Marcus Stroman tops players as Blue Jays beat Orioles in AL Wild Card Game

Shawn Plank October 5, 2016

Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Tuesday’s American League Wild Card game.

Stroman pitched six innings, allowing two runs on four hits, striking out six and walking none, in the 5-2, 11-inning win over the Orioles. Stroman did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied 2-2 when he exited.

Stroman had 6.7 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranked 43rd among AL pitchers, 112th overall.

While the Blue Jays were the top-ranked Wild Card team, they rank lower in Box-Toppers team rankings. The Blue Jays rank ninth among all teams with 114.0 accumulated Box-Toppers points. The Orioles ranked seventh with 116.6.

The Blue Jays will face the Texas Rangers in the best-of-five AL Division Series beginning Thursday in Texas. The Rangers have the AL’s best winning percentage (.586), but rank third among AL teams and fifth among all teams in Box-Toppers team rankings with 122.5 points.

Top player from AL Wild Card Game

  
    BTG
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  
    4.0
    `TOR 5, BAL 2 (11)
    Marcus Stroman
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    2
    2
    0
    6
  
    `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
  
    BTG: Box-Toppers game score

Box-Toppers’ NL Wild Card Preview

Coming Wednesday—The National League Wild Card Game is in New York, with the Giants facing the Mets. Here is the pitching match-up:

Giants—Madison Bumgarner, 13.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 19th among all players, 12th among NL pitchers.

Mets—Noah Syndergaard, 16.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked seventh among all players, fourth among NL pitchers.

Bumgarner and Syndergaard also both rank among the top 10 NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons. Bumgarner has 30.0 points over 2015 and 2016, ranking seventh. Syndergaard has 27.1 points in that span, ranking 10th. Bumgarner also ranks third among pitchers in Box-Toppers points earned since the start of 2011—he has an even 100.0 points and trails only Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers (150.2), and Max Scherzer, Nationals (111.3). Syndergaard was a rookie in 2015.

The Mets are sixth in Box-Toppers team rankings with 119.1 accumulated points, third-most among NL teams. The Giants rank 10th, fifth among NL teams, with 112.7, the lowest-ranked team to qualify for the postseason. However, in the final 10 days of the season, the Giants were the slightly hotter team, picking up 8.7 Box-Toppers points, while the Mets picked up 6.7.

The Mets have two players among Box-Toppers top 10 NL batters:

Outfielder Jay Bruce has 8.5 Box-Toppers points, ranking eighth.
Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes has 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking 10th.

The Giants highest-ranking batter is first baseman Brandon Belt with 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking 18th among NL batters.

The winner of the NL Wild Card game will face the Chicago Cubs in the best-of-five NL Divisional Series beginning Friday in Chicago. The Cubs have baseball’s best winning percentage (.640) and rank first in Box-Toppers team rankings with 139.5 points.

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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Giants vs. Mets

Here are players for both teams in the NL Wild Card Game Wednesday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2016. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.


San Francisco Giants			New York Mets
Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	16.4	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	16.7
Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	13.0	Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	12.1
Moore, Matt 2975	pi sp	12.4	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	9.7
Samardzija, Jeff 2495	pi sp	10.7	Bruce, Jay 2453	rf	8.5
Belt, Brandon 2943	1b	7.0	Colon, Bartolo	pi sp	8.4
Panik, Joe 3401	2b	5.5	Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	cf lf	8.0
Nunez, Eduardo 2795	3b 2b ss	5.5	Familia, Jeurys 3446	pi cp	8.0
Peavy, Jake 1635	pi sp	5.0	Conforto, Michael 3622	lf	5.0
Posey, Buster 2745	ca 1b	3.5	Granderson, Curtis 2051	rf cf ph	4.5
Pence, Hunter 2287	rf	3.5	Flores, Wilmer 3345	3b 1b 2b ph	4.5
Casilla, Santiago 2301	pi cp	3.0	Walker, Neil 2756	2b	3.5
Kontos, George 3106	pi cp mr	3.0	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	3.0
Span, Denard 2502	cf	3.0	Niese, Jonathon 2531	pi sp	2.0
Tomlinson, Kelby 3619	2b ph	3.0	Cabrera, Asdrubal 2362	ss	2.0
Cain, Matt 2081	pi sp	2.7	Reed, Addison 3023	pi mr	2.0
Brown, Trevor 3610	ca	2.5	Salas, Fernando 2853	pi cp	2.0
Crawford, Brandon 2878	ss	2.0	Reyes, Jose 1759	3b ss	2.0
Gillaspie, Conor 3218	3b ph	2.0	Loney, James 2206	1b ph	2.0
Blach, Ty 3754	pi sp	2.0	Reynolds, Matt 3650	ss ph	2.0
Law, Derek 3657	pi sp mr	2.0	Smoker, Josh 3725	pi cp mr	2.0
Pagan, Angel 2184	lf	1.0	Gsellman, Robert 3748	pi sp	1.7
Beckham, Gordon 2620	2b	1.0	De Aza, Alejandro 2950	cf	1.5
Strickland, Hunter 3546	pi mr	1.0	Verrett, Logan 3518	pi sp	1.0
Okert, Steven 3745	pi mr	1.0	Robles, Hansel 3580	pi cp	1.0
Osich, Josh 3677	pi mr	1.0	d’Arnaud, Travis 3384	ca	1.0
			Wright, David 1911	3b	1.0
			Goeddel, Erik 3672	pi mr	1.0
			Lugo, Seth 3729	pi sp	1.0
			Rivera, T.J. 3710	3b 2b	1.0
			Ynoa, Gabriel 3743	pi sp	1.0
Totals		112.7	Totals		119.1

What are those numbers after players' names?

Orioles' Chris Tillman faces Blue Jays' Marcus Stroman in AL Wild Card Game

Shawn Plank October 4, 2016

The Baltimore Orioles visit the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League one-game Wild Card playoff game Tuesday.

Starting pitchers are:

Orioles—Chris Tillman, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 30th among AL pitchers, 89th overall.

Blue Jays—Marcus Stroman, 6.7 Box-Toppers points, 43rd among AL pitchers, 112th overall.

Both teams have identical 89-73 records, but the Orioles rank higher in Box-Toppers team rankings—they are seventh with 116.6 Box-Toppers points, while the Blue Jays are ninth with 114.0. The Blue Jays are the lowest-ranked AL team to make the postseason.

The Orioles finished the season as one of the hottest teams in baseball. In the final 10 days of the season, they earned 8.5 Box-Toppers points, third-most among all teams. The Blue Jays earned 6.0 points during that period.

Top-ranked player among both teams is Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ, 14.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked third among AL pitchers and 11th among all players. However, Happ started Saturday.

The Blue Jays also feature two players ranked in the top 10 list of AL batters for 2016:

Catcher Russell Martin, 10.5 Box-Toppers points, ranks sixth among AL batters, 48th among all players.
Third baseman Josh Donaldson, 9.7 Box-Toppers points, ranks seventh among AL batters, 57th among all players.

The Orioles top-ranked player is third baseman-shortstop Manny Machado, whose 12.7 Box-Toppers points leads all AL batters. He ranks 21st among all players.

Also in the top 10 among AL batters is Orioles catcher Matt Wieters, 11.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked fifth, 38th among all players.

The winner of the AL Wild Card game will face the Texas Rangers in the best-of-five AL Division Series beginning Thursday in Texas. The Rangers rank fifth in Box-Toppers team rankings, third among AL teams, with 122.5 Box-Toppers points.

Orioles vs. Blue Jays

Here are players for both teams in the AL Wild Card Game Tuesday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2016. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.


Baltimore Orioles			Toronto Blue Jays
Player	Pos	BTP	Player	Pos	BTP
Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	12.7	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	14.7
Wieters, Matt 2643	ca	11.0	Estrada, Marco 2847	pi sp	11.0
Gausman, Kevin 3191	pi sp	10.8	Sanchez, Aaron 3392	pi sp	10.7
Trumbo, Mark 2851	rf	8.2	Martin, Russell 2202	ca	10.5
Tillman, Chris 2754	pi sp	8.0	Donaldson, Josh 3144	3b	9.7
Davis, Chris 2478	1b	7.5	Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	8.0
Hardy, J.J. 2071	ss	6.2	Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	dh 1b	8.0
Miley, Wade 3006	pi sp	6.0	Dickey, R.A. 1734	pi sp	7.0
Bundy, Dylan 3655	pi sp	6.0	Stroman, Marcus 3327	pi sp	6.7
Britton, Zach 2835	pi cp	5.0	Saunders, Michael 2768	lf	5.2
Jimenez, Ubaldo 2349	pi sp	4.7	Smoak, Justin 2731	1b	3.5
Schoop, Jonathan 3307	2b	4.5	Osuna, Roberto 3512	pi cp	3.0
Brach, Brad 3374	pi mr	3.0	Upton, Melvin 1922	lf cf	2.5
O’Day, Darren 2577	pi mr cp	3.0	Pillar, Kevin 3486	cf	2.0
Wilson, Tyler 3608	pi mr sp	3.0	Biagini, Joe 3646	pi mr	2.0
Gallardo, Yovani 2333	pi sp	2.0	Goins, Ryan 3478	2b	1.5
Pearce, Steve 2371	1b	2.0	Bautista, Jose Antonio 2169	rf	1.0
Bourn, Michael 2505	rf cf	2.0	Tulowitzki, Troy 2308	ss	1.0
Givens, Mychal 3599	pi mr	2.0	Bolsinger, Mike 3318	pi sp	1.0
Lobstein, Kyle 3406	pi sp mr	2.0	Grilli, Jason 2209	pi mr cp	1.0
Kim, Hyun Soo 3671	lf	2.0	Travis, Devon 3436	2b	1.0
Jones, Adam 2347	cf	1.0	Benoit, Joaquin 1663	pi mr	1.0
Alvarez, Pedro 2817	dh 1b	1.0	Cecil, Brett 2566	pi mr	1.0
Wright, Mike 3471	pi sp	1.0	Navarro, Dioner 2087	dh ca	1.0
Hunter, Tommy 2623	pi cp	1.0
Reimold, Nolan 2607	lf	1.0
Totals		116.6	Totals		114.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Nationals' Max Scherzer wins Box-Toppers Player of the Year for 2016; Kluber tops AL players

Shawn Plank October 3, 2016

Scherzer tops all players in Box-Toppers points to win Player of the Year honors. Kluber tops AL players. Machado tops AL batters. Arenado tops NL batters with record-low score to lead a category.

Chicago Cubs—Box-Toppers’ top team for most of 2016—finish season atop team rankings

Shawn Plank October 3, 2016

Chicago Cubs topped 22 of 24 weekly team rankings reports in 2016, including this final one. Red Sox top AL teams. All top 10 teams qualified for 10 postseason spots.

Braves' Teheran tops players for Sunday, Oct. 1; Player of the Year Scherzer does not extend Box-Toppers points lead

Shawn Plank October 2, 2016

Braves pitcher Julio Teheran is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day on the final day of the 2016 season.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Oct. 2 (2016 final standings):


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	25.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.4
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	died*	22.4
4	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	22.1
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	16.7
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	16.4
9	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7
10	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1

What are those numbers after players' names?
* Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident Sept. 25. His team was the Miami Marlins.

Also Sunday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, Box-Toppers Player of the Year, did not earn Player of the Game honors in his final regular season start. He ends with 25.7 Box-Toppers points, tied for the 20th-best single-season Box-Toppers point total since tracking began in 1995.

Player of the Day—Teheran struck out 12 over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 1-0 win over the Tigers.

Teheran earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season. He becomes the 52nd player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 43rd among all players and 19th among NL pitchers.

This is Teheran’s third season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. In 2013, he had 13.7 and in 2014, he had 14.4.

American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Jhoulys Chacin pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing four hits and one walk, in the 8-1 win over the Astros.

National League Batter of the Day—Danny Espinosa of the Nationals hit a two-run homer and went 1-for-1, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 10-7 win over the Marlins.

American League Batter of the Day—Matt Wieters of the Orioles hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 5-2 win over the Yankees.

Wieters earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season. He becomes the 54th and final player in 2016 with 10 or more Box-Toppers points, the 10th batter. Wieters ranks 38th among all players and fifth among AL batters.

This is Wieter’s first season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. His previous high was 7.0 in 2011.

Notable—Box-Toppers Player of the Year Max Scherzer had a chance to increase his 2016 Box-Toppers point total, but did not earn Player of the Game Sunday in the Nationals’ win.

Scherzer (5IP 9H 5R 2BB 7K W in the 10-7 win over the Marlins) had a Box-Toppers game score of −9.0. Player of the Game Danny Espinosa, who was also NL Batter of the Day, had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0.

Scherzer ends the season with 25.7 Box-Toppers points, a 1.3-point lead over second place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (24.4), who on Saturday failed to gain Box-Toppers points, which could have propelled him past Scherzer for the lead.

Scherzer’s 25.7 Box-Toppers points is tied for the 20th-best single-season point total in the 22-year history of Box-Toppers tracking. This is the first time he has won overall Player of the Year honors. In 2013, when he was with the Tigers, he led AL pitchers with 18.1 Box-Toppers points.

Also notable—Two other players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points on the season earned Player of the Game honors Sunday:

Giants pitcher Matt Moore (8IP 3H R 2BB 6K W in the 7-1 win over the Dodgers) has 12.4 Box-Toppers points, most of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. He ranks 31st among all players and 16th among NL pitchers.
Blue Jays pitcher Aaron Sanchez (7IP 2H R 2BB 6K W in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox) now has 10.7 Box-Toppers points and becomes the 53rd player this season with 10 or more points. Sanchez ranks 45th among all players and 19th among AL pitchers. This is his first season with 10 Box-Toppers points. In his previous two seasons, he had 2.0 points each year.

Debut—Brewers pitcher Corey Knebel made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Knebel (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv in the 6-4, 10-inning win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut May 24, 2014, and was playing in his 91st career game. He is the 3,757th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. Knebel is the 151st and final player to make his Box-Toppers debut in 2016.

Scoring—Teheran earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Chacin earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Espinosa and Wieters 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    10/2
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    15.0
    ATL 1, DET 0
    Julio Teheran (W,7-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    12
  

    AL
    9.0
    LAA 8, HOU 1
    Jhoulys Chacin (W,6-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    7
  

    
    7.0
    SF 7, LAD 1
    Matt Moore (W,13-12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    1
    1
    2
    6
  

    
    7.0
    TOR 2, BOS 1
    Aaron Sanchez (W,15-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    1
    1
    2
    6
  

    
    7.0
    `PHI 5, NYM 2
    Jerad Eickhoff
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    1
    8
  

    BAT
    5.0
    WSH 10, MIA 7
    Danny Espinosa, SS
    1
    3
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    4.0
    BAL 5, NYY 2
    Matt Wieters, C
    4
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    STL 10, PIT 4
    Matt Carpenter, 1B
    2
    1
    1
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    CHC 7, CIN 4
    Miguel Montero, PH
    1
    1
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    OAK 3, SEA 2
    John Axford (S,3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    ARI 3, SD 2
    Daniel Hudson (W,3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    MIL 6, COL 4 (10)
    Corey Knebel (S,2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    TB 6, TEX 4 (10)
    Alexei Ramirez, SS 
    5
    2
    4
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    MIN 6, CHW 3
    Miguel Sano, 3B
    4
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    CLE 3, KC 2
    Yan Gomes, C
    2
    1
    1
    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	+/-
Moore, Matt 2975	pi sp	sf nl	12.4	12.4	37.9	37.9	12.4
Wieters, Matt 2643	ca	bal al	11.0	12.0	30.0	35.7	10.0
Teheran, Julio 3176	pi sp	atl nl	10.7	18.4	46.5	46.5	3.0
Sanchez, Aaron 3392	pi sp	tor al	10.7	12.7	14.7	14.7	8.7
Carpenter, Matt 2987	3b 1b 2b	stl nl	9.5	15.0	29.5	29.5	4.0
Eickhoff, Jerad 3566	pi sp	phi nl	8.0	13.0	13.0	13.0	3.0
Chacin, Jhoulys 2711	pi mr sp	ana al	5.7	5.7	20.1	27.8	5.7
Espinosa, Danny 2804	ss 2b	dc nl	3.2	6.2	14.9	16.9	0.2
Sano, Miguel 3527	3b rf	min al	3.0	9.0	9.0	9.0	-3.0
Ramirez, Alexei 2537	ss	tb al	2.5	4.5	23.0	35.0	0.5
Montero, Miguel 2304	ca ph	chi nl	2.0	7.5	21.7	31.9	-3.5
Axford, John 2726	pi cp	oak al	1.0	4.0	12.0	18.0	-2.0
Hudson, Dan 2776	pi cp	ari nl	1.0	3.0	14.0	20.0	-1.0
Gomes, Yan 3177	ca	cle al	1.0	2.0	9.2	9.2	0.0
Knebel, Corey 3757	pi cp	mil nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Giants' Blach tops players for Saturday Oct. 1; Nationals' Scherzer wraps up Box-Toppers Player of the Year as Kershaw loses

Shawn Plank October 2, 2016

Giants pitcher Ty Blach 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 Oct. 1:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	25.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.4
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	died*	22.4
4	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	22.1
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	16.7
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	16.4
9	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7
10	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1

What are those numbers after players' names?
* Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident Sept. 25. His team was the Miami Marlins.

Also Saturday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer secured Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors for 2016 after Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw failed to earn Box-Toppers points in his team’s loss Saturday against the Giants. Scherzer, who starts Sunday, has 25.7 Box-Toppers points. Kershaw finishes second with 24.4.

In addition Saturday, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon rises to 20th place in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995) after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Blach pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, one walk and striking out six, in the 3-0 win over the Dodgers.

This was Blach’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Blach made his Major League debut Sept. 5 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,754th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Rangers.

American League Batter of the Day—Joey Wendle of the Athletics doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-8, 10-inning win over the Mariners.

This was Wendle’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Wendle made his Major League debut Aug. 31 and was playing in his 27th career game. He is the 3,756th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Batter of the Day—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds hit a two-run homer and went 1-for-2, driving in three runs, in the 7-4 win over the Cubs.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw had a chance to take the Box-Toppers season points lead on the next-to-last day of the season Saturday if he earned NL Player of the Day or overall Player of the Day. But Kershaw did not earn points as the Dodgers lost to the Giants, 3-0.

Kershaw (7IP 6H 3R BB 4K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of −1.0. Player of the Game was overall Player of the Day, Giants pitcher Ty Blach.

Kershaw finishes the season with 24.4 Box-Toppers points, the second year in a row he finishes second. In 2015, he had 25.7 points, behind leader Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (29.1). Previously, Kershaw led NL pitchers for four straight seasons (2011-2014) and led all players in three seasons (2011, 2013 and 2014).

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who took the season lead from Kershaw on Aug. 25, will end the season atop Box-Toppers season player rankings for the first time in his career. He has 25.7 Box-Toppers points and has a chance to earn up to 2.0 more Sunday in his start against the Marlins.

This will be the second time Scherzer has ended the season as a Box-Toppers category leader. In 2013, Scherzer, then with the Tigers, led AL pitchers in points with 18.1. (He finished fifth in 2013 in overall points when Kershaw led with 21.7.)

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	185.0
6	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	183.7
7	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	182.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	168.7
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	Bartolo Colon	pi sp	nym nl	148.5

List of top 100 players since 1995 (as of July 15, 2016's All-Star break)

Notable—Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon rises to 20th place in career Box-Toppers points (since tracking began in 1995) after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Colon (5IP 5H 2R 0BB 6K W in the 5-3 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 148.5 for his career. He passes Javier Vazquez (148.3) on the “all-time” list and now trails Chipper Jones (149.0).

Colon now has 8.4 Box-Toppers points on the season, 27th among NL pitchers.

Also notable—Two players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points on the season earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:

Twins pitcher Hector Santiago (6.1IP 3H 0R 3BB 6K W in the 6-0 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday. Santiago ranks 34th among all players and 13th among AL pitchers.
Astros pitcher Collin McHugh (7.2IP 3H 0R BB 5K W in the 3-0 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He becomes the 51st player this season with 10 or more points. He ranks 39th among all players and 17th among AL pitchers.

Debut—Braves pitcher Aaron Blair also made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Blair (6IP 4H 2R BB 10K W in the 5-3 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut April 24 and was playing in his 15th career game. He is the 3,755th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Blach earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Odorizzi earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Wendle and Suarez 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    10/1
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    10.0
    SF 3, LAD 0
    Ty Blach (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    AL
    9.0
    TB 4, TEX 1
    Jake Odorizzi (W,10-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    0
    8
  

    
    8.2
    HOU 3, LAA 0
    Collin McHugh (W,13-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    3
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    7.0
    ARI 9, SD 5
    Archie Bradley (W,8-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    2
    2
    0
    11
  

    
    7.0
    ATL 5, DET 3
    Aaron Blair (W,2-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    2
    2
    1
    10
  

    
    6.1
    MIN 6, CHW 0
    Hector Santiago (W,13-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    3
    0
    0
    3
    6
  

    
    4.0
    `MIL 4, COL 3 (10)
    Wily Peralta
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    4.0
    `STL 4, PIT 3
    Trevor Rosenthal
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.0
    2
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    BAT
    3.0
    OAK 9, SEA 8 (10)
    Joey Wendle, 2B
    5
    2
    4
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    CIN 7, CHC 4
    Eugenio Suarez, 3B
    2
    1
    1
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `CLE 6, KC 3
    Andrew Miller (H,25)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.1
    WSH 2, MIA 1
    Mark Melancon (S,46)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    TOR 4, BOS 3
    Kevin Pillar, CF
    3
    0
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    NYY 7, BAL 3
    Chase Headley, 3B
    3
    2
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    NYM 5, PHI 3
    Bartolo Colon (W,15-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    5
    2
    2
    0
    6
  

    
    
    `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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Santiago, Hector 3109	pi sp	min al	11.4	19.4	31.8	31.8	3.4
McHugh, Collin 3316	pi sp	hou al	10.7	20.4	32.2	32.2	1.0
Suarez, Eugenio 3355	3b	cin nl	8.5	11.5	14.0	14.0	5.5
Colon, Bartolo	pi sp	nym nl	8.4	15.1	57.0	148.5	1.7
Miller, Andrew 2436	pi cp mr	cle al	8.0	12.0	16.0	23.0	4.0
Odorizzi, Jake 3291	pi sp	tb al	6.4	15.1	26.1	26.1	-2.3
Headley, Chase 2552	3b	nyy al	4.5	6.5	18.0	28.5	2.5
Rosenthal, Trevor 3124	pi cp	stl nl	4.0	10.0	22.0	22.0	-2.0
Melancon, Mark 2792	pi cp	dc nl	3.0	10.0	23.0	24.0	-4.0
Bradley, Archie 3438	pi sp	ari nl	3.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	2.0
Pillar, Kevin 3486	cf	tor al	2.0	5.5	5.5	5.5	-1.5
Blach, Ty 3754	pi sp	sf nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Wendle, Joey 3756	2b	oak al	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Peralta, Wily 3123	pi sp	mil nl	1.0	3.0	19.0	19.0	-1.0
Blair, Aaron 3755	pi sp	atl nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Rangers' Yu Darvish tops players for Friday, Sept. 30; Cardinals' Martinez tops NL players

Shawn Plank October 1, 2016

Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish 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 Sept. 30:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	25.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.4
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	died*	22.4
4	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	22.1
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	16.7
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	16.4
9	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7
10	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1

What are those numbers after players' names?
* Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident Sept. 25. His team was the Miami Marlins.

Darvish struck out 12 over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 3-1 win over the Rays.

Darvish earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season. He becomes the 50th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and rises to 47th place among all players, 19th among American League pitchers.

This is Darvish’s fourth season with 10 or more points. In 2012, he had 16.8 points, in 2013—16.0 and in 2014—12.5. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015 and did not play.

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk, in the 7-0 win over the Pirates.

Martinez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Friday. Martinez ranks 29th among all players and 15th among NL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Ben Zobrist of the Cubs hit two home runs, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 7-3 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Francisco Lindor of the Indians hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-2, scoring twice, in the 7-2 win over the Royals.

Notable—David Ortiz of the Red Sox rises to 23rd place in career Box-Toppers points since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Ortiz (HR 2-4 R 3BI in the 5-3 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 145.9 for his career. With his point Friday, he passes Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (144.9) on the “all-time” list and now trails 22nd-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7). Ortiz now rises to seventh place among active players in career Box-Toppers points. He has 8.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 18th among AL batters. Ortiz is retiring after this season.

Debut—Angels pitcher Daniel Wright made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Wright (6IP 6H R 0BB 5K W in the 7-1 win over the Astros) made his Major League debut May 24 and was playing in his ninth career game. He is the 3,753rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/30
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    12.0
    TEX 3, TB 1
    Yu Darvish (W,7-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    12
  

    NL
    10.0
    STL 7, PIT 0
    Carlos Martinez (W,16-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    1
    9
  

    
    5.2
    DET 6, ATL 2
    Daniel Norris (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    5
    1
    1
    2
    8
  

    BAT
    5.0
    CHC 7, CIN 3
    Ben Zobrist, 2B-LF
    4
    3
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    SF 9, LAD 3
    Brandon Belt, 1B
    3
    2
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    5.0
    CLE 7, KC 2
    Francisco Lindor, SS
    2
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    CHW 7, MIN 3
    Carlos Rodon (W,9-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    3
    2
    3
    10
  

    
    4.0
    BAL 8, NYY 1
    Jonathan Schoop, 2B
    4
    1
    2
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    NYM 5, PHI 1
    Jay Bruce, RF
    4
    1
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    SEA 5, OAK 1
    Robinson Cano, 2B
    4
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    MIA 7, WSH 4
    Christian Yelich, CF
    3
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    LAA 7, HOU 1
    Daniel Wright (W,1-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    6
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    
    3.0
    COL 4, MIL 1
    Adam Ottavino (S,7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    BOS 5, TOR 3
    David Ortiz, DH
    4
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    ARI 5, SD 3
    Chris Owings, SS
    3
    1
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

  
  

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	12.4	26.1	27.1	27.1	-1.3
Darvish, Yu 3003	pi sp	tex al	10.4	10.4	55.6	55.6	10.4
Bruce, Jay 2453	rf	nym nl	8.5	11.7	31.7	58.8	5.3
Rodon, Carlos 3494	pi sp	chi al	8.0	16.1	16.1	16.1	-0.1
Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	sea al	8.0	14.5	43.5	75.4	1.5
Ortiz, David	dh	bos al	8.0	12.5	43.9	145.9	3.5
Belt, Brandon 2943	1b	sf nl	7.0	8.5	20.5	20.5	5.5
Lindor, Francisco 3586	ss	cle al	7.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	6.0
Yelich, Christian 3334	lf cf	fla nl	5.5	8.0	15.5	15.5	3.0
Schoop, Jonathan 3307	2b	bal al	4.5	7.0	9.5	9.5	2.0
Zobrist, Ben 2216	2b rf lf	chi nl	4.0	5.0	23.0	32.0	3.0
Ottavino, Adam 3054	pi cp	col nl	3.0	5.0	7.0	7.0	1.0
Owings, Chris 3347	ss cf	ari nl	3.0	4.0	6.5	6.5	2.0
Norris, Daniel 3548	pi sp	det al	2.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	-2.0
Wright, Daniel 3753	pi sp	ana al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Orioles' Ubaldo Jimenez tops players for Thursday, Sept. 29; Giants' Cueto rises to 8th in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank September 30, 2016

Orioles pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	25.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.4
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	died*	22.4
4	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	22.1
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	16.7
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	16.4
9	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7
10	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1

What are those numbers after players' names?
* Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident Sept. 25. His team was the Miami Marlins.

Also Thursday, Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Jimenez pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit, three walks and striking out five, in the 4-0 win over the Blue Jays.

National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias pitched three scoreless innings, allowing one hit, two walks and striking out five, in the 9-4 win over the Padres. Urias did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited the game in a scoreless tie and did not pitch the requisite five innings to earn the win.

American League Batter of the Day—Byron Buxton of the Twins tripled, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-6 win over the Royals.

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

Rankings—Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Cueto (7IP 9H 2R BB 11K W in the 7-2 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.4 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL pitchers.

Notable—Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia extends his career Box-Toppers points lead among active players after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Sabathia (7.1IP 4H R 2BB 8K W in the 5-1 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 185.0 career points, most among active players, just ahead of Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (183.7). Sabathia ranks fifth among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails fourth-ranked player Alex Rodriguez (187.0). (See the updated top 20 list of player career points rankings on the homepage.) Sabathia has 6.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, now his best season since 2012 with the Yankees when he had 15.1 points.

Also notable—Pirates pitcher Ivan Nova earned Player of the Game honors Thursday in Major League Baseball’s first tie game in more than a decade.

Nova (5.1IP 4H R 0BB 5K ND in the 1-1, six-inning tie versus the Cubs) earned Player of the Game because he had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+4.1) of any player on either team. The highest-ranked Cubs player was starting pitcher Rob Zastryzny (3.2IP 2H R 2BB 4K ND, Box-Toppers game score +2.2).

Rain forced the game’s delay and it was eventually suspended and declared a tie—with player statistics counting—since the outcome would not affect either team in the standings. It is the first tie since June 30, 2005, when the Astros and Reds tied, 2-2. Player of the Game that day was shortstop Felipe Lopez of the Reds.

Weekly reports—Friday’s usual Box-Toppers team rankings and player rankings reports will be delayed until Monday, after the final games of the season are played.

Scoring—Jimenez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Urias earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Buxton 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/29
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    7.2
    BAL 4, TOR 0
    Ubaldo Jimenez (W,8-12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    1
    0
    0
    3
    5
  

    
    7.1
    NYY 5, BOS 1
    CC Sabathia (W,9-12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.1
    4
    1
    1
    2
    8
  

    
    5.1
    `SEA 3, OAK 2
    Ariel Miranda
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.1
    4
    1
    1
    0
    6
  

    NL
    5.0
    `LAD 9, SD 4
    Julio Urias
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.0
    1
    0
    0
    2
    5
  

    
    4.1
    `PIT 1, CHC 1 (6)*
    Ivan Nova (Pirates)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.1
    4
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    
    4.0
    SF 7, COL 2
    Johnny Cueto (W,18-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    9
    2
    2
    1
    11
  

    BAT
    3.0
    MIN 7, KC 6
    Byron Buxton, CF
    3
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `ATL 5, PHI 2
    Josh Collmenter
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    1
    1
    0
    4
  

    
    2.0
    `WSH 5, ARI 3
    Joe Ross
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    4.0
    3
    1
    1
    2
    5
  

    
    2.0
    TB 5, CHW 3
    Alex Colome (S,36)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    1.0
    `STL 4, CIN 3
    Alex Reyes
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    7
    1
    1
    2
    6
  

    
    
    `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
  

    
    
    * Game ends in official tie with statistics counting toward players' totals.
  

  
  

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	16.4	29.2	80.4	99.8	3.6
Colome, Alex 3189	pi cp	tb al	9.0	14.0	17.7	17.7	4.0
Nova, Ivan 2796	pi sp	pit nl	8.0	9.0	30.1	31.1	7.0
Sabathia, C.C. 1492	pi sp	nyy al	6.0	11.7	46.5	185.0	0.3
Urias, Julio 3652	pi sp	lad nl	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7
Jimenez, Ubaldo 2349	pi sp	bal al	4.7	13.4	41.6	79.5	-4.0
Buxton, Byron 3604	cf	min al	4.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	3.7
Reyes, Alex 3706	pi sp mr	stl nl	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.7
Ross, Robbie Jr. 2999	pi cp mr sp	bos al	3.0	3.0	12.7	12.7	3.0
Miranda, Ariel 3738	pi sp	sea al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Collmenter, Josh 2863	pi sp	atl nl	1.0	4.0	34.0	34.0	-2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Rockies' Tyler Chatwood tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 28; White Sox' Gonzalez tops AL players

Shawn Plank September 29, 2016

Rockies pitcher Tyler Chatwood 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 Sept. 28:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	25.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.4
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	died*	22.4
4	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	22.1
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	16.7
8	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	15.4
10	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1

What are those numbers after players' names?
* Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident Sept. 25. His team was the Miami Marlins.

Chatwood pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing three hits and two walks, in the 2-0 win over the Giants.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Miguel Gonzalez pitched 8 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits, no walks and striking out five, in the 1-0 win over the Rays.

National League Batter of the Day—John Jaso of the Pirates hit for the cycle (single, double, triple and three-run homer) in the 8-4 win over the Cubs. Jaso went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs.

American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Gomez of the Rangers hit a go-ahead, eighth-inning, three-run homer in the 8-5 win over the Brewers. Gomez also doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice. This was the second straight day Gomez earned Player of the Game honors. He has 4.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, 2.5 earned in the past two days.

Notable—Two batters with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (HR 2-3 R 3BI in the 6-3, five-inning win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 144.9 for his career. He rises to 23rd among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, passing two players on the “all-time” list—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (144.0) and David Ortiz of the Red Sox (144.9). (Though Ortiz and Cabrera are tied, Cabrera holds the tiebreaker and ranks higher because he has more 2016 Box-Toppers points—12 vs. 7.) Cabrera now trails 22nd-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7). Cabrera also rises from ninth to seventh place in career points among active players, second among active batters behind only Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.3).

Cabrera also has the highest season Box-Toppers point total (12.0) of any of the 15 who earnedPlayer of the Game honors Wednesday. Cabrera ranks 31st among all players, fourth among AL batters, behind Manny Machado of the Orioles (12.7), Mike Trout of the Angels (12.5) and Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5).

Mark Teixeira of the Yankees (GS 1-3 R 4BI in the 5-3 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 101.3 for his career. Teixeira rises to 70th place among players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, passing three players on the “all-time” list—Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7) and Jason Schmidt (101.2). He trails 69th-ranked player Tim Wakefield (101.4). Teixeria, who is retiring at season’s end, has 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016.

Also notable—Hunter Renfroe of the Padres, who made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Wednesday, one of two players who earned Box-Toppers points two days in a row. (The other was AL Batter of the Day Carlos Gomez.)

Renfroe (HR 2-4 2R 4BI in the 6-5 win over the Dodgers) now has 2.5 Box-Toppers points.

Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with their first career Player of the Game honors:

Dansby Swanson of the Braves (3B 2B 2-3 3R 2BI in the 12-2 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut Aug. 17 and was playing in his 34th career game. He is the 3,751st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Angels pitcher A.J. Achter (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 8-6 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut Sept. 3, 2014, and was playing in his 44th career game. He is the 3,752nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Chatwood earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gonzalez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Jaso and Gomez 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/28
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    12.0
    COL 2, SF 0
    Tyler Chatwood (W,12-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    9
  

    AL
    10.1
    CHW 1, TB 0
    Miguel Gonzalez (W,5-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.1
    3
    0
    0
    0
    5
  

    BAT
    7.0
    PIT 8, CHC 4
    John Jaso, 1B
    4
    2
    4
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    `KC 5, MIN 2
    Jason Vargas
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    BAT
    4.0
    TEX 8, MIL 5
    Carlos Gomez, LF
    4
    2
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    SD 6, LAD 5
    Hunter Renfroe, RF
    4
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    ATL 12, PHI 2
    Dansby Swanson, SS
    3
    3
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    ARI 3, WSH 0 (6)
    Shelby Miller (W,3-12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    5
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    3.0
    SEA 12, HOU 4
    Leonys Martin, CF
    4
    3
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    DET 6, CLE 3 (5)
    Miguel Cabrera, 1B
    3
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    NYY 5, BOS 3
    Mark Teixeira, 1B
    3
    1
    1
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    BAL 3, TOR 2
    Hyun Soo Kim, PH-LF
    1
    1
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    NYM 5, MIA 2
    Jeurys Familia (S,50)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    LAA 8, OAK 6
    A.J. Achter (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    1.0
    CIN 2, STL 1
    Raisel Iglesias (S,5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    1
    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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	12.0	16.7	65.3	144.9	7.3
Gonzalez, Miguel 3062	pi sp	chi al	9.1	15.8	37.9	37.9	2.4
Familia, Jeurys 3446	pi cp	nym nl	8.0	16.0	16.0	16.0	0.0
Chatwood, Tyler 2856	pi sp	col nl	7.0	7.0	16.7	16.7	7.0
Jaso, John 2705	1b	pit nl	5.5	5.5	10.5	16.5	5.5
Gomez, Carlos 2397	lf	tex al	4.5	10.5	21.0	32.0	-1.5
Teixeira, Mark 1738	1b	nyy al	4.0	11.5	32.2	101.3	-3.5
Iglesias, Raisel 3467	pi sp cp	cin nl	3.0	5.7	5.7	5.7	0.3
Renfroe, Hunter 3749	rf	sd nl	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Miller, Shelby 3134	pi sp	ari nl	2.0	12.0	38.1	38.1	-8.0
Kim, Hyun Soo 3671	lf	bal al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	1.0	2.0	35.5	47.2	0.0
Martin, Leonys 3053	cf	sea al	1.0	1.0	7.5	7.5	1.0
Achter, A.J. 3752	pi mr	ana al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Swanson, Dansby 3751	ss	atl nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Tigers' Justin Verlander tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 27; Nationals' Scherzer extends Box-Toppers points lead

Shawn Plank September 28, 2016

Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	25.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.4
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	died*	22.4
4	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	22.1
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	16.7
8	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	15.4
10	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1

What are those numbers after players' names?
* Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident Sept. 25. His team was the Miami Marlins.

Also Tuesday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer extended his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. But Scherzer (25.7 Box-Toppers points) is now just 1.3 points ahead of second-place player Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (24.4), meaning Kershaw could still pass Scherzer for the season points title in his scheduled start Saturday. The season ends Sunday.

In addition Tuesday, Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Verlander pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out 12 and allowing four hits and one walk, in the 12-0 win over the Indians.

Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.7 for the season, rising to 12th place among all players and fourth place among American League pitchers.

Verlander also rises to 28th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he now has 139.3 points, passing 29th-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5). He trails 27th-ranked player, Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8).

National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Matt Moore struck out 11 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run, six hits and no walks, in the 12-3 win over the Rockies.

Moore earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 11.4 for the season. He becomes the 49th player in 2016 with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and rises to 33rd place among all players, 16th among NL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Hunter Renfroe of the Padres hit a grand slam and a three-run homer in the 7-1 win over the Dodgers. Renfroe went 2-for-4.

This was Renfroe’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Renfroe made his Major League debut Sept. 21 and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,749th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Tim Anderson of the White Sox homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 13-6 win over the Rays.

  
    Best seasons
Here are all players who have earned 25 or more Box-Toppers points in a single season since 1995, ranked by their single-season Box-Toppers point total. Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer’s 2016 point total of 25.7 now is tied for the 20th-best in a single season. 
 





  
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    Rank
    Player
    Team
    Pos
    Year
    BTP
  

    1
    Randy Johnson
    Dbacks
    pi sp
    2000
    33.7
  

    1
    Randy Johnson
    Dbacks
    pi sp
    2002
    33.7
  

    3
    Pedro Martinez
    Red Sox
    pi sp
    2000
    33.5
  

    4
    Randy Johnson
    Dbacks
    pi sp
    1999
    31.5
  

    4
    Clayton Kershaw
    Dodgers
    pi sp
    2014
    31.5
  

    6
    Pedro Martinez
    Red Sox
    pi sp
    1999
    31.4
  

    7
    Randy Johnson
    Dbacks
    pi sp
    2001
    29.4
  

    8
    Jake Arrieta
    Cubs
    pi sp
    2015
    29.1
  

    9
    Pedro Martinez
    Red Sox
    pi sp
    2002
    28.8
  

    10
    Curt Schilling
    Dbacks
    pi sp
    2002
    28.4
  

    11
    Roger Clemens
    Blue Jays
    pi sp
    1997
    27.4
  

    12
    Johan Santana
    Twins
    pi sp
    2004
    26.8
  

    13
    Pedro Martinez
    Expos
    pi sp
    1997
    26.7
  

    13
    CC Sabathia
    Indians/Brewers
    pi sp
    2008
    26.7
  

    15
    Randy Johnson
    Mariners/Astros
    pi sp
    1998
    26.4
  

    16
    John Smoltz
    Braves
    pi sp
    1996
    26.1
  

    16
    Clayton Kershaw
    Dodgers
    pi sp
    2011
    26.1
  

    18
    Roger Clemens
    Blue Jays
    pi sp
    1998
    25.8
  

    18
    Corey Kluber
    Indians
    pi sp
    2014
    25.8
  

    20
    Johan Santana
    Twins
    pi sp
    2006
    25.7
  

    20
    Clayton Kershaw
    Dodgers
    pi sp
    2015
    25.7
  

    20
    *Max Scherzer
    Nationals
    pi sp
    2016
    25.7
  

    23
    Cliff Lee
    Phillies
    pi sp
    2011
    25.4
  

    
    * Current season
  
 
  
  

Box-Toppers points leader—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer extended his lead in Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday. Scherzer now has 25.7 Box-Toppers points, the 23rd time in Box-Toppers’ 22-season history that a player has earned 25 or more Box-Toppers points in a season.

Scherzer (6IP 6H 2R 2BB 10K W in the 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks) is now 1.3 points ahead of second-place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (24.4). Kershaw is scheduled to start Saturday, meaning he could pass Scherzer if he earns NL Player of the Day (worth 1.7 points) or overall Player of the Day (worth 2.0 points). However, Scherzer is also in line to make his final start of the season Sunday.

Scherzer took the Box-Toppers points lead from Kershaw on Aug. 25. Kershaw had been in the lead since May 7 and raced to a commanding lead with 20.0 points by the end of June, but went on the disabled list for two months after that, allowing Scherzer to catch and pass him.

Scherzer’s 25.7 points now ranks tied for 20th among the highest single-season Box-Toppers points since tracking began in 1995. Two other players achieved 25.7 in a single season—Johan Santana of the Twins in 2006 and Kershaw in 2015. (See the Best seasons chart.)

Scherzer also now has 131.7 career Box-Toppers points, 31st-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 30th-ranked player Jason Giambi (133.4).

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

Syndergaard (6IP 5H R 0BB 8K W in the 12-1 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.7 for the season, passing Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (15.7) on the season top 10 list and now trails sixth-place player, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (17.8). Syndergaard ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

Notable—Angels pitcher Ricky Nolasco now has 11.4 Box-Toppers points on the season after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Nolasco (8IP 5H R 2BB 4K W in the 8-1 win over the Athletics) ranks 32nd among all players and 13th among AL pitchers.

Debut—Raul A. Mondesi of the Royals made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Mondesi (BB R 0-0 in the 4-3, 11-inning win over the Twins) made his Major League debut Oct. 30, 2015, and was playing in his 46th career game. He is the 3,750th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Mondesi is the son of outfielder Raul R. Mondesi, who played from 1993 to 2005. The elder Mondesi earned 59.9 career Box-Toppers points from 1995, when tracking began, through 2003, when he last earned points.

Scoring—Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Moore earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Renfroe and Anderson 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/27
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    14.2
    DET 12, CLE 0
    Justin Verlander (W,16-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    4
    0
    0
    1
    12
  

    NL
    10.2
    SF 12, COL 3
    Matt Moore (W,12-12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    6
    1
    1
    0
    11
  

    BAT
    7.0
    SD 7, LAD 1
    Hunter Renfroe, RF
    4
    2
    2
    7
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    7.0
    NYM 12, MIA 1
    Noah Syndergaard (W,14-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    1
    1
    0
    8
  

    
    6.0
    TOR 5, BAL 1
    Aaron Sanchez (W,14-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    1
    1
    3
    10
  

    
    5.0
    STL 12, CIN 5
    Jhonny Peralta, 3B
    4
    2
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    LAA 8, OAK 1
    Ricky Nolasco (W,8-14)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    5
    1
    0
    2
    4
  

    
    4.0
    WSH 4, ARI 2
    Max Scherzer (W,19-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    6
    2
    2
    2
    10
  

    BAT
    3.0
    CHW 13, TB 6
    Tim Anderson, SS
    5
    2
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    ATL 7, PHI 6
    Tyler Flowers, C
    4
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    NYY 6, BOS 4
    Tyler Austin, 1B
    3
    1
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    HOU 8, SEA 4
    George Springer, RF
    5
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    `CHC 6, PIT 4
    Trevor Cahill (H,3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.0
    TEX 6, MIL 4
    Carlos Gomez, LF
    4
    1
    1
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    KC 4, MIN 3 (11)
    Raul Mondesi, 2B
    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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	25.7	46.7	111.3	131.7	4.7
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	16.7	27.1	27.1	27.1	6.3
Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	14.7	21.1	84.3	139.3	8.3
Nolasco, Ricky 2125	pi sp	ana al	11.4	13.4	34.1	87.2	9.4
Moore, Matt 2975	pi sp	sf nl	11.4	11.4	36.9	36.9	11.4
Sanchez, Aaron 3392	pi sp	tor al	9.7	11.7	13.7	13.7	7.7
Springer, George 3337	rf	hou al	6.5	7.5	10.5	10.5	5.5
Anderson, Tim 3659	ss	chi al	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5
Gomez, Carlos 2397	lf cf	tex al	3.0	9.0	19.5	30.5	-3.0
Cahill, Trevor 2658	pi mr sp	chi nl	3.0	4.0	27.1	40.2	2.0
Flowers, Tyler 3101	ca	atl nl	2.5	3.5	11.0	11.0	1.5
Austin, Tyler 3732	1b	nyy al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Renfroe, Hunter 3749	rf	sd nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Peralta, Jhonny 1815	3b ss	stl nl	1.0	1.0	12.0	39.4	1.0
Mondesi, Raul A. 3750	2b	kc al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Reds' Adam Duvall tops players for Monday, Sept. 26; Angels' Weaver tops AL players

Shawn Plank September 27, 2016

Adam Duvall of the Reds 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 Sept. 26:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	24.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.4
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	died*	22.4
4	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	22.1
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8
7	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7
8	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym al	15.7
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	15.4
10	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1

What are those numbers after players' names?
* Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident Sept. 25. His team was the Miami Marlins.

Duvall hit two homers, including a three-run shot, in the 15-2 win over the Cardinals. Duvall went 4-for-6, scoring four times and driving in five runs.

American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver pitched five scoreless innings, allowing one hit, one walk and striking out three, in the 2-1 win over the Athletics. Weaver did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Athletics tied the game after he exited.

Weaver earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 127.8 for his career, rising to 35th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Monday, he passes Roy Oswalt (127.2) and A.J. Burnett (127.8) on the “all-time” list and now trails 34th-ranked player Vladimir Guerrero (128.3). Weaver has 4.7 Box-Toppers points on the season, his lowest point total in his 11-year career.

American League Batter of the Day—Robinson Cano of the Mariners hit two homers and a double in the 4-3, 11-inning win over the Astros. Cano went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs.

Cano earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, the highest point total of any of the 10 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. He ranks 20th among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall Player of the Day was NL batter Adam Duvall.

Kluber—Corey Kluber, ranked fifth in Box-Toppers season player rankings, started in the Indians’ win Monday but failed to earn Player of the Game honors.

Kluber (4IP 5H 2R BB 3K ND in the 7-4 win over the Tigers) had a Box-Toppers game score of −4.0. Player of the Game was middle reliever Andrew Miller (1.2IP H 0R 0BB 4K W) who had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.2.

Kluber has 21.2 Box-Toppers points on the season, fifth among all players and first among AL players.

Streak—Justin Morneau of the White Sox has now earned Box-Toppers points in 13 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season Monday.

Morneau (HR 2-3 R 3BI in the 7-1 win over the Rays) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2004 with the Twins and has 74.3 career points, fourth among active AL first basemen. His best season was 2006 with the Twins, when he had 12.2 Box-Toppers points, seventh among AL batters. In 2015, he had 2.0 Box-Toppers points with the Rockies.

Scoring—Duvall earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Weaver earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Cano 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/26
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    7.0
    CIN 15, STL 2
    Adam Duvall, LF
    6
    4
    4
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    MIL 8, TEX 3
    Jonathan Villar, 2B
    4
    2
    3
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    AL
    6.0
    `LAA 2, OAK 1
    Jered Weaver
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    1
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    5.0
    ARI 14, WSH 4
    Zack Godley (W,5-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    4.2
    CLE 7, DET 4
    Andrew Miller (W,10-1; H,24)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.2
    1
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    
    4.0
    CHC 12, PIT 2
    Javier Baez, 2B-SS
    5
    1
    2
    6
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    SEA 4, HOU 3 (11)
    Robinson Cano, 2B
    4
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    MIA 7, NYM 3
    Justin Bour, 1B
    3
    2
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    CHW 7, TB 1
    Justin Morneau, DH
    3
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    NYY 7, TOR 5
    Adam Warren (W,7-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    
    `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
  

  
  

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	sea al	7.0	13.5	42.5	74.4	0.5
Miller, Andrew 2436	pi cp mr	cle al	7.0	11.0	15.0	22.0	3.0
Duvall, Adam 3573	lf	cin nl	6.5	8.0	8.0	8.0	5.0
Weaver, Jered 2178	pi sp	ana al	4.7	12.4	67.0	127.8	-3.0
Villar, Jonathan 3233	ss 2b ph	mil nl	4.0	4.0	6.0	6.0	4.0
Warren, Adam 3169	pi mr	nyy al	3.0	6.7	10.7	10.7	-0.7
Bour, Justin 3433	1b ph	fla nl	2.5	11.0	12.5	12.5	-6.0
Baez, Javier 3395	2b ss	chi nl	2.0	2.0	4.5	4.5	2.0
Godley, Zack 3538	pi mr sp	ari nl	1.0	4.7	4.7	4.7	-2.7
Morneau, Justin 1900	dh 1b	chi al	1.0	3.0	19.7	74.3	-1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Jose Fernandez 1992-2016: Most prominent player to die in Box-Toppers’ 22 seasons

Shawn Plank September 26, 2016

No player so highly ranked (or so promising) has died in Box-Toppers’ 22-season history. Fernandez ranked 3rd in Box-Toppers points but ranked 1st among players in improvement over 2015 with a 17.7-point gain.

White Sox' Carlos Rodon tops players for Sunday, Sept. 25; Cubs' Lester rises to 4th in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank September 26, 2016

White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 25:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	24.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.4
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	died*	22.4
4	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	22.1
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8
7	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7
8	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym al	15.7
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	15.4
10	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1

What are those numbers after players' names?
* Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident Sept. 25. His team was the Miami Marlins.

Also Sunday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Plus, Sunday: Jose Fernandez, 24, died in a Miami boating accident. Two of his friends also died. The Miami Marlins pitcher ranked third in Box-Toppers season player rankings with 22.4 Box-Toppers points. Box-Toppers will have more on Fernandez in a coming, separate post.

Player of the Day—Rodon struck out 11 over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and walking three, in the 3-0 win over the Indians.

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Robert Gsellman struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 17-0 win over the Phillies.

This was Gsellman’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Gsellman made his Major League debut Aug. 23 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,748th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Alex Gordon of the Royals hit a homer and two doubles, going 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 12-9 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Jayson Werth of the Nationals hit a game-tying, eighth-inning, pinch-hit, two-run homer in the 10-7 win over the Pirates.

Rankings—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Lester (6.2IP 3H 0R BB 7K W in the 3-1 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 22.1 for the season.

Lester now has 143.2 career Box-Toppers points, 26th-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 25th-ranked player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (143.9) on the “all-time” list.

Scoring—Rodon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gsellman earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Gordon and Werth 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/25
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    14.0
    CHW 3, CLE 0
    Carlos Rodon (W,8-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    0
    0
    3
    11
  

    
    11.1
    `BOS 3, TB 2 (10)
    Eduardo Rodriguez
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.1
    3
    1
    1
    2
    13
  

    NL
    10.0
    NYM 17, PHI 0
    Robert Gsellman (W,3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    8
  

    
    9.2
    CHC 3, STL 1
    Jon Lester (W,19-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    7
  

    BAT
    7.0
    KC 12, DET 9
    Alex Gordon, LF
    4
    2
    3
    3
    
    3.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    0
  

    
    7.0
    OAK 7, TEX 1
    Jharel Cotton (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    
    6.0
    `TOR 4, NYY 3
    Marco Estrada
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    
    6.0
    CIN 4, MIL 2
    Brandon Finnegan (W,10-11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    3
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    
    4.0
    BAL 2, ARI 1
    Dylan Bundy (W,10-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    5
  

    
    3.0
    SEA 4, MIN 3
    Nelson Cruz, DH
    3
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    WSH 10, PIT 7
    Jayson Werth, PH
    1
    1
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.1
    `LAD 4, COL 3 (10)
    Brandon McCarthy
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.1
    4
    2
    2
    1
    6
  

    
    2.0
    HOU 4, LAA 1
    Joe Musgrove (W,4-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    1
    1
    0
    4
  

    
    1.2
    SD 4, SF 3
    Brad Hand (S,1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    0
  

    
    0.0
    stl-chc
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    
    `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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	22.1	34.1	80.3	143.2	10.1
Estrada, Marco 2847	pi sp	tor al	11.0	19.0	43.1	43.1	3.0
Rodon, Carlos 3494	pi sp	chi al	7.0	15.1	15.1	15.1	-1.1
Finnegan, Brandon 3535	pi sp	cin nl	7.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	4.0
Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224	dh	sea al	6.5	8.5	34.2	53.7	4.5
Werth, Jayson 1664	lf	dc nl	6.0	9.0	23.0	50.2	3.0
Bundy, Dylan 3655	pi sp	bal al	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0
Hand, Brad 2907	pi mr	sd nl	5.0	6.0	10.0	10.0	4.0
Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480	pi sp	bos al	4.7	10.7	10.7	10.7	-1.3
Musgrove, Joe 3705	pi sp	hou al	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.7
McCarthy, Brandon 2082	pi sp	lad nl	2.7	4.7	27.8	36.5	0.7
Cotton, Jharel 3733	pi sp	oak al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Gsellman, Robert 3748	pi sp	nym nl	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7
Gordon, Alex 2328	lf	kc al	1.5	6.0	22.0	31.5	-3.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Rangers' Darvish tops players for Saturday, Sept. 24; Kershaw edges closer to '16 Box-Toppers leader Scherzer, rises to 6th in career points, passing Pujols

Shawn Plank September 25, 2016

Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish 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 Sept. 24:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	24.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.4
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	22.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	21.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8
7	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7
8	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym al	15.7
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	15.4
10	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw edged to within 0.3 points of season Box-Toppers points leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, after earning National League Player of the Day. Kershaw also rises to sixth place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, passing Albert Pujols of the Angels.

Player of the Day—Darvish struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Athletics.

National League Player of the Day—Kershaw pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out six and walking none in the 14-1 win over the Rockies.

Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 24.4 for the season. He maintains his rank of second among all players, behind Scherzer (24.7). Kershaw had the chance to regain the points lead if he had earned overall Player of the Day honors, worth 2.0 Box-Toppers points. While he would have tied Scherzer at 24.7 points, Kershaw held the tiebreaker—he had more 2015 Box-Toppers points (25.7 vs. 21.0).

Kershaw led in Box-Toppers points much of the season (from May 7 to Aug. 24) despite being on the disabled list nearly two months from late June to late August. Kershaw had 20.0 Box-Toppers points when he went on the disabled list in late June. Scherzer passed him on Aug. 25 with 20.7 points.

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	184.0
6	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	183.7
7	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	182.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	168.7
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

List of top 100 players since 1995 (as of July 15, 2016's All-Star break)

Kershaw also now has 183.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to sixth place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.3) on the “all-time” list and now trails fifth-ranked player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (184.0), by just 0.3 points. Sabathia is the active leader in points and Kershaw now rises to second among active players.

Kershaw had passed Pujols earlier this season to rise to sixth place in career points but after Kershaw went on the disabled list, Pujols regained the sixth-place spot. On June 11, Kershaw passed Pujols with 176.3 points, but on July 25, Pujols regained sixth place with 180.3 points. Kershaw, now with 183.7 points, reclaims sixth place.

National League Batter of the Day—Yadier Molina of the Cardinals doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 10-4 win over the Cubs.

American League Batter of the Day—Mike Trout of the Angels doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 10-4 win over the Astros.

Trout earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 12.5 for the season. He rises to 25th among all players and second among AL batters, behind Manny Machado of the Orioles (12.7).

Notable—Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello earned his league-leading 22nd win of the season Saturday but did not earn Player of the Game honors. While he leads in wins, he has just 8.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 82nd among all players and 29th among AL pitchers. (From Sept. 17: Why does wins leader Rick Porcello have so few Box-Toppers points?)

Porcello (6.1IP 8H 3R BB 9K W in the 6-4 win over the Rays) had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +0.1. Player of the Game was Dustin Pedroia (HR 2-4 R 4BI) who had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0. Pedroia has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season—4.0 of them have been earned in a game in which Porcello has earned the win.

Scoring—Darvish earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kershaw earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Molina and Trout 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/24
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    13.0
    TEX 5, OAK 0
    Yu Darvish (W,6-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    0
    0
    1
    9
  

    
    10.2
    BAL 6, ARI 1
    Wade Miley (W,9-13)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.2
    7
    1
    1
    0
    11
  

    NL
    10.0
    LAD 14, COL 1
    Clayton Kershaw (W,12-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    0
    6
  

    
    8.0
    `TOR 3, NYY 0
    Marcus Stroman
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    1
    0
    0
    3
    5
  

    
    6.1
    WSH 6, PIT 1
    Reynaldo Lopez (W,4-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.1
    3
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    BAT
    4.0
    STL 10, CHC 4
    Yadier Molina, C
    4
    1
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    4.0
    LAA 10, HOU 4
    Mike Trout, CF
    3
    3
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    PHI 10, NYM 8
    Darin Ruf, LF
    5
    2
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    BOS 6, TB 4
    Dustin Pedroia, 2B
    4
    1
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    MIN 3, SEA 2
    Tyler Duffey (W,9-11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    2
    2
    0
    4
  

    
    3.0
    MIA 6, ATL 4
    A.J. Ramos (S,39)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.2
    CIN 6, MIL 1
    Dan Straily (W,14-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    5
    1
    1
    2
    5
  

    
    1.0
    CHW 8, CLE 1
    Carlos Sanchez, 2B
    4
    1
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    KC 7, DET 4
    Kendrys Morales, 1B
    4
    2
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    SF 9, SD 6 (10)
    Kelby Tomlinson, 2B
    1
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    
    `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
  

  
  

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.4	50.1	150.2	183.7	-1.3
Trout, Mike 2949	cf	ana al	12.5	24.5	49.0	49.0	0.5
Morales, Kendrys 2142	dh	kc al	8.5	13.2	23.2	39.2	3.8
Darvish, Yu 3003	pi sp	tex al	8.4	8.4	53.6	53.6	8.4
Duffey, Tyler 3558	pi sp	min al	7.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	3.0
Straily, Dan 3080	pi sp	cin nl	7.0	7.0	17.7	17.7	7.0
Stroman, Marcus 3327	pi sp	tor al	6.7	9.4	23.1	23.1	4.0
Miley, Wade 3006	pi sp	bal al	6.0	13.0	36.4	36.4	-1.0
Molina, Yadier 1967	ca ph	stl nl	4.0	5.0	17.7	34.7	3.0
Pedroia, Dustin 2320	2b	bos al	4.0	4.0	24.4	36.5	4.0
Tomlinson, Kelby 3619	2b ph	sf nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Ramos, A.J. 3210	pi cp	fla nl	2.0	7.0	12.0	12.0	-3.0
Lopez, Reynaldo 3712	pi sp mr	dc nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Sanchez, Carlos 3589	2b	chi al	1.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	-2.0
Ruf, Darin 3575	lf	phi nl	1.0	2.5	2.5	2.5	-0.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Jake Arrieta tops players for Friday, Sept. 23, rises to 7th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank September 24, 2016

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to seventh 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 Sept. 23:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	24.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	22.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	21.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8
7	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7
8	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym al	15.7
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	15.4
10	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Friday, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels maintained his spot of sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Arrieta pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing five hits and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Cardinals.

Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 15.7 for the season, rising to seventh place in season player rankings, fifth among National League pitchers.

With Arrieta rising back into Box-Toppers top 10 list, he displaces Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ (14.7 points) from the list, who falls to 11th.

Arrieta led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 29.1. This was Arrieta’s first Player of the Game honor in a month—he was Player of the Day on Aug. 23.

American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher James Paxton struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 10-1 win over the Twins.

American League Batter of the Day—Jose Ramirez of the Indians homered, doubled and went 2-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 10-4 win over the White Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—Wil Myers of the Padres hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice, in the 7-2 win over the Giants.

Myers earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL batters, 1.0 point behind leader Nolan Arenado of the Rockies (10.7).

Rankings—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels maintained his rank of sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Hamels (7IP 6H 0R 2BB 7K W in the 3-0 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.8 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Corey Kluber of the Indians (21.2).

Hamels now has 144.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 24th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (143.9) on the “all-time” list and now trails 23rd-ranked player David Ortiz of the Red Sox (144.9). Hamels also rises to eighth place in career points among active players.

Hamels has earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons and in each season has earned 10 or more points. The 17.8 points he’s earned in 2016 is his best season; his previous best was 2011 with the Phillies when he had 15.8.

Notable—Two other players who have more than 10 Box-Toppers points for the season earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer (7IP 8H R 0BB 9K W in the 8-3 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.7 for the season. He ranks 23rd among all players and seventh among AL pitchers.
Red Sox pitcher Drew Pomeranz (5IP 4H R 0BB 4K W in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.4 for the season. He ranks 28th among all players and 11th among AL pitchers.

Also notable—Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Liriano now has 103.2 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Liriano (6IP 3H 0R 2BB 6K in the 9-0 win over the Yankees) rises to 66th place among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, passing Miguel Tejada (102.3) on the “all-time” list. He trails 65th-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Liriano has 8.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 24th among AL pitchers.

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

Rafael Ortega of the Angels (PH 2B 1-1 3BI in the 10-6 win over the Astros) made his Major League debut Sept. 30, 2012, and was playing in his 60th career game. He is the 3,746th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Alen Hanson of the Pirates (2-3 2R in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut May 16 and was playing in his 18th career game. He is the 3,747th 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 Paxton earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Ramirez and Myers each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/23
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    CHC 5, STL 0
    Jake Arrieta (W,18-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    1
    10
  

    AL
    9.0
    SEA 10, MIN 1
    James Paxton (W,5-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    0
    9
  

    
    7.0
    TOR 9, NYY 0
    Francisco Liriano (W,8-13)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    
    6.0
    DET 8, KC 3
    Michael Fulmer (W,11-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    8
    1
    1
    0
    9
  

    
    6.0
    TEX 3, OAK 0
    Cole Hamels (W,15-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    0
    0
    2
    7
  

    
    5.2
    NYM 10, PHI 5
    Hansel Robles (S,1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    BAT
    4.0
    CLE 10, CHW 4
    Jose Ramirez, 3B
    5
    3
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    4.0
    SD 7, SF 2
    Wil Myers, 1B
    3
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    LAA 10, HOU 6
    Rafael Ortega, PH
    1
    0
    1
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    BOS 2, TB 1
    Drew Pomeranz (W,11-12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    4
    1
    1
    0
    4
  

    
    3.0
    LAD 5, COL 2
    Ross Stripling (W,5-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    4
  

    
    3.0
    `BAL 3, ARI 2 (12)
    Mychal Givens
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    ATL 3, MIA 2
    Brandon Cunniff (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    1.0
    MIL 5, CIN 4
    Chris Carter, 1B
    4
    1
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    PIT 6, WSH 5 (11)
    Alen Hanson, 2B
    3
    2
    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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8	33.2	84.8	144.0	2.4
Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7	44.8	72.5	75.5	-13.4
Fulmer, Michael 3640	pi sp	det al	12.7	12.7	12.7	12.7	12.7
Pomeranz, Drew 3061	pi sp	bos al	12.4	15.4	23.4	23.4	9.4
Myers, Wil 3228	1b	sd nl	9.7	12.7	18.2	18.2	6.7
Carter, Chris 2828	1b	mil nl	9.5	10.5	28.4	29.4	8.5
Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	tor al	8.0	22.9	63.4	103.2	-6.9
Stripling, Ross 3629	pi sp	lad nl	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7
Paxton, James 3280	pi sp	sea al	4.4	5.4	11.1	11.1	3.4
Givens, Mychal 3599	pi mr	bal al	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	1.0
Cunniff, Brandon 3698	pi mr	atl nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Ramirez, Jose 3436	3b	cle al	1.5	4.0	5.0	5.0	-1.0
Robles, Hansel 3580	pi cp	nym nl	1.0	3.7	3.7	3.7	-1.7
Hanson, Alen 3747	2b	pit nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Ortega, Rafael 3746	ph	ana al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

With a week to go, Scherzer leads 5-player race for 2016 Box-Toppers points crown

Shawn Plank September 23, 2016

Nationals pitcher Scherzer leads Box-Toppers points for 5th week. Indians' Kluber secures 2016 Box-Toppers AL pitching crown. Rockies' Arenado takes narrow lead in wide-open race among NL batters.

Chicago Cubs maintain lead in penultimate (and next-to-last) Box-Toppers '16 team rankings report

Shawn Plank September 23, 2016

Cubs continue lead among teams in Box-Toppers rankings. Red Sox, hottest team of the week, rise to 2nd and continue lead among AL. Dodgers fall to 3rd.

Giants' Jeff Samardzija tops players for Thursday, Sept. 22; Tigers' Verlander tops AL players

Shawn Plank September 23, 2016

Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 22:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	24.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	22.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	21.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym al	15.7
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	15.4
9	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1
10	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	14.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Samardzija pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing four hits and no walks, in the 2-1 win over the Padres.

Samardzija earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season. He becomes the 47th player this season with 10 Box-Toppers points and ranks 35th among all players, 18th among National League pitchers. This is the second season Samardzija has reached 10 Box-Toppers points. In 2012, he had 12.7 points with the Cubs.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander struck out 11 over six innings, allowing two runs, four hits and two walks, in the 4-2 win over the Twins.

Verlander earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.7 for the season, most among the 11 who earned Player of the Game honors Thursday. He ranks 21st among all players and sixth among AL pitchers.

Verlander also now has 137.3 career Box-Toppers points, 29th-most among players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 28th-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5) on the “all-time” list.

National League Batter of the Day—Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the 7-4 win over the Rockies. Grandal also doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs.

American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Santana of the Indians hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-3 and driving in four runs, in the 5-2 win over the Royals.

Notable—Angels pitcher Ricky Nolasco became the 48th player with 10 Box-Toppers points this season after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Nolasco (7IP 5H 0R BB 5K W in the 2-0 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season. He ranks 44th among all players and 17th among AL pitchers.

This is Nolasco’s fourth season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and his first since 2010. In both 2008 and 2009, he had 16.7 points each season with the Marlins. In 2010, he had 11.7 points, also with the Marlins.

Scoring—Samardzija earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Verlander earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Grandal and Santana 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/22
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    12.0
    SF 2, SD 1
    Jeff Samardzija (W,12-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    0
    9
  

    BAT
    7.0
    LAD 7, COL 4
    Yasmani Grandal, C
    4
    2
    4
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    AL
    7.0
    DET 4, MIN 2
    Justin Verlander (W,15-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    2
    2
    2
    11
  

    
    6.0
    LAA 2, HOU 0
    Ricky Nolasco (W,7-14)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    4.2
    MIL 3, PIT 1
    Chase Anderson (W,9-11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    4
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    BAT
    4.0
    CLE 5, KC 2
    Carlos Santana, 1B
    3
    1
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    DET 9, MIN 2
    Victor Martinez, PH
    1
    1
    1
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    ATL 6, MIA 3
    Matt Kemp, LF
    4
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    TB 2, NYY 0
    Blake Snell (W,6-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    5
    0
    0
    3
    6
  

    
    3.0
    BOS 5, BAL 3
    Craig Kimbrel (S,29)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    NYM 9, PHI 8 (11)
    Jose Reyes, 3B
    5
    3
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

  
  

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	12.7	19.1	82.3	137.3	6.3
Samardzija, Jeff 2495	pi sp	sf nl	10.7	20.1	48.8	49.8	1.3
Nolasco, Ricky 2125	pi sp	ana al	10.4	12.4	33.1	86.2	8.4
Martinez, Victor 1695	dh	det al	8.5	12.0	31.9	72.1	5.0
Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	bos al	8.0	14.0	57.7	58.7	2.0
Kemp, Matt 2151	rf lf	atl nl	7.5	13.0	37.5	59.1	2.0
Grandal, Yasmani 3058	ca	lad nl	7.2	9.2	17.2	17.2	5.2
Anderson, Chase 3328	pi sp	mil nl	7.0	11.0	16.0	16.0	3.0
Snell, Blake 3688	pi sp	tb al	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
Santana, Carlos 2757	dh 1b	cle al	2.5	7.0	21.7	22.7	-2.0
Reyes, Jose 1759	3b ss	nym nl	2.0	2.0	14.0	30.0	2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Yankees' Gary Sanchez tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 21; Scherzer extends Box-Toppers lead, Kluber secures AL Player of Year, Arenado rises to lead NL batters

Shawn Plank September 22, 2016

Gary Sanchez of the Yankees 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 Sept. 21:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	24.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	22.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	21.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym al	15.7
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	15.4
9	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1
10	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	14.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, three players reached notable milestones after earning Player of the Game honors:

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer extended his Box-Toppers season player rankings lead.
Indians pitcher Corey Kluber all but secured his status as Box-Toppers American League Player of the Year, rising to fourth place in season player rankings.
Nolan Arenado of the Rockies rose to lead National League batters in Box-Toppers points.

Player of the Day—Sanchez hit two home runs—including a three-run shot—in the 11-5 win over the Rays. Sanchez went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs.

National League Player of the Day—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies hit a grand slam and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 11-1 win over the Cardinals.

Arenado earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season, rising to first place among NL batters, passing previous leader Kris Bryant of the Cubs (10.5).

If Arenado’s lead with 10.7 points stands with a little more than week to go in the season, it will be the lowest point total to lead a category in Box-Toppers’ 22-season history. The record was set in 2015 when Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies led NL batters with 11.5 points. Interestingly, the previous record was 2014 when Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies led NL batters with 11.6. So if Arenado’s lead holds, not only will the low-point record be broken three years in a row, it will be broken each time by a batter from the Colorado Rockies.

Arenado becomes the 45th player (and ninth batter) in 2016 with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.

Batters of the Day—There are no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day for Wednesday because both the overall Player of the Day (Gary Sanchez) and NL Player of the Day (Nolan Arenado) are batters.

Rankings—Two players among Box-Toppers top five in season player rankings earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (6.2IP 4H 3R 2BB 8K W in the 8-3 win over the Marlins) extended his Box-Toppers season player rankings lead, earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 24.7 for the season. He is now 2.0 Box-Toppers points ahead of second-place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22.7), meaning Kershaw still has a chance to pass Scherzer on his next start.

Scherzer now has 130.7 career Box-Toppers points, 31st-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 30th-ranked player Jason Giambi (133.4) on the “all-time” list.

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (6.1IP 6H 2R 2BB 9K W in the 4-3 win over the Royals) all but secured his status as Box-Toppers American League Player of the Year. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.2 for the season, extending his lead among AL pitchers and is now 4.4 points ahead of second-place AL pitcher Cole Hamels of the Rangers (16.8). Hamels would need at least three starts to pass Kluber in Box-Toppers points—he likely only has two starts remaining in the season’s final 10 days.

This will be the second time Kluber has led AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points in a season. He also did it in 2014 when he had 25.8 points and also won the AL Cy Young Award. In 2015 he had 13.4 Box-Toppers points, 10th among AL pitchers. Kluber also rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

Notable—Two other players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points on the season earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

Mike Trout of the Angels (HR 1-4 R 3BI in the 5-4 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season, rising to third among AL batters, behind leader Manny Machado of the Orioles (12.7) and Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5).
Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda (5IP 3H 2R 2BB 6K W in the 9-3 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the 46th player in 2016 with 10 or more points and ranks 46th among all players, 19th among NL pitchers.

Also notable—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez now has 168.7 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Hernandez (7IP 2H 0R 3BB 4K ND in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Blue Jays) maintains his ninth-place rank in career Box-Toppers points since Box-Toppers player tracking began in 1995. He trails eighth-place player Roy Halladay (170.7) on the “all-time” list. (See Box-Toppers career top 20 list on the home page.) Hernandez has 6.0 Box-Toppers points on the season. If that total stands, it would be his lowest season total in his 12-year career. His previous low was 7.4 in 2008 with the Mariners.

Scoring—Sanchez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Arenado earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/21
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    7.0
    NYY 11, TB 5
    Gary Sanchez, C
    4
    3
    3
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    `SEA 2, TOR 1 (12)
    Felix Hernandez
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    0
    0
    3
    4
  

    NL
    5.0
    COL 11, STL 1
    Nolan Arenado, 3B
    3
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    BOS 5, BAL 1
    Clay Buchholz (W,8-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    1
    2
    4
  

    
    4.0
    PIT 4, MIL 1
    Chad Kuhl (W,5-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    
    3.1
    CLE 4, KC 3
    Corey Kluber (W,18-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    6
    2
    2
    2
    9
  

    
    3.0
    HOU 6, OAK 5
    Evan Gattis, DH
    4
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    ARI 3, SD 2
    Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
    4
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    LAD 9, SF 3
    Kenta Maeda (W,16-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    3
    2
    1
    2
    6
  

    
    2.2
    WSH 8, MIA 3
    Max Scherzer (W,18-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    4
    3
    3
    2
    8
  

    
    2.0
    CHC 9, CIN 2
    Miguel Montero, C
    5
    1
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    PHI 8, CHW 3
    Tommy Joseph, 1B
    5
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.1
    `ATL 4, NYM 3
    Chaz Roe
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    0.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.0
    LAA 5, TEX 4
    Mike Trout, CF
    4
    1
    1
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    
    `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
  

  
  

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	24.7	45.7	110.3	130.7	3.7
Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2	34.6	65.4	65.4	7.8
Trout, Mike 2949	cf	ana al	11.0	23.0	47.5	47.5	-1.0
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	10.7	19.2	20.7	20.7	2.2
Maeda, Kenta 3609	pi sp	lad nl	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0
Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0	25.4	91.4	168.7	-13.4
Buchholz, Clay 2363	pi sp	bos al	5.0	11.0	39.2	58.9	-1.0
Gattis, Evan 3179	ca	hou al	5.0	9.0	11.0	11.0	1.0
Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	4.5	14.7	39.9	39.9	-5.7
Sanchez, Gary 3701	ca dh	nyy al	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5
Joseph, Tommy 3681	1b ph	phi nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Kuhl, Chad 3687	pi sp	pit nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Montero, Miguel 2304	ca	chi nl	1.0	6.5	20.7	30.9	-4.5
Roe, Chaz 3597	pi mr	atl nl	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Marlins' Jose Fernandez tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 20, ranks 3rd in Box-Toppers season player rankings

Shawn Plank September 21, 2016

Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his spot in 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 Sept. 20:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	23.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	22.4
4	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	21.1
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	20.2
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym al	15.7
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	15.4
9	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1
10	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	14.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ rises to 10th after both earned Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Fernandez pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 12 and allowing three hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Nationals.

Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 22.4 for the season. He moves to within 0.3 points of second-place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22.7) and within 1.3 points of season Box-Toppers points leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (23.7). That means with one or two more starts remaining this season, Fernandez has a chance to rise to the overall lead for the first time this year.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Matt Boyd struck out seven over eight innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 8-1 win over the Twins.

National League Batter of the Day—Odubel Herrera of the Phillies homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-6 win over the White Sox.

American League Batter of the Day—Nomar Mazara of the Rangers homered and went 2-for-3, driving in two runs, in the 5-4 win over the Angels.

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

Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (7IP 6H R 0BB 5K W in the 6-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.1 for the season, rising from fifth to fourth place in season rankings.

Lester now also has 142.2 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 26th place among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He passes Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8) on the “all-time” list and now trails 25th-ranked player, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (143.0). Lester now ranks 10th among all active players in career points, seventh among active pitchers.

Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ (5IP 6H 2R BB 8K W in the 10-2 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.7 for the season, rising to 10th in season player rankings. He rises to third among AL pitchers, behind Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (20.2) and Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (16.8). Happ displaces Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill (14.4) from the top 10 list.

Debut—Giants pitcher Steven Okert made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Okert (1.2IP H 0R 0BB 3K ND in the 2-0 win over the Dodgers) made his Major League debut April 19 and was playing in his 14th career game. He is the 3,745th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Boyd earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Herrera and Mazara 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/20
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    17.0
    MIA 1, WSH 0
    Jose Fernandez (W,16-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    0
    0
    0
    12
  

    AL
    9.0
    DET 8, MIN 1
    Matt Boyd (W,6-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    7
  

    
    7.2
    HOU 2, OAK 1 (10)
    Chris Devenski (W,4-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    
    6.1
    `NYY 5, TB 3
    Michael Pineda
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.1
    5
    2
    2
    1
    11
  

    
    4.2
    CLE 2, KC 1
    Andrew Miller (W,9-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    4.1
    BOS 5, BAL 2
    Eduardo Rodriguez (W,3-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    4
    2
    2
    1
    7
  

    BAT
    4.0
    PHI 7, CHW 6
    Odubel Herrera, CF
    4
    2
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    STL 10, COL 5
    Randal Grichuk, CF
    4
    4
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    SD 5, ARI 2
    Adam Rosales, 2B
    2
    1
    1
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    CHC 6, CIN 1
    Jon Lester (W,18-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    
    3.2
    `SF 2, LAD 0
    Steven Okert (H,2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.2
    1
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    3.0
    ATL 5, NYM 4
    Adonis Garcia, 3B
    5
    2
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    PIT 6, MIL 3
    Tony Watson (S,14)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    BAT
    2.0
    TEX 5, LAA 4
    Nomar Mazara, RF
    3
    1
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    TOR 10, SEA 2
    J.A. Happ (W,20-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    6
    2
    2
    1
    8
  

    
    
    `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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	22.4	27.1	53.1	53.1	17.7
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	21.1	33.1	79.3	142.2	9.1
Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	14.7	27.8	43.2	51.2	1.6
Mazara, Nomar 3614	rf lf	tex al	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0
Boyd, Matt 3550	pi sp	det al	6.1	7.1	7.1	7.1	5.1
Pineda, Michael 2841	pi sp	nyy al	6.0	16.7	34.1	34.1	-4.7
Miller, Andrew 2436	pi cp	cle al	6.0	10.0	14.0	21.0	2.0
Garcia, Adonis 3613	3b	atl nl	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0
Watson, Tony 3215	pi cp	pit nl	4.0	5.0	8.0	8.0	3.0
Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480	pi sp	bos al	3.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	-2.3
Devenski, Chris 3702	pi mr sp	hou nl	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.7
Herrera, Odubel 3449	cf	phi nl	3.5	7.5	7.5	7.5	-0.5
Grichuk, Randal 3474	cf	stl nl	1.0	10.5	10.5	10.5	-8.5
Rosales, Adam 2647	2b	sd nl	1.0	3.0	6.0	11.7	-1.0
Okert, Steven 3745	pi mr	sf nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

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Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.