Cubs pitcher Cole Hamels is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to 15th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2019 season through the games of April 12.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bellinger, Cody 3781 | rf | lad nl | 5.2 |
| 2 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 4.0 |
| 3 | Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi sp | cle al | 4.0 |
| 4 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 4.0 |
| 5 | Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 3.7 |
| 6 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp mr | tb al | 3.7 |
| 7 | Shoemaker, Matt 3290 | pi sp | tor al | 3.7 |
| 8 | Beckham, Tim 3452 | ss dh | sea al | 3.5 |
| 9 | Castillo, Luis 3840 | pi sp | cin nl | 3.0 |
| 10 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Hamels struck out six over eight innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, in the 5-1 win over the Angels.
Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season and ranks 20th among all players for 2019.
Hamels now has 166.5 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 15th place since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Friday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—teammate Jon Lester (164.6) and Roger Clemens (164.8). (It should be noted that Clemens would have an estimated 320 Box-Toppers points if his entire career from 1984 were tracked.) Hamels now trails 14th-ranked player Johan Santana (166.6).
Hamels also has now earned Box-Toppers points in 14 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Phillies. His best season was 2016 with the Rangers when he had 17.8 Box-Toppers points, sixth among all players. He had 11.1 points in 2018 with the Rangers and the Cubs, finishing 19th among NL pitchers.
Hamels has earned at least 9.4 Box-Toppers points in each of his previous 13 seasons, earning 10 or more points 12 times, including in 11 straight seasons from 2006 to 2016, Box-Toppers’ all-time longest such streak.
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 | 200.4 |
| 5 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 190.8 |
| 7 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 190.7 |
| 8 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | retired | 187.0 |
| 9 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 181.8 |
| 10 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 179.1 |
| 11 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 174.1 |
| 12 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 13 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 14 | Johan Santana | pi sp | retired | 166.6 |
| 15 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | chi nl | 166.5 |
| 16 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 17 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 164.6 |
| 18 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 19 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 20 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | free agent | 155.9 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the end of the 2018 season.
American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez struck out eight over 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two runs, three hits and no walks, in the 6-4 win over the Orioles.
American League Batter of the Day—Eloy Jimenez of the White Sox hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-6, seven-inning, rain-shortened win over the Yankees.
This was Jimenez’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Jimenez made his Major League debut March 28 and was playing in his 12th career game.
National League Batter of the Day—Colin Moran of the Pirates hit a pinch-hit, three-run, go-ahead, 10th-inning home run, in the 6-3, 10-inning win over the Nationals.
Notable—Padres pitcher Chris Paddack has the most 2019 Box-Toppers points among Friday’s Player of the Game winners.
Paddack (5.1IP 3H R BB 5K ND in the 2-1 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season, 11th among all players, fourth among NL pitchers.
Streak—Phillies pitcher Jake Arrieta has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2019 Friday.
Arrieta (7IP 5H R BB 8K W in the 9-1 win over the Marlins) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2010 with the Orioles and now has 90.9 career points, 12th among active NL pitchers.
His best year was 2015 with the Cubs when he led all players with 29.1 Box-Toppers points, which is also the eighth-highest single-season point total since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He’s had two seasons with 15.0 or more points (he had 15.7 points in 2016 with the Cubs). In 2018, he had 7.7 Box-Toppers points with the Phillies, 42nd among NL pitchers.
Debut—In addition to Jimenez, two other players also made their Box-Toppers debuts Friday, each with their first career Player of the Game honors:
Giants pitcher Travis Bergen (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 5K W in the 3-2, 18-inning win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut March 29 and was playing in his sixth career game.
Brandon Lowe of the Rays (2HR 2-5 2R 4BI in the 11-7 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut Aug. 5, 2018, and was playing in his 56th career game.
Scoring—Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rodriguez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Jimenez and Moran 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)| 4/12 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +8.0 | CHC 5, LAA 1 | Cole Hamels (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| AL | +7.2 | BOS 6, BAL 4 | Eduardo Rodriguez (W, 1‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | |
| +7.0 | PHI 9, MIA 1 | Jake Arrieta (W, 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| +7.0 | SF 3, COL 2 (F/18) | Travis Bergen (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| +6.2 | KC 8, CLE 1 | Brad Keller (W, 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 10 | ||
| +5.1 | HOU 10, SEA 6 | Brad Peacock (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +4.1 | `SD 2, ARI 1 | Chris Paddack | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | CHW 9, NYY 6 (F/7) | Eloy Jimenez LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +4.0 | PIT 6, WSH 3 (F/10) | Colin Moran PH‑3B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.1 | OAK 8, TEX 6 | Blake Treinen (S, 5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | TB 11, TOR 7 | Brandon Lowe 2B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | MIL 8, LAD 5 | Yasmani Grandal C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | NYM 6, ATL 2 | Brandon Nimmo LF | 4 | 2 | 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 (’19). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’18-19), the period 2013-2018 (’14-19) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2019 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2018 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’19 | ’18‑19 | ’14‑19 | Career | +/‑ |
| Paddack, Chris 4093 | pi sp | sd nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +3.0 |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | chi nl | 2.0 | 13.1 | 68.1 | 166.5 | -9.1 |
| Treinen, Blake 3495 | pi cp | oak al | 2.0 | 12.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | -8.0 |
| Peacock, Brad 2968 | pi sp mr | hou al | 2.0 | 6.0 | 17.1 | 22.8 | -2.0 |
| Keller, Brad 4008 | pi sp | kc al | 2.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -2.0 |
| Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | bos al | 1.7 | 15.1 | 34.5 | 34.5 | -11.7 |
| Moran, Colin 3931 | 3b ph | pit nl | 1.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -2.0 |
| Jimenez, Eloy 4107 | lf | chi al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | +1.5 |
| Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | phi nl | 1.0 | 8.7 | 74.9 | 90.9 | -6.7 |
| Grandal, Yasmani 3058 | ca | mil nl | 1.0 | 5.5 | 20.2 | 24.2 | -3.5 |
| Nimmo, Brandon 3895 | lf | nym nl | 1.0 | 4.2 | 7.4 | 7.4 | -2.2 |
| Bergen, Travis 4106 | pi cp | sf nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Lowe, Brandon 4108 | 2b | tb 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.