Mariners pitcher James Paxton is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third place in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of July 1:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 16.7 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.4 |
| 3 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 14.0 |
| 4 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 13.4 |
| 5 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 12.0 |
| 6 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | hou al | 11.8 |
| 7 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 11.4 |
| 8 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 11.0 |
| 9 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 11.0 |
| 10 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 10.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Sunday, Yankees pitcher Luis Severino rises to lead Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors, passing Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer. Plus, Rays pitcher Blake Snell rises to ninth place in player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Player of the Day—Paxton struck out 11 over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 1-0 win over the Royals.
Paxton earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.0 for the season, rising from fourth to third in season player rankings. He rises to second place among AL pitchers, behind Luis Severino of the Yankees (16.7 points).
2018 lead changes
Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.| Date | Leader | Team | BTP |
| 3/29 | Luis Severino | nyy al | 2.0 |
| 3/30 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 2.0 |
| 4/02 | Paul DeJong | stl nl | 2.5 |
| 4/04 | Luis Severino | nyy al | 3.0 |
| 4/09 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 3.7 |
| 4/12 | Jose Berrios | min al | 4.0 |
| 4/13 | Gerrit Cole | hou al | 5.0 |
| 4/14 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 5.7 |
| 4/18 | Jose Berrios | min al | 6.0 |
| 4/20 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 6.7 |
| 4/22 | Patrick Corbin | ari nl | 7.0 |
| 4/27 | Luis Severinio | nyy al | 7.7 |
| 5/1 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 7.7 |
| 5/2 | Luis Severinio | nyy al | 9.7 |
| 5/11 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 11.4 |
| 6/4 | Luis Severinio | nyy al | 13.7 |
| 6/5 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 15.4 |
| 7/1 | Luis Severinio | nyy al | 16.7 |
National League Player of the Day—Braves pitcher Mike Foltynewicz struck out nine over five scoreless innings, allowing one hit and three walks, in the 6-5 win over the Cardinals.
American League Batter of the Day—Francisco Lindor of the Indians homered and hit two doubles, going 3-for-4, scoring four times and driving in two runs, in the 15-3 win over the Athletics.
National League Batter of the Day—Matt Kemp of the Dodgers hit a go-ahead, eighth-inning home runs and doubled, going 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 6-4 win over the Rockies.
New leader—Yankees pitcher Luis Severino rises to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Severino (6.2IP 2H 0R 3BB 6K W in the 11-1 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.7 for the season. He passes previous leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (16.4 points). It is the sixth different time this season Severino has taken the 2018 Box-Toppers points lead. He last held it for only one day, June 4, passing Scherzer, before Scherzer passed him the next day. Scherzer could pass Severino Monday if he earns Player of the Game in his start against the Red Sox.
This is the 18th lead change of the season for Box-Toppers points lead, the most in one season since 2013 when there were 26 lead changes.
Rankings—Rays pitcher Blake Snell rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Snell (7.1IP 4H R BB 10K W in the 3-2 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season. He ranks seventh among AL pitchers.
Streak—Hunter Pence of the Giants has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2018 Sunday.
Pence (2B 1-1 R 2BI in the 9-6 win over the Diamondbacks) earned his first points in 2007 with the Astros and has 56.7 career points, seventh among active NL outfielders. His best season was 2008 with the Astros when he had 8.2 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL outfielders. In 2017, he had 3.5 points with the Giants.
Debut—Andrew Knapp of the Phillies made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, earning his first career Player of the Game honor.
Knapp (HR 1-1 R BI in the 4-3, 13-inning win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut April 6, 2017, and was playing in his 96th career game. He is the 4,012th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Paxton earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Foltynewicz earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Lindor and Kemp each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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)| 7/1 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | SEA 1, KC 0 | James Paxton (W, 8‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | |
| 10.1 | TB 3, HOU 2 | Blake Snell (W, 11‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| NL | 10.0 | ATL 6, STL 5 | Mike Foltynewicz (W, 6‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | |
| 9.2 | CIN 8, MIL 2 | Matt Harvey (W, 4‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 7.2 | NYY 11, BOS 1 | Luis Severino (W, 13‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 6.0 | DET 9, TOR 1 | Jordan Zimmermann (W, 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 5.1 | NYM 5, MIA 2 | Steve Matz (W, 4‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | CLE 15, OAK 3 | Francisco Lindor SS | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | 4.0 | LAD 6, COL 4 | Matt Kemp LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 4.0 | CHW 10, TEX 5 | Jose Abreu DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 3.0 | PIT 7, SD 5 | Colin Moran 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 3.0 | SF 9, ARI 6 | Hunter Pence PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 2.0 | CHC 11, MIN 10 | Javier Baez 3B‑SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 2.0 | BAL 8, LAA 2 | Mark Trumbo DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 2.0 | PHI 4, WSH 3 (F/13) | Andrew Knapp PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 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 Player of the Game winners. 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 the Game | Pos | Team | ’18 | ’17‑18 | ’13‑18 | Career | +/‑ |
| Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 16.7 | 37.8 | 42.8 | 42.8 | -4.4 |
| Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 14.0 | 27.7 | 38.8 | 38.8 | +0.3 |
| Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 11.0 | 16.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 | +6.0 |
| Foltynewicz, Mike 3455 | pi sp | atl nl | 8.7 | 12.7 | 19.4 | 19.4 | +4.7 |
| Lindor, Francisco 3586 | ss | cle al | 6.2 | 9.7 | 17.7 | 17.7 | +2.7 |
| Baez, Javier 3395 | 2b ss 3b | chi nl | 4.5 | 9.7 | 14.2 | 14.2 | -0.7 |
| Abreu, Jose 3308 | 1b dh | chi al | 4.0 | 5.0 | 25.0 | 25.0 | +3.0 |
| Trumbo, Mark 2851 | dh rf | bal al | 3.5 | 5.5 | 24.7 | 39.4 | +1.5 |
| Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 19.6 | 19.6 | +2.0 |
| Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | cin nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 37.4 | 40.4 | +2.0 |
| Kemp, Matt 2151 | lf | lad nl | 2.5 | 7.0 | 27.5 | 66.1 | -2.0 |
| Moran, Colin 3931 | 3b | pit nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | +2.5 |
| Zimmermann, Jordan 2612 | pi sp | det al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 43.7 | 64.4 | 0.0 |
| Pence, Hunter 2287 | rf ph | sf nl | 1.0 | 4.5 | 19.0 | 56.7 | -2.5 |
| Knapp, Andrew 4012 | ph | phi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +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.