Pitchers earned more Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors than batters in 2015, earned the most Box-Toppers points and far and away had the most Player of the Day honors.
In a comprehensive look at all 2,429 Major League baseball games played and tracked in 2015 by Box-Toppers, here are some key statistics:
Most Box-Toppers Player of the Day honors in 2015
Here are 12 players who earned Box-Toppers Player of the Day honors four or more times in 2015. Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta and Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw led all players by earning Player of the Day honors eight times each during the season. Players are listed by number of times they earned Player of the Day (PoD). Also listed are their Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2015 and their rank among all players in Box-Toppers points.| PoD | Player | Team | BTP | Rank |
| 8 | Jake Arrieta | Cubs | 29.1 | 1 |
| 8 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | 25.7 | 2 |
| 7 | Max Scherzer | Nationals | 21.0 | 6 |
| 6 | Madison Bumgarner | Giants | 17.0 | 13 |
| 5 | Carlos Carrasco | Indians | 18.0 | 11 |
| 5 | Chris Archer | Rays | 16.0 | 14 |
| 4 | Jacob deGrom | Mets | 22.4 | 3 |
| 4 | Dallas Keuchel | Astros | 21.4 | 4 |
| 4 | Felix Hernandez | Mariners | 19.4 | 8 |
| 4 | Gerrit Cole | Pirates | 19.0 | 9 |
| 4 | Stephen Strasburg | Nationals | 14.0 | 18 |
| 4 | Shelby Miller | Cardinals | 10.0 | 44 |
Pitchers earned Player of the Game honors more frequently
Pitchers won Player of the Game honors in 1,422 games, while batters were top player in a team win in 1,007 games. That means pitchers won Player of the Game in 58.5 percent of games, while batters won in 41.5 percent.
Pitchers earned the most Box-Toppers points
Pitchers outearned batters in Box-Toppers points in 2015 by 1,688.1 to 1,190. That means pitchers had 58.7 percent of all 2,878.1 Box-Toppers points awarded in 2015.
Pitchers had the most Player of the Day honors
But the statistic in which pitchers blew away batters was the number of Player of the Day honors. Of the 179 days in the 2015 season, pitchers earned Player of the Day honors 166 times, compared to only 13 for batters. That means pitchers earned 92.7 percent of all Player of the Day honors in 2015.
Why is this? Pitchers have more potential to earn higher Box-Toppers game scores than batters, which makes sense if you consider that pitchers are directly involved in and contributing to each play and can be involved for roughly half the game, while batters are involved in maybe 10 percent of the play while their teams are at bat.
In the 2,429 games played in 2015, pitchers who earned Player of the Game honors had the 121 highest Box-Toppers game scores. Of the 338 highest Box-Toppers game scores in 2015, batters are represented only 16 times.
Earning Player of the Day honors so frequently helps boost pitchers overall Box-Toppers points. A player who earns Player of the Day receives a bonus Box-Toppers point, earning 2.0 points each time they are the day’s top player.
Pitchers earned more league Player of the Day honors
Pitchers also outearned batters in league Player of the Day honors. These are given to the top player of the day in his league who does not earn overall Player of the Day honors. Players who win American League or National League Player of the Day honors earn 1.7 Box-Toppers points (receiving 0.7 bonus Box-Toppers points).
League Player of the Day honors were awarded in 178 days during 2015, more frequently in the AL (100) than the NL (78), meaning that NL players more frequently won overall Player of the Day honors.
Of the 100 AL Player of the Day honors, 80 were won by pitchers and 20 by batters.
Of the 78 NL Player of the Day honors, 63 were won by pitchers and 15 by batters.
That means pitchers won 80.3 percent of all league Player of the Day honors, still an overwhelming majority, but less than the 92.7 percent of all overall Player of the Day honors.
Batters who earned Box-Toppers Player of the Day in 2015
In the 179 days of the 2015 season, batters won Player of the Day honors 13 times, with pitchers winning the other 166 times. Here are the 13 times batters earned Player of the Day honors in 2015, listed chronologically. Also shown is each batter's Box-Toppers game score (Score) on the day they were top player. For details of each player’s performance that earned them Player of the Day honors, click the date link to see that day’s Box-Toppers report.| Date | Score | Player | Team |
| 4/25 | 5.0 | Giancarlo Stanton RF | Marlins |
| 5/6 | 7.0 | Bryce Harper RF | Nationals |
| 5/7 | 11.0 | Yasmani Grandal C | Dodgers |
| 5/9 | 6.0 | Gerardo Parra CF | Brewers |
| 7/20 | 5.0 | Albert Pujols, 1B | Angels |
| 8/13 | 6.0 | Billy Hamilton, CF | Reds |
| 8/15 | 11.0 | Jackie Bradley Jr., RF | Red Sox |
| 8/22 | 8.0 | Josh Donaldson, 3B | Blue Jays |
| 8/29 | 11.0 | Edwin Encarnacion, DH | Blue Jays |
| 9/3 | 6.0 | Carlos Gonzalez, RF | Rockies |
| 9/7 | 6.0 | Jackie Bradley Jr., RF | Red Sox |
| 9/18 | 8.0 | Starlin Castro, 2B | Cubs |
| 9/24 | 6.0 | Mike Moustakas, 3B | Royals |
League Batter of the Day honors
During 2015, there were 291 times when batters won league Batter of the Day honors.
These are given to the top AL and NL batters who earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors and who did not otherwise win overall Player of the Day or league Player of the Day honors. Winning Batter of the Day honors is worth 1.5 Box-Toppers points (with the bonus 0.5 points). So without this bonus, batters would have earned 145.5 fewer points or about 12 percent of batters’ total 1,190 points earned in 2015. (Though it should be noted that pitchers twice won league Batter of the Day honors in 2015—Steven Matz of the Mets won on June 28 and Francisco Liriano of the Pirates won on Aug. 8. They were among seven pitchers who earned Player of the Game honors for batting.)
Bonus points
Box-Toppers bonus points of some kind for Player of the Day, league Player of the Day or league Batter of the Day were awarded in 648 of the 2,429 games played. So bonus points were awarded in more than a quarter of all games—26.7 percent.
There were 449.1 bonus points awarded during 2015, which is 15.6 percent of all 2,878.1 points awarded in 2015.
No-decision pitchers earning Player of the Game honors
Pitchers who did not earn a win or save won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors 230 times in 2015. That means no-decision pitchers won 16.1 percent of all 1,422 Player of the Game honors won by pitchers in 2015.
There were 11 no-decision pitchers who earned overall Player of the Day honors. No-decision pitchers won league Player of the Day honors 22 times.
Box-Toppers awards pitchers who made key contributions to their team’s win even if they did not earn the win or save.
Most Player of the Day honors
Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta and Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw each won Player of the Day honors eight times during 2015, the most of any player.
Unsurprisingly, Arrieta and Kershaw were the top two players in Box-Toppers points in 2015, boosted by the 16.0 Box-Toppers points they each earned for their Player of the Day honors. Arrieta led all players with 29.1 Box-Toppers points. Kershaw was second with 25.7.
There were 12 players—all pitchers—who had four or more Player of the Day honors in 2015. There were 32 players who earned Player of the Day honors more than once and only one of them was a batter. Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox led batters in Player of the Day honors with two—on Aug. 15 and Sept. 7. Bradley had 9.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, eighth among AL batters.
Lowest Box-Toppers game score to earn Player of the Game honors
0.0—Tigers pitcher Matt Boyd on Aug. 5 had the 2,429th-ranked Box-Toppers game score to earn Player of the Game honors in 2015. Boyd allowed one run and seven hits over seven innings, striking out two and earning the win, in the 2-1 win over the Royals.
Lowest Box-Toppers game score to earn bonus points
0.0—David Peralta of the Diamondbacks earned NL Batter of the Day honors (earning the bonus 0.5 Box-Toppers points) with the lowest Box-Toppers game score by a Player of the Game on June 13. No other NL batter earned Player of the Game honors that day—in the seven other games won by NL teams, pitchers earned Player of the Game honors. Peralta went 2-for-4, scoring once, driving in a run and stealing a base, in the 4-2 win over the Giants. Peralta’s game score, based on tiebreakers with others who scored 0.0, was ranked 2,417th among the 2,429 Players of the Game in 2015.
Lowest Box-Toppers game score to earn league Player of the Day honors
+3.0—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers earned AL Player of the Day honors (earning the bonus 0.7 Box-Toppers points) on Sept. 28. McCullers struck out seven over six innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 3-2 win over the Mariners. McCuller’s game score ranks 1,634th among the 2,429 Players of the Game in 2015.
Lowest Box-Toppers game score to earn Player of the Day honors
+5.0—Indians pitcher Danny Salazar earned overall Player of the Day honors (earning the bonus 1.0 Box-Toppers point for a total of 2.0) on Aug. 17. Salazar allowed one run and four hits over seven innings, striking out five, in the 8-2 win over the Red Sox. Salazar’s game score ranks 885th among the 2,429 games.
Highest Box-Toppers game score to earn no bonus Box-Toppers points
+16.0—Red Sox pitcher Rich Hill had the 28th best Box-Toppers game score for a Player of the Game in 2015 on Sept. 25, but earned no bonus Box-Toppers points. Hill had the second-highest score of the day, behind Player of the Day, Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +21.0, the fourth-highest score in 2015 for a Player of the Game. Hill pitched a complete game, two-hit shutout, walking one and striking out 10, in the 7-0 win over the Orioles. So despite having a Box-Toppers game score of +16, Hill received only 1.0 Box-Toppers point, while Danny Salazar, with a Box-Toppers game score on Aug. 17 of just +5.0, earned Player of the Day honors and 2.0 Box-Toppers points.
2,429 games?
Yes. That was the total number of games played in 2015. There are 2,430 games scheduled each season (162 games times 30 teams divided by 2), but one rainout between the Tigers and Indians was not made up at the end of the season, so both teams ended up playing 161 games and leaving baseball one game short of a full and complete 2,430-game season.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers points are a measure of how much a player provides key contributions to his team’s wins. Specifically, 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.