Anthony Rendon of the Nationals is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, recording what is possibly the highest Box-Toppers game score by a batter in Box-Toppers’ 23-season history.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 29:| 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 | Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 5.0 |
| 4 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 |
| 5 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 5.0 |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.4 |
| 8 | Triggs, Andrew 3723 | pi sp | oak al | 4.4 |
| 9 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 4.0 |
| 10 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 4.0 |
Also Sunday, Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Rendon hit three home runs, doubled, went 6-for-6, scored five times and drove in 10 runs, in the 23-5 win over the Mets.
Rendon had a Box-Toppers game score of +15.0, which appears to be the highest score by a batter since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
While Box-Toppers has records for each Player of the Game since the start of 1995, the data from actual game score records from box scores only goes back to the start of 2011. The previous high game score for a batter since 2011 was +12.0, done twice:
- On June 9, 2014, Lonnie Chisenhall of the Indians (3HR 5-5 3R 9BI in the 17-7 win over the Rangers) earned Player of the Day honors.
- On May 8, 2012, Josh Hamilton of the Rangers (4HR 2B 5-5 4R 8BI in the 10-3 win over the Orioles) earned Player of the Day honors.
However, looking back at some of the most likely games to produce high Box-Toppers game scores for batters from 1995 to 2010, it appears no batter had a higher game score than Rendon had Sunday.
Rendon became the 13th player in Major League history to have a game with 10 runs batted in. That’s a club that’s even rarer than the four-home run club, which has been done 16 times in Major League history.
During the Box-Toppers era (since 1995), there have been three games in which a player has had 10 RBIs and no player had a Box-Toppers game score of more than +12.0:
- On May 10, 1999, Nomar Garciaparra of the Red Sox (3HR 3-4 3R 10BI in the 12-4 win over the Mariners) had a Box-Toppers game score of +12.0.
- On April 26, 2005, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees (3HR 4-5 3R 10BI in the 12-4 win over the Angels) had a Box-Toppers game score of +12.0.
- On Aug. 21, 2007, Garret Anderson of the Angels (2HR 2-2B 4-6 3R 10BI in the 18-9 win over the Yankees) had a Box-Toppers game score of +11.0.
Rendon also had a six-hit game, something that’s been done 101 times in Major League history (30 of those games happened in the 1800s). There have been 22 six-hit games in the Box-Toppers era (since 1995). The highest Box-Toppers game score of those games and what appears to be the previous high Box-Toppers game score for a batter (since 1995) was +13.0, achieved by Shawn Green of the Dodgers on May 23, 2002 (4HR 2B 6-6 6R 7BI in the 16-3 win over the Brewers).
Batters have hit four home runs in a game 16 times in Major League history, including four times during the Box-Toppers era (since 1995), however Green’s +13.0 score is the highest for those games. The other four-home run games during the Box-Toppers era:
- On May 2, 2002, Mike Cameron of the Mariners (4HR 4-5 4R 4BI in the 15-4 win over the White Sox) had a Box-Toppers game score of +7.0.
- On Sept. 25, 2002, Carlos Delgado of the Blue Jays (4HR 4-4 4R 6BI in the 10-8 win over the Devil Rays) had a Box-Toppers game score of +10.0.
- On May 8, 2012, Josh Hamilton of the Rangers (4HR 2B 5-5 4R 8BI in the 10-3 win over the Orioles) had a Box-Toppers game score of +12.0.
While Rendon seems to have broken the “all-time” (since 1995) record for Box-Toppers game score for a batter, it is still only the second-best game score of 2017. On April 20, Chris Sale of the Red Sox had a Box-Toppers game score of +16.0 (8IP 4H 0R BB 13K ND in the 4-3, 10-inning win over the Blue Jays). Pitchers generally have more opportunity to earn high game scores than batters. In 2016, the highest overall game score was +22.0, earned by Vince Velasquez of the Phillies on April 14 (CG 3H 0R 0BB 16K W in the 3-0 win over the Padres).
(Related: Highest Box-Toppers game scores by batters in the 2016 season and 2015 season.)
American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher Ryan Tepera pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless middle relief, allowing one hit and striking out five, in the 3-1 win over the Rays. Tepera picked up a no decision and did not earn the win because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
American League Batter of the Day—Miguel Sano of the Twins homered and went 3-for-5, driving in five runs, in the 7-5 win over the Royals.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall Player of the Day was NL batter Anthony Rendon.
Rankings—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rises to seventh in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Keuchel (7.2IP 3H R 2BB 9K W in the 7-2 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.4 for the season. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.
Streak—Justin Upton of the Tigers has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Upton (HR 2-3 2R BI in the 7-3 win over the White Sox) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2008 with the Diamondbacks and has 52.1 career points, fourth among active AL outfielders. His best season was 2011 with the Diamondbacks, when he had 9.7 points, 10th among NL batters. In 2016, he had 6.7 points with the Tigers, fourth among AL outfielders.
Debut—Reds pitcher Wandy Peralta made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Peralta (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 5-4 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut Sept. 4, 2016, and was playing in his 22nd career game. He is the 3,782nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Rendon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tepera earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Sano earns 1.5 points for being AL 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| 4/30 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | WSH 23, NYM 5 | Anthony Rendon, 3B | 6 | 5 | 6 | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 9.2 | HOU 7, OAK 2 | Dallas Keuchel (W,5-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 8.1 | `ARI 2, COL 0 (F/13) | Patrick Corbin | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| AL | 7.1 | `TOR 3, TB 1 | Ryan Tepera | - | - | - | - | 3.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 6.1 | LAD 5, PHI 3 | Hyun-Jin Ryu (W,1-4) | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | ||
| 6.0 | MIA 10, PIT 3 | Justin Bour, 1B | 5 | 1 | 4 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 6.0 | `BOS 6, CHC 2 | Eduardo Rodriguez | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 5.0 | MIL 4, ATL 3 | Domingo Santana, RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.1 | LAA 5, TEX 2 | JC Ramirez (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | MIN 7, KC 5 | Miguel Sano, 3B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | SD 5, SF 2 (F/12) | Ryan Buchter (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | CLE 12, SEA 4 | Abraham Almonte, RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | BAL 7, NYY 4 | Logan Verrett (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | CIN 5, STL 4 | Wandy Peralta (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | DET 7, CHW 3 | Justin Upton, LF | 3 | 2 | 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 | +/- |
| Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.4 | 11.4 | 47.2 | 47.2 | -2.6 |
| Sano, Miguel 3527 | 3b | min al | 4.0 | 7.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 1.0 |
| Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | bos al | 3.7 | 8.4 | 14.4 | 14.4 | -1.0 |
| Ramirez, JC 3778 | pi sp | ana al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Rendon, Anthony 3258 | 3b | dc nl | 2.0 | 7.5 | 14.0 | 14.0 | -3.5 |
| Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp cp | ari nl | 2.0 | 5.7 | 34.5 | 34.5 | -1.7 |
| Tepera, Ryan 3774 | pi mr | tor al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | det al | 1.0 | 7.7 | 33.9 | 52.1 | -5.7 |
| Bour, Justin 3433 | 1b | fla nl | 1.0 | 3.5 | 13.5 | 13.5 | -1.5 |
| Almonte, Abraham 3554 | rf | cle al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | -1.0 |
| Verrett, Logan 3518 | pi cp | bal al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
| Buchter, Ryan 3626 | pi mr | sd nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Santana, Domingo 3507 | rf | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 1.0 |
| Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 22.1 | 22.1 | 1.0 |
| Peralta, Wandy 3782 | pi mr | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |