Aaron Hill of the Brewers is Saturday’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 7:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 2 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 5.7 |
| 4 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 5.4 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 5.0 |
| 6 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 5.0 |
| 7 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 5.0 |
| 8 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 5.0 |
| 9 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 4.7 |
| 10 | Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | chi al | 4.7 |
Meanwhile, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rises to take the lead in season Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Hill hit three homers, including a 10th-inning, go-ahead grand slam, in the 13-7 win over the Reds. Hill went 3-for-5 and drove in seven total runs.
American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale struck out nine over seven innings, allowing two runs and three hits, in the 7-2 win over the Twins.
Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season, rising to third place in season player rankings, first among AL players.
American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit two homers and went 2-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 10-5 win over the Tigers.
Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 104.3 for his career. He rises to 59th place in points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Saturday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (103.3) and Jamie Moyer (104.0). Beltre has 2.5 Box-Toppers points for the season.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall Player of the Day was an NL batter, Aaron Hill of the Brewers.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rose to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Kershaw (7IP 8H 2R 10K W in the 6-2 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season. He passes previous leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (6.0).
Also, Kershaw now has 166.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 10th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails ninth-place player, Johan Santana (166.6).
Notable—Two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday:
- Athletics pitcher Rich Hill (5.2IP 2H R 5K W in the 8-4 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.4 for the season, rising to fourth place.
- Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (8.1IP 8H 0R 3K ND in the 2-1, 13-inning win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to fifth place.
Scoring—Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Sale earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Beltre earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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
| 5/7 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | Brewers | Aaron Hill, 3B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AL | 8.0 | White Sox | Chris Sale (W,7-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | |
| 7.0 | Royals | Ian Kennedy (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 5.1 | `Mariners | Nathan Karns | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 5.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Rangers | Adrian Beltre, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Yankees | Nathan Eovaldi (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 3.2 | Athletics | Rich Hill (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | Cardinals | Stephen Piscotty, RF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Mets | David Wright, 3B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.1 | `Giants | Johnny Cueto | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | Cubs | Addison Russell, SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Phillies | Brett Oberholtzer (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | `Dbacks | Tyler Clippard | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Orioles | Zach Britton (S,7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Rays | Steven Souza, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 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 | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 | 32.7 | 132.8 | 166.3 | -18.7 |
| Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 5.7 | 24.5 | 76.7 | 78.7 | -13.1 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 5.4 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 29.1 | 1.4 |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 5.0 | 17.8 | 69.0 | 88.4 | -7.8 |
| Kennedy, Ian 2723 | pi sp | kc al | 4.0 | 10.7 | 54.5 | 60.5 | -2.7 |
| Souza, Steven Jr. 3461 | rf | tb al | 2.7 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 | -2.8 |
| Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | tex al | 2.5 | 15.0 | 40.9 | 104.3 | -10.0 |
| Karns, Nathan 3414 | pi sp | sea al | 2.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -3.0 |
| Hill, Aaron 2056 | 3b 2b | mil nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 19.0 | 38.0 | -1.0 |
| Russell, Addison 3559 | ss | chi nl | 2.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | -0.5 |
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | nyy al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 21.1 | 21.1 | 0.0 |
| Britton, Zachary 2835 | pi cp | bal al | 1.0 | 9.7 | 29.1 | 29.1 | -7.7 |
| Piscotty, Stephen 3570 | rf | stl nl | 1.0 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.2 | -3.2 |
| Clippard, Tyler 2291 | pi mr | ari nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 17.0 | 28.4 | 0.0 |
| Oberholtzer, Brett 3244 | pi mr | phi nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Wright, David 1911 | 3b | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 24.5 | 75.1 | 1.0 |