Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, extending his lead in season player rankings and rising to seventh place in Box-Toppers “all-time” rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 23:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.0 |
| 2 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 |
| 3 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 8.7 |
| 5 | Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 7.7 |
| 6 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 7.4 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 7.0 |
| 8 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 6.7 |
| 9 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 6.7 |
| 10 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 6.4 |
Also Monday, Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Kershaw pitched a two-hit shutout, striking out seven, in the 1-0 win over the Reds.
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.0 for the season, extending his lead in season player rankings. Kershaw also now has 171.3 career Box-Toppers points and rises to seventh among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Roy Halladay (170.7) on the “all-time” list to become the fifth-ranked pitcher since 1995. Kershaw now trails sixth-ranked player Albert Pujols of the Angels (176.3).
Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +13.0, tied with Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto, who was Player of the Game in the 1-0 win over the Padres. But Kershaw won overall Player of the Day honors on a tiebreaker: He had more strikeouts than Cueto—7 vs. 6.
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 4 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | nyy al | 187.0 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 181.0 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 176.3 |
| 7 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 171.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 10 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 11 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 12 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 164.7 |
| 13 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 14 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 15 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 16 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 17 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 18 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 151.4 |
| 19 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
| 20 | Javier Vazquez | pi sp | retired | 148.3 |
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Cody Anderson struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 5-1 win over the White Sox.
American League Batter of the Day—Miguel Cabrera hit two homers and went 3-for-3 in the 5-4 win over the Phillies. It is the second straight day Cabrera has earned Player of the Game honors.
Cabrera earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 136.9 for his career. He maintains his rank of 26th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began and trails 25th-ranked player Jake Peavy of the Giants (137.8).
National League Batter of the Day—Miguel Rojas of the Marlins doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-6 win over the Rays.
This was Rojas’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Rojas made his Major League debut June 6, 2014, and was playing in his 178th career game. He is the 3,642nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Rankings—In addition to Kershaw, two players in Box-Toppers top 10 season rankings earned Player of the Game honors:
- Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (CG 2H 0R 6K in the 1-0 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.0 for the season, rising from fourth to second in player rankings. Cueto trails overall leader Kershaw by 3.0 Box-Toppers points (12.0 vs. 9.0). Cueto barely missed beating out Kershaw for Player of the Day. Had Cueto won Player of the Day Monday over Kershaw, he still would trail Kershaw in season points, but the margin would be closer (11.0 vs. 10.0).
- Athletics pitcher Rich Hill (8IP 8H 0R 6K W in the 5-0 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.4 for the season, rising to sixth in player rankings. Hill ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the White Sox (8.7).
Notable—Neil Walker won Player of the Game honors over Yoenis Cespedes in the Mets’ 7-1 win over the Nationals Monday in one of the lowest-level tiebreakers ever used in Box-Toppers tracking.
Both Walker and Cespedes had Box-Toppers game scores of +1.0, the highest on the team and both had extremely similar batting lines (HR 2-4 2R BI). Both struck out once and did not walk. Both left two runners on base. Both had five total bases. Walker won Player of the Game over Cespedes simply because he batted lower in the lineup—fifth vs. fourth.
Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Anderson earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Cabrera and Rojas each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/23 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W,7-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| 13.0 | Giants | Johnny Cueto (W,7-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| AL | 9.0 | Indians | Cody Anderson (W,1-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| 7.2 | Angels | Nick Tropeano (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 6.0 | Athletics | Rich Hill (W,7-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Tigers | Miguel Cabrera, 1B | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | White Sox | Brett Lawrie, DH | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Royals | Salvador Perez, C | 5 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Marlins | Miguel Rojas, 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Cardinals | Matt Adams, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Pirates | Josh Harrison, 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Mets | Neil Walker, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.0 | 37.7 | 137.8 | 171.3 | -13.7 |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 | 21.8 | 73.0 | 92.4 | -3.8 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 7.4 | 11.4 | 11.4 | 31.1 | 3.4 |
| Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.0 | 8.7 | 57.3 | 136.9 | -0.7 |
| Perez, Salvador 2972 | ca | kc al | 2.5 | 7.0 | 20.2 | 20.2 | -2.0 |
| Walker, Neil 2756 | 2b | nym nl | 2.0 | 6.0 | 23.5 | 29.0 | -2.0 |
| Tropeano, Nick 3451 | pi sp | ana al | 2.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | -1.7 |
| Anderson, Cody 3509 | pi sp | cle al | 1.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | -1.3 |
| Rojas, Miguel 3642 | 2b | fla nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Adams, Matt 3220 | 1b ph | stl nl | 1.0 | 3.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | -1.5 |
| Lawrie, Brett 2934 | dh 3b | chi al | 1.0 | 2.5 | 10.7 | 10.7 | -0.5 |
| Harrison, Josh 2947 | 2b 3b | pit nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0.0 |
