Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Scherzer struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk, in the 2-0 win over the Reds.
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 | 206.8 |
| 4 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 192.7 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 187.8 |
| 7 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | retired | 187.0 |
| 8 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 176.2 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 172.4 |
| 10 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 11 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 12 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 13 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 14 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 15 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 158.7 |
| 16 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 17 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 18 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 155.0 |
| 19 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 153.9 |
| 20 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | tex al | 153.4 |
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the end of the 2017 season.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first of the season and rises to a second-day-of-the-season lead in Box-Toppers player rankings, passing the opening day leader, Yankees pitcher Luis Severino (2.0) on a tiebreaker—Scherzer ranks higher because he had more 2017 Box-Toppers points (25.0 vs. 21.1).
Scherzer also rises to 15th in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Friday, Scherzer now has 158.7 career points, passing Tim Hudson (157.0). Scherzer now trails 14th-ranked John Smoltz (160.9). Scherzer ranks sixth in career points among active players.
Scherzer also now has earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2009 with the Diamondbacks. His best season was 2016 with the Nationals when he had 25.7 Box-Toppers points to lead all players. He’s had four straight seasons of 20.0 or more Box-Toppers points (2014-2017) and six straight seasons of 15.0 or more points (2012-2017).
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays.
National League Batter of the Day—Gregory Polanco of the Pirates hit a three-run homer in the 13th inning in the 13-10 win over the Tigers. Polanco also doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Nomar Mazara of the Rangers homered and went 1-for-3, scoring twice, in the 5-1 win over the Astros.
Streaks—In addition to Scherzer, two other players extended streaks of 10 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points Friday:
- Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto has now earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors in the 1-0 win over the Dodgers (7IP H 0R 0BB 4K ND). Cueto earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2008 with the Reds and has 102.8 career points, 70th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Friday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2) and Miguel Tejada (102.3). Cueto now trails 69th-ranked Jamie Moyer (104.0). Cueto’s best season was 2014 with the Reds when he had 22.4 Box-Toppers points, fourth among all players.
- Red Sox pitcher David Price has now earned Box-Toppers points for 10 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors in the 1-0 win over the Rays (7IP 4H 0R 0BB 5K W). Price earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2009 with the Rays and has 111.9 career Box-Toppers points, 55th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Friday, he passes teammate Chris Sale (111.5) on the “all-time” list and now trails 54th-ranked Kevin Brown (112.8). Price’s best season was 2015 with the Tigers and the Blue Jays when he had 21.1 Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players and second among AL pitchers.
Debut—Marlins pitcher Jarlin Garcia made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor. Garcia (6IP H 0R 2BB 6K ND in the 2-1, 17-inning win over the Cubs) made his Major League debut April 14, 2017, and was playing in his 69th career game. He is the 3,927th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995 and the first to debut in 2018.
Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tanaka earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Polanco and Mazara each 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) 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 (BTG)| 3/30 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | WSH 2, CIN 0 | Max Scherzer (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| 10.0 | `SF 1, LAD 0 | Johnny Cueto | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| AL | 9.0 | NYY 4, TOR 2 | Masahiro Tanaka (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |
| 9.0 | `MIA 2, CHC 1 (F/17) | Jarlin Garcia | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 8.1 | LAA 2, OAK 1 | Tyler Skaggs (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 8.0 | BOS 1, TB 0 | David Price (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | PIT 13, DET 10 (F/13) | Gregory Polanco (RF) | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 5.0 | ARI 9, COL 8 | Nick Ahmed (SS) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 4.0 | MIL 8, SD 6 | Corey Knebel (S, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | PHI 5, ATL 4 (F/11) | Carlos Santana (1B) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | TEX 5, HOU 1 | Nomar Mazara (RF) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 (’18). also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’17-18), the period 2013-2018 (’13-18) and each players’ career point total. also shown is how their 2018 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2017 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’18 | ’17‑18 | ’13‑18 | Career | +/‑ |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 2.0 | 27.0 | 113.9 | 158.7 | -23.0 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 1.7 | 13.1 | 47.9 | 47.9 | -9.7 |
| Polanco, Gregory 3361 | rf | pit nl | 1.5 | 7.0 | 19.5 | 19.5 | -4.0 |
| Mazara, Nomar 3614 | rf | tex al | 1.5 | 6.5 | 13.5 | 13.5 | -3.5 |
| Knebel, Corey 3757 | pi cp | mil nl | 1.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -5.0 |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 1.0 | 5.7 | 66.0 | 111.9 | -3.7 |
| Skaggs, Tyler 3183 | pi sp | ana al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 16.4 | 16.4 | -2.0 |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 58.6 | 102.8 | -1.0 |
| Santana, Carlos 2757 | 1b | phi nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 15.7 | 24.7 | 0.0 |
| Ahmed, Nick 3520 | ss | ari nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 1.0 |
| Garcia, Jarlin 3927 | pi mr | fla nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
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.