Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, extending his lead in season player rankings and rising to sixth place in career Box-Toppers 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 Aug. 1.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 18.8 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 17.1 |
| 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 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.7 |
| 9 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | sp pi | dc nl | 13.4 |
| 10 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | hou al | 13.2 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Sunday, Indians pitcher Shane Bieber rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Verlander struck out 10 over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 3-1 win over the Mariners.
Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 20.8 for the season, extending his lead over second-place player, teammate Gerrit Cole (17.1). Verlander also leads American League pitchers ahead of Cole.
Verlander now has 198.9 career Box-Toppers points, rising to sixth place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Sunday, he passes Albert Pujols of the Angels (198.8) on the “all-time” list and now trails fifth-place player, teammate Zack Greinke (202.4). Passing Pujols, Verlander now ranks fourth among active players in career points.
Verlander becomes the first player this season to reach 20 Box-Toppers points. It is his fourth season with 20 points:
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 | 223.5 |
| 4 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 203.4 |
| 5 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | hou al | 202.4 |
| 6 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 198.9 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 198.8 |
| 8 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 196.2 |
| 9 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 10 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | retired | 187.0 |
| 11 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 174.1 |
| 12 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | chi nl | 172.2 |
| 13 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 171.6 |
| 14 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 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 as of the 2019 All-Star break.
In 2011 with the Tigers, he had 24.4 points, third among all players and first among AL pitchers.
In 2012 with the Tigers, he had 24.8 points, first among all players.
In 2018 with the Astros, he had 24.1 points, third among all players and second among AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish struck out eight over five innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 7-2 win over the Brewers.
Darvish had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +6.0, same as Reds pitcher Sonny Gray, who was Player of the Game in the 6-4, 10-inning win over the Braves (7IP 4H 0R 4BB 7K ND). Darvish edged Gray to earn NL Player of the Day because he earned the win, while Gray picked up a no-decision.
National League Batter of the Day—Max Muncy of the Dodgers hit two doubles, including a two-run, walk-off double, in the 11-10 win over the Padres. Muncy went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Shin-Soo Choo of the Rangers hit two doubles and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 9-4 win over the Tigers.
Rankings—Indians pitcher Shane Bieber rises from seventh to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Bieber (CG 5H 2R 0BB 8K W in the 8-2 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.1 for the season. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.
Bieber becomes the sixth player this season with 15 or more Box-Toppers points. It is his first season with 15 points. In his only previous season, he earned 6.4 points in 2018 with the Indians, 44th among AL pitchers.
Scoring—Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Darvish earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Muncy and Choo 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)| 8/4 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.0 | HOU 3, SEA 1 | Justin Verlander (W, 15‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | |
| +8.0 | CLE 6, LAA 2 | Shane Bieber (W, 11‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | ||
| +7.0 | MIN 3, KC 0 | Devin Smeltzer (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| NL | +6.0 | CHC 7, MIL 2 | Yu Darvish (W, 4‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |
| +6.0 | `CIN 6, ATL 4 (F/10) | Sonny Gray | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | LAD 11, SD 10 | Max Muncy 2B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | ARI 7, WSH 5 | Adam Jones RF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | NYM 13, PIT 2 | Jeff McNeil RF‑2B | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | TEX 9, DET 4 | Shin‑Soo Choo DH | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | COL 6, SF 2 | Trevor Story SS | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | TB 7, MIA 2 | Yonny Chirinos (W, 9‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +3.0 | OAK 4, STL 2 | Tanner Roark (W, 7‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +2.0 | BAL 6, TOR 5 | Shawn Armstrong (S, 4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +1.0 | CHW 10, PHI 5 | Leury Garcia CF‑RF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | NYY 7, BOS 4 | Gio Urshela 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 20.8 | 44.9 | 84.7 | 198.9 | -3.3 |
| Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 15.1 | 21.5 | 21.5 | 21.5 | +8.7 |
| Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | cin nl | 7.7 | 16.4 | 53.6 | 57.6 | -1.0 |
| Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | chi nl | 7.4 | 12.8 | 48.6 | 81.4 | +2.0 |
| Chirinos, Yonny 4039 | pi sp | tb al | 7.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +5.0 |
| Roark, Tanner 3261 | pi sp | oak al | 5.7 | 9.7 | 40.4 | 45.4 | +1.7 |
| Muncy, Max 3969 | 1b 2b | lad nl | 5.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | +1.0 |
| Choo, Shin-Soo 2267 | rf lf | tex al | 5.0 | 11.5 | 27.0 | 65.2 | -1.5 |
| Story, Trevor 3607 | ss | col nl | 5.0 | 11.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 | -1.0 |
| Urshela, Gio 4135 | 3b | nyy al | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +5.0 |
| Jones, Adam 2347 | rf | ari nl | 3.5 | 8.5 | 32.5 | 64.0 | -1.5 |
| Garcia, Leury 4019 | cf rf | chi al | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +2.0 |
| McNeil, Jeff 4050 | lf rf 2b | nym nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +2.0 |
| Smeltzer, Devin 4149 | pi sp | min al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +3.0 |
| Armstrong, Shawn 4204 | pi cp | bal al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
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.