Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to 18th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of Sept. 21:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 25.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 24.0 |
| 3 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 23.1 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.0 |
| 5 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.8 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 20.1 |
| 7 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 20.1 |
| 8 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 19.8 |
| 9 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 |
| 10 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 16.0 |
Hamels struck out eight over eight innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 4-2 win over the Mariners.
Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 153.4 career points, rising to 18th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Thursday, he passes five players on the “all-time” list—Greg Maddux (151.7), Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (151.9), Astros pitcher Justin Verlander (152.0), Twins pitcher Bartolo Colon (152.2) and Barry Bonds (153.2). Hamels now trails 17th-ranked player Mike Mussina (155.6).
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 | 206.8 |
| 4 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 191.0 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 187.8 |
| 7 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 8 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 176.2 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 171.4 |
| 10 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 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 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 155.7 |
| 17 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 18 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | tex al | 153.4 |
| 19 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 20 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | min al | 152.2 |
List of top 100 players since 1995 as of July 30, 2017.
(It should be noted that three of those players—Maddux, Bonds and Mussina—began their careers before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and so would have more career Box-Toppers points if their entire careers were tracked. Projections put Maddux’s career total at 250, Bonds at 230 and Mussina at 193.)
Hamels also rises to seventh place among active players in career points, passing the tightly-clustered Lester, Verlander and Colon, who have only 0.3 Box-Toppers points separating them.
With Hamel’s rise into the top 20, he pushes Verlander to 21st. Verlander only rose into the “all-time” top 20 list for the first time on Sunday, when he earned Player of the Game.
Hamels now has 9.4 Box-Toppers points on the season, 11th among American League pitchers. Hamels has earned at least 10 Box-Toppers points in each of his first 11 seasons since 2006. He would need to earn at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2017 to extend that streak with at least 10 points to 12 seasons. He likely has one more start remaining before the close of the regular season, Oct. 1.
National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Clayton Richard struck out eight over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing seven hits and one walk, in the 3-0 win over the Rockies.
American League Batter of the Day—Joe Mauer of the Twins doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 12-1 win over the Tigers.
National League Batter of the Day—Dexter Fowler of the Cardinals hit two doubles and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-5 win over the Reds.
Notable—Royals pitcher Jason Vargas became the 31st player in 2017 to reach 10 Box-Toppers points on the season after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Vargas (6.1IP 2H 0R 3BB 7K W in the 1-0 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season, most among the 11 who earned Player of the Game honors Thursday. Vargas ranks 31st among all players in 2017 points and 10th among AL pitchers.
It is the first season Vargas has reached 10 Box-Toppers points. His previous high was 9.1 in 2011 with the Mariners.
Also notable—White Sox pitcher Chris Volstad earned Player of the Game honors for the first time in more than five years Thursday.
Volstad (4.1IP 3H R 0BB 2K W in the 3-1 win over the Astros) last earned Player of the Game honors on Aug. 26, 2012, when he was with the Cubs. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2012 and has 14.4 points for his career, going back to 2008.
Scoring—Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Richard earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Mauer and Fowler 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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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 (+/-).| 9/21 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | TEX 4, SEA 2 | Cole Hamels W (11-4) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| 8.1 | KC 1, TOR 0 | Jason Vargas W (17-10) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| NL | 7.1 | SD 3, COL 0 | Clayton Richard W (8-14) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 4.2 | CHC 5, MIL 3 (F/10) | Wade Davis W (4-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | ATL 3, WSH 2 | R.A. Dickey W (10-10) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | MIN 12, DET 1 | Joe Mauer 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 2.0 | STL 8, CIN 5 | Dexter Fowler CF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | CLE 4, LAA 1 | Francisco Lindor SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | LAD 5, PHI 4 | Andre Ethier PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | BAL 3, TB 1 | Gabriel Ynoa W (2-2) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 1.1 | CHW 3, HOU 1 | Chris Volstad W (1-0) | - | - | - | - | 4.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 10.0 | 11.0 | 36.4 | 57.2 | 9.0 |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 9.4 | 27.2 | 78.4 | 153.4 | -8.4 |
| Fowler, Dexter 2698 | cf | stl nl | 9.0 | 10.5 | 24.5 | 27.0 | 7.5 |
| Richard, Clayton 2584 | pi sp | sd nl | 8.7 | 10.7 | 18.9 | 38.3 | 6.7 |
| Dickey, R.A. 1734 | pi sp | atl nl | 5.7 | 12.7 | 52.9 | 83.6 | -1.3 |
| Davis, Wade 2681 | pi cp | chi nl | 5.0 | 9.0 | 24.0 | 31.0 | 1.0 |
| Mauer, Joe 1869 | 1b | min al | 5.0 | 6.5 | 28.0 | 75.6 | 3.5 |
| Lindor, Francisco 3586 | ss | cle al | 3.5 | 10.5 | 11.5 | 11.5 | -3.5 |
| Ynoa, Gabriel 3743 | pi mr sp | bal al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Ethier, Andre 2137 | rf lf ph | lad nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 18.2 | 52.8 | 1.0 |
| Volstad, Chris 2485 | pi mr | chi al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 14.4 | 1.0 |
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.