Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander is Tuesday’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 May 24:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.0 |
| 2 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 |
| 3 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 8.7 |
| 5 | Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 7.7 |
| 6 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 7.4 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 7.0 |
| 8 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 6.7 |
| 9 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 6.7 |
| 10 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 6.4 |
Verlander pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing three hits, in the 3-1 win over the Phillies.
Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season and has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons, all with the Tigers. He earned his first points in 2006 and has 126.6 career points, rising to 33rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Verlander passes Mariano Rivera (126.4) on the “all-time” list and now trails 32nd-ranked player Roy Oswalt (127.2). Verlander ranks fourth among active American League pitchers in career Box-Toppers points.
Verlander’s best season was 2012 when he led all players with 24.8 Box-Toppers points. In 2011, he led all AL pitchers with 24.4 points. In 2015, Verlander had 6.4 points.
National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg struck out 11 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 7-4 win over the Mets.
Strasburg earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 6.4 for the season and rising to 11th in Box-Toppers player rankings, seventh among NL pitchers. Strasburg is the highest-ranked player among Tuesday’s Players of the Games.
National League Batter of the Day—Gregory Polanco of the Pirates homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 12-1 win over the Diamondbacks.
American League Batter of the Day—David Ortiz of the Red Sox doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 8-3 win over the Rockies.
Ortiz earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 141.4 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 23rd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 22nd-ranked player, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (142.1). Ortiz ranks eighth among all active players in career Box-Toppers points, third among active batters, behind Alex Rodriguez (187.0) and Albert Pujols (176.3).
Scoring—Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Strasburg earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Polanco and Ortiz each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’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
| 5/24 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | Tigers | Justin Verlander (W,4-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |
| NL | 7.2 | Nationals | Stephen Strasburg (W,8-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | |
| 7.0 | Rays | Jake Odorizzi (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | Yankees | Nathan Eovaldi (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 5.1 | Mariners | Mike Montgomery (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Pirates | Gregory Polanco, RF-LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Rangers | Martin Perez (W,2-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | `Brewers | Jimmy Nelson | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 4.1 | `Astros | Tony Sipp | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | Giants | Brandon Crawford, SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Cubs | Jorge Soler, LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Indians | Josh Tomlin (W,7-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 3.2 | Dodgers | Mike Bolsinger (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Red Sox | David Ortiz, DH | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.0 | Royals | Lorenzo Cain, CF | 5 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 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 | +/- |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.4 | 20.4 | 66.5 | 74.2 | -7.6 |
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | nyy al | 4.7 | 6.7 | 23.8 | 23.8 | 2.7 |
| Tomlin, Josh 2771 | pi sp | cle al | 4.0 | 8.7 | 21.4 | 23.4 | -0.7 |
| Ortiz, David | dh | bos al | 3.5 | 8.0 | 39.4 | 141.4 | -1.0 |
| Cain, Lorenzo 3171 | cf | kc al | 3.0 | 11.2 | 17.2 | 17.2 | -5.2 |
| Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | tb al | 2.7 | 11.4 | 22.4 | 22.4 | -6.0 |
| Polanco, Gregory 3361 | rf lf | pit nl | 2.5 | 5.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | -0.5 |
| Nelson, Jimmy 3299 | pi sp | mil nl | 2.0 | 10.4 | 12.4 | 12.4 | -6.4 |
| Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | det al | 2.0 | 8.4 | 71.6 | 126.6 | -4.4 |
| Bolsinger, Mike 3318 | pi sp | lad nl | 1.0 | 6.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | -4.7 |
| Montgomery, Mike 3513 | pi cp | sea al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -3.0 |
| Crawford, Brandon 2878 | ss | sf nl | 1.0 | 4.5 | 15.5 | 15.5 | -2.5 |
| Soler, Jorge 3403 | lf | chi nl | 1.0 | 4.2 | 5.2 | 5.2 | -2.2 |
| Perez, Martin 3213 | pi sp | tex al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 0.0 |
| Sipp, Tony 2852 | pi mr | hou al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 1.0 |