Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, pitching a complete game shutout, is Friday’s Player of the Day and extends his lead in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Hernandez struck out nine over nine innings, allowing five hits, in the 2-0 win over the Twins. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season and is now 2.0 points ahead of the second-place player, Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole (4.0 Box-Toppers points).
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 24.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 6.0 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 4.0 |
| 3 | Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | oak al | 3.7 |
| 4 | DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | pi sp | cin nl | 3.7 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 3.4 |
| 6 | Harang, Aaron 1599 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.4 |
| 7 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 3.0 |
| 8 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 |
| 9 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 3.0 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 3.0 |
Hernandez now has 149.3 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 16th among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1994. With Friday's points, he passes Chipper Jones (149.0 Box-Toppers points) on the "all-time" list (since 1995).
National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Aaron Harang pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing two hits, in the 1-0 win over the Braves. Harang had a no-decision because he left the game with the score tied 0-0. The Phillies won the game in the bottom of the ninth on a walk-off run by Freddy Galvis.
Harang earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.4 for the season. He rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for 2015.
American League Batter of the Day—Brandon Moss of the Indians homered twice, doubled and drove in seven runs in the 13-1 win over the Tigers.
National League Batter of the Day—DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies hit two doubles and went 3-for-4, driving in two runs and scoring another, in the 6-4 win over the Giants.
Rankings—Besides Hernandez and Harang, three other players who earned Player of the Game honors Friday rose in Box-Toppers player rankings:
- Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole (7.2IP R 7K W in the 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks) rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season.
- Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke (7IP 0R 7K W in the 3-0 win over the Padres) rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season. Greinke now has 128.7 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 28th among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With Friday's point, he passes Vladimir Guerrero (128.3 Box-Toppers points) on the "all-time" list (since 1995).
- Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel (9IP 2H 0R 4K ND in the 5-4 win over the Athletics) rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.
Streak—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons. Lester was Player of the Game in Friday’s 7-3 win over the Reds (6IP 3R 10K ND) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.
Lester earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Red Sox. His best season was 2010 with the Red Sox when he had 23.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked first among all players. In 2014, he had 16.4 Box-Toppers points in a season split between the Red Sox (10.0 Box-Toppers points) and the Athletics (6.4 points). He ranked sixth among AL pitchers in 2014.
Lester has 110.1 career Box-Toppers points, moving him up to 47th place among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. (With Friday’s 1.0 Box-Toppers point, he passes Jeff Kent—109.7 and Tim Lincecum—109.3.) Lester ranks 33rd among all pitchers in Box-Toppers points since 1995 and ranks ninth among active pitchers currently in the NL.
Debut—Tim Beckham of the Rays made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Beckham (HR 2-2 R 2BI in the 12-3 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut Sept. 19, 2013, and was playing in the 21st game of his career. He is the 3,452nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Hernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Harang earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Moss and LeMahieu 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
| 4/24 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | Mariners | Felix Hernandez (W, 3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| NL | 11.0 | `Phillies | Aaron Harang | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| 9.0 | Cardinals | Carlos Martinez (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 9.0 | `Astros | Dallas Keuchel | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 7.2 | Yankees | Michael Pineda (W, 3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | Indians | Brandon Moss RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | Dodgers | Zack Greinke (W, 3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 4.0 | `Cubs | Jon Lester | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 3.2 | Pirates | Gerrit Cole (W, 3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | Rays | Tim Beckham PH, DH | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Rockies | DJ LeMahieu 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Red Sox | Brock Holt SS, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Angels | Garrett Richards (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 1.0 | Marlins | Adeiny Hechavarria SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||