Reds pitcher Luis Castillo is Sunday’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 30:| 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 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 13.4 |
| 5 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.0 |
| 6 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 12.7 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.4 |
| 8 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 11.4 |
| 10 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.7 |
Also Sunday, Mariners pitcher James Paxton rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Castillo allowed one run over eight innings, striking out six and giving up three hits and one walk, in the 6-4 win over the Marlins.
American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitchers James Paxton struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing six hits and no walks, in the 9-1 win over the Mets.
Paxton earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.7 for the season and rising from ninth to sixth place in season player rankings, second among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the Red Sox (17.1).
Paxton had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +8.0, same as Castillo. But Castillo won Player of the Day over Paxton because he had more innings pitched (8 vs. 6).
American League Batter of the Day—Justin Upton of the Tigers hit a grand slam, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 13-1 win over the Astros.
National League Batter of the Day—Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates hit three home runs and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-1 win over the Padres.
Notable—Cubs pitcher John Lackey now has 125.2 career Box-Toppers points, 38th-most among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Lackey (6IP 5H 2R 2BB 7K W in the 4-2 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, to give him 125.2 for his career, beginning in 2002. Lackey now trails 37th-ranked player on the “all-time” list Mariano Rivera (126.4). Lackey has 4.0 Box-Toppers points on the season; he had 13.4 in 2016.
Beltre—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers became the 31st player in Major League history with 3,000 career hits Sunday.
Beltre doubled and went 1-for-5, scoring twice as the Rangers lost to the Orioles, 10-6. Beltre did not earn Player of the Game honors because his team lost. He had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of -2.0. Player of the Game was Orioles catcher Wellington Castillo.
Beltre has 113.8 career Box-Toppers points, 49th-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He ranks 15th among all batters since 1995 and third among active batters, behind Albert Pujols of the Angels (185.3) and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (146.9).
Beltre made his Box-Toppers and Major League debut in 1998 and has earned Box-Toppers points in each season except for two—2005 and 2014. Beltre has 2.5 points in 2017.
Scoring—Castillo earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Paxton earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Upton and McCutchen each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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| 7/30 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | CIN 6, MIA 4 | Luis Castillo (W, 2-4) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 8.0 | `LAD 3, SF 2 (F/11) | Hyun-Jin Ryu | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| AL | 8.0 | SEA 9, NYM 1 | James Paxton (W, 11-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| BAT | 7.0 | DET 13, HOU 1 | Justin Upton LF | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 7.0 | PIT 7, SD 1 | Andrew McCutchen (CF) | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.2 | `CHW 3, CLE 1 | Carlos Rodon | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 5.0 | WSH 3, COL 1 | Edwin Jackson (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | `PHI 2, ATL 1 | Vince Velasquez | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | COL 10, WSH 6 | Charlie Blackmon CF | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | STL 3, ARI 2 | Trevor Rosenthal (S, 6) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.1 | `OAK 6, MIN 5 (F/12) | Simon Castro | - | - | - | - | 2.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | TOR 11, LAA 10 | Steve Pearce LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | BAL 10, TEX 6 | Welington Castillo (C) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | KC 5, BOS 3 | Alcides Escobar SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.2 | TB 5, NYY 3 | Steve Cishek (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | CHC 4, MIL 2 | John Lackey (W, 8-9) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
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 | +/- |
| Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 12.7 | 17.1 | 23.8 | 23.8 | 8.3 |
| McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | cf | pit nl | 7.0 | 14.0 | 45.5 | 60.9 | 0.0 |
| Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | det al | 6.5 | 13.2 | 39.4 | 57.6 | -0.2 |
| Castillo, Luis 3840 | pi sp | cin nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Pearce, Steve 2371 | lf | tor al | 4.5 | 6.5 | 18.5 | 20.5 | 2.5 |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 4.0 | 17.4 | 43.8 | 125.2 | -9.4 |
| Blackmon, Charlie 2891 | cf | col nl | 3.7 | 7.7 | 14.2 | 15.7 | -0.3 |
| Escobar, Alcides 2663 | ss | kc al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 20.0 | 24.5 | 3.0 |
| Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp cp | lad nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 24.1 | 24.1 | 3.0 |
| Castillo, Wellington 3251 | ca | bal al | 2.5 | 7.5 | 14.0 | 14.0 | -2.5 |
| Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | chi al | 2.0 | 10.0 | 18.1 | 18.1 | -6.0 |
| Rosenthal, Trevor 3124 | pi cp | stl nl | 2.0 | 6.0 | 24.0 | 24.0 | -2.0 |
| Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 1.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -7.0 |
| Cishek, Steve 2997 | pi mr cp | tb al | 1.0 | 6.0 | 26.0 | 26.0 | -4.0 |
| Jackson, Edwin 1812 | pi sp | dc nl | 1.0 | 4.0 | 19.0 | 44.8 | -2.0 |
| Castro, Simon 3574 | pi mr | oak al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 |