Blog
Red Sox pitcher Brayan Bello is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earn Player of the Game honors: Braves pitcher Chris Sale rises to fifth place and Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta rises to ninth place.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Kershaw struck out six over eighth scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 9-1 win over the Angels.
Read More
Cole Hamels of the Rangers rises to 10th place among active players in career Box-Toppers points, passing Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (136.9).
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 14.4 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 13.4 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 12.5 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 12.1 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 11.4 |
| 8 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.0 |
| 9 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 10 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
Also Sunday, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to sixth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—deGrom pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking one, in the 5-0 win over the Phillies.
American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels allowed one run over eight innings, striking out seven and allowing four hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Cubs.
Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being American League Player of the Day, giving him 12.1 for the season and rising to sixth in player rankings, second among AL pitchers, behind Corey Kluber of the Indians (12.5).
Hamels also rises to 26th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Hamels now has 138.3 career points, passing Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (136.9) on the “all-time” list. Hamels now trails 25th-place player Andy Pettitte (138.5). Hamels now also ranks 10th among active players in career points.
American League Batter of the Day—Albert Pujols of the Angels hit a pair of two-run homers an went 2-for-3, in the 8-1 win over the White Sox.
Pujols now has 177.8 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his sixth-place rank among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. (See the updated top 20 rankings on the home page.) He trails Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (179.3). He remains in second among all batters since 1995, trailing Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees (187.0). Pujols has 3.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, 35th among AL batters.
National League Batter of the Day—Christian Bethncourt of the Padres homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice, in the 5-3 win over the Giants.
Streak—Tigers closing pitcher Francisco Rodriguez has now earned Box-Toppers points in 14 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honors of the year Sunday.
Rodriguez (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 4-2 win over the Royals) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2003 with the Angels and has 61.4 career points, most among active closing pitchers and 11th among all closing pitchers since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. His best years were 2005 and 2008 with the Angels when he had 10.0 Box-Toppers points each season—he was second among AL closers in 2005 and third in 2008. Rodriguez had 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2015 with the Brewers.
Debut—Pirates pitcher Chad Kuhl made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Kuhl (6IP H 0R 0BB 5K ND in the 2-1, 18-inning win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut June 26 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,687th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hamels earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Pujols and Bethancourt 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 7/17 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | NYM 5/PHI 0 | Jacob deGrom (W,6-4) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| AL | 10.0 | TEX 4/CHC 1 | Cole Hamels (W,10-2) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| 10.0 | `PIT 2/DC 1 | Chad Kuhl | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 8.0 | ARI 6/LAD 5 | Robbie Ray (W,5-8) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 8.0 | HOU 8/SEA 1 | Collin McHugh (W,6-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | ||
| 8.0 | `ATL 1/COL 0 | Julio Teheran | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 7.0 | NYY 3/BOS 1 | Masahiro Tanaka (W,7-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 7.0 | `CIN 1/MIL 0 | Dan Straily | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | LAA 8/CHW 1 | Albert Pujols, DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.2 | MIA 6/STL 3 | Kyle Barraclough (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | TB 5/BAL 2 | Oswaldo Arcia, LF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TOR 5/OAK 3 | Jason Grilli (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | CLE 6/MIN 1 | Josh Tomlin (W,10-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | DET 4/KC 2 | Francisco Rodriguez (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | SD 5/SF 3 | Christian Bethancourt, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 12.1 | 27.5 | 79.1 | 138.3 | -3.3 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 7.7 | 15.7 | 28.4 | 28.4 | -0.3 |
| deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 6.0 | 28.4 | 41.4 | 41.4 | -16.4 |
| Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 6.0 | 13.7 | 41.8 | 41.8 | -1.7 |
| McHugh, Collin 3316 | pi sp | hou al | 5.0 | 14.7 | 26.5 | 26.5 | -4.7 |
| Tomlin, Josh 2771 | pi sp | cle al | 5.0 | 9.7 | 22.4 | 24.4 | 0.3 |
| Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 3.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | -0.3 |
| Pujols, Albert 1438 | 1b dh | ana al | 3.5 | 10.5 | 40.5 | 177.8 | -3.5 |
| Bethancourt, Christian 3407 | ca ph | sd nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 2.0 |
| Grilli, Jason 2209 | pi mr cp | tor al | 1.0 | 6.0 | 16.7 | 25.4 | -4.0 |
| Rodriguez, Francisco 1707 | pi cp | det al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 15.0 | 61.4 | 0.0 |
| Barraclough, Kyle 3583 | pi mr | fla nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Arcia, Oswaldo 3166 | lf | tb al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 1.0 |
| Straily, Dan 3080 | pi sp | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 1.0 |
| Kuhl, Chad 3687 | pi sp | pit nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.0 |
| 2 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 8.7 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 8.0 |
| 5 | Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 7.7 |
| 6 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 6.7 |
| 7 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 6.4 |
| 8 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 6.1 |
| 9 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 6.0 |
| 10 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 5.7 |
Also Friday, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings, Manny Machado of the Orioles extended his Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters and Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia extended his career Box-Toppers points lead among all active pitchers.
Player of the Day—Lewis pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out six, in the 2-1 win over the Astros.
National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Steven Matz struck out eight over seven innings, allowing two runs and three hits, in the 3-2 win over the Brewers.
Matz earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 6.7 for the season, rising to sixth in season player rankings, fourth among NL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Dae-Ho Lee of the Mariners homered and went 2-for-2, driving in three runs, in the 8-3 win over the Reds.
National League Batter of the Day—Christian Bethancourt of the Padres hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the 7-6 win over the Dodgers.
Rankings—Besides Matz, two other players in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings earned Player of the Game honors Friday:
Streak—Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Bautista (HR 2-5 2R 3BI in the 9-3 win over the Twins) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Pirates and has 62.9 career points, 12th among active AL batters and second among active AL outfielders. His best year was 2010 with the Blue Jays when he led AL batters with 15.2 points. In 2015, he had 10.0 points with the Blue Jays, sixth among AL batters.
Notable—Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, the active leader among pitchers in career Box-Toppers points, earned Player of the Game honors Friday.
Sabathia (6IP 3H R 8K W in the 8-3 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 181.0 career Box-Toppers points. He ranks fifth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, behind teammate Alex Rodriguez (187.0), and first among active pitchers. Sabathia has 2.0 points for the season.
Scoring—Lewis earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Matz earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Lee and Bethancourt each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/20 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | Rangers | Colby Lewis (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| NL | 8.0 | Mets | Steven Matz (W,6-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | |
| 8.0 | Yankees | CC Sabathia (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 7.0 | Cubs | Jake Arrieta (W,8-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 4.2 | Braves | Matt Wisler (W,2-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Mariners | Dae-Ho Lee, PH-1B | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.2 | Nationals | Tanner Roark (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Padres | Christian Bethancourt, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Royals | Dillon Gee (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | Indians | Cody Allen (S,10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Jose Bautista, RF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Dbacks | Chris Herrmann, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Orioles | Manny Machado, SS | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rays | Alex Colome (S,11) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | `Pirates | Tony Watson (H,10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 | 37.8 | 65.5 | 68.5 | -20.4 |
| Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 7.7 | 15.2 | 18.7 | 18.7 | 0.2 |
| Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 6.7 | 10.2 | 10.2 | 10.2 | 3.2 |
| Lewis, Colby 1567 | pi sp | tex al | 4.7 | 12.4 | 30.6 | 42.0 | -3.0 |
| Colome, Alex 3189 | pi cp | tb al | 4.0 | 9.0 | 12.7 | 12.7 | -1.0 |
| Roark, Tanner 3261 | pi sp | dc nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 3.0 |
| Lee, Dae-Ho 3627 | 1b ph | sea al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Sabathia, C.C. 1492 | pi sp | nyy al | 2.0 | 7.7 | 42.5 | 181.0 | -3.7 |
| Allen, Cody 3265 | pi mr cp | cle al | 2.0 | 6.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | -2.0 |
| Wisler, Matt 3522 | pi sp | atl nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -1.0 |
| Bethancourt, Christian 3407 | ca ph | sd nl | 1.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 0.5 |
| Bautista, Jose 2169 | rf | tor al | 1.0 | 11.0 | 35.7 | 62.9 | -9.0 |
| Gee, Dillon 2808 | pi sp | kc al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 28.8 | 29.8 | 0.0 |
| Watson, Tony 3215 | pi mr | pit nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
| Herrmann, Chris 3196 | ca | ari nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 1.0 |
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.