Diamondbacks pitcher Taijuan Walker is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Walker struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing two runs on four hits, in the 6-2 win over the Padres.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 27:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 2 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 5.7 |
| 3 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 4.7 |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 4.0 |
| 6 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 4.0 |
| 7 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 4.0 |
| 8 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 4.0 |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 3.7 |
| 10 | Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi mr sp | sd nl | 3.7 |
Walker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, most among the 11 Thursday who earned Player of the Game honors. Walker rises to 17th place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka pitched a complete-game, three-hit, shutout in the 3-0 win over the Red Sox. Tanaka struck out three and walked none.
National League Batter of the Day—Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals hit a two-run, ninth-inning homer to tie the game, in the 8-4, 11-inning win over the Blue Jays. Grichuk went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in three runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Yan Gomes of the Indians doubled and went 1-for-1, scoring a run, in the 4-3 win over the Astros.
Streaks—Two players extended their streaks of 10 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points after both earned Player of the Game honors Thursday:
- Kurt Suzuki of the Braves (HR 1-3 2R 3BI in the 7-5 win over the Mets) has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2007 with the Athletics and has 33.0 career points, fourth among active NL catchers. His best season was 2009 with the Athletics when he had 6.0 Box-Toppers points, fourth among AL catchers. In 2016, he had 1.5 points with the Twins.
- Angels pitcher Ricky Nolasco (5.2IP 3H R 2BB 4K W in the 2-1 win over the Athletics) has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Marlins, but his 10-year streak began in 2008 with the Marlins (he earned no points in 2007). Nolasco has 88.2 career points, 11th among active AL pitchers. His best seasons were 2008 and 2009, both the the Marlins—he earned 16.7 points each season. In 2008, he ranked fourth among NL pitchers and in 2009, he ranked third among NL pitchers. In 2016, he had 11.4 points with the Twins and the Angels, 14th among AL pitchers.
Scoring—Walker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tanaka earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Grichuk and Gomes 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| 4/27 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | ARI 6, SD 2 | Taijuan Walker (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | |
| AL | 9.0 | NYY 3, BOS 0 | Masahiro Tanaka (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | STL 8, TOR 4 (F/11) | Randal Grichuk, RF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.2 | `SEA 2, DET 1 | Hisashi Iwakuma | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | WSH 16, COL 5 | Daniel Murphy, 2B | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 7, NYM 5 | Kurt Suzuki, C | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | LAD 5, SF 1 (F/10) | Kenley Jansen (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | `PHI 3, MIA 2 | Joaquin Benoit (H,6) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | STL 6, TOR 4 | Trevor Rosenthal (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | LAA 2, OAK 1 | Ricky Nolasco (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | CLE 4, HOU 3 | Yan Gomes, C | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 | +/- |
| Walker, Taijuan 3453 | pi sp | ari nl | 3.0 | 10.7 | 24.4 | 24.4 | -4.7 |
| Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | dc nl | 2.0 | 9.5 | 30.5 | 34.5 | -5.5 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 1.7 | 15.8 | 36.5 | 36.5 | -12.4 |
| Grichuk, Randal 3474 | rf | stl nl | 1.5 | 2.5 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 0.5 |
| Gomes, Yan 3177 | ca | cle al | 1.5 | 2.5 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 0.5 |
| Nolasco, Ricky 2125 | pi sp | ana al | 1.0 | 12.4 | 29.1 | 88.2 | -10.4 |
| Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048 | pi sp | sea al | 1.0 | 7.0 | 55.2 | 55.2 | -5.0 |
| Jansen, Kenley 2871 | pi cp mr | lad nl | 1.0 | 7.0 | 32.7 | 37.4 | -5.0 |
| Rosenthal, Trevor 3124 | pi cp | stl nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 23.0 | 23.0 | -3.0 |
| Suzuki, Kurt 2344 | ca | atl nl | 1.0 | 2.5 | 13.5 | 33.0 | -0.5 |
| Benoit, Joaquin 1663 | pi mr | phi nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 9.0 | 30.5 | 0.0 |