Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, earning his first Player of the Day honor in more than a year.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2019 season through the games of July 20.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 15.8 |
| 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 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 14.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 13.2 |
| 7 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.7 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.7 |
| 9 | Paddack, Chris 4093 | sp pi | sd nl | 12.4 |
| 10 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 12.1 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Kershaw struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 10-6 win over the Marlins. Kershaw did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Marlins tied the game, 6-6, after he exited.
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season, 22nd among all players and 10th among National League pitchers.
Kershaw now has more Box-Toppers points this season (8.7) than he had in 2018 (8.0), his worst full season since he made his Major League debut in 2008. He had 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2008, but made his debut May 25. This is Kershaw’s first overall Player of the Day honor in more than a year; he last earned Player of the Day honors April 15, 2018. This is the longest Kershaw has gone between Player of the Day honors in his career.
Kershaw now has earned Player of the Day honors 47 times in his career. This is just the fourth time in his career he earned Player of the Day honors in a no-decision, without earning the win.
Kershaw now also has 223.5 career Box-Toppers points, third-most since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails second-place player Pedro Martinez (244.8) on the “all-time” list. Kershaw leads active players in career points, ahead of the second-place player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (203.4).
American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Jose Urquidy struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and no walks, in the 6-1 win over the Rangers.
This was Urquidy’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Urquidy made his Major League debut July 2 and was playing in his third career game.
American League Batter of the Day–Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox hit two three-run homers and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 17-6 win over the Orioles.
National League Batter of the Day—Javier Baez of the Cubs hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 6-5 win over the Padres.
Notable—White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito has the most 2019 Box-Toppers points among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Giolito (6.2IP 7H R BB 9K ND in the 2-1, 11-inning win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season, 11th among all players and fifth among AL pitchers.
Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Urquidy earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Bradley and Baez each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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)| 7/20 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +13.0 | `LAD 10, MIA 6 | Clayton Kershaw | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| AL | +12.0 | HOU 6, TEX 1 | Jose Urquidy (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| +9.0 | PIT 5, PHI 1 | Joe Musgrove (W, 7‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| +8.0 | KC 1, CLE 0 | Jake Junis (W, 6‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| +6.0 | `MIL 8, ARI 3 | Freddy Peralta | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +5.2 | `CHW 2, TB 1 (F/11) | Lucas Giolito | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | BOS 17, BAL 6 | Jackie Bradley CF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +5.0 | CHC 6, SD 5 | Javier Baez SS | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | NYM 11, SF 4 | Pete Alonso PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | LAA 6, SEA 2 | Ty Buttrey (W, 6‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.2 | WSH 5, ATL 3 | Sean Doolittle (S, 21) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | TOR 7, DET 5 | Vladimir Guerrero 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | CIN 3, STL 2 | Amir Garrett (W, 4‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | OAK 5, MIN 4 | Mark Canha RF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | NYY 11, COL 5 | Gleyber Torres 2B | 5 | 1 | 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 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giolito, Lucas 3900 | pi sp | chi al | 11.7 | 15.7 | 18.7 | 18.7 | +7.7 |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.7 | 16.7 | 121.4 | 223.5 | +0.7 |
| Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi mr sp | mil nl | 6.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 | 14.7 | -2.7 |
| Torres, Gleyber 3972 | ss | nyy al | 5.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | +4.0 |
| Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | pit nl | 5.0 | 9.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 | +1.0 |
| Alonso, Pete 4118 | 1b | nym nl | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | +4.5 |
| Bradley, Jackie Jr. 3293 | cf | bos al | 4.0 | 7.5 | 24.5 | 25.5 | +0.5 |
| Buttrey, Ty 4124 | pi mr | ana al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Baez, Javier 3395 | ss 2b 3b | chi nl | 3.0 | 13.0 | 22.7 | 22.7 | -7.0 |
| Guerrero, Vladimir Jr. 4142 | 3b | tor al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | +2.5 |
| Junis, Jakob (Jake) 3857 | pi sp | kc al | 2.0 | 8.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | -4.0 |
| Doolittle, Sean 3052 | pi cp | dc nl | 2.0 | 7.0 | 23.0 | 26.0 | -3.0 |
| Urquidy, Jose 4194 | pi sp | hou al | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | +1.7 |
| Canha, Mark 3454 | rf 1b | oak al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | -1.0 |
| Garrett, Amir 3762 | pi mr | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 | +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.