Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of Aug. 31:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 21.1 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 19.1 |
| 3 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 19.1 |
| 4 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 18.8 |
| 5 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 17.7 |
| 6 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 16.7 |
| 7 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| 8 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 |
| 9 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 16.0 |
| 10 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 16.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Friday, Yankees pitcher Luis Severino maintains his fifth-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning his first Player of the Game honor since July 1.
Player of the Day—Kluber struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 3-0 win over the Rays.
Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 16.7 for the season, rising to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, fourth place among American League pitchers.
Kluber becomes the 12th player this season with 15 or more Box-Toppers points. It is his fourth season with 15 points and his third straight. In 2014, he had 25.8 points, first among AL pitchers. In 2016, he had 21.2 points, first among AL pitchers. And in 2017, he had 22.0 points, second among AL pitchers.
Kluber now has 104.1 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 70th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Friday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list—Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2), Miguel Tejada (102.3), Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (103.8) and Jamie Moyer (104.0). Kluber now trails 69th-ranked player, White Sox pitcher James Shields (104.4). (It should be noted that Griffey would have an estimated 140 Box-Toppers points if his entire career from 1989 were tracked).
National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Andrew Suarez struck out five over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 7-0 win over the Mets.
American League Batter of the Day—Justin Smoak of the Blue Jays hit a pinch-hit, ninth-inning grand slam in the 6-5 win over the Marlins.
National League Batter of the Day—Paul DeJong of the Cardinals hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 12-5 win over the Reds.
Rankings—Yankees pitcher Luis Severino rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Severino (6IP 6H 3R 0BB 10K ND in the 7-5 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.7 for the season, rising to third place among AL pitchers.
This was Severino’s first Box-Toppers point earned since July 1, when he was leading player rankings. While it has been almost two months since Severino has earned points, he has earned points in each month of the season so far, including in March, in other words, in six consecutive months. However, his July point came on the first day of the month and his August point came on the last day of the month.
Notable—Brewers pitcher Jhoulys Chacin now has 12.7 Box-Toppers points on the season after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Chacin (6.1IP 6H R 2BB 6K W in the 4-1 win over the Nationals) rises to 19th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, seventh among NL pitchers.
Debut—Padres pitcher Brett Kennedy made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Kennedy (6IP 4H 0R 2BB 2K W in the 7-0 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut Aug. 8 and was playing in his fifth career game.
Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Suarez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Smoak and DeJong each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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)| 8/31 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +11.0 | CLE 3, TB 0 | Corey Kluber (W, 17‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| NL | +10.0 | SF 7, NYM 0 | Andrew Suarez (W, 6‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| +6.0 | LAA 3, HOU 0 | Jaime Barria (W, 9‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | TOR 6, MIA 5 | Justin Smoak PH‑1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | MIN 10, TEX 7 | Mitch Garver C | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | STL 12, CIN 5 | Paul DeJong SS | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | KC 9, BAL 2 | Whit Merrifield 2B | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | PIT 3, ATL 2 | Jameson Taillon (W, 11‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +4.0 | `LAD 3, ARI 2 | Hyun‑Jin Ryu | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | ||
| +4.0 | `NYY 7, DET 5 | Luis Severino | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | ||
| +3.0 | CHW 6, BOS 1 | Matt Davidson 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | OAK 7, SEA 5 | Blake Treinen (S, 34) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.1 | MIL 4, WSH 1 | Jhoulys Chacin (W, 14‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +2.0 | SD 7, COL 0 | Brett Kennedy (W, 1‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | `PHI 2, CHC 1 (F/10) | Hector Neris | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 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 | +/‑ |
| Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 17.7 | 38.8 | 43.8 | 43.8 | -3.4 |
| Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 16.7 | 38.7 | 104.1 | 104.1 | -5.3 |
| Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi sp | mil nl | 12.7 | 24.1 | 35.5 | 51.9 | +1.3 |
| Taillon, Jameson 3658 | pi sp | pit nl | 9.4 | 18.4 | 23.4 | 23.4 | +0.4 |
| Davidson, Matt 3292 | 3b dh 1b | chi al | 8.7 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 13.7 | +5.7 |
| Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.1 | 13.1 | 34.2 | 34.2 | +3.1 |
| Treinen, Blake 3495 | pi cp | oak al | 8.0 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | +7.0 |
| Suarez, Andrew 3963 | pi sp | sf nl | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | +7.7 |
| Smoak, Justin 2731 | 1b | tor al | 6.0 | 12.5 | 23.7 | 35.4 | -0.5 |
| DeJong, Paul 3827 | ss | stl nl | 6.0 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 10.5 | +1.5 |
| Garver, Mitch 3950 | ca | min al | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | +6.0 |
| Barria, Jaime 3964 | pi sp | ana al | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +5.0 |
| Neris, Hector 3553 | pi cp | phi nl | 2.0 | 9.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | -5.0 |
| Merrifield, Whit 3855 | 2b | kc al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -3.0 |
| Kennedy, Brett 4058 | pi sp | sd 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.