Box-Toppers' top-ranked rookie Michael Fulmer wins AL Rookie of the Year; Corey Seager wins NL rookie honors despite low Box-Toppers ranking

Tigers' Michael Fulmer wins AL Rookie of the Year and is Box-Toppers' top-ranked rookie. Corey Seager of the Dodgers is unanimous NL Rookie of the Year, but isn't among Box-Toppers' top five NL rookies.

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Blue Jays' Happ tops players for Sunday, July 3; Dodgers' McCarthy tops NL players

Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of July 3:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 20.0
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 13.4
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 12.0
4 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 11.7
5 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 10.8
6 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 10.7
7 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 10.7
8 Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 10.5
9 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 10.4
10 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 10.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Happ struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 17-1 win over the Indians.

National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Brandon McCarthy pitched five scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits and one walk, in the 4-1 win over the Rockies.

National League Batter of the Day—Wilmer Flores of the Mets hit two homers and went 6-for-6, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 14–3 win over the Cubs.

American League Batter of the Day—Sandy Leon of the Red Sox homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 10-5 win over the Angels.

This was Leon’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Leon made his Major League debut May 14, 2012, and was playing in his 89th career game. He is the 3,676th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Notable—Seth Smith of the Mariners earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Sunday.

Smith (grand slam 1-4 in the 9-4 win over the Orioles) was also Player of the Game Saturday in the Mariners 12-6 win over the Orioles.

Also notable—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg has the most 2016 Box-Toppers points of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Strasburg (6.2 IP 0H 0R 4BB 5K W in the 12-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.4 for the season, 13th among all players, ninth among NL pitchers.

Debuts—In addition to Leon, two other players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Yankees pitcher Chad Green (6IP 3H R 8K W in the 6-3 win over the Padres) made his Major League debut May 16 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,675th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Giants pitcher Josh Osich (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut July 3, 2015, and was playing in his 76th career game. He is the 3,677th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Happ earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and McCarthy earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Flores and Leon 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

7/3 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 TOR 17/CLE 1 J.A. Happ (W,11-3) - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 0 11
NL 10.0 LAD 4/COL 1 Brandon McCarthy (W,1-0) - - - - 5.0 2 0 0 1 8
9.0 NYY 6/SD 3 Chad Green (W,1-1) - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 0 8
7.2 DC 12/CIN 1 Stephen Strasburg (W,11-0) - - - - 6.2 0 0 0 4 5
BAT 7.0 NYM 14/CHC 3 Wilmer Flores, 3B 6 3 6 4 - - - - - -
5.0 STL 9/MIL 8 Stephen Piscotty, RF 4 2 3 4 - - - - - -
5.0 CHW 4/HOU 1 Jose Quintana (W,6-8) - - - - 7.0 2 1 1 2 4
3.0 MIA 5/ATL 2 J.T. Realmuto, C 5 3 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 PHI 7/KC 2 Maikel Franco, 3B 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 BOS 10/LAA 5 Sandy Leon, C 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 PIT 6/OAK 3 David Freese, 1B 1 1 1 2 - - - - - -
2.0 DET 5/TB 1 Ian Kinsler, 2B 4 2 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 SEA 9/BAL 4 Seth Smith, LF 4 1 1 4 - - - - - -
2.0 MIN 5/TEX 4 Brian Dozier, 2B 3 2 1 2 - - - - - -
2.0 SF 5/ARI 4 Josh Osich (W,1-1) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 9.4 23.4 69.5 77.2 -4.6
Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 6.7 12.7 31.5 31.5 0.7
Happ, J.A. 2536 pi sp tor al 6.0 19.1 34.5 42.5 -7.1
Kinsler, Ian 2144 2b det al 4.5 11.0 30.2 60.6 -2.0
Realmuto, J.T. 3491 ca fla nl 3.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 -1.5
Piscotty, Stephen 3570 rf stl nl 3.0 7.2 7.2 7.2 -1.2
Smith, Seth 2489 rf lf sea al 3.0 4.0 22.0 36.2 2.0
McCarthy, Brandon 2082 pi sp lad nl 1.7 3.7 26.8 35.5 -0.3
Flores, Wilmer 3345 3b ss 2b nym nl 1.5 4.0 6.5 6.5 -1.0
Leon, Sandy 3676 ca bos al 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5
Dozier, Brian 3219 2b min al 1.0 4.7 12.7 12.7 -2.7
Franco, Maikel 3510 3b phi nl 1.0 4.2 4.2 4.2 -2.2
Freese, David 2710 1b 3b pit nl 1.0 1.0 21.2 23.2 1.0
Green, Chad 3675 pi sp nyy al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Osich, Josh 3677 pi mr sf nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Brandon McCarthy (6IP 0R 6K) tops players for Sunday, April 19

Dodgers pitcher Brandon McCarthy is Sunday’s Player of the Day.

McCarthy pitched six scoreless innings and struck out six in the 7-0 win over the Rockies.

American League Player of the Day—Yoenis Cespedes of the Tigers hit a grand slam and a two-run homer in the 9-1 win over the White Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—Jonny Gomes of the Braves hit a double and drove in four total runs in the 5-2 win over the Blue Jays.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 19.  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 4.0
2 Kazmir, Scott 1947 pi sp oak al 3.7
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 3.0
4 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 3.0
5 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 3.0
6 Bauer, Trevor 3065 pi sp cle al 3.0
7 Price, David 2593 pi sp det al 2.7
8 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 2.7
9 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 2.7
10 Donaldson, Josh 3144 3b dh tor al 2.5
What are those numbers after players' names?

Rankings—Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Cole (6IP 2R 6K in the 5-2 win over the Brewers) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.

Scoring—McCarthy earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cespedes earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Gomes earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/19 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 7.0 Dodgers Brandon McCarthy (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 2 6
AL 6.0 Tigers Yoenis Cespedes LF 4 2 2 6 0 1 - - - - - -
5.1 Nationals Stephen Strasburg (W, 1-1) - - - - - - 7.1 5 1 1 2 7
5.0 Orioles Adam Jones CF 5 1 4 5 0 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Mariners Nelson Cruz RF 6 2 3 5 0 3 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Braves Jonny Gomes LF 2 0 1 4 1 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Yankees Andrew Miller (S, 4) - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 3
3.0 Royals Wade Davis (S, 2) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Twins Shane Robinson CF 4 1 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Dbacks Paul Goldschmidt 1B 3 2 1 2 1 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Pirates Gerrit Cole (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 6.0 5 2 2 1 6
2.0 Padres Andrew Cashner (W, 1-2) - - - - - - 6.0 5 2 0 2 5
2.0 Astros Luke Gregerson (S, 2) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 Mets Ruben Tejada SS 4 1 1 3 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Cardinals Matt Carpenter 3B 3 1 2 1 0 0 - - - - - -

Washington Nationals top Box-Toppers' 2015 preseason team rankings

Nationals' offseason net gain in Box-Toppers points pushes them to top of preseason team rankings. Meanwhile, the Yankees and Athletics plummet in rankings and the Cubs and Red Sox make big leaps upward.

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A Box-Toppers look at Dodgers’ winter meeting moves

The Los Angeles Dodgers, one of the most active shoppers for players at this week’s winter meetings, picked up 10 players with a combined 21.0 Box-Toppers points in 2014 and dealt seven players with a total of 18.0 Box-Toppers points.

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Brandon McCarthy (9IP 0R), David Ortiz (2HR 6BI) top players for Saturday, May 18

Box-Toppers Daily Scorecard graphic.png

Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon McCarthy is Saturday's Player of the Day. McCarthy threw a complete game, three-hit shutout in the 1-0 win over the Marlins.

David Ortiz of the Red Sox is American League Player of the Day. Ortiz homered twice, drove in six runs and went 3-for-4 in the 12-5 win over the Twins.​

Dexter Fowler of the Rockies is National League Batter of the Day. Fowler went 3-for-5 in the 10-2 win over the Giants.​

McCarthy receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Day. Ortiz receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Fowler receives 1.5 for being NL Batter of the Day.

All of Saturday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point:

518ScoreTeamBATTERSABRHRBIBBSO--PITCHERSIPHRERBBSO
MLB9.0Diamondbacks 0000000  Brandon McCarthy (W, 1-3)9.030025
AL8.0Red Sox David Ortiz DH433610  00.000000
 6.2Reds 0000000  Bronson Arroyo (W, 4-4)7.250026
 6.0Angels Alberto Callaspo 3B322500  00.000000
 6.0`Braves 0000000  Kris Medlen 7.021035
 5.2Astros 0000000  Jose Cisnero (W, 1-0)3.220015
 5.0Rangers Elvis Andrus SS535200  00.000000
 5.0Rays Matt Joyce RF523500  00.000000
 5.0Padres 0000000  Eric Stults (W, 4-3)8.041125
 4.2Cubs 0000000  Scott Feldman (W, 4-3)6.270016
 4.0Yankees Robinson Cano 2B422401  00.000000
BAT3.0Rockies Dexter Fowler CF533201  00.000000
 2.0Brewers Jean Segura SS413201  00.000000
 1.0Indians Mark Reynolds 3B, 1B512301  00.000000
 0.0Athletics Eric Sogard 2B312000  00.000000

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.