Astros pitcher Charlie Morton is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day on the final day of spring training.
2018 preseason team rankings
(Standings updated with current roster information on March 28.)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 | Diamondbacks | 118.3 | 108.1 | -10.2 |
| 11 | Mariners | 101.3 | 107.3 | 6.0 |
| 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 |
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. The regular season begins Thursday.
Morton struck out eight over 5 1/3 scoreless innnings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 8-1 win over the Brewers.
Morton had 7.7 Box-Toppers points in 2017, 27th among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Chris Stratton pitched five scoreless innings, allowing four hits, one walk and striking out three, in the 3-0 win over the Athletics. Stratton had 3.7 Box-Toppers points in 2017.
American League Batter of the Day—Daniel Vogelbach of the Mariners homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 5-3 win over the Rockies. Vogelbach has played in 24 regular season Major League games over the past two seasons, but has yet to earn his first regular season Player of the Game honor and so has no Box-Toppers points.
National League Batter of the Day—Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers went 2-for-2, scoring once, in the 4-3, five-inning win over the Angels. The game was called after a sewage leak at Dodgers Stadium. Grandal had 1.5 Box-Toppers points in 2017.
Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Morton would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Stratton would earn 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Vogelbach and Grandal would each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Note—Thirteen spring training games were scheduled for Tuesday—eight are listed below. Five 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)| 3/27 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.1 | HOU 8, MIL 1 | Charlie Morton (W, 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 6.0 | `DET 2, TB 1 | Matthew Boyd | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | `TOR 1, STL 0 | Joe Biagini | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | `MIN 3, WSH 1 | Jose Berrios | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | SEA 5, COL 3 | Daniel Vogelbach (DH) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| NL | 3.0 | SF 3, OAK 0 | Chris Stratton (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| 2.0 | BOS 4, CHC 2 | Jantzen Witte (1B) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | LAD 4, LAA 3 (F/5) | Yasmani Grandal (C) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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.