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.
Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Thursday’s spring training games.
Kikuchi struck out nine over five scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 3-0 win over the Twins.
Kikuchi 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.
Kikuchi earned 5.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 51st among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Bailey Falter struck out five over five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Tigers.
Falter would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Falter earned 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 79th among NL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Julio Rodriguez of the Mariners homered and hit two doubles, going 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 17-6 win over the Reds.
Rodriguez earned 7.5 Box-Toppers points in 2022, eighth among AL batters and most among Thursday’s spring training Player of the Game winners.
National League Batter of the Day—Evan Longoria of the Diamondbacks doubled and went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in one run, in the 11-5 win over the Dodgers.
Longoria earned 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022 with the Giants, 41st among NL batters. Longoria has 60.0 career Box-Toppers points, which is eighth among active NL batters and most among Thursday’s spring training Player of the Game winners.
Notable—In Thursday’s 15 spring training games, four ended in a tie in which no Player of the Game honor was awarded (see chart below for game details). In the remaining 11, seven who earned Player of the Game honors have earned Box-Toppers points in the past (see those players here); the remaining four 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, Kikuchi would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Falter would have earned 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Rodriguez and Longoria would have each earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s 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).Back to top
| 3/23 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +10.0 | TOR 3, MIN 0 | Yusei Kikuchi, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| +9.2 | CLE 10, SF 0 | Cal Quantrill, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| NL | +8.0 | PHI 4, DET 1 | Bailey Falter, (W 1‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| BAT | +6.0 | SEA 17, CIN 6 | Julio Rodríguez, CF | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +3.0 | ARI 11, LAD 5 | Evan Longoria, 3B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | SD 6, KC 3 | Luis Campusano, C | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | CHC 11, ARI 1 | Miles Mastrobuoni, 2B‑RF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | MIL 4, SD 2 | Victor Caratini, C | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | SF 6, CHW 3 | Sean Manaea, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | BOS 7, PIT 4 | Joe Jacques, (S 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +2.0 | HOU 5, WSH 4 | Jeremy Peña, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | NYY 1, STL 1 | N/A | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | NYM 2, ATL 2 | N/A | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | DET 8, BAL 8 | N/A | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | OAK 7, TEX 7 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rodriguez, Julio 4590 | cf | sea al | 0.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 |
| Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | sf nl | 0.0 | 6.0 | 36.1 | 50.2 |
| Quantrill, Cal 4195 | pi sp | cle al | 0.0 | 6.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 |
| Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 | pi sp | tor al | 0.0 | 5.7 | 17.4 | 17.4 |
| Longoria, Evan 2423 | 3b | ari nl | 0.0 | 4.0 | 11.0 | 60.0 |
| Falter, Bailey 4473 | pi sp | phi nl | 0.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Caratini, Victor 4026 | ca | mil nl | 0.0 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default view.
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A Box-Toppers look at Friday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYM | Scherzer, Max 2588 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 79.6 | 236.3 |
| TB | Patino, Luis 4308 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| MIN | Lopez, Pablo 4028 | 0.0 | 10.7 | 33.8 | 33.8 |
| NYY | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | 0.0 | 15.4 | 95.4 | 138.3 |
| SF | Beck, Tristan* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| KC | Keller, Brad 4008 | 0.0 | 6.4 | 24.4 | 24.4 |
| TEX | Heaney, Andrew 3515 | 0.0 | 8.0 | 31.1 | 36.1 |
| CHC | Stroman, Marcus 3327 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 26.7 | 54.5 |
| CHW | Cease, Dylan 4231 | 0.0 | 20.4 | 36.8 | 36.8 |
| OAK | Muller, Kyle 4454 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| MIL | Miley, Wade 3006 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 23.4 | 63.5 |
| LAD | Urias, Julio 3652 | 0.0 | 19.4 | 45.5 | 52.2 |
| CIN | Greene, Hunter 4651 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| ARI | Gallen, Zac 4171 | 0.0 | 18.7 | 34.4 | 34.4 |
| SD | Snell, Blake 3688 | 0.0 | 13.1 | 65.4 | 74.4 |
| LAA | Canning, Griffin 4134 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| COL | Marquez, German 3788 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 47.5 | 52.2 |
| MIL | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | 0.0 | 15.4 | 44.2 | 44.2 |
| PIT | Contreras, Roansy 4574 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| DET | Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 34.8 | 54.2 |
| STL | Mikolas, Miles 3034 | 0.0 | 12.1 | 26.8 | 29.5 |
| WSH | Kuhl, Chad 3687 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 9.7 | 15.7 |
| ATL | Dodd, Dylan* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BOS | Pivetta, Nick 3825 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 27.4 | 35.4 |
| NYY | Gomez, Yoendrys* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BAL | Gibson, Kyle 3312 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 34.5 | 53.5 |
| PHI | Dominguez, Seranthony 3968 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| TOR | Manoah, Alek 4424 | 0.0 | 13.1 | 23.8 | 23.8 |
| HOU | Valdez, Framber 4048 | 0.0 | 16.0 | 31.4 | 31.4 |
| MIA | Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | 0.0 | 21.1 | 40.2 | 40.2 |
| CHC | Sampson, Adrian 4147 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| CLE | Plesac, Zach 4168 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 21.2 | 21.2 |
| OAK | Miller, Mason* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SEA | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 46.4 | 54.8 |
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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