Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke is Monday’s Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day.
Box-Toppers is tracking several days of the 2018 spring training season to demonstrate the Box-Toppers player tracking metric and to prepare for the upcoming 2,430-game season.
2018 preseason team rankings
(Rangers rise from 14th to 13th place in preseason rankings Monday after re-signing Bartolo Colon and Trevor Plouffe. Colon had 4.7 Box-Toppers points in 2017 and Plouffe had 2.0, giving the Rangers a 6.7-point gain since Sunday. Standings updated with current roster information on March 27.)The Cleveland Indians are the top-ranked preseason team in Box-Toppers rankings. Players on their preseason roster accumulated 142.4 Box-Toppers points in the 2017 season. Shown below in the 2018 column is the accumulated 2017 Box-Toppers point total for each player on that team’s current roster. Also shown in the 2017 column is each team’s Box-Toppers point total at the end of last season. The final column (+/-) shows the change in team rosters’ Box-Toppers points from the end of last season until now.
| Teams | 2017 | 2018 | +/- | |
| 1 | Indians | 140.0 | 142.4 | 1.5 |
| 2 | Nationals | 135.3 | 140.3 | 5.0 |
| 3 | Dodgers | 138.9 | 132.9 | -6.0 |
| 4 | Twins | 99.2 | 128.5 | 29.3 |
| 5 | Brewers | 106.0 | 125.6 | 19.6 |
| 6 | Yankees | 121.7 | 122.9 | 1.2 |
| 7 | Cubs | 120.5 | 120.7 | 0.2 |
| 8 | Astros | 131.7 | 118.6 | -13.1 |
| 9 | Red Sox | 118.8 | 113.8 | -5.0 |
| 10 | Mariners | 101.3 | 107.3 | 6.0 |
| 11 | Diamondbacks | 118.3 | 107.1 | -11.2 |
| 12 | Mets | 75.0 | 106.5 | 31.5 |
| 13 | Rangers | 90.1 | 94.5 | 4.4 |
| 14 | Blue Jays | 81.1 | 93.0 | 11.9 |
| 15 | Rockies | 103.1 | 85.9 | -17.2 |
| 16 | Orioles | 91.9 | 84.3 | -7.6 |
| 17 | Cardinals | 92.4 | 81.4 | -11.0 |
| 18 | Giants | 73.6 | 80.4 | 6.8 |
| 19 | Phillies | 68.4 | 78.8 | 10.4 |
| 20 | Athletics | 74.1 | 78.8 | 4.7 |
| 21 | Angels | 92.2 | 72.5 | -19.7 |
| 22 | Pirates | 87.5 | 69.5 | -18.0 |
| 23 | Padres | 74.0 | 69.3 | -4.7 |
| 24 | Reds | 82.2 | 68.4 | -13.8 |
| 25 | Braves | 74.7 | 66.0 | -8.7 |
| 26 | Royals | 104.5 | 63.4 | -41.1 |
| 27 | Marlins | 85.7 | 56.9 | -28.8 |
| 28 | Tigers | 48.4 | 51.8 | 3.4 |
| 29 | Rays | 93.0 | 50.6 | -42.4 |
| 30 | White Sox | 40.1 | 48.7 | 8.6 |
Greinke struck out four over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 7-0 win over the Indians.
Greinke had 20.1 Box-Toppers points in 2017, eighth among all players and fourth among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Sonny Gray struck out seven over five innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 5-1 win over the Braves.
Gray had 8.4 Box-Toppers points in 2017, 23rd among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Tucker of the Astros hit a grand slam in his only at bat in the 5-2 win over the Brewers. Tucker has yet to make his regular season Major League debut and so has no Box-Toppers points.
National League Batter of the Day—No NL batter earned Player of the Game honors Monday, so there is no NL Batter of the Day.
Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Greinke would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gray would earn 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Tucker would earn 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Note—Fifteen spring training games were scheduled for Monday—eight are listed below. Seven games are not listed either because they ended in a tie, were against a minor league opponent or were cancelled.
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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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (BTG)| 3/26 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | ARI 7, CLE 0 | Zack Greinke (W, 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| AL | 7.0 | NYY 5, ATL 1 | Sonny Gray (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | |
| 6.0 | LAA 4, LAD 1 | Matt Shoemaker (W, 2‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 6.0 | `STL 5, TOR 3 | Michael Wacha | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | HOU 5, MIL 2 | Kyle Tucker (LF) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 4.0 | OAK 9, SF 2 (F/10) | Mark Canha (1B) | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 2.0 | TEX 6, CIN 5 | Elvis Andrus (SS) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 4, CHC 2 | Ryan Brasier (S, 3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 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.
Box-Toppers
Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.
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. 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.