Box-Toppers Toppers Box
Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.▪️ Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.
▪️ Box-Toppers points of the day’s top players.
▪️ A B-T look at upcoming pitching matchups.
Mets pitcher Max Scherzer is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Saturday’s spring training games.
Scherzer struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 2-0 win over the Astros.
Scherzer would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day if this were a regular season game. Because it’s a preseason exhibition game, no Box-Toppers points are awarded.
Scherzer earned 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 24th among National League pitchers. His 236.3 career Box-Toppers points is fourth-most since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began and second among active players behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (259.3).
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan struck out six over five innings, allowing one run, two hits and two walks, in the 3-1 win over the Red Sox.
McClanahan would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day if this were a regular season game.
McClanahan earned 16.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022, fourth among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Stuart Fairchild of the Reds homered, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-1 win over the Athletics.
Stuart made his regular season Major League debut July 6, 2021, and has appeared in 58 regular season games, but has yet to earn his first regular season Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor and so has 0.0 career Box-Toppers points.
American League Batter of the Day—Whit Merrifield of the Blue Jays homered and went 2-for-2, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 5-2 win over the Yankees.
Merrifield earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022.
Notable—Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara has the most 2022 Box-Toppers points among the 17 who earned Player of the Game honors in Saturday’s spring training games.
Alcantara (5.2IP 2H 0R 2BB 5K W in the 7-0 win over the Nationals) earned 21.1 Box-Toppers points in 2022, third overall and first among NL pitchers.
Also notable—Four players each earned their second Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor of the 2023 spring training season Saturday:
Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller (4.2IP 3H R 0BB 7K W in the 7-4 win over the Twins) was also Player of the Game March 7.
Red Sox pitcher Kutter Crawford (4.2IP 3H 0R 2BB 5K W in the 9-6 win over the Orioles) was also Player of the Game March 5.
Franmil Reyes of the Royals (HR 1-2 2R 3BI in the 8-5 win over the Rockies) was also Player of the Game Feb. 26.
David Dahl of the Padres (2B 2-2 R 2BI in the 11-6 win over the Brewers) was also Player of the Game Feb. 28.
Box-Toppers tracks spring training games between two Major League teams and does not track World Baseball Classic games or other games that involve non-Major League teams. In Saturday’s 17 spring training games (see chart below for game details), 15 who earned Player of the Game honors have earned Box-Toppers points in the past (see those players here); the remaining two 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, Scherzer would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and McClanahan would have earned 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Fairchild and Merrifield would have each earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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).Back to top
| 3/18 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +10.0 | NYM 2, HOU 0 | Max Scherzer, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| +6.2 | MIA 7, WSH 0 | Sandy Alcantara, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| +6.2 | PIT 7, MIN 4 | Mitch Keller, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| +6.2 | SF 5, CHC 1 | Anthony DeSclafani, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| AL | +5.0 | TB 3, BOS 1 | Shane McClanahan, (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| +5.0 | STL 8, DET 4 | Matthew Liberatore, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +4.2 | BOS 9, BAL 6 | Kutter Crawford, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| +4.1 | CLE 5, SEA 4 | Zach Plesac, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | CIN 7, OAK 1 | Stuart Fairchild, CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | ATL 5, PHI 1 | Orlando Arcia, SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | TOR 5, NYY 2 | Whit Merrifield, 2B | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | KC 8, COL 5 | Franmil Reyes, LF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | COL 6, KC 3 | Mike Moustakas, DH | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | SD 11, MIL 6 | David Dahl, RF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | TEX 6, LAA 2 | Ezequiel Duran, PR‑LF | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | ARI 6, CLE 4 | Miguel Castro, (S 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | LAD 6, CHW 4 | Yency Almonte, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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 would 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.
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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 2023. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2022 (’22). Also shown is their point total for the period 2018-2022 (’18-22) and each players’ career point total. (Player of the Game winners not listed here have yet to earn Box-Toppers points during the regular season.)Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’23 | ’22 | ’18‑22 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | pi sp | fla nl | 0.0 | 21.1 | 40.2 | 40.2 |
| McClanahan, Shane 4399 | pi sp | tb al | 0.0 | 16.4 | 21.1 | 21.1 |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | nym nl | 0.0 | 10.0 | 79.6 | 236.3 |
| Plesac, Zach 4168 | pi sp | cle al | 0.0 | 5.7 | 21.2 | 21.2 |
| Crawford, Kutter 4660 | pi sp mr | bos al | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Merrifield, Whit 3855 | 2b rf ph | tor al | 0.0 | 3.0 | 14.0 | 18.0 |
| Keller, Mitch 4230 | pi sp | pit nl | 0.0 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Liberatore, Matthew 4662 | pi sp | stl nl | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Reyes, Franmil 4036 | rf dh | kc al | 0.0 | 1.5 | 18.2 | 18.2 |
| Arcia, Orlando 3717 | dh ss | atl nl | 0.0 | 1.0 | 9.2 | 11.7 |
| DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | pi sp | sf nl | 0.0 | 0.0 | 26.4 | 38.1 |
| Moustakas, Mike 2967 | 1b 2b | col nl | 0.0 | 0.0 | 11.5 | 38.7 |
| Almonte, Yency 4333 | pi mr | lad nl | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Dahl, David 3714 | rf cf lf | sd nl | 0.0 | 0.0 | 9.5 | 10.5 |
| Castro, Miguel 3893 | pi cp | ari nl | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Sunday’s pitching matchups
A Box-Toppers look at the upcoming day’s probable pitching matchups. Teams are paired below with visiting teams on top and home teams on the bottom. Each team’s starting pitcher is shown with their Box-Toppers point total from 2023 (’23), over a two-year period (’22-23), over a six-year period (’18-23) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’23 | ’22‑23 | ’18‑23 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DET | Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 34.8 | 54.2 |
| WSH | Kuhl, Chad 3687 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 9.7 | 15.7 |
| PIT | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 19.1 | 28.1 |
| BAL | Gibson, Kyle 3312 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 34.5 | 53.5 |
| TOR | Manoah, Alek 4424 | 0.0 | 13.1 | 23.8 | 23.8 |
| TB | Rasmussen, Drew 4547 | 0.0 | 11.1 | 13.1 | 13.1 |
| BOS | Pivetta, Nick 3825 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 27.4 | 35.4 |
| PHI | Ortiz, Luis F.* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ATL | Fried, Max 4011 | 0.0 | 16.0 | 44.5 | 44.5 |
| MIN | Maeda, Kenta 3609 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 33.5 | 53.5 |
| BAL | Wells, Tyler 4428 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| NYY | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | 0.0 | 15.4 | 95.4 | 138.3 |
| STL | Hudson, Dakota 4035 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 16.4 | 16.4 |
| NYM | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| HOU | Bielak, Brandon 4297 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| MIA | Cabrera, Edward 4641 | 0.0 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.4 |
| COL | Kauffmann, Karl* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CLE | Bieber, Shane 4005 | 0.0 | 13.7 | 56.3 | 56.3 |
| OAK | Fujinami, Shintaro* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| LAD | May, Dustin 4214 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 |
| SD | Teheran, Julio 3176 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 20.7 | 72.2 |
| CHC | Steele, Justin 4415 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| LAA | Davidson, Tucker 4429 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| SF | Webb, Logan 4258 | 0.0 | 9.7 | 27.9 | 27.9 |
| SEA | Miller, Bryce* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| TEX | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | 0.0 | 9.4 | 70.7 | 131.5 |
| KC | Greinke, Zack 1871 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 46.3 | 222.5 |
| ARI | Henry, Tommy* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| COL | Marquez, German 3788 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 47.5 | 52.2 |
| KC | Keller, Brad 4008 | 0.0 | 6.4 | 24.4 | 24.4 |
| CHW | Cease, Dylan 4231 | 0.0 | 20.4 | 36.8 | 36.8 |
| SEA | Ray, Robbie 3502 | 0.0 | 14.4 | 49.5 | 76.2 |
| CIN | Greene, Hunter 4651 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| MIL | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | 0.0 | 15.4 | 44.2 | 44.2 |
Games shown are spring training games between MLB teams. Doesn't include World Baseball Classic or games vs. non-MLB teams.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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