Braves pitcher Sean Newcomb is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming the 35th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of Sept. 10:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.1 |
| 2 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 20.8 |
| 3 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 20.1 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 19.1 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 18.7 |
| 6 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 18.1 |
| 7 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 17.7 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 17.0 |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| 10 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Monday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Verlander also rises to 11th place in career points since 1995, passing the the 170.7 career point total of the late Roy Halladay.
Player of the Day—Newcomb struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Giants.
Newcomb earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.4 for the season, 29th among all players and 12th among National League pitchers.
This is Newcomb’s first season with 10 or more points. He had 3.0 points in 2017, the only other season he earned points.
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 | 214.8 |
| 4 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 198.7 |
| 5 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 190.8 |
| 7 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 189.2 |
| 8 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | retired | 187.0 |
| 9 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 179.8 |
| 10 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 174.1 |
| 11 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 172.1 |
| 12 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 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 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | chi nl | 164.5 |
| 17 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 161.6 |
| 18 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 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.
American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Justin Verlander struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing two runs, six hits and one walk, in the 3-2 win over the Tigers.
Verlander earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 18.1 for the season, rising from ninth to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, fourth among AL pitchers. This is Verlander’s best season since 2012, when he earned 24.8 points with the Tigers, leading Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Verlander also rises to 11th place in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Monday, Verlander now has 172.1 career Box-Toppers points, passing Roy Halladay (170.7) on the “all-time” list. Verlander now trails 10th-ranked player, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (174.1). Verlander ranks seventh among active players in career points.
National League Batter of the Day—Scooter Gennett of the Reds went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 10-6 win over the Dodgers.
American League Batter of the Day—Joey Gallo of the Rangers doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 5-2 win over the Angels.
Notable—In addition to Newcomb and Verlander, three other players with more than 10 Box-Toppers points in 2018 earned Player of the Game honors Monday:
Yankees pitcher J.A. Happ (6IP 6H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 7-2 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.7 for the season, 14th among all players and 10th among AL pitchers.
Rockies pitcher German Marquez (7IP 6H 2R ER BB 11K W in the 13-2 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.7 for the season.
Brewers pitcher Josh Hader (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 6K ND in the 3-2 win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season.
Debut—Royals pitcher Jake Newberry made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Newberry (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 4-3, 10-inning win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut Aug. 20 and was playing in his seventh career game.
Scoring—Newcomb earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Verlander earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Gennett and Gallo each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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)| 9/10 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +9.0 | ATL 4, SF 1 | Sean Newcomb (W, 12‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |
| +8.0 | COL 13, ARI 2 | German Marquez (W, 12‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 | ||
| +8.0 | `MIL 3, CHC 2 | Josh Hader (H, 20) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| AL | +6.0 | HOU 3, DET 2 | Justin Verlander (W, 15‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | |
| BAT | +4.0 | CIN 10, LAD 6 | Scooter Gennett 2B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +3.0 | TEX 5, LAA 2 | Joey Gallo LF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | NYY 7, MIN 2 | J.A. Happ (W, 16‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +2.0 | KC 4, CHW 3 (F/10) | Jake Newberry (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.0 | STL 8, PIT 7 | Marcell Ozuna LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | TB 6, CLE 5 | Ji‑Man Choi DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 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 | +/‑ |
| Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 18.1 | 32.8 | 67.9 | 172.1 | +3.4 |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | nyy al | 14.7 | 20.4 | 55.6 | 71.6 | +9.0 |
| Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 12.7 | 17.4 | 17.4 | 17.4 | +8.0 |
| Newcomb, Sean 3831 | pi sp | atl nl | 11.4 | 14.4 | 14.4 | 14.4 | +8.4 |
| Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp mr | mil nl | 10.7 | 13.7 | 13.7 | 13.7 | +7.7 |
| Gennett, Scooter 3254 | 2b | cin nl | 6.0 | 16.7 | 28.2 | 28.2 | -4.7 |
| Gallo, Joey 3485 | 1b rf lf | tex al | 4.0 | 10.5 | 12.0 | 12.0 | -2.5 |
| Ozuna, Marcell 3190 | lf | stl nl | 2.5 | 11.7 | 30.2 | 30.2 | -6.7 |
| Choi, Ji-Man 3990 | dh ph | tb al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Newberry, Jake 4064 | pi cp | kc 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.