Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to seventh place in season player rankings.
Meanwhile, Indians pitcher Shane Bieber rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2021. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Sunday, April 18.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 |
| 2 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 4.7 |
| 3 | Barnes, Matt 3466 | pi mr cp | bos al | 4.0 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.7 |
| 5 | Civale, Aaron 4173 | pi sp | cle al | 3.7 |
| 6 | Martinez, J.D. 2922 | dh rf | bos al | 3.2 |
| 7 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.0 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 3.0 |
| 9 | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 3.0 |
| 10 | Pineda, Michael 2841 | pi sp | min al | 3.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Player of the Day—Nola pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout, striking out 10 and walking none, in the 2-0 win over the Cardinals.
Nola earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, rising to seventh place in season player rankings, second among National League pitchers, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (3.7).
American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Kyle Gibson struck out six over eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 1-0, 10-inning win over the Orioles. Gibson did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Gibson earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, 16th among all players and ninth among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Guillermo Heredia of the Braves hit two home runs, including a grand slam, going 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 13-4 win over the Cubs.
American League Batter of the Day—Ty France of the Mariners homered, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-2 win over the Astros.
Rankings—Indians pitcher Shane Bieber rises from third to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Bieber (8IP 6H 3R 2BB 13K W in the 6-3 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.7 for the season. He trails leader, Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow (5.0) and also ranks second among AL pitchers behind Glasnow.
Streak—Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2021 Sunday.
Bumgarner (5IP 2H R BB 5K W in the 5-2 win over the Nationals) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2010 with the Giants and now has 126.4 career points, 42nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his 1.0 point Sunday, he passes Mariano Rivera (126.4) on the “all-time” list and now trails 41st-ranked player Roy Oswalt (127.2). Bumgarner ranks 12th in career points among active, signed players.
Bumgarner’s best season was 2014 with the Giants when he had 22.6 Box-Toppers points, third among all players. He had six straight years with 10 or more points (2011-2016) and four straight years with 15 or more points (2012-2015). Bumgarner had 1.0 point in 2020 with the Diamondbacks, his lowest single-season total, earned on the final day of the pandemic-shortened season. In 2019, he had 10.0 Box-Toppers points with the Giants, 20th among NL pitchers.
Debut—White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Kopech (3IP H R BB 4K ND in the 5-1, seven-inning win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut Aug. 21, 2018, and was playing in his ninth career game.
Scoring—Nola earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gibson earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Heredia and France each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners
Here is the top player from each of the day’s games listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (BTG).| 4/18 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +17.0 | PHI 2, STL 0 | Aaron Nola, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| AL | +10.0 | `TEX 1, BAL 0 (F/10) | Kyle Gibson | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| BAT | +7.0 | ATL 13, CHC 4 | Guillermo Heredia, CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +7.0 | CLE 6, CIN 3 | Shane Bieber, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 13 | ||
| +7.0 | NYM 2, COL 1 | Marcus Stroman, (W 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +7.0 | `KC 2, TOR 0 | Brady Singer | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| +6.0 | SF 1, MIA 0 | Alex Wood, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +5.0 | ARI 5, WSH 2 | Madison Bumgarner, (W 1‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | SEA 7, HOU 2 | Ty France, DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | PIT 6, MIL 5 (F/10) | Bryan Reynolds, LF‑CF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | `SD 5, LAD 2 | Blake Snell | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| +3.0 | `OAK 3, DET 2 | Chris Bassitt | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| +3.0 | TB 4, NYY 2 | Ryan Yarbrough, (W 1‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| +3.0 | `CHW 5, BOS 1 (F/7) | Michael Kopech | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +1.0 | CHW 3, BOS 2 (F/7) | Tim Anderson, SS | 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 Player of the Game winners
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 (’21). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’20-21), the period 2016-2021 (’16-21) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2021 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2020 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’21 | ’20‑21 | ’16‑21 | Career | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 4.7 | 16.1 | 40.6 | 40.6 | ‑6.7 |
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.0 | 10.7 | 64.0 | 66.0 | ‑4.7 |
| Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | sd nl | 2.7 | 6.4 | 52.6 | 52.6 | ‑1.0 |
| Gibson, Kyle 3312 | pi sp | tex al | 2.7 | 5.4 | 25.5 | 39.5 | +0.0 |
| Yarbrough, Ryan 3962 | pi sp mr | tb al | 2.0 | 5.0 | 24.4 | 24.4 | ‑1.0 |
| Stroman, Marcus 3327 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 24.4 | 40.8 | +2.0 |
| France, Ty 4243 | dh 2b | sea al | 1.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | +0.5 |
| Heredia, Guillermo 3859 | cf | atl nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | +1.5 |
| Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | oak al | 1.0 | 7.4 | 16.1 | 20.1 | ‑5.4 |
| Anderson, Tim 3659 | ss | chi al | 1.0 | 5.5 | 19.5 | 19.5 | ‑3.5 |
| Singer, Brady 4337 | pi sp | kc al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | ‑3.0 |
| Reynolds, Bryan 4169 | lf cf | pit nl | 1.0 | 4.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | ‑2.0 |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | ari nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 33.7 | 126.4 | +0.0 |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | sf nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 22.7 | 41.1 | +1.0 |
| Kopech, Michael 4385 | pi sp | chi al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default view.