Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Godley is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of July 27:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 17.1 |
| 4 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.0 |
| 5 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.4 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 12.4 |
| 7 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 |
| 8 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 11.4 |
| 9 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 11.0 |
| 10 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.7 |
Also Thursday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, ranked second in Box-Toppers season player rankings, earns Player of the Game honors. He becomes the second player this season with 20 Box-Toppers points, his fourth straight season with 20 points. Also, he rises to 19th place onBox-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list.
Player of the Day—Godley pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing four hits and two walks, in the 4-0 win over the Cardinals.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees closing pitcher Aroldis Chapman struck out four over two scoreless innings, allowing no hits, no walks and earning the win, in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the Rays.
National League Batter of the Day—Kyle Schwarber of the Cubs hit two home runs, tripled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 6-3 win over the White Sox.
American League Batter of the Day—Kendrys Morales of the Blue Jays hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring three times, in the 8-4, 10-inning win over the Athletics.
Rankings—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, ranked second in Box-Toppers season player rankings, edges closer to points leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 205.8 |
| 4 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 191.0 |
| 6 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 185.3 |
| 8 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 171.4 |
| 9 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 10 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 168.5 |
| 11 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 12 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 13 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 14 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 15 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 17 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 18 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 151.9 |
| 19 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 151.7 |
| 20 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the close of the 2016 season.
Scherzer (6IP 3H R 3BB 9K W in the 15-2 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 20.0 for the season. He now trails Kershaw (22.1) by 2.1 points, meaning that it would take Scherzer at least two starts to take the lead. Kershaw is currently on the 10-day disabled list with back issues and is expected to be out until at least late August or early September.
Scherzer becomes the second player this season with 20 or more Box-Toppers points. It is the fourth straight season Scherzer has reached 20 points:
- In 2014, he had 22.1 points with the Tigers, fifth among all players.
- In 2015, he had 21.0 points with the Nationals, sixth among all players.
- In 2016, he had 25.7 points, to lead all players.
Scherzer also rises to 19th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Thursday, Scherzer passes two players on the “all-time” list—Twins pitcher Bartolo Colon (151.2) and Greg Maddux (151.7). Scherzer now trails 18th-ranked player, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (151.9).
Though Scherzer and Maddux have the same Box-Toppers point total since 1995 (151.7), Scherzer ranks ahead because he’s earned points more recently. And it should be noted that Maddux would have far more Box-Toppers points if his entire career (from 1986) were tracked. Projections put Maddux’s actual career total at 250.
Colon falls out of the top 20 on the “all-time” career points to 21st place. He had been among the top 20 players since Oct. 1, 2016.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Marlins pitcher Chris O’Grady (7IP 5H 0R 2BB 5K W in the 4-1 win over the Reds) made his Major League debut July 8 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,862nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Dusty Coleman of the Padres (HR 2-3 2R 3BI in the 7-5 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut July 3, 2015, and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,863rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Godley earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Chapman earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Schwarber and Morales each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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.
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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score| 7/27 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | ARI 4, STL 0 | Zack Godley (W, 4-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| 7.0 | WSH 15, MIL 2 | Max Scherzer (W, 12-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | ||
| AL | 6.0 | NYY 6, TB 5 (F/11) | Aroldis Chapman (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | CHC 6, CHW 3 | Kyle Schwarber (DH) | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | MIA 4, CIN 1 | Chris O'Grady (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | SD 7, NYM 5 | Dusty Coleman (SS) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | CLE 2, LAA 1 | Trevor Bauer (W, 9-8) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | TOR 8, OAK 4 (F/10) | Kendrys Morales (DH) | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` 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 (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.0 | 45.7 | 123.9 | 151.7 | -5.7 |
| Godley, Zack 3538 | pi sp | ari nl | 8.0 | 9.0 | 12.7 | 12.7 | 7.0 |
| Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 5.0 | 16.4 | 34.5 | 34.5 | -6.4 |
| Morales, Kendrys 2142 | dh | tor al | 3.5 | 12.0 | 26.7 | 42.7 | -5.0 |
| Schwarber, Kyle 3536 | lf dh | chi nl | 3.5 | 3.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 3.5 |
| Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | pi cp | nyy al | 1.7 | 9.1 | 45.1 | 48.1 | -5.7 |
| Coleman, Dusty 3863 | ss | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| O’Grady, Chris 3862 | pi sp | fla nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |