Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Hill struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 6-0 win over the Reds.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2019 season through the games of May 17.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 10.1 |
| 2 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 8.0 |
| 3 | Castillo, Luis 3840 | pi sp | cin nl | 7.4 |
| 4 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.2 |
| 5 | Bellinger, Cody 3781 | rf | lad nl | 7.2 |
| 6 | Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | chi nl | 6.7 |
| 7 | Eflin, Zach 3679 | pi sp | phi nl | 6.7 |
| 8 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 6.7 |
| 9 | Paddack, Chris 4093 | pi sp | sd nl | 6.7 |
| 10 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 6.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season. He ranks 125th among all players and 37th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Frankie Montas struck out 10 over 8 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, four hits and no walks, in the 7-2 win over the Tigers.
National League Batter of the Day—Kris Bryant of the Cubs hit three home runs and went 4-for-6, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 14-6 win over the Nationals.
American League Batter of the Day—Ehire Adrianza of the Twins homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-1 win over the Mariners.
This was the second time in three days Adrianza earned Player of the Game honors. He was Player of the Game Wednesday in the 8-7 win over the Angels. He has 2.5 Box-Toppers points on the season.
Streak—Andrew McCutchen of the Phillies has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2019 Friday.
McCutchen (HR 1-2 2R 2BI in the 5-4 win over the Rockies) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2009 with the Pirates and has 67.4 career points, sixth among active NL batters. His best season was 2015 with the Pirates when he had 10.5 Box-Toppers points, third among NL batters. In 2018, he had 3.5 points with the Giants and Yankees.
Notable—Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole has the most 2019 Box-Toppers points among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Friday.
Cole (5IP 6H 0R BB 7K ND in the 3-1 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.7 for the season, rising to 12th in season player rankings, fifth among AL pitchers.
Also notable—Albert Pujols of the Angels now has 193.3 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Pujols (2-3 R BI in the 5-2 win over the Royals) ranks seventh among all players in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails sixth-ranked Curt Schilling (194.1). (It should be noted that Schilling would have an estimated 232 career Box-Toppers points if his entire career from 1988 were tracked.)
Pujols leads all batters in career points since 1995, ahead of second-place Alex Rodriguez (187.0). Pujols passed Rodriguez in career points on Aug. 22, 2017, but has earned just 5.5 more points since then—3.0 points in 2018 and 2.5 points so far in 2019.
Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Kelly (5.1IP 6H 0R BB 4K W in the 7-0 win over the Giants) made his Major League debut April 1 and was playing in his ninth career game.
Scoring—Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Montas earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Bryant and Adrianza 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)| 5/17 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +14.0 | LAD 6, CIN 0 | Rich Hill (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| +11.0 | PIT 5, SD 3 | Jordan Lyles (W, 4‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | ||
| AL | +10.2 | OAK 7, DET 2 | Frankie Montas (W, 5‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 | |
| +7.0 | ATL 12, MIL 8 | Max Fried (W, 6‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +6.0 | CHC 14, WSH 6 | Kris Bryant 3B | 6 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.2 | BAL 5, CLE 1 | Dylan Bundy (W, 2‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| +5.0 | `HOU 3, BOS 1 | Gerrit Cole | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +3.0 | MIA 8, NYM 6 | Jorge Alfaro C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | MIN 7, SEA 1 | Ehire Adrianza 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | PHI 5, COL 4 | Andrew McCutchen LF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | TOR 10, CHW 2 | Javy Guerra (S, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | NYY 4, TB 3 | Jonathan Holder (W, 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.1 | ARI 7, SF 0 | Merrill Kelly (W, 4‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +1.0 | TEX 7, STL 3 | Shin‑Soo Choo RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | LAA 5, KC 2 | Albert Pujols 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 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 Player of the Game winners. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’19). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’18-19), the period 2014-2019 (’14-19) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2019 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2018 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’19 | ’18‑19 | ’14‑19 | Career | +/‑ |
| Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 5.7 | 23.7 | 61.9 | 66.6 | -12.3 |
| Lyles, Jordan 3100 | pi sp | pit nl | 4.7 | 8.7 | 10.7 | 16.4 | +0.7 |
| Fried, Max 4011 | pi sp | atl nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +3.0 |
| Montas, Frankie 3803 | pi sp | oak al | 3.7 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | +1.7 |
| Choo, Shin-Soo 2267 | rf lf | tex al | 3.5 | 10.0 | 25.5 | 63.7 | -3.0 |
| Bryant, Kris 3465 | 3b | chi nl | 3.5 | 3.5 | 28.5 | 28.5 | +3.5 |
| Holder, Jonathan 4118 | pi cp mr | nyy al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +3.0 |
| Pujols, Albert 1438 | 1b dh | ana al | 2.5 | 5.5 | 33.5 | 193.3 | -0.5 |
| Adrianza, Ehire 3902 | ss 3b | min al | 2.5 | 5.2 | 6.2 | 6.2 | -0.2 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 2.0 | 11.7 | 42.8 | 62.5 | -7.7 |
| Bundy, Dylan 3655 | pi sp | bal al | 2.0 | 9.7 | 25.1 | 25.1 | -5.7 |
| Alfaro, Jorge 3920 | ca | fla nl | 2.0 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | -0.5 |
| McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | lf | phi nl | 1.0 | 4.5 | 37.5 | 67.4 | -2.5 |
| Guerra, Javy 2925 | pi cp sp | tor al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | ari 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.