Diamondbacks pitcher Chase Anderson is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom extended his lead in Box-Toppers player rankings and Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to third place—first place among American League pitchers—in Box-Toppers points.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 7.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 17.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.0 |
| 3 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 15.8 |
| 4 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 15.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 15.1 |
| 6 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.0 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 14.4 |
| 8 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.4 |
| 9 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.0 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 13.7 |
Player of the Day—Anderson pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing four hits, in the 2-0 win over the Reds.
American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray pitched a complete game, allowing one run and five hits, striking out five, in the 3-1 win over the Astros.
Gray earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 15.8 for the season. He rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and first among AL pitchers, passing previous leader Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (15.4).
American League Batter of the Day—Torii Hunter of the Twins hit a go-ahead ninth-inning homer in the 10-9 win over the Indians. Hunter also doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs.
Hunter earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 115.9 for his career, rising to 43rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his point Friday, Hunter passes Tim Lincecum (115.0) on the “all-time” list. He trails 42nd-place player Todd Helton (116.4). Hunter’s 115.9 career Box-Toppers points ranks fifth among active AL batters.
Hunter also has 8.0 Box-Toppers points this season and ranks third among AL batters behind Mike Trout of the Angels (10.0) and Lorenzo Cain of the Royals (8.2).
National League Batter of the Day—Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies hit a go-ahead, eighth-inning grand slam in the 5-4 win over the Nationals. Gonzalez went 2-for-4 in the game.
Gonzalez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season and ranks fourth among NL batters.
Rankings—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom extended his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
deGrom (6.1IP 6H 2R 7K ND in the 4-3 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.4 for the season. He has led players in Box-Toppers points since July 26.
Notable—Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates rose to second place among NL batters in Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. McCutchen (2B 2-3 2R BI in the 10-inning 5-4 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.5 for the season. He ranks 32nd among all players. McCutchen trails overall NL batting leader Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals (9.5 Box-Toppers points).
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debuts Friday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Rusney Castillo of the Red Sox (3-5 3R BI in the 7-2 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut Sept. 17, 2014, and was playing in his 47th career game. He is the 3,552nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Phillies pitcher Hector Neris (1IP H 0R 2K W in the 4-3, 12-inning win over the Padres) made his Major League debut Aug. 5, 2014, and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,553rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Anderson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gray earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Hunter and Gonzalez each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/7 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | Dbacks | Chase Anderson (W,5-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| AL | 7.0 | Athletics | Sonny Gray (W,12-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| 6.0 | Cardinals | Carlos Villanueva (S,2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Twins | Torii Hunter, RF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.1 | `Mets | Jacob deGrom | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Rockies | Carlos Gonzalez, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Angels | C.J. Cron, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.2 | Cubs | Hector Rondon (S,18) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Red Sox | Rusney Castillo, RF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Braves | Nick Markakis, RF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Pirates | Andrew McCutchen, CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Royals | Edinson Volquez (W,11-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | Phillies | Hector Neris (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | Mariners | Hisashi Iwakuma (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 1.0 | Blue Jays | Roberto Osuna (S,9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||