Padres' Clayton Richard tops players for Thursday, Sept. 8; Yankees' McCann tops AL players

Padres pitcher Clayton Richard 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 Sept. 8:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	22.7
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	18.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	17.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	14.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Richard pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing six hits and two walks, in the 14-1 win over the Rockies.

American League Player of the Day—Brian McCann of the Yankees hit two homers and went 3-for-4 in the 5-4 win over the Rays.

National League Batter of the Day—Hernan Perez of the Brewers hit two doubles and went 4-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 12-5 win over the Cardinals.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Brian McCann.

Notable—Kyle Seager of the Mariners has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of the seven who earned Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Seager (HR 3-4 2R 2BI in the 6-3 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.5 for the season. He ranks 41st among all players and seventh among AL batters.

Seager had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0, the same as AL Player of the Day Brian McCann. Both also had identical line scores (3-4 2R 2BI), but McCann held the tiebreaker to earn AL Player of the Day because he had two home runs and Seager had one.

Debut—Phillies pitcher Alec Asher made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Asher (6IP 2H 0R BB 0K W in the 4-1 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut Aug. 30, 2015, and was playing in his eighth career game. He is the 3,735th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Richard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and McCann earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Perez earns 1.5 points for being NL 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

9/8	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.0	SD 14, COL 1	Clayton Richard (W,2-3)	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	0	0	2	8
	5.0	PIT 4, CIN 1	Ivan Nova (W,12-6)	-	-	-	-		9.0	6	1	1	0	4
BAT	3.0	MIL 12, STL 5	Hernan Perez, 2B-3B	5	1	4	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
AL	3.0	NYY 5, TB 4	Brian McCann, C	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	SEA 6, TEX 3	Kyle Seager, 3B	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	CLE 10, HOU 7	Francisco Lindor, SS	3	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	PHI 4, WSH 1	Alec Asher (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	1	0

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	+/-
Seager, Kyle 3031	3b	sea al	9.5	14.5	28.5	28.5	4.5
Nova, Ivan 2796	pi sp	pit nl	6.0	7.0	28.1	29.1	5.0
Lindor, Francisco 3586	ss	cle al	5.5	6.5	6.5	6.5	4.5
Perez, Hernan 3577	3b ss 2b	mil nl	5.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	4.0
McCann, Brian 2179	ca	nyy al	3.2	9.7	35.4	58.4	-3.3
Richard, Clayton 2584	pi sp	sd nl	2.0	3.0	11.2	29.6	1.0
Asher, Alec 3735	pi sp	phi nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Indians' Carlos Carrasco tops players for Monday, Aug. 22; Cubs' Lester rises to 5th in Box-Toppers rankings

Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco is Monday’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 Aug. 22:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
4	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	15.1
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	13.0
10	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	12.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Monday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Carrasco pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing four hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Athletics.

Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season. He becomes the 27th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and ranks 24th among all players, 10th among American League pitchers. It is his third straight season with 10 or more points (10.7 in 2014, 18.0 in 2015).

National League Player of the Day—Adrian Gonzalez of the Dodgers hit three home runs and went 3-for-6, driving in eight runs, in the 18-9 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Seager of the Mariners hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice, in the 7-5 win over the Yankees.

Seager earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.5 points for the season, rising to fourth among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Adrian Gonzalez.

Rankings—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Lester (6IP 5H R 2BB 8K W in the 5-1 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.4 for the season, rising from seventh to fifth among all players. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

With Lester’s rise to 15.4 points, it marks the first time this season that all players in Box-Toppers season top 10 list have different Box-Toppers point totals—on Monday, Lester and Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto both had 14.4 points.

Lester now also has 136.5 career Box-Toppers points, 28th-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 27th-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5).

Notable—Red Sox pitcher David Price rises to 64th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, after he earned Player of the Game honors Monday.

Price (8IP 2H 0R 2BB 8K W in the 6-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 103.2 career points. He passes two players on the “all-time” list—Miguel Tejada (102.3) and Carlos Beltran of the Rangers (102.9). He trails 63rd-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Price has 9.4 Box-Toppers points on the season, 13th among AL pitchers.

Scoring—Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gonzalez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Seager earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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

8/22	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	CLE 1, OAK 0	Carlos Carrasco (W,9-6)	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	0	0	0	9
	12.0	BOS 6, TB 2	David Price (W,12-8)	-	-	-	-		8.0	2	0	0	2	8
	9.0	HOU 3, PIT 1	Doug Fister (W,12-8)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	1	6
NL	8.0	LAD 18, CIN 9	Adrian Gonzalez, 1B	6	3	3	8		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	CHC 5, SD 1	Jon Lester (W,14-4)	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	1	1	2	8
BAT	4.0	SEA 7, NYY 5	Kyle Seager, 3B	3	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	ARI 9, ATL 8	Paul Goldschmidt, 1B	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	BAL 4, WSH 3	Zach Britton (S,38)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	MIL 4, COL 2	Tyler Thornburg (S,5)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2

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	+/-
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4	27.4	73.6	136.5	3.4
Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	10.4	28.4	44.5	44.5	-7.6
Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	9.4	30.5	86.5	103.2	-11.7
Seager, Kyle 3031	3b	sea al	8.5	13.5	27.5	27.5	3.5
Gonzalez, Adrian 2193	1b	lad nl	5.7	9.7	36.4	72.3	1.7
Britton, Zach 2835	pi cp	bal al	5.0	13.7	33.1	33.1	-3.7
Thornburg, Tyler 3195	pi cp	mil nl	5.0	5.0	11.0	11.0	5.0
Fister, Doug 2688	pi sp	hou al	4.0	6.0	51.5	55.2	2.0
Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	3.5	13.7	38.9	38.9	-6.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Bartolo Colon tops players for Tuesday, July 26; Angels' Skaggs tops AL players

Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon is Tuesday’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 July 26:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
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	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	11.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Colon struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 3-1 win over the Cardinals.

Colon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 145.8 for his career. He ranks 22nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, and now trails 21st-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7).

Colon has 5.7 Box-Toppers points this season, most of any of the 16 who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday. He ranks 78th among all players, 31st among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits, one walk and striking out five, in the 13-0 win over the Royals.

American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Seager of the Mariners homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-4 win over the Pirates.

National League Batter of the Day—Scooter Gennett of the Brewers went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 9-4 win over the Diamondbacks.

Notable—Matt Cain of the Giants becomes the fifth pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting and also has now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 straight seasons.

It is the second time in his career that Cain (3-R HR 1-2 in the 9-7 win over the Reds) has earned Player of the Game honors for batting. He also did it Aug. 23, 2007.

With his first point of the season, Cain has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2005 with the Giants and has 98.0 career points, 12th among active NL pitchers and third among active Giants, behind Jake Peavy (141.8) and Madison Bumgarner (103.7). His best season was 2010 with the Giants when he had 16.1 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL pitchers. In 2015, he had 2.0 Box-Toppers points with the Giants.

Scoring—Colon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Skaggs earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Seager and Gennett each earn 1.5 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

7/26	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.0	NYM 3, STL 1	Bartolo Colon (W,9-5)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	1	0	8
	8.1	LAD 3, TB 2	Bud Norris (W,6-9)	-	-	-	-		6.1	2	0	0	2	6
AL	8.0	LAA 13, KC 0	Tyler Skaggs (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	1	5
	7.0	MIA 5, PHI 0	Tom Koehler (W,8-8)	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	1	5
	4.2	CHW 3, CHC 0	James Shields (W,5-12)	-	-	-	-		7.2	4	0	0	4	5
BAT	3.0	SEA 7, PIT 4	Kyle Seager, 3B	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	MIL 9, ARI 4	Scooter Gennett, 2B	3	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	SF 9, CIN 7	Matt Cain, P	2	1	1	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	ATL 2, MIN 0	Lucas Harrell (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	3	4
	2.0	OAK 6, TEX 3	Josh Reddick, RF	4	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	CLE 7, WSH 6	Tyler Naquin, PH	1	1	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	NYY 6, HOU 3	Andrew Miller (S,9)	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	2
	2.0	COL 6, BAL 3	Carlos Estevez (S,9)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	DET 9, BOS 8	Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C	4	0	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	TOR 7, SD 6 (12)	Justin Smoak, 1B	2	1	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	STL 3, NYM 2	Jedd Gyorko, 3B	4	1	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-

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	+/-
Colon, Bartolo	pi sp	nym nl	5.7	12.4	54.3	145.8	-1.0
Norris, Bud 2638	pi sp	lad nl	5.7	6.7	37.1	46.1	4.7
Seager, Kyle 3031	3b	sea al	5.0	10.0	24.0	24.0	0.0
Koehler, Tom 3159	pi sp	fla nl	4.0	8.0	16.0	16.0	0.0
Miller, Andrew 2436	pi cp	nyy al	4.0	8.0	12.0	19.0	0.0
Reddick, Josh 2936	rf	oak al	3.5	11.7	24.4	24.4	-4.7
Harrell, Lucas 2988	pi sp	atl nl	3.0	3.0	7.7	7.7	3.0
Estevez, Carlos 3641	pi cp mr	col nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Gyorko, Jedd 3164	3b 2b	stl nl	2.5	6.0	15.2	15.2	-1.0
Shields, James 2157	pi sp	chi al	2.0	9.4	67.6	98.4	-5.4
Smoak, Justin 2731	1b	tor al	2.0	7.0	16.9	21.4	-3.0
Saltalamacchia, Jarod 2355	ca	det al	2.0	2.0	13.0	19.0	2.0
Naquin, Tyler 3662	cf ph	cle al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Skaggs, Tyler 3183	pi sp	ana al	1.7	1.7	11.4	11.4	1.7
Gennett, Scooter 3254	2b	mil nl	1.5	3.5	10.5	10.5	-0.5
Cain, Matt 2081	pi sp	sf nl	1.0	3.0	35.8	98.0	-1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Angels' Chacin tops players for Monday, May 30; Cardinals' Martinez tops NL players

Angels pitcher Jhoulys Chacin is Monday’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 May 30:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	14.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	8.7
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7
5	Machado, Manny 3087	ss 3b	bal al	8.7
6	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	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	7.0
10	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	6.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Chacin pitched a complete game, allowing one run, four hits and striking out 10, in the 5-1 win over the Twins.

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out eight, in the 6-0 win over the Brewers.

National League Batter of the Day—Daniel Murphy of the Nationals homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Phillies.

American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Seager of the Mariners homered and went 1-for-2, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-3 win over the Padres.

Notable—Royals pitcher Ian Kennedy holds the highest spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings among Monday’s Players of the Games.

Kennedy (6IP 3H R 6K ND in the 6-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season, ranking 16th among all players in 2016, fifth among AL pitchers.

Scoring—Chacin earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Martinez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Murphy and Seager each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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

5/29	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	12.0	LAA 5/DET 1	Jhoulys Chacin (W,2-3)	-	-	-	-		9.0	4	1	1	1	10
NL	10.0	STL 6/MIL 0	Carlos Martinez (W,5-5)	-	-	-	-		8.0	5	0	0	1	8
	10.0	NYM 1/CHW 0	Matt Harvey (W,4-7)	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	1	6
	8.0	TOR 4/NYY 2	Marco Estrada (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	3	6
	8.0	CHC 2/LAD 0	Travis Wood (W,3-0)	-	-	-	-		4.0	0	0	0	0	4
	7.0	PIT 10/MIA 0	Jeff Locke (W,4-3)	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	0	0	0	1
	5.0	HOU 8/ARI 3	Collin McHugh (W,5-4)	-	-	-	-		9.0	5	3	3	1	8
BAT	3.0	DC 4/PHI 3	Daniel Murphy, 2B	4	1	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	SEA 9/SD 3	Kyle Seager, 3B	2	2	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	BOS 7/BAL 2	Steven Wright (W,5-4)	-	-	-	-		9.0	4	2	2	5	7
	3.0	`KC 6/TB 2	Ian Kennedy	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	0	5	6
	3.0	ATL 5/SF 3	Mike Foltynewicz (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	1	2	4
	3.0	OAK 3/MIN 2	Ryan Madson (S,12)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	CIN 11/COL 8	Adam Duvall, LF	5	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	TEX 9/CLE 2	Ian Desmond, CF	5	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`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	+/-
Kennedy, Ian 2723	pi sp	kc al	6.0	12.7	56.5	62.5	-0.7
Estrada, Marco 2847	pi sp	tor al	4.0	12.0	36.1	36.1	-4.0
Wright, Steven 3224	pi sp	bos al	4.0	7.7	8.7	8.7	0.3
Murphy, Daniel 2589	2b	dc nl	4.0	5.5	27.5	29.0	2.5
Desmond, Ian 2673	cf lf	tex al	4.0	5.0	20.7	27.2	3.0
Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	3.7	17.4	18.4	18.4	-10.0
Locke, Jeff 3133	pi sp	pit nl	2.7	8.7	20.1	20.1	-3.3
Seager, Kyle 3031	3b	sea al	2.5	7.5	21.5	21.5	-2.5
Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	2.0	17.4	35.4	35.4	-13.4
McHugh, Collin 3316	pi sp	hou al	2.0	11.7	23.5	23.5	-7.7
Foltynewicz, Mike 3455	pi sp	atl nl	2.0	4.7	4.7	4.7	-0.7
Duvall, Adam 3573	lf	cin nl	2.0	3.5	3.5	3.5	0.5
Chacin, Jhoulys 2711	pi sp	ana al	2.0	2.0	16.4	24.1	2.0
Madson, Ryan 1841	pi cp	oak al	2.0	2.0	5.0	22.7	2.0
Wood, Travis 2777	pi mr sp	chi nl	1.0	4.0	28.7	31.7	-2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Pirates' J.A. Happ (7IP 0R 3H 8K) tops players for Friday, Sept. 4

(Other duties have put us behind updating Box-Toppers. Playing catch up …)

Pirates pitcher J.A. Happ is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Friday, Sept. 4.

Happ pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing three hits, in the 9-3 win over the Cardinals.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 4.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.7
2	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	19.4
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	19.1
4	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	18.1
5	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	18.0
6	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	17.7
7	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	17.1
8	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	16.4
9	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
10	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	16.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Happ earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season. He becomes the 32nd player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 28th among all players and 12th among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Josh Tomlin pitched a complete game, allowing one run and four hits, striking out six, in the 8-1 win over the Tigers.

American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Seager of the Mariners homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 11-8 win over the Athletics.

National League Batter of the Day—Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 14-5 win over the Diamondbacks.

Rizzo earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.5 for the season, rising to fifth place among NL batters. He ranks 50th among all players.

Notable—Chris Davis of the Orioles became the 33rd player (and fourth batter) with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Davis (2HR 2-5 2R 3BI in the 10-2 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He ranks third among AL batters, behind Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays (10.4) and Mike Trout (10.0). He ranks 33rd among all players.

Scoring—Happ earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tomlin earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Seager and Rizzo 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

9/4	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	12.0	Pirates	J.A. Happ (W,8-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	0	8
AL	8.0	Indians	Josh Tomlin (W,4-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	4	1	1	1	6
	6.0	Rockies	Jorge De La Rosa (W,9-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	0	7
	5.2	Astros	Collin McHugh (W,15-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	7	0	0	1	6
BAT	5.0	Mariners	Kyle Seager, 3B	4	3	3	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	5.0	Cubs	Anthony Rizzo, 1B	3	2	2	4	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	White Sox	Alexei Ramirez, SS	5	3	4	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Angels	C.J. Cron, DH	4	0	3	5	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Nationals	Michael Taylor, PH	1	1	1	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Yankees	Brian McCann, C	1	3	1	1	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Dodgers	Justin Ruggiano, PH	1	1	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	`Red Sox	Junichi Tazawa (MR)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	3
	2.0	Marlins	Martin Prado, 3B	6	1	5	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Orioles	Chris Davis, 1B	5	2	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Pirates' Charlie Morton (7.1IP 0R 6K) tops players for Wednesday, June 10

Pirates pitcher Charlie Morton is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Morton pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings and struck out six in the 2-0 win over the Brewers.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	12.4
2	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	11.0
3	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	11.0
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	10.4
5	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	9.7
6	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	9.7
7	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	9.0
8	Heston, Chris 3437	pi sp	sf nl	8.7
9	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	8.1
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	7.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Orioles closing pitcher Darren O’Day pitched two scoreless innings and struck out four, picking up the save, in the 5-2 win over the Red Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers homered, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-6 win over the Diamondbacks. It is only the fourth time in three seasons that Puig has earned Player of the Game honors and the  first time he has earned Player of the Game twice in one season (he also earned Player of the Game honors April 18). He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 2.5 points for the season and 5.0 points for his career. Since the start of 2013, Puig’s 5.0 Box-Toppers points ranks him 42nd among active NL outfielders.

American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Seager of the Mariners hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five total runs, in the 9-3 win over the Indians.

Notable—Joe Panik of the Giants has the highest season Box-Toppers point total of any of Wednesday’s 15 Players of the Games. Panik (HR 3-5 2R 2BI in the 8-5 win over the Mets) has 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015 and ranks 74th among all players, 10th among NL batters.

Debuts—Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:

• Nationals pitcher Blake Treinen (2IP H 0R 3K W in the 5-4 win over the Yankees) made his Major League debut April 12, 2014, and was playing in his 38th career game. He is the 3,495th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Athletics pitcher Pat Venditte (2.1IP 0H 0R 3K ND in the 5-4 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut June 5, and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,496th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Blue Jays pitcher Scott Copeland (7IP 6H R 4K W in the 7-2 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut May 2, and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,497th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Morton earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and O’Day earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Puig and Seager each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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

6/10	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.1	Pirates	Charlie Morton (W, 4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	3	0	0	3	6
AL	6.0	Orioles	Darren O`Day (S, 2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	4
	5.2	`Cardinals	Kevin Siegrist (H, 11)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.2	0	0	0	0	4
BAT	5.0	Dodgers	Yasiel Puig RF	4	2	4	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	5.0	Mariners	Kyle Seager 3B	4	2	2	5	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	Braves	Williams Perez (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	0	2	5
	4.0	Nationals	Blake Treinen (W, 2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	1	0	0	0	3
	3.1	`Athletics	Pat Venditte	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.1	0	0	0	2	3
	3.0	Cubs	Miguel Montero C	5	2	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Reds	Brayan Pena C	4	1	4	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Blue Jays	Scott Copeland (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	0	4
	3.0	`Rays	Steve Geltz (H, 6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Giants	Joe Panik 2B	5	2	3	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Royals	Alex Gordon LF	3	1	1	3	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	White Sox	Jose Abreu 1B	4	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.