Braves pitcher Mike Soroka is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Soroka struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing six hits and one walk, in the 4-1 win over the Padres.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2019 season through the games of July 14.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 14.8 |
| 2 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | tb al | 14.8 |
| 3 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 14.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.4 |
| 5 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 13.2 |
| 6 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 13.1 |
| 7 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 12.1 |
| 8 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 11.7 |
| 9 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | dc nl | 11.4 |
| 10 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | sp pi | dc nl | 11.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Soroka earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.4 for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. He rises to 23rd place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, 11th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Ryan Yarbrough struck out six over 6 1/3 middle relief innings, allowing one run, two hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Orioles.
American League Batter of the Day—Jose Altuve of the Astros hit a grand slam and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 12-4 win over the Rangers.
This was Altuve’s first Player of the Game honor of 2019. He’s played in 59 of the Astros’ 94 games this season, including 35 team wins. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day.
National League Batter of the Day—Ryan McMahon of the Rockies tripled, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 10-9 win over the Reds.
Streak—Robinson Cano of the Mets has now earned Box-Toppers points in 15 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2019 Sunday.
Active season streaks
Robinson Cano of the Mets Sunday extended his streak to 15 consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points, tied for the fourth-longest currently active streak. He's one of 41 players since 1995 to have a streak that long. Here are the 11 players with the longest currently active such streaks. Each player here has earned points in at least 14 straight seasons. Players are listed by the length of their streak and with their current team status. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.| Streak | Player | Pos | Team | Duration | BTP* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | Yankees | 2001‑2019 | 203.4 |
| 1 | 19 | Albert Pujols | 1b | Angels | 2001‑2019 | 195.8 |
| 3 | 17 | Miguel Cabrera | dh 1b | Tigers | 2003‑2019 | 149.9 |
| 4 | 15 | Edwin Encarnacion | dh | Yankees | 2005‑2019 | 87.2 |
| 4 | 15 | Robinson Cano | 2b | Mets | 2005‑2019 | 84.4 |
| 6 | 14 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | Astros | 2006‑2019 | 192.2 |
| 6 | 14 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | Mariners | 2005‑2018 | 174.1 |
| 6 | 14 | Jon Lester | pi sp | Cubs | 2006‑2019 | 171.6 |
| 6 | 14 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | Cubs | 2006‑2019 | 171.2 |
| 6 | 14 | Ian Kinsler | 2b | Padres | 2006‑2019 | 71.6 |
| 6 | 14 | Nelson Cruz | dh | Twins | 2006‑2019 | 66.2 |
Cano (HR 2B 4-5 2R BI in the 6-2 win over the Marlins) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2005 with the Yankees. His 15-season streak is now tied for the fourth-longest currently active streak—Edwin Encarnacion of the Yankees has also earned Box-Toppers points for 15 straight seasons from 2005 to 2019. Cano is now one of 41 players since 1995 with a 15-season streak (see the home page to see an updated chart of all streaks 15 seasons or longer, scroll way down).
Cano now has 84.4 career Box-Toppers points, 48th among all batters since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He ranks second among active NL batters, behind Ryan Braun of the Brewers (96.7). His best season was 2013 with the Yankees when he had 12.5 Box-Toppers points, fourth among AL batters. In 2018, he had 4.0 points with the Mariners, a season in which he was suspended 80 games for violating baseball’s performance enhancing drug policy.
Notable—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright now has 122.9 career Box-Toppers points—43rd-most since 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Wainwright (7IP 4H 0R BB 7K W in the 5-2 win over the Diamondbacks) now trails 42nd-ranked player, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg (123.1) and ranks 14th among active players in career points. Wainwright has 3.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 54th among NL pitchers.
Wainwright had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +9.0, the same as overall Player of the Day, Braves pitcher Mike Soroka. But Soroka held the tiebreaker to earn Player of the Day because he had more strikeouts—nine vs. seven.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut, each with their first career Player of the Game honor.
Matt Thaiss of the Angels (HR 2-3 2R 3BI in the 6-3 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut July 3 and was playing in his fifth career game.
Harold Castro of the Tigers (2B 4-6 2R 2BI in the 12-6 win over the Royals) made his Major League debut Sept. 23, 2018, and was playing in his 41st career game.
Scoring—Soroka earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Yarbrough earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Altuve and McMahon 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)| 7/14 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.0 | ATL 4, SD 1 | Mike Soroka (W, 10‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| +9.0 | STL 5, ARI 2 | Adam Wainwright (W, 6‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| AL | +8.1 | TB 4, BAL 1 | Ryan Yarbrough (W, 8‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| BAT | +5.0 | HOU 12, TEX 4 | Jose Altuve 2B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +4.0 | COL 10, CIN 9 | Ryan McMahon 3B‑2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | LAA 6, SEA 3 | Matt Thaiss 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | PHI 4, WSH 3 | Hector Neris (W, 2‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +4.0 | CLE 4, MIN 3 | Brad Hand (S, 24) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | LAD 7, BOS 4 (F/12) | A.J. Pollock CF | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | NYY 4, TOR 2 | Masahiro Tanaka (W, 6‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | ||
| +2.0 | DET 12, KC 8 | Harold Castro RF | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | NYM 6, MIA 2 | Robinson Cano 2B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | SF 8, MIL 3 | Donovan Solano 2B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | CHC 8, PIT 3 | Albert Almora PH‑CF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | OAK 3, CHW 2 | Liam Hendriks (W, 4‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 (’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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soroka, Mike 3956 | pi sp | atl nl | 8.4 | 11.4 | 11.4 | 11.4 | +5.4 |
| Hand, Brad 2907 | pi cp | cle al | 7.0 | 14.0 | 27.7 | 28.7 | 0.0 |
| Yarbrough, Ryan 3962 | pi sp mr cp | tb al | 6.4 | 13.4 | 13.4 | 13.4 | -0.6 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 6.0 | 19.4 | 65.6 | 65.6 | -7.4 |
| Neris, Hector 3553 | pi cp | phi nl | 5.0 | 7.0 | 17.0 | 17.0 | +3.0 |
| McMahon, Ryan 4004 | 2b 1b 3b | col nl | 4.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | +2.3 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 3.7 | 5.4 | 42.8 | 122.9 | +2.0 |
| Hendriks, Liam 3339 | pi cp | oak al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +2.0 |
| Solano, Donovan 3096 | 2b | sf nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 6.0 | +2.0 |
| Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 1.5 | 5.0 | 30.5 | 36.5 | -2.0 |
| Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | nym nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 30.0 | 84.4 | -3.0 |
| Pollock, A.J. 3142 | cf | lad nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 17.5 | 22.2 | -3.0 |
| Almora, Albert 3764 | cf ph | chi nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 0.0 |
| Castro, Harold 4187 | rf | det al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Thaiss, Matt 4186 | 3b | ana 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.