Cubs' Anthony Rizzo tops players for Thursday, April 7; White Sox' Latos tops AL players

Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Rizzo hit a three-run homer, tripled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 14-6 win over the Diamondbacks.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of April 7:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 2.0
2 Liriano, Francisco 2104 pi sp pit nl 2.0
3 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 2.0
4 Rizzo, Anthony 3063 1b chi nl 2.0
5 Nicasio, Juan 2888 pi sp pit nl 2.0
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 1.7
7 Odorizzi, Jake 3291 pi sp tb al 1.7
8 Volquez, Edinson 2220 pi sp kc al 1.7
9 Souza, Steven Jr. 3461 rf tb al 1.7
10 Latos, Mat 2644 pi sp chi al 1.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Rizzo receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and is now in fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings. He had 8.5 points in 2015, ranked ninth among National League batters.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Mat Latos pitched six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out two, in the 6-1 win over the Athletics.

American League Batter of the Day—Mark Teixeira of the Yankees hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice, in the 8-5 win over the Astros.

Teixeira has now earned Box-Toppers points in 14 consecutive seasons. He earned his first points in 2003 with the Rangers and has 98.8 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks 70th among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began and 27th among all batters. He ranks seventh among active batters. Teixeira’s best season was 2009 with the Yankees when he had 11.5 points, ranked sixth among AL batters. He had 7.5 points in 2015 with the Yankees, 17th among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall Player of the Day was an NL batter, Anthony Rizzo.

Streak—Orioles pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Jimenez (7IP 8H 2R 9K W in the 4-2 win over the Twins) earned his first Box-Toppers points with the Rockies in 2007 and has 75.8 career points, ranked 10th among active AL pitchers. His best season was 2013 with the Indians when he had 14.5 Box-Toppers points, ninth among AL pitchers. He had 8.7 points in 2015 with the Orioles, ranked 25th among AL pitchers.

Scoring—Rizzo earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Latos earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Teixeira earns 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

4/7 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 Cubs Anthony Rizzo, 1B 4 3 3 6 1 1 - - - - - -
6.0 Reds Jay Bruce, RF 4 2 3 5 0 0 - - - - - -
AL 6.0 White Sox Mat Latos (W,1-0) - - - - - - 6.0 1 0 0 1 2
5.0 Orioles Ubaldo Jimenez (W,1-0) - - - - - - 7.0 8 2 1 0 9
4.0 Giants Joe Panik, 2B 5 3 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Yankees Mark Teixeira, 1B 4 2 2 3 0 2 - - - - - -
3.0 Marlins David Phelps (W,1-0) - - - - - - 4.0 2 0 0 2 3
2.0 `Angels Hector Santiago - - - - - - 6.0 4 3 2 2 7
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.