Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, the active leader in career Box-Toppers points earned his first points of the 2021 season as National League Player of the Day.
Player of the Day—Cole struck out 13 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 7-2 win over the Orioles.
Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and ranks second in Box-Toppers season player rankings, behind Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow. Though both Glasnow and Cole each have 2.0 Box-Toppers points for 2021, Glasnow ranks ahead because he has more 2020 points—8.0 vs. 7.4.
Cole also now has 102.5 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 75th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his 2.0 points Tuesday, he passes eight players on the “all-time” list—Paul Konerko (100.7), Matt Cain (100.7), Matt Holliday (100.8), Jason Schmidt (101.2), Mark Teixeira (101.3), Tim Wakefield (101.4), Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2) and Miguel Tejada (102.3). Cole now trails 74th-ranked Jamie Moyer (104.0). He ranks 18th among currently active, signed Major League players and sixth among active American League pitchers.
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.| 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 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 2008‑2021 | 236.9 |
| 14 | Asdrubal Cabrera | 1b 3b | Diamondbacks | 2007‑2020 | 62.7 |
| 14 | Kurt Suzuki | ca | Angels | 2007‑2020 | 45.0 |
| 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 |
National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, in the 5-1 win over the Athletics.
Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points as NL Player of the Day, his first points of the season and is eighth in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
He’s now earned Box-Toppers points in 14 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2021 Tuesday. It is now tied for the eighth-longest currently active streak of most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points (see chart on this page Active season streaks).
Kershaw earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2008 with the Dodgers and now has 236.9 career points, third among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails second-ranked player Pedro Martinez (244.8). Kershaw ranks first in career points among active players, ahead of second-ranked player, Astros pitcher Zack Greinke (210.1).
Kershaw’s best season was 2014 with the Dodgers when he had 31.5 Box-Toppers points, first among all players. He has led all players in Box-Toppers points in a season three times (2011, 2013 and 2014) and finished among the top three in points in each season from 2011 to 2017. He earned 20 or more points for those seven straight seasons, the longest such streak since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
In 2020, he earned 7.7 Box-Toppers points, ninth overall and fifth among NL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Stephen Vogt of the Diamondbacks homered and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 10-8, 13-inning win over the Rockies.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because no AL batter earned Player of the Game honors in the 14 games played.
Debut—Tigers pitcher Gregory Soto made his Box-Toppers debut with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Soto (2IP H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 4-3, 10-inning win over the Twins) made his Major League debut May 11, 2019, and was playing in his 63rd career game.
Scoring—Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kershaw earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Vogt earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’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)| 4/6 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +16.0 | NYY 7, BAL 2 | Gerrit Cole, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | |
| NL | +9.0 | LAD 5, OAK 1 | Clayton Kershaw, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |
| +9.0 | CIN 14, PIT 1 | Wade Miley, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +8.0 | MIL 4, CHC 0 | Freddy Peralta, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | ||
| +7.0 | `SD 3, SF 1 | Yu Darvish | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +6.0 | TEX 7, TOR 4 | Dane Dunning, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +6.0 | `BOS 6, TB 5 (F/12) | Matt Barnes | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +4.1 | CHW 10, SEA 4 | Lucas Giolito, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 10 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | ARI 10, COL 8 (F/13) | Stephen Vogt, C | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | DET 4, MIN 3 (F/10) | Gregory Soto, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | NYM 8, PHI 4 | Pete Alonso, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | HOU 4, LAA 2 | Ryan Pressly, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | WSH 6, ATL 5 | Daniel Hudson, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +1.1 | STL 4, MIA 2 | Alex Reyes, (S 2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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 (’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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 2.0 | 9.4 | 73.1 | 102.5 | ‑5.4 |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 1.7 | 9.4 | 77.6 | 236.9 | ‑6.0 |
| Vogt, Stephen 3503 | ca dh | ari nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 10.0 | 12.5 | +1.5 |
| Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 1.0 | 10.7 | 49.9 | 95.1 | ‑8.7 |
| Giolito, Lucas 3900 | pi sp | chi al | 1.0 | 8.0 | 28.7 | 28.7 | ‑6.0 |
| Pressly, Ryan 3186 | pi cp | hou al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 11.0 | ‑2.0 |
| Dunning, Dane 4317 | pi sp | tex al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | ‑2.0 |
| Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp mr | mil nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 19.7 | 19.7 | ‑1.0 |
| Hudson, Dan 2776 | pi cp | dc nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 10.0 | 29.0 | ‑1.0 |
| Alonso, Pete 4118 | 1b | nym nl | 1.0 | 2.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | ‑0.5 |
| Miley, Wade 3006 | pi sp | cin nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 22.4 | 52.8 | +0.0 |
| Barnes, Matt 3466 | pi mr cp | bos al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | +0.0 |
| Reyes, Alex 3706 | pi cp mr | stl nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 | +0.0 |
| Soto, Gregory 4371 | pi cp | det al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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