Box-Toppers Toppers Box
Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.▪️ Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.
▪️ Box-Toppers points of the day’s top players.
▪️ Top 10 players in 2022 Box-Toppers points.
▪️ A B-T look at today’s pitching matchups.
▪️ Most consecutive seasons earning B-T points (active streaks).
White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Albert Pujols of the Cardinals extends his record streak of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points to 22 after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Kopech struck out six over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks, in the 5-0 win over the Yankees.
Kopech earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, 36th among all players and 13th among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Zach Eflin struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing two runs, four hits and two walks, in the 4-3, 10-inning win over the Dodgers. Eflin did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Phillies trailed when he exited.
Eflin earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, 32nd among NL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Manny Machado of the Padres hit three doubles and a triple in the 10-1 win over the Giants. Machado went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs.
Machado earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, 35th among all players and fourth among NL batters.
American League Batter of the Day—Austin Hays of the Orioles hit a ninth-inning, pinch-hit, two-out single that drove in two runs to tie the game, in the 7-6, 11-inning win over the Rays. Hays went 1-for-1, driving in two runs.
Active season streaks
Here are the 12 players who have active streaks of earning Box-Toppers points for 14 or more consecutive seasons. Players are listed by the length of their streak and with their current team status. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.Back to top
| Streak | Player | Pos | Team | Duration | BTP* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Albert Pujols | 1b | Cardinals | 2001‑2022 | 205.8 |
| 19 | Miguel Cabrera | 1b dh | Tigers | 2003‑2021 | 158.4 |
| 17 | Nelson Cruz | dh | Nationals | 2006‑2022 | 85.9 |
| 16 | Kurt Suzuki | ca | Angels | 2007‑2022 | 47.5 |
| 15 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 2008‑2022 | 251.6 |
| 15 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | Royals | 2007‑2021 | 217.8 |
| 15 | Johnny Cueto | pi sp | White Sox | 2008‑2022 | 113.5 |
| 15 | Asdrubal Cabrera | 3b 1b | Reds | 2007‑2021 | 63.7 |
| 14 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | Mets | 2009‑2022 | 228.3 |
| 14 | J.A. Happ | pi sp | Free agent | 2008‑2021 | 91.0 |
| 14 | Andrew McCutchen | dh lf | Brewers | 2009‑2022 | 77.4 |
| 14 | Evan Longoria | 3b | Giants | 2008‑2021 | 56.0 |
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Streak—Albert Pujols of the Cardinals Sunday extended his record streak of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points to 22 after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2022.
Pujols (2HR 2-3 2R 4BI in the 18-4 win over the Pirates) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2001 with the Cardinals and now has 205.8 career points, seventh place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails sixth-ranked player, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander (213.6).
Pujols, 42, has the most career Box-Toppers points among all batters since 1995, ahead of Alex Rodriguez (187.0). He ranks fifth among active players in career points.
The 22-season streak for Pujols is now three seasons longer than the next-longest such streaks in Box-Toppers recording history, going back to 1995. Four players have each earned Box-Toppers points in 19 straight seasons:
Jason Giambi from 1995 to 2013.
Carlos Beltran from 1999 to 2017.
CC Sabathia from 2001 to 2019.
Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers from 2003 to 2021. Cabrera, 39, extended his streak to 19 in 2021. It is the only 19-season streak still active that could still be extended to 20 in 2022. (A look at the longest active season streaks.)
Pujols’ best season was 2009 with the Cardinals when he had 16.7 Box-Toppers points, leading all NL batters and ranking eighth among all players that season. Pujols has led NL batters in Box-Toppers points five times—leading the league in season Box-Toppers points more than any other batter—all with the Cardinals:
In 2003, he had 16.5 points.
In 2004—15.9.
2008—15.2.
2009—16.7.
2010—15.4.
Pujols earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2021. He began the season with the Angels, was released and signed with the Dodgers, where he earned the 2.0 points, extending his streak to 21 seasons. This was his first Box-Toppers point since returning to the Cardinals. Pujols’ previous Box-Toppers points with St. Louis came Sept. 1, 2011, when he earned Player of the Day honors worth 2.0 points. (While we kept track of Box-Toppers points at the time, it was before the 2013 advent of this website, Box-Toppers.com.)
Pujols is the only player earning Box-Toppers points in 2001 who is still active today. Box-Toppers’ next two longest tenured players are:
Pitcher Oliver Perez, 40, currently listed as a free agent after being released this season by the Diamondbacks, earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2002.
Miguel Cabrera, 39, of the Tigers, who first earned points in 2003.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Twins pitcher Jhoan Duran (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv in the 7-6 win over the Royals) made his Major League debut April 8 and was playing in his 15th career game.
Lane Thomas of the Nationals (2-2B 2-4 R 2BI in the 8-2 win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut April 17, 2019, and was playing in his 164th career game.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2022. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Sunday, May 22.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | dh pi sp | ana al | 8.0 |
| 2 | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 7.0 |
| 3 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 7.0 |
| 4 | Lauer, Eric 4017 | pi sp | mil nl | 6.7 |
| 5 | Wright, Kyle 4349 | pi sp | atl nl | 6.7 |
| 6 | Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | chi al | 6.0 |
| 7 | Fried, Max 4011 | pi sp | atl nl | 6.0 |
| 8 | Alonso, Pete 4118 | 1b | nym nl | 6.0 |
| 9 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 5.7 |
| 10 | Skubal, Tarik 4414 | pi sp | det al | 5.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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Scoring—Kopech earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Eflin earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Machado and Hays each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Player of the Game winners (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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Box‑Toppers Player of the Game winners
Here is the top player from each of the day’s games listed from highest to lowest Box‑Toppers game score (BTG).Back to top
| 5/22 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +10.0 | CHW 5, NYY 0 | Michael Kopech, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| NL | +9.0 | `PHI 4, LAD 3 (F/10) | Zach Eflin | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 | |
| +8.2 | `BOS 8, SEA 4 (F/10) | Nathan Eovaldi | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | ||
| +7.2 | HOU 5, TEX 2 | Jose Urquidy, (W 4‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| +7.1 | LAA 4, OAK 1 | Patrick Sandoval, (W 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +6.0 | NYM 2, COL 0 | Taijuan Walker, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | SD 10, SF 1 | Manny Machado, 3B | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | STL 18, PIT 4 | Albert Pujols, PH‑DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +5.0 | MIA 4, ATL 3 | Sandy Alcantara, (W 4‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| +5.0 | CIN 3, TOR 2 | Alexis Diaz, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.1 | `DET 4, CLE 2 | Alex Lange, (Hld 5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | CHC 5, ARI 4 | Keegan Thompson, (W 4‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +3.0 | MIN 7, KC 6 | Jhoan Duran, (S 3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | CHW 3, NYY 1 | Liam Hendriks, (S 13) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | BAL 7, TB 6 (F/11) | Austin Hays, PH‑LF | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +1.0 | WSH 8, MIL 2 | Lane Thomas, CF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 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.
N/A—Not applicable. No Player of the Game was chosen because the game ended in a tie.
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.
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Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s Player of the Game winners
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Player of the Game winners. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2022 (’22). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’21-22), the period 2017-2022 (’17-22) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2022 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2021 total (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’22 | ’21‑22 | ’17‑22 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b | sd nl | 4.0 | 9.9 | 25.6 | 49.3 | -1.9 |
| Kopech, Michael 4385 | pi sp | chi al | 4.0 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | -1.7 |
| Sandoval, Patrick 4357 | pi sp | ana al | 4.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | +2.0 |
| Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | pi sp | fla nl | 3.7 | 13.4 | 22.8 | 22.8 | -6.0 |
| Thompson, Keegan 4579 | pi mr sp cp | chi nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +3.0 |
| Eflin, Zach 3679 | pi sp | phi nl | 2.7 | 6.4 | 26.5 | 30.5 | -1.0 |
| Urquidy, Jose 4194 | pi sp | hou al | 2.0 | 10.4 | 15.1 | 15.1 | -6.4 |
| Hendriks, Liam 3339 | pi cp | chi al | 2.0 | 9.0 | 20.0 | 23.0 | -5.0 |
| Diaz, Alexis 4613 | pi cp mr | cin nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Lange, Alex 4575 | pi mr | det al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Hays, Austin 4538 | lf ph | bal al | 1.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | +0.5 |
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | bos al | 1.0 | 15.1 | 28.8 | 54.6 | -13.1 |
| Walker, Taijuan 3453 | pi sp | nym nl | 1.0 | 10.4 | 21.4 | 42.8 | -8.4 |
| Pujols, Albert 1438 | dh 1b ph | stl nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 23.5 | 205.8 | -1.0 |
| Duran, Jhoan 4622 | pi cp | min al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Thomas, Lane 4623 | cf | dc nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Monday’s pitching matchups
A Box-Toppers look at Monday’s probable pitching matchups. Teams are paired below with visiting teams on top and home teams on the bottom. Each team’s starting pitcher is shown with their Box-Toppers point total from 2022 (’22), over a two-year period (’21-22), over a six-year period (’17-22) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’22 | ’21-22 | ’17-22 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COL | Kuhl, Chad 3687 | 2.0 | 4.7 | 11.7 | 13.7 |
| PIT | Brubaker, JT 4382 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| CHC | Smyly, Drew 3009 | 2.0 | 10.0 | 14.0 | 49.5 |
| CIN | Gutierrez, Vladimir 4525 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| BAL | Lyles, Jordan 3100 | 1.0 | 8.0 | 20.7 | 28.4 |
| NYY | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | 4.7 | 27.1 | 91.7 | 127.6 |
| LAD | Anderson, Tyler 3656 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 20.7 | 22.7 |
| WSH | Adon, Joan 4580 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| PHI | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | 2.7 | 23.8 | 45.5 | 57.2 |
| ATL | Davidson, Tucker 4429 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| DET | Rodriguez, Elvin* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIN | Archer, Chris 3194 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 13.7 | 62.8 |
| TOR | Berrios, Jose 3791 | 2.0 | 11.4 | 51.9 | 51.9 |
| STL | Mikolas, Miles 3034 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 16.7 | 19.4 |
| CLE | Plesac, Zach 4168 | 0.0 | 5.4 | 15.5 | 15.5 |
| HOU | Garcia, Luis 4423 | 2.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| KC | Greinke, Zack 1871 | 0.0 | 8.7 | 61.7 | 217.8 |
| ARI | Davies, Zach 3581 | 1.0 | 7.0 | 20.7 | 29.7 |
| MIL | Houser, Adrian 4162 | 1.7 | 9.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 |
| SD | Martinez, Nick 3430 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 8.7 |
| OAK | Logue, Zach 4602 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| SEA | Gonzales, Marco 3408 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 31.5 | 34.5 |
| NYM | Peterson, David 4347 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| SF | Cobb, Alex 2916 | 2.0 | 9.4 | 21.8 | 53.2 |
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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