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.
Willson Contreras of the Cardinals is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Contreras hit two three-run home runs, going 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 16-8 win over the Dodgers.
Contreras earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and is 135th among all players, 27th among National League batters.
This is the sixth time this season a batter has won overall Player of the Day honors. On the other 45 days this season, a pitcher won Player of the Day honors. The other five times a batter won Player of the Day honors in 2023:
April 1: Trayce Thompson of the Dodgers.
April 14: Francisco Lindor of the Mets.
April 22: Adolis Garcia of the Rangers.
May 1: Sean Murphy of the Braves.
May 16: Isaac Paredes of the Rays.
American League Player of the Day—Guardians pitcher Nick Sandlin struck out one in 1 1/3 scoreless and hitless innings of middle relief, walking none, in the 3-1 win over the White Sox.
Sandlin earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and is seventh among AL middle relievers.
American League Batter of the Day—Luis Rengifo of the Angels went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in no runs, in the 6-5 win over the Orioles.
Rengifo earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, 38th among all players and eighth among AL batters.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall Player of the Day is NL batter Willson Contreras.
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 Thursday, May 18.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.7 |
| 2 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | tex al | 7.7 |
| 3 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 7.4 |
| 4 | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | tor al | 7.0 |
| 5 | McClanahan, Shane 4399 | pi sp | tb al | 6.7 |
| 6 | Rasmussen, Drew 4547 | pi sp | tb al | 6.7 |
| 7 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.1 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 6.0 |
| 9 | Keller, Mitch 4230 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 10 | Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | det al | 6.0 |
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Debut—Marlins pitcher Eury Perez made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Perez (5IP 3H R BB 6K W in the 5-3 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut May 12 and was playing in his second career game.
Though Perez had the same +5.0 Box-Toppers game score as Willson Contreras, he ranked lower on a tiebreaker because in cases of game score ties, batters rank higher than pitchers. That means Contreras won 2.0 Box-Toppers points as overall Player of the Day while Perez earned 1.0 point as Player of the Game.
Scoring—Contreras earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sandlin earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Rengifo earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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.
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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
| 5/18 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +5.0 | STL 16, LAD 8 | Willson Contreras, C | 5 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | MIA 5, WSH 3 | Eury Pérez, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| AL | +2.1 | CLE 3, CHW 1 | Nick Sandlin, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| +2.0 | NYY 4, TOR 2 | Nestor Cortes, (W 4‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +1.0 | LAA 6, BAL 5 | Luis Rengifo, 3B‑2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +1.0 | NYM 3, TB 2 | Tylor Megill, (W 5‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
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.
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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. 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rengifo, Luis 4178 | 2b ss 3b | ana al | 4.0 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | +1.5 |
| Megill, Tylor 4464 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.0 | 7.7 | 13.7 | 13.7 | -3.7 |
| Contreras, Willson 3776 | ca | stl nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 19.5 | 25.0 | -1.0 |
| Sandlin, Nick 4440 | pi mr | cle al | 1.7 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | +0.7 |
| Cortes, Nestor 4160 | pi sp | nyy al | 1.0 | 16.4 | 23.4 | 23.4 | -14.4 |
| Perez, Eury 4814 | pi sp | fla nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI | Gallen, Zac 4171 | 7.7 | 26.4 | 42.1 | 42.1 |
| PIT | Oviedo, Johan 4442 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| MIL | Houser, Adrian 4162 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 |
| TB | McClanahan, Shane 4399 | 6.7 | 23.1 | 27.8 | 27.8 |
| NYY | Schmidt, Clarke 4581 | 0.0 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| CIN | Lively, Ben 3903 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| CHC | Stroman, Marcus 3327 | 3.7 | 9.4 | 30.4 | 58.2 |
| PHI | Suarez, Ranger 4228 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| DET | Boyd, Matthew 3550 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 18.7 | 28.8 |
| WSH | Irvin, Jake 4805 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| BAL | Gibson, Kyle 3312 | 1.0 | 10.0 | 35.5 | 54.5 |
| TOR | Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 | 3.0 | 8.7 | 20.4 | 20.4 |
| CLE | Quantrill, Cal 4195 | 2.0 | 8.0 | 17.7 | 17.7 |
| NYM | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | 0.0 | 9.7 | 41.5 | 109.8 |
| SEA | Miller, Bryce 4797 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| ATL | Elder, Bryce 4709 | 3.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| COL | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| TEX | Perez, Martin 3213 | 0.0 | 9.1 | 12.8 | 29.8 |
| KC | Greinke, Zack 1871 | 1.0 | 5.7 | 47.3 | 223.5 |
| CHW | Kopech, Michael 4385 | 1.0 | 10.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 |
| OAK | Waldichuk, Ken 4757 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| HOU | Bielak, Brandon 4297 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| LAD | Gonsolin, Tony 4211 | 1.0 | 12.4 | 24.8 | 24.8 |
| STL | Matz, Steven 3516 | 0.0 | 5.4 | 27.8 | 44.4 |
| MIN | Ryan, Joe 4539 | 4.0 | 18.7 | 21.4 | 21.4 |
| LAA | Detmers, Reid 4513 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| BOS | Paxton, James 3280 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 31.1 | 55.9 |
| SD | Snell, Blake 3688 | 0.0 | 13.1 | 65.4 | 74.4 |
| MIA | Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | 3.0 | 24.1 | 43.2 | 43.2 |
| SF | DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 30.1 | 41.8 |
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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