Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to first in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of April 14:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 4.0 |
| 2 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 3.4 |
| 3 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 |
| 4 | Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 2.7 |
| 5 | Latos, Mat 2644 | pi sp | chi al | 2.7 |
| 6 | Davis, Chris 2478 | 1b | bal al | 2.5 |
| 7 | Brown, Trevor 3610 | ca | sf nl | 2.5 |
| 8 | Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.0 |
| 10 | Wacha, Michael 3276 | pi sp | stl nl | 2.0 |
Also Thursday, two players—Velasquez and Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia—had Box-Toppers game scores of +20.0 or more, a feat achieved only nine times in all of 2015. It is the first time this season players have had Box-Toppers game scores of +20.0 or more and so are the two highest game scores of the season.
Player of the Day—Velasquez struck out 16 in a complete game, 3-0 shutout against the Padres. He allowed three hits and no walks.
Velasquez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season (he was previously Player of the Day Saturday, April 9 when he made his Box-Toppers debut) and rises to first in Box-Toppers season player rankings, passing Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (3.0 Box-Toppers points).
Velasquez had a Box-Toppers game score of +22.0, the highest so far this season. It would have ranked fourth among all game scores in 2015. There were nine times in 2015 in which a player had a Box-Toppers game score of +20.0 or more. Thursday, there were two when both Velasquez and Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia did it.
Garcia (CG H 0R BB 13K W in the 7-0 win over the Brewers) had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +20.0. Despite the high game score, Garcia loses overall Player of the Day to fellow National League pitcher Velasquez and only earns Player of the Game honors and 1.0 Box-Toppers point. And he earns only 1.0 point despite more than doubling the Box-Toppers game score of Thursday’s next-highest player, Indians pitcher Danny Salazar (+9.0), who earns American League Player of the Day honors and 1.7 Box-Toppers points.
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Danny Salazar struck out nine over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 6-0 win over the Rays. Salazar earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day and now has 3.4 points for the season, rising to second place in player rankings.
American League Batter of the Day—Nick Castellanos hit a two-run homer and a two-run double, going 3-for-4, scoring twice, in the 7-4 win over the Pirates.
National League Batter of the Day—Mark Reynolds of the Rockies hit two doubles, going 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 11-6 win over the Giants.
Reynolds has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 consecutive seasons. He earned his first points in 2007 with the Diamondbacks and has 48.9 career points, ranking fifth among active NL first basemen. His best season was 2011 with the Orioles when he had 9.5 points, ranking fifth among AL batters. In 2015, he had 4.0 points with the Cardinals.
Notable—White Sox pitcher Mat Latos rises to fifth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Latos (6IP 3H R 4K W in the 3-1 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 2.7 for the season.
Scoring—Velasquez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Salazar earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Castellanos and Reynolds 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/14 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 22.0 | Phillies | Vince Velasquez (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | |
| 20.0 | Cardinals | Jaime Garcia (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | ||
| AL | 9.0 | Indians | Danny Salazar (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | |
| 8.0 | Royals | Ian Kennedy (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Tigers | Nick Castellanos, 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.2 | Nationals | Stephen Strasburg (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 4.0 | White Sox | Mat Latos (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Rockies | Mark Reynolds, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Dodgers | J.P. Howell (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Cubs | Addison Russell, SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Josh Donaldson, 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Rangers | Rougned Odor, 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |