Cubs pitcher Mike Montgomery is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of May 28:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 11.4 |
| 2 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 10.7 |
| 3 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | hou al | 10.1 |
| 4 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 10.0 |
| 5 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 9.4 |
| 6 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 9.0 |
| 7 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 8.0 |
| 8 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 |
| 9 | Pivetta, Nick 3825 | pi sp | phi nl | 7.7 |
| 10 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 7.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Monday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Montgomery struck out five over 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 7-0 win over the Pirates.
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Chris Archer struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks, in the 1-0, 13-inning win over the Athletics. Archer picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
American League Batter of the Day—Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians homered, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 9-6 win over the White Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Nick Ahmed of the Diamondbacks homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 12-5 win over the Reds.
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 | 209.8 |
| 4 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 195.7 |
| 5 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 187.8 |
| 7 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | retired | 187.0 |
| 8 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 179.2 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 172.4 |
| 10 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 11 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 168.1 |
| 12 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 13 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 14 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 15 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 161.7 |
| 16 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 17 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | tex al | 157.1 |
| 18 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 19 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 156.9 |
| 20 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | tex al | 155.9 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the end of the 2017 season.
Rankings—Astros pitcher Justin Verlander rises from 10th to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Verlander (6.2IP 5H R 0BB 5K W in the 5-1 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.7 for the season. He ranks sixth among AL pitchers.
Verlander also rises to 15th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when player tracking began). With his point Monday, he now has 161.7 career Box-Toppers points and passes John Smoltz (160.9) on the “all-time” list. He now trails 14th-ranked Roger Clemens (164.8).
It should be noted that both Smoltz and Clemens began their careers prior to 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, and so would likely have more career points if their entire careers were tracked. Smoltz would have an estimated 255 career points if his entire career from 1988 were tracked. Clemens would have an estimated 320 Box-Toppers points if his entire career from 1984 were tracked.
Streak—Ryan Braun of the Brewers has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2018 Monday.
Braun (2B 3-3 3R BI in the 8-3 win over the Cardinals) earned his first points in 2007 with the Brewers and has 92.7 career points, 96th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, 38th among all batters since 1995 and first among active NL batters.
Braun’s best season was 2010 with the Brewers when he had 15.0 Box-Toppers points, second among NL batters. Braun led NL batters in 2012 with 12.5 points. In 2017, he had 3.5 points.
Braun was suspended for 65 games in 2013 under baseball’s performance enhancing drug policy and later admitted to violations to the policy in the 2011 season.
Notable—Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez became the 82nd player since 1995 to earn 100 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Gonzalez (7.2IP 6H 0R 2BB 3K W in the 6-0 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 100.9 career points. He rises to 77th place among all players in career points since 1995, when player tracking began, passing five players on the “all-time” list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7), Matt Cain (100.7) and Matt Holliday (100.8). Gonzalez now trails 76th-ranked player Jason Schmidt (101.2).
Gonzalez has 4.7 Box-Toppers points on the season, 17th among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Montgomery earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Archer earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Encarnacion and Ahmed 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 (BTG)| 5/27 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.2 | CHC 7, PIT 0 | Mike Montgomery (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| AL | 7.0 | `TB 1, OAK 0 (F/13) | Chris Archer | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| 5.0 | NYM 8, ATL 5 | Jeurys Familia (S, 14) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.2 | HOU 5, NYY 1 | Justin Verlander (W, 7‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | CLE 9, CHW 6 | Edwin Encarnacion DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | 4.0 | ARI 12, CIN 5 | Nick Ahmed SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 4.0 | MIL 8, STL 3 | Ryan Braun LF | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 4.0 | DET 9, LAA 3 | James McCann C | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 4.0 | MIA 7, SD 2 | Caleb Smith (W, 4‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | LAD 5, PHI 4 | Yimi Garcia (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | BOS 8, TOR 3 | Andrew Benintendi LF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 3.0 | COL 6, SF 5 (F/10) | Trevor Story SS | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 3.0 | MIN 8, KC 5 | Mitch Garver C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 4, NYM 3 | Charlie Culberson PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 2.2 | WSH 6, BAL 0 | Gio Gonzalez (W, 6‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 1.2 | SEA 2, TEX 1 | Marco Gonzales (W, 5‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
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 (’18). also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’17-18), the period 2013-2018 (’13-18) and each players’ career point total. also shown is how their 2018 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2017 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | ’18 | ’17‑18 | ’13‑18 | Career | +/‑ |
| Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 | 22.4 | 57.5 | 161.7 | -7.0 |
| Smith, Caleb 3952 | pi sp | fla nl | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 |
| Gonzalez, Gio 2626 | pi sp | dc nl | 4.7 | 14.4 | 53.8 | 100.9 | -5.0 |
| Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh | cle al | 4.0 | 16.1 | 52.7 | 83.2 | -8.1 |
| Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 3.7 | 11.7 | 60.8 | 60.8 | -4.3 |
| Gonzales, Marco 3408 | pi sp | sea al | 3.7 | 4.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 2.7 |
| Benintendi, Andrew 3815 | lf cf | bos al | 3.0 | 10.2 | 10.2 | 10.2 | -4.2 |
| Familia, Jeurys 3446 | pi cp | nym nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 19.0 | 19.0 | 3.0 |
| Story, Trevor 3607 | ss | col nl | 2.5 | 5.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 0.0 |
| Ahmed, Nick 3520 | ss | ari nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 2.5 |
| Montgomery, Mike 3513 | pi sp | chi nl | 2.0 | 8.0 | 17.0 | 17.0 | -4.0 |
| Garver, Mitch 3950 | ca | min al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | lf | mil nl | 1.0 | 4.5 | 28.0 | 92.7 | -2.5 |
| McCann, James 3649 | ca | det al | 1.0 | 2.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -0.5 |
| Garcia, Yimi 3440 | pi mr | lad nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 |
| Culberson, Charlie 3324 | ss ph | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Box-Toppers
Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.