Mariners' Walker tops players for Friday, May 29; Athletics' Gray rises to 7th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker is Friday’s Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to seventh place in Box-Toppers player rankings. Plus, three pitchers with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Friday—Tim Hudson of the Giants, Dan Haren of the Marlins and John Lackey of the Cardinals.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 29.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 11.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 9.0
3 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 9.0
4 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 7.0
5 Miller, Shelby 3134 pi sp atl nl 7.0
6 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 6.7
7 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 6.7
8 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 6.7
9 Heston, Chris 3437 pi sp sf nl 6.7
10 Fielder, Prince 2029 dh tex al 6.5
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Walker pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits, in the 2-1 win over the Indians.

National League Player of the Day—Rockies pitcher Chad Bettis pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing two hits, in the 4-1 win over the Phillies. Bettis had a perfect game into the seventh inning and a no-hitter into the eighth inning, before giving up a one-out single.

This was Bettis’ Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut Aug. 1, 2013, and was playing in his 41st career game. He is the 3,481st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Josh Hamilton of the Rangers hit two home runs and scored three total runs in the 7-4 win over the Red Sox. It was Hamilton’s first Player of the Game honor of the season and the first since his return to the Rangers after two seasons with the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day for Friday because no NL batters earned Player of the Game honors.

Rankings—Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to seventh place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. Gray (8IP 4H 2R 5K W in the 6-2 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.7 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

Notable—Three players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

  • Giants pitcher Tim Hudson rose to 13th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. Hudson earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game in the 4-2 win over the Braves (7IP 5H R 4K W), giving him 155.0 career Box-Toppers points. Hudson passes Felix Hernandez (154.7) on that list and trails 12th-place player, Mike Mussina (155.6). Hudson has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
  • Marlins pitcher Dan Haren rose to 48th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. Haren earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game in the 4-3 win over the Mets (7IP 4H 2R 4K W), giving him 111.2 career Box-Toppers points. Haren passes Jon Lester (111.1) and Tom Glavine (110.6) on that list and trails 47th-place player Torii Hunter (111.4). Haren has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
  • Cardinals pitcher John Lackey rose to 59th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. Lackey earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game in the 3-0 win over the Dodgers (7IP 5H 0R 9K W), giving him 101.8 career Box-Toppers points. Lackey passes Jason Schmidt (101.2), Tim Wakefield (101.4) and Adam Wainwright (101.8) on that list and trails Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2). Lackey has 3.7 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Scoring—Walker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Bettis earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Hamilton earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL 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

5/29 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 Mariners Taijuan Walker (W, 2-5) - - - - - - 8.0 2 0 0 0 8
NL 13.0 Rockies Chad Bettis (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 8.0 2 0 0 0 7
10.0 Cardinals John Lackey (W, 3-3) - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 1 9
9.0 `Orioles Miguel Gonzalez - - - - - - 8.0 3 1 1 0 6
8.1 Angels Hector Santiago (W, 4-3) - - - - - - 7.1 3 0 0 3 7
BAT 4.0 Rangers Josh Hamilton LF 3 3 2 2 1 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Giants Tim Hudson (W, 3-4) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 0 4
3.0 White Sox Geovany Soto C 1 1 1 2 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Athletics Sonny Gray (W, 6-2) - - - - - - 8.0 4 2 2 2 5
3.0 Padres Craig Kimbrel (W, 1-1) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.2 Dbacks Addison Reed (W, 2-2) - - - - - - 1.2 1 0 0 0 2
2.0 Royals Lorenzo Cain CF 4 2 3 1 1 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Marlins Dan Haren (W, 5-2) - - - - - - 7.0 4 2 2 1 4
2.0 Reds Aroldis Chapman (S, 8) - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 2
1.0 Blue Jays Josh Donaldson 3B 5 1 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.