Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez is Monday’s Player of the Day on baseball’s opening day of the season.
Hernandez struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, in the 4-1 win over the Angels.
Hernandez had a Box-Toppers game score of +12, tied with Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz, who was Player of the Game in the 8-0 win over the Phillies. However, Hernandez won the tie-breaker to earn Player of the Day because he had more strikeouts than Buchholz (10 vs. nine).
Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto is National League Player of the Day. Cueto struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings in the 5-2 win over the Pirates. Cueto picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because after he exited the game, the Pirates tied the score.
Cueto also had a Box-Toppers game score of +12, tied with Hernandez, but Hernandez beat Cueto on a tie-breaker to earn Player of the Day because he earned the win in his game, while Cueto earned a no-decision.
Nolan Arenado of the Rockies is NL Batter of the Day. Arenado homered, doubled and went 3-for-4 with four RBIs in the 10-0 win over the Brewers.
Alex Rios of the Royals is American League Batter of the Day. Rios homered, drove in three and went 3-for-4 in the 10-1 win over the White Sox.
Notables: Opening day often features baseball’s top aces, the top-of-the-rotation pitchers who were among Box-Toppers leaders in the previous season. Monday featured starts from last year’s top seven pitchers in Box-Toppers player rankings. However, only three earned Player of the Game honors. Here is how those seven players fared, listed in order of their 2014 Box-Toppers player ranking:
1. Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers—31.5 Box-Toppers points in 2014.
Monday—6IP 6H 3R 2BB 9K ND, Box-Toppers game score +1 in 6-3 win over Padres. (Jimmy Rollins, Box-Toppers game score +2 was Dodgers Player of the Game.)
2. Corey Kluber, Indians—25.8 Box-Toppers points in 2014.
Monday—7.1IP 3H 2R 2BB 7K L, Box-Toppers game score +5.1 in 2-0 loss to Astros. (Dallas Keuchel of Astros, Box-Toppers game score +5 was Player of the Game.)
3. Madison Bumgarner, Giants—22.6 Box-Toppers points in 2014.
Monday—7IP 6H R BB 3K W, Box-Toppers game score +1 in 5-4 win over Diamondbacks. (Angel Pagan, Box-Toppers game score +2 was Giants Player of the Game.)
4. Johnny Cueto, Reds—22.4 Box-Toppers points in 2014.
Monday—Cueto earned NL Player of the Day honors, see details above.
5. Max Scherzer, Nationals—22.1 Box-Toppers points in 2014 (with Tigers).
Monday—7.2 IP 4H 3R 2BB 8K L, Box-Toppers game score +6.2 in 3-1 loss to Mets. (Bartolo Colon of the Mets, Box-Toppers game score of +8.0 was Player of the Game.)
6. Felix Hernandez, Mariners—20.8 Box-Toppers points in 2014.
Monday—Hernandez earned overall Player of the Day honors, see details above.
7. David Price, Tigers—19.1 Box-Toppers points in 2014.
Monday—8.2 IP 5H 0R 5K W, Box-Toppers game score +8.2 in 4-0 win over Twins. (Price earned Player of the Game honors.)
Also notable: Devon Travis of the Blue Jays (HR 1-2 2R BI in the 6-1 win over the Yankees) made his Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. Travis is the 3,436th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. He is the first player to make his debut in the 2015 season.
Hernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cueto earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Arenado and Rios each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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
| 406 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | Mariners | Felix Hernandez (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| 12.0 | Red Sox | Clay Buchholz (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| NL | 12.0 | `Reds | Johnny Cueto | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| 9.0 | Athletics | Sonny Gray (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 8.2 | Tigers | David Price (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 8.0 | Mets | Bartolo Colon (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | Rockies | Nolan Arenado 3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Astros | Dallas Keuchel (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Royals | Alex Rios RF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Braves | Jason Grilli (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Giants | Angel Pagan CF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Dodgers | Jimmy Rollins SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Devon Travis 2B | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.2 | Orioles | Chris Tillman (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||