Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 29:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 18.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
| 5 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 6 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.4 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.0 |
| 10 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.7 |
Martinez struck out 13 over six innings, allowing one run, four hits and two walks, in the 6-5 win over the Brewers. Martinez did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because after he exited, the Brewers went ahead before the Cardinals came back to take the lead in the ninth inning.
American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Joe Musgrove pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing three hits and three walks, in the 6-0 win over the Athletics.
American League Batter of the Day—Mike Trout of the Angels homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-2 win over the Reds.
Trout earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.0 points for the season. He becomes the 33rd player—and fifth batter—this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 32nd among all players and third among AL batters, behind Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5) and Manny Machado of the Orioles (11.7). This is Trout’s second straight 10-point season, his third overall.
Trout had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +3.0 and had an identical line score (HR 2B 3-4 2R 2BI) with teammate C.J. Cron. But Trout won Player of the Game honors on a tiebreaker because he had one walk and Cron had none.
National League Batter of the Day—Jorge Soler of the Cubs homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, driving in two runs, in the 8-7, 13-inning win over the Pirates.
Notable—Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of the 13 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday.
Bauer (6IP 5H 0R BB 4K ND in the 1-0, 10-inning win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season. He ranks 19th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers.
Also notable—Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark became the 32nd player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Roark (7IP 4H 0R BB 5K W in the 4-0 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He ranks 25th among all players and 15th among NL pitchers.
Additionally notable—Carlos Beltran of the Rangers now has 103.9 career Box-Toppers points—64th-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Beltran (HR 2B 3-4 2R 2BI in the 6-3 win over the Mariners) passes Red Sox pitcher David Price (103.2) on the “all-time” list and now trails 63rd-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Beltran has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season. This was his first Player of the Game honor since being traded from the Yankees.
Beltran had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +3.0, tied with AL Batter of the Day Mike Trout. Both Beltran and Trout had identical line scores, but Trout won AL Batter of the Day honors on a tiebreaker because he had fewer strikeouts than Beltran—zero vs. one.
Debut—Mets pitcher Josh Smoker made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Smoker (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut Aug. 19 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,725th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Martinez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Musgrove earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Trout and Soler each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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
| 8/29 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | `STL 6, MIL 5 | Carlos Martinez | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 13 | |
| 7.0 | WSH 4, PHI 0 | Tanner Roark (W,14-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 7.0 | COL 8, LAD 1 | Jon Gray (W,9-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| AL | 6.1 | HOU 6, OAK 0 | Joe Musgrove (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | |
| 4.0 | TOR 5, BAL 1 | Marco Estrada (W,8-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | `CLE 1, MIN 0 (10) | Trevor Bauer | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | LAA 9, CIN 2 | Mike Trout, CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | TEX 6, SEA 3 | Carlos Beltran, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | KC 8, NYY 5 | Dillon Gee (W,6-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | NYM 2, MIA 1 (10) | Josh Smoker (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 9, TB 4 | Travis Shaw, 3B-1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | CHC 8, PIT 7 (13) | Jorge Soler, LF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.0 | DET 4, CHW 3 | Francisco Rodriguez (S,37) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| `Denotes that the 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 Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 11.4 | 20.8 | 29.5 | 29.5 | 2.0 |
| Roark, Tanner 3261 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.7 | 11.7 | 26.7 | 26.7 | 9.7 |
| Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 10.0 | 22.0 | 46.5 | 46.5 | -2.0 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 9.7 | 23.4 | 24.4 | 24.4 | -4.0 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 8.0 | 16.0 | 40.1 | 40.1 | 0.0 |
| Shaw, Travis 3544 | 1b 3b | bos al | 5.5 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 1.3 |
| Beltran, Carlos 1194 | dh rf | tex al | 5.0 | 8.5 | 25.9 | 103.9 | 1.5 |
| Gray, Jon 3634 | pi sp | col nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Gee, Dillon 2808 | pi sp | kc al | 4.7 | 5.7 | 32.5 | 33.5 | 3.7 |
| Rodriguez, Francisco 1707 | pi cp | det al | 3.0 | 4.0 | 17.0 | 63.4 | 2.0 |
| Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | hou al | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| Soler, Jorge 3403 | lf | chi nl | 2.5 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | -0.7 |
| Smoker, Josh 3725 | pi cp | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |