Marlins pitcher Caleb Smith is Tuesday’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 July 23.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 16.1 |
| 2 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 15.8 |
| 3 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | tb al | 14.8 |
| 4 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 14.7 |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.4 |
| 6 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 13.7 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 13.2 |
| 8 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad 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
Also Tuesday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Smith struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one, two hits and two walks, in the 5-1 win over the White Sox.
Smith earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, 100th among all players and 37th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Didi Gregorius of the Yankees hit a three-run homer and two doubles in the 14-12, 10-inning win over the Twins. Gregorius went 5-for-5, scoring twice and driving in seven runs.
Gregorius had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +9.0, which is the fourth-highest for a batter earning Player of the Game honors in 2019. Three others ranked higher:
On July 15, Brandon Crawford of the Giants had the season’s highest Box-Toppers game score for a batter earning Player of the Game honors (+10.0—2HR 5-6 3R 8BI in the 19-2 win over the Rockies).
On May 31, Trevor Story of the Rockies had the second-highest-ranking game score for a batter earning Player of the Game this season (+10.0—2HR 2B 3-4 4R 7BI in the 13-6 win over the Blue Jays). (Though both Crawford and Story had game scores of +10.0, Crawford ranks higher because he had more at bats—six vs. four).
On July 1, Josh Bell of the Pirates had the third-highest-ranking game score for a batter earning Player of the Game honors this season (+9.0—3HR 4-6 4R 7BI in the 18-5 win over the Cubs). (Though both Bell and Gregorius had game scores of +9.0, Bell ranks higher because he had more at bats—six vs. five. In addition, Gregorius ranks higher on tiebreakers than three other batters earning Player of the Game honors this season who achieved game scores of +9.0.)
National League Batter of the Day—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 14-6 win over the Brewers.
Suarez had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 Tuesday, which was lower than the game score of +8.0 achieved by NL batter Robinson Cano of the Mets (3HR 4-4 3R 5BI) in the 5-2 win over the Padres. But Cano did not earn Player of the Game honors in that game. Instead, Player of the Game went to Mets pitcher Jason Vargas, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +9.0, just beating out Cano (6IP H 0R 4BB 8K W).
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate al Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Didi Gregorius.
Rankings—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises from eighth to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Strasburg (6IP 3H 0R 2BB 8K W in the 11-1 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.7 for the season. He ranks third among NL pitchers, behind Josh Hader of the Brewers (14.7) and teammate Max Scherzer (14.4).
Strasburg also now has 125.8 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 41st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 40th-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4). Strasburg ranks 13th among active players in career points.
Notable—Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale now has 140.6 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Sale (6IP 4H 2R 3BB 10K W in the 5-4 win over the Rays) ranks 30th among all players in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 29th-ranked player Jake Peavy (141.8). Sale ranks 11th among active players in career points.
Sale now has 9.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 19th among all players and ninth among AL pitchers.
Debut—Rangers pitcher Pedro Payano made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Payano (5IP 3H R BB 7K W in the 7-2 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut July 9 and was playing in his second career game.
Scoring—Smith earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gregorius earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Suarez earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’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)| 7/23 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +10.0 | MIA 5, CHW 1 | Caleb Smith (W, 6‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | |
| AL | +9.0 | NYY 14, MIN 12 (F/10) | Didi Gregorius SS | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +9.0 | NYM 5, SD 2 | Jason Vargas (W, 5‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | ||
| +9.0 | WSH 11, COL 1 | Stephen Strasburg (W, 13‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| +9.0 | `KC 5, ATL 4 | Danny Duffy | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | ||
| +7.2 | `PHI 3, DET 2 (F/15) | Nick Pivetta | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +6.0 | TEX 7, SEA 2 | Pedro Payano (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +5.0 | BOS 5, TB 4 | Chris Sale (W, 5‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | CIN 14, MIL 6 | Eugenio Suarez 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | OAK 4, HOU 3 (F/11) | Yusmeiro Petit (W, 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +4.0 | `TOR 2, CLE 1 (F/10) | Aaron Sanchez | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +4.0 | `SF 5, CHC 4 (F/13) | Will Smith | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | BAL 7, ARI 2 | Dwight Smith LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | LAA 5, LAD 4 | Kole Calhoun RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | STL 4, PIT 3 | Jose Martinez RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 13.7 | 20.4 | 88.7 | 125.8 | +7.0 |
| Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 9.0 | 29.1 | 103.8 | 140.6 | -11.1 |
| Smith, Dwight Jr. 4112 | lf | bal al | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | +5.7 |
| Smith, Caleb 3952 | pi sp | fla nl | 5.0 | 11.4 | 11.4 | 11.4 | -1.4 |
| Smith, Will 3073 | pi cp | sf nl | 5.0 | 10.7 | 12.7 | 18.7 | -0.7 |
| Suarez, Eugenio 3355 | 3b | cin nl | 4.5 | 12.0 | 29.5 | 29.5 | -3.0 |
| Martinez, Jose 3830 | rf lf 1b ph | stl nl | 3.0 | 9.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | -3.0 |
| Petit, Yusmeiro 2337 | pi mr cp | oak al | 3.0 | 4.0 | 14.0 | 26.7 | +2.0 |
| Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.7 | 10.7 | 30.7 | 68.9 | -5.3 |
| Gregorius, Didi 3184 | ss | nyy al | 2.7 | 5.7 | 13.2 | 14.2 | -0.3 |
| Pivetta, Nick 3825 | pi sp mr | phi nl | 2.0 | 13.7 | 21.7 | 21.7 | -9.7 |
| Duffy, Danny 2915 | pi sp | kc al | 2.0 | 9.7 | 38.4 | 43.4 | -5.7 |
| Calhoun, Kole 3279 | rf | ana al | 2.0 | 5.0 | 23.2 | 24.2 | -1.0 |
| Sanchez, Aaron 3392 | pi sp | tor al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 18.7 | 18.7 | 0.0 |
| Payano, Pedro 4198 | pi mr | tex 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.