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 |
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.
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
| 7/19 | 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
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 | +/- |
| 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 |