Red Sox' Holt, Astros' McHugh, Dodgers' Machado top players in Monday's league Division Series games

Brock Holt of the Red Sox was one of three Box-Toppers Player of the Game honorees in Monday’s three league Division Series games.

Holt hit for the cycle, going 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs, as the Red Sox beat the Yankees in Game 3 of the American League Division Series.

Read More

Brewers’ Burnes, Braves’ Acuna top players in Sunday's NL Division Series games

Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes and Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves are Sunday’s Box-Toppers top players in a pair of National League Division Series games.

Read More

Astros’ Gerrit Cole, Yankees’ Gary Sanchez top players in Saturday's AL Division Series games

Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole and Gary Sanchez of the Yankees are Saturday’s Box-Toppers top players in a pair of American League Division Series games.

Read More

Four starting aces—Kershaw, Verlander, Sale, Chacin—top players in Friday's league division playoff games

Four starting pitching aces are Box-Toppers Players of the Games in Friday’s four league division series playoff games:

  • Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is top player in Friday’s 3-0 win over the Braves.

  • Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is top player in Friday’s 7-2 win over the Indians.

  • Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale is top player in Friday’s 5-4 win over the Yankees.

  • And Brewers pitcher Jhoulys Chacin is top player in Friday’s 4-0 win over the Rockies.

Read More

American League Division Series feature 4 of Box-Toppers’ top 5-ranked teams

Four of the top five teams in Box-Toppers team rankings square off in two American League Division Series beginning Friday.

One series includes the top two teams in Box-Toppers team rankings—the top-ranked Boston Red Sox and the second-ranked New York Yankees. If all teams qualifying for the postseason were seeded, these two would be in separate brackets in a hoped-for World Series best-of-seven game matchup. Instead, the two AL East teams meet in a best-of-five game semi-final to another semi-final.

Read More

Dodgers’ Ryu, Brewers’ Woodruff top players in pair of NL Division Series openers

Hyun-Jin Ryu of the Dodgers and Brandon Woodruff of the Brewers are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Thursday’s pair of National League Division Series openers.

Ryu struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 6-0 win over the Braves. The Dodgers now lead the Braves 1-0 in the best-of-five series.

Read More

Box-Toppers’ NL Division Series previews: Rockies vs. Brewers, Braves vs. Dodgers

Both National League Division Series begin Thursday.

The Wild Card Colorado Rockies face the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers in one best-of-five game series and the NL East winners, the Atlanta Braves take on the Los Angeles Dodgers, champions of the NL West in the other series.

Read More

Dellin Betances tops players as Yankees defeat Athletics in AL Wild Card Game

Yankees pitcher Dellin Betances is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day in the American League Wild Card Game.

Betances struck out three over two scoreless innings, allowing no hits and no walks, picking up the win, in the 7-2 win over the Athletics.

Read More

Kyle Freeland tops players as Rockies beat Cubs in NL Wild Card Game

Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day in the National League Wild Card Game.

Freeland struck out six over 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 2-1, 13-inning win over the Cubs, as the Rockies advance to the NL Division Series Thursday against the Brewers.

Read More

Colorado Rockies face the Chicago Cubs in NL Wild Card Game Tuesday

The Colorado Rockies visit the Chicago Cubs  in the National League one-game Wild Card playoff game Tuesday.

Read More

In NL tiebreaker games Monday, Dodgers’ Buehler, Brewers’ Hader earn Player of the Game honors

Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, in one of two National League tiebreaker games to determine postseason seeding.

Meanwhile, Brewers pitcher Josh Hader is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in the other game.

Read More

Dodgers’ Rich Hill tops players for Sunday, Sept. 30; Indians’ Carrasco maintains 7th place in player rankings

Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, the final day of the regular season.

Also Sunday, Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco maintains his seventh-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Plus, J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox extended his lead in 2018 Box-Toppers points among American League batters after earning Player of the Game honors.

Read More

Astros’ Verlander tops players for Saturday, Sept. 29; Rays’ Snell extends Box-Toppers player rankings lead

Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his third-place spot in season player rankings.

Also Saturday, Rays pitcher Blake Snell finished his 2018 Box-Toppers Player of the Year season with a flourish, earning Player of the Game honors, extending his lead over Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer in season player rankings.

In addition, Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola rises to fifth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. And Christian Yelich of the Brewers extends his lead among National League batters in 2018 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Read More

Why Box-Toppers is voting pitchers Scherzer, Snell as league MVPs over batters

No batters are deserving of the Most Valuable Player Award this year.

Collectively, batters are faring worse, with their statistics trending downward in recent years. This year has been an even lower point.

Box-Toppers is voting pitcher Max Scherzer as NL MVP and Blake Snell as AL MVP.

Read More

Braves’ Mike Foltynewicz tops players for Friday, Sept. 28; Twins’ Berrios rises to 9th in player rankings

Braves pitcher Mike Foltynewicz is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Twins pitcher Jose Berrios rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.

Read More

Mets’ Jason Vargas tops players for Thursday, Sept. 27; Yankees’ Sabathia becomes 4th to reach 200 career Box-Toppers points

Mets pitcher Jason Vargas is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Meanwhile, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia becomes the fourth player to reach 200 career Box-Toppers points (since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995) after earning American League Player of the Day honors Thursday.

Read More

Mets’ Jacob deGrom tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 26, rises to 10th in player rankings

Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to 10th place in season player rankings.

deGrom struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 3-0 win over the Braves.

Read More