Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, reaching 10 Box-Toppers points for the eighth straight season.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2019 season through the games of Aug. 8.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 20.8 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 18.8 |
| 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 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 15.1 |
| 7 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.7 |
| 9 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | sp pi | dc nl | 13.4 |
| 10 | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | pi sp | cin nl | 13.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Sale struck out 13 over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 3-0 win over the Angels.
Sale earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season, 15th among all players and eighth among American League pitchers.
Sale is the 23rd player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points and it is his eighth straight season to reach 10 points, now tied for the sixth-longest such streak since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. Cole Hamels has the longest streak of seasons with 10 points (11, from 2006 to 2016). Sale is tied with three other players to earn 10 points in eight straight seasons (including Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who reached the milestone earlier this season).
Sale’s best season was 2017 with the Red Sox when he had 25.1 Box-Toppers points, first among all players. In 2018, he had 20.1 points with the Red Sox, sixth among all players.
Sale now has 142.6 career Box-Toppers points, 29th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Thursday, he passes Jake Peavy (141.8) on the “all-time” list and now trails 28th-ranked player David Ortiz (145.9). Sale ranks 11th among active players in career points.
Most consecutive seasons earning 10 or more Box-Toppers points
Cole Hamels earned 10 or more Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons (from 2006-2016), most of any player. Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale has now earned 10 or more points for eight straight seasons, tied for the sixth-longest streak. Here are the 10 longest streaks of players earning 10 or more points per season since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.| Player | Seasons | Duration | |
| 1 | Cole Hamels | 11 | 2006‑2016 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | 10 | 1996‑2005 |
| 3 | Curt Schilling | 9 | 1996‑2004 |
| 3 | Johan Santana | 9 | 2002‑2010 |
| 3 | Clayton Kershaw | 9 | 2009‑2017 |
| 6 | Barry Bonds | 8 | 1995‑2002 |
| 6 | CC Sabathia | 8 | 2005‑2012 |
| 6 | Max Scherzer | 8 | 2012‑2019 |
| 6 | Chris Sale | 8 | 2012‑2019 |
| 10 | Felix Hernandez | 7 | 2009‑2015 |
Sale had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +19.0, tied for the highest score by a Player of the Game winner this season. Indians pitcher Shane Bieber also had a game score of +19.0 in the 10-0 win over the Orioles on May 19 (CG 5H 0R 0BB 15K W). Sale’s score ranks second on the season to Bieber’s on a tiebreaker because Sale pitched fewer innings (eight vs. nine).
National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher Elieser Hernandez struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 9-2 win over the Braves.
American League Batter of the Day—Gio Urshela of the Yankees hit two home runs and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 12-6 win over the Blue Jays.
National League Batter of the Day—Manuel Margot of the Padres homered and went 1-for-1, scoring twice and driving in one run.
Notable—Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger becomes the 24th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Clevinger (7IP 3H 2R BB 9K W in the 7-5 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season, 21st among all players and 10th among AL pitchers.
This is the third straight season Clevinger has reached 10 Box-Toppers points, all with the Indians. In 2017, he had 11.4 points, ninth among AL pitchers. In 2018, he had 13.7 points, 14th among AL pitchers.
Also notable—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner now has 120.4 career Box-Toppers points, 44th-most since 1995, after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Bumgarner (7IP H 0R BB 3K W in the 5-0 win over the Phillies) trails 43rd-ranked player, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (122.9). Bumgarner ranks 15th among active players in career points.
He has 6.0 Box-Toppers points for 2019, 33rd among NL pitchers.
Debut—Travis Demeritte of the Tigers made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Demeritte (HR 1-2 3R BI in the 10-8 win over the Royals) made his Major League debut Aug. 2 and was playing in his eighth career game.
Scoring—Sale earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hernandez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Urshela and Margot each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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)| 8/8 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +19.0 | BOS 3, LAA 0 | Chris Sale (W, 6‑11) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | |
| NL | +9.0 | MIA 9, ATL 2 | Elieser Hernandez (W, 2‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| +8.0 | CLE 7, MIN 5 | Mike Clevinger (W, 7‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| +8.0 | SF 5, PHI 0 | Madison Bumgarner (W, 7‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +7.0 | CHC 12, CIN 5 | Tyler Chatwood (W, 5‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | NYY 12, TOR 6 | Gio Urshela 3B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | DET 10, KC 8 | Travis Demeritte RF | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | SD 9, COL 3 | Manuel Margot PR‑CF | 1 | 2 | 1 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 11.0 | 31.1 | 105.8 | 142.6 | -9.1 |
| Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi sp | cle al | 10.4 | 24.1 | 38.5 | 38.5 | -3.3 |
| Urshela, Gio 4135 | 3b | nyy al | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | +6.5 |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 6.0 | 12.7 | 67.3 | 120.4 | -0.7 |
| Chatwood, Tyler 2856 | pi sp cp mr | chi nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 20.4 | 29.1 | +2.0 |
| Hernandez, Elieser 4181 | pi sp | fla nl | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | +2.7 |
| Margot, Manuel 3861 | cf pr | sd nl | 2.5 | 3.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | +1.5 |
| Demeritte, Travis 4215 | rf | det 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.