Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2019 season through the games of June 2.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 13.8 |
| 2 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 10.0 |
| 3 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | tb al | 8.8 |
| 4 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.7 |
| 5 | Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | min al | 8.4 |
| 6 | Bellinger, Cody 3781 | rf 1b | lad nl | 8.2 |
| 7 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 |
| 8 | Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | chi nl | 7.7 |
| 9 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 7.7 |
| 10 | Giolito, Lucas 3900 | pi sp | chi al | 7.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Sunday, two players rise into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors—Twins pitcher Jake Odorizzi rises to fifth place and White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito rises to 10th place. Plus, Albert Pujols of the Angels rises to sixth place on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list after earning AL Batter of the Day honors Sunday.
Player of the Day—Scherzer struck out 15 over eight innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 4-1 win over the Reds.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season. He ranks 91st among all players and 30th among National League pitchers.
Scherzer also now has 184.8 career Box-Toppers points, 10th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails ninth-ranked player Alex Rodriguez (187.0). Scherzer ranks sixth among active players in career points.
Scherzer’s Box-Toppers game score of +17.0 Sunday is also the third-best for any Player of the Game so far in 2019. These players had higher ranked game scores:
Indians pitcher Shane Bieber had a game score of +19.0 on May 19 in the 10-0 win over the Orioles (CG 5H 0R 0BB 15K W).
Rockies pitcher German Marquez had a game score of +17.0 on April 14 I the 4-0 win over the Giants (CG H 0R 0BB 9K W). (While Marquez and Scherzer both have game scores of +17.0, Marquez’s ranks higher because he had more innings pitched).
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 | 196.4 |
| 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 | 184.8 |
| 11 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 174.1 |
| 12 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 13 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | chi nl | 168.2 |
| 14 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 167.6 |
| 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.
Scherzer is one of seven players to earn a game score of +17.0 this season. Scherzer’s ranks second among those, behind Marquez’s, based on tiebreakers that include earning a decision, having more innings pitched and having more strikeouts.
American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito struck out nine over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing five hits and walking none, in the 2-0 win over the Indians.
Giolito earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, rising to 10th place in season player rankings, sixth among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Eric Thames of the Brewers homered, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 4-2 win over the Pirates.
Thames beat Dansby Swanson of the Braves, who earned Player of the Game honors in the 7-4 win over the Tigers, for NL Batter of the Day on a low-level tiebreaker. Both Swanson and Thames had Box-Toppers game scores of +4.0 and both had very similar statistics (HR 2B 2-3 2R 3BI). But Thames won NL Batter of the Day over Swanson because he left fewer runners on base (zero vs. one).
American League Batter of the Day—Albert Pujols of the Angels hit a three-run homer and doubled in the 13-3 win over the Mariners. Pujols went 2-for-5, scoring once and driving in five runs.
Pujols earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 194.8 career Box-Toppers points, rising to sixth place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Sunday, he passes Curt Schilling (194.1) on the “all-time” list. (It should be noted that Schilling would have an estimated 232 career Box-Toppers points if his entire career from 1988 were tracked.) Pujols now trails fifth-ranked player, Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke (196.4). Pujols has the most career Box-Toppers points of any batter since 1995. He has the fourth-most career points of any active player.
Pujols also now has 4.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, seventh among AL batters. He already has more points than he did in all of 2018 (3.0), the season in which he earned the fewest points in all of his 19 seasons.
Rankings—Twins pitcher Jake Odorizzi rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Odorizzi (6IP 3H 0R BB 9K W in the 9-7 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.4 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers, behind Justin Verlander of the Astros (13.8) and Charlie Morton of the Rays (8.8).
Notable—Four players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Sunday, including Scherzer and Pujols, previously mentioned. The other two:
Red Sox pitcher David Price (6.1IP 6H 2R BB 6K W in the 8-5 win over the Yankees) now has 129.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 34th among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He passes Vladimir Guerrero (128.3) on the “all-time” list and now trails 33rd-ranked player Trevor Hoffman (129.4). Price ranks 12th among active players in career points. Price has 3.7 Box-Toppers points in 2019, 28th among AL pitchers.
Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (8IP 2H 0R 7BB 8K W in the 2-1 win over the Cubs) now has 121.9 career Box-Toppers points, 42nd among players since 1995, when player tracking began. He trails 41st-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1). Wainwright ranks 13th among active players in career points. Wainwright has 2.7 Box-Toppers points in 2019, 48th among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Giolito earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Thames and Pujols 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)| 6/2 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +17.0 | WSH 4, CIN 1 | Max Scherzer (W, 3‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 | |
| AL | +11.1 | CHW 2, CLE 0 | Lucas Giolito (W, 8‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| +11.0 | MIN 9, TB 7 | Jake Odorizzi (W, 8‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| +10.0 | LAD 8, PHI 0 | Rich Hill (W, 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | ||
| +10.0 | MIA 9, SD 3 | Trevor Richards (W, 3‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| +9.2 | ARI 7, NYM 1 | Merrill Kelly (W, 5‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | ||
| +8.0 | TEX 5, KC 1 | Adrian Sampson (W, 4‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | ||
| +7.0 | STL 2, CHC 1 | Adam Wainwright (W, 5‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 8 | ||
| +7.0 | SF 8, BAL 1 | Jeff Samardzija (W, 3‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +5.0 | HOU 6, OAK 4 (F/12) | Josh James (W, 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | MIL 4, PIT 2 | Eric Thames 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | ATL 7, DET 4 | Dansby Swanson SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | LAA 13, SEA 3 | Albert Pujols 1B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.0 | COL 5, TOR 1 | Chris Iannetta C | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.1 | BOS 8, NYY 5 | David Price (W, 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | min al | 8.4 | 15.4 | 50.6 | 52.6 | +1.4 |
| Giolito, Lucas 3900 | pi sp | chi al | 7.7 | 11.7 | 14.7 | 14.7 | +3.7 |
| Pujols, Albert 1438 | 1b | ana al | 4.0 | 7.0 | 35.0 | 194.8 | +1.0 |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 3.7 | 18.1 | 75.4 | 129.0 | -10.7 |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 3.0 | 28.1 | 121.9 | 184.8 | -22.1 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 | 12.7 | 43.8 | 63.5 | -6.7 |
| Samardzija, Jeff 2495 | pi sp | sf nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 41.1 | 63.8 | +3.0 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 2.7 | 4.4 | 41.8 | 121.9 | +1.0 |
| Richards, Trevor 3945 | pi sp | fla nl | 2.0 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | -5.7 |
| Swanson, Dansby 3751 | ss | atl nl | 2.0 | 6.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | -2.5 |
| James, Josh 4059 | pi mr cp sp | hou al | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -1.0 |
| Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | ari nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Sampson, Adrian 4147 | pi mr sp | tex al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Thames, Eric 2909 | 1b | mil nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 5.5 | 8.0 | +1.5 |
| Iannetta, Chris 2239 | ca | col nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 10.2 | 22.7 | +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.