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.
▪️ Top 10 players in 2023 Box-Toppers points.
▪️ A B-T look at upcoming pitching matchups.
Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Burnes struck out eight over eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 7-1 win over the Diamondbacks.
Burnes earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season and is 21st in season player rankings.
He earned 15.4 points in 2022, 10th among NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Ryan Mountcastle of the Orioles hit two home runs—a grand-slam and a three-run shot—in the 12-8 win over the Athletics. Mountcastle went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in nine runs.
Mountcastle earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, his first points of the season and is 33rd in season player rankings.
Mountcastle had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +10.0, best for a batter so far in 2023, ranking just ahead of the +10.0 game score recorded April 1 by Trayce Thompson of the Dodgers (3HR 3-4 2R 8BI). Mountcastle’s game score ranks higher than Thompson’s because he had more runs batted in—nine vs. eight. It is the highest game score by a batters since May 19, 2022, when Trevor Story of the Red Sox recorded a +12.0 game score (3HR 4-4 5R 7BI in the 12-6 win over the Mariners).
While Mountcastle’s +10.0 game score is highest-ranked among all batters earning Player of the Game honors in 2023, it is 12th-highest overall, behind game scores recorded by pitchers 11 times. Rays pitcher Jeffrey Springs recorded the highest game score of 2023 by a Player of the Game winner so far (+17.0 on April 2). Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen has recorded two of the 11 highest game scores, the third-highest (+14.0 on April 9) and the 10th-highest (+11.0 on April 3).
National League Batter of the Day—Nelson Velazquez of the Cubs hit a grand slam and doubled, going 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 14-9 win over the Mariners.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day Tuesday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Ryan Mountcastle.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2023. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Tuesday, April 11.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rasmussen, Drew 4547 | pi sp | tb al | 4.0 |
| 2 | Springs, Jeffrey 4372 | pi sp | tb al | 3.7 |
| 3 | Reynolds, Bryan 4169 | cf lf | pit nl | 3.7 |
| 4 | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | pi sp | fla nl | 3.7 |
| 5 | Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | chi al | 3.0 |
| 6 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | tex al | 3.0 |
| 7 | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | pi sp | sea al | 2.7 |
| 8 | Freeland, Kyle 3763 | pi sp | col nl | 2.7 |
| 9 | Stroman, Marcus 3327 | pi sp | chi nl | 2.7 |
| 10 | DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | pi sp | sf nl | 2.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Back to top
Rankings—Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
deGrom (7IP 7H 2R 0BB 9K ND in the 8-5, 10-inning win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.
deGrom now has 134.5 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 35th place among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. With his 1.0 point Tuesday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg (133.8) and free agent pitcher David Price (134.0). deGrom rises to 11th among signed, active players in career points and is fourth among active AL pitchers.
Notable—Braves pitcher Michael Tonkin earns his first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor in nearly seven years Tuesday.
Tonkin (3IP R 0H 0BB 3K W in the 7-6 win over the Reds) last earned Player of the Game honors June 12, 2016, when he was with the Twins.
Tonkin has played in Japan, in the independent leagues and in Mexico, in the intervening years.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Blue Jays pitcher Zach Pop (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 9-3 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut April 3, 2021, and was playing in his 91st career game.
Luis Campusano of the Padres (2B 3-4 2R 0BI in the 4-2 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut Sept. 4, 2020, and was playing in his 32nd career game.
Scoring—Burnes earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Mountcastle earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Velazquez earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Player of the Game winners (listed in the chart below) earn 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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
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
| 4/11 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +13.0 | MIL 7, ARI 1 | Corbin Burnes, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| AL | +10.0 | BAL 12, OAK 8 | Ryan Mountcastle, 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +9.2 | `MIN 4, CHW 3 (F/10) | Pablo López | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ||
| +7.0 | LAA 2, WSH 0 | Shohei Ohtani, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +6.0 | CHC 14, SEA 9 | Nelson Velázquez, RF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +6.0 | TB 7, BOS 2 | Shane McClanahan, (W 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | ||
| +5.2 | `SF 5, LAD 0 | Alex Wood | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| +5.0 | ATL 7, CIN 6 | Michael Tonkin, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +5.0 | `TEX 8, KC 5 (F/10) | Jacob deGrom | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | ||
| +4.2 | `STL 9, COL 6 | Genesis Cabrera | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.2 | TOR 9, DET 3 | Zach Pop, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | MIA 8, PHI 4 | Luis Arraez, 2B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | NYY 11, CLE 2 | Anthony Rizzo, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | SD 4, NYM 2 | Luis Campusano, C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | PIT 7, HOU 4 | Rodolfo Castro, SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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.
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.
Back to top
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. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2023 (’23). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’22-23), the period 2018-2023 (’18-23) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2023 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2022 total (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’23 | ’22‑23 | ’18‑23 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | tex al | 3.0 | 12.4 | 73.7 | 134.5 | -6.4 |
| Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp | ana al | 2.0 | 26.7 | 57.3 | 57.3 | -22.7 |
| McClanahan, Shane 4399 | pi sp | tb al | 2.0 | 18.4 | 23.1 | 23.1 | -14.4 |
| Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi sp | mil nl | 2.0 | 17.4 | 46.2 | 46.2 | -13.4 |
| Lopez, Pablo 4028 | pi sp | min al | 2.0 | 12.7 | 35.8 | 35.8 | -8.7 |
| Mountcastle, Ryan 4325 | 1b | bal al | 1.7 | 6.7 | 11.2 | 11.2 | -3.3 |
| Velazquez, Nelson 4694 | rf | chi nl | 1.5 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | sf nl | 1.0 | 8.0 | 26.0 | 61.1 | -6.0 |
| Arraez, Luis 4219 | 2b 1b | fla nl | 1.0 | 6.5 | 13.2 | 13.2 | -4.5 |
| Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | nyy al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 22.5 | 65.0 | -3.0 |
| Castro Rodolfo 4475 | ss 3b dh | pit nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | -1.0 |
| Cabrera, Genesis 4348 | pi mr cp | stl nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Tonkin, Michael 3615 | pi mr cp | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | +1.0 |
| Campusano, Luis 4770 | ca | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Pop, Zach 4769 | pi mr | tor al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
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.
Back to top
A Box-Toppers look at Wednesday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOU | Urquidy, Jose 4194 | 0.0 | 8.0 | 21.1 | 21.1 |
| PIT | Hill, Rich 2215 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 28.4 | 79.2 |
| CHW | Giolito, Lucas 3900 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 40.1 | 43.1 |
| MIN | Gray, Sonny 3259 | 2.0 | 14.1 | 48.3 | 89.5 |
| NYY | Schmidt, Clarke 4581 | 0.0 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| CLE | Battenfield, Peyton* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SD | Snell, Blake 3688 | 0.0 | 13.1 | 65.4 | 74.4 |
| NYM | Megill, Tylor 4464 | 1.0 | 6.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 |
| SEA | Gilbert, Logan 4439 | 0.0 | 14.1 | 21.1 | 21.1 |
| CHC | Stroman, Marcus 3327 | 2.7 | 8.4 | 29.4 | 57.2 |
| STL | Flaherty, Jack 3971 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 42.3 | 42.3 |
| COL | Urena, Jose 3492 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 13.7 | 23.4 |
| MIL | Junk, Janson 4697 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| ARI | Jameson, Drey 4742 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| MIA | Cabrera, Edward 4641 | 0.0 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.4 |
| PHI | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | 0.0 | 14.4 | 56.2 | 68.9 |
| WSH | Gore, MacKenzie 4582 | 1.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| LAA | Canning, Griffin 4134 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| OAK | Waldichuk, Ken 4757 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| BAL | Kremer, Dean 4330 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 11.4 | 11.4 |
| BOS | Sale, Chris 2806 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 33.1 | 144.6 |
| TB | Bradley, Taj* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| DET | Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 34.8 | 54.2 |
| TOR | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | 2.0 | 14.7 | 36.1 | 71.4 |
| CIN | Greene, Hunter 4651 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| ATL | Strider, Spencer 4626 | 1.0 | 14.4 | 14.4 | 14.4 |
| KC | Keller, Brad 4008 | 0.0 | 6.4 | 24.4 | 24.4 |
| TEX | Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 33.8 | 59.6 |
| LAD | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | 0.0 | 10.7 | 52.5 | 259.3 |
| SF | Cobb, Alex 2916 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 18.1 | 57.9 |
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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, game-by-game view.
Back to top