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The Los Angeles Dodgers maintain their lead in Box-Toppers weekly team rankings report for the sixth straight week.
Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox regain the lead among American League teams and the Toronto Blue Jays are the week’s hottest team.
Read MoreSam Hilliard of the Rockies is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Hilliard hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 12-3 win over the Angels.
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The New York Yankees are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2019 preseason rankings, rising from second place at the end of the 2018 season.
The 2018 World Series-champion Boston Red Sox fall from first at the end of last season to second place in the 2019 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Reds made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Arizona Diamondbacks had the biggest decline.
Read MoreAnthony Rendon of the Nationals had the best single-game performance by a batter in the 2017 season as measured by Box-Toppers game score.
It also appears to be the highest game score for a batter in Box-Toppers’ 23 seasons of record keeping.
Read MoreMariners pitcher Erasmo Ramirez is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander rises to 20th place in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995, when player tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors.
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Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.7 |
| 2 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 9.4 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 8.0 |
| 5 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 6.7 |
| 7 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 6.5 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.4 |
| 9 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 6.4 |
| 10 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 6.0 |
Also Sunday, Aaron Judge of the Yankees rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings—first among all batters—after earning American League Batter of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Nelson struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, seven hits and no walks, in the 9-5 win over the Diamondbacks.
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Tommy Hunter pitched two scoreless innings—the ninth and the 10th—striking out three and allowing no hits, in the 8-6, 15-inning win over the Twins. Hunter picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because the score was tied 5-5 when he exited.
Normally, middle relievers who pitch fewer than three innings and do not earn the win or save don’t earn Player of the Game honors. But Hunter did because he had a higher Box-Toppers game score and the same or more innings pitched than the player who otherwise would have won. Closer Erasmo Ramirez (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv) with a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 was in line for Player of the Game honors. But Hunter edged him out because he had both a higher Box-Toppers game score (+5.0) and more innings pitched (2.0 vs. 1.0).
Additionally, Hunter, with only two innings pitched, was able to win AL Player of the Day honors because of lower Box-Toppers game scores of AL players who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday, including his runner-up, Indians pitcher Josh Tomlin, who despite a complete game win (CG 6H R 0BB 3K W in the 10-1 win over the Royals) only had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0.
National League Batter of the Day—Adam Duvall of the Reds homered twice and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 8-4 win over the Phillies.
American League Batter of the Day—Aaron Judge of the Yankees hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4 in the 9-5 win over the Athletics.
Judge earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.5 for the season, rising to seventh in season player rankings. He also rises to first among all batters, moving ahead of Bryce Harper of the Nationals (6.0), who falls out of the overall top 10 to 11th place.
Notable—Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rises to 70th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995 when tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Cueto (6IP 6H R BB 8K W in the 7-1 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 101.8 for his career. With his point Sunday, he passes three players on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list—Jason Schmidt (101.2), Mark Teixeira (101.3) and Tim Wakefield (101.4). Cueto now trails 69th-place player Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2).
Scoring—Nelson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hunter earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Duvall and Judge 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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| 5/28 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | MIL 9, ARI 5 | Jimmy Nelson (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | |
| BAT | 6.0 | CIN 8, PHI 4 | Adam Duvall, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | COL 8, STL 4 | Gerardo Parra, RF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | SF 7, ATL 1 | Johnny Cueto (W,5-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| AL | 5.0 | `TB 8, MIN 6 (F/15) | Tommy Hunter | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4.0 | CLE 10, KC 1 | Josh Tomlin (W,3-6) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.2 | SD 5, WSH 3 | Kirby Yates (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.2 | LAD 9, CHC 4 | Josh Fields (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | NYY 9, OAK 5 | Aaron Judge, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | MIA 9, LAA 2 | JT Riddle, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SEA 5, BOS 0 | Christian Bergman (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | HOU 8, BAL 4 | Yuli Gurriel, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.2 | CHW 7, DET 3 | Miguel Gonzalez (W,4-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 1.0 | NYM 7, PIT 2 | Jay Bruce, RF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | TEX 3, TOR 1 | Elvis Andrus, SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 |
| Gonzalez, Miguel 3062 | pi sp | chi al | 4.0 | 13.1 | 41.9 | 41.9 | -5.1 |
| Bruce, Jay 2453 | rf | nym nl | 4.0 | 12.5 | 29.7 | 62.8 | -4.5 |
| Nelson, Jimmy 3299 | pi sp | mil nl | 4.0 | 7.0 | 17.4 | 17.4 | 1.0 |
| Duvall, Adam 3573 | lf | cin nl | 3.5 | 10.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | -3.0 |
| Bergman, Christian 3799 | pi sp | sea al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Gurriel, Yuli 3796 | 1b | hou al | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| Parra, Gerardo 2746 | rf | col nl | 2.5 | 5.0 | 17.0 | 23.5 | 0.0 |
| Riddle, JT 3805 | ss | fla nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 2.0 | 18.4 | 72.0 | 101.8 | -14.4 |
| Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | tex al | 2.0 | 11.2 | 16.2 | 21.7 | -7.2 |
| Tomlin, Josh 2771 | pi sp | cle al | 2.0 | 7.0 | 20.4 | 26.4 | -3.0 |
| Hunter, Tommy 2623 | pi mr | tb al | 1.7 | 2.7 | 9.7 | 17.7 | 0.7 |
| Yates, Kirby 3628 | pi mr | sd nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Fields, Josh 3247 | pi mr | lad nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 1.0 |
A look at Box-Toppers points leaders by position over the 2016 season so far and the combined 2015 and 2016 seasons.
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Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 4.0 |
| 2 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 3.4 |
| 3 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 3.0 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 |
| 5 | Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 2.7 |
| 6 | Bettis, Chad 3481 | pi sp | col nl | 2.7 |
| 7 | Ross, Joe 3499 | pi sp | dc nl | 2.7 |
| 8 | Latos, Mat 2644 | pi sp | chi al | 2.7 |
| 9 | Davis, Chris 2478 | 1b | bal al | 2.5 |
| 10 | Brown, Trevor 3610 | ca | sf nl | 2.5 |
Arrieta struck out eight over eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits, in the 6-2 win over the Rockies. Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season and rising to third place in season player rankings. Arrieta led all players in 2015 with 29.1 Box-Toppers points.
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Erasmo Ramirez pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out four, in the 7-2 win over the White Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Nick Markakis of the Braves doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 6-4 win over the Marlins.
With the 1.5 Box-Toppers points earned for being NL Batter of the Day Saturday, Markakis has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Orioles and has 43.6 career points, which ranks 14th among active NL outfielders. His best season was 2009 with the Orioles when he had 7.7 points, sixth among AL outfielders. In 2015, he had 4.5 points with the Braves.
American League Batter of the Day—Trevor Plouffe of the Twins homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in two runs, in the 6-4 win over the Angels.
Notable—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rose to 55th place on Box-Toppers “all-time” player rankings list after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Scherzer (7IP 5H R 7K W in the 5-3 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 108.0 career points. He passes Cubs pitcher John Lackey (107.8) to move into 55th place among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began). He trails 54th-place player Lance Berkman (108.1). Scherzer now has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the 2016 season. He had 21.0 points in 2015, fourth among NL pitchers.
Debut—Nomar Mazara of the Rangers made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Mazara (3-4 2R BI in the 8-4 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut April 10 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,614th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Ramirez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Markakis and Plouffe each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/17 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | Cubs | Jake Arrieta (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 7.1 | Giants | Johnny Cueto (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| AL | 6.2 | Rays | Erasmo Ramirez (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 6.0 | Red Sox | David Price (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 6.0 | Nationals | Max Scherzer (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | Indians | Josh Tomlin (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | Pirates | Jonathon Niese (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | `Padres | Andrew Cashner | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Braves | Nick Markakis, RF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 2.0 | Twins | Trevor Plouffe, 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Reds | Zack Cozart, SS | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rangers | Nomar Mazara, RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | `Tigers | Mark Lowe (H,4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Athletics | Josh Reddick, RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Mariners | Robinson Cano, 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Rays pitcher Erasmo Ramirez is Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day for Wednesday.
Ramirez allowed one run and three hits over six innings, striking out eight, in the 5-2 win over the Twins. Ramirez had 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015.
National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg pitched five scoreless innings, allowing six hits and striking out nine, in the 13-0 win over the Yankees. Strasburg had 14.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015, ranking 10th among NL batters. His best year was 2012, when he had 20.4 Box-Toppers points, second among NL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Tyler Naquin of the Indians homered twice and doubled, going 3-for-3, scoring three times, in the 7-6 win over the Royals. Naquin has yet to make his regular season Major League debut and has no Box-Toppers points.
National League Batter of the Day—Jason Bourgeois of the Diamondbacks hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, in the 10-6 win over the Giants. Bourgeois had 0.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Reds. He has 1.0 career point, earned Sept. 17, 2010, with the Astros.
Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Ramirez would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Strasburg would earn 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Naquin and Bourgeois would each earn 1.5 points for being top batter in their league for the day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 3/23 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | Rays | Erasmo Ramírez (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |
| NL | 8.0 | Nationals | Stephen Strasburg (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| 7.0 | Rangers | Derek Holland (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 7.0 | `Cardinals | Carlos Martínez | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 6.1 | `Blue Jays | Aarón Sánchez | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Indians | Tyler Naquin CF | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Athletics | Jake Smolinski RF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | White Sox | John Danks (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Dbacks | Jason Bourgeois RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Astros | Ken Giles (SV, 1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | Pirates | David Freese 3B | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
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.