Dodgers' Kershaw tops players for Friday, April 14, rising in 3 Box-Toppers player rankings

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises in three significant Box-Toppers player rankings:

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 14:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	4.0
2	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	3.4
3	Morrison, Logan 2794	1b	tb al	3.2
4	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	3.0
5	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	3.0
6	Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	2.7
7	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	2.7
8	Garcia, Avisail 3256	rf	chi al	2.5
9	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	2.0
10	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

• He takes the overall season Box-Toppers points lead (earning 2.0 points, giving him 4.0 for the season), passing previous leader Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard (3.0).
• He takes the lead in career Box-Toppers points among active players with 187.7, passing previous leader Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (186.0).
• He rises to fourth place among all players in Box-Toppers points since tracking began in 1995. Kershaw’s 187.7 career points puts him past Alex Rodriguez (187.0).

Kershaw struck out eight over 8 1/3 innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 7-1 win over the Diamondbacks.

It is the second time this season Kershaw has led players in season Box-Toppers points, also leading from April 3 to 8. It is also the second time this season Kershaw has led active players in career Box-Toppers points. He briefly passed Sabathia for the lead on April 3 before Sabathia regained the lead the next day.

Kershaw now trails the third-place player on the “all-time” Box-Toppers points list, Curt Schilling (194.1). With his 2.0 points Friday, he actually moved up two spots on the "all-time" list, passing both Sabathia and Rodriguez.

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 7-2 win over the Athletics.

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	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	187.7
5	Alex Rodriguez	dh	released	187.0
6	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	186.0
7	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	182.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	169.7
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	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	157.1
15	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
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.

Keuchel earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 3.4 for the season and rising to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, first among AL players.

Keuchel had a Box-Toppers game score of +6.0, tied with Royals pitcher Danny Duffy, who was Player of the Game in the 7-1 win over the Angels (7IP 3H R 2BB 6K W). But Keuchel won the tiebreaker to earn AL Player of the Day honors because he had more strikeouts—seven vs. six.

National League Batter of the Day—Manny Pina of the Brewers hit two doubles and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 10-4 win over the Reds.

This was Pina’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Pina made his Major League debut Aug. 3, 2011, and was playing in his 45th career game. He is the 3,679th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Logan Morrison of the Rays hit a grand slam and doubled, going 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-5 win over the Red Sox.

Morrison earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 3.2 for the season, rising to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, first among AL batters.

Streak—Two players extended their streaks of 10 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points after both earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

• Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez has now earned Box-Toppers points for 13 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors in the 2-1 win over the Rangers (7.1IP 6H R 0BB 3K W). Hernandez earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2005 with the Mariners and has 169.7 career points, ninth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails eighth-place player Roy Halladay (170.7). Hernandez’s best season was 2014 with the Mariners when he had 20.8 Box-Toppers points, third among AL pitchers. Hernandez is the highest-ranked player in Box-Toppers career points (ranked ninth) who has never led his league category (AL pitching) in Box-Toppers points during a season.
• Hunter Pence of the Giants has now earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors in the 8-2 win over the Rockies (3-4 R 2BI). Pence earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Astros and has 53.2 career points, eighth among active NL outfielders. His best season was 2008 with the Astros, when he had 8.2 points, seventh among NL outfielders.

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. Pina and Morrison each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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 

4/14	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.1	LAD 7, ARI 1	Clayton Kershaw (W,2-1)	-	-	-	-		8.1	4	1	1	1	8
AL	6.0	HOU 7, OAK 2	Dallas Keuchel (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	2	7
	6.0	KC 7, LAA 1	Danny Duffy (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	1	2	6
	5.0	DET 7, CLE 6	Daniel Norris (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	4	5
	4.0	`WSH 3, PHI 2 (F/10)	Stephen Strasburg	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	2	2	2	8
BAT	3.0	MIL 10, CIN 4	Manny Pina, C	5	2	4	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	TB 10, BOS 5	Logan Morrison, 1B	5	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	BAL 6, TOR 4	Wade Miley (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	3	3	0	8
	3.0	CHW 2, MIN 1	David Robertson (S,2)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.1	SEA 2, TEX 1	Felix Hernandez (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-		7.1	6	1	1	0	3
	2.0	PIT 4, CHC 2	David Freese, 3B	4	1	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	SF 8, COL 2	Hunter Pence, RF	4	1	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	ATL 5, SD 2	Ender Inciarte, CF	4	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	MIA 3, NYM 2	Miguel Rojas, SS-3B	3	2	3	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	NYY 4, STL 3	Starlin Castro, 2B	4	1	2	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 the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	4.0	28.4	128.1	187.7	-20.4
Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	3.4	10.4	46.2	46.2	-3.6
Morrison, Logan 2794	1b	tb al	3.2	5.2	15.2	20.7	1.2
Inciarte, Ender 3360	cf	atl nl	2.0	4.0	8.0	8.0	0.0
Pina, Manny 3769	ca	mil nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	1.0	16.1	75.2	83.9	-14.1
Duffy, Danny 2915	pi sp	kc al	1.0	11.7	29.7	30.7	-9.7
Castro, Starlin 2767	2b	nyy al	1.0	8.0	16.5	26.5	-6.0
Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	1.0	7.0	80.7	169.7	-5.0
Miley, Wade 3006	pi sp	bal al	1.0	7.0	37.4	37.4	-5.0
Robertson, David 2774	pi cp	chi al	1.0	6.0	23.0	27.0	-4.0
Pence, Hunter 2287	rf	sf nl	1.0	4.5	20.5	53.2	-2.5
Norris, Daniel 3548	pi sp	det al	1.0	3.0	7.0	7.0	-1.0
Freese, David 2710	3b	pit nl	1.0	3.0	19.2	25.2	-1.0
Rojas, Miguel 3642	ss 3b	fla nl	1.0	2.5	2.5	2.5	-0.5

What are those numbers after players' names?