Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, pitching a three-hit shutout, is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and solidifies his lead in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 12:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 9.0 |
| 2 | Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b ss | bal al | 6.7 |
| 3 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 6.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 5.7 |
| 6 | Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | chi al | 5.7 |
| 7 | De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 | pi sp | ari nl | 5.7 |
| 8 | Davis, Chris 2478 | 1b | bal al | 5.5 |
| 9 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 5.4 |
| 10 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 5.0 |
Kershaw also rises two spots to eighth place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when tracking began.
Kershaw pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, allowing one walk and striking out 13, in the 5-0 win over the Mets. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.0 for the season, 2.3 more than second-place player, Manny Machado of the Orioles.
Kershaw also now has 168.3 career Box-Toppers points and rises from 10th to eighth on Box-Toppers “all-time” player rankings, passing two players—Johan Santana (166.6) and Manny Ramirez (167.2). Kershaw trails seventh-place player Roy Halladay (170.7).
American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher David Price struck out 12 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run and six hits, in the 11-1 win over the Astros.
National League Batter of the Day—Matt Holliday of the Cardinals hit two homers and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 12-10 win over the Angels.
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 | 180.0 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 175.3 |
| 7 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 8 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 168.3 |
| 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 | 163.7 |
| 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 | 149.4 |
| 19 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
| 20 | Javier Vazquez | pi sp | retired | 148.3 |
American League Batter of the Day—Chase Headley of the Yankees homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-3 win over the Royals.
Rankings—Besides Kershaw, two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday:
- Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (7IP 8H 2R 9K W in the 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season, rising to fourth place. He ranks third among NL pitchers.
- Chris Davis of the Orioles (2B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 7-5 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.5 for the season, rising to eighth place. He ranks second among AL batters, behind teammate Manny Machado (6.7). In addition, Davis Thursday earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day—he was Player of the Game Wednesday in the 9-2 win over the Twins.
Streak—Padres pitcher James Shields has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Shields (7IP 7H 0R 9K W in the 3-0 win over the Brewers) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Rays and has 97.4 career points, 11th among active NL pitchers. His best season was 2011 with the Rays when he had 20.1 points, third among AL pitchers. He had 5.7 points in 2015 with the Padres.
Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Price earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Holliday and Headley each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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
| 5/12 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 18.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W,5-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | |
| AL | 9.2 | Red Sox | David Price (W,5-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |
| 8.0 | Padres | James Shields (W,2-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Cardinals | Matt Holliday, DH | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 3.0 | Yankees | Chase Headley, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Phillies | Odubel Herrera, CF | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Orioles | Chris Davis, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Giants | Johnny Cueto (W,5-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
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 | 9.0 | 34.7 | 134.8 | 168.3 | -16.7 |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 6.0 | 18.8 | 70.0 | 89.4 | -6.8 |
| Davis, Chris 2478 | 1b | bal al | 5.5 | 16.5 | 47.4 | 55.9 | -5.5 |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 4.7 | 25.8 | 81.8 | 98.5 | -16.4 |
| Holliday, Matt 1836 | 1b dh lf | stl nl | 3.0 | 4.5 | 34.7 | 94.8 | 1.5 |
| Herrera, Odubel 3449 | cf | phi nl | 2.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -2.0 |
| Headley, Chase 2552 | 3b | nyy al | 1.5 | 3.5 | 15.0 | 25.5 | -0.5 |
| Shields, James 2157 | pi sp | sd nl | 1.0 | 8.4 | 66.6 | 97.4 | -6.4 |