Kendrys Morales of the Blue Jays is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Morales hit two homers and doubled, going 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 8-4 win over the Rays.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 5:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 6.7 |
| 2 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 6.7 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 5.0 |
| 6 | Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 5.0 |
| 7 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 |
| 8 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 5.0 |
| 9 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 5.0 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.4 |
National League Player of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks hit two homers and went 3-for-3, driving in five runs, in the 6-3 win over the Rockies.
Goldschmidt earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 points for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Friday. Goldschmidt ranks 19th among all players and second among NL batters, behind Bryce Harper of the Nationals (4.0 Box-Toppers points).
Batters of the Day—There are no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day for Friday because the overall Player of the Day was AL batter Kendrys Morales and the overall NL Player of the Day was NL batter Paul Goldschmidt.
Streaks—Three players extended streaks of 10 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points after all three earned Player of the Game honors Friday:
- Joe Mauer of the Twins (HR 2-4 2R 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Red Sox) has now earned Box-Toppers points for 14 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2004 with the Twins and has 71.6 career points, eighth among active AL batters. His best season was 2008 with the Twins when he had 9.5 points, eighth among AL batters. In 2016, he had 1.5 points with the Twins.
- Royals pitcher Jason Hammel (6IP 3H R 2BB 6K W in the 3-1 win over the Indians) has now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Rays and has 60.2 career points, 21st among active AL pitchers. His best season was 2016 with the Cubs, when he had 13.0 Box-Toppers points, 13th among NL pitchers.
- Brian McCann of the Astros (HR 2-4 R 4BI in the 7-6, 10-inning win over the Angels) has now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Braves and has 59.4 career points, first among active catchers and fifth among all catchers since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. His best season was 2009 with the Braves, when he had 8.5 points, first among NL catchers. In 2016, he had 3.2 points with the Yankees.
Scoring—Morales earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Goldschmidt earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. All of Friday’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| 5/5 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 7.0 | TOR 8, TB 4 | Kendrys Morales, DH | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| NL | 7.0 | ARI 6, COL 3 | Paul Goldschmidt, 1B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | STL 10, ATL 0 | Lance Lynn (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | CIN 13, SF 3 | Billy Hamilton, CF | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | KC 3, CLE 1 | Jason Hammel (W,1-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | BAL 4, CHW 2 | Gabriel Ynoa (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | PIT 4, MIL 0 | Wade LeBlanc (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.1 | `WSH 4, PHI 2 | Enny Romero (H,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | LAD 8, SD 2 | Cody Bellinger, 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | DET 7, OAK 2 | Michael Fulmer (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 4.0 | `NYY 3, CHC 2 | Michael Pineda | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 7, LAA 6 (F/10) | Brian McCann, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYM 8, MIA 7 | T.J. Rivera, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 4, BOS 3 | Joe Mauer, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | `TEX 3, SEA 1 (F/13) | Tony Barnette | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 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 | +/- |
| Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | ari nl | 3.7 | 8.2 | 39.6 | 43.6 | -0.8 |
| Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | stl nl | 3.7 | 3.7 | 59.6 | 59.6 | 3.7 |
| Pineda, Michael 2841 | pi sp | nyy al | 3.0 | 9.0 | 25.4 | 37.1 | -3.0 |
| Fulmer, Michael 3640 | pi sp | det al | 2.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 | 14.7 | -10.7 |
| Morales, Kendrys 2142 | dh | tor al | 2.0 | 10.5 | 25.2 | 41.2 | -6.5 |
| LeBlanc, Wade 2669 | pi cp mr sp | pit nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 12.0 | -1.0 |
| Bellinger, Cody 3781 | lf 1b | lad nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Hammel, Jason 2235 | pi sp | kc al | 1.0 | 14.0 | 45.1 | 60.2 | -12.0 |
| McCann, Brian 2179 | ca | hou al | 1.0 | 4.2 | 30.2 | 59.4 | -2.2 |
| Hamilton, Billy 3287 | cf | cin nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | -1.0 |
| Barnette, Tony 3670 | pi mr | tex al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Mauer, Joe 1869 | 1b | min al | 1.0 | 2.5 | 24.0 | 71.6 | -0.5 |
| Rivera, T.J. 3710 | 1b | nym nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Romero, Enny 3726 | pi mr | dc nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Ynoa, Gabriel 3743 | pi mr | bal al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |