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.
Dodgers pitcher Dustin May is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Braves pitcher Spencer Strider rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Ryan Noda of the Athletics rises to first place among American League batters after earning Player of the Game honors for the second straight day.
Player of the Day—May struck out six over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Padres.
May earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, 48th among all players and 17th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi struck out five over eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits and two walks, in the 10-1 win over the Angels.
Eovaldi earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 for the season, 21st among all players and 13th among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Brandon Belt of the Blue Jays hit two doubles and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 8-2 win over the Pirates.
Belt earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, seventh among AL batters.
National League Batter of the Day—Ezequiel Tovar of the Rockies homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-2 win over the Mets.
This was Tovar’s Box-Toppers debut, his first career Player of the Game honor. Tovar made his Major League debut Sept. 23, 2022, and was playing in his 40th career game.
Rankings—Braves pitcher Spencer Strider rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Strider (5IP 4H 2R 0BB 10K ND in the 5-4 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season. He ranks second among NL pitchers, behind Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks (6.7).
Notable—Ryan Noda of the Athletics rises to first place among American League batters after earning Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Saturday.
Noda (3B 2B 2-3 R BI in the 5-4 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season (17th overall), passing previous AL batting leader, Randy Arozarena of the Rays (3.5 points), who only took the lead Friday.
Noda earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Saturday. He was also AL Batter of the Day Friday in the 12-8 win over the Royals (2-2B 3-4 3R 3BI).
Noda now has half of the accumulated Box-Toppers points of the entire Oakland Athletics team this season, who are tied with the Kansas City Royals for the lowest point total of any team (8.0).
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 Saturday, May 6.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | tex al | 7.7 |
| 2 | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | tor al | 7.0 |
| 3 | Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | ari nl | 6.7 |
| 4 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 6.0 |
| 5 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp | ana al | 5.7 |
| 6 | McClanahan, Shane 4399 | pi sp | tb al | 5.7 |
| 7 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | min al | 5.7 |
| 8 | Strider, Spencer 4626 | pi sp | atl nl | 5.0 |
| 9 | Rasmussen, Drew 4547 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 |
| 10 | Freeland, Kyle 3763 | pi sp | col nl | 4.7 |
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Debut—Mariners pitcher Tayler Saucedo also made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Saucedo (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 7-5 win over the Astros) made his Major League debut June 17, 2021, and was playing in his 37th career game.
Scoring—May earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Eovaldi earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Belt and Tovar each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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
| 5/6 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +8.0 | LAD 2, SD 1 | Dustin May, (W 4‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| +7.0 | `ATL 5, BAL 4 | Spencer Strider | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 | ||
| AL | +6.0 | TEX 10, LAA 1 | Nathan Eovaldi, (W 4‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| +5.0 | SF 4, MIL 1 | Alex Cobb, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | TOR 8, PIT 2 | Brandon Belt, DH | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | CHC 4, MIA 2 | Keegan Thompson, (W 2‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | COL 5, NYM 2 | Ezequiel Tovar, SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | CIN 5, CHW 3 | TJ Friedl, CF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | SEA 7, HOU 5 | Tayler Saucedo, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | ARI 8, WSH 7 | Lourdes Gurriel Jr., LF | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | BOS 7, PHI 4 | Christian Arroyo, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | NYY 3, TB 2 | Harrison Bader, PH‑CF | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | CLE 4, MIN 3 | Emmanuel Clase, (S 11) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.0 | OAK 5, KC 4 | Ryan Noda, 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +0.2 | DET 6, STL 5 (F/10) | Jose Cisnero, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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.
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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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strider, Spencer 4626 | pi sp | atl nl | 5.0 | 18.4 | 18.4 | 18.4 | -8.4 |
| Noda, Ryan 4791 | 1b ph | oak al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | tex al | 3.7 | 9.7 | 37.5 | 63.3 | -2.3 |
| Cobb, Alex 2916 | pi sp | sf nl | 3.0 | 9.7 | 21.1 | 60.9 | -3.7 |
| May, Dustin 4214 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 0.0 |
| Clase, Emmanuel 4225 | pi cp | cle al | 3.0 | 5.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +1.0 |
| Belt, Brandon 2943 | 1b dh | tor al | 3.0 | 4.5 | 23.2 | 46.2 | +1.5 |
| Arroyo, Christian 4433 | ss 2b | bos al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | +1.0 |
| Tovar, Ezequiel 4801 | ss | col nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | +1.5 |
| Thompson, Keegan 4579 | pi mr sp | chi nl | 1.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | -8.0 |
| Gurriel, Lourdes Jr. 4148 | lf | ari nl | 1.0 | 7.5 | 13.7 | 13.7 | -5.5 |
| Cisnero, Jose 3172 | pi cp mr | det al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 6.0 | 8.0 | 0.0 |
| Bader, Harrison 4071 | cf | nyy al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 0.0 |
| Friedl, TJ 4720 | cf | cin nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Saucedo, Tayler 4802 | pi mr | sea al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Sunday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAL | Wells, Tyler 4428 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| ATL | Elder, Bryce 4709 | 3.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| BOS | Houck, Tanner 4342 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| PHI | Walker, Taijuan 3453 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 23.1 | 49.5 |
| TOR | Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 | 2.0 | 7.7 | 19.4 | 19.4 |
| PIT | Contreras, Roansy 4574 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| COL | Feltner, Ryan 4635 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| NYM | Lucchesi, Joey 3936 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 17.4 | 17.4 |
| MIN | Ryan, Joe 4539 | 3.0 | 17.7 | 20.4 | 20.4 |
| CLE | Quantrill, Cal 4195 | 1.0 | 7.0 | 16.7 | 16.7 |
| NYY | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | 6.0 | 21.4 | 101.4 | 144.3 |
| TB | Guerra, Javy 4300 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| OAK | Miller, Mason* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| KC | Yarbrough, Ryan 3962 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 34.1 | 34.1 |
| DET | Faedo, Alex 4612 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| STL | Matz, Steven 3516 | 0.0 | 5.4 | 27.8 | 44.4 |
| MIA | Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | 2.0 | 23.1 | 42.2 | 42.2 |
| CHC | Wesneski, Hayden 4731 | 2.7 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| MIL | Houser, Adrian 4162 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 |
| SF | Stripling, Ross 3629 | 0.0 | 12.0 | 32.4 | 38.1 |
| TEX | Perez, Martin 3213 | 0.0 | 9.1 | 12.8 | 29.8 |
| LAA | Suarez, Jose 4425 | 1.0 | 10.0 | 16.4 | 16.4 |
| CHW | Kopech, Michael 4385 | 1.0 | 10.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 |
| CIN | Ashcraft, Graham 4645 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| HOU | Bielak, Brandon 4297 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| SEA | Miller, Bryce 4797 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| WSH | Williams, Trevor 3792 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 20.7 | 25.7 |
| ARI | Nelson, Ryne 4728 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| LAD | Urias, Julio 3652 | 3.0 | 22.4 | 48.5 | 55.2 |
| SD | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | 0.0 | 17.4 | 47.5 | 53.2 |
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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