Cardinals pitcher Jake Woodford is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Woodford struck out six over 2 2/3 scoreless innings of middle relief, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 8-6 win over the Diamondbacks.
It’s unusual for a middle relief pitcher with fewer than three innings pitched to earn overall Player of the Day honors. But in the limited 10-game schedule Friday, Woodford had highest Box-Toppers game score (+7.2) among all Player of the Game winners.
Woodford earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and is 157th in season player rankings, 54th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Lourdes Gurriel Jr. of the Blue Jays hit two doubles and went 2-for-2, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 11-2, seven-inning win over the Indians.
National League Batter of the Day—Tommy Pham of the Padres homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 10-3, 11-inning win over the Astros.
Active season streaks
Here are the 14 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 | Dodgers | 2001‑2020 | 202.8 |
| 19 | Miguel Cabrera | dh | Tigers | 2003‑2021 | 154.9 |
| 16 | Edwin Encarnacion | dh | Free agent | 2005‑2020 | 88.2 |
| 15 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | Astros | 2007‑2021 | 212.8 |
| 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 |
| 15 | Asdrubal Cabrera | 3b 1b | Diamondbacks | 2007‑2021 | 63.7 |
| 14 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 2008‑2021 | 243.6 |
| 14 | Johnny Cueto | pi sp | Giants | 2008‑2021 | 108.8 |
| 14 | J.A. Happ | pi sp | Twins | 2008‑2021 | 87.0 |
| 14 | Evan Longoria | 3b | Giants | 2008‑2021 | 56.0 |
| 14 | Kurt Suzuki | ca | Angels | 2007‑2020 | 45.0 |
| 13 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | Nationals | 2009‑2021 | 207.9 |
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall AL Player of the Day is AL batter Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Streak—Evan Longoria of the Giants has now earned Box-Toppers points in 14 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2021 Friday.
Longoria (2B 1-1 0R 2BI in the 8-5, 10-inning win over the Dodgers) earned his first points in 2008 with the Rays and has 56.0 career points, 10th among active NL batters, second among active NL third basemen. His best season was 2009 with the Rays, when he had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, second among AL third basemen. In 2019, he had 3.5 points and in 2020, he had 1.0 point, both with the Giants.
Longoria’s 14-season streak is tied for the ninth-longest active streak (see the chart Active season streaks elsewhere on this page). Of the 14 players listed with streaks of 13 or more seasons, Longoria is one of eight who has extended their streak in 2021. The other six would extend their streak if they earned Player of the Game honors this season.
Notable—Athletics pitcher Sean Manaea has the most 2021 Box-Toppers points among the 10 who earned Player of the Game honors Friday.
Manaea (6.2IP 6H R 3BB 8K ND in the 3-1 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.7 for the season, 21st among all players and eighth among AL pitchers.
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, May 28.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 10.7 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 10.7 |
| 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
Scoring—Woodford earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gurriel earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Pham earns 1.5 points for being NL 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.
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).| 5/28 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +7.2 | STL 8, ARI 6 | Jake Woodford, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| AL | +6.0 | TOR 11, CLE 2 (F/7) | Lourdes Gurriel Jr., LF | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | `DET 3, NYY 2 (F/10) | Casey Mize | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| +3.2 | `OAK 3, LAA 1 | Sean Manaea | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| +3.2 | CHC 1, CIN 0 | Adbert Alzolay, (W 3‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| +3.0 | SEA 3, TEX 2 | Kyle Lewis, CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | KC 8, MIN 3 | Kris Bubic, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | SD 10, HOU 3 (F/11) | Tommy Pham, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.0 | BOS 5, MIA 2 (F/6) | Alex Verdugo, LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | SF 8, LAD 5 (F/10) | Evan Longoria, 3B | 1 | 0 | 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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 5.7 | 7.7 | 34.2 | 34.2 | +3.7 |
| Mize, Casey 4377 | pi sp | det al | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | +4.7 |
| Alzolay, Adbert 4170 | pi sp | chi nl | 3.0 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | +0.3 |
| Verdugo, Alex 4129 | rf lf | bos al | 2.5 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | +1.0 |
| Woodford, Jake 4293 | pi mr sp | stl nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +1.0 |
| Bubic, Kris 4413 | pi sp | kc al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Gurriel, Lourdes Jr. 4148 | lf | tor al | 1.7 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | +1.7 |
| Pham, Thomas 3596 | lf | sd nl | 1.5 | 2.5 | 16.0 | 17.5 | +0.5 |
| Longoria, Evan 2423 | 3b | sf nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 15.5 | 56.0 | +0.0 |
| Lewis, Kyle 4301 | cf | sea al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +0.0 |
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.