Yankees pitcher Corey Kluber is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Kluber struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 2-0 win over the Tigers.
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 Sunday, May 2.| 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 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 4.7 |
| 10 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, 36th among all players and 16th among American League pitchers.
Kluber also now has 112.1 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 59th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his 2.0 points Sunday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Jeff Kent (110.2) and Tom Glavine (110.6). He trails 58th-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8). He ranks 14th among active, signed players in career points, fifth among active AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer pitched a complete-game, striking out nine and allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 3-1 win over the Marlins.
Scherzer earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season, rising to ninth place in season player rankings, fifth place among NL pitchers.
Scherzer also now has 205.9 career Box-Toppers points, sixth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails fifth-ranked player, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander (206.6) by 0.7 points. (Verlander is currently on the injured list, recovering from Tommy John surgery, expected to miss all or much of the 2021 season.) Scherzer ranks fourth among active players in career Box-Toppers points, second among active NL pitchers, behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (240.6).
National League Batter of the Day—Nick Castellanos of the Reds hit two home runs and went 5-for-6, scoring four times and driving in four runs, in the 13-12, 10-inning win over the Cubs.
Castellanos earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, rising to second among NL batters, behind Trevor Story of the Rockies (3.2).
American League Batter of the Day—Luis Arraez of the Twins tripled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 13-4 win over the Royals.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Rangers pitcher Josh Sborz (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 5-3 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut June 20, 2019, and was playing in his 22nd career game.
Daulton Varsho of the Diamondbacks (2B 2-4 2R BI in the 8-4 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut July 30, 2020, and was playing in his 42nd career game.
Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Scherzer earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Castellanos and Arraez each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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).| 5/2 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +15.0 | NYY 2, DET 0 | Corey Kluber, (W 2‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| NL | +11.0 | WSH 3, MIA 1 | Max Scherzer, (W 2‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| +11.0 | LAD 16, MIL 4 | Julio Urías, (W 4‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | ||
| BAT | +7.0 | CIN 13, CHC 12 (F/10) | Nick Castellanos, RF | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | SEA 2, LAA 0 | Justus Sheffield, (W 2‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| +5.0 | `NYM 8, PHI 7 | David Peterson | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| +5.0 | `TB 5, HOU 4 | Rich Hill | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +4.2 | CLE 5, CHW 0 | Zach Plesac, (W 2‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | ||
| +4.2 | TOR 7, ATL 2 | Ryan Borucki, (W 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +4.0 | STL 3, PIT 0 | Carlos Martínez, (W 2‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | MIN 13, KC 4 | Luis Arraez, 2B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | SF 7, SD 1 | Tommy La Stella, 2B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | TEX 5, BOS 3 | Josh Sborz, (W 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | OAK 7, BAL 5 | Matt Olson, 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | ARI 8, COL 4 | Daulton Varsho, RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 4.7 | 8.7 | 99.9 | 205.9 | +0.7 |
| Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 17.7 | 17.7 | +3.0 |
| Olson, Matt 3836 | 1b | oak al | 3.5 | 4.5 | 15.2 | 15.2 | +2.5 |
| Castellanos, Nicholas 3349 | rf | cin nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 25.5 | 33.7 | +2.0 |
| Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | nyy al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 67.9 | 112.1 | +3.0 |
| Plesac, Zach 4168 | pi sp | cle al | 2.7 | 7.1 | 12.8 | 12.8 | ‑1.7 |
| Sheffield, Justus 4286 | pi sp | sea al | 2.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | ‑0.7 |
| Peterson, David 4347 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +0.0 |
| Borucki, Ryan 4034 | pi mr sp | tor al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | +1.0 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp cp | stl nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 34.9 | 49.6 | +2.0 |
| Arraez, Luis 4219 | 2b | min al | 1.5 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +0.0 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | tb al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 42.8 | 66.5 | +0.0 |
| La Stella, Tommy 3367 | 2b dh | sf nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 10.0 | 12.0 | +0.0 |
| Sborz, Josh 4397 | pi mr | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Varsho, Daulton 4398 | rf | ari nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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