Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to first place in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 1:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 2 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 5.0 |
| 3 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 5.0 |
| 4 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | cf lf dh ph | nym nl | 4.5 |
| 5 | Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 4.4 |
| 6 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 4.4 |
| 7 | Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b ss | bal al | 4.2 |
| 8 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 4.0 |
| 9 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 4.0 |
| 10 | De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 | pi sp mr | ari nl | 4.0 |
In addition, Kershaw rises to 10th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began).
Kershaw pitched a complete game shutout, striking out 14 and allowing three hits, in the 1-0 win over the Padres.
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, rising to first place in player rankings, displacing previous leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (5.0 Box-Toppers points).
Kershaw also now has 165.3 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 10th place in “all-time” rankings, passing two players—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (163.7) and Roger Clemens (164.8). Kershaw now trails ninth-place player Johan Santana (166.6).
Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +20.0, the third time this season a player has had a game score of +20.0 or more. It is the second-highest game score of the season, behind only the +22.0 earned April 14 by Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez.
American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 5-1 win over the Rays.
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 4 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | nyy al | 187.0 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 179.0 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 175.3 |
| 7 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 8 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 9 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 10 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 165.3 |
| 11 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 12 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 163.7 |
| 13 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 14 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 15 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 16 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 17 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 18 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
| 19 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 148.4 |
| 20 | Javier Vazquez | pi sp | retired | 148.3 |
National League Batter of the Day—Chris Carter of the Brewers homered twice and doubled, going 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 14-5 win over the Marlins.
American League Batter of the Day—Nick Castellanos of the Tigers homered and went 1-for-3, driving in four runs, in the 6-5 win over the Twins.
Rankings—Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez rose to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Velasquez (6IP 2H 0R 6K W in the 2-1 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season.
Notable—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rose to 53rd place in “all-time” Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Scherzer (7IP 4H 0R 9K W in the 6-1 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 109.0 for his career. With his point, he passes three players on Box-Toppers “all-time” list—Lance Berkman (108.1), Kevin Millwood (108.3) and Billy Wagner (108.7). Scherzer now trails the 52nd-ranked player on the list, Jeff Kent (109.7). (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.) Scherzer has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Debut—Reds pitcher Tim Adleman made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Adleman (6IP 3H 2R 6K ND in the 6-5 win over the Pirates) was making his Major League debut. He is the 3,625th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Stroman earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Carter and Castellanos 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
| 5/1 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 20.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | |
| 13.0 | `Braves | Julio Teheran | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 12.0 | Nationals | Max Scherzer (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||
| AL | 10.0 | Blue Jays | Marcus Stroman (W,4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | |
| 6.0 | Phillies | Vince Velasquez (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Brewers | Chris Carter, 1B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Giants | Madison Bumgarner (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | Rockies | Nolan Arenado, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Tigers | Nick Castellanos, 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | `Reds | Tim Adleman | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | Royals | Ian Kennedy (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | Red Sox | Craig Kimbrel (S,8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Angels | Kole Calhoun, RF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | White Sox | Melky Cabrera, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Astros | Luke Gregerson (S,5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 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 | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 | 31.7 | 131.8 | 165.3 | -19.7 |
| Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | col nl | 3.5 | 12.0 | 13.5 | 13.5 | -5.0 |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 3.0 | 24.0 | 88.6 | 109.0 | -18.0 |
| Kennedy, Ian 2723 | pi sp | kc al | 3.0 | 9.7 | 53.5 | 59.5 | -3.7 |
| Castellanos, Nick 3349 | 3b | det al | 3.0 | 9.2 | 11.2 | 11.2 | -3.2 |
| Carter, Chris 2828 | 1b dh | mil nl | 2.5 | 3.5 | 21.4 | 22.4 | 1.5 |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 2.0 | 19.0 | 89.0 | 94.7 | -15.0 |
| Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 2.0 | 8.0 | 51.7 | 52.7 | -4.0 |
| Gregerson, Luke 2563 | pi cp | hou al | 2.0 | 8.0 | 12.0 | 17.0 | -4.0 |
| Stroman, Marcus 3327 | pi sp | tor al | 1.7 | 4.4 | 18.1 | 18.1 | -1.0 |
| Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 1.0 | 8.7 | 36.8 | 36.8 | -6.7 |
| Calhoun, Kole 3279 | rf | ana al | 1.0 | 4.2 | 11.7 | 11.7 | -2.2 |
| Cabrera, Melky 2143 | lf | chi al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 16.5 | 27.5 | 0.0 |
| Adleman, Tim 3625 | pi sp | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |