Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season as of April 8:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 3.0 |
| 2 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 3.0 |
| 3 | Sano, Miguel 3527 | 3b | min al | 3.0 |
| 4 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 3.0 |
| 5 | Taillon, Jameson 3658 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.7 |
| 6 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | hou al | 2.7 |
| 7 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 2.7 |
| 8 | Polanco, Gregory 3361 | rf | pit nl | 2.5 |
| 9 | Bogaerts, Xander 3383 | ss | bos al | 2.5 |
| 10 | Dejong, Paul 3827 | ss | stl nl | 2.5 |
Ohtani struck out 12 over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 6-1 win over the Athletics.
For Ohtani, the rare two-way player in his rookie season after playing in his native Japan, this was his Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. And while he has done well in his four games so far as a designated hitter, his Box-Toppers debut comes in his second career pitching start, a game in which he carried a perfect game into the seventh inning.
Ohtani made his Major League debut March 29 and was playing in his sixth career game, his second as a pitcher. Ohtani is the 3,933rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Player of the Day—Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking two, in the 5-0 win over the Rockies.
Taillon earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, most of any of the 14 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. Taillon rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season players rankings.
American League Batter of the Day—Anthony Santander of the Orioles homered and went 3-for-6, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 8-7, 12-inning win over the Yankees.
This was Santander’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Santander made his Major League debut Aug. 18, 2017, and was playing in his 20th career game. He is the 3,935th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day for Sunday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors.
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 | 207.8 |
| 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 | 154.9 |
| 20 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | tex al | 154.4 |
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the end of the 2017 season.
Streak—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2018 Sunday.
Kershaw (7IP 6H R 0BB 6K ND in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Giants) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2008 with the Dodgers and now has 207.8 career points, third among all players and first among active players.
Kershaw’s best season was 2014 with the Dodgers when he had 31.5 Box-Toppers points, first among all players. He has led all players in Box-Toppers points in a season three times (2011, 2013 and 2014) and has finished among the top three in points in each season from 2011 to 2017. He’s earned 20 or more points for those seven straight seasons, the longest such streak since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
In 2017, Kershaw had 23.1 Box-Toppers points, third among all players.
Debut—In addition to Ohtani and Santander, a third player made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday: Diamondbacks pitcher Yoshihisa Hirano earned his first career Player of the Game honor in the 4-1 win over the Cardinals (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W). Hirano made his Major League debut March 29 and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,934th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Ohtani earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Taillon earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Santander earns 1.5 points for being AL 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)| 4/8 | Score | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 17.0 | LAA 6, OAK 1 | Shohei Ohtani (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | |
| NL | 13.0 | PIT 5, CIN 0 | Jameson Taillon (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| 10.0 | ATL 4, COL 0 | Sean Newcomb (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 8.0 | DET 1, CHW 0 | Mike Fiers (W, 0‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | CHC 3, MIL 0 | Jose Quintana (W, 0‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | HOU 4, SD 1 | Charlie Morton (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | `LAD 2, SF 1 (F/10) | Clayton Kershaw | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | MIA 6, PHI 3 | Odrisamer Despaigne (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | CLE 3, KC 1 | Cody Allen (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | TOR 7, TEX 4 | Roberto Osuna (S, 3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | NYM 6, WSH 5 (F/12) | Seth Lugo (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | ARI 4, STL 1 | Yoshihisa Hirano (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | BAL 8, NYY 7 (F/12) | Anthony Santander (RF) | 6 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 1.0 | BOS 8, TB 7 | Hanley Ramirez (DH) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 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 (’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 | +/‑ |
| Taillon, Jameson 3658 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.7 | 11.7 | 16.7 | 16.7 | -6.3 |
| Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | hou al | 2.7 | 10.4 | 27.1 | 38.1 | -5.0 |
| Osuna, Roberto 3512 | pi cp | tor al | 2.0 | 6.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | -2.0 |
| Ramirez, Hanley 2119 | 1b dh | bos al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 20.5 | 61.6 | 0.0 |
| Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp | ana al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Santander, Anthony 3935 | rf | bal al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 1.0 | 24.1 | 127.4 | 207.8 | -22.1 |
| Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | chi nl | 1.0 | 16.0 | 45.8 | 51.2 | -14.0 |
| Fiers, Michael 3029 | pi sp | det al | 1.0 | 7.4 | 25.8 | 33.5 | -5.4 |
| Allen, Cody 3265 | pi cp | cle al | 1.0 | 6.0 | 22.0 | 22.0 | -4.0 |
| Lugo, Seth 3729 | pi mr sp | nym nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -3.0 |
| Newcomb, Sean 3831 | pi sp | atl nl | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | -2.0 |
| Despaigne, Odrisamer 3359 | pi mr sp | fla nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 12.7 | 12.7 | 1.0 |
| Hirano, Yoshihisa 3934 | pi mr | ari 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.