Padres pitcher Drew Pomeranz is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of April 20:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 4.0 |
| 2 | Latos, Mat 2644 | pi sp | chi al | 3.7 |
| 3 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 3.4 |
| 4 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 3.0 |
| 5 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 3.0 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 8 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.0 |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 2.7 |
| 10 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 2.7 |
Pomeranz struck out 10 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 8-2 win over the Pirates.
American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker struck out six over six innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 2-1 win over the Indians.
American League Batter of the Day—Mookie Betts of the Red Sox homered and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 7-3 win over the Rays.
National League Batter of the Day—Ryan Braun of the Brewers went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 10-5 win over the Twins.
Rankings—Two players rose into Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday:
- White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to sixth place (7IP 2H R 3K W in the 2-1 win over the Angels), earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.
- Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rose to 10th place (6.2IP 5H R 7K W in the 2-1 win over the Astros), earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.7 for the season. In addition, Hamels now has 128.9 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 29th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Wednesday, Hamels passes Vladimir Guerrero (128.3) on the “all-time” list and trails 28th-place player Trevor Hoffman (129.4).
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 | 179.0 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 174.3 |
| 7 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 8 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 9 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 10 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 11 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 162.7 |
| 12 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 162.3 |
| 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 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
| 19 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 148.4 |
| 20 | Javier Vazquez | pi sp | retired | 148.3 |
Notable—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke rises to 19th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Greinke (6.2IP 6H R 7K W in the 2-1 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 148.4 career points. He passes Javier Vazquez (148.3) on the “all-time” list (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995) and trails 18th-place player Chipper Jones (149.0). Greinke has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Scoring—Pomeranz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Walker earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Betts and Braun 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/20 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.2 | Padres | Drew Pomeranz (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 | |
| AL | 8.0 | Mariners | Taijuan Walker (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 7.0 | White Sox | Chris Sale (W,4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 6.2 | `Phillies | Hector Neris | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 6.1 | Athletics | Kendall Graveman (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 6.1 | Tigers | Jordan Zimmermann (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 4.2 | Dbacks | Zack Greinke (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Red Sox | Mookie Betts, RF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Cardinals | Carlos Martinez (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 3.2 | `Reds | Raisel Iglesias | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 3.2 | Rangers | Cole Hamels (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | Nationals | Yusmeiro Petit (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.1 | `Dodgers | Chris Hatcher | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Brewers | Ryan Braun, LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.0 | Orioles | Manny Machado, 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the 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 (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 | +/- |
| Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 3.0 | 21.8 | 74.0 | 76.0 | -15.8 |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 2.7 | 18.1 | 69.7 | 128.9 | -12.7 |
| Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b | bal al | 2.5 | 10.0 | 13.5 | 13.5 | -5.0 |
| Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | lf | mil nl | 2.5 | 7.5 | 38.5 | 80.2 | -2.5 |
| Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 2.0 | 22.7 | 87.8 | 148.4 | -18.7 |
| Zimmermann, Jordan 2612 | pi sp | det al | 2.0 | 9.0 | 58.4 | 59.4 | -5.0 |
| Pomeranz, Drew 3061 | pi sp mr | sd nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | -1.0 |
| Iglesias, Raisel 3467 | pi sp | cin nl | 2.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | -0.7 |
| Walker, Taijuan 3453 | pi sp | sea al | 1.7 | 15.4 | 15.4 | 15.4 | -12.0 |
| Betts, Mookie 3404 | rf | bos al | 1.5 | 4.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | -1.5 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 1.0 | 14.7 | 15.7 | 15.7 | -12.7 |
| Graveman, Kendall 3444 | pi sp | oak al | 1.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | -3.7 |
| Hatcher, Chris 3420 | pi mr | lad nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 |
| Neris, Hector 3553 | pi mr | phi nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Petit, Yusmeiro 2337 | pi mr sp | dc nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 8.0 | 17.7 | 1.0 |