Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to ninth place in season player rankings and reaching 100 Box-Toppers points for his career.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of Aug. 4:| 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 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 15.4 |
| 7 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 14.0 |
| 9 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 13.7 |
| 10 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | hou al | 12.8 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Kluber pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking one, in the 3-0 win over the Angels.
Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.7 for the season, rising to ninth place in season player rankings, seventh place among American League pitchers.
Kluber also becomes the 83rd player since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) to reach 100 career Box-Toppers points. With his points Saturday, he now has 101.1 career points, rising to 78th place among all players. He passes six players on the “all-time” list—Jim Edmonds (99.8), Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7), Matt Cain (100.7) and Matt Holliday of the Rockies (100.8). Kluber trails 77th-ranked player Jason Schmidt (101.2).
Kluber is the second player to reach the 100 career-point milestone this season. Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez did it May 28. He now has 101.9 career points, 74th among all players since 1995.
National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Zack Wheeler struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 3-0 win over the Braves.
Wheeler had a Box-Toppers game score of +12.0, same as Kluber, but Kluber held the tiebreaker advantage to earn overall Player of the Day honors because he had more innings pitched (nine vs. seven).
National League Batter of the Day—Nick Ahmed of the Diamondbacks hit two homers and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 9-3 win over the Giants.
American League Batter of the Day—Max Kepler of the Twins homered and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-2 win over the Royals.
Debut—Cardinals pitcher Dakota Hudson made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Hudson (3IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 8-4 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut July 28 and was playing in his fourth career game.
Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Wheeler earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Ahmed and Kepler 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)| 8/4 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +12.0 | CLE 3, LAA 0 | Corey Kluber (W, 14‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| NL | +12.0 | NYM 3, ATL 0 | Zack Wheeler (W, 6‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| +8.0 | BOS 4, NYY 1 | Nathan Eovaldi (W, 5‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | +7.0 | ARI 9, SF 3 | Nick Ahmed SS | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +7.0 | TEX 3, BAL 1 | Mike Minor (W, 8‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +6.0 | CIN 7, WSH 1 | Phillp Ervin LF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +6.0 | TOR 5, SEA 1 | Marco Estrada (W, 5‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| +6.0 | MIL 8, COL 4 | Freddy Peralta (W, 5‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| +6.0 | HOU 14, LAD 0 | Brad Peacock (W, 2‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +4.1 | `CHC 5, SD 4 | Steve Cishek (H, 15) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | MIN 8, KC 2 | Max Kepler RF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | PHI 8, MIA 3 | Zach Eflin (W, 8‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +4.0 | STL 8, PIT 4 | Dakota Hudson (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +3.2 | `CHW 2, TB 1 | Juan Minaya | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.1 | OAK 2, DET 1 | Edwin Jackson (W, 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +2.0 | WSH 6, CIN 2 | Matt Adams 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 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 | +/‑ |
| Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 13.7 | 35.7 | 101.1 | 101.1 | -8.3 |
| Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | mil nl | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | +7.7 |
| Eflin, Zach 3679 | pi sp | phi nl | 6.7 | 7.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 | +5.7 |
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | bos al | 6.7 | 6.7 | 28.8 | 32.5 | +6.7 |
| Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | nym nl | 5.7 | 6.7 | 18.4 | 18.4 | +4.7 |
| Ahmed, Nick 3520 | ss | ari nl | 5.5 | 5.5 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +5.5 |
| Minor, Mike 2894 | pi sp | tex al | 5.0 | 7.0 | 23.4 | 34.1 | +3.0 |
| Adams, Matt 3220 | 1b | dc nl | 4.0 | 10.5 | 20.0 | 20.0 | -2.5 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 4.0 | 10.0 | 40.4 | 53.1 | -2.0 |
| Jackson, Edwin 1812 | pi sp | oak al | 4.0 | 6.0 | 16.0 | 49.8 | +2.0 |
| Kepler, Max 3664 | rf | min al | 3.5 | 5.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | +2.0 |
| Peacock, Brad 2968 | pi mr cp | hou al | 3.0 | 10.4 | 17.1 | 19.8 | -4.4 |
| Cishek, Steve 2997 | pi mr | chi nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 25.0 | 28.0 | -1.0 |
| Minaya, Juan 3913 | pi mr cp | chi al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Ervin, Phillip 3866 | lf | cin nl | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | -0.5 |
| Hudson, Dakota 4035 | pi mr | stl 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.