Athletics' Daniel Mengden tops players for Thursday, Sept. 15; Giants' Cueto rises to 8th in Box-Toppers rankings

Athletics pitcher Daniel Mengden is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 15:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 23.7
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 21.0
3 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 20.4
4 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 20.2
5 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 20.1
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 16.8
7 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym al 15.7
8 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 15.4
9 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 15.1
10 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp lad nl 14.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Thursday, Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Mengden pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits, no walks and striking out six, in the 14-5 win over the Royals.

This was Mengden’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Mengden made his Major League debut June 11 and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,741st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin pitched three scoreless innings, allowing no runs, hits or walks, striking out four and earning the save, in the 7-3 win over the Dodgers.

National League Batter of the Day—Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates hit two homers and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 15-2 win over the Phillies.

American League Batter of the Day—Evan Longoria of the Rays hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-5, driving in five runs, in the 7-6 win over the Orioles.

Rankings—Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Cueto (CG 5H 2R BB 7K W in the 6-2 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.4 for the season, rising from ninth to eighth place. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.

Notable—Russell Martin of the Blue Jays became the 41st player (and seventh batter) with 10 or more Box-Toppers points in 2016 after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Martin (HR 1-3 R 4BI in the 7-2 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.5 for the season. He ranks 35th among all players and fourth among AL batters.

This is Martin’s first season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. His previous best season was 2007 with the Dodgers, when he had 8.5 Box-Toppers points.

Also notable—David Ortiz of the Red Sox rises to 23rd place in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Day honors Thursday.

Ortiz (HR 2B 3-4 R 3BI in the 7-5 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 144.9 career points. He passes Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (143.9) on the “all-time” list and now trails 22nd-ranked player, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (145.8). Ortiz also rises to seventh place among active players in career points, second among active batters, behind only Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.3). Ortiz also now rises to seventh among all batters in career points since 1995 and trails sixth-ranked batter Jim Thome (146.7) on the “all-time” list.

Ortiz has 7.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 19th among AL batters and fourth among AL designated hitters. Ortiz has said he will retire at the end of the season.

Scoring—Mengden earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Corbin earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. McCutchen and Longoria 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.

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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/15 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 10.0 OAK 14, KC 5 Daniel Mengden (W,2-7) - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 0 6
NL 7.0 ARI 7, LAD 3 Patrick Corbin (S,1) - - - - 3.0 0 0 0 0 4
6.0 SF 6, STL 2 Johnny Cueto (W,16-5) - - - - 9.0 5 2 2 1 7
6.0 `CHW 2, CLE 1 James Shields - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 3 8
BAT 4.0 PIT 15, PHI 2 Andrew McCutchen, CF 5 3 3 3 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 TB 7, BAL 6 Evan Longoria, 3B 5 1 2 5 - - - - - -
3.0 BOS 7, NYY 5 David Ortiz, DH 4 1 3 3 - - - - - -
3.0 TOR 7, LAA 2 Russell Martin, C 3 1 1 4 - - - - - -
2.0 MIL 5, CHC 4 Scooter Gennett, PH 1 0 1 2 - - - - - -
1.0 MIN 5, DET 1 Eddie Rosario, LF 4 2 3 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 15.4 28.2 79.4 98.8 2.6
Martin, Russell 2202 ca tor al 10.5 15.5 32.0 53.0 5.5
McCutchen, Andrew 2637 cf pit nl 7.0 17.5 48.2 53.9 -3.5
Ortiz, David dh bos al 7.0 11.5 42.9 144.9 2.5
Longoria, Evan 2423 3b tb al 5.5 8.5 25.0 46.0 2.5
Corbin, Patrick 3027 pi sp cp ari nl 3.7 9.1 32.5 32.5 -1.7
Shields, James 2157 pi sp chi al 3.0 10.4 68.6 99.4 -4.4
Rosario, Eddie 3542 lf min al 3.0 4.5 4.5 4.5 1.5
Gennett, Scooter 3254 2b ph mil nl 2.5 4.5 11.5 11.5 0.5
Mengden, Daniel 3741 pi sp oak al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Jon Lester tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 14; Dodgers' Kershaw rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Cubs pitcher Jon Lester is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming the fifth player this season with 20 Box-Toppers points.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 14:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 23.7
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 21.0
3 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 20.4
4 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 20.2
5 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 20.1
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 16.8
7 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym al 15.7
8 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 15.1
9 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 14.4
10 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp lad nl 14.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw earns his first Box-Toppers point in nearly three months and despite not earning points for almost half the season, rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings for 2016.

Player of the Day—Lester pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, one walk and striking out eight, in the 7-0 win over the Cardinals.

Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 20.1 for the season. He maintains his rank of fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, fourth among National League pitchers.

This is Lester’s second season with 20 or more Box-Toppers points. In 2010, he had 23.4 points with the Red Sox, leading American League pitchers.

Lester also now has 141.2 career Box-Toppers points, 27th-most among players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 26th-ranked player Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8) on the “all-time” list.

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits, one walk and striking out six, in the 1-0 win over the Red Sox.

Gausman earns 1.7 Box-Toppers point for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 10.8 for the season. He becomes the 40th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 32nd among all players, 13th among AL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Jean Segura of the Diamondbacks hit two homers and went 5-for-6, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 11-6 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—Ian Kinsler of the Tigers tripled, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-6 win over the Twins.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning his first Player of the Game honor Wednesday in nearly three months.

Kershaw (5IP H 0R 0BB 5K ND in the 2-0 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.0 for the season, rising from fourth to second in player rankings. Kershaw trails overall leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (23.7 Box-Toppers points) by 2.7.

Kershaw’s second-place spot is remarkable since he was on the disabled list for two months with lower back issues and last earned Player of the Game honors June 20. Kershaw held a dominant lead in Box-Toppers points for much of the middle of the season, leading in points from May 7 to Aug. 25, when Scherzer passed him.

Kershaw also now has 180.3 career Box-Toppers points, seventh-most among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and third-most among all active players, behind Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (184.0) and Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.3). (See the homepage for the updated top 20 list of all players since 1995.)

Fernandez—Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez, now ranked third in Box-Toppers player rankings with 20.4 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game in his start Wednesday.

Fernandez (7IP 6H 4R 2BB 3K W in the 7-5 win over the Braves) had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of −6.0. Teammate Marcell Ozuna earned Player of the Game honors (HR 2-4 R 4BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0.

Notable—Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark now has 12.7 Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Roark (7IP 3H 0R 4BB 7K W in the 1-0 win over the Mets) now ranks 18th among all players and 13th among NL pitchers.

Scoring—Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gausman earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Segura and Kinsler 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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/14 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 CHC 7, STL 0 Jon Lester (W,17-4) - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 1 8
AL 9.0 BAL 1, BOS 0 Kevin Gausman (W,8-10) - - - - 8.0 4 0 0 1 6
9.0 `LAD 2, NYY 0 Clayton Kershaw - - - - 5.0 1 0 0 0 5
7.0 WSH 1, NYM 0 Tanner Roark (W,15-8) - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 4 7
6.0 MIL 7, CIN 0 Junior Guerra (W,9-3) - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 2 5
6.0 OAK 8, KC 0 Sean Manaea (W,6-9) - - - - 5.0 3 0 0 1 5
BAT 5.0 ARI 11, COL 6 Jean Segura, 2B 6 3 5 3 - - - - - -
4.1 SD 3, SF 1 Luis Perdomo (W,8-9) - - - - 6.1 4 1 1 1 5
BAT 4.0 DET 9, MIN 6 Ian Kinsler, 2B 5 2 4 3 - - - - - -
3.0 TB 8, TOR 1 Corey Dickerson, LF 5 1 3 4 - - - - - -
3.0 MIA 7, ATL 5 Marcell Ozuna, RF 4 1 2 4 - - - - - -
2.0 CLE 6, CHW 1 Coco Crisp, LF 4 1 2 3 - - - - - -
2.0 PHI 6, PIT 2 Tommy Joseph, 1B 4 3 2 1 - - - - - -
2.0 HOU 8, TEX 4 Evan Gattis, C 3 2 2 1 - - - - - -
2.0 SEA 2, LAA 1 Edwin Diaz (S,16) - - - - 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 +/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 21.0 46.7 146.8 180.3 -4.7
Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 20.1 32.1 78.3 141.2 8.1
Roark, Tanner 3261 pi sp dc nl 12.7 13.7 28.7 28.7 11.7
Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp bal al 10.8 16.5 24.2 24.2 5.1
Guerra, Junior 3633 pi sp mil nl 9.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 9.0
Diaz, Edwin 3690 pi cp sea al 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0
Manaea, Sean 3637 pi sp oak al 6.7 6.7 6.7 6.7 6.7
Kinsler, Ian 2144 2b det al 6.0 12.5 31.7 62.1 -0.5
Ozuna, Marcell 3190 cf rf fla nl 5.0 8.0 18.5 18.5 2.0
Dickerson, Corey 3222 lf tb al 4.5 7.5 16.5 16.5 1.5
Segura, Jean 3173 2b ari nl 4.5 6.5 11.0 11.0 2.5
Gattis, Evan 3179 ca hou al 4.0 8.0 10.0 10.0 0.0
Crisp, Coco 1876 lf cle al 3.0 5.0 21.5 38.7 1.0
Joseph, Tommy 3681 1b ph phi nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Perdomo, Luis D. 3715 pi sp sd nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Mariners' Taijuan Walker tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 13; Mets' Syndergaard rises to 7th in Box-Toppers rankings

Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker 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 Sept. 13:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 23.7
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 20.4
3 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 20.2
4 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 20.0
5 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 18.1
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 16.8
7 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym al 15.7
8 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 15.1
9 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 14.4
10 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp lad nl 14.4
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.

Player of the Day—Walker pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out 11 and walking none, in the 8-0 win over the Angels.

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and one walk, in the 4-3, 10-inning win over the Nationals. Syndergaard did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because after he exited, the Nationals tied the game 3-3 before the Mets took the lead for good in the top of the 10th inning.

Syndergaard earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 15.7 for the season, rising to seventh place in season player rankings, fifth among NL pitchers. His rise back into Box-Toppers top 10 displaces Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (14.1 Box-Toppers points) from the list, as he falls to 11th.

American League Batter of the Day—Jorge Polanco of the Twins homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-1 win over the Tigers.

This was Polanco’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Polanco made his Major League debut June 26, 2014, and was playing in his 61st career game. He is the 3,739th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Moss of the Cardinals homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 4-2 win over the Cubs.

Notable—Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia extends his lead in career Box-Toppers points among active players after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Sabathia (6.1IP 3H 0R BB 7K ND in the 3-0 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 184.0 career points. He leads second-place active player Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.3) by 1.7 points.

Sabathia ranks fifth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails fourth-place player Alex Rodriguez (187.0) on the “all-time” list. Sabathia has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season. (See the homepage for the updated “all-time” top 20 Box-Toppers player rankings list.)

Also notable—White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana becomes the 39th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Quintana (8IP 5H R BB 6K W in the 8-1 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season, 36th among all players and 15th among AL pitchers.

Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Matt Koch (4IP 2H 0R BB 4K Sv in the 11-4 win over the Rockies) made his Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Koch made his Major League debut Sept. 9 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,740th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Walker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Syndergaard earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Polanco and Moss each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/13 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 17.0 SEA 8, LAA 0 Taijuan Walker (W,6-10) - - - - 9.0 3 0 0 0 11
NL 10.0 `NYM 4, WSH 3 (10) Noah Syndergaard - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 1 10
9.1 `NYY 3, LAD 0 CC Sabathia - - - - 6.1 3 0 0 1 7
8.0 CIN 6, MIL 4 Dan Straily (W,12-8) - - - - 8.0 3 2 2 1 8
8.0 `PIT 5, PHI 3 Ivan Nova - - - - 6.0 5 2 1 1 11
6.0 CHW 8, CLE 1 Jose Quintana (W,12-10) - - - - 8.0 5 1 1 1 6
BAT 5.0 MIN 8, DET 1 Jorge Polanco, SS 4 2 3 4 - - - - - -
5.0 ARI 11, COL 4 Matt Koch (S,1) - - - - 4.0 2 0 0 1 4
5.0 `TEX 3, HOU 2 A.J. Griffin - - - - 7.0 4 2 2 1 7
4.0 TB 6, TOR 2 Steven Souza Jr., RF 1 3 1 1 - - - - - -
4.0 MIA 7, ATL 5 Justin Nicolino (W,3-6) - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 2
BAT 3.0 STL 4, CHC 2 Brandon Moss, LF 3 2 2 2 - - - - - -
3.0 BAL 6, BOS 3 J.J. Hardy, SS 2 1 1 3 - - - - - -
3.0 OAK 5, KC 4 Yonder Alonso, PH-1B 1 1 1 2 - - - - - -
2.0 SD 6, SF 4 Kevin Quackenbush (S,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 +/-
Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 15.7 26.1 26.1 26.1 5.3
Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 10.4 16.4 35.2 35.2 4.4
Walker, Taijuan 3453 pi sp sea al 7.7 21.4 21.4 21.4 -6.0
Nova, Ivan 2796 pi sp pit nl 7.0 8.0 29.1 30.1 6.0
Straily, Dan 3080 pi sp cin nl 6.0 6.0 16.7 16.7 6.0
Souza, Steven Jr. 3461 rf tb al 5.7 11.2 11.2 11.2 0.2
Griffin, A.J. 3074 pi sp tex al 5.7 5.7 20.4 20.4 5.7
Hardy, J.J. 2071 ss bal al 5.2 5.2 26.6 53.8 5.2
Sabathia, C.C. 1492 pi sp nyy al 5.0 10.7 45.5 184.0 -0.7
Moss, Brandon 2520 rf lf 1b stl nl 4.0 9.0 25.0 27.0 -1.0
Quackenbush, Kevin 3462 pi cp mr sd nl 3.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 1.0
Alonso, Yonder 2945 1b ph oak al 2.0 3.5 13.0 13.0 0.5
Nicolino, Justin 3576 pi sp mr fla nl 2.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 1.0
Polanco, Jorge 3739 ss min al 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5
Koch, Matt 3740 pi cp ari nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Red Sox' David Price tops players for Monday, Sept. 12; Cubs' Hendricks tops NL players

Red Sox pitcher David Price is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Price struck out nine over eight innings, allowing two runs, two hits and no walks, in the 12-2 win over the Orioles.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 12:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 23.7
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 20.4
3 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 20.2
4 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 20.0
5 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 18.1
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 16.8
7 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 15.1
8 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 14.4
9 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp lad nl 14.4
10 Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 pi sp nyy al 14.1
What are those numbers after players' names?

Price earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Game, giving him 12.4 for the season. He ranks 20th among all players and sixth among American League pitchers.

Price also now has 106.2 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 59th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Monday, he passes five players on the “all-time” list—Carlos Beltran of the Rangers (104.9), Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1), Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (105.7), Aramis Ramirez (105.8) and Frank Thomas (106.2). He now trails 58th-ranked player Lance Berkman (108.1).

National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks allowed one hit and one run over eight innings, striking out seven and walking two, in the 4-1 win over the Cardinals.

Hendricks earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 13.4 for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. Hendricks ranks 15th among all players and 11th among NL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Yasmany Tomas of the Diamondbacks hit a grand slam and doubled, going 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 12-9 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—Avisail Garcia of the White Sox homered and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 11-4 win over the Indians.

Notable—Phillies pitcher Jeremy Hellickson now has 12.1 Box-Toppers points on the season after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Hellickson (6.1IP 3H R 3BB 6K in the 6-2 win over the Pirates) now ranks 23rd among all players and 13th among NL pitchers.

Also notable—Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Liriano now has 102.2 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Liriano (6.1IP 3H 2R BB 6K ND in the 3-2 win over the Rays) now ranks 67th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes two players on the “all-time” list—Tim Wakefield (101.4) and Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2) and now trails 66th-ranked player Miguel Tejada (102.3). Liriano has 7.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 30th among AL pitchers.

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

  • Reds pitcher Keyvius Sampson (4.2IP 4H 0R 2BB 7K ND in the 3-0 win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut July 30, 2015, and was playing in his 29th career game. He is the 3,737th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Mariners pitcher Ariel Miranda (6IP 3H 0R BB 3K W in the 8-1 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut July 3 and was playing in his ninth career game. He is the 3,738th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Price earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hendricks earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Tomas and Garcia 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.

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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/12 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 BOS 12, BAL 2 David Price (W,16-8) - - - - 8.0 2 2 2 0 9
NL 10.0 CHC 4, STL 1 Kyle Hendricks (W,15-7) - - - - 8.0 1 1 1 2 7
BAT 7.0 ARI 12, COL 9 Yasmany Tomas, RF 5 3 4 5 - - - - - -
7.0 OAK 16, KC 3 Daniel Coulombe (W,3-1) - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 5
6.1 `DET 4, MIN 2 Daniel Norris - - - - 6.1 5 2 2 2 11
5.2 `CIN 3, MIL 0 Keyvius Sampson - - - - 4.2 4 0 0 2 7
5.1 PHI 6, PIT 2 Jeremy Hellickson (W,11-9) - - - - 6.1 3 1 0 3 6
5.0 SEA 8, LAA 1 Ariel Miranda (W,4-1) - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 1 3
4.1 `TOR 3, TB 2 Francisco Liriano - - - - 6.1 3 2 2 1 6
4.0 ATL 12, MIA 7 Nick Markakis, RF 3 3 2 2 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 CHW 11, CLE 4 Avisail Garcia, RF 5 3 4 1 - - - - - -
3.0 TEX 4, HOU 3 (12) Rougned Odor, 2B 4 1 3 3 - - - - - -
3.0 SD 4, SF 0 Paul Clemens (W,3-5) - - - - 5.0 3 0 0 1 2
1.0 WSH 8, NYM 1 Anthony Rendon, 3B 4 1 1 3 - - - - - -
1.0 LAD 8, NYY 2 Howie Kendrick, 1B 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

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 +/-
Hendricks, Kyle 3386 pi sp chi nl 13.4 23.1 28.1 28.1 3.7
Price, David 2593 pi sp bos al 12.4 33.5 89.5 106.2 -8.7
Hellickson, Jeremy 2778 pi sp phi nl 12.1 17.1 40.8 43.8 7.1
Tomas, Yasmany 3489 rf lf ari nl 7.7 11.2 11.2 11.2 4.2
Liriano, Francisco 2104 pi sp tor al 7.0 21.9 62.4 102.2 -7.9
Odor, Rougned 3336 2b tex al 6.5 9.5 11.0 11.0 3.5
Rendon, Anthony 3258 3b dc nl 5.5 6.5 12.0 12.0 4.5
Markakis, Nick 2116 rf atl nl 5.0 9.5 20.5 47.1 0.5
Kendrick, Howie 2191 2b lf 1b lad nl 4.0 8.0 20.0 34.0 0.0
Garcia, Avisail 3256 dh rf chi al 2.5 5.5 11.0 11.0 -0.5
Coulombe, Daniel 3720 pi mr oak al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Norris, Daniel 3548 pi sp det al 1.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 -3.0
Clemens, Paul 3185 pi sp sd nl 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 1.0
Miranda, Ariel 3738 pi sp sea al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Sampson, Keyvius 3737 pi sp cin nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Indians' Corey Kluber tops players for Sunday, Sept. 11, rising to 3rd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third in season player rankings and extending his lead among American League pitchers.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 11:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 23.7
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 20.4
3 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 20.2
4 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 20.0
5 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 18.1
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 16.8
7 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 15.1
8 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 14.4
9 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp lad nl 14.4
10 Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 pi sp nyy al 14.1
What are those numbers after players' names?

Kluber struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and two walks, in the 7-1 win over the Twins.

Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 20.2 for the season. He rises from fourth to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, passing Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0). He extends his lead among AL pitchers, trailed by Cole Hamels of the Rangers (16.8).

Kluber becomes the fourth player this season with 20 or more Box-Toppers points. It is the second time in his career Kluber has earned 20 or more points. In 2014, he had 25.8 points to lead AL pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher Jose Urena pitched 8 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits, no walks and striking out four, in the 3-0 win over the Dodgers.

National League Batter of the Day—Addison Russell of the Cubs homered and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 9-5 win over the Astros.

American League Batter of the Day—Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice, in the 11-8 win over the Blue Jays.

Notable—Royals pitcher Ian Kennedy becomes the 38th player in 2016 with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Kennedy (6IP H 0R 4BB 6K W in the 2-0 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He ranks 38th among all players and 15th among AL pitchers.

It is Kennedy’s second season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. In 2011, he had 19.4 points with the Diamondbacks, fifth among NL pitchers.

Also notable—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver now has 126.1 career Box-Toppers points—37th-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Weaver (6.2IP 4H 2R 2BB 8K W in the 3-2 win over the Rangers) now trails 36th-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4) on the “all-time" list. Weaver has 3.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Urena earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Russell and Bradley 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.

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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/11 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 10.0 CLE 7, MIN 1 Corey Kluber (W,16-9) - - - - 7.0 4 1 0 2 10
NL 8.2 MIA 3, LAD 0 Jose Urena (W,4-6) - - - - 8.2 4 0 0 0 4
7.0 KC 2, CHW 0 Ian Kennedy (W,11-9) - - - - 6.0 1 0 0 4 6
6.1 `MIL 2, STL 1 Zach Davies - - - - 7.1 5 1 1 1 7
5.0 SF 5, ARI 3 Matt Moore (W,10-11) - - - - 7.0 8 2 2 1 11
5.0 WSH 3, PHI 2 Gio Gonzalez (W,11-9) - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 1 5
4.2 LAA 3, TEX 2 Jered Weaver (W,11-11) - - - - 6.2 4 2 2 2 8
BAT 4.0 CHC 9, HOU 5 Addison Russell, SS 4 3 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 CIN 8, PIT 0 Brandon Phillips, 2B 4 3 3 1 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 BOS 11, TOR 8 Jackie Bradley, CF 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 NYM 10, ATL 3 Yoenis Cespedes, LF 4 1 1 5 - - - - - -
3.0 `COL 3, SD 2 (10) Chad Bettis - - - - 7.0 4 2 2 1 5
3.0 BAL 3, DET 1 Chris Tillman (W,16-5) - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 1 4
3.0 TB 4, NYY 2 Alex Colome (S,32) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 SEA 3, OAK 2 Edwin Diaz (S,15) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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 20.2 33.6 64.4 64.4 6.8
Kennedy, Ian 2723 pi sp kc al 10.0 16.7 60.5 66.5 3.3
Moore, Matt 2975 pi sp sf nl 9.7 9.7 35.2 35.2 9.7
Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 cf lf nym nl 8.0 18.9 39.9 39.9 -2.9
Colome, Alex 3189 pi cp tb al 8.0 13.0 16.7 16.7 3.0
Tillman, Chris 2754 pi sp bal al 8.0 12.7 41.8 43.8 3.3
Bettis, Chad 3481 pi sp col nl 6.7 12.1 12.1 12.1 1.3
Gonzalez, Gio 2626 pi sp dc nl 6.0 15.7 72.8 86.5 -3.7
Davies, Zach 3581 pi sp mil nl 6.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 3.0
Diaz, Edwin 3690 pi cp sea al 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0
Bradley, Jackie Jr. 3293 cf bos al 5.5 15.0 16.0 16.0 -4.0
Russell, Addison 3559 ss chi nl 3.5 6.0 6.0 6.0 1.0
Weaver, Jered 2178 pi sp ana al 3.0 10.7 65.3 126.1 -4.7
Urena, Jose 3492 pi sp fla nl 2.7 3.7 3.7 3.7 1.7
Phillips, Brandon 1691 2b cin nl 2.0 4.7 30.2 64.1 -0.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Rich Hill tops players for Saturday, Sept. 10, rises to 9th; Nationals' Scherzer bolsters lead in Box-Toppers rankings

Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

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


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 23.7
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 20.4
3 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 20.0
4 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 18.2
5 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 18.1
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 16.8
7 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 15.1
8 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 14.4
9 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp lad nl 14.4
10 Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 pi sp nyy al 14.1
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer bolstered his first-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka rises to 10th place in player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.

Player of the Day—Hill pitched seven perfect innings, striking out nine, in the 5-0 win over the Marlins. Despite allowing no base runners for seven innings, he was pulled after 89 pitches to preserve his health—he had spent time recently on the disabled list. While three Dodgers relievers preserved the shutout, they did give up two hits.

Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.4 for the season, rising to ninth place in season player rankings. He ranks seventh among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka struck out 10 over 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 5-1 win over the Rays.

Tanaka earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 14.1 for the season, rising to 10th place in season player rankings. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

With the rise of Hill to ninth place and Tanaka to 10th place in season player rankings, two other players were displaced from Box-Toppers top 10 list for the season—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard (14.0) and Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (13.7).

American League Batter of the Day—Matt Wieters of the Orioles hit two homers and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 11-3 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Hunter Pence of the Giants homered and went 3-for-3, scoring four times and driving in one run, in the 11-3 win over the Diamondbacks. It is the second straight day Pence has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He has 3.5 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Rankings—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer bolstered his first place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Scherzer (6.2IP 4H 0R BB 8K ND in the 3-0 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 23.7 for the season. He leads second-place player, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (20.4) by 3.3 points.

Scherzer also now has 129.7 career Box-Toppers points, 31st-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He passes Trevor Hoffman (129.4) on the “all-time” list and now trails 30th-ranked Jason Giambi (133.4).

Notable—Three other players with more than 10 Box-Toppers points on the season also earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:

  • Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ (6IP 4H 2R BB 5K W in the 3-2 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.7 for the season, 13th among all players and fourth among AL pitchers.
  • Joey Votto of the Reds (HR 2B 4-5 2R BI in the 8-7 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.5 for the season, 33rd among all players and second among NL batters, behind Kris Bryant of the Cubs (10.5). (Bryant holds the higher rank because he had more 2015 Box-Toppers points—8.5 vs. 5.)
  • Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (8IP 6H R 4BB 7K W in the 5-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.2 for the season, 36th among all players and 17th among NL pitchers. Wainwright now has 112.0 career Box-Toppers points, 52nd-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He passes Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (111.3) in “all-time” rankings and now trails 51st-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8).

Debut—Twins pitcher J.T. Chargois made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Chargois (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Indians) made his Major League debut June 11 and was playing in his 16th career game. He is the 3,736th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Hill 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. Wieters and Pence 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.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/10 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 16.0 LAD 5, MIA 0 Rich Hill (W,12-3) - - - - 7.0 0 0 0 0 9
14.0 SD 6, COL 3 Christian Friedrich (W,5-10) - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 1 10
AL 10.1 NYY 5, TB 1 Masahiro Tanaka (W,13-4) - - - - 7.1 5 1 1 0 10
9.2 `WSH 3, PHI 0 Max Scherzer - - - - 6.2 4 0 0 1 8
BAT 6.0 BAL 11, DET 3 Matt Wieters, C 4 3 2 5 - - - - - -
BAT 5.0 SF 11, ARI 3 Hunter Pence, RF 3 4 3 1 - - - - - -
4.0 SEA 14, OAK 3 Nelson Cruz, DH 4 2 3 3 - - - - - -
4.0 HOU 2, CHC 1 Collin McHugh (W,10-10) - - - - 5.0 2 1 1 3 6
3.0 STL 5, MIL 1 Adam Wainwright (W,11-8) - - - - 8.0 6 1 1 4 7
2.0 CIN 8, PIT 7 Joey Votto, 1B 5 2 4 1 - - - - - -
2.0 TEX 8, LAA 5 Carlos Gomez, LF 5 2 2 3 - - - - - -
2.0 KC 6, CHW 5 Eric Hosmer, 1B 3 1 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 TOR 3, BOS 2 J.A. Happ (W,18-4) - - - - 6.0 4 2 2 1 5
2.0 MIN 2, CLE 1 (12) J.T. Chargois (W,1-1) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 ATL 4, NYM 3 (10) Matt Kemp, LF 3 1 1 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

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 +/-
Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 23.7 44.7 109.3 129.7 2.7
Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp lad nl 14.4 18.4 18.4 38.1 10.4
Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 pi sp nyy al 14.1 22.1 34.8 34.8 6.1
Happ, J.A. 2536 pi sp tor al 13.7 26.8 42.2 50.2 0.6
Votto, Joey 2366 1b cin nl 10.5 15.5 32.2 64.2 5.5
Wainwright, Adam 2150 pi sp stl nl 10.2 13.2 61.3 112.0 7.2
Wieters, Matt 2643 ca bal al 9.5 10.5 28.5 34.2 8.5
Hosmer, Eric 2886 1b kc al 8.5 17.5 31.0 31.0 -0.5
McHugh, Collin 3316 pi sp hou al 7.7 17.4 29.2 29.2 -2.0
Kemp, Matt 2151 rf lf atl nl 6.5 12.0 36.5 58.1 1.0
Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224 dh sea al 5.5 7.5 33.2 52.7 3.5
Pence, Hunter 2287 rf sf nl 3.5 5.5 24.5 52.2 1.5
Friedrich, Christian 3024 pi sp sd nl 2.7 2.7 6.4 6.4 2.7
Gomez, Carlos 2397 cf lf tex al 2.0 8.0 18.5 29.5 -4.0
Chargois, J.T. 3736 pi cp min al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Marlins' Jose Fernandez tops players for Friday, Sept. 9, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

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

Also Friday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester maintained his spot in fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Mark Teixeira of the Yankees reached 100 career Box-Toppers points after earning American League Batter of the Day honors Friday.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 9:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 22.7
2 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 20.4
3 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 20.0
4 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 18.2
5 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 18.1
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 16.8
7 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 15.1
8 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 14.4
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?

Player of the Day—Fernandez pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 14 and allowing three hits and three walks, in the 4-1 win over the Dodgers.

Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 20.4 for the season and rising to second place in season player rankings.

Fernandez passed Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0) in the rankings, who just happened to be making his return from more than two months on the disabled list in the same game. Kershaw (3IP 5H 2R 0BB 5K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of −1.0 in his return. Kershaw, who led Box-Toppers season rankings from May 7 to Aug. 24, now falls to third place.

Fernandez becomes the third player with 20.0 or more Box-Toppers points this season and now trails overall season leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (22.7). This is now Fernandez’s best season; his previous best year was his rookie year of 2013, when he had 19.0 Box-Toppers points.

American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish struck out nine over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Angels. Darvish did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied when he exited.

American League Batter of the Day—Mark Teixeira of the Yankees hit a grand slam and went 2-for-3, scoring twice, in the 7-5 win over the Rays.

Teixeira earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 100.3 points over his 14-year career. Teixeira, who has announced his retirement at the end of the season, becomes the 74th player and 27th batter with 100 or more career points since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. Teixeira now ranks 73rd on the “all-time” list, just ahead of Larry Walker (100.1) and just behind Jeff Bagwell (100.4).

Teixeira earned his first points in 2003 with the Rangers. His best season was 2009 with the Yankees when he had 11.5 points, ranked sixth among AL batters. He had 7.5 points in 2015 with the Yankees, 17th among AL batters. He has 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016.

National League Batter of the Day—Curtis Granderson of the Mets homered and went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 6-4 win over the Braves.

Rankings—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester bolstered his fifth-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Lester (7IP 7H 0R 0BB 7K W in the 2-0 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 18.1 for the season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

Lester now has 139.2 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 27th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Friday, he passes Andy Pettitte (138.5) on the “all-time” list and now trails 26th-ranked player, Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8).

Notable—Two other players with more than 10 Box-Toppers points for the season earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

  • Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark (6IP 6H R 2BB 8K ND in the 5-4 win over the Phillies) now has 11.7 Box-Toppers points, 24th among all players and 15th among NL pitchers.
  • Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer (7IP 3H 2R BB 5K ND in the 4-3 win over the Orioles) now has 11.7 Box-Toppers points, 25th among all players and eighth among AL pitchers.

Also notable—Tim Adleman of the Reds (2B 2-2 R BI in the 4-3 win over the Pirates) became the sixth pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. Pitchers have earned Player of the Game honors seven times in 2016—Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals did it twice.

Scoring—Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Darvish earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Teixeira and Granderson 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.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/9 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 15.0 MIA 4, LAD 1 Jose Fernandez (W,14-8) - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 3 14
AL 9.2 `TEX 2, LAA 1 Yu Darvish - - - - 6.2 3 1 1 1 9
7.0 CHC 2, HOU 0 Jon Lester (W,16-4) - - - - 7.0 7 0 0 0 7
BAT 5.0 NYY 7, TB 5 Mark Teixeira, 1B 3 2 2 4 - - - - - -
BAT 5.0 NYM 6, ATL 4 Curtis Granderson, CF 2 2 2 3 - - - - - -
4.0 BOS 13, TOR 3 Dustin Pedroia, 2B 4 1 3 4 - - - - - -
4.0 `DET 4, BAL 3 Michael Fulmer - - - - 7.0 3 2 2 1 5
4.0 CHW 7, KC 2 Carlos Rodon (W,7-8) - - - - 6.0 6 2 1 2 9
4.0 `WSH 5, PHI 4 Tanner Roark - - - - 6.0 6 1 1 2 8
3.0 SF 7, ARI 6 (12) Hunter Pence, RF 5 4 4 0 - - - - - -
3.0 CLE 5, MIN 4 Cody Allen (S,27) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 `STL 4, MIL 3 Kevin Siegrist (H,15) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 `SEA 3, OAK 2 Steve Cishek (H,4) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 COL 4, SD 1 Adam Ottavino (S,3) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 CIN 4, PIT 3 Tim Adleman, P 2 1 2 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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 +/-
Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 20.4 25.1 51.1 51.1 15.7
Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 18.1 30.1 76.3 139.2 6.1
Roark, Tanner 3261 pi sp dc nl 11.7 12.7 27.7 27.7 10.7
Fulmer, Michael 3640 pi sp det al 11.7 11.7 11.7 11.7 11.7
Allen, Cody 3265 pi cp mr cle al 7.0 11.0 16.0 16.0 3.0
Darvish, Yu 3003 pi sp tex al 6.4 6.4 51.6 51.6 6.4
Rodon, Carlos 3494 pi sp chi al 5.0 13.1 13.1 13.1 -3.1
Cishek, Steve 2997 pi cp sea al 5.0 6.0 25.0 25.0 4.0
Granderson, Curtis 2051 rf cf ph nym nl 4.5 8.5 33.4 65.8 0.5
Siegrist, Kevin 3260 pi mr cp stl nl 4.0 8.0 10.0 10.0 0.0
Pedroia, Dustin 2320 2b bos al 4.0 4.0 24.4 36.5 4.0
Teixeira, Mark 1738 1b nyy al 3.0 10.5 31.2 100.3 -4.5
Pence, Hunter 2287 rf sf nl 2.0 4.0 23.0 50.7 0.0
Ottavino, Adam 3054 pi cp col nl 2.0 4.0 6.0 6.0 0.0
Adleman, Tim 3625 pi sp cin nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Padres' Clayton Richard tops players for Thursday, Sept. 8; Yankees' McCann tops AL players

Padres pitcher Clayton Richard is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 8:  


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 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 17.1
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 16.8
7 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 15.1
8 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 14.4
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?

Richard pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing six hits and two walks, in the 14-1 win over the Rockies.

American League Player of the Day—Brian McCann of the Yankees hit two homers and went 3-for-4 in the 5-4 win over the Rays.

National League Batter of the Day—Hernan Perez of the Brewers hit two doubles and went 4-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 12-5 win over the Cardinals.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Brian McCann.

Notable—Kyle Seager of the Mariners has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of the seven who earned Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Seager (HR 3-4 2R 2BI in the 6-3 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.5 for the season. He ranks 41st among all players and seventh among AL batters.

Seager had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0, the same as AL Player of the Day Brian McCann. Both also had identical line scores (3-4 2R 2BI), but McCann held the tiebreaker to earn AL Player of the Day because he had two home runs and Seager had one.

Debut—Phillies pitcher Alec Asher made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Asher (6IP 2H 0R BB 0K W in the 4-1 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut Aug. 30, 2015, and was playing in his eighth career game. He is the 3,735th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/8 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 7.0 SD 14, COL 1 Clayton Richard (W,2-3) - - - - 7.0 6 0 0 2 8
5.0 PIT 4, CIN 1 Ivan Nova (W,12-6) - - - - 9.0 6 1 1 0 4
BAT 3.0 MIL 12, STL 5 Hernan Perez, 2B-3B 5 1 4 3 - - - - - -
AL 3.0 NYY 5, TB 4 Brian McCann, C 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 SEA 6, TEX 3 Kyle Seager, 3B 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 CLE 10, HOU 7 Francisco Lindor, SS 3 1 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 PHI 4, WSH 1 Alec Asher (W,1-0) - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 1 0

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 +/-
Seager, Kyle 3031 3b sea al 9.5 14.5 28.5 28.5 4.5
Nova, Ivan 2796 pi sp pit nl 6.0 7.0 28.1 29.1 5.0
Lindor, Francisco 3586 ss cle al 5.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 4.5
Perez, Hernan 3577 3b ss 2b mil nl 5.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 4.0
McCann, Brian 2179 ca nyy al 3.2 9.7 35.4 58.4 -3.3
Richard, Clayton 2584 pi sp sd nl 2.0 3.0 11.2 29.6 1.0
Asher, Alec 3735 pi sp phi nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Marlins' Andrew Cashner tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 7; Nationals' Strasburg rises to 7th in Box-Toppers player rankings, despite injury

Marlins pitcher Andrew Cashner 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 Sept. 7:  


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 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 17.1
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 16.8
7 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 15.1
8 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 14.4
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, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Cashner pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing four hits and two walks, in the 6-0 win over the Phillies.

American League Player of the Day—Adam Lind of the Mariners hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the 8-3 win over the Rangers. Lind went 2-for-3, driving in five runs.

National League Batter of the Day—Jung Ho Kang of the Pirates homered and went 3-for-4, driving in two runs, in the 4-3 win over the Cardinals.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Adam Lind.

Rankings—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday, despite leaving the game early with an injury.

Strasburg (2.1IP 2H R 0BB 4K ND in the 5-4, 11-inning win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.1 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL pitchers.

Strasburg left the game in the third inning after experiencing elbow pain. He had been on the disabled list prior to his start Wednesday. He will undergo further testing today (Thursday).

It is rare for starting pitchers to earn Player of the Game honors pitching fewer than three innings, but Wednesday’s game presented those rare circumstances, helped by the fact that the Nationals used nine pitchers and the highest Box-Toppers game score achieved by a batter was +1.0. Strasburg won Player of the Game honors because he had a higher Box-Toppers game score and more innings pitched than the pitcher who otherwise would have won. Mat Latos, who served as closer, had a Box-Toppers game score of +1.1 (0.1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W) and would have been Player of the Game, but Strasburg had a higher Box-Toppers game score (+2.1) and more innings pitched (2.1).

Notable—Red Sox pitcher David Price becomes the 35th player in 2016 with 10 or more season Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Price (7IP 6H 2R 0BB 8K W in the 7-2 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season. He ranks 33rd among all players and 13th among AL pitchers. This is his sixth 10-point season in the past seven years.

Price now has 104.2 career Box-Toppers points, 64th-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He passes Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” list and now trails 63rd-ranked player Carlos Beltran of the Rangers (104.9).

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

  • Athletics pitcher Jharel Cotton (6.1IP 2H R 2BB 3K W in the 4-1 win over the Angels) was making his Major League debut. He is the 3,733rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Cristhian Adames of the Rockies (2B 1-1 2BI in the 6-5 win over the Giants) made his Major League debut July 29, 2014, and was playing in his 136th career game. He is the 3,734th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/7 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.1 MIA 6, PHI 0 Andrew Cashner (W,5-11) - - - - 5.1 4 0 0 2 9
AL 6.0 SEA 8, TEX 3 Adam Lind, 1B 3 2 2 5 - - - - - -
5.0 BOS 7, SD 2 David Price (W,15-8) - - - - 7.0 6 2 2 0 8
4.0 `MIL 2, CHC 1 Matt Garza - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 2 5
4.0 `NYY 2, TOR 0 Luis Severino (H,1) - - - - 3.0 1 0 0 1 3
3.1 OAK 4, LAA 1 Jharel Cotton (W,1-0) - - - - 6.1 2 1 1 2 3
3.0 TB 7, BAL 6 Kevin Kiermaier, CF 4 1 3 3 - - - - - -
3.0 CLE 6, HOU 5 Cody Allen (S,25) - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 3
2.1 `WSH 5, ATL 4 (11) Stephen Strasburg - - - - 2.1 2 1 1 0 4
BAT 2.0 PIT 4, STL 3 Jung Ho Kang, 3B 4 1 3 2 - - - - - -
2.0 MIN 6, KC 5 Robbie Grossman, LF 4 1 3 2 - - - - - -
2.0 NYM 6, CIN 3 Wilmer Flores, PH-2B-1B 2 1 1 2 - - - - - -
2.0 LAD 3, ARI 1 Yasiel Puig, RF 2 1 1 2 - - - - - -
2.0 COL 6, SF 5 Cristhian Adames, PH 1 0 1 2 - - - - - -
1.1 CHW 7, DET 4 Chris Beck (W,2-1) - - - - 1.1 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

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 +/-
Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 15.1 29.1 75.2 82.9 1.1
Price, David 2593 pi sp bos al 10.4 31.5 87.5 104.2 -10.7
Allen, Cody 3265 pi mr cp cle al 6.0 10.0 15.0 15.0 2.0
Lind, Adam 2238 1b ph sea al 5.4 11.9 31.9 59.5 -1.1
Cashner, Andrew 2807 pi sp fla nl 4.7 7.7 27.4 30.4 1.7
Flores, Wilmer 3345 3b 1b 2b ph nym nl 4.5 7.0 9.5 9.5 2.0
Garza, Matt 2343 pi sp mil nl 3.7 5.4 35.1 71.8 2.0
Puig, Yasiel 3193 rf lad nl 3.5 7.0 9.5 9.5 0.0
Kang, Jung-Ho 3464 ss 3b pit nl 2.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 -0.5
Severino, Luis 3567 pi mr sp nyy al 2.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 -1.0
Kiermaier, Kevin 3373 cf tb al 2.0 3.0 5.5 5.5 1.0
Grossman, Robbie 3267 lf min al 2.0 2.0 9.0 9.0 2.0
Beck, Chris 3708 pi mr chi al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Adames, Cristhian 3734 ph col nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Cotton, Jharel 3733 pi sp oak al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Giants' Jeff Samardzija tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 6; Orioles' Machado rises to lead AL batters in Box-Toppers points

Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija 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 Sept. 6:  


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 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 17.1
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 16.8
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 Tuesday, Manny Machado of the Orioles rises to lead American League batters in season Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Samardzija struck out nine over seven innings, allowing two runs, four hits and one walk, in the 3-2 win over the Rockies. Samardzija did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because the Giants trailed when he exited.

American League Batter of the Day—White Sox pitcher Miguel Gonzalez pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing six hits, no walks and striking out four, in the 2-0 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Yadier Molina of the Cardinals hit a grand slam and two doubles in the 9-7 win over the Pirates. Molina went 4-for-5, scoring twice.

American League Batter of the Day—Kendrys Morales of the Royals hit two home runs, including a three-run homer, in the 10-3 win over the Twins. Morales went 2-for-5, driving in five runs.

Rankings—Manny Machado of the Orioles rises to lead AL batters in Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Machado (GS 3-6 R 5BI in the 11-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.7 for the season. He passes Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5) for the lead among AL batters in season Box-Toppers points. Machado ranks 14th among all players.

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

  • Astros pitcher James Hoyt (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 4-3 win over the Indians) made his Major League debut Aug. 3 and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,731st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Tyler Austin of the Yankees (HR 1-2 R 2BI in the 7-6 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut Aug. 13 and was playing in his 15th career game. He is the 3,732nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/6 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 7.0 `SF 3, COL 2 Jeff Samardzija - - - - 7.0 4 2 2 1 9
BAT 5.0 STL 9, PIT 7 Yadier Molina, C 5 2 4 4 - - - - - -
AL 4.1 CHW 2, DET 0 Miguel Gonzalez (W,3-6) - - - - 6.1 6 0 0 0 4
BAT 4.0 KC 10, MIN 3 Kendrys Morales, DH 5 2 2 5 - - - - - -
4.0 MIL 12, CHC 5 Ryan Braun, LF 5 3 2 4 - - - - - -
4.0 PHI 4, MIA 3 Adam Morgan (W,2-9) - - - - 6.0 5 1 1 0 5
3.1 HOU 4, CLE 3 James Hoyt (W,1-0) - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 TEX 10, SEA 7 Elvis Andrus, SS 6 3 4 2 - - - - - -
3.0 BAL 11, TB 2 Manny Machado, 3B 6 1 3 5 - - - - - -
3.0 WSH 9, ATL 7 Anthony Rendon, 3B 4 2 1 4 - - - - - -
3.0 LAD 5, ARI 2 Ross Stripling (W,4-6) - - - - 5.0 3 2 2 0 5
3.0 NYM 5, CIN 3 Jeurys Familia (S,46) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 OAK 3, LAA 2 Ryan Madson (S,28) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.2 BOS 5, SD 1 Clay Buchholz (W,6-10) - - - - 6.2 8 1 1 0 6
2.0 NYY 7, TOR 6 Tyler Austin, 1B 2 1 1 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

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 +/-
Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 12.7 20.2 23.7 23.7 5.2
Braun, Ryan J. 2300 lf mil nl 9.0 14.0 45.0 86.7 4.0
Samardzija, Jeff 2495 pi sp sf nl 8.7 18.1 46.8 47.8 -0.7
Andrus, Elvis 2582 ss tex al 7.7 7.7 15.2 18.2 7.7
Gonzalez, Miguel 3062 pi sp chi al 7.4 14.1 36.2 36.2 0.7
Familia, Jeurys 3446 pi cp nym nl 7.0 15.0 15.0 15.0 -1.0
Morales, Kendrys 2142 dh kc al 5.5 10.2 20.2 36.2 0.8
Rendon, Anthony 3258 3b dc nl 4.5 5.5 11.0 11.0 3.5
Buchholz, Clay 2363 pi sp bos al 4.0 10.0 38.2 57.9 -2.0
Stripling, Ross 3629 pi sp lad nl 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.7
Madson, Ryan 1841 pi cp oak al 3.0 3.0 6.0 23.7 3.0
Molina, Yadier 1967 ca ph stl nl 2.5 3.5 16.2 33.2 1.5
Morgan, Adam 3572 pi sp phi nl 2.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 1.0
Austin, Tyler 3732 1b nyy al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Hoyt, James 3731 pi mr hou al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Rockies' Chad Bettis tops players for Monday, Sept. 5; Orioles' Jimenez tops AL players

Rockies pitcher Chad Bettis is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Bettis pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking none, in the 6-0 win over the Giants.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 5:  


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 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 17.1
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 16.8
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?

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez pitched a complete game, allowing three runs, two hits, one walk and striking out six, in the 7-3 win over the Rays.

American League Batter of the Day—Eric Hosmer of the Royals hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 11-5 win over the Twins.

National League Batter of the Day—Chris Coghlan of the Cubs hit the go-ahead, seventh-inning pinch-hit single and went 2-for-2, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 7-2 win over the Brewers.

Notable—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander has the most season Box-Toppers points among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday.

Verlander (7IP 8H 2R BB 11K ND in the 5-3, 11-inning win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season. He ranks 27th among all players and 10th among AL pitchers.

Verander also now has 135.6 career Box-Toppers points, 29th-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 28th-ranked player, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (138.2).

Also notable—For the sixth time this season, a pitcher has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for batting and Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals, who did it Monday, has now done it twice in 2016.

Wainwright (2B 2-3 R 3BI in the 12-6 win over the Pirates) was also Player of the Game for batting May 2. It is the fourth time in his career Wainwright has earned Player of the Game honors for batting. He also did it July 24, 2012 and Sept. 18, 2013.

Wainwright also picked up the win in the game (5IP 7H 4R BB 5K W). His Box-Toppers game score for pitching was −6.0. His Box-Toppers game score for batting was +3.0, best of all Cardinals players Monday.

Wainwright earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 111.0 career points. He rises to 53rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing Tom Glavine (110.6) on the “all-time” list and now trails 52nd-ranked player Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (111.3). Wainwright has 9.2 Box-Toppers points on the season, 20th among NL pitchers.

Debut—Trea Turner of the Nationals made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Turner (HR 2B 3-4 R 3BI in the 6-4 win over the Braves) made his Major League debut Aug. 21, 2015, and was playing in his 75th career game. He is the 3,730th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Bettis earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Jimenez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Hosmer and Coghlan 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.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/5 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 COL 6, SF 0 Chad Bettis (W,12-7) - - - - 9.0 2 0 0 0 7
12.0 SD 2, BOS 1 Edwin Jackson (W,4-5) - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 2 11
8.1 LAD 10, ARI 2 Kenta Maeda (W,14-8) - - - - 6.1 3 1 1 1 8
AL 6.0 BAL 7, TB 3 Ubaldo Jimenez (W,6-11) - - - - 9.0 2 3 3 1 6
BAT 5.0 KC 11, MIN 5 Eric Hosmer, 1B 3 2 2 4 - - - - - -
5.0 `DET 5, CHW 3 (11) Justin Verlander - - - - 7.0 8 2 2 1 11
4.0 SEA 14, TEX 6 Franklin Gutierrez, RF 4 1 3 4 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 CHC 7, MIL 2 Chris Coghlan, PH-RF 2 1 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 NYY 5, TOR 3 Jacoby Ellsbury, CF 4 1 3 3 - - - - - -
3.0 WSH 6, ATL 4 Trea Turner, 2B 4 1 3 3 - - - - - -
3.0 NYM 5, CIN 0 Matt Reynolds, SS 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 STL 12, PIT 6 Adam Wainwright, P 3 1 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 LAA 10, OAK 7 Andrew Bailey (S,2) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 PHI 6, MIA 2 Peter Bourjos, RF 4 2 3 1 - - - - - -
2.0 HOU 6, CLE 2 Alex Bregman, 3B 4 2 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

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 +/-
Verlander, Justin 2112 pi sp det al 11.0 17.4 80.6 135.6 4.6
Wainwright, Adam 2150 pi sp stl nl 9.2 12.2 60.3 111.0 6.2
Maeda, Kenta 3609 pi sp lad nl 8.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 8.0
Hosmer, Eric 2886 1b kc al 7.5 16.5 30.0 30.0 -1.5
Bettis, Chad 3481 pi sp col nl 5.7 11.1 11.1 11.1 0.3
Gutierrez, Franklin 2242 rf sea al 3.5 4.5 8.5 23.5 2.5
Jackson, Edwin 1812 pi sp sd nl 3.0 3.0 22.0 43.8 3.0
Jimenez, Ubaldo 2349 pi sp bal al 2.7 11.4 39.6 77.5 -6.0
Coghlan, Chris 2610 3b rf ph chi nl 2.5 3.5 10.0 16.5 1.5
Bregman, Alex 3721 3b hou al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Reynolds, Matt 3650 ss ph nym nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Ellsbury, Jacoby 2365 cf nyy al 1.0 4.0 23.0 30.0 -2.0
Bourjos, Peter 2790 rf phi nl 1.0 2.0 12.5 13.5 0.0
Bailey, Andrew 2549 pi cp ana al 1.0 1.0 5.0 18.0 1.0
Turner, Trea 3730 2b dc nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Indians' Danny Salazar tops players for Sunday, Sept. 4; Braves' Teheran tops NL players

Indians pitcher Danny Salazar 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 Sept. 4:  


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 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 17.1
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 16.8
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?

Salazar struck out 11 over 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run, six hits and two walks, in the 6-5 win over the Marlins. Salazar did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited the game with the Indians trailing, 1-0.

Salazar earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.5 for the season. He ranks 14th among all players and fourth among American League pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Braves pitcher Julio Teheran pitched six scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing five hits and two walks, in the 2-0 win over the Phillies.

American League Batter of the Day—Jose Abreu of the White Sox hit a pair of three-run homers in the 13-11, 12-inning win over the Twins. Abreu went 3-for-7, driving in seven total runs.

Abreu earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, his first points of the 2016 season. Abreu led AL batters in Box-Toppers points in his rookie year of 2014 with 15.5 and had 3.0 points in 2015.

National League Batter of the Day—Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers hit a three-run homer and went 1-for-2, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 7-4 win over the Padres.

Puig earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day and has 2.5 points for the season. It is his first Player of the Game honor since being called back up after spending a month in the minors. Puig, despite his star status, has only 8.5 career Box-Toppers points over four seasons—1.5 in 2013, 1.0 in 2014, 3.5 in 2015 and 2.5 in 2016.

Notable—Cubs pitcher John Lackey has the most season Box-Toppers points among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Lackey (5IP H 2R BB 4K ND in the 3-2, 13-inning win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.4 for the season. He ranks 11th among all players and ninth among NL pitchers. He is the third Cubs starting pitcher among Box-Toppers top 10 NL pitchers—Jon Lester (17.1) ranks fourth and Jake Arrieta (13.7) ranks eighth.

Lackey now has 121.1 career Box-Toppers points, 39th-most among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 38th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1).

Also notable—Albert Pujols of the Angels extends his lead in career Box-Toppers points among active batters after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Pujols (HR 3-4 R 2BI in the 4-2 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 182.3 career points. It is the first point Pujols has earned since becoming the active career leader in points after the Yankees released previous leader Alex Rodriguez (187.0) on Aug. 13. Pujols ranks sixth among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began and trails fifth-ranked player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (183.0) by only 0.7 points. Sabathia is the active career leader in points. (See the updated list of top 20 players in career Box-Toppers points on the home page.)

Pujols has 8.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, his best year since 2011 when he had 12.5 points with the Cardinals. Pujols ranks 11th among AL batters this season.

Debut—Mets pitcher Seth Lugo made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Lugo (7IP 6H R 0BB 4K W in the 5-1 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut July 1 and was playing in his 13th career game. He is the 3,729th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Salazar earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Teheran earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Abreu and Puig 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.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/4 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 6.2 `CLE 6, MIA 5 Danny Salazar - - - - 5.2 6 1 1 2 11
NL 6.0 ATL 2, PHI 0 Julio Teheran (W,5-9) - - - - 6.0 5 0 0 2 7
5.1 `OAK 1, BOS 0 Kendall Graveman - - - - 6.1 6 0 0 2 7
BAT 5.0 CHW 13, MIN 11 (12) Jose Abreu, 1B 7 2 3 7 - - - - - -
BAT 5.0 LAD 7, SD 4 Yasiel Puig, RF 2 3 1 3 - - - - - -
5.0 MIL 10, PIT 0 Jonathan Villar, PH 1 1 1 4 - - - - - -
4.0 `CHC 3, SF 2 (13) John Lackey - - - - 5.0 1 2 1 1 4
3.1 NYY 5, BAL 2 Dellin Betances (S,8) - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 NYM 5, WSH 1 Seth Lugo (W,3-2) - - - - 7.0 6 1 1 0 4
3.0 TOR 5, TB 3 Joaquin Benoit (W,3-1) - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 3
2.2 HOU 7, TEX 6 Chris Devenski (W,3-4) - - - - 1.2 1 0 0 0 2
2.0 LAA 4, SEA 2 Albert Pujols, DH 4 1 3 2 - - - - - -
2.0 DET 6, KC 5 Justin Upton, LF 4 1 2 3 - - - - - -
2.0 STL 5, CIN 2 Seung Hwan Oh (S,15) - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 2
1.0 ARI 8, COL 5 Jean Segura, 2B 4 2 3 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

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

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Lackey, John 1640 pi sp chi nl 13.4 23.1 42.8 121.2 3.7
Salazar, Danny 3223 pi sp cle al 12.5 25.9 35.3 35.3 -0.9
Teheran, Julio 3176 pi sp atl nl 8.7 16.4 44.5 44.5 1.0
Pujols, Albert 1438 dh 1b ana al 8.0 15.0 45.0 182.3 1.0
Upton, Justin 2411 lf det al 6.7 15.7 42.6 51.1 -2.3
Graveman, Kendall 3444 pi sp oak al 6.0 10.7 10.7 10.7 1.3
Oh, Seung Hwan 3693 pi cp stl nl 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
Betances, Dellin 3333 pi mr cp nyy al 4.0 8.0 12.7 12.7 0.0
Segura, Jean 3173 2b ari nl 3.0 5.0 9.5 9.5 1.0
Villar, Jonathan 3233 ss ph mil nl 3.0 3.0 5.0 5.0 3.0
Devenski, Chris 3702 pi sp hou nl 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7
Puig, Yasiel 3193 rf lad nl 2.5 6.0 8.5 8.5 -1.0
Abreu, Jose 3308 1b chi al 1.5 4.5 20.0 20.0 -1.5
Benoit, Joaquin 1663 pi mr tor al 1.0 3.0 9.0 29.5 -1.0
Lugo, Seth 3729 pi sp nym nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Rich Hill tops players for Saturday, Sept. 3; Orioles' Gausman tops AL players

Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Hill pitched six scoreless innings, allowing one hit, two walks and striking out eight, in the 5-1 win over the Padres.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 3:  


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 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 17.1
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 16.8
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?

Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season. He ranks 18th among all players and 11th among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman pitched six scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits and two walks, in the 2-0 win over the Yankees.

National League Batter of the Day—Chris Carter of the Brewers hit a two-run homer and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-4 win over the Pirates.

American League Batter of the Day—Byron Buxton of the Twins homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 11-3 win over the White Sox.

Notable—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner has the most season Box-Toppers points among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Bumgarner (6IP 5H 2R 0BB 10K in the 3-2 win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks 11th among all players and ninth among NL pitchers.

Bumgarner now also has 105.7 career points, 61st-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. With his point Saturday, he passes Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 60th-ranked player Aramis Ramirez (105.8).

Also notable—Two other players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:

  • David Ortiz of the Red Sox (2-2B 3-4 R 2BI in the 11-2 win over the Athletics) now has 143.9 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 24th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Saturday, he passes Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (143.0) on the “all-time” list and now ranks eighth among active players in career points. Ortiz trails 23rd-ranked player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers. Both Cabrera and Ortiz have 143.9 career points, but Cabrera holds the tiebreaking edge because he has more 2016 Box-Toppers points—11.0 vs. 6.0.
  • Carlos Beltran of the Rangers (2B 2-3 R 2BI in the 12-4 win over the Astros) now has 104.9 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 63rd place since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Saturday, he passes Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” list and now trails 62nd-ranked player, Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1). Beltran has 6.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Scoring—Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gausman earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Carter and Buxton 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.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/3 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 LAD 5, SD 1 Rich Hill (W,11-3) - - - - 6.0 1 0 0 2 8
AL 10.0 BAL 2, NYY 0 Kevin Gausman (W,7-10) - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 2 8
7.0 SF 3, CHC 2 Madison Bumgarner (W,14-8) - - - - 6.0 5 2 2 0 10
7.0 TB 7, TOR 5 Blake Snell (W,5-7) - - - - 6.0 2 1 1 2 7
BAT 4.0 MIL 7, PIT 4 Chris Carter, 1B 5 2 4 3 - - - - - -
4.0 ATL 6, PHI 4 (10) Adonis Garcia, 3B 4 3 2 3 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 MIN 11, CHW 3 Byron Buxton, CF 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 LAA 10, SEA 3 Kole Calhoun, RF 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 NYM 3, WSH 1 Jeurys Familia (S,45) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.2 KC 5, DET 2 Wade Davis (S,22) - - - - 0.2 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 CLE 8, MIA 3 Francisco Lindor, SS 4 1 4 1 - - - - - -
2.0 ARI 9, COL 4 Chris Owings, SS 4 1 4 1 - - - - - -
2.0 BOS 11, OAK 2 David Ortiz, DH 4 1 3 2 - - - - - -
2.0 TEX 12, HOU 4 Carlos Beltran, DH 3 1 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 CIN 9, STL 1 Joey Votto, 1B 2 2 1 1 - - - - - -

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 +/-
Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 13.0 30.0 100.0 105.7 -4.0
Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp lad nl 12.4 16.4 16.4 36.1 8.4
Votto, Joey 2366 1b cin nl 9.5 14.5 31.2 63.2 4.5
Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp bal al 9.1 14.8 22.5 22.5 3.4
Carter, Chris 2828 1b mil nl 8.5 9.5 27.4 28.4 7.5
Familia, Jeurys 3446 pi cp nym nl 6.0 14.0 14.0 14.0 -2.0
Ortiz, David dh bos al 6.0 10.5 41.9 143.9 1.5
Beltran, Carlos 1194 dh rf tex al 6.0 9.5 26.9 104.9 2.5
Calhoun, Kole 3279 rf ana al 5.0 8.2 15.7 15.7 1.8
Lindor, Francisco 3586 ss cle al 4.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 3.5
Buxton, Byron 3604 cf min al 3.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 2.2
Davis, Wade 2681 pi cp kc al 3.0 7.0 22.0 25.0 -1.0
Garcia, Adonis 3613 3b atl nl 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
Snell, Blake 3688 pi sp tb al 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
Owings, Chris 3347 cf ss ari nl 2.0 3.0 5.5 5.5 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Indians' Carlos Carrasco tops players for Friday, Sept. 2; Cubs' Lester rises to 5th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 2:  


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 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 17.1
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 16.8
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?

Player of the Day—Carrasco pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out 11 and allowing six hits and one walk, in the 6-2 win over the Marlins.

Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season. He ranks 14th among all players and fifth among AL pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester pitched a complete game, allowing one run, three hits, two walks and striking out four, in the 2-1 win over the Giants.

Lester earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 17.1 for the season, rising from sixth to fifth in Box-Toppers season player rankings. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

Lester also now has 138.2 career Box-Toppers points, 28th-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 27th-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5).

American League Batter of the Day—Travis Shaw of the Red Sox hit a three-run homer and two doubles in the 16-2 win over the Athletics. Shaw went 3-for-6, scoring twice and driving in five runs.

National League Batter of the Day—Matt Kemp of the Braves hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-4 win over the Phillies.

Notable—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers now has 11.0 Box-Toppers points on the season after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Cabrera (HR 3-5 2R 4BI in the 7-6 win over the Royals) now ranks 25th in Box-Toppers season player rankings, third among AL batters, behind Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5) and Manny Machado of the Orioles (11.7).

Cabrera also rises to 23rd place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He now has 143.9 career points, passing Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (143.0) on the “all-time” list and now trails 22nd-ranked player Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (145.8). Cabrera rises to seventh place among active players in career Box-Toppers points.

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

  • Nationals pitcher A.J. Cole (6IP 3H R 2BB 5K in the 4-1 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut April 28, 2015, and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,727th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Brewers pitcher Jhan Marinez (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K ND in the 1-0 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut July 16, 2010, and was playing in his 40th career game. He is the 3,728th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lester earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Shaw and Kemp 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.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/2 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.1 CLE 6, MIA 2 Carlos Carrasco (W,10-7) - - - - 7.1 6 0 0 1 11
NL 6.0 CHC 2, SF 1 Jon Lester (W,15-4) - - - - 9.0 3 1 1 2 4
4.2 BAL 8, NYY 0 Dylan Bundy (W,8-5) - - - - 5.2 2 0 0 4 5
4.2 SD 4, LAD 2 Brad Hand (W,4-3) - - - - 1.2 1 0 0 0 4
BAT 4.0 BOS 16, OAK 2 Travis Shaw, 3B-1B 6 2 3 5 - - - - - -
4.0 CHW 11, MIN 4 Adam Eaton, CF 5 4 4 1 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 ATL 8, PHI 4 Matt Kemp, LF 5 2 3 4 - - - - - -
4.0 DET 7, KC 6 Miguel Cabrera, 1B 5 2 3 4 - - - - - -
4.0 COL 14, ARI 7 Nick Hundley, C 4 2 2 4 - - - - - -
4.0 WSH 4, NYM 1 A.J. Cole (W,1-1) - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 2 5
3.0 TB 8, TOR 3 Logan Morrison, DH 2 2 1 2 - - - - - -
2.0 SEA 11, LAA 8 Dae-Ho Lee, 1B 5 2 3 2 - - - - - -
2.0 TEX 10, HOU 8 Elvis Andrus, SS 3 1 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 `MIL 1, PIT 0 Jhan Marinez (H,2) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 CIN 3, STL 2 Zack Cozart, SS 2 2 1 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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 +/-
Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 17.1 29.1 75.3 138.2 5.1
Carrasco, Carlos 2885 pi sp cle al 12.4 30.4 46.5 46.5 -5.6
Cabrera, Miguel 1776 1b det al 11.0 15.7 64.3 143.9 6.3
Lee, Dae-Ho 3627 1b sea al 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.7
Shaw, Travis 3544 1b 3b bos al 7.0 11.2 11.2 11.2 2.8
Andrus, Elvis 2582 ss tex al 6.7 6.7 14.2 17.2 6.7
Kemp, Matt 2151 rf lf atl nl 5.5 11.0 35.5 57.1 0.0
Bundy, Dylan 3655 pi sp bal al 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
Eaton, Adam 3253 rf cf chi al 4.0 9.5 12.0 12.0 -1.5
Hand, Brad 2907 pi mr sd nl 4.0 5.0 9.0 9.0 3.0
Morrison, Logan 2794 1b dh tb al 2.0 6.0 16.0 17.5 -2.0
Cozart, Zack 3012 ss cin nl 2.0 5.0 11.0 11.0 -1.0
Hundley, Nick 2497 ca col nl 1.0 4.5 17.0 22.5 -2.5
Cole, A.J. 3727 pi sp dc nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Marinez, Jhan 3728 pi mr mil nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Marlins' Christian Yelich tops players for Thursday, Sept. 1; Twins' Buxton tops AL players

Christian Yelich of the Marlins is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 1:  


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?

Yelich hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 6-4 win over the Mets.

American League Player of the Day—Byron Buxton of the Twins hit a three-run homer in the 8-5 win over the White Sox. Buxton went 1-for-3.

Batters of the Day—There are no separate National League and American League Batters of the Day Thursday because the overall Player of the Day was NL batter Christian Yelich and the overall AL Player of the Day was AL batter Byron Buxton.

Notable—Freddie Freeman of the Braves had the most season Box-Toppers points of the four who earned Player of the Game honors Thursday—only four games were played.

Freeman (HR 1-3 2R 3BI in the 9-6 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season. He ranks 114th among all players and 16th among NL batters.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/1 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 5.0 MIA 6, NYM 4 Christian Yelich, CF 4 2 3 4 - - - - - -
5.0 CHC 5, SF 4 Joe Smith (W,2-4) - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.0 ATL 9, SD 6 Freddie Freeman, 1B 3 2 1 3 - - - - - -
AL 2.0 MIN 8, CHW 5 Byron Buxton, CF 3 1 1 3 - - - - - -

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 +/-
Freeman, Freddie 2887 1b atl nl 6.0 9.0 37.2 37.2 3.0
Yelich, Christian 3334 lf cf fla nl 4.5 7.0 14.5 14.5 2.0
Smith, Joe 2388 pi cp mr chi nl 2.0 5.0 13.0 14.0 -1.0
Buxton, Byron 3604 cf min al 1.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 0.7
What are those numbers after players' names?