Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez is Saturday’s Player of the Day and rises to the top of Box-Toppers player rankings.
Hernandez struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 3-1 win over the Rangers. Hernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, passing previous points leader, Athletics pitcher Scott Kazmir, who has 3.7.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 18.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 4.0 |
| 2 | Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | oak al | 3.7 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 3.0 |
| 4 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 3.0 |
| 5 | Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 3.0 |
| 6 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 2.7 |
| 7 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.7 |
| 8 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.7 |
| 9 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b dh | tor al | 2.5 |
| 10 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 2.5 |
Hernandez had a Box-Toppers game score of +12, tied with Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, who was Player of the Game in the 9-0 win over the Rays. However, Hernandez won Player of the Day honors on a tie-breaker—he had more strikeouts than Tanaka Saturday (12 vs. 8).
National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out eight in the 5-4 win over the Marlins. deGrom earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 for the season. He rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
American League Batter of the Day—Adam LaRoche of the White Sox homered, doubled and went 3-for-5 with two runs and four RBIs in the 12-3 win over the Tigers.
National League Batter of the Day—Odubel Herrera of the Phillies went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI, in the 5-3 win over the Nationals. This was Herrera’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut April 6 and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,449th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Notables—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Donaldson (HR 3-4 2R BI in the 6-5 win over the Braves) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.5 for the season.
Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers earned just his third Player of the Game honor Saturday in his third season in baseball. While Puig is considered one of the game’s rising stars and an All-Star, he has so far only rarely earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors and now has 3.5 Box-Toppers points since his Box-Toppers debut on June 4, 2013. On Saturday, Puig went 2-for-3 with a double, a run and an RBI in the 6-3 win over the Rockies. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and has that 1.0 point for the season. That equals his 2014 total of 1.0 Box-Toppers point—he was Player of the Game once in 2014, on May 12.
Scoring—Hernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and deGrom earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. LaRoche and Herrera each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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
| 4/18 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | Mariners | Felix Hernandez (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | |
| 13.0 | Yankees | Masahiro Tanaka (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| NL | 9.0 | Mets | Jacob deGrom (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 8.0 | Pirates | Jeff Locke (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 8.0 | Astros | Dallas Keuchel (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 7.0 | `Cubs | Kyle Hendricks | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 5.2 | Giants | Chris Heston (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 4.2 | Athletics | Jesse Chavez (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | White Sox | Adam LaRoche 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Indians | Danny Salazar (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 3.0 | Cardinals | Carlos Martinez (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | Orioles | Zach Britton (S, 4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Phillies | Odubel Herrera CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Josh Donaldson DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Dodgers | Yasiel Puig RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||