Indians' Bauer tops players for Tuesday, May 10; Orioles' Machado rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers points

Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 10:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 7.0
2 Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 6.7
3 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 6.0
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 5.7
5 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 5.7
6 De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 pi sp ari nl 5.7
7 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 5.4
8 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 5.0
9 Altuve, Jose 3007 2b hou al 5.0
10 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 5.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Manny Machado of the Orioles rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, taking the lead among all American League players.

Player of the Day—Bauer struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 4-0 win over the Astros.

National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Rubby De La Rosa allowed one run over 7 1/3 innings, striking out six, in the 5-1 win over the Rockies. 

De La Rosa earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season and rises to sixth in season player rankings, third among NL pitchers, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (7.0) and Jake Arrieta of the Cubs (6.0).

American League Batter of the Day—Travis Shaw of the Red Sox hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 13-5 win over the Athletics.

National League Batter of the Day—Ben Zobrist of the Cubs went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 8-7 win over the Padres.

Rankings—Manny Machado of the Orioles rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Machado (HR 3-3 2R BI in the 5-3 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.7 for the season. He passes White Sox pitcher Chris Sale (5.7) for the AL lead in Box-Toppers points and trails only Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (7.0).

Debut—Ryan Rua of the Rangers made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Rua (HR 3-5 2R 4BI in the 13-11 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut Aug. 29, 2014, and was playing in his 71st career game. He is the 3,631st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Bauer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and De La Rosa earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Shaw and Zobrist each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/10 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 Indians Trevor Bauer (W,3-0) - - - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 3 7
NL 6.1 Dbacks Rubby De La Rosa (W,4-4) - - - - - - 7.1 4 1 1 1 6
6.1 `Dodgers Alex Wood - - - - - - 6.1 4 2 1 2 9
BAT 6.0 Red Sox Travis Shaw, 1B 4 2 3 5 1 0 - - - - - -
BAT 5.0 Cubs Ben Zobrist, 2B 4 3 4 2 0 0 - - - - - -
4.2 Blue Jays J.A. Happ (W,5-0) - - - - - - 8.2 6 0 0 3 5
4.0 Rangers Ryan Rua, 1B-LF 5 2 3 4 0 2 - - - - - -
4.0 Cardinals Mike Leake (W,1-3) - - - - - - 8.0 6 1 1 1 5
4.0 Phillies Adam Morgan (W,1-0) - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 1 4
3.0 Orioles Manny Machado, SS 3 2 3 1 2 0 - - - - - -
2.1 Mariners Steve Cishek (S,11) - - - - - - 1.1 1 0 0 1 3
2.0 Brewers Aaron Hill, 2B 4 1 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Yankees Didi Gregorius, SS 4 1 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Tigers Victor Martinez, 1B 5 2 4 0 0 0 - - - - - -
`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 Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 6.7 14.2 17.7 17.7 -0.8
De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 pi sp ari nl 5.7 11.7 15.7 15.7 -0.3
Martinez, Victor 1695 dh 1b ph det al 3.5 7.0 26.9 67.1 0.0
Hill, Aaron 2056 3b 2b mil nl 3.0 6.0 20.0 39.0 0.0
Cishek, Steve 2997 pi cp sea al 3.0 4.0 23.0 23.0 2.0
Zobrist, Ben 2216 rf 2b chi nl 2.5 3.5 21.5 30.5 1.5
Happ, J.A. 2536 pi sp tor al 2.0 15.1 30.5 38.5 -11.1
Bauer, Trevor 3065 pi sp cle al 2.0 11.4 20.1 20.1 -7.4
Shaw, Travis 3544 1b bos al 1.5 5.7 5.7 5.7 -2.7
Leake, Mike 2709 pi sp stl nl 1.0 11.0 36.1 40.6 -9.0
Wood, Alex 3246 pi sp lad nl 1.0 8.7 19.4 19.4 -6.7
Gregorius, Didi 3184 ss nyy al 1.0 3.5 5.5 5.5 -1.5
Morgan, Adam 3572 pi sp phi nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Rua, Ryan 3631 1b lf tex al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Dbacks' De La Rosa tops players for Thursday, April 28; Orioles' Machado tops AL players

Diamondbacks pitcher Rubby De La Rosa is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of April 28:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 5.0
2 Volquez, Edinson 2220 pi sp kc al 4.4
3 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 4.4
4 Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 4.2
5 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 4.0
6 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 4.0
7 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 4.0
8 De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 pi sp mr ari nl 4.0
9 Velasquez, Vince 3611 pi sp phi nl 4.0
10 Santiago, Hector 3109 pi sp ana al 3.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

De La Rosa struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits, in the 3-0 win over the Cardinals.

De La Rosa earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season and rises to eighth in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

American League Player of the Day—Manny Machado of the Orioles hit a grand slam and doubled, going 2-for-4 with three runs and five RBIs, in the 10-2 win over the White Sox.

Machado earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 4.2 for the season and rises to fourth in Box-Toppers season player rankings, first among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—Nick Markakis of the Braves doubled and went 4-for-5, driving in three runs, in the 5-3 win over the Red Sox.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day because the overall AL Player of the Day was a batter, Manny Machado.

Debut—Anthony Gose of the Tigers made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Gose (HR 2B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 7-3 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut July 17, 2012, and was playing in his 360th career game. He is the 3,623rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—De La Rosa earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Machado earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Markakis earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/28 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 Dbacks Rubby De La Rosa (W,3-3) - - - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 2 10
11.0 `Phillies Aaron Nola - - - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 1 7
AL 6.0 Orioles Manny Machado, 3B-SS 4 3 2 5 1 1 - - - - - -
BAT 2.0 Braves Nick Markakis, RF 5 0 4 3 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Tigers Anthony Gose, CF 4 2 2 2 0 2 - - - - - -
2.0 Cubs Kris Bryant, LF 1 2 1 0 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Marlins Jose Fernandez (W,2-2) - - - - - - 6.0 5 2 2 3 8
`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 Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 4.2 11.7 15.2 15.2 -3.3
De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 pi sp mr ari nl 4.0 10.0 14.0 14.0 -2.0
Markakis, Nick 2116 rf atl nl 3.0 7.5 18.5 45.1 -1.5
Nola, Aaron 3569 pi sp phi nl 2.7 4.7 4.7 4.7 -7.0
Bryant, Kris 3465 3b lf chi nl 2.0 10.5 10.5 10.5 -6.5
Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 2.0 6.7 32.7 32.7 -2.7
Gose, Anthony 3623 cf det al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Box-Toppers top pitchers and batters by team in 2015

Box-Toppers' high players by team does not include AL MVP Donaldson, who ranked 3rd among Blue Jays batters.

Read More

Cubs' Starlin Castro (2HR 6RBI) tops players for Friday, Sept. 18; 4 top 10 pitchers fail to earn Box-Toppers points

Starlin Castro of the Cubs is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also, despite four top 10 pitchers from Box-Toppers player rankings starting Friday, none of them earned Player of the Game honors.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 18.  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 23.1
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 22.7
3 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 20.4
4 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 20.1
5 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 19.7
6 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 19.4
7 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 19.4
8 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 17.1
9 Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 17.0
10 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 17.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Castro hit a three-run homer and a two-run homer, going 3-for-3 and driving in six runs, in the 8-3 win over the Cardinals.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander struck out seven over 8 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 5-4, 12-inning win over the Royals. Verlander did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision because the Royals tied the game after he exited with a 3-2 lead.

Verlander earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 124.6 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 33rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Friday, Verlander passes two players on the “all-time” list—Jered Weaver (123.1) and Gary Sheffield (124.1). (Sheffield, who started his career in 1988, seven years prior to the start of Box-Toppers record keeping, would likely have about 150 career Box-Toppers points based on rough projections, if his entire career were tracked.) Verlander now trails 32nd-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4).

Among Friday’s 14 Players of the Game, Verlander has the most Box-Toppers points this season—6.4, ranking 111th among all players and 43rd among AL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Danny Valencia of the Athletics hit two homers and went 3-for-3, driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Astros.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day Friday because the overall Player of the Day was batter Starlin Castro.

Notable—Four pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings started Friday but none of them earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Fifth-ranked Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke, 19.7 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors, though the Dodgers beat the Pirates 6-2. Greinke (7IP 4H 2R 3K W) had a Box-Toppers game score of 0. Justin Ruggiano of the Dodgers (2-3 R BI) won Player of the Game honors with a Box-Toppers game score of +1.
  • Eighth-ranked White Sox pitcher Chris Sale, 17.1 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors in the 12-1 loss to the Indians. Sale (7IP 8H 7R 9K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of −3. Player of the Game was Carlos Santana of the Indians (1-4 R 4BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +2.
  • Ninth-ranked Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner, 17.0 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors in the 2-0 loss to the Diamondbacks. Bumgarner (8IP 5H 2R 7K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of +4. Player of the Game was Diamondbacks pitcher Rubby De La Rosa (5.2IP H 0R 5K W) with a Box-Toppers game score of +5.2.
  • Tenth-ranked Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, 17.0 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors, though the Nationals beat the Marlins, 5-4 in 10 innings. Scherzer (7IP 5H 2R 6K ND) had a Box-Toppers game score of +1. Player of the Game was Nationals closing pitcher Casey Janssen (0.2IP 0H 0R K W) with a Box-Toppers game score of +1.2.

Scoring—Castro earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Verlander earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Valencia earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/18 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 Cubs Starlin Castro, 2B 3 2 3 6 1 0 - - - - - -
5.2 Dbacks Rubby De La Rosa (W,13-8) - - - - - - 5.2 1 0 0 4 5
AL 5.2 `Tigers Justin Verlander - - - - - - 8.2 5 2 2 1 7
BAT 5.0 Athletics Danny Valencia, 3B 3 2 3 3 1 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Rockies Chad Bettis (W,8-5) - - - - - - 5.0 4 1 1 1 6
3.0 Mets Juan Uribe, PH 1 1 1 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Braves Arodys Vizcaino (S,5) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 3
3.0 Mariners Tom Wilhelmsen (S,12) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Rays Grady Sizemore, LF 4 1 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Indians Carlos Santana, 1B 4 1 1 4 1 2 - - - - - -
1.2 Nationals Casey Janssen (W,2-5) - - - - - - 0.2 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 Blue Jays Justin Smoak, 1B 4 1 2 2 0 2 - - - - - -
1.0 Dodgers Justin Ruggiano, LF 3 1 2 1 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Reds Brandon Finnegan (W,4-0) 5 3 1 1 2 4 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Red Sox' De La Rosa, Cubs' Hammel top players for Saturday, May 31; Yankees' Tanaka rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers points

Red Sox pitcher Rubby De La Rosa is Saturday’s Player of the Day. De La Rosa pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out eight in the 7-1 win over the Rays.

This was De La Rosa’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors. He is the 3,342nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. De La Rosa made his Major League debut May 24, 2011 and was playing in the 26th game of his career and his first of the season.

Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel is National League Player of the Day. Hammel pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out eight in the 8-0 win over the Brewers. Hammel earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, moving him up to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings (see the top 10 list on the home page). He ranks fifth in Box-Toppers points among NL pitchers.

De La Rosa and Hammel had virtually identical statistics Saturday and were tied for highest Box-Toppers game score of the day with 11.0. But De La Rosa was given the nod as Player of the Day because he hit no batters and Hammel hit two.

Hanley Ramirez of the Dodgers is NL Batter of the Day. Ramirez hit two home runs, went 4-for-4 and drove in five runs in the 12-2 win over the Pirates.

Yoenis Cespedes of the Athletics is American League Player of the Day. Cespedes hit a three-run homer, a two-run triple and doubled in the 11-3 win over the Angels.

Notables: Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Tanaka (8IP 1R 9K W in the 3-1 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.7 for the season. He remains the top-ranked AL pitcher and trails only Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (11.0 Box-Toppers points).

Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Cueto (7.1IP 0R 7K W in the 5-0 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season. He rises to third place among NL pitchers.

De La Rosa receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Hammel receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Ramirez and Cespedes each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Saturday’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

531 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 Red Sox Rubby De La Rosa (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 0 8
NL 11.0 Cubs Jason Hammel (W, 6-3) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 0 8
10.0 Yankees Masahiro Tanaka (W, 8-1) - - - - - - 8.0 4 1 0 2 9
10.0 Cardinals Michael Wacha (W, 4-3) - - - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 0 7
BAT 9.0 Dodgers Hanley Ramirez SS 4 4 4 5 0 0 - - - - - -
8.1 Reds Johnny Cueto (W, 5-4) - - - - - - 7.1 5 0 0 1 7
6.1 `Mets Jacob deGrom - - - - - - 6.1 3 3 3 2 11
BAT 5.0 Athletics Yoenis Cespedes LF 5 2 3 5 0 0 - - - - - -
5.0 `Indians Trevor Bauer - - - - - - 6.0 4 2 2 1 8
5.0 Blue Jays Marcus Stroman (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 6.0 5 1 1 0 6
4.0 Orioles Nelson Cruz DH 2 1 2 3 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Nationals Anthony Rendon 3B 5 3 4 1 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Padres Will Venable RF, CF 4 1 4 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Mariners Chris Young (W, 5-2) - - - - - - 6.0 3 2 2 2 6
2.0 Braves Gerald Laird C 4 3 2 1 1 1 - - - - - -

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.