Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to second place in season player rankings.
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 Friday, April 30.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 7.0 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 7.0 |
| 3 | Martinez, J.D. 2922 | dh | bos al | 6.2 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 5.4 |
| 5 | Rogers, Trevor 4311 | pi sp | fla nl | 5.0 |
| 6 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 4.7 |
| 8 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 4.7 |
| 9 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.0 |
| 10 | Means, John 4115 | pi sp | bal al | 4.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Friday, three other players rise in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings list after earning Player of the Game honors—J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox rises to third place, Padres pitcher Yu Darvish rises to seventh place and Orioles pitcher John Means rises to 10th place.
Player of the Day—Cole struck out 12 over six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 10-0 win over the Tigers.
Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, rising from third to second place in season player rankings. While he has the same Box-Toppers point total (7.0) as overall leader, Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow, Cole ranks behind Glasnow because he has fewer 2020 Box-Toppers points—7.4 vs. 8.0. Cole also ranks second among American League pitchers behind Glasnow.
Cole also now has 107.5 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 69th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his 2.0 points Friday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list—Aramis Ramirez (105.8), Frank Thomas (106.2), Francisco Liriano (106.2) and James Shields (106.4). He trails 68th-ranked player Lance Berkman (108.1). He ranks 17th among active, signed players and sixth among active AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Yu Darvish struck out 12 over 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run, four hits and three walks, in the 3-2 win over the Giants.
Darvish earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season, rising to seventh place in season player rankings, third among NL pitchers, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (5.4) and Trevor Rogers of the Marlins (5.0).
American League Batter of the Day—J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, in the 6-1 win over the Rangers. Martinez went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs.
Martinez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.2 for the season, rising from seventh to third in season player rankings, behind Glasnow and Cole (both with 7.0). Martinez maintains his lead among AL batters, ahead of second-place Yermin Mercedes of the White Sox (3.0). Martinez is the only batter among the top 10 players in 2021 Box-Toppers points. Mercedes, the next-highest ranking batter with fewer than half the points Martinez has, ranks 33rd overall.
National League Batter of the Day—Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals hit a three-run, pinch-hit home run in the 7-3 win over the Pirates.
Rankings—Orioles pitcher John Means rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Means (7IP 3H 2R BB 9K W in the 3-2 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.
Notable—Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner now has 129.4 career Box-Toppers points—36th-most since 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Bumgarner (5IP 4H R BB 6K W in the 7-2 win over the Rockies) trails 35th-ranked player on the “all-time” list, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (130.3). Bumgarner ranks 12th among active, signed players in career Box-Toppers points, seventh among active NL pitchers.
He has 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2021, sixth among NL pitchers.
Debut—Alex Kirilloff of the Twins made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Kirilloff (2HR 2-4 2R 4BI in the 9-1 win over the Royals) made his Major League debut Sept. 30, 2020, and was playing in his ninth career game.
Scoring—Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Darvish earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Martinez and Carpenter 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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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).| 4/30 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +14.0 | NYY 10, DET 0 | Gerrit Cole, (W 4‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |
| +10.0 | HOU 9, TB 2 | Lance McCullers Jr., (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | ||
| NL | +9.1 | SD 3, SF 2 | Yu Darvish, (W 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 | |
| +9.0 | MIL 3, LAD 1 | Freddy Peralta, (W 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +8.0 | BAL 3, OAK 2 | John Means, (W 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | BOS 6, TEX 1 | J.D. Martinez, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | TOR 13, ATL 5 | Alejandro Kirk, C | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +5.0 | SEA 7, LAA 4 | Drew Steckenrider, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +4.0 | MIN 9, KC 1 | Alex Kirilloff, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | STL 7, PIT 3 | Matt Carpenter, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | ARI 7, COL 2 | Madison Bumgarner, (W 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +3.0 | CIN 8, CHC 6 | Joey Votto, 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | CLE 5, CHW 3 | Jose Ramírez, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | PHI 2, NYM 1 | Chase Anderson, (W 1‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +1.0 | WSH 2, MIA 1 (F/10) | Kyle Schwarber, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 7.0 | 14.4 | 78.1 | 107.5 | ‑0.4 |
| Martinez, J.D. 2922 | dh | bos al | 6.2 | 6.2 | 38.2 | 49.9 | +6.2 |
| Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 4.7 | 14.4 | 53.6 | 98.8 | ‑5.0 |
| Means, John 4115 | pi sp | bal al | 4.0 | 6.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | +2.0 |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | ari nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 36.7 | 129.4 | +3.0 |
| Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp mr | mil nl | 3.7 | 5.7 | 22.4 | 22.4 | +1.7 |
| McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 2.0 | 4.7 | 30.9 | 37.6 | ‑0.7 |
| Carpenter, Matt 2987 | 3b 1b ph | stl nl | 1.5 | 2.5 | 20.5 | 40.5 | +0.5 |
| Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | cle al | 1.0 | 4.5 | 23.5 | 27.0 | ‑2.5 |
| Schwarber, Kyle 3536 | lf | dc nl | 1.0 | 2.5 | 16.0 | 21.0 | ‑0.5 |
| Kirk, Alejandro 4353 | ca | tor al | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | ‑0.5 |
| Anderson, Chase 3328 | pi sp mr | phi nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 31.8 | 40.8 | +0.0 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 19.0 | 72.7 | +1.0 |
| Steckenrider, Drew 3899 | pi mr | sea al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +1.0 |
| Kirilloff, Alex 4395 | 1b | min al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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