Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fourth in season player rankings.
Also Saturday, Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rises to sixth in Box-Toppers player rankings and Ryan Howard of the Phillies earns Player of the Game honors for the second straight day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 1.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.0 |
| 3 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 15.4 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.0 |
| 5 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 14.4 |
| 6 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 13.7 |
| 7 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 13.1 |
| 8 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 13.1 |
| 9 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.0 |
| 10 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 13.0 |
Player of the Day—Kershaw pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out seven, in the 3-1 win over the Angels.
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 15.0 for the season, rising to fourth place among all players and third among National League pitchers, behind overall leader Jacob deGrom of the Mets (16.4) and Max Scherzer of the Nationals (16.0). Kershaw led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2014 with 31.5.
Kershaw also rises to 18th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when record keeping began. Kershaw has 148.6 career Box-Toppers points and with his points Saturday passes two players on the “all-time” list—Jim Thome (146.7) and Javier Vazquez (148.3). He trails 17th-place player, Chipper Jones (149.0).
American League Player of the Day—Travis Shaw of the Red Sox hit two home runs, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring five times and driving in three runs, in the 11-7 win over the Rays.
This was Shaw’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut May 8 and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,544th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—Lucas Duda of the Mets homered twice, doubled and went 3-for-3, driving in three runs, in the 3-2 win over the Nationals.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day Saturday because the overall AL Player of the Day is a batter (Travis Shaw).
Rankings—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rose to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Keuchel (6IP 2H 2R 8K W in the 9-2 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.7 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.
Notable—Ryan Howard of the Phillies earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Saturday. Howard (2B 3-4 2R BI in the 12-2 win over the Braves) was also NL Batter of the Day Friday. Howard has 4.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, 17th among NL batters. He has 95.7 for his career, 74th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began) and first among active NL first basemen.
Debuts—In addition to Shaw, three other players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, earning their first career Player of the Game honors:
- Athletics pitcher Aaron Brooks (7.1IP 5H R 5K W in the 5-1 win over the Indians) made his Major League debut May 3, 2014, and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,545th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Giants pitcher Hunter Strickland (2IP 0H 0R K W in the 9-7 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2014, and was playing in his 37th career game. He is the 3,546th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Ben Paulsen of the Rockies (HR 2B 2-5 R 3BI in the 6-2 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut July 21, 2014, and was playing in his 95th career game. He is the 3,547th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Shaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Duda earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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
| 8/1 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W,9-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| AL | 8.0 | Red Sox | Travis Shaw, 3B | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.1 | Athletics | Aaron Brooks (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Mets | Lucas Duda, 1B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Orioles | Kevin Gausman (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | Cubs | Kyle Hendricks (W,5-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | Astros | Dallas Keuchel (W,13-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 4.2 | White Sox | John Danks (W,6-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | ||
| 4.0 | Royals | Ben Zobrist, LF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Giants | Hunter Strickland (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Phillies | Ryan Howard, 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Reds | Eugenio Suarez, SS | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Padres | Craig Kimbrel (S,31) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Twins | Trevor May (W,7-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Rockies | Ben Paulsen, 1B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |