Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to retake the lead in season Box-Toppers player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 13:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 2 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 7.7 |
| 3 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 5.4 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 5.4 |
| 8 | Triggs, Andrew 3723 | pi sp | oak al | 5.4 |
| 9 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 5.0 |
| 10 | Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 5.0 |
Player of the Day—Wood struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the Rockies.
American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing three runs on two hits, in the 6-3 win over the Rays.
Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 8.4 for the season, rising from third to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings. He passes previous leader Twins pitcher Ervin Santana (7.7 Box-Toppers points), who only took the lead after Friday’s games. It is the second time this season Sale has led player rankings—he also led from May 2 to 5.
National League Batter of the Day—Travis Shaw of the Brewers homered and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 11-4 win over the Mets.
American League Batter of the Day—J.D. Martinez of the Tigers hit two homers and went 3-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Angels.
2017 lead changes
Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.| Date | Player | Team | BTP |
| 4/2 | Carlos Martinez | stl nl | 2.0 |
| 4/3 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 2.0 |
| 4/9 | Noah Syndergaard | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 4/14 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 4.0 |
| 4/15 | Ervin Santana | min al | 4.7 |
| 4/19 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 5.0 |
| 5/2 | Chris Sale | bos al | 6.7 |
| 5/6 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 5/12 | Ervin Santana | min al | 7.7 |
| 5/13 | Chris Sale | bos al | 8.4 |
Notable—Bryce Harper of the Nationals leads batters in season Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Harper (HR 1-4 2R 2BI in the 6-4 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to 11th place among all players. He passes previous batting leader, Aaron Judge of the Yankees (5.0 Box-Toppers points). Though both Harper and Judge have 5.0 Box-Toppers points, Harper ranks higher because he had more 2016 Box-Toppers points (3.0 vs. 0.0).
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Marlins pitcher Jose Berrios (7.2IP 2H R BB 4K W in the 4-1 win over the Indians) made his Major League debut April 27, 2016, and was playing in his 15th career game. He is the 3,791st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Pirates pitcher Trevor Williams (5IP 4H R BB 4K W in the 4-3 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut Sept. 7, 2016, and was playing in his 15th career game. He is the 3,792nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Wood earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sale earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Shaw and Martinez each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score| 5/13 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | LAD 4, COL 0 | Alex Wood (W,4-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| AL | 9.0 | BOS 6, TB 3 | Chris Sale (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 12 | |
| 7.0 | `KC 4, BAL 3 | Nate Karns | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 12 | ||
| 6.2 | MIN 4, CLE 1 | Jose Berrios (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 5.0 | ATL 3, MIA 1 | Julio Teheran (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 4.2 | `CHW 5, SD 4 | Anthony Swarzak | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | MIL 11, NYM 4 | Travis Shaw, 3B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | DET 4, LAA 3 | J.D. Martinez, RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | STL 5, CHC 3 | Tommy Pham, LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TEX 6, OAK 5 | Matt Bush (S,3) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | TOR 7, SEA 2 | Kevin Pillar, CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | PIT 4, ARI 3 | Trevor Williams (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 1.1 | SF 3, CIN 1 | Matt Moore (W,2-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 1.0 | WSH 6, PHI 4 | Bryce Harper, RF | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 | +/- |
| Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 | 21.8 | 89.8 | 94.8 | -5.0 |
| Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 5.0 | 8.0 | 32.4 | 32.4 | 2.0 |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp mr | lad nl | 5.0 | 6.0 | 24.4 | 24.4 | 4.0 |
| Shaw, Travis 3544 | 3b | mil nl | 4.5 | 11.5 | 15.7 | 15.7 | -2.5 |
| Karns, Nathan 3414 | pi sp | kc al | 3.7 | 6.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 | 0.7 |
| Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | sf nl | 2.7 | 15.1 | 38.6 | 40.6 | -9.7 |
| Pham, Thomas 3596 | lf | stl nl | 2.5 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 1.0 |
| Swarzak, Anthony 2603 | pi mr | chi al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 6.0 | 9.7 | 2.0 |
| Martinez, J.D. 2922 | rf | det al | 1.5 | 7.0 | 16.7 | 18.7 | -4.0 |
| Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 1.0 | 11.7 | 47.5 | 47.5 | -9.7 |
| Pillar, Kevin 3486 | cf | tor al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | -1.0 |
| Bush, Matt 3673 | pi cp | tex al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Williams, Trevor 3792 | pi sp | pit nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |