Orioles pitcher John Means, pitching a no-hitter, is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fourth place 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 5.| 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 | Means, John 4115 | pi sp | bal al | 6.0 |
| 5 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 5.7 |
| 6 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 5.4 |
| 7 | Rogers, Trevor 4311 | pi sp | fla nl | 5.0 |
| 8 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 4.7 |
| 9 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 4.7 |
| 10 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 4.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Also Wednesday, Padres pitcher Yu Darvish rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Means pitched a no-hitter, a complete-game shutout, striking out 12 and walking none, in the 6-0 win over the Mariners.
Means allowed only one base runner, Sam Haggerty of the Mariners, who reached first base in the third inning on a dropped third strike that was ruled a wild pitch. Haggerty was subsequently thrown out, caught stealing second base, so Means ended up facing the minimum 27 batters.
Means earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, rising to fourth place in season player rankings, third among American League pitchers, behind Tyler Glasnow of the Rays and Gerrit Cole of the Yankees, both with 7.0 Box-Toppers points.
Means had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +21.0, which is the second-highest for a Player of the Game winner so far in 2021. Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom has the highest game score for a Box-Toppers Player of the Game winner so far in 2021 (+22.0), which he achieved April 23 (CG 2H 0R 0BB 15K W in the 6-0 win over the Nationals).
Means had the highest Box-Toppers game score among pitchers with a no-hitter so far in 2021. Pirates pitcher Joe Musgrove had a +19.0 game score in his April 9 no-hitter, White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon had a +16.0 game score in his April 14 no-hitter and Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner had a +14.0 game score in his April 25 (seven-inning) no-hitter.
National League Player of the Day—Reds pitcher Sonny Gray struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 1-0, 10-inning win over the White Sox. Gray did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
American League Batter of the Day—Jeimer Candelario of the Tigers hit a tiebreaking, 10th-inning, three-run homer and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 6-5, 10-inning win over the Red Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Miguel Rojas of the Marlins tripled, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 8-0 win over the Diamondbacks.
Rankings—Padres pitcher Yu Darvish rises from seventh to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Darvish (5.2IP 6H 2R BB 8K ND in the 4-2 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.7 for the season. He rises to first place among NL pitchers, passing previous leader Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (5.4 points).
Notable—Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Wednesday.
Stanton (HR 2B 3-4 R 4BI in the 6-3 win over the Astros) was also Box-Toppers AL Batter of the Day Tuesday (HR 2B 4-5 R 3BI in the 7-3 win over the Astros). He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point Wednesday, 2.5 over the two days and 3.5 for the season, third among AL batters behind J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox (6.2) and Matt Olson of the Athletics (3.5).
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Rangers pitcher Hyeon-jong Yang (3.1IP 4H R BB 8K ND in the 3-1 win over the Twins) made his Major League debut April 26 and was playing in his third career game.
Rays pitcher Ryan Thompson (1.2IP H 0R 0BB 2K ND in the 3-1 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut July 24, 2020, and was playing in his 39th career game.
Scoring—Means earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gray earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Candelario and Rojas 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).| 5/5 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +21.0 | BAL 6, SEA 0 | John Means (W, 4‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |
| NL | +11.0 | `CIN 1, CHW 0 (F/10) | Sonny Gray | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| +4.1 | `TEX 3, MIN 1 | Hyeon‑jong Yang | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | DET 6, BOS 5 (F/10) | Jeimer Candelario 3B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | NYY 6, HOU 3 | Giancarlo Stanton DH | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | MIA 8, ARI 0 | Miguel Rojas SS | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | COL 6, SF 5 | Jon Gray (W, 4‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| +4.0 | ATL 5, WSH 3 | Max Fried (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +4.0 | CLE 5, KC 4 | Nick Wittgren (W, 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +4.0 | `CHC 6, LAD 5 (F/11) | Adbert Alzolay | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +3.0 | PHI 5, MIL 4 | Didi Gregorius SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | `TOR 9, OAK 4 | Robbie Ray | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | ||
| +2.2 | `SD 4, PIT 2 | Yu Darvish | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| +2.2 | `TB 3, LAA 1 | Ryan Thompson | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | NYM 7, STL 2 (F/7) | Tomas Nido C | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | STL 4, NYM 1 (F/7) | Alex Reyes (S, 9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Means, John 4115 | pi sp | bal al | 6.0 | 8.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | +4.0 |
| Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 5.7 | 15.4 | 54.6 | 99.8 | ‑4.0 |
| Reyes, Alex 3706 | pi cp | stl nl | 3.7 | 4.7 | 8.4 | 8.4 | +2.7 |
| Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | dh | nyy al | 3.5 | 4.5 | 32.7 | 65.4 | +2.5 |
| Candelario, Jeimer 4025 | 3b 1b | det al | 2.5 | 6.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | ‑1.5 |
| Gregorius, Didi 3184 | ss | phi nl | 2.0 | 5.5 | 16.7 | 21.2 | ‑1.5 |
| Alzolay, Adbert 4170 | pi sp | chi nl | 2.0 | 4.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | ‑0.7 |
| Gray, Jon 3634 | pi sp | col nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 37.4 | 37.4 | +0.0 |
| Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | cin nl | 1.7 | 6.4 | 38.9 | 70.7 | ‑3.0 |
| Rojas, Miguel 3642 | ss | fla nl | 1.5 | 5.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | ‑2.0 |
| Fried, Max 4011 | pi sp | atl nl | 1.0 | 6.7 | 17.7 | 17.7 | ‑4.7 |
| Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | tor al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 41.1 | 45.1 | +0.0 |
| Nido, Tomas 4121 | ca | nym nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +0.0 |
| Wittgren, Nick 3647 | pi mr | cle al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +1.0 |
| Thompson, Ryan 4401 | pi mr | tb al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Yang, Hyun‑Jong 4400 | pi sp | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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