Blue Jays’ Matz tops players for Monday, April 5; Dodgers’ May tops NL players

Blue Jays pitcher Steven Matz is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Matz struck out nine over 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 6-2 win over the Rangers.

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How 2020 Silver Sluggers winners fared in Box-Toppers rankings

Only three of the 18 batters winning Silver Slugger Awards this week also were among the leaders at their positions in 2020 Box-Toppers point totals.

The awards are given to the top batter in each position in both leagues, voted on by Major League Baseball coaches and managers. Box-Toppers analyzes traditional box scores and tracks which player most helps his team win the most games, awarding points for the top player in each game.

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Phillies' Darin Ruf tops players in Wednesday, March 9's spring training games

Darin Ruf of the Phillies is Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day for Wednesday.

Ruf hit two homers and went 2-for-2, driving in three runs, in the 8-4 win over the Orioles. Ruf had 1.5 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Phillies.

American League Player of the Day—Alex Gordon of the Royals homered and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-5 win over the Brewers. Gordon had 4.5 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Royals.

Notable—Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies, who led National League batters in Box-Toppers points in 2015, was Player of the Game in the 8-6 win over the Giants. Gonzalez hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice. Gonzalez led NL batters in 2015 with 11.5 Box-Toppers points.

Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Ruf would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gordon would earn 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Note—Sixteen spring training games were scheduled for Tuesday—14 are listed below. Two games are not included because they ended in a tie (Yankees vs. Mets and Dodgers vs. Angels).

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

3/8 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 5.0 Phillies Darin Ruf 1B 2 2 2 3 1 0 - - - - - -
AL 4.0 Royals Alex Gordon LF 4 2 4 2 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Tigers Nate Schierholtz RF 1 1 1 3 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Indians Corey Kluber (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 3.0 2 0 0 1 4
4.0 `Rangers César Ramos - - - - - - 3.0 1 0 0 0 2
3.0 Red Sox Blake Swihart DH 4 2 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Phillies Cameron Rupp C 3 2 2 2 2 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Rockies Carlos González RF 3 2 2 2 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Mariners Ed Lucas LF 2 1 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Astros José Altuve 2B 3 1 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Blue Jays Ryan Goins SS 3 1 2 2 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Dbacks Zach Borenstein RF 2 1 2 1 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Athletics Matt Chapman PH-3B 2 1 1 2 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Marlins Justin Bour 1B 3 0 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Catching up on baseball with Box-Toppers, after falling behind by a ‘fair’ amount

Baseball proceeds whether we are ready or not.

In the past few weeks, other duties put me behind staying up-to-date with the Box-Toppers daily blog and I have been scrambling to catch up. I fell behind three weeks and three days ago, on Aug. 13 and only caught up today (Monday, Sept. 7) with yesterday’s games.

Usually when a person falls behind doing something, it’s best to just move ahead and ignore most of what was missed. But when you’re trying to keep comprehensive track of the baseball season, to assess and evaluate teams and players across an entire season, it is a mistake to simply ignore a chunk of the season, simply due to lack of convenience or lack of attention. So I’ve gone back and picked up the days I’ve missed, posting each day’s summary in the blog, even if was sometimes more than a week late.

During my catch-up phase, I did not post daily highlights to Box-Toppers’ Twitter and Facebook feeds. Instead, I’ve opted to post a summary of highlights of what was missed in the interim while I wasn’t posting to social media here in this post, with links to the relevant posts in the Box-Toppers blog:

New Box-Toppers leaders—Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta took over the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings on Saturday, Sept. 5. Arrieta has 21.1 Box-Toppers points and passed previous leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who took the lead Wednesday, Sept. 2. (Kershaw has 20.7 Box-Toppers points.) Previously, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom led from July 26 to Sept. 1. He currently ranks third with 19.4 points.

Arrieta picked up 6.7 Box-Toppers points during the catch-up period (Aug. 13 to Sept. 6), including earning Player of the Day honors twice—on Sunday, Aug. 30 (when he pitched a no-hitter) and on Sept. 5.

New American League pitching leader—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel took the lead among AL pitchers on Sunday, Sept. 6 with 19.4 Box-Toppers points. Previously, Blue Jays pitcher David Price led AL pitchers. He currently ranks second among AL pitchers with 19.1 points.

New American League batting leader—Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays took the lead among AL batters on Saturday, Aug. 29 with 10.4 Box-Toppers points. Previously, Mike Trout of the Angels led AL batters. Trout currently has 10.0 Box-Toppers points and ranks second among AL batters.

New National League batting leader—Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies took the lead among NL batters on Thursday, Sept. 3 with 11.5 Box-Toppers points. Previously, Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets took the lead among NL batters on Friday, Aug. 21 with 9.9 points. Before that, Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals led NL batters. He currently ranks fourth with 9.5 points.

New Box-Toppers team rankings leader—The Kansas City Royals took over the lead among teams at the last Box-Toppers team ranking report, as of Thursday, Sept. 3. The St. Louis Cardinals rose to top NL teams. For three weeks previously (Aug. 13, 20 and 27), the Pittsburgh Pirates were the top-ranked team. The Pirates ranked third as of Sept. 3.

Notable—Here are some notable achievements by players that happened during the catch-up phase (Aug. 13 to Sept. 6):

  • Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw was the first player with 20.0 or more points this season, earning it on Wednesday, Sept. 2, the same day he took the Box-Toppers points lead. Kershaw, who led players in Box-Toppers points in three of the past four seasons (2011, 2013 and 2014) and led National League pitchers the past four seasons, has now exceeded 20.0 Box-Toppers points for five straight seasons. Kershaw also rose to 15th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He has 154.3 career Box-Toppers points.
  • Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon rose to 22nd place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995. He earned Player of the Day for Monday, Aug. 31, giving him 138.5 Box-Toppers points.
  • Michael Cuddyer of the Mets extended to 12 the number of consecutive seasons in which he’s earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point on Sunday, Aug. 30.
  • Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points during the catch-up period and is currently ranked sixth among all players with 18.0 points. In addition, with his point earned Tuesday, Sept. 1, Greinke has 143.7 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 21st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began.
  • Astros pitcher Mike Fiers pitched a no-hitter on Friday, Aug. 21, earning Box-Toppers Player of the Day honors.
  • Carlos Beltran of the Yankees earned Box-Toppers points in his 17th straight season, tying the record for the longest-active season streak on Friday, Aug. 14. 

Debuts—Twenty-three players made their Box-Toppers debut during the catch-up phase. Here is the list with links to the blog post for the day they made their debut with more information:

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So what was I doing that was keeping me from Box-Toppers? I served as a volunteer coordinator for our local high school band’s major fundraiser. Over the course of the 11-day Iowa State Fair, I helped wrangle nearly 300 student and parent volunteers to fill 550 volunteer spots to serve ice cream and shakes at the fair’s Dairy Barn.

It’s a task that requires a few months of preparation to set up—to get volunteers signed up, to comply with various red-tape regulations and to develop and implement logistics to make it all work. But when the fair starts, the task can sometimes become even more time-consuming. As soon as the fair started on Aug. 13, Box-Toppers fell to the wayside. 

My last “on-time” post was Thursday, Aug. 13, covering the games of Wednesday, Aug. 12. The very next post was more than a week later on Friday, Aug. 21, covering the games of Thursday, Aug. 13. After the fair ended on Aug. 23, I kept plugging away, finally catching up two more weeks later.

The fundraiser went well, by the way. All our volunteers made it, worked hard, had a little fun (and a little ice cream) and raised a lot of money for our high school band program. It was my fifth and final year of coordinating volunteers for the fundraiser. And though it put me a little behind updating the Box-Toppers blog, it was a lot of fun and now that it’s over, tremendously satisfying.

And now, with my attention returned more fully to baseball, onto the homestretch of the season …

Rays' Smyly tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 1; Dodgers' Greinke rises to 5th in player rankings

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

Rays pitcher Drew Smyly is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Tuesday, Sept. 1.

Also Tuesday, Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 1.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 19.4
2 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 19.1
3 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 18.7
4 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 18.1
5 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 18.0
6 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 17.7
7 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 17.1
8 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 16.4
9 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
10 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 16.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Smyly pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing four hits, in the 11-2 win over the Orioles.

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Carlos Villanueva pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless middle relief, striking out six and allowing one hit, in the 8-5 win over the Nationals. Villanueva did not earn the win, picking up a no decision because he exited with the Cardinals trailing, 4-3.

National League Batter of the Day—Darin Ruf of the Phillies hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 14-8 win over the Mets.

This was Ruf’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Ruf made his Major League debut Sept. 14, 2012, and was playing in his 219th career game. He is the 3,575th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Logan Morrison of the Mariners hit a two-run, pinch-hit home run in the 7-5 win over the Astros.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday. Greinke (7.1IP 5H R 5K W in the 2-1 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 18.0 for the season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

Greinke also now has 143.7 career Box-Toppers points and maintains his rank at 21st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 20th-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7).

Notable—Prince Fielder rises to fourth place among AL batters in Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday. Fielder (HR 2-5 2R 2BI in the 8-6 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.5 for the season. He ranks 47th among all players.

Debut—In addition to Ruf, one other player made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday: Marlins pitcher Justin Nicolino earned his first Player of the Game honor (7IP 6H 0R 3K W in the 7-1 win over the Braves). Nicolino made his Major League debut June 20 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,576th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/1 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 Rays Drew Smyly (W,2-2) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 1 10
NL 8.1 `Cardinals Carlos Villanueva (MR) - - - - - - 3.1 1 0 0 0 6
7.0 Brewers Jimmy Nelson (W,11-10) - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 0 6
7.0 Yankees Michael Pineda (W,10-8) - - - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 0 7
BAT 6.0 Phillies Darin Ruf, 1B 5 2 3 6 0 0 - - - - - -
4.1 Dodgers Zack Greinke (W,15-3) - - - - - - 7.1 5 1 1 1 5
4.0 Dbacks Phil Gosselin, 2B 3 1 2 4 2 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Cubs Kyle Schwarber, LF 3 3 2 2 1 1 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Mariners Logan Morrison, PH-1B 1 1 1 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Angels Matt Shoemaker (W,7-9) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 2 5
2.0 Twins Eduardo Escobar, SS 4 2 3 1 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Blue Jays Ryan Goins, 2B 3 2 1 2 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Dbacks Aaron Hill, PH 1 0 1 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Marlins Justin Nicolino (W,3-2) - - - - - - 7.0 6 0 0 2 3
1.0 Tigers Ian Kinsler, 2B 5 1 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Rangers Prince Fielder, 1B 5 2 2 2 0 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.