Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, achieving the highest Box-Toppers game score for any Player of the Game in 2017.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of Sept. 4:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 23.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 22.1 |
| 4 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 17.1 |
| 5 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 17.1 |
| 6 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.1 |
| 7 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 16.1 |
| 8 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 16.0 |
| 9 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.7 |
| 10 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 14.4 |
Meanwhile, Ray’s teammate J.D. Martinez became the 18th player in Major League history to hit four home runs in a game but despite that, earns no Box-Toppers points. Since Ray had such a high Box-Toppers game score, he beat Martinez for Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Ray struck out 14 over 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 13-0 win over the Dodgers.
Ray achieves a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +18.2, the highest by any Player of the Game in 2017, ahead of the +18.0 game scores put up by four other players this season (see the chart below for the top 10 Box-Toppers game scores of 2017):
- On Aug. 29 by Orioles pitcher Dylan Bundy (CG H 0R 2BB 12K W in the 4-0 win over the Mariners).
- On July 28 by Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (8IP 2H R 0BB 14K W in the 6-1 win over the Rays).
- On Aug. 8 by Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (8IP 2H 0R BB 13K in the 2-0 win over the Rays).
- On May 27 by Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg (7IP 3H 0R BB 15K W in the 3-0 win over the Padres).
Ray earns Player of the Game honors Monday even though J.D. Martinez tied a Major League record by hitting four home runs in a game. Martinez (4HR 4-5 4R 6BI) had a Box-Toppers game score of +9.0, less than Ray’s +18.2. And so, despite his stellar performance, Martinez does not earn Player of the Game honors and receives no Box-Toppers points. If Martinez had earned Player of the Game honors, his game score of +9.0 would have been the ninth-highest score for a batter in 2017. Martinez has 4.5 Box-Toppers points on the season.
The top 11 Box-Toppers game scores by those earning Player of the Game honors in 2017 belong to pitchers. Anthony Rendon of the Nationals has the highest Box-Toppers game score by a batter in 2017—+15.0 on April 30.
Earlier this season, on June 6, Scooter Gennett of the Reds also hit four home runs in a game. But Gennett earned Player of the Game honors in his game and also earned NL Batter of the Day honors. Gennett had a Box-Toppers game score of +14.0 (4HR 5-5 4R 10BI), which is apparently the second-highest Box-Toppers game score by a batter earning Player of the Game honors since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. (Rendon’s +15.0 is the only higher score by a batter earning Player of the Game honors.)
Ray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.0 for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. Ray ranks 11th among all players and sixth among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer struck out nine over 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs, three hits and one walk, in the 5-3 win over the White Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Anthony Rendon of the Nationals homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 7-2 win over the Marlins.
American League Batter of the Day—Rougned Odor of the Rangers homered, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-2 win over the Braves.
Scoring—Ray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Bauer earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Rendon and Odor each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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| 9/4 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 18.2 | ARI 13, LAD 0 | Robbie Ray (W, 12-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | |
| 13.0 | STL 2, SD 0 | Carlos Martínez (W, 11-10) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | ||
| 9.0 | PIT 12, CHC 0 | Chad Kuhl (W, 7-10) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| AL | 7.1 | CLE 5, CHW 3 | Trevor Bauer (W, 15-8) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | |
| 6.1 | NYY 7, BAL 4 | Chad Green (W, 3-0) | - | - | - | - | 2.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 5.2 | TB 11, MIN 4 | Alex Cobb (W, 10-9) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | WSH 7, MIA 2 | Anthony Rendon 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | TEX 8, ATL 2 | Rougned Odor 2B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | TOR 10, BOS 4 | Kendrys Morales DH | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | LAA 11, OAK 9 (F/11) | Martin Maldonado C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | NYM 11, PHI 7 | Jose Reyes SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CIN 5, MIL 4 | Raisel Iglesias (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | KC 7, DET 6 | Eric Hosmer 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | HOU 6, SEA 2 | Brian McCann C | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | COL 4, SF 3 | Charlie Blackmon CF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 | +/- |
| Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 14.0 | 20.7 | 24.7 | 24.7 | 7.3 |
| Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 8.7 | 20.1 | 38.2 | 38.2 | -2.7 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 8.5 | 20.9 | 35.6 | 35.6 | -3.9 |
| Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 8.5 | 17.0 | 37.0 | 39.5 | 0.0 |
| Cobb, Alex 2916 | pi sp | tb al | 8.4 | 8.4 | 38.8 | 39.8 | 8.4 |
| Rendon, Anthony 3258 | 3b | dc nl | 8.0 | 13.5 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 2.5 |
| Odor, Rougned 3336 | 2b | tex al | 7.7 | 14.2 | 18.7 | 18.7 | 1.2 |
| Morales, Kendrys 2142 | dh | tor al | 6.5 | 15.0 | 29.7 | 45.7 | -2.0 |
| Blackmon, Charlie 2891 | cf | col nl | 5.7 | 9.7 | 16.2 | 17.7 | 1.7 |
| Iglesias, Raisel 3467 | pi cp | cin nl | 5.0 | 8.0 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 2.0 |
| McCann, Brian 2179 | ca | hou al | 4.0 | 7.2 | 33.2 | 62.4 | 0.8 |
| Kuhl, Chad 3687 | pi sp | pit nl | 4.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 2.0 |
| Reyes, Jose 1759 | ss 3b | nym nl | 3.5 | 5.5 | 14.5 | 33.5 | 1.5 |
| Green, Chad 3675 | pi mr | nyy al | 3.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.0 |
| Maldonado, Martin 3082 | ca | ana al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 0.0 |
Highest Box-Toppers game scores of 2017
Here are the 10 best single-game performances by a player in 2017 based on their Box-Toppers game score. Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray has the best single-game performance of the season so far with his Box-Toppers game score of +18.2 on Sept. 4:| Date | Bonus | BTG | Team | Players | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 1 | 9/4 | MLB | 18.2 | ARI 13, LAD 0 | Robbie Ray (W, 12-5) | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 2 | 8/29 | MLB | 18.0 | BAL 4, SEA 0 | Dylan Bundy (W, 13-8) | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| 3 | 7/28 | MLB | 18.0 | NYY 6, TB 1 | Masahiro Tanaka (W, 8-9) | 8.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| 4 | 8/8 | MLB | 18.0 | BOS 2, TB 0 | Chris Sale (W, 14-4) | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| 5 | 5/27 | MLB | 18.0 | WSH 3, SD 0 | Stephen Strasburg (W,6-1) | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| 6 | 6/19 | MLB | 17.0 | CLE 12, BAL 0 | Corey Kluber (W,6-2) | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 7 | 6/3 | MLB | 17.0 | MIA 3, ARI 0 | Edinson Volquez (W,2-7) | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 8 | 4/20 | MLB | 16.0 | `BOS 4, TOR 1 (F/10) | Chris Sale | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| 9 | 6/2 | MLB | 16.0 | `LAD 2, MIL 1 (F/12) | Clayton Kershaw | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| 10 | 7/16 | MLB | 16.0 | CHC 8, BAL 0 | Jose Quintana, W (5-8) | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
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.