Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta, pitching a no-hitter, is Thursday’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 April 21:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 5.0 |
| 2 | Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 4.4 |
| 3 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.0 |
| 4 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 4.0 |
| 5 | Latos, Mat 2644 | pi sp | chi al | 3.7 |
| 6 | Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | sea al | 3.5 |
| 7 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 3.4 |
| 8 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 3.0 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 10 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.0 |
Arrieta allowed no hits and four walks, striking out six, in the complete game, 16-0 win over the Reds, his second career no-hitter.
Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to first in Box-Toppers season player rankings. Arrieta led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 29.1.
While Arrieta’s no-hitter is the first of the season, his Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +11.0 ranks 10th among the highest game scores of the season so far.
American League Player of the Day—Royals pitcher Edinson Volquez pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, in the 4-0 win over the Tigers. Volquez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 4.4 for the season and rising to second place in season player rankings.
American League Batter of the Day—Robinson Cano of the Mariners hit a 10th-inning, go-ahead three-run homer in the 10-7 win over the Indians. Cano also went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 3.5 for the season and rising to sixth in season player rankings. He leads AL batters in Box-Toppers points and is the only batter ranked among the top 10 players.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because no NL Batter of the Day earned Player of the Game honors. Kris Bryant of the Cubs had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +8.0 in his team’s win over the Reds (2HR 4-6 4R 6BI), but did not earn Player of the Game honors because he was overshadowed by teammate Arrieta, who threw a no-hitter and had a game score of +11.0. So despite Bryant’s strong performance, he earns no Box-Toppers points.
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 | 174.3 |
| 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 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 11 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 163.3 |
| 12 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 162.7 |
| 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 |
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rose to third in Box-Toppers season player rankings and 11th in “all-time” player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Kershaw (8IP 10H R 10K ND in the 2-1 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season and 163.3 for his career. He passes Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (162.7) to move into 11th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He is also now the fourth-ranked active player in Box-Toppers points, behind Alex Rodriguez (187.0), CC Sabathia (179.0) and Albert Pujols (174.3). Kershaw trails 10th-place player on the list, Roger Clemens (164.8).
Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Tyler Wagner made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Wagner (5IP 2H 0R K W in the 6-2 win over the Giants) made his Major League debut May 31, 2015, and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,618th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Volquez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Canoearns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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
| 4/21 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Cubs | Jake Arrieta (W,4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | |
| 9.0 | Pirates | Gerrit Cole (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| AL | 6.0 | Royals | Edinson Volquez (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 6.0 | Athletics | Rich Hill (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 10 | ||
| 5.1 | Twins | Ricky Nolasco (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | `Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 5.0 | Marlins | Tom Koehler (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Mariners | Robinson Cano, 2B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Dbacks | Tyler Wagner (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 3.0 | Rays | Logan Forsythe, 2B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Rangers | Ian Desmond, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Angels | Mike Trout, CF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Orioles | Darren O'Day (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| `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 | +/- |
| Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 5.0 | 34.1 | 61.8 | 64.8 | -24.1 |
| Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 4.4 | 11.4 | 36.1 | 62.2 | -2.6 |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.0 | 29.7 | 129.8 | 163.3 | -21.7 |
| Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | sea al | 3.5 | 10.0 | 39.0 | 70.9 | -3.0 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 2.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 26.4 | -1.3 |
| Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 1.0 | 20.0 | 30.4 | 30.4 | -18.0 |
| Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 1.0 | 13.0 | 37.5 | 37.5 | -11.0 |
| Koehler, Tom 3159 | pi sp | fla nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | -3.0 |
| Nolasco, Ricky 2125 | pi sp | min al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 23.7 | 76.8 | -1.0 |
| O’Day, Darren 2577 | pi mr cp | bal al | 1.0 | 2.7 | 10.7 | 11.7 | -0.7 |
| Forsythe, Logan 3364 | 2b | tb al | 1.0 | 2.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | -0.5 |
| Desmond, Ian 2673 | lf ss | tex al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 17.7 | 24.2 | 0.0 |
| Wagner, Tyler 3618 | pi mr | ari nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |