MLB | 16.0 | White Sox | Chris Sale (W,3-0) | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 10 | 6/8 | MLB | 16.0 | Mariners | Taijuan Walker (W,3-6) | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 11 | 7/10 | 16.0 | Dodgers | Kenta Maeda (W,8-6) | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 13 | |
| 12 | 4/19 | MLB | 16.0 | `Rays | Drew Smyly | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | |||||||||||
Nationals' Max Scherzer tops players for Saturday, July 9, rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers rankings
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of July 9:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 14.4 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 13.4 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 12.5 |
| 6 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
| 8 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 10.5 |
| 9 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 10.4 |
| 10 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.4 |
Scherzer struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 6-1 win over the Mets.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.0 for the season, rising from fifth to third in player rankings, behind two other National League pitchers, Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (20.0) and Jose Fernandez of the Marlins (14.4).
Scherzer also now has 120.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 38th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Cliff Lee (119.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 37th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1).
In addition, Scherzer ranks third among all players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2015 with 35.0, trailing Kershaw (45.7) and Jake Arrieta of the Cubs (39.8). He ranks second among all players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2011 with 99.6, behind only Kershaw (145.8).
American League Player of the Day—Yankees closing pitcher Aroldis Chapman pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing no runs or hits and striking out four, in the 7-6, 11-inning win over the Indians.
National League Batter of the Day—Josh E. Bell of the Pirates hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the 12-6 win over the Cubs.
This was Bell’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Bell made his Major League debut July 8 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,682nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—Stephen Vogt of the Athletics homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 3-2 win over the Astros.
Debut—Cheslor Cuthbert of the Royals made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Cuthbert (2B 2-4 R 2BI in the 5-3 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut July 7, 2015, and was playing in his 74th career game. He is the 3,683rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Chapman earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Bell and Vogt 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
| 7/9 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | DC 6/NYM 1 | Max Scherzer (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| 6.0 | STL 8/MIL 1 | Carlos Martinez (W,8-6) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 11 | ||
| AL | 5.1 | NYY 7/CLE 6 | Aroldis Chapman (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | 2.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | PIT 12/CHC 6 | Josh Bell, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | MIN 8/TEX 6 | Eddie Rosario, LF | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | BOS 4/TB 1 | Rick Porcello (W,11-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 3.2 | MIA 4/CIN 2 | Adam Conley (W,6-5) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | OAK 3/HOU 2 | Stephen Vogt, C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | COL 8/PHI 3 | Tony Wolters, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | `DET 3/TOR 2 | Matt Boyd | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | LAD 4/SD 3 | Kenley Jansen (S,26) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | SF 4/ARI 2 | George Kontos (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | CHW 5/ATL 4 | Todd Frazier, 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | KC 5/SEA 3 | Cheslor Cuthbert, 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | BAL 3/LAA 2 | Brad Brach (W,6-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
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 | 14.0 | 35.0 | 99.6 | 120.0 | -7.0 |
| Conley, Adam 3594 | pi sp | fla nl | 6.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 3.7 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 4.7 | 18.4 | 19.4 | 19.4 | -9.0 |
| Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | pi cp | nyy al | 4.7 | 12.7 | 42.7 | 43.7 | -3.3 |
| Frazier, Todd 2929 | 3b | chi al | 4.2 | 13.1 | 27.1 | 27.1 | -4.7 |
| Porcello, Rick 2573 | pi sp | bos al | 4.0 | 8.0 | 29.7 | 38.7 | 0.0 |
| Jansen, Kenley 2871 | pi cp | lad nl | 4.0 | 8.0 | 34.4 | 34.4 | 0.0 |
| Vogt, Stephen 3503 | ca 1b | oak al | 2.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
| Wolters, Tony 3668 | ca | col nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Brach, Brad 3374 | pi mr | bal al | 2.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -1.0 |
| Kontos, George 3106 | pi cp mr | sf nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 0.0 |
| Bell, Josh E. 2789 | ph | pit nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Rosario, Eddie 3542 | lf | min al | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | -0.5 |
| Boyd, Matt 3550 | pi sp | det al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Cuthbert, Cheslor 3683 | 3b | kc al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Dodgers' Yasmani Grandal tops players for Friday, July 8; 3 pitchers rise in Box-Toppers top 10 rankings
Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers 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 July 8:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 14.4 |
| 3 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 13.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 12.5 |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.0 |
| 6 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
| 8 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 10.5 |
| 9 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 10.4 |
| 10 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.4 |
Also Friday, three players rise in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors—Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez rises to second, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to fourth and Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to 10th.
Player of the Day—Grandal hit three homers and went 5-for-5, driving in six runs, in the 10-6 win over the Padres.
Grandal had a Box-Toppers game score of +9.0, tied with two other of Friday’s Players of the Games. Grandal won overall Player of the Day on a tiebreaker. The other two players were pitchers—Kluber and Strasburg—and in case of game score ties, batters own the tiebreaker over pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber struck out eight over eight innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 10-2 win over the Yankees.
Kluber earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.5 for the season, rising to fourth in player rankings and extending his lead among AL pitchers (second place AL pitcher Chris Sale of the White Sox has 10.7 points).
American League Batter of the Day—Luis Valbuena of the Astros hit a three-run walk-off home run in the 10-9 win over the Athletics. Valbuena went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall Player of the Day is NL batter Yasmani Grandal.
Rankings—In addition to Kluber, two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday:
- Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (7IP 6H R 0BB 8K W in the 3-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.4 for the season, rising to second place in player rankings, trailing overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0).
- Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg (7IP 2H R 3BB 9K W in the 3-1 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season, rising to 10th place in player rankings, sixth among NL pitchers. Strasburg becomes the 12th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.
Debut—Tommy Joseph of the Phillies made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, earning his first career Player of the Game honor.
Joseph (PH 3-R HR in the 5-3 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut May 13 and was playing in his 44th career game. He is the 3,681st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Grandal earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kluber earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Valbuena earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 7/8 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | LAD 10/SD 6 | Yasmani Grandal, C | 5 | 3 | 5 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AL | 9.0 | CLE 10/NYY 2 | Corey Kluber (W,9-8) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |
| 9.0 | DC 3/NYM 1 | Stephen Strasburg (W,12-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | ||
| 8.0 | MIA 3/CIN 1 | Jose Fernandez (W,11-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 7.2 | TOR 6/DET 0 | J.A. Happ (W,12-3) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | HOU 10/OAK 9 | Luis Valbuena, 3B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | SF 6/ARI 2 | Brandon Crawford, SS | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | PHI 5/COL 3 | Tommy Joseph, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.2 | TEX 6/MIN 5 | Tony Barnette (W,6-3) | - | - | - | - | 2.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 11/CHW 8 | Adonis Garcia, 3B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | LAA 9/BAL 5 | Mike Trout, CF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.2 | SEA 3/KC 2 | Hisashi Iwakuma (W,9-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 2.1 | BOS 6/TB 5 | Robbie Ross Jr. (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | MIL 4/STL 3 | Chris Carter, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.1 | PIT 8/CHC 4 | Mark Melancon (S,27) | - | - | - | - | 0.1 | 0 | 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 | +/- |
| Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 14.4 | 19.1 | 45.1 | 45.1 | 9.7 |
| Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 12.5 | 25.9 | 56.7 | 56.7 | -0.9 |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.4 | 24.4 | 70.5 | 78.2 | -3.6 |
| Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 7.5 | 19.5 | 44.0 | 44.0 | -4.5 |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 7.0 | 20.1 | 35.5 | 43.5 | -6.1 |
| Carter, Chris 2828 | 1b | mil nl | 7.0 | 8.0 | 25.9 | 26.9 | 6.0 |
| Grandal, Yasmani 3058 | ca | lad nl | 3.0 | 5.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 1.0 |
| Crawford, Brandon 2878 | ss | sf nl | 2.0 | 5.5 | 16.5 | 16.5 | -1.5 |
| Ross, Robbie Jr. 2999 | pi cp mr | bos al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 2.0 |
| Barnette, Tony 3670 | pi mr | tex al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Garcia, Adonis 3613 | 3b | atl nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Valbuena, Luis 2600 | 3b | hou al | 1.5 | 6.0 | 10.5 | 13.5 | -3.0 |
| Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048 | pi sp | sea al | 1.0 | 14.1 | 49.2 | 49.2 | -12.1 |
| Melancon, Mark 2792 | pi cp | pit nl | 1.0 | 8.0 | 21.0 | 22.0 | -6.0 |
| Joseph, Tommy 3681 | ph | phi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Nationals' Max Scherzer ‘most worthy but unchosen' player for 2016 All-Star Game
A look at the All-Star rosters based on Box-Toppers points. Which players were worthy but unchosen? Which players made it but probably shouldn't have?
Read MoreAngels' Hector Santiago tops players for Thursday, July 7; Padres' Drew Pomeranz rises to 10th in Box-Toppers rankings
Angels pitcher Hector Santiago is Thursday’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 July 7:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 13.4 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 13.4 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.0 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 10.8 |
| 6 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
| 8 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 10.5 |
| 9 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 10.4 |
| 10 | Pomeranz, Drew 3061 | pi sp | sd nl | 10.4 |
Also Thursday, Padres pitcher Drew Pomeranz rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Santiago pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing three hits and four walks, in the 5-1 win over the Rays.
National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Drew Pomeranz pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, striking out six, in the 6-0 win over the Dodgers.
Pomeranz earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season, rising to 10th place among all players. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers. Pomeranz also becomes the 11th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.
Four pitchers among Thursday’s Players of the Game were tied for highest Box-Toppers game score of the day (+9.0)—Santiago, Pomeranz, plus Athletics pitcher Rich Hill and Twins pitcher Tyler Duffey. Santiago and Pomeranz ranked ahead of Hill and Duffey because they had more innings pitched (7 vs. 6). Santiago ranked ahead of Pomeranz to earn overall Player of the Day honors because he had more strikeouts (9 vs. 6).
National League Batter of the Day—Trevor Story of the Rockies hit two homers and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 11-2 win over the Phillies.
American League Batter of the Day—Salvador Perez of the Royals hit a ninth-inning, walk-off, two-run double in the 4-3 win over the Mariners. Perez went 3-for-4, scoring once.
Notable—Wilmer Flores of the Mets has earned Box-Toppers points two days in a row and three times in the past five days after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Flores (HR 1-2 R 3BI in the 9-7 win Thursday over the Nationals) was also Player of the Game Wednesday and was NL Batter of the Day in the Mets’ win Sunday, July 3. Flores has 3.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, all earned in the past five days.
Also notable—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright now has 107.3 career Box-Toppers points—57th-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began—after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Wainwright (7IP 5H R BB 9K W in the 5-1 win over the Pirates) now trails 56th-ranked player on the “all-time” list, Lance Berkman (108.1). Wainwright has 5.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, 25th among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Santiago earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Pomeranz earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Story and Perez 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.
Note—Friday’s usual Box-Toppers team power rankings report and player rankings report will be delayed until the All-Star break on Monday.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 7/7 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | LAA 5/TB 1 | Hector Santiago (W,6-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | |
| NL | 9.0 | SD 6/LAD 0 | Drew Pomeranz (W,8-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| 9.0 | OAK 3/HOU 1 | Rich Hill (W,9-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 9.0 | MIN 10/TEX 1 | Tyler Duffey (W,5-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | ||
| 8.0 | STL 5/PIT 1 | Adam Wainwright (W,8-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | COL 11/PHI 2 | Trevor Story, SS | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.2 | `ATL 4/CHC 3 | Lucas Harrell | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | NYM 9/DC 7 | Wilmer Flores, 1B-3B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | KC 4/SEA 3 | Salvador Perez, C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | TOR 5/DET 4 | Michael Saunders, LF | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYY 5/CLE 4 | Chase Headley, 3B | 3 | 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 of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Pomeranz, Drew 3061 | pi sp | sd nl | 10.4 | 13.4 | 21.4 | 21.4 | 7.4 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 9.4 | 13.4 | 13.4 | 33.1 | 5.4 |
| Santiago, Hector 3109 | pi sp | ana al | 8.4 | 16.4 | 28.8 | 28.8 | 0.4 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 5.5 | 8.5 | 56.6 | 107.3 | 2.5 |
| Saunders, Michael 2768 | lf | tor al | 4.2 | 4.2 | 13.9 | 14.9 | 4.2 |
| Perez, Salvador 2972 | ca | kc al | 4.0 | 8.5 | 21.7 | 21.7 | -0.5 |
| Duffey, Tyler 3558 | pi sp | min al | 4.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 0.0 |
| Story, Trevor 3607 | ss | col nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Flores, Wilmer 3345 | 3b 1b | nym nl | 3.5 | 6.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 1.0 |
| Headley, Chase 2552 | 3b | nyy al | 3.5 | 5.5 | 17.0 | 27.5 | 1.5 |
| Harrell, Lucas 2988 | pi sp | atl nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 2.0 |
Twins' Ervin Santana tops players for Wednesday, July 6; Giants' Cueto rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers rankings
Twins pitcher Ervin Santana 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 July 6:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 13.4 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 13.4 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.0 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 10.8 |
| 6 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
| 8 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 10.5 |
| 9 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 10.4 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.0 |
Also Wednesday, Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Santana pitched a two-hit, complete-game shutout, striking out eight and walking none, in the 4-0 win over the Athletics.
Santana earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first Box-Toppers points of the season, and has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons.
He earned his first points in 2005 with the Angels and has 95.3 for his career, ninth among active American League pitchers. His best season was 2008 with the Angels, when he had 16.7 points, leading all AL pitchers. In 2015, he had 5.4 points with the Twins.
National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto pitched a complete game, allowing one run, five hits, one walk and striking out eight, in the 5-1 win over the Rockies.
Cueto earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 13.4 for the season and rising from fourth to second in season player rankings, trailing overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0).
Cueto’s rise in Box-Toppers top 10 rankings is the first movement in that chart in a week. None of the players in the top 10 have earned Player of the Game honors since June 29.
National League Batter of the Day—Yangervis Solarte of the Padres hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 13-6 win over the Diamondbacks.
American League Batter of the Day—Nick Castellanos of the Tigers homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 12-2 win over the Indians.
Notable—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver now has 125.1 Box-Toppers points—37th-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began—after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Weaver (6IP 4H R BB 5K W in the 7-2 win over the Rays) now trails the 36th-ranked player on the “all-time” list, Mariano Rivera (126.4). Weaver has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Debut—Bryce Brentz of the Red Sox made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Brentz (2-4 2R 3BI in the 11-6 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut Sept. 17, 2014, and was playing in his 17th career game. He is the 3,680th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Santana earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cueto earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Solarte and Castellanos 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
| 7/6 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | MIN 4/OAK 0 | Ervin Santana (W,3-7) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| NL | 9.0 | SF 5/COL 1 | Johnny Cueto (W,13-1) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| 6.0 | TOR 4/KC 2 | Marcus Stroman (W,7-4) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | SD 13/ARI 6 | Yangervis Solarte, 3B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | DET 12/CLE 2 | Nick Castellanos, 3B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | CHW 5/NYY 0 | Miguel Gonzalez (W,2-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | LAA 7/TB 2 | Jered Weaver (W,7-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | DC 7/MIL 4 | Jonathan Papelbon (S,17) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 9/SEA 8 | Carlos Gomez, CF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | BOS 11/TEX 6 | Bryce Brentz, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | BAL 6/LAD 4 | Mark Trumbo, RF | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYM 4/MIA 2 | Wilmer Flores, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | PIT 7/STL 5 | A.J. Schugel (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | CIN 5/CHC 3 | Tony Cingrani (S,10) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | PHI 4/ATL 3 | Freddy Galvis, SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 | +/- |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 13.4 | 26.2 | 77.4 | 96.8 | 0.6 |
| Trumbo, Mark 2851 | rf | bal al | 7.2 | 9.7 | 32.9 | 32.9 | 4.7 |
| Castellanos, Nick 3349 | 3b | det al | 5.5 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 13.7 | -0.7 |
| Galvis, Freddy 3202 | ss | phi nl | 4.0 | 8.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 0.0 |
| Gonzalez, Miguel 3062 | pi sp | chi al | 3.7 | 10.4 | 32.5 | 32.5 | -3.0 |
| Stroman, Marcus 3327 | pi sp | tor al | 3.7 | 6.4 | 20.1 | 20.1 | 1.0 |
| Flores, Wilmer 3345 | 3b ss 2b | nym nl | 2.5 | 5.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 0.0 |
| Weaver, Jered 2178 | pi sp | ana al | 2.0 | 9.7 | 64.3 | 125.1 | -5.7 |
| Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 2.0 | 7.4 | 45.8 | 95.3 | -3.4 |
| Papelbon, Jonathan 2110 | pi cp | dc nl | 2.0 | 6.0 | 23.7 | 54.4 | -2.0 |
| Schugel, A.J. 3669 | pi mr | pit nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Solarte, Yangervis 3304 | 3b | sd nl | 1.5 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | -3.5 |
| Gomez, Carlos 2397 | cf | hou al | 1.0 | 7.0 | 17.5 | 28.5 | -5.0 |
| Cingrani, Tony 3158 | pi cp | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 1.0 |
| Brentz, Bryce 3680 | lf | bos al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Phillies' Eflin tops players for Tuesday, July 5; Yankees' Tanaka tops AL players
Phillies pitcher Zach Eflin 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 July 5:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 13.4 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.7 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 10.8 |
| 6 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
| 8 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 10.5 |
| 9 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 10.4 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.0 |
Eflin pitched a complete game, allowing one run, six hits and no walks, striking out six, in the 5-1 win over the Braves.
This was Eflin’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Eflin made his Major League debut June 14 and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,679th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing six hits and one walk, striking out six, in the 9-0 win over the White Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 5-2 win over the Mets.
American League Batter of the Day—Andrelton Simmons of the Angels tripled, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 13-5 win over the Rays.
Notable—Pirates pitcher Juan Nicasio has the most 2016 Box-Toppers points of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Nicasio (2IP H 0R BB 2K W in the 5-2 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season, 34th among all players, 16th among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Elfin earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tanaka earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Stanton and Simmons 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
| 7/5 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 7.0 | PHI 5/ATL 1 | Zach Eflin (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| AL | 6.2 | NYY 9/CHW 0 | Masahiro Tanaka (W,6-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| BAT | 6.0 | MIA 5/NYM 2 | Giancarlo Stanton, RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | TOR 8/KC 3 | R.A. Dickey (W,6-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | LAA 13/TB 5 | Andrelton Simmons, SS | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | CIN 9/CHC 5 | Joey Votto, 1B | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | `BAL 4/LAD 1 | Brad Brach (H,14) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | CLE 12/DET 1 | Lonnie Chisenhall, RF | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | MIL 5/DC 2 | Aaron Hill, 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | ARI 7/SD 5 | Jean Segura, 2B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TEX 7/BOS 2 | Elvis Andrus, SS | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | COL 7/SF 3 | DJ LeMahieu, 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 11/OAK 4 | Kennys Vargas, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | HOU 5/SEA 2 | Dallas Keuchel (W,6-9) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | PIT 5/STL 2 | Juan Nicasio (W,7-6) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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 | +/- |
| Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi sp mr | pit nl | 7.0 | 8.0 | 23.4 | 23.4 | 6.0 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 6.7 | 14.7 | 27.4 | 27.4 | -1.3 |
| LeMahieu, DJ 3091 | 2b | col nl | 5.5 | 12.5 | 18.5 | 18.5 | -1.5 |
| Hill, Aaron 2056 | 2b | mil nl | 5.5 | 8.5 | 22.5 | 41.5 | 2.5 |
| Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | tex al | 4.7 | 4.7 | 12.2 | 15.2 | 4.7 |
| Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 | 10.0 | 31.7 | 37.2 | -1.0 |
| Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.0 | 25.4 | 39.8 | 39.8 | -17.4 |
| Dickey, R.A. 1734 | pi sp | tor al | 4.0 | 9.0 | 53.2 | 74.9 | -1.0 |
| Chisenhall, Lonnie 2959 | rf | cle al | 3.5 | 3.5 | 13.5 | 13.5 | 3.5 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 3.0 | 8.0 | 24.7 | 56.7 | -2.0 |
| Segura, Jean 3173 | 2b | ari nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 0.0 |
| Eflin, Zach 3679 | pi sp | phi nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Simmons, Andrelton 3165 | ss | ana al | 1.5 | 5.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -2.5 |
| Brach, Brad 3374 | pi mr | bal al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -2.0 |
| Vargas, Kennys 3511 | 1b | min al | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | -0.5 |
Brewers' Guerra tops players for Monday, July 4; Astros' McCullers tops NL players
Brewers pitcher Junior Guerra 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 July 4:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 13.4 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.7 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 10.8 |
| 6 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
| 8 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 10.5 |
| 9 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 10.4 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.0 |
Guerra pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing two hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Nationals.
American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Mariners.
National League Batter of the Day—Kris Bryant of the Cubs hit a two-run homer, going 1-for-1 and scoring three times, in the 10-4 win over the Reds.
Bryant earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, most of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. Bryant rises to 29th place among all players and third among NL batters, behind Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals (7.5) and Wil Myers of the Padres (7.2).
American League Batter of the Day—Todd Frazier of the White Sox hit two doubles and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 8-2 win over the Yankees.
Streak—Mike Napoli of the Indians has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season Monday.
Napoli (HR 2B 2-3 2R 2BI in the 5-3 win over the Tigers) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Angels and has 52.2 career points, ninth among active AL first basemen. His best season was 2011 with the Rangers when he had 9.0 Box-Toppers points, ninth among AL batters. In 2015, he had 4.5 points with the Red Sox, a season in which he also played for the Rangers.
Notable—Giants pitcher Jake Peavy now has 141.8 career Box-Toppers points—24th-most since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began—after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Peavy (6.2IP 5H R 2BB 6K W in the 3-1 win over the Rockies) trails 23rd-ranked player on the “all-time” list, David Ortiz of the Red Sox (142.9). Peavy has 5.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 29th among NL pitchers.
Debut—Dodgers pitcher Pedro Baez made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Baez (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K ND in the 7-5 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut May 5, 2014, and was playing in his 110th career game. He is the 3,678th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Guerra 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. Bryant and Frazier 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
| 7/4 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.1 | MIL 1/DC 0 | Junior Guerra (W,6-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| AL | 9.0 | HOU 2/SEA 1 | Lance McCullers (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | CHC 10/CIN 4 | Kris Bryant, LF | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | TOR 6/KC 2 | Aaron Sanchez (W,9-1) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | `LAD 7/BAL 5 | Pedro Baez | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.2 | PHI 8/ATL 2 | Jerad Eickhoff (W,6-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 3.2 | SF 3/COL 1 | Jake Peavy (W,5-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | NYM 8/MIA 6 | Travis d'Arnaud, C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SD 8/ARI 4 | Derek Norris, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | CHW 8/NYY 2 | Todd Frazier, 3B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | CLE 5/DET 3 | Mike Napoli, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 12/TEX 5 | Travis Shaw, 3B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | PIT 4/STL 2 | Gregory Polanco, RF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TB 4/LAA 2 | Logan Morrison, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.2 | OAK 3/MIN 1 | Kendall Graveman (W,4-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 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 | +/- |
| Bryant, Kris 3465 | lf 3b rf | chi nl | 7.0 | 15.5 | 15.5 | 15.5 | -1.5 |
| Eickhoff, Jerad 3566 | pi sp | phi nl | 7.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 2.0 |
| Guerra, Junior 3633 | pi sp | mil nl | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Sanchez, Aaron 3392 | pi sp | tor al | 5.7 | 7.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 3.7 |
| Peavy, Jake 1635 | pi sp | sf nl | 5.0 | 10.0 | 38.1 | 141.8 | 0.0 |
| Shaw, Travis 3544 | 1b 3b | bos al | 4.5 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 0.3 |
| Polanco, Gregory 3361 | rf | pit nl | 4.5 | 7.5 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 1.5 |
| McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 3.4 | 10.1 | 10.1 | 10.1 | -3.3 |
| Frazier, Todd 2929 | 3b | chi al | 3.2 | 12.1 | 26.1 | 26.1 | -5.7 |
| Graveman, Kendall 3444 | pi sp | oak al | 3.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | -1.7 |
| Napoli, Mike 2161 | 1b | cle al | 1.0 | 5.5 | 33.2 | 52.2 | -3.5 |
| Norris, Derek 3198 | ca | sd nl | 1.0 | 5.5 | 13.0 | 13.0 | -3.5 |
| Morrison, Logan 2794 | 1b | tb al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 15.0 | 16.5 | -3.0 |
| d’Arnaud, Travis 3384 | ca | nym nl | 1.0 | 3.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | -1.5 |
| Baez, Pedro 3678 | pi mr | lad nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Blue Jays' Happ tops players for Sunday, July 3; Dodgers' McCarthy tops NL players
Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ 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 July 3:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 13.4 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.7 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 10.8 |
| 6 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
| 8 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 10.5 |
| 9 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 10.4 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.0 |
Happ struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 17-1 win over the Indians.
National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Brandon McCarthy pitched five scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits and one walk, in the 4-1 win over the Rockies.
National League Batter of the Day—Wilmer Flores of the Mets hit two homers and went 6-for-6, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 14–3 win over the Cubs.
American League Batter of the Day—Sandy Leon of the Red Sox homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 10-5 win over the Angels.
This was Leon’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Leon made his Major League debut May 14, 2012, and was playing in his 89th career game. He is the 3,676th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Notable—Seth Smith of the Mariners earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Sunday.
Smith (grand slam 1-4 in the 9-4 win over the Orioles) was also Player of the Game Saturday in the Mariners 12-6 win over the Orioles.
Also notable—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg has the most 2016 Box-Toppers points of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Strasburg (6.2 IP 0H 0R 4BB 5K W in the 12-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.4 for the season, 13th among all players, ninth among NL pitchers.
Debuts—In addition to Leon, two other players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Yankees pitcher Chad Green (6IP 3H R 8K W in the 6-3 win over the Padres) made his Major League debut May 16 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,675th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Giants pitcher Josh Osich (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut July 3, 2015, and was playing in his 76th career game. He is the 3,677th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Happ earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and McCarthy earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Flores and Leon 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
| 7/3 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | TOR 17/CLE 1 | J.A. Happ (W,11-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | |
| NL | 10.0 | LAD 4/COL 1 | Brandon McCarthy (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 9.0 | NYY 6/SD 3 | Chad Green (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 7.2 | DC 12/CIN 1 | Stephen Strasburg (W,11-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | NYM 14/CHC 3 | Wilmer Flores, 3B | 6 | 3 | 6 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | STL 9/MIL 8 | Stephen Piscotty, RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | CHW 4/HOU 1 | Jose Quintana (W,6-8) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | MIA 5/ATL 2 | J.T. Realmuto, C | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | PHI 7/KC 2 | Maikel Franco, 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | BOS 10/LAA 5 | Sandy Leon, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | PIT 6/OAK 3 | David Freese, 1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | DET 5/TB 1 | Ian Kinsler, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SEA 9/BAL 4 | Seth Smith, LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 5/TEX 4 | Brian Dozier, 2B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SF 5/ARI 4 | Josh Osich (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 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 | +/- |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.4 | 23.4 | 69.5 | 77.2 | -4.6 |
| Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | chi al | 6.7 | 12.7 | 31.5 | 31.5 | 0.7 |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 6.0 | 19.1 | 34.5 | 42.5 | -7.1 |
| Kinsler, Ian 2144 | 2b | det al | 4.5 | 11.0 | 30.2 | 60.6 | -2.0 |
| Realmuto, J.T. 3491 | ca | fla nl | 3.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | -1.5 |
| Piscotty, Stephen 3570 | rf | stl nl | 3.0 | 7.2 | 7.2 | 7.2 | -1.2 |
| Smith, Seth 2489 | rf lf | sea al | 3.0 | 4.0 | 22.0 | 36.2 | 2.0 |
| McCarthy, Brandon 2082 | pi sp | lad nl | 1.7 | 3.7 | 26.8 | 35.5 | -0.3 |
| Flores, Wilmer 3345 | 3b ss 2b | nym nl | 1.5 | 4.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | -1.0 |
| Leon, Sandy 3676 | ca | bos al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Dozier, Brian 3219 | 2b | min al | 1.0 | 4.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 | -2.7 |
| Franco, Maikel 3510 | 3b | phi nl | 1.0 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.2 | -2.2 |
| Freese, David 2710 | 1b 3b | pit nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 21.2 | 23.2 | 1.0 |
| Green, Chad 3675 | pi sp | nyy al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Osich, Josh 3677 | pi mr | sf nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Dodgers' Kazmir tops players for Saturday, July 2; Angels' Cron tops AL players
Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir 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 July 2:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 13.4 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.7 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 10.8 |
| 6 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
| 8 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 10.5 |
| 9 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 10.4 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.0 |
Kazmir pitched six scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing three hits and no walks, in the 6-1 win over the Rockies.
Kazmir earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 103.4 for his career, rising to 62nd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Saturday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (101.7), Carlos Beltran of the Yankees (101.9), Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2) and Miguel Tejada (102.3). Kazmir trails 61st-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0).
Kazmir has 7.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 14th among NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—C.J. Cron of the Angels hit two homers and doubled, going 6-for-6, scoring five times and driving in five runs, in the 21-2 win over the Red Sox.
Cron had a Box-Toppers game score of +10 Saturday, the highest score for any batter earning Player of the Game honors this season. June 27’s Player of the Day Kris Bryant of the Cubs also had a Box-Toppers game score of +10, but Cron’s score ranks higher than Bryant’s because Cron had more at bats—6 vs. 5.
National League Batter of the Day—Wellington Castillo of the Diamondbacks hit a go-ahead, eighth-inning, three-run homer in the 6-5 win over the Giants. Castillo also doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter C.J. Cron.
100 career points—In addition to Kazmir, two other players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:
- Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander (7IP 4H 2R BB 8K W in the 3-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 128.6 for his career. He rises to 31st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing two players on the “all-time” list—A.J. Burnett (127.8) and Vladimir Guerrero (128.3). Verlander now trails 30th-ranked player Trevor Hoffman (129.4). Verlander has 4.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 30th among AL pitchers.
- Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (7IP 7H 0R 2BB 5K W in the 3-0 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 106.3 for his career. He rises to 57th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing three players on the “all-time” list—Aramis Ramirez (105.8), Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (105.8) and Frank Thomas (106.2). Wainwright now trails 56th-ranked player Lance Berkman (108.1). Wainwright has 4.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, 35th among NL pitchers.
Notable—Padres pitcher Drew Pomeranz has the most 2016 Box-Toppers points of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Pomeranz (7IP 5H R 0BB 7K ND in the 2-1 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season, 17th among all players, 12th among NL pitchers.
Debut—Reds pitcher Josh Smith made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Smith (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 9-4 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut June 23, 2015, and was playing in his 22nd career game. He is the 3,674th 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 Cron earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Castillo earns 1.5 points for being NL 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
| 7/2 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | LAD 6/COL 1 | Scott Kazmir (W,7-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| AL | 10.0 | LAA 21/BOS 2 | C.J. Cron, 1B | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | DET 3/TB 2 | Justin Verlander (W,8-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 7.0 | `SD 2/NYY 1 | Drew Pomeranz | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | MIN 17/TEX 5 | Max Kepler, RF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.2 | KC 6/PHI 2 | Danny Duffy (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | 8.2 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | ATL 9/MIA 1 | Lucas Harrell (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 4.1 | `NYM 4/CHC 3 | Addison Reed (H,17) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | SEA 12/BAL 6 | Seth Smith, LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | ARI 6/SF 5 | Welington Castillo, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | TOR 9/CLE 6 | Josh Donaldson, DH | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | STL 3/MIL 0 | Adam Wainwright (W,7-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 2.1 | CIN 9/DC 4 | Josh Smith (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | CHW 7/HOU 6 | Dioner Navarro, DH | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | PIT 4/OAK 2 | Juan Nicasio (W,6-6) | - | - | - | - | 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 | +/- |
| Pomeranz, Drew 3061 | pi sp | sd nl | 8.7 | 11.7 | 19.7 | 19.7 | 5.7 |
| Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | tor al | 8.2 | 18.1 | 38.1 | 38.1 | -1.7 |
| Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 | 19.7 | 47.6 | 103.4 | -5.7 |
| Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 | 7.0 | 22.4 | 22.4 | 5.0 |
| Duffy, Danny 2915 | pi sp | kc al | 5.7 | 9.7 | 24.7 | 24.7 | 1.7 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 4.5 | 7.5 | 55.6 | 106.3 | 1.5 |
| Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | det al | 4.0 | 10.4 | 73.6 | 128.6 | -2.4 |
| Cron, C.J. 3338 | dh 1b | ana al | 2.7 | 8.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | -3.3 |
| Smith, Seth 2489 | rf lf | sea al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 21.0 | 35.2 | 1.0 |
| Kepler, Max 3664 | rf | min al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Castillo, Wellington 3251 | ca | ari nl | 1.5 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -2.0 |
| Navarro, Dioner 2087 | dh ca | chi al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 10.0 | 19.0 | 0.0 |
| Reed, Addison 3023 | pi mr | nym nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 0.0 |
| Harrell, Lucas 2988 | pi sp | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 1.0 |
| Smith, Josh 3674 | pi mr | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Tigers' Fulmer tops players for Friday, July 1; Dodgers' Norris is ‘Kershavian,' topping NL players
Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer 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 July 1:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 13.4 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.7 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 10.8 |
| 6 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
| 8 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 10.5 |
| 9 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 10.4 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.0 |
Fulmer pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing two hits and one walk, in the 10-2 win over the Rays.
Fulmer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season, most of any of Friday’s 15 Players of the Games. Fulmer ranks 17th among all players and fifth among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Bud Norris of the Dodgers performed in a very “Kershavian” manner, pitching six scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Rockies.
This was Norris’ first start with the Dodgers after being traded from the Braves to fill in for the injured ace Clayton Kershaw (20.0 Box-Toppers points and leader in player rankings). Norris now has 4.7 Box-Toppers points on the season.
National League Batter of the Day—Wil Myers of the Padres homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-6 win over the Yankees.
Myers earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.2 for the season, rising to second place among NL batters, behind Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals (7.5).
American League Batter of the Day—David Ortiz of the Red Sox homered and went 3-for-4, in the 5-4 win over the Angels. His homer was his 522nd for his career, putting him in 19th place on the all-time list.
Ortiz earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 142.9 for his career, 23rd-most of any player since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 22nd-ranked player, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (143.8). Ortiz ranks eighth in career points among all active players and third among active batters, behind Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees (187.0) and Albert Pujols of the Angels (176.3).
Ortiz has 5.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 15th among AL batters.
Debut—Rangers pitcher Matt Bush made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Bush (2IP H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 3-2 win over the Twins) made his Major League debut May 13 and was playing in his 23rd career game. He is the 3,673rd 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 Norris earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Myers and Ortiz 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
| 7/1 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | DET 10/TB 2 | Michael Fulmer (W,8-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| NL | 11.0 | LAD 5/COL 0 | Bud Norris (W,4-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 6.0 | NYM 10/CHC 2 | Jacob deGrom (W,4-4) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | `DC 3/CIN 2 | Sammy Solis | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | STL 7/MIL 1 | Jaime Garcia (W,6-6) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | PHI 4/KC 3 | Jeremy Hellickson (W,6-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | HOU 5/CHW 0 | Mike Fiers (W,6-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | SD 7/NYY 6 | Wil Myers, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | SEA 5/BAL 2 | Wade LeBlanc (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | CLE 2/TOR 1 | Trevor Bauer (W,7-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | TEX 3/MIN 2 | Matt Bush (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | MIA 7/ATL 5 | Marcell Ozuna, CF | 6 | 1 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SF 6/ARI 4 | Conor Gillaspie, 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | BOS 5/LAA 4 | David Ortiz, DH | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.0 | PIT 7/OAK 3 | Jordy Mercer, SS | 4 | 1 | 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 | +/- |
| Fulmer, Michael 3640 | pi sp | det al | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 |
| Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 7.7 | 17.1 | 25.8 | 25.8 | -1.7 |
| Myers, Wil 3228 | 1b | sd nl | 7.2 | 10.2 | 15.7 | 15.7 | 4.2 |
| Garcia, Jaime 2508 | pi sp | stl nl | 6.0 | 15.4 | 33.1 | 41.8 | -3.4 |
| Hellickson, Jeremy 2778 | pi sp | phi nl | 5.4 | 10.4 | 34.1 | 37.1 | 0.4 |
| Ortiz, David | dh | bos al | 5.0 | 9.5 | 40.9 | 142.9 | 0.5 |
| Norris, Bud 2638 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.7 | 5.7 | 36.1 | 45.1 | 3.7 |
| deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.0 | 26.4 | 39.4 | 39.4 | -18.4 |
| Ozuna, Marcell 3190 | cf | fla nl | 4.0 | 7.0 | 17.5 | 17.5 | 1.0 |
| Fiers, Michael 3029 | pi sp | hou al | 3.0 | 10.0 | 24.1 | 24.1 | -4.0 |
| Mercer, Jordy 3206 | ss | pit nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.0 |
| LeBlanc, Wade 2669 | pi sp | sea al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 9.0 | 2.0 |
| Solis, Sammy 3651 | pi mr | dc nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Gillaspie, Conor 3218 | 3b | sf nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 1.0 |
| Bush, Matt 3673 | pi mr | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
A look at Box-Toppers All-Stars at the season's halfway point
Box-Toppers points leaders by position and league in both the 2016 season the combined 2015-16 seasons.
Read MoreThough Clayton Kershaw is on DL, he still holds commanding Box-Toppers player rankings lead
If Kershaw comes back, he could break single-season Box-Toppers points record of 33.7. If he doesn't come back, his 20 points could still lead NL pitchers.
Read MoreChicago Cubs lead Box-Toppers rankings for 11th week, but challengers are closing in
Cubs lead holds again, but slips slightly. Hot Indians pass Rangers to become top AL team. Nationals are hottest team of week, partly due to an acquisition.
Read MoreIndians' Carrasco tops players for Thursday, June 30; Nationals' Espinosa tops NL players
Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco is Thursday’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 30:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 13.4 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.7 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 10.8 |
| 6 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
| 8 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 10.5 |
| 9 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 10.4 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.0 |
Carrasco struck out 14 over 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 4-1 win over the Blue Jays.
Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.7 for the season (most of any of Thursday’s 11 Players of the Games), rising to 31st place among all players, ninth among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Danny Espinosa of the Nationals hit a grand slam and a three-run homer in the 13-4 win over the Reds. Espinosa went 2-for-4, driving in seven runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Cameron Maybin of the Tigers doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 10-7 win over the Rays.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the NL Player of the Day was batter Danny Espinosa.
Debut—Mets pitcher Erik Goeddel made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Goeddel (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 4-3 win over the Cubs) made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2014, and was playing in his 48th career game. He is the 3,672nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Espinosa earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Maybin earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 6/30 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.1 | CLE 4/TOR 1 | Carlos Carrasco (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 14 | |
| 11.0 | `NYY 2/TEX 1 | Michael Pineda | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 | ||
| NL | 7.0 | DC 13/CIN 4 | Danny Espinosa, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.1 | SEA 5/BAL 3 | Taijuan Walker (W,4-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | LAD 8/MIL 1 | Kenta Maeda (W,7-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | DET 10/TB 7 | Cameron Maybin, CF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.2 | NYM 4/CHC 3 | Erik Goeddel (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 8/MIA 5 | Brandon Snyder, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CHW 6/MIN 5 | David Robertson (S,21) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | SF 12/OAK 6 | Brandon Belt, 1B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | KC 4/STL 2 | Kendrys Morales, RF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 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 | +/- |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 6.7 | 24.7 | 40.8 | 40.8 | -11.3 |
| Walker, Taijuan 3453 | pi sp | sea al | 5.7 | 19.4 | 19.4 | 19.4 | -8.0 |
| Belt, Brandon 2943 | 1b | sf nl | 5.0 | 6.5 | 18.5 | 18.5 | 3.5 |
| Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp | lad nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Robertson, David 2774 | pi cp | chi al | 4.0 | 12.0 | 24.0 | 25.0 | -4.0 |
| Pineda, Michael 2841 | pi sp | nyy al | 3.0 | 13.7 | 31.1 | 31.1 | -7.7 |
| Morales, Kendrys 2142 | dh | kc al | 3.0 | 7.7 | 17.7 | 33.7 | -1.7 |
| Espinosa, Danny 2804 | ss 2b | dc nl | 1.7 | 4.7 | 13.4 | 15.4 | -1.3 |
| Maybin, Cameron 2672 | cf | det al | 1.5 | 2.5 | 10.0 | 14.0 | 0.5 |
| Snyder, Brandon 3017 | 3b ph | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 1.0 |
| Goeddel, Erik 3672 | pi mr | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Nationals' Scherzer tops players for Wednesday, June 29, rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers rankings
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third in player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of June 29:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 13.4 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.7 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 10.8 |
| 6 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
| 8 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 10.5 |
| 9 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 10.4 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.0 |
Also Wednesday, Indians pitcher Danny Salazar rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Player of the Day—Scherzer struck out 10 over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 4-2 win over the Mets.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.0 for the season, rising to third among all players and third among National League pitchers, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (20.0) and Jose Fernandez of the Marlins (13.4).
Scherzer also now has 118.0 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 39th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Wednesday, he passes five players on the “all-time” list—Todd Helton (116.4), Mark Buehrle (116.7), Cubs pitcher John Lackey (117.2), Barry Zito (117.4) and Carlos Delgado (117.7).
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Danny Salazar pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing five hits and no walks, in the 3-0 win over the Braves.
Salazar earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 10.5 for the season and rising to eighth in player rankings, third among AL pitchers, behind Corey Kluber of the Indians (10.8) and Chris Sale of the White Sox (10.7).
Salazar also becomes the 10th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.
American League Batter of the Day—Brian McCann of the Yankees hit two home runs, going 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in four, in the 9-7 win over the Rangers.
With his first Player of the Game honor of the season, McCann has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons, beginning in 2006 with the Braves. He has 56.7 career Box-Toppers points, first among active catchers and fifth among all catchers since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. His best season was 2009 with the Braves when he had 8.5 points, first among NL catchers. In 2015, he had 6.5 points with the Yankees, first among AL catchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Sean Rodriguez of the Pirates hit two doubles and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-1 win over the Mariners.
Scoring—Scherzer 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. McCann and Rodriguez 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
| 6/29 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.1 | DC 4/NYM 2 | Max Scherzer (W,9-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| 11.0 | MIL 7/LAD 0 | Junior Guerra (W,5-1) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| AL | 10.0 | CLE 3/ATL 0 | Danny Salazar (W,10-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 8.0 | TB 4/BOS 0 | Matt Moore (W,4-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | NYY 9/TEX 7 | Brian McCann, C | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | PIT 8/SEA 1 | Sean Rodriguez, RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | HOU 10/LAA 4 | Jose Altuve, 2B | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.2 | `KC 3/STL 2 | Edinson Volquez | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | BAL 12/SD 6 | Mark Trumbo, RF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | DET 10/MIA 3 | Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.2 | OAK 7/SF 1 | Sean Manaea (W,3-4) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | CHW 9/MIN 6 | Tyler Saladino, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TOR 5/COL 3 | Edwin Encarnacion, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | PHI 9/ARI 8 | Cody Asche, LF | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | CHC 9/CIN 2 | Javier Baez, 2B | 5 | 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 | +/- |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.0 | 33.0 | 97.6 | 118.0 | -9.0 |
| Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 10.5 | 23.9 | 33.3 | 33.3 | -2.9 |
| Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 8.5 | 15.5 | 25.0 | 25.0 | 1.5 |
| Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 6.4 | 13.4 | 38.1 | 64.2 | -0.6 |
| Trumbo, Mark 2851 | rf | bal al | 6.2 | 8.7 | 31.9 | 31.9 | 3.7 |
| Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh | tor al | 6.0 | 16.4 | 44.6 | 65.1 | -4.4 |
| Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | tb al | 5.7 | 5.7 | 31.2 | 31.2 | 5.7 |
| Guerra, Junior 3633 | pi sp | mil nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Saladino, Tyler 3645 | ss 3b | chi al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| McCann, Brian 2179 | ca | nyy al | 1.5 | 8.0 | 33.7 | 56.7 | -5.0 |
| Asche, Cody 3268 | lf 3b | phi nl | 1.0 | 4.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | -2.5 |
| Rodriguez, Sean 2729 | rf1b 2b | pit nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 12.5 | 17.5 | 1.0 |
| Baez, Javier 3395 | 2b | chi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 1.0 |
| Saltalamacchia, Jarod 2355 | ca | det al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 12.0 | 18.0 | 1.0 |