Arrieta wins overall top player crown. Keuchel tops AL players. Beltre, Gonzalez win batting titles with record-low point totals.
Read MorePittsburgh Pirates finish season atop Box-Toppers team rankings, Royals top AL teams
Pirates finish season atop team rankings. Royals top AL teams. Cubs, on hot week, rise to 3rd, Cardinals, with baseball's best record, fall to 4th.
Read MoreBraves' Miller tops players for Sunday, Oct. 4; Kershaw picks up 3rd season with 25+ Box-Toppers points
Braves pitcher Shelby Miller is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day on the season’s final day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Oct. 4 (Final standings).| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 29.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 25.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 22.4 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 21.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 6 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 21.0 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.7 |
| 8 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 19.0 |
| 10 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 18.8 |
Also Sunday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw passed 25 Box-Toppers points in a single season for the third time, only the third player to do that since 1995.
Plus, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom maintained his spot in third place in player rankings, behind Kershaw. In addition, eight players who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday had more than 10 Box-Toppers points on the season.
Player of the Day—Miller pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out seven, in the 6-0 win over the Cardinals.
Miller earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the 46th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points and ranks 44th among all players, 17th among NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels pitched a complete game three-hitter, allowing two runs and striking out eight, in the 9-2 win over the Angels.
Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 15.4 for the season. He ranks 15th among all players, eighth among AL pitchers.
Hamels rises to 33rd place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Sunday, he has 126.2 career points and passes Justin Verlander (124.6) on the “all-time” list. He trails 32nd-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4).
American League Batter of the Day—Joey Butler of the Rays hit two home runs—a grand slam and a two-run homer—and went 3-for-4, in the 12-3 win over the Blue Jays.
This was Butler’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Butler made his Major League debut Aug. 7, 2013, and was playing in his 102nd career game. He is the 3,607th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. He is the 172nd and final player to debut in Box-Toppers during the 2015 season.
National League Batter of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-3 win over the Astros.
Goldschmidt earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.2 for the season. He becomes the 47th and final player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points, 10th among batters. He ranks 42nd among all players and fourth among NL batters.
Best seasons
Here are all players who have earned 25 or more Box-Toppers points in a single season since 1995, ranked by their single-season Box-Toppers point total. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw picked up his third 25+ point season of his career Sunday—his 25.7 Box-Toppers points in 2015 are tied for the 20th-most points in a single season since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began.| Rank | Player | Team | Pos | Year | BTP |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2000 | 33.7 |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2002 | 33.7 |
| 3 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 2000 | 33.5 |
| 4 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 1999 | 31.5 |
| 4 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2014 | 31.5 |
| 6 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 1999 | 31.4 |
| 7 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2001 | 29.4 |
| 8 | *Jake Arrieta | Cubs | pi sp | 2015 | 29.1 |
| 9 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 2002 | 28.8 |
| 10 | Curt Schilling | Dbacks | pi sp | 2002 | 28.4 |
| 11 | Roger Clemens | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1997 | 27.4 |
| 12 | Johan Santana | Twins | pi sp | 2004 | 26.8 |
| 13 | Pedro Martinez | Expos | pi sp | 1997 | 26.7 |
| 13 | CC Sabathia | Indians/Brewers | pi sp | 2008 | 26.7 |
| 15 | Randy Johnson | Mariners/Astros | pi sp | 1998 | 26.4 |
| 16 | John Smoltz | Braves | pi sp | 1996 | 26.1 |
| 16 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2011 | 26.1 |
| 18 | Roger Clemens | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1998 | 25.8 |
| 18 | Corey Kluber | Indians | pi sp | 2014 | 25.8 |
| 20 | Johan Santana | Twins | pi sp | 2006 | 25.7 |
| 20 | *Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2015 | 25.7 |
| 22 | Cliff Lee | Phillies | pi sp | 2011 | 25.4 |
| * Current season | |||||
Kershaw—Clayton Kershaw (3.2IP 2H 0R 7K ND in the 6-3 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 25.7 for the season. He maintains his rank of second among all players and among NL pitchers, behind overall leader Jake Arrieta of the Cubs (29.1).
But Kershaw has now earned more than 25 Box-Toppers points for the third time in his career, a feat only done by two other players in the 21-season history of Box-Toppers:
Randy Johnson did it five times—1998 (26.4), 1999 (31.5), 2000 (33.7), 2001 (29.4) and 2002 (33.7).
Pedro Martinez did it four times—1997 (26.7), 1999 (31.4), 2000 (33.5) and 2002 (28.8).
Roger Clemens and Johan Santana are the only other players who have earned 25 points in a single season more than once. (See Best seasons chart.)
Kershaw earned 26.1 points in 2011 and 31.5 points in 2014. Despite earning 25.7 points this season, Kershaw’s streak of four straight seasons leading NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points comes to an end this year as he was topped by Arrieta. Kershaw also led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2011, 2013 and 2014.
Kershaw now has 159.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his spot in 13th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Kershaw trails 12th-place player John Smoltz (160.9).
Other notables who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday—
- Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (4IP 0H 0R 7K ND in the 1-0 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 22.4 for the season, maintaining his rank of third among all players and among NL pitchers, behind Arrieta and Kershaw.
- Indians pitcher Danny Salazar (5.1IP 4H R 6K W in the 3-1 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.4 for the season. He ranks 22nd among all players and 11th among AL pitchers.
- Pirates pitcher J.A. Happ (6IP 3H 0R 7K W in the 4-0 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.1 for the season. He ranks 24th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.
- Chris Davis of the Orioles (2HR 2B 3-4 3R 4BI in the 9-4 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season. He ranks 42nd among all players and fourth among AL batters.
- Cubs pitcher Dan Haren rose to 47th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Haren (6IP 3H R 3K W in the 3-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 113.2 for his career. With his point Sunday, he passes Sammy Sosa (113.2) on the “all-time” list. (It should be noted that Sosa began his career in 1989, before the advent of Box-Toppers. Were his entire career tracked, he would have about 135 career Box-Toppers points, according to rough estimates.) Haren trails 46th-ranked player Chris Carpenter (113.3).
Scoring—Miller earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Butler and Goldschmidt 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
| 10/4 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | Braves | Shelby Miller (W,6-17) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | |
| 9.0 | `Mets | Jacob deGrom | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 8.2 | `Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| AL | 8.0 | Rangers | Cole Hamels (W,13-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | |
| BAT | 7.0 | Rays | Joey Butler, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | Pirates | J.A. Happ (W,11-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 6.2 | Braves | Matt Wisler (W,8-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 6.0 | Orioles | Chris Davis, 1B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 6.0 | Tigers | Daniel Norris (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 4.1 | Indians | Danny Salazar (W,14-10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | Mariners | Tom Wilhelmsen (S,13) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.2 | `Phillies | David Buchanan | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | Royals | Salvador Perez, C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Dbacks | Paul Goldschmidt, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Rockies | Justin Morneau, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Cubs | Dan Haren (W,11-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Nationals' Scherzer, with 2nd no-hitter of '15, tops players for Saturday, Oct. 3, rises to 6th in player rankings
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, pitching his second no-hitter of the season, is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to sixth place in player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Oct. 3.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 29.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 21.4 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 21.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 6 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 21.0 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.7 |
| 8 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 19.0 |
| 10 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 18.8 |
Also Saturday, Scherzer and Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke became the sixth and seventh players this season with 20 or more Box-Toppers points. Plus, Christian Yelich of the Marlins became the 11th player since 1995 to earn Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader.
Player of the Day—Scherzer had a perfect game into the sixth inning, when a batter reached on an error, the only baserunner of the game. Scherzer struck out 17 and walked none in the 2-0 win over the Mets.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 21.0 for the season, rising to sixth place in player rankings and fourth among National League pitchers. It is the second straight season Scherzer has earned 20 or more points in season. Last season, he had 22.1 with the Tigers.
Scherzer also had the highest Box-Toppers game score of the season Saturday of +26, beating the previous high of +25, set by Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (8IP H 0R 18K) on May 13. Scherzer also has the third-highest score of +23 on June 14 (CG H 0R 16K). It is the eighth time this season a player has achieved a Box-Toppers game score of +20 or more. In Scherzer’s previous no-hitter this season, on June 20, he had a Box-Toppers game score of +19 (CG 0H 0R 0 BB 10K)—the only baserunner allowed was on a hit-by-pitch.
Scherzer also rises to 57th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when record keeping began. Scherzer has 106.0 career Box-Toppers points and passes Aramis Ramirez (105.8) on the “all-time” list. He trails 56th-ranked player Frank Thomas (106.2).
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out nine, in the 2-0 win over the Red Sox.
Kluber earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 13.4 for the season and ranking 21st among all players, 10th among AL pitchers. In 2014, he led all AL pitchers with 25.8 Box-Toppers points.
American League Batter of the Day—Gerardo Parra of the Orioles doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 9-2 win over the Yankees.
Doubleheader Players of the Game
Christian Yelich of the Marlins became the 11th player since 1995 to earn Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader. Here are all 11 players who have achieved that distinction since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995.| Date | Player | Team | Pos |
| 7/15/98 | Albert Belle | White Sox | lf |
| 8/13/99 | Rondell White | Expos | lf |
| 8/30/99 | Edgar Martinez | Mariners | dh |
| 4/13/00 | Shawn Green | Dodgers | rf |
| 6/24/02 | Alex Rodriguez | Rangers | ss |
| 5/28/04 | Rob Mackowiak | Pirates | cf 3b |
| 9/2/05 | Chad Cordero | Nationals | pi cp |
| 5/25/08 | Jorge Cantu | Marlins | 3b |
| 7/21/09 | Erick Aybar | Angels | ss |
| 4/28/11 | Ben Zobrist | Rays | 2b |
| 10/3/15 | Christian Yelich | Marlins | cf lf |
National League Batter of the Day—Christian Yelich of the Marlins doubled and went 5-for-5, scoring once and driving in one run, in the 7-6 win over the Phillies in the first game of a doubleheader.
Yelich was also Player of the Game in the second game of the doubleheader (3-4 2R BI in the 5-2 win over the Phillies. He is only the 11th player in 21 seasons of Box-Toppers record keeping to earn Player of the Game in both games of a doubleheader. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day and 1.0 point for being Player of the Game, giving him 2.5 points for the day, which were also his first points of the season. (Yelich had 7.5 Box-Toppers points in 2014, ninth among NL batters.)
It is the first time a player has earned Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader since April 28, 2011, when it was done by Ben Zobrist of the Rays.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke became the seventh player of the season with 20 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Greinke (8IP 4H R 8K W in the 2-1 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 20.7 for the season. He actually slips from sixth to seventh in Box-Toppers player rankings as he was passed by Scherzer. Greinke ranks fifth among NL pitchers.
This is the second season Greinke has earned 20 or more Box-Toppers points in a season. In 2009, he had 21.5 Box-Toppers points with the Royals, his best season.
Greinke ranks 21st among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. He has 146.4 career Box-Toppers points and trails 20th-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7).
Notable—Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura (7IP 4H R 11K W in the 5-1 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season. He ranks 30th among all players and 15th among AL pitchers.
Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kluber earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Parra and Yelich each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day (Yelich earns an extra 1.0 point for being Player of the Game in the second game of the doubleheader). 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
| 10/3 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 26.0 | Nationals | Max Scherzer (W,14-12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | |
| 13.0 | Cubs | Kyle Hendricks (W,8-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| AL | 12.0 | Indians | Corey Kluber (W,9-16) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| 9.0 | Dodgers | Zack Greinke (W,19-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 9.0 | Royals | Yordano Ventura (W,13-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11 | ||
| 7.0 | `Nationals | Gio Gonzalez | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | Athletics | Pat Venditte (MR) (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 5.0 | Reds | Brandon Finnegan (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | Astros | Collin McHugh (W,19-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Orioles | Gerardo Parra, RF | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Orioles | T.J. McFarland (MR) (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.1 | `Giants | Sergio Romo (MR) (H,33) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Marlins | Christian Yelich, CF | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Angels | Johnny Giavotella, 2B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Marlins | Christian Yelich, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | White Sox | J.B. Shuck, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rays | Alex Colome (W,8-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Cubs' Arrieta tops players for Friday, Oct. 2, secures Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors
Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, officially and mathematically securing Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors.
Also Friday, White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to 10th in player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Oct. 2.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 29.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 21.4 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 21.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 19.0 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 19.0 |
| 10 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 18.8 |
Player of the Day—Arrieta pitched six scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing two hits, in the 6-1 win over the Brewers.
Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 29.1 for the season. He now leads second-place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (24.7), by 4.4 Box-Toppers points. So even in the off-chance that Kershaw plays and earns Player of the Day honors in both of the final two games of the season, he would only earn 4.0 Box-Toppers points, not enough to catch Arrieta. While there hasn’t been much doubt since his last start (in which he earned Player of the Day) on Sunday that Arrieta would end the season leading in Box-Toppers points, his Friday start removed all doubt.
Arrieta’s 29.1 Box-Toppers points this season is the eighth-highest single-season total since record keeping began in 1995. Only three pitchers have earned more points in a single season than Arrieta in 21 seasons—Randy Johnson (who did it four times), Pedro Martinez (who did it twice) and Clayton Kershaw (who earned 31.5 points last season, tied for the fourth-most points in a single season). (See the Best seasons chart.)
Best seasons
Here are all players who have earned 25 or more Box-Toppers points in a single season since 1995, ranked by their single-season Box-Toppers point total. Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta Friday rose to eighth place on the list (29.1 Box-Toppers points):| Rank | Player | Team | Pos | Year | BTP |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2000 | 33.7 |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2002 | 33.7 |
| 3 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 2000 | 33.5 |
| 4 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 1999 | 31.5 |
| 4 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2014 | 31.5 |
| 6 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 1999 | 31.4 |
| 7 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2001 | 29.4 |
| 8 | *Jake Arrieta | Cubs | pi sp | 2015 | 29.1 |
| 9 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 2002 | 28.8 |
| 10 | Curt Schilling | Dbacks | pi sp | 2002 | 28.4 |
| 11 | Roger Clemens | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1997 | 27.4 |
| 12 | Johan Santana | Twins | pi sp | 2004 | 26.8 |
| 13 | Pedro Martinez | Expos | pi sp | 1997 | 26.7 |
| 13 | CC Sabathia | Indians/Brewers | pi sp | 2008 | 26.7 |
| 15 | Randy Johnson | Mariners/Astros | pi sp | 1998 | 26.4 |
| 16 | John Smoltz | Braves | pi sp | 1996 | 26.1 |
| 16 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2011 | 26.1 |
| 18 | Roger Clemens | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1998 | 25.8 |
| 18 | Corey Kluber | Indians | pi sp | 2014 | 25.8 |
| 20 | Johan Santana | Twins | pi sp | 2006 | 25.7 |
| 21 | Cliff Lee | Phillies | pi sp | 2011 | 25.4 |
| * Current season | |||||
Arrieta nearly doubled his Box-Toppers point total from 2014, when he had 14.7 points with the Cubs and ranked eighth among National League pitchers. In Arrieta’s previous seasons, he had fewer than 10 points each season
- 2010—3.0 with the Orioles
- 2011—2.0 with the Orioles
- 2012—6.0 with the Orioles
- 2013—5.0 with the Orioles and Cubs
Arrieta has 59.8 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 217th among all players since 1995. He ranks 25th among active NL pitchers in career Box-Toppers points.
American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 2-1 win over the Tigers.
Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 18.8 for the season. He rises to 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings and fourth among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros homered, tripled and went 3-for-4, scoring four times and driving in four runs, in the 21-5 win over the Diamondbacks.
American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Santana of the Indians doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-2 win over the Red Sox.
Notable—Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates rose to third place among NL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
McCutchen (HR 3-5 2R BI in the 6-4 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.5 for the season. He becomes the 45th player—and ninth batter—this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 38th among all players. He trails two NL batters—Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies (11.5) and Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets (10.9).
Rankings—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel started Friday but did not earn Player of the Game honors and so did not extend his Box-Toppers points lead among AL pitchers. However, with only two days left in the season and neither of the pitchers contending for the lead among AL pitchers scheduled to start, Keuchel appears to have wrapped up Box-Toppers AL Player of the Year honors.
Keuchel (6IP 6H 2R 3K W in the 21-5 win over the Diamondbacks) had a Box-Toppers game score of −3. Player of the Game was Carlos Correa (HR 3B 3-4 4R 4BI), who had a Box-Toppers game score of +7.
Keuchel has 21.4 Box-Toppers points on the season and ranks fourth among all players, first among AL pitchers. The only two pitchers who could catch him are not scheduled to start in the final two days of the season:
- David Price of the Blue Jays, 21.1 Box-Toppers points.
- Felix Hernandez of the Mariners, 19.4 Box-Toppers points.
Scoring—Arrieta 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. Correa and Santana 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
| 10/2 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Cubs | Jake Arrieta (W,22-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| BAT | 7.0 | Astros | Carlos Correa, SS | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AL | 6.0 | White Sox | Chris Sale (W,13-11) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| 6.0 | Braves | Julio Teheran (W,11-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Indians | Carlos Santana, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Rockies | Kyle Kendrick (W,7-13) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 3.1 | `Royals | Chris Young | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | Athletics | Danny Valencia, 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Russell Martin, C | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Angels | Joe Smith (S,4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Pirates | Andrew McCutchen, CF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Dodgers | Justin Turner, 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Phillies' Eickhoff tops players for Thursday, Oct. 1; Rangers' Beltre rises to top AL batters in Box-Toppers points
Phillies pitcher Jerad Eickhoff is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also, Adrian Beltre of the Rangers, earning Player of the Game honors for the third straight day, rises to lead American League batters in Box-Toppers points with three days to go in the season.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Oct. 1.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 27.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 21.4 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 21.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 19.0 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 19.0 |
| 10 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 18.0 |
Player of the Day—Eickhoff pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing four hits, in the 3-0 win over the Mets.
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi struck out seven over seven innings, allowing four hits and one unearned run, in the 4-1 win over the Marlins.
American League Batter of the Day—Manny Machado of the Orioles homered twice and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 6-4 win over the Blue Jays.
National League Batter of the Day—Socrates Brito of the Diamondbacks tripled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in one run, in the 8-6 win over the Rockies.
This was Brito’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Brito made his Major League debut Sept. 8 and was playing in his 15th career game. He is the 3,606th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Rankings—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers rose to first place among AL batters in Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday for the third straight day.
Beltre (2B 2-3 R 3BI in the 5-3 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.5 for the season. He passes Mike Trout of the Angels (12.0) to lead AL batters.
A week ago, Beltre ranked sixth among AL batters with 9.5 Box-Toppers points. He’s earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to rise to the AL lead and ranks 24th among all players.
If Beltre’s lead holds through the final three days of the season, his 12.5 Box-Toppers points would be tied for the lowest point total to lead AL batters in a single season. In 2008, Aubrey Huff of the Orioles led AL batters with 12.5 points. In 2012, Beltre led AL batters with 13.0 Box-Toppers points, his best season. He had 0.0 Box-Toppers points in 2014. While in 2014, Beltre had batting numbers similar to or better than this year, the Rangers did not win as many games.
Beltre also rises to 62nd place among players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when record keeping began). Beltre has 101.8 career Box-Toppers points and passes three players on the “all-time” list—Jason Schmidt (101.2), Tim Wakefield (101.4) and Adam Wainwright (101.8). He trails 61st-ranked player Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2).
It should be noted that Wakefield and Griffey both began their careers before the advent of Box-Toppers and would likely have higher point totals if their entire career were tracked. Wakefield started in 1992 and would likely have about 110 Box-Toppers points, according to rough projections. Griffey started in 1989 and would likely have about 140. Schmidt debuted in 1995 and Wainwright in 2005, so their entire careers have been tracked by Box-Toppers.
Notable—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rose to 10th place among NL pitchers in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Strasburg (6IP 6H 0R 7K W in the 3-0 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.0 for the season. He ranks 17th among all players.
Reports—Our usual Friday reports on team and player rankings will be delayed until after the season’s final games Sunday. Here are last week’s penultimate (and also next-to-last) team rankings and player rankings reports of the season.
Scoring—Eickhoff earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Odorizzi earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Machado and Brito 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
| 10/1 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | Phillies | Jerad Eickhoff (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| 10.0 | Padres | Ian Kennedy (W,9-15) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | ||
| AL | 7.0 | Rays | Jake Odorizzi (W,9-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| 6.0 | Nationals | Stephen Strasburg (W,11-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Orioles | Manny Machado, 3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Cubs | Jason Hammel (W,10-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | `Yankees | Adam Warren (MR) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Dbacks | Socrates Brito, PH-LF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Rangers | Adrian Beltre, 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.2 | Dodgers | Brett Anderson (W,10-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | Royals | Jonny Gomes, RF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Twins | Kevin Jepsen (S,15) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Cubs' Jon Lester (8IP R 9K) tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 30
Cubs pitcher Jon Lester is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Lester struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 10-3 win over the Reds.
Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.0 for the season. He ranks 26th among all players and 13th among NL pitchers.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 30.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 27.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 21.4 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 21.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 19.0 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 19.0 |
| 10 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 18.0 |
Lester also now has 121.1 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 37th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 36th-ranked player Jered Weaver (123.1).
American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 8-1 win over the Blue Jays.
American League Batter of the Day—Jose Ramirez of the Indians hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-2 win over the Twins.
National League Batter of the Day—Francisco Cervelli of the Pirates hit a grand slam and doubled, going 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-2 win over the Cardinals.
Rankings—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers maintained his rank of third among AL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Beltre (HR 2B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 6-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.5 for the season. He ranks 31st among all players and third among AL batters behind Mike Trout of the Angels (12.0) and Prince Fielder of the Rangers (11.5).
This was the second straight day Beltre earned Player of the Game honors. It was the fifth time in September Beltre earned the honor—he earned 6.0 total Box-Toppers points in September. In fact, Beltre has earned all his points since earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season on July 31. He had 4.5 Box-Toppers points in August. And despite a season when he had very similar numbers to this year, Beltre earned no Box-Toppers points in 2014—in fact this year, he has a lower batting average (.281 to .324) and lower home run totals (16 to 19) than in 2014. (One notable difference—the Rangers had 67 wins in 2014 and already have 86 in 2015, so Beltre has had more opportunity for Box-Toppers points this year, since players can only earn Player of the Game honors when their team wins.)
Beltre also Wednesday became the 68th player since 1995 to earn 100 or more career Box-Toppers points. Beltre now has 100.8 career points and rises to 65th place among all players since 1995. He passes three players on the “all-time” list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Paul Konerko (100.7). He trails 67th-ranked player Jason Schmidt (101.2).
It should be noted that Walker and Bagwell both started their careers before the advent of Box-Toppers in 1995 and that if their entire career were tracked they would likely have more points. Walker’s first year was 1989 and rough estimates would put his Box-Toppers career point total at 135. Bagwell began in 1991 and his estimated career total would be 125. Konerko began in 1997, so his entire career was tracked by Box-Toppers.
Notable—Giants pitcher Mike Leake became the 44th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Leake (CG 2H 0R K W in the 5-0 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He ranks 41st among all players and 17th among NL pitchers.
Top 10—Two pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings started Wednesday, but did not earn Player of the Game honors:
- Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole (7IP 7H 2R 2K W in the 8-2 win over the Cardinals) had a Box-Toppers game score of -2. Player of the Game was Francisco Cervelli (GS 2B 2-4 2R 4BI), with a Box-Toppers game score of +4. Cole ranks ninth in Box-Toppers points with 19.0.
- Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco (3IP 5H 5R 5K L in the 7-1 loss to the Twins) had a Box-Toppers game score of -9. Player of the Game was Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson (6IP 4H 0R 9K W), with a Box-Toppers game score of +9. Carrasco ranks 10th in Box-Toppers points with 18.0.
Scoring—Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gausman earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Ramirez and Cervelli 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
| 9/30 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | Cubs | Jon Lester (W,11-12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| AL | 11.0 | Orioles | Kevin Gausman (W,4-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | |
| 9.0 | Twins | Kyle Gibson (W,11-11) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 8.0 | Cardinals | Tyler Lyons (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 7.0 | Blue Jays | Marcus Stroman (W,4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 6.0 | Brewers | Zach Davies (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 6.0 | Rays | Drew Smyly (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | Giants | Mike Leake (W,11-10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Indians | Jose Ramirez, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | Pirates | Francisco Cervelli, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Phillies | Freddy Galvis, SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Red Sox | Travis Shaw, 1B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rangers | Adrian Beltre, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Astros | Luis Valbuena, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Royals | Wade Davis (S,15) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Braves | Arodys Vizcaino (S,9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Athletics | Eric Sogard, 2B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Dbacks | David Peralta, LF | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Dodgers' Kershaw tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 29, maintains 2nd place in player rankings
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and maintains his spot at second place in season player rankings.
Kershaw pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out 13, in the 8-0 win over the Giants.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 29.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 27.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 21.4 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 21.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 19.0 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 19.0 |
| 10 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 18.0 |
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 24.7 for the season. He still trails overall and National League pitching leader Jake Arrieta (27.1) by 2.4 Box-Toppers points. And with five days left in the season, Kershaw has no realistic shot of catching him, ending his streak of four straight years leading NL pitchers and two straight years of leading all players in Box-Toppers points.
Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +20. It is the eighth time this season that a player has had a Box-Toppers game score of +20 or more.
Kershaw also rose to 13th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Tuesday, Kershaw has 158.3 career Box-Toppers points and passes Tim Hudson (157.0), who had earlier passed Kershaw. John Smoltz (160.9) is ranked just ahead of Kershaw on the “all-time” list at 12th place. Kershaw is the third-ranked active pitcher in career Box-Toppers points, behind CC Sabathia of the Yankees (187.0) and Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (162.7).
American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Nick Tropeano struck out 11 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 8-1 win over the Athletics.
American League Batter of the Day—Blake Swihart of the Red Sox hit two homers and drove in five runs in the 10-4 win over the Yankees.
National League Batter of the Day—A.J. Pierzynski of the Braves hit two homers and went 3-for-3 in the 2-1 win over the Nationals.
With Tuesday’s Player of the Game honor, his first of the season, Pierzynski has now earned Box-Toppers points for 13 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2001 with the Twins, but his current 13-season streak began in 2003 with the Twins. His best year was 2012 with the White Sox, when he had 6.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among AL catchers. In 2014, he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point with the Red Sox (and later played with the Cardinals that season).
Pierzynski has 47.2 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks 331st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. However, he ranks sixth among all catchers in that time and ranks second among active catchers in career Box-Toppers points, behind Brian McCann of the Yankees (55.2).
Notable—Others who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday had notable achievements:
- Adrian Beltre of the Rangers rose to third place among AL batters in season Box-Toppers points. Beltre (3-5 R 2BI in the 7-6 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.5 for the season. He trails Mike Trout of the Angels (12.0) and Prince Fielder of the Rangers (11.5). Beltre becomes the 43rd player—and eighth batter—this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points.
- Phillies pitcher Adam Loewen earned his first Box-Toppers points in four years and his first points as a pitcher in nine years Tuesday. Loewen (0.1IP 0H 0R K W in the 4-3 win over the Mets) last earned Box-Toppers points as a right fielder with the Blue Jays on Sept. 28, 2011. He last earned Box-Toppers points as a pitcher with the Orioles on Aug. 22, 2006.
- Cubs pitcher Dan Haren maintains his rank of 49th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). Haren (7.1IP 3H 0R 6K W in the 4-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 112.2 for his career. He trails 48th-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8). Haren has 4.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.
Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Silvino Bracho made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Bracho (1.2IP 0H 0R 2K ND in the 4-3 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut Aug. 30 and was playing in his 11th career game. He is the 3,605th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tropeano earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Swihart and Pierzynski 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
| 9/29 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 20.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W,16-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | |
| AL | 11.2 | Angels | Nick Tropeano (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |
| 10.1 | Cubs | Dan Haren (W,10-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Red Sox | Blake Swihart, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | Braves | A.J. Pierzynski, C | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.2 | `Dbacks | Silvino Bracho (MR) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Brewers | Jean Segura, SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Mariners | Robinson Cano, 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rays | Asdrubal Cabrera, SS | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | White Sox | Carlos Sanchez, 2B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.1 | Phillies | Adam Loewen (MR) (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Rangers | Adrian Beltre, 3B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Nationals' Scherzer tops players for Monday, Sept. 28, rises to 8th in player rankings
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to eighth in player rankings.
Scherzer struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 5-1 win over the Reds. Scherzer had a no-hitter until allowing his first hit in the eighth inning.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 28.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 27.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 21.4 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 21.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 19.0 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 19.0 |
| 10 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 18.0 |
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 19.0 for the season, rising to eighth place among all players and fifth among NL pitchers.
Scherzer also rises to 58th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Monday, Scherzer has 104.0 career points and passes three players on the “all-time” list—Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2), Miguel Tejada (102.3) and Jamie Moyer (104.0). Scherzer trails 57th-ranked player Aramis Ramirez (105.8).
Both Griffey and Moyer started their careers before the start of Box-Toppers record keeping in 1995 and so would likely have more actual points if their entire career were tracked. Griffey, who started in 1989, would likely have about 140 career Box-Toppers points, according to rough projections. Moyer, who started in 1986, would likely have about 125 career Box-Toppers points. Tejada made his debut in 1997, so his entire career has been tracked by Box-Toppers.
American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers struck out seven over six innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 3-2 win over the Mariners.
National League Batter of the Day—Mark Reynolds of the Cardinals homered and drove in two runs in the 3-0 win over the Pirates.
American League Batter of the Day—Travis Shaw of the Red Sox homered and went 3-for-4, driving in two runs, in the 5-1 win over the Yankees.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke, ranked sixth in player rankings (19.7 Box-Toppers points), started Monday but did not earn Player of the Game honors. Greinke (7IP 4H 2R 7K ND in the 3-2, 12-inning loss to the Giants) had a Box-Toppers game score of +3. Player of the Game was Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (7IP 3H R 4K ND) with a Box-Toppers game score of +5.
Notable—Giants pitcher Jake Peavy maintained his rank of 25th among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Peavy (7IP 3H R 4K ND in the 3-2, 12-inning win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 136.8 for his career. He trails 24th-ranked player David Ortiz (137.9). Peavy has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.
Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and McCullers earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Reynolds and Shaw 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
| 9/28 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Nationals | Max Scherzer (W,13-12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | |
| 11.0 | `Cubs | Kyle Hendricks | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 5.0 | `Giants | Jake Peavy | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Cardinals | Mark Reynolds, 1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AL | 3.0 | Astros | Lance McCullers (W,6-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | |
| 3.0 | Blue Jays | Brett Cecil (MR) (W,5-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Red Sox | Travis Shaw, 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.2 | Twins | Tommy Milone (W,9-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1.0 | Tigers | Tyler Collins, LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Angels | Chris Iannetta, C | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Cubs' Arrieta tops players for Sunday, Sept. 27, cementing his status as Box-Toppers Player of the Year
Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, taking a commanding lead in Box-Toppers player rankings and virtually assuring his status as Box-Toppers Player of the Year.
Also Sunday, two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings:
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 27.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 27.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 21.4 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 21.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 19.0 |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 18.0 |
| 10 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 17.8 |
- Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom rose to third place.
- Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rose to fourth place and took the lead among American League pitchers, displacing previous leader, David Price of the Blue Jays.
Player of the Day—Arrieta pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out nine, in the 4-0 win over the Pirates.
Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 27.1 for the season, cementing his lead atop Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Best seasons
Here are all players who have earned 25 or more Box-Toppers points in a single season since 1995, ranked by their single-season Box-Toppers point total. Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta Sunday became the player with the 11th-most points in a single season (27.1) since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began.| Rank | Player | Team | Pos | Year | BTP |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2000 | 33.7 |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2002 | 33.7 |
| 3 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 2000 | 33.5 |
| 4 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 1999 | 31.5 |
| 4 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2014 | 31.5 |
| 6 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 1999 | 31.4 |
| 7 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2001 | 29.4 |
| 8 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 2002 | 28.8 |
| 9 | Curt Schilling | Dbacks | pi sp | 2002 | 28.4 |
| 10 | Roger Clemens | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1997 | 27.4 |
| 11 | *Jake Arrieta | Cubs | pi sp | 2015 | 27.1 |
| 12 | Johan Santana | Twins | pi sp | 2004 | 26.8 |
| 13 | Pedro Martinez | Expos | pi sp | 1997 | 26.7 |
| 13 | CC Sabathia | Indians/Brewers | pi sp | 2008 | 26.7 |
| 15 | Randy Johnson | Mariners/Astros | pi sp | 1998 | 26.4 |
| 16 | John Smoltz | Braves | pi sp | 1996 | 26.1 |
| 16 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2011 | 26.1 |
| 18 | Roger Clemens | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1998 | 25.8 |
| 18 | Corey Kluber | Indians | pi sp | 2014 | 25.8 |
| 20 | Johan Santana | Twins | pi sp | 2006 | 25.7 |
| 21 | Cliff Lee | Phillies | pi sp | 2011 | 25.4 |
| * Current season | |||||
Arrieta also now has the 11th-highest Box-Toppers single-season point total since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began (see Best seasons chart). Only once since 2002 has a player had a higher Box-Toppers point total than Arrieta has in 2015—last season, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw had 31.5, ranked fourth since 1995.
Arrieta’s Box-Toppers points lead for 2015 is all-but insurmountable. He now leads second-place player Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22.7) by 4.4 Box-Toppers points. Since the most a player can earn in one game is 2.0 Box-Toppers points, that means Kershaw would need at least three starts to pass Arrieta. Kershaw likely only has one start left this season, at most, two.
It would be extremely unlikely, though still mathematically possible, for a player to pass Arrieta in Box-Toppers points. With seven games left in the season, if a player earned Player of the Day honors each day, they could earn up to 14.0 points. But if you consider the players who are now within 14.0 points of Arrieta, that would include the top 19 players, all of whom are starting pitchers and who aren’t likely to pitch every day. But mathematically, it would be possible, for example for Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez (13.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 19th) to be Box-Toppers Player of the Day for seven games, earning 2.0 Box-Toppers points each day and ending the season with 27.7 points, passing Arrieta. But that just won’t happen.
In other words, Arrieta on Sunday won Box-Toppers Player of the Year for 2015, with a week left to go in the season.
American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher Henry Owens pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out five, in the 2-0 win over the Orioles.
National League Batter of the Day—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 12-5 win over the Dodgers.
American League Batter of the Day—Justin Smoak of the Blue Jays homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 5-4 win over the Rays.
Rankings—Two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings:
- Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom rose to third in player rankings. deGrom (6IP 5H R 9K W in the 8-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.4 for the season. He also ranks third among NL pitchers.
- Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rose to fourth in player rankings. Keuchel (7IP 2H R 10K W in the 4-2 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.4 for the season. (Though tied with deGrom in Box-Toppers points at 21.4, deGrom ranks ahead of Keuchel on a tiebreaker: deGrom had more Box-Toppers points in 2014, 13.0 vs. 12.4.) Keuchel rises to first place among AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points, passing previous leader David Price of the Blue Jays (21.1).
Debuts—Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Jason Rogers of the Brewers (pinch-hit, ninth-inning, go-ahead grand slam in the 8-4 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut Sept. 2, 2014, and was playing in his 92nd career game. He is the 3,602nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Angels closing pitcher Mike Morin (1IP 0H 0R 2K Sv in the 3-2 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut April 30, 2014, and was playing in his 103rd career game. He is the 3,603rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Byron Buxton of the Twins (HR 2B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 7-1 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut June 14 and was playing in his 41st career game. He is the 3,604th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Owens earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Arenado and Smoak 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
| 9/27 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | Cubs | Jake Arrieta (W,21-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| 11.0 | Astros | Dallas Keuchel (W,19-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | ||
| AL | 8.2 | Red Sox | Henry Owens (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 8.0 | Mets | Jacob deGrom (W,14-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | Rockies | Nolan Arenado, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | Royals | Chris Young (W,11-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 5.0 | Brewers | Jason Rogers, 3B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Dbacks | Ender Inciarte, RF | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Blue Jays | Justin Smoak, 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Marlins | Justin Bour, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Angels | Mike Morin (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Phillies | Freddy Galvis, SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Twins | Byron Buxton, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Yankees | Luis Severino (W,5-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Giants | Santiago Casilla (S,37) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Nationals' Strasburg tops players for Saturday, Sept. 26; Cubs' Arrieta moves closer to winning Box-Toppers Player of the Year
Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 26.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 25.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 4 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 20.4 |
| 5 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 20.4 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 19.0 |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 18.0 |
| 10 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 17.8 |
Meanwhile, Cubs’ pitcher Jake Arrieta’s chances for winning the Box-Toppers Player of the Year crown were further solidified when perhaps the only player with a chance to catch him—Blue Jays pitcher David Price—did not earn Box-Toppers points Saturday.
Player of the Day—Strasburg struck out 13 over eight innings, allowing one runs and three hits, in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Phillies. Strasburg did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because he exited with the game tied, 1-1.
Strasburg earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks 21st among all players and 11th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros homered twice and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 9-7 win over the Rangers.
National League Batter of the Day—Jarrett Parker of the Giants hit three home runs, including a grand slam, driving in seven total runs, in the 14-10 win over the Athletics.
This was Parker’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Parker made his Major League debut June 13 and was playing in his 14th career game. He is the 3,600th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Carlos Correa.
Rankings—Blue Jays pitcher David Price, the only player with a remote chance of catching Box-Toppers points leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta, did not earn Box-Toppers points, meaning Arrieta will most likely win the crown as Box-Toppers Player of the Year.
Price entered the game ranked third in Box-Toppers points with 21.1, 4.0 points behind Arrieta (25.1). Price needed to win overall Player of the Day in what would likely be his final two starts to match Arrieta’s total of 25.1. Price would have ranked ahead of Arrieta on a tiebreaker.
Arrieta already leads second-place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22.7) by 2.4 points. Since Kershaw likely only has one start remaining this season, he can only earn 2.0 more points this season and with 24.7, would still be short of Arrieta.
Arrieta starts Sunday against the Pirates. While he’s already got the Box-Toppers crown pretty well wrapped up now, earning overall Player of the Day honors would virtually seal it for him.
Two players in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings started Saturday, but neither earned Box-Toppers points:
- Price (5IP 6H 5R 6K W in the 10-8 win over the Rays) had a Box-Toppers game score of −5. Player of the Game was Jose Bautista (2HR 2-3 2R 4BI, Box-Toppers game score +5).
- Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, ranked seventh in Box-Toppers points (19.4), third among AL pitchers, did not earn Player of the Game honors. Hernandez (6IP 8H 2R 6K ND in the 3-2 loss to the Angels) had a Box-Toppers game score of −2. Player of the Game was Angels middle reliever Trevor Gott (1IP 0R 0H 2K ND, Box-Toppers game score of +3).
Notable—Two other players who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday had notable achievements:
- Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano had the highest season Box-Toppers point total of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday. Liriano (7.2IP 4H 0R 9K W in the 4-0 win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.9 for the season. He ranks 16th among all players and ninth among NL pitchers.
- Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays became the 42nd player—and seventh batter—this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. Bautista (2HR 2-3 2R 4BI in the 10-8 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He ranks 41st among all players and fourth among AL batters.
Debut—In addition to Parker, one other player made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Angels pitcher Trevor Gott (1IP 0R 0H 2K ND in the 3-2 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut June 14 and was playing in his 44th career game. He is the 3,601st 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 Correa earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Parker 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
| 9/26 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | `Nationals | Stephen Strasburg | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | |
| 9.2 | Pirates | Francisco Liriano (W,12-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | ||
| BAT | 8.0 | Giants | Jarrett Parker, LF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 8.0 | Padres | Robbie Erlin (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 7.0 | Cardinals | Jaime Garcia (W,10-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| AL | 5.0 | Astros | Carlos Correa, SS | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Blue Jays | Jose Bautista, RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Mets | Lucas Duda, 1B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Twins | Eduardo Escobar, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Rockies | Justin Miller (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Yankees | Andrew Miller (S,36) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | `Angels | Trevor Gott (MR) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Indians | Jose Ramirez, 3B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Marlins | Justin Bour, 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Red Sox | Mookie Betts, RF | 4 | 2 | 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. | ||||||||||||||||
Indians' Carrasco, with 1-hitter, tops players for Friday, Sept. 25, rises to 9th in player rankings
Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth place in player rankings.
Also Friday, two other players in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings earned Player of the Game honors—Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole maintained his spot in eighth place and Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to 10th place.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 25.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 25.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 4 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 20.4 |
| 5 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 20.4 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 19.0 |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 18.0 |
| 10 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 17.8 |
Player of the Day—Carrasco pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out 15, in the 6-0 win over the Royals. Carrasco had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning before giving up the only hit.
Carrasco earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 18.0 for the season. He rises to ninth place among all players and fourth place among AL pitchers.
Carrasco also had the third-highest Box-Toppers game score of 2015, +21. Indians pitcher Corey Kluber had the highest score of +25 on May 13 (8IP H 0R 18K). Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer had the second-highest score of +23 on June 14 (CG H 0R 16K). It is the seventh time this season that a player has achieved a Box-Toppers game score of +20 or more.
National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard struck out 11 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 12-5 win over the Reds.
Syndergaard earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season. He becomes the 41st player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and ranks 37th among all players, 15th among NL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—A.J. Pollock of the Diamondbacks hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 6-3 win over the Padres.
American League Batter of the Day—C.J. Cron of the Angels homered, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-4 win over the Mariners.
Rankings—In addition to Carrasco, two other players in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings earned Player of the Game honors Friday:
- Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole maintained his spot in eighth place in player rankings. Cole (7IP 4H R 8K W in the 3-2 win over the Cubs) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 19.0 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL pitchers.
- Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to 10th place in player rankings. Gray (6IP 5H 2R 7K W in the 5-4 win over the Giants) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.8 for the season. He ranks fifth among AL pitchers.
Notable—With the rise of Carrasco and Gray into Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings, two players fell from the top 10—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale (17.1 Box-Toppers points, 11th place) and Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (17.0 Box-Toppers points, 12th place).
Scoring—Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Syndergaard earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Pollock and Cron 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
| 9/25 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 21.0 | Indians | Carlos Carrasco (W,14-11) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | |
| 16.0 | Red Sox | Rich Hill (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | ||
| NL | 9.2 | Mets | Noah Syndergaard (W,9-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | |
| 7.0 | Phillies | Jerad Eickhoff (W,2-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 7.0 | Pirates | Gerrit Cole (W,18-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Dbacks | A.J. Pollock, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Rockies | Corey Dickerson, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.1 | Rangers | Ross Ohlendorf (MR) (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Marlins | Justin Bour, 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | `Tigers | Al Alburquerque (MR) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Angels | C.J. Cron, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Kevin Pillar, CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Athletics | Sonny Gray (W,14-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 2.0 | Brewers | Will Smith (MR) (W,7-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | White Sox | David Robertson (S,32) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Cubs' Jake Arrieta may have insurmountable Box-Toppers player rankings lead
Arrieta takes lead over Kershaw. AL pitching leader David Price has chance to pass. Trout takes AL batting lead, Gonzo maintains lead among NL batters.
Read MorePittsburgh Pirates remain atop Box-Toppers team rankings for 3rd straight week
In next-to-last report of season, Pirates extend lead on AL-leading Royals. Cardinals in 3rd. Cubs are hottest team of week.
Read MoreRoyals' Moustakas tops players for Thursday, Sept. 24; Kershaw's chances to pass Arrieta for Box-Toppers lead diminish
Mike Moustakas of the Royals is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw did not earn Player of the Game honors in his start, greatly reducing the chances that he will take the Box-Toppers point lead this season and further solidifying Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta’s chances that he will end the season as leader.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 24.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 25.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 4 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 20.4 |
| 5 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 20.4 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 18.0 |
| 9 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 10 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 17.0 |
Player of the Day—Moustakas homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 10-4 win over the Mariners.
National League Player of the Day—Stephen Piscotty of the Cardinals homered and went 3-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 7-3 win over the Brewers.
American League and National League Batters of the Day—There are no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day for Thursday because both the overall Player of the Day and the NL Player of the Day were batters—Mike Moustakas and Stephen Piscotty.
Notable—Mets closing pitcher Jeurys Familia has the highest Box-Toppers point total of any of the 12 who earned Player of the Game honors Thursday. Familia (1IP 0H 0R K Sv in the 6-4 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks 81st among all players, 27th among NL pitchers and second among NL closers, behind Aroldis Champman of the Reds (8.0 points).
Kershaw, Arrieta and the Box-Toppers points lead—While Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers won his game, he did not earn Player of the Game honors. Kershaw (5IP 6H 3R 9K W in the 6-3 win over the Diamondbacks) had a Box-Toppers game score of +1. Player of the Game was Chris Heisey (1-3 R 4BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +3.
Kershaw’s chances to repeat as Box-Toppers points leaders and his chances to repeat as leader among NL pitchers for the fifth straight season now seem to be greatly diminished. With 10 days left in the season, Kershaw probably will not make more than one more start and he already trails overall Box-Toppers points leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (25.1), by 2.4 points. If Kershaw makes one more start, the most he can earn is 2.0 points, giving him 24.7, short of Arrieta’s total.
But if Kershaw does make two more starts—or even two more appearances this season—he may have a chance, but would have to earn at least Player of the Game honors in both games. However, if Arrieta earns overall Player of the Day honors in his start Sunday, he would probably wrap up Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors, barring any miracle by another player.
The only other player who has a realistic chance of catching or passing Arrieta is Blue Jays pitcher David Price. Price has 21.1 Box-Toppers points, third place among all players and trails Arrieta by 4.0 Box-Toppers points. Price likely has two starts remaining, the first of which is Saturday. Price would have to earn overall Player of the Day honors in both starts, earning 2.0 Box-Toppers points each time, to give him 25.1 Box-Toppers points, the same total Arrieta currently has. Price would win the tiebreaker over Arrieta because he had more Box-Toppers points in 2014—19.1 vs. 14.7. But again, if Arrieta even earns Player of the Game honors in a start, Price would have no realistic shot of catching him.
Rankings—Two other pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings started Thursday, but neither earned Player of the Game honors:
- Chris Sale of the White Sox (7IP 7H 3R 8K L in the 3-2 loss to the Yankees) had a Box-Toppers game score of +1. Player of the Game was Carlos Beltran of the Yankees (2-4 R 3BI, Box-Toppers game score +2). Sale is ranked ninth in Box-Toppers player rankings, fourth among AL pitchers, with 17.1 points.
- Madison Bumgarner of the Giants (7IP 3H 3R 9K ND in the 5-4 loss to the Padres) had a Box-Toppers game score of +4. Player of the Game was Derek Norris of the Padres (3-4 R 3BI, Box-Toppers game score of +3). (Bumgarner had a higher Box-Toppers game score than Norris, but Norris earned Player of the Game because he had the highest score on the Padres—the team that won the game.) Bumgarner is ranked 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings, sixth among NL pitchers, with 17.0 points.
Scoring—Moustakas earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Piscotty earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL 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
| 9/24 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 6.0 | Royals | Mike Moustakas, 3B | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Rays | Erasmo Ramirez (W,11-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| NL | 4.0 | Cardinals | Stephen Piscotty, 1B-LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.1 | `Marlins | Chris Narveson | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Padres | Derek Norris, C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Dodgers | Chris Heisey, CF-RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Pirates | Mark Melancon (S,50) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Rangers | Delino DeShields, CF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Yankees | Carlos Beltran, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Orioles | Matt Wieters, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Indians | Carlos Santana, DH | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Mets | Jeurys Familia (S,42) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Marlins' Adam Conley (6IP R 3H 8K ND) tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 23
Marlins pitcher Adam Conley is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Conley struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 4-3, 11-inning win over the Marlins. Conley did not pick up the win, earning a no-decision, because after he exited, the Phillies tied the game 2-2 in the eighth inning.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 23.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 25.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 4 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 20.4 |
| 5 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 20.4 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 18.0 |
| 9 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 10 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 17.0 |
American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing five hits, in the 4-0 win over the Yankees. This was Stroman’s first Player of the Game honor this season. He was out much of the season after an ACL injury in spring training. In 2014, he had 13.7 Box-Toppers points.
National League Batter of the Day—Neil Walker of the Pirates homered and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 13-7 win over the Rockies.
American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 10-3 win over the Athletics.
Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 9.5 for the season, rising to sixth place among AL batters.
Notable—Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn has the highest Box-Toppers point total of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Lynn (6IP 3H 0R 4K W in the 10-2 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season. He rises to 29th place among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.
Debut—Orioles pitcher Mychal Givens made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Givens (2IP 0H 0R 2K ND in the 4-3 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut June 24 and was playing in his 19th career game. He is the 3,599th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Conley earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Stroman earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Walker and Beltre 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
| 9/23 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | `Marlins | Adam Conley | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| BAT | 7.0 | Pirates | Neil Walker, 2B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | Cardinals | Lance Lynn (W,12-10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 7.0 | Brewers | Zach Davies (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 6.0 | Braves | Freddie Freeman, PH-1B | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| AL | 6.0 | Blue Jays | Marcus Stroman (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 5.1 | Rays | Drew Smyly (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | Twins | Phil Hughes (W,11-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | `Orioles | Mychal Givens (MR) (H,4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | `Dodgers | Carlos Frias | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Padres | Jedd Gyorko, SS-2B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Rangers | Adrian Beltre, 3B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Tigers | Rajai Davis, LF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.1 | `Angels | Nick Tropeano | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 1.0 | Royals | Jarrod Dyson, PR-CF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Cubs' Jake Arrieta tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 22, solidifies lead in Box-Toppers player rankings
Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his lead in player rankings.
Also Tuesday, Mike Trout of the Angels took the lead among American League batters in Box-Toppers points.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 22.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 25.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 4 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 20.4 |
| 5 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 20.4 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 18.0 |
| 9 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 10 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 17.0 |
Player of the Day—Arrieta pitched a complete-game shutout, striking out 11 and allowing three hits, in the 4-0 win over the Brewers.
Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 25.1 for the season. He becomes the 21st player with 25.0 or more Box-Toppers points in a single season since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began.
With his points Tuesday, he takes a 2.4-point lead over second-place player and fellow NL pitcher Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers. That means Kershaw would need to earn Box-Toppers points in each of what would likely be his final two starts of the season to have a chance to pass Arrieta. Kershaw has led NL pitchers for the past four seasons. Only one player has led his league category in Box-Toppers points in more consecutive seasons since 1995—Randy Johnson led NL pitchers five straight years from 1998 to 2002.
American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing three hits, in the 11-2 win over the Royals.
Iwakuma earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 13.1 for the season. He ranks 20th among all players and 10th among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Cody Asche of the Phillies homered twice and went 3-for-4, scoring three runs, in the 6-2 win over the Marlins.
Best seasons
Here are all players who have earned 25 or more Box-Toppers points in a single season since 1995, ranked by their single-season Box-Toppers point total. Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta Tuesday became the 21st player in 21 seasons with 25 or more Box-Toppers points and ranks 21st on the list.| Rank | Player | Team | Pos | Year | BTP |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2000 | 33.7 |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2002 | 33.7 |
| 3 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 2000 | 33.5 |
| 4 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 1999 | 31.5 |
| 4 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2014 | 31.5 |
| 6 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 1999 | 31.4 |
| 7 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2001 | 29.4 |
| 8 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 2002 | 28.8 |
| 9 | Curt Schilling | Dbacks | pi sp | 2002 | 28.4 |
| 10 | Roger Clemens | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1997 | 27.4 |
| 11 | Johan Santana | Twins | pi sp | 2004 | 26.8 |
| 12 | Pedro Martinez | Expos | pi sp | 1997 | 26.7 |
| 12 | CC Sabathia | Indians/Brewers | pi sp | 2008 | 26.7 |
| 14 | Randy Johnson | Mariners/Astros | pi sp | 1998 | 26.4 |
| 15 | John Smoltz | Braves | pi sp | 1996 | 26.1 |
| 15 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2011 | 26.1 |
| 17 | Roger Clemens | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1998 | 25.8 |
| 17 | Corey Kluber | Indians | pi sp | 2014 | 25.8 |
| 19 | Johan Santana | Twins | pi sp | 2006 | 25.7 |
| 20 | Cliff Lee | Phillies | pi sp | 2011 | 25.4 |
| 21 | *Jake Arrieta | Cubs | pi sp | 2015 | 25.1 |
| * Current season | |||||
American League Batter of the Day—Delino DeShields of the Rangers went 1-for-2, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-6 win over the Athletics.
Rankings—Mike Trout of the Angels took the lead among AL batters in Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Trout (HR 1-3 R 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.0 for the season. He passes Prince Fielder of the Rangers (11.5) to lead AL batters. Trout ranks 25th among all players.
Notable—Two others who earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Tuesday achieved notable milestones:
- Giants pitcher Chris Heston rose to 12th place among NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points. Heston (4.1IP 2H 0R 7K ND in the 4-2 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season. He ranks 29th among all players.
- Cardinals pitcher John Lackey maintained his rank of 55th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Lackey (7IP 9H R 7K W in the 3-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 107.8 for his career. He trails 54th-ranked player Lance Berkman (108.1). He has 9.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, ranked 17th among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Iwakuma earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Asche and DeShields 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
| 9/22 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.0 | Cubs | Jake Arrieta (W,20-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| AL | 13.0 | Mariners | Hisashi Iwakuma (W,9-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| 9.0 | `Tigers | Daniel Norris | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 8.0 | Dbacks | Robbie Ray (W,5-12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | Twins | Ervin Santana (W,6-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | Braves | Matt Wisler (W,6-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 4.1 | `Giants | Chris Heston | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Phillies | Cody Asche, 3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | `Orioles | Brad Brach (MR) (H,12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Rangers | Delino DeShields, CF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Cardinals | John Lackey (W,13-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | `Pirates | Joakim Soria (MR) (H,9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | Yankees | Carlos Beltran, RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rays | Brad Boxberger (S,36) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | Angels | Mike Trout, CF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
White Sox' Samardzija tops players for Monday, Sept. 21; Price, Keuchel both rise in Box-Toppers top 10 rankings
White Sox pitcher Jeff Samardzija, pitching a one-hitter, is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 21.| 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 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 4 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 20.4 |
| 5 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 20.4 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 18.0 |
| 9 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 10 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 17.0 |
Also Monday, Blue Jays pitcher David Price rose to third place in Box-Toppers player rankings, maintaining his lead among American League pitchers in Box-Toppers points. Plus, Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rises to second among AL pitchers, fifth overall and becomes the fifth player this season with 20.0 or more Box-Toppers points.
Player of the Day—Samardzija pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out six, in the 2-0 win over the Tigers. Samardjiza allowed only one baserunner when he allowed a single in the fifth inning.
National League Player of the Day—Jorge Soler of the Cubs hit a three-run, pinch-hit home run in the 9-5 win over the Brewers.
American League Batter of the Day—Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox hit a grand slam, doubled and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 8-7 win over the Rays.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall NL Player of the Day was batter Jorge Soler.
Rankings—Two players rose in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
- Blue Jays pitcher David Price rose to third place and maintained his lead among AL pitchers. Price (7IP 2H 0R 7K W in the 4-2 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.1 for the season. Price now trails two players in Box-Toppers season player rankings—Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (23.1) and Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22.7).
- Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rose to fifth place and second place among AL pitchers, behind Price. Keuchel (7.2IP 6H R 6K W in the 6-3 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 20.4 for the season. Keuchel becomes the fifth player this season with 20.0 or more Box-Toppers points. With his point Monday, Keuchel passes Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke (19.7) and Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (19.4) in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Scoring—Samardjiza earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Soler earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Bogaerts earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL 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
| 9/21 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | White Sox | Jeff Samardzija (W,10-13) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 11.0 | Blue Jays | David Price (W,17-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 4.2 | Astros | Dallas Keuchel (W,18-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Red Sox | Xander Bogaerts, SS | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| NL | 4.0 | Cubs | Jorge Soler, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | White Sox | Erik Johnson (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 3.0 | Pirates | Starling Marte, LF | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Mets | Jonathon Niese (W,9-10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | `Cardinals | Jaime Garcia | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 1.0 | Dbacks | Paul Goldschmidt, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Twins' Duffey tops players for Sunday, Sept. 20; Pirates' Cole rises to 8th in player rankings
Twins pitcher Tyler Duffey is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Player of the Day—Duffey pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing three hits, in the 8-1 win over the Angels.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 20.| 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 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 18.0 |
| 9 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 10 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 17.0 |
National League Player of the Day—Braves pitcher Julio Teheran struck out eight over 8 1/3 innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 2-1 win over the Phillies. Teheran was perfect through six innings. He earned no decision, not picking up the win, because he exited the game with the score tied 1-1.
National League Batter of the Day—Yunel Escobar of the Nationals doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 13-3 win over the Marlins.
American League Batter of the Day—Logan Forsythe of the Rays hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-3, scoring twice, in the 7-6 win over the Orioles.
Rankings—Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Cole (7IP 6H 3R 9K W in the 4-3 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 18.0 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL pitchers.
Notable—Two of Sunday's Players of the Game achieved notable milestones:
- Giants pitcher Tim Hudson rose to 13th place among players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Hudson (6IP 4H 0R 3K in the 5-1 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 157.0 for his career. With his point Sunday, he passes Clayton Kershaw (156.3) on the “all-time” list—Kershaw had caught and briefly passed Hudson on the “all-time” list only on Sept. 14. Hudson trails 12th-ranked player John Smoltz (160.9) and regains his spot as fifth among active players, third among active pitchers, behind CC Sabathia (179.0) and Felix Hernandez (162.7). Hudson has 4.0 Box-Toppers points so far in what is expected to be his final season.
- Justin Upton of the Padres rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers points among NL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Upton (2B 3-5 R 3BI in the 10-4 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.0 for the season. He ranks 49th among all players.
- Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, ranked sixth in Box-Toppers player rankings (19.4 points) failed to earn Player of the Game honors in his start Sunday against the Rangers, despite earning the win. Hernandez (5.2IP 4H 2R 5K W in the 9-2 win) had a Box-Toppers game score of -2.8. Player of the Game was Robinson Cano (2-4 R 4BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of 3.0.
Scoring—Duffey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Teheran earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Escobar and Forsythe 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
| 9/20 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | Twins | Tyler Duffey (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| NL | 8.1 | `Braves | Julio Teheran | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| 8.0 | Astros | Collin McHugh (W,17-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 8.0 | Royals | Danny Duffy (S,1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | Nationals | Yunel Escobar, 3B | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.2 | Indians | Josh Tomlin (W,6-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Rays | Logan Forsythe, 2B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Red Sox | Rich Hill (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 4.0 | Pirates | Gerrit Cole (W,17-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 3.0 | Brewers | Adam Lind, 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Mariners | Robinson Cano, 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Yankees | Greg Bird, 1B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.1 | Cardinals | Trevor Rosenthal (S,46) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Padres | Justin Upton, LF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Giants | Tim Hudson (W,8-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Rangers' Hamels tops players for Saturday, Sept. 19; Kershaw fails to unseat Arrieta for player rankings lead
Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to eighth place among American League pitchers in player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 19.| 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 |
Also Saturday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw failed to retake the top spot in Box-Toppers player rankings after falling to the Pirates. Kershaw (22.7 Box-Toppers points) remains in second place behind Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (23.1), with whom he has traded leads every two or three days since Sept. 2. Arrieta’s lead is now safe at least until Kershaw’s next start later this week.
Player of the Day—Hamels struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run and seven hits, in the 10-1 win over the Mariners.
Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.7 for the season, rising to 17th among all players and eighth among AL pitchers.
Hammels also rises to 34th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when record keeping began. With his points Saturday, Hamels has 124.5 career Box-Toppers points and 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.) Hamels now trails 33rd-ranked player Justin Verlander (124.6), who also passed Weaver and Sheffield on Friday.
National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, in the 6-0 win over the Giants.
American League Batter of the Day—Victor Martinez of the Tigers homered, doubled and drove in three runs, in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the Royals.
National League Batter of the Day—Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in a run, in the 10-2 win over the Padres.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw failed to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Saturday in his start, preventing him from retaking the player rankings lead.
Kershaw (7IP 7H 3H 8K L in the 3-2 loss to the Pirates) had a Box-Toppers game score of 0. Player of the Game was Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano.
Had Kershaw won Player of the Game honors, he would have passed Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta for the Box-Toppers season points lead and it would have been the seventh lead change in September between Kershaw (22.7 Box-Toppers points) and Arrieta (23.1 Box-Toppers points). Kershaw has led NL pitchers the past four seasons in Box-Toppers points—with days and starts dwindling to only a few this season, his chances for a fifth straight season leading NL pitchers is diminishing.
Notable—Several other Player of the Game honorees from Saturday achieved notable Box-Toppers milestones:
- Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano rose to 16th place among all players and ninth place among NL pitchers. Liriano (7IP 5H 2R 9K W in the 3-2 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.9 for the season.
- Angels pitcher Garrett Richards rose to 29th place among all players and 15th among AL pitchers. Richards (8.2IP 5H 2R 7K W in the 5-2 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season.
- Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda becomes the 40th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. Pineda (5.1IP 4H 0R 4K W in the 5-0 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, rising to 33rd among all players and 17th among AL pitchers.
- Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox (2-4 R 3BI in the 7-6 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.5 for the season, rising to sixth among AL batters.
- Bryce Harper of the Nationals (1-3 R 3BI in the 5-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.0 for the season, rising to fifth among NL batters.
Debut—Braves pitcher Ryan Weber made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Weber (7IP 2H R 5K ND in the 2-1 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut Sept. 8 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,598th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Hamels 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. Martinez and Blackmon 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
| 9/19 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | Rangers | Cole Hamels (W,10-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | |
| NL | 7.0 | Dbacks | Patrick Corbin (W,6-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 6.0 | Orioles | Wei-Yin Chen (W,10-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | `Braves | Ryan Weber | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | Pirates | Francisco Liriano (W,11-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 4.1 | Yankees | Michael Pineda (W,11-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Tigers | Victor Martinez, DH | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | `Angels | Andrew Heaney | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 3.1 | Cubs | Trevor Cahill (MR) (W,1-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Rockies | Charlie Blackmon, CF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Astros | Evan Gattis, DH | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | `Reds | J.J. Hoover (MR) (H,18) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.2 | Angels | Garrett Richards (W,14-11) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | ||
| 2.2 | White Sox | Carlos Rodon (W,8-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | Red Sox | Jackie Bradley Jr., CF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Nationals | Bryce Harper, RF | 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. | ||||||||||||||||