Pirates pitcher Ivan Nova is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Nova struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 2-1 win over the Yankees.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 23:| 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 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc al | 4.0 |
| 6 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 4.0 |
| 7 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 4.0 |
| 8 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 3.7 |
| 9 | Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi mr sp | sd nl | 3.7 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 3.4 |
American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit, in the 6-2 win over the Orioles.
American League Batter of the Day—John Hicks of the Tigers homered and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 13-4 win over the Twins.
This was Hicks’ Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Hicks made his Major League debut Aug. 29, 2015, and was playing in his 20th career game. He is the 3,777th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—Gerardo Parra of the Rockies homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-0 win over the Giants.
Rankings—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Scherzer (8IP 5H 3R BB 9K W in the 6-3 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season. Scherzer led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2016 with 25.7.
Scherzer now has 135.7 career Box-Toppers points, 30th-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 29th-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5).
Streak—Mariners pitcher Yovani Gallardo has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Gallardo (6.1IP 4H R BB 7K W in the 11-1 win over the Athletics) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Brewers and has 90.7 career points, 10th among active AL pitchers. His best season was 2011 with the Brewers when he had 19.9 points, fourth among NL pitchers.
Notable—Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo earns his first Box-Toppers points in nearly three years after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Arroyo (6IP 3H 2R 0BB 7K W in the 7-5 win over the Cubs) last earned Player of the Game honors on May 13, 2014, when he was with the Diamondbacks. He was out in 2015 recovering from Tommy John surgery and did not appear in 2016.
Scoring—Nova earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rodriguez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Hicks and Parra each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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| 4/23 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 7.0 | PIT 2, NYY 1 | Ivan Nova (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| AL | 7.0 | BOS 6, BAL 2 | Eduardo Rodriguez (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | |
| 6.1 | SEA 11, OAK 1 | Yovani Gallardo (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | TEX 5, KC 2 | Yu Darvish (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 6.0 | CIN 7, CHC 5 | Bronson Arroyo (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | DET 13, MIN 4 | John Hicks, 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | WSH 6, NYM 3 | Max Scherzer (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 5.0 | `PHI 5, ATL 2 | Zach Eflin | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | CHW 6, CLE 2 | Derek Holland (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | `HOU 6, TB 4 (F/10) | Brad Peacock | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | COL 8, SF 0 | Gerardo Parra, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | STL 6, MIL 4 | Kolten Wong, 2B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TOR 6, LAA 2 | Marcus Stroman (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | LAD 6, ARI 2 | Brandon McCarthy (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | MIA 7, SD 3 | Christian Yelich, CF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 | +/- |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 4.0 | 29.7 | 107.9 | 135.7 | -21.7 |
| Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 3.0 | 11.0 | 26.7 | 34.1 | -5.0 |
| Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | bos al | 2.7 | 7.4 | 13.4 | 13.4 | -2.0 |
| Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 2.0 | 12.4 | 57.6 | 57.6 | -8.4 |
| Holland, Derek 2634 | pi sp | chi al | 2.0 | 6.0 | 28.1 | 47.8 | -2.0 |
| McCarthy, Brandon 2082 | pi sp | lad nl | 2.0 | 4.7 | 24.4 | 38.5 | -0.7 |
| Parra, Gerardo 2746 | rf | col nl | 1.5 | 4.0 | 16.0 | 22.5 | -1.0 |
| Hicks, John 3777 | 1b | det al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Stroman, Marcus 3327 | pi sp | tor al | 1.0 | 7.7 | 24.1 | 24.1 | -5.7 |
| Yelich, Christian 3334 | cf | fla nl | 1.0 | 6.5 | 16.5 | 16.5 | -4.5 |
| Eflin, Zach 3679 | pi sp | phi nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -3.0 |
| Gallardo, Yovani 2333 | pi sp | sea al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 39.4 | 90.7 | -1.0 |
| Wong, Kolten 3377 | 2b | stl nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 0.0 |
| Arroyo, Bronson 1375 | pi sp | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 21.4 | 85.9 | 1.0 |
| Peacock, Brad 2968 | pi sp | hou al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 7.7 | 10.4 | 1.0 |