Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Thursday’s opening day games.
Also Thursday, Astros pitcher Zack Greinke has now earned Box-Toppers points in 15 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Glasnow struck out six over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Marlins. Glasnow did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Glasnow earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, the first points awarded in the 2021 season, taking the early lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings. Glasnow had 8.0 Box-Toppers points in 2020, eighth overall and fourth among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Chris Owings of the Rockies tripled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 8-5 win over the Dodgers.
Owings earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. It is his first Player of the Game honor in more than four years; he last earned Player of the Game honors Sept. 30, 2016, with the Diamondbacks. He now has 8.2 career Box-Toppers points since 2014.
American League Batter of the Day—Jorge Soler of the Royals homered and went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 14-10 win over the Rangers.
Soler earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day. He had 0.0 points in 2020 and 10.2 in 2019, fourth among AL batters.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the NL Player of the Day is batter Chris Owings.
Active season streaks
Here are the 13 players who have active streaks of earning Box-Toppers points for 13 or more consecutive seasons. Players are listed by the length of their streak and with their current team status. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.| Streak | Player | Pos | Team | Duration | BTP* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Albert Pujols | 1b | Angels | 2001‑2020 | 202.8 |
| 18 | Miguel Cabrera | dh | Tigers | 2003‑2020 | 153.4 |
| 16 | Edwin Encarnacion | dh | Free agent | 2005‑2020 | 88.2 |
| 15 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | Astros | 2007‑2021 | 210.1 |
| 15 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | Astros | 2006‑2020 | 206.6 |
| 15 | Jon Lester | pi sp | Nationals | 2006‑2020 | 176.3 |
| 15 | Nelson Cruz | dh | Twins | 2006‑2020 | 77.2 |
| 14 | Asdrubal Cabrera | 1b 3b | Diamondbacks | 2007‑2020 | 62.7 |
| 14 | Kurt Suzuki | ca | Angels | 2007‑2020 | 45.0 |
| 13 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 2008‑2020 | 235.2 |
| 13 | Johnny Cueto | pi sp | Giants | 2008‑2020 | 106.8 |
| 13 | J.A. Happ | pi sp | Twins | 2008‑2020 | 85.3 |
| 13 | Evan Longoria | 3b | Giants | 2008‑2020 | 55.0 |
Streak—Astros pitcher Zack Grienke has now earned Box-Toppers points in 15 straight seasons—tied for the fourth-longest active streak—after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season.
Greinke (6IP 3H 0R 0BB 4K W in the 8-1 win over the Athletics) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2004 with the Royals. However, he earned no points in 2006, so his 15-season streak began in 2007 with the Royals.
He has 210.1 career Box-Toppers points, fourth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails third-ranked player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (235.2) on the “all-time” list and ranks second among active players in career points behind Kershaw.
Greinke’s best season was 2009 with the Royals when he had 21.5 Box-Toppers points, first among all players. He’s had three seasons with 20 or more Box-Toppers points, including 2009, 2015 with the Dodgers (20.7) and 2017 with the Diamondbacks (20.1). In 2020, he had 2.0 Box-Toppers points. In 2019, he had 17.9 points with the Diamondbacks and Astros, finishing the season seventh overall and fifth among AL pitchers.
Greinke is one of 13 players with a currently active streak of earning Box-Toppers points in 13 or more consecutive seasons (see chart elsewhere on this page Active season streaks). He becomes the 46th player since 1995 to have a streak of 15 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points.
Streak—Eric Hosmer of the Padres has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2021 Thursday.
Hosmer (HR 2B 3-4 R 3BI in the 8-7 win over the Diamondbacks) earned his first points in 2011 with the Royals and now has 48.0 career points, seventh among active NL first basemen. His best season was 2017 with the Royals when he had 9.5 Box-Toppers points, seventh among AL batters.
Debut—Blue Jays closing pitcher Julian Merryweather made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Merryweather (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K Sv in the 3-2, 10-inning win over the Yankees) made his Major League debut Aug. 20, 2020, and was playing in his ninth career game.
Scoring—Glasnow earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Owings earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Soler earns 1.5 points for being AL 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)| 4/1 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +11.0 | `TB 1, MIA 0 | Tyler Glasnow | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| +7.0 | HOU 8, OAK 1 | Zack Greinke, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| NL | +4.0 | COL 8, LAD 5 | Chris Owings, 2B | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +4.0 | KC 14, TEX 10 | Jorge Soler, DH | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | TOR 3, NYY 2 (F/10) | Julian Merryweather, (S 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +4.0 | MIL 6, MIN 5 (F/10) | Josh Hader, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +4.0 | PIT 5, CHC 3 | Sam Howard, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | STL 11, CIN 6 | Paul Goldschmidt, 1B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | SD 8, ARI 7 | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | LAA 4, CHW 3 | Raisel Iglesias, (S 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.2 | `PHI 3, ATL 2 (F/10) | Aaron Nola | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +2.0 | SEA 8, SF 7 (F/10) | Dylan Moore, 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +0.2 | DET 3, CLE 2 | Matthew Boyd, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 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 (’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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 2.0 | 10.0 | 25.7 | 25.7 | ‑6.0 |
| Owings, Chris 3347 | ss cf | col nl | 1.7 | 1.7 | 4.7 | 8.2 | +1.7 |
| Soler, Jorge 3403 | dh | kc al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 15.7 | 19.9 | +1.5 |
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 1.0 | 8.7 | 62.0 | 64.0 | ‑6.7 |
| Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | sd nl | 1.0 | 3.5 | 25.5 | 48.0 | ‑1.5 |
| Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | hou al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 63.7 | 210.1 | ‑1.0 |
| Boyd, Matthew 3550 | pi sp | det al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 26.8 | 27.8 | ‑1.0 |
| Moore, Dylan 4289 | 2b rf | sea al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +0.0 |
| Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 33.4 | 33.4 | +1.0 |
| Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | stl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 27.9 | 63.3 | +1.0 |
| Iglesias, Raisel 3467 | pi cp | ana al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 20.0 | 22.7 | +1.0 |
| Howard, Sam 4262 | pi mr | pit nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +1.0 |
| Merryweather, Julian 4366 | pi cp | tor al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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