Braves pitcher Max Fried is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Fried struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 9-0 win over the Braves.
Read MoreRockies’ Marquez tops players for Tuesday, June 29, rises to 8th in player rankings; Brewers’ Woodruff rises to 3rd
Rockies pitcher German Marquez is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to eighth place in season player rankings.
Also Tuesday, Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox rises to lead American League batters in season player rankings. Both were among Tuesday’s 14 Player of the Game winners.
Read MoreBrewers’ Burnes tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 9; Reds’ Bauer rises to 5th in player rankings
Brewers pitcher Corbin Barnes is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Plus, Adam Duvall of the Braves earns National League Batter of the Day honors Wednesday with a Box-Toppers game score of +13.0, which seems to be the fifth-highest game score for a batter earning Player of the Game honors in Box-Toppers tracking history, which began in 1995.
Read MoreRockies’ Jon Gray tops players for Friday, Aug. 16; Athletics’ Trivino tops AL players
Indians' Mike Clevinger tops players for Saturday, Aug. 12; Bellinger rises to lead NL batters in 2017 Box-Toppers points
Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers rises to lead National League batters in 2017 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreNationals' Max Scherzer passes Kershaw for Box-Toppers points lead after topping players for Thursday, Aug. 25
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and takes the season lead in Box-Toppers points, passing Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who had led since May 7.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 25:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 18.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
| 5 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 6 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.4 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.7 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 13.0 |
Also Thursday, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to fifth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Scherzer pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing two hits and no walks, in the 4-0 win over the Orioles.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 20.7 for the season, rising from second to first among all players. Scherzer becomes the second player this season to 20 points; previous leader Kershaw (20.0 Box-Toppers points) did it first it more than two months ago on June 20, the last time he earned Player of the Game before going on the disabled list.
Kershaw has led all players in Box-Toppers points this season since May 7, nearly 16 weeks, despite going on the disabled list two months ago on June 26. Kershaw is eligible to return from the disabled list Saturday and reports indicate he could return to pitch by mid-September.
Kershaw finished second in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 25.7, behind overall leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (29.1). Kershaw led all National League players in Box-Toppers points from 2011 to 2014 and led all players in 2011, 2013 and 2014.
Lead changes
Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.| Date | Player | Team | BTP |
| 4/3 | Francisco Liriano | pit nl | 2.0 |
| 4/4 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 2.0 |
| 4/14 | Vince Velasquez | phi nl | 4.0 |
| 4/21 | Jake Arrieta | chi nl | 5.0 |
| 5/1 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 5/3 | Jake Arrieta | chi nl | 6.0 |
| 5/7 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 8/25 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 20.7 |
This is Scherzer’s third straight 20-point season. He earned 22.1 points in 2014 with the Tigers, when he ranked fifth overall and second among American League pitchers. He earned 21.0 points in 2015 with the Nationals, when he ranked sixth overall and fourth among NL pitchers.
Scherzer now has 126.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 35th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Thursday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver (125.1) and Mariano Rivera (126.4). Scherzer now trails 34th-ranked player Roy Oswalt (127.2).
American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits and no walks, in the 9-0 win over the Indians.
Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 16.8 for the season, rising to fifth among all players and maintaining his spot in second place among AL pitchers, behind Corey Kluber of the Indians (17.2).
Hamels also now has 143.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 23rd place among players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Thursday, he passes three players (all active) on the “all-time” list—Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8), David Ortiz of the Red Sox (142.9) and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (142.9). Hamels now has the seventh-most career Box-Toppers points among active players. Hamels now trails 22nd-ranked player, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (145.8).
National League Batter of the Day—Alejandro De Aza of the Mets hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 10-6 win over the Cardinals.
American League Batter of the Day—James McCann of the Tigers hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-5 win over the Twins.
Debut—Rays pitcher Tyler Sturdevant made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Sturdevant (0.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K ND in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut May 24 and was playing in his 16th career game. He is the 3,718th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Scherzer 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. De Aza and McCann 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
| 8/25 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.0 | WSH 4, BAL 0 | Max Scherzer (W,14-7) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| AL | 14.0 | TEX 9, CLE 0 | Cole Hamels (W,14-4) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 11.2 | SF 4, LAD 0 | Matt Moore (W,8-10) | - | - | - | - | 8.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | NYM 10, STL 6 | Alejandro De Aza, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | ATL 3, ARI 1 | Matt Wisler (W,5-11) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | DET 8, MIN 5 | James McCann, C | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | LAA 6, TOR 3 | Mike Trout, CF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | KC 5, MIA 2 | Kelvin Herrera (S,9) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | `TB 2, BOS 1 | Tyler Sturdevant | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | PIT 3, MIL 2 (10) | Andrew McCutchen, CF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CHW 7, SEA 6 | Tim Anderson, SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `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 | +/- |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.7 | 41.7 | 106.3 | 126.7 | -0.3 |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 | 32.2 | 83.8 | 143.0 | 1.4 |
| Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 8.5 | 20.5 | 45.0 | 45.0 | -3.5 |
| Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | sf nl | 7.7 | 7.7 | 33.2 | 33.2 | 7.7 |
| McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | cf | pit nl | 5.5 | 16.0 | 46.7 | 52.4 | -5.0 |
| Wisler, Matt 3522 | pi sp | atl nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.0 |
| Anderson, Tim 3659 | ss | chi al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| McCann, James 3649 | ca | det al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| De Aza, Alejandro 2950 | cf | nym nl | 1.5 | 3.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 0.0 |
| Herrera, Kelvin 3149 | pi cp | kc al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 1.0 |
| Sturdevant, Tyler 3718 | pi mr | tb al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Padres' Pomeranz tops players for Friday, June 3; Syndergaard, Salazar rise into Box-Toppers top 10
Padres pitcher Drew Pomeranz is Friday’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 3:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 9.7 |
| 3 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 |
| 4 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 |
| 5 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 8.7 |
| 6 | Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 8.7 |
| 7 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 8.7 |
| 8 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 8.4 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 8.0 |
| 10 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 7.8 |
Also Friday, two players rose into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard and Indians pitcher Danny Salazar. Plus, Eugenio Suarez of the Reds earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day to take the season Box-Toppers points lead among National League batters, passing Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets.
Player of the Day—Pomeranz pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits, in the 4-0 win over the Rockies.
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Danny Salazar struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 6-1 win over the Royals.
Salazar earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.8 for the season, rising to 10th place in season player rankings, third among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Corey Seager of the Dodgers hit three home runs, going 3-for-4, in the 4-2 win over the Braves.
American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-3 and driving in five total runs, in the 7-3 win over the Mariners.
Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 105.8 for his career, rising to 58th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Aramis Ramirez (105.8) on the “all-time” list and now trails 57th-ranked player Frank Thomas (106.2). Beltre ranks fifth in career Box-Toppers points among active AL batters.
Rankings—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Syndergaard (7IP 6H 2R 9K W in the 6-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.
Suarez—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Friday and takes the Box-Toppers points lead among NL batters, passing Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets.
Suarez (HR 3-4 2R 2BI in the 7-2 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season, passing previous NL batting leader, Cespedes (6.0). Suarez ranks 14th among all players.
Suarez also earned NL Batter of the Day honors Thursday.
Notable—Cubs pitcher John Lackey now has 114.5 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Lackey (6.2IP 5H 0R 9K W in the 6-0 win over the Diamondbacks) maintains his rank of 46th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 45th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9). Lackey has 6.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 10th-most among NL pitchers.
Debut—James McCann of the Tigers made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
McCann (HR 3B 3-4 2R 2BI in the 10-3 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2014, and was playing in his 149th career game. He is the 3,649th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Pomeranz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Salazar earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Seager and Beltre 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 6/3 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | SD 4/COL 0 | Drew Pomeranz (W,5-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| 8.2 | CHC 6/ARI 0 | John Lackey (W,6-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||
| AL | 7.0 | CLE 6/KC 1 | Danny Salazar (W,6-3) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 9 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | LAD 4/ATL 2 | Corey Seager, SS | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | TEX 7/SEA 3 | Adrian Beltre, 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | NYM 6/MIA 2 | Noah Syndergaard (W,6-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 4.0 | HOU 12/OAK 2 | Evan Gattis, C | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | DET 10/CHW 3 | James McCann, C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CIN 7/DC 2 | Eugenio Suarez, 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | PHI 6/MIL 3 | Cameron Rupp, C | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.2 | TOR 5/BOS 2 | R.A. Dickey (W,3-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | LAA 9/PIT 2 | Kole Calhoun, RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.1 | BAL 6/NYY 5 | Mychal Givens (W,5-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1.0 | SF 5/STL 1 | Kelby Tomlinson, PH | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | TB 4/MIN 2 | Erasmo Ramirez (W,7-4) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 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 | +/- |
| Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 8.0 | 18.4 | 18.4 | 18.4 | -2.4 |
| Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 7.8 | 21.2 | 30.6 | 30.6 | -5.6 |
| Suarez, Eugenio 3355 | 3b | cin nl | 7.0 | 10.0 | 12.5 | 12.5 | 4.0 |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 6.7 | 16.4 | 36.1 | 114.5 | -3.0 |
| Pomeranz, Drew 3061 | pi sp mr | sd nl | 6.0 | 9.0 | 17.0 | 17.0 | 3.0 |
| Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | tex al | 4.0 | 16.5 | 42.4 | 105.8 | -8.5 |
| Dickey, R.A. 1734 | pi sp | tor al | 3.0 | 8.0 | 52.2 | 73.9 | -2.0 |
| Calhoun, Kole 3279 | rf | ana al | 3.0 | 6.2 | 13.7 | 13.7 | -0.2 |
| Ramirez, Erasmo 1786 | pi sp mr | tb al | 2.7 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 13.7 | -4.3 |
| Tomlinson, Kelby 3619 | ph | sf nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Seager, Corey 3587 | ss | lad nl | 1.5 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 |
| Gattis, Evan 3179 | ca dh | hou al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -3.0 |
| Givens, Mychal 3599 | pi mr | bal al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Rupp, Cameron 3556 | ca | phi nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| McCann, James 3649 | ca | det al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |