Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in season player rankings.
Verlander also rises to 12th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of July 21:| 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 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 14.4 |
| 6 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 14.0 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 13.7 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 13.0 |
| 9 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 12.7 |
| 10 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | hou al | 11.8 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Verlander struck out 11 over six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and two walks, in the 7-0 win over the Angels.
Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.4 for the season, rising from ninth to fifth place in season player rankings, third among American League pitchers.
Verlander now has 168.4 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 12th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Saturday, Verlander passes two players on the “all-time” list—Johan Santana (166.6) and Manny Ramirez (167.2). He trails 11th-ranked player Roy Halladay (170.7). Verlander ranks seventh among active players in career points, behind Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (173.1).
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 | 210.8 |
| 4 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 196.7 |
| 5 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 189.3 |
| 7 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | retired | 187.0 |
| 8 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 185.2 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 174.1 |
| 10 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 173.1 |
| 11 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 12 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 168.4 |
| 13 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 14 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 15 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 16 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 17 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | tex al | 159.8 |
| 18 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 159.6 |
| 19 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 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.
National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher Pablo Lopez struck out six over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 3-2 win over the Rays.
This was his Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Lopez made his Major League debut June 30 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 4,028th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—Jose Iglesias of the Tigers homered, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 5-0 win over the Red Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Josh Bell of the Pirates doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring once and driving in one run, in the 6-2 win over the Reds.
Notable—Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals earned Player of the Game honors for the second day in a row Saturday.
Carpenter (HR 1-1 R BI in the 6-3 win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.5 for the season, 19th among NL batters. Carpenter was also overall Player of the Day Friday. While Carpenter’s Box-Toppers honors come in consecutive days, they do not come in consecutive games. Carpenter’s Player of the Game honor from Saturday came in the second game of a doubleheader; the first game was won by the Cubs (with Ben Zobrist as Player of the Game).
Also notable—Box-Toppers active career leader in Box-Toppers points, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, did not earn Player of the Game in his start Saturday, as his team lost.
Kershaw (6IP 7H 4R ER 0BB 5K L in the 4-2 loss to the Brewers) had a Box-Toppers game score of -1.0. Player of the Game was Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes (more on him later).
Kershaw has the most career Box-Toppers points of any active player, 210.8, which is third-most since tracking began in 1995. Kershaw has seven straight seasons of earning 20 or more Box-Toppers points and finishing among the top three players in points. However, he only has 4.0 Box-Toppers points this year and ranks 117th among all players, 44th among NL pitchers.
Debut—In addition to Lopez, two other players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Brewers pitcher Corbin Barnes (2IP H 0R BB 3K W in the 4-2 win over the Dodgers) made his Major League debut July 10 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 4,029th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Tom Murphy of the Rockies (HR 1-1 R BI in the 6-5 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut Sept. 12, 2015, and was playing in his 64th career game. He is the 4,030th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lopez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Iglesias and Bell each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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)| 7/21 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +10.0 | HOU 7, LAA 0 | Justin Verlander (W, 10‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | |
| +9.1 | CHW 5, SEA 0 | Dylan Covey (W, 4‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| NL | +6.0 | MIA 3, TB 2 | Pablo Lopez (W, 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| +5.0 | TOR 4, BAL 1 | Marcus Stroman (W, 3‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| +5.0 | KC 4, MIN 2 | Brian Flynn (W, 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +4.2 | CLE 16, TEX 3 | Carlos Carrasco (W, 12‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | DET 5, BOS 0 | Jose Iglesias SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.2 | `OAK 4, SF 3 (F/11) | Trevor Cahill | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| +3.0 | NYY 7, NYM 6 | Miguel Andujar 3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | MIL 4, LAD 2 | Corbin Burnes (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | PIT 6, CIN 2 | Josh Bell 1B | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.0 | CHC 7, STL 2 | Ben Zobrist 2B | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | STL 6, CHC 3 | Matt Carpenter 1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | COL 6, ARI 5 | Tom Murphy 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 | +/‑ |
| Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 14.4 | 29.1 | 64.2 | 168.4 | -0.3 |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 9.7 | 31.5 | 72.6 | 78.0 | -12.1 |
| Carpenter, Matt 2987 | 1b 3b | stl nl | 4.5 | 4.5 | 29.0 | 34.0 | +4.5 |
| Cahill, Trevor 2658 | pi sp | oak al | 4.0 | 10.4 | 20.4 | 50.6 | -2.4 |
| Covey, Dylan 3974 | pi sp | chi al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Stroman, Marcus 3327 | pi sp | tor al | 3.0 | 7.7 | 30.8 | 30.8 | -1.7 |
| Zobrist, Ben 2216 | lf 2b 1b rf | chi nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 13.0 | 35.0 | +3.0 |
| Iglesias, Jose 3532 | ss | det al | 2.5 | 10.5 | 11.5 | 11.5 | -5.5 |
| Bell, Josh E. 3682 | 1b | pit nl | 2.5 | 6.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -1.5 |
| Andujar, Miguel 3839 | 3b | nyy al | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | +1.5 |
| Flynn, Brian 4018 | pi mr | kc al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Lopez, Pablo 4028 | pi sp | fla nl | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | +1.7 |
| Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi mr | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Murphy, Tom 4030 | ph | col 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.