Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his top spot in season player rankings and rising to third place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 23:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.7 |
| 2 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 9.4 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 4 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 6.7 |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 6 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 6.0 |
| 7 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 8 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 9 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 |
| 10 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 6.0 |
Also Tuesday, two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors: Twins pitcher Ervin Santana rose to second place and Astros pitcher Lance McCullers rose to sixth place.
Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 10 over nine innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 2-1, 13-inning win over the Cardinals. Kershaw did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied 1-1 when he exited after nine innings.
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season. He is the first player to reach 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2017, the ninth straight season he’s earned 10 or more points in a season. Kershaw was also the first player to 10 points in 2016, reaching the milestone a week earlier than this year (May 17).
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 194.4 |
| 4 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 188.0 |
| 6 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 182.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 169.7 |
| 10 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 11 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 12 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 13 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 162.8 |
| 14 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 15 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 17 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 18 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 19 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | atl nl | 151.2 |
| 20 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the close of the 2016 season.
Kershaw maintains his top spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings, ahead of second-place player, Twins pitcher Ervin Santana (9.4 Box-Toppers points), who was American League Player of the Day Tuesday.
Kershaw also rises to third place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Kershaw now has 194.4 career Box-Toppers points and passes Curt Schilling (194.1) on the “all-time” list. It should be noted that Schilling began his career in 1988, before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, and so would likely have more total career points. Rough Box-Toppers projected estimates put Schilling’s actual career total at 232. (A look at projected Box-Toppers point totals for pitchers who began their careers before 1995.)
Kershaw has risen steadily up Box-Toppers career points rankings in recent years but his rise will now become more difficult. Kershaw now trails second-place player Pedro Martinez on the “all-time” list, who has 244.8 career Box-Toppers points since 1995. The 50.4-point gap between Martinez and Kershaw is the largest between any two players in “all-time” Box-Toppers rankings. In essence, Kershaw has whizzed by the close-together “inner planets” of players with fewer than 200 Box-Toppers points and now has to travel much greater distances to reach the “gas giants” of players with more than 200 career Box-Toppers points since 1995—Martinez and Randy Johnson (the overall leader with 278.8 points).
However, given Kershaw’s pace, perhaps the 50.4-point gap between Martinez and Kershaw is not so great and insurmountable. Kershaw has earned 50.8 points since July 23, 2015, less than two complete seasons (which included time on the disabled list). If Kershaw were able to maintain that pace, he might catch Martinez by the end of the 2018 season.
American League Player of the Day—Twins pitcher Ervin Santana pitched a two-hit, complete-game shutout, striking out six and walking two, in the 2-0 win over the Orioles.
Santana earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 9.4 for the season, rising from third to second place in season player rankings, first among AL pitchers, passing previous AL pitching leader, Chris Sale of the Red Sox (8.4 points). Santana trails overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (10.7 points).
Santana also now has 106.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 59th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes six players on the “all-time” list: Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1), Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (105.7), Aramis Ramirez (105.8), Carlos Beltran of the Astros (105.9), Frank Thomas (106.2) and Red Sox pitcher David Price (106.2). Santana now trails 58th-ranked player Lance Berkman (108.1).
National League Batter of the Day—Anthony Rendon of the Nationals homered twice and doubled in the 10-1 win over the Mariners. Rendon went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring four times and driving in three runs, in the 11-6 win over the Rangers.
Rankings—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. Rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
McCullers (5IP H 0R 2BB 5K W in the 6-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.
Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester now has 145.2 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday (CG 4H R 0BB 10K W in the 4-1 win over the Giants). Lester had a Box-Toppers game score of +13.0, but lost out on earning Player of the Game honors to Kershaw, who had a game score of +14.0. So Lester only earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game.
That point boosts him to 24th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when tracking began. He passes Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (144.9) on the “all-time” list and now trails 23rd-ranked player David Ortiz (145.9). Lester now ranks seventh among active players in career points, trailing Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon (151.2).
Debut—Blue Jays pitcher Danny Barnes made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Barnes (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 4-3 win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut Aug. 2, 2016, and was playing in his 26th career game. He is the 3,807th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Santana earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Rendon and Bogaerts each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’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| 5/23 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | `LAD 2, STL 1 (F/13) | Clayton Kershaw | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | |
| 13.0 | CHC 4, SF 1 | Jon Lester (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | ||
| AL | 11.0 | MIN 2, BAL 0 | Ervin Santana (W,7-2) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| BAT | 7.0 | WSH 10, SEA 1 | Anthony Rendon, 3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | HOU 6, DET 2 | Lance McCullers Jr. (W,5-1) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 5.1 | LAA 4, TB 0 | Matt Shoemaker (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | MIA 11, OAK 9 | Justin Bour, 1B | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | BOS 11, TEX 6 | Xander Bogaerts, SS | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | NYM 9, SD 3 | Michael Conforto, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.2 | TOR 4, MIL 3 | Danny Barnes (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | COL 8, PHI 2 | Charlie Blackmon, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | CLE 8, CIN 7 | Edwin Encarnacion, 1B | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | ATL 6, PIT 5 | Matt Adams, 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | KC 6, NYY 2 | Danny Duffy (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 1.0 | ARI 5, CHW 4 | Fernando Rodney (S,11) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.7 | 35.1 | 134.8 | 194.4 | -13.7 |
| Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 9.4 | 13.4 | 46.2 | 106.7 | 5.4 |
| McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 6.0 | 12.1 | 18.8 | 18.8 | -0.1 |
| Conforto, Michael 3622 | cf lf | nym nl | 4.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -1.0 |
| Rendon, Anthony 3258 | 3b | dc nl | 3.5 | 9.0 | 15.5 | 15.5 | -2.0 |
| Duffy, Danny 2915 | pi sp | kc al | 3.0 | 13.7 | 31.7 | 32.7 | -7.7 |
| Shoemaker, Matt 3290 | pi sp | ana al | 3.0 | 10.0 | 28.4 | 28.4 | -4.0 |
| Blackmon, Charlie 2891 | cf | col nl | 2.7 | 6.7 | 13.2 | 14.7 | -1.3 |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 2.0 | 24.1 | 69.6 | 145.2 | -20.1 |
| Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh 1b | cle al | 2.0 | 10.0 | 45.1 | 69.1 | -6.0 |
| Rodney, Fernando 1803 | pi cp | ari nl | 2.0 | 7.0 | 25.0 | 37.0 | -3.0 |
| Bour, Justin 3433 | 1b | fla nl | 2.0 | 4.5 | 14.5 | 14.5 | -0.5 |
| Adams, Matt 3220 | 1b ph | atl nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 1.0 |
| Bogaerts, Xander 3383 | ss | bos al | 1.5 | 2.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 0.5 |
| Barnes, Danny 3807 | pi mr | tor al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |