Paul DeJong of the Cardinals is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s spring training games.

Paul DeJong of the Cardinals is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s spring training games.

DeJong hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 29-8 win over the Nationals.

DeJong 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.

DeJong earned 2.5 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 13th among National League shortstops.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal struck out five over four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 7-1 win over the Phillies.

Skubal would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day in a regular season day. Skubal earned 8.7 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 27th among AL pitchers.

Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal is Box-Toppers AL Player of the Day in Wednesday’s spring training games.

American League Batter of the Day—Byron Buxton of the Twins hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in five runs, in the 9-4 win over the Pirates.

Buxton would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day in a regular season day. Buxton earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points in 2021.

Byron Buxton of the Twins is Box-Toppers AL Batter of the Day in Wednesday’s spring training games.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because the overall Player of the Day is NL batter Paul DeJong.

White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease is Box-Toppers Player of the Game is Wednesday’s spring training win over the Rangers.

Notable—White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease has the most 2021 Box-Toppers points among Wednesday’s Player of the Game winners.

Cease (4IP 2H 0R BB 3K W in the 7-0 win over the Rangers) earned 14.4 Box-Toppers points in 2021, fifth among AL pitchers.

There were 14 spring training games played Wednesday. Eleven who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday have earned Box-Toppers points in the past; the remaining three 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, DeJong would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Skubal would have earned 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Buxton would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL 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).





    3/30
    BTG
    Game
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  


    MLB
    +8.0
    STL 29, WSH 8
    Paul DeJong, SS
    3
    3
    3
    5
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +5.0
    LAD 12, CLE 1
    Eddy Alvarez, 3B
    2
    1
    2
    4
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    AL
    +5.0
    DET 7, PHI 1
    Tarik Skubal, (W 1‑0)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    4.0
    3
    0
    0
    1
    5
  

    
    +5.0
    SD 4, MIL 2
    Nick Martínez, (W 1‑0)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    4.0
    2
    0
    0
    1
    4
  

    
    +5.0
    ARI 9, COL 2
    Caleb Smith, (W 1‑0)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    3.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    +4.2
    TOR 11, NYY 3
    Trent Thornton, (W 1‑0)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    1.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    BAT
    +4.0
    MIN 9, PIT 4
    Bryon Buxton, CF
    4
    1
    2
    5
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +4.0
    CHW 7, TEX 0
    Dylan Cease, (W 1‑1)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    4.0
    2
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    +4.0
    BAL 7, TB 6
    Joey Krehbiel, (W 1‑0)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    +3.0
    OAK 5, CIN 4
    Dany Jiménez, (S 1)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    
    +2.0
    SF 9, KC 5
    Arquimedes Gamboa, SS
    4
    2
    2
    2
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +2.0
    CHC 8, SEA 5
    Nico Hoerner, SS
    3
    2
    2
    1
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +2.0
    BOS 10, ATL 7
    Bobby Dalbec, 1B
    2
    1
    2
    1
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +2.0
    HOU 5, NYM 3 (F/10)
    Michael Brantley, DH
    2
    1
    1
    2
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

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

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
Cease, Dylan 4231	pi sp	chi al	14.4	16.4	16.4
Skubal, Tarik 4414	pi sp	det al	8.7	8.7	8.7
Dalbec, Bobby 4403	1b	bos al	5.4	5.4	5.4
Smith, Caleb 3952	pi mr sp	ari nl	3.0	16.4	16.4
Brantley, Michael 2785	dh lf	hou al	3.0	6.5	27.9
DeJong, Paul 3827	ss	stl nl	2.5	18.0	18.0
Buxton, Byron 3604	cf	min al	1.5	9.5	15.2
Krehbiel, Joey 4562	pi mr	bal al	1.0	1.0	1.0
Thornton, Trent 4120	pi sp	tor al	0.0	8.7	8.7
Hoerner, Nico 4245	ss	chi nl	0.0	3.0	3.0
Martinez, Nick 3430	pi sp	sd nl	0.0	3.0	6.7

What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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Cardinals’ DeJong, Tigers’ Skubal top players in spring training games for Wednesday, March 30

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.