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The New York Yankees are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2019 preseason rankings, rising from second place at the end of the 2018 season.
The 2018 World Series-champion Boston Red Sox fall from first at the end of last season to second place in the 2019 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Reds made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Arizona Diamondbacks had the biggest decline.
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Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.7 |
| 2 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 21.1 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 19.4 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 19.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 19.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.0 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 17.4 |
| 8 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 17.0 |
| 10 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 16.8 |
Also Tuesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw regained the lead in Box-Toppers player rankings and Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to 10th. Also, two players with more than 150 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday—Kershaw and Giants pitcher Tim Hudson, who rose to 13th place among all players since 1995.
Player of the Day—Liriano struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 7-3 win over the Reds.
Liriano earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.9 for the season. He rises to 16th place among all players and ninth among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 7-4 win over the Indians.
National League Batter of the Day—Starlin Castro of the Cubs hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 8-5 win over the Cardinals.
American League Batter of the Day—Eric Hosmer of the Royals hit a three-run double in the 4-2 win over the Twins.
Hosmer earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 9.0 for the season and rises to fifth among AL batters.
New leader—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw regained the top spot in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
| Date | Player | Team | BTP |
| 4/5 | Adam Wainwright | stl nl | 2.0 |
| 4/6 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 2.0 |
| 4/13 | Scott Kazmir | oak al | 3.7 |
| 4/18 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 4.0 |
| 6/26 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 14.0 |
| 7/9 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 14.4 |
| 7/12 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 15.0 |
| 7/24 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 15.4 |
| 7/26 | Jacob deGrom | nym nl | 16.4 |
| 9/2 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 20.7 |
| 9/5 | Jake Arrieta | chi nl | 21.1 |
| 9/8 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 21.7 |
Kershaw (7IP 4H 2R 8K W in the 6-4 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.7 for the season. He passes previous leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (21.1 points), who took the lead from Kershaw on Saturday, Sept. 5.
Kershaw also now has 155.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 15th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 14th-place player Mike Mussina (155.6).
Rankings—Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings Tuesday. Gray (7IP 5H 0R 4K W in the 4-0 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.8 for the season. He ranks fifth among AL pitchers.
Notable—Giants pitcher Tim Hudson rose to 13th place among all players in Box-Toppers since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Hudson (6IP 4H R 4K W in the 6-2 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 156.0 career Box-Toppers points. With his point Tuesday, he passes Mike Mussina (155.6) on the “all-time” list and trails 12th-place player Felix Hernandez (160.7). (Mussina started his career in 1991, before Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995, and would likely have an estimated 190 total Box-Toppers points if his entire career were tracked.) Hudson has 3.0 Box-Toppers points this season.
Debuts—Four players made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Liriano earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rodon earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Castro and Hosmer each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’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
| 9/8 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | Pirates | Francisco Liriano (W,10-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| AL | 7.0 | White Sox | Carlos Rodon (W,7-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| 7.0 | Phillies | Aaron Nola (W,6-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W,13-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 6.0 | `Padres | Colin Rea | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 5.2 | Marlins | Kyle Barraclough (MR) (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Cubs | Starlin Castro, 2B | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Athletics | Sonny Gray (W,13-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | Giants | Tim Hudson (W,7-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 3.1 | `Tigers | Drew VerHagen (MR) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | `Blue Jays | R.A. Dickey | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | Rangers | Shawn Tolleson (S,31) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | `Orioles | T.J. McFarland (MR) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Mets | Kirk Nieuwenhuis, PH-LF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | Royals | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 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.