Three of the four leaders in Box-Toppers player categories added to their point totals during the past week.
The only one who didn’t (Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies) had a good reason—he underwent surgery and is out for the season.
Top players
Through Thursday, Aug. 21| OVERALL LEADERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 23.8 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 21.1 |
| 3 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 18.9 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.4 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 17.4 |
| 6 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 16.1 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 15.8 |
| 8 | Richards, Garrett 3042 | pi sp | ana al | 15.7 |
| 9 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 15.0 |
| 10 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 14.7 |
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 21.1 |
| 2 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.4 |
| 3 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 16.1 |
| 4 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 15.8 |
| 5 | Richards, Garrett 3042 | pi sp | ana al | 15.7 |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 14.7 |
| 7 | Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | oak al | 14.1 |
| 8 | Hughes, Phil 2272 | pi sp | min al | 13.1 |
| 9 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 12.7 |
| 10 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 12.4 |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Abreu, Jose 3308 | 1b | chi al | 14.5 |
| 2 | Jones, Adam 2347 | cf | bal al | 9.5 |
| 3 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | oak al | 9.0 |
| 4 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 8.5 |
| 5 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | 1b dh lf | tor al | 8.0 |
| 6 | Carter, Chris 2828 | dh | hou al | 8.0 |
| 7 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | lf | bos al | 8.0 |
| 8 | Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 7.5 |
| 9 | Murphy, David 2348 | rf | cle al | 6.5 |
| 10 | Colabello, Chris 3235 | 1b dh rf | min al | 6.2 |
| NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 23.8 |
| 2 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 18.9 |
| 3 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 17.4 |
| 4 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 15.0 |
| 5 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.8 |
| 6 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.7 |
| 7 | Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 12.4 |
| 8 | Fister, Doug 2688 | pi sp | dc nl | 11.4 |
| 9 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | atl nl | 11.0 |
| 10 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | atl nl | 11.0 |
| NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Tulowitzki, Troy 2308 | ss | col nl | 11.6 |
| 2 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 7.7 |
| 3 | Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | nym nl | 7.0 |
| 4 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 6.7 |
| 5 | Lucroy, Jonathan 2744 | ca | mil nl | 6.7 |
| 6 | McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | cf | pit nl | 6.5 |
| 7 | Morse, Michael 2020 | lf 1b | sf nl | 6.5 |
| 8 | Yelich, Christian 3334 | lf | fla nl | 6.5 |
| 9 | Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | atl nl | 6.2 |
| 10 | Howard, Ryan 2040 | 1b | phi nl | 6.2 |
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw added 1.7 Box-Toppers points during the past week and now has 23.8 to lead all players and all National League pitchers.
Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer added 1.0 Box-Toppers point during the past week and now has 21.1 to lead all American League pitchers.
Jose Abreu of the White Sox added 1.5 Box-Toppers points during the past week and now has 14.5 to lead all AL batters.
Tulowitzki, on the disabled list and out for the season, was unable to add to point total—he leads NL batters with 11.6 Box-Toppers points.
These four players have led these categories since the July 3 player rankings report. In that week, Kershaw (then with 14.4 Box-Toppers points) passed Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwight, who had 14.0 Box-Toppers points. Wainwright now has 15.0 points and ranks ninth among all players and fourth among NL pitchers. Scherzer (then with 14.4 Box-Toppers points) passed Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, who had 12.7 Box-Toppers points. Tanaka, who went on the disabled list in early July, still has 12.7 points and ranks ninth among AL pitchers.
Notable: Angels pitcher Garrett Richards, ranked eighth overall with 15.7 Box-Toppers points, tore his knee tendon this week and is out for the season. He ranks fifth among AL pitchers and has the most Box-Toppers points among all Angels 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.