Dodgers' Yasiel Puig tops players for Thursday, April 6; White Sox' Soto tops AL players

Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Puig homered twice and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 10-2 win over the Padres. It is the first time in his career Puig has earned overall Player of the Day honors. He is in his fifth Major League season and has 11.5 Box-Toppers points, including the 2.0 he earned Thursday.

American League Player of the Day—Geovany Soto of the White Sox hit two homers in the 11-2 win over the Tigers. Soto went 2-for-3 and drove in four runs.

Batters of the Day—There are no separate National League or American League Batters of the Day for Thursday since both the overall Player of the Day and AL Player of the Day are batters—Puig and Soto.

Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:

• Rockies pitcher Antonio Senzatela (5IP 2H 0R 3BB 6K ND in the 2-1 win over the Brewers) was making his Major League debut Thursday. He is the 3,760th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Mariners pitcher Dan Altavilla (1IP H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 4-2 win over the Astros) made his Major League debut Aug. 27, 2016, and was playing in his 18th career game. He is the 3,761st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Puig earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Soto earns 1.7 points for being AL Player 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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

4/6	Score	Game	Player	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	6.0	LAD 10, SD 2	Yasiel Puig, RF	3	3	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	`COL 2, MIL 1	Antonio Senzatela	-	-	-	-		5.0	2	0	0	3	6
AL	5.0	CHW 11, DET 2	Geovany Soto, C	3	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.2	NYM 6, ATL 2	Matt Harvey (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		6.2	3	2	2	0	4
	3.0	MIA 4, WSH 3 (F/10)	J.T. Realmuto, C	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	SEA 4, HOU 2	Dan Altavilla (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	3
	2.2	TOR 5, TB 2	Jason Grilli (S,1)	-	-	-	-		0.2	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	CIN 7, PHI 4	Adam Duvall, LF	4	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	ARI 9, SF 3	David Peralta, RF	4	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	MIN 5, KC 3	Brandon Kintzler (S,1)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	CHC 6, STL 4	Kyle Schwarber, LF	4	1	1	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	OAK 5, LAA 1	Ryon Healy, 1B	3	1	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-

MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
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 Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Puig, Yasiel 3193	rf	lad nl	2.0	5.5	11.5	11.5	-1.5
Soto, Geovany 2409	ca	chi al	1.7	1.7	6.2	26.9	1.7
Duvall, Adam 3573	lf	cin nl	1.0	7.5	9.0	9.0	-5.5
Realmuto, J.T. 3491	ca	fla nl	1.0	6.5	11.5	11.5	-4.5
Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	1.0	4.0	37.4	37.4	-2.0
Healy, Ryon 3685	1b 3b	oak al	1.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	-2.0
Grilli, Jason 2209	pi cp	bal al	1.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	-5.0
Peralta, David 3370	rf	ari nl	1.0	1.0	12.9	12.9	1.0
Schwarber, Kyle 3536	lf ca	chi nl	1.0	1.0	6.0	6.0	1.0
Kintzler, Brandon 3150	pi cp	min al	1.0	1.0	3.0	3.0	1.0
Altavilla, Dan 3761	pi mr	sea al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Senzatela, Antonio 3760	pi sp	col nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Reds' Finnegan tops players for Wednesday, April 5; Braves' Colon rises to 19th in ‘all-time' career Box-Toppers points

Reds pitcher Brandon Finnegan is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Wednesday, Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon rose to 19th place among all players in Box-Toppers points (since 1995 when tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors.

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	released	187.0
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	186.0
6	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	185.7
7	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	182.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	168.7
10	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
11	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
12	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	156.1
16	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
17	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
18	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
19	Bartolo Colon	pi sp	atl nl	149.5
20	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0

BTP: Box-Toppers points
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the close of the 2016 season.

Player of the Day—Finnegan struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 2-0 win over the Phillies.

American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 3-0, 12-inning win over the Pirates. Sale did not pick up the win because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.

American League Batter of the Day—Francisco Lindor of the Indians hit two homers, including a grand slam, in the 9-6 win over the Rangers. Lindor went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs.

National League Batter of the Day—Jeremy Hazelbaker of the Diamondbacks hit a pinch-hit double, going 1-for-1, scoring a run and driving in a run, in the 8-6 win over the Giants.

This was Hazelbaker’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut April 3, 2016, and was playing in his 117th career game. He is the 3,759th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Notable—Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon rises to 19th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 (when player tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Colon (6IP 2H R BB 6K ND in the 3-1, 12-inning win against the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 149.5 for his career. He passes Chipper Jones (149.0) on the “all-time” list and now trails 18th-ranked player Greg Maddux (151.7).

Scoring—Finnegan earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sale earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Lindor and Hazelbaker 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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/5	Score	Game	Player	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	14.0	CIN 2, PHI 0	Brandon Finnegan (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		7.0	1	0	0	1	9
AL	10.0	`BOS 3, PIT 0 (F/12)	Chris Sale	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	1	7
	10.0	`HOU 5, SEA 3 (F/13)	Chris Devenski	-	-	-	-		4.0	0	0	0	1	7
	9.0	BAL 3, TOR 1	Dylan Bundy (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	0	8
BAT	7.0	CLE 9, TEX 6	Francisco Lindor, SS	4	3	3	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	`ATL 3, NYM 1 (F/12)	Bartolo Colon	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	1	1	1	6
	6.0	MIL 6, COL 1	Wily Peralta (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	0	0	1	5
	4.2	`LAA 5, OAK 0	Garrett Richards	-	-	-	-		4.2	3	0	0	1	4
	4.0	MIN 9, KC 1	Eduardo Escobar, SS	4	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	WSH 6, MIA 4	Tanner Roark (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	2	2	2	6
	3.0	LAD 3, SD 1	Rich Hill (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		5.0	2	1	1	3	5
	2.2	TB 4, NYY 1	Alex Cobb (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		5.2	4	1	1	1	4
BAT	2.0	ARI 8, SF 6	Jeremy Hazelbaker, PH	1	1	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`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 Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Finnegan, Brandon 3535	pi sp	cin nl	2.0	9.0	12.0	12.0	-5.0
Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	1.7	15.1	83.1	88.1	-11.7
Lindor, Francisco 3586	ss	cle al	1.5	8.5	9.5	9.5	-5.5
Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	lad nl	1.0	15.4	19.4	39.1	-13.4
Roark, Tanner 3261	pi sp	dc nl	1.0	13.7	29.7	29.7	-11.7
Colon, Bartolo	pi sp	atl nl	1.0	9.4	50.3	149.5	-7.4
Bundy, Dylan 3655	pi sp	bal al	1.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	-5.0
Devenski, Chris 3702	pi mr	hou al	1.0	4.7	4.7	4.7	-2.7
Peralta, Wily 3123	pi sp	mil nl	1.0	2.0	20.0	20.0	0.0
Richards, Garrett 3042	pi sp	ana al	1.0	1.0	34.4	34.4	1.0
Escobar, Eduardo 3135	ss	min al	1.0	1.0	12.7	12.7	1.0
Cobb, Alex 2916	pi sp	tb al	1.0	1.0	31.4	32.4	1.0
Hazelbaker, Jeremy 3759	ph	ari nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Padres' Richard tops players for Tuesday, April 4; Yankees' Sabathia resumes lead among active players in career Box-Toppers points

Padres pitcher Clayton Richard is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Tuesday, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia resumed the lead among active players in career Box-Toppers points only one day after losing that lead to Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.

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	released	187.0
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	186.0
6	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	185.7
7	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	182.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	168.7
10	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
11	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
12	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	156.1
16	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
17	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
18	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
19	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
20	Bartolo Colon	pi sp	atl nl	148.5

BTP: Box-Toppers points
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the close of the 2016 season.

Sabathia earned Player of the Game honors in the win over the Rays, earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point and giving him 186.0 for his career. On Monday, Kershaw passed him by earning overall Player of the Day honors, giving him 185.7 career points. With Tuesday’s point, Sabathia resumes his spot in fifth place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.

In addition, Sabathia has now earned Box-Toppers points for 17 straight seasons, tied for the seventh-longest streak in Box-Toppers tracking history and currently the second-longeststreak among active players (behind only Carlos Beltran’s 18-season streak).

Player of the Day—Richard pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, in the 4-0 win over the Dodgers.

Richard now ranks third among all players in season Box-Toppers points with 2.0.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander struck out 10 over 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and six hits, in the 6-3 win over the White Sox.

Verlander has now earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons and has 141.0 career Box-Toppers points, 28th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 27th-ranked player Jake Peavy (141.8). Verlander ranks 10th among active players in career Box-Toppers points. 

Verlander, who has played his entire career with the Tigers, earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006. His best seasons were 2011 (24.4 points) and 2012 (24.8), when he led all AL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Gorkys Hernandez of the Giants doubled and went 2-for-5, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 8-4 win over the Diamondbacks.

This was Hernandez’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut May 21, 2012, and was playing in his 105th career game. He is the 3,758th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because no AL batter earned Player of the Game honors.

Notable—Sabathia, one day after losing the lead, regained the lead among active players in career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Sabathia (5IP 3H 0R 2BB 2K W in the 5-0 win over the Rays) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 186.0 for his career. That puts him ahead of Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (185.7), who only passed Sabathia on Monday. Sabathia again ranks fifth among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when tracking began. He now trails fourth-ranked player Alex Rodriguez (187.0) by only 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Sabathia also has now earned Box-Toppers points for 17 straight seasons, tied for the seventh-longest streak in Box-Toppers history with six others who had 17-year streaks—Mariano Rivera (1995-2011), Derek Jeter (1996-2012), Paul Konerko (1998-2014), Tim Hudson (1999-2015), Torii Hunter (1999-2015) and David Ortiz (2000-2016). Sabathia’s streak is the second-longest streak among active players, behind only Carlos Beltran, who has earned Box-Toppers points for 18 straight seasons from 1999-2016 and could extend it to 19 seasons if he earns Box-Toppers points in 2017.

Sabathia earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2001 with the Indians. His best season was 2008 with the Indians and Brewers when he had 26.7 Box-Toppers points, ending the season ranked first among NL pitchers. In 2014, he barely kept the streak alive earning only 1.0 Box-Toppers point as a Yankee.

Scoring—Richard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Verlander earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Hernandez earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/4	Score	Game	Player	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	6.0	SD 4, LAD 0	Clayton Richard (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		8.0	5	0	0	2	5
	5.0	CHC 2, STL 1	Jake Arrieta (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	1	0	2	6
AL	4.1	DET 6, CHW 3	Justin Verlander (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		6.1	6	2	2	2	10
	4.0	HOU 2, SEA 1	Lance McCullers Jr. (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	1	1	2	7
	3.2	CLE 4, TEX 3	Carlos Carrasco (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		5.2	4	2	2	1	7
	3.0	COL 6, MIL 5	Greg Holland (S,2)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	2.0	SF 8, ARI 4	Gorkys Hernandez, CF	5	1	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	NYY 5, TB 0	CC Sabathia (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	0	0	2	2
	2.0	LAA 7, OAK 6	Cam Bedrosian (S,1)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1

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 Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Richard, Clayton 2584	pi sp	sd nl	2.0	4.0	12.2	31.6	0.0
Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	1.7	16.4	61.6	141.0	-13.0
Hernandez, Goryks 3758	cf	sf nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	1.0	16.7	71.5	76.5	-14.7
Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	1.0	13.4	42.1	47.5	-11.4
McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	hou al	1.0	7.1	13.8	13.8	-5.1
Sabathia, C.C. 1492	pi sp	nyy al	1.0	7.0	33.5	186.0	-5.0
Bedrosian, Cam 3694	pi cp	ana al	1.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	-2.0
Holland, Greg 2906	pi cp	col nl	1.0	1.0	31.0	34.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops players for Monday, April 3, rises to lead active players in career Box-Toppers points

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to become the active leader in career Box-Toppers points.

Kershaw struck out eight over seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) and two hits, in the 14-3 win over the Padres.

All-time leaders

After earning Box-Toppers Player of the Day honors Monday, Clayton Kershaw rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began). Kershaw also passes CC Sabathia to become the leader in points among all active players:

	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	released	187.0
5	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	185.7
6	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	185.0
7	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	182.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	168.7
10	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
11	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
12	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	156.1
16	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
17	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
18	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
19	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
20	Bartolo Colon	pi sp	atl nl	148.5

BTP: Box-Toppers points
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the close of the 2016 season.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 185.7 for his career, passing Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (185.0 points) to lead all active players in career Box-Toppers points. Kershaw now ranks fifth among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when tracking began, trailing fourth place player Alex Rodriguez (187.0 points) by just 1.3.

Sabathia became the active leader in career Box-Toppers points on Aug. 13, 2016, when Alex Rodriguez, the then-active leader, was released by the Yankees. Kershaw’s rise past Sabathia is the first time a player has passed another player for the career points lead among active players (without a release or retirement) since April 2, 2011, when Rodriguez (168.6 points) passed then-active leader Manny Ramirez (167.2)—though Ramirez retired several days later.

Kershaw also assumes first place in 2017 season player rankings after two days of the season with his 2.0 Box-Toppers points. While he is tied with Sunday’s Player of the Day, Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez (2.0 points), Kershaw holds the tiebreaker because he had more 2016 points—24.4 vs. 12.4. Kershaw led players three times in 2016, including from May 7 to Aug. 24. He has been Box-Toppers Player of the Year, leading all players in Box-Toppers points, three times—in 2011 (26.1 points), 2013 (21.7) and 2014 (31.5).

Kershaw has now also earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for 10 straight seasons. Kershaw earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2008 with the Dodgers. His best season was 2014 with 31.5 points, when he led all players. He has six straight seasons (through 2016) with 20.0 or more points and eight straight seasons (through 2016) with 10.0 or more points.

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out four, in the 3-0 win over the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day—Mark Reynolds of the Rockies homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-5 win over the Brewers.

Reynolds has now earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers points 2007 with the Diamondbacks and has 52.9 career points, fifth among active NL first basemen. His best year was 2011 with the Orioles, when he had 9.5 points, fifth among AL batters.

American League Batter of the Day—Khris Davis of the Athletics homered twice and went 3-for-4, in the 4-2 win over the Angels.

Streaks—In addition to Kershaw and Reynolds, two other players Monday extended streaks of 10 or more straight seasons earning Box-Toppers points:

• Twins pitcher Ervin Santana has now earned Box-Toppers points in 13 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors in the 7-1 win over the Royals (7.0IP 2H R 2BB 3K W). Santana earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2005 with the Angels and has 98.3 career Box-Toppers points, eighth among active AL pitchers. His best season was 2008 with the Angels, when he had 16.7 Box-Toppers points, first among AL pitchers.
• Adam Lind of the Nationals has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors in the 4-2 win over the Marlins (pinch-hit, seventh-inning two-run home run). Lind earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Blue Jays and has 60.5 career points, third among active NL first basemen. His best season was 2009 with the Blue Jays when he had 16.4 Box-Toppers points, second among AL batters.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Keuchel earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Reynolds and Davis 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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/3	Score	Game	Player	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.0	LAD 14, SD 3	Clayton Kershaw (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	2	1	0	8
	8.0	`NYM 6, ATL 0	Noah Syndergaard	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	0	0	0	7
AL	7.0	HOU 3, SEA 0	Dallas Keuchel (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	2	4
BAT	4.0	COL 7, MIL 5	Mark Reynolds, 1B	3	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	MIN 7, KC 1	Ervin Santana (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	1	1	2	3
BAT	3.0	OAK 4, LAA 2	Khris Davis, LF	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	WSH 4, MIA 2	Adam Lind, PH	1	1	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	CLE 8, TEX 5	Andrew Miller (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	BOS 5, PIT 3	Craig Kimbrel (S,1)	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	2
	1.2	`BAL 3, TOR 2 (F/11)	Mychal Givens (BS,1)	-	-	-	-		1.2	2	0	0	0	2
	1.0	PHI 4, CIN 3	Freddy Galvis, SS	4	2	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`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 Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	2.0	26.4	126.1	185.7	-22.4
Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	1.7	8.7	44.5	44.5	-5.3
Davis, Khris 3242	lf	oak al	1.5	8.2	18.2	18.2	-5.2
Reynolds, Mark 2297	1b	col nl	1.5	5.5	20.2	52.9	-2.5
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	1.0	17.7	28.1	28.1	-15.7
Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	bos al	1.0	9.0	53.7	59.7	-7.0
Miller, Andrew 2436	pi mr cp	cle al	1.0	9.0	16.0	24.0	-7.0
Lind, Adam 2238	1b ph	dc nl	1.0	6.4	25.4	60.5	-4.4
Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	1.0	5.0	37.8	98.3	-3.0
Galvis, Freddy 3202	ss	phi nl	1.0	5.0	13.0	13.0	-3.0
Givens, Mychal 3599	pi mr	bal al	1.0	3.0	4.0	4.0	-1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cardinals' Carlos Martinez tops players on opening day, Sunday, April 2

Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez is Sunday’s opening day Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Martinez pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing six hits, no walks and striking out 10 in the 4-3 win over the Cubs. Martinez did not earn the win because after he exited, the Cubs tied the game in the top of the ninth inning before the Cardinals won the game in the bottom of the ninth.

While it is relatively rare for a pitcher to earn overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day without earning a win or a save, it did happen nine times in 2016, including once by Martinez on Aug. 29.

American League Player of the Day—Logan Morrison of the Rays homered and went 3-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 7-3 win over the Yankees.

National League Batter of the Day—A.J. Pollock of the Diamondbacks hit a two-run homer and went 3-for-5, scoring twice, in the 6-5 win over the Giants.

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner had a magnificent day, hitting two home runs and pitching a perfect game through five innings (his final line was 7IP 6H 3R 0BB 11K ND), but earns no Box-Toppers points for his effort (despite having a Box-Toppers game score of +6.0 for pitching, highest of any player on either team) simply because the Giants did not win.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Logan Morrison. Also, only one AL game was played Sunday.

Scoring—Martinez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and becomes the de facto early leader in season Box-Toppers points. Morrison earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Pollock earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day.

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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/2	Score	Game	Player	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.1	`STL 4, CHC 3	Carlos Martinez	-	-	-	-		7.1	6	0	0	0	10
AL	3.0	TB 7, NYY 3	Logan Morrison, 1B	4	1	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	2.0	ARI 6, SF 5	A.J. Pollock, CF	5	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
		` 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 Game	Pos	Team	'17	'16-17	'12-17	Career	+/-
Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	2.0	14.4	29.1	29.1	-10.4
Morrison, Logan 2794	1b	tb al	1.7	3.7	13.7	19.2	-0.3
Pollock, A.J. 3142	cf	ari nl	1.5	1.5	16.2	16.2	1.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Brewers' Nelson tops players in final spring training games, Saturday, April 1

Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day on the final day of spring training.

Follow Box-Toppers all season

The 2017 Major League Baseball season begins Sunday with three games. Box-Toppers begins its 23rd season tracking players and its fifth on the web. See more about the player tracking metric in our opening day post and come back Monday morning to see how Box-Toppers rated the top players in the opening day games.

Box-Toppers has tracked several days of spring training during 2017 as a sort of a test and demonstration of the Box-Toppers player tracking metric. Even after 22 seasons of tracking (including sharing those results for the past four seasons on Box-Toppers.com), we need to spend a little time practicing covering first base on a bunt and getting in shape for the 2,430 games to be tracked during the regular season.

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Player of the Day—Nelson allowed one run and two hits over five innings, striking out three, in the 5-4 win over the White Sox. Nelson did not pick up the win because he exited with the Brewers trailing. Nelson had 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016.

American League Player of the Day—Melvin Upton Jr. Of the Blue Jays homered and went 1-for-2, driving in three runs, in the 6-4 win over the Pirates. Upton had 2.5 Box-Toppers points in 2016 for the Padres and Blue Jays.

National League Batter of the Day—Nick Hundley of the Giants hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, in the 6-3 win over the Athletics. Hundley had 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2016 with the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Melvin Upton Jr.

Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Nelson would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Upton would earn 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Hundley would earn 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Note—Nine spring training games were scheduled for Saturday—five are listed below. Three games are not listed because they ended in ties (Red Sox 4, Nationals 4; Mariners 1, Rockies 1; and Angels 4, Dodgers 4). One game is not listed because it was an exhibition between the Reds and the Reds Futures Team.

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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/1	Score	Game	Player	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	4.0	`MIL 5, CHW 4	Jimmy Nelson	-	-	-	-		5.0	2	1	1	0	3
BAT	3.0	SF 6, OAK 3	Nick Hundley C	4	1	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
AL	3.0	TOR 6, PIT 4	Melvin Upton Jr. RF	2	1	1	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	TEX 5, KC 3	Allen Webster (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-		4.0	1	0	0	1	1
	1.0	MIA 3, DET 2	Boo Vazquez PR-RF	2	1	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
		` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Dodgers' Kershaw tops players in Thursday's March 23's spring games

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Thursday’s Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day.

Box-Toppers is tracking several days of spring training during 2017 as a sort of a test and demonstration of the Box-Toppers player tracking metric. Even after 22 seasons of tracking (including sharing those results for the past four seasons on Box-Toppers.com), we need to spend a little time practicing hitting the cut-off man and getting in shape for the 2,430 games to be tracked during the regular season.

Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 11 over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 10-2 win over the Rangers. In 2016, Kershaw ranked second in Box-Toppers points with 24.4, just behind overall leader Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (25.7). Kershaw leads all players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2012—he has 124.1 points over that span, ahead of Scherzer’s 103.9.

American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez pitched six scoreless innings, allowing one hit, no walks and striking out five, in the 9-2 win over the Giants. In 2016, Hernandez had 6.0 Box-Toppers points, which was his lowest point total in his 12 seasons. Hernandez ranks fifth among all players in Box-Toppers points since 2012 (79.7).

American League Batter of the Day—Yonder Alonso of the Athletics homered twice, going 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 15-5 win over the Brewers. In 2016, Alonso had 2.0 Box-Toppers points.

National League Batter of the Day—Jamie Romak of the Padres hit a two-run double, going 1-for-1 and scoring once, in the 6-2 win over the Angels. Romak has yet to earn Player of the Game honors in the regular season and has no Box-Toppers points.

Notable—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright earned Player of the Game honors for batting. Wainwright went 1-for-1, scoring once and driving in one run, in the 5-3 win over the Marlins. In 2016, Wainwright twice earned Player of the Game honors for batting, most of any pitcher. Wainwright had 10.2 Box-Toppers points in 2016, 20th among NL pitchers.

Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Kershaw would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Hernandez would earn 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Alonso and Romak would 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) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Note—Thirteen spring training games were scheduled for Thursday—11 are listed below. Two games are not listed because they ended in ties (Yankees 5, Rays 5 and Cubs 5, Diamondbacks 5).

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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

3/23	Score	Game	Player	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	14.0	LAD 10, TEX 2	Clayton Kershaw (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	1	11
AL	10.0	SEA 9, SF 2	Felix Hernandez (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-		6.0	1	0	0	0	5
	8.0	CHW 4, CIN 2	Jose Quintana (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	0	3
	6.0	WSH 1, NYM 0	Erick Fedde (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-		5.0	2	0	0	0	3
BAT	5.0	OAK 15, MIL 5	Yonder Alonso 1B	3	3	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	CLE 8, COL 3	Corey Kluber (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	3	1	1	8
	4.1	BOS 10, PIT 7	Steven Wright (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-		4.1	2	0	0	1	3
BAT	3.0	SD 6, LAA 2	Jamie Romak PR-3B	1	1	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	`ATL 2, DET 1	Arodys Vizcaíno	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	STL 5, MIA 3	Adam Wainwright P	1	1	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	MIN 4, PHI 2	Buddy Boshers (S, 2)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Tanaka, part of Yankees' combined no-hitter, tops players in Friday, March 17's spring games

Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is Friday’s Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day.

Box-Toppers is tracking several days of spring training during 2017 as a sort of a test and demonstration of the Box-Toppers player tracking metric. Even after 22 seasons of tracking (including sharing those results for the past four seasons on Box-Toppers.com), we need to spend a little time shagging ground balls and getting in shape for the 2,430 games to be tracked during the regular season.

Tanaka, along with two other Yankees pitchers, no-hit the Tigers, 3-0. Tananka struck out six over 4 1/3 innings, allowing no hits or runs.

In 2016, Tanaka had 14.1 Box-Toppers points, fifth among American League pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Wilmer Flores of the Mets hit a grand slam and doubled, going 2-for-2 and driving in six total runs, in the 16-2 win over the Cardinals. Flores had 4.5 Box-Toppers points in 2016.

American League Batter of the Day—Darrell Ceciliani of the Blue Jays hit a grand slam and tripled, going 2-for-4 and driving in five total runs, in the 7-5 win over the Phillies. Ceciliani has yet to make his Box-Toppers debut by earning Player of the Game honors during the regular season.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Wilmer Flores.

Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Tanaka would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Flores would earn 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day and Ceciliani would earn 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Note—Eighteen spring training games were scheduled for Friday—17 are listed below. One game is not listed (Nationals 5, Marlins 5) because it ended in a tie. World Baseball Classic games are also not included.

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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

3/17	Score	Game	Player	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	8.1	NYY 3, DET 0	Masahiro Tanaka (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-		4.1	0	0	0	2	6
NL	7.0	NYM 16, STL 2	Wilmer Flores 3B	2	1	2	6		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	MIN 4, TB 2	Phil Hughes (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-		5.0	2	0	0	1	4
	6.0	HOU 6, BOS 2	Francis Martes (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-		3.0	0	0	0	0	3
	5.0	CHC 7, CHW 3	Kyle Schwarber RF	3	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	`SD 3, LAD 2	Christian Friedrich	-	-	-	-		3.0	1	0	0	0	3
BAT	4.0	TOR 7, PHI 5	Darrell Ceciliani RF	4	1	2	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	SEA 8, ARI 5	Ron Casteel 1B	2	1	1	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	TEX 6, LAA 5	Ronald Guzman 1B	1	1	1	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	CLE 3, TEX 2	Danny Salazar (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-		5.0	4	2	2	2	9
	4.0	SEA 5, LAD 2	Max Povse (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-		4.0	3	0	0	0	3
	4.0	COL 5, SF 1	Harrison Musgrave (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-		3.0	1	0	0	0	2
	4.0	ARI 3, OAK 2	Zack Godley (S, 1)	-	-	-	-		2.0	1	0	0	0	3
	4.0	CIN 7, CLE 3	Wandy Peralta (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	KC 8, MIL 5	Christian Colón 2B	2	2	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	`HOU 5, ATL 4	Dallas Keuchel	-	-	-	-		4.0	3	0	0	0	2
	2.1	BAL 8, PIT 6	Scott McGough (S, 1)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	1
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Rockies' Senzatela tops players in Tuesday, March 7's spring training games

Rockies pitcher Antonio Senzatela is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day.

Box-Toppers is tracking several days of spring training during 2017 as a sort of a test and demonstration of the Box-Toppers player tracking metric. Even after 22 seasons of tracking (including sharing those results for the past four seasons on Box-Toppers.com), we need to spend a little time in the batting cage working on the swing and getting in shape for the 2,430 games to be tracked during the regular season.

Senzatela pitched three scoreless innings of middle relief, striking out four and allowing one hit, in the 3-2 win over the Rangers. Senzatela picked up a no decision because after he exited, the Rangers tied the game at 2-2, before the Rockies went ahead in the ninth inning.

Senzatela has yet to make his Box-Toppers debut by earning Player of the Game honors during the regular season.

American League Player of the Day—Marcus Semien of the Athletics doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 21-13 win over the Diamondbacks. Semien had 6.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016 with the Athletics, 39th among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—Brock Stassi of the Phillies hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 11-6 win over the Tigers. Stassi has yet to make his Box-Toppers debut by earning Player of the Game honors during the regular season.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Marcus Semien.

Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Senzatela would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Semien would earn 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Stassi would earn 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Note—Thirteen spring training games were scheduled for Tuesday—nine are listed below. Four games in which Major League teams played against national World Baseball Classic teams are not included. Also not included are three World Baseball Classic games. Should I be including those and tracking those games? I’m just not feeling it. Let me know if you’d like to see Box-Toppers coverage of that tournament.

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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

3/7	Score	Game	Player	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	6.0	`COL 3, TEX 2	Antonio Senzatela	-	-	-	-		3.0	1	0	0	0	4
BAT	5.0	PHI 11, DET 6	Brock Stassi (1B)	4	3	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
AL	5.0	OAK 21, ARI 13	Marcus Semien (SS)	3	1	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	`SF 4, LAD 2	Matt Moore	-	-	-	-		3.0	3	0	0	2	5
	3.0	`CIN 7, KC 3	Sal Romano	-	-	-	-		3.0	2	1	1	0	4
	2.0	STL 9, MIA 2	Jhonny Peralta (3B)	3	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	NYY 7, TB 6 (F/10)	Kyle Higashioka (C)	2	1	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	BOS 5, WSH 3	Hanley Ramirez (DH)	2	2	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	PIT 6, ATL 3	Steven Brault (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-		3.0	3	0	0	1	3

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.