Yankees' Nathan Eovaldi (8IP 0R 7K) tops players for Monday, Aug. 24

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

Yankees pitcher Nathan Eovaldi is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Monday, Aug. 24.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 24.  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 19.4
2 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 17.1
3 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 17.1
4 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 16.7
5 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
6 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 16.0
7 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 15.8
8 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
9 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 15.4
10 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 15.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Monday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester earned Player of the Game honors, giving him 118.1 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 38th place among all players since 1995.

Player of the Day—Eovaldi pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing four hits, in the 1-0 win over the Astros. Eovaldi picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because he exited with the game tied 0-0.

National League Player of the Day—Pirates pitcher J.A. Happ pitched six scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing four hits, in the 5-2 win over the Marlins.

National League Batter of the Day—Wilmer Flores of the Mets homered twice, doubled and went 3-for-6, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 16-7 win over the Phillies.

American League Batter of the Day—Rusney Castillo of the Red Sox hit a three-run homer and a two-run double and went 3-for-4 in the 5-4 win over the White Sox.

Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rose to 38th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began) after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Lester (8IP 4H 0R 6K ND in the 2-1 win over the Indians) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 118.1 for his career. With his point Monday, he passed two players on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” list—Barry Zito (117.4) and Carlos Delgado (117.7). He trails 37th-place player Cliff Lee (119.1).

Lester also had the highest Box-Toppers season player ranking of any of the 10 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. Lester has 9.0 Box-Toppers points for the season and ranks 33rd among all players on the season, 15th among NL pitchers.

Scoring—Eovaldi earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Happ earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Flores and Castillo each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

8/24 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 `Yankees Nathan Eovaldi - - - - - - 8.0 4 0 0 3 7
NL 7.0 Pirates J.A. Happ (W,6-7) - - - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 1 6
5.2 `Cubs Jon Lester - - - - - - 8.0 6 1 1 1 6
BAT 5.0 Mets Wilmer Flores, 2B 6 3 3 5 0 1 - - - - - -
BAT 5.0 Red Sox Rusney Castillo, RF 4 1 3 5 0 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Reds Eugenio Suarez, SS 5 3 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Athletics Josh Reddick, RF 5 2 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Braves Jonny Gomes, LF 4 1 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -
1.0 Royals Omar Infante, 2B 4 1 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Cardinals Matt Carpenter, 3B 4 2 1 1 1 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Diamondbacks' Anderson tops players for Friday, Aug. 7; Mets' deGrom extends Box-Toppers player rankings lead

Diamondbacks pitcher Chase Anderson is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom extended his lead in Box-Toppers player rankings and Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to third place—first place among American League pitchers—in Box-Toppers points.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 7.  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 17.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
3 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 15.8
4 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
5 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 15.1
6 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
7 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
8 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 14.4
9 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 14.0
10 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 13.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Anderson pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing four hits, in the 2-0 win over the Reds.

American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray pitched a complete game, allowing one run and five hits, striking out five, in the 3-1 win over the Astros.

Gray earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 15.8 for the season. He rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and first among AL pitchers, passing previous leader Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (15.4).

American League Batter of the Day—Torii Hunter of the Twins hit a go-ahead ninth-inning homer in the 10-9 win over the Indians. Hunter also doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs. 

Hunter earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 115.9 for his career, rising to 43rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his point Friday, Hunter passes Tim Lincecum (115.0) on the “all-time” list. He trails 42nd-place player Todd Helton (116.4). Hunter’s 115.9 career Box-Toppers points ranks fifth among active AL batters.

Hunter also has 8.0 Box-Toppers points this season and ranks third among AL batters behind Mike Trout of the Angels (10.0) and Lorenzo Cain of the Royals (8.2).

National League Batter of the Day—Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies hit a go-ahead, eighth-inning grand slam in the 5-4 win over the Nationals. Gonzalez went 2-for-4 in the game.

Gonzalez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season and ranks fourth among NL batters.

Rankings—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom extended his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

deGrom (6.1IP 6H 2R 7K ND in the 4-3 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.4 for the season. He has led players in Box-Toppers points since July 26.

Notable—Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates rose to second place among NL batters in Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. McCutchen (2B 2-3 2R BI in the 10-inning 5-4 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.5 for the season. He ranks 32nd among all players. McCutchen trails overall NL batting leader Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals (9.5 Box-Toppers points).

Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debuts Friday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Rusney Castillo of the Red Sox (3-5 3R BI in the 7-2 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut Sept. 17, 2014, and was playing in his 47th career game. He is the 3,552nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Phillies pitcher Hector Neris (1IP H 0R 2K W in the 4-3, 12-inning win over the Padres) made his Major League debut Aug. 5, 2014, and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,553rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Anderson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gray earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Hunter and Gonzalez each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

8/7 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 Dbacks Chase Anderson (W,5-4) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 2 7
AL 7.0 Athletics Sonny Gray (W,12-4) - - - - - - 9.0 5 1 1 0 5
6.0 Cardinals Carlos Villanueva (S,2) - - - - - - 3.0 0 0 0 0 3
BAT 4.0 Twins Torii Hunter, RF 5 3 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.1 `Mets Jacob deGrom - - - - - - 6.1 6 2 2 0 7
BAT 3.0 Rockies Carlos Gonzalez, RF 4 1 2 4 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Angels C.J. Cron, PH 1 1 1 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.2 Cubs Hector Rondon (S,18) - - - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 1 2
2.0 Red Sox Rusney Castillo, RF 5 3 3 1 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Braves Nick Markakis, RF 4 1 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Pirates Andrew McCutchen, CF 3 2 2 1 2 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Royals Edinson Volquez (W,11-6) - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 2 3
2.0 Phillies Hector Neris (W,2-0) - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 2
1.0 Mariners Hisashi Iwakuma (W,3-2) - - - - - - 7.0 6 3 3 0 6
1.0 Blue Jays Roberto Osuna (S,9) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 0
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.