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.
Reds pitcher Graham Ashcraft is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s spring training games.
Ashcraft struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Padres.
Ashcraft 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.
Ashcraft earned 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 80th among National League pitchers.
This is Ashcraft’s second Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor of 2023 spring training. He also did it March 17.
American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher George Kirby struck out nine over five scoreless and hitless innings, allowing one walk, in the 5-1 win over the Dodgers.
Kirby would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Kirby earned 11.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 19th among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Mickey Moniak of the Angels hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and doubled, in the 10-9 win over the Rockies. Moniak went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in six runs.
Moniak made his regular season Major League debut Sept. 16, 2020, and has played in 66 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.
National League Batter of the Day—Orlando Arcia of the Braves hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in four runs in the 5-3 win over the Tigers.
Arcia earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2022.
This is Arcia’s second Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor of 2023 spring training. He also did it March 18.
Notable—Twins pitcher Joe Ryan has the most 2022 Box-Toppers points among Wednesday’s spring training Player of the Game winners.
Ryan (5IP 2H 0R BB 5K W in the 11-0 win over the Red Sox) earned 14.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 10th among AL pitchers.
Also notable—Rays pitcher Jeffrey Springs earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the third time during 2023 spring training Wednesday.
Springs (4.1IP 2H 0R BB 8K W in the 6-2 win over the Phillies) previously won 2023 spring training Player of the Game honors on Feb. 28 and March 16. He was Player of the Day on March 16. He earned 10.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 24th among AL pitchers.
In Wednesday’s 14 spring training games, one ended in a tie in which no Player of the Game honor was awarded (see chart below for game details). In the remaining 13, 11 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, Ashcraft would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kirby would have earned 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Moniak and Arcia would have each earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s 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).Back to top
| 3/22 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +15.0 | CIN 4, SD 1 | Graham Ashcraft, (W 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| AL | +13.0 | SEA 5, LAD 1 | George Kirby, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| +11.0 | WSH 5, NYY 2 | MacKenzie Gore, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| +9.1 | TB 6, PHI 2 | Jeffrey Springs, (W 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | +8.0 | LAA 10, COL 9 | Mickey Moniak, LF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +7.0 | MIN 11, BOS 0 | Joe Ryan, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +5.0 | KC 4, CHW 3 | Collin Snider, (S 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | ATL 5, DET 3 | Orlando Arcia, SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | TEX 2, CHW 0 | Nathan Eovaldi, (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +2.2 | SF 4, TEX 0 | Ross Stripling, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +2.0 | CHC 4, OAK 2 | Cody Bellinger, CF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | HOU 5, NYM 2 | Mauricio Dubón, DH | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | TOR 2, BAL 1 | Jose Berríos, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 0.0 | STL 0, MIA 0 | N/A | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan, Joe 4539 | pi sp | min al | 0.0 | 14.7 | 17.4 | 17.4 |
| Stripling, Ross 3629 | pi sp | sf nl | 0.0 | 12.0 | 32.4 | 38.1 |
| Kirby, George 4595 | pi sp | sea al | 0.0 | 11.4 | 11.4 | 11.4 |
| Springs, Jeffrey 4372 | pi sp | tb al | 0.0 | 10.7 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | tor al | 0.0 | 9.0 | 49.9 | 58.9 |
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | tex al | 0.0 | 6.0 | 33.8 | 59.6 |
| Gore, MacKenzie 4582 | pi sp | dc nl | 0.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| Ashcraft, Graham 4645 | pi sp | cin nl | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Bellinger, Cody 3781 | cf | chi nl | 0.0 | 2.0 | 15.9 | 24.6 |
| Arcia, Orlando 3717 | dh ss | atl nl | 0.0 | 1.0 | 9.2 | 11.7 |
| Dubon, Mauricio 4243 | ss | hou al | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Thursday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOS | Winckowski, Josh* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| PIT | Oviedo, Johan 4442 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| TOR | Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 17.4 | 17.4 |
| MIN | Mahle, Tyler 3929 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 29.7 | 29.7 |
| DET | Wentz, Joey 4639 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| PHI | Falter, Bailey 4473 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| NYM | Vasil, Mike* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ATL | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYY | Cortes, Nestor 4160 | 0.0 | 15.4 | 22.4 | 22.4 |
| STL | Matz, Steven 3516 | 0.0 | 5.4 | 27.8 | 44.4 |
| ARI | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CHC | Wesneski, Hayden 4731 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| SF | Manaea, Sean 3637 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 36.1 | 50.2 |
| CHW | Kopech, Michael 4385 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 |
| LAD | Grove, Michael* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ARI | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| KC | Singer, Brady 4337 | 0.0 | 11.7 | 18.7 | 18.7 |
| SD | Weathers, Ryan 4388 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| SD | Groome, Jay* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIL | Wilson, Bryse 4048 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| DET | Holton, Tyler* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BAL | Rodriguez, Grayson* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| WSH | Williams, Trevor 3792 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 18.7 | 23.7 |
| HOU | Garcia, Luis 4423 | 0.0 | 9.7 | 19.7 | 19.7 |
| SEA | Flexen, Chris 4368 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| CIN | Williamson, Brandon* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CLE | Quantrill, Cal 4195 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 |
| SF | DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 26.4 | 38.1 |
| OAK | Sears, JP 4627 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| TEX | Ragans, Cole* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
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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