Pirates pitcher Nick Kingham is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day in his Major League debut.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of April 29:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 7.7 |
| 2 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.0 |
| 3 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 7.0 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.7 |
| 5 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 6.0 |
| 6 | Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 5.7 |
| 7 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 5.4 |
| 8 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 9 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 10 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 4.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Sunday, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia passes Curt Schilling, rising to fourth place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors.
In addition, Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Player of the Day—Kingham struck out nine over seven innings, allowing no runs, one hit and no walks, in the 5-0 win over the Cardinals. Kingham pitched 6 2/3 perfect innings before allowing his only hit.
This was Kingham’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. It was also Kingham’s Major League debut. He is the 3,951st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ struck out nine over seven innings, allowing two runs, five hits and no walks, in the 7-2 win over the Rangers.
Happ earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season. He rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, seventh among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Ryon Healy of the Mariners hit two homers and doubled, going 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 10-4 win over the Indians.
National League Batter of the Day—Adrian Gonzalez of the Mets hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 3-for-6, scoring once and driving in five runs, in the 14-2 win over the Padres.
Gonzalez’s streak of 11 straight seasons earning Box-Toppers points (2008 to 2016) ended when he did not earn points in 2017 with the Dodgers. He has 73.8 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks fourth among active first basemen, first among active NL first basemen.
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 | 209.8 |
| 4 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 194.7 |
| 5 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 187.8 |
| 7 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | retired | 187.0 |
| 8 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 177.2 |
| 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 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 163.4 |
| 15 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 16 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 158.7 |
| 17 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 18 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 155.9 |
| 19 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 20 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | tex al | 154.9 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the end of the 2017 season.
Notable—Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia rises to fourth place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Sabathia (7IP 5H R BB 4K W in the 2-1 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 194.7 for his career. He passes Curt Schilling (194.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails third-place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (209.8). (It should be noted Schilling would have an estimated 232 Box-Toppers points if his entire career from 1988 were tracked.)
Sabathia ranks second among active players in career points behind Kershaw. He now has 2.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 21st among AL pitchers.
Rankings—Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Cole (6.2IP 6H 3R 0BB 12K ND in the 8-4 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season, rising from sixth to third place in player rankings, second among AL pitchers.
Debuts—In addition to Kingham, two other players made their Box-Toppers debuts Sunday with their first career Player of the Game honors:
Marlins pitcher Caleb Smith (7IP 2H 0R BB 9K W in the 3-0 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut July 17, 2017, and was playing in his 15th career game. He is the 3,952nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Ozzie Albies of the Braves (HR 2B 2-5 3R 3BI in the 10-1 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut Aug. 1, 2017, and was playing in his 84th career game. He is the 3,953rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Kingham earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Happ earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Healy and Gonzalez each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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)| 4/29 | Score | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | PIT 5, STL 0 | Nick Kingham (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| 13.0 | MIA 3, COL 0 | Caleb Smith (W, 1‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| AL | 7.0 | TOR 7, TEX 2 | J.A. Happ (W, 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | |
| 6.2 | `HOU 8, OAK 4 | Gerrit Cole | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 12 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | SEA 10, CLE 4 | Ryon Healy (1B) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 6.0 | CHC 2, MIL 0 | Tyler Chatwood (W, 2‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 5.1 | CIN 8, MIN 2 | Tyler Mahle (W, 2‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | WSH 3, ARI 1 | Gio Gonzalez (W, 2‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 4.0 | KC 5, CHW 4 | Cheslor Cuthbert (1B) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | NYM 14, SD 2 | Adrian Gonzalez (1B) | 6 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 3.0 | ATL 10, PHI 1 | Ozzie Albies (2B) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 3.0 | BOS 4, TB 3 | J.D. Martinez (LF) | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 3.0 | BAL 5, DET 3 | Pedro Alvarez (3B) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 3.0 | NYY 2, LAA 1 | CC Sabathia (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | SF 4, LAD 2 | Hunter Strickland (S, 7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 Game | Pos | Team | ’18 | ’17‑18 | ’13‑18 | Career | +/‑ |
| Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 7.0 | 14.0 | 49.9 | 49.9 | 0.0 |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 4.7 | 10.4 | 45.6 | 61.6 | -1.0 |
| Mahle, Tyler 3929 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Martinez, J.D. 2922 | lf | bos al | 3.0 | 8.5 | 21.7 | 25.7 | -2.5 |
| Strickland, Hunter 3546 | pi cp | sf nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 |
| Gonzalez, Gio 2626 | pi sp | dc nl | 2.7 | 12.4 | 51.8 | 98.9 | -7.0 |
| Alvarez, Pedro 2817 | dh 3b ph | bal al | 2.7 | 2.7 | 17.9 | 25.4 | 2.7 |
| Sabathia, C.C. 1492 | pi sp | nyy al | 2.0 | 9.7 | 27.1 | 194.7 | -5.7 |
| Kingham, Nick 3951 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Healy, Ryon 3685 | 1b dh | sea al | 1.5 | 11.2 | 14.2 | 14.2 | -8.2 |
| Gonzalez, Adrian 2193 | 1b | nym nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 23.4 | 73.8 | 1.5 |
| Chatwood, Tyler 2856 | pi sp | chi nl | 1.0 | 9.4 | 22.1 | 26.1 | -7.4 |
| Cuthbert, Cheslor 3683 | 1b | kc al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 |
| Albies, Ozzie 3953 | 2b | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Smith, Caleb 3952 | pi sp | fla nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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.