Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops Box-Toppers weekly player rankings

Shawn Plank April 21, 2017

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw rises to lead Box-Toppers weekly player rankings. Royals' Jason Vargas continues to lead American League players.

Dodgers' Kershaw tops players for Friday, April 14, rising in 3 Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank April 15, 2017

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises in three significant Box-Toppers player rankings:

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 14:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	4.0
2	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	3.4
3	Morrison, Logan 2794	1b	tb al	3.2
4	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	3.0
5	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	3.0
6	Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	2.7
7	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	2.7
8	Garcia, Avisail 3256	rf	chi al	2.5
9	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	2.0
10	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

He takes the overall season Box-Toppers points lead (earning 2.0 points, giving him 4.0 for the season), passing previous leader Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard (3.0).
He takes the lead in career Box-Toppers points among active players with 187.7, passing previous leader Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (186.0).
He rises to fourth place among all players in Box-Toppers points since tracking began in 1995. Kershaw’s 187.7 career points puts him past Alex Rodriguez (187.0).

Kershaw struck out eight over 8 1/3 innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 7-1 win over the Diamondbacks.

It is the second time this season Kershaw has led players in season Box-Toppers points, also leading from April 3 to 8. It is also the second time this season Kershaw has led active players in career Box-Toppers points. He briefly passed Sabathia for the lead on April 3 before Sabathia regained the lead the next day.

Kershaw now trails the third-place player on the “all-time” Box-Toppers points list, Curt Schilling (194.1). With his 2.0 points Friday, he actually moved up two spots on the "all-time" list, passing both Sabathia and Rodriguez.

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 7-2 win over the Athletics.

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	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	187.7
5	Alex Rodriguez	dh	released	187.0
6	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	186.0
7	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	182.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	169.7
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	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	157.1
15	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
16	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
17	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
18	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
19	Bartolo Colon	pi sp	atl nl	149.5
20	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0

BTP: Box-Toppers points
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the close of the 2016 season.

Keuchel earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 3.4 for the season and rising to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, first among AL players.

Keuchel had a Box-Toppers game score of +6.0, tied with Royals pitcher Danny Duffy, who was Player of the Game in the 7-1 win over the Angels (7IP 3H R 2BB 6K W). But Keuchel won the tiebreaker to earn AL Player of the Day honors because he had more strikeouts—seven vs. six.

National League Batter of the Day—Manny Pina of the Brewers hit two doubles and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 10-4 win over the Reds.

This was Pina’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Pina made his Major League debut Aug. 3, 2011, and was playing in his 45th career game. He is the 3,679th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Logan Morrison of the Rays hit a grand slam and doubled, going 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-5 win over the Red Sox.

Morrison earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 3.2 for the season, rising to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, first among AL batters.

Streak—Two players extended their streaks of 10 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points after both earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez has now earned Box-Toppers points for 13 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors in the 2-1 win over the Rangers (7.1IP 6H R 0BB 3K W). Hernandez earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2005 with the Mariners and has 169.7 career points, ninth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails eighth-place player Roy Halladay (170.7). Hernandez’s best season was 2014 with the Mariners when he had 20.8 Box-Toppers points, third among AL pitchers. Hernandez is the highest-ranked player in Box-Toppers career points (ranked ninth) who has never led his league category (AL pitching) in Box-Toppers points during a season.
Hunter Pence of the Giants has now earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors in the 8-2 win over the Rockies (3-4 R 2BI). Pence earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Astros and has 53.2 career points, eighth among active NL outfielders. His best season was 2008 with the Astros, when he had 8.2 points, seventh among NL outfielders.

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

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

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.

Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 





  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    4/14
    Score
    Game
    Player of the Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.1
    LAD 7, ARI 1
    Clayton Kershaw (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.1
    4
    1
    1
    1
    8
  

    AL
    6.0
    HOU 7, OAK 2
    Dallas Keuchel (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    
    6.0
    KC 7, LAA 1
    Danny Duffy (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    1
    2
    6
  

    
    5.0
    DET 7, CLE 6
    Daniel Norris (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    0
    0
    4
    5
  

    
    4.0
    `WSH 3, PHI 2 (F/10)
    Stephen Strasburg
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    2
    2
    2
    8
  

    BAT
    3.0
    MIL 10, CIN 4
    Manny Pina, C
    5
    2
    4
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    TB 10, BOS 5
    Logan Morrison, 1B
    5
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    BAL 6, TOR 4
    Wade Miley (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    3
    3
    0
    8
  

    
    3.0
    CHW 2, MIN 1
    David Robertson (S,2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.1
    SEA 2, TEX 1
    Felix Hernandez (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.1
    6
    1
    1
    0
    3
  

    
    2.0
    PIT 4, CHC 2
    David Freese, 3B
    4
    1
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    SF 8, COL 2
    Hunter Pence, RF
    4
    1
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    ATL 5, SD 2
    Ender Inciarte, CF
    4
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    MIA 3, NYM 2
    Miguel Rojas, SS-3B
    3
    2
    3
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    NYY 4, STL 3
    Starlin Castro, 2B
    4
    1
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.

  AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.

  NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.

  BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.

All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

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

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).


Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	4.0	28.4	128.1	187.7	-20.4
Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	3.4	10.4	46.2	46.2	-3.6
Morrison, Logan 2794	1b	tb al	3.2	5.2	15.2	20.7	1.2
Inciarte, Ender 3360	cf	atl nl	2.0	4.0	8.0	8.0	0.0
Pina, Manny 3769	ca	mil nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	1.0	16.1	75.2	83.9	-14.1
Duffy, Danny 2915	pi sp	kc al	1.0	11.7	29.7	30.7	-9.7
Castro, Starlin 2767	2b	nyy al	1.0	8.0	16.5	26.5	-6.0
Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	1.0	7.0	80.7	169.7	-5.0
Miley, Wade 3006	pi sp	bal al	1.0	7.0	37.4	37.4	-5.0
Robertson, David 2774	pi cp	chi al	1.0	6.0	23.0	27.0	-4.0
Pence, Hunter 2287	rf	sf nl	1.0	4.5	20.5	53.2	-2.5
Norris, Daniel 3548	pi sp	det al	1.0	3.0	7.0	7.0	-1.0
Freese, David 2710	3b	pit nl	1.0	3.0	19.2	25.2	-1.0
Rojas, Miguel 3642	ss 3b	fla nl	1.0	2.5	2.5	2.5	-0.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Noah Syndergaard tops first Box-Toppers weekly player rankings report of 2017

Shawn Plank April 14, 2017

Mets' Syndergaard tops players in first weekly Box-Toppers player rankings report of the season. Royals' Vargas tops AL players.

Royals' Jason Vargas tops players for Thursday, April 13, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank April 14, 2017

Royals pitcher Jason Vargas is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 13:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	3.0
2	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	3.0
3	Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	2.7
4	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	2.7
5	Garcia, Avisail 3256	rf	chi al	2.5
6	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	2.0
7	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	2.0
8	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	2.0
9	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	2.0
10	Finnegan, Brandon 3535	pi sp	cin nl	2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Vargas pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing four hits and one walk, in the 3-1 win over the Athletics.

Vargas earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, rising to second place among players in Box-Toppers points for 2017. He trails Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard, who also has 3.0 Box-Toppers points, but holds the tiebreaker because he had more Box-Toppers points in 2016—16.7 vs. 1.0.

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Josh Smoker pitched three innings of extra-innings middle relief in the 9-8, 16-inning win over the Marlins. Smoker allowed no runs, one hit, one walk and struck out five, pitching the 12th, 13th and 14th innings. Smoker did not earn the win or save because the game was tied when he exited.

American League Batter of the Day—Miguel Sano of the Twins hit a three-run homer and went 1-for-2, scoring twice, in the 11-5 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs homered and went 2-for-4, driving in two runs, in the 4-0 win over the Dodgers.

Rankings—Avisail Garcia of the White Sox rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Garcia (3-4 R 3BI in the 10-4 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.5 for the season. He is the only batter in Box-Toppers’ top 10 season player rankings.

Scoring—Vargas earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Smoker earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Sano and Rizzo 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 





  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    4/13
    Score
    Game
    Player of the Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    10.2
    KC 3, OAK 1
    Jason Vargas (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    4
    0
    0
    1
    8
  

    
    10.0
    TEX 8, LAA 3
    Yu Darvish (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    2
    10
  

    
    8.0
    NYY 3, TB 2
    Luis Severino (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    2
    2
    1
    11
  

    NL
    6.0
    `NYM 9, MIA 8 (F/16)
    Josh Smoker
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.0
    1
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    5.0
    MIL 5, CIN 1
    Jimmy Nelson (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    BAT
    4.0
    MIN 11, DET 5
    Miguel Sano, 3B
    2
    2
    1
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    CHW 10, CLE 4
    Avisail Garcia, RF
    4
    1
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.1
    COL 3, SF 1
    Chris Rusin (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.1
    2
    1
    1
    0
    2
  

    BAT
    1.0
    CHC 4, LAD 0
    Anthony Rizzo, 1B
    4
    1
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    BAL 2, TOR 1
    Jonathan Schoop, 2B
    3
    1
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    0.1
    `BOS 4, PIT 3
    Eduardo Rodriguez
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.1
    4
    3
    2
    4
    8
  

MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.

  AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.

  NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.

  BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.

All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

` 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	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	3.0	4.0	29.4	50.2	2.0
Garcia, Avisail 3256	rf	chi al	2.5	5.0	13.5	13.5	0.0
Nelson, Jimmy 3299	pi sp	mil nl	2.0	5.0	15.4	15.4	-1.0
Smoker, Josh 3725	pi mr cp	nym nl	1.7	3.7	3.7	3.7	-0.3
Rizzo, Anthony 3063	1b	chi nl	1.5	4.5	28.5	28.5	-1.5
Sano, Miguel 3527	3b	min al	1.5	4.5	10.5	10.5	-1.5
Darvish, Yu 3003	pi sp	tex al	1.0	11.4	56.6	56.6	-9.4
Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480	pi sp	bos al	1.0	5.7	11.7	11.7	-3.7
Schoop, Jonathan 3307	2b	bal al	1.0	5.5	10.5	10.5	-3.5
Rusin, Chris 3236	pi sp	col nl	1.0	3.7	6.7	6.7	-1.7
Severino, Luis 3567	pi sp mr	nyy al	1.0	3.0	6.0	6.0	-1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Syndergaard tops players for Sunday, April 9, rises to lead Box-Toppers season player rankings

Shawn Plank April 10, 2017

Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to lead all players in season Box-Toppers points.

Syndergaard struck out nine over seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 5-2 win over the Marlins.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 9:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	3.0
2	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	2.7
3	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	2.0
4	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	2.0
5	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	2.0
6	Finnegan, Brandon 3535	pi sp	cin nl	2.0
7	Mazara, Nomar 3614	rf	tex al	2.0
8	Chacin, Jhoulys 2711	pi mr sp	sd nl	2.0
9	Devenski, Chris 3702	pi mr cp	hou al	2.0
10	Puig, Yasiel 3193	rf	lad nl	2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, passing previous leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (2.0).

American League Player of the Day—Twins pitcher Ervin Santana pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out four, in the 4-1 win over the White Sox.

Santana earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season and rising to second place in season Box-Toppers rankings.

Santana also becomes the 75th player since Box-Toppers inception in 1995 to reach 100 career Box-Toppers points. With his points Sunday, he has exactly 100.0 and ranks 75th among all players since 1995. He passes five players on the “all-time” list—Ryan Howard of the Braves (98.7), Jim Edmonds (98.8), White Sox pitcher James Shields (99.4), Giants pitcher Matt Cain (99.7) and Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (99.8). Santana now trails 74th-ranked player Larry Walker (100.1).

American League Batter of the Day—Joey Gallo of the Rangers homered and went 2-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 8-1 win over the Athletics.

National League Batter of the Day—Starling Marte of the Pirates hit a walk-off 10th-inning home run in the 6-5 win over the Braves. Marte also went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs.

Notable—Two other players who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday are among the top 10 players in season Box-Toppers rankings:

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta rises to fourth place with 2.0 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors in the 7-4 win against Brewers (7IP 3H 3R 2BB 10K W).
Astros pitcher Chris Devenski rises to ninth place with 2.0 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors in the 5-4, 12-inning win over the Royals (4IP 3H R 0BB 7K W).

Currently, 12 players have 2.0 Box-Toppers points on the season. Ties are broken among those players based on how many Box-Toppers points the players had in 2016. For example, Kershaw ranks highest among those 13 players because he had 24.4 Box-Toppers points in 2016, while Arrieta, who ranks third, had 15.7.

Scoring—Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Santana earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Gallo and Marte 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 





  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    4/9
    Score
    Game
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    8.0
    NYM 5, MIA 2
    Noah Syndergaard (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    2
    1
    0
    9
  

    
    7.0
    CIN 8, STL 0
    Scott Feldman (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    
    6.0
    CHC 7, MIL 4
    Jake Arrieta (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    3
    3
    2
    10
  

    AL
    6.0
    MIN 4, CHW 1
    Ervin Santana (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    4
  

    
    6.0
    HOU 5, KC 4 (F/12)
    Chris Devenski (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    4.0
    3
    1
    1
    0
    7
  

    
    5.0
    `PHI 4, WSH 3
    Jeremy Hellickson
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    1
    0
    0
    1
    2
  

    BAT
    4.0
    TEX 8, OAK 1
    Joey Gallo, 3B
    4
    1
    2
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    TB 7, TOR 2
    Steven Souza, RF
    2
    2
    1
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    BOS 7, DET 5
    Matt Barnes (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    BAT
    3.0
    PIT 6, ATL 5 (F/10)
    Starling Marte, CF
    5
    2
    4
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    ARI 3, CLE 2
    Patrick Corbin (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    0
    0
    2
    3
  

    
    3.0
    NYY 7, BAL 3
    Dellin Betances (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    LAD 10, COL 6
    Corey Seager, SS
    4
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    SF 5, SD 3
    Buster Posey, C
    3
    2
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    LAA 10, SEA 9
    Jefry Marte, PH
    1
    0
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.

  AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.

  NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.

  BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.

All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

` 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	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	3.0	19.7	30.1	30.1	-13.7
Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	2.7	6.7	39.5	100.0	-1.3
Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	2.0	17.7	72.5	77.5	-13.7
Devenski, Chris 3702	pi mr cp	hou al	2.0	5.7	5.7	5.7	-1.7
Marte, Starling 3122	lf	pit nl	1.5	4.0	13.5	13.5	-1.0
Gallo, Joey 3485	3b	tex al	1.5	1.5	3.0	3.0	1.5
Hellickson, Jeremy 2778	pi sp	phi nl	1.0	14.1	35.1	45.8	-12.1
Souza, Steven Jr. 3461	rf	tb al	1.0	6.7	12.2	12.2	-4.7
Betances, Dellin 3333	pi mr	nyy al	1.0	5.0	13.7	13.7	-3.0
Seager, Corey 3587	ss	lad nl	1.0	5.0	6.5	6.5	-3.0
Corbin, Patrick 3027	pi sp cp	ari nl	1.0	4.7	33.5	33.5	-2.7
Posey, Buster 2745	ca 1b	sf nl	1.0	4.5	29.5	34.0	-2.5
Marte, Jefry 3529	1b ph	ana al	1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	0.0
Feldman, Scott 2632	pi sp	cin nl	1.0	1.0	17.7	25.7	1.0
Barnes, Matt 3466	pi mr	bos al	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Box-Toppers' leader Max Scherzer also led pitchers in strikeouts in 2016

Shawn Plank December 23, 2016

Seven of the 10 leaders in strikeouts in 2016 were among the top 10 pitchers in their league in Box-Toppers points.

5 of top 10 ERA leaders also rank in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings

Shawn Plank December 14, 2016

The top 10 ERA leaders had some correlation with Box-Toppers points leaders. Five of 10 are also among Box-Toppers’ 10 most highly ranked players. All 10 rank among the top 50.

Clayton Kershaw leads players in Box-Toppers points over past 2 seasons for 4th straight year

Shawn Plank December 1, 2016

Though Kershaw finished runner-up in Box-Toppers points in both 2015 and 2016, he leads all players in combined points over the past two seasons.

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.

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?

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

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	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?

Mariners' Taijuan Walker tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 13; Mets' Syndergaard rises to 7th in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank September 14, 2016

Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker 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. 13:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	23.7
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	20.4
3	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	20.2
4	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	18.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
7	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym al	15.7
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
10	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	lad nl	14.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.

Player of the Day—Walker pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out 11 and walking none, in the 8-0 win over the Angels.

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and one walk, in the 4-3, 10-inning win over the Nationals. Syndergaard did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because after he exited, the Nationals tied the game 3-3 before the Mets took the lead for good in the top of the 10th inning.

Syndergaard earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 15.7 for the season, rising to seventh place in season player rankings, fifth among NL pitchers. His rise back into Box-Toppers top 10 displaces Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (14.1 Box-Toppers points) from the list, as he falls to 11th.

American League Batter of the Day—Jorge Polanco of the Twins homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-1 win over the Tigers.

This was Polanco’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Polanco made his Major League debut June 26, 2014, and was playing in his 61st career game. He is the 3,739th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Moss of the Cardinals homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 4-2 win over the Cubs.

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

Sabathia (6.1IP 3H 0R BB 7K ND in the 3-0 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 184.0 career points. He leads second-place active player Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.3) by 1.7 points.

Sabathia ranks fifth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails fourth-place player Alex Rodriguez (187.0) on the “all-time” list. Sabathia has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season. (See the homepage for the updated “all-time” top 20 Box-Toppers player rankings list.)

Also notable—White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana becomes the 39th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Quintana (8IP 5H R BB 6K W in the 8-1 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season, 36th among all players and 15th among AL pitchers.

Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Matt Koch (4IP 2H 0R BB 4K Sv in the 11-4 win over the Rockies) made his Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Koch made his Major League debut Sept. 9 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,740th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Walker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Syndergaard earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Polanco and Moss 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/13
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    17.0
    SEA 8, LAA 0
    Taijuan Walker (W,6-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    3
    0
    0
    0
    11
  

    NL
    10.0
    `NYM 4, WSH 3 (10)
    Noah Syndergaard
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    1
    1
    10
  

    
    9.1
    `NYY 3, LAD 0
    CC Sabathia
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    3
    0
    0
    1
    7
  

    
    8.0
    CIN 6, MIL 4
    Dan Straily (W,12-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    2
    2
    1
    8
  

    
    8.0
    `PIT 5, PHI 3
    Ivan Nova
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    2
    1
    1
    11
  

    
    6.0
    CHW 8, CLE 1
    Jose Quintana (W,12-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    5
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    BAT
    5.0
    MIN 8, DET 1
    Jorge Polanco, SS
    4
    2
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    ARI 11, COL 4
    Matt Koch (S,1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    4.0
    2
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    
    5.0
    `TEX 3, HOU 2
    A.J. Griffin
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    2
    2
    1
    7
  

    
    4.0
    TB 6, TOR 2
    Steven Souza Jr., RF
    1
    3
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    MIA 7, ATL 5
    Justin Nicolino (W,3-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    BAT
    3.0
    STL 4, CHC 2
    Brandon Moss, LF
    3
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    BAL 6, BOS 3
    J.J. Hardy, SS
    2
    1
    1
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    OAK 5, KC 4
    Yonder Alonso, PH-1B
    1
    1
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    SD 6, SF 4
    Kevin Quackenbush (S,2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

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

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	15.7	26.1	26.1	26.1	5.3
Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	10.4	16.4	35.2	35.2	4.4
Walker, Taijuan 3453	pi sp	sea al	7.7	21.4	21.4	21.4	-6.0
Nova, Ivan 2796	pi sp	pit nl	7.0	8.0	29.1	30.1	6.0
Straily, Dan 3080	pi sp	cin nl	6.0	6.0	16.7	16.7	6.0
Souza, Steven Jr. 3461	rf	tb al	5.7	11.2	11.2	11.2	0.2
Griffin, A.J. 3074	pi sp	tex al	5.7	5.7	20.4	20.4	5.7
Hardy, J.J. 2071	ss	bal al	5.2	5.2	26.6	53.8	5.2
Sabathia, C.C. 1492	pi sp	nyy al	5.0	10.7	45.5	184.0	-0.7
Moss, Brandon 2520	rf lf 1b	stl nl	4.0	9.0	25.0	27.0	-1.0
Quackenbush, Kevin 3462	pi cp mr	sd nl	3.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	1.0
Alonso, Yonder 2945	1b ph	oak al	2.0	3.5	13.0	13.0	0.5
Nicolino, Justin 3576	pi sp mr	fla nl	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	1.0
Polanco, Jorge 3739	ss	min al	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Koch, Matt 3740	pi cp	ari nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Rich Hill tops players for Saturday, Sept. 10, rises to 9th; Nationals' Scherzer bolsters lead in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank September 11, 2016

Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth 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. 10:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	23.7
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	20.4
3	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	18.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	18.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
9	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	lad nl	14.4
10	Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	pi sp	nyy al	14.1

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer bolstered his first-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka rises to 10th place in player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.

Player of the Day—Hill pitched seven perfect innings, striking out nine, in the 5-0 win over the Marlins. Despite allowing no base runners for seven innings, he was pulled after 89 pitches to preserve his health—he had spent time recently on the disabled list. While three Dodgers relievers preserved the shutout, they did give up two hits.

Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.4 for the season, rising to ninth place in season player rankings. He ranks seventh among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka struck out 10 over 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 5-1 win over the Rays.

Tanaka earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 14.1 for the season, rising to 10th place in season player rankings. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

With the rise of Hill to ninth place and Tanaka to 10th place in season player rankings, two other players were displaced from Box-Toppers top 10 list for the season—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard (14.0) and Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (13.7).

American League Batter of the Day—Matt Wieters of the Orioles hit two homers and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 11-3 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Hunter Pence of the Giants homered and went 3-for-3, scoring four times and driving in one run, in the 11-3 win over the Diamondbacks. It is the second straight day Pence has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He has 3.5 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Rankings—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer bolstered his first place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Scherzer (6.2IP 4H 0R BB 8K ND in the 3-0 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 23.7 for the season. He leads second-place player, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (20.4) by 3.3 points.

Scherzer also now has 129.7 career Box-Toppers points, 31st-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He passes Trevor Hoffman (129.4) on the “all-time” list and now trails 30th-ranked Jason Giambi (133.4).

Notable—Three other players with more than 10 Box-Toppers points on the season also earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:

Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ (6IP 4H 2R BB 5K W in the 3-2 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.7 for the season, 13th among all players and fourth among AL pitchers.
Joey Votto of the Reds (HR 2B 4-5 2R BI in the 8-7 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.5 for the season, 33rd among all players and second among NL batters, behind Kris Bryant of the Cubs (10.5). (Bryant holds the higher rank because he had more 2015 Box-Toppers points—8.5 vs. 5.)
Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (8IP 6H R 4BB 7K W in the 5-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.2 for the season, 36th among all players and 17th among NL pitchers. Wainwright now has 112.0 career Box-Toppers points, 52nd-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He passes Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (111.3) in “all-time” rankings and now trails 51st-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8).

Debut—Twins pitcher J.T. Chargois made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Chargois (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Indians) made his Major League debut June 11 and was playing in his 16th career game. He is the 3,736th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tanaka earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Wieters and Pence 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    9/10
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    16.0
    LAD 5, MIA 0
    Rich Hill (W,12-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    9
  

    
    14.0
    SD 6, COL 3
    Christian Friedrich (W,5-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    0
    0
    1
    10
  

    AL
    10.1
    NYY 5, TB 1
    Masahiro Tanaka (W,13-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.1
    5
    1
    1
    0
    10
  

    
    9.2
    `WSH 3, PHI 0
    Max Scherzer
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    4
    0
    0
    1
    8
  

    BAT
    6.0
    BAL 11, DET 3
    Matt Wieters, C
    4
    3
    2
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    5.0
    SF 11, ARI 3
    Hunter Pence, RF
    3
    4
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    SEA 14, OAK 3
    Nelson Cruz, DH
    4
    2
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    HOU 2, CHC 1
    Collin McHugh (W,10-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    2
    1
    1
    3
    6
  

    
    3.0
    STL 5, MIL 1
    Adam Wainwright (W,11-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    6
    1
    1
    4
    7
  

    
    2.0
    CIN 8, PIT 7
    Joey Votto, 1B
    5
    2
    4
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    TEX 8, LAA 5
    Carlos Gomez, LF
    5
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    KC 6, CHW 5
    Eric Hosmer, 1B
    3
    1
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    TOR 3, BOS 2
    J.A. Happ (W,18-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    2
    2
    1
    5
  

    
    2.0
    MIN 2, CLE 1 (12)
    J.T. Chargois (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.0
    ATL 4, NYM 3 (10)
    Matt Kemp, LF
    3
    1
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	23.7	44.7	109.3	129.7	2.7
Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	lad nl	14.4	18.4	18.4	38.1	10.4
Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	pi sp	nyy al	14.1	22.1	34.8	34.8	6.1
Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	13.7	26.8	42.2	50.2	0.6
Votto, Joey 2366	1b	cin nl	10.5	15.5	32.2	64.2	5.5
Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	10.2	13.2	61.3	112.0	7.2
Wieters, Matt 2643	ca	bal al	9.5	10.5	28.5	34.2	8.5
Hosmer, Eric 2886	1b	kc al	8.5	17.5	31.0	31.0	-0.5
McHugh, Collin 3316	pi sp	hou al	7.7	17.4	29.2	29.2	-2.0
Kemp, Matt 2151	rf lf	atl nl	6.5	12.0	36.5	58.1	1.0
Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224	dh	sea al	5.5	7.5	33.2	52.7	3.5
Pence, Hunter 2287	rf	sf nl	3.5	5.5	24.5	52.2	1.5
Friedrich, Christian 3024	pi sp	sd nl	2.7	2.7	6.4	6.4	2.7
Gomez, Carlos 2397	cf lf	tex al	2.0	8.0	18.5	29.5	-4.0
Chargois, J.T. 3736	pi cp	min al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Reds' Anthony DeSclafani tops players for Saturday, Aug. 27; Mets' Syndergaard rises to 9th in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank August 28, 2016

Reds pitcher Anthony DeSclafani is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	20.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	18.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
5	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
6	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	14.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—DeSclafani pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, striking out nine and walking one, in the 13-0 win over the Diamondbacks.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana struck out eight over 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, five hits and one walk, in the 9-3 win over the Mariners.

American League Batter of the Day—Starlin Castro of the Yankees homered and went 4-for-6, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 13-5 win over the Orioles.

National League Batter of the Day—Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies hit two homers and went 3-for-6, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 9-4, 11-inning win over the Nationals.

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

Syndergaard (7IP 2H R 2BB 7K W in the 12-1 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.0 for the season, rising from 10th to ninth place for the season. He ranks seventh among NL pitchers.

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

Athletics pitcher Daniel Coulombe (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 3-2 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut Sept. 16, 2014, and was playing in his 43rd career game. He is the 3,720th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Alex Bregman of the Astros (HR 2-4 2R 3BI in the 6-2 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut July 25 and was playing in his 30th career game. He is the 3,721st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—DeSclafani earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Quintana earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Castro and Blackmon 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/27
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    13.0
    CIN 13, ARI 0
    Anthony DeSclafani (W,8-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    9
  

    
    8.0
    NYM 12, PHI 1
    Noah Syndergaard (W,12-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    
    7.0
    `PIT 9, MIL 6
    Juan Nicasio (H,4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    5
  

    AL
    6.2
    CHW 9, SEA 3
    Jose Quintana (W,11-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    5
    2
    1
    1
    8
  

    
    6.0
    TEX 7, CLE 0
    A.J. Griffin (W,6-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    
    5.2
    ATL 3, SF 1
    Mike Foltynewicz (W,7-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    5
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    
    5.0
    LAA 3, DET 2
    Jhoulys Chacin (W,5-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    4.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    4.1
    OAK 3, STL 2
    Daniel Coulombe (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    BAT
    4.0
    NYY 13, BAL 5
    Starlin Castro, 2B
    6
    3
    4
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    TOR 8, MIN 7
    Edwin Encarnacion, 1B
    3
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    LAD 3, CHC 2
    Julio Urias (W,5-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    6
    1
    1
    2
    8
  

    BAT
    3.0
    COL 9, WSH 4 (11)
    Charlie Blackmon, CF
    6
    3
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    HOU 6, TB 2
    Alex Bregman, 3B
    4
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    SD 1, MIA 0
    Kevin Quackenbush (S,1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    BOS 8, KC 3
    Dustin Pedroia, 2B
    5
    1
    4
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	14.0	24.4	24.4	24.4	3.6
Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	9.4	15.4	34.2	34.2	3.4
Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	dh 1b	tor al	8.0	18.4	46.6	67.1	-2.4
Nicasio, Juan 2888	pi sp mr	pit nl	8.0	9.0	24.4	24.4	7.0
Castro, Starlin 2767	2b ss	nyy al	7.0	11.5	24.5	25.5	2.5
Griffin, A.J. 3074	pi sp	tex al	4.7	4.7	19.4	19.4	4.7
DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	4.0	11.7	11.7	11.7	-3.7
Foltynewicz, Mike 3455	pi sp	atl nl	4.0	6.7	6.7	6.7	1.3
Blackmon, Charlie 2891	cf	col nl	4.0	6.5	12.0	12.0	1.5
Chacin, Jhoulys 2711	pi mr sp	ana al	4.0	4.0	18.4	26.1	4.0
Urias, Julio 3652	pi sp	lad nl	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
Pedroia, Dustin 2320	2b	bos al	3.0	3.0	23.4	35.5	3.0
Quackenbush, Kevin 3462	pi mr cp	sd nl	2.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	0.0
Bregman, Alex 3721	3b	hou al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Coulombe, Daniel 3720	pi mr	oak al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Noah Syndergaard tops players for Sunday, Aug. 21, rises to 9th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank August 22, 2016

Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth place in season player rankings.

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

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 21:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
4	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
5	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	15.1
6	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
7	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	13.0
10	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	12.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks seventh among National League pitchers. Rising to ninth place overall, he displaces Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5 Box-Toppers points) from the top 10 list. Altuve, who was the only batter in the top 10, falls to 11th place.

American League Player of the Day—Justin Upton of the Tigers hit a pair of three-run homers in the 10-5 win over the Red Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies hit a pair of three-run homers and went 4-for-5 in the 11-4 win over the Cubs.

Arenado earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season, rising to fourth place among NL batters.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Justin Upton.

Debut—Padres pitcher Luis Perdomo made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Perdomo (7IP 5H R 0BB 5K W in the 9-1 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut April 4 and was playing in his 29th career game. He is the 3,715th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/21
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    10.0
    NYM 2, SF 0
    Noah Syndergaard (W,11-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    BAT
    7.0
    COL 11, CHC 4
    Nolan Arenado, 3B
    5
    2
    4
    6
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    7.0
    STL 9, PHI 0
    Mike Leake (W,9-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    0
    0
    1
    8
  

    AL
    6.0
    DET 10, BOS 5
    Justin Upton, LF
    4
    2
    2
    6
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    SD 9, ARI 1
    Luis Perdomo (W,6-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    0
    0
    5
  

    
    6.0
    LAD 4, CIN 0
    Julio Urias (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    6
    0
    0
    0
    6
  

    
    5.0
    HOU 5, BAL 3
    Dallas Keuchel (W,8-12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    5
    2
    2
    1
    7
  

    
    4.0
    `ATL 7, WSH 6 (10)
    Jim Johnson
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    3.0
    MIL 7, SEA 6
    Tyler Thornburg (W,5-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    LAA 2, NYY 0
    Fernando Salas (S,4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.1
    CLE 3, TOR 2
    Mike Clevinger (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    1
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    2.0
    TB 8, TEX 4
    Steven Souza Jr., RF
    4
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    KC 2, MIN 1
    Eric Hosmer, 1B
    2
    1
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    CHW 4, OAK 2
    Todd Frazier, 3B
    4
    0
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    MIA 3, PIT 2
    Fernando Rodney (S,24)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    1
    1
  

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

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	13.0	23.4	23.4	23.4	2.6
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	8.0	16.5	18.0	18.0	-0.5
Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	7.0	28.4	42.8	42.8	-14.4
Frazier, Todd 2929	3b	chi al	6.2	15.1	29.1	29.1	-2.7
Upton, Justin 2411	lf	det al	5.7	14.7	41.6	50.1	-3.3
Leake, Mike 2709	pi sp	stl nl	5.0	15.0	40.1	44.6	-5.0
Hosmer, Eric 2886	1b	kc al	5.0	14.0	27.5	27.5	-4.0
Souza, Steven Jr. 3461	rf	tb al	4.7	10.2	10.2	10.2	-0.8
Johnson, Jim 2417	pi cp mr	atl nl	4.0	6.0	16.0	21.7	2.0
Rodney, Fernando 1803	pi cp	fla nl	4.0	5.0	22.0	34.0	3.0
Thornburg, Tyler 3195	pi cp	mil nl	4.0	4.0	10.0	10.0	4.0
Clevinger, Mike 3707	pi mr sp	cle al	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Urias, Julio 3652	pi sp	lad nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Salas, Fernando 2853	pi cp	ana al	2.0	3.0	10.0	10.0	1.0
Perdomo, Luis D. 3715	pi sp	sd nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Reds' Brandon Finnegan tops players for Thursday, Aug. 4; Blue Jays' Happ rises to 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank August 5, 2016

Reds pitcher Brandon Finnegan 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 Aug. 4:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	14.5
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	14.1
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
8	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	12.4
9	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	11.0
10	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	11.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Thursday, Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Finnegan pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits, no walks and striking out four, in the 7-0 win over the Cardinals.

American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Drew Smyly struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing two runs, five hits and one walk, in the 3-2 win over the Royals. Smyly did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because he exited the game with the Rays trailing 2-0.

National League Batter of the Day—Denard Span of the Giants hit a 10th-inning, go-ahead home run in the 3-2, 10-inning win over the Phillies. Span also went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs.

American League Batter of the Day—Billy Butler of the Athletics hit a 10th-inning, pinch-hit single and scored a run, in the 8-6, 10-inning win over the Angels.

This was Butler’s first Player of the Game honor of 2016 and he has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons. Butler earned his first points in 2007 with the Royals and has 47.6 career points, 28th among active AL batters. His best season was 2012 with the Royals when he had 9.7 points, seventh among AL batters. In 2015, he had 1.5 points with the Athletics.

Rankings—Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Happ (6IP 4H R BB 6K W in the 4-1 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season. He displaces Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard (11.0 Box-Toppers points) from the top 10 season player rankings list and ranks third among AL pitchers.

Scoring—Finnegan earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Smyly earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Span and Butler 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/4
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    8.0
    CIN 7, STL 0
    Brandon Finnegan (W,7-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    AL
    7.0
    `TB 3, KC 2
    Drew Smyly
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    2
    2
    1
    10
  

    
    5.0
    TOR 4, HOU 1
    J.A. Happ (W,15-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    
    4.1
    BOS 3, SEA 2 (11)
    Craig Kimbrel (W,2-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    BAT
    3.0
    SF 3, PHI 2 (10)
    Denard Span, CF
    4
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    LAD 4, COL 2
    Kenley Jansen (S,32)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.1
    CLE 9, MIN 2
    Dan Otero (W,3-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    ATL 5, PIT 2
    Jim Johnson (S,7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    1.0
    NYM 4, NYY 1
    Jay Bruce, RF
    4
    1
    1
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    1.0
    OAK 8, LAA 6 (10)
    Billy Butler, PH-DH
    1
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    CHW 6, DET 3
    Tim Anderson, SS
    0
    1
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    0.2
    TEX 5, BAL 3
    A.J. Griffin (W,5-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    5
    3
    3
    0
    6
  

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	11.0	24.1	39.5	47.5	-2.1
Bruce, Jay 2453	rf	nym nl	7.5	10.7	30.7	57.8	4.3
Smyly, Drew 3009	pi sp	tb al	6.4	12.4	34.5	34.5	0.4
Jansen, Kenley 2871	pi cp	lad nl	5.0	9.0	35.4	35.4	1.0
Finnegan, Brandon 3535	pi sp	cin nl	5.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	2.0
Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	bos al	4.0	10.0	53.7	54.7	-2.0
Griffin, A.J. 3074	pi sp	tex al	3.7	3.7	18.4	18.4	3.7
Span, Denard 2502	cf	sf nl	3.0	3.0	11.7	25.7	3.0
Johnson, Jim 2417	pi mr cp	atl nl	2.0	4.0	14.0	19.7	0.0
Otero, Dan 3365	pi mr	cle al	2.0	3.7	4.7	4.7	0.3
Anderson, Tim 3659	ss	chi al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Butler, Billy 2330	dh ph	oak al	1.5	3.0	28.2	47.6	0.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Despite not earning a Box-Toppers points in a month, Clayton Kershaw still leads player rankings

Shawn Plank July 22, 2016

Kershaw, on disabled list since late June with return date uncertain, has not earned Box-Toppers points since June 20, but still holds lead in player rankings.

Rays' Blake Snell tops players for Tuesday, July 19; Mets' Syndergaard rises to 9th in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank July 20, 2016

Rays pitcher Blake Snell is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, making his Box-Toppers debut.

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	14.0
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	13.4
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	12.5
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	12.1
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	11.4
8	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	11.0
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	11.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

Player of the Day—Snell pitched six scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing one hit and three walks, in the 10-1 win over the Rockies.

This was Snell’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Snell made his Major League debut April 23 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,688th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, in the 8-4 win over the Nationals.

Kazmir earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 105.1 for his career, rising to 61st place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (103.7) and Jamie Moyer (104.0). Kazmir now trails 60th-ranked player Aramis Ramirez (105.8). Kazmir has 8.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 12th among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Albert Pujols of the Angels hit two three-run home runs, going 3-for-3, in the 8-6 win over the Rangers.

Pujols earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 179.3 for his career, the same total as Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who ranks sixth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. While Pujols and Kershaw are now tied in career points, Kershaw still holds the edge and is ranked ahead of Pujols because he has more Box-Toppers points in 2016—20.0 vs. 5.0. Pujols maintains his rank of seventh place in career points since 1995 (see the updated list of the “all-time” top 20 players on the home page). Pujols’ 5.0 Box-Toppers points for the season puts him at 18th place among AL batters.

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

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

Syndergaard (5.2IP 7H R 2BB 8K ND in the 2-1 win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season. He ranks seventh among NL pitchers.

Debut—Braves closing pitcher Mauricio Cabrera made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Cabrera (1.2IP H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 5-4, 11-inning win over the Reds) made his Major League debut June 27 and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,689th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Snell earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kazmir earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Pujols earns 1.5 points for being AL 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

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    7/19
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    TB 10, COL 1
    Blake Snell (W,2-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    1
    0
    0
    3
    9
  

    NL
    9.0
    LAD 8, WSH 4
    Scott Kazmir (W,8-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    1
    0
    8
  

    BAT
    8.0
    LAA 8, TEX 6
    Albert Pujols, DH
    3
    2
    3
    6
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    NYY 7, BAL 1
    Starlin Castro, 2B
    4
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    TOR 5, ARI 1
    Aaron Sanchez (W,10-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    
    3.2
    `NYM 2, CHC 1
    Noah Syndergaard
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    7
    1
    0
    2
    8
  

    
    3.2
    `MIA 2, PHI 1 (10)
    Jose Urena
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    4
    1
    1
    1
    5
  

    
    3.1
    BOS 4, SF 0
    Rick Porcello (W,12-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    4
    0
    0
    2
    3
  

    
    3.0
    CLE 7, KC 3
    Francisco Lindor, SS
    4
    3
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.2
    ATL 5, CIN 4 (11)
    Mauricio Cabrera (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.2
    1
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.1
    MIN 6, DET 2
    Tommy Milone (W,3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.1
    4
    2
    2
    2
    4
  

    
    2.0
    CHW 6, SEA 1
    Todd Frazier, 3B
    4
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    `PIT 3, MIL 2
    Jameson Taillon
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    1
    1
    0
    3
  

    
    0.0
    OAK 4, HOU 3 (10)
    Ryon Healy, 3B
    4
    0
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	11.0	21.4	21.4	21.4	0.6
Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	lad nl	8.7	21.4	49.3	105.1	-4.0
Sanchez, Aaron 3392	pi sp	tor al	6.7	8.7	10.7	10.7	4.7
Frazier, Todd 2929	3b	chi al	5.2	14.1	28.1	28.1	-3.7
Pujols, Albert 1438	1b dh	ana al	5.0	12.0	42.0	179.3	-2.0
Porcello, Rick 2573	pi sp	bos al	5.0	9.0	30.7	39.7	1.0
Castro, Starlin 2767	ss 2b	nyy al	4.0	8.5	21.5	22.5	-0.5
Lindor, Francisco 3586	ss	cle al	3.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	2.5
Taillon, Jameson 3658	pi sp	pit nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Healy, Ryon 3685	3b	oak al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Snell, Blake 3688	pi sp	tb al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Milone, Tommy 2954	pi sp	min al	1.0	7.7	25.1	25.1	-5.7
Urena, Jose 3492	pi sp	fla nl	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Cabrera, Mauricio 3689	pi cp	atl nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw leads Box-Toppers player rankings at All-Star break

Shawn Plank July 11, 2016

Despite being on disabled list, Kershaw's dominating lead has only been reduced by 1.0 Box-Toppers point since start of July.

Mets' Syndergaard tops players for Wednesday, June 15; Kershaw extends dominant season Box-Toppers lead

Shawn Plank June 16, 2016

Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	11.7
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	10.0
5	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
6	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	9.4
7	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
8	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	8.8
9	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	8.7
10	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extended his dominant lead in season player rankings and Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rose to fourth in player rankings.

Player of the Day—Syndergaard struck out 11 over 8 1/3 innings, allowing two runs, five hits and no walks, in the 11-2 win over the Pirates.

Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season, becoming the fourth player this season with 10 or more points. It is the second straight year Syndergaard has reached 10 points—in 2015, he had 10.4.

American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Drew Smyly struck out 12 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, four hits and no walks, in the 3-2, 13-inning win over the Mariners. Smyly did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied when he exited.

National League Batter of the Day—Melvin Upton of the Padres homered and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 6-3 win over the Marlins.

Upton had a Box-Toppers game score of +4, the same as DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies, who was Player of the Game in the 6-3 win over the Yankees. While both players also had similar batting lines (3-3 2R 2BI), Upton won NL Batter of the Day honors on a tiebreaker because he hit a home run.

American League Batter of the Day—Hanley Ramirez of the Red Sox hit a three-run homer, going 2-for-3 and scoring twice, in the 6-4 win over the Orioles.

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

Kershaw (7.1IP 5H 2R BB 11K W in the 3-2 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 18.0 for the season. He now leads second-place player, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (11.7) by 6.3 points, meaning Fernandez would need at least four starts to have a chance of catching Kershaw.

Kershaw also now has 177.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of sixth place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began (see homepage for updated list of “all-time” top 20 players in career points). Kershaw trails fifth-ranked player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (182.0).

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

Cueto (7IP 7H R BB 9K W in the 10-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the fifth player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. It is the fifth season Cueto has reached 10 points, the third straight season.

Notable—With the rise of Syndergaard and Cueto in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings, the only batter—Manny Machado of the Orioles—has slipped off the top 10 list. Machado, who leads AL batters with 8.7 Box-Toppers points, now ranks 11th among all players. Machado had been in the top 10 overall rankings since May 8.

The top NL batter, Eugenio Suarez of the Reds (7.0), ranks 20th among all players.

Also, with Machado sliding out of the top 10, eight of the top 10 players are now from the NL. The only two from the AL are Indians pitcher Danny Salazar (8.8 points, eighth place) and White Sox pitcher Chris Sale (8.7 points, 10th place).

Debut—Tim Anderson of the White Sox made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Anderson (3B 3-5 3R in the 5-3 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut June 10 and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,659th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Smyly earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Upton and Ramirez 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

6/15

Score

Game

Player of Game

AB

R

H

BI

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

MLB

11.1

NYM 11/PIT 2

Noah Syndergaard (W,7-2)

-

-

-

-

8.1

5

2

1

0

11

AL

10.2

`TB 3/SEA 2

Drew Smyly

-

-

-

-

6.2

4

2

2

0

12

8.1

LAD 3/ARI 2

Clayton Kershaw (W,10-1)

-

-

-

-

7.1

5

2

2

1

11

6.0

SF 10/MIL 1

Johnny Cueto (W,10-1)

-

-

-

-

7.0

7

1

1

1

9

6.0

`DC 5/CHC 4

Stephen Strasburg

-

-

-

-

7.0

6

1

1

1

8

5.0

LAA 10/MIN 2

Hector Santiago (W,4-4)

-

-

-

-

6.0

2

1

1

2

5

BAT

4.0

SD 6/MIA 3

Melvin Upton, LF

3

2

3

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

4.0

COL 6/NYY 3

DJ LeMahieu, 2B

3

2

3

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

BAT

4.0

BOS 6/BAL 4

Hanley Ramirez, 1B

3

2

2

3

-

-

-

-

-

-

3.0

TEX 7/OAK 5

Rougned Odor, 2B

4

2

2

3

-

-

-

-

-

-

2.2

TOR 7/PHI 2

Marco Estrada (W,5-2)

-

-

-

-

6.2

4

2

2

1

5

1.2

`HOU 4/STL 1

Collin McHugh

-

-

-

-

6.2

7

1

1

2

6

1.0

CHW 5/DET 3

Tim Anderson, SS

5

3

3

0

-

-

-

-

-

-

1.0

KC 9/CLE 4

Eric Hosmer, 1B

5

2

2

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

1.0

`ATL 9/CIN 8

Bud Norris

-

-

-

-

5.0

3

3

3

2

7

`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	18.0	43.7	143.8	177.3	-7.7
Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	10.0	22.8	74.0	93.4	-2.8
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0	20.4	20.4	20.4	-0.4
Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	8.4	22.4	68.5	76.2	-5.6
Santiago, Hector 3109	pi sp	ana al	6.4	14.4	26.8	26.8	-1.6
Estrada, Marco 2847	pi sp	tor al	6.0	14.0	38.1	38.1	-2.0
Smyly, Drew 3009	pi sp	tb al	4.7	10.7	32.8	32.8	-1.3
LeMahieu, DJ 3091	2b	col nl	4.5	11.5	17.5	17.5	-2.5
McHugh, Collin 3316	pi sp	hou al	3.0	12.7	24.5	24.5	-6.7
Hosmer, Eric 2886	1b	kc al	3.0	12.0	25.5	25.5	-6.0
Odor, Rougned 3336	2b	tex al	3.0	6.0	7.5	7.5	0.0
Norris, Bud 2638	pi sp	atl nl	2.0	3.0	33.4	42.4	1.0
Ramirez, Hanley 2119	1b ss	bos al	1.5	1.5	24.2	52.1	1.5
Upton, Melvin 1922	lf	sd nl	1.5	1.5	14.5	36.2	1.5
Anderson, Tim 3659	ss	chi al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

Shawn Plank June 4, 2016

Padres pitcher Drew Pomeranz is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of June 3:


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

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Suarez also earned NL Batter of the Day honors Thursday.

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

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

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

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    6/3
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    SD 4/COL 0
    Drew Pomeranz (W,5-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    8
  

    
    8.2
    CHC 6/ARI 0
    John Lackey (W,6-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    5
    0
    0
    2
    9
  

    AL
    7.0
    CLE 6/KC 1
    Danny Salazar (W,6-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    1
    1
    5
    9
  

    BAT
    5.0
    LAD 4/ATL 2
    Corey Seager, SS
    4
    3
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    5.0
    TEX 7/SEA 3
    Adrian Beltre, 3B
    3
    1
    2
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    NYM 6/MIA 2
    Noah Syndergaard (W,6-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    2
    2
    1
    9
  

    
    4.0
    HOU 12/OAK 2
    Evan Gattis, C
    5
    1
    4
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    DET 10/CHW 3
    James McCann, C
    4
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    CIN 7/DC 2
    Eugenio Suarez, 3B
    4
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    PHI 6/MIL 3
    Cameron Rupp, C
    2
    2
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.2
    TOR 5/BOS 2
    R.A. Dickey (W,3-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    2
    1
    0
    5
    4
  

    
    2.0
    LAA 9/PIT 2
    Kole Calhoun, RF
    4
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.1
    BAL 6/NYY 5
    Mychal Givens (W,5-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    0
  

    
    1.0
    SF 5/STL 1
    Kelby Tomlinson, PH
    0
    1
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    TB 4/MIN 2
    Erasmo Ramirez (W,7-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

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


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	8.0	18.4	18.4	18.4	-2.4
Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	7.8	21.2	30.6	30.6	-5.6
Suarez, Eugenio 3355	3b	cin nl	7.0	10.0	12.5	12.5	4.0
Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	6.7	16.4	36.1	114.5	-3.0
Pomeranz, Drew 3061	pi sp mr	sd nl	6.0	9.0	17.0	17.0	3.0
Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	4.0	16.5	42.4	105.8	-8.5
Dickey, R.A. 1734	pi sp	tor al	3.0	8.0	52.2	73.9	-2.0
Calhoun, Kole 3279	rf	ana al	3.0	6.2	13.7	13.7	-0.2
Ramirez, Erasmo 1786	pi sp mr	tb al	2.7	9.7	11.7	13.7	-4.3
Tomlinson, Kelby 3619	ph	sf nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Seager, Corey 3587	ss	lad nl	1.5	3.0	3.0	3.0	0.0
Gattis, Evan 3179	ca dh	hou al	1.0	5.0	7.0	7.0	-3.0
Givens, Mychal 3599	pi mr	bal al	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Rupp, Cameron 3556	ca	phi nl	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
McCann, James 3649	ca	det al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Top 10 players

All-time leaders

Top player from each game

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Box-Toppers

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