Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Friday’s Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day.
Box-Toppers is tracking several days of the 2018 spring training season to demonstrate the Box-Toppers player tracking metric and to prepare for the upcoming 2,430-game season.
Kershaw struck out four over 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 10-0 win over the Royals.
Kershaw earned 23.1 Box-Toppers points in 2017, third among all players. He has the most points of any player since the start of 2012 (147.2) and has finished among the top three players in Box-Toppers points in each of the past seven seasons. His 206.8 career Box-Toppers points is most among active players and third among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers player tracking began.
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 6-1 win over the Diamondbacks. Clevinger earned 11.4 Box-Toppers points in 2017, ninth among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Cheslor Cuthbert of the Royals homered and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-6 win over the Giants. Cuthbert earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2017.
National League Batter of the Day—Hudson Potts of the Padres hit a three-run homer in the 9-7 win over the Rangers. Potts has yet to make his regular season Major League debut and so has no Box-Toppers points.
Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Kershaw would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Clevinger would earn 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Cuthbert and Potts would earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Note—Seventeen spring training games were scheduled for Friday—15 are listed below. Two games are not listed (Astros 2, Twins 2 and Mariners 5, White Sox 5) because they ended in ties.
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 (BTG)| 3/23 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.2 | LAD 10, KC 0 | Clayton Kershaw (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| AL | 7.2 | CLE 6, ARI 1 | Mike Clevinger (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | |
| 6.2 | BOS 5, NYY 0 | Brian Johnson (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 6.0 | `TB 6, TOR 5 | Matt Andriese | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | KC 9, SF 6 | Cheslor Cuthbert (3B) | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 4.0 | DET 11, ATL 3 | James McCann (C) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | SD 9, TEX 7 | Hudson Potts (PR-1B) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 4.0 | BAL 6, TB 1 | Trey Mancini (LF) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 4.0 | PHI 8, PIT 2 | Aaron Nola (W, 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | COL 8, CIN 2 | David Dahl (PH) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 2.0 | OAK 4, LAA 2 | Jake Smolinski (RF) | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 2.0 | WSH 6, MIA 3 | Juan Soto (RF) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 2.0 | STL 5, NYM 1 | Dakota Hudson (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | CHC 4, MIL 3 | Justin Hancock (S, 3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | HOU 3, WSH 1 | Brendan McCurry (S, 2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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
Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.