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The Cleveland Indians are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2018 preseason rankings, the same position where they finished the 2017 season.
The Nationals top NL teams and the World Series-champion Astros fall to 8th.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Tampa Bay Rays and the Kansas City Royals had the biggest declines.
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Pirates pitcher Juan Nicasio is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Nicasio struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 5-1 win over the Cardinals. Nicasio earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and is in fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 2.0 |
| 2 | Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 |
| 3 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.0 |
| 4 | Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 |
| 5 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 1.7 |
| 6 | Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | tb al | 1.7 |
| 7 | Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 1.7 |
| 8 | Souza, Steven Jr. 3461 | rf | tb al | 1.7 |
| 9 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | ari nl | 1.5 |
| 10 | Kinsler, Ian 2144 | 2b | det al | 1.5 |
American League Player of the Day—Steven Souza of the Rays hit two home runs, including a three-run go-ahead homer in the eighth inning, in the 5-3 win over the Blue Jays. Souza also doubled and went 4-for-4.
National League Batter of the Day—Matt den Dekker of the Nationals hit a seventh-inning, pinch-hit, two-run, go-ahead double in the 3-1 win over the Braves.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because the over AL Player of the Day is a batter, Steven Souza.
Streaks—Two players Wednesday extended their streak of 10 or more consecutive seasons earning at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point:
Debut—Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Maeda (6IP 5H 0R 4K W in the 7-0 win over the Padres) was making his Major League debut. He is the 3,609th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. Maeda also hit a home run in the game.
Scoring—Nicasio earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Souza earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and den Dekker earns 1.5 points for being NL 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/6 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | Pirates | Juan Nicasio (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | |
| 7.0 | `Reds | Brandon Finnegan | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| AL | 6.0 | Rays | Steven Souza, RF | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Yankees | Starlin Castro, SS | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | Mariners | Robinson Cano, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | Dodgers | Kenta Maeda (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | Indians | Carlos Santana, DH | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Tigers | Victor Martinez, PH-DH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Athletics | Sonny Gray (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Nationals | Matt den Dekker, PH-LF | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Orioles | Yovani Gallardo (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | Brewers | Jeremy Jeffress (S,1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Rockies | DJ LeMahieu, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
White Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray and Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings. Plus, Blue Jays pitcher Mark Buehrle earned a Box-Toppers point in his 16th straight season.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 11.4 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 10.0 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.0 |
| 4 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 9.0 |
| 5 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 8.7 |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 8.4 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 |
| 8 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 7.7 |
| 9 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 7.7 |
| 10 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | phi nl | 7.0 |
Player of the Day—Sale pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out 13, allowing three hits, in the 9-2 win over the Rangers. Sale earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.4 for the season. He rises to sixth among players in Box-Toppers player rankings, third among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano allowed one run over seven innings, striking out six, in the 5-2 win over the Giants.
National League Batter of the Day—Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies hit a three-run homer and drove in five runs, going 2-for-3, in the 7-6 win over the Dodgers. Tulowitzki led all NL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2014 with 11.6 (despite playing just over half the season). Tulowitzki earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day Wednesday, his first points of the season.
American League Batter of the Day—Steven Souza Jr. of the Rays hit a three-run homer in the 6-5 win over the Angels.
Rankings—Two other players who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings for the season:
Streak—Blue Jays pitcher Mark Buehrle has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 16 straight seasons.
Buehrle was Player of the Game in Wednesday’s 8-0 win over the Nationals (CG 0R 6H 2K W) and earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.
Buehrle earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2000 with the White Sox. His best season was 2005 with the White Sox when he had 17.7 Box-Toppers points, second among AL pitchers. In 2014, he had 9.7 Box-Toppers points with the Blue Jays, 28th among AL pitchers.
Buehrle has 115.7 career Box-Toppers points, 41st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his point Wednesday, he passes Tim Lincecum (115.0 Box-Toppers points) on that list. He trails 40th-place player Todd Helton (116.4 Box-Toppers points).
Buehrle’s 115.7 career Box-Toppers points ranks seventh among active pitchers currently in the AL.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Sale earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Liriano earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Tulowitzki and Souza each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 6/3 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | White Sox | Chris Sale (W, 5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13 | |
| 14.0 | Astros | Lance McCullers (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | ||
| 14.0 | Twins | Trevor May (W, 4-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 12.0 | Athletics | Sonny Gray (W, 7-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 11.0 | Yankees | Masahiro Tanaka (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 8.0 | Red Sox | Eduardo Rodriguez (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| NL | 6.0 | Pirates | Francisco Liriano (W, 3-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | Rockies | Troy Tulowitzki SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Blue Jays | Mark Buehrle (W, 7-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Royals | Greg Holland (S, 8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | `Phillies | Cole Hamels | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 1.0 | Dbacks | Yasmany Tomas 3B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Cardinals | Matt Carpenter 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Marlins | Adeiny Hechavarria SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | Rays | Steven Souza Jr. RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.0 | Padres | Justin Upton LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez is Sunday’s Player of the Day and rises to fifth in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.
Martinez pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out eight, in the 3-1 win over the Dodgers. Martinez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season. He ranks third among NL pitchers.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 11.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.0 |
| 3 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 9.0 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 |
| 5 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 7.7 |
| 6 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 7.0 |
| 7 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | atl nl | 7.0 |
| 8 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 6.7 |
| 9 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 6.7 |
| 10 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 6.7 |
American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Jesse Chavez pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out six in the 3-0 win over the Yankees.
National League Batter of the Day—Martin Maldonado of the Brewers hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 17th inning in the 7-6 win over the Diamondbacks. Maldonado also hit two doubles, went 4-for-6, scored three times and drove in two runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Steven Souza Jr. of the Rays homered and hit two doubles, going 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-5 win over the Orioles.
Notable—Josh Hamilton of the Rangers earned Player of the Game honors for the second time in three days Sunday. Hamilton hit a pinch-hit, two-run, walk-off double in the 4-3 win over the Red Sox. Hamilton also earned AL Batter of the Day honors on May 29. Hamilton has 2.5 Box-Toppers points this season.
Scoring—Martinez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Chavez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Maldonado and Souza each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/31 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Cardinals | Carlos Martinez (W, 5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | |
| AL | 7.0 | Athletics | Jesse Chavez (W, 2-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 5.0 | `Indians | Bryan Shaw | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | White Sox | John Danks (W, 3-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 3.2 | `Cubs | Tsuyoshi Wada | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Brewers | Martin Maldonado C | 6 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 3.0 | Rays | Steven Souza Jr. RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Reds | Todd Frazier 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Rockies | DJ LeMahieu 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Twins | Brian Dozier 2B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rangers | Josh Hamilton PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Braves | Freddie Freeman 1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Padres | Odrisamer Despaigne (W, 3-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | Angels | Joe Smith (W, 2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.2 | Mets | Jeurys Familia (S, 15) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Gerardo Parra of the Brewers is Saturday’s Player of the Day.
Parra homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 12-4 win over the Cubs.
American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Wei-Yin Chen struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run, in the 6-2 win over the Yankees.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 7.7 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf rf | dc nl | 5.0 |
| 5 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.7 |
| 6 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 4.7 |
| 8 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.7 |
| 9 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 |
| 10 | Rodriguez, Alex | dh | nyy al | 4.5 |
American League Batter of the Day—Steven Souza Jr. of the Rays hit a three-run home run in the 7-2 win over the Rangers.
This was Souza’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Souza made his Major League debut April 13, 2014, and was playing in his 51st career game. He is the 3,461st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Saturday since the overall Player of the Day was an NL batter (Gerardo Parra of the Brewers).
Notable—Torii Hunter of the Twins earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day (and for the third time in eight days) and also rose to 47th place in “all-time” Box-Toppers player rankings.
Hunter (HR 3-5 3R in the 7-4 win over the Indians) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 3.5 for the season (fifth among AL batters this season) and 111.4 for his career.
His 111.4 career points puts him at 47th place among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With his point Saturday, he passes Tom Glavine (110.6) and Jon Lester (111.1) on that list. He ranks 15th among all batters since 1995 and fifth among all active batters currently in the AL.
Debut—Padres pitcher Kevin Quackenbush made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Quackenbush (2IP H 0R 3K W in the 6-4 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut April 25, 2014, and was playing in his 64th career game. He is the 3,462nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Parra earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Chen earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Souza earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL 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
| 5/9 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 6.0 | Brewers | Gerardo Parra CF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AL | 6.0 | Orioles | Wei-Yin Chen (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| 5.0 | Mets | Jon Niese (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | Mariners | J.A. Happ (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | `Blue Jays | Liam Hendriks | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Rays | Steven Souza Jr. RF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Padres | Kevin Quackenbush (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | White Sox | Alexei Ramirez SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Twins | Torii Hunter RF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Nationals | Jose Lobaton C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Astros | Colby Rasmus RF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Marlins | Donovan Solano 2B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Pirates | Rob Scahill (W, 1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Reds | Skip Schumaker DH | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Royals | Alcides Escobar SS | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 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.