Pirates pitcher Juan Nicasio is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of April 29:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 5.0 |
| 2 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | cf lf dh ph | nym nl | 4.5 |
| 3 | Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 4.4 |
| 4 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 4.4 |
| 5 | Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b ss | bal al | 4.2 |
| 6 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.0 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 4.0 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 4.0 |
| 9 | De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 | pi sp mr | ari nl | 4.0 |
| 10 | Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi sp | pit nl | 4.0 |
Meanwhile, Yoenis Cespedes rises to second in Box-Toppers player rankings, first among National League batters, and Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez regains his spot in 11th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995.
Player of the Day—Nicasio struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 4-1 win over the Reds.
Nicasio earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season and rising to 10th in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher Aaron Sanchez pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing six hits, in the 6-1 win over the Rays.
National League Batter of the Day—Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in six total runs, in the 13-1 win over the Giants.
Cespedes earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season, rising to second in overall Box-Toppers player rankings, behind only Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (5.0). Cespedes now leads NL batters in season Box-Toppers points.
American League Batter of the Day—Victor Martinez of the Tigers homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 9-2 win over the Twins.
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 | 175.3 |
| 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 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 163.7 |
| 12 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 163.3 |
| 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—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez regained his spot in 11th place in Box-Toppers “all-time” player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. He also extended his consecutive season streak earning Box-Toppers points to 12.
Hernandez (7.2IP 5H 0R 4K W in the 1-0 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 163.7 for his career. He now ranks 11th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began), passing Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (163.3), who previously passed Hernandez in career points for the first time on April 21. Hernandez now trails 10th-place player Roger Clemens (164.8).
Hernandez has also now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 consecutive seasons. He earned his first points in 2005 with the Mariners and with 163.7 points is the highest-ranked active player to never lead a season category (i.e., AL pitchers) in Box-Toppers points. He has earned 19.0 or more Box-Toppers points four times in his career (2009, 2010, 2014 and 2015), with his best year being 2014 with 20.8 points, third among AL pitchers. In 2015, he had 19.4 points, third among AL pitchers.
Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rose to 35th place in Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Lester (7IP 7H R 10K ND in the 6-1 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 124.1 career points, passing Gary Sheffield (124.1) on the “all-time” Box-Toppers points list. (Lester beats Sheffield on a tiebreaker because he has more Box-Toppers points this season—3.0 vs. 0.0.) Lester now trails 34th-place player, Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander (124.6). Lester has 3.0 Box-Toppers points on the season and ranks eighth among NL pitchers.
Debut—Padres pitcher Cesar Vargas made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Vargas (5.1IP 4H 0R 6K ND in the 5-1 win over the Dodgers) made his Major League debut April 23 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,624th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Nicasio earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sanchez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Cespedes and Martinez each earn 1.5 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
| 4/29 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Pirates | Juan Nicasio (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 10.2 | Marlins | Adam Conley (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | Mets | Yoenis Cespedes, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | Phillies | David Hernandez (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 6.0 | `Cubs | Jon Lester | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | ||
| AL | 5.0 | Blue Jays | Aaron Sanchez (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| 4.1 | `Padres | Cesar Vargas | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Tigers | Victor Martinez, DH | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Orioles | Nolan Reimold, LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.2 | Mariners | Felix Hernandez (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | Athletics | Coco Crisp, LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Nationals | Stephen Strasburg (W,4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 3.0 | Rangers | Shawn Tolleson (S,8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | Rockies | Tyler Chatwood (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | Red Sox | Koji Uehara (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| `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 | +/- |
| Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | cf lf dh ph | nym nl | 4.5 | 15.4 | 36.4 | 36.4 | -6.4 |
| Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi sp | pit nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 20.4 | 20.4 | 3.0 |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 3.7 | 17.7 | 63.8 | 71.5 | -10.3 |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 3.0 | 15.0 | 61.2 | 124.1 | -9.0 |
| Sanchez, Aaron 3392 | pi sp | tor al | 2.7 | 4.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 0.7 |
| Martinez, Victor 1695 | dh ph | det al | 2.5 | 6.0 | 25.9 | 66.1 | -1.0 |
| Chatwood, Tyler 2856 | pi sp | col nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 2.0 |
| Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 1.0 | 20.4 | 86.4 | 163.7 | -18.4 |
| Tolleson, Shawn 3077 | pi cp | tex al | 1.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -5.0 |
| Uehara, Koji 2802 | pi mr cp | bos al | 1.0 | 6.0 | 23.0 | 27.0 | -4.0 |
| Conley, Adam 3594 | pi sp | fla nl | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | -2.0 |
| Crisp, Coco 1876 | lf | oak al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 19.5 | 36.7 | -1.0 |
| Hernandez, David 2649 | pi cp | phi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 9.0 | 13.0 | 1.0 |
| Reimold, Nolan 2607 | lf | bal al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 6.7 | 7.7 | 1.0 |
| Vargas, Cesar 3624 | pi sp | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |