Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson is Thursday’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 July 12:| 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 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 15.1 |
| 4 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 14.4 |
| 5 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 14.0 |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 13.7 |
| 7 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 12.7 |
| 8 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 12.4 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 12.0 |
| 10 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | hou al | 11.8 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Thursday, Albert Pujols of the Angels has now earned Box-Toppers points in 18 consecutive seasons, tied with Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia for the longest active season streak; it is tied for the third-longest streak since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.
In addition Thursday, Box-Toppers’ two top-ranked players for 2018 started Thursday but neither earned Player of the Game honors in their teams’ wins. Neither top-ranked Luis Severino of the Yankees nor second-ranked Max Scherzer of the Nationals were top players in their games.
Player of the Day—Gibson struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 6-1 win over the Rays.
Gibson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season, 33rd among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon struck out 10 over six innings, allowing one run, four hits and two walks, in the 6-3 win over the Brewers.
National League Batter of the Day—Anthony Rendon of the Nationals hit two home runs and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 5-4 win over the Mets.
Box-Toppers season streaks
Here are the players who have earned Box-Toppers points in the most consecutive seasons. Albert Pujols Thursday extended his streak earning Box-Toppers points to 18 straight seasons, tied for the third-longest since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. It is now tied for longest active streak with CC Sabathia. Players are listed by length of their streak. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.Streak |
Player |
Pos |
Duration |
Career BTP |
|
| 1 | 19 | Jason Giambi | 1b | 1995‑2013 | 133.4 |
| 1 | 19 | Carlos Beltran | rf | 1999‑2017 | 108.6 |
| 3 | 18 | Jim Thome | 1b dh | 1995‑2012 | 146.7 |
| 3 | 18 | Chipper Jones | 3b | 1995‑2012 | 149.0 |
| 3 | 18 | Johnny Damon | lf | 1995‑2012 | 63.0 |
| 3 | 18 | Alex Rodriguez | 3b | 1996‑2013 | 187.0 |
| 3 | 18 | CC Sabathia* | pi sp | 2001‑2018 | 196.7 |
| 3 | 18 | Albert Pujols* | dh | 2001‑2018 | 189.3 |
| 9 | 17 | Mariano Rivera | pi cp | 1995‑2011 | 126.4 |
| 9 | 17 | Derek Jeter | ss | 1996‑2012 | 76.4 |
| 9 | 17 | Paul Konerko | 1b | 1998‑2014 | 100.7 |
| 9 | 17 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | 1999‑2015 | 157.0 |
| 9 | 17 | Torii Hunter | cf | 1999‑2015 | 115.9 |
| 9 | 17 | David Ortiz | dh | 2000‑2016 | 145.9 |
| 15 | 16 | Manny Ramirez | lf | 1995‑2010 | 167.2 |
| 15 | 16 | Andy Pettitte | pi sp | 1995‑2010 | 138.5 |
| 15 | 16 | Jamie Moyer | pi sp | 1995‑2010 | 104.0 |
| 15 | 16 | Scott Rolen | 3b | 1996‑2011 | 97.6 |
| 15 | 16 | Kevin Millwood | pi sp | 1997‑2012 | 108.3 |
| 15 | 16 | Derek Lowe | pi sp | 1998‑2013 | 91.5 |
| 15 | 16 | Aramis Ramirez | 3b | 2000‑2015 | 105.8 |
| 15 | 16 | Mark Buehrle | pi sp | 2000‑2015 | 116.7 |
| 15 | 16 | Ichiro Suzuki | rf | 2001‑2016 | 53.7 |
| 15 | 16 | Miguel Cabrera* | 1b | 2003‑2018 | 147.9 |
| 25 | 15 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | 1995‑2009 | 278.8 |
| 25 | 15 | Garret Anderson | lf | 1995‑2009 | 86.5 |
| 25 | 15 | Ivan Rodriguez | ca | 1995‑2009 | 79.0 |
| 25 | 15 | Tony Clark | 1b | 1995‑2009 | 63.8 |
| 25 | 15 | Gary Sheffield | lf | 1995‑2009 | 124.1 |
| 25 | 15 | Jason Kendall | ca | 1996‑2010 | 40.9 |
| 25 | 15 | Vladimir Guerrero | rf | 1997‑2011 | 128.3 |
| 25 | 15 | Bobby Abreu | rf | 1997‑2011 | 95.5 |
| 25 | 15 | Mike Cameron | cf | 1997‑2011 | 70.3 |
| 25 | 15 | Miguel Tejada | ss | 1997‑2011 | 102.3 |
| 25 | 15 | Jorge Posada | ca | 1997‑2011 | 79.5 |
| 25 | 15 | Livan Hernandez | pi sp | 1997‑2011 | 76.7 |
| 25 | 15 | Kyle Lohse | pi sp | 2001‑2015 | 89.0 |
| 25 | 15 | Jake Peavy | pi sp | 2002‑2016 | 141.8 |
| 25 | 15 | Joe Mauer* | 1b | 2004‑2018 | 79.1 |
* Active streak of a player active in 2018.
More details
American League Batter of the Day—Albert Pujols of the Angels hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 11-2 win over the Mariners. Pujols hit his 630th career home run, tied for sixth on the all-time list with Ken Griffey Jr.
Pujols has now earned Box-Toppers points in 18 consecutive seasons, tied with Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia for the longest active streak. He is in a six-way tie for the third-longest active streak in Box-Toppers tracking history, which began in 1995. The only two players with longer streaks are Jason Giambi and Carlos Beltran, who each earned Box-Toppers points in 19 consecutive seasons.
Pujols earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2001 with the Cardinals and now has 189.3 career points, sixth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails fifth-ranked player Curt Schilling (194.1). Pujols has the most career Box-Toppers points among all batters since 1995, ahead of Alex Rodriguez (187.0). He ranks third among active players in career points behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (210.8) and Sabathia (196.7).
Pujols’ best season was 2009 with the Cardinals when he had 16.7 Box-Toppers points, leading all NL batters and ranking eighth among all players that season. Pujols has led NL batters in Box-Toppers points five times—leading the league in season Box-Toppers points more than any other batter—all with the Cardinals:
In 2003, he had 16.5 points.
In 2004—15.9.
2008—15.2.
2009—16.7.
2010—15.4.
Pujols has had as few as 4.0 points in a season, in 2013 with the Angels. In 2017, Pujols had 5.5 Box-Toppers points with the Angels, 36th among AL batters.
This is the latest Pujols has earned his first Box-Toppers point of the season. Previously, the latest in a season he earned his first point was 2002 when he did it on June 7. It is also the first time in his career he failed to earn any Box-Toppers points the entire first half of a season. In fact, Pujols had earned points in each half season each year since 2001 (with the first half being from the season’s start to June 30 and the second half being from July 1 to the season’s end). That means Pujols earned Box-Toppers points in 34 consecutive half seasons, until the streak was broken in the first half of 2018.
Until Thursday, Pujols had not earned a Box-Toppers point in nearly 11 months—the last he earned was Aug. 22, 2017, the day he passed Alex Rodriguez to lead all batters in career Box-Toppers points since 1995.
Pujols’ lack of points this season doesn’t come because he’s been injured or otherwise sidelined. He’s played in 86 of the Angel’s 94 games. And he’s done relatively well, hitting 16 home runs with 52 runs batted in. Pujols lack of points may be due to the Angels having few wins, providing less opportunity to earn Player of the Game honors and Box-Toppers points. The Angels ranked 17th in Box-Toppers most recent weekly team rankings report on July 5.
Rankings—Box-Toppers two leaders in season player rankings started Thursday, but neither earned Player of the Game honors, despite their teams’ wins.
Neither Box-Toppers points leader Luis Severino of the Yankees nor NL points leader Max Scherzer of the Nationals were the top player in their games.
Severino, who leads all players with 16.7 Box-Toppers points, had a Box-Toppers game score of -12.0 (5IP 9H 4R BB K ND) in his team’s 7-4 win over the Indians. Player of the Game was teammate Brett Gardner (2HR 2-5 2R 3BI), with a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0.
Scherzer, who ranks second among all players with 16.4 Box-Toppers points (first among NL players) had a Box-Toppers game score of -1.0 (7IP 5H 3R 2BB 5K W) in his team’s 5-4 win over the Mets. Player of the Game was teammate Anthony Rendon with a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0, who was also NL Batter of the Day.
Notable—Dodgers pitcher Ross Stripling has the most 2018 Box-Toppers points among the 10 who earned Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Stripling (6IP 6H 0R BB 5K W in the 3-2 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season. He ranks 24th among all players and ninth among NL pitchers.
Note—Friday’s usual Box-Toppers team power rankings and player rankings reports will be delayed until the All-Star break on Monday.
Scoring—Gibson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Taillon earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Rendon and Pujols 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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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (BTG)| 7/12 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | MIN 5, TB 1 | Kyle Gibson (W, 4‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| NL | 8.0 | PIT 6, MIL 3 | Jameson Taillon (W, 6‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | |
| BAT | 4.0 | WSH 5, NYM 4 | Anthony Rendon 3B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 4.0 | PHI 5, BAL 4 | Jorge Alfaro C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | LAA 11, SEA 2 | Albert Pujols DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 4.0 | BOS 6, TOR 4 | Mookie Betts RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 4.0 | LAD 3, SD 2 | Ross Stripling (W, 8‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | OAK 6, HOU 4 | Lou Trivino (S, 4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | NYY 7, CLE 4 | Brett Gardner LF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 2.0 | `COL 5, ARI 1 | Wade Davis | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 | +/‑ |
| Stripling, Ross 3629 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.7 | 9.7 | 14.4 | 14.4 | +7.7 |
| Betts, Mookie 3404 | rf | bos al | 7.2 | 13.2 | 24.4 | 24.4 | +1.2 |
| Trivino, Lou 3939 | pi mr cp | oak al | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | +7.0 |
| Taillon, Jameson 3658 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.4 | 15.4 | 20.4 | 20.4 | -2.6 |
| Gardner, Brett 2486 | cf lf | nyy al | 5.5 | 7.2 | 14.2 | 25.7 | +3.8 |
| Gibson, Kyle 3312 | pi sp | min al | 4.7 | 6.7 | 23.7 | 23.7 | +2.7 |
| Davis, Wade 2681 | pi cp | col nl | 4.0 | 9.0 | 27.0 | 35.0 | -1.0 |
| Rendon, Anthony 3258 | 3b | dc nl | 3.0 | 11.0 | 23.0 | 23.0 | -5.0 |
| Pujols, Albert 1438 | dh | ana al | 1.5 | 7.0 | 33.5 | 189.3 | -4.0 |
| Alfaro, Jorge 3920 | ca | phi nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
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.