Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer rises to lead Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreBrewers’ Freddy Peralta tops players for Wednesday, April 3; Blue Jays’ Shoemaker rises to lead player rankings
Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Blue Jays pitcher Matt Shoemaker rises to lead Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreBlue Jays’ Matt Shoemaker tops players for Friday, March 29; Padres’ Lucchesi tops NL players
Blue Jays pitcher Matt Shoemaker is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Shoemaker struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 6-0 win over the Tigers.
Read MoreAngels' Matt Shoemaker tops players for Friday, May 12; Twins' Santana retakes Box-Toppers player rankings lead
Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker 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 2017 season as of May 12:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 7.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 6.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 5.4 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 5.4 |
| 8 | Triggs, Andrew 3723 | pi sp | oak al | 5.4 |
| 9 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 5.0 |
| 10 | Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 5.0 |
Also Friday, Twins pitcher Ervin Santana regains the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Shoemaker pitched six scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing three hits, in the 7-0 win over the Tigers.
Shoemaker had a Box-Toppers game score of +9.0, tied with Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr., who was Player of the Game in the 5-1 win over the Yankees (6IP 4H 0R 0BB 7K W). But Shoemaker won overall Player of the Day honors on a tiebreaker—he allowed one fewer hit than McCullers (three vs. four). Yet, because of that one-hit difference, Shoemaker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day while McCullers earns only 1.0 point for being Player of the Game.
National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Eddie Butler pitched six scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing two hits, in the 3-2 win over the Cardinals.
National League Batter of the Day—Tyler Flowers of the Braves homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-4 win over the Marlins.
2017 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 |
| 4/2 | Carlos Martinez | stl nl | 2.0 |
| 4/3 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 2.0 |
| 4/9 | Noah Syndergaard | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 4/14 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 4.0 |
| 4/15 | Ervin Santana | min al | 4.7 |
| 4/19 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 5.0 |
| 5/2 | Chris Sale | bos al | 6.7 |
| 5/6 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 7.0 | 5/12 | Ervin Santana | min al | 7.7 |
American League Batter of the Day—There is no AL Batter of the Day for Friday because no AL batters earned Player of the Game honors.
Rankings—Twins pitcher Ervin Santana rises to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday in the 1-0 win over the Indians (7IP 2H 0R 4K W).
Santana earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.7 for the season, passing previous leader Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (7.0 Box-Toppers points). It is the second time this season Santana has led players in Box-Toppers points; he previously led from April 15 to 18. Santana also takes the lead in Box-Toppers points among AL pitchers, passing previous leader Chris Sale of the Red Sox (6.7).
Santana also now has 105.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 65th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Friday, he passes Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Liriano (104.2) on the “all-time” list and now trails 64th-ranked player, Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1).
Streak—Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto has now earned Box-Toppers points for 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the 2017 season.
Cueto (8IP 5H 2R 3BB 6K ND in the 3-2, 17-inning win over the Reds) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2008 with the Reds and has 100.8 career Box-Toppers points, becoming the 78th player with 100 or more Box-Toppers points since tracking began in 1995.
Cueto ranks 74th among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 and Friday passed four players on the “all-time” list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7) and Giants pitcher Matt Cain (100.7). Cueto now trails 73rd-ranked player Matt Holliday of the Yankees (100.8). Though both Cueto and Holliday both have 100.8 career Box-Toppers points, Holliday ranks higher because he has more 2017 Box-Toppers points than Cueto (3.0 vs. 1.0).
Cueto’s best season was 2014 with the Reds, when he had 22.4 Box-Toppers points, fourth among all players. In 2016, he had 16.4 points with the Giants, eighth among all players.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debuts Friday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Rangers closer Kela Keone (2IP 0H 0R BB 2K W in the 5-2 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut April 7, 2015, and was playing in his 115th career game. He is the 3,789th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Austin Hedges of the Padres (HR 2B 2-4 R 3BI in the 6-3 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut May 4, 2015, and was playing in his 98th career game. He is the 3,790th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Shoemaker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Butler earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Flowers earns 1.5 points for being NL 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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score| 5/12 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | LAA 7, DET 0 | Matt Shoemaker (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| 9.0 | HOU 5, NYY 1 | Lance McCullers Jr. (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| NL | 6.0 | CHC 3, STL 2 | Eddie Butler (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
| BAT | 4.0 | ATL 8, MIA 4 | Tyler Flowers, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | MIN 1, CLE 0 | Ervin Santana (W,6-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | TOR 4, SEA 0 | Joe Biagini (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | MIL 7, NYM 4 | Eric Sogard, SS | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TEX 5, OAK 2 | Keone Kela (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | TB 5, BOS 4 | Alex Colome (S,9) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | ARI 11, PIT 4 | Brandon Drury, 2B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SD 6, CHW 3 | Austin Hedges, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | LAD 6, COL 2 | Chase Utley, 1B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | `SF 3, CIN 2 (F/17) | Johnny Cueto | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 1.0 | KC 3, BAL 2 | Joakim Soria (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` 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 (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 7.7 | 11.7 | 44.5 | 105.0 | 3.7 |
| McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 4.0 | 10.1 | 16.8 | 16.8 | -2.1 |
| Colome, Alex 3189 | pi cp | tb al | 3.0 | 12.0 | 20.7 | 20.7 | -6.0 |
| Shoemaker, Matt 3290 | pi sp | ana al | 2.0 | 9.0 | 27.4 | 27.4 | -5.0 |
| Soria, Joakim 2258 | pi mr cp | kc al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 11.7 | 47.7 | 1.0 |
| Butler, Eddie 3483 | pi sp | chi nl | 1.7 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 0.7 |
| Flowers, Tyler 3101 | ca | atl nl | 1.5 | 4.0 | 12.5 | 12.5 | -1.0 |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 1.0 | 17.4 | 71.0 | 100.8 | -15.4 |
| Biagini, Joe 3646 | pi sp | tor al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Drury, Brandon 3744 | 2b lf | ari nl | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | -0.5 |
| Utley, Chase 1861 | 1b 2b | lad nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 13.0 | 74.1 | 0.0 |
| Sogard, Eric 3174 | ss 2b | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 1.0 |
| Hedges, Austin 3790 | ca | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Kela, Keone 3789 | pi cp | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Angels' Matt Shoemaker tops players for Saturday, July 16; Cardinals' Wainwright tops NL players
Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker is Saturday’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 16:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 14.4 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 13.4 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 12.5 |
| 6 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 11.4 |
| 7 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.0 |
| 8 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 9 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
| 10 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 10.5 |
Shoemaker pitched a complete-game shutout, striking out 13 and allowing six hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the White Sox.
National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, allowing two walks and striking out five, in the 5-0 win over the Marlins.
Wainwright earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 109.0 for his career, rising to 54th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Saturday, Wainwright passes three players on the “all-time” list—Lance Berkman (108.1), Kevin Millwood (108.3) and Billy Wagner (108.7). Wainwright now trails 53rd-place player Jeff Kent (109.7). Wainwright has 7.2 Box-Toppers points on the season, 14th among NL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Sandy Leon of the Red Sox hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 5-2 win over the Yankees.
National League Batter of the Day—Ryan Schimpf of the Padres homered, tripled and went 2-for-3, driving in two runs, in the 7-6, 10-inning win over the Giants.
This was Schimpf’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Schimpf made his Major League debut June 14 and was playing in his 23rd career game. He is the 3,686th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Notable—Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Roark (8IP 5H 0R BB 5K W in the 6-0 win over the Pirates) has 8.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, ranking 21st among all players, 13th among NL pitchers.
Debut—Ryon Healy of the Athletics made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday,the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Healy (three-run HR 2-3 3BI in the 5-4 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut July 15 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,685th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Shoemaker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Wainwright earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Leon and Schimpf each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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
| 7/16 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.0 | LAA 1/CHW 0 | Matt Shoemaker (W,5-9) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | |
| 12.0 | SEA 1/HOU 0 | Hisashi Iwakuma (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| NL | 9.0 | STL 5/MIA 0 | Adam Wainwright (W,9-5) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| 7.0 | DC 6/PIT 0 | Tanner Roark (W,9-5) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 7.0 | CHC 3/TEX 1 | Jason Hammel (W,8-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | MIL 9/CIN 1 | Jimmy Nelson (W,6-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | BOS 5/NYY 2 | Sandy Leon, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | OAK 5/TOR 4 | Ryon Healy, 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | BAL 2/TB 1 | Zach Britton (S,29) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | SD 7/SF 6 | Ryan Schimpf, 2B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | `MIN 5/CLE 4 | Fernando Abad | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | PHI 4/NYM 2 | Jeanmar Gomez (S,25) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | COL 4/ATL 3 | Carlos Estevez (S,5) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | `ARI 2/LAD 1 | Tyler Clippard | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0.0 | KC 8/DET 4 | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 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 | +/- |
| Roark, Tanner 3261 | pi sp | dc nl | 8.7 | 9.7 | 24.7 | 24.7 | 7.7 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 7.2 | 10.2 | 58.3 | 109.0 | 4.2 |
| Hammel, Jason 2235 | pi sp | chi nl | 6.0 | 15.7 | 39.1 | 52.2 | -3.7 |
| Shoemaker, Matt 3290 | pi sp | ana al | 6.0 | 11.7 | 24.4 | 24.4 | 0.3 |
| Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 4.0 | 13.0 | 26.5 | 26.5 | -5.0 |
| Nelson, Jimmy 3299 | pi sp | mil nl | 3.0 | 11.4 | 13.4 | 13.4 | -5.4 |
| Clippard, Tyler 2291 | pi mr | ari nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 19.0 | 30.4 | 2.0 |
| Gomez, Jeanmar 2759 | pi cp | phi nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 3.0 |
| Leon, Sandy 3676 | ca | bos al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048 | pi sp | sea al | 2.0 | 15.1 | 50.2 | 50.2 | -11.1 |
| Britton, Zachary 2835 | pi cp | bal al | 2.0 | 10.7 | 30.1 | 30.1 | -6.7 |
| Abad, Fernando 3653 | pi mr | min al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Estevez, Carlos 3641 | pi mr cp | col nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Schimpf, Ryan 3686 | 3b | sd nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Healy, Ryon 3685 | 3b | oak al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Angels' Shoemaker tops players for Saturday, June 11; Nationals' Roark tops NL players
Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker is Saturday’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 11:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 17.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 11.7 |
| 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 | Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.4 |
| 9 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 8.4 |
| 10 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 8.0 |
Shoemaker pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 11 and allowing three hits and one walk, in the 4-3 win over the Indians. Shoemaker did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Angels lost the lead after he exited when the Indians tied the game 3-3 in the ninth inning.
National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven, in the 8-0 win over the Phillies.
American League Batter of the Day—Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays hit two homers, a double and went 3-for-3, driving in five runs, in the 11-6 win over the Orioles.
National League Batter of the Day—Matt Holliday of the Cardinals hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4 in the 5-1 win over the Pirates.
Notable—Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of Saturday’s 15 Players of the Games.
Lewis (8IP 3H R 3K ND in the 2-1 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.7 for the season. He ranks 19th among all players and fifth among AL pitchers.
Scoring—Shoemaker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Roark earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Encarnacion and Holliday each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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
| 6/11 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | `LAA 4/CLE 3 | Matt Shoemaker | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| 10.0 | KC 4/CHW 1 | Danny Duffy (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | TOR 11/BAL 6 | Edwin Encarnacion, DH | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| NL | 7.0 | DC 8/PHI 0 | Tanner Roark (W,5-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| 6.0 | BOS 15/MIN 4 | Xander Bogaerts, SS | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 6.0 | `TEX 2/SEA 1 | Colby Lewis | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | DET 6/NYY 1 | Ian Kinsler, 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | STL 5/PIT 1 | Matt Holliday, LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | COL 5/SD 3 | Carlos Gonzalez, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIL 7/NYM 4 | Ryan Braun, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CIN 2/OAK 1 | Jay Bruce, RF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | CHC 8/ATL 2 | Jason Heyward, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | SF 5/LAD 4 | Joe Panik, 2B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | HOU 4/TB 3 | Marwin Gonzalez, SS | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | ARI 5/MIA 3 | Michael Bourn, CF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 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 | +/- |
| Lewis, Colby 1567 | pi sp | tex al | 6.7 | 14.4 | 32.6 | 44.0 | -1.0 |
| Roark, Tanner 3261 | pi sp | dc nl | 5.7 | 6.7 | 21.7 | 21.7 | 4.7 |
| Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | lf | mil nl | 4.5 | 9.5 | 40.5 | 82.2 | -0.5 |
| Holliday, Matt 1836 | 1b dh lf | stl nl | 4.5 | 6.0 | 36.2 | 96.3 | 3.0 |
| Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh | tor al | 4.0 | 14.4 | 42.6 | 63.1 | -6.4 |
| Shoemaker, Matt 3290 | pi sp | ana al | 4.0 | 9.7 | 22.4 | 22.4 | -1.7 |
| Kinsler, Ian 2144 | 2b | det al | 3.5 | 10.0 | 29.2 | 59.6 | -3.0 |
| Bruce, Jay 2453 | rf | cin nl | 3.5 | 6.7 | 26.7 | 53.8 | 0.3 |
| Duffy, Danny 2915 | pi sp | kc al | 3.0 | 7.0 | 22.0 | 22.0 | -1.0 |
| Panik, Joe 3401 | 2b | sf nl | 3.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -1.0 |
| Bourn, Michael 2505 | rf cf | ari nl | 2.0 | 4.5 | 6.5 | 13.0 | -0.5 |
| Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | rf | col nl | 1.0 | 12.5 | 41.2 | 54.2 | -10.5 |
| Bogaerts, Xander 3383 | ss | bos al | 1.0 | 2.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | -0.5 |
| Heyward, Jason 2695 | rf | chi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 12.5 | 18.5 | 1.0 |
| Gonzalez, Marwin 3078 | ss | hou al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 1.0 |
Angels' Shoemaker tops players for Tuesday, July 21; Mets' deGrom rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers player rankings
Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom rose to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, Giants pitcher Chris Heston became the 16th player this season with 10 Box-Toppers points and Matt Holliday of the Cardinals earned Box-Toppers points for the 12th straight season.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of July 21.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.0 |
| 2 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 14.4 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.4 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 13.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 13.1 |
| 6 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 12.7 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.0 |
| 8 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 12.0 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 12.0 |
| 10 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 11.7 |
Player of the Day—Shoemaker pitched six scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing two hits, in the 7-0 win over the Twins.
National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Chris Heston pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out six, in the 9-3 win over the Padres.
Heston earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season, rising to 15th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, ninth among NL pitchers. He is the 16th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.
American League Batter of the Day—Shin-Soo Choo of the Rangers hit for the cycle and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three, in the 9-0 win over the Rockies.
National League Batter of the Day—Matt Holliday of the Cardinals hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, scoring two runs, in the 8-5 win over the White Sox.
Holliday earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, his first points of the season, and has now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2004 with the Rockies. His best season was 2007 with the Rockies when he had 16.2 points, first among NL batters and seventh among all players. In 2014, he had 7.5 points with the Cardinals, eighth among NL batters.
Holliday has 91.8 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 88th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Holliday ranks first among active NL outfielders in career Box-Toppers points and third among active NL batters, behind Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers (103.3) and Ryan Howard of the Phillies (93.2).
Rankings—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom rose to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
deGrom (6IP 3H 2R 8K W in the 7-2 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.4 for the season. He ranks second among NL pitchers behind overall leader Max Scherzer of the Nationals (15.0).
Debut—Kyle Schwarber of the Cubs made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Schwarber hit two home runs—a game-tying two-run homer in the ninth and a go-ahead homer in the 13th—in the 5-4 win over the Reds. Schwarber (4-7 2R 4BI) made his Major League debut June 16 and was playing in his 11th career game. He is the 3,536th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Shoemaker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Heston earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Choo and Holliday 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 7/21 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Angels | Matt Shoemaker (W,5-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | |
| NL | 10.1 | Giants | Chris Heston (W,10-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| 9.0 | Marlins | Mat Latos (W,4-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 7.0 | Mets | Jacob deGrom (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 6.2 | `Royals | Joe Blanton | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Rangers | Shin-Soo Choo, RF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Mariners | Franklin Gutierrez, PH-LF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Cardinals | Matt Holliday, DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Rays | Nathan Karns (W,5-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | Cubs | Kyle Schwarber, C | 7 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Brewers | Jean Segura, SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Astros | Chris Carter, DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.1 | `Yankees | Dellin Betances (H,15) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Russell Martin, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Braves | Chris Johnson, 1B | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Nationals' Max Scherzer (7IP 0R 11K) tops players for Saturday, May 16, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Saturday’s Player of the Day and rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 16.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 8.7 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 6.0 |
| 4 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | Harang, Aaron 1599 | pi sp | phi nl | 5.1 |
| 6 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | atl nl | 5.0 |
| 7 | Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 5.0 |
| 8 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf rf | dc nl | 5.0 |
| 9 | Heston, Chris 3437 | pi sp | sf nl | 5.0 |
| 10 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.7 |
Also Saturday, CC Sabathia and Jonathan Papelbon extended their streaks of consecutive seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point—Sabathia now has 15 seasons and Papelbon has 10—and Kris Bryant earned Player of the Game honors two days in a row, the third time in six days.
Player of the Day—Scherzer struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits, in the 4-1 win over the Padres.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, rising to second place in overall player rankings for the season. He now ranks first among all NL players, passing Gerrit Cole of the Pirates. Both Scherzer and Cole have 6.0 Box-Toppers points, but Scherzer wins the tie-breaker because he had more Box-Toppers points in 2014—22.1 vs. 5.7.
American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 6-1 win over the Orioles.
National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Crawford of the Giants homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 11-2 win over the Reds.
American League Batter of the Day—Eduardo Escobar of the Twins doubled and went 4-for-4, with one run and one RBI, in the 6-4 win over the Rays.
Streaks—Two players extended their streaks of consecutive seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point after earning Player of the Game honors Friday:
- Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia has now earned Box-Toppers points in 15 straight seasons, extending his lead in career points among active pitchers (174.3) and earning his first Player of the Game honor in more than a year.
Sabathia (7IP R 5K W in the 5-1 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season. He earned his first points in 2001 with the Indians. His best year was 2008 with the Indians and Brewers when he had 26.7 Box-Toppers points, first among NL pitchers that year (while he played in both leagues in 2008, he is counted as an NL pitcher since that’s where he ended his season).
In 2014, Sabathia had 1.0 Box-Toppers point with the Yankees. Saturday marked the first time Sabathia earned Player of the Game honors since April 24, 2014.
Sabathia’s career 174.3 Box-Toppers points is fifth among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). He trails Randy Johnson (278.8), Pedro Martinez (244.8), Curt Schilling (194.1) and Alex Rodriguez (183.8).
- Phillies closing pitcher Jonathan Papelbon has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons. Papelbon (1IP 0R 2K Sv in the 7-5 win over the Diamondbacks) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, his first of the season.
Papelbon earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Red Sox. His two best seasons were 2006 with the Red Sox and 2012 with the Phillies—he had 7.0 Box-Toppers points in both seasons. In 2006, he ranked seventh among AL closing pitchers. In 2012, he ranked fifth among NL closing pitchers.
In 2014, he had 3.0 Box-Toppers points with the Phillies.
Papelbon has 49.4 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks 20th among all closing pitchers since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. His career 49.4 points ranks second among active closing pitchers currently in the NL (behind Francisco Rodriguez of the Brewers with 59.4).
Notable—Kris Bryant of the Cubs earned Player of the Game honors for the second day in a row and the third time in six days.
Bryant (2-2 2R in the 4-1 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point. He was also Player of the Game Thursday and on May 11, when he made his Box-Toppers debut. He has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season (and for his career) and currently ranks eighth among NL batters for 2015.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Jace Peterson of the Braves (grand slam 2-5 in the 5-3 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut April 25, 2014, and was playing in his 60th career game. He is the 3,469th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Tigers pitcher Blaine Hardy (1IP 0R 2K W in the 4-3 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut June 16, 2014, and was playing in his 51st career game. He is the 3,470th 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 Shoemaker earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Crawford and Escobar each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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
| 5/16 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | Nationals | Max Scherzer (W, 4-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | |
| AL | 9.0 | Angels | Matt Shoemaker (W, 3-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | |
| 8.1 | Rockies | Jorge De La Rosa (W, 1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | Giants | Brandon Crawford SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Mets | Wilmer Flores SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Yankees | CC Sabathia (W, 2-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | White Sox | John Danks (W, 2-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | `Red Sox | Tommy Layne (H, 1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Phillies | Jonathan Papelbon (S, 9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | Astros | Scott Feldman (W, 3-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | ||
| 2.0 | Braves | Jace Peterson 2B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Twins | Eduardo Escobar SS | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Cubs | Kris Bryant 3B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Tigers | Blaine Hardy (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Indians | Cody Allen (S, 6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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' top rookies—Jose Abreu, Jacob deGrom—easily win 2014 Rookie of the Year Awards
Box-Toppers’ leading rookies easily won each league’s Rookie of the Year Award Monday.
First baseman Jose Abreu of the White Sox won the American League award unanimously and Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom won the National League award with 26 out of 30 first place votes.
Read MoreBox-Toppers' top-ranked rookies among finalists for Rookie of the Year Award
The rookies with the most Box-Toppers points in each league—Jose Abreu of the White Sox and Jacob deGrom of the Mets—are among the finalists for baseball’s Rookie of the Year honors.
Read MoreOrioles' Cruz, Royals' Holland top players in pair of opening ALDS games for Thursday, Oct. 2
Nelson Cruz led the Orioles offense to a Game 1 win in the American League Division Series win over the Tigers and is Thursday’s Player of the Day.
Cruz homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 12-3 win over the Tigers to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Cruz had the Orioles’ high Box-Toppers game score of +3.
During the regular season, Cruz earned 8.5 Box-Toppers points, 77th among all players and sixth among AL batters.
Max Scherzer, Box-Toppers' fifth-ranked player this season, started the game for the Tigers and picked up the loss. Scherzer (7.1 IP 7H 5R 6K) had a Box-Toppers game score of -4.9. He has 22.1 Box-Toppers points on the season, ranked second among AL pitchers.
Royals pitcher Greg Holland is Player of the Game in the other AL Division Series Game 1. Holland closed out the Angels in the bottom of the 11th, pitching one scoreless inning, striking out two and earning the save, in the 3-2 win over the Angels. The Royals take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
Holland had the Royals’ high Box-Toppers game score of +3. While both of Thursday’s Players of the Game had Box-Toppers game scores of +3, Cruz edged out Holland as overall Player of the Day because in a tie-breaker, batters beat pitchers when Box-Toppers game scores are tied.
Holland earned 7.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 106th among all players, 37th among all AL pitchers and fourth among AL closing pitchers.
Coming Friday:
American League Division Series Game 2, Orioles lead Tigers, 1-0
The pitching matchup Friday:
Tigers: Justin Verlander, 4.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 237th among all players, 68th among AL pitchers.
Orioles: Wei-Yen Chen, 6.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 131st among all players, 50th among AL pitchers.
National League Division Series Game 1, Giants at Nationals
The Nationals have an edge in Box-Toppers team rankings. Nationals players have accumulated 115.5 Box-Toppers points this season, ranking fourth among all teams. The Giants rank eighth with 110.8 points. The Nationals also had the hottest final 10 days of the season of any team, picking up 11.5 Box-Toppers points over that period. The Giants picked up 4.5 during the same period.
The pitching matchup Friday:
Giants: Jake Peavy, 5.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 165th among all players, 58th among NL pitchers.
Nationals: Stephen Strasburg, 16.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 10th among all players, fifth among NL pitchers.
National League Division Series Game 1, Cardinals at Dodgers
The Dodgers have the edge in Box-Toppers team rankings. Dodgers players have accumulated 123.2 Box-Toppers points this season, second among all teams and first among NL teams. The Cardinals have 114.8 Box-Toppers points, ranked fifth among all teams
The pitching match up Friday:
Cardinals: Adam Wainwright, 18.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked eighth among all players, fourth among NL pitchers.
Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw, 31.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked first among all players.
American League Division Series Game 2, Royals lead the Angels, 1-0
The pitching match up Friday:
Royals: Yordano Ventura, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, rank 75th among all players, 33rd among AL pitchers.
Angels: Matt Shoemaker, 11.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 38th among all players, 22nd among AL pitchers.
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
Players of the Game (POG) listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 1002 | Score | Team | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POG | 3.0 | Orioles | Nelson Cruz DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| POG | 3.0 | Royals | Greg Holland (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Los Angeles Angels finish season atop Box-Toppers team rankings despite slumping finish
The Los Angeles Angels finish the season atop Box-Toppers team rankings—but they had the fewest Box-Toppers points of any American League team in the past 10 days.
Final team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers' final team rankings for the 2014 season, which ended Sunday, Sept. 28. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team have accumulated so far this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams have accumulated since Sept. 18.| 928 | Teams | BTP | BTP /wk |
Last wk rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | *Angels | 124.2 | 3.0 | 1 |
| 2 | *Dodgers | 123.2 | 8.0 | 2 |
| 3 | *Athletics | 117.6 | 5.7 | 3 |
| 4 | *Nationals | 115.5 | 11.5 | 8 |
| 5 | *Cardinals | 114.8 | 5.7 | 5 |
| 6 | *Orioles | 113.4 | 4.0 | 4 |
| 7 | *Tigers | 112.9 | 6.0 | 6 |
| 8 | *Giants | 110.8 | 4.5 | 7 |
| 9 | Blue Jays | 106.5 | 8.5 | 9 |
| 10 | *Royals | 101.1 | 6.5 | 11 |
| 11 | *Pirates | 99.9 | 6.7 | 16 |
| 12 | Mariners | 99.9 | 5.0 | 10 |
| 13 | Indians | 99.6 | 7.7 | 15 |
| 14 | Yankees | 96.4 | 8.9 | 17 |
| 15 | Marlins | 95.6 | 3.5 | 13 |
| 16 | Brewers | 94.7 | 4.7 | 14 |
| 17 | Braves | 92.1 | 3.0 | 16 |
| 18 | Reds | 90.5 | 6.5 | 19 |
| 19 | Mets | 89.9 | 6.0 | 21 |
| 21 | Rays | 88.2 | 3.7 | 18 |
| 20 | Padres | 88.0 | 7.5 | 22 |
| 22 | White Sox | 86.6 | 4.0 | 20 |
| 24 | Phillies | 82.0 | 3.0 | 24 |
| 23 | Twins | 81.3 | 6.0 | 25 |
| 25 | Astros | 79.9 | 3.7 | 23 |
| 26 | Rockies | 78.6 | 4.5 | 26 |
| 27 | Cubs | 75.2 | 6.0 | 27 |
| 28 | Rangers | 73.7 | 7.7 | 29 |
| 29 | Dbacks | 70.7 | 2.0 | 28 |
| 30 | Red Sox | 68.7 | 6.5 | 30 |
BTP: Box-Toppers points
The Los Angeles Dodgers meanwhile remained atop National League teams in Box-Toppers rankings—a spot they’ve held since July 3— and moved to within one point of the Angels.
Angels players have accumulated 124.2 Box-Toppers points (only 3.0 since the last ranking report on Sept. 18) and the Dodgers have 123.2. (The Dodgers picked up 8.0 points since Sept. 18, second-best among NL teams.)
The Angels are led by pitcher Garrett Richards, who has 15.7 Box-Toppers points and is out for the season with a torn knee tendon. Richards ranks 13th among all players and seventh among AL pitchers. Pitcher Matt Shoemaker has the most Box-Toppers points among active Angels players, with 11.7. He ranks 22nd among AL pitchers. Their top batter, Mike Trout, has 8.5 Box-Toppers points and ranks seventh among AL batters.
The Angels also have baseball’s best winning percentage (.605).
The Dodgers are led by overall Box-Toppers points leader, pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has 31.5 points. Pitcher Zack Greinke has the second-most Box-Toppers points among Dodgers players—16.5, ranking sixth among NL pitchers. Their top batter, Adrian Gonzalez, has 7.2 Box-Toppers points and ranks 10th among NL batters.
The Dodgers have the second-best winning percentage in the NL (.580), behind the Washington Nationals (.593). The Nationals had the hottest past 10 days of any team, picking up 11.5 Box-Toppers points, giving them 115.5 for the season and moving from eighth to fourth place overall, second among NL teams.
All 10 teams bound for the playoffs finished in the top 11 spots in Box-Toppers team rankings. The only non-playoff team to finish in the top 10 is the Toronto Blue Jays, who finish ninth with 106.5 points, ahead of two playoff-bound teams—the Kansas City Royals and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Oakland Athletics, who led Box-Toppers team rankings much of the season, were the last team to secure a playoff berth Sunday. They finish in third place overall with 117.6 Box-Toppers points, second among AL teams. They nearly lost their wild card spot to the Seattle Mariners, who with 99.9 Box-Toppers points, finished 12th among all teams.
Last year’s World Series champions, the Boston Red Sox, finish the 2014 season at the bottom of Box-Toppers team rankings, in 30th place with 68.7 points.
How did Box-Toppers preseason picks fare during the 2014 season? Only five of the 10 teams picked to make the playoff actually earned postseason berths (The good: Tigers, Orioles, Nationals, Cardinals and Dodgers. The bad: Red Sox, Rangers, Rays, Reds and Braves. The missed: Royals, Angels, Athletics, Pirates and Giants.) Four of six division winners were predicted correctly (Tigers, Nationals, Cardinals and Dodgers). But our preseason World Series pick of Dodgers over Tigers is still a possibility.
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.
Both Los Angeles teams hold top two spots in Box-Toppers team rankings
Both Los Angeles teams are in the top two spots in Box-Toppers team rankings this week.
The Angels continue to lead all teams with 121.2 Box-Toppers points and the Dodgers move from third to second with 115.2 points.
Top 10 teams
Here are Box-Toppers' Top 10 teams, through the games of Thursday, Sept. 18. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team have accumulated so far this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams have accumulated in the past week.| 918 | Teams | BTP | BTP /wk |
Last wk rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Angels | 121.2 | 4.5 | 1 |
| 2 | Dodgers | 115.2 | 5.4 | 3 |
| 3 | Athletics | 111.9 | 2.0 | 2 |
| 4 | Orioles | 109.4 | 9.5 | 7 |
| 5 | Cardinals | 109.1 | 5.0 | 4 |
| 6 | Tigers | 106.9 | 4.5 | 6 |
| 7 | Giants | 106.3 | 3.7 | 5 |
| 8 | Nationals | 104.0 | 5.5 | 8 |
| 9 | Blue Jays | 98.0 | 1.0 | 9 |
| 10 | Mariners | 94.9 | 3.0 | 10 |
The Angels are led by pitcher Garrett Richards, who has 15.7 Box-Toppers points and is out for the season with a torn knee tendon. Richards still ranks 10th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers. Pitcher Matt Shoemaker has the most Box-Toppers points among active Angels players, with 11.7. He ranks 19th among AL pitchers.
The Angels also have baseball’s best winning percentage (.621).
The Dodgers remain the top National League team and pass the slumping Oakland Athletics, who move from second to third with 111.9 Box-Toppers points. The Dodgers are led by overall Box-Toppers points leader, pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has 30.5 points. Pitcher Zack Greinke has the second-most Box-Toppers points among Dodgers players—15.5, ranking fifth among NL pitchers.
The Dodgers have the second-best winning percentage in the NL (.569), behind the Washington Nationals (.579). The Nationals have 104.0 Box-Toppers points and rank eighth among all teams, fourth among NL teams.
The Baltimore Orioles are the hottest team of the past week, picking up 9.5 Box-Toppers points, giving them 109.4 for the season and rising from seventh to fourth place in team rankings.
Last week’s lowest-ranked team, the Texas Rangers, rose one spot in team rankings to 29th, moving the Boston Red Sox back down to the 30th and final spot. The Red Sox have 62.2 Box-Toppers points. The Rangers have 66.0.
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.
Note: This is the next-to-last (and also penultimate) Box-Toppers team ranking report of the season. Rather than our regular Friday team ranking report next week, we'll hold off a couple of days for the end of the season and have the final team ranking report coming Monday, Sept. 29. Or thereabouts.
Padres' Andrew Cashner (2-hit shutout) tops players for Monday, Sept. 15
Padres pitcher Andrew Cashner, who pitched a two-hit shutout, is Monday’s Player of the Day. Cashner also walked one and struck out seven in the 1-0 win over the Phillies.
Astros pitcher Collin McHugh is American League Player of the Day. McHugh struck out seven over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, in the 3-1 win over the Indians. McHugh earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 11.8 for the season. He ranks 30th among all players and 17th among AL pitchers.
Mark Trumbo of the Diamondbacks is National League Batter of the Day. Trumbo hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 6-2 win over the Giants.
Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers is AL Batter of the Day. Cabrera homered and doubled, going 3-for-5 with three runs in the 8-6 win over the Twins. Cabrera earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 12.5 for the season. He ranks 23rd among all players and second among AL batters, behind Jose Abreu of the White Sox (15.5 Box-Toppers points).
Notables: Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rose to 14th place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Strasburg (7IP 0R 7K W in the 4-2 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.7 for the season. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.
Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker rose to 33rd place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Shoemaker (7.2IP R 5K W in the 8-1 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season. He ranks 19th among AL pitchers.
Adam Jones of the Orioles becomes the 49th player (and only the fifth batter) with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points this season after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Jones (3-4 R BI in the 5-2 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.5 for the season. He ranks 46th among all players and fourth among AL batters.
Cashner receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. McHugh receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Trumbo and Cabrera each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed, click here.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 915 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 13.0 | Padres | Andrew Cashner (W, 4-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| 9.0 | Nationals | Stephen Strasburg (W, 12-11) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| AL | 7.2 | Astros | Collin McHugh (W, 10-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| 5.2 | Angels | Matt Shoemaker (W, 16-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Dbacks | Mark Trumbo 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | `Cubs | Travis Wood | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 3.2 | `Rays | Alex Colome | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | Dodgers | Justin Turner PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | `Marlins | Chris Hatcher (H, 5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Tigers | Miguel Cabrera 1B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.0 | Royals | Norichika Aoki RF | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Orioles | Adam Jones CF | 4 | 1 | 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.
Los Angeles Angels, hottest team of week, extend lead in Box-Toppers team rankings
The Los Angeles Angels have extended their lead atop Box-Toppers team rankings and were the hottest team of the past week.
Angels players have accumulated 116.7 Box-Toppers points this season, including 9.0 during the past week, more than any other team.
Top 10 teams
Here are Box-Toppers' Top 10 teams, through the games of Thursday, Sept. 11. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team have accumulated so far this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams have accumulated in the past week.| 911 | Teams | BTP | BTP /wk |
Last wk rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Angels | 116.7 | 9.0 | 1 |
| 2 | Athletics | 109.9 | 2.5 | 2 |
| 3 | Dodgers | 109.8 | 5.7 | 3 |
| 4 | Cardinals | 104.1 | 3.0 | 4 |
| 5 | Giants | 102.6 | 5.5 | 6 |
| 6 | Tigers | 102.4 | 3.0 | 5 |
| 7 | Orioles | 99.9 | 4.5 | 7 |
| 8 | Nationals | 98.5 | 4.5 | 8 |
| 9 | Blue Jays | 97.0 | 5.0 | 9 |
| 10 | Mariners | 91.9 | 3.5 | 10 |
The Oakland Athletics remain the second place overall team with 109.9 Box-Toppers points and the Los Angeles Dodgers, third in team rankings, remain the top National League team, with 109.8 Box-Toppers points.
The Angels leading player, pitcher Garrett Richards, who has 15.7 Box-Toppers points, is out for the season with a torn knee tendon. Richards still ranks ninth among all players and sixth among AL pitchers. The next-highest rated Angels player is pitcher Matt Shoemaker, with 10.7 Box-Toppers points. He ranks 19th among AL pitchers.
The Angels also have baseball’s best winning percentage (.623).
The Dodgers, the top NL team, are led by overall Box-Toppers points leader, pitcher Clayton Kershaw (28.8) and pitcher Zack Greinke (13.8 Box-Toppers points, who ranks fifth among NL pitchers).
The Dodgers have the second-best winning percentage in the NL (.568), behind the Washington Nationals (.572). The Nationals have 98.5 Box-Toppers points and rank eighth among all teams, fourth among NL teams.
Last week’s lowest-ranked team, the Boston Red Sox, rose one spot from 30th to 29th place, with 59.7 Box-Toppers points. The Texas Rangers are now the lowest-ranked team with 59.5 Box-Toppers points.
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.
Los Angeles Angels dethrone Athletics to top Box-Toppers team rankings
The Los Angeles Angels have dethroned the Oakland Athletics from the top of Box-Toppers team rankings, a spot they held since July 13.
In this week’s report, the Angels have 107.7 Box-Toppers points, passing the Athletics, with 107.4 points.
Top 10 teams
Here are Box-Toppers' Top 10 teams, through the games of Thursday, Sept. 4. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team have accumulated so far this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams have accumulated in the past week.| 904 | Teams | BTP | BTP /wk |
Last wk rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Angels | 107.7 | 4.0 | 2 |
| 2 | Athletics | 107.4 | 2.2 | 1 |
| 3 | Dodgers | 104.1 | 3.0 | 3 |
| 4 | Cardinals | 101.1 | 7.0 | 4 |
| 5 | Tigers | 99.4 | 6.0 | 5 |
| 6 | Giants | 97.1 | 6.7 | 6 |
| 7 | Orioles | 95.4 | 10.4 | 8 |
| 8 | Nationals | 94.0 | 4.7 | 7 |
| 9 | Blue Jays | 92.0 | 10.0 | 13 |
| 10 | Mariners | 88.4 | 5.0 | 11 |
The Angels have the best winning percentage in baseball (.604). And they’ve had the best winning percentage the past two weeks, but until now, were never able to overtake the Athletics in Box-Toppers points. The Athletics were able to boost their Box-Toppers points total through July trades, especially an early July trade with the Cubs, bringing them pitchers Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija.
But the Angels swept the Athletics in a four-game series last weekend, helping them move to the top in Box-Toppers rankings. The Athletics, now in second place in Box-Toppers rankings, have a winning percentage of .568, third-best in the American League and fourth best among all teams.
The Angels leading player, pitcher Garrett Richards, who has 15.7 Box-Toppers points, is out for the season with a torn knee tendon. Richards still ranks ninth among all players and sixth among AL pitchers. The next-highest rated Angels player is pitcher Matt Shoemaker, with 10.7 Box-Toppers points. He ranks 17th among AL pitchers.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are still the top National League team in Box-Toppers points. Dodgers players have accumulated 104.1 Box-Toppers points and remain in third place among all teams. They’ve been the top NL team since the July 3 team rankings report.
The Dodgers are led by overall Box-Toppers points leader, pitcher Clayton Kershaw (27.8) and pitcher Zack Greinke (13.8 Box-Toppers points, who ranks fifth among NL pitchers).
The Dodgers have the second-best winning percentage in the NL (.557), behind the Washington Nationals (.572). The Nationals have 94.0 Box-Toppers points and rank eighth among all teams, fourth among NL teams..
The Baltimore Orioles had the best week of any team, scoring 10.4 Box-Toppers points, rising from eighth to seventh place with 95.4.
The Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners both rose into the top 10 list this week. The Blue Jays picked up 10.0 Box-Toppers points to rise from 13th to ninth place with 92.0 Box-Toppers points. And the Mariners picked up 5.0 Box-Toppers points to rise from 11th to 10th place, with 88.4.
The Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers both fell out of the top 10. The Royals fell from ninth to 11th place, with 86.6 Box-Toppers points, picking up only 2.0 points during the week. The Brewers fell from 10th to 13th place, with 84.0 Box-Toppers points, after they picked up 0.0 points during the week.
The Boston Red Sox remain the lowest-ranked team with 56.7 Box-Toppers points.
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.
Braves' Wood, Red Sox' Buchholz top players for Sunday, Aug. 31
Braves pitcher Alex Wood is Sunday’s Player of the Day. Wood pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out 12 in the 1-0 win over the Marlins.
Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz is American League Player of the Day. Buchholz pitched a complete game, three-hit shutout, striking out six, in the 3-0 win over the Rays.
Matt Holliday of the Cardinals is National League Batter of the Day. Holliday homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 9-6 win over the Cubs. This is the second day in a row Holliday has earned NL Batter of the Day, so he has picked up 3.0 Box-Toppers points in the past two days. He now has 7.5 Box-Toppers points for the season and ranks third among NL batters, behind overall leader Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies (11.6 Box-Toppers points) and Freddie Freeman of the Braves (7.7 Box-Toppers points).
Dustin Ackley of the Mariners is AL Batter of the Day. Ackley homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 5-3 win over the Nationals.
Notables: Two pitchers who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday became the 38th and 39th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points.
Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker, top player in the 8-1 win over the Athletics (7IP 0R 7K W) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He ranks 35th among all players and 17th among AL pitchers.
Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu, top player in the 7-1 win over the Padres (7IP R 7K W) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season. He ranks 37th among all players and 17th among NL pitchers.
Wood receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Buchholz receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Holliday and Ackley each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed, click here.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 831 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 15.0 | Braves | Alex Wood (W, 10-10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |
| AL | 12.0 | Red Sox | Clay Buchholz (W, 6-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 9.0 | Angels | Matt Shoemaker (W, 14-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 8.0 | Dodgers | Hyun-Jin Ryu (W, 14-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 7.0 | Dbacks | Chase Anderson (W, 8-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Cardinals | Matt Holliday LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Giants | Pablo Sandoval 3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Mariners | Dustin Ackley LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Reds | Chris Heisey RF, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Orioles | J.J. Hardy SS | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Astros | Chad Qualls (S, 16) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | White Sox | Avisail Garcia RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Mets | Anthony Recker C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Blue Jays | Steve Tolleson PR, 2B | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Giants' Madison Bumgarner tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 26, becomes 3rd player with 20 Box-Toppers points in '14
Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner, Tuesday’s Player of the Day, becomes the third player this season with 20.0 or more Box-Toppers points.
Bumgarner pitched a complete game, one-hit shutout and struck out 13 in the 3-0 win over the Rockies. Bumgarner allowed only one baserunner the entire game, giving up a double in the eighth inning.
Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 20.9 for the season. He maintains his spot in third place in Box-Toppers player rankings and second place among National League pitchers. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.) He trails Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (23.8 Box-Toppers points) and Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer (21.1 Box-Toppers points).
Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker is American League Player of the Day. Shoemaker pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six, in the 8-2 win over the Marlins.
Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox is AL Batter of the Day. Pedroia homered and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 11-7, 11-inning win over the Blue Jays.
Matt Kemp of the Dodgers is NL Batter of the Day. Kemp homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-5 win over the Diamondbacks.
Bumgarner receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Shoemaker receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Pedroia and Kemp each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 826 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 21.0 | Giants | Madison Bumgarner (W, 15-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | |
| AL | 9.0 | Angels | Matt Shoemaker (W, 13-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| 8.0 | Cubs | Travis Wood (W, 8-11) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 7.0 | `Pirates | Gerrit Cole | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 5.1 | Indians | Bryan Shaw (W, 5-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.1 | Padres | Tyson Ross (W, 12-12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | Phillies | Ken Giles (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.2 | Mariners | James Paxton (W, 4-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Red Sox | Dustin Pedroia 2B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.2 | `Royals | Danny Duffy | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | Tigers | J.D. Martinez LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Dodgers | Matt Kemp RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Mets | Juan Lagares CF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Orioles | Zach Britton (S, 28) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Astros | Chad Qualls (S, 15) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
Oakland Athletics have bad week, still top Box-Toppers team rankings, but lead narrows
The Oakland Athletics remain the top team in Box-Toppers team rankings even though no team had fewer Box-Toppers points during the past week.
Athletics players have accumulated 99.5 Box-Toppers points this season, but picked up only 1.0 point during the past week—tied with three other teams for the least points scored during the week.
Top 10 teams
Here are Box-Toppers' Top 10 teams, through the games of Thursday, Aug. 21. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team have accumulated so far this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams have accumulated in the past week.| 821 | Teams | BTP | BTP /wk |
Last wk rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Athletics | 99.5 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 2 | Angels | 98.5 | 7.5 | 3 |
| 3 | Dodgers | 95.6 | 3.2 | 2 |
| 4 | Cardinals | 92.1 | 5.7 | 4 |
| 5 | Tigers | 89.4 | 4.0 | 5 |
| 6 | Nationals | 87.3 | 8.0 | 7 |
| 7 | Giants | 84.4 | 4.0 | 6 |
| 8 | Brewers | 81.5 | 5.2 | 10 |
| 9 | Orioles | 81.5 | 5.0 | 9 |
| 10 | Royals | 80.6 | 5.0 | 11 |
While the Athletics have led Box-Toppers team rankings since the July 13 report, their lead has never been so narrow. The second-place Los Angeles Angels are only 1.0 Box-Toppers point behind with 98.5. And the National League-leading Los Angeles Dodgers are now just 3.9 points behind, with 95.6.
The Athletics are led by pitchers Scott Kazmir (14.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked seventh among American League pitchers) and Jon Lester (12.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 12th among AL pitchers). Kazmir scored the Athletics’ lone Box-Toppers point this week.
The Athletics have the second-best record in baseball and the second-best in the American League, behind the Angels. The Athletics have a .587 winning percentage, two games behind the Angels, with .603.
The Angels are led by pitcher Garrett Richards (15.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked eighth among all players). However, Richards suffered a season-ending injury this week (torn knee tendon). Pitcher Matt Shoemaker now has the most points among active Angels players (8.0, ranked 27th among AL pitchers).
The Dodgers continue to lead all NL teams, as they have since the July 3 team rankings report. The Dodgers, who fell from second to third in overall rankings, are led by pitchers Clayton Kershaw (23.8 Box-Toppers points, overall leader) and Zack Greinke (13.8 Box-Toppers points, ranked fifth among NL pitchers).
The Dodgers have the third-best winning percentage in the NL (.558), behind the Washington Nationals (.579) and the Milwaukee Brewers (.559). The Nationals have 87.3 Box-Toppers points, in sixth place overall—they had the best week of all teams, picking up 8.0 Box-Toppers points and rising from seventh to sixth place in team rankings. The Brewers have 81.5 Box-Toppers points and are in eighth place in team rankings.
The Kansas City Royals rose into the top 10 team rankings list, picking up 5.0 Box-Toppers points in the past week, giving him 80.6 for the season, rising from 11th to 10th place. The Toronto Blue Jays fell out of the top 10, falling from eighth to 11th place, picking up only 2.0 Box-Toppers points in the past week, giving them 80.0 for the season.
The Boston Red Sox remain the lowest-ranked team with 50.0 Box-Toppers points.
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.
Angels' Shoemaker tops players for Thursday, Aug. 21; Kershaw, Bumgarner bolster spots among Box-Toppers top 3 players
Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker is Thursday’s Player of the Day, while Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner bolstered their spots in the top three in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Shoemaker pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out nine, in the 2-0 win over the Red Sox.
Kershaw, Thursday’s National League Player of the Day, extends his lead among all players in Box-Toppers player rankings. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.) Kershaw struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run, in the 2-1 win over the Padres. Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 23.8 for the season. He is now only 2.3 points behind his season high of 26.1 Box-Toppers points he scored in 2010.
Bumgarner maintained his third-place spot in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.) Bumgarner (7IP 12K W in the 5-3 win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 18.9 for the season. He ranks second among NL pitchers, behind Kershaw.
No batters earned Box-Toppers points Thursday because no batters earned Player of the Game honors—in all nine games, pitchers beat batters as top player of the game.
Notables: Twins pitcher Phil Hughes rose to 14th place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Hughes (7IP R 8K W in the 4-1 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.1 for the season. He ranks eighth among American League pitchers.
Braves pitcher Julio Teheran rose to 18th place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Teheran (6IP 0R W in the 8-0 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.4 for the season. He ranks seventh among NL pitchers.
Rays pitcher Alex Cobb becomes the 33rd player with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points this season after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Cobb (7IP 0R 6K W in the 1-0 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He ranks 29th among all players and 15th among AL pitchers.
Cubs pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada is Player of the Game in the completion Thursday of a rain-shortened game against the Giants started Tuesday. Wada (5IP 0R 3K W in the 2-1 win) actually did all his work Tuesday, though earns the Box-Toppers point for Thursday. Initially, the game was ruled a rain-shortened, 4 1/2-inning final and a Cubs win Tuesday. At the time, Anthony Rizzo was deemed Player of the Game. He went 2-for-2 with a run and two RBIs, giving him a Box-Toppers game score of 3.0. However, after the Giants protested and baseball ordered the game be resumed Thursday, the Cubs win was taken away, as was Rizzo’s Box-Toppers point for Player of the Game. After the game resumed, Rizzo went 0-for-2, reducing his Box-Toppers game score to 1.0. Wada’s Box-Toppers game score of 2.0 was enough to beat out Rizzo for Player of the Game.
Shoemaker receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Kershaw receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day.
All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed, click here.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 821 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 14.2 | Angels | Matt Shoemaker (W, 12-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| 13.0 | Yankees | Brandon McCarthy (W, 5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| NL | 11.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W, 15-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | |
| 9.0 | Rays | Alex Cobb (W, 9-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 8.0 | Twins | Phil Hughes (W, 14-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 6.0 | `Nationals | Gio Gonzalez | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | Giants | Madison Bumgarner (W, 14-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 12 | ||
| 5.0 | Braves | Julio Teheran (W, 12-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | Cubs | Tsuyoshi Wada (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.