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Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to regain the lead in season player rankings.
Also Sunday, two other players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors—Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom rises to second place and Shohei Ohtani of the Angels rises to fifth place.
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The New York Mets are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2023 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the World Series champion Houston Astros saw the biggest decline.
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The New York Yankees and New York Mets lead Box-Toppers offseason rankings after landing the winter’s two biggest free agents.
The Yankees rank first after Carlos Rodon Thursday agreed to a free agent deal. Rodon earned 19.8 Box-Toppers points in 2022 with the Giants, sixth overall and third among National League pitchers. He ranked second among all free agents going into the 2023 season.
Read MoreBox-Toppers numbers favor the Houston Astros over the New York Yankees in the upcoming American League Championship Series.
Both teams were the two top seeds among AL postseason teams (Astros in first, Yankees in second) and both teams dominated the AL all season, with one or the other leading Box-Toppers team rankings nearly every week of the season.
Read MoreTyler O'Neill of the Cardinals is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
O’Neill hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 13-4 win over the Reds.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Justin Verlander is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to second in season player rankings.
Verlander also regains fifth place on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list, passing Royals pitcher Zach Greinke, who only passed Verlander July 10.
Read MoreMichael Perez of the Pirates is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Perez hit three home runs and went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 8-7 win over the Brewers.
Read MoreMatt Carpenter of the Yankees is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, becoming the second player to reach 10.0 Box-Toppers points this season.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to second place in season player rankings.
Also Friday, three other players rise in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings list after earning Player of the Game honors—J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox rises to third place, Padres pitcher Yu Darvish rises to seventh place and Orioles pitcher John Means rises to 10th place.
Read MoreChristian Yelich of the Brewers, who led National League batters in Box-Toppers points in 2018 with 11.5, was voted NL Most Valuable Player Thursday.
And Mookie Betts of the Red Sox, who ranked second among American League batters in Box-Toppers points with 10.9, was voted AL Most Valuable Player. Teammate J.D. Martinez, who led AL batters with 12.5 Box-Toppers points, finished fourth in AL MVP voting.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Justin Verlander is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in season player rankings.
Verlander also rises to 12th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995.
Read MoreMatt Carpenter of the Cardinals is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for games played Friday, July 20.
Carpenter hit three homers, two doubles and went 5-for-5, scoring four time and driving in seven runs, in the 18-5 win over the Cubs. Carpenter’s Box-Toppers of +11.0 Friday is the second highest of the season, behind only the +13.0 game score recorded July 7 by Mark Reynolds of the Nationals.
Read MoreEddie Rosario of the Twins has the most 2018 Box-Toppers points among the 10 players on the All-Star Game Final Vote ballot.
Rosario has 6.5 Box-Toppers points this season, which ranks fifth among American League batters.
Read MoreBrewers pitcher Freddy Peralta is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, three players in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 earned Player of the Game honors—Yankees pitcher Luis Severino, Mariners pitcher James Paxton and Astros pitcher Charlie Morton.
Read MoreClayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer hold dominant lead among players in Box-Toppers points over last several years. Using longer term measure, Chris Sale rises to lead AL pitchers, Yoenis Cespedes rises to lead NL batters.
Read MoreAlex Rodriguez leads third basemen in career Box-Toppers points. Manny Machado and Adrian Beltre are Box-Toppers' leaders at third base in recent seasons.
Read MoreJeff Kent holds dominating lead among second basemen in Box-Toppers points since 1995. Jose Altuve led second basemen in 2016.
Read MoreFour players appear on Box-Toppers All-Star teams over all three major time periods (2016, 2015-16, 2011-16)—Kershaw, Scherzer, Hamels and Trout.
Read MoreOnly 6 of 17 Silver Slugger Award winners also led their position in Box-Toppers points in 2016.
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Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| 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 Friday, Kris Bryant of the Cubs extended his lead in season Box-Toppers points among National League batters after earning NL Batter of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Verlander struck out eight over 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, four hits and one walk, in the 4-2 win over the Angels.
Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 133.6 career points, rising to 29th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Jason Giambi (133.4) on the “all-time” list and now trails 28th-ranked player, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (136.5). Verlander has 9.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 15th among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Luke Weaver allowed one run over six innings, striking out seven and allowing four hits and two walks, in the 14-4 win over the Athletics.
This was Weaver’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Weaver made his Major League debut Aug. 13 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,719th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—Justin Smoak of the Blue Jays hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 15-8 win over the Twins.
Smoak and Gary Sanchez of the Yankees (Player of the Game in the 14-4 win over the Orioles) both had Box-Toppers game scores of +5.0 Friday, but Smoak holds the tiebreaker to earn AL Batter of the Day honors because he had more RBIs than Sanchez—5 vs. 4.
National League Batter of the Day—Kris Bryant of the Cubs hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 6-4, 10-inning win over the Dodgers.
Bryant earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.5 for the season, extending his lead among NL batters—second place NL batter is Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals (8.5).
Bryant becomes the 31st player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points, the fourth batter and the first NL batter. He is the sixth Cubs player to reach 10 points in 2016 (The others: Jon Lester—15.4, Jake Arrieta—13.7, John Lackey—12.4, Jason Hammel—11.0, Kyle Hendricks—10.7). He ranks 26th among all players in season player rankings. It is Bryant’s first 10-point season; in his rookie season of 2015, he had 8.5 points.
Streak—Rickie Weeks of the Diamondbacks has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game of the season Friday.
Weeks (HR 3B 2-3 2R BI in the 4-3, 11-inning win over the Reds) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2005 with the Brewers and has 37.1 career points, third among active NL second basemen. His best season was 2007 with the Brewers when he had 6.2 Box-Toppers points. In 2015, he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point with the Mariners.
Scoring—Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Weaver earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Smoak and Bryant 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/26 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 6.2 | DET 4, LAA 2 | Justin Verlander (W,14-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | TOR 15, MIN 8 | Justin Smoak, 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | NYY 14, BAL 4 | Gary Sanchez, C | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| NL | 5.0 | STL 3, OAK 1 | Luke Weaver (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |
| 4.2 | SEA 3, CHW 1 | Edwin Diaz (S,11) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | CLE 12, TEX 1 | Abraham Almonte, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | CHC 6, LAD 4 (10) | Kris Bryant, 3B | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | NYM 9, PHI 4 | Asdrubal Cabrera, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SF 7, ATL 0 | Jeff Samardzija (W,11-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | MIA 7, SD 6 | Fernando Rodney (W,2-3) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | KC 6, BOS 3 | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | PIT 5, MIL 3 | Jordy Mercer, SS | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | ARI 4, CIN 3 (11) | Rickie Weeks, LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | WSH 8, COL 5 | Daniel Murphy, 2B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | HOU 5, TB 4 | Evan Gattis, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Bryant, Kris 3465 | lf 3b rf | chi nl | 10.5 | 19.0 | 19.0 | 19.0 | 2.0 |
| Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | det al | 9.0 | 15.4 | 78.6 | 133.6 | 2.6 |
| Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | dc nl | 7.5 | 9.0 | 31.0 | 32.5 | 6.0 |
| Samardzija, Jeff 2495 | pi sp | sf nl | 6.7 | 16.1 | 44.8 | 45.8 | -2.7 |
| Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 6.0 | 15.0 | 28.5 | 28.5 | -3.0 |
| Rodney, Fernando 1803 | pi cp | fla nl | 5.0 | 6.0 | 23.0 | 35.0 | 4.0 |
| Diaz, Edwin 3690 | pi cp | sea al | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Smoak, Justin 2731 | 1b | tor al | 3.5 | 8.5 | 18.4 | 22.9 | -1.5 |
| Gattis, Evan 3179 | ca | hou al | 3.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -1.0 |
| Mercer, Jordy 3206 | ss | pit nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 3.0 |
| Sanchez, Gary 3701 | dh ca | nyy al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Cabrera, Asdrubal 2362 | ss | nym nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 26.7 | 42.7 | -1.0 |
| Almonte, Abraham 3554 | rf ph | cle al | 2.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 0.5 |
| Weaver, Luke 3719 | pi sp | stl nl | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| Weeks, Rickie 2035 | lf 2b | ari nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 17.9 | 37.1 | 0.0 |
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.