(Other duties have put us behind updating Box-Toppers. Playing catch up …)
Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Wednesday, Aug. 19.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 19.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 19.4 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.7 |
| 3 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 16.1 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 16.1 |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.0 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.0 |
| 7 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 15.8 |
| 8 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 15.4 |
| 9 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.4 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 14.7 |
Also Wednesday, Angels pitcher Jered Weaver earned Player of the Game honors, giving him 122.1 career Box-Toppers points, 34th-most among all players since 1995.
Player of the Day—Strasburg allowed one run and two hits over seven innings, striking out five, in the 4-1 win over the Rockies.
American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver pitched six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, in the 1-0 win over the White Sox.
Weaver earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 122.1 career points, rising to 34th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Wednesday, Weaver passes two players on the “all-time” list—Cole Hamels (120.8 Box-Toppers points) and Justin Verlander (120.9 points). Weaver trails 33rd-ranked player Gary Sheffield (122.1).
Weaver ranks third among active AL pitchers in career Box-Toppers points, trailing CC Sabathia of the Yankees (178.0 Box-Toppers points) and Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (158.7 points). Weaver has 6.7 Box-Toppers points this season, ranking 31st among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Nick Castellanos of the Tigers hit two homers, including a grand slam, and two doubles in the 15-8 win over the Cubs. Castellanos went 4-for-5 and drove in five runs.
National League Batter of the Day—Khris Davis of the Brewers hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 8-7 win over the Marlins.
Notable—Athletics pitcher Jesse Chavez had the highest Box-Toppers player ranking of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday. Chavez (8IP 2H 2R 6K W in the 5-2 win over the Dodgers) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.4 for the season. He ranks 40th among all players and 20th among AL pitchers.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Greg Bird of the Yankees (HR 2-4 2R 4BI in the 4-3 win over the Twins) made his Major League debut Aug. 13 and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,562nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Aaron Altherr of the Phillies (HR 2B 2-3 R 3BI in the 7-4 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut June 16, 2014, and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,563rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Strasburg earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Weaver earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Castellanos and Davis each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/19 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | Nationals | Stephen Strasburg (W,7-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| AL | 6.1 | Angels | Jered Weaver (W,5-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| BAT | 6.0 | Tigers | Nick Castellanos, 3B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | Athletics | Jesse Chavez (W,7-12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Brewers | Khris Davis, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Pirates | J.A. Happ (W,5-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | Yankees | Greg Bird, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.2 | Royals | Luke Hochevar (MR) (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Padres | Yangervis Solarte, 3B | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Phillies | Aaron Altherr, LF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| 3.0 | `Astros | Chad Qualls (MR) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | Cardinals | Trevor Rosenthal (S,38) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Rangers | Mitch Moreland, DH | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Orioles | Adam Jones, CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Red Sox | Jackie Bradley Jr., CF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||