Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda is Tuesday’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 Aug. 1:| 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 Tuesday, Nolan Arenado of the Rockies rises to lead National League batter in Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Albert Pujols of the Angels moves with 0.2 career Box-Toppers points of “all-time” batting leader Alex Rodriguez.
Player of the Day—Maeda pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing two hits and one walk, in the 3-2 win over the Braves.
American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Dylan Bundy allowed one run and three hits over eight innings, striking out five and walking one, in the 7-2 win over the Royals.
American League Batter of the Day—Albert Pujols of the Angels hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 7-1 win over the Phillies.
Pujols earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 186.8 career Box-Toppers points, moving within 0.2 points of Alex Rodriguez (187.0), who leads all batters in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when player tracking began. Pujols ranks seventh among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, third among active players and first among active batters.
Pujols now has 4.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, 21st among AL batters.
National League Batter of the Day—Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs hit two home runs and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 16-4 win over the Diamondbacks.
Rizzo earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, rising to seventh among NL batters.
Notable—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies rises to lead NL batters in season Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Arenado (HR 2-5 R 4BI in the 5-4 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.2 for the season, passing previous leader Jay Bruce of the Mets (8.0). Arenado ranks 27th among all players. He led NL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2016 with 10.7.
Also notable—Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson becomes the 15th player in 2017 with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Nelson (6IP 6H 2R BB 7K W in the 3-2 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He ranks 15th among all players and ninth among NL pitchers. It is the first season Nelson has earned 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. His previous high was 8.4 in 2015 with the Brewers. In 2016, 54 players earned 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points.
Top 10 watch—Three pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings started Tuesday but none of them earned Player of the Game honors or Box-Toppers points:
- Second-ranked Max Scherzer of the Nationals (20.0 Box-Toppers points) pitched only one inning, retiring the side, but left at the start of the second inning with neck spasms. His condition is not expected to be serious. However, Scherzer did hit a three-run home run in the top of the second inning. Scherzer had a +1.0 Box-Toppers game score for pitching (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 0K) and a +4.0 Box-Toppers game score for batting (HR 1-1 R 3BI). However, the Nationals lost to the Marlins, 7-6. Player of the Game was Marcell Ozuna of the Marlins (HR 3-4 3R 3BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0.
- Third-ranked Chris Sale of the Red Sox (17.1 Box-Toppers points) had a Box-Toppers game score of -13.0 in his team’s 12-10 win over the Indians (5IP 8H 7R BB 5K ND). Player of the Game was teammate Christian Vazquez (HR 2B 3-5 3R 3BI), with a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0.
- Ninth-ranked Carlos Carrasco of the Indians (11.4 Box-Toppers points) had a Box-Toppers game score of -16.8 in his team’s 12-10 loss to the Red Sox (1.2IP 6H 5R 3BB K ND). Player of the Game was Christian Vazquez of the Red Sox (HR 2B 3-5 3R 3BI), with a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0.
Scoring—Maeda earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Bundy earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Pujols and Rizzo each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’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| 8/1 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | LAD 3, ATL 2 | Kenta Maeda (W, 10-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| AL | 8.0 | BAL 7, KC 2 | Dylan Bundy (W, 10-8) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | LAA 7, PHI 1 | Albert Pujols (DH) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | SD 3, MIN 0 | Jhoulys Chacin (W, 11-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | TB 6, HOU 4 | Evan Longoria (3B) | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | BOS 12, CLE 10 | Christian Vazquez C | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | CHC 16, ARI 4 | Anthony Rizzo (1B) | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | MIA 7, WSH 6 | Marcell Ozuna LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | TOR 8, CHW 4 | Josh Donaldson (3B) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CIN 9, PIT 1 | Billy Hamilton CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SEA 8, TEX 7 | Edwin Diaz (S, 21) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | COL 5, NYM 4 | Nolan Arenado (3B) | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SF 10, OAK 4 | Buster Posey (C) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | DET 4, NYY 3 | John Hicks 1B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIL 3, STL 2 | Jimmy Nelson (W, 9-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 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 | +/- |
| Nelson, Jimmy 3299 | pi sp | mil nl | 10.0 | 13.0 | 23.4 | 23.4 | 7.0 |
| Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp | lad nl | 9.0 | 19.0 | 19.0 | 19.0 | -1.0 |
| Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | col nl | 8.2 | 18.9 | 28.9 | 28.9 | -2.5 |
| Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi sp | sd nl | 7.7 | 13.4 | 20.1 | 35.5 | 2.0 |
| Posey, Buster 2745 | ca 1b | sf nl | 7.5 | 11.0 | 36.0 | 40.5 | 4.0 |
| Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | chi nl | 7.0 | 10.0 | 34.0 | 34.0 | 4.0 |
| Ozuna, Marcell 3190 | lf | fla nl | 6.2 | 11.2 | 24.7 | 24.7 | 1.2 |
| Diaz, Edwin 3690 | pi cp | sea al | 6.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | -1.0 |
| Bundy, Dylan 3655 | pi sp | bal al | 5.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 | -0.3 |
| Pujols, Albert 1438 | dh | ana al | 4.5 | 12.5 | 37.0 | 186.8 | -3.5 |
| Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | tor al | 2.5 | 12.2 | 42.1 | 42.1 | -7.2 |
| Vazquez, Christian 3380 | ca | bos al | 2.5 | 3.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 1.5 |
| Hicks, John 3777 | 1b | det al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Longoria, Evan 2423 | 3b | tb al | 2.0 | 8.5 | 21.0 | 49.0 | -4.5 |
| Hamilton, Billy 3287 | cf | cin nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 0.0 |