Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to second place on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list, passing Pedro Martinez, who had continuously held second place for 22 years.
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, June 27.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.7 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 13.4 |
| 3 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 12.7 |
| 4 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 12.4 |
| 5 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 12.4 |
| 6 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 11.4 |
| 7 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 10.4 |
| 8 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.7 |
| 9 | Civale, Aaron 4173 | pi sp | cle al | 9.7 |
| 10 | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | mil nl | 9.7 |
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Kershaw also rises to sixth place in 2021’s Box-Toppers season player rankings. Plus, three other players in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 earned Player of the Game honors Sunday—Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, who ranks fifth, Padres pitcher Yu Darvish, who rises to seventh and Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who rises to eighth.
Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 13 over eight innings, allowing one run, four hits and one walk, in the 7-1 win over the Cubs.
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.4 for the season, rising from 10th to sixth place among all players and fourth place among National League pitchers.
Kershaw now has 246.6 career Box-Toppers points, rising to second place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his 2.0 points Sunday, he passes Pedro Martinez (244.8), who had held the second place spot on the career points list since May 1, 1999. Kershaw now trails only top-ranked Randy Johnson (282.5) by 35.9 points.
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 10 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 282.5 |
| 2 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 246.6 |
| 3 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 4 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | hou al | 214.8 |
| 5 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 210.9 |
| 6 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | hou al | 206.6 |
| 7 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | retired | 203.4 |
| 8 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | lad nl | 202.8 |
| 9 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 10 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | retired | 187.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
It should be noted that both Martinez and Johnson began their careers before the advent of Box-Toppers and both would likely have more career points if their entire careers were tracked. Box-Toppers has projected Martinez would have about 270 points if his career from 1992 were tracked and Johnson would have about 380 if his career from 1988 were tracked.
This is the first time Kershaw has risen a spot on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list in more than four years, since May 23, 2017, when he passed Curt Schilling (194.1) for third place.
Kershaw maintains his lead among active players in career points, ahead of second-place player, Astros pitcher Zack Greinke (214.8).
Kershaw also becomes the sixth player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his 11th season with 10 or more points. He has missed earning 10 points in a season only three times—in his 2008 rookie season (4.0), in 2018 (8.0) when he spent time on the injured list and in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season (7.7), when he ranked ninth among all players.
American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Cole Irvin struck out eight over eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 6-2 win over the Giants.
American League Batter of the Day—Shohei Ohtani of the Angels homered, tripled, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 6-4 win over the Rays.
Ohtani earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.9 for the season. That would be enough to take the lead among AL batters, ahead of Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox (6.5). However, Ohtani does not qualify as a batter because he hasn’t won at least 25 percent of his Player of the Game honors at a batting position. Ohtani has earned Player of the Game honors five times in 2021 and in the previous four, he did it as a starting pitcher. While Sunday was the first time in 2021 he won Player of the Game as a designated hitter, he did win Player of the Game honors April 26 as a pitcher, but won the honor for his performance as a batter.
Ohtani’s 6.9 Box-Toppers points is 29th in season player rankings and seventh among AL pitchers (even though 3.2 of those points have been earned for his batting performances).
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Sunday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors.
Rankings—In addition to Kershaw, three players in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 earned Player of the Game honors Sunday:
Wheeler
Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler (7IP 4H 0R 2BB 8K W in the 4-2 win over the Mets) maintains his fifth-place spot in season player rankings with 12.4 Box-Toppers points, third among NL pitchers, behind Jacob deGrom of the Mets (14.7) and Brandon Woodruff of the Brewers (12.4).
Darvish
Padres pitcher Yu Darvish (6IP 6H R BB 7K ND in the 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks) rises from ninth to seventh place in season player rankings with 10.4 Box-Toppers points, fifth among NL pitchers.
Darvish becomes the seventh player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. It is his seventh season with 10 or more points. His best season was his first, 2012 with the Rangers, when he had 16.8 points, fourth among AL pitchers. He had 9.7 points in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season with the Cubs, third among all players and second among NL pitchers.
Darvish has 104.5 career Box-Toppers points, 75th among all players since 1995, passing Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” list and now trails 74th-ranked player, Giants pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1). Darvish ranks 19th among active players in career points, 11th among active NL pitchers.
Scherzer
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (6IP 5H R 2BB 7K W in the 5-1 win over the Marlins) rises to eighth in season player rankings with 9.7 Box-Toppers points, sixth among NL pitchers.
Scherzer now has 210.9 career Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails fourth-ranked player Astros pitcher Zack Greinke (214.8) and ranks third among active players, behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (246.6) and Greinke (214.8). Scherzer ranks second among active NL pitchers in career points, behind Kershaw.
Debut—Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Braves pitcher Kyle Muller (5IP H 0R 2BB 9K W in the 4-0 win over the Reds) made his Major League debut June 16 and was playing in his second career game.
Pirates pitcher Max Kranick (5IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 7-2 win over the Cardinals) was also making his Major League debut. Kranick exited after 50 pitches with a perfect game. Relievers later gave up three hits and two runs.
Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Castro (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K ND in the 5-2 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut July 27, 2020, and was playing in his 20th career game.
Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Irvin earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Ohtani earns 1.5 points for being AL 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).| 6/27 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +14.0 | LAD 7, CHC 1 | Clayton Kershaw, (W 9‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | |
| AL | +11.0 | OAK 6, SF 2 | Cole Irvin, (W 6‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| +11.0 | ATL 4, CIN 0 | Kyle Muller, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||
| +10.0 | `DET 2, HOU 1 (F/10) | Tarik Skubal | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | ||
| +9.0 | PHI 4, NYM 2 | Zack Wheeler, (W 6‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| +8.0 | MIL 5, COL 0 | Eric Lauer, (W 2‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +8.0 | PIT 7, STL 2 | Max Kranick, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +5.0 | BOS 9, NYY 2 | Eduardo Rodriguez, (W 6‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | LAA 6, TB 4 | Shohei Ohtani, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | WSH 5, MIA 1 | Max Scherzer, (W 7‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| +4.0 | `SD 5, ARI 4 | Yu Darvish | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +4.0 | `TOR 5, BAL 2 | Anthony Castro, (Hld 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | CHW 7, SEA 5 (F/7) | Yermin Mercedes, DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | SEA 3, CHW 2 | Taylor Trammell, CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | MIN 8, CLE 2 | J.A. Happ, (W 4‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| +3.0 | TEX 4, KC 1 | Ian Kennedy, (S 13) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 | 12.4 | 13.4 | 34.1 | 45.8 | +11.4 |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 11.4 | 19.1 | 87.3 | 246.6 | +3.7 |
| Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 10.4 | 20.1 | 59.3 | 104.5 | +0.7 |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.7 | 13.7 | 104.9 | 210.9 | +5.7 |
| Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp | ana al | 6.9 | 6.9 | 21.4 | 21.4 | +6.9 |
| Skubal, Tarik 4414 | pi sp | det al | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | +4.7 |
| Kennedy, Ian 2723 | pi cp | tex al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 27.0 | 83.5 | +4.0 |
| Mercedes, Yermin 4367 | dh | chi al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Irvin, Cole 4140 | pi sp | oak al | 3.7 | 3.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | +3.7 |
| Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | bos al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 41.2 | 47.2 | +3.0 |
| Trammell, Taylor 4374 | cf | sea al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +3.0 |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | min al | 2.7 | 6.7 | 51.5 | 88.0 | ‑1.3 |
| Lauer, Eric 4017 | pi sp | mil nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 15.4 | 15.4 | +2.0 |
| Castro, Anthony 4456 | pi mr | tor al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Kranick, Max 4455 | pi sp | pit nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Muller, Kyle 4454 | pi sp | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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Box-Toppers
Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.