It took 2 months for Kershaw to be idle on the disabled list, but Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer finally passed him to take the Box-Toppers season player rankings lead.
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Read MoreNationals' Max Scherzer passes Kershaw for Box-Toppers points lead after topping players for Thursday, Aug. 25
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and takes the season lead in Box-Toppers points, passing Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who had led since May 7.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 25:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 18.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
| 5 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 6 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.4 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.7 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 13.0 |
Also Thursday, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to fifth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Scherzer pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing two hits and no walks, in the 4-0 win over the Orioles.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 20.7 for the season, rising from second to first among all players. Scherzer becomes the second player this season to 20 points; previous leader Kershaw (20.0 Box-Toppers points) did it first it more than two months ago on June 20, the last time he earned Player of the Game before going on the disabled list.
Kershaw has led all players in Box-Toppers points this season since May 7, nearly 16 weeks, despite going on the disabled list two months ago on June 26. Kershaw is eligible to return from the disabled list Saturday and reports indicate he could return to pitch by mid-September.
Kershaw finished second in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 25.7, behind overall leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (29.1). Kershaw led all National League players in Box-Toppers points from 2011 to 2014 and led all players in 2011, 2013 and 2014.
Lead changes
Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.| Date | Player | Team | BTP |
| 4/3 | Francisco Liriano | pit nl | 2.0 |
| 4/4 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 2.0 |
| 4/14 | Vince Velasquez | phi nl | 4.0 |
| 4/21 | Jake Arrieta | chi nl | 5.0 |
| 5/1 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 5/3 | Jake Arrieta | chi nl | 6.0 |
| 5/7 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 8/25 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 20.7 |
This is Scherzer’s third straight 20-point season. He earned 22.1 points in 2014 with the Tigers, when he ranked fifth overall and second among American League pitchers. He earned 21.0 points in 2015 with the Nationals, when he ranked sixth overall and fourth among NL pitchers.
Scherzer now has 126.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 35th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Thursday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver (125.1) and Mariano Rivera (126.4). Scherzer now trails 34th-ranked player Roy Oswalt (127.2).
American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits and no walks, in the 9-0 win over the Indians.
Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 16.8 for the season, rising to fifth among all players and maintaining his spot in second place among AL pitchers, behind Corey Kluber of the Indians (17.2).
Hamels also now has 143.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 23rd place among players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Thursday, he passes three players (all active) on the “all-time” list—Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8), David Ortiz of the Red Sox (142.9) and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (142.9). Hamels now has the seventh-most career Box-Toppers points among active players. Hamels now trails 22nd-ranked player, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (145.8).
National League Batter of the Day—Alejandro De Aza of the Mets hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 10-6 win over the Cardinals.
American League Batter of the Day—James McCann of the Tigers hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-5 win over the Twins.
Debut—Rays pitcher Tyler Sturdevant made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Sturdevant (0.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K ND in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut May 24 and was playing in his 16th career game. He is the 3,718th 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 Hamels earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. De Aza and McCann each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/25 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.0 | WSH 4, BAL 0 | Max Scherzer (W,14-7) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| AL | 14.0 | TEX 9, CLE 0 | Cole Hamels (W,14-4) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 11.2 | SF 4, LAD 0 | Matt Moore (W,8-10) | - | - | - | - | 8.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | NYM 10, STL 6 | Alejandro De Aza, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | ATL 3, ARI 1 | Matt Wisler (W,5-11) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | DET 8, MIN 5 | James McCann, C | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | LAA 6, TOR 3 | Mike Trout, CF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | KC 5, MIA 2 | Kelvin Herrera (S,9) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | `TB 2, BOS 1 | Tyler Sturdevant | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | PIT 3, MIL 2 (10) | Andrew McCutchen, CF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CHW 7, SEA 6 | Tim Anderson, SS | 4 | 2 | 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 | 20.7 | 41.7 | 106.3 | 126.7 | -0.3 |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 | 32.2 | 83.8 | 143.0 | 1.4 |
| Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 8.5 | 20.5 | 45.0 | 45.0 | -3.5 |
| Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | sf nl | 7.7 | 7.7 | 33.2 | 33.2 | 7.7 |
| McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | cf | pit nl | 5.5 | 16.0 | 46.7 | 52.4 | -5.0 |
| Wisler, Matt 3522 | pi sp | atl nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.0 |
| Anderson, Tim 3659 | ss | chi al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| McCann, James 3649 | ca | det al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| De Aza, Alejandro 2950 | cf | nym nl | 1.5 | 3.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 0.0 |
| Herrera, Kelvin 3149 | pi cp | kc al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 1.0 |
| Sturdevant, Tyler 3718 | pi mr | tb al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Marlins' Jose Fernandez tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 24, rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers player rankings
Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third 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 Aug. 24:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 18.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.4 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 15.1 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.7 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 13.0 |
Fernandez pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing six hits and two walks, in the 3-0 win over the Royals.
Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 18.4 for the season, rising from fourth to third place among all players and among all National League pitchers in 2016.
Fernandez is now 1.6 Box-Toppers points behind overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0 points), meaning Fernandez could pass Kershaw for the season lead in his next start if he earns NL Player of the Day (worth 1.7 points) or overall Player of the Day (worth 2.0 points). Kershaw has led all players since May 7 and maintained his lead despite spending the past nearly two months on the disabled list.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing six hits and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Mariners.
Tanaka earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, rising to 15th among all players and fifth among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Manny Machado of the Orioles homered and went 4-for-6, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-8 win over the Nationals.
Machado earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 11.7 for the season. He maintains his rank of second among AL batters, behind Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5 points). Machado ranks 18th among all players.
National League Batter of the Day—Jake Lamb of the Diamondbacks homered, doubled and went 3-for-6, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 10-9, 11-inning win over the Braves. Lamb and teammate Paul Goldschmidt both had Box-Toppers game scores of +2.0 Wednesday with similar line scores (3-6 3R 2BI), but Lamb won Player of the Game honors over Goldschmidt because he had both a homer and a double, while Goldschmidt had just a home run.
Notable—Three other players became the 28th, 29th and 30th players to reach the 10.0-Box-Toppers point threshold for the 2016 season:
- Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks (6IP 4H 2R 2BB 8K W in the 6-3 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, becoming the 28th player with 10 or more this season. Hendricks rises to 22nd place among all players and 14th among NL pitchers. He is the fifth Cubs pitcher this season with 10 or more points.
- Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill (6IP 5H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 1-0 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season, becoming the 29th player with 10 or more this season. Hill ranks 29th among all players and 15th among NL pitchers. It is Hill’s second 10-point season; his other was 2007 with the Cubs when he had 11.7. Wednesday marked Hill’s first Player of the Game honor since being traded from the Athletics to the Dodgers.
- Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (HR 2B 4-5 2R 2BI in the 9-4 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season, becoming the 30th player (and third batter) with 10 or more this season. Cabrera ranks third among AL batters and 30th among all players. It is his seventh season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.
Cabrera also now has 142.9 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 23rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Cabrera passes David Ortiz of the Red Sox (142.9) on the “all-time” list, to become the seventh-ranked active player in career points, second among all active batters, behind Albert Pujols of the Angels (181.3). While Cabrera and Ortiz both have the same 142.9 career Box-Toppers point total, Cabrera now ranks ahead because he has more points in 2016—10.0 vs. 5.0. Cabrera now trails 22nd-ranked player, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (145.8).
Scoring—Fernandez 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. Machado and Lamb 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
| 8/24 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | MIA 3, KC 0 | Jose Fernandez (W,13-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| AL | 5.0 | NYY 5, SEA 0 | Masahiro Tanaka (W,11-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 5.0 | LAA 8, TOR 2 | Matt Shoemaker (W,8-13) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | BAL 10, WSH 8 | Manny Machado, 3B | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | STL 8, NYM 1 | Carlos Martinez (W,12-7) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | MIL 7, COL 1 | Zach Davies (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 4.0 | CHC 6, SD 3 | Kyle Hendricks (W,12-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 4.0 | LAD 1, SF 0 | Rich Hill (W,10-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.2 | `TB 4, BOS 3 (11) | Alex Colome | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | DET 9, MIN 4 | Miguel Cabrera, 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 5, PIT 4 | Ken Giles (S,5) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | ARI 10, ATL 9 (11) | Jake Lamb, 3B | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | PHI 5, CHW 3 | Aaron Altherr, LF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | TEX 6, CIN 5 | Nomar Mazara, LF-RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | OAK 5, CLE 1 | Ryon Healy, 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 18.4 | 23.1 | 49.1 | 49.1 | 13.7 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 12.4 | 20.4 | 33.1 | 33.1 | 4.4 |
| Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 11.7 | 19.2 | 22.7 | 22.7 | 4.2 |
| Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 | 20.4 | 25.4 | 25.4 | 1.0 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.4 | 14.4 | 14.4 | 34.1 | 6.4 |
| Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 10.0 | 14.7 | 63.3 | 142.9 | 5.3 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 7.7 | 21.4 | 22.4 | 22.4 | -6.0 |
| Shoemaker, Matt 3290 | pi sp | ana al | 7.0 | 12.7 | 25.4 | 25.4 | 1.3 |
| Colome, Alex 3189 | pi cp | tb al | 7.0 | 12.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 | 2.0 |
| Davies, Zach 3581 | pi sp | mil nl | 5.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.0 |
| Mazara, Nomar 3614 | rf lf | tex al | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Lamb, Jake 3517 | 3b | ari nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 |
| Healy, Ryon 3685 | 3b | oak al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Altherr, Aaron 3563 | rf lf | phi nl | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 1.5 |
| Giles, Ken 3402 | pi mr cp | hou nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -1.0 |
Cubs' Jake Arrieta tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 23, rises to 9th in Box-Toppers rankings
Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth 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 Aug. 23:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
| 4 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.4 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 15.1 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.7 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 13.0 |
Also Tuesday, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia earned his first Player of the Game honor since becoming the active career Box-Toppers points leader after Alex Rodriguez was released earlier this month.
Player of the Day—Arrieta pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits, three walks and striking out six, in the 5-3 win over the Padres.
Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.7 for the season. His rise to ninth place displaces Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ (12.7 points) from the top 10. Arrieta ranks seventh among NL pitchers. Arrieta led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 29.1.
American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Sean Manaea struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 9-1 win over the Indians.
National League Batter of the Day—Andrew Toles of the Dodgers homered, doubled and went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-5 win over the Giants.
American League Batter of the Day—Victor Martinez of the Tigers homered and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 8-3 win over the Twins.
Sabathia—Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia earned his first Player of the Game honor Tuesday since becoming the active career Box-Toppers points leader on Aug. 13, when previous active leader Alex Rodriguez was released.
Sabathia (7IP 3H R B 7K W in the 5-1 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 183.0 for his career, ranking fifth among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began (see updated "all-time" top 20 list on the homepage). He trails fourth-place player (and previous active leader) Rodriguez (187.0). Sabathia leads second-ranked active leader Albert Pujols of the Angels (181.3) by only 1.7 points.
Sabathia had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +8.0, but Mariners pitcher Sean Manaea, who also had a game score of +8.0, won AL Player of the Day honors over Sabathia because he had more strikeouts—eight vs. seven.
Streak—Adam Jones of the Orioles has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2016 Tuesday.
Jones (4-5 R BI in the 8-1 win over the Nationals) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Mariners and has 49.5 career points, fifth among active AL outfielders. His best year was 2014 with the Orioles, when he had 11.5 points, third among AL batters. In 2015, he had 5.5 points with the Orioles.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Braves pitcher Jose Ramirez (1IP H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 7-4 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut June 4, 2014, and was playing in his 32nd career game. He is the 3,716th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Orlando Arcia of the Brewers (PH 2B 1-1 R in the 6-4 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut Aug. 2 and was playing in his 20th career game. He is the 3,717th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Manaea earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Toles and Martinez 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
| 8/23 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | CHC 5, SD 3 | Jake Arrieta (W,16-5) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | |
| AL | 8.0 | OAK 9, CLE 1 | Sean Manaea (W,5-8) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| 8.0 | NYY 5, SEA 1 | CC Sabathia (W,8-10) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 6.2 | CHW 9, PHI 1 | Carlos Rodon (W,4-8) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 6.1 | BOS 2, TB 1 | Clay Buchholz (W,5-9) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 6.0 | PIT 7, HOU 1 | Ivan Nova (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 6.0 | CIN 3, TEX 0 | Dan Straily (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | LAD 9, SF 5 | Andrew Toles, PH-CF-LF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | KC 1, MIA 0 | Yordano Ventura (W,9-9) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | DET 8, MIN 3 | Victor Martinez, DH | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | NYM 7, STL 4 | Jose Reyes, 3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TOR 7, LAA 2 | Russell Martin, DH | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 7, ARI 4 | Jose Ramirez (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 1.0 | BAL 8, WSH 1 | Adam Jones, CF | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | MIL 6, COL 4 | Orlando Arcia, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.7 | 42.8 | 70.5 | 73.5 | -15.4 |
| Martin, Russell 2202 | ca | tor al | 9.5 | 14.5 | 31.0 | 52.0 | 4.5 |
| Martinez, Victor 1695 | dh | det al | 7.5 | 11.0 | 30.9 | 71.1 | 4.0 |
| Ventura, Yordano 3294 | pi sp | kc al | 7.0 | 18.7 | 28.4 | 28.4 | -4.7 |
| Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| Straily, Dan 3080 | pi sp | cin nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 | 5.0 |
| Sabathia, C.C. 1492 | pi sp | nyy al | 4.0 | 9.7 | 44.5 | 183.0 | -1.7 |
| Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 26.1 | 27.1 | 3.0 |
| Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | chi al | 3.0 | 11.1 | 11.1 | 11.1 | -5.1 |
| Buchholz, Clay 2363 | pi sp mr | bos al | 3.0 | 9.0 | 37.2 | 56.9 | -3.0 |
| Toles, Andrew 3692 | rf cf lf ph | lad nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Jones, Adam 2347 | cf | bal al | 1.0 | 6.5 | 37.5 | 49.5 | -4.5 |
| Reyes, Jose 1759 | 3b ss | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 13.0 | 29.0 | 1.0 |
| Arcia, Orlando 3717 | ph | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Ramirez, Jose A. 3716 | pi mr | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Indians' Carlos Carrasco tops players for Monday, Aug. 22; Cubs' Lester rises to 5th in Box-Toppers rankings
Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco 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 Aug. 22:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
| 4 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.4 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 15.1 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 13.0 |
| 10 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 12.7 |
Also Monday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Carrasco pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing four hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Athletics.
Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season. He becomes the 27th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and ranks 24th among all players, 10th among American League pitchers. It is his third straight season with 10 or more points (10.7 in 2014, 18.0 in 2015).
National League Player of the Day—Adrian Gonzalez of the Dodgers hit three home runs and went 3-for-6, driving in eight runs, in the 18-9 win over the Reds.
American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Seager of the Mariners hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice, in the 7-5 win over the Yankees.
Seager earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.5 points for the season, rising to fourth among AL batters.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Adrian Gonzalez.
Rankings—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Lester (6IP 5H R 2BB 8K W in the 5-1 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.4 for the season, rising from seventh to fifth among all players. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.
With Lester’s rise to 15.4 points, it marks the first time this season that all players in Box-Toppers season top 10 list have different Box-Toppers point totals—on Monday, Lester and Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto both had 14.4 points.
Lester now also has 136.5 career Box-Toppers points, 28th-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 27th-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5).
Notable—Red Sox pitcher David Price rises to 64th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, after he earned Player of the Game honors Monday.
Price (8IP 2H 0R 2BB 8K W in the 6-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 103.2 career points. He passes two players on the “all-time” list—Miguel Tejada (102.3) and Carlos Beltran of the Rangers (102.9). He trails 63rd-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Price has 9.4 Box-Toppers points on the season, 13th among AL pitchers.
Scoring—Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gonzalez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Seager earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/22 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | CLE 1, OAK 0 | Carlos Carrasco (W,9-6) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| 12.0 | BOS 6, TB 2 | David Price (W,12-8) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 9.0 | HOU 3, PIT 1 | Doug Fister (W,12-8) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| NL | 8.0 | LAD 18, CIN 9 | Adrian Gonzalez, 1B | 6 | 3 | 3 | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | CHC 5, SD 1 | Jon Lester (W,14-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | SEA 7, NYY 5 | Kyle Seager, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | ARI 9, ATL 8 | Paul Goldschmidt, 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | BAL 4, WSH 3 | Zach Britton (S,38) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | MIL 4, COL 2 | Tyler Thornburg (S,5) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 | +/- |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.4 | 27.4 | 73.6 | 136.5 | 3.4 |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 10.4 | 28.4 | 44.5 | 44.5 | -7.6 |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 9.4 | 30.5 | 86.5 | 103.2 | -11.7 |
| Seager, Kyle 3031 | 3b | sea al | 8.5 | 13.5 | 27.5 | 27.5 | 3.5 |
| Gonzalez, Adrian 2193 | 1b | lad nl | 5.7 | 9.7 | 36.4 | 72.3 | 1.7 |
| Britton, Zach 2835 | pi cp | bal al | 5.0 | 13.7 | 33.1 | 33.1 | -3.7 |
| Thornburg, Tyler 3195 | pi cp | mil nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 5.0 |
| Fister, Doug 2688 | pi sp | hou al | 4.0 | 6.0 | 51.5 | 55.2 | 2.0 |
| Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | ari nl | 3.5 | 13.7 | 38.9 | 38.9 | -6.7 |
Mets' Noah Syndergaard tops players for Sunday, Aug. 21, rises to 9th in Box-Toppers player rankings
Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth place in season player rankings.
Syndergaard pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out six, in the 2-0 win over the Giants.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 21:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
| 4 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 5 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 15.1 |
| 6 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 7 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 13.0 |
| 10 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 12.7 |
Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks seventh among National League pitchers. Rising to ninth place overall, he displaces Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5 Box-Toppers points) from the top 10 list. Altuve, who was the only batter in the top 10, falls to 11th place.
American League Player of the Day—Justin Upton of the Tigers hit a pair of three-run homers in the 10-5 win over the Red Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies hit a pair of three-run homers and went 4-for-5 in the 11-4 win over the Cubs.
Arenado earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season, rising to fourth place among NL batters.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Justin Upton.
Debut—Padres pitcher Luis Perdomo made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Perdomo (7IP 5H R 0BB 5K W in the 9-1 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut April 4 and was playing in his 29th career game. He is the 3,715th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Upton earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Arenado earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/21 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | NYM 2, SF 0 | Noah Syndergaard (W,11-7) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| BAT | 7.0 | COL 11, CHC 4 | Nolan Arenado, 3B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | STL 9, PHI 0 | Mike Leake (W,9-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| AL | 6.0 | DET 10, BOS 5 | Justin Upton, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | SD 9, ARI 1 | Luis Perdomo (W,6-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 6.0 | LAD 4, CIN 0 | Julio Urias (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | HOU 5, BAL 3 | Dallas Keuchel (W,8-12) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 4.0 | `ATL 7, WSH 6 (10) | Jim Johnson | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | MIL 7, SEA 6 | Tyler Thornburg (W,5-4) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | LAA 2, NYY 0 | Fernando Salas (S,4) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | CLE 3, TOR 2 | Mike Clevinger (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | TB 8, TEX 4 | Steven Souza Jr., RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | KC 2, MIN 1 | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | CHW 4, OAK 2 | Todd Frazier, 3B | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | MIA 3, PIT 2 | Fernando Rodney (S,24) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 13.0 | 23.4 | 23.4 | 23.4 | 2.6 |
| Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | col nl | 8.0 | 16.5 | 18.0 | 18.0 | -0.5 |
| Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 7.0 | 28.4 | 42.8 | 42.8 | -14.4 |
| Frazier, Todd 2929 | 3b | chi al | 6.2 | 15.1 | 29.1 | 29.1 | -2.7 |
| Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | det al | 5.7 | 14.7 | 41.6 | 50.1 | -3.3 |
| Leake, Mike 2709 | pi sp | stl nl | 5.0 | 15.0 | 40.1 | 44.6 | -5.0 |
| Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 5.0 | 14.0 | 27.5 | 27.5 | -4.0 |
| Souza, Steven Jr. 3461 | rf | tb al | 4.7 | 10.2 | 10.2 | 10.2 | -0.8 |
| Johnson, Jim 2417 | pi cp mr | atl nl | 4.0 | 6.0 | 16.0 | 21.7 | 2.0 |
| Rodney, Fernando 1803 | pi cp | fla nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 22.0 | 34.0 | 3.0 |
| Thornburg, Tyler 3195 | pi cp | mil nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 4.0 |
| Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi mr sp | cle al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Salas, Fernando 2853 | pi cp | ana al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 1.0 |
| Perdomo, Luis D. 3715 | pi sp | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Dbacks' Robbie Ray tops players for Saturday, Aug. 20; Mariners' Hernandez rises to 9th in career Box-Toppers points
Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray 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 Aug. 20:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
| 4 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 5 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 15.1 |
| 6 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 7 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 12.7 |
| 10 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 12.5 |
Also Saturday, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rises to ninth place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began), passing Manny Ramirez on the “all-time” list. Plus, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw maintains his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings (with 20.0 Box-Toppers points) after Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (18.7 points) did not earn Player of the Game honors in his start Saturday.
Player of the Day—Ray struck out 13 over seven innings, allowing one run, one hit and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Padres.
American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing three hits and three walks, in the 6-2 win over the Athletics.
Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, most of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday. Sale ranks 11th among all players and fourth among AL pitchers. It was Sale’s first Player of the Game honor since June 26.
National League Batter of the Day—Anthony Rendon of the Nationals doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 11-9 win over the Braves.
American League Batter of the Day—Evan Longoria of the Rays homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-2 win over the Rangers.
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 | released | 187.0 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 182.0 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 181.3 |
| 7 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 179.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 167.7 |
| 10 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 11 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 12 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 13 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 14 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 15 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 156.1 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 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 |
Hernandez—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rises to ninth place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Hernandez (8IP 7H 2R BB 8K W in the 8-2 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 167.7 for his career. He passes Manny Ramirez (167.2) on the “all-time” list and now trails eighth-ranked player, Roy Halladay (170.7). Hernandez has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.
Scherzer—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer did not pass Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw for the Box-Toppers points lead Saturday, despite earning the win in the 11-9 victory over the Braves.
Scherzer (6.1IP 6H 4R 3BB 6K W) had a Box-Toppers game score of −4.9. Player of the Game was Anthony Rendon (2B 4-5 3R BI), who had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0.
Scherzer could have passed Kershaw if he had won overall Player of the Day or NL Player of the Day. Scherzer ranks second in season Box-Toppers points with 18.7, behind Kershaw’s 20.0. It is the third start Scherzer has had when he’s been within striking distance of Kershaw, but all three times he has failed to capitalize.
Kershaw has led in season Box-Toppers points since May 7 and maintains his lead even though he’s been on the disabled list for more than seven weeks. He could return as soon as late August.
Scoring—Ray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sale earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Rendon and Longoria 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
| 8/20 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.0 | ARI 2, SD 1 | Robbie Ray (W,7-11) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | |
| 12.0 | CIN 11, LAD 1 | Brandon Finnegan (W,8-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 11.0 | MIA 3, PIT 1 | David Phelps (W,7-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||
| AL | 10.0 | CHW 6, OAK 2 | Chris Sale (W,15-6) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | |
| 10.0 | KC 10, MIN 0 | Ian Kennedy (W,8-9) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | NYY 5, LAA 1 | Luis Cessa (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 6.0 | HOU 12, BAL 2 | Mike Fiers (W,9-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 4.1 | `CHC 9, COL 2 | Mike Montgomery | - | - | - | - | 4.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | SEA 8, MIL 2 | Felix Hernandez (W,8-4) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | WSH 11, ATL 9 | Anthony Rendon, 3B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | NYM 9, SF 5 | Yoenis Cespedes, LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | TB 8, TEX 2 | Evan Longoria, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | PHI 4, STL 2 | Jeremy Hellickson (W,10-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 2.1 | BOS 3, DET 2 | Craig Kimbrel (S,22) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | TOR 6, CLE 5 | Joe Biagini (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 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 | +/- |
| Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 12.4 | 31.2 | 83.4 | 85.4 | -6.4 |
| Hellickson, Jeremy 2778 | pi sp | phi nl | 11.1 | 16.1 | 39.8 | 42.8 | 6.1 |
| Kennedy, Ian 2723 | pi sp | kc al | 9.0 | 15.7 | 59.5 | 65.5 | 2.3 |
| Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | cf lf | nym nl | 7.0 | 17.9 | 38.9 | 38.9 | -3.9 |
| Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 6.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 2.7 |
| Phelps, David 2994 | pi sp mr | fla nl | 6.7 | 10.1 | 23.5 | 23.5 | 3.3 |
| Finnegan, Brandon 3535 | pi sp | cin nl | 6.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 3.0 |
| Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 5.0 | 24.4 | 90.4 | 167.7 | -14.4 |
| Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 5.0 | 11.0 | 54.7 | 55.7 | -1.0 |
| Montgomery, Mike 3513 | pi cp mr sp | chi nl | 5.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 1.0 |
| Fiers, Michael 3029 | pi sp | hou al | 4.0 | 11.0 | 25.1 | 25.1 | -3.0 |
| Longoria, Evan 2423 | 3b | tb al | 4.0 | 7.0 | 23.5 | 44.5 | 1.0 |
| Rendon, Anthony 3258 | 3b | dc nl | 3.5 | 4.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 2.5 |
| Biagini, Joe 3646 | pi mr | tor al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Cessa, Luis 3703 | pi mr sp | nyy al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
Athletics' Kendall Graveman tops players for Friday, Aug. 19; Rangers' Hamels rises to 5th in Box-Toppers rankings
Athletics pitcher Kendall Graveman is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to fifth 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 Aug. 19:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
| 4 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 5 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 15.1 |
| 6 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 7 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 12.7 |
| 10 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 12.5 |
Player of the Day—Graveman pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout, striking out five and walking none, in the 9-0 win over the White Sox.
National League Player of the Day—Ryan Schimpf of the Padres hit a walk-off, three-run homer in the 7-4, 10-inning win over the Diamondbacks. Schimpf hit two homers in the game and also doubled twice, going 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Teoscar Hernandez of the Astros homered and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 15-8 win over the Orioles.
This was Hernandez’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Hernandez made his Major League debut Aug. 12 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,713rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall NL Player of the Day was batter Ryan Schimpf.
Rankings—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises from seventh to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Hamels (7.1IP 3H R 2BB 10K W in the 6-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.1 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Corey Kluber of the Indians (17.2).
Hamels also now has 141.3 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 26th since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 25th-ranked player, Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8).
Notable—Two players became the 25th and 26th players this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points after they earned Player of the Game honors Friday:
- Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (7.2IP 5H 0R 0BB 9K W in the 7-0 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, becoming the 25th player with 10 or more points in 2016. Tanaka ranks 19th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers. It is his second season with 10 or more points; he had 12.7 points in 2014 with the Yankees.
- Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer (8IP 5H 2R 2BB 13K ND in the 3-2 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season, becoming the 26th player with 10 or more points in 2016. Bauer ranks 23rd among all players and 10th among AL pitchers. This is Bauer's first season with 10 or more points.
Debut—David Dahl of the Rockies made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Dahl (HR 2-4 2R BI in the 7-6, 11-inning win over the Cubs) made his Major League debut July 25 and was playing in his 24th career game. He is the 3,714th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Graveman earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Schmipf earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Hernandez 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
| 8/19 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | OAK 9, CHW 0 | Kendall Graveman (W,9-8) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 11.2 | NYY 7, LAA 0 | Masahiro Tanaka (W,10-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 10.1 | TEX 6, TB 2 | Cole Hamels (W,13-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 10.0 | `CLE 3, TOR 2 | Trevor Bauer | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 13 | ||
| NL | 7.0 | SD 7, ARI 4 (10) | Ryan Schimpf, 2B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | BOS 10, DET 2 | Rick Porcello (W,17-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | HOU 15, BAL 8 | Teoscar Hernandez, CF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | CIN 9, LAD 2 | Joey Votto, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | MIA 6, PIT 5 | J.T. Realmuto, C | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SF 8, NYM 1 | Conor Gillaspie, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | WSH 7, ATL 6 | Clint Robinson, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | STL 4, PHI 3 (11) | Seung Hwan Oh (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | COL 7, CHC 6 (11) | David Dahl, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | SEA 7, MIL 6 | Adam Lind, PH-1B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | KC 5, MIN 4 (11) | Chien-Ming Wang (W,6-0) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 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 | +/- |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 15.1 | 30.5 | 82.1 | 141.3 | -0.3 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 10.7 | 18.7 | 31.4 | 31.4 | 2.7 |
| Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 10.4 | 19.8 | 28.5 | 28.5 | 1.0 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 8.5 | 13.5 | 30.2 | 62.2 | 3.5 |
| Porcello, Rick 2573 | pi sp | bos al | 7.0 | 11.0 | 32.7 | 41.7 | 3.0 |
| Realmuto, J.T. 3491 | ca | fla nl | 5.5 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 0.5 |
| Graveman, Kendall 3444 | pi sp | oak al | 5.0 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 0.3 |
| Schimpf, Ryan 3686 | 2b 3b | sd nl | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.2 |
| Oh, Seung Hwan 3693 | pi cp | stl nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Lind, Adam 2238 | 1b ph | sea al | 3.7 | 10.2 | 30.2 | 57.8 | -2.8 |
| Gillaspie, Conor 3218 | 3b ph | sf nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 2.0 |
| Hernandez, Teoscar 3713 | cf | hou al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Robinson, Clint 3475 | 1b | dc nl | 1.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | -2.5 |
| Wang, Chien-Ming 2023 | pi cp | kc al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 28.1 | 1.0 |
| Dahl, David 3714 | cf | col nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Cubs' Kris Bryant takes Box-Toppers points lead among NL batters; Dodgers' Kershaw maintains overall lead
Kris Bryant, Cubs, passes Matt Carpenter, Cardinals, to lead NL batters in Box-Toppers points. Kershaw maintains overall lead. Kluber leads AL pitchers. Altuve leads AL batters.
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Chicago Cubs remain atop Box-Toppers team rankings, AL-leading Red Sox are hottest team of week
Cubs extend lead over 2nd-place Dodgers. Red Sox, week's hottest team, continue lead of AL teams.
Read MoreCubs' Kris Bryant tops players for Thursday, Aug. 18, rises to lead NL batters in Box-Toppers points
Kris Bryant of the Cubs is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to lead National League batters 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 Aug. 18:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
| 4 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 6 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 14.4 |
| 7 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 14.1 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 12.7 |
| 10 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 12.5 |
Bryant hit two homers, doubled and went 5-for-5, scoring four times and driving in five runs, in the 9-6 win over the Brewers.
Bryant earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.0 for the season, most of any of the 11 who earned Player of the Game honors Thursday. Bryant now leads NL batters in Box-Toppers points, passing previous leader, Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals (8.5). Bryant ranks 32nd among all players.
American League Player of the Day—Royals pitcher Dillon Gee struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and one walk, in the 8-1 win over the Twins.
American League Batter of the Day—J.J. Hardy of the Orioles hit two homers, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 13-5 win over the Astros.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall Player of the Day was NL batter Kris Bryant.
Debut—Nationals pitcher Reynaldo Lopez made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Lopez (7IP 4H 2R 2BB 11K W in the 8-2 win over the Braves) made his Major League debut July 19 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,712th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Bryant earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gee earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Hardy 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
| 8/18 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | CHC 9, MIL 6 | Kris Bryant, 3B | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 9.0 | WSH 8, ATL 2 | Reynaldo Lopez (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 11 | ||
| AL | 6.0 | KC 8, MIN 1 | Dillon Gee (W,5-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| 5.0 | SF 10, NYM 7 | Eduardo Nunez, 3B | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | BAL 13, HOU 5 | J.J. Hardy, SS | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | CIN 5, MIA 4 | Dan Straily (W,9-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | `CLE 5, CHW 4 | Mike Clevinger | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | SD 9, ARI 8 | Travis Jankowski, CF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | LAA 6, SEA 4 | Yunel Escobar, 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | PHI 5, LAD 4 | Maikel Franco, 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | DET 4, BOS 3 | Justin Upton, PR-DH | 0 | 1 | 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 | +/- |
| Bryant, Kris 3465 | lf 3b rf | chi nl | 9.0 | 17.5 | 17.5 | 17.5 | 0.5 |
| Nunez, Eduardo 2795 | 3b 2b ss | sf nl | 5.5 | 7.5 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 3.5 |
| Franco, Maikel 3510 | 3b | phi nl | 4.5 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 1.3 |
| Hardy, J.J. 2071 | ss | bal al | 4.2 | 4.2 | 25.6 | 52.8 | 4.2 |
| Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | det al | 4.0 | 13.0 | 39.9 | 48.4 | -5.0 |
| Straily, Dan 3080 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 | 4.0 |
| Gee, Dillon 2808 | pi sp | kc al | 3.7 | 4.7 | 31.5 | 32.5 | 2.7 |
| Jankowski, Travis 3696 | cf | sd nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi sp mr | cle al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Escobar, Yunel 2331 | 3b | ana al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 20.0 | 41.0 | -3.0 |
| Lopez, Reynaldo 3712 | pi sp | dc nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Rays' Chris Archer tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 17; Cubs' Lester rises to 6th in Box-Toppers player rankings
Rays pitcher Chris Archer 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 Aug. 17:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
| 4 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 6 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 14.4 |
| 7 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 14.1 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 12.7 |
| 10 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 12.5 |
Also Wednesday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Archer pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing four hits and one walk, in the 2-0 win over the Padres.
National League Player of the Day—Yasmany Tomas of the Diamondbacks hit two homers and tripled, going 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 13-5 win over the Mets.
American League Batter of the Day—Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox hit a two-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-1, six-inning, rain-shortened win over the Orioles.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because the NL Player of the Day was batter Yasmany Tomas.
Rankings—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises from eighth to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Lester (6.2IP 3H R 2BB 7K W in the 6-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.4 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL pitchers.
Lester also now has 135.5 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 28th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 27th-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5).
Scoring—Archer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tomas earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Bradley earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/17 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.1 | TB 2, SD 0 | Chris Archer (W,7-16) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| NL | 8.0 | ARI 13, NYM 5 | Yasmany Tomas, RF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 8.0 | STL 8, HOU 2 | Carlos Martinez (W,11-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 6.2 | CHC 6, MIL 1 | Jon Lester (W,13-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | LAD 7, PHI 2 | Adrian Gonzalez, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | BOS 8, BAL 1 (6) | Jackie Bradley Jr., CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.1 | `KC 4, DET 1 | Yordano Ventura | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 4.0 | TOR 7, NYY 4 | Melvin Upton Jr., CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | COL 12, WSH 10 | Gerardo Parra, RF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | PIT 6, SF 5 | Matt Joyce, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TEX 6, OAK 2 | Yu Darvish (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 2.1 | SEA 4, LAA 3 | Drew Storen (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 10, ATL 3 | Trevor Plouffe, 3B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CHW 10, CLE 7 | Adam Eaton, RF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CIN 3, MIA 2 | Josh Smith (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 | +/- |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 14.4 | 26.4 | 72.6 | 135.5 | 2.4 |
| Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 8.0 | 24.0 | 48.1 | 48.1 | -8.0 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 6.7 | 20.4 | 21.4 | 21.4 | -7.0 |
| Tomas, Yasmany 3489 | rf lf | ari nl | 6.2 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 2.7 |
| Ventura, Yordano 3294 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 | 17.7 | 27.4 | 27.4 | -5.7 |
| Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 4.7 | 4.7 | 49.9 | 49.9 | 4.7 |
| Plouffe, Trevor 2869 | 3b | min al | 4.5 | 7.5 | 23.5 | 23.5 | 1.5 |
| Bradley, Jackie Jr. 3293 | cf | bos al | 4.0 | 13.5 | 14.5 | 14.5 | -5.5 |
| Gonzalez, Adrian 2193 | 1b | lad nl | 4.0 | 8.0 | 34.7 | 70.6 | 0.0 |
| Joyce, Matt 2480 | rf dh ph | pit nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 20.2 | 29.7 | 4.0 |
| Eaton, Adam 3253 | rf cf | chi al | 3.0 | 8.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | -2.5 |
| Parra, Gerardo 2746 | rf | col nl | 2.5 | 9.0 | 20.0 | 21.0 | -4.0 |
| Upton, Melvin 1922 | lf cf | tor al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 15.5 | 37.2 | 2.5 |
| Smith, Josh 3674 | pi mr | cin nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Storen, Drew 2750 | pi mr | sea al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 11.0 | 13.0 | -1.0 |
Cubs' Jason Hammel tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 16; Indians' Kluber rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers points
Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel 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 Aug. 16:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
| 4 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 14.1 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 8 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.4 |
| 9 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 12.7 |
| 10 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 12.5 |
Also Tuesday, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Hammel pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing two hits and three walks, in the 4-1 win over the Brewers.
Hammel earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season, becoming the 23rd player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. Hammel ranks 17th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez pitched four scoreless innings, allowing no hits, walking two and striking out seven, in the 5-3 win over the Orioles. Rodriguez did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because he did not pitch the requisite five innings to earn the win, exiting the game with an injury.
National League Batter of the Day—DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies homered, tripled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 6-2 win over the Nationals.
American League Batter of the Day—Luke Maile of the Rays doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 15-1 win over the Padres.
This was Maile’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Maile made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2015, and was playing in his 35th career game. He is the 3,709th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Rankings—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Kluber (6IP 7H R 2BB 7K W in the 3-1 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.2 for the season. He extends his lead among AL pitchers ahead of second-place Cole Hamels of the Rangers (14.1).
Notable—Royals pitcher Danny Duffy becomes the 24th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Duffy (7.2IP 3H R 2BB 5K W in the 6-1 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. Duffy ranks 19th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers.
Streak—Troy Tulowitzki of the Blue Jays has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2016 on Tuesday.
Tulowitzki (HR 4-5 2R 2BI in the 12-6 win over the Yankees) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2007 with the Rockies and has 59.8 career points, 15th among active AL batters and first among active AL shortstops. His best year was 2014 with the Rockies, when he had 11.6 Box-Toppers points, the season leader among NL batters. In 2015, he had 6.0 Box-Toppers points with the Rockies and the Blue Jays.
Debut—In addition to Maile, two other players made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, with their first career Player of the Game honors:
- T.J. Rivera of the Mets (4-4 2R in the 7-5 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut Aug. 10 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,710th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Jett Bandy of the Angels (HR 2-4 2R BI in the 7-6 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut Sept. 14, 2015, and was playing in his 45th career game. He is the 3,711th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Hammel earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rodriguez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. LeMahieu and Maile 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
| 8/16 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | CHC 4, MIL 1 | Jason Hammel (W,13-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | |
| AL | 9.0 | `BOS 5, BAL 3 | Eduardo Rodriguez | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| 7.0 | MIN 4, ATL 2 | Ervin Santana (W,6-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | LAD 15, PHI 5 | Kenta Maeda (W,12-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 5.2 | KC 6, DET 1 | Danny Duffy (W,10-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | COL 6, WSH 2 | DJ LeMahieu, 2B | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | TB 15, SD 1 | Luke Maile, C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | CHC 4, MIL 0 | Trevor Cahill (W,2-3) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | `TEX 5, OAK 4 (10) | Alex Claudio | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | TOR 12, NYY 6 | Troy Tulowitzki, SS | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CIN 6, MIA 3 | Tucker Barnhart, C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | STL 8, HOU 5 | Seung Hwan Oh (S,12) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | NYM 7, ARI 5 | T.J. Rivera, 3B-2B | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CLE 3, CHW 1 | Corey Kluber (W,13-8) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 1.0 | LAA 7, SEA 6 | Jett Bandy, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | PIT 4, SF 3 | Andrew McCutchen, CF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 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 | +/- |
| Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 | 30.6 | 61.4 | 61.4 | 3.8 |
| Hammel, Jason 2235 | pi sp | chi nl | 11.0 | 20.7 | 44.1 | 57.2 | 1.3 |
| Duffy, Danny 2915 | pi sp | kc al | 10.7 | 14.7 | 29.7 | 29.7 | 6.7 |
| LeMahieu, DJ 3091 | 2b | col nl | 7.0 | 14.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 0.0 |
| Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | cf | pit nl | 4.5 | 15.0 | 45.7 | 51.4 | -6.0 |
| Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 4.0 | 9.4 | 47.8 | 97.3 | -1.4 |
| Oh, Seung Hwan 3693 | pi cp | stl nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | bos al | 2.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 | -3.3 |
| Cahill, Trevor 2658 | pi mr sp | chi nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 26.1 | 39.2 | 1.0 |
| Maile, Luke 3709 | ca | tb al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Tulowitzki, Troy 2308 | ss | tor al | 1.0 | 7.0 | 39.1 | 59.8 | -5.0 |
| Barnhart, Tucker 3519 | ca | cin nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Claudio, Alex 3459 | pi mr | tex al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Bandy, Jett 3711 | ca | ana al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Rivera, T.J. 3710 | 3b 2b | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Yankees' Chad Green tops players for Monday, Aug. 15; Mariners' Hernandez rises to 10th on career Box-Toppers points list
Yankees pitcher Chad Green 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 Aug. 15:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 16.2 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 14.1 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 8 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.4 |
| 9 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 12.7 |
| 10 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 12.5 |
Also Monday, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rises to 10th place in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors. Hernandez passes Johan Santana who had been among Box-Toppers “all-time” top 10 players for more than six years.
Player of the Day—Green pitched six scoreless innings, striking out 11 and allowing two hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Blue Jays.
National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher David Phelps struck out eight over 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs, four hits and one walk, in the 6-3 win over the Reds.
American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit a grand slam, going 1-for-2, in the 5-2 win over the Athletics.
Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 109.8 for his career, rising to 53rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Monday, Beltre passes three players on the “all-time” list—Billy Wagner (108.7), Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (109.0) and Jeff Kent (109.7). Beltre now trails 52nd-ranked player Tom Glavine (110.6).
Beltre also has 8.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, rising to seventh place among AL batters.
National League Batter of the Day—Wellington Castillo of the Diamondbacks hit two doubles and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 10-6 win over the Mets.
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 | released | 187.0 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 182.0 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 181.3 |
| 7 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 179.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 10 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 166.7 |
| 11 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 12 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 13 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 14 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 15 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 156.1 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 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 |
Hernandez—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rises to 10th place in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Hernandez (6.2IP 4H 2R 4BB 8K W in the 3-2 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 166.7 for his career. He passes Johan Santana (166.6) on the “all-time” list. Santana has been in the top 10 since July 23, 2010, when he reached 151.9 career Box-Toppers points, passing Greg Maddux (151.7). Hernandez now trails ninth-place player Manny Ramirez (167.2).
Hernandez has 4.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 15.4 points below his 2015 total of 19.4, when he ranked eighth among all players.
Notable—Red Sox pitcher Drew Pomeranz has the highest Box-Toppers season point total of the 10 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday.
Pomeranz (7.2IP 5H 2R 2BB 6K W in the 3-2 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season, rising to 15th place among all players and fourth among AL pitchers. It is the first point he has earned since being traded from the Padres to the Red Sox July 15.
Scherzer—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer had the chance to take the season Box-Toppers points lead Monday, but did not earn Player of the Game honors in his team’s 5-4 win over the Rockies.
Scherzer (4IP 7H 4R 2BB 3K ND) had a Box-Toppers game score of −10, uncharacteristically low for him. Player of the Game was Jayson Werth (HR 2-4 R 2BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +1.0.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw has led Box-Toppers season player rankings since May 7 and continues to lead even after being on the disabled list for six weeks. Kershaw has 20.0 Box-Toppers points, Scherzer has 18.7. Had Scherzer won overall Player of the Day or NL Player of the Day honors, he would have passed Kershaw for the lead. Kershaw could return to pitch as soon as late August.
Scoring—Green earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Phelps earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Beltre and Castillo 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
| 8/15 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | NYY 1, TOR 0 | Chad Green (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | |
| 6.0 | TB 8, SD 2 | Drew Smyly (W,5-11) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| NL | 4.1 | MIA 6, CIN 3 | David Phelps (W,6-6) | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | |
| BAT | 4.0 | TEX 5, OAK 2 | Adrian Beltre, 3B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.2 | KC 3, DET 1 | Ian Kennedy (W,7-9) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | ARI 10, NYM 6 | Welington Castillo, C | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | PIT 8, SF 5 | Gregory Polanco, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.2 | BOS 3, CLE 2 | Drew Pomeranz (W,9-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 2.2 | SEA 3, LAA 2 | Felix Hernandez (W,7-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | ||
| 1.0 | WSH 5, COL 4 | Jayson Werth, LF | 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 | +/- |
| Pomeranz, Drew 3061 | pi sp | bos al | 11.4 | 14.4 | 22.4 | 22.4 | 8.4 |
| Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | tex al | 8.0 | 20.5 | 46.4 | 109.8 | -4.5 |
| Kennedy, Ian 2723 | pi sp | kc al | 8.0 | 14.7 | 58.5 | 64.5 | 1.3 |
| Smyly, Drew 3009 | pi sp | tb al | 7.4 | 13.4 | 35.5 | 35.5 | 1.4 |
| Phelps, David 2994 | pi mr sp | fla nl | 5.7 | 9.1 | 22.5 | 22.5 | 2.3 |
| Polanco, Gregory 3361 | rf | pit nl | 5.5 | 8.5 | 12.5 | 12.5 | 2.5 |
| Werth, Jayson 1664 | lf | dc nl | 4.5 | 7.5 | 21.5 | 48.7 | 1.5 |
| Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 4.0 | 23.4 | 89.4 | 166.7 | -15.4 |
| Castillo, Wellington 3251 | ca | ari nl | 3.0 | 6.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | -0.5 |
| Green, Chad 3675 | pi sp | nyy al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
Tigers' Michael Fulmer tops players for Sunday, Aug. 14; Mets' Matz tops NL players
Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming the 22nd player this season with 10.0 Box-Toppers points.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 14:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 16.2 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 14.1 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 8 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.4 |
| 9 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 12.7 |
| 10 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 12.5 |
Fulmer pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, striking out nine and walking none, in the 7-0 win over the Rangers.
Fulmer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season, rising to 17th place in season player rankings, fifth among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Steven Matz pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit, two walks and striking out eight, in the 5-1 win over the Padres.
Matz earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 12.1 Box-Toppers points for the season, most of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. Matz rises to 12th place in season player rankings, eighth among NL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Mookie Betts of the Red Sox hit three home runs and went 4-for-6, scoring four times and driving in eight runs, in the 16-2 win over the Diamondbacks.
Betts had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +10.0, tied with two others for the highest score for any batter earning Player of the Game honors this season. Betts’ performance Sunday ranks second for the season, just behind C.J. Cron of the Angels, who on July 2 also had a score of +10. Cron’s score ranks higher because he had more hits than Betts—six vs. four. Betts’ performance ranks ahead of Kris Bryant of the Cubs, who on June 27 also had a score of +10, because Betts had more at bats—six vs. five.
Last season, the highest Box-Toppers game score earned by a batter was +11.0, done by four players.
National League Batter of the Day—Ryan Braun of the Brewers hit two homers and a double, going 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 7-3 win over the Reds.
Braun earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season, rising to second among NL batters, behind leader Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals (8.5).
Scoring—Fulmer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Matz earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Betts and Braun 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
| 8/14 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | DET 7, TEX 0 | Michael Fulmer (W,10-3) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| NL | 12.1 | NYM 5, SD 1 | Steven Matz (W,9-8) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| BAT | 10.0 | BOS 16, ARI 2 | Mookie Betts, RF | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 8.0 | MIL 7, CIN 3 | Ryan Braun, LF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.1 | TOR 9, HOU 2 | Marcus Stroman (W,9-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | KC 11, MIN 4 | Paulo Orlando, CF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.2 | STL 6, CHC 4 | Seung Hwan Oh (S,11) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | TB 12, NYY 3 | Evan Longoria, 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | PIT 11, LAD 3 | Sean Rodriguez, RF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | PHI 7, COL 6 | Jimmy Paredes, LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | WSH 9, ATL 1 | Anthony Rendon, 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CLE 5, LAA 4 | Cody Allen (S,22) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | BAL 8, SF 7 | Matt Wieters, C | 5 | 2 | 5 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SEA 8, OAK 4 | Kyle Seager, 3B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIA 5, CHW 4 | Mike Dunn (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 | +/- |
| Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 12.1 | 15.6 | 15.6 | 15.6 | 8.6 |
| Fulmer, Michael 3640 | pi sp | det al | 10.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 |
| Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | lf | mil nl | 8.0 | 13.0 | 44.0 | 85.7 | 3.0 |
| Wieters, Matt 2643 | ca | bal al | 8.0 | 9.0 | 27.0 | 32.7 | 7.0 |
| Seager, Kyle 3031 | 3b | sea al | 7.0 | 12.0 | 26.0 | 26.0 | 2.0 |
| Betts, Mookie 3404 | rf | bos al | 6.2 | 9.2 | 11.2 | 11.2 | 3.2 |
| Stroman, Marcus 3327 | pi sp | tor al | 5.7 | 8.4 | 22.1 | 22.1 | 3.0 |
| Allen, Cody 3265 | pi mr cp | cle al | 5.0 | 9.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 1.0 |
| Orlando, Paulo 3526 | rf cf | kc al | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 |
| Longoria, Evan 2423 | 3b | tb al | 2.5 | 5.5 | 22.0 | 43.0 | -0.5 |
| Rendon, Anthony 3258 | 3b | dc nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 1.0 |
| Dunn, Michael 2867 | pi mr cp | fla nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 2.0 |
| Rodriguez, Sean 2729 | rf1b 2b | pit nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 13.5 | 18.5 | 2.0 |
| Oh, Seung Hwan 3693 | pi cp | stl nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Paredes, Jimmy 3278 | lf | phi nl | 1.0 | 3.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -1.5 |
Mets' Jacob deGrom tops players for Saturday, Aug. 13; Tigers' Boyd tops AL players
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom 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 Aug. 13:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 16.2 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 14.1 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 8 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.4 |
| 9 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 12.7 |
| 10 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 12.5 |
deGrom struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 3-2, 11-inning win over the Padres. deGrom did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because when he exited the game, the Mets trailed.
American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Matt Boyd pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out three, in the 2-0 win over the Rangers.
National League Batter of the Day—Daniel Murphy of the Nationals homered and went 1-for-3, driving in four runs, in the 7-6 win over the Braves.
American League Batter of the Day—Russell Martin of the Blue Jays hit a three-run home run and went 1-for-2, in the 4-2 win over the Astros.
Notable—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Bumgarner (7IP 3H 0R 3BB 8K in the 6-2 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.0 for the season. He ranks 12th among all players in Box-Toppers points and eighth among NL pitchers.
Bumgarner also now has 104.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 62nd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Saturday, he passes Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” list and now trails 61st-ranked player, Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1).
Debut—Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday with their first career Player of the Game honors:
- Cardinals pitcher Alex Reyes (3IP H 0R BB 3K W in the 8-4 win over the Cubs) made his Major League debut Aug. 9 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,706th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger (5.2IP H R 4BB 3K W in the 5-1 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut May 18 and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,707th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- White Sox pitcher Chris Beck (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 0K W in the 8-7 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut May 28, 2015, and was playing in his eighth career game. He is the 3,708th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Boyd earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Murphy 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
| 8/13 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | `NYM 3, SD 2 (11) | Jacob deGrom | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
| 9.0 | SF 6, BAL 2 | Madison Bumgarner (W,11-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| AL | 6.0 | DET 2, TEX 0 | Matt Boyd (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
| 4.0 | STL 8, CHC 4 | Alex Reyes (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | WSH 7, ATL 6 | Daniel Murphy, 1B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | PHI 6, COL 3 | Maikel Franco, 3B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | TOR 4, HOU 2 | Russell Martin, C | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | CIN 11, MIL 5 | Joey Votto, 1B | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | LAD 8, PIT 4 | Joc Pederson, CF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYY 8, TB 4 | Aaron Hicks, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 6, ARI 3 | Brock Holt, LF | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 5, KC 3 | Tyler Duffey (W,8-8) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | SEA 4, OAK 3 | Edwin Diaz (S,6) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.2 | CLE 5, LAA 1 | Mike Clevinger (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | ||
| 1.1 | CHW 8, MIA 7 | Chris Beck (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 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 | +/- |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 12.0 | 29.0 | 99.0 | 104.7 | -5.0 |
| deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 9.7 | 32.1 | 45.1 | 45.1 | -12.7 |
| Martin, Russell 2202 | ca | tor al | 8.5 | 13.5 | 30.0 | 51.0 | 3.5 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 7.5 | 12.5 | 29.2 | 61.2 | 2.5 |
| Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | dc nl | 6.5 | 8.0 | 30.0 | 31.5 | 5.0 |
| Duffey, Tyler 3558 | pi sp | min al | 6.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 2.0 |
| Boyd, Matt 3550 | pi sp | det al | 4.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 3.4 |
| Diaz, Edwin 3690 | pi cp | sea al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Franco, Maikel 3510 | 3b | phi nl | 3.5 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 0.3 |
| Pederson, Joc 3621 | cf | lad nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Holt, Brock 3340 | 3b lf | bos al | 2.5 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 1.5 |
| Hicks, Aaron 3170 | lf | nyy al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -1.0 |
| Beck, Chris 3708 | pi mr | chi al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi sp | cle al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Reyes, Alex 3706 | pi mr | stl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Alex Rodriguez led active players in career Box-Toppers points since 2011; Sabathia, Pujols are new active leaders
With his release, A-Rod ends his more than 5-year reign as active career Box-Toppers points leader. CC Sabathia of the Yankees is new active leader, Albert Pujols of the Angels is leader among active batters.
Read MoreReds' Homer Bailey tops players for Friday, Aug. 12; Rangers' Lucroy tops AL players
Reds pitcher Homer Bailey 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 Aug. 12:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 16.2 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 14.1 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 8 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.4 |
| 9 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 12.7 |
| 10 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 12.5 |
Bailey struck out 11 over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 7-4 win over the Brewers.
American League Player of the Day—Jonathan Lucroy of the Rangers hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 8-5 win over the Tigers.
Lucroy earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Friday. Lucroy ranks 110th among all players, 20th among AL batters and third among AL catchers (behind Russell Martin of the Blue Jays and Matt Wieters of the Orioles, both of whom have 7.0 Box-Toppers points).
National League Batter of the Day—Matt Szczur of the Cubs hit two homers, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring four times and driving in three runs, in the 13-2 win over the Cardinals.
This was Szczur’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Szczur made his Major League debut Aug. 17, 2014, and was playing in his 156th career game. He is the 3,704th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Jonathan Lucroy.
Notable—Four batters Friday had Box-Toppers game scores of +6.0—Lucroy, Szczur, Hanley Ramirez of the Red Sox and Ryan Schimpf of the Padres.
Lucroy and Szczur ranked ahead of Ramirez and Schmipf because they both had three hits, while the other two had two hits. And Lucroy ranked ahead of Szczur because he had more RBIs—five vs. three.
Debut—Astros pitcher Joe Musgrove made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Musgrove (7IP 6H 2R BB 7K W in the 5-3 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut Aug. 2 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,705th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
A-Rod—Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees played in the apparent final game of his career Friday, a 6-3 win over the Rays.
Rodriguez doubled and went 1-for-4, driving in a run, giving him a Box-Toppers game score of −2.0. Player of the Game for the Yankees was closer Delin Betances (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K Sv).
If that truly is the end for Rodriguez, 41, he exits with 187.0 career Box-Toppers points, which as of Friday, was the highest total for any active player, the most points earned by any batter since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) and the fourth-highest total of any player since 1995.
However, Rodriguez did not earn any Box-Toppers points in 2016. He earned 7.7 points in 2015, the year after he returned from a 2014 yearlong suspension for violating baseball’s performance enhancing drug policy. More on Rodriguez’s career through a Box-Toppers perspective here.
Scoring—Bailey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lucroy earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Szczur earns 1.5 points for being NL 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
| 8/12 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | CIN 7, MIL 4 | Homer Bailey (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| AL | 6.0 | TEX 8, DET 5 | Jonathan Lucroy, C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 6.0 | CHC 13, STL 2 | Matt Szczur, CF | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | BOS 9, ARI 4 | Hanley Ramirez, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 6.0 | SD 8, NYM 6 | Ryan Schimpf, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | PHI 10, COL 6 | Ryan Howard, 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | CLE 13, LAA 3 | Brandon Guyer, LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | ATL 8, WSH 5 | Freddie Freeman, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | KC 7, MIN 3 | Yordano Ventura (W,8-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 4.0 | NYY 6, TB 3 | Dellin Betances (S,4) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.1 | `CHW 4, MIA 2 | Nate Jones (H,23) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 5, TOR 3 | Joe Musgrove (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | BAL 5, SF 2 | Zach Britton (S,36) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | OAK 6, SEA 3 | Marcus Semien, SS | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | PIT 5, LAD 1 | Andrew McCutchen, CF | 4 | 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 | +/- |
| Lucroy, Jonathan 2744 | ca | tex al | 5.7 | 7.4 | 26.3 | 27.3 | 4.0 |
| Ventura, Yordano 3294 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 | 16.7 | 26.4 | 26.4 | -6.7 |
| Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 5.0 | 8.0 | 36.2 | 36.2 | 2.0 |
| Ramirez, Hanley 2119 | 1b | bos al | 5.0 | 5.0 | 27.7 | 55.6 | 5.0 |
| Semien, Marcus 3302 | ss | oak al | 4.5 | 4.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 4.5 |
| Britton, Zach 2835 | pi cp | bal al | 4.0 | 12.7 | 32.1 | 32.1 | -4.7 |
| Jones, Nate 3125 | pi mr | chi al | 4.0 | 5.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 3.0 |
| McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | cf | pit nl | 3.5 | 14.0 | 44.7 | 50.4 | -7.0 |
| Schimpf, Ryan 3686 | 3b 2b | sd nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Howard, Ryan 2040 | 1b | phi nl | 2.0 | 7.5 | 32.4 | 98.7 | -3.5 |
| Betances, Dellin 3333 | pi mr cp | nyy al | 2.0 | 6.0 | 10.7 | 10.7 | -2.0 |
| Bailey, Homer 2324 | pi sp | cin nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 36.4 | 47.1 | 2.0 |
| Szczur, Matt 3704 | cf | chi nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Guyer, Brandon 3363 | lf | cle al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 0.0 |
| Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | hou al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Kershaw's slim Box-Toppers point lead holds after six weeks on disabled list
Kershaw still holds narrow lead over Nationals' Scherzer. Other Box-Toppers point leaders include Kluber (Indians), Altuve (Astros), Carpenter (Cardinals).
Read More