Athletics pitcher Mike Fiers is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Fiers struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 9-0 win over the Rangers.
Read MoreMarlins’ Jose Urena tops players for Sunday, Aug. 19; White Sox’ Santiago tops AL players
Marlins pitcher Jose Urena is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Urena pitched a complete game, allowing one run, two hits, two walks and striking out four, in the 12-1 win over the Nationals.
Read MoreAthletics’ Trevor Cahill tops players for Saturday, Aug. 18; Mets’ deGrom tops NL players
Athletics pitcher Trevor Cahill is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Cahill struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 7-1 win over the Astros.
Read MorePhillies’ Nola tops players for Friday, Aug. 17, rises to 3rd in player rankings; Scherzer extends player rankings lead
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third place in season player rankings.
Also Friday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
In addition, Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks rises to lead National League batters in 2018 Box-Toppers points after earning NL Batter of the Day honors.
Read MoreNationals’ Max Scherzer maintains lead in Box-Toppers player rankings for third week
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer maintains his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings for the third straight week.
Scherzer has 20.1 Box-Toppers points, holding a narrow lead over second-place player, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (19.1 points).
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Boston Red Sox, week's hottest team, remain atop Box-Toppers team rankings
The Boston Red Sox maintain their lead in Box-Toppers team rankings for the third straight week and are also the week’s hottest team.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs rise past the Los Angeles Dodgers to top National League teams in rankings.
Read MoreMets’ Jose Bautista tops players for Thursday, Aug. 16; Rays’ Snell tops AL players
Jose Bautista of the Mets is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Bautista hit a grand slam and doubled, going 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in seven runs, in the 24-4 win over the Phillies.
Read MoreAstros’ Gerrit Cole tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 15, rises to 6th in player rankings
Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in season player rankings.
Cole struck out 12 over six innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 12-1 win over the Rockies.
Read MoreRed Sox’ Rick Porcello tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 14; Corbin, Kluber rise in player rankings top 10
Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 after earning Player of the Game honors—Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin rises to eighth place and Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to ninth place.
Porcello, Corbin and Kluber are among five players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points this season who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Read MoreTigers’ Nick Castellanos tops players for Monday, Aug. 13; Mets’ deGrom tops NL players
Nick Castellanos of the Tigers is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Castellanos hit a go-ahead, seventh-inning homer and two doubles in the 9-5 win over the White Sox. Castellanos also went 5-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs.
Read MoreRed Sox’ Chris Sale tops players for Sunday, Aug. 12, maintains 2nd place in season player rankings
Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and maintains his rank of second place in season player rankings.
Sale struck out 12 over five scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Orioles.
Read MoreRed Sox’ David Price tops players for Saturday, Aug. 11; Nola, Bauer rise in player rankings top 10
Red Sox pitcher David Price is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming the 21st player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of Aug. 11:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.1 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 17.1 |
| 3 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 16.7 |
| 4 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 |
| 5 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 16.0 |
| 6 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 15.4 |
| 7 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 15.4 |
| 8 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 14.4 |
| 9 | Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 14.1 |
| 10 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 14.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Saturday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 after earning Player of the Game honors—Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola rises to sixth place and Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer rises to ninth place.
In addition, J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox extends his Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters after earning AL Batter of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Price struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and no walks, in the 5-0 win over the Orioles.
Price earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season. He ranks 21st among all players and 14th among AL pitchers.
This is Price’s seventh season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. His best season was 2015 with the Tigers and the Blue Jays when he had 21.1 Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players and second among AL pitchers. In 2017, he had 4.7 points with the Red Sox.
Price now has 121.3 career Box-Toppers points, 41st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 40th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1). (It should be noted Sheffield would have an estimated 155 points if his entire career from 1988 were tracked.)
National League Player of the Day—Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals hit two home runs and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 9-4 win over the Cubs.
American League Batter of the Day—J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox hit two home runs, including an eighth-inning, tiebreaking, two-run shot, in the 6-4 win over the Orioles, in the second game of a doubleheader. Martinez went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in three runs.
Martinez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 11.5 points for the season, extending his lead among AL batters over second-place Francisco Lindor of the Indians (7.9). Martinez ranks 17th among all players in season rankings.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Ryan Zimmerman.
Rankings—Two players rose into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 Saturday after earning Player of the Game honors:
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (6IP 4H 0R 3BB 5K W in the 5-1 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.4 for the season, rising to sixth place, second among NL pitchers, behind overall leader Max Scherzer of the Nationals (20.1). Nola becomes the seventh player to reach 15 Box-Toppers points this season. It is his second season with 15 points—he had 15.8 in 2017 with the Phillies, sixth among NL pitchers.
Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer (6.1IP 2H R 0BB 8K W in the 3-1 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.1 for the season, rising to ninth place, seventh place among AL pitchers.
Notable—Mariners closing pitcher Edwin Diaz earns Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Saturday.
Diaz (1IP 0R 0R 0BB 2K Sv in the 3-2 win over the Astros) was also Player of the Game Friday in the Mariners’ 5-2 win over the Astros. Diaz has 7.0 Box-Toppers points on the season and rises to first place among AL closers, moving ahead of Brad Hand of the Indians. Hand also has 7.0 points on the season, but Diaz ranks ahead because he has more 2017 points—9.0 vs. 4.7.
Scoring—Price earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Zimmerman earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Martinez earn 1.5 points for being AL 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.
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 (BTG)| 8/11 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +11.0 | BOS 5, BAL 0 | David Price (W, 12‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| +10.1 | CLE 3, CHW 1 | Trevor Bauer (W, 12‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| +7.1 | OAK 7, LAA 0 | Edwin Jackson (W, 4‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| NL | +7.0 | WSH 9, CHC 4 | Ryan Zimmerman 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +6.0 | STL 8, KC 3 | Jack Flaherty (W, 6‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | BOS 6, BAL 4 | J.D. Martinez LF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | MIL 4, ATL 2 | Josh Hader (S, 9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +5.0 | `COL 3, LAD 2 | Kyle Freeland | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| +4.0 | PHI 5, SD 1 | Aaron Nola (W, 13‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| +4.0 | `CIN 6, ARI 3 | Matt Harvey | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +3.1 | NYY 5, TEX 3 | Dellin Betances (W, 3‑3) (BS, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | PIT 4, SF 0 | Trevor Williams (W, 10‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | SEA 3, HOU 2 | Edwin Diaz (S, 45) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.2 | TB 3, TOR 1 | Diego Castillo (W, 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +1.0 | MIA 4, NYM 3 (F/11) | Bryan Holaday PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | MIN 4, DET 3 | Tyler Austin DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` 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 Player of the Game winners. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’18). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’17-18), the period 2013-2018 (’13-18) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2018 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2017 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’18 | ’17‑18 | ’13‑18 | Career | +/‑ |
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 15.4 | 31.2 | 39.9 | 39.9 | -0.4 |
| Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 14.1 | 23.8 | 51.3 | 53.3 | +4.4 |
| Martinez, J.D. 2922 | lf dh rf | bos al | 11.5 | 17.0 | 30.2 | 34.2 | +6.0 |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 10.4 | 15.1 | 75.4 | 121.3 | +5.7 |
| Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp mr | mil nl | 8.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 | +5.7 |
| Freeland, Kyle 3763 | pi sp | col nl | 8.4 | 14.4 | 14.4 | 14.4 | +2.4 |
| Flaherty, Jack 3971 | pi sp | stl nl | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.4 | +8.4 |
| Diaz, Edwin 3690 | pi cp | sea al | 7.0 | 16.0 | 23.0 | 23.0 | -2.0 |
| Williams, Trevor 3792 | pi sp | pit nl | 5.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 0.0 |
| Jackson, Edwin 1812 | pi sp | oak al | 5.0 | 7.0 | 17.0 | 50.8 | +3.0 |
| Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | cin nl | 5.0 | 6.0 | 39.4 | 42.4 | +4.0 |
| Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 | 1b | dc nl | 2.7 | 9.9 | 27.1 | 66.2 | -4.5 |
| Betances, Dellin 3333 | pi cp mr | nyy al | 2.0 | 7.0 | 19.7 | 19.7 | -3.0 |
| Holaday, Bryan 3332 | ca ph | fla nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +2.0 |
| Castillo, Diego 3995 | pi cp mr | tb al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Austin, Tyler 3732 | dh 1b | min al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Reds’ Anthony DeSclafani tops players for Friday, Aug. 10; Rays’ Snell rises to 8th in player rankings
Reds pitcher Anthony DeSclafani is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Meanwhile, Rays pitcher Blake Snell rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Read MoreNationals’ Max Scherzer maintains Box-Toppers season player rankings lead
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer leads Box-Toppers season player rankings for the second straight week.
Scherzer and all other major category points leaders maintain their leads from last week: Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale leads American League players, J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox leads American League batters and Eugenio Suarez of the Reds leads National League batters.
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Boston Red Sox maintain Box-Toppers team rankings lead; Athletics are week’s hottest team
The Boston Red Sox maintain their lead in Box-Toppers team rankings for the second straight week.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers maintain their lead among National League teams and the Oakland Athletics are Box-Toppers’ hottest team of the past week.
Read MoreMariners’ Denard Span tops players for Thursday, Aug. 9; Padres’ Renfroe tops NL players
Denard Span of the Mariners is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Span homered, tripled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-6 win over the Astros.
Read MoreDiamondbacks’ Patrick Corbin tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 8, rises to 8th in player rankings
Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to seventh place in season player rankings.
Corbin struck out nine over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 6-0 win over the Phillies.
Read MoreRays’ Tyler Glasnow tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 7; Red Sox’ Martinez extends AL batting rankings lead
Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox extended his season Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters, becoming the first batter in 2018 to reach 10 Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreYankees’ Lance Lynn tops players for Monday, Aug. 6; Astros’ Morton rises to 9th in player rankings
Yankees pitcher Lance Lynn is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, Astros pitcher Charlie Morton rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreAthletics’ Trevor Cahill tops players for Sunday, Aug. 5; Cardinals’ Flaherty tops NL players
Athletics pitcher Trevor Cahill is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Cahill struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 6-0 win over the Tigers.
Read MoreBox-Toppers
Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.