Rays' Archer, with 1-hitter, tops players for Thursday, Aug. 20; Cubs' Arrieta rises to 9th in Box-Toppers rankings

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

Rays pitcher Chris Archer, throwing a one-hitter, is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Thursday, Aug. 20.

Also Thursday, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 20.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 19.4
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 16.7
3 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 16.1
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 16.1
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?

Player of the Day—Archer pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out 11, in the 1-0 win over the Astros.

Archer earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 15.0 for the season. He ranks 11th among all players and fifth among AL pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Pirates pitcher Charlie Morton pitched six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out eight, in the 4-0 win over the Giants.

National League Batter of the Day—Martin Prado of the Marlins hit a two-run homer and went 1-for-2, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-7 win over the Phillies.

American League Batter of the Day—Miguel Sano of the Twins homered, scored three times and drove in three runs, in the 15-2 win over the Orioles.

Rankings—Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Arrieta (6IP 4H 0R 7K W in the 7-1 win over the Braves) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.4 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL pitchers.

Debut—Rockies pitcher Yohan Flande made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Flande (7IP 3H 2R 5K W in the 3-2 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut June 25, 2014, and was playing in his 29th career game. He is the 3,564th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Archer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Morton earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Prado and Sano each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s 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

8/20 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 18.0 Rays Chris Archer (W,11-9) - - - - - - 9.0 1 0 0 1 11
11.0 Tigers Alfredo Simon (W,11-7) - - - - - - 9.0 1 0 0 2 5
NL 8.2 Pirates Charlie Morton (W,8-4) - - - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 2 8
8.0 Cubs Jake Arrieta (W,15-6) - - - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 1 7
7.0 Indians Josh Tomlin (W,1-1) - - - - - - 7.0 2 1 1 2 6
6.0 `Dbacks Josh Collmenter (MR) - - - - - - 3.0 0 0 0 0 3
5.1 Red Sox Wade Miley (W,10-9) - - - - - - 7.0 6 1 1 0 6
BAT 4.0 Marlins Martin Prado, 3B 2 2 1 3 2 1 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Twins Miguel Sano, DH 4 3 1 3 1 2 - - - - - -
2.0 White Sox Adam LaRoche, 1B 4 2 2 2 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Rockies Yohan Flande (W,3-1) - - - - - - 7.0 3 2 2 3 5
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Nationals' Strasburg (7IP R H 5K) tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 19

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

Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Wednesday, Aug. 19.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 19.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 19.4
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 16.7
3 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 16.1
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 16.1
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 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 15.4
10 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 14.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Angels pitcher Jered Weaver earned Player of the Game honors, giving him 122.1 career Box-Toppers points, 34th-most among all players since 1995.

Player of the Day—Strasburg allowed one run and two hits over seven innings, striking out five, in the 4-1 win over the Rockies.

American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver pitched six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, in the 1-0 win over the White Sox.

Weaver earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 122.1 career points, rising to 34th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Wednesday, Weaver passes two players on the “all-time” list—Cole Hamels (120.8 Box-Toppers points) and Justin Verlander (120.9 points). Weaver trails 33rd-ranked player Gary Sheffield (122.1).

Weaver ranks third among active AL pitchers in career Box-Toppers points, trailing CC Sabathia of the Yankees (178.0 Box-Toppers points) and Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (158.7 points). Weaver has 6.7 Box-Toppers points this season, ranking 31st among AL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Nick Castellanos of the Tigers hit two homers, including a grand slam, and two doubles in the 15-8 win over the Cubs. Castellanos went 4-for-5 and drove in five runs.

National League Batter of the Day—Khris Davis of the Brewers hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 8-7 win over the Marlins.

Notable—Athletics pitcher Jesse Chavez had the highest Box-Toppers player ranking of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday. Chavez (8IP 2H 2R 6K W in the 5-2 win over the Dodgers) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.4 for the season. He ranks 40th among all players and 20th among AL pitchers.

Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Greg Bird of the Yankees (HR 2-4 2R 4BI in the 4-3 win over the Twins) made his Major League debut Aug. 13 and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,562nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Aaron Altherr of the Phillies (HR 2B 2-3 R 3BI in the 7-4 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut June 16, 2014, and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,563rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Strasburg earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Weaver earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Castellanos and Davis 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

8/19 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 Nationals Stephen Strasburg (W,7-6) - - - - - - 7.0 2 1 0 0 5
AL 6.1 Angels Jered Weaver (W,5-9) - - - - - - 6.0 5 0 0 0 5
BAT 6.0 Tigers Nick Castellanos, 3B 5 2 4 5 0 0 - - - - - -
6.0 Athletics Jesse Chavez (W,7-12) - - - - - - 8.0 2 2 2 2 6
BAT 5.0 Brewers Khris Davis, LF 4 2 2 5 0 1 - - - - - -
5.0 Pirates J.A. Happ (W,5-7) - - - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 2 3
4.0 Yankees Greg Bird, 1B 4 2 2 4 0 1 - - - - - -
3.2 Royals Luke Hochevar (MR) (W,1-0) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 Padres Yangervis Solarte, 3B 3 1 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Phillies Aaron Altherr, LF 3 1 2 3 1 - - - - - -
3.0 `Astros Chad Qualls (MR) - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 3
3.0 Cardinals Trevor Rosenthal (S,38) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Rangers Mitch Moreland, DH 5 2 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Orioles Adam Jones, CF 3 2 2 1 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Red Sox Jackie Bradley Jr., CF 3 1 1 3 0 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Giants' Vogelsong tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 18; Mets' deGrom extends Box-Toppers points lead

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

Giants pitcher Ryan Vogelsong is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Tuesday, Aug. 18.

Also Tuesday, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom extended his season lead in Box-Toppers points and now has 19.4.

Top 10 players

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


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 19.4
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 16.7
3 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 16.1
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 16.1
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 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 15.4
10 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 14.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Vogelsong pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out five, in the 2-0 win over the Cardinals.

Vogelsong earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and now has 10.0 for the season. He is the 27th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points and now ranks 26th among all players, 13th among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays hit two home runs, including a three-run homer, and went 3-for-4, scoring three times, in the 8-5 win over the Phillies.

Donaldson earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.9 for the season. He ranks fifth among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—Yunel Escobar of the Nationals homered and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 15-6 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the AL Player of the Day was a batter, Josh Donaldson.

Rankings—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom extended his season lead in Box-Toppers points among all players after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

deGrom (7IP 5H R 6K W in the 5-3 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 19.4 for the season. deGrom has led all players since July 26.

Debut—Cole Gillespie of the Marlins made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Gillespie (3B 2-4 R 3BI in the 9-6 win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut April 21, 2010, and was playing in his 153rd career game. He is the 3,561st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Vogelsong earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Donaldson earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Escobar earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL 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

8/18 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 Giants Ryan Vogelsong (W,9-8) - - - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 1 5
BAT 7.0 Nationals Yunel Escobar, 3B 4 4 3 4 2 0 - - - - - -
AL 6.0 Blue Jays Josh Donaldson, 3B 4 3 3 4 1 0 - - - - - -
6.0 Padres James Shields (W,9-5) - - - - - - 6.0 5 0 0 2 7
6.0 `Athletics Felix Doubront - - - - - - 6.0 1 1 0 6 8
5.2 Mets Jacob deGrom (W,12-6) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 1 6
5.0 Tigers Ian Kinsler, 2B 5 3 5 2 0 0 - - - - - -
5.0 Red Sox Eduardo Rodriguez (W,7-5) - - - - - - 8.0 6 1 1 0 5
4.0 Yankees Chase Headley, PH-3B 2 2 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Astros Luke Gregerson (W,6-2) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 2
4.0 `Royals Edinson Volquez - - - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 3 7
3.0 Mariners Hisashi Iwakuma (W,5-2) - - - - - - 7.0 5 2 2 1 6
2.0 Marlins Cole Gillespie, CF-LF 4 1 2 3 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 `Pirates Arquimedes Caminero - - - - - - 3.0 1 0 0 1 1
1.0 Angels Huston Street (S,29) - - - - - - 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.

Indians' Danny Salazar (7IP R 4H 5K) tops players for Monday, Aug. 17

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

Indians pitcher Danny Salazar is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Monday, Aug. 17.

Salazar allowed one run and four hits over seven innings, striking out five, in the 8-2 win over the Red Sox.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 17.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 18.4
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 16.7
3 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 16.1
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 16.1
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 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 15.4
10 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 14.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha allowed one run over seven innings, striking out six, in the 2-1 win over the Giants. Wacha did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because he exited with the game tied, 1-1.

Wacha has the highest Box-Toppers season player ranking of any of the 10 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. Earning 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, Wacha now has 9.7 Box-Toppers points this season and ranks 27th among all players, 13th among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Brian McCann of the Yankees homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, driving in five runs, in the 8-7 win over the Twins.

National League Batter of the Day—Yonder Alonso of the Padres homered and doubled, going 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 5-3 win over the Braves.

Scoring—Salazar earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Wacha earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. McCann and Alonso 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

8/17 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 5.0 Indians Danny Salazar (W,11-6) - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 1 5
BAT 4.0 Yankees Brian McCann, C 5 1 3 5 0 1 - - - - - -
NL 4.0 `Cardinals Michael Wacha - - - - - - 7.0 6 1 1 1 6
3.1 Dbacks Jeremy Hellickson (W,9-8) - - - - - - 5.0 3 1 1 1 4
3.0 Rays Asdrubal Cabrera, SS 4 2 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Angels Fernando Salas (W,3-1) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Rangers Adrian Beltre, 3B 4 0 3 3 1 0 - - - - - -
BAT 1.0 Padres Yonder Alonso, 1B 4 2 2 1 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Orioles Steve Clevenger, DH 4 1 1 3 0 2 - - - - - -
1.0 Marlins Casey McGehee, PH 1 0 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Giants' Bumgarner tops players for Sunday, Aug. 16; Sale, Greinke rise in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings

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

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Sunday, Aug. 16.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 16.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 18.4
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 16.7
3 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 16.1
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 16.1
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 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 15.4
10 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 14.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Sunday, White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings and Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to sixth. Plus, two players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors—Greinke and Aramis Ramirez of the Pirates.

Player of the Day—Bumgarner pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out 14, in the 5-0 win over the Nationals.

Bumgarner earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks 13th among all players and seventh among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 15 and allowing one hit, in the 3-1 win over the Cubs.

Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 16.1 for the season and rises to fourth in player rankings, second among AL pitchers, behind David Price of the Blue Jays. (Both Price and Sale have 16.1 Box-Toppers points for the season, but Price ranks ahead of Sale because he had more Box-Toppers points in 2014—19.1 vs. 17.4.)

Sale had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of 19.0, the same as Bumgarner. But Bumgarner won overall Player of the Day on a tiebreaker—he had more innings pitched than Sale—nine vs. Seven.

American League Batter of the Day—Orioles pitcher Caleb Joseph homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 18-2 win over the Athletics.

National League Batter of the Day—Aramis Ramirez of the Pirates doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 8-1 win over the Mets.

Ramirez earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 104.8 career points and rises to 56th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Sunday, Ramirez passes two players on the “all-time” list—John Lackey (103.8 Box-Toppers points) and Jamie Moyer (104.0 points). He trails 55th-place player Frank Thomas (106.2).

Ramirez ranks first among active third basemen in career Box-Toppers points. He ranks second among all third baseman since 1995, behind Chipper Jones (149.0 Box-Toppers points).

Ramirez has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season and ranks fifth among NL third basemen. This was Ramirez’ first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor since returning to the Pirates. The last time he earned Box-Toppers points as a Pirate was Aug. 29, 2002.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Zack Grienke rose to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Greinke (7IP 6H R 8K W in the 2-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.0 for the season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

Also, Greinke now has 141.7 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 21st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Greinke trails 20th-place player Jim Thome (146.7 Box-Toppers points).

Debut—Ryan Strausborger of the Rangers made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Strausborger (HR 3-4 R BI in the 5-3 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut Aug. 5 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,560th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Joseph and Ramirez each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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

8/16 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 19.0 Giants Madison Bumgarner (W,14-6) - - - - - - 9.0 3 0 0 1 14
AL 19.0 White Sox Chris Sale (W,11-7) - - - - - - 7.0 1 0 0 2 15
10.1 Brewers Taylor Jungmann (W,7-4) - - - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 2 9
9.0 Braves Shelby Miller - - - - - - 7.0 2 1 1 4 10
7.0 Rockies Chris Rusin (W,4-5) - - - - - - 9.0 5 0 0 1 4
BAT 6.0 Orioles Caleb Joseph, C 4 3 3 4 1 1 - - - - - -
6.0 Dodgers Zack Greinke (W,13-2) - - - - - - 7.0 6 1 1 1 8
5.2 Blue Jays Drew Hutchison (W,12-2) - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 1 5
4.0 `Royals Yordano Ventura - - - - - - 7.0 5 2 2 1 7
3.0 Mariners Robinson Cano, 2B 7 2 5 3 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Pirates Aramis Ramirez, 3B 5 1 4 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Astros Will Harris (W,5-2; BS,4) - - - - - - 2.0 2 1 0 1 5
3.0 Marlins A.J. Ramos (S,19) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
1.0 Rangers Ryan Strausborger, LF 4 1 3 1 0 1 - - - - - -
0.0 Twins Trevor Plouffe, 1B 4 1 2 1 0 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Red Sox' Jackie Bradley (2HR 5-6 5R 7BI) tops players for Saturday, Aug. 15

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

Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Saturday, Aug. 15.

Also, Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander rose to 34th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 15.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 18.4
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 16.7
3 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 16.1
4 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
5 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 15.8
6 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
7 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 15.4
8 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 15.0
9 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 14.7
10 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Bradley hit two homers and three doubles, going 5-for-6, scoring five times and driving in seven runs, in the 22-10 win over the Mariners.

National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 8-4 win over the Braves.

National League Batter of the Day—Matt Duffy of the Giants doubled twice, scored twice and drove in four runs, in the 12-6 win over the Nationals.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Saturday, Aug. 15, because the overall Player of the Day was AL batter Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox.

Notable—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander rose to 34th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Verlander (7IP 3H 0R 7K ND in the 4-2 win over the Astros) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 120.9 for his career. He passed two players on the “all-time” list (since record keeping began in 1995), Jered Weaver (120.4 Box-Toppers points) and Cole Hamels (120.8 points). Verlander trails 33rd-place player Gary Sheffield (124.1).

Verlander’s 120.9 Box-Toppers points ranks third among active AL pitchers, behind CC Sabathia of the Yankees (178.0 Box-Toppers points) and Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (158.7 points).

Verlander has 2.7 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Also notable—Chris Davis of the Orioles has the highest Box-Toppers season player ranking of all 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Davis (2HR 2-4 2R 3BI in the 4-3 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks 41st among all players and third among AL batters.

Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors.

  • Twins pitcher Tyler Duffey (6IP H 0R 7K W in the 4-1 win over the Indians) made his Major League debut Aug. 5 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,558th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Addison Russell of the Cubs (2B 2-3 2R in the 6-3 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut April 21 and was playing in his 98th career game. He is the 3,559th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Bradley earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Corbin earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Duffy earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL 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

8/15 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 Red Sox Jackie Bradley Jr., RF 6 5 5 7 0 1 - - - - - -
9.0 `Tigers Justin Verlander - - - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 2 7
NL 8.2 Dbacks Patrick Corbin (W,3-3) - - - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 3 8
7.0 Yankees Masahiro Tanaka (W,9-5) - - - - - - 9.0 5 1 1 3 8
7.0 Twins Tyler Duffey (W,1-1) - - - - - - 6.0 1 0 0 5 7
7.0 Pirates Joe Blanton (W,4-2) - - - - - - 3.0 1 0 0 1 6
5.0 Rangers Shin-Soo Choo, RF 4 3 3 3 1 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Royals Jarrod Dyson, CF 4 2 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Giants Matt Duffy, 3B 5 2 2 4 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Brewers Scooter Gennett, 2B 4 1 4 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Orioles Chris Davis, 1B 4 2 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Cardinals Mark Reynolds, 1B 4 2 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Dodgers Yasiel Puig, RF 3 2 2 1 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Padres Kevin Quackenbush (W,2-2) - - - - - - 2.0 1 0 0 0 1
1.0 Cubs Addison Russell, SS 3 2 2 0 0 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Indians' Kluber, throwing one-hitter, tops players for Friday, Aug. 14; Astros' Keuchel rises to 9th in Box-Toppers rankings

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

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber, throwing a one-hitter, is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Friday, Aug. 14.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 14.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 18.4
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 16.7
3 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 16.1
4 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
5 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 15.8
6 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
7 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 15.4
8 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 15.0
9 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 14.7
10 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also, Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings and Carlos Beltran of the Yankees earned Box-Toppers points in his 17th straight season, tying the record for the longest-active season streak.

Player of the Day—Kluber pitched a complete-game, one-hitter, allowing one run and striking out seven, in the 6-1 win over the Twins.

Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.7 for the season. He becomes the 26th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 17th among all players and ninth among AL pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia allowed one run over eight innings, striking out six and allowing six hits, in the 3-1 win over the Marlins.

National League Batter of the Day—Matt Kemp of the Padres hit for the cycle (homer, triple, double and single) and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 9-5 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Beltran of the Yankees hit a three-run, pinch-hit homer in the 4-3 win over the Blue Jays.

Beltran earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, his first points of the season, and has now earned Box-Toppers points for 17 straight seasons, tied with two other players for the longest active streak of seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Giants pitcher Tim Hudson and Torii Hunter of the Twins also have active streaks of 17 straight seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point. The longest streak of seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point is 19, by Jason Giambi from 1995 to 2013. (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995.)

Beltran earned his first Box-Toppers points in 1999 with the Royals. His best year was 2003 with the Royals, when he had 13.9 Box-Toppers points, second among AL batters. In 2014, he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point with the Yankees.

Beltran has 96.9 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 73rd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He ranks second among active AL outfielders, behind Torii Hunter of the Twins (115.9 Box-Toppers points).

Rankings—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Keuchel (7IP 6H R 8K W in the 5-1 win over the Tigers) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.7 for the season. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.

Debut—Delino DeShields of the Rangers made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. DeShields (HR 1-2 2R BI in the 5-3 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut April 8 and was playing in his 78th career game. He is the 3,557th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Garcia earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Kemp and Beltran 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

8/14 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 Indians Corey Kluber (W,8-12) - - - - - - 9.0 1 1 1 1 7
NL 6.1 Cardinals Jaime Garcia (W,5-4) - - - - - - 8.0 6 1 0 1 6
6.0 Astros Dallas Keuchel (W,14-6) - - - - - - 7.0 6 1 1 1 8
6.0 Braves Julio Teheran (W,8-6) - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 2 7
BAT 5.0 Padres Matt Kemp, RF 5 2 4 4 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Cubs Chris Coghlan, LF 4 2 2 4 0 2 - - - - - -
4.0 Giants Matt Duffy, 3B 3 1 3 3 1 0 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 Yankees Carlos Beltran, PH-RF 1 1 1 3 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Red Sox Joe Kelly (W,5-6) - - - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 2 6
3.0 Orioles Adam Jones, CF 5 1 3 4 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Royals Greg Holland (S,26) - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 3
3.0 Dodgers Kenley Jansen (S,23) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.1 `Pirates J.A. Happ - - - - - - 5.0 7 1 1 1 7
2.0 Rangers Delino DeShields, CF 2 2 1 1 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Brewers Wily Peralta (W,3-7) - - - - - - 7.0 6 0 0 2 3
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Reds' Billy Hamilton (HR 4-4 4R 2BI) tops players for Thursday, Aug. 13

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

Billy Hamilton of the Reds is Thursday, Aug. 13’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Hamilton homered and went 4-for-4, scoring four times and driving in two runs, in the 10-3 win over the Dodgers.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 13.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 18.4
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 16.7
3 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 16.1
4 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
5 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 15.8
6 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
7 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 15.4
8 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 15.0
9 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
10 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 14.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Mitch Moreland of the Rangers hit a two-run homer and a two-run double, going 4-for-4, in the 6-5 win over the Twins.

American League and National League Batters of the Day—There are no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day for Thursday because the overall Players of the Day were batters—Billy Hamilton and Mitch Moreland. In fact, batters were unusually dominant Thursday and were Players of the Game in seven of the nine games played.

Notable—Giants pitcher Ryan Vogelsong was the highest-ranked player to earn Player of the Game honors Thursday. Vogelsong (5IP 3H R 8K W in the 3-1 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season and ranks 40th among all players, 17th among NL pitchers.

Scoring—Hamilton earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Moreland earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player 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

8/13 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 6.0 Reds Billy Hamilton, CF 4 4 4 2 0 0 - - - - - -
NL 5.0 Rangers Mitch Moreland, 1B 4 1 4 4 0 0 - - - - - -
5.0 Cubs Kyle Schwarber, LF 4 2 3 4 1 1 - - - - - -
5.0 Yankees Stephen Drew, 2B 3 4 2 2 1 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Mets Juan Lagares, PH-CF 1 1 1 3 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Giants Ryan Vogelsong (W,8-8) - - - - - - 5.0 3 1 1 4 8
2.2 Angels Jose Alvarez (W,3-3) - - - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 0 1
2.0 Pirates Pedro Alvarez, 1B 4 1 3 2 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Blue Jays Ryan Goins, SS 3 1 1 3 0 2 - - - - - -

Mariners' Hisashi Iwakuma pitches no-hitter, tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 12

Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma, pitching a no-hitter, is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Wednesday, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings and Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rises to second place.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 12.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 18.4
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 16.7
3 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 16.1
4 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
5 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 15.8
6 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
7 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 15.4
8 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 15.0
9 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
10 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 14.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Iwakuma no-hit the Orioles, striking out seven and walking three, in the 3-0 win.

Iwakuma earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season and ranks 19th among American League pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out eight, in the 3-0 win over the Nationals. Kershaw had a perfect game into the sixth inning.

His Box-Toppers game score Wednesday was 13, the same as Iwakuma’s, but Iwakuma won overall Player of the Day because he had more innings pitched, nine vs. eight.

Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 16.7 for the season. He rises to second place among all players in Box-Toppers player rankings, trailing overall leader, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (18.4 Box-Toppers points).

Kershaw also rises to 17th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. With his points Wednesday, Kershaw has 150.3 career Box-Toppers points and passes one player on the “all-time” list—Chipper Jones (149.0 Box-Toppers points). Kershaw ranks sixth among all active players.

American League Batter of the Day—Miguel Sano of the Twins hit two homers and went 3-for-3, driving in six runs, in the 11-1 win over the Rangers.

National League Batter of the Day—J.T. Realmuto of the Marlins hit a grand slam and a triple, going 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 14-6 win over the Red Sox.

Rankings—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom extended his season Box-Toppers points lead after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

deGrom (7IP 2H 0R 10K W in the 3-0 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 18.4 for the season.

Debut—Cameron Rupp of the Phillies made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Rupp (3-R HR 1-3 4BI in the 7-6 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut Sept. 10, 2013, and was playing in his 71st career game. He is the 3,556th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Iwakuma earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Sano and Realmuto 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

8/12 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 Mariners Hisashi Iwakuma (W,4-2) - - - - - - 9.0 0 0 0 3 7
NL 13.0 Dodgers Clayton Kershaw (W,10-6) - - - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 0 8
11.0 Mets Jacob deGrom (W,11-6) - - - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 4 10
BAT 8.0 Twins Miguel Sano, DH 3 2 3 6 1 0 - - - - - -
BAT 7.0 Marlins J.T. Realmuto, C 5 3 3 6 0 1 - - - - - -
5.0 Reds Joey Votto, 1B 4 3 3 3 1 0 - - - - - -
5.0 Astros Scott Feldman (W,5-5) - - - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 1 4
4.2 Indians Cody Allen (S,23) - - - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 0 3
4.0 Blue Jays Chris Colabello, DH 4 2 2 4 0 0 - - - - - -
3.2 `Cubs Jason Hammel - - - - - - 5.2 4 1 1 1 5
3.0 Phillies Cameron Rupp, C 3 1 1 4 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 `Cardinals Kevin Siegrist (H,22) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 1
2.0 White Sox Matt Albers (W,2-0) - - - - - - 2.0 3 0 0 0 3
2.0 Rays Alex Colome (W,5-4) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 Tigers Ian Kinsler, 2B 5 2 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Giants' Bumgarner tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 11; Harvey, Greinke rise in Box-Toppers top 10 rankings

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to 18th in player rankings.

Also Tuesday, two players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings:

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 11.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 17.4
2 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 16.1
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
4 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 15.8
5 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
6 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 15.4
7 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
8 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 15.0
9 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
10 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 14.4
What are those numbers after players' names?
  • Mets pitcher Matt Harvey rose to sixth place with 15.4 Box-Toppers points.
  • Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to eighth place with 15.0 Box-Toppers points.

Plus, Ichiro Suzuki of the Marlins, with his first Player of the Game honor of the season, has now earned Box-Toppers points in 15 straight seasons.

Player of the Day—Bumgarner pitched a complete game five-hitter, allowing one run and striking out 12, in the 3-1 win over the Astros.

Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season. He is the 24th player with 10 or more Box-Toppers points this season and ranks 18th among all players, ninth among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 11 and allowing four hits, in the 3-0 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—Jedd Gyorko of the Padres homered and went 2-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 11-6 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Joe Mauer of the Twins doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in one run, in the 3-2 win over the Rangers.

Rankings—Two players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday:

  • Mets pitcher Matt Harvey rose to sixth place with 15.4 Box-Toppers points. Harvey (8IP 4H 0R 4K W in the 4-0 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and ranks third among NL pitchers, behind Jacob deGrom of the Mets (17.4) and Max Scherzer of the Nationals (16.0).
  • Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to eighth place with 15.0 Box-Toppers points. Greinke (6IP 6H 0R 6K W in the 5-0 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 point and ranks fifth among NL pitchers. Greinke also now has 140.7 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 21st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 20th place player, Jim Thome (146.7).

Notable—There were five players who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday who now have more than 10 Box-Toppers points on the season. In addition to Bumgarner, Harvey and Greinke, the other two are:

  • Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco (8IP 4H 2R 8K ND in the 5-4, 16-inning win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.0 for the season. He ranks 11th among all players and fifth among AL pitchers.
  • Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker (6IP 5H 2R 6K ND in the 6-5, 10-inning win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He becomes the 25th player with 10 or more Box-Toppers points this season and ranks 20th among all players, 10th among AL pitchers.

Streak—Ichiro Suzuki of the Marlins has now earned Box-Toppers points for 15 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season on Tuesday.

Suzuki (1-2 R BI in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point. He earned his first points in 2001 with the Mariners. His best season was 2007 with the Mariners, when he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ninth among AL outfielders. In 2014, he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point with the Yankees. He has 51.7 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks sixth among active NL outfielders.

Scoring—Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rodon earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Gyorko and Mauer 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

8/11 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 Giants Madison Bumgarner (W,13-6) - - - - - - 9.0 5 1 1 0 12
AL 13.0 White Sox Carlos Rodon (W,5-4) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 1 11
8.0 Mets Matt Harvey (W,11-7) - - - - - - 8.0 4 0 0 0 4
8.0 `Indians Carlos Carrasco - - - - - - 8.0 4 2 2 0 8
6.0 Dbacks Jeremy Hellickson (W,8-8) - - - - - - 8.0 7 1 0 0 6
6.0 Rays Erasmo Ramirez (W,9-4) - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 0 4
6.0 Royals Yordano Ventura (W,7-7) - - - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 6 8
5.0 Dodgers Zack Greinke (W,12-2) - - - - - - 6.0 6 0 0 1 6
4.0 Cardinals Trevor Rosenthal (S,34) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
BAT 3.0 Padres Jedd Gyorko, 2B 4 1 2 4 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Blue Jays Drew Hutchison (W,11-2) - - - - - - 7.0 4 2 2 2 6
2.0 `Mariners Taijuan Walker - - - - - - 6.0 5 2 2 1 6
1.0 Cubs Anthony Rizzo, 1B 3 0 2 2 1 1 - - - - - -
BAT 1.0 Twins Joe Mauer, 1B 3 1 2 1 1 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Marlins Ichiro Suzuki, RF 2 1 1 1 2 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Royals' Johnny Cueto (CG 0R 4H 8K) tops players for Monday, Aug. 10

Royals pitcher Johnny Cueto is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Cueto pitched a complete game shutout, striking out eight and allowing four hits, in the 4-0 win over the Tigers.

Top 10 players

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


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 17.4
2 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 16.1
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
4 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 15.8
5 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
6 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
7 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
8 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 14.4
9 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 14.4
10 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 14.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Game, giving him 12.8 for the season, rising to 15th in player rankings. He ranks eighth among American League pitchers. Monday marked the first time Cueto earned Box-Toppers points since his trade last month from the Reds.

National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out six, in the 8-3 win over the Dodgers.

American League Batter of the Day—Avisail Garcia of the White Sox hit two home runs and drove in four in the 8-2 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—Wellington Castillo of the Diamondbacks homered and hit a three-run triple in the 13-3 win over the Phillies. Castillo went 2-for-4 with two runs and four RBIs.

Scoring—Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gonzalez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Garcia 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

8/10 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 Royals Johnny Cueto (W,8-7) - - - - - - 9.0 4 0 0 0 8
NL 6.0 Nationals Gio Gonzalez (W,9-4) - - - - - - 8.0 7 0 0 1 6
5.1 Orioles Wei-Yin Chen (W,6-6) - - - - - - 7.1 3 1 1 2 5
BAT 4.0 White Sox Avisail Garcia, RF 4 2 2 4 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 Dbacks Welington Castillo, C 4 2 2 4 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Mets Jeurys Familia (S,31) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 `Padres Shawn Kelley (H,4) - - - - - - 1.0 1 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.

Indians' Kluber tops players for Sunday, Aug. 9; Cubs' Arrieta rises to 8th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings. Plus, Angels pitcher Jered Weaver earned Player of the Game honors, giving him 120.4 career Box-Toppers points.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 8.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 17.4
2 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 16.1
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
4 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 15.8
5 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
6 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
7 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
8 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 14.4
9 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 14.4
10 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 14.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Kluber pitched a three-hit complete game, allowing one run and striking out 10, in the 8-1 win over the Twins. Kluber had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning.

Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season and ranks 12th among American League pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out six, in the 2-0 win over the Giants.

Arrieta earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 14.4 for the season, rising to eighth place among players this season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox homered, tripled and drove in five runs in the 7-2 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Francisco Cervelli of the Pirates homered, tripled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 13-6 win over the Dodgers.

Notable—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver rose to 36th place among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Weaver (5IP 4H 2R 7K ND in the 5-4 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 120.4 for his career. With his point Sunday, Weaver passes Justin Verlander (119.9) on the “all-time” list (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). Weaver trails 35th-ranked player Cole Hamels (120.8). Weaver’s 120.4 career Box-Toppers points ranks fourth among active AL pitchers. He has 5.0 Box-Toppers points this season.

Debut—Richie Shaffer of the Rays made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Shaffer (HR 3-3 3R BI in the 4-3 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut Aug. 3 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,555th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Arrieta earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Bradley and Cervelli each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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

8/9 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 Indians Corey Kluber (W,7-12) - - - - - - 9.0 3 1 1 1 10
9.2 `Athletics Chris Bassitt - - - - - - 6.2 3 1 1 2 10
NL 7.2 Cubs Jake Arrieta (W,13-6) - - - - - - 7.2 4 0 0 2 6
6.1 Blue Jays Marco Estrada (W,10-6) - - - - - - 6.1 3 0 0 3 6
BAT 6.0 Red Sox Jackie Bradley, CF 3 2 2 5 1 0 - - - - - -
5.2 `Royals Kris Medlen - - - - - - 3.2 0 0 0 1 3
BAT 4.0 Pirates Francisco Cervelli, C 4 2 3 3 0 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Brewers Khris Davis, LF 4 2 2 4 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Rays Richie Shaffer, DH 3 3 3 1 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Marlins Brad Hand (W,2-2) - - - - - - 7.0 2 1 1 2 3
4.0 `Angels Jered Weaver - - - - - - 5.0 4 2 2 0 7
3.0 Phillies Jerome Williams (W,4-8) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 0 3
2.0 Dbacks David Peralta, LF 5 1 5 1 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Rockies DJ LeMahieu, 2B 1 0 1 2 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Mariners Jesus Montero, 1B 3 1 1 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' Strasburg tops players for Saturday, Aug. 8; Blue Jays' Price rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, Blue Jays pitcher David Price rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and now leads AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points.

Player of the Day—Strasburg struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 6-1 win over the Rockies.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 8.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 17.4
2 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 16.1
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
4 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 15.8
5 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
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?

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six, in the 5-0 win over the Angels.

American League Batter of the Day—Abraham Almonte of the Indians homered, hit two doubles and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 17-4 win over the Twins.

This was Almonte’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut Aug. 30, 2013, and was playing in his 116th career game. He is the 3,554th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Batter of the Day—Francisco Liriano of the Pirates hit a three-run homer in the 6-5 win over the Dodgers. Liriano is the seventh pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.9 for the season and becomes the 23rd player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 17th among all players and ninth among NL pitchers.

Rankings—Blue Jays pitcher David Price rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Price (7IP 3H 0R 7K W in the 6-0 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.1 for the season. He trails overall leader, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (17.4 Box-Toppers points). Price takes the Box-Toppers points lead among AL pitchers, passing Sonny Gray of the Athletics (15.8), who only took the AL pitching lead Friday.

Scoring—Strasburg earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Jimenez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Almonte and Liriano 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

8/8 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 Nationals Stephen Strasburg (W,6-5) - - - - - - 7.0 3 1 1 0 12
AL 11.0 Orioles Ubaldo Jimenez (W,9-7) - - - - - - 8.0 2 0 0 1 6
8.0 Blue Jays David Price (W,11-4) - - - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 3 7
6.0 Cardinals Jaime Garcia (W,4-4) - - - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 4 5
BAT 4.0 Indians Abraham Almonte, CF 5 3 4 2 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 Pirates Francisco Liriano, P 1 1 1 3 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Rangers Shawn Tolleson (W,4-2) - - - - - - 2.0 1 0 0 2 5
4.0 Royals Greg Holland (S,25) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.0 Cubs Kris Bryant, 3B 3 2 1 3 1 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Phillies Ken Giles (S,5) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Braves Andrelton Simmons, SS 2 1 1 2 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Tigers Bruce Rondon (S,1) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 2
2.0 Reds Aroldis Chapman (S,24) - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 2
1.0 Rays Grady Sizemore, LF 4 1 2 2 0 1 - - - - - -
1.0 Athletics Coco Crisp, LF 0 1 0 0 1 0 - - - - - -

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.

Los Angeles Dodgers pass Houston Astros to top weekly Box-Toppers team rankings report

Dodgers rise to top team rankings. Astros fall to 2nd but remain top AL team. New York Mets had hottest week thanks to winning streak and trade for Cespedes.

Read More

Cardinals' Michael Wacha tops players for Thursday, Aug. 6; Dodgers' Greinke rises to 9th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Thursday, Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings. Plus, two players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points 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 Aug. 6.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 16.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
3 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
4 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 15.1
5 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
6 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
7 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 14.4
8 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 14.1
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?
  • Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, 178.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked fifth among players since 1995.
  • Greinke, 139.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 21st among players since 1995.

Player of the Day—Wacha pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out six, in the 3-0 win over the Reds.

American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox. Sabathia did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited with the score tied, 1-1.

Sabathia earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 178.0 for his career. He ranks fifth among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. He ranks second among active players, behind Alex Rodriguez (187.0, fourth place overall) and first among active pitchers. Sabathia has 4.7 Box-Toppers points this season.

National League Batter of the Day—Khris Davis of the Brewers hit two three-run homers and went 3-for-5 in the 10-1 win over the Padres.

American League Batter of the Day—Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 9-3 win over the Twins.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Greinke was the sixth pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting (HR 3-3 3R BI in the 10-8 win over the Phillies). It is the first time in his career Greinke has earned Player of the Game honors for batting.

Greinke earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 14.0 for the season and rising to ninth in overall player rankings. He ranks fifth among NL pitchers.

Greinke also now has 139.7 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 21st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 20th-place player Jim Thome (146.7).

Debut—Daniel Castro of the Braves made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Castro (3-4 2R in the 9-8 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut June 17 and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,551st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Wacha earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sabathia earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Davis and Encarnacion each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s 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

8/6 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 7.0 Cardinals Michael Wacha (W,13-4) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 2 6
BAT 6.0 Brewers Khris Davis, LF 5 2 3 6 0 0 - - - - - -
6.0 Nationals Joe Ross (W,3-3) - - - - - - 6.0 5 1 1 0 7
AL 6.0 `Yankees CC Sabathia - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 3 8
BAT 5.0 Blue Jays Edwin Encarnacion, DH 4 2 3 4 1 1 - - - - - -
5.0 Tigers Victor Martinez, DH 4 2 2 5 0 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Dodgers Zack Greinke, SP 3 3 3 1 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Cubs Kyle Schwarber, C 3 2 1 3 1 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Braves Daniel Castro, SS 4 2 3 0 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Astros Carlos Correa, SS 4 1 2 2 1 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Mets' Matt Harvey tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 5, rises to 7th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Mets pitcher Matt Harvey is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to seventh in player rankings.

Harvey pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six, in the 8-6 win over the Marlins.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 5.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 16.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
3 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
4 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 15.1
5 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
6 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
7 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 14.4
8 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 14.1
9 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 13.7
10 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 13.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Harvey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.4 for the season, rising to seventh in season player rankings and fourth among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher Steven Wright struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 2-1 win over the Yankees.

American League Batter of the Day—Chris Davis of the Orioles hit a game-winning, 10th-inning grand slam in the 7-3 win over the Athletics. Davis went 2-for-4, scoring two runs.

Davis earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, ranking seventh among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates homered, scored twice and drove in two runs, going 1-for-2, in the 7-5 win over the Cubs.

McCutchen earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.5 for the season, ranking fourth among NL batters.

Debut—Tigers pitcher Matt Boyd made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Boyd (7IP 7H R 2K W in the 2-1 win over the Royals) made his Major League debut June 27 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,550th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Harvey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Wright earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Davis and McCutchen 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

8/5 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 Mets Matt Harvey (W,10-7) - - - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 0 6
AL 9.0 Red Sox Steven Wright (W,5-4) - - - - - - 8.0 4 1 1 2 9
7.1 Giants Madison Bumgarner (W,12-6) - - - - - - 7.1 7 1 1 0 9
6.0 White Sox David Robertson (W,5-3) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 4
5.0 Brewers Taylor Jungmann (W,6-3) - - - - - - 7.0 6 2 2 0 8
BAT 4.0 Orioles Chris Davis, 1B 4 2 2 4 1 2 - - - - - -
4.0 Dodgers Kenley Jansen (S,20) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.1 `Rangers Spencer Patton (H,3) - - - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 Blue Jays Jose Bautista, RF 4 2 1 4 1 0 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Pirates Andrew McCutchen, CF 2 2 1 2 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Dbacks Welington Castillo, C 4 1 2 3 1 2 - - - - - -
1.0 Rockies Ben Paulsen, 1B 5 2 3 1 0 2 - - - - - -
1.0 Angels C.J. Cron, 1B 2 0 1 2 2 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Cardinals Peter Bourjos, PH 0 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Tigers Matt Boyd (W,1-2) - - - - - - 7.0 7 1 1 0 2
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.