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.
▪️ Subscribe to Box-Toppers Email Newsletter.
Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Kelly struck out 10 over 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run, four hits and two walks, in the 4-2 win over the Red Sox.
Kelly earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, 26th among all players and ninth among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Rays closing pitcher Jason Adam struck out four over two scoreless innings, allowing no hits and one walk, in the 11-10 win over the Dodgers.
Adam earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, 39th among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Ryan McMahon of the Rockies homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 11-10 win over the Mets.
American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Higashioka of the Yankees hit two doubles and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 10-7 win over the Padres.
Notable—Braves pitcher Spencer Strider has the most 2023 Box-Toppers points among Sunday’s 15 Player of the Game winners.
Strider (6IP 2H 2R BB 9K W in the 11-4 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season, 12th among all players and third among NL pitchers, behind Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks (7.7) and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (6.1).
Debut—Royals pitcher Jose Cuas made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Cuas (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K ND in the 3-2 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut May 31, 2022, and was playing in his 71st career game.
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 Sunday, May 28.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McClanahan, Shane 4399 | pi sp | tb al | 8.7 |
| 2 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 8.4 |
| 3 | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | tor al | 8.0 |
| 4 | Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.7 |
| 5 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | tex al | 7.7 |
| 6 | Rasmussen, Drew 4547 | pi sp | tb al | 6.7 |
| 7 | Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | tex al | 6.7 |
| 8 | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | pi sp | sea al | 6.4 |
| 9 | Brown, Hunter 4729 | pi sp | hou al | 6.4 |
| 10 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.1 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Back to top
Scoring—Kelly earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Adam earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. McMahon and Higashioka each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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.
NEW: Inbox notification of each post!
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
| 5/28 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +8.1 | ARI 4, BOS 2 | Merrill Kelly, (W 6‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | |
| +8.0 | ATL 11, PHI 4 | Spencer Strider, (W 5‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| BAT | +7.0 | COL 11, NYM 10 | Ryan McMahon, 3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| AL | +5.0 | TB 11, LAD 10 | Jason Adam, (S 7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| +4.1 | `TOR 3, MIN 0 | Erik Swanson, (Hld 12) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +4.0 | MIL 7, SF 5 | Owen Miller, 2B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | BAL 3, TEX 2 | Felix Bautista, (S 13) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | CIN 8, CHC 5 | Alexis Díaz, (S 12) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | DET 6, CHW 5 (F/10) | Alex Lange, (W 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | NYY 10, SD 7 | Kyle Higashioka, C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.0 | MIA 2, LAA 0 | Eury Pérez, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | ||
| +2.0 | SEA 6, PIT 3 (F/10) | Tayler Saucedo, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +2.0 | `KC 3, WSH 2 | Jose Cuas | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.0 | HOU 10, OAK 1 | Jose Altuve, 2B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | CLE 4, STL 3 | Steven Kwan, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strider, Spencer 4626 | pi sp | atl nl | 6.0 | 19.4 | 19.4 | 19.4 | -7.4 |
| Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | ari nl | 5.0 | 16.0 | 31.0 | 31.0 | -6.0 |
| Bautista, Felix 4668 | pi cp | bal al | 4.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -1.0 |
| Lange, Alex 4575 | pi cp mr | det al | 3.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -1.0 |
| Kwan, Steven 4573 | lf | cle al | 2.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | -2.3 |
| Adam, Jason 4256 | pi cp mr | tb al | 2.7 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | -0.3 |
| Diaz, Alexis 4613 | pi cp | cin nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -1.0 |
| Perez, Eury 4814 | pi sp | fla nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Saucedo, Tayler 4802 | pi mr cp | sea al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| McMahon, Ryan 4004 | 3b 2b | col nl | 1.5 | 4.0 | 18.9 | 18.9 | -1.0 |
| Higashioka, Kyle 4505 | ca | nyy al | 1.5 | 3.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -0.5 |
| Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 17.5 | 49.0 | -3.0 |
| Miller, Owen 4558 | 2b 1b | mil nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 |
| Swanson, Erik 4131 | pi mr sp cp | tor al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 3.7 | +1.0 |
| Cuas, Jose 4825 | pi mr | kc 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 Monday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLE | Allen, Logan T. 4789 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| BAL | Wells, Tyler 4428 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| TEX | Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | 6.7 | 12.7 | 40.5 | 66.3 |
| DET | Boyd, Matthew 3550 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 18.7 | 28.8 |
| KC | Staumont, Josh 4354 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| STL | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 34.8 | 152.3 |
| TB | Bradley, Taj 4780 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| CHC | Stroman, Marcus 3327 | 4.7 | 10.4 | 31.4 | 59.2 |
| COL | Kauffman, Karl* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ARI | Nelson, Ryne 4728 | 2.7 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| MIN | Gray, Sonny 3259 | 5.7 | 17.8 | 52.0 | 93.2 |
| HOU | France, J.P. 4811 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| PIT | Hill, Rich 2215 | 3.0 | 10.7 | 31.4 | 82.2 |
| SF | DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 30.1 | 41.8 |
| ATL | Soroka, Mike 3956 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 14.4 | 14.4 |
| OAK | Blackburn, Paul 3869 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 |
| LAA | Canning, Griffin 4134 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| CHW | Kopech, Michael 4385 | 5.0 | 14.0 | 19.7 | 19.7 |
| WSH | Williams, Trevor 3792 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 20.7 | 25.7 |
| LAD | Miller, Bobby 4820 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| NYY | German, Domingo 3957 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 27.4 | 27.4 |
| SEA | Miller, Bryce 4797 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
* 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