Angels' Ricky Nolasco tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 31; Indians' Kluber extends Box-Toppers points lead among AL pitchers

Shawn Plank September 1, 2016

Angels pitcher Ricky Nolasco is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 31:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	22.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	18.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	18.2
5	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
6	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	14.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber extends his Box-Toppers points lead among American League pitchers after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Nolasco pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking none, in the 3-0 win over the Reds.

National League Player of the Day—Brewers pitcher Matt Garza struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 3-1 win over the Cardinals.

American League Batter of the Day—Rougned Odor of the Rangers hit two home runs and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 14-1 win over the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day—Andrew Toles of the Dodgers hit a ninth-inning, go-ahead grand slam in the 10-8 win over the Rockies. Toles also doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in five runs.

Rankings—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber extended his season Box-Toppers points lead among AL pitchers after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Kluber (8IP 6H 3R 2BB 11K W in the 8-4 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 18.2 for the season, ahead of second-place AL pitcher Cole Hamels of the Rangers (16.8). Kluber maintains his rank of fourth place among all players. Kluber led AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points in 2014 with 25.8.

Notable—Two other players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points this season also earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel (6IP 3H R 3BB 6K W in the 6-5 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.0 for the season. He ranks 18th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.
Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander (7IP 3H 2R 0BB 9K ND in the 3-2 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He ranks 33rd among all players and 13th among AL pitchers. He becomes the 34th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. This is his eighth season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points, his first since 2013 (10.0). In 2014, he had 4.0 points and in 2015 he had 6.4. Verlander led AL pitchers in both 2011 (24.4) and 2012 (24.8).

Verlander now has 134.6 career Box-Toppers points, 29th-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 28th-ranked player, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (136.5).

Scoring—Nolasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Garza earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Odor and Toles each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/31
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    12.0
    LAA 3, CIN 0
    Ricky Nolasco (W,5-12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    4
    0
    0
    0
    7
  

    
    9.0
    `DET 3, CHW 2
    Justin Verlander
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    2
    2
    0
    9
  

    NL
    8.0
    MIL 3, STL 1
    Matt Garza (W,5-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    1
    2
    8
  

    
    7.0
    ATL 8, SD 1
    Matt Wisler (W,6-11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    3
    10
  

    BAT
    5.0
    TEX 14, SEA 1
    Rougned Odor, 2B
    5
    2
    3
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    5.0
    LAD 10, COL 8
    Andrew Toles, LF
    4
    1
    3
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    CLE 8, MIN 4
    Corey Kluber (W,15-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    6
    3
    3
    2
    11
  

    
    5.0
    WSH 2, PHI 1
    Gio Gonzalez (W,10-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    
    4.1
    SF 4, ARI 2
    Matt Moore (W,9-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.1
    5
    1
    1
    1
    7
  

    
    4.0
    BOS 8, TB 6
    Hanley Ramirez, 1B
    3
    2
    1
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    CHC 6, PIT 5
    Jason Hammel (W,14-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    3
    6
  

    
    4.0
    HOU 4, OAK 3
    Michael Feliz (W,8-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    4.0
    `NYY 5, KC 4 (13)
    Chasen Shreve
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    3.1
    COL 7, LAD 0
    Tyler Anderson (W,5-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    6
    0
    0
    2
    5
  

    
    2.0
    TOR 5, BAL 3
    Michael Saunders, LF
    2
    2
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    NYM 5, MIA 2
    Addison Reed (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    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.
  

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	18.2	31.6	62.4	62.4	4.8
Hammel, Jason 2235	pi sp	chi nl	12.0	21.7	45.1	58.2	2.3
Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	10.0	16.4	79.6	134.6	3.6
Moore, Matt 2975	pi sp	sf nl	8.7	8.7	34.2	34.2	8.7
Nolasco, Ricky 2125	pi sp	ana al	7.7	9.7	30.4	83.5	5.7
Ramirez, Hanley 2119	1b	bos al	6.0	6.0	28.7	56.6	6.0
Odor, Rougned 3336	2b	tex al	5.5	8.5	10.0	10.0	2.5
Saunders, Michael 2768	lf	tor al	5.2	5.2	14.9	15.9	5.2
Gonzalez, Gio 2626	pi sp	dc nl	5.0	14.7	71.8	85.5	-4.7
Wisler, Matt 3522	pi sp	atl nl	4.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	1.0
Toles, Andrew 3692	rf lf cf ph	lad nl	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
Feliz, Michael 3632	pi cp mr	hou al	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.7
Garza, Matt 2343	pi sp	mil nl	2.7	4.4	34.1	70.8	1.0
Reed, Addison 3023	pi mr	nym nl	2.0	3.0	11.0	11.0	1.0
Anderson, Tyler 3656	pi sp	col nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Shreve, Chasen 3482	pi mr	nyy al	1.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	-1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Nationals' Max Scherzer tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 30, extending his season Box-Toppers points lead

Shawn Plank August 31, 2016

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and extends his lead in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 30:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	22.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	18.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
5	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
6	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	14.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Scherzer struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing two runs, three hits and one walk, in the 3-2 win over the Phillies.

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 22.7 for the season. Scherzer took the Box-Toppers points lead in his last start Aug. 25, passing previous leader Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0 Box-Toppers points).

Scherzer’s 22.7 points is now his single-season career high, passing his 2014 point total of 22.1 he earned with the Tigers.

Scherzer also now has 128.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 32nd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes three players on the “all-time” list—Roy Oswalt (127.2), A.J. Burnett (127.8) and Vladimir Guerrero (128.3). Scherzer now trails 31st-ranked player Trevor Hoffman (129.4).

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Collin McHugh pitched six scoreless innings, allowing four hits, one walk and striking out five, in the 3-1 win over the Athletics.

National League Batter of the Day—Curtis Granderson of the Mets hit two homers and went 2-for-2, driving in three runs, in the 7-4 win over the Marlins.

American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers homered and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 8-7 win over the Mariners.

Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 111.3 career points, rising to 52nd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes Tom Glavine (110.6) on the “all-time” list and now trails 51st-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8).

Beltre has 9.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, fifth among AL batters.

Notable—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright now has 110.0 career Box-Toppers points—54th-most among players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Wainwright (7IP 3H R 0BB 7K ND in the 3-1, 10-inning win over the Brewers) passes Jeff Kent (109.7) on the “all-time” list and now trails 53rd-ranked player Tom Glavine (110.6).

Wainwright has 8.2 Box-Toppers points on the season, 21st among NL pitchers.

Also notable—Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks has 11.7 Box-Toppers points on the season after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Hendricks (7IP 3H 0R BB 4K W in the 3-0 win over the Pirates) ranks 18th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.

Debut—Rays pitcher Enny Romero made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Romero (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 4-3 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut Sept. 22, 2013, and was playing in his 68th career game. He is the 3,726th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and McHugh earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Granderson and Beltre each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/30
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    WSH 3, PHI 2
    Max Scherzer (W,15-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    2
    2
    1
    11
  

    
    9.0
    `STL 2, MIL 1 (10)
    Adam Wainwright
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    1
    0
    7
  

    
    7.0
    CHC 3, PIT 0
    Kyle Hendricks (W,13-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    AL
    6.0
    HOU 3, OAK 1
    Collin McHugh (W,9-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    5.2
    CLE 5, MIN 4
    Dan Otero (W,4-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    BAT
    5.0
    NYM 7, MIA 4
    Curtis Granderson, PH-RF
    2
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    ATL 7, SD 3
    Julio Teheran (W,4-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    2
    2
    0
    8
  

    BAT
    4.0
    TEX 8, SEA 7
    Adrian Beltre, 3B
    5
    3
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    NYY 5, KC 4 (10)
    Dellin Betances (W,3-4; BS,4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    LAA 4, CIN 2
    C.J. Cron, 1B
    4
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    DET 8, CHW 4
    J.D. Martinez, RF
    3
    2
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    TB 4, BOS 3
    Enny Romero (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.1
    BAL 5, TOR 3
    Brad Brach (W,8-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    1
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    0.0
    ARI 4, SF 3
    Welington Castillo, C
    4
    0
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	22.7	43.7	108.3	128.7	1.7
Hendricks, Kyle 3386	pi sp	chi nl	11.7	21.4	26.4	26.4	2.0
Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	9.5	22.0	47.9	111.3	-3.0
Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	8.2	11.2	59.3	110.0	5.2
Teheran, Julio 3176	pi sp	atl nl	7.0	14.7	42.8	42.8	-0.7
McHugh, Collin 3316	pi sp	hou al	6.7	16.4	28.2	28.2	-3.0
Castillo, Wellington 3251	ca	ari nl	5.0	8.5	11.5	11.5	1.5
Martinez, J.D. 2922	rf	det al	4.5	6.2	16.2	16.2	2.8
Cron, C.J. 3338	1b dh	ana al	3.7	9.7	10.7	10.7	-2.3
Betances, Dellin 3333	pi mr cp	nyy al	3.0	7.0	11.7	11.7	-1.0
Granderson, Curtis 2051	rf ph	nym nl	3.0	7.0	31.9	64.3	-1.0
Brach, Brad 3374	pi mr	bal al	3.0	6.0	7.0	7.0	0.0
Otero, Dan 3365	pi mr	cle al	3.0	4.7	5.7	5.7	1.3
Romero, Enny 3726	pi mr	tb al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cardinals' Carlos Martinez top players for Monday, Aug. 29; Astros' Musgrove tops AL players

Shawn Plank August 30, 2016

Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez 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 2016 season as of Aug. 29:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	20.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	18.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
5	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
6	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	14.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Martinez struck out 13 over six innings, allowing one run, four hits and two walks, in the 6-5 win over the Brewers. Martinez did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because after he exited, the Brewers went ahead before the Cardinals came back to take the lead in the ninth inning.

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Joe Musgrove pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing three hits and three walks, in the 6-0 win over the Athletics.

American League Batter of the Day—Mike Trout of the Angels homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-2 win over the Reds.

Trout earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.0 points for the season. He becomes the 33rd player—and fifth batter—this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 32nd among all players and third among AL batters, behind Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5) and Manny Machado of the Orioles (11.7). This is Trout’s second straight 10-point season, his third overall.

Trout had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +3.0 and had an identical line score (HR 2B 3-4 2R 2BI) with teammate C.J. Cron. But Trout won Player of the Game honors on a tiebreaker because he had one walk and Cron had none.

National League Batter of the Day—Jorge Soler of the Cubs homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, driving in two runs, in the 8-7, 13-inning win over the Pirates.

Notable—Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of the 13 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday.

Bauer (6IP 5H 0R BB 4K ND in the 1-0, 10-inning win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season. He ranks 19th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers.

Also notable—Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark became the 32nd player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Roark (7IP 4H 0R BB 5K W in the 4-0 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He ranks 25th among all players and 15th among NL pitchers.

Additionally notable—Carlos Beltran of the Rangers now has 103.9 career Box-Toppers points—64th-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Beltran (HR 2B 3-4 2R 2BI in the 6-3 win over the Mariners) passes Red Sox pitcher David Price (103.2) on the “all-time” list and now trails 63rd-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Beltran has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season. This was his first Player of the Game honor since being traded from the Yankees.

Beltran had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +3.0, tied with AL Batter of the Day Mike Trout. Both Beltran and Trout had identical line scores, but Trout won AL Batter of the Day honors on a tiebreaker because he had fewer strikeouts than Beltran—zero vs. one.

Debut—Mets pitcher Josh Smoker made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Smoker (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut Aug. 19 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,725th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Martinez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Musgrove earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Trout and Soler each earn 1.5 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/29
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.0
    `STL 6, MIL 5
    Carlos Martinez
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    2
    13
  

    
    7.0
    WSH 4, PHI 0
    Tanner Roark (W,14-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    7.0
    COL 8, LAD 1
    Jon Gray (W,9-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    0
    0
    3
    8
  

    AL
    6.1
    HOU 6, OAK 0
    Joe Musgrove (W,2-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.1
    3
    0
    0
    3
    7
  

    
    4.0
    TOR 5, BAL 1
    Marco Estrada (W,8-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    
    4.0
    `CLE 1, MIN 0 (10)
    Trevor Bauer
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    BAT
    3.0
    LAA 9, CIN 2
    Mike Trout, CF
    4
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    TEX 6, SEA 3
    Carlos Beltran, DH
    4
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    KC 8, NYY 5
    Dillon Gee (W,6-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    
    3.0
    NYM 2, MIA 1 (10)
    Josh Smoker (W,1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    BOS 9, TB 4
    Travis Shaw, 3B-1B
    4
    2
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    1.0
    CHC 8, PIT 7 (13)
    Jorge Soler, LF
    5
    1
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    DET 4, CHW 3
    Francisco Rodriguez (S,37)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    0
  

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

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	11.4	20.8	29.5	29.5	2.0
Roark, Tanner 3261	pi sp	dc nl	10.7	11.7	26.7	26.7	9.7
Trout, Mike 2949	cf	ana al	10.0	22.0	46.5	46.5	-2.0
Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	9.7	23.4	24.4	24.4	-4.0
Estrada, Marco 2847	pi sp	tor al	8.0	16.0	40.1	40.1	0.0
Shaw, Travis 3544	1b 3b	bos al	5.5	9.7	9.7	9.7	1.3
Beltran, Carlos 1194	dh rf	tex al	5.0	8.5	25.9	103.9	1.5
Gray, Jon 3634	pi sp	col nl	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0
Gee, Dillon 2808	pi sp	kc al	4.7	5.7	32.5	33.5	3.7
Rodriguez, Francisco 1707	pi cp	det al	3.0	4.0	17.0	63.4	2.0
Musgrove, Joe 3705	pi sp	hou al	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7
Soler, Jorge 3403	lf	chi nl	2.5	5.7	6.7	6.7	-0.7
Smoker, Josh 3725	pi cp	nym nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Orioles' Kevin Gausman tops players for Sunday, Aug. 28; Dodgers' Stewart tops NL players

Shawn Plank August 28, 2016

Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

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


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	20.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	18.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
5	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
6	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	14.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Gausman pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing seven hits and no walks, in the 5-0 win over the Yankees.

National League Batter of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Brock Stewart pitched five scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits and two walks, in the 1-0 win over the Cubs. Stewart did not earn the win, picking up the no decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.

This was Stewart’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Stewart made his Major League debut June 29 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,722nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays hit three home runs and went 3-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 9-6 win over the Twins.

Donaldson earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. Donaldson ranks 34th among all players and fourth among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—Joe Panik of the Giants hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 13-4 win over the Braves.

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

Athletics pitcher Andrew Triggs (6IP 4H 3R 0BB 8K W in the 7-4 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut April 25 and was playing in his 23rd career game. He is the 3,723rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Royals pitcher Matt Strahm (2.2IP 0H 0R BB K W in the 10-4 over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut July 31, and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,724th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Gausman earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Stewart earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Donaldson and Panik each earn 1.5 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/28
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.0
    BAL 5, NYY 0
    Kevin Gausman (W,6-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    0
    0
    0
    9
  

    NL
    9.0
    `LAD 1, CHC 0
    Brock Stewart
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    8
  

    
    8.0
    LAA 5, DET 0
    Tyler Skaggs (W,2-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    BAT
    6.0
    TOR 9, MIN 6
    Josh Donaldson, 3B
    4
    3
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    5.0
    SF 13, ATL 4
    Joe Panik, 2B
    4
    2
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    TB 10, HOU 4
    Chris Archer (W,8-17)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    3
    3
    2
    10
  

    
    5.0
    TEX 2, CLE 1
    Derek Holland (W,6-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    0
    5
  

    
    5.0
    PIT 3, MIL 1
    Ivan Nova (W,11-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    1
    1
    0
    4
  

    
    4.0
    COL 5, WSH 3
    Nolan Arenado, 3B
    4
    1
    4
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    OAK 7, STL 4
    Andrew Triggs (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    3
    3
    0
    8
  

    
    4.0
    CHW 4, SEA 1
    Carlos Rodon (W,5-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    
    4.0
    `PHI 5, NYM 1
    Vince Velasquez
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    5
    1
    1
    1
    7
  

    
    3.0
    ARI 11, CIN 2
    Welington Castillo, C
    3
    0
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.2
    KC 10, BOS 4
    Matt Strahm (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.2
    0
    0
    0
    1
    1
  

    
    1.0
    SD 3, MIA 1
    Ryan Schimpf, 2B
    3
    1
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Donaldson, Josh 3144	3b	tor al	9.7	19.6	39.6	39.6	-0.2
Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	9.0	25.0	49.1	49.1	-7.0
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	9.0	17.5	19.0	19.0	0.5
Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	8.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	8.0
Gausman, Kevin 3191	pi sp	bal al	7.4	13.1	20.8	20.8	1.7
Panik, Joe 3401	2b	sf nl	5.5	9.5	10.5	10.5	1.5
Schimpf, Ryan 3686	2b	sd nl	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2
Nova, Ivan 2796	pi sp	pit nl	5.0	6.0	27.1	28.1	4.0
Rodon, Carlos 3494	pi sp	chi al	4.0	12.1	12.1	12.1	-4.1
Castillo, Wellington 3251	ca	ari nl	4.0	7.5	10.5	10.5	0.5
Holland, Derek 2634	pi sp	tex al	4.0	6.7	38.8	45.8	1.3
Skaggs, Tyler 3183	pi sp	ana al	2.7	2.7	12.4	12.4	2.7
Stewart, Brock 3722	pi sp	lad nl	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7
Triggs, Andrew 3723	pi sp	oak al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Strahm, Matt 3724	pi mr	kc al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Reds' Anthony DeSclafani tops players for Saturday, Aug. 27; Mets' Syndergaard rises to 9th in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank August 28, 2016

Reds pitcher Anthony DeSclafani 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 2016 season as of Aug. 27:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	20.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	18.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
5	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
6	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	14.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—DeSclafani pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, striking out nine and walking one, in the 13-0 win over the Diamondbacks.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana struck out eight over 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, five hits and one walk, in the 9-3 win over the Mariners.

American League Batter of the Day—Starlin Castro of the Yankees homered and went 4-for-6, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 13-5 win over the Orioles.

National League Batter of the Day—Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies hit two homers and went 3-for-6, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 9-4, 11-inning win over the Nationals.

Rankings—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Syndergaard (7IP 2H R 2BB 7K W in the 12-1 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.0 for the season, rising from 10th to ninth place for the season. He ranks seventh among NL pitchers.

Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:

Athletics pitcher Daniel Coulombe (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 3-2 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut Sept. 16, 2014, and was playing in his 43rd career game. He is the 3,720th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Alex Bregman of the Astros (HR 2-4 2R 3BI in the 6-2 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut July 25 and was playing in his 30th career game. He is the 3,721st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—DeSclafani earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Quintana earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Castro and Blackmon each earn 1.5 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/27
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    13.0
    CIN 13, ARI 0
    Anthony DeSclafani (W,8-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    4
    0
    0
    1
    9
  

    
    8.0
    NYM 12, PHI 1
    Noah Syndergaard (W,12-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    
    7.0
    `PIT 9, MIL 6
    Juan Nicasio (H,4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    3.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    5
  

    AL
    6.2
    CHW 9, SEA 3
    Jose Quintana (W,11-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    5
    2
    1
    1
    8
  

    
    6.0
    TEX 7, CLE 0
    A.J. Griffin (W,6-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    
    5.2
    ATL 3, SF 1
    Mike Foltynewicz (W,7-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    5
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    
    5.0
    LAA 3, DET 2
    Jhoulys Chacin (W,5-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    4.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    4.1
    OAK 3, STL 2
    Daniel Coulombe (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    BAT
    4.0
    NYY 13, BAL 5
    Starlin Castro, 2B
    6
    3
    4
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    TOR 8, MIN 7
    Edwin Encarnacion, 1B
    3
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    LAD 3, CHC 2
    Julio Urias (W,5-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    6
    1
    1
    2
    8
  

    BAT
    3.0
    COL 9, WSH 4 (11)
    Charlie Blackmon, CF
    6
    3
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    HOU 6, TB 2
    Alex Bregman, 3B
    4
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    SD 1, MIA 0
    Kevin Quackenbush (S,1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    BOS 8, KC 3
    Dustin Pedroia, 2B
    5
    1
    4
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	14.0	24.4	24.4	24.4	3.6
Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	9.4	15.4	34.2	34.2	3.4
Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	dh 1b	tor al	8.0	18.4	46.6	67.1	-2.4
Nicasio, Juan 2888	pi sp mr	pit nl	8.0	9.0	24.4	24.4	7.0
Castro, Starlin 2767	2b ss	nyy al	7.0	11.5	24.5	25.5	2.5
Griffin, A.J. 3074	pi sp	tex al	4.7	4.7	19.4	19.4	4.7
DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	4.0	11.7	11.7	11.7	-3.7
Foltynewicz, Mike 3455	pi sp	atl nl	4.0	6.7	6.7	6.7	1.3
Blackmon, Charlie 2891	cf	col nl	4.0	6.5	12.0	12.0	1.5
Chacin, Jhoulys 2711	pi mr sp	ana al	4.0	4.0	18.4	26.1	4.0
Urias, Julio 3652	pi sp	lad nl	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
Pedroia, Dustin 2320	2b	bos al	3.0	3.0	23.4	35.5	3.0
Quackenbush, Kevin 3462	pi mr cp	sd nl	2.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	0.0
Bregman, Alex 3721	3b	hou al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Coulombe, Daniel 3720	pi mr	oak al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Tigers' Justin Verlander tops players for Friday, Aug. 26; Cubs' Bryant extends Box-Toppers points lead among NL batters

Shawn Plank August 27, 2016

Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 26:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	20.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	18.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
5	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
6	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7
10	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	13.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Friday, Kris Bryant of the Cubs extended his lead in season Box-Toppers points among National League batters after earning NL Batter of the Day honors.

Player of the Day—Verlander struck out eight over 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, four hits and one walk, in the 4-2 win over the Angels.

Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 133.6 career points, rising to 29th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Jason Giambi (133.4) on the “all-time” list and now trails 28th-ranked player, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (136.5). Verlander has 9.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 15th among American League pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Luke Weaver allowed one run over six innings, striking out seven and allowing four hits and two walks, in the 14-4 win over the Athletics.

This was Weaver’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Weaver made his Major League debut Aug. 13 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,719th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Justin Smoak of the Blue Jays hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 15-8 win over the Twins.

Smoak and Gary Sanchez of the Yankees (Player of the Game in the 14-4 win over the Orioles) both had Box-Toppers game scores of +5.0 Friday, but Smoak holds the tiebreaker to earn AL Batter of the Day honors because he had more RBIs than Sanchez—5 vs. 4.

National League Batter of the Day—Kris Bryant of the Cubs hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 6-4, 10-inning win over the Dodgers.

Bryant earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.5 for the season, extending his lead among NL batters—second place NL batter is Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals (8.5).

Bryant becomes the 31st player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points, the fourth batter and the first NL batter. He is the sixth Cubs player to reach 10 points in 2016 (The others: Jon Lester—15.4, Jake Arrieta—13.7, John Lackey—12.4, Jason Hammel—11.0, Kyle Hendricks—10.7). He ranks 26th among all players in season player rankings. It is Bryant’s first 10-point season; in his rookie season of 2015, he had 8.5 points.

Streak—Rickie Weeks of the Diamondbacks has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game of the season Friday.

Weeks (HR 3B 2-3 2R BI in the 4-3, 11-inning win over the Reds) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2005 with the Brewers and has 37.1 career points, third among active NL second basemen. His best season was 2007 with the Brewers when he had 6.2 Box-Toppers points. In 2015, he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point with the Mariners.

Scoring—Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Weaver earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Smoak and Bryant each earn 1.5 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/26
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    6.2
    DET 4, LAA 2
    Justin Verlander (W,14-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    4
    2
    2
    1
    8
  

    BAT
    5.0
    TOR 15, MIN 8
    Justin Smoak, 1B
    5
    2
    3
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    NYY 14, BAL 4
    Gary Sanchez, C
    5
    3
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    NL
    5.0
    STL 3, OAK 1
    Luke Weaver (W,1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    
    4.2
    SEA 3, CHW 1
    Edwin Diaz (S,11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    4.0
    CLE 12, TEX 1
    Abraham Almonte, RF
    5
    2
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    4.0
    CHC 6, LAD 4 (10)
    Kris Bryant, 3B
    4
    3
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    NYM 9, PHI 4
    Asdrubal Cabrera, SS
    4
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    SF 7, ATL 0
    Jeff Samardzija (W,11-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    0
    0
    3
    6
  

    
    3.0
    MIA 7, SD 6
    Fernando Rodney (W,2-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    KC 6, BOS 3
    Eric Hosmer, 1B
    4
    1
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    PIT 5, MIL 3
    Jordy Mercer, SS
    4
    1
    1
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    ARI 4, CIN 3 (11)
    Rickie Weeks, LF
    3
    2
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    WSH 8, COL 5
    Daniel Murphy, 2B
    3
    2
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    HOU 5, TB 4
    Evan Gattis, C
    4
    1
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Bryant, Kris 3465	lf 3b rf	chi nl	10.5	19.0	19.0	19.0	2.0
Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	9.0	15.4	78.6	133.6	2.6
Murphy, Daniel 2589	2b	dc nl	7.5	9.0	31.0	32.5	6.0
Samardzija, Jeff 2495	pi sp	sf nl	6.7	16.1	44.8	45.8	-2.7
Hosmer, Eric 2886	1b	kc al	6.0	15.0	28.5	28.5	-3.0
Rodney, Fernando 1803	pi cp	fla nl	5.0	6.0	23.0	35.0	4.0
Diaz, Edwin 3690	pi cp	sea al	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0
Smoak, Justin 2731	1b	tor al	3.5	8.5	18.4	22.9	-1.5
Gattis, Evan 3179	ca	hou al	3.0	7.0	9.0	9.0	-1.0
Mercer, Jordy 3206	ss	pit nl	3.0	3.0	9.0	9.0	3.0
Sanchez, Gary 3701	dh ca	nyy al	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Cabrera, Asdrubal 2362	ss	nym nl	2.0	5.0	26.7	42.7	-1.0
Almonte, Abraham 3554	rf ph	cle al	2.0	3.5	3.5	3.5	0.5
Weaver, Luke 3719	pi sp	stl nl	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7
Weeks, Rickie 2035	lf 2b	ari nl	1.0	2.0	17.9	37.1	0.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Nationals' Max Scherzer passes Kershaw, idle for 2 months, to lead Box-Toppers season player rankings

Shawn Plank August 26, 2016

It took 2 months for Kershaw to be idle on the disabled list, but Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer finally passed him to take the Box-Toppers season player rankings lead.

Chicago Cubs continue top spot in Box-Toppers team rankings, Tigers are week's hottest team

Shawn Plank August 26, 2016

Chicago Cubs continue reign as Box-Toppers' top team. Red Sox top AL teams. Tigers are week's hottest team.

Nationals' Max Scherzer passes Kershaw for Box-Toppers points lead after topping players for Thursday, Aug. 25

Shawn Plank August 26, 2016

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and takes the season lead in Box-Toppers points, passing Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who had led since May 7.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 25:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	20.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	18.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
5	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
6	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7
10	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	13.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Thursday, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to fifth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.

Player of the Day—Scherzer pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing two hits and no walks, in the 4-0 win over the Orioles.

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 20.7 for the season, rising from second to first among all players. Scherzer becomes the second player this season to 20 points; previous leader Kershaw (20.0 Box-Toppers points) did it first it more than two months ago on June 20, the last time he earned Player of the Game before going on the disabled list.

Kershaw has led all players in Box-Toppers points this season since May 7, nearly 16 weeks, despite going on the disabled list two months ago on June 26. Kershaw is eligible to return from the disabled list Saturday and reports indicate he could return to pitch by mid-September.

Kershaw finished second in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 25.7, behind overall leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (29.1). Kershaw led all National League players in Box-Toppers points from 2011 to 2014 and led all players in 2011, 2013 and 2014.

Lead changes
Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.  

    Date
    Player
    Team
    BTP
  
    4/3
    Francisco Liriano
    pit nl
    2.0
  
    4/4
    Clayton Kershaw
    lad nl
    2.0
  
    4/14
    Vince Velasquez
    phi nl
    4.0
  
    4/21
    Jake Arrieta
    chi nl
    5.0
  
    5/1
    Clayton Kershaw
    lad nl
    6.0
  
    5/3
    Jake Arrieta
    chi nl
    6.0
  
    5/7
    Clayton Kershaw
    lad nl
    7.0
  
    8/25
    Max Scherzer
    dc nl
    20.7

This is Scherzer’s third straight 20-point season. He earned 22.1 points in 2014 with the Tigers, when he ranked fifth overall and second among American League pitchers. He earned 21.0 points in 2015 with the Nationals, when he ranked sixth overall and fourth among NL pitchers.

Scherzer now has 126.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 35th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Thursday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver (125.1) and Mariano Rivera (126.4). Scherzer now trails 34th-ranked player Roy Oswalt (127.2).

American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits and no walks, in the 9-0 win over the Indians.

Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 16.8 for the season, rising to fifth among all players and maintaining his spot in second place among AL pitchers, behind Corey Kluber of the Indians (17.2).

Hamels also now has 143.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 23rd place among players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Thursday, he passes three players (all active) on the “all-time” list—Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8), David Ortiz of the Red Sox (142.9) and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (142.9). Hamels now has the seventh-most career Box-Toppers points among active players. Hamels now trails 22nd-ranked player, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (145.8).

National League Batter of the Day—Alejandro De Aza of the Mets hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 10-6 win over the Cardinals.

American League Batter of the Day—James McCann of the Tigers hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-5 win over the Twins.

Debut—Rays pitcher Tyler Sturdevant made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Sturdevant (0.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K ND in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut May 24 and was playing in his 16th career game. He is the 3,718th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hamels earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. De Aza and McCann each earn 1.5 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/25
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    16.0
    WSH 4, BAL 0
    Max Scherzer (W,14-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    0
    0
    0
    10
  

    AL
    14.0
    TEX 9, CLE 0
    Cole Hamels (W,14-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    0
    0
    0
    8
  

    
    11.2
    SF 4, LAD 0
    Matt Moore (W,8-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.2
    1
    0
    0
    3
    7
  

    BAT
    5.0
    NYM 10, STL 6
    Alejandro De Aza, CF
    4
    2
    2
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    ATL 3, ARI 1
    Matt Wisler (W,5-11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    1
    1
    3
    4
  

    BAT
    4.0
    DET 8, MIN 5
    James McCann, C
    5
    2
    4
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    LAA 6, TOR 3
    Mike Trout, CF
    4
    1
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    KC 5, MIA 2
    Kelvin Herrera (S,9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.2
    `TB 2, BOS 1
    Tyler Sturdevant
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    0.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    PIT 3, MIL 2 (10)
    Andrew McCutchen, CF
    5
    1
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    CHW 7, SEA 6
    Tim Anderson, SS
    4
    2
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	20.7	41.7	106.3	126.7	-0.3
Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8	32.2	83.8	143.0	1.4
Trout, Mike 2949	cf	ana al	8.5	20.5	45.0	45.0	-3.5
Moore, Matt 2975	pi sp	sf nl	7.7	7.7	33.2	33.2	7.7
McCutchen, Andrew 2637	cf	pit nl	5.5	16.0	46.7	52.4	-5.0
Wisler, Matt 3522	pi sp	atl nl	3.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	0.0
Anderson, Tim 3659	ss	chi al	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
McCann, James 3649	ca	det al	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
De Aza, Alejandro 2950	cf	nym nl	1.5	3.0	11.7	11.7	0.0
Herrera, Kelvin 3149	pi cp	kc al	1.0	1.0	5.0	5.0	1.0
Sturdevant, Tyler 3718	pi mr	tb al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Marlins' Jose Fernandez tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 24, rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank August 25, 2016

Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 24:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	18.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	15.1
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7
10	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	13.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Fernandez pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing six hits and two walks, in the 3-0 win over the Royals.

Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 18.4 for the season, rising from fourth to third place among all players and among all National League pitchers in 2016.

Fernandez is now 1.6 Box-Toppers points behind overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0 points), meaning Fernandez could pass Kershaw for the season lead in his next start if he earns NL Player of the Day (worth 1.7 points) or overall Player of the Day (worth 2.0 points). Kershaw has led all players since May 7 and maintained his lead despite spending the past nearly two months on the disabled list.

American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing six hits and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Mariners.

Tanaka earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, rising to 15th among all players and fifth among AL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Manny Machado of the Orioles homered and went 4-for-6, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-8 win over the Nationals.

Machado earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 11.7 for the season. He maintains his rank of second among AL batters, behind Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5 points). Machado ranks 18th among all players.

National League Batter of the Day—Jake Lamb of the Diamondbacks homered, doubled and went 3-for-6, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 10-9, 11-inning win over the Braves. Lamb and teammate Paul Goldschmidt both had Box-Toppers game scores of +2.0 Wednesday with similar line scores (3-6 3R 2BI), but Lamb won Player of the Game honors over Goldschmidt because he had both a homer and a double, while Goldschmidt had just a home run.

Notable—Three other players became the 28th, 29th and 30th players to reach the 10.0-Box-Toppers point threshold for the 2016 season:

Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks (6IP 4H 2R 2BB 8K W in the 6-3 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, becoming the 28th player with 10 or more this season. Hendricks rises to 22nd place among all players and 14th among NL pitchers. He is the fifth Cubs pitcher this season with 10 or more points.
Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill (6IP 5H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 1-0 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season, becoming the 29th player with 10 or more this season. Hill ranks 29th among all players and 15th among NL pitchers. It is Hill’s second 10-point season; his other was 2007 with the Cubs when he had 11.7. Wednesday marked Hill’s first Player of the Game honor since being traded from the Athletics to the Dodgers.
Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (HR 2B 4-5 2R 2BI in the 9-4 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season, becoming the 30th player (and third batter) with 10 or more this season. Cabrera ranks third among AL batters and 30th among all players. It is his seventh season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.

Cabrera also now has 142.9 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 23rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Cabrera passes David Ortiz of the Red Sox (142.9) on the “all-time” list, to become the seventh-ranked active player in career points, second among all active batters, behind Albert Pujols of the Angels (181.3). While Cabrera and Ortiz both have the same 142.9 career Box-Toppers point total, Cabrera now ranks ahead because he has more points in 2016—10.0 vs. 5.0. Cabrera now trails 22nd-ranked player, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (145.8).

Scoring—Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tanaka earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Machado and Lamb each earn 1.5 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/24
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    8.0
    MIA 3, KC 0
    Jose Fernandez (W,13-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    0
    0
    2
    9
  

    AL
    5.0
    NYY 5, SEA 0
    Masahiro Tanaka (W,11-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    6
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    5.0
    LAA 8, TOR 2
    Matt Shoemaker (W,8-13)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    BAT
    4.0
    BAL 10, WSH 8
    Manny Machado, 3B
    6
    2
    4
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    STL 8, NYM 1
    Carlos Martinez (W,12-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    1
    1
    3
    5
  

    
    4.0
    MIL 7, COL 1
    Zach Davies (W,10-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    1
    1
    3
    8
  

    
    4.0
    CHC 6, SD 3
    Kyle Hendricks (W,12-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    2
    2
    2
    8
  

    
    4.0
    LAD 1, SF 0
    Rich Hill (W,10-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    3.2
    `TB 4, BOS 3 (11)
    Alex Colome
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    DET 9, MIN 4
    Miguel Cabrera, 1B
    5
    2
    4
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    HOU 5, PIT 4
    Ken Giles (S,5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    BAT
    2.0
    ARI 10, ATL 9 (11)
    Jake Lamb, 3B
    6
    3
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    PHI 5, CHW 3
    Aaron Altherr, LF
    3
    1
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    TEX 6, CIN 5
    Nomar Mazara, LF-RF
    4
    1
    1
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    0.0
    OAK 5, CLE 1
    Ryon Healy, 3B
    3
    1
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	18.4	23.1	49.1	49.1	13.7
Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	pi sp	nyy al	12.4	20.4	33.1	33.1	4.4
Machado, Manny 3087	ss 3b	bal al	11.7	19.2	22.7	22.7	4.2
Hendricks, Kyle 3386	pi sp	chi nl	10.7	20.4	25.4	25.4	1.0
Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	lad nl	10.4	14.4	14.4	34.1	6.4
Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	10.0	14.7	63.3	142.9	5.3
Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	7.7	21.4	22.4	22.4	-6.0
Shoemaker, Matt 3290	pi sp	ana al	7.0	12.7	25.4	25.4	1.3
Colome, Alex 3189	pi cp	tb al	7.0	12.0	15.7	15.7	2.0
Davies, Zach 3581	pi sp	mil nl	5.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	2.0
Mazara, Nomar 3614	rf lf	tex al	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5
Lamb, Jake 3517	3b	ari nl	4.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	3.0
Healy, Ryon 3685	3b	oak al	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Altherr, Aaron 3563	rf lf	phi nl	2.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	1.5
Giles, Ken 3402	pi mr cp	hou nl	2.0	5.0	7.0	7.0	-1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Jake Arrieta tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 23, rises to 9th in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank August 24, 2016

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 23:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
4	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	15.1
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7
10	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	13.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia earned his first Player of the Game honor since becoming the active career Box-Toppers points leader after Alex Rodriguez was released earlier this month.

Player of the Day—Arrieta pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits, three walks and striking out six, in the 5-3 win over the Padres.

Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.7 for the season. His rise to ninth place displaces Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ (12.7 points) from the top 10. Arrieta ranks seventh among NL pitchers. Arrieta led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 29.1.

American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Sean Manaea struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 9-1 win over the Indians.

National League Batter of the Day—Andrew Toles of the Dodgers homered, doubled and went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-5 win over the Giants.

American League Batter of the Day—Victor Martinez of the Tigers homered and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 8-3 win over the Twins.

Sabathia—Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia earned his first Player of the Game honor Tuesday since becoming the active career Box-Toppers points leader on Aug. 13, when previous active leader Alex Rodriguez was released.

Sabathia (7IP 3H R B 7K W in the 5-1 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 183.0 for his career, ranking fifth among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began (see updated "all-time" top 20 list on the homepage). He trails fourth-place player (and previous active leader) Rodriguez (187.0). Sabathia leads second-ranked active leader Albert Pujols of the Angels (181.3) by only 1.7 points.

Sabathia had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +8.0, but Mariners pitcher Sean Manaea, who also had a game score of +8.0, won AL Player of the Day honors over Sabathia because he had more strikeouts—eight vs. seven.

Streak—Adam Jones of the Orioles has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2016 Tuesday.

Jones (4-5 R BI in the 8-1 win over the Nationals) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Mariners and has 49.5 career points, fifth among active AL outfielders. His best year was 2014 with the Orioles, when he had 11.5 points, third among AL batters. In 2015, he had 5.5 points with the Orioles.

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

Braves pitcher Jose Ramirez (1IP H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 7-4 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut June 4, 2014, and was playing in his 32nd career game. He is the 3,716th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Orlando Arcia of the Brewers (PH 2B 1-1 R in the 6-4 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut Aug. 2 and was playing in his 20th career game. He is the 3,717th 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 Manaea earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Toles and Martinez each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/23
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.0
    CHC 5, SD 3
    Jake Arrieta (W,16-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    0
    0
    3
    6
  

    AL
    8.0
    OAK 9, CLE 1
    Sean Manaea (W,5-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    1
    2
    8
  

    
    8.0
    NYY 5, SEA 1
    CC Sabathia (W,8-10)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    7
  

    
    6.2
    CHW 9, PHI 1
    Carlos Rodon (W,4-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    3
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    
    6.1
    BOS 2, TB 1
    Clay Buchholz (W,5-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    5
    1
    1
    2
    9
  

    
    6.0
    PIT 7, HOU 1
    Ivan Nova (W,10-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    6
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    
    6.0
    CIN 3, TEX 0
    Dan Straily (W,10-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    0
    0
    2
    5
  

    BAT
    5.0
    LAD 9, SF 5
    Andrew Toles, PH-CF-LF
    2
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    KC 1, MIA 0
    Yordano Ventura (W,9-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    6
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    BAT
    3.0
    DET 8, MIN 3
    Victor Martinez, DH
    5
    3
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    NYM 7, STL 4
    Jose Reyes, 3B
    4
    3
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    TOR 7, LAA 2
    Russell Martin, DH
    3
    1
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    ATL 7, ARI 4
    Jose Ramirez (W,2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    1.0
    BAL 8, WSH 1
    Adam Jones, CF
    5
    1
    4
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    MIL 6, COL 4
    Orlando Arcia, PH
    1
    1
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7	42.8	70.5	73.5	-15.4
Martin, Russell 2202	ca	tor al	9.5	14.5	31.0	52.0	4.5
Martinez, Victor 1695	dh	det al	7.5	11.0	30.9	71.1	4.0
Ventura, Yordano 3294	pi sp	kc al	7.0	18.7	28.4	28.4	-4.7
Manaea, Sean 3637	pi sp	oak al	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7
Straily, Dan 3080	pi sp	cin nl	5.0	5.0	15.7	15.7	5.0
Sabathia, C.C. 1492	pi sp	nyy al	4.0	9.7	44.5	183.0	-1.7
Nova, Ivan 2796	pi sp	pit nl	4.0	5.0	26.1	27.1	3.0
Rodon, Carlos 3494	pi sp	chi al	3.0	11.1	11.1	11.1	-5.1
Buchholz, Clay 2363	pi sp mr	bos al	3.0	9.0	37.2	56.9	-3.0
Toles, Andrew 3692	rf cf lf ph	lad nl	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Jones, Adam 2347	cf	bal al	1.0	6.5	37.5	49.5	-4.5
Reyes, Jose 1759	3b ss	nym nl	1.0	1.0	13.0	29.0	1.0
Arcia, Orlando 3717	ph	mil nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Ramirez, Jose A. 3716	pi mr	atl nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Indians' Carlos Carrasco tops players for Monday, Aug. 22; Cubs' Lester rises to 5th in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank August 23, 2016

Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco 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 2016 season as of Aug. 22:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
4	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	15.1
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	13.0
10	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	12.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Monday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Carrasco pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing four hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Athletics.

Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season. He becomes the 27th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and ranks 24th among all players, 10th among American League pitchers. It is his third straight season with 10 or more points (10.7 in 2014, 18.0 in 2015).

National League Player of the Day—Adrian Gonzalez of the Dodgers hit three home runs and went 3-for-6, driving in eight runs, in the 18-9 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Seager of the Mariners hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice, in the 7-5 win over the Yankees.

Seager earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.5 points for the season, rising to fourth among AL batters.

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 is batter Adrian Gonzalez.

Rankings—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Lester (6IP 5H R 2BB 8K W in the 5-1 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.4 for the season, rising from seventh to fifth among all players. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

With Lester’s rise to 15.4 points, it marks the first time this season that all players in Box-Toppers season top 10 list have different Box-Toppers point totals—on Monday, Lester and Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto both had 14.4 points.

Lester now also has 136.5 career Box-Toppers points, 28th-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 27th-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5).

Notable—Red Sox pitcher David Price rises to 64th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, after he earned Player of the Game honors Monday.

Price (8IP 2H 0R 2BB 8K W in the 6-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 103.2 career points. He passes two players on the “all-time” list—Miguel Tejada (102.3) and Carlos Beltran of the Rangers (102.9). He trails 63rd-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Price has 9.4 Box-Toppers points on the season, 13th among AL pitchers.

Scoring—Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gonzalez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Seager earns 1.5 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/22
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    13.0
    CLE 1, OAK 0
    Carlos Carrasco (W,9-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    0
    0
    0
    9
  

    
    12.0
    BOS 6, TB 2
    David Price (W,12-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    8
  

    
    9.0
    HOU 3, PIT 1
    Doug Fister (W,12-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    NL
    8.0
    LAD 18, CIN 9
    Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
    6
    3
    3
    8
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    CHC 5, SD 1
    Jon Lester (W,14-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    1
    1
    2
    8
  

    BAT
    4.0
    SEA 7, NYY 5
    Kyle Seager, 3B
    3
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    ARI 9, ATL 8
    Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
    4
    2
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    BAL 4, WSH 3
    Zach Britton (S,38)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    MIL 4, COL 2
    Tyler Thornburg (S,5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4	27.4	73.6	136.5	3.4
Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	10.4	28.4	44.5	44.5	-7.6
Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	9.4	30.5	86.5	103.2	-11.7
Seager, Kyle 3031	3b	sea al	8.5	13.5	27.5	27.5	3.5
Gonzalez, Adrian 2193	1b	lad nl	5.7	9.7	36.4	72.3	1.7
Britton, Zach 2835	pi cp	bal al	5.0	13.7	33.1	33.1	-3.7
Thornburg, Tyler 3195	pi cp	mil nl	5.0	5.0	11.0	11.0	5.0
Fister, Doug 2688	pi sp	hou al	4.0	6.0	51.5	55.2	2.0
Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	3.5	13.7	38.9	38.9	-6.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Noah Syndergaard tops players for Sunday, Aug. 21, rises to 9th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank August 22, 2016

Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth place in season player rankings.

Syndergaard pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out six, in the 2-0 win over the Giants.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 21:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
4	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
5	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	15.1
6	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
7	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	13.0
10	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	12.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks seventh among National League pitchers. Rising to ninth place overall, he displaces Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5 Box-Toppers points) from the top 10 list. Altuve, who was the only batter in the top 10, falls to 11th place.

American League Player of the Day—Justin Upton of the Tigers hit a pair of three-run homers in the 10-5 win over the Red Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies hit a pair of three-run homers and went 4-for-5 in the 11-4 win over the Cubs.

Arenado earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season, rising to fourth place among NL batters.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Justin Upton.

Debut—Padres pitcher Luis Perdomo made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Perdomo (7IP 5H R 0BB 5K W in the 9-1 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut April 4 and was playing in his 29th career game. He is the 3,715th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Upton earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Arenado earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/21
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    10.0
    NYM 2, SF 0
    Noah Syndergaard (W,11-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    BAT
    7.0
    COL 11, CHC 4
    Nolan Arenado, 3B
    5
    2
    4
    6
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    7.0
    STL 9, PHI 0
    Mike Leake (W,9-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    0
    0
    1
    8
  

    AL
    6.0
    DET 10, BOS 5
    Justin Upton, LF
    4
    2
    2
    6
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    SD 9, ARI 1
    Luis Perdomo (W,6-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    0
    0
    5
  

    
    6.0
    LAD 4, CIN 0
    Julio Urias (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    6
    0
    0
    0
    6
  

    
    5.0
    HOU 5, BAL 3
    Dallas Keuchel (W,8-12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    5
    2
    2
    1
    7
  

    
    4.0
    `ATL 7, WSH 6 (10)
    Jim Johnson
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    3.0
    MIL 7, SEA 6
    Tyler Thornburg (W,5-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    3.0
    LAA 2, NYY 0
    Fernando Salas (S,4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.1
    CLE 3, TOR 2
    Mike Clevinger (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    1
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    2.0
    TB 8, TEX 4
    Steven Souza Jr., RF
    4
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    KC 2, MIN 1
    Eric Hosmer, 1B
    2
    1
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    CHW 4, OAK 2
    Todd Frazier, 3B
    4
    0
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    MIA 3, PIT 2
    Fernando Rodney (S,24)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    1
    1
  

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

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	13.0	23.4	23.4	23.4	2.6
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	8.0	16.5	18.0	18.0	-0.5
Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	7.0	28.4	42.8	42.8	-14.4
Frazier, Todd 2929	3b	chi al	6.2	15.1	29.1	29.1	-2.7
Upton, Justin 2411	lf	det al	5.7	14.7	41.6	50.1	-3.3
Leake, Mike 2709	pi sp	stl nl	5.0	15.0	40.1	44.6	-5.0
Hosmer, Eric 2886	1b	kc al	5.0	14.0	27.5	27.5	-4.0
Souza, Steven Jr. 3461	rf	tb al	4.7	10.2	10.2	10.2	-0.8
Johnson, Jim 2417	pi cp mr	atl nl	4.0	6.0	16.0	21.7	2.0
Rodney, Fernando 1803	pi cp	fla nl	4.0	5.0	22.0	34.0	3.0
Thornburg, Tyler 3195	pi cp	mil nl	4.0	4.0	10.0	10.0	4.0
Clevinger, Mike 3707	pi mr sp	cle al	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Urias, Julio 3652	pi sp	lad nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Salas, Fernando 2853	pi cp	ana al	2.0	3.0	10.0	10.0	1.0
Perdomo, Luis D. 3715	pi sp	sd nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dbacks' Robbie Ray tops players for Saturday, Aug. 20; Mariners' Hernandez rises to 9th in career Box-Toppers points

Shawn Plank August 21, 2016

Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray 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 2016 season as of Aug. 20:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
4	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
5	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	15.1
6	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
7	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	12.7
10	Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	12.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rises to ninth place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began), passing Manny Ramirez on the “all-time” list. Plus, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw maintains his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings (with 20.0 Box-Toppers points) after Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (18.7 points) did not earn Player of the Game honors in his start Saturday.

Player of the Day—Ray struck out 13 over seven innings, allowing one run, one hit and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Padres.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing three hits and three walks, in the 6-2 win over the Athletics.

Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, most of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday. Sale ranks 11th among all players and fourth among AL pitchers. It was Sale’s first Player of the Game honor since June 26.

National League Batter of the Day—Anthony Rendon of the Nationals doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 11-9 win over the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day—Evan Longoria of the Rays homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-2 win over the Rangers.

All-time leaders

Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	pi sp	retired	278.8
2	Pedro Martinez	pi sp	retired	244.8
3	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
4	Alex Rodriguez	dh	released	187.0
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	182.0
6	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	181.3
7	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	179.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	167.7
10	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
11	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
12	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	156.1
16	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
17	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
18	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
19	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
20	Javier Vazquez	pi sp	retired	148.3

List of top 100 players since 1995 (as of July 15, 2016's All-Star break)

Hernandez—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rises to ninth place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Hernandez (8IP 7H 2R BB 8K W in the 8-2 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 167.7 for his career. He passes Manny Ramirez (167.2) on the “all-time” list and now trails eighth-ranked player, Roy Halladay (170.7). Hernandez has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Scherzer—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer did not pass Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw for the Box-Toppers points lead Saturday, despite earning the win in the 11-9 victory over the Braves.

Scherzer (6.1IP 6H 4R 3BB 6K W) had a Box-Toppers game score of −4.9. Player of the Game was Anthony Rendon (2B 4-5 3R BI), who had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0.

Scherzer could have passed Kershaw if he had won overall Player of the Day or NL Player of the Day. Scherzer ranks second in season Box-Toppers points with 18.7, behind Kershaw’s 20.0. It is the third start Scherzer has had when he’s been within striking distance of Kershaw, but all three times he has failed to capitalize.

Kershaw has led in season Box-Toppers points since May 7 and maintains his lead even though he’s been on the disabled list for more than seven weeks. He could return as soon as late August.

Scoring—Ray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sale earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Rendon and Longoria each earn 1.5 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/20
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    16.0
    ARI 2, SD 1
    Robbie Ray (W,7-11)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    1
    1
    1
    1
    13
  

    
    12.0
    CIN 11, LAD 1
    Brandon Finnegan (W,8-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    1
    0
    0
    2
    8
  

    
    11.0
    MIA 3, PIT 1
    David Phelps (W,7-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    9
  

    AL
    10.0
    CHW 6, OAK 2
    Chris Sale (W,15-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    3
    0
    0
    3
    8
  

    
    10.0
    KC 10, MIN 0
    Ian Kennedy (W,8-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    4
    0
    0
    0
    6
  

    
    7.0
    NYY 5, LAA 1
    Luis Cessa (W,3-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    6.0
    HOU 12, BAL 2
    Mike Fiers (W,9-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    1
    7
  

    
    4.1
    `CHC 9, COL 2
    Mike Montgomery
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    4.1
    1
    1
    1
    2
    5
  

    
    4.0
    SEA 8, MIL 2
    Felix Hernandez (W,8-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    7
    2
    2
    1
    8
  

    BAT
    3.0
    WSH 11, ATL 9
    Anthony Rendon, 3B
    5
    3
    4
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    NYM 9, SF 5
    Yoenis Cespedes, LF
    5
    2
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    3.0
    TB 8, TEX 2
    Evan Longoria, 3B
    3
    2
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    PHI 4, STL 2
    Jeremy Hellickson (W,10-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    7
    2
    2
    1
    8
  

    
    2.1
    BOS 3, DET 2
    Craig Kimbrel (S,22)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    1
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    TOR 6, CLE 5
    Joe Biagini (W,4-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    1
    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.
  

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	12.4	31.2	83.4	85.4	-6.4
Hellickson, Jeremy 2778	pi sp	phi nl	11.1	16.1	39.8	42.8	6.1
Kennedy, Ian 2723	pi sp	kc al	9.0	15.7	59.5	65.5	2.3
Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	cf lf	nym nl	7.0	17.9	38.9	38.9	-3.9
Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	6.7	10.7	10.7	10.7	2.7
Phelps, David 2994	pi sp mr	fla nl	6.7	10.1	23.5	23.5	3.3
Finnegan, Brandon 3535	pi sp	cin nl	6.0	9.0	9.0	9.0	3.0
Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	5.0	24.4	90.4	167.7	-14.4
Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	bos al	5.0	11.0	54.7	55.7	-1.0
Montgomery, Mike 3513	pi cp mr sp	chi nl	5.0	9.0	9.0	9.0	1.0
Fiers, Michael 3029	pi sp	hou al	4.0	11.0	25.1	25.1	-3.0
Longoria, Evan 2423	3b	tb al	4.0	7.0	23.5	44.5	1.0
Rendon, Anthony 3258	3b	dc nl	3.5	4.5	10.0	10.0	2.5
Biagini, Joe 3646	pi mr	tor al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Cessa, Luis 3703	pi mr sp	nyy al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Athletics' Kendall Graveman tops players for Friday, Aug. 19; Rangers' Hamels rises to 5th in Box-Toppers rankings

Shawn Plank August 20, 2016

Athletics pitcher Kendall Graveman is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to fifth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 19:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
4	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
5	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	15.1
6	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
7	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	12.7
10	Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	12.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Graveman pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout, striking out five and walking none, in the 9-0 win over the White Sox.

National League Player of the Day—Ryan Schimpf of the Padres hit a walk-off, three-run homer in the 7-4, 10-inning win over the Diamondbacks. Schimpf hit two homers in the game and also doubled twice, going 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs.

American League Batter of the Day—Teoscar Hernandez of the Astros homered and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 15-8 win over the Orioles.

This was Hernandez’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Hernandez made his Major League debut Aug. 12 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,713rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall NL Player of the Day was batter Ryan Schimpf.

Rankings—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises from seventh to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Hamels (7.1IP 3H R 2BB 10K W in the 6-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.1 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Corey Kluber of the Indians (17.2).

Hamels also now has 141.3 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 26th since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 25th-ranked player, Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8).

Notable—Two players became the 25th and 26th players this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points after they earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (7.2IP 5H 0R 0BB 9K W in the 7-0 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, becoming the 25th player with 10 or more points in 2016. Tanaka ranks 19th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers. It is his second season with 10 or more points; he had 12.7 points in 2014 with the Yankees.
Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer (8IP 5H 2R 2BB 13K ND in the 3-2 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season, becoming the 26th player with 10 or more points in 2016. Bauer ranks 23rd among all players and 10th among AL pitchers. This is Bauer's first season with 10 or more points.

Debut—David Dahl of the Rockies made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Dahl (HR 2-4 2R BI in the 7-6, 11-inning win over the Cubs) made his Major League debut July 25 and was playing in his 24th career game. He is the 3,714th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/19
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    12.0
    OAK 9, CHW 0
    Kendall Graveman (W,9-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    9.0
    2
    0
    0
    0
    5
  

    
    11.2
    NYY 7, LAA 0
    Masahiro Tanaka (W,10-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    5
    0
    0
    0
    9
  

    
    10.1
    TEX 6, TB 2
    Cole Hamels (W,13-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.1
    3
    1
    1
    2
    10
  

    
    10.0
    `CLE 3, TOR 2
    Trevor Bauer
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    8.0
    5
    2
    2
    2
    13
  

    NL
    7.0
    SD 7, ARI 4 (10)
    Ryan Schimpf, 2B
    5
    3
    4
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    BOS 10, DET 2
    Rick Porcello (W,17-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    2
    1
    2
    8
  

    BAT
    5.0
    HOU 15, BAL 8
    Teoscar Hernandez, CF
    4
    3
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    5.0
    CIN 9, LAD 2
    Joey Votto, 1B
    3
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    MIA 6, PIT 5
    J.T. Realmuto, C
    3
    2
    3
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    SF 8, NYM 1
    Conor Gillaspie, PH
    1
    1
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    WSH 7, ATL 6
    Clint Robinson, 1B
    3
    2
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    STL 4, PHI 3 (11)
    Seung Hwan Oh (W,3-2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    1
    0
    0
    1
    2
  

    
    1.0
    COL 7, CHC 6 (11)
    David Dahl, CF
    4
    2
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    SEA 7, MIL 6
    Adam Lind, PH-1B
    2
    1
    1
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    KC 5, MIN 4 (11)
    Chien-Ming Wang (W,6-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    0
  

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

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	15.1	30.5	82.1	141.3	-0.3
Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	pi sp	nyy al	10.7	18.7	31.4	31.4	2.7
Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	10.4	19.8	28.5	28.5	1.0
Votto, Joey 2366	1b	cin nl	8.5	13.5	30.2	62.2	3.5
Porcello, Rick 2573	pi sp	bos al	7.0	11.0	32.7	41.7	3.0
Realmuto, J.T. 3491	ca	fla nl	5.5	10.5	10.5	10.5	0.5
Graveman, Kendall 3444	pi sp	oak al	5.0	9.7	9.7	9.7	0.3
Schimpf, Ryan 3686	2b 3b	sd nl	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.2
Oh, Seung Hwan 3693	pi cp	stl nl	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
Lind, Adam 2238	1b ph	sea al	3.7	10.2	30.2	57.8	-2.8
Gillaspie, Conor 3218	3b ph	sf nl	2.0	2.0	8.5	8.5	2.0
Hernandez, Teoscar 3713	cf	hou al	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Robinson, Clint 3475	1b	dc nl	1.0	4.5	4.5	4.5	-2.5
Wang, Chien-Ming 2023	pi cp	kc al	1.0	1.0	5.0	28.1	1.0
Dahl, David 3714	cf	col nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Kris Bryant takes Box-Toppers points lead among NL batters; Dodgers' Kershaw maintains overall lead

Shawn Plank August 19, 2016

Kris Bryant, Cubs, passes Matt Carpenter, Cardinals, to lead NL batters in Box-Toppers points. Kershaw maintains overall lead. Kluber leads AL pitchers. Altuve leads AL batters.

Chicago Cubs remain atop Box-Toppers team rankings, AL-leading Red Sox are hottest team of week

Shawn Plank August 19, 2016

Cubs extend lead over 2nd-place Dodgers. Red Sox, week's hottest team, continue lead of AL teams.

Cubs' Kris Bryant tops players for Thursday, Aug. 18, rises to lead NL batters in Box-Toppers points

Shawn Plank August 19, 2016

Kris Bryant of the Cubs is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to lead National League batters in season Box-Toppers player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 18:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
4	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
6	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	14.4
7	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	14.1
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	12.7
10	Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	12.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Bryant hit two homers, doubled and went 5-for-5, scoring four times and driving in five runs, in the 9-6 win over the Brewers.

Bryant earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.0 for the season, most of any of the 11 who earned Player of the Game honors Thursday. Bryant now leads NL batters in Box-Toppers points, passing previous leader, Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals (8.5). Bryant ranks 32nd among all players.

American League Player of the Day—Royals pitcher Dillon Gee struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and one walk, in the 8-1 win over the Twins.

American League Batter of the Day—J.J. Hardy of the Orioles hit two homers, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 13-5 win over the Astros.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall Player of the Day was NL batter Kris Bryant.

Debut—Nationals pitcher Reynaldo Lopez made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Lopez (7IP 4H 2R 2BB 11K W in the 8-2 win over the Braves) made his Major League debut July 19 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,712th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/18
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.0
    CHC 9, MIL 6
    Kris Bryant, 3B
    5
    4
    5
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    9.0
    WSH 8, ATL 2
    Reynaldo Lopez (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    2
    1
    2
    11
  

    AL
    6.0
    KC 8, MIN 1
    Dillon Gee (W,5-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    1
    1
    1
    7
  

    
    5.0
    SF 10, NYM 7
    Eduardo Nunez, 3B
    4
    2
    4
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    5.0
    BAL 13, HOU 5
    J.J. Hardy, SS
    4
    3
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    CIN 5, MIA 4
    Dan Straily (W,9-6)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    6
    2
    2
    0
    7
  

    
    3.0
    `CLE 5, CHW 4
    Mike Clevinger
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    4.0
    2
    1
    1
    1
    4
  

    
    2.0
    SD 9, ARI 8
    Travis Jankowski, CF
    5
    3
    4
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    LAA 6, SEA 4
    Yunel Escobar, 3B
    4
    2
    3
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    PHI 5, LAD 4
    Maikel Franco, 3B
    4
    1
    2
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    1.0
    DET 4, BOS 3
    Justin Upton, PR-DH
    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.
  

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Bryant, Kris 3465	lf 3b rf	chi nl	9.0	17.5	17.5	17.5	0.5
Nunez, Eduardo 2795	3b 2b ss	sf nl	5.5	7.5	13.5	15.0	3.5
Franco, Maikel 3510	3b	phi nl	4.5	7.7	7.7	7.7	1.3
Hardy, J.J. 2071	ss	bal al	4.2	4.2	25.6	52.8	4.2
Upton, Justin 2411	lf	det al	4.0	13.0	39.9	48.4	-5.0
Straily, Dan 3080	pi sp	cin nl	4.0	4.0	14.7	14.7	4.0
Gee, Dillon 2808	pi sp	kc al	3.7	4.7	31.5	32.5	2.7
Jankowski, Travis 3696	cf	sd nl	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Clevinger, Mike 3707	pi sp mr	cle al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Escobar, Yunel 2331	3b	ana al	1.0	5.0	20.0	41.0	-3.0
Lopez, Reynaldo 3712	pi sp	dc nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Rays' Chris Archer tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 17; Cubs' Lester rises to 6th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank August 18, 2016

Rays pitcher Chris Archer is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 17:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
4	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
6	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	14.4
7	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	14.1
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	12.7
10	Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	12.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Archer pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing four hits and one walk, in the 2-0 win over the Padres.

National League Player of the Day—Yasmany Tomas of the Diamondbacks hit two homers and tripled, going 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 13-5 win over the Mets.

American League Batter of the Day—Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox hit a two-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-1, six-inning, rain-shortened win over the Orioles.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because the NL Player of the Day was batter Yasmany Tomas.

Rankings—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises from eighth to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Lester (6.2IP 3H R 2BB 7K W in the 6-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.4 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL pitchers.

Lester also now has 135.5 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 28th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 27th-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5).

Scoring—Archer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tomas earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Bradley earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/17
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    11.1
    TB 2, SD 0
    Chris Archer (W,7-16)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.1
    4
    0
    0
    1
    9
  

    NL
    8.0
    ARI 13, NYM 5
    Yasmany Tomas, RF
    4
    3
    3
    6
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    8.0
    STL 8, HOU 2
    Carlos Martinez (W,11-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    3
    1
    1
    1
    7
  

    
    6.2
    CHC 6, MIL 1
    Jon Lester (W,13-4)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.2
    3
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    
    5.0
    LAD 7, PHI 2
    Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
    4
    2
    2
    5
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    5.0
    BOS 8, BAL 1 (6)
    Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
    3
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.1
    `KC 4, DET 1
    Yordano Ventura
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.1
    5
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    
    4.0
    TOR 7, NYY 4
    Melvin Upton Jr., CF
    3
    2
    2
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    COL 12, WSH 10
    Gerardo Parra, RF
    5
    2
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    PIT 6, SF 5
    Matt Joyce, PH
    1
    1
    1
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    TEX 6, OAK 2
    Yu Darvish (W,4-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    8
    2
    2
    1
    9
  

    
    2.1
    SEA 4, LAA 3
    Drew Storen (W,3-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.1
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.0
    MIN 10, ATL 3
    Trevor Plouffe, 3B
    5
    1
    3
    3
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    CHW 10, CLE 7
    Adam Eaton, RF
    5
    1
    2
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    CIN 3, MIA 2
    Josh Smith (W,2-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    2
    2
  

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

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	14.4	26.4	72.6	135.5	2.4
Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	8.0	24.0	48.1	48.1	-8.0
Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	6.7	20.4	21.4	21.4	-7.0
Tomas, Yasmany 3489	rf lf	ari nl	6.2	9.7	9.7	9.7	2.7
Ventura, Yordano 3294	pi sp	kc al	6.0	17.7	27.4	27.4	-5.7
Darvish, Yu 3003	pi sp	tex al	4.7	4.7	49.9	49.9	4.7
Plouffe, Trevor 2869	3b	min al	4.5	7.5	23.5	23.5	1.5
Bradley, Jackie Jr. 3293	cf	bos al	4.0	13.5	14.5	14.5	-5.5
Gonzalez, Adrian 2193	1b	lad nl	4.0	8.0	34.7	70.6	0.0
Joyce, Matt 2480	rf dh ph	pit nl	4.0	4.0	20.2	29.7	4.0
Eaton, Adam 3253	rf cf	chi al	3.0	8.5	11.0	11.0	-2.5
Parra, Gerardo 2746	rf	col nl	2.5	9.0	20.0	21.0	-4.0
Upton, Melvin 1922	lf cf	tor al	2.5	2.5	15.5	37.2	2.5
Smith, Josh 3674	pi mr	cin nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Storen, Drew 2750	pi mr	sea al	1.0	3.0	11.0	13.0	-1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Jason Hammel tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 16; Indians' Kluber rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers points

Shawn Plank August 17, 2016

Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 16:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
4	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	14.1
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
8	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	13.4
9	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	12.7
10	Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	12.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Hammel pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing two hits and three walks, in the 4-1 win over the Brewers.

Hammel earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season, becoming the 23rd player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. Hammel ranks 17th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez pitched four scoreless innings, allowing no hits, walking two and striking out seven, in the 5-3 win over the Orioles. Rodriguez did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because he did not pitch the requisite five innings to earn the win, exiting the game with an injury.

National League Batter of the Day—DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies homered, tripled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 6-2 win over the Nationals.

American League Batter of the Day—Luke Maile of the Rays doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 15-1 win over the Padres.

This was Maile’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Maile made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2015, and was playing in his 35th career game. He is the 3,709th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Rankings—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Kluber (6IP 7H R 2BB 7K W in the 3-1 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.2 for the season. He extends his lead among AL pitchers ahead of second-place Cole Hamels of the Rangers (14.1).

Notable—Royals pitcher Danny Duffy becomes the 24th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Duffy (7.2IP 3H R 2BB 5K W in the 6-1 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. Duffy ranks 19th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers.

Streak—Troy Tulowitzki of the Blue Jays has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2016 on Tuesday.

Tulowitzki (HR 4-5 2R 2BI in the 12-6 win over the Yankees) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2007 with the Rockies and has 59.8 career points, 15th among active AL batters and first among active AL shortstops. His best year was 2014 with the Rockies, when he had 11.6 Box-Toppers points, the season leader among NL batters. In 2015, he had 6.0 Box-Toppers points with the Rockies and the Blue Jays.

Debut—In addition to Maile, two other players made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, with their first career Player of the Game honors:

T.J. Rivera of the Mets (4-4 2R in the 7-5 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut Aug. 10 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,710th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Jett Bandy of the Angels (HR 2-4 2R BI in the 7-6 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut Sept. 14, 2015, and was playing in his 45th career game. He is the 3,711th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Hammel earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rodriguez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. LeMahieu and Maile each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    8/16
    Score
    Game
    Player of Game
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.0
    CHC 4, MIL 1
    Jason Hammel (W,13-5)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    0
    0
    3
    7
  

    AL
    9.0
    `BOS 5, BAL 3
    Eduardo Rodriguez
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    4.0
    0
    0
    0
    2
    7
  

    
    7.0
    MIN 4, ATL 2
    Ervin Santana (W,6-9)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    4
    0
    0
    2
    6
  

    
    7.0
    LAD 15, PHI 5
    Kenta Maeda (W,12-7)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    3
    2
    2
    1
    9
  

    
    5.2
    KC 6, DET 1
    Danny Duffy (W,10-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.2
    3
    1
    1
    2
    5
  

    BAT
    5.0
    COL 6, WSH 2
    DJ LeMahieu, 2B
    3
    3
    3
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    BAT
    4.0
    TB 15, SD 1
    Luke Maile, C
    4
    1
    3
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    CHC 4, MIL 0
    Trevor Cahill (W,2-3)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.0
    2
    0
    0
    2
    3
  

    
    4.0
    `TEX 5, OAK 4 (10)
    Alex Claudio
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    4.0
    2
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    3.0
    TOR 12, NYY 6
    Troy Tulowitzki, SS
    5
    2
    4
    2
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    CIN 6, MIA 3
    Tucker Barnhart, C
    3
    1
    1
    4
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    STL 8, HOU 5
    Seung Hwan Oh (S,12)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    2.0
    NYM 7, ARI 5
    T.J. Rivera, 3B-2B
    4
    2
    4
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    2.0
    CLE 3, CHW 1
    Corey Kluber (W,13-8)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    7
    1
    1
    2
    7
  

    
    1.0
    LAA 7, SEA 6
    Jett Bandy, C
    4
    2
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    0.0
    PIT 4, SF 3
    Andrew McCutchen, CF
    3
    1
    2
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players


Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2	30.6	61.4	61.4	3.8
Hammel, Jason 2235	pi sp	chi nl	11.0	20.7	44.1	57.2	1.3
Duffy, Danny 2915	pi sp	kc al	10.7	14.7	29.7	29.7	6.7
LeMahieu, DJ 3091	2b	col nl	7.0	14.0	20.0	20.0	0.0
Maeda, Kenta 3609	pi sp	lad nl	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0
McCutchen, Andrew 2637	cf	pit nl	4.5	15.0	45.7	51.4	-6.0
Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	4.0	9.4	47.8	97.3	-1.4
Oh, Seung Hwan 3693	pi cp	stl nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480	pi sp	bos al	2.7	8.7	8.7	8.7	-3.3
Cahill, Trevor 2658	pi mr sp	chi nl	2.0	3.0	26.1	39.2	1.0
Maile, Luke 3709	ca	tb al	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Tulowitzki, Troy 2308	ss	tor al	1.0	7.0	39.1	59.8	-5.0
Barnhart, Tucker 3519	ca	cin nl	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Claudio, Alex 3459	pi mr	tex al	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Bandy, Jett 3711	ca	ana al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Rivera, T.J. 3710	3b 2b	nym nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Lead changes

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

All-time leaders

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Box-Toppers

Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.