Giants' Madison Bumgarner tops players in NL Wild Card Game win over Mets

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s National League Wild Card game.

Bumgarner pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, striking out six and walking two, in the 3-0 win over the Mets.

Bumgarner had a Box-Toppers game score of +9.0. Third baseman Conor Gillaspie who hit the ninth-inning, three-run homer that put the Giants ahead, had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (HR 2-4 R 3BI).

Bumgarner had 13.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 19th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers. Over the past two seasons, Bumgarner has 30.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked seventh among NL pitchers. Gillaspie had 2.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season.

The Giants, 10th-ranked in Box-Toppers team rankings (112.7), beat the Mets, ranked sixth (119.1). The Giants are the lowest-ranked team to qualify for the postseason but among the 10 teams in the playoffs, they were hottest down the stretch—in the season’s final 10 games, they picked up 8.7 Box-Toppers points.

The Giants will face the Cubs in the best-of-five NL Divisional Series beginning Friday in Chicago. The Cubs have baseball’s best record and highest accumulated Box-Toppers point total of 139.5.

Top player from NL Wild Card Game

BTG Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
9.0 SF 3, NYM 0 Madison Bumgarner (W,1-0) - - - - 9.0 4 0 0 2 6
BTG: Box-Toppers game score

Coming Thursday: The American League begins both division playoff series:

AL Division Series, Game 1: Blue Jays at Rangers

The Blue Jays rank 10th in Box-Toppers team rankings (114.0 Box-Toppers points) while the Rangers rank fifth (122.5). In the final 10 days of the season, the Rangers picked up 7.5 Box-Toppers points while the Blue Jays picked up 6.0.

The pitching matchup Thursday:

Blue Jays—Marco Estrada, 11.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 37th among all players, 15th among AL pitchers.

Rangers—Cole Hamels, 17.8 Box-Toppers points, ranked sixth among all players, second among AL pitchers.

The Blue Jays have three players who are among the top 10 in their Box-Toppers category:

  • J.A. Happ, 14.7 Box-Toppers points, ranks third among AL pitchers.
  • Catcher Russell Martin, 10.5 Box-Toppers points, ranks sixth among AL batters.
  • Third baseman Josh Donaldson, 9.7 Box-Toppers poitns, ranks seventh among AL batters.

The Rangers also have three players who are among the top 10 in their Box-Toppers category:

  • Hamels, 17.8 Box-Toppers points, second among AL pitchers, sixth among all players.
  • Third baseman Adrian Beltre, 9.5 Box-Toppers points, eighth among AL batters.
  • Shortstop Elvis Andrus, 9.2 Box-Toppers points, 10th among AL batters.

Blue Jays vs. Rangers

Here are players for both teams in the AL Divisional Series beginning Thursday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2016. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.  

Toronto Blue Jays Texas Rangers
Player Pos BTP Player Pos BTP
Happ, J.A. 2536 pi sp 14.7 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp 17.8
Estrada, Marco 2847 pi sp 11.0 Darvish, Yu 3003 pi sp 10.4
Sanchez, Aaron 3392 pi sp 10.7 Beltre, Adrian 1141 3b 9.5
Martin, Russell 2202 ca 10.5 Andrus, Elvis 2582 ss 9.2
Donaldson, Josh 3144 3b 9.7 Lewis, Colby 1567 pi sp 7.7
Liriano, Francisco 2104 pi sp 8.0 Mazara, Nomar 3614 rf lf 7.0
Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 dh 1b 8.0 Odor, Rougned 3336 2b 6.5
Dickey, R.A. 1734 pi sp 7.0 Beltran, Carlos 1194 dh rf 6.0
Stroman, Marcus 3327 pi sp 6.7 Lucroy, Jonathan 2744 ca 5.7
Saunders, Michael 2768 lf 5.2 Griffin, A.J. 3074 pi sp 5.7
Smoak, Justin 2731 1b 3.5 Gomez, Carlos 2397 lf 4.5
Osuna, Roberto 3512 pi cp 3.0 Holland, Derek 2634 pi sp 4.0
Upton, Melvin 1922 lf cf 2.5 Desmond, Ian 2673 cf lf 4.0
Pillar, Kevin 3486 cf 2.0 Moreland, Mitch 2799 1b 3.5
Biagini, Joe 3646 pi mr 2.0 Harrell, Lucas 2988 pi sp 3.0
Goins, Ryan 3478 2b 1.5 Rua, Ryan 3631 1b lf 3.0
Bautista, Jose 2169 rf 1.0 DeShields, Delino 3557 cf lf 2.0
Tulowitzki, Troy 2308 ss 1.0 Perez, Martin 3213 pi sp 2.0
Bolsinger, Mike 3318 pi sp 1.0 Barnette, Tony 3670 pi mr 2.0
Grilli, Jason 2209 pi mr cp 1.0 Bush, Matt 3673 pi mr cp 2.0
Travis, Devon 3436 2b 1.0 Tolleson, Shawn 3077 pi cp 1.0
Benoit, Joaquin 1663 pi mr 1.0 Choo, Shin-Soo 2267 rf 1.0
Cecil, Brett 2566 pi mr 1.0 Claudio, Alex 3459 pi mr 1.0
Navarro, Dioner 2087 dh ca 1.0 Jeffress, Jeremy 3473 pi cp 1.0
Diekman, Jake 3266 pi mr 1.0
Alvarez, Dario 3663 pi mr 1.0
Profar, Jurickson 3665 ph 1.0
Totals 114.0 Totals 122.5
What are those numbers after players' names?

AL Division Series, Game 1: Red Sox at Indians

The Red Sox rank second in Box-Toppers team rankings (128.3 Box-Toppers points) while the Indians rank fourth (123.7). In the final 10 days of the season, the Indians picked up 6.0 Box-Toppers points while the Red Sox picked up 5.0.

The pitching matchup Thursday:

Red Sox—Rick Porcello, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, 91st among all players, 31st among AL pitchers. (Despite leading all pitchers with 22 wins, Porcello did not rank highly in Box-Toppers player rankings in 2016.

Indians—Trevor Bauer, 11.4 Box-Toppers points, 34th among all players, 12th among AL pitchers. (Bauer ranks higher than Porcello in Box-Toppers player rankings but has 10 fewer wins—he was 12-8 in 2016.)

The Red Sox are the AL’s top-ranked team in Box-Toppers points, but have only one player ranked in the top 10 in a Box-Toppers category—David Price, 12.4 Box-Toppers points, ranks ninth among AL pitchers.

The Indians have three pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 pitchers list, none of whom is starting Game 1:

  • Corey Kluber, 21.2 Box-Toppers points, ranks first among AL pitchers and fifth among all players.
  • Danny Salazar, 12.5 Box-Toppers points, ranks eighth among AL pitchers.
  • Carlos Carrasco, 12.4 Box-Toppers points, ranks 10th among AL pitchers.

Red Sox vs. Indians

Here are players for both teams in the AL Divisional Series beginning Thursday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2016. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.  

Boston Red Sox Cleveland Indians
Player Pos BTP Player Pos BTP
Price, David 2593 pi sp 12.4 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp 21.2
Pomeranz, Drew 3061 pi sp 12.4 Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp 12.5
Wright, Steven 3224 pi sp 8.4 Carrasco, Carlos 2885 pi sp 12.4
Kimbrel, Craig 2825 pi cp 8.0 Bauer, Trevor 3065 pi sp 11.4
Ortiz, David dh 8.0 Miller, Andrew 2436 pi cp mr 8.0
Porcello, Rick 2573 pi sp 8.0 Allen, Cody 3265 pi cp mr 7.0
Shaw, Travis 3544 1b 3b 7.0 Lindor, Francisco 3586 ss 7.0
Ramirez, Hanley 2119 1b 7.0 Napoli, Mike 2161 1b 6.5
Betts, Mookie 3404 rf 6.2 Tomlin, Josh 2771 pi sp 5.0
Bradley, Jackie Jr. 3293 cf 5.5 Chisenhall, Lonnie 2959 rf 3.5
Hill, Aaron 2056 2b 5.5 Crisp, Coco 1876 lf 3.0
Buchholz, Clay 2363 pi sp 5.0 Otero, Dan 3365 pi mr 3.0
Pedroia, Dustin 2320 2b 5.0 Shaw, Bryan 2995 pi mr 3.0
Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 pi sp 4.7 Clevinger, Mike 3707 pi mr sp 3.0
Uehara, Koji 2802 pi cp 4.0 Byrd, Marlon 1751 rf 2.5
Ross, Robbie Jr. 2999 pi cp mr sp 3.0 Santana, Carlos 2757 dh 1b 2.5
Leon, Sandy 3676 ca 3.0 Almonte, Abraham 3554 rf ph 2.0
Holt, Brock 3340 3b lf 2.5 Naquin, Tyler 3662 cf ph 2.0
Ziegler, Brad 2504 pi cp 2.0 Anderson, Cody 3509 pi sp 1.7
Abad, Fernando 3653 pi mr 2.0 Ramirez, Jose 3436 3b 1.5
Hembree, Heath 3620 pi cp 1.7 Brantley, Michael 2785 lf 1.0
Swihart, Blake 3565 lf ca 1.0 McAllister, Zach 3088 pi mr sp 1.0
Kelly, Joe 3066 pi sp 1.0 Gomes, Yan 3177 ca 1.0
Bogaerts, Xander 3383 ss 1.0 Guyer, Brandon 3363 lf 1.0
Hanigan, Ryan 2708 ca 1.0 Gimenez, Chris 2870 ca 1.0
Tazawa, Junichi 3151 pi mr 1.0
Vazquez, Christian 3380 ca 1.0
Brentz, Bryce 3680 lf 1.0
Totals 128.3 Totals 123.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.