Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Kluber pitched a three-hit, complete-game shutout, striking out nine and walking two, in the 3-0 win over the White Sox.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 21:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 5.0 |
| 2 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 4.7 |
| 4 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 4.7 |
| 5 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 4.0 |
| 6 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 4.0 |
| 7 | Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi mr sp | sd nl | 3.7 |
| 8 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 3.4 |
| 9 | Morrison, Logan 2794 | 1b | tb al | 3.2 |
| 10 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 3.0 |
Kluber led AL players in Box-Toppers points in 2016 with 21.2. This was Kluber’s first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor for 2017.
National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Trevor Cahill allowed one run and three hits over seven innings, striking out six, in the 5-3 win over the Marlins.
National League Batter of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright homered and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 6-3 win over the Brewers.
This is the first time this season that a pitcher has earned Player of the Game honors for batting. It was done eight times in 2016 (including twice by Wainwright) and seven times in 2015. Wainwright has earned Player of the Game honors four times in his career for batting: July 24, 2012, May 2, 2016 and Sept. 5, 2016. He’s earned NL Batter of the Day three times (the only time he didn’t was Sept. 5, 2016).
Wainwright had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 for batting, which was the same as his Box-Toppers game score for pitching (5IP 6H 2R 0BB 9K W). But in cases of game score ties, batters beat pitchers, so Wainwright the batter beat out Wainwright the pitcher on the tiebreaker to earn Player of the Game honors.
Wainwright also now has 113.5 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 48th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Friday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list: Kevin Brown (112.8), Sammy Sosa (113.2), Dan Haren (113.2) and Chris Carpenter (113.3). He now trails 47th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9).
American League Batter of the Day—Joey Gallo of the Rangers hit two homers, going 2-for-3 and driving in three runs, in the 6-2 win over the Royals.
Rankings—Two players rise into Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday:
- Bryce Harper of the Nationals (HR 2B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 4-3, 11-inning win over the Mets) rises to fifth place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 4.0 for the season.
- Rockies closing pitcher Greg Holland (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv in the 6-5 win over the Giants) rises to sixth place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 4.0 for the season.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Blue Jays pitcher Ryan Tepera (3IP H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 8-7, 13-inning win over the Angels) made his Major League debut May 10, 2015, and was playing in his 59th career game. He is the 3,774th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Cubs pitcher Carl Edwards Jr. (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the Reds) made his Major League debut Sept. 7, 2015, and was playing in his 48th career game. He is the 3,775th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cahill earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Wainwright and Gallo each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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.
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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score| 4/21 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | CLE 3, CHW 0 | Corey Kluber (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| NL | 7.0 | SD 5, MIA 3 | Trevor Cahill (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 5.0 | PHI 4, ATL 3 | Jeremy Hellickson (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | TOR 8, LAA 7 (F/13) | Ryan Tepera (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | STL 6, MIL 3 | Adam Wainwright, P | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | TEX 6, KC 2 | Joey Gallo, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.1 | PIT 6, NYY 3 | Juan Nicasio (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | ARI 13, LAD 5 | Daniel Descalso, PH-1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | BAL 2, BOS 0 | Dylan Bundy (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | CHC 6, CIN 5 (F/11) | Carl Edwards Jr. (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 6, TB 3 | Ken Giles (S,4) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | COL 6, SF 5 | Greg Holland (S,9) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | WSH 4, NYM 3 (F/11) | Bryce Harper, RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 6, DET 3 | Eddie Rosario, LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | OAK 3, SEA 1 | Sean Manaea (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` 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 (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 4.0 | 7.0 | 31.4 | 31.4 | 1.0 |
| Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 34.0 | 37.0 | 4.0 |
| Bundy, Dylan 3655 | pi sp | bal al | 3.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -3.0 |
| Gallo, Joey 3485 | 3b | tex al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3.0 |
| Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 2.0 | 23.2 | 67.4 | 67.4 | -19.2 |
| Hellickson, Jeremy 2778 | pi sp | phi nl | 2.0 | 15.1 | 36.1 | 46.8 | -11.1 |
| Cahill, Trevor 2658 | pi sp mr | sd nl | 1.7 | 4.7 | 19.4 | 41.9 | -1.3 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 1.5 | 11.7 | 62.8 | 113.5 | -8.7 |
| Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi mr sp | pit nl | 1.0 | 10.0 | 22.4 | 26.4 | -8.0 |
| Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 1.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | -5.7 |
| Giles, Ken 3402 | pi cp mr | hou al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -2.0 |
| Rosario, Eddie 3542 | lf | min al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | -2.0 |
| Descalso, Daniel 2855 | ph 1b | ari nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 8.7 | 11.2 | 0.0 |
| Edwards, Carl Jr. 3775 | pi mr | chi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Tepera, Ryan 3774 | pi mr | tor al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |