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Sal Stewart of the Reds, Box-Toppers’ choice for 2026 National League Rookie of the Year, was also voted winner of the honor by baseball writers Monday.
But Kevin McGonigle of the Tigers, who won the American League Rookie of the Year Award, was not among Box-Toppers’ top five candidates for the award and ranked tied for 17th among AL rookies in 2026 Box-Toppers points. Munetaka Murakami of the White Sox, Box-Toppers’ choice for top AL rookie, finished fourth in voting.
Read MoreHow is Pete Crow-Armstrong not even among Box-Toppers’ top 10 contenders for the 2026 National League Most Valuable Player Award, even though he is the overwhelming favorite to win the honor?
The simple answer: Teammates frequently beat the Cubs’ center fielder for Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in Chicago victories.
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These seven are both Box-Toppers top-ranked players and finalists for major 2026 postseason awards: Top row: Cam Schlittler of the Yankees, Jacob Misiorowski of the Brewers and Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers. Bottom row: Parker Messick of the Guardians, Sal Stewart of the Reds, Cade Smith of the Guardians and Mason Miller of the Padres.
In five of the six major postseason player awards, the 2026 Box-Toppers points leader for each honor is among the finalists announced by baseball writers.
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This year’s Box-Toppers selections for Cy Young Awards—Jacob Misiorowski and Cam Schlittler—are also Box-Toppers choices for Most Valuable Player Awards.
For only the second time in Box-Toppers’ 32 seasons of tracking, the top pitchers in both leagues had more than twice as many Box-Toppers points as their league’s top batters.
Read MoreThe Milwaukee Brewers won the 2026 World Series after the season’s 12 playoff-qualifying teams played a total of 40 postseason games over 30 days from Sept. 29 to Oct. 28.
Here are the Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in each of the 2026 World Series games:
Read MoreJacob Misiorowski earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Wednesday as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 to win the 2026 World Series in five games.
Misiorowski struck out two over 5.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk in the series-clinching victory.
Read MoreBen Williamson earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in Tuesday’s World Series Game 4, hitting a pinch-hit, bases-loaded RBI single in the 12th inning to give the Rays a 4-3 walk-off victory over Milwaukee.
Tampa Bay forces Game 5 Wednesday in the best-of-seven series that the Brewers now lead 3-1.
Read MoreBrewers starting pitcher Robert Gasser earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in Monday’s World Series Game 3 as Milwaukee beat Tampa Bay 10-1 to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
Gasser struck out three over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk. Milwaukee can complete a sweep of the best-of-seven series in Game 4 on Tuesday in Tampa Bay.
Read MoreBrewers closing pitcher Aaron Ashby earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in Saturday’s World Series Game 2 win over the Rays.
Ashby struck out three over 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks while picking up the save as Milwaukee beat Tampa Bay 5-4 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Read MoreBrewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in Friday’s World Series Game 1 win over the Rays.
Misiorowski struck out three over five innings, allowing one run on four hits and one walk, as Milwaukee beat Tampa Bay 3-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Read MoreBefore meeting in the 2026 World Series, the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers played a three-game regular-season series in Milwaukee, with the Brewers winning two of three.
While their World Series matchup forms the final bookend of the 2026 season, their first meeting served as an opening bookend back in late March, the second regular-season series for both teams.
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The Milwaukee Brewers hold Box-Toppers points advantages over the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2026 World Series.
The Brewers rank higher than the Rays in overall Box-Toppers points and hold decided points advantages in starting pitchers and overall pitching depth. However, the Rays hold a slight points edge among the starting nine batters and bench players.
Read MoreJunior Caminero is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Monday’s American League Championship Series Game 6 as the Tampa Bay Rays eliminate the Cleveland Guardians and advance to the World Series.
Caminero went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs, including a two-run home run, as the Rays won their third straight game to capture the AL pennant.
Read MoreDrew Rasmussen is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Sunday’s American League Championship Series Game 5 as the Tampa Bay Rays take a 3-2 series lead over the Cleveland Guardians.
He struck out six over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and one walk, as the Rays took control of the series over the Guardians.
Read MoreJonathan Aranda of the Rays is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s American League Championship Series Game 4 as Tampa Bay evens the series with Cleveland.
Jonathan Aranda went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs to lead the Rays past the Guardians.
Read MoreGuardians pitcher Gavin Williams and Brewers’ reliever JoJo Romero earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in Thursday’s League Championship Series games.
Williams earned the win as the Cleveland Guardians edged the Tampa Bay Rays to take a 2-1 series lead in the American League Championship Series. Romero, meanwhile, led the Milwaukee Brewers as they swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.
Read MorePitcher Robert Gasser is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s National League Championship Series Game 3, as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
Gasser struck out three over five scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk. Although the Dodgers took a brief lead after he exited, Milwaukee rallied to move within one win of the NL pennant over the two-time defending champion Dodgers.
Read MorePitcher Freddy Peralta is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Tuesday’s American League Championship Series Game 2, as the Rays beat the Guardians to even the series.
Freddy Peralta struck out six over six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks, as the Rays beat the Guardians 3-1.
Read MoreBrewers' reliever Aaron Ashby and Guardians’ outfielder Chase DeLauter earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in Monday's League Championship Series action.
Ashby earned the save in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series as the Brewers took a 2-0 lead over the Dodgers. DeLauter, meanwhile, led the Guardians’ offensive surge past the Rays in the American League Championship Series opening game.
Read MoreThe American League’s top two-seeded teams play in the AL Championship Series, but Box-Toppers favors the second-seeded Cleveland Guardians over the top-seed Tampa Bay Rays.
The Rays have far more wins than the Guardians (98 vs. 85) but rank only marginally higher in Box-Toppers team rankings:
Rays: 115.0 combined Box-Toppers points in 2026, fifth overall, second among AL teams.
Guardians: 112.1 points, seventh overall, third among AL teams.
The Guardians hold the Box-Toppers edge over the Rays in several key categories.
Read MoreBox-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.