Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his third-place spot 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 Sept. 29:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 27.2 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 25.1 |
| 3 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 24.1 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.7 |
| 5 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 21.1 |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 20.1 |
| 7 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 18.1 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 18.0 |
| 9 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 17.8 |
| 10 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 17.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Saturday, Rays pitcher Blake Snell finished his 2018 Box-Toppers Player of the Year season with a flourish, earning Player of the Game honors, extending his lead over Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer in season player rankings.
In addition, Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola rises to fith in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. And Christian Yelich of the Brewers extends his lead among National League batters in 2018 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Player of the Day—Verlander struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 4-3 win over the Orioles. Verlander did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Orioles tied the game after he exited.
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. Rays pitcher Blake Snell reached 27.2 points Saturday, the 12th-best single-season Box-Toppers point total since tracking began in 1995.| 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 | * Blake Snell | Rays | pi sp | 2018 | 27.2 |
| 13 | Johan Santana | Twins | pi sp | 2004 | 26.8 |
| 14 | Pedro Martinez | Expos | pi sp | 1997 | 26.7 |
| 14 | CC Sabathia | Indians/Brewers | pi sp | 2008 | 26.7 |
| 16 | Randy Johnson | Mariners/Astros | pi sp | 1998 | 26.4 |
| 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 |
| 25 | * Max Scherzer | Nationals | pi sp | 2018 | 25.1 |
| 27 | Max Scherzer | Nationals | pi sp | 2017 | 25.0 |
Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 24.1 for the season, third among all players and second among American League pitchers, behind Blake Snell of the Rays (27.2).
Verlander also now has 178.1 career Box-Toppers points, 10th-most since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails ninth-ranked player, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (181.8). Verlander ranks sixth among active players in career points.
National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Steven Matz struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 1-0, 13-inning win over the Marlins. Matz did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
National League Batter of the Day—Juan Soto of the Nationals homered, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 12-2 win over the Rockies.
American League Batter of the Day—Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 8-5 win over the Red Sox.
Box-Toppers Player of the Year—Rays pitcher Blake Snell exteneded his lead as Box-Toppers Player of the Year Saturday, earning Player of the Game honors.
Snell (5IP 3H R 4BB 10K ND in the 4-3 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 27.2 for the season, 2.1 points ahead of second-place player, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (25.1).
While Snell wins Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors he will have only led season player rankings for a total of 13 days all season—he took the lead from Scherzer on Sept. 18. By contrast, Scherzer, who led player rankings eight different times, led 117 days during the season.
Snell’s 27.2 Box-Toppers points this season is now the 12th-highest single-season total in Box-Toppers tracking history, which began in 1995. The last time a player had this many points in a season was 2015, when Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta had 29.1, the eighth-highest single-season total in the 24 seasons of Box-Toppers tracking.
Rankings—Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola rises from sixth to fifth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Nola (7IP 2H 0R 4BB 8K W in the 3-0 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.1 for the season, second among NL pitchers, behind Scherzer (25.1).
Notable—Christian Yelich of the Brewers maintains his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings among NL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Yelich (2HR 2-3 2R 3BI in the 6-5 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.5 for the season, extending his lead over second-place NL batter Javier Baez of the Cubs (10.0). Yelich now ranks 34th among all players.
With 11.5 Box-Toppers points, Yelich will now not set the record for the lowest Box-Toppers point total to lead a category for a season. That record is 10.7 points by Nolan Arenado of the Rockies, who led NL batters with that total in 2016. However, 11.5 points is still tied for the second-lowest point total to lead a category since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
Also notable—Two other players with more than 10 Box-Toppers points on the season earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:
Mariners pitcher James Paxton (6IP 7H R 0BB 9K ND in the 4-1 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.0 for the season, 12th among all players and ninth among AL pitchers. It is Paxton’s first Player of the Game honor in nearly three months. He last earned Box-Toppers points July 30.
Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas (8IP 5H R 0ER 0BB 6K W in the 2-1 win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season, 32nd among all players and 16th among NL pitchers.
Kershaw—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw’s streak of nine straight seasons with 10 or more Box-Toppers points has come to an end.
Kershaw (8.0 Box-Toppers points in 2018) had a chance to extend his streak to 10 seasons Saturday but needed 2.0 Box-Toppers points in his final start Saturday. He earned none. Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score of -9.0 (5IP 8H 5R 0BB 4K ND in the 10-6 win over the Giants). Player of the Game was Dodgers reliever Alex Wood (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W) with a Box-Toppers game score of +3.1.
Kershaw earned 10 or more points for nine straight seasons from 2009 to 2017, tied for the third-longest streak since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Cole Hamels holds the record for the longest such streak of 11 seasons from 2006 to 2016.
Kershaw holds the record for most consecutive seasons with 20 or more Box-Toppers points—seven, from 2011 to 2017, a streak which he also failed to extend in 2018.
Scoring—Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Matz earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Soto and Stanton 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)| 9/29 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +12.0 | `HOU 4, BAL 3 | Justin Verlander | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| NL | +10.0 | `NYM 1, MIA 0 (F/13) | Steven Matz | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| +9.0 | PHI 3, ATL 0 | Aaron Nola (W, 17‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | ||
| +8.0 | STL 2, CHC 1 | Miles Mikolas (W, 18‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +6.0 | `SEA 4, TEX 1 | James Paxton | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||
| +6.0 | `TB 4, TOR 3 | Blake Snell | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 10 | ||
| +5.0 | MIN 8, CHW 3 | Kyle Gibson (W, 10‑13) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | WSH 12, COL 2 | Juan Soto LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | MIL 6, DET 5 | Christian Yelich RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.1 | LAD 10, SF 6 | Alex Wood (W, 9‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | ARI 5, SD 4 | Ildemaro Vargas 2B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | OAK 5, LAA 2 | Trevor Cahill (W, 7‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | CIN 3, PIT 0 | Raisel Iglesias (S, 30) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | NYY 8, BOS 5 | Giancarlo Stanton DH | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.0 | HOU 5, BAL 2 | Jake Marisnick CF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | KC 9, CLE 4 | Alcides Escobar 3B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 | 27.2 | 32.2 | 36.2 | 36.2 | +22.2 |
| Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 24.1 | 38.8 | 73.9 | 178.1 | +9.4 |
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 21.1 | 36.9 | 45.6 | 45.6 | +5.3 |
| Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 17.0 | 30.7 | 41.8 | 41.8 | +3.3 |
| Mikolas, Miles 3034 | pi sp | stl nl | 11.7 | 11.7 | 13.4 | 14.4 | +11.7 |
| Yelich, Christian 3334 | rf lf | mil nl | 11.5 | 16.5 | 32.0 | 32.0 | +6.5 |
| Cahill, Trevor 2658 | pi sp | oak al | 9.0 | 15.4 | 25.4 | 55.6 | +2.6 |
| Soto, Juan 3994 | lf | dc nl | 7.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | +7.5 |
| Gibson, Kyle 3312 | pi sp | min al | 7.4 | 9.4 | 26.4 | 26.4 | +5.4 |
| Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | dh rf lf | nyy al | 6.5 | 20.7 | 44.4 | 59.9 | -7.7 |
| Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 5.7 | 6.7 | 22.3 | 22.3 | +4.7 |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 5.0 | 20.7 | 40.1 | 40.1 | -10.7 |
| Iglesias, Raisel 3467 | pi cp | cin nl | 3.0 | 9.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 | -3.0 |
| Escobar, Alcides 2663 | 3b ss | kc al | 3.0 | 7.0 | 20.0 | 28.5 | -1.0 |
| Marisnick, Jake 3428 | cf | hou al | 2.0 | 4.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 | -0.7 |
| Vargas, Ildemaro 3924 | 3b | ari nl | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | -0.5 |
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.