Rays pitcher Blake Snell is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, increasing his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings and achieving the 16th-highest single-season Box-Toppers point total since tracking began in 1995.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of Sept. 23:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 26.2 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.1 |
| 3 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 22.1 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 20.1 |
| 5 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 20.1 |
| 6 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 19.7 |
| 7 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 18.1 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 18.0 |
| 9 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 17.7 |
| 10 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Snell struck out 11 over 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 5-2 win over the Blue Jays.
Snell earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 26.2 for the season, increasing his lead over second-place player, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (23.1). Snell solidifies his lead among American League pitchers, ahead of Justin Verlander of the Astros (22.1).
Snell becomes the 26th player in the 24-year history of Box-Toppers tracking to reach at least 25 Box-Toppers points in a single season. His 26.2 points for 2018 now ranks 16th-best since 1995, when tracking began. Already, it is the highest single-season point total since 2015, when Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta had 29.1.
Best seasons
Here are all players who have earned 25 or more Box-Toppers points in a single season since 1995, ranked by their single-season Box-Toppers point total. When Rays pitcher Blake Snell reached 26.2 points Sunday, it marked the 26th time a player reached 25 points in a season. Snell's 26.2 points for 2018 now ranks 16th-best for a single season.| Player | Team | Pos | Year | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2000 | 33.7 |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2002 | 33.7 |
| 3 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 2000 | 33.5 |
| 4 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 1999 | 31.5 |
| 4 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2014 | 31.5 |
| 6 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 1999 | 31.4 |
| 7 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2001 | 29.4 |
| 8 | Jake Arrieta | Cubs | pi sp | 2015 | 29.1 |
| 9 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 2002 | 28.8 |
| 10 | Curt Schilling | Dbacks | pi sp | 2002 | 28.4 |
| 11 | Roger Clemens | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1997 | 27.4 |
| 12 | Johan Santana | Twins | pi sp | 2004 | 26.8 |
| 13 | Pedro Martinez | Expos | pi sp | 1997 | 26.7 |
| 13 | CC Sabathia | Indians/Brewers | pi sp | 2008 | 26.7 |
| 15 | Randy Johnson | Mariners/Astros | pi sp | 1998 | 26.4 |
| 16 | * Blake Snell | Rays | pi sp | 2018 | 26.2 |
| 17 | John Smoltz | Braves | pi sp | 1996 | 26.1 |
| 17 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2011 | 26.1 |
| 19 | Roger Clemens | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1998 | 25.8 |
| 19 | Corey Kluber | Indians | pi sp | 2014 | 25.8 |
| 21 | Johan Santana | Twins | pi sp | 2006 | 25.7 |
| 21 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2015 | 25.7 |
| 21 | Max Scherzer | Nationals | pi sp | 2016 | 25.7 |
| 24 | Cliff Lee | Phillies | pi sp | 2011 | 25.4 |
| 25 | Chris Sale | Red Sox | pi sp | 2017 | 25.1 |
| 26 | Max Scherzer | Nationals | pi sp | 2017 | 25.0 |
National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher Trevor Richards struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 6-0 win over the Reds.
National League Batter of the Day—Christian Yelich of the Brewers homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 13-6 win over the Pirates.
Yelich earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.0 for the season, rising to third place among NL batters, behind Javier Baez of the Cubs (10.0) and Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves (9.2).
American League Batter of the Day—Tim Beckham of the Orioles hit two homers and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 6-3 win over the Yankees.
Notable—In addition to Snell, three other players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Sunday, including two who reached the 10-point milestone:
Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland (7IP 7H 0R BB 6K W in the 2-0 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.4 for the season, 28th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.
Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas (7IP 2H 2R ER 0BB 8K W in the 9-2 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, 43rd among all players and 22nd among NL pitchers. He is the 47th player this season to reach 10 points and it is his first season with 10 points. His previous high was 1.7 in 2014 with the Rangers.
Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu (6IP 4H 0R 0BB 8K W in the 14-0 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.1 for the season, 46th among all players and 24th among NL pitchers. He is the 48th player this season to reach 10 points and it is his second season with 10 or more points. In 2014, he had 11.4 points with the Dodgers.
Scoring—Snell earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Richards earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Yelich and Beckham each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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)| 9/23 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +12.2 | TB 5, TOR 2 | Blake Snell (W, 21‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | |
| NL | +12.0 | MIA 6, CIN 0 | Trevor Richards (W, 4‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| +10.0 | STL 9, SF 2 | Miles Mikolas (W, 17‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| +10.0 | LAD 14, SD 0 | Hyun‑Jin Ryu (W, 6‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| +8.0 | HOU 6, LAA 2 | Framber Valdez (W, 4‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | ||
| +6.2 | CHC 6, CHW 1 | Kyle Hendricks (W, 13‑11) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| +5.0 | COL 2, ARI 0 | Kyle Freeland (W, 16‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | MIL 13, PIT 6 | Christian Yelich LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +3.0 | BAL 6, NYY 3 | Tim Beckham DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | TEX 6, SEA 1 | Joey Gallo PH‑CF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.2 | NYM 8, WSH 6 | Anthony Swarzak (S, 4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +2.1 | MIN 5, OAK 1 | Trevor May (S, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | ATL 2, PHI 1 | Lane Adams CF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | CLE 4, BOS 3 (F/11) | Josh Tomlin (W, 2‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +1.0 | KC 3, DET 2 | Brad Keller (W, 9‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 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 | +/‑ |
| Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 26.2 | 31.2 | 35.2 | 35.2 | +21.2 |
| Freeland, Kyle 3763 | pi sp | col nl | 12.4 | 18.4 | 18.4 | 18.4 | +6.4 |
| Mikolas, Miles 3034 | pi sp | stl nl | 10.7 | 10.7 | 12.4 | 13.4 | +10.7 |
| Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.1 | 15.1 | 36.2 | 36.2 | +5.1 |
| Yelich, Christian 3334 | rf lf cf | mil nl | 9.0 | 14.0 | 29.5 | 29.5 | +4.0 |
| Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 | 12.4 | 40.5 | 40.5 | +5.0 |
| Richards, Trevor 3945 | pi sp | fla nl | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | +7.7 |
| Gallo, Joey 3485 | 1b rf lf | tex al | 5.0 | 11.5 | 13.0 | 13.0 | -1.5 |
| Keller, Brad 4008 | pi sp | kc al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Adams, Lane 3850 | rf cf ph pr | atl nl | 3.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | +0.5 |
| Swarzak, Anthony 2603 | pi cp mr | nym nl | 2.0 | 6.0 | 9.0 | 13.7 | -2.0 |
| May, Trevor 3417 | pi mr cp | min al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | +2.0 |
| Valdez, Framber 4048 | pi mr | hou al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Beckham, Tim 3452 | dh 2b ss | bal al | 1.5 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | -1.5 |
| Tomlin, Josh 2771 | pi cp sp | cle al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 18.7 | 28.4 | -2.0 |
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.