Box-Toppers Toppers Box
Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.▪️ Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.
▪️ Box-Toppers points of the day’s top players.
▪️ A B-T look at upcoming pitching matchups.
Braves pitcher Jared Shuster is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Friday’s spring training games.
Shuster struck out seven over four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 8-0 win over the Red Sox.
Shuster would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day if this were a regular season game. Because it’s a preseason exhibition game, no Box-Toppers points are awarded.
Shuster has yet to make his regular season Major League debut and so has 0.0 career Box-Toppers points.
Shuster had a Box-Toppers game score Friday of +7.0, same as Reds pitcher Graham Ashcraft, who was Player of the Game in the 7-1 win over the Guardians (4IP 2H 0R 0BB 5K W). But Shuster beat Ashcraft for Player of the Day honors because he had more strikeouts—seven vs. five.
American League Player of the Day—Jake Lamb of the Angels hit a grand slam, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in five runs, in the 12-1 win over the Royals.
Lamb would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Lamb earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022 with the Dodgers.
National League Batter of the Day—Darren Baker of the Nationals hit a grand slam and went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 11-7 win over the Astros.
Baker has yet to make his regular season Major League debut and so has 0.0 career Box-Toppers points.
Baker is the son of Astros manager Dusty Baker.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Jake Lamb.
Notable—Mets pitcher Carlos Carrasco has the most 2022 Box-Toppers points among Friday’s Player of the Game winners.
Carrasco (4IP 2H R BB 7K W in the 6-1 win over the Marlins) earned 9.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 27th among NL pitchers.
Box-Toppers tracks spring training games between two Major League teams and does not track World Baseball Classic games or other games that involve non-Major League teams. In Friday’s 17 spring training games, one ended in a tie in which no Player of the Game honor was awarded (see chart below for game details). In the remaining 16, seven who earned Player of the Game honors have earned Box-Toppers points in the past (see those players here); the remaining nine players have yet to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in a regular season game.
Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in exhibition games. Were it a regular season day, Shuster would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lamb would have earned 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Baker would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would have earned 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.
Box‑Toppers Player of the Game winners
Here is the top player from each of the day’s games listed from highest to lowest Box‑Toppers game score (BTG).Back to top
| 3/17 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +7.0 | ATL 8, BOS 0 | Jared Shuster, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| +7.0 | CIN 7, CLE 1 | Graham Ashcraft, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +6.0 | WSH 11, HOU 7 | Darren Baker, 2B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +6.0 | NYM 6, MIA 1 | Carlos Carrasco, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| AL | +5.0 | LAA 12, KC 1 | Jake Lamb, 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | PIT 6, TB 2 | Osvaldo Bido, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +5.0 | PHI 8, TOR 1 | Matt Strahm, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +4.0 | STL 16, MIA 2 | Masyn Winn, SS | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | LAD 9, CHC 7 | J.D. Martinez, DH | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | DET 8, NYY 7 | Andrew Knapp, PH‑C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | MIL 4, TEX 3 | Gus Varland, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.1 | ARI 4, COL 2 | Ryne Nelson, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +3.0 | PHI 4, TOR 2 | Gabriel Rincones Jr., LF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | BAL 5, MIN 3 | Colton Cowser, LF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | OAK 7, SF 2 | Brent Rooker, LF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | SEA 10, SD 5 | Leo Rivas, 2B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | CHC 4, CHW 4 | N/A | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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.
N/A—Not applicable. No Player of the Game was chosen because the game ended in a tie.
All other players listed here would 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.
Back to top
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s Player of the Game winners
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Player of the Game winners. No points are awarded during spring training games, so all players have 0.0 Box-Toppers points for 2023. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2022 (’22). Also shown is their point total for the period 2018-2022 (’18-22) and each players’ career point total. (Player of the Game winners not listed here have yet to earn Box-Toppers points during the regular season.)Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’23 | ’22 | ’18‑22 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | nym nl | 0.0 | 9.7 | 41.5 | 109.8 |
| Martinez, J.D. 2922 | dh | lad nl | 0.0 | 5.0 | 36.7 | 59.4 |
| Ashcraft, Graham 4645 | pi sp | cin nl | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Lamb, Jake 3517 | lf dh 3b | ana al | 0.0 | 2.0 | 4.5 | 16.4 |
| Nelson, Ryne 4728 | pi sp | ari nl | 0.0 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| Strahm, Matt 3724 | pi mr sp | phi nl | 0.0 | 1.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 |
| Knapp, Andrew 4012 | ca ph | det al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default view.
Back to top
A Box-Toppers look at Saturday’s pitching matchups
A Box-Toppers look at the upcoming day’s probable pitching matchups. Teams are paired below with visiting teams on top and home teams on the bottom. Each team’s starting pitcher is shown with their Box-Toppers point total from 2023 (’23), over a two-year period (’22-23), over a six-year period (’18-23) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’23 | ’22‑23 | ’18‑23 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAL | Rodriguez, Grayson* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BOS | Crawford, Kutter 4660 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| DET | Boyd, Matthew 3550 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 18.7 | 28.8 |
| STL | Liberatore, Matthew 4662 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| TB | Winckowski, Josh* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| TB | McClanahan, Shane 4399 | 0.0 | 16.4 | 21.1 | 21.1 |
| MIN | Sanchez, Aaron 3392 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 7.7 | 22.4 |
| PIT | Keller, Mitch 4230 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| MIA | Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | 0.0 | 21.1 | 40.2 | 40.2 |
| WSH | Williams, Trevor 3792 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 18.7 | 23.7 |
| NYY | Cortes, Nestor 4160 | 0.0 | 15.4 | 22.4 | 22.4 |
| TOR | Francis, Bowden* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| COL | Davis, Noah* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| KC | Lynch, Daniel 4488 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 8.4 | 8.4 |
| CIN | Williamson, Brandon* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| OAK | Muller, Kyle 4454 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| CHC | Sampson, Adrian 4147 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| SF | DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 26.4 | 38.1 |
| LAD | Grove, Michael* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CHW | Kopech, Michael 4385 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 |
| CLE | Quantrill, Cal 4195 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 |
| ARI | Gallen, Zac 4171 | 0.0 | 18.7 | 34.4 | 34.4 |
| KC | Kowar, Jackson* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| COL | Feltner, Ryan 4635 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| TEX | Otto, Glenn 4584 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| LAA | Canning, Griffin 4134 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| MIL | Wilson, Bryse 4048 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| SD | Honeywell, Brent Jr.* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| PHI | Abel, Mick* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ATL | Dodd, Dylan* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYM | Scherzer, Max 2588 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 79.6 | 236.3 |
| HOU | Valdez, Framber 4048 | 0.0 | 16.0 | 31.4 | 31.4 |
| SEA | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 46.4 | 54.8 |
| CLE | Plesac, Zach 4168 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 21.2 | 21.2 |
Games shown are spring training games between MLB teams. Doesn't include World Baseball Classic or games vs. non-MLB teams.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default, game-by-game view.
Back to top