Giants pitcher Anthony DeSclafani is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
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 25.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 5.0 |
| 3 | Rogers, Trevor 4311 | pi sp | fla nl | 5.0 |
| 4 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 4.7 |
| 5 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 4.7 |
| 6 | Martinez, J.D. 2922 | dh rf | bos al | 4.7 |
| 7 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.0 |
| 8 | Barnes, Matt 3466 | pi mr cp | bos al | 4.0 |
| 9 | Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.7 |
| 10 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Monday, Marlins pitcher Trevor Rogers rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels earns Player of the Game honors as a pitcher but does it for batting, becoming apparently the first American League pitcher to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors while batting.
Player of the Day—DeSclafani pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out nine and walking one, in the 12-0 win over the Rockies.
DeSclafani earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, 17th among all players and 10th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 9-4 win over the Rangers.
Ohtani earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, 17th among AL pitchers.
Ohtani was the starting pitcher for the Angels and also batted second as the team opted out of using a designated hitter, allowing him to bat. (Ohtani serves as a designated hitter for the Angels on days he does not pitch.) Ohtani had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 for batting and +1.0 for pitching (5IP 3H 4R 2BB 9K W).
This is apparently the first time since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 that an AL pitcher has earned Player of the Game honors as a batter, since AL teams almost always employ a designated hitter to bat for the pitcher. However, it is not altogether unsurprising since Ohtani serves both as a batter and a pitcher and previously earned most of his career Box-Toppers points as a batter (10.5) than as a pitcher (5.0). Monday’s Player of the Game honor for Ohtani was as a pitcher, even though he achieved it while batting.
While it is uncommon for a pitcher to earn Player of the Game honors for batting, it does happen. In 2019, pitchers earned Player of the Game honors for batting six times, however, all of them were National League pitchers hitting in NL parks where there was no designated hitter. In 2020, there were no pitchers earning Player of the Game honors for batting because baseball employed the universal designated hitter in both leagues as part of special pandemic rules.
This was the first time in 2021 that a pitcher earned Player of the Game honors as a batter. And so far, all 2.7 of Ohtani’s season Box-Toppers points have been earned as a pitcher (even though, to belabor the point, he earned Monday’s points for batting).
Ohtani was also Player of the Game this season April 20 for his work as a pitcher.
National League Batter of the Day—Freddie Freeman of the Braves hit a three-run homer and went 1-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-7 win over the Cubs.
Freeman has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons. He earned his first Player of the Game honor in 2011 with the Braves and has 64.4 career points, fifth among active NL batters. His best season was 2013 when he had 11.5 Box-Toppers points, second among NL batters. In 2019, he had 10.2 points, fourth among NL batters. In 2020, he had 3.5 points, eighth among NL batters.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Monday because overall AL Player of the Day is batter Shohei Ohtani.
Rankings—Marlins pitcher Trevor Rogers rises from eighth to third in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Rogers (6IP 6H 0R 0BB 7K W in the 8-0 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to first among NL pitchers, passing previous leader Brandon Woodruff of the Brewers (4.7). While Rogers has the same 5.0 Box-Toppers point total as overall leader, Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow, and second-place player, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, Rogers ranks third because he has fewer 2020 Box-Toppers points. Glasnow had 8.0 points in 2020, Cole had 7.4 and Rogers had 1.0.
Scoring—DeSclafani earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Ohtani earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Freeman earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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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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).| 4/26 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +14.0 | SF 12, COL 0 | Anthony DeSclafani, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| +11.0 | PHI 2, STL 1 | Zack Wheeler, (W 2‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | ||
| +7.0 | MIA 8, MIL 0 | Trevor Rogers, (W 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| AL | +4.0 | LAA 9, TEX 4 | Shohei Ohtani, P | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | CIN 5, LAD 3 (F/10) | Tejay Antone, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||
| +3.1 | `CLE 5, MIN 3 (F/10) | Bryan Shaw | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | BAL 4, NYY 2 | Cedric Mullins, CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | OAK 2, TB 1 | Sean Manaea, (W 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | ATL 8, CHC 7 | Freddie Freeman, 1B | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.0 | `KC 3, DET 2 | Scott Barlow, (Hld 4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||
| +1.0 | HOU 5, SEA 2 | Jose Altuve, 2B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 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 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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rogers, Trevor 4311 | pi sp | fla nl | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | +4.0 |
| DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | pi sp | sf nl | 3.0 | 5.7 | 20.7 | 28.4 | +0.3 |
| Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 3.0 | 5.0 | 31.5 | 31.5 | +1.0 |
| Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 2.7 | 3.7 | 24.4 | 36.1 | +1.7 |
| Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 2.7 | 2.7 | 17.2 | 17.2 | +2.7 |
| Barlow, Scott 3981 | pi mr cp | kc al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | +1.0 |
| Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 23.0 | 39.5 | +2.0 |
| Mullins, Cedric 4100 | cf | bal al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | +2.0 |
| Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b ph | atl nl | 1.5 | 5.0 | 33.2 | 64.4 | ‑2.0 |
| Antone, Tejay 4362 | pi cp mr | cin nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +0.0 |
| Shaw, Bryan 2995 | pi mr cp | cle al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 11.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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