Braves pitcher Charlie Morton is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors, rising to first among National League pitchers. Plus, Indians pitcher Aaron Civale rises to 10th in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Player of the Day—Morton struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run (none earned), three hits and two walks, in the 3-1 win over the Red Sox.
Morton earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, 41st among all players and 22nd among NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher Steven Matz struck out 10 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, six hits and no walks, in the 6-2 win over the Yankees.
American League Batter of the Day—Rob Refsnyder of the Twins homered, hit two doubles and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 7-4 win over the Orioles.
This was Refsnyder’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Refsnyder made his Major League debut July 11, 2015, and was playing in his 192nd career game.
Though there aren’t specific statistics at hand, Refsnyder seems to be one of the most veteran players (at age 30), with the most experience (nearly six years and 192 games) to be earning Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the very first time.
National League Batter of the Day—Joc Pederson of the Cubs hit two home runs, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Pirates.
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 25.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 10.7 |
| 2 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 8.7 |
| 3 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.4 |
| 4 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 8.4 |
| 5 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 8.4 |
| 6 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 7.7 |
| 7 | Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.4 |
| 8 | Rogers, Trevor 4311 | pi sp | fla nl | 7.0 |
| 9 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.7 |
| 10 | Civale, Aaron 4173 | pi sp | cle al | 6.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Kershaw—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rises from seventh to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Kershaw (7.2IP 4H R 0BB 6K W in the 9-2 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.4 for the season. He trails Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole (10.7) and Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow (8.7) in season player rankings. He rises to first place among NL pitchers, passing previous leader Brandon Woodruff (8.4), who only took the lead Monday. (Though both Kershaw and Woodruff have 8.4 Box-Toppers points for the season, Kershaw ranks ahead because he had more 2020 Box-Toppers points—7.7 vs. 7.0.)
Kershaw also now has 243.6 career Box-Toppers points, third-most since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails second-place player Pedro Martinez (244.8) by 1.2 points. (If Martinez’ entire career were tracked from 1992, rough projections put his career Box-Toppers total at about 270.) Kershaw leads active players in career Box-Toppers points ahead of second-place player, Astros pitcher Zack Greinke (212.8).
Tuesday’s Dodgers-Astros game featured three starting players who all had more than 200 career Box-Toppers points—Kershaw (243.6), Greinke (212.8) and Albert Pujols of the Dodgers (202.8). Greinke was starting pitcher for the Astros (6IP 3H 4R 3BB 5K L) and Pujols was starting first baseman for the Dodgers (0-4 0R 0BI).
There are only eight players with 200 or more career Box-Toppers points since tracking began in 1995 and only five who are currently signed and active. In addition to Kershaw, Greinke and Pujols, the other two are Astros pitcher Justin Verlander (206.6), who is expected to miss much or all of this season recovering from Tommy John surgery and Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (207.9), whose 6.7 Box-Toppers points this season ranks ninth among all players.
Rankings—Indians pitcher Aaron Civale rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Civale (8IP 6H R BB 6K W in the 4-1 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.7 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers behind Cole (10.7) and Glasnow (8.7).
Civale’s rise into the season player rankings top 10 pushes the only batter out of the top 10 list—J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox (6.2) falls from 10th to 11th place overall, though he still leads AL batters in season points.
Notable—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom now has 111.4 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
deGrom (5IP 3H R 0BB 9K ND in the 3-1 win over the Rockies) rises to 60th place among all players in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his 1.0 point Tuesday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Tom Glavine (110.6) and Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole (111.2). (It should be noted that if Glavine’s entire career from 1987 were tracked, projections put his career total at 170.) Cole now trails 59th-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8). Passing Cole, deGrom now ranks 15th among active, signed players in career points, eighth among active NL pitchers.
deGrom now has 6.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 12th overall and eighth among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Morton earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Matz earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Refsnyder and Pederson 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.
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).| 5/25 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +10.0 | ATL 3, BOS 1 | Charlie Morton, (W 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| +9.0 | `NYM 3, COL 1 | Jacob deGrom | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||
| AL | +8.2 | TOR 6, NYY 2 | Steven Matz, (W 6‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | |
| +8.2 | `SD 7, MIL 1 | Joe Musgrove | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +7.2 | LAD 9, HOU 2 | Clayton Kershaw, (W 7‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +7.0 | SF 8, ARI 0 | Kevin Gausman, (W 5‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||
| +5.0 | CLE 4, DET 1 | Aaron Civale, (W 7‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +5.0 | PHI 2, MIA 0 | Vince Velasquez, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | MIN 7, BAL 4 | Rob Refsnyder, CF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | KC 2, TB 1 | Brad Keller, (W 4‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | ||
| +4.0 | CHW 8, STL 3 | Liam Hendriks, (S 10) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.1 | CIN 2, WSH 1 | Tyler Mahle, (W 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | CHC 4, PIT 3 | Joc Pederson, LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | LAA 11, TEX 5 | Jared Walsh, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | SEA 4, OAK 3 | Paul Sewald, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.4 | 16.1 | 84.3 | 243.6 | +0.7 |
| Civale, Aaron 4173 | pi sp | cle al | 6.7 | 9.4 | 12.4 | 12.4 | +4.0 |
| deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 6.0 | 14.7 | 76.0 | 111.4 | ‑2.7 |
| Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 5.7 | 7.7 | 25.4 | 25.4 | +3.7 |
| Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | tor al | 4.7 | 4.7 | 33.5 | 37.0 | +4.7 |
| Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | atl nl | 4.0 | 6.0 | 50.3 | 75.0 | +2.0 |
| Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | sf nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 33.6 | 47.0 | +3.0 |
| Walsh, Jared 4332 | 1b | ana al | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +3.0 |
| Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.7 | 4.7 | 25.1 | 25.1 | +2.7 |
| Mahle, Tyler 3929 | pi sp | cin nl | 3.0 | 5.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | +1.0 |
| Keller, Brad 4008 | pi sp | kc al | 2.0 | 8.0 | 17.0 | 17.0 | ‑4.0 |
| Pederson, Joc 3621 | lf | chi nl | 1.5 | 3.2 | 18.7 | 18.7 | ‑0.2 |
| Refsnyder, Rob 4422 | cf | min al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | +1.5 |
| Hendriks, Liam 3339 | pi cp | chi al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 12.0 | 15.0 | ‑3.0 |
| Sewald, Paul 3940 | pi mr | sea al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +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.