Steve Pearce of the Red Sox 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 Aug. 2:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.1 |
| 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
Also Thursday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer extended his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors. Scherzer also became the first player to reach 20 Box-Toppers points this season, the fifth straight season he’s reached that milestone.
Player of the Day—Pearce hit three homers and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 15-7 win over the Yankees.
Pearce earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, 54th among American League batters.
National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer struck out 10 over six innings, allowing two runs, four hits and two walks, in the 10-4 win over the Reds.
Most seasons with 20+ Box-Toppers points
Randy Johnson and Clayton Kershaw lead all players in the most seasons with 20 or more Box-Toppers points with seven each (Kershaw has earned his seven in consecutive seasons). Here are all the players who have earned 20 or more points in two or more seasons. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.)| Player | 20‑pt seasons | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | 7 |
| Clayton Kershaw | 7 | |
| 3 | Pedro Martinez | 6 |
| 4 | Max Scherzer | 5 |
| 5 | Curt Schilling | 4 |
| 6 | Johan Santana | 3 |
| Zack Greinke | 3 | |
| Corey Kluber | 3 | |
| 9 | Roger Clemens | 2 |
| Jon Lester | 2 | |
| Felix Hernandez | 2 | |
| Justin Verlander | 2 | |
| Stephen Strasburg | 2 |
Scherzer earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 20.1 for the season, extending his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings over second-place player, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (17.1 points).
Scherzer becomes the first player this season to reach 20 points (eight players did it in 2017). It is his fifth straight season with 20 or more points. Since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, only three other players have more 20-point seasons—Randy Johnson and Clayton Kershaw each have seven and Pedro Martinez has six. Kershaw earned each of his seven 20-point seasons in consecutive years, from 2011 to 2017. Kershaw has just 5.0 Box-Toppers points so far in 2018.
Scherzer also now has 176.8 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks ninth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails eighth-ranked Alex Rodriguez (187.0). Scherzer ranks fifth in career points among active players.
National League Batter of the Day—Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers hit two homers and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 21-5 win over the Brewers.
Clayton Kershaw started the game for the Dodgers and earned the win, but did not earn Player of the Game honors. Kershaw, the active leader in career Box-Toppers points (211.8), had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +2.0 (6IP 5H 2R 2BB 7K W) compared to the game score of +5.0 earned by Player of the Game Puig.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall Player of the Day was AL batter Steve Pearce.
Notable—Phillies pitcher Nick Pivetta became the 17th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Pivetta (6IP 4H 2R 0BB 7K ND in the 5-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, 17th among all players and fifth among NL pitchers.
This is Pivetta’s first season with 10 or more points. In 2017, his only other season, he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, 30th among NL pitchers.
Debut—Blue Jays pitcher Mike Hauschild makes his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Hauschild (6IP 4H 0R BB 5K W in the 7-3 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut April 8, 2017, and was playing in his fifth career game.
Scoring—Pearce earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Scherzer earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Puig earns 1.5 points for being NL 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)| 8/2 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +7.0 | BOS 15, NYY 7 | Steve Pearce 1B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +6.0 | TEX 17, BAL 8 | Rougned Odor 2B | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| NL | +6.0 | WSH 10, CIN 4 | Max Scherzer (W, 15‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | |
| +6.0 | TOR 7, SEA 3 | Mike Hauschild (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | LAD 21, MIL 5 | Yasiel Puig RF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | `PHI 5, MIA 2 | Nick Pivetta | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| +4.0 | SF 8, ARI 1 | Austin Slater 1B | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | CHW 6, KC 4 | Daniel Palka PH‑DH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | SD 6, CHC 1 | Robbie Erlin (W, 2‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +3.0 | TB 4, LAA 2 | Sergio Romo (S, 13) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | STL 3, COL 2 | Jose Martinez PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | ATL 4, NYM 2 | A.J. Minter (S, 7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
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 | +/‑ |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.1 | 45.1 | 132.0 | 176.8 | -4.9 |
| Pivetta, Nick 3825 | pi sp | phi nl | 10.7 | 18.7 | 18.7 | 18.7 | +2.7 |
| Martinez, Jose 3830 | 1b | stl nl | 6.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | +2.0 |
| Palka, Daniel 3949 | dh rf ph | chi al | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | +4.5 |
| Odor, Rougned 3336 | 2b | tex al | 4.0 | 12.7 | 23.7 | 23.7 | -4.7 |
| Puig, Yasiel 3193 | rf | lad nl | 3.5 | 9.5 | 19.0 | 19.0 | -2.5 |
| Pearce, Steve 2371 | dh 1b lf ph | bos al | 3.0 | 8.5 | 20.0 | 24.5 | -2.5 |
| Minter, A.J. 3946 | pi cp | atl nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +3.0 |
| Slater, Austin 3818 | 1b lf | sf nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Erlin, Robbie 3289 | pi sp | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | +1.0 |
| Romo, Sergio 2539 | pi cp | tb al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 12.0 | 21.0 | +1.0 |
| Hauschild, Mike 4035 | pi sp | tor 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.