Justin Upton of the Angels is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Thursday’s spring training games.

Justin Upton of the Angels is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Thursday’s spring training games.

Upton hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, going 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 10-5 win over the Brewers.

Upton 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.

Upton earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 61st among American League outfielders.

National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Zach Eflin struck out three over four scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 10-3 win over the Tigers.

Eflin would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day in a regular season day. Eflin earned 3.7 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 78th among NL pitchers.

Phillies pitcher Zach Eflin is Box-Toppers NL Player of the Day in Thursday’s spring training games.

National League Batter of the Day—Luis Gonzalez of the Giants homered and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 13-2 win over the Rockies.

Gonzalez would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day in a regular season day. Gonzalez 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 Player of the Day is AL batter Justin Upton.

Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Thursday’s spring training win over the Tigers.

Notable—Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah has the most 2021 Box-Toppers points among Thursday’s Player of the Game winners.

Manoah (4IP H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 5-3 win over the Tigers) earned 10.7 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 15th among AL pitchers.

There were 14 spring training games played Wednesday. One ended in a tie, so no Player of the Game honors were awarded in that game. Of the remaining 13 games, eight 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, Upton would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Eflin would have earned 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Gonzalez would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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).





    3/31
    BTG
    Game
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  


    MLB
    +7.0
    LAA 10, MIL 5
    Justin Upton, LF
    3
    2
    2
    6
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +6.0
    TOR 5, DET 3
    Alek Manoah, (W 1‑0)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    4.0
    1
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    NL
    +5.2
    PHI 5, NYY 3
    Zach Eflin, (W 1‑0)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    3.2
    0
    0
    0
    1
    3
  

    BAT
    +5.0
    SF 13, COL 2
    Luis González, LF
    3
    2
    3
    3
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +4.0
    SEA 3, CLE 2
    Julio Rodríguez, CF
    2
    3
    2
    1
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +4.0
    WSH 7, NYM 3
    Joey Meneses, 1B
    1
    1
    1
    3
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +4.0
    BOS 4, MIN 3
    Derek Holland, (W 1‑0)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    +3.0
    ARI 8, SD 2
    Jake Hager, 2B
    4
    2
    2
    3
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +3.0
    MIA 7, STL 4
    Jazz Chisholm Jr., 2B
    3
    1
    1
    4
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +2.0
    TEX 8, LAD 2
    Corey Seager, SS
    2
    1
    1
    2
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +1.0
    TB 5, ATL 1
    Randy Arozarena, LF
    4
    0
    3
    2
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +1.0
    KC 5, OAK 4
    Vinnie Pasquantino, 1B
    4
    1
    2
    2
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +1.0
    CHW 8, CIN 2
    Tim Anderson, SS
    3
    1
    2
    1
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    0.0
    BAL 4, PIT 4
    N/A
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

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
Manoah, Alek 4424	pi sp	tor al	10.7	10.7	10.7
Anderson, Tim 3659	ss	chi al	6.5	20.5	25.0
Arozarena, Randy 4331	lf dh	tb al	4.0	5.5	5.5
Eflin, Zach 3679	pi sp	phi nl	3.7	23.8	27.8
Chisholm, Jazz Jr. 4364	ss 2b	fla nl	3.0	4.0	4.0
Seager, Corey 3587	ss	tex al	2.0	14.5	20.0
Upton, Justin 2411	lf	ana al	1.5	14.0	65.1
Holland, Derek 2634	pi mr sp	bos al	1.0	13.0	58.8

What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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Angels’ Upton, Phillies’ Eflin top players in spring training games for Thursday, March 31

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.