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Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fourth place in season player rankings.
Also Sunday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, the Cleveland Indians regain the topsy-turvy race for Box-Toppers team rankings lead, passing the Los Angeles Dodgers, after Kluber’s Player of the Day honor.
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Rays pitcher Drew Smyly is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| 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 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 7 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.0 |
| 8 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 2.7 |
| 9 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 2.7 |
| 10 | Santiago, Hector 3109 | pi sp | ana al | 2.7 |
Smyly struck out 11 over eight scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks, in the 3-0, 10-inning win over the Red Sox. Smyly did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because he exited with the game tied, 0-0.
National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 7-0 win over the Marlins. Strasburg earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, rising to ninth place in season player rankings.
National League Batter of the Day—Tyler Flowers of the Braves went 4-for-4, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 8-1 win over the Dodgers.
American League Batter of the Day—Salvador Perez of the Royals hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 8-6 win over the Tigers.
Rankings—Besides Strasburg, two other players rose into Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday:
Streak—Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday. Hammel (6IP 5H R 6K W in the 2-1 win over the Brewers) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Rays and has 47.2 career points, which ranks 27th among active NL pitchers. His best season was 2014 with the Cubs and the Athletics when he had 10.4 points, 25th among AL pitchers. In 2015, he had 9.7 points with the Cubs, 22nd among NL pitchers.
Debut—Reds pitcher Robert Stephenson made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Stephenson (7IP 3H R 3K W in the 4-3 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut April 7 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,617th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Smyly earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Strasburg earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Flowers and Perez each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/19 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.0 | `Rays | Drew Smyly | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | |
| NL | 13.0 | Nationals | Stephen Strasburg (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |
| 7.0 | Dbacks | Robbie Ray (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 6.1 | White Sox | Mat Latos (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | Cubs | Jason Hammel (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Braves | Tyler Flowers, C | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | Royals | Salvador Perez, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Mets | Yoenis Cespedes, CF-LF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Reds | Robert Stephenson (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | Athletics | Fernando Rodriguez (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | Indians | Carlos Carrasco (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 2.1 | Blue Jays | Roberto Osuna (S,5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Padres | Fernando Rodney (S,2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Rangers | Elvis Andrus, SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Brewers | Chris Carter, 1B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Latos, Mat 2644 | pi sp | chi al | 3.7 | 7.7 | 44.9 | 63.6 | -0.3 |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 2.7 | 20.7 | 36.8 | 36.8 | -15.3 |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 2.7 | 16.7 | 62.8 | 70.5 | -11.3 |
| Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | cf lf dh | nym nl | 2.0 | 12.9 | 33.9 | 33.9 | -8.9 |
| Smyly, Drew 3009 | pi sp | tb al | 2.0 | 8.0 | 30.1 | 30.1 | -4.0 |
| Osuna, Roberto 3512 | pi cp | tor al | 2.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -2.0 |
| Perez, Salvador 2972 | ca | kc al | 1.5 | 6.0 | 19.2 | 19.2 | -3.0 |
| Flowers, Tyler 3101 | ca | atl nl | 1.5 | 2.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 0.5 |
| Hammel, Jason 2235 | pi sp | chi nl | 1.0 | 10.7 | 34.1 | 47.2 | -8.7 |
| Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -3.0 |
| Carter, Chris 2828 | 1b dh | mil nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 19.9 | 20.9 | 0.0 |
| Rodney, Fernando 1803 | pi cp | sd nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 19.0 | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| Rodriguez, Fernando 3537 | pi mr | oak al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 8.5 | 11.5 | 1.0 |
| Stephenson, Robert 3617 | pi sp | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.