Yankees pitcher James Paxton is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Paxton struck out 12 over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 10-1 win over the Rangers.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2019 season through the games of Sept. 3.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 24.2 |
| 2 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 23.8 |
| 3 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 4 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | tb al | 16.8 |
| 5 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 16.7 |
| 6 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 16.1 |
| 7 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.4 |
| 8 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.4 |
| 9 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | sp pi | dc nl | 14.4 |
| 10 | Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Paxton earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.1 for the season, 26th among all players and 11th among American League pitchers.
Paxton becomes the 39th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his third straight season with 10 or more points. In 2017, he had 13.7 points with the Mariners, seventh among AL pitchers and in 2018, he had 17.0 points with the Mariners, ninth among AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty struck out eight over eight scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 1-0 win over the Giants.
Flaherty earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 11.4 for the season, 23rd among all players and 14th among NL pitchers.
Flaherty becomes the 40th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his second straight season with 10 or more points. In 2018, he had 13.1 points with the Cardinals, ninth among NL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Juan Soto of the Nationals homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 11-10 win over the Mets.
American League Batter of the Day—Jorge Soler of the Royals hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 6-5 win over the Tigers.
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 226.5 |
| 4 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 203.4 |
| 5 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | hou al | 202.4 |
| 6 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 201.9 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 200.8 |
| 8 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 196.2 |
| 9 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 10 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | retired | 187.0 |
| 11 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 174.1 |
| 12 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 172.6 |
| 13 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | chi nl | 172.2 |
| 14 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 15 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 16 | Johan Santana | pi sp | retired | 166.6 |
| 17 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 18 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 19 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 20 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | free agent | 155.9 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
List of top 100 players since 1995 as of the 2019 All-Star break.
Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to 12th place on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list (tracking began in 1995) after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Lester (6IP 6H 0R 4BB 9K W in the 6-1 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 172.6 career points, passing teammate Cole Hamels (172.2) on the “all-time” list. Lester now trails 11th-place player, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (174.1) by 1.5 points. Passing Hamels, Lester now ranks eighth among active players in career points.
Lester now has 8.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 23rd among NL pitchers, earning his first point since July 13.
Scoring—Paxton earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Flaherty earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Soto and Soler each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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.
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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (BTG)| 9/3 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +17.0 | NYY 10, TEX 1 | James Paxton (W, 12‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | |
| NL | +14.0 | STL 1, SF 0 | Jack Flaherty (W, 9‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| +11.0 | ARI 2, SD 1 | Merrill Kelly (W, 10‑13) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | WSH 11, NYM 10 | Juan Soto LF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +5.0 | KC 6, DET 5 | Jorge Soler DH | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | CHC 6, SEA 1 | Jon Lester (W, 12‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | ||
| +4.0 | CHW 6, CLE 5 | Eloy Jimenez LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | TB 2, BAL 0 | Diego Castillo (W, 3‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | ATL 7, TOR 2 | Josh Donaldson 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | MIL 4, HOU 2 | Eric Thames 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | OAK 7, LAA 5 | Seth Brown LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | LAD 5, COL 3 | Russell Martin C | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | BAL 4, TB 2 | Rio Ruiz 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | MIN 6, BOS 5 | Miguel Sano 3B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | PHI 6, CIN 2 | J.T. Realmuto C | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | MIA 5, PIT 4 (F/10) | Jose Urena (S, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` 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 Player of the Game winners. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’19). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’18-19), the period 2014-2019 (’14-19) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2019 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2018 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’19 | ’18‑19 | ’14‑19 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flaherty, Jack 3971 | pi sp | stl nl | 11.4 | 24.5 | 24.5 | 24.5 | -1.7 |
| Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | nyy al | 11.1 | 28.1 | 50.2 | 52.9 | -5.9 |
| Soler, Jorge 3403 | dh | kc al | 8.7 | 10.2 | 16.9 | 16.9 | +7.2 |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.0 | 18.7 | 79.9 | 172.6 | -2.7 |
| Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | atl nl | 7.5 | 7.5 | 45.6 | 55.1 | +7.5 |
| Jimenez, Eloy 4107 | lf | chi al | 7.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | +7.5 |
| Realmuto, J.T. 3491 | ca | phi nl | 7.0 | 12.5 | 27.0 | 27.0 | +1.5 |
| Soto, Juan 3994 | lf | dc nl | 6.0 | 13.5 | 13.5 | 13.5 | -1.5 |
| Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | ari nl | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | +6.0 |
| Thames, Eric 2909 | 1b ph | mil nl | 3.5 | 3.5 | 7.5 | 10.0 | +3.5 |
| Brown, Seth 4239 | lf ph | oak al | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | +3.5 |
| Sano, Miguel 3527 | 3b ph | min al | 3.0 | 7.0 | 24.5 | 24.5 | -1.0 |
| Urena, Jose 3492 | pi sp | fla nl | 2.0 | 12.7 | 22.4 | 22.4 | -8.7 |
| Castillo, Diego 3995 | pi cp mr | tb al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Ruiz, Rio 3906 | 3b | bal al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +2.0 |
| Martin, Russell 2202 | ca | lad nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 23.0 | 56.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Box-Toppers
Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.