Yankees pitcher Luis Severino is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to retake the lead 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 2:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 9.7 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 7.7 |
| 3 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.0 |
| 4 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 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 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 5.4 |
| 9 | Betts, Mookie 3404 | rf | bos al | 5.2 |
| 10 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Wednesday, Mookie Betts of the Red Sox rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings—and is the only batter among the top 10—after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Severino pitched a complete-game, five-hit shutout, striking out 10 and walking one, in the 4-0 win over the Astros.
Severino earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season, rising from second place to pass previous leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (7.7 points).
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 |
This is the fourth time Severino has led Box-Toppers season player rankings in 2018. It is also the 14th time this season there has been a new Box-Toppers points leader, already as many in just over one month of the season as there were in all of 2017. In 2015, there were 15 lead changes during the entire season and in 2016, there were just eight lead changes. No player has held the lead in 2018 for more than five consecutive days.
National League Player of the Day—Braves pitcher Sean Newcomb struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 7-0 win over the Mets.
American League Batter of the Day—Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians hit three home runs and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 12-4 win over the Rangers.
Encarnacion has now earned Box-Toppers points in 14 straight seasons with his first Player of the Game honor of 2018. He earned his first point in 2005 with the Reds and has 80.7 career points, 51st among all batters since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He ranks fourth among active AL batters in career points.
Encarnacion’s best season was 2017 with the Indians when he had 12.1 Box-Toppers points, first among AL batters.
Encarnacion is now one of eight players with active streaks of 14 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points. The others are:
CC Sabathia of the Yankees, who has earned points for 18 straight seasons (2001-2018).
Albert Pujols of the Angels, 17 seasons (2001-2017). Pujols has yet to earn points in 2018.
Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, 16 seasons (2003-2018).
Joe Mauer of the Twins, 15 seasons (2004-2018).
Matt Holliday, free agent, 14 seasons (2004-2017). Holliday has yet to earn points in 2018 and has yet to be signed with a team.
Felix Hernandez of the Mariners, 14 seasons (2005-2018).
Robinson Cano of the Mariners, 14 seasons (2005-2018).
National League Batter of the Day—Nick Hundley of the Giants hit two doubles and homered, going 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in three runs, in the 9-4 win over the Padres.
Rankings—Mookie Betts of the Red Sox rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Betts (3HR 4-4 3R 3BI in the 5-4 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.2 for the season. Betts maintains his lead among AL batters, ahead of second-place Matt Davidson of the White Sox (4.2) and rises back into the overall top 10, the only batter currently on that list.
Notable—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg now has 107.4 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Strasburg (7IP 7H 3R 2ER BB 11K W in the 9-3 win over the Pirates) ranks 64th among all players in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 63rd-ranked player, Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (107.7).
Debut—Twins pitcher Fernando Romero made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Romero (5.2IP 4H 0R 3BB 5K W in the 4-0 win over the Blue Jays) was making his Major League debut. He is the 3,959th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Severino earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Newcomb earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Encarnacion and Hundley each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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)| 5/2 | Score | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | NYY 4, HOU 0 | Luis Severino (W, 5‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| NL | 12.0 | ATL 7, NYM 0 | Sean Newcomb (W, 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 9.1 | PHI 6, MIA 0 | Aaron Nola (W, 4‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 8.0 | COL 11, CHC 2 | Tyler Anderson (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | CLE 12, TEX 4 | Edwin Encarnacion (DH) | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | 6.0 | SF 9, SD 4 | Nick Hundley (C) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 6.0 | BOS 5, KC 4 | Mookie Betts RF | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 5.0 | WSH 9, PIT 3 | Stephen Strasburg (W, 3‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | ||
| 5.0 | LAD 2, ARI 1 | Daniel Hudson (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | LAA 10, BAL 7 | Martin Maldonado (C) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 3.2 | MIN 4, TOR 0 | Fernando Romero (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 3.1 | STL 3, CHW 2 | Carlos Martinez (W, 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | DET 3, TB 2 (F/12) | Warwick Saupold (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | MIL 3, CIN 1 | Wade Miley (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 1.0 | OAK 3, SEA 2 | Mark Canha (1B) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 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 | +/‑ |
| Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 9.7 | 30.8 | 35.8 | 35.8 | -11.4 |
| Betts, Mookie 3404 | rf | bos al | 5.2 | 11.2 | 22.4 | 22.4 | -0.8 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 4.0 | 13.5 | 40.6 | 40.6 | -5.5 |
| Hundley, Nick 2497 | ca ph | sf nl | 3.5 | 8.0 | 17.5 | 30.5 | -1.0 |
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.0 | 18.8 | 27.5 | 27.5 | -12.8 |
| Newcomb, Sean 3831 | pi sp | atl nl | 2.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | -0.3 |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 2.0 | 24.5 | 78.3 | 107.4 | -20.5 |
| Anderson, Tyler 3656 | pi sp | col nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -1.0 |
| Maldonado, Martin 3082 | ca | ana al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 7.5 | 10.5 | 1.0 |
| Saupold, Warwick 3636 | pi cp | det al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 |
| Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh 1b | cle al | 1.5 | 13.6 | 50.2 | 80.7 | -10.6 |
| Miley, Wade 3006 | pi sp | mil nl | 1.0 | 4.7 | 28.4 | 41.1 | -2.7 |
| Canha, Mark 3454 | 1b cf rf | oak al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | -1.0 |
| Hudson, Dan 2776 | pi mr | lad nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 21.0 | 1.0 |
| Romero, Fernando 3959 | pi sp | min al | 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.