Reds pitcher Luis Castillo is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers rises to lead National League batters in 2017 Box-Toppers points after earning NL Batter of the Day honors.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of July 8:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 17.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 13.1 |
| 4 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 |
| 5 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.0 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 11.4 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 11.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.4 |
| 9 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 10 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 9.4 |
Player of the Day—Castillo struck out eight over 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 7-0 win over the Diamondbacks.
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Alex Cobb pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, one walk and striking out three, in the 1-0 win over the Red Sox.
American League Batter of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays hit a three-run homer and went 1-for-1, scoring twice, in the 7-2 win over the Astros.
National League Batter of the Day—Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers homered, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Royals.
Bellinger earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, rising to first among NL batters this season, passing previous leader Jay Bruce of the Mets (7.0).
Bellinger’s 7.7 Box-Toppers points is the most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday. He ranks 22nd among all players.
Notable—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright rises to 42nd place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Wainwright (6.2IP 5H R 0BB 7K W in the 4-1 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 117.5 career points. He passes two players on the “all-time” list—Mark Buehrle (116.7) and Barry Zito (117.4) and now trails 41st-ranked player Carlos Delgado (117.7). Wainwright has 5.5 Box-Toppers points this season, 23rd among NL pitchers.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Clint Frazier of the Yankees (HR 3B 3-4 R 4BI in the 5-3 win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut July 1 and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,847th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Drew Robinson of the Rangers (HR 1-2 R 2BI in the 5-2 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut April 5 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,848th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Castillo earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cobb earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Donaldson and Bellinger each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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| 7/8 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.2 | CIN 7, ARI 0 | Luis Castillo (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| AL | 7.2 | TB 1, BOS 0 | Alex Cobb (W, 7-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| 6.2 | STL 4, NYM 1 | Adam Wainwright (W, 10-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | ATL 13, WSH 0 | Julio Teheran (W, 7-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 5.1 | SD 2, PHI 1 | Jhoulys Chacin (W, 8-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | TOR 7, HOU 2 | Josh Donaldson (3B) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | CLE 4, DET 0 | Mike Clevinger (W, 5-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 4.2 | PIT 4, CHC 2 | Ivan Nova (W, 9-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | NYY 5, MIL 3 | Clint Frazier (LF) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | LAD 5, KC 4 (F/10) | Cody Bellinger (1B-RF) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | CHW 5, COL 4 | David Robertson (S, 13) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | TEX 5, LAA 2 | Drew Robinson (LF) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | OAK 4, SEA 3 | Sean Doolittle (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | BAL 5, MIN 1 | Manny Machado (3B) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | MIA 5, SF 4 | Marcell Ozuna (LF) | 4 | 0 | 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 | +/- |
| Bellinger, Cody 3781 | 1b rf lf | lad nl | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 7.0 | 15.0 | 30.7 | 38.1 | -1.0 |
| Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi sp | sd nl | 6.7 | 12.4 | 19.1 | 34.5 | 1.0 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 5.5 | 15.7 | 66.8 | 117.5 | -4.7 |
| Cobb, Alex 2916 | pi sp | tb al | 4.4 | 4.4 | 34.8 | 35.8 | 4.4 |
| Robertson, David 2774 | pi cp | chi al | 4.0 | 9.0 | 26.0 | 30.0 | -1.0 |
| Ozuna, Marcell 3190 | lf | fla nl | 3.7 | 8.7 | 22.2 | 22.2 | -1.3 |
| Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi sp | cle al | 3.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 0.7 |
| Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b | bal al | 3.5 | 16.2 | 27.2 | 27.2 | -9.2 |
| Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 3.0 | 13.7 | 49.5 | 49.5 | -7.7 |
| Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | pi sp | cin nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Doolittle, Sean 3052 | pi cp | oak al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 1.0 |
| Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | tor al | 1.5 | 11.2 | 41.1 | 41.1 | -8.2 |
| Frazier, Clint 3847 | lf | nyy al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Robinson, Drew 3848 | lf | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |