Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to eighth 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 31:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 13.4 |
| 2 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 11.7 |
| 3 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | hou al | 10.1 |
| 4 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 10.0 |
| 5 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 9.4 |
| 6 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 9.0 |
| 7 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 8.0 |
| 8 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 7.7 |
| 9 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 |
| 10 | Pivetta, Nick 3825 | pi sp | phi nl | 7.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Nola struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Dodgers.
Nola earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, rising into the top 10 in eighth place overall, third place among National League pitchers.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, the active leader in career Box-Toppers points (209.8), made his return from a monthlong stay on the disabled list in the same game. Kershaw had a positive Box-Toppers game score (+3.0), but did not earn Player of the Game honors or Box-Toppers points since the Dodgers lost (5IP 4H R BB 5K ND).
Kershaw has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 31st among NL pitchers. He’s ranked among the top 10 NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points for each of the last nine seasons.
Kershaw had been out since May 1 with left biceps tendinitis. He threw 62 pitches Thursday and experienced back tightness and will undergo an MRI. Back injuries have put Kershaw on the disabled list for 75 days in 2016 and 39 days in 2017. Despite that, Kershaw ranked second among all players in Box-Toppers points in 2016 (24.4) and third in 2017 (23.1).
American League Player of the Day—Francisco Lindor of the Indians hit two home runs and two doubles in the 9-8 win over the twins. Lindor, who went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, hit the go-ahead homer in the eighth inning.
National League Batter of the Day—Eric Hosmer of the Padres went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 8-3 win over the Marlins.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Francisco Lindor.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debuts Thursday with their first career Player of the Game honors:
Cardinals pitcher Mike Mayers (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 10-8 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut July 24, 2016, and was playing in his 18th career game. He is the 3,983rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Victor Reyes of the Tigers (3B 2B 3-4 R 3BI in the 6-2 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut April 1 and was playing in his 27th career game. He is the 3,984th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Nola earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lindor earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Hosmer earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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)| 5/31 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | PHI 2, LAD 1 | Aaron Nola (W, 7‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| 7.0 | CHC 5, NYM 1 | Jose Quintana (W, 6‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| AL | 6.0 | CLE 9, MIN 8 | Francisco Lindor SS | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 4.0 | SEA 6, TEX 1 | Jean Segura SS | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 3.1 | STL 10, PIT 8 | Mike Mayers (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | DET 6, LAA 2 | Victor Reyes LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | SD 8, MIA 3 | Eric Hosmer 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 3.0 | ATL 4, WSH 2 | Arodys Vizcaino (S, 10) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | OAK 7, TB 3 | Stephen Piscotty RF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 1.0 | HOU 4, BOS 2 | Carlos Correa SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 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 Player of the Game winners. 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 | +/‑ |
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 7.7 | 23.5 | 32.2 | 32.2 | -8.1 |
| Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | chi nl | 5.4 | 20.4 | 50.2 | 55.6 | -9.6 |
| Segura, Jean 3173 | ss | sea al | 5.0 | 6.0 | 17.0 | 17.0 | +4.0 |
| Lindor, Francisco 3586 | ss | cle al | 4.7 | 8.2 | 16.2 | 16.2 | +1.2 |
| Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | sd nl | 2.5 | 12.0 | 38.5 | 43.0 | -7.0 |
| Correa, Carlos 3506 | ss | hou al | 2.0 | 9.0 | 23.9 | 23.9 | -5.0 |
| Vizcaino, Arodys 3533 | pi cp | atl nl | 1.0 | 4.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -2.0 |
| Piscotty, Stephen 3570 | rf | oak al | 1.0 | 2.5 | 10.7 | 10.7 | -0.5 |
| Mayers, Mike 3983 | pi cp | stl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Reyes, Victor 3984 | lf | det 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.