Mariners pitcher Christian Bergman is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, making his Box-Toppers debut with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 17:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.7 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 7.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 6 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 5.4 |
| 8 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 5.4 |
| 9 | Triggs, Andrew 3723 | pi sp | oak al | 5.4 |
| 10 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 5.0 |
Also Wednesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw regains the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Bergman struck out nine over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, in the 4-0 win over the Athletics.
This was Bergman’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Bergman made his Major League debut June 9, 2014, and was playing in his 58th career game. He is the 3,799th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing three hits, in the 6-1 win over the Giants.
2017 lead changes
Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.| Date | Player | Team | BTP |
| 4/2 | Carlos Martinez | stl nl | 2.0 |
| 4/3 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 2.0 |
| 4/9 | Noah Syndergaard | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 4/14 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 4.0 |
| 4/15 | Ervin Santana | min al | 4.7 |
| 4/19 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 5.0 |
| 5/2 | Chris Sale | bos al | 6.7 |
| 5/6 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 5/12 | Ervin Santana | min al | 7.7 |
| 5/13 | Chris Sale | bos al | 8.4 |
| 5/17 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 8.7 |
Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season, rising from third to first place in season player rankings, passing previous leader, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (8.4 Box-Toppers points). Kershaw maintains his lead in Box-Toppers points among NL pitchers. This is the fifth time this season Kershaw has led Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Kershaw also now has 192.4 career Box-Toppers points, fourth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails third-ranked player Curt Schilling (194.1). Kershaw ranks first in career points among active players.
American League Batter of the Day—Jared Hoying of the Rangers homered, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring three times an driving in two runs, in the 9-3 win over the Phillies.
Hoying had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0, tied with Tyler Collins of the Tigers, Player of the Game in the 5-4 win over the Orioles (2HR 2B 3-4 2R 4BI). But Hoying won AL Batter of the Day over Collins on a tiebreaker—Hoying had more hits (four vs. three).
This was Hoying’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Hoying made his Major League debut May 23, 2016, and was playing in his 41st career game. He is the 3,800th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—Kurt Suzuki of the Braves homered, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-4 win over the Blue Jays.
Scoring—Bergman earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kershaw earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Hoying and Suzuki 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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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score| 5/17 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.1 | SEA 4, OAK 0 | Christian Bergman (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| NL | 9.0 | LAD 6, SF 1 | Clayton Kershaw (W,7-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | TEX 9, PHI 3 | Jared Hoying, CF | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | DET 5, BAL 4 | Tyler Collins, CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | ATL 8, TOR 4 | Kurt Suzuki, C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | HOU 3, MIA 0 | Lance McCullers Jr. (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | LAA 12, CHW 8 | Danny Espinosa, 2B | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | PIT 6, WSH 1 | Gerrit Cole (W,2-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | `CHC 7, CIN 5 | Carl Edwards Jr. (H,5) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | NYY 11, KC 7 | Starlin Castro, 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TB 7, CLE 4 | Jesus Sucre, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 5, STL 4 (F/13) | Fernando Abad (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | MIL 3, SD 1 | Corey Knebel (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | ARI 5, NYM 4 (F/11) | Jake Lamb, 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 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 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 (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.7 | 33.1 | 132.8 | 192.4 | -15.7 |
| McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 5.0 | 11.1 | 17.8 | 17.8 | -1.1 |
| Castro, Starlin 2767 | 2b | nyy al | 3.0 | 10.0 | 18.5 | 28.5 | -4.0 |
| Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 3.0 | 9.5 | 38.9 | 38.9 | -3.5 |
| Suzuki, Kurt 2344 | ca | atl nl | 2.5 | 4.0 | 15.0 | 34.5 | 1.0 |
| Collins, Tyler 3302 | cf | det al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 2.5 |
| Knebel, Corey 3757 | pi mr cp | mil nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Bergman, Christian 3799 | pi sp | sea al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Edwards, Carl Jr. 3775 | pi mr | chi nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Sucre, Jesus 3794 | ca | tb al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Hoying, Jared 3800 | cf | tex al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Lamb, Jake 3517 | 3b | ari nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -3.0 |
| Espinosa, Danny 2804 | 2b | ana al | 1.0 | 4.2 | 10.7 | 17.9 | -2.2 |
| Abad, Fernando 3653 | pi mr | bos al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
