Reds pitcher Michael Lorenzen is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Lorenzen pitched two scoreless innings, striking out three and earning the win, in the 4-3, 10-inning win over the Pirates.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 1:| 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 |
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi struck out six over five innings, allowing two hits and two runs, in the 4-2 win over the Marlins. Odorizzi picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because the game was tied, 2-2, when he exited.
Lorenzen and Odorizzi had identical Box-Toppers game scores Monday (+5.0), but Lorenzen wins overall Player of the Day honors on a tiebreaker—he earned the win his game, while Odorizzi picked up a no-decision, even though Odorizzi pitched more innings than Lorenzen (5.0 vs. 2.0).
American League Batter of the Day—Tyler Collins of the Tigers hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice, in the 7-1 win over the Indians.
National League Batter of the Day—Aaron Altherr of the Phillies hit two doubles and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 10-2 win over the Cubs.
Rankings—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. has the most season Box-Toppers points of the 11 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. McCullers (6.1IP 6H 2R 2BB 10K ND in the 6-2 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season. He ranks 24th among all players and 12th among AL pitchers.
Debut—Jorge Bonifacio of the Royals made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Bonifacio (HR 2-3 R 2BI in the 6-1 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut April 21 and was playing in his eighth career game. He is the 3,783rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Comment—After Sunday’s record-breaking day in Box-Toppers, in which Anthony Rendon of the Nationals had what seems to be the highest Box-Toppers game score for a batter (+15.0) in Box-Toppers’ 23-season tracking history, Monday’s game scores were some of the lowest of the season. In fact, the +5.0 game score earned by Lorenzen was the lowest such score to earn Player of the Day honors all season. If Lorenzen had earned Player of the Game honors with that score Sunday, he would have ranked ninth among the 15 games played and earned only 1.0 Box-Toppers point, rather than the 2.0 he received Monday, and would have received barely a mention. But in a comparatively lackluster, ho-hum Monday, he is the top dog, the lead story.
Scoring—Lorenzen earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Odorizzi earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Collins and Altherr each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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| 5/1 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 5.0 | CIN 4, PIT 3 (F/10) | Michael Lorenzen (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| AL | 5.0 | `TB 4, MIA 2 | Jake Odorizzi | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 4.1 | `HOU 6, TEX 2 | Lance McCullers Jr. | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | DET 7, CLE 1 | Tyler Collins, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 3.0 | PHI 10, CHC 2 | Aaron Altherr, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | MIL 7, STL 5 (F/10) | Jonathan Villar, 2B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TOR 7, NYY 1 | Ryan Goins, SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.2 | `SF 4, LAD 3 | Steven Okert (H,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | NYM 7, ATL 5 | Michael Conforto, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | KC 6, CHW 1 | Jorge Bonifacio, RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | BAL 5, BOS 2 | Manny Machado, 3B | 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 | +/- |
| McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 3.0 | 9.1 | 15.8 | 15.8 | -3.1 |
| Altherr, Aaron 3563 | lf ph | phi nl | 2.5 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.0 |
| Conforto, Michael 3622 | cf | nym nl | 2.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -3.0 |
| Lorenzen, Michael 3479 | pi cp | cin nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 |
| Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | tb al | 1.7 | 8.1 | 27.8 | 27.8 | -4.7 |
| Collins, Tyler 3302 | cf | det al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 1.5 |
| Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b ss | bal al | 1.0 | 13.7 | 24.7 | 24.7 | -11.7 |
| Villar, Jonathan 3233 | 2b ss | mil nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -3.0 |
| Goins, Ryan 3478 | ss 2b | tor al | 1.0 | 2.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -0.5 |
| Okert, Steven 3745 | pi mr | sf nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Bonifacio, Jorge 3783 | rf | kc al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |