Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s spring training games.

Kelly struck out eight over three scoreless, hitless innings, allowing no walks, in the 5-3 win over the Giants. Kelly did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Giants tied the game after he exited.

Kelly would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day if if this were a regular season game. Because it’s a preseason exhibition game, no Box-Toppers points are awarded.

Kelly earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 79th among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Mitch Garver of the Rangers hit two home runs and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 14-5 win over the White Sox.

Garver would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day in a regular season day. Garver earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 17th among AL catchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Elly De La Cruz of the Reds hit a grand slam and went 1-for-2, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 12-8 win over the Brewers.

De La Cruz would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day in a regular season day. De La Cruz has yet to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in a regular season game and so has 0.0 career Box-Toppers points.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Mitch Garver.

Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s win over the Nationals.

Notable—Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara has the most 2021 Box-Toppers points among Wednesday’s Player of the Game winners.

Alcantara (4IP H R 0BB 4K ND in the 3-2 win over the Nationals) earned 9.7 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 27th among NL pitchers.

It was also Alcantara’s second Player of the Game honor of 2021’s spring training. He was also Player of the Game March 18, in the 8-3 win over the Nationals.

Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s win over the Orioles.

Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees also had his second Player of the Game honor of 2021’s spring training Wednesday. Stanton (HR 2-3 2R 2BI in the 7-1 win over the Orioles) was also Player of the Game March 21, in the 5-2 win over the Phillies.

There were 14 spring training games played Wednesday. Two ended in a tie, so no Player of the Game honors were awarded in those. Of the remaining 12 games, seven who earned Player of the Game honors have earned Box-Toppers points in the past; the remaining five 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, Kelly would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Garver would have earned 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. De La Cruz would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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).





    3/23
    BTG
    Game
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  


    MLB
    +11.0
    `ARI 5, SF 3
    Merrill Kelly
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    3.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    8
  

    
    +7.0
    `SD 3, LAA 0
    MacKenzie Gore
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    0
    
    3.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    5
  

    AL
    +5.0
    TEX 14, CHW 5
    Mitch Garver, C
    3
    3
    2
    3
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +5.0
    `MIA 3, WSH 2
    Sandy Alcantara
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    4.0
    1
    1
    1
    0
    4
  

    
    +5.0
    `PHI 8, TOR 7
    Nick Nelson
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    +4.0
    HOU 10, STL 3
    Yuli Gurriel, 1B
    2
    2
    2
    2
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    BAT
    +4.0
    CIN 12, MIL 8
    Elly De La Cruz, SS
    2
    1
    1
    4
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +3.0
    KC 8, COL 4
    Edward Olivares, CF
    3
    2
    2
    2
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +3.0
    NYY 7, BAL 1
    Giancarlo Stanton, DH
    3
    2
    2
    2
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +3.0
    MIN 10, BOS 4
    Nick Gordon, 2B
    2
    1
    2
    2
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +3.0
    LAD 6, CLE 2
    Miguel Vargas, 1B
    2
    1
    1
    3
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +1.0
    CHC 5, OAK 4
    Andy Weber, 2B
    2
    0
    1
    2
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    0.0
    TB 7, ATL 7
    N/A
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    0.0
    PIT 6, DET 6
    N/A
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

No points are awarded for exhibition games, but were this an actual regular season day, this is how points would be awarded:

BTP—Box-Toppers points

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 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 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 2022. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2021 (’21). Also shown is their point total for the period 2017-2021 (’17-21) and their career point total. (Player of the Game winners not listed here have yet to earn Box-Toppers points during the regular season.)

Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’21	’17‑21	Career
Alcantara, Sandy 4061	pi sp	fla nl	9.7	19.1	19.1
Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	dh	nyy al	6.0	28.7	67.9
Gurriel, Yuli 3796	1b	hou al	3.5	15.4	15.4
Kelly, Merrill 4143	pi sp	ari nl	3.0	15.0	15.0
Garver, Mitch 3950	ca	tex al	1.5	16.5	16.5
Gordon, Nick 4557	lf rf	min al	1.0	1.0	1.0
Nelson, Nick 4279	pi mr	phi nl	0.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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Diamondbacks’ Kelly, Rangers’ Garver top players in Wednesday’s spring training games

Box‑Toppers Player of the Game winners

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s Player of the Game winners

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Box‑Toppers Player of the Game winners

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s Player of the Game winners

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Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.