Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels, throwing a no-hitter against the Cubs, 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 2015 season as of July 25.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 15.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 14.4 |
| 4 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 13.1 |
| 6 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.0 |
| 7 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 13.0 |
| 8 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 12.7 |
| 9 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 12.7 |
| 10 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.0 |
Also Saturday, two players rose in Box-Toppers player rankings top 10 after earning Player of the Game honors—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to third place and Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez rose to ninth place. Plus, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees, the active career Box-Toppers points leader, now has 187.0 career Box-Toppers points.
Player of the Day—Hamels pitched a no-hitter in the 5-0 win over the Cubs. He faced 29 batters and allowed two walks and struck out 13.
Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season. He is the 19th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and now ranks 20th among all players, 12th among NL pitchers.
Hamels has now earned at least 10 Box-Toppers points in each of his first 10 seasons.
In addition, Hamels now has 120.8 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 34th place in among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Saturday, Hamels passes two players on the “all-time” list—Cliff Lee (119.1) and Jered Weaver (119.4). He trails 33rd-place player Gary Sheffield (124.1). Hamels ranks seventh in career Box-Toppers points among active NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees hit three home runs and drove in four runs in the 8-5 win over the Twins.
Rodriguez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, rising to third among AL batters.
Rodriguez also now has 187.0 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank in fourth place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails third-place player Curt Schilling (194.1). Rodriguez leads all batters and all active players in career Box-Toppers points.
National League Batter of the Day—Kirk Nieuwenhuis of the Mets doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 15-2 win over the Dodgers.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day Saturday because the overall AL Player of the Day is a batter (Alex Rodriguez).
Rankings—Two players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday:
- White Sox pitcher Chris Sale (7IP 7H 2R 7K W in the 10-3 win over the Indians) rose to third place with 14.4 Box-Toppers points. Sale, who earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point Saturday, ranks second among AL pitchers, behind overall leader Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (15.4).
- Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez (8IP 6H 0R 6K W in the 1-0 win over the Braves) rose to ninth place with 12.7 Box-Toppers points. Martinez, who earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point Saturday, ranks fourth among NL pitchers.
Notable—Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto became the 20th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Cueto (8IP 4H 0R 5K W in the 5-2 win over the Rockies) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.8 for the season. He ranks 14th among all players and eighth among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rodriguez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Nieuwenhuis earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 7/25 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 20.0 | Phillies | Cole Hamels (W,6-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13 | |
| 8.0 | Dbacks | Rubby De La Rosa (W,8-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 8.0 | Reds | Johnny Cueto (W,7-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 7.0 | Cardinals | Carlos Martinez (W,11-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | Mets | Kirk Nieuwenhuis, CF-RF | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AL | 6.0 | Yankees | Alex Rodriguez, DH | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.2 | Orioles | Miguel Gonzalez (W,9-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | Giants | Madison Bumgarner (W,11-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | Nationals | Michael Taylor, CF | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | White Sox | Chris Sale (W,9-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | Padres | Ian Kennedy (W,6-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | `Royals | Danny Duffy | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | Tigers | Nick Castellanos, 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Ezequiel Carrera, PH-LF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Rangers | Rougned Odor, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||