Mets pitcher Steven Matz is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fourth place 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 4:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 6.0 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 5.0 |
| 5 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 5.0 |
| 6 | Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | chi al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 4.7 |
| 8 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | cf lf dh ph | nym nl | 4.5 |
| 9 | Suarez, Eugenio 3355 | 3b | cin nl | 4.5 |
| 10 | Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 4.4 |
Also Wednesday, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia extended his consecutive season streak earning Box-Toppers points to 16 and Jose Altuve of the Astros rose to lead American League players in Box-Toppers points.
Player of the Day—Matz struck out eight over 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, in the 8-0 win over the Braves. Matz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to fourth in season player rankings, third among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber pitched a complete game shutout, striking out seven and allowing five hits, in the 4-0 win over the Tigers.
National League Batter of the Day—Daniel Murphy of the Nationals homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in three runs, in the 13-2 win over the Royals.
American League Batter of the Day—Jose Altuve of the Astros homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 16-4 win over the Twins. Altuve earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to third in season player rankings, first among all AL players.
Box-Toppers season streaks
Here are the players who have earned Box-Toppers points in the most consecutive seasons. Jason Giambi earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 19 straight seasons from 1995 to 2013, more than any other player. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.) Players are listed by duration of their streak. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.| Streak | Player | Pos | Duration | Career BTP |
|
| 1 | 19 | Jason Giambi | 1b | 1995-2013 | 133.4 |
| 2 | 18 | Jim Thome | 1b dh | 1995-2012 | 146.7 |
| 2 | 18 | Chipper Jones | 3b | 1995-2012 | 149.0 |
| 2 | 18 | Johnny Damon | lf | 1995-2012 | 63.0 |
| 2 | 18 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | 1996-2013 | 187.0 |
| 2 | 18 | Carlos Beltran* | rf | 1999-2016 | 99.9 |
| 7 | 17 | Mariano Rivera | pi cp | 1995-2011 | 126.4 |
| 7 | 17 | Derek Jeter | ss | 1996-2012 | 76.4 |
| 7 | 17 | Paul Konerko | 1b | 1998-2014 | 100.7 |
| 7 | 17 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | 1999-2015 | 157.0 |
| 7 | 17 | Torii Hunter | cf | 1999-2015 | 115.9 |
| 12 | 16 | Manny Ramirez | lf | 1995-2010 | 167.2 |
| 12 | 16 | Andy Pettitte | pi sp | 1995-2010 | 138.5 |
| 12 | 16 | Jamie Moyer | pi sp | 1995-2010 | 104.0 |
| 12 | 16 | Scott Rolen | 3b | 1996-2011 | 97.6 |
| 12 | 16 | Kevin Millwood | pi sp | 1997-2012 | 108.3 |
| 12 | 16 | Derek Lowe | pi sp | 1998-2013 | 91.5 |
| 12 | 16 | David Ortiz* | dh | 2000-2015 | 137.9 |
| 12 | 16 | Aramis Ramirez | 3b | 2000-2015 | 105.8 |
| 12 | 16 | Mark Buehrle* | pi sp | 2000-2015 | 116.7 |
| 12 | 16 | Albert Pujols* | dh 1b | 2001-2016 | 175.3 |
| 12 | 16 | Ichiro Suzuki* | rf | 2001-2016 | 52.7 |
| 12 | 16 | CC Sabathia* | pi sp | 2001-2016 | 180.0 |
* Active streak
Streaks—Two players extended their lengthy consecutive season streaks earning Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday:
- Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (7IP 6H 0R 6K W in the 7-0 win over the Orioles) has now earned Box-Toppers points in 16 straight seasons, tied for the 12th-longest streak since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. Sabathia earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2001 with the Indians and has 180.0 career points, ranked fifth among all players since 1995, second among all active players (behind teammate Alex Rodriguez, who has 187.0) and first among all active pitchers. His best year was 2008 with the Indians and Brewers, when he had 26.7 points, ranked first among all players. He had 5.7 points in 2015 with the Yankees.
- Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays (HR 2-4 R 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Rangers) has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2005 with the Reds and has 60.1 career points, seventh among active AL designated hitters. His best season was 2015 with the Blue Jays when he had 10.4 points, fifth among AL batters.
Rankings—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday. Suarez (HR 3-4 R 3BI in the 7-4 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.5 for the season. He ranks second among NL batters, behind Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets (4.5).
Debut—Dae-Ho Lee of the Mariners made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Lee (2HR 2-4 2R 3BI in the 9-8 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut April 4 and was playing in his 15th career game. He is the 3,627th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Matz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kluber earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Murphy and Altuve 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
| 5/4 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.2 | Mets | Steven Matz (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 11.0 | Rockies | Tyler Chatwood (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| AL | 9.0 | Indians | Corey Kluber (W,2-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| BAT | 6.0 | Nationals | Daniel Murphy, 2B | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Yankees | CC Sabathia (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Astros | Jose Altuve, 2B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Red Sox | Clay Buchholz (W,1-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | Reds | Eugenio Suarez, 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Mariners | Dae-Ho Lee, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Marlins | Giancarlo Stanton, RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Angels | Joe Smith (S,2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Cardinals | Kevin Siegrist (W,4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | Cubs | Anthony Rizzo, 1B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rays | Steve Pearce, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Blue Jays | Edwin Encarnacion, DH | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 | +/- |
| Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 5.0 | 12.0 | 21.5 | 21.5 | -2.0 |
| Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 5.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 1.5 |
| Suarez, Eugenio 3355 | 3b | cin nl | 4.5 | 7.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 1.5 |
| Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 3.4 | 16.8 | 47.6 | 47.6 | -10.0 |
| Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | chi nl | 3.0 | 11.5 | 27.0 | 27.0 | -5.5 |
| Siegrist, Kevin 3260 | pi mr cp | stl nl | 3.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -1.0 |
| Chatwood, Tyler 2856 | pi sp | col nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 12.7 | 12.7 | 3.0 |
| Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 2.0 | 7.5 | 29.2 | 34.7 | -3.5 |
| Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | dc nl | 1.5 | 3.0 | 25.0 | 26.5 | 0.0 |
| Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh | tor al | 1.0 | 11.4 | 39.6 | 60.1 | -9.4 |
| Buchholz, Clay 2363 | pi sp | bos al | 1.0 | 7.0 | 35.2 | 54.9 | -5.0 |
| Sabathia, C.C. 1492 | pi sp | nyy al | 1.0 | 6.7 | 41.5 | 180.0 | -4.7 |
| Smith, Joe 2388 | pi cp | ana al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 12.0 | 13.0 | -2.0 |
| Pearce, Steve 2371 | 1b | tb al | 1.0 | 3.5 | 13.0 | 15.0 | -1.5 |
| Lee, Dae-Ho 3627 | 1b | sea al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |