White Sox’ Rodon tops players for Wednesday, April 14, pitching a no-hitter & rising to 7th in player rankings

White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon, pitching a no-hitter, is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to seventh place in season player rankings.

Also Wednesday, Red Sox pitcher Matt Barnes rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning his fourth Player of the Game honor of the 2021 season.

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Twins’ Jose Berrios tops players for Wednesday, July 31; Dodgers’ Ryu rises to 8th in player rankings

Twins pitcher Jose Berrios is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Wednesday, Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

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Corey Kluber tops players in World Series Game 1 as Indians take 1-0 series lead over Cubs

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in World Series Game 1 Tuesday, striking out nine Cubs over six scoreless innings.

The Indians win 6-0 to take a 1-0 lead over the Cubs in the best-of-seven series.

Kluber allowed four hits and no walks and earned a Box-Toppers game score of +11.0, the highest of any Indians player Tuesday.

It is the third time this postseason Kluber has earned Player of the Game honors, the most of any player this postseason. Kluber was Player of the Game in American League Division Series Game 2 vs. the Red Sox and in AL Championship Series Game 1 vs. the Blue Jays.

Kluber has 21.2 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, fifth among all players and first among AL pitchers. 

He outdueled Cubs starting ace Jon Lester (22.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among all players, third among NL pitchers). Lester had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of −2.8 (5.2IP 6H 3R 3BB 7K L).

Catcher Roberto Perez led the way for Indians batters with two home runs (2-4 2R 4BI). He had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +4.0, second-best among Indians players.

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 Indians in World Series Game 1: Indians 6, Cubs 0

Here are the Box-Toppers game score of all Indians who played in World Series Game 1 listed from highest-to-lowest Box-Toppers game score.

BTG Indians player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
11.0 * Corey Kluber (W,3-1) - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 0 9
4.0 Roberto Perez, C 4 2 2 4 - - - - - -
3.0 Cody Allen - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 3
1.0 Andrew Miller (H,5) - - - - 2.0 2 0 0 2 3
0.0 Jose Ramirez, 3B 4 0 3 1 - - - - - -
0.0 Francisco Lindor, SS 4 1 3 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Brandon Guyer, LF 2 1 0 1 - - - - - -
-2.0 Lonnie Chisenhall, RF 4 1 1 0 - - - - - -
-2.0 Mike Napoli, 1B 3 1 0 0 - - - - - -
-2.0 Carlos Santana, DH 2 0 0 0 - - - - - -
-4.0 Rajai Davis, CF 5 0 1 0 - - - - - -
-5.0 Jason Kipnis, 2B 5 0 0 0 - - - - - -
* Player of the Game
BTG: Box-Toppers game score

Coming Wednesday in Cleveland:

World Series Game 2, Indians lead Cubs, 1-0

The pitching matchup Wednesday:

Cubs—Jake Arrieta, 15.7 Box-Toppers points, ninth among all players, sixth among NL pitchers.

Indians—Trevor Bauer, 11.4 Box-Toppers points, 34th among all players, 12th among AL pitchers.

Neither pitcher has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors so far this season. Bauer’s last start on Oct. 17 in the AL Championship Game 3 vs. the Blue Jays lasted only 2/3 of an inning when Bauer had to be pulled from the game because he was bleeding profusely from his pinky where he cut it days earlier on a drone. The Cubs have lost both postseason games Arrieta has started in 2016—on Oct. 10, the Cubs lost National League Division Series Game 3 to the Giants and on Oct. 18, they lost NL Championship Game 3 to the Dodgers.

Note: The game starts an hour earlier than normal at 7 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Central, because of weather concerns.

Box-Toppers World Series preview

Box-Toppers 2016 final team rankings

Box-Toppers 2016 final top 10 player rankings

Box-Toppers point totals of all Cubs players active at season’s end

Box-Toppers point totals of all Indians players active at season’s end

Box-Toppers ALCS Preview

Box-Toppers NLCS Preview

Pirates' Juan Nicasio tops players in Monday, March 21's spring training games

Pirates pitcher Juan Nicasio is Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day for Monday.

Nicasio pitched five scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out eight, in the 2-0 win over the Twins. Nicasio had 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2015 with the Dodgers. His best year was 2013, when he had 7.7 points with the Rockies.

American League Player of the Day—Roberto Perez of the Indians doubled and went 2-for-2, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 9-4 win over the White Sox. Perez had 1.5 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Indians.

National League Batter of the Day—Wil Myers of the Padres homered, doubled and went 2-for-3, driving in five runs, in the 8-5 win over the Reds. Myers had 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Padres.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall AL Player of the Day is a batter, Roberto Perez.

Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Nicasio would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Perez would earn 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Myers would earn 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would 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

3/21 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 6.0 Pirates Juan Nicasio (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 5.0 5 0 0 2 8
5.1 `Dbacks Patrick Corbin - - - - - - 5.1 5 1 0 1 7
BAT 5.0 Padres Wil Myers 1B 3 1 2 5 1 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Braves Nick Swisher 1B 2 2 2 2 2 0 - - - - - -
AL 3.0 Indians Roberto Pérez C 2 1 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Phillies Aaron Nola (W, 1-1) - - - - - - 6.0 2 1 1 2 3
3.0 Mariners Donn Roach (SV, 1) - - - - - - 3.0 3 0 0 0 3
2.2 `Marlins Jarred Cosart - - - - - - 3.2 3 0 0 2 4
2.0 Rockies Cristhian Adames 2B 4 2 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Red Sox Pablo Sandoval DH 3 1 2 2 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Brewers Yadiel Rivera SS 3 1 2 2 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Nationals Cutter Dykstra PR-2B 1 1 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Athletics Chris Coghlan 2B 3 1 1 2 1 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Pirates' Gerrit Cole tops players for Wednesday, April 29, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole is Wednesday’s Player of the Day and rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Cole struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, in the 8-1 win over the Cubs. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season.

While Cole has the same number of Box-Toppers points as overall leader Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, Cole is in second place in player rankings because he had fewer points in 2014—Hernandez had 20.8, Cole had 5.7.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 29.  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 6.0
2 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 6.0
3 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 5.0
4 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 4.7
5 Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 rf fla nl 4.5
6 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp cin nl 4.4
7 Kazmir, Scott 1947 pi sp oak al 3.7
8 Cabrera, Miguel 1776 1b det al 3.7
9 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 3.7
10 DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 pi sp cin nl 3.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel allowed one run over eight innings in the 7-2 win over the Padres. Keuchel rose to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season.

Keuchel had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of 7.0, tied with three other AL players—Orioles pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez, Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello and Rays pitcher Drew Smyly. But Keuchel beat Smyly in a tiebreaker because he earned the win in his game, while Smyly had a no-decision. And Keuchel beat Jimenez and Porcello in a tiebreaker because he had more innings pitched—he had eight, while the other two both had seven.

National League League Batter of the Day—Ryan Braun of the Brewers hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and went 3-for-5, in the 8-3 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Roberto Perez of the Indians homered, doubled and went 3-for-3 with three runs and two RBIs, in the 7-5 win over the Royals.

Rankings—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday (2HR 2B 3-5 2R 4BI in the 10-7 win over the Twins). Cabrera earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.7 for the season. He leads all American League batters.

Cabrera now has 131.9 career Box-Toppers points and moves up to 25th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With Wednesday’s point, Cabrera passes Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (131.8 Box-Toppers points). Cabrera now trails Jason Giambi and David Ortiz (who both have 133.4)

Cabrera ranks ninth among all batters since 1995 and is the fourth-ranked active batter, behind Alex Rodriguez (181.8), Albert Pujols (167.3) and David Ortiz (133.4).

Scoring—Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Keuchel earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Braun and Perez 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

4/29 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 Pirates Gerrit Cole (W, 4-0) - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 0 1 8
8.0 Dbacks Josh Collmenter (W, 2-3) - - - - - - 8.0 5 1 0 0 6
AL 7.0 Astros Dallas Keuchel (W, 3-0) - - - - - - 8.0 3 1 1 0 4
7.0 Orioles Ubaldo Jimenez (W, 2-1) - - - - - - 7.0 3 2 0 1 6
7.0 Red Sox Rick Porcello (W, 2-2) - - - - - - 7.0 2 1 1 2 6
7.0 `Rays Drew Smyly - - - - - - 6.0 4 2 2 1 10
BAT 5.0 Brewers Ryan Braun RF 5 2 3 5 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 5.0 Indians Roberto Perez C 3 3 3 2 1 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Tigers Miguel Cabrera 1B 5 2 3 4 0 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Angels Mike Trout CF 3 2 2 3 1 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Marlins Sam Dyson (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 Nationals Danny Espinosa 3B 5 2 4 2 0 1 - - - - - -
2.1 `Mariners Danny Farquhar (H, 4) - - - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 1
2.0 `Cardinals Jordan Walden (H, 8) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 Dodgers Scott Van Slyke LF 2 1 1 1 1 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.