Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco is Wednesday’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 Aug. 1:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.4 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 17.1 |
| 3 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 16.7 |
| 4 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 |
| 5 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 16.0 |
| 6 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 14.4 |
| 7 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 14.4 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 14.0 |
| 9 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | hou al | 12.8 |
| 10 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 12.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Carrasco struck out 10 over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 2-0 win over the Twins.
Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.7 for the season.
National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Tommy Milone struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 5-3 win over the Mets.
American League Batter of the Day—Jonathan Lucroy of the Athletics doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-3 win over the Blue Jays.
National League Batter of the Day—Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers hit a walk-off, two-run home run in the 6-4, 10-inning win over the Brewers. Grandal homered twice, going 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs.
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 | 211.8 |
| 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 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 188.2 |
| 8 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | retired | 187.0 |
| 9 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 175.1 |
| 10 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 174.1 |
| 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 | 160.8 |
| 18 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 160.6 |
| 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.
Notable—Cole Hamels, pitching in his first game for the Cubs since being traded from the Rangers, rises to 17th place on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Hamels (5IP 3H R 0ER 2BB 9K W in the 9-2 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 160.8 career points. Interestingly, with his point Wednesday, Hamels passes new teammate Jon Lester (160.6) on the “all-time” career points list (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995). Hamels now trails 16th-ranked player John Smoltz (160.9). (It should be noted Smoltz would have an estimated 255 career points if his entire career from 1988 were tracked.) Passing Lester, Hamels now ranks eighth among active players in career points.
Hamels earned most of his career points with his first team, the Phillies (119.8 from 2006 to 2015). He earned 39.0 points with the Rangers from 2015 to 2018.
Hamels has 7.4 Box-Toppers points for the season, 20th among NL pitchers.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, each earning their first career Player of the Game honor:
Cardinals pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon (2.1IP 0H 0R BB 2K ND in the 6-3 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut July 23 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 4,037th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. In his first game July 23, Poncedeleon pitched seven no-hit innings before being pulled and the bullpen gave up two runs as the Cardinals lost the game, eliminating Poncedeleon’s chances of earning Player of the Game honors in his debut.
Max Stassi of the Astros (HR 2-4 R 3BI in the 8-3 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut Aug. 20, 2013, and was playing in his 109th career game. He is the 4,038th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Milone earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Lucroy and Grandal each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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)| 8/1 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +13.1 | CLE 2, MIN 0 | Carlos Carrasco (W, 13‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| NL | +11.0 | WSH 5, NYM 3 | Tommy Milone (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| +8.0 | CHC 9, PIT 2 | Cole Hamels (W, 6‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | OAK 8, TOR 3 | Jonathan Lucroy C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | KC 10, CHW 5 | Alex Gordon LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.1 | `STL 6, COL 3 | Daniel Poncedeleon | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | LAD 6, MIL 4 (F/10) | Yasmani Grandal C | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | DET 7, CIN 4 | Jose Iglesias SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | BAL 7, NYY 5 | Alex Cobb (W, 3‑14) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +3.0 | `TB 7, LAA 2 | Tyler Glasnow | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +2.0 | HOU 8, SEA 3 | Max Stassi C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 | +/‑ |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 11.7 | 33.5 | 74.6 | 80.0 | -10.1 |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | chi nl | 7.4 | 16.8 | 72.8 | 160.8 | -2.0 |
| Iglesias, Jose 3532 | ss | det al | 4.5 | 12.5 | 13.5 | 13.5 | -3.5 |
| Grandal, Yasmani 3058 | ca | lad nl | 4.5 | 6.0 | 20.2 | 23.2 | +3.0 |
| Cobb, Alex 2916 | pi sp | bal al | 3.0 | 11.4 | 32.8 | 42.8 | -5.4 |
| Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi mr | tb al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +3.0 |
| Milone, Tommy 2954 | pi sp | dc nl | 1.7 | 1.7 | 12.4 | 26.8 | +1.7 |
| Lucroy, Jonathan 2744 | ca | oak al | 1.5 | 2.5 | 20.1 | 29.8 | +0.5 |
| Gordon, Alex 2328 | lf | kc al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 12.0 | 33.5 | 0.0 |
| Poncedeleon, Daniel 4037 | pi mr | stl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Stassi, Max 4038 | ca | hou al | 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.