Diamondbacks pitcher Alex Young is Saturday’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 Sept. 7.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 24.8 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 24.2 |
| 3 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 4 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | tb al | 16.8 |
| 5 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 16.7 |
| 6 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 16.1 |
| 7 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.4 |
| 8 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.4 |
| 9 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | sp pi | dc nl | 14.4 |
| 10 | Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Saturday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander regains the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Verlander also rises to fifth place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995.
Player of the Day—Young struck out 12 over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 2-0 win over the Reds.
Young earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, 176th among all players and 58th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher J.A. Happ struck out seven over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 5-1 win over the Red Sox.
American League Batter of the Day—Matt Olson of the Athletics homered and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 10-2 win over the Tigers.
National League Batter of the Day—Marcell Ozuna of the Cardinals hit a three-run homer and went 1-for-3, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 10-1 win over the Pirates.
Ozuna earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.5 for the season, 32nd among all players and second among NL batters, behind Christian Yelich of the Brewers (11.7).
2019 lead changes
Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.| Date | Player | Team | BTP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3/20 | Tim Beckham | sea al | 2.0 |
| 3/21 | Hunter Strickland | sea al | 2.0 |
| 3/28 | Jose Berrios | min al | 2.0 |
| 3/31 | Cody Bellinger | lad nl | 2.7 |
| 4/3 | Matt Shoemaker | tor al | 3.7 |
| 4/4 | Trevor Bauer | cle al | 3.7 |
| 4/7 | Cody Bellinger | lad nl | 5.2 |
| 4/15 | Trevor Bauer | cle al | 5.4 |
| 4/24 | Justin Verlander | hou al | 6.4 |
| 5/3 | Tyler Glasnow | tb al | 6.7 |
| 5/5 | Josh Hader | mil nl | 7.0 |
| 5/10 | Justin Verlander | hou al | 8.4 |
| 7/22 | Gerrit Cole | hou al | 16.1 |
| 7/24 | Justin Verlander | hou al | 16.8 |
| 7/27 | Gerrit Cole | hou al | 17.1 |
| 7/30 | Justin Verlander | hou al | 18.8 |
| 8/28 | Gerrit Cole | hou al | 22.5 |
| 9/1 | Justin Verlander | hou al | 23.8 |
| 9/2 | Gerrit Cole | hou al | 24.2 |
| 9/7 | Justin Verlander | hou al | 24.8 |
Ozuna becomes the 43rd player—and eighth batter—to reach 10 Box-Toppers points this season. It is his first season with 10 points. His previous best season was 2017 with the Marlins when he had 9.2 points, sixth among NL batters. He had 2.5 points in 2018 with the Cardinals.
Rankings—Astros pitcher Justin Verlander regains the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Verlander (7IP 4H R BB 7K W in the 2-1 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 24.8 for the season, rising from second to first place, passing previous leader, teammate Gerrit Cole (24.2), who took the lead Monday. Verlander and Cole have exchanged the lead eight times since July 22.
Verlander also rises from sixth to fifth place on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list (tracking began in 1995). With 202.9 career points, Verlander passes teammate Zack Greinke (202.4) on the list and now trails fourth-ranked player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (203.4) by just 0.5 points. Passing Greinke, Verlander now ranks third among active players in career points, behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (226.5) and Sabathia (203.4).
Verlander’s 24.8 Box-Toppers points on the season matches his career high single-season point total. He also had 24.8 points in 2012 with the Tigers, when he led all players.
Notable—Twins pitcher Jake Odorizzi now has 11.4 Box-Toppers points on the season after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
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 | 226.5 |
| 4 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 203.4 |
| 5 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 202.9 |
| 6 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | hou al | 202.4 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 200.8 |
| 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 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 172.6 |
| 13 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | chi nl | 172.2 |
| 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.
Odorizzi (5.1IP 4H 2R 2BB 10K ND in the 5-3 win over the Indians) ranks 26th among all players and 10th among AL pitchers.
Debut—Rangers pitcher Yohander Mendez made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Mendez (2.1IP H R 0BB 6K W in the 9-4 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut Sept. 5, 2016, and was playing in his 18th career game.
Scoring—Young earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Happ earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Olson and Ozuna 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)| 9/7 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +17.0 | ARI 2, CIN 0 | Alex Young (W, 7‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | |
| AL | +10.1 | NYY 5, BOS 1 | J.A. Happ (W, 12‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| +8.0 | ATL 5, WSH 4 | Julio Teheran (W, 10‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| +7.0 | HOU 2, SEA 1 | Justin Verlander (W, 18‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +7.0 | PHI 5, NYM 0 | Drew Smyly (W, 4‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +7.0 | SD 3, COL 0 | Joey Lucchesi (W, 10‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | ||
| +6.0 | `MIL 3, CHC 2 | Freddy Peralta | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| +5.1 | TEX 9, BAL 4 | Yohander Mendez (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +5.1 | `MIN 5, CLE 3 | Jake Odorizzi | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | OAK 10, DET 2 | Matt Olson 1B | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | LAA 8, CHW 7 | Shohei Ohtani DH | 5 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | STL 10, PIT 1 | Marcell Ozuna LF | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | TB 5, TOR 3 | Oliver Drake (S, 2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | KC 7, MIA 2 | Danny Duffy (W, 6‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | ||
| +3.0 | SF 1, LAD 0 | Tyler Beede (W, 4‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
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 | 24.8 | 48.9 | 88.7 | 202.9 | +0.7 |
| Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | min al | 11.4 | 18.4 | 53.6 | 55.6 | +4.4 |
| Ozuna, Marcell 3190 | lf | stl nl | 10.5 | 13.0 | 38.2 | 40.7 | +8.0 |
| Lucchesi, Joey 3936 | pi sp | sd nl | 9.4 | 15.4 | 15.4 | 15.4 | +3.4 |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | nyy al | 8.7 | 24.4 | 62.6 | 81.3 | -7.0 |
| Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 8.0 | 20.7 | 58.5 | 72.2 | -4.7 |
| Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi mr | mil nl | 7.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 | 15.7 | -1.7 |
| Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | dh | ana al | 6.5 | 14.5 | 14.5 | 14.5 | -1.5 |
| Young, Alex 4180 | pi sp | ari nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +5.0 |
| Olson, Matt 3836 | 1b | oak al | 4.0 | 9.2 | 10.7 | 10.7 | -1.2 |
| Smyly, Drew 3009 | pi sp | phi nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 30.8 | 39.5 | +4.0 |
| Beede, Tyler 4166 | pi sp | sf nl | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | +3.7 |
| Duffy, Danny 2915 | pi sp | kc al | 3.0 | 10.7 | 39.4 | 44.4 | -4.7 |
| Drake, Oliver 3826 | pi cp | tb al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +1.0 |
| Mendez, Yohander 4244 | 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.