Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third place in season player rankings and seventh place in career 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 June 30.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 14.8 |
| 2 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 14.7 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.4 |
| 4 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | tb al | 11.8 |
| 5 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 11.4 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 11.2 |
| 7 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 11.1 |
| 8 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.7 |
| 9 | Giolito, Lucas 3900 | sp pi | chi al | 10.7 |
| 10 | Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 9.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Sunday, three other players in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 earn Player of the Game honors: Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole rises to fifth place, Indians pitcher Shane Bieber rises to seventh place and White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito actually falls one spot to ninth place, despite earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Scherzer struck out 14 over eight innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, in the 2-1 win over the Tigers.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, rising from sixth to third place in season player rankings, second among National League pitchers, behind closer Josh Hader of the Brewers (14.7). Scherzer now leads all NL starting pitchers, ahead of second-place Zack Greinke of the Diamondbacks (11.2).
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 | 220.5 |
| 4 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 203.4 |
| 5 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 200.4 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 194.8 |
| 7 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 194.2 |
| 8 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 9 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 192.9 |
| 10 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | retired | 187.0 |
| 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 | 170.6 |
| 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.
After a slow start, Scherzer earned Player of the Game honors in each of his six June starts, earning a total of 11.4 points during the month (winning Player of the Game honors four times and NL Player of the Day honors twice).
Scherzer also now has 194.2 career Box-Toppers points and with the 2.0 points earned Sunday passes two players on the “all-time” list, rising from ninth to seventh place. He passes Astros pitcher Justin Verlander (192.9) and Curt Schilling (194.1). (It should be noted that Schilling would have an estimated 232 career Box-Toppers points if his entire career from 1988 were tracked. Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.) Passing Verlander, Scherzer now ranks fifth among active players in career points, just 0.6 points behind Albert Pujols of the Angels (194.8).
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Shane Bieber struck out 11 over eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 2-0 win over the Orioles.
Bieber earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 11.1 for the season, rising to seventh in season player rankings, fourth among AL pitchers.
Bieber becomes the eighth player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his first season with 10 points. In his 2018 rookie season with the Indians, he had 6.4 Box-Toppers points, 44th among AL pitchers.
Both Bieber and Scherzer had Box-Toppers game scores of +16.0 Sunday, but Scherzer beat Bieber for overall Player of the Day honors on a tiebreaker (he had more strikeouts—14 vs. 11.)
American League Batter of the Day—Matt Chapman of the Athletics hit a three-run homer and doubled in the 12-3 win over the Angels. Chapman went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in six runs.
National League Batter of the Day—Bryce Harper of the Phillies homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 13-6 win over the Marlins.
Rankings—In addition to Scherzer and Bieber, two other players in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 earned Player of the Game honors Sunday:
Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole (7IP 5H R BB 10K W in the 6-1 win over the Mariners) rises from seventh to fifth place in season player rankings with 11.4 Box-Toppers points. Cole ranks third among AL pitchers, behind teammate Justin Verlander (14.8) and Charlie Morton of the Rays (11.8).
White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito (5IP H 0R 0BB 4K W in the 4-3 win over the Twins) becomes the ninth player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points this season, with 10.7. However, because he was passed by AL Player of the Day Bieber, Giolito actually falls from eighth to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, despite gaining the 1.0 Box-Toppers point. Giolito ranks fifth among AL pitchers. It is his first season with 10 or more points.
Notable—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner now has 118.4 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Bumgarner (7IP 4H R 0BB 9K W in the 10-4 win over the Diamondbacks) ranks 46th among all players in career points since 1995. He trails 45th-ranked player Carlos Delgado (118.7). Bumgarner ranks 15th among active players in career points. He has 4.0 points on the season, 40th among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Bieber earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Chapman and Harper 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)| 6/30 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +16.0 | WSH 2, DET 1 | Max Scherzer (W, 8‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 | |
| AL | +16.0 | CLE 2, BAL 0 | Shane Bieber (W, 7‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | |
| +11.0 | TB 6, TEX 2 | Blake Snell (W, 5‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 12 | ||
| +10.0 | SF 10, ARI 4 | Madison Bumgarner (W, 5‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||
| +9.0 | HOU 6, SEA 1 | Gerrit Cole (W, 8‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| +8.0 | CHW 4, MIN 3 | Lucas Giolito (W, 11‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +7.0 | CIN 8, CHC 6 | Anthony DeSclafani (W, 5‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| BAT | +6.0 | OAK 12, LAA 3 | Matt Chapman 3B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +5.0 | PHI 13, MIA 6 | Bryce Harper RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | `LAD 10, COL 5 | Julio Urias | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +5.0 | NYM 8, ATL 5 | Wilmer Font (W, 2‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +4.2 | STL 5, SD 3 (F/11) | Carlos Martinez (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +3.0 | NYY 12, BOS 8 | Adam Ottavino (W, 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.2 | `MIL 2, PIT 1 | Freddy Peralta | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.0 | KC 7, TOR 6 | Jorge Soler RF | 4 | 1 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.4 | 37.5 | 131.3 | 194.2 | -12.7 |
| Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 11.4 | 29.4 | 67.6 | 72.3 | -6.6 |
| Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 11.1 | 17.5 | 17.5 | 17.5 | +4.7 |
| Giolito, Lucas 3900 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 | 14.7 | 17.7 | 17.7 | +6.7 |
| Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 9.0 | 36.2 | 45.2 | 45.2 | -18.2 |
| Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp mr | mil nl | 5.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 | 13.7 | -3.7 |
| Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp mr | lad nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 | +5.0 |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 4.0 | 10.7 | 65.3 | 118.4 | -2.7 |
| Chapman, Matt 3849 | 3b | oak al | 4.0 | 8.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | -0.5 |
| DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.0 | 8.0 | 19.7 | 19.7 | 0.0 |
| Soler, Jorge 3403 | rf dh | kc al | 3.0 | 4.5 | 11.2 | 11.2 | +1.5 |
| Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | phi nl | 2.5 | 10.0 | 29.0 | 44.4 | -5.0 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi mr sp | stl nl | 1.0 | 8.0 | 44.6 | 44.6 | -6.0 |
| Ottavino, Adam 3054 | pi mr cp | nyy al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 10.0 | 12.0 | -2.0 |
| Font, Wilmer 4007 | pi mr sp | nym nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -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.