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.
J.J. Matijevic of the Astros is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Friday’s spring training games.
Matijevic doubled and went 2-for-2, scoring once and driving in five runs, in the 11-8 win over the Braves.
Matijevic 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.
Matijevic earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2022 in his only career regular season Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor.
National League Player of the Day—Luis Garcia of the Nationals homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 11-6 win over the Mets.
Garcia would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Garcia earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points in 2022.
AL and NL Batters of the Day—There are no separate AL and NL Batter of the Day winners for Friday because the overall Player of the Day is AL batter J.J. Matijevic and the overall NL Player of the Day is NL batter Luis Garcia.
Notable—Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals has the most 2022 Box-Toppers points among those earning Player of the Game honors in Friday’s spring training games.
Arenado (HR 2B 2-2 2R 2BI in the 8-3 win over the Marlins) earned 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022, ninth among NL batters. This is the second time during 2023’s spring training that Arenado earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game in a Cardinals win. He also did it Feb. 28.
Two of Friday’s 16 games ended in ties, so no Player of the Game honors were awarded in those (see chart below for game details). Of the remaining 14 games, eight who earned Player of the Game honors have earned Box-Toppers points in the past (see those players here); the remaining six 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, Matijevic would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Garcia would have earned 1.7 points for being NL Player 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.
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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
| 3/3 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +6.0 | HOU 11, ATL 8 | J.J. Matijevic, 1B | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | DET 6, PHI 3 | Eduardo Rodriguez, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +5.0 | SEA 6, ARI 3 | Darren McCaughan, (S 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +5.0 | DET 5, NYY 3 | Tyler Holton, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| NL | +4.0 | WSH 11, NYM 6 | Luis García, 2B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | STL 8, MIA 3 | Nolan Arenado, 3B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | `BOS 9, MIN 4 | Brandon Walter | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | CHW 6, CIN 4 | Andrew Vaughn, 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | SF 3, COL 2 | Ismael Munguia, RF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | CLE 7, MIL 4 | Petey Halpin, CF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | KC 6, OAK 4 | Jose Briceño, C | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | TEX 11, SF 7 | Robbie Grossman, LF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | TOR 7, TB 6 | Bo Bichette, SS | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | CHC 4, SD 0 | Edwin Ríos, 3B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | LAD 2, LAA 2 | N/A | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | PIT 1, BAL 1 | 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.
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | stl nl | 0.0 | 7.0 | 31.0 | 60.9 |
| Bichette, Bo 4233 | ss | tor al | 0.0 | 6.5 | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Vaughn, Andrew 4445 | dh 1b | chi al | 0.0 | 3.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 |
| Grossman, Robbie 3267 | lf | tex al | 0.0 | 1.5 | 4.0 | 14.0 |
| Garcia, Luis 4671 | ss | dc nl | 0.0 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Matijevic, J.J. 4693 | ph | hou al | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Rios, Edwin 4632 | dh | chi nl | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | det al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 34.8 | 54.2 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOU | Dubin, Shawn* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BOS | Pivetta, Nick 3825 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 27.4 | 35.4 |
| STL | Thomas, Connor* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| WSH | Gray, Josiah 4503 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| TOR | Hutchison, Drew 3038 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 26.0 |
| DET | Turnbull, Spencer 4086 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| PIT | Hill, Rich 2215 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 28.4 | 79.2 |
| PHI | Nola, Aaron 3569 | 0.0 | 16.0 | 65.2 | 89.7 |
| ATL | Strider, Spencer 4626 | 0.0 | 13.4 | 13.4 | 13.4 |
| BAL | Wells, Tyler 4428 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| MIN | Varland, Louie 4758 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| ATL | Fried, Max 4011 | 0.0 | 16.0 | 44.5 | 44.5 |
| TB | Bradley, Taj* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYY | Severino, Luis 3567 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 27.4 | 53.5 |
| NYM | Verlander, Justin 2112 | 0.0 | 26.0 | 78.6 | 232.6 |
| MIA | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 16.1 | 16.1 |
| LAA | Detmers, Reid 4513 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| CHC | Taillon, Jameson 3658 | 0.0 | 10.7 | 32.1 | 46.1 |
| KC | Heasley, Jonathan 4655 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| CIN | Overton, Connor* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CLE | Bieber, Shane 4005 | 0.0 | 13.7 | 56.3 | 56.3 |
| OAK | Oller, Adam 4719 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| ARI | Cecconi, Slade* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SF | Wood, Alex 3246 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 25.0 | 60.1 |
| TEX | Perez, Martin 3213 | 0.0 | 9.1 | 12.8 | 29.8 |
| CHW | Scholtens, Jesse* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SD | Knehr, Reiss* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ARI | Pfaadt, Brandon* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| COL | Freeland, Kyle 3763 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 27.4 | 33.4 |
| SEA | Kirby, George 4595 | 0.0 | 11.4 | 11.4 | 11.4 |
| SF | Webb, Logan 4258 | 0.0 | 9.7 | 27.9 | 27.9 |
| MIL | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | 0.0 | 7.4 | 38.8 | 38.8 |
| CIN | Greene, Hunter 4651 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| OAK | Rucinski, Drew 4001 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| LAD | Pepiot, Ryan 4714 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| KC | Greinke, Zack 1871 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 46.3 | 222.5 |
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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