Tigers pitcher Spencer Turnbull, pitching a no-hitter, is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
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 Tuesday, May 18.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 9.0 |
| 2 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 8.7 |
| 3 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 7.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.7 |
| 5 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.4 |
| 6 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 6.4 |
| 7 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 6.4 |
| 8 | Martinez, J.D. 2922 | dh | bos al | 6.2 |
| 9 | Means, John 4115 | pi sp | bal al | 6.0 |
| 10 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | ari nl | 6.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Player of the Day—Turnbull pitched a complete-game, no-hit shutout, striking out nine and walking two, in the 5-0 win over the Mariners.
Turnbull earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season, 24th among all players and seventh among American League pitchers.
It is the season’s fifth no-hitter—the sixth, if you count Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner’s seven-inning no-hitter April 25. Turnbull had the fourth-ranked Box-Toppers game score (+16.0) among the five regular-length, nine-inning no-hitters (Bumgarner had a +14.0 game score in his seven-inning no-hitter). Turnbull’s +16.0 game score also ranks as the eighth-best among Player of the Game winners so far this season. The top game score by a Player of the Game winner in 2021 is +22.0 by Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom on April 23.
Here are the game scores for the season’s other four no-hitters:
+21.0 by Orioles pitcher John Means on May 5, second-highest game score among all Player of the Game winners in 2021.
+19.0 by Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove on April 9, third-highest game score of the season.
+16.0 by Reds pitcher Wade Miley on May 7, the ninth-highest game score of the season.
+16.0 by White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon on April 14, the 10th-highest game score of the season. (Though Turnbull, Miley and Rodon all had +16.0 game scores in their no-hitters, Turnbull’s is ranked highest because he had the most strikeouts in his game (nine), Miley had the second-most (eight) and Rodon the third-most (seven).
National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 8-3 win over the Marlins. Wheeler did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied when he exited.
Wheeler earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 6.4 for the season, rising to seventh place in season player rankings, fifth among NL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Miguel Sano of the Twins hit three home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 5-4 win over the White Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-2 win over the Pirates.
Arenado earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, rising to first place among NL batters, passing previous leader Nick Castellanos of the Reds (4.0). Though both Arenado and Castellanos have 4.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, Arenado ranks higher because he had more 2019 points—9.0 vs. 5.0 (they both had 1.0 point in 2020).
Debut—Royals pitcher Kris Bubic made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Bubic (6IP H 0R 2BB 4K ND in the 2-0 win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut July 31, 2020, and was playing in his 15th career game.
Scoring—Turnbull earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Wheeler earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Sano and Arenado each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
(Post corrected May 20 to correctly reflect the complete-game no-hitters for 2021.)
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).| 5/18 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +16.0 | DET 5, SEA 0 | Spencer Turnbull, (W 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| NL | +11.0 | `PHI 8, MIA 3 | Zack Wheeler | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| +10.0 | TOR 8, BOS 0 | Hyun Jin Ryu, (W 4‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| +9.2 | LAD 9, ARI 1 | Julio Urías, (W 6‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| +9.0 | `SD 2, COL 1 (F/10) | Blake Snell | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | ||
| +7.0 | `KC 2, MIL 0 | Kris Bubic | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| BAT | +6.0 | MIN 5, CHW 4 | Miguel Sanó, 1B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | OAK 6, HOU 5 | Ramon Laureano, CF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +5.0 | `NYM 4, ATL 3 | Tommy Hunter | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +4.0 | SF 4, CIN 2 | Anthony DeSclafani, (W 4‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| +3.0 | TB 13, BAL 6 | Mike Zunino, C | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | STL 5, PIT 2 | Nolan Arenado, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | NYY 7, TEX 4 | Aroldis Chapman, (S 10) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | CHC 6, WSH 3 | Craig Kimbrel, (S 8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +1.0 | CLE 6, LAA 5 | Jose Ramírez, 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 6.4 | 7.4 | 28.1 | 39.8 | +5.4 |
| DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | pi sp | sf nl | 5.0 | 7.7 | 22.7 | 30.4 | +2.3 |
| Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 5.0 | 6.0 | 18.7 | 18.7 | +4.0 |
| Turnbull, Spencer 4086 | pi sp | det al | 4.7 | 8.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 | +0.7 |
| Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | chi nl | 4.7 | 5.7 | 30.4 | 81.1 | +3.7 |
| Ryu, Hyun Jin 3139 | pi sp | tor al | 4.0 | 10.0 | 42.5 | 63.6 | ‑2.0 |
| Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | stl nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 38.9 | 48.9 | +3.0 |
| Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | sd nl | 3.7 | 7.4 | 53.6 | 53.6 | +0.0 |
| Laureano, Ramon 4054 | cf | oak al | 2.5 | 4.5 | 9.2 | 9.2 | +0.5 |
| Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | cle al | 2.0 | 5.5 | 24.5 | 28.0 | ‑1.5 |
| Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | pi cp | nyy al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 19.1 | 58.1 | +1.0 |
| Sano, Miguel 3527 | 1b 3b | min al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 21.0 | 27.0 | +1.5 |
| Zunino, Mike 3390 | ca | tb al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 8.5 | 12.0 | +1.0 |
| Hunter, Tommy 2623 | pi mr | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.7 | 20.7 | +1.0 |
| Bubic, Kris 4413 | pi sp | kc al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default view.