Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, making his Box-Toppers debut.
Also Saturday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extended his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings, becoming the first player in 2016 to earn Player of the Game honors for the second time.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of April 9:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 |
| 2 | Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 |
| 3 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.0 |
| 4 | Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | chi nl | 2.0 |
| 5 | Anderson, Chase 3328 | pi sp | mil nl | 2.0 |
| 6 | Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 |
| 7 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | tex al | 2.0 |
| 8 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 1.7 |
| 9 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 1.7 |
| 10 | Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | tb al | 1.7 |
In addition, Carlos Beltran of the Yankees extended his streak of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points to 18, which is the most of any active player and one short of the record of 19 held by Jason Giambi.
Player of the Day—Velasquez struck out nine over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 1-0 win over the Mets. Velasquez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and ranks seventh in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
This was also Velasquez’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Velasquez made his Major League debut June 10, 2015, and was playing in his 20th career game. He is the 3,611th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Rich Hill struck out 10 over six innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 6-1 win over the Mariners.
National League Player of the Day—Matt Kemp of the Padres hit two home runs and went 3-for-5, driving in six runs, in the 16-3 win over the Rockies.
Kemp has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Dodgers and has 53.1 career points, which ranks fifth among active NL outfielders. His best season was 2012 with the Dodgers when he had 10.0 points, ranked third among NL batters. He had 5.5 points in 2015 with the Padres.
American League Batter of the Day—Colby Rasmus of the Astros hit two homers and went 2-for-3, driving in four runs, in the 6-4 win over the Brewers.
Leader—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw maintained his lead in Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Kershaw (8IP 4H 2R 5K ND in the 3-2 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season. He is the first player this season to earn Player of the Game honors for the second time. (Kershaw did not earn the win because the Dodgers were not leading when he exited the game.)
With his point Saturday, Kershaw now has 162.3 career Box-Toppers points, 12th-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 11th-place player, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, who has 162.7.
Box-Toppers season streaks
Here are the players who have earned Box-Toppers points in the most consecutive seasons. Jason Giambi earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 19 straight seasons from 1995 to 2013, more than any other player. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.) Players are listed by duration of their streak. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.| Streak | Player | Pos | Duration | Career BTP |
|
| 1 | 19 | Jason Giambi | 1b | 1995-2013 | 133.4 |
| 2 | 18 | Jim Thome | 1b dh | 1995-2012 | 146.7 |
| 2 | 18 | Chipper Jones | 3b | 1995-2012 | 149.0 |
| 2 | 18 | Johnny Damon | lf | 1995-2012 | 63.0 |
| 2 | 18 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | 1996-2013 | 187.0 |
| 2 | 18 | Carlos Beltran* | rf | 1999-2016 | 99.9 |
| 7 | 17 | Mariano Rivera | pi cp | 1995-2011 | 126.4 |
| 7 | 17 | Derek Jeter | ss | 1996-2012 | 76.4 |
| 7 | 17 | Paul Konerko | 1b | 1998-2014 | 100.7 |
| 7 | 17 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | 1999-2015 | 157.0 |
| 7 | 17 | Torii Hunter | cf | 1999-2015 | 115.9 |
* Active player.
Streak—Carlos Beltran of the Yankees has now earned Box-Toppers points in 18 straight seasons, extending his lead in that category among active players. It is tied for the second-longest streak since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, trailing only Jason Giambi’s record 19-season streak.
Beltran (HR 2-4 2R 2BI) was Player of the Game in the 8-4 win over the Tigers and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point. Beltran earned his first points in 1999 with the Royals and has 99.9 career points, 69th among all players since 1995, 26th among all batters in the span and sixth among all active batters. His best season was 2003 with the Royals, when he had 13.9 points, second among AL batters. He had 3.5 points in 2015 with the Yankees.
Notable—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers rises to 60th place in “all-time” Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Beltre (HR 2-4 2R 2BI in the 4-1 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and now has 102.8 career points, moving to 60th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Beltre passes two players on the “all-time” list, Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2) and Miguel Tejada (102.3). Beltre trails 59th-place player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Beltre’s 102.8 points ranks fifth among active batters.
Scoring—Velasquez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hill earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Kemp and Rasmus 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
| 4/9 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | Phillies | Vince Velasquez (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | |
| AL | 8.0 | Athletics | Rich Hill (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| 7.2 | Royals | Ian Kennedy (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | Padres | Matt Kemp, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | Astros | Colby Rasmus, LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Reds | Eugenio Suarez, 3B | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | `Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | White Sox | Avisail Garcia, DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Cubs | Hector Rondon (S,1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Yankees | Carlos Beltran, RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Red Sox | Dustin Pedroia, 2B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Rangers | Adrian Beltre, 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Cardinals | Matt Carpenter, 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||