Phillies' Freddy Galvis tops players for Thursday, June 23, a day of lackluster performances

Freddy Galvis of the Phillies 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 June 23:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	11.7
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	11.7
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
6	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
7	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	9.8
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7
9	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	9.7
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	9.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Galvis hit a three-run homer, a triple and went 2-for-3, driving in five total runs, in the 7-3 win over the Twins.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Alex Wilson pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits or walks and striking out one, in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Mariners. Wilson picked up a no decision and did not earn the win because the game was tied when he exited after the eighth inning, 4-4.

This was Wilson’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Wilson made his Major League debut April 11, 2013, and was playing in his 131st career game. He is the 3,667th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Marcus Semien of the Athletics hit a three-run homer, going 1-for-4, in the 5-4 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall Player of the Day is NL batter Freddy Galvis.

Commentary—It was a pretty unremarkable day for Box-Toppers Players of the Games, with no particularly outstanding performances that contributed to teams’ wins. It was a lighter schedule of games, with only nine played, but even so, Freddy Galvis’ Player of the Day honor (worth 2.0 Box-Toppers points) was won with a Box-Toppers game score of only +5.0, which more often than not, would not even be the top score among NL batters and would result in him earning only 1.0 Box-Toppers point. Galvis’ Box-Toppers game score of +5.0 was the second-lowest score to win Player of the Day honors this season—the lowest was +4.0 by Matt Joyce of the Pirates on May 16, a day in which only eight games were played.

Tigers middle reliever Alex Wilson had the lowest Box-Toppers game score of the season to win AL Player of the Day honors of +2.1.

Marcus Semien of the Athletics also had the second-lowest Box-Toppers game score of the season (+1.0) to earn AL Batter of the Day honors.

On top of that, none of the nine Players of the Games are ranked very highly in Box-Toppers player rankings. Red Sox closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of Thursday’s nine top players. Kimbrel (2IP H 0R 2BB 3K W in the 8-7 win over the White Sox), earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season. He ranks just 138th among all players, 38th among AL pitchers and fourth among AL closing pitchers.

Scoring—Galvis earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Wilson earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Semien earns 1.5 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

6/23	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	5.0	PHI 7/MIN 3	Freddy Galvis, SS	3	1	2	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	`MIA 4/CHC 2	Wei-Yin Chen	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	2	2	0	7
	3.0	SF 5/PiT 3	Santiago Casilla (S,16)	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	3
	3.0	`SD 7/CIN 4	Brandon Maurer (H,13)	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	3
AL	2.1	`DET 5/SEA 4	Alex Wilson	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	BOS 8/CHW 7	Craig Kimbrel (W,1-3)	-	-	-	-		2.0	1	0	0	2	3
	2.0	ATL 4/NYM 3	Jim Johnson (W,1-4)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.2	ARI 7/COL 6	Brad Ziegler (W,2-2; BS,1)	-	-	-	-		1.2	1	0	0	1	2
BAT	1.0	OAK 5/LAA 4	Marcus Semien, SS	4	1	1	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`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 of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	bos al	3.0	9.0	52.7	53.7	-3.0
Casilla, Santiago 2301	pi cp	sf nl	3.0	8.0	20.7	23.7	-2.0
Galvis, Freddy 3202	ss	phi nl	3.0	7.0	11.0	11.0	-1.0
Semien, Marcus 3302	ss	oak al	2.5	2.5	6.0	6.0	2.5
Chen, Wei-Yin 3026	pi sp	fla nl	2.0	7.7	27.1	27.1	-3.7
Ziegler, Brad 2504	pi cp	ari nl	2.0	5.0	11.0	14.0	-1.0
WIlson, Alex 3667	pi mr	det al	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7
Johnson, Jim 2417	pi mr	atl nl	1.0	3.0	13.0	18.7	-1.0
Maurer, Brandon 3157	pi mr sp	sd nl	1.0	3.0	4.0	4.0	-1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Mariners' Hernandez, pitching complete game shutout, tops players for Friday, April 24, extends his Box-Toppers player rankings lead

Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, pitching a complete game shutout, is Friday’s Player of the Day and extends his lead in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Hernandez struck out nine over nine innings, allowing five hits, in the 2-0 win over the Twins. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season and is now 2.0 points ahead of the second-place player, Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole (4.0 Box-Toppers points).

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 24.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	4.0
3	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
4	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	3.4
6	Harang, Aaron 1599	pi sp	phi nl	3.4
7	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	3.0
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	3.0
9	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	3.0
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	3.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Hernandez now has 149.3 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 16th among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1994. With Friday's points, he passes Chipper Jones (149.0 Box-Toppers points) on the "all-time" list (since 1995).

National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Aaron Harang pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing two hits, in the 1-0 win over the Braves. Harang had a no-decision because he left the game with the score tied 0-0. The Phillies won the game in the bottom of the ninth on a walk-off run by Freddy Galvis.

Harang earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.4 for the season. He rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for 2015.

American League Batter of the Day—Brandon Moss of the Indians homered twice, doubled and drove in seven runs in the 13-1 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies hit two doubles and went 3-for-4, driving in two runs and scoring another, in the 6-4 win over the Giants.

Rankings—Besides Hernandez and Harang, three other players who earned Player of the Game honors Friday rose in Box-Toppers player rankings:

• Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole (7.2IP R 7K W in the 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks) rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season.
• Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke (7IP 0R 7K W in the 3-0 win over the Padres) rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season. Greinke now has 128.7 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 28th among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With Friday's point, he passes Vladimir Guerrero (128.3 Box-Toppers points) on the "all-time" list (since 1995).
• Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel (9IP 2H 0R 4K ND in the 5-4 win over the Athletics) rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.

Streak—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons. Lester was Player of the Game in Friday’s 7-3 win over the Reds (6IP 3R 10K ND) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season. 

Lester earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Red Sox. His best season was 2010 with the Red Sox when he had 23.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked first among all players. In 2014, he had 16.4 Box-Toppers points in a season split between the Red Sox (10.0 Box-Toppers points) and the Athletics (6.4 points). He ranked sixth among AL pitchers in 2014. 

Lester has 110.1 career Box-Toppers points, moving him up to 47th place among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. (With Friday’s 1.0 Box-Toppers point, he passes Jeff Kent—109.7 and Tim Lincecum—109.3.) Lester ranks 33rd among all pitchers in Box-Toppers points since 1995 and ranks ninth among active pitchers currently in the NL.

Debut—Tim Beckham of the Rays made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Beckham (HR 2-2 R 2BI in the 12-3 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut Sept. 19, 2013, and was playing in the 21st game of his career. He is the 3,452nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. 

Scoring—Hernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Harang earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Moss and LeMahieu each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/24	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	Mariners	Felix Hernandez (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	5	0	0	0	9
NL	11.0	`Phillies	Aaron Harang	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	2	0	0	1	6
	9.0	Cardinals	Carlos Martinez (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	2	8
	9.0	`Astros	Dallas Keuchel	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	2	0	0	2	4
	7.2	Yankees	Michael Pineda (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	5	1	1	0	7
BAT	7.0	Indians	Brandon Moss RF	5	2	3	7	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	Dodgers	Zack Greinke (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	3	7
	4.0	`Cubs	Jon Lester	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	3	3	1	10
	3.2	Pirates	Gerrit Cole (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	7	1	1	2	7
	3.0	Rays	Tim Beckham PH, DH	2	1	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	2.0	Rockies	DJ LeMahieu 2B	4	1	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Red Sox	Brock Holt SS, LF	4	1	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Angels	Garrett Richards (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	2	2	3	5
	1.0	Marlins	Adeiny Hechavarria SS	3	2	2	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Cardinals' Wainwright tops players for Saturday, Sept. 7, rises to 6th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright is Saturday's Player of the Day and rises to sixth place on Box-Toppers player standings for the season.

Wainwright pitched seven shutout innings, giving up only two hits and striking out eight, in the 5-0 win over the Pirates. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 16.7 for the season, rising to sixth in Box-Toppers player rankings (see the updated top 10 list on the home page).

Athletics pitcher Dan Straily is American League Player of the Day. Straily pitched seven shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out seven, in the 2-1 win over the Astros.

Wainwright and Straily had identical 11.0 Box-Toppers game scores, but Wainwright earned overall Player of the Day honors because he had one more strikeout than Straily (eight vs. seven).

Adam Lind of the Blue Jays is AL Batter of the Day. Lind hit two three-run homers in the 11-2 win over the Twins. 

Freddy Galvis of the Phillies is National League Batter of the Day. Galvis hit a walk-off homer and went 4-for-5 in the 6-5 win over the Braves. 

Notable: Royals closing pitcher Greg Holland rises to 31st place on Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Holland (1IP 0H 0R 2K Sv in 4-3 win vs. Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season. 

Wainwright receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Straily receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Lind and Galvis 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

907	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	11.0	Cardinals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Adam Wainwright (W, 16-9)	7.0	2	0	0	2	8
AL	11.0	Athletics	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Dan Straily (W, 9-7)	7.0	2	0	0	1	7
	7.0	`Padres	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Tyson Ross	7.0	3	0	0	2	5
	6.0	Nationals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Tanner Roark (W, 5-0)	6.0	4	0	0	0	4
BAT	5.0	Blue Jays	Adam Lind 1B	5	2	2	6	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	5.0	Red Sox	Jonny Gomes LF	4	2	3	4	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	5.0	Diamondbacks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Brandon McCarthy (W, 4-9)	8.0	6	1	1	1	6
	4.0	`Orioles	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Wei-Yin Chen	6.0	6	2	2	0	8
	3.0	Royals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Greg Holland (S, 39)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	2.0	Phillies	Freddy Galvis SS	5	1	4	2	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Mariners	Kendrys Morales DH	4	1	3	2	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Indians	Nick Swisher 1B	4	2	2	2	1	2			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Angels	Grant Green 2B	3	1	1	3	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Brewers	Logan Schafer CF	2	0	1	3	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Reds	Joey Votto 1B	2	1	2	0	3	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.

Giants' Madison Bumgarner tops players for Friday, June 14; Indians' Justin Masterson regains Box-Toppers points lead

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Friday's Player of the Day and Indians pitcher Justin Masterson regained the Box-Toppers season points lead among players.

Bumgarner struck out 10 and allowed two hits over seven scoreless innings in the 6-0 win over the Braves. 

Masterson meanwhile passed Miguel Cabrera atop Box-Toppers points standings as he earned Player of the Game honors in the 2-1 win over the Nationals. Masterson struck out 10 over seven innings and left with a no-decision. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 11.7 for the season.  (See updated list of Top 10 players for 2013 on the home page.)

Blue Jays pitcher Mark Buehrle is American League Player of the Day. Buehrle struck out seven over seven scoreless innings in the 8-0 win over the Rangers.

Freddy Galvis of the Phillies is National League Batter of the Day. Galvis hit two triples and drove in four runs in the 8-7 win over the Rockies. 

Billy Butler of the Royals is AL Batter of the Day. Butler went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs in the 7-2 win over the Rays. 

Bumgarner receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Buehrle receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Galvis and Butler each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

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

614	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	14.0	Giants	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Madison Bumgarner (W, 6-4)	7.0	2	0	0	1	10
AL	9.0	Blue Jays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Mark Buehrle (W, 3-4)	7.0	4	0	0	1	7
	9.0	`Indians	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Justin Masterson	7.0	2	1	1	4	10
	9.0	Tigers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Rick Porcello (W, 4-3)	7.0	3	0	0	0	5
	9.0	Pirates	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jeff Locke (W, 6-1)	7.0	2	0	0	1	5
	7.0	Padres	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Eric Stults (W, 6-5)	9.0	2	1	1	1	3
	5.0	Astros	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Erik Bedard (W, 2-3)	6.0	3	1	0	3	6
	4.0	Marlins	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jose Fernandez (W, 4-3)	7.0	6	3	2	2	10
MLB	3.0	Phillies	Freddy Galvis SS	5	2	2	4	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Cubs	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Edwin Jackson (W, 3-8)	6.0	5	1	1	3	7
	3.0	Angels	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Ernesto Frieri (S, 15)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	`Reds	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Aroldis Chapman	1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Mariners	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Joe Saunders (W, 5-6)	7.0	5	1	1	2	4
	2.0	Orioles	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Chris Tillman (W, 7-2)	6.0	3	0	0	4	3
MLB	1.0	Royals	Billy Butler DH	4	0	2	3	0	1			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.