Red Sox' Mookie Betts tops players for Wednesday, June 14; Mets' Blevins tops NL players

Mookie Betts of the Red Sox is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Betts homered twice and doubled in the 7-3 win over the Phillies. Betts also went 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in three runs.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of June 14:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	14.4
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	12.0
3	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	11.4
4	Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	10.0
5	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	8.4
6	Judge, Aaron 3767	rf	nyy al	8.2
7	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	8.0
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	7.7
9	McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	hou al	7.7
10	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	7.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Jerry Blevins pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless middle relief, striking out three, allowing no hits and no walks and earning the win in the 9-4 win over the Cubs.

National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Phillips of the Braves hit two doubles and went 4-for-6, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 13-2 win over the Nationals.

Phillips has now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 straight seasons with his first Player of the Game honor for 2017. He earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2002 with the Indians, but began his current 12-season streak in 2006 with the Reds. He has 65.6 career Box-Toppers points, fifth among all second basemen since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He ranks third in career points among active second basemen, behind Robinson Cano of the Mariners (78.4) and Chase Utley of the Dodgers (75.1).

Phillips’ best season was 2012 with the Reds when he had 9.5 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL batters. He had 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016 with the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because the overall Player of the Day is AL batter Mookie Betts.

Notable—Trey Mancini of the Orioles has the most 2017 Box-Toppers points of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Mancini (2B 3-4 3R BI in the 10-6 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.2 for the season and ranks 30th among all players in 2017 season player rankings, fifth among AL batters.

Also notable—Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Liriano now has 105.2 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Liriano (7IP 5H 3R 2ER 2BB 9K ND in the 7-6 win over the Rays) rises to 65th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when tracking began. He passes Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 64th-ranked player Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (105.7).

Debut—Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:

• Astros pitcher Francis Martes (5IP 3H R 2B 7K W in the 13-2 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut June 9 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,822nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Angels pitcher Blake Parker (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 7-5 win over the Yankees) made his Major League debut May 17, 2012, and was playing in his 124th career game. He is the 3,823rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Raimel Tapia of the Rockies (2B 4-4 3R 0BI in the 5-1 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut Sept. 2, 2016, and was playing in his 36th career game. He is the 3,824th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Betts earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Blevins earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Phillips earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

6/14	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	6.0	BOS 7, PHI 3	Mookie Betts, RF	5	4	4	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	HOU 13, TEX 2	Francis Martes (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	1	1	2	7
NL	4.1	NYM 9, CHC 4	Jerry Blevins (W,4-0)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	4.0	ATL 13, WSH 2	Brandon Phillips, 2B	6	3	4	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	ARI 2, DET 1	Fernando Rodney (S,18)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	4.0	`TOR 7, TB 6	Francisco Liriano	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	3	2	2	9
	3.1	LAA 7, NYY 5	Blake Parker (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	COL 5, PIT 1	Raimel Tapia, RF	4	3	4	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	KC 7, SF 2	Lorenzo Cain, CF	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	BAL 10, CHW 6	Trey Mancini, 1B	4	3	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	MIL 7, STL 6	Eric Thames, 1B	5	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	MIA 11, OAK 6	Dee Gordon, 2B	4	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	LAD 6, CLE 4	Enrique Hernandez, PH-2B	2	1	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	SD 4, CIN 2	Brandon Maurer (S,12)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.2	`SEA 6, MIN 4	James Pazos (H,5)	-	-	-	-		1.2	1	0	0	1	2

MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
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 Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).  

Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Mancini, Trey 3766	lf 1b ph	bal al	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2
Thames, Eric 2909	1b lf	mil nl	4.0	4.0	5.0	6.5	4.0
Cain, Lorenzo 3171	cf	kc al	3.5	10.0	24.2	24.2	-3.0
Betts, Mookie 3404	rf	bos al	3.5	9.7	14.7	14.7	-2.7
Rodney, Fernando 1803	pi cp	ari nl	3.0	8.0	26.0	38.0	-2.0
Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	tor al	2.0	10.0	59.7	105.2	-6.0
Pazos, James 3786	pi mr	sea al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Blevins, Jerry 2788	pi mr	nym nl	1.7	1.7	6.7	7.7	1.7
Phillips, Brandon 1691	2b	atl nl	1.5	3.5	25.2	65.6	-0.5
Maurer, Brandon 3157	pi cp	sd nl	1.0	3.0	6.0	6.0	-1.0
Hernandez, Enrique 3541	2b ph	lad nl	1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	0.0
Gordon, Dee 2990	2b	fla nl	1.0	1.0	8.5	8.5	1.0
Martes, Francis 3822	pi sp	hou al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Parker, Blake 3823	pi mr	ana al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Tapia, Raimel 3824	rf	col nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cardinals' Garcia tops players for Thursday, May 5; Orioles' Gausman tops AL players

Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia is Thursday’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 May 5:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	6.0
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	6.0
3	Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	5.0
4	Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	5.0
5	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	5.0
6	Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	4.7
7	Nola, Aaron 3569	pi sp	phi nl	4.7
8	Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	cf lf dh ph	nym nl	4.5
9	Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	sea al	4.5
10	Suarez, Eugenio 3355	3b	cin nl	4.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Garcia pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out five, in the 4-0 win over the Phillies.

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out four, in the 10-inning, 1-0 win over the Yankees. Gausman did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited the game with the score tied, 0-0.

American League Batter of the Day—Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays hit a three-run homer and doubled twice, going 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 12-2 win over the Rangers. This was the second straight day Encarnacion earned Player of the Game honors. He has 2.5 Box-Toppers points for the season.

National League Batter of the Day—Gerardo Parra of the Rockies doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 17-7 win over the Giants.

Rankings—Robinson Cano of the Mariners rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Cano (2B 3-5 4BI in the 6-3 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.5 for the season. He ranks second among AL batters, behind Jose Altuve of the Astros (5.0).

Streak—Brandon Phillips of the Reds has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Phillips (HR 2B 2-3 R 3BI in the 9-5 win over the Brewers) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2002 with the Indians, but his 11-season streak began in 2006 with the Indians and Reds. He has 63.1 career Box-Toppers points, second among active NL second basemen, behind Chase Utley of the Dodgers (72.1). His best season was 2012 with the Reds, when he had 9.5 points, seventh among NL batters. He had 2.7 points in 2015 with the Reds.

Scoring—Garcia earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gausman earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Encarnacion and Parra 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/5	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.0	Cardinals	Jaime Garcia (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	0	5
AL	9.0	`Orioles	Kevin Gausman	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	0	4
	8.1	Marlins	Adam Conley (W,2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.1	2	0	0	1	6
BAT	7.0	Blue Jays	Edwin Encarnacion, DH	4	2	3	6	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	Padres	Colin Rea (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	1	1	1	5
	6.0	Cubs	Kyle Hendricks (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	2	4
BAT	4.0	Rockies	Gerardo Parra, RF	5	3	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	`Red Sox	Robbie Ross	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	1	3
	3.0	Indians	Michael Brantley, LF	5	1	4	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Reds	Brandon Phillips, 2B	3	1	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Mariners	Robinson Cano, 2B	5	0	3	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the 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 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	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	sea al	4.5	11.0	40.0	71.9	-2.0
Garcia, Jaime 2508	pi sp	stl nl	3.0	12.4	30.1	38.8	-6.4
Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	dh	tor al	2.5	12.9	41.1	61.6	-7.9
Conley, Adam 3594	pi sp	fla nl	2.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	-1.0
Gausman, Kevin 3191	pi sp	bal al	1.7	7.4	15.1	15.1	-4.0
Parra, Gerardo 2746	rf	col nl	1.5	8.0	19.0	20.0	-5.0
Hendricks, Kyle 3386	pi sp	chi nl	1.0	10.7	15.7	15.7	-8.7
Brantley, Michael 2785	lf	cle al	1.0	5.2	19.9	21.4	-3.2
Phillips, Brandon 1691	2b	cin nl	1.0	3.7	29.2	63.1	-1.7
Rea, Colin 3582	pi sp	sd nl	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Ross, Robbie 2999	pi cp	bos al	1.0	1.0	10.7	10.7	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Indians' Carrasco tops players for Thursday, July 30; Nationals' Scherzer rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Thursday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings and Brandon Phillips of the Reds earned Box-Toppers points for the 10th straight season.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of July 30.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	16.4
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
3	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	15.4
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	14.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	13.1
6	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	13.1
7	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	13.0
8	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	13.0
9	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	13.0
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	12.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Carrasco pitched a two-hit complete game, allowing one run and striking out seven, in the 3-1 win over the Athletics.

Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season and becomes the 22nd player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 15th among all players and eighth among AL pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Brandon Phillips of the Reds hit two homers and went 4-for-5, driving in seven runs, in the 15-5 win over the Pirates.

Phillips earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and has now earned Box-Toppers points for 10 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2002 with the Indians, but did not earn points in 2004 or 2005. His 10-season streak began in 2006 when he earned Box-Toppers points with both the Indians and the Reds. His best year was 2012 with the Reds, when he earned 9.5 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL batters. In 2014, he had 2.0 Box-Toppers points with the Reds.

Phillips has 61.1 career Box-Toppers points and ranks eighth among second basemen since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). He ranks second among active NL second basemen, behind Chase Utley of the Phillies (72.1).

American League Batter of the Day—Eddie Rosario of the Twins hit a three-run homer and also tripled and doubled, going 3-for-5 and scoring three times, in the 9-5 win over the Mariners.

This was Rosario’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Rosario made his Major League debut May 6 and was playing in his 66th career game. He is the 3,542nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall NL Player of the Day is a batter (Brandon Phillips).

Rankings—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Scherzer (7IP 3H 0R 6K W in the 1-0 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.0 for the season. He also ranks second among NL pitchers, behind overall leader Jacob deGrom of the Mets (16.4).

Scherzer also rises to 64th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his point Thursday, Scherzer now has 101.0 career Box-Toppers points and passes three players on the “all-time” list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Paul Konerko (100.7). Scherzer trails 63rd-place player Jason Schmidt (101.2).

Notable—Astros pitcher Scott Kazmir rose to 13th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Kazmir (7.2IP 3H 0R 5K ND in the 3-0 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season. He ranks seventh among AL pitchers.

Debuts—In addition to Rosario, one other player made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors:

• Phillies pitcher Elvis Araujo (1IP 0H 0R 2K ND in the 4-1 win over the Braves) made his Major League debut May 5 and was playing in his 29th career game. He is the 3,543rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Phillips earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Rosario earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

7/30	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Indians	Carlos Carrasco (W,11-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	2	1	1	1	7
NL	8.0	Reds	Brandon Phillips, 2B	5	2	4	7	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	Cardinals	Matt Carpenter, 3B-1B	5	4	4	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	Nationals	Max Scherzer (W,11-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	3	6
	6.2	`Astros	Scott Kazmir	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	3	0	0	3	5
	6.0	Padres	Derek Norris, C	5	2	5	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	4.0	Twins	Eddie Rosario, LF	5	3	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Tigers	Yoenis Cespedes, LF	5	2	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Cubs	Anthony Rizzo, 1B	4	1	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Rangers	Josh Hamilton, DH	4	1	2	4	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Red Sox	Steven Wright (W,4-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	2	2	2	8
	3.0	`Phillies	Elvis Araujo (H,1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Blue Jays	Dioner Navarro, C	2	1	1	2	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Box-Toppers' batting leader Miguel Cabrera wins AL MVP; NL leader Goldschmidt finishes behind McCutchen for NL MVP

Box-Toppers' top-ranked batter Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers was named American League Most Valuable Player Thursday.

But the National League leading batter in Box-Toppers points, Paul Goldschmidt, finished in second place in NL MVP voting by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates, who finished 71st among NL players and 22nd among NL batters in Box-Toppers points, was voted NL MVP.

Cabrera had 16.9 Box-Toppers points for the season, first among all batters, third among all AL players and eighth among all players. He was consistently the only batter in the overall player top 10 list during the season. He led all players in Box-Toppers points four different times during the season, most recently from June 28 to June 30.

Cabrera was voted first on 28 of the 30 writers’ ballots, winning his second straight MVP award. However, in 2012, Cabrera ranked third among AL batters in Box-Toppers points with 11.7, behind Adrian Beltre (13.5) and Chris Davis (12.0). Cabrera ranked third in 2012 despite his Triple Crown season.

McCutchen, voted NL MVP, had 6.0 Box-Toppers points for the season. He was voted first on 28 of the 30 writers’ ballots and was voted on all 30 ballots no lower than third place. However, as the 22nd-ranked NL batter in Box-Toppers points, he wouldn’t have even appeared on Box-Toppers’ 10-spot ballot.

Box-Toppers’ top NL batter Goldschmidt had 13.7 Box-Toppers points and received 15 of the writers’ second place votes, enough to secure the NL MVP runner-up spot.

So what went wrong here? Why do the writers so unanimously see McCutchen as the MVP and Box-Toppers so ... does not? (In fact, McCutchen is not even the highest-ranked batter in Box-Toppers points on his team—that honor goes to Pedro Alvarez, with 7.7 points.)

McCutchen’s batting average is .317. He hit 21 homers and 84 RBIs, scored 97 runs and stole 27 bases. Goldschmidt’s numbers were just as good, often better—.302 average, 36 homers, 125 RBIs. But McCutchen’s team made the postseason. Goldschmidt’s didn’t. Plus, words being used to describe McCutchen are “all-around player,” a “heart-and-soul” guy—intangibles. By their very nature, it’s hard to measure intangibles.

But Box-Toppers measures tangibles. The player who most helps his team win the most games earns the most Box-Toppers points. And to be fair, Box-Toppers doesn’t measure defensive play—for batters, it relies on what they produce at the plate. So it is possible that a lot of McCutchen’s valuableness gets missed that way.

Though in the previous two seasons, McCutchen has fared better in Box-Toppers points than he did in 2013. In 2011, he had 9.7 Box-Toppers points, in eighth place among NL batters. And in 2012, he had 8.5, finishing just out of the top 10 among NL batters.

So, by Box-Toppers standards, Goldschmidt very simply more often helped his team win more games than did McCutchen.

A couple of other players were voted by writers to higher spots than would be recommended by their Box-Toppers point total:

• Mike Trout of the Angels was voted in second place in AL MVP voting with five first place votes. He had 3.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, in 144th place among all AL players and 62nd among all AL batters. (In 2012, he also finished second in AL MVP voting, but in 2012, he finished fifth among AL batters with 11.0 Box-Toppers points.)
• Yadier Molina of the Cardinals was voted in third place in NL MVP voting with two first place votes. He had 4.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, in 126th place among all NL players and 52nd among all NL batters. However, Molina is rightly given credit for his defensive skills as a catcher and his role in shaping a pitching staff with four or five Cy Young-worthy starters. Box-Toppers doesn’t measure that.

There were several players who had high Box-Toppers point totals who did not receive MVP votes. Three of the Box-Toppers top 10 AL batters received no votes and seven of the Box-Toppers top 10 NL batters were shut out:

• Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees had 12.9 Box-Toppers points, 12th among all AL players and second among all AL batters. However, Soriano played in the National League for the Cubs at the start of the season and switched to the American League in July.
• Billy Butler of the Royals had 9.0 Box-Toppers points, 33rd among all AL players and eighth among AL batters.
• Prince Fielder of the Tigers had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, 39th among all AL players and 10th among AL batters.
• Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies had 11.0 Box-Toppers points, 22nd among all NL players and fourth among NL batters.
• Bryce Harper of the Nationals had 9.4 Box-Toppers points, 34th among all NL players and fifth among NL batters.
• Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals had 9.2 Box-Toppers points, 35th among all NL players and sixth among NL batters.
• Will Venable of the Padres had 9.0 Box-Toppers points, 36th among all NL players and seventh among NL batters.
• Daniel Murphy of the Mets had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, 40th among all NL players and eighth among NL batters.
• Pedro Alvarez of the Pirates had 7.7 Box-Toppers points, 45th among all NL players and ninth among NL batters.
• Brandon Phillips of the Reds had 7.5 Box-Toppers points, 48th among all NL players and 10th among NL batters.

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Top players from the winning team of each game are determined by a formula using standard box score statistics. The player on the winning team with the highest Box-Toppers game score is Player of the Game and receives 1.0 Box-Toppers point. The Player of the Game with the highest overall Box-Toppers game score for all the games played that day is Player of the Day and earns a total of 2.0 Box-Toppers points. The top player in the opposite league receives a total of 1.7 Box-Toppers points. If both the day’s top overall player and top player in the opposite league are pitchers, then the top American League and top National League batter of the day receive a total of 1.5 Box-Toppers points each.

Here are the final Box-Toppers Player Rankings for 2013, showing the top 10 overall players, plus the top 10 in AL and NL pitching and AL and NL batting. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers season point totals.

Box-Toppers rankings of MVP Award candidates 

Here are the results of Most Valuable Player Award voting in both leagues. Players are listed in order of their vote total. The far right columns show how many Box-Toppers points (BTP) they earned during the 2013 season and how each player ranked in Box-Toppers points among all players in their league.

MVP vote
AL
Player	Pos	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Points	BTP	Rank*
Miguel Cabrera	3b	Tigers	23	7									385	16.9	3
Mike Trout	cf lf	Angels	5	19	3	1	1		1				282	3.5	144
Chris Davis	1b	Orioles	1	4	11	12	1		1				232	12.7	14
Josh Donaldson	3b	Athletics	1		14	9	3	3					222	9.5	31
Robinson Cano	2b	Yankees			1	5	9	2	6	5	2		150	12.5	17
Evan Longoria	3b	Rays					4	6	6	4	5	3	103	5.5	82
Dustin Pedroia	2b	Red Sox				1	5	5	5	4	2	1	99	3.5	145
Adrian Beltre	3b	Rangers					2	8	7	3	4	2	99	8.4	41
Manny Machado	3b	Orioles					2	1	2	5	5	7	57	1.0	316
David Ortiz	dh	Red Sox				2	1	2	2	1	2	2	47	12.4	18
Jason Kipnis	2b	Indians					1	1		3	3	5	31	8.0	44
Max Scherzer	pi sp	Tigers			1			2		1	1	2	25	18.1	1
Adam Jones	cf	Orioles					1			1			9	8.0	43
Edwin Encarnacion	1b dh	Blue Jays								1	2		7	8.7	38
Greg Holland	pi cp	Royals								1			3	11.0	22
Carlos Santana	ca	Indians								1			3	1.0	287
Coco Crisp	cf	Athletics									1	1	3	4.0	129
Jacoby Ellsbury	cf	Red Sox									1	1	3	5.5	83
Torii Hunter	rf	Tigers									1		2	4.0	125
Hisashi Iwakuma	pi sp	Mariners									1		2	16.1	7
Koji Uehara	pi cp	Red Sox										2	2	6.0	76
Yu Darvish	pi sp	Rangers										1	1	16.0	8
Felix Hernandez	pi sp	Mariners										1	1	14.8	9
Salvador Perez	ca 1b	Royals										1	1	2.5	195
Shane Victorino	rf	Red Sox										1	1	4.5	112
Notable AL snubs
Alfonso Soriano	lf	Yankees											0	12.9	12
Billy Butler	dh	Royals											0	9.0	33
Prince Fielder	1b	Tigers											0	8.5	39
NL
Player, Club	Pos	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Points	BTP	Rank*
Andrew McCutchen	cf	Pirates	28	1	1								409	6.0	71
Paul Goldschmidt	1b	D-Backs		15	9	1	3	2					242	13.7	12
Yadier Molina	ca	Cardinals	2	8	4	6	6		1		2	1	219	4.0	126
Matt Carpenter	2b	Cardinals		6	5	4	3	9	1	1	1		194	7.5	49
Freddie Freeman	1b	Braves				5	7	8	8	1	1		154	11.5	19
Joey Votto	1b	Reds			2	8	7	3	4		1	2	149	4.5	109
Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	Dodgers			8	4		4	5	4	1		146	21.7	1
Hanley Ramirez	ss	Dodgers			1	1	2	1	2	3	3	3	58	5.0	87
Carlos Gomez	cf	Brewers					1		3	6	2	3	43	3.0	162
Jay Bruce	rf	Reds					1	1	3		2	3	30	4.5	112
Craig Kimbrel	pi cp	Braves				1		1		3	3		27	12.7	18
Shin Soo Choo	cf	Reds						1	1	1	4	3	23	7.0	55
Jayson Werth	rf	Nationals							1	2	2	6	20	6.5	66
Andrelton Simmons	ss	Braves								2	4		14	1.5	261
Yasiel Puig	rf	Dodgers							1	2			10	1.5	259
Hunter Pence	rf	Giants								1	1	2	7	6.5	63
Troy Tulowitzki	ss	Rockies									2	1	5	4.0	124
Allen Craig	lf 1b	Cardinals								1		1	4	5.0	84
Adrian Gonzalez	1b	Dodgers								1		1	4	5.0	86
Buster Posey	ca	Giants								1			3	7.0	54
Adam Wainwright	pi sp	Cardinals								1			3	20.2	2
Michael Cuddyer	rf	Rockies										3	3	11.5	20
Matt Holliday	lf	Cardinals									1		2	6.5	62
Russell Martin	ca	Pirates										1	1	2.0	212
Notable NL snubs
Carlos Gonzalez	lf	Rockies											0	11.0	22
Bryce Harper	lf	Nationals											0	9.4	34
Ryan Zimmerman	3b	Nationals											0	9.2	35
Will Venable	rf cf	Padres											0	9.0	36
Daniel Murphy	2b	Mets											0	8.5	40
Pedro Alvarez	3b	Pirates											0	7.7	45
Brandon Phillips	2b	Reds											0	7.5	48

* Rank among players (batters and pitchers) in the league (AL or NL) in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season.

Source: Baseball Writers Association of America

Yankees' Ivan Nova (CG 0R) tops players for Saturday, Aug. 31

Yankees pitcher Ivan Nova is Saturday's Player of the Day. Nova pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout in the 2-0 win over the Orioles.

Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett is National League Player of the Day. Burnett gave up one run over seven innings in the 7-1 win over the Cardinals.

Omar Infante of the Tigers is American League Batter of the Day. Infante hit two home runs and drove in five runs in the 10-5 win over the Indians. 

Brandon Phillips of the Reds is NL Batter of the Day. Phillips homered and went 3-for-5 in the 8-3 win over the Rockies. 

Notables: Saturday's Player of the Game who has the most Box-Toppers points for the season is Dodgers closing pitcher Kenley Jansen (1IP 3K SV in 2-1 win vs. Padres). Jansen earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.7 for the season and is in 38th place on the season player ranking list.

Nova receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Burnett receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Infante and Phillips each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

831	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	10.0	Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Ivan Nova (W, 8-4)	9.0	3	0	0	1	5
	8.0	`Rangers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Matt Garza	7.0	3	1	1	3	9
	7.2	Athletics	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Sonny Gray (W, 2-2)	6.2	5	0	0	1	7
NL	6.0	Pirates	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			A.J. Burnett (W, 7-9)	7.0	4	1	1	1	6
BAT	4.0	Tigers	Omar Infante 2B	5	2	2	5	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	4.0	Dodgers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Kenley Jansen (S, 23)	1.0	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	3.0	Reds	Brandon Phillips 2B	5	3	3	2	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Angels	Hank Conger PH	1	1	1	2	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.1	`Mariners	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Carter Capps (H, 7)	1.1	1	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Braves	B.J. Upton CF	6	1	4	3	0	2			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Mets	Daniel Murphy 2B	5	2	3	2	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Blue Jays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Casey Janssen (S, 26)	1.0	1	0	0	0	2
	1.1	`Diamondbacks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Josh Collmenter (BS, 1)	1.1	2	0	0	0	2
	1.0	Red Sox	Jacoby Ellsbury CF	5	2	3	1	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Cubs	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Kevin Gregg (S, 28)	1.0	1	0	0	0	1

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

Box-Toppers endorses fans' AL All-Star picks but rips up the NL lineup

Fans seem to be doing a good job so far of voting for an American League All-Star team that makes sense, according to Box-Toppers statistics.

But the National League team that fans are picking could use some wholesale changes to better coincide with position leaders in Box-Toppers points.

There's still time to correct those mistakes. Voting for the All-Star Game closes this week, July 4. The All-Star Game is July 16 at Citi Field in New York.

Box-Toppers stats agree (or largely agree) with eight of the nine AL position players currently leading in voting for the All-Star Game. However, Box-Toppers only agrees with two of the eight NL vote leaders. In the chart (at right), the fan vote leaders are listed, followed by their current rank by position in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season, followed by a Box-Toppers judgment of fans' selections.

Box-Toppers stats indicate the biggest snubs are:

• Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks should be top NL first baseman. He leads among NL first basemen in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season (8.7) and also leads his position in points over the 2012 and 2013 season (13.2). Current fan voting leader, Joey Votto of the Reds, is 14th among NL first basemen in Box-Toppers points in 2013 (1.5)  and ninth place over the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons (6.7). As of June 23, Votto led in fan voting among NL first basemen with 2.7 million votes. Goldschmidt was in second place with 2.3 million.

• Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies should be among the top NL outfielders. He leads all NL batters in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season (9.5) and also leads all NL batters in points over the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons (18.7).  Two of the current fan voting leaders for NL outfield do not rank very highly in their position in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season: Carlos Beltran of the Cardinals ranks 33rd and Justin Upton of the Braves ranks 45th. Gonzalez ranks fourth in fan voting for NL outfield with 2.1 million votes. Beltran has 3.5 million, Upton has 2.5 million and Bryce Harper of the Nationals has 2.4 million.

In the chart at right, Box-Toppers gives its judgment as either "Good" (these are the players Box-Toppers stats would deem worthy of an All-Star start), "OK" (these are not necessarily the most worthy players, but they are among Box-Toppers points leaders in that position) or "Should be's" (these are players Box-Toppers stats would deem unworthy of the honor and suggesting a substitute who is leading or is among the leaders in Box-Toppers points).

In the American League, Box-Toppers suggests only one substitute: Adam Jones of the Orioles, vote leader among AL outfielders should be replaced with Yoenis Cespedes of the Athletics. Jones ranks 19th among AL outfielders in Box-Toppers points for 2013 while Cespedes is the leader. 

In the National League, Box-Toppers can only endorse two of the fans' selections: Brandon Phillips of the Reds at second base and Bryce Harper of the Nationals in the outfield.

Here are AL All-Star voting leaders as of June 23. 

Here are NL All-Star voting leaders as of June 23. 

The chart below shows Box-Toppers points leaders by position so far through the 2013 season. The columns to the right look at players over the longer run, seeing who is leading in Box-Toppers points for the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons. 

The chart also includes Box-Toppers points leaders among starting, middle relief and closing pitchers, even though fans don't get to vote on those. 

Here is how the Box-Toppers All-Star teams stand as of today:  

	ALL-STAR VOTE LEADERS
	AL PLAYERS	TEAM	RANK BY POS.	BOX-TOPPERS JUDGMENT
1B	Chris Davis	bal al	1	Good
2B	Robinson Cano	nyy al	1	Good
SS	J.J. Hardy	bal al	3	Good
3B	Miguel Cabrera	det al	1	Good
CA	Joe Mauer	min al	2	Good
OF	Adam Jones	bal al	19	Should be Yoenis Cespedes, OAK
OF	Mike Trout	ana al	5	Good
OF	Nick Markakis	bal al	6	OK
DH	David Ortiz	bos al	3	OK
	NL PLAYERS	TEAM	RANK BY POS.	BOX-TOPPERS JUDGMENT
1B	Joey Votto	cin nl	14	Should be Paul Goldschmidt, ARI
2B	Brandon Phillips	cin nl	1	Good
SS	Troy Tulowitzki	col nl	5	OK, but should be Everth Cabrera, SD
3B	David Wright	nym nl	12	Should be Pedro Alvarez, PIT
CA	Yadier Molina	stl nl	8	Should be Brian McCann, ATL
OF	Carlos Beltran	stl nl	33	Should be Carlos Gonzalez, COL
OF	Justin Upton	atl nl	45	Should be Matt Holliday, STL
OF	Bryce Harper	dc nl	2	Good

RANK BY POS: Where the player ranks by fielding position in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season. 

	2013 SEASON				2012-13 SEASONS
AL	PLAYER	TEAM	BTP		PLAYER	TEAM	BTP
First base	Davis, Chris 2478	bal al	6		Davis, Chris 2478	bal al	18
Second base	Cano, Robinson 2092	nyy al	4.5		Kipnis, Jason 2933	cle al	9.5
Shortstop	Drew, Stephen 2210	bos al	4.5		Hardy, J.J. 2071	bal al	10.2
Third base	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	10.7		Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	22.4
Catcher	Arencibia, J.P. 2781	tor al	5.5		Mauer, Joe 1869	min al	14
Outfield 1	Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	oak al	4.5		Trout, Mike 2949	ana al	14.5
Outfield 2	Johnson, Kelly 2018	tb al	4.5		Hamilton, Josh 2332	ana al	11.5
Outfield 3	Nava, Daniel 2740	bos al	4.5		Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	oak al	10.5
Designated hitter	Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	tor al	5.7		Butler, Billy 2330	kc al	15.2
Starting pitcher 1	Masterson, Justin 2462	cle al	11.7		Verlander, Justin 2112	det al	30.8
Starting pitcher 2	Sale, Chris 2806	chi al	10.7		Hernandez, Felix 2064	sea al	27.4
Starting pitcher 3	Buchholz, Clay 2363	bos al	10.1		Sale, Chris 2806	chi al	26.4
Starting pitcher 4	Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048	sea al	9.7		Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	25.8
Middle reliever	Tazawa, Junichi 3151	bos al	4		Chen, Bruce 1170	kc al	8
Closing pitcher	Perkins, Glen 2506	min al	6		Rodney, Fernando 1803	tb al	11
NL
First base	Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	ari nl	8.7		Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	ari nl	13.2
Second base	Phillips, Brandon 1691	cin nl	5		Phillips, Brandon 1691	cin nl	14.5
Shortstop	Cabrera, Everth 2625	sd nl	4.5		Cabrera, Everth 2625	sd nl	7.5
Third base	Alvarez, Pedro 2817	pit nl	5.2		Freese, David 2710	stl nl	14.2
Catcher	McCann, Brian 2179	atl nl	6		McCann, Brian 2179	atl nl	12
Outfield 1	Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	9.5		Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	18.7
Outfield 2	Harper, Bryce 3011	dc nl	5.9		Braun, Ryan J. 2300	mil nl	16
Outfield 3	Pollock, A.J. 3142	ari nl	4.7		Holliday, Matt 1836	stl nl	15.7
Starting pitcher 1	Corbin, Patrick 3027	ari nl	11.4		Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	31.5
Starting pitcher 2	Miller, Shelby 3134	stl nl	11.4		Lynn, Lance 2992	stl nl	27.1
Starting pitcher 3	Harvey, Matt 3075	nym nl	11		Bumgarner, Madison 2753	sf nl	25.4
Starting pitcher 4	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	10.7		Strasburg, Stephen 2736	dc nl	25.4
Middle reliever	Collmenter, Josh 2863	ari nl	5		Collmenter, Josh 2863	ari nl	7
Closing pitcher	Chapman, Aroldis 2826	cin nl	6		Chapman, Aroldis 2826	cin nl	20
AL top pitcher	Masterson, Justin 2462	cle al	11.7		Verlander, Justin 2112	det al	30.8
AL top batter	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	10.7		Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	22.4
NL top pitcher	Corbin, Patrick 3027	ari nl	11.4		Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	31.5
NL top batter	Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	9.5		Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	18.7

BTP: Box-Toppers points

What are those numbers after players' names?

Tigers' Miguel Cabrera, Reds' Brandon Phillips among leaders in All-Star voting and Box-Toppers standings

Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers and Brandon Phillips of the Reds are among players who are leaders both in fan All-Star voting and Box-Toppers standings.

In fact, Box-Toppers standings roughly coincide with about half of the players currently leading in All-Star voting.

Major League Baseball released All-Star vote standings for the National League on June 9 and released American League standings on June 3. The current leaders by league and by position are listed in the far right columns in the chart below. Note that five of the players currently leading in All-Star voting also rank first in their position in the league in Box-Toppers points. Three others rank second.

Overall, it's either a very good showing by fans or a decent affirmation of Box-Toppers' worth as a measure of player performance. Or it could be that we're all wrong.

Fans and Box-Toppers generally agree on these players: 

• AL 1B: Chris Davis of the Orioles.
• AL 2B: Robinson Cano of the Yankees. 
• AL 3B: Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers. 
• AL CA: Joe Mauer of the Twins. (Mauer ranks second among AL catchers in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season, but leads among AL catchers when both the 2012 and 2013 seasons are combined.)  
• AL OF: Mike Trout of the Angels. (Trout ranks seventh among AL outfielders in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season, but leads among AL outfielders over the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons.) 
• AL DH: David Oritz of the Red Sox. 
• NL 1B: Brandon Phillips of the Reds. 
• NL CA: Buster Posey of the Giants. (Posey is second to Brian McCann of the Braves in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season and the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons, but it is a pretty close race.) 
• NL OF: Bryce Harper of the Nationals. (Harper is second among NL outfielders in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season.) 

There are a few instances in which Box-Toppers ranked a player lower than fans: 

• AL SS: Elvis Andrus of the Rangers ranks ninth in Box-Toppers points among AL shortstops for the 2013 season. He has 1.0 point this season and only 2.0 the past two seasons. 
• AL OF: Adam Jones of the Orioles ranks 13th in Box-Toppers points among AL outfielders.
• AL OF: Torii Hunter of the Angels ranks 55th in Box-Toppers among AL outfielders. Though Hunter has scored no Box-Toppers points this season, he ranks second among AL outfielders in Box-Toppers points over the period of 2008-2013.
• NL 1B: Joey Votto of the Reds ranks 10th in Box-Toppers points among NL first basemen. 
• NL SS: Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies ranks fifth among NL shortstops. 
• NL 3B: Pablo Sandoval of the Giants ranks seventh among NL third basemen. 
• NL OF: Justin Upton of the Braves ranks 20th among NL outfielders. 
• NL OF: Carlos Beltran of the Cardinals ranks 28th among NL outfielders.

There are only a few obvious snubs by Box-Toppers measures, but there are still a couple of weeks before All-Star voting closes to fix the problems:

• NL 1B: Should be Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks. Goldschmidt leads all NL batters in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season with 8.7. He leads NL first basemen in Box-Toppers points for 2013 and over the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons. He is second among NL first basemen in All-Star voting with over 900,000 votes, more than 600,000 behind Votto.
• NL SS: Should be Everth Cabrera of the Padres. Cabrera leads NL shortstops in Box-Toppers points for 2013 and over the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons. He's not in the top five among NL shortstops in All-Star voting.
• NL OF: Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies should be among the top three. He is currently seventh in All-Star voting with 955,000—Carlos Beltran of the Cardinals, currently third in voting among NL outfielders, has 1,550,000. Gonzalez leads all NL outfielders in Box-Toppers points for both the 2013 season and the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons.
• NL CA: Buster Posey leads in fan voting, but Brian McCann of the Braves has very narrow Box-Toppers points leads over Posey. But it hardly matters since Posey has nearly 2 million fan votes and McCann has barely 500,000.

The chart below shows Box-Toppers points leaders by position so far through the 2013 season. The middle columns look at players over the longer run, seeing who is leading in Box-Toppers points for the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons. And the far right columns show the current All-Star fan vote leaders, with their rank by position in Box-Toppers points in the 2013 season.

The chart also includes Box-Toppers points leaders among starting, middle and relief closing pitchers, even though fans don't get to vote on those.

Voting for the All-Star game is open until July 4.

Here is how the Box-Toppers All-Star teams stand as of today: 

	2013 SEASON				2012-13 SEASONS				ALL-STAR VOTE LEADERS
AL	PLAYER	TEAM	BTP		PLAYER	TEAM	BTP		PLAYER	TEAM	RANK BY POS.
First base	Davis, Chris 2478	bal al	4.5		Davis, Chris 2478	bal al	16.5		Chris Davis	bal al	1
Second base	Cano, Robinson 2092	nyy al	4.5		Kipnis, Jason 2933	cle al	9.5		Robinson Cano	nyy al	1
Shortstop	Drew, Stephen 2210	bos al	4.5		Escobar, Yunel 2331	tb al	10		Elvis Andrus	tex al	9
Third base	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	10.7		Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	22.4		Miguel Cabrera	det al	1
Catcher	Arencibia, J.P. 2781	tor al	5.5		Mauer, Joe 1869	min al	13		Joe Mauer	min al	2
Outfield 1	Johnson, Kelly 2018	tb al	4.5		Trout, Mike 2949	ana al	13.5		Mike Trout	ana al	7
Outfield 2	Nava, Daniel 2740	bos al	4.5		Hamilton, Josh 2332	ana al	11.5		Adam Jones	bal al	13
Outfield 3	Raburn, Ryan 2340	cle al	4.5		Rios, Alex 1989	chi al	9.9		Torii Hunter	det al	55
Designated hitter	Ortiz, David	bos al	5.2		Butler, Billy 2330	kc al	13.7		David Ortiz	bos al	1
Starting pitcher 1	Masterson, Justin 2462	cle al	10.7		Verlander, Justin 2112	det al	30.8
Starting pitcher 2	Buchholz, Clay 2363	bos al	10.1		Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	25.8
Starting pitcher 3	Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048	sea al	9.7		Scherzer, Max 2588	det al	25.7
Starting pitcher 4	Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	9		Hernandez, Felix 2064	sea al	25.4
Middle reliever	Tazawa, Junichi 3151	bos al	4		Chen, Bruce 1170	kc al	8
Closing pitcher	Perkins, Glen 2506	min al	5		Rodney, Fernando 1803	tb al	10
NL
First base	Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	ari nl	8.7		Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	ari nl	13.2		Joey Votto	cin nl	10
Second base	Phillips, Brandon 1691	cin nl	5		Phillips, Brandon 1691	cin nl	14.5		Brandon Phillips	cin nl	1
Shortstop	Cabrera, Everth 2625	sd nl	4.5		Cabrera, Everth 2625	sd nl	7.5		Troy Tulowitzki	col nl	5
Third base	Zimmerman, Ryan 2180	dc nl	5.2		Freese, David 2710	stl nl	12.7		Pablo Sandoval	sf nl	7
Catcher	McCann, Brian 2179	atl nl	5		McCann, Brian 2179	atl nl	11		Buster Posey	sf nl	2
Outfield 1	Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	8		Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	17.2		Justin Upton	atl nl	20
Outfield 2	Harper, Bryce 3011	dc nl	5.9		Braun, Ryan J. 2300	mil nl	16		Bryce Harper	dc nl	2
Outfield 3	Pollock, A.J. 3142	ari nl	4.7		Holliday, Matt 1836	stl nl	15.7		Carlos Beltran	stl nl	28
Starting pitcher 1	Miller, Shelby 3134	stl nl	9.7		Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	28.8
Starting pitcher 2	Corbin, Patrick 3027	ari nl	9.4		Lynn, Lance 2992	stl nl	26.1
Starting pitcher 3	Harvey, Matt 3075	nym nl	9		Strasburg, Stephen 2736	dc nl	23.4
Starting pitcher 4	Wainwright, Adam 2150	stl nl	8.7		Gonzalez, Gio 2626	dc nl	22.7
Middle reliever	Collmenter, Josh 2863	ari nl	3		Casilla, Santiago 2301	sf nl	6
Closing pitcher	Grilli, Jason 2209	pit nl	4.7		Chapman, Aroldis 2826	cin nl	18
AL top player	Masterson, Justin 2462	cle al	10.7		Verlander, Justin 2112	det al	30.8
AL top batter	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	10.7		Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	22.4
NL top player	Miller, Shelby 3134	stl nl	9.7		Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	28.8
NL top batter	Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	ari nl	8.7		Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	17.2

BTP: Box-Toppers points

RANK BY POS: Where the player ranks by fielding position in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season. 

What are those numbers after players' names?

Mariners' Iwakuma, Brewers' Gallardo, White Sox' Dunn among top players for Monday, June 10

Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma is Monday's Player of the Day. Iwakuma struck out eight over seven innings in the 3-2 win over the Astros.

Iwakuma rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the 2013 season (updated list of top 10 players on the home page). Iwakuma earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season. 

Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo is National League Player of the Day. Gallardo threw eight scoreless innings in the 6-1 win over the Marlins. 

Adam Dunn of the White Sox is American League Batter of the Day. Dunn hit two homers, drove in five runs and went 4-for-4 in the 10-6 win over the Blue Jays. 

Brandon Phillips of the Reds is NL Batter of the Day. Phillips hit a grand slam and drove in all of his team's six runs in the 6-2 win over the Cubs. 

Iwakuma receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Gallardo receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Dunn and Phillips each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

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

610	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	9.0	Mariners	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Hisashi Iwakuma (W, 7-1)	7.0	4	1	0	1	8
BAT	8.0	White Sox	Adam Dunn DH	4	3	4	5	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
NL	7.0	Brewers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Yovani Gallardo (W, 5-6)	8.0	4	0	0	1	4
BAT	5.0	Reds	Brandon Phillips 2B	4	1	2	6	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	4.0	Padres	Will Venable RF	3	2	2	3	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	`Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Koji Uehara	2.0	0	0	0	0	1
	3.0	Rangers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Robbie Ross (W, 3-1)	1.0	0	0	0	1	3
	3.0	Royals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Greg Holland (S, 13)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Orioles	Adam Jones CF	3	1	1	3	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Diamondbacks	Jason Kubel PH	1	0	1	1	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0

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

Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Gonzalez among best in Box-Toppers All-Star teams

Still struggling with your All-Star vote?

Are you someone who truly wants to field a great team—voting for the best players—and not someone who is just willing to vote that .125 hitter in simply because he is on your favorite team?

Well, even if you aren't, Box-Toppers is going to take a look at the top players by position in each league. And as in past all-star updates, we'll look at the all-star teams in a couple of different ways: We'll look at who is leading in Box-Toppers points by position so far through the 2013 season. And we'll also look at players over the longer run, seeing who is leading in Box-Toppers points for the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons.

So, for example, Stephen Drew of the Red Sox is leading among American League shortstops so far in 2013 with 4.5 Box-Toppers points. But J.J. Hardy of the Orioles is leading among AL shortstops if you combine his 2012 and 2013 Box-Toppers points. Hardy has 9.2 (7.2 in 2012 and 2.0 in 2013).

Box-Toppers also includes starting, middle relief and closing pitchers in its all-star line-ups, even though fans don't get to vote for them.

Several players appear on both the 2013 and the combined 2012-13 list, indicating they may be especially worthy of your attention as you fill out your ballot. They include:

• AL 1B: Chris Davis of the Orioles.​
• AL 2B: Robinson Cano of the Yankees.​
• AL 3B: Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, who also leads all AL batters in Box-Toppers for 2013 (9.7) and combined 2012-13 seasons (21.4).
• AL pitchers: Yu Darvish of the Rangers and Chris Sale of the White Sox (but, again, fans don't vote on pitchers). 
• NL 2B: Brandon Phillips of the Reds.​
• NL CA: Brian McCann of the Braves.
• NL OF: Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies.
• NL pitcher: Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers.
• NL middle reliever: Santiago Casilla of the Giants.

Voting for the All-Star game is open until July 4.

Here is how the Box-Toppers All-Star teams stand as of today:

	2013 SEASON				2012-13 SEASONS
AL	PLAYER	TEAM	BTP		PLAYER	TEAM	BTP
First base	Davis, Chris 2478	bal al	4.5		Davis, Chris 2478	bal al	16.5
Second base	Cano, Robinson 2092	nyy al	4.5		Cano, Robinson 2092	nyy al	8.5
Shortstop	Drew, Stephen 2210	bos al	4.5		Hardy, J.J. 2071	bal al	9.2
Third base	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	9.7		Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	21.4
Catcher	Arencibia, J.P. 2781	tor al	5.5		Mauer, Joe 1869	min al	13
Outfield 1	Johnson, Kelly 2018	tb al	4.5		Trout, Mike 2949	ana al	13.5
Outfield 2	Raburn, Ryan 2340	cle al	4.5		Hamilton, Josh 2332	ana al	11.5
Outfield 3	Joyce, Matt 2480	tb al	3		Rios, Alex 1989	chi al	9.9
Designated hitter	Ortiz, David	bos al	3.7		Butler, Billy 2330	kc al	12.7
Starting pitcher 1	Masterson, Justin 2462	cle al	10.7		Verlander, Justin 2112	det al	30.8
Starting pitcher 2	Buchholz, Clay 2363	bos al	9.1		Hernandez, Felix 2064	sea al	25.4
Starting pitcher 3	Sale, Chris 2806	chi al	8.7		Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	24.8
Starting pitcher 4	Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	8		Sale, Chris 2806	chi al	24.4
Middle reliever	Scheppers, Tanner 3136	tex al	3		Chen, Bruce 1170	kc al	8
Closing pitcher	Perkins, Glen 2506	min al	5		Rodney, Fernando 1803	tb al	10
NL
First base	Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	ari nl	5.2		LaRoche, Adam 1910	dc nl	11.5
Second base	Phillips, Brandon 1691	cin nl	3.5		Phillips, Brandon 1691	cin nl	13
Shortstop	Crawford, Brandon 2878	sf nl	3		Tulowitzki, Troy 2308	col nl	7
Third base	Zimmerman, Ryan 2180	dc nl	3.7		Freese, David 2710	stl nl	11.7
Catcher	McCann, Brian 2179	atl nl	5		McCann, Brian 2179	atl nl	11
Outfield 1	Harper, Bryce 3011	dc nl	5.9		Braun, Ryan J. 2300	mil nl	16
Outfield 2	Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	5		Holliday, Matt 1836	stl nl	14.7
Outfield 3	Pollock, A.J. 3142	ari nl	4.7		Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	14.2
Starting pitcher 1	Harvey, Matt 3075	nym nl	9		Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	28.8
Starting pitcher 2	Corbin, Patrick 3027	ari nl	8.4		Lynn, Lance 2992	stl nl	25.1
Starting pitcher 3	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	8		Strasburg, Stephen 2736	dc nl	23.4
Starting pitcher 4	Miller, Shelby 3134	stl nl	7.7		Gonzalez, Gio 2626	dc nl	22.7
Middle reliever	Casilla, Santiago 2301	sf nl	2		Casilla, Santiago 2301	sf nl	6
Closing pitcher	Grilli, Jason 2209	pit nl	4.7		Chapman, Aroldis 2826	cin nl	18
AL top player	Masterson, Justin 2462	cle al	10.7		Verlander, Justin 2112	det al	30.8
AL top batter	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	9.7		Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	21.4
NL top player	Harvey, Matt 3075	nym nl	9		Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	28.8
NL top batter	Harper, Bryce 3011	dc nl	5.9		Braun, Ryan J. 2300	mil nl	16

BTP: Box-Toppers points

What are those numbers after players' names?