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Shohei Ohtani, who signed a record free-agent deal with the Dodgers, has consistently been among Box-Toppers' highest-ranking players over the past three seasons.
However, his second surgery to repair his pitching elbow's ulnar collateral ligament, raises concerns about his future effectiveness. A Box-Toppers look at Ohtani’s career and the mixed outcomes of pitchers with a second elbow surgery.
Read MoreWhite Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon, pitching a no-hitter, is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to seventh place in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, Red Sox pitcher Matt Barnes rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning his fourth Player of the Game honor of the 2021 season.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Brandon Bielak is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Bielak struck out four over the game’s final 4 2/3 innings, allowing no runs, no hits and no walks, in the 9-2 win over the Athletics.
Read MoreThe surging Milwaukee Brewers hold several key advantages over the Los Angeles Dodgers as they enter the National League Championship Series.
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Cubs, Blue Jays top preseason rankings. 2015 champ Royals fall to 11th. Red Sox, Dbacks make big offseason gains in Box-Toppers points, signing marquee pitchers.
Read MoreAstros remain active buyers and stay atop team rankings. Dodgers pass Cardinals in NL. Blue Jays, picking up Price & Tulo, gain most points in past week.
Read MoreMax Scherzer leads top 100 players at midseason.
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Orioles pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to 23rd place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez rose to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.0 |
| 2 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 13.4 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 12.0 |
| 4 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 12.0 |
| 5 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 11.4 |
| 6 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 11.1 |
| 7 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 10.7 |
| 8 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.4 |
| 9 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 9.7 |
| 10 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 9.7 |
Player of the Day—Jimenez pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out seven, in the 4-0 win over the Indians.
National League Player of the Day—Braves pitcher Alex Wood pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out eight, in the 2-1 win over the Pirates.
National League Batter of the Day—Mets pitcher Steven Matz doubled and went 3-for-3, driving in four runs, in the 7-2 win over the Reds. Matz is the fourth pitcher this year to earn Player of the Game honors for batting (it was done eight times in 2014).
This was also Matz’ Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. It was also his Major League debut. He is the 3,516th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—Salvador Perez of the Royals homered and went 1-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 5-3 win over the Athletics.
Notable—Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to 23rd place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began) after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Greinke (7.2IP 4H 0R 6K W in the 2-0 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 133.7 for his career. With his point Sunday, he passes three players on Box-Toppers “all-time” player rankings list: Miguel Cabrera (132.9), Jason Giambi (133.4) and David Ortiz (133.4). He trails 22nd-ranked player Bartolo Colon (136.4). Greinke ranks 17th among all pitchers since 1995.
Greinke also has 8.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, ranked 14th among all players, eighth among NL pitchers.
Rankings—Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez rose to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Martinez (6IP 2H R 6K W in the 4-1 win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers. He is the eighth player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points.
Also, three pitchers with more than 10.0 Box-Toppers points this season started Sunday but did not earn Player of the Game honors:
Debut—In addition to Matz, two other players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Jimenez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Wood earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Matz and Perez each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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
| 6/28 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Orioles | Ubaldo Jimenez (W, 7-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| NL | 10.1 | Braves | Alex Wood (W, 5-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 10.0 | Astros | Collin McHugh (W, 9-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 9.0 | Orioles | Chris Tillman (W, 6-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 8.2 | Dodgers | Zack Greinke (W, 6-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | Nationals | Stephen Strasburg (W, 5-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 6.0 | `Angels | Hector Santiago | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 5.2 | Blue Jays | Drew Hutchison (W, 8-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | Cardinals | Carlos Martinez (W, 9-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | Red Sox | Justin Masterson (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 4.2 | Giants | Madison Bumgarner (W, 8-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Mets | Steven Matz P | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Dbacks | Jake Lamb 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Royals | Salvador Perez C | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Brewers | Ryan Braun RF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | `Mets | Logan Verrett | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Tigers | Joakim Soria (W, 3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Phillies | Odubel Herrera CF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers is Thursday’s Player of the Day.
Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees earned Player of the Game honors as he hit his 661st career home run, passing Willie Mays’ mark of 660. Rodriguez also moved up to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 7.7 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.7 |
| 5 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 6 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.7 |
| 8 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 |
| 9 | Rodriguez, Alex | dh | nyy al | 4.5 |
| 10 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.4 |
Player of the Day—Grandal hit two three-run homers and drove in eight runs, going 4-for-4 and scoring three times, in the 14-4 win over the Brewers.
American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Joakim Soria struck out four over the final 1 1/3 innings, allowing no runs or hits and earning the save, in the 4-1 win over the White Sox.
American League Batter of the Day—Eric Hosmer of the Royals hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4 with two runs in the 7-4 win over the Indians.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday since the overall Player of the Day (Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers) was a batter from the NL.
Rankings—Alex Rodriguez rises to ninth in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game in the Yankees’ 4-3 win over the Orioles (HR 2-3 R 2BI). Rodriguez earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.5 for the season. Rodriguez already has more Box-Toppers points this season than he did in 2013 (3.0) and as many as he had in all of 2012 (4.5). In 2011, he had 4.7 points and in 2010, he had 13.7, the last time he had 10.0 or more in a season.
In the game, Rodriguez moved to fourth place on the all-time home run list with his 661st home run, passing Willie Mays (660). Rodriguez now has 183.8 career Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among all players since record keeping began in 1995 and first among all batters during that time.
Notables—Two players had notable Box-Toppers achievements Thursday:
Debut—Rangers pitcher Alex Claudio made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Claudio (1.1IP 0R 0H 2K W in the 5-4 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut Aug. 13, 2014, and was playing in his 21st career game. He is the 3,459th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Grandal earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Soria earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Hosmer 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/7 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Dodgers | Yasmani Grandal C | 4 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 9.2 | Cardinals | John Lackey (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 9.0 | Dbacks | Rubby De La Rosa (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| AL | 5.1 | Tigers | Joakim Soria (S, 11) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4.1 | `Astros | Collin McHugh | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 3.1 | Rangers | Alex Claudio (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Royals | Eric Hosmer 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Marlins | Dan Haren P | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.1 | Twins | Glen Perkins (S, 10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Pirates | Andrew McCutchen CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Yankees | Alex Rodriguez DH | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 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 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.