Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Kelly struck out five over 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 2-0 win over the Phillies.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2019 season through the games of June 12.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 13.8 |
| 2 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | tb al | 11.8 |
| 3 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 11.0 |
| 4 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 9.7 |
| 5 | Giolito, Lucas 3900 | sp pi | chi al | 9.7 |
| 6 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 9.4 |
| 7 | Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | min al | 9.4 |
| 8 | Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 |
| 9 | Castillo, Luis 3840 | pi sp | cin nl | 8.4 |
| 10 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 8.2 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Kelly earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, 91st among all players and 36th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Ramon Laureano of the Athletics hit a tie-breaking, eighth-inning grand slam in the 6-2 win over the Rays. Laureano went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in five runs.
National League Batter of the Day—Austin Riley of the Braves hit a game-tying, ninth-inning homer and scored the winning run in the 11th inning in the 8-7 win over the Pirates. Riley also tripled went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs.
Riley earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season, rising to eighth place among NL batters.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Ramon Laureano.
Notable—Cubs pitcher Cole Hamels rises to 12th place on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
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 | 219.5 |
| 4 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 201.4 |
| 5 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 197.4 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 194.8 |
| 7 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 8 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 191.9 |
| 9 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | retired | 187.0 |
| 10 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 186.5 |
| 11 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 174.1 |
| 12 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | chi nl | 171.2 |
| 13 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 14 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 168.6 |
| 15 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 16 | Johan Santana | pi sp | retired | 166.6 |
| 17 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 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.
Hamels (7IP 6H 0R BB 9K W in the 10-1 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 171.2 career points, rising to 12th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Roy Halladay (170.7) on the “all-time” list and now trails 11th-ranked player, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (174.1). Hamels ranks eighth among active players in career points.
Hamels also has 6.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, most among the 12 who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday. He rises to 22nd place in season player rankings, among all players in 2019, 10th among NL pitchers.
Hamels narrowly missed out on earning overall Player of the Day honors Wednesday. He had a Box-Toppers game score of +9.0, just behind Merrill Kelly’s +9.2 score.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Marlins pitcher Jordan Yamamoto (7IP 3H 0R 2BB 5K W in the 9-0 win over the Cardinals) was also making his Major League debut.
Brewers pitcher Adrian Houser (2IP H 0R BB 3K W in the 6-3, 14-inning win over the Astros) made his Major League debut Sept. 26, 2015, and was playing in his 22nd career game.
Scoring—Kelly earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Laureano earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Riley earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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)| 6/12 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.2 | ARI 2, PHI 0 | Merrill Kelly (W, 7‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| +9.0 | CHC 10, COL 1 | Cole Hamels (W, 6‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| +7.0 | MIA 9, STL 0 | Jordan Yamamoto (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | ATL 8, PIT 7 (F/11) | Austin Riley LF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| AL | +4.0 | OAK 6, TB 2 | Ramon Laureano CF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.2 | `BOS 4, TEX 3 | Rick Porcello | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +3.1 | TOR 8, BAL 6 | Daniel Hudson (S, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | MIL 6, HOU 3 (F/14) | Adrian Houser (W, 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | SEA 9, MIN 6 (F/10) | Roenis Elias (S, 6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +1.0 | CIN 7, CLE 2 | Jose Iglesias SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | SF 4, SD 2 | Donovan Solano 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | DET 3, KC 2 | Nick Ramirez (W, 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 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 2014-2019 (’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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | chi nl | 6.7 | 17.8 | 72.8 | 171.2 | -4.4 |
| Riley, Austin 4144 | lf | atl nl | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | +4.5 |
| Porcello, Rick 2573 | pi sp | bos al | 4.0 | 15.4 | 39.1 | 61.1 | -7.4 |
| Elias, Roenis 3309 | pi cp | sea al | 4.0 | 6.7 | 18.4 | 18.4 | +1.3 |
| Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | ari nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Hudson, Dan 2776 | pi mr cp | tor al | 3.0 | 4.0 | 7.0 | 24.0 | +2.0 |
| Laureano, Ramon 4054 | cf | oak al | 2.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | +1.7 |
| Iglesias, Jose 3532 | ss | cin nl | 2.5 | 7.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | -2.0 |
| Ramirez, Nick 4150 | pi mr | det al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Solano, Donovan 3096 | 2b | sf nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | +1.0 |
| Houser, Adrian 4162 | pi cp | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Yamamoto, Jordan 4161 | pi sp | fla 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.