Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to first place in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of May 11:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 11.4 |
| 2 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 10.7 |
| 3 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 10.0 |
| 4 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.0 |
| 5 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | hou al | 6.4 |
| 6 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 6.0 |
| 7 | Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 5.7 |
| 8 | Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 5.7 |
| 9 | Gray, Jon 3634 | pi sp | col nl | 5.7 |
| 10 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 5.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Scherzer struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, in the 3-1 win over the Diamondbacks.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.4 for the season, rising from third place to regain the lead in player rankings for the sixth time this season. Scherzer passes previous leader, Yankees pitcher Luis Severino (10.7). This is the 15th time this season the lead in Box-Toppers player rankings has changed, already more than all of last season and as many changes as there were in all of 2015—and we’re barely one-quarter of the way through the season.
2018 lead changes
Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.| Date | Leader | Team | BTP |
| 3/29 | Luis Severino | nyy al | 2.0 |
| 3/30 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 2.0 |
| 4/02 | Paul DeJong | stl nl | 2.5 |
| 4/04 | Luis Severino | nyy al | 3.0 |
| 4/09 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 3.7 |
| 4/12 | Jose Berrios | min al | 4.0 |
| 4/13 | Gerrit Cole | hou al | 5.0 |
| 4/14 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 5.7 |
| 4/18 | Jose Berrios | min al | 6.0 |
| 4/20 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 6.7 |
| 4/22 | Patrick Corbin | ari nl | 7.0 |
| 4/27 | Luis Severinio | nyy al | 7.7 |
| 5/1 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 7.7 |
| 5/2 | Luis Severinio | nyy al | 9.7 |
| 5/11 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 11.4 |
Scherzer becomes the third player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. It is his seventh straight season with 10.0 or more points. He has eight total seasons in which he’s reached 10 points. He’s had 20 straight points for four straight seasons (2014 to 2017), including 25.7 in 2016 when he led all players and 25.0 in 2017 when he ranked second.
Scherzer also rises to 11th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when tracking began. With his points Friday, he now has 168.1 points and passes two players on the “all-time” list—Johan Santana (166.6) and Manny Ramirez (167.2). Scherzer now trails 10th-ranked player Roy Halladay (170.7). Scherzer now ranks ninth among all pitchers in career points since 1995. He ranks sixth among all active players in career points.
American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels struck out five over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and three walks, in the 1-0 win over the Astros.
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 | 195.7 |
| 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 | 178.2 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 172.4 |
| 10 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 11 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 168.1 |
| 12 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 13 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 14 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 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 | Cole Hanmels | pi sp | tex al | 156.1 |
| 19 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 155.9 |
| 20 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the end of the 2017 season.
Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 156.1 career points, rising to 18th place in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Friday, he passes Rangers pitcher Bartolo Colon (154.9), Mike Mussina (155.6) and Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (155.9). He now trails 17th-ranked player Tim Hudson (157.0). (It should be noted that Mussina would have an estimated 193 career Box-Toppers points if his entire career from 1991 were tracked.)
Hamels rises to eight place in career points among active players. He has 2.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 25th among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Willson Contreras of the Cubs hit two homers—including a grand slam—and two doubles in the 11-2 win over the White Sox. Contreras went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in seven runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Manny Machado of the Orioles hit two homers, including a grand slam and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 9-4 win over the Rays.
Notable—Matt Harvey earned Player of the Game honors in his first start since being traded from the Mets to the Reds.
Harvey (4IP H 0R 0BB 2K ND in the Reds’ 6-2 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.0 for the season, already more than his 1.0 point in 2017. In 2013, Harvey had 15.0 Box-Toppers points, 10th among NL pitchers and in 2015, he had 15.4 points, eighth among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hamels earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Contreras and Machado 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)| 5/11 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | WSH 3, ARI 1 | Max Scherzer (W, 7‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | |
| BAT | 8.0 | CHC 11, CHW 2 | Willson Contreras C | 5 | 2 | 4 | 7 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| AL | 7.0 | TEX 1, HOU 0 | Cole Hamels (W, 2‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
| BAT | 6.0 | BAL 9, TB 4 | Manny Machado SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 6.0 | `PIT 11, SF 2 | Jameson Taillon | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | TOR 5, BOS 3 (F/12) | Luke Maile C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 5.0 | `CIN 6, LAD 2 | Matt Harvey | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 4.0 | STL 9, SD 5 | Luke Weaver (W, 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | KC 10, CLE 9 | Alcides Escobar SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 3.0 | MIL 11, COL 10 (F/10) | Josh Hader (S, 6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | OAK 10, NYY 5 | Blake Treinen (S, 6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | MIA 6, ATL 3 | J.T. Realmuto C | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 5, LAA 4 | Eddie Rosario LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 2.0 | NYM 3, PHI 1 | Michael Conforto RF‑LF | 3 | 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 | +/‑ |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 11.4 | 36.4 | 123.3 | 168.1 | -13.6 |
| Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 4.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 1.7 |
| Taillon, Jameson 3658 | pi sp | pit nl | 3.7 | 12.7 | 17.7 | 17.7 | -5.3 |
| Treinen, Blake 3495 | pi cp | oak al | 3.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 2.0 |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 2.7 | 12.1 | 68.1 | 156.1 | -6.7 |
| Rosario, Eddie 3542 | lf | min al | 2.5 | 8.7 | 13.2 | 13.2 | -3.7 |
| Realmuto, J.T. 3491 | ca | fla nl | 2.5 | 6.5 | 17.0 | 17.0 | -1.5 |
| Weaver, Luke 3719 | pi sp | stl nl | 2.0 | 10.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 | -6.0 |
| Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | cin nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 36.4 | 39.4 | 1.0 |
| Maile, Luke 3709 | ca | tor al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2.0 |
| Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 1.5 | 8.5 | 30.7 | 32.2 | -5.5 |
| Contreras, Willson 3776 | ca | chi nl | 1.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -4.0 |
| Conforto, Michael 3622 | rf lf | nym nl | 1.0 | 7.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | -5.0 |
| Escobar, Alcides 2663 | ss | kc al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 18.0 | 26.5 | -3.0 |
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.