Rangers pitcher A.J. Griffin is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Griffin struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 7-0 win over the Athletics.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 17:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 4.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.0 |
| 3 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 3.4 |
| 4 | Morrison, Logan 2794 | 1b | tb al | 3.2 |
| 5 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 6 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 3.0 |
| 7 | Devenski, Chris 3702 | pi mr cp | hou al | 3.0 |
| 8 | Marte, Starling 3122 | lf cf | pit nl | 3.0 |
| 9 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 3.0 |
| 10 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 3.0 |
National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out five, in the 2-1 win over the Pirates.
National League Batter of the Day—Freddie Freeman of the Braves hit two home runs and two doubles in the 5-4 win over the Padres. Freeman went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Aaron Judge of the Yankees hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-4, driving in three total runs, in the 7-4 win over the White Sox.
Streak—Ryan Braun of the Brewers has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Braun (HR 2B 3-4 2R 3BI in the 6-3 win over the Cubs) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Brewers and has 89.2 career points, second among active NL batters (trailing Ryan Howard of the Braves with 98.7). Braun’s best season was 2012 with the Brewers when he had 12.5 Box-Toppers points, first among NL batters.
Rankings—Two players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday:
- Red Sox pitcher Craig Kimbrel (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K Sv in the 4-3 win over the Rays) rises to sixth place in player rankings. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 3.0 for the season.
- Astros pitcher Chris Devenski (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 4K ND in the 3-0 win over the Angels) rises to seventh place in player rankings. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 3.0 for the season.
Scoring—Griffin earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lynn earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Freeman and Judge each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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| 4/17 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | TEX 7, OAK 0 | A.J. Griffin (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| NL | 8.0 | STL 2, PIT 1 | Lance Lynn (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 8.0 | SEA 6, MIA 1 | Ariel Miranda (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 6.0 | `ARI 4, LAD 2 | Robbie Ray | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 10 | ||
| 6.0 | `HOU 3, LAA 0 | Chris Devenski | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | ATL 5, SD 4 | Freddie Freeman, 1B | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | MIL 6, CHC 3 | Ryan Braun, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | BOS 4, TB 3 | Craig Kimbrel (S,6) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | NYY 7, CHW 4 | Aaron Judge, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | CLE 3, MIN 1 | Danny Salazar (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
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 | +/- |
| Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 3.0 | 11.0 | 55.7 | 61.7 | -5.0 |
| Devenski, Chris 3702 | pi mr cp | hou al | 3.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | -0.7 |
| Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 2.0 | 8.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 | -4.7 |
| Griffin, A.J. 3074 | pi sp | tex al | 2.0 | 7.7 | 22.4 | 22.4 | -3.7 |
| Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | stl nl | 1.7 | 1.7 | 57.6 | 57.6 | 1.7 |
| Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 1.5 | 9.0 | 34.7 | 40.2 | -6.0 |
| Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 1.0 | 13.5 | 36.3 | 36.3 | -11.5 |
| Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | lf | mil nl | 1.0 | 11.5 | 37.0 | 89.2 | -9.5 |
| Miranda, Ariel 3738 | pi sp | sea al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |