Darin Ruf of the Phillies is Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day for Wednesday.
Ruf hit two homers and went 2-for-2, driving in three runs, in the 8-4 win over the Orioles. Ruf had 1.5 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Phillies.
American League Player of the Day—Alex Gordon of the Royals homered and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-5 win over the Brewers. Gordon had 4.5 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Royals.
Notable—Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies, who led National League batters in Box-Toppers points in 2015, was Player of the Game in the 8-6 win over the Giants. Gonzalez hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice. Gonzalez led NL batters in 2015 with 11.5 Box-Toppers points.
Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Ruf would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gordon would earn 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Note—Sixteen spring training games were scheduled for Tuesday—14 are listed below. Two games are not included because they ended in a tie (Yankees vs. Mets and Dodgers vs. Angels).
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 3/8 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 5.0 | Phillies | Darin Ruf 1B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AL | 4.0 | Royals | Alex Gordon LF | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Tigers | Nate Schierholtz RF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Indians | Corey Kluber (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | `Rangers | César Ramos | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Red Sox | Blake Swihart DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Phillies | Cameron Rupp C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Rockies | Carlos González RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Mariners | Ed Lucas LF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Astros | José Altuve 2B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Ryan Goins SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Dbacks | Zach Borenstein RF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Athletics | Matt Chapman PH-3B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Marlins | Justin Bour 1B | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| ` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||