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.
▪️ Top 10 players in 2023 Box-Toppers points.
▪️ A B-T look at upcoming pitching matchups.
Astros pitcher Framber Valdez is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani is the new leader in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Padres pitcher Michael Wacha rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
In addition, Mets pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, who rank fourth and fifth, respectively, on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list, both earned Player of the Game honors Sunday as the Mets swept a doubleheader over the Guardians.
Player of the Day—Valdez pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking none, in the 2-0 win over the Athletics
Valdez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, 38th among all players and 16th among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Braves pitcher Jared Shuster struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run, one hit and one walk, in the 3-2 win over the Mariners.
Shuster earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and is 57th among NL pitchers.
This is Shuster’s Box-Toppers debut, his first career Player of the Game honor. Shuster made his Major League debut April 2 and was playing in his fourth career game.
National League Batter of the Day—Paul DeJong of the Cardinals hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring four times and driving in four runs, in the 10-5 win over the Dodgers.
American League Batter of the Day—Marcus Semien of the Rangers doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 13-3 win over the Rockies.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2023. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Sunday, May 21.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 8.4 |
| 2 | Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.7 |
| 3 | McClanahan, Shane 4399 | pi sp | tb al | 7.7 |
| 4 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | tex al | 7.7 |
| 5 | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | tor al | 7.0 |
| 6 | Rasmussen, Drew 4547 | pi sp | tb al | 6.7 |
| 7 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.1 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 6.0 |
| 9 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | cf rf dh | nyy al | 6.0 |
| 10 | Wacha, Michael 3276 | pi sp | sd nl | 6.0 |
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New Box-Toppers points leader—Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani rises from fourth to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Ohtani (6IP 2H R 3BB 9K ND in the 4-2 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.4 for the season, passing previous leader, Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen (7.7). Ohtani also rises to first place among AL pitchers, passing previous leader Shane McClanahan of the Rays (7.7).
Ohtani also extends his lead among AL batters, ahead of second-place Aaron Judge of the Yankees (6.0). Ohtani still qualifies to rank among batters because he’s earned more than 25 percent of his Player of the Game honors as a batter—two of seven (28.6 percent). This is his fifth Player of the Game honor this season as a starting pitcher. Should he earn his next Player of the Game honor this season as a pitcher, he would drop from qualifying in Box-Toppers rankings as a batter. Ohtani finished both 2021 and 2022 ranked solely as a pitcher, though he spent periods each season ranked both as a pitcher and batter.
This is the first time Ohtani has led Box-Toppers season player rankings in 2023. Ohtani led rankings for 85 days in 2022, the longest of any player, but finished the season second overall with 24.7 Box-Toppers points, behind then-Astros pitcher Justin Verlander (26.0 points), who led for 58 total days.
Rankings—Padres pitcher Michael Wacha rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Wacha (6IP 5H 0R BB 4K W in the 7-0 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season. He ranks third among NL pitchers, behind Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks (7.7) and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (6.1).
Notable—Mets pitcher Max Scherzer now has 239.3 career Box-Toppers points—fourth-most since 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Scherzer (6IP 3H 0R BB 5K ND in the 5-4 win over the Guardians) trails third-ranked Pedro Martinez (244.8) by 5.5 on the “all-time” career points list. (It should be noted that Martinez’s career total is only from 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. If his entire career from 1992 were tracked, Martinez is projected to have 270 points.)
Scherzer ranks second among active players (and among active NL pitchers) in career points, behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (265.4).
Scherzer has 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 24th among NL pitchers.
Also notable—Mets pitcher Justin Verlander now has 234.6 career Box-Toppers points—fifth-most since 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Verlander (8IP 3H R 0BB 5K W in the 2-1 win over the Guardians) trails fourth-ranked player, teammate Max Scherzer (239.3), who also earned Player of the Game honors in the first game of the doubleheader against the Guardians.
Verlander ranks third among active players in career points and also ranks third among active NL pitchers.
Verlander now has 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 35th among NL pitchers.
Debut—In addition to Shuster, two other players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Romy Gonzalez of the White Sox (3B 3-3 R 2BI in the 5-2 win over the Royals) made his Major League debut Sept. 3, 2021, and was playing in his 65th career game.
Corbin Carroll of the Diamondbacks (HR 1-2 3R BI in the 8-3 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut Aug. 29, 2022, and was playing in his 76th career game.
Scoring—Valdez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Shuster earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. DeJong and Semien each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Player of the Game winners (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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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
| 5/21 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +12.0 | HOU 2, OAK 0 | Framber Valdez, (W 4‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| NL | +9.0 | ATL 3, SEA 2 | Jared Shuster, (W 1‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| +8.0 | NYM 2, CLE 1 | Justin Verlander, (W 2‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| +8.0 | `LAA 4, MIN 2 | Shohei Ohtani | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | ||
| BAT | +7.0 | STL 10, LAD 5 | Paul DeJong, SS | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +7.0 | `NYM 5, CLE 4 | Max Scherzer | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | TEX 13, COL 3 | Marcus Semien, 2B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | SD 7, BOS 0 | Michael Wacha, (W 5‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +3.1 | `PHI 2, CHC 1 | Taijuan Walker | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | BAL 8, TOR 3 (F/11) | Cedric Mullins, CF | 6 | 1 | 5 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | CHW 5, KC 2 | Romy González, SS‑2B | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | SF 7, MIA 5 | J.D. Davis, DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | ARI 8, PIT 3 | Corbin Carroll, RF | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | WSH 6, DET 4 | Hunter Harvey, (S 2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.2 | `NYY 4, CIN 1 | Luis Severino | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +2.0 | MIL 6, TB 4 | Rowdy Tellez, 1B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 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. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2023 (’23). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’22-23), the period 2018-2023 (’18-23) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2023 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2022 total (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’23 | ’22‑23 | ’18‑23 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 8.4 | 33.1 | 63.7 | 63.7 | -16.3 |
| Wacha, Michael 3276 | pi sp | sd nl | 6.0 | 14.4 | 29.5 | 56.2 | -2.4 |
| Valdez, Framber 4048 | pi sp | hou al | 4.0 | 20.0 | 35.4 | 35.4 | -12.0 |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 | 13.0 | 82.6 | 239.3 | -7.0 |
| Semien, Marcus 3302 | 2b | tex al | 3.0 | 10.0 | 29.4 | 41.4 | -4.0 |
| DeJong, Paul 3827 | ss | stl nl | 2.5 | 4.0 | 17.5 | 22.0 | +1.0 |
| Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.0 | 28.0 | 80.6 | 234.6 | -24.0 |
| Tellez, Rowdy 4078 | dh 1b | mil nl | 2.0 | 10.2 | 21.2 | 21.2 | -6.2 |
| Walker, Taijuan 3453 | pi sp | phi nl | 2.0 | 9.7 | 25.1 | 51.5 | -5.7 |
| Harvey, Hunter 4698 | pi mr cp | dc nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +1.0 |
| Shuster, Jared 4816 | pi sp | atl nl | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | +1.7 |
| Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 1.0 | 7.7 | 28.4 | 54.5 | -5.7 |
| Mullins, Cedric 4100 | cf | bal al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0.0 |
| Davis, J.D. 4146 | dh 3b lf | sf nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +1.0 |
| Carroll, Corbin 4818 | rf | ari nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Gonzalez, Romy 4817 | ss 2b | chi al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Monday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHW | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CLE | Gaddis, Hunter 4764 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| TEX | Dunning, Dane 4317 | 0.0 | 4.4 | 9.4 | 9.4 |
| PIT | Ortiz, Luis 4738 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| ARI | Henry, Tommy* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| PHI | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | 3.0 | 17.4 | 59.2 | 71.9 |
| STL | Montgomery, Jordan 3814 | 1.0 | 10.4 | 21.1 | 27.1 |
| CIN | Williamson, Brandon 4813 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| TOR | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | 5.7 | 16.7 | 45.5 | 49.5 |
| TB | Kelley, Trevor 4631 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| LAD | Stone, Gavin* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ATL | Morton, Charlie 2503 | 2.0 | 12.4 | 60.7 | 96.1 |
| DET | Lorenzen, Michael 3479 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 9.5 | 15.5 |
| KC | Singer, Brady 4337 | 1.0 | 12.7 | 19.7 | 19.7 |
| HOU | Javier, Cristian 4290 | 5.0 | 20.7 | 28.7 | 28.7 |
| MIL | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | 4.7 | 20.1 | 48.9 | 48.9 |
| SF | Cobb, Alex 2916 | 3.0 | 9.7 | 21.1 | 60.9 |
| MIN | Ober, Bailey 4441 | 2.7 | 5.7 | 12.4 | 12.4 |
| MIA | Cabrera, Edward 4641 | 1.0 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 7.4 |
| COL | Anderson, Chase 3328 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 16.4 | 42.8 |
| BOS | Houck, Tanner 4342 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| LAA | Silseth, Chase 4605 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| OAK | Muller, Kyle 4454 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| SEA | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | 3.7 | 13.7 | 50.1 | 58.5 |
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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