Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fifth in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2019 season through the games of July 28.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 17.1 |
| 2 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 16.8 |
| 3 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | tb al | 15.8 |
| 4 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 15.7 |
| 5 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.7 |
| 6 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.4 |
| 7 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 14.1 |
| 8 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 13.2 |
| 9 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.7 |
| 10 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | sp pi | dc nl | 12.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Strasburg struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and no walks, in the 11-4 win over the Dodgers.
Strasburg earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 15.7 for the season, rising from seventh to fifth in season player rankings, second among National League pitchers, behind Josh Hader of the Brewers (15.7). (While both Hader and Strasburg have 15.7 Box-Toppers points, Hader ranks ahead because he has more 2018 points—11.7 vs. 6.7.) Strasburg also rises to lead NL starting pitchers in 2019 Box-Toppers points, passing teammate Max Scherzer (14.4).
Strasburg becomes the fifth player this season to reach 15 Box-Toppers points. It is his fifth season with 15 or more points. He did it in 2012 (20.4, third among all players), 2014 (16.7, 10th among all players), 2016 (15.1, 10th among all players) and 2017 (22.5, fourth among all players).
Strasburg now has 127.8 career Box-Toppers points, 36th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his 2.0 points earned Sunday, Strasburg passes four players on the “all-time” list—Mariano Rivera (126.4), John Lackey (127.2), A.J. Burnett (127.8) and Jered Weaver (127.8). (Though Burnett, Weaver and Strasburg all have 127.8 career points, Strasburg ranks ahead because he has earned points in 2019, while the other two are retired and have no 2019 points.) Strasburg trails 35th-ranked player Vladimir Guerrero (128.3). Strasburg ranks 13th among active players in career points.
American League Player of the Day—Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson struck out nine over six innings, allowing one run, seven hits and one walk, in the 11-1 win over the White Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Kyle Schwarber of the Cubs hit two home runs—a grand slam and a three-run shot—in the 11-4 win over the Brewers. Schwarber went 3-for-3, scoring four times and driving in seven runs.
Schwarber achieved the highest Box-Toppers game score for a batter earning Player of the Game honors this season, +11.0. The previous high game score for a batter earning Player of the Game honors this season is +10.0 by Brandon Crawford of the Giants on July 15. But though Schwarber’s game score was higher, he earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, while Crawford earned Player of the Day for July 15 and 2.0 Box-Toppers points with his game score of +10.0.
While Schwarber’s +11.0 game score is best for a batter earning Player of the Game honors this season, it is the 92nd-best among all Player of the Game winners in 2019. There are 91 games in which pitchers earning Player of the Game honors had higher game scores. There have been 1,584 games completed in 2019 through Sunday.
American League Batter of the Day—Matt Thaiss of the Angels hit two home runs, including a walk-off homer, in the 5-4 win over the Orioles. Thaiss went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Marlins pitcher Jose Quijada (2IP 0R 0H BB 3K W in the 5-1 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut April 24 and was playing in his 17th career game.
Mike Yastrzemski of the Giants (2-2B 4-5 2R 2BI in the 7-6 win over the Padres) made his Major League debut May 25 and was playing in his 54th career game.
Scoring—Strasburg earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gibson earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Schwarber and Thaiss 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)| 7/28 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +12.0 | WSH 11, LAD 4 | Stephen Strasburg (W, 14‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| BAT | +11.0 | CHC 11, MIL 4 | Kyle Schwarber LF | 3 | 4 | 3 | 7 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| AL | +5.0 | MIN 11, CHW 1 | Kyle Gibson (W, 10‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
| +4.0 | HOU 6, STL 2 | Wade Miley (W, 9‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +4.0 | MIA 5, ARI 1 | Jose Quijada (W, 2‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +4.0 | `SEA 3, DET 2 (F/10) | Matt Wisler | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.1 | NYY 9, BOS 6 | Domingo German (W, 13‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | ||
| +3.0 | SF 7, SD 6 | Mike Yastrzemski LF‑RF | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | LAA 5, BAL 4 | Matt Thaiss 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.2 | TB 10, TOR 9 | Diego Castillo (S, 8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | PHI 9, ATL 4 | J.T. Realmuto C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | CIN 3, COL 2 | Tucker Barnhart C | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | OAK 6, TEX 5 | Blake Treinen (W, 4‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +1.0 | KC 9, CLE 6 | Jorge Soler DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | NYM 8, PIT 7 | J.D. Davis LF | 3 | 1 | 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 | 15.7 | 22.4 | 90.7 | 127.8 | +9.0 |
| Gibson, Kyle 3312 | pi sp | min al | 7.7 | 15.1 | 34.1 | 34.1 | +0.3 |
| German, Domingo 3957 | pi sp | nyy al | 7.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | -1.0 |
| Miley, Wade 3006 | pi sp | hou al | 6.7 | 10.7 | 32.1 | 50.8 | +2.7 |
| Treinen, Blake 3495 | pi cp | oak al | 6.0 | 16.0 | 18.0 | 18.0 | -4.0 |
| Soler, Jorge 3403 | rf dh | kc al | 4.0 | 5.5 | 12.2 | 12.2 | +2.5 |
| Realmuto, J.T. 3491 | ca ph | phi nl | 3.5 | 9.0 | 23.5 | 23.5 | -2.0 |
| Davis, J.D. 4146 | lf ph | nym nl | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | +3.5 |
| Schwarber, Kyle 3536 | lf | chi nl | 2.5 | 6.5 | 16.0 | 16.0 | -1.5 |
| Thaiss, Matt 4186 | 3b | ana al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | +2.5 |
| Wisler, Matt 3522 | pi mr sp | sea al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | +1.0 |
| Castillo, Diego 3995 | pi cp mr | tb al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Barnhart, Tucker 3519 | ca | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | +1.0 |
| Quijada, Jose 4202 | pi mr | fla nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Yastrzemski, Mike 4203 | lf rf | sf nl | 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.