Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to take the lead 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 Wednesday, May 12.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 9.0 |
| 2 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 7.0 |
| 3 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.4 |
| 4 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 6.4 |
| 5 | Martinez, J.D. 2922 | dh | bos al | 6.2 |
| 6 | Means, John 4115 | pi sp | bal al | 6.0 |
| 7 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | ari nl | 6.0 |
| 8 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 5.7 |
| 9 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 5.0 |
| 10 | Ynoa, Huascar 4343 | pi sp | atl nl | 5.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Wednesday, Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Cole struck out 12 over eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Rays.
Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.0 for the season, rising from second to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, passing previous leader, Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow (7.0 points), who had held the overall lead for a month (since April 12). Cole led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2019 with 32.2 when he was with the Astros.
Cole also now has 109.5 career Box-Toppers points, 63rd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his 2.0 points earned Wednesday, Cole passes six players on the “all-time” list—Lance Berkman (108.1), Kevin Millwood (108.3), Carlos Beltran (108.6), Gio Gonzalez (108.6), Billy Wagner (108.7) and Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (108.8). Cole now trails 62nd-ranked player Jeff Kent (110.2). Passing Cueto, Cole now ranks 15th among active, signed players in career points, sixth among active American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff struck out 10 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 4-1 win over the Cardinals. Woodruff did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited with the game tied, 1-1.
Woodruff earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 6.4 for the season, rising to fourth in season player rankings, second among NL pitchers, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers. While Kershaw and Woodruff both have 6.4 Box-Toppers points for the season, Kershaw ranks higher because he has more 2020 points—7.7 vs. 7.0.
American League Batter of the Day—Billy Hamilton of the White Sox tripled, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 13-8 win over the Twins.
National League Batter of the Day—Max Muncy of the Dodgers homered and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 7-1 win over the Mariners.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Marlins pitcher Cody Poteet (5IP 4H 2R 0BB 6K in the 3-2 win over the Diamondbacks) was also making his Major League debut.
Indians pitcher Sam Hentges (4.2IP 4H 0R 4BB 6K ND in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Cubs) made his Major League debut April 20 and was playing in his fifth career game.
Scoring—Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Woodruff earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Hamilton and Muncy each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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).| 5/12 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +16.0 | NYY 1, TB 0 | Gerrit Cole, (W 5‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |
| NL | +11.2 | `MIL 4, STL 1 | Brandon Woodruff | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| +6.0 | CIN 5, PIT 1 (F/10) | Lucas Sims, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +5.2 | `HOU 9, LAA 1 | Jose Urquidy | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +5.1 | `COL 3, SD 2 (F/8) | Austin Gomber | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +5.0 | TOR 4, ATL 1 | Hyun Jin Ryu, (W 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | CHW 13, MIN 8 | Billy Hamilton, CF | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +4.0 | LAD 7, SEA 1 | Max Muncy, 1B | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | SD 5, COL 3 (F/7) | Victor Caratini, C | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | MIA 3, ARI 2 | Cody Poteet, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +3.0 | OAK 4, BOS 1 | Jake Diekman, (S 5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.2 | `CLE 2, CHC 1 (F/10) | Sam Hentges | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | ||
| +2.0 | NYM 7, BAL 1 | Dominic Smith, LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | PHI 5, WSH 2 (F/10) | Hector Neris, (S 7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.0 | DET 4, KC 2 | Casey Mize, (W 2‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
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 | 9.0 | 16.4 | 80.1 | 109.5 | +1.6 |
| Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 6.4 | 13.4 | 23.1 | 23.1 | ‑0.6 |
| Ryu, Hyun Jin 3139 | pi sp | tor al | 3.0 | 9.0 | 41.5 | 62.6 | ‑3.0 |
| Urquidy, Jose 4194 | pi sp | hou al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | +0.0 |
| Gomber, Austin 3985 | pi sp | col nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | +1.0 |
| Neris, Hector 3553 | pi cp | phi nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 20.0 | 21.0 | +2.0 |
| Diekman, Jake 3266 | pi cp | oak al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 7.0 | +2.0 |
| Mize, Casey 4377 | pi sp | det al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Muncy, Max 3969 | 1b 3b 2b | lad nl | 1.5 | 3.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | +0.0 |
| Hamilton, Billy 3287 | cf | chi al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 8.5 | 15.0 | +1.5 |
| Caratini, Victor 4026 | ca 1b | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +1.0 |
| Smith, Dominic 3890 | lf 1b | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | +1.0 |
| Sims, Lucas 3892 | pi mr sp | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +1.0 |
| Hentges, Sam 4406 | pi sp | cle al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Poteet, Cody 4405 | pi sp | fla nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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