Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Sunday’s spring training games.
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Nola struck out three over two scoreless, hitless innings and walking none, in the 4-0 win over the Yankees. Though he only pitched two innings and started the game, he was awarded the win.
Nola 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.
Nola earned 12.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, most among Sunday’s spring training Player of the Game winners. His 12.0 points ranked 12th among National League pitchers in 2023. His 101.7 career Box-Toppers points ranks sixth among active NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day
Orioles pitcher Cole Irvin struck out three over two scoreless, hitless innings, walking none, in the 2-0 win over the Pirates. While Irvin and Nola both had +5.0 Box-Toppers games scores Sunday, Nola ranked ahead on a tiebreaker to win overall Player of the Day honors—Nola was awarded the win in his game, while Irvin picked up a no-decision.
Irvin would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Irvin earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 76th among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day
Juan Soto of the Yankees hit a three-run homer and went 1-for-2, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 12-6 win over the Blue Jays.
Soto would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Soto earned 9.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023 with the Padres, sixth among NL batters.
National League Batter of the Day
Stuart Fairchild of the Reds doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in one run, in the 9-4 win over the Angels.
Fairchild would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Fairchild earned 1.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 172nd among NL batters, his only regular season career point.
Sunday’s games
In Sunday’s 17 spring training games featuring matchups between two Major League teams, there were 10 Player of the Game winners had previously earned Box-Toppers points in regular season games. In seven of Sunday’s games, the Player of the Game winner was a player who has yet to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in the regular season and so has 0.0 career Box-Toppers points.
Two games ended in ties (Tigers vs. Rays and Giants vs. Rangers) and so no Player of the Game honors were awarded.
Scoring
No Box-Toppers points are awarded in exhibition games. Were it a regular season day, Nola would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Irvin would have earned 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Soto and Fairchild would have earned 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of the day’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).| 2/25 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +5.0 | PHI 4, NYY 0 | Aaron Nola (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| AL | +5.0 | `BAL 2, PIT 0 | Cole Irvin | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| BAT | +4.0 | NYY 12, TOR 6 | Juan Soto RF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | `KC 1, LAA 0 | Cole Ragans | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| +4.0 | `BOS 5, ATL 4 | Brayan Bello | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | CIN 9, LAA 4 | Stuart Fairchild RF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | NYM 3, HOU 1 | Francisco Alvarez C | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | SD 7, CHC 0 | Jackson Merrill DH | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | BOS 8, MIN 6 | Rafael Devers 3B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | STL 3, HOU 0 | Kyle Leahy (S, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | CLE 8, SEA 4 | Eli Morgan (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | COL 10, MIL 3 | Aaron Schunk 3B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | LAD 4, OAK 2 | James Outman CF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | WSH 6, MIA 3 | James Wood RF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | ARI 5, CHW 0 | Caleb Roberts PR‑DH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | DET 9, TB 9 | N/A | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | SF 0, TEX 0 | 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 2024. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2023 (’23). Also shown is their point total for the period 2019-2023 (’19-23) 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 | ’24† | ’23 | ’19‑23 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 0.0 | 12.0 | 56.1 | 101.7 |
| Soto, Juan 3994 | lf | nyy al | 0.0 | 9.0 | 25.5 | 33.0 |
| Outman, James 4699 | cf | lad nl | 0.0 | 8.7 | 10.2 | 10.2 |
| Devers, Rafael 4038 | 3b | bos al | 0.0 | 7.5 | 31.0 | 33.5 |
| Alvarez, Francisco 4815 | ca | nym nl | 0.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 |
| Ragans, Cole 4889 | pi sp | kc al | 0.0 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| Irvin, Cole 4140 | pi sp | bal al | 0.0 | 3.0 | 18.4 | 18.4 |
| Bello, Brayan 4727 | pi sp | bos al | 0.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Fairchild, Stuart 4921 | pr | cin nl | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Morgan, Eli 4497 | pi mr sp | cle al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 7.4 | 7.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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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 2024 (’24)†, last year (’23), over a six-year period (’19-23) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’24† | ’23 | ’19‑23 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOU | Arrighetti, Spencer* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| DET | Flaherty, Jack 3971 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 32.2 | 45.3 |
| NYM | Kranick, Max 4455 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| WSH | Gray, Josiah 4503 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 11.4 | 11.4 |
| TB | Martin, Trevor* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BAL | Povich, Cade* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| PHI | Buchanan, David 3357 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| BOS | Houck, Tanner 4342 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| BAL | Johnson, Seth* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ATL | Fried, Max 4011 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 52.5 | 53.5 |
| MIN | Woods Richardson, Simeon* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYY | Cortes, Nestor 4160 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 24.4 | 24.4 |
| PIT | Contreras, Roansy 4574 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| TOR | Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 27.4 | 27.4 |
| STL | Robberse, Sem* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIA | Perez, Eury 4814 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| CHC | Wesneski, Hayden 4731 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| KC | Lugo, Seth 3729 | 0.0 | 6.4 | 15.4 | 24.4 |
| ARI | Walston, Blake* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| OAK | Spence, Mitch* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SEA | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | 0.0 | 16.1 | 54.5 | 70.9 |
| CIN | Abbott, Andrew 4839 | 0.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| LAA | Canning, Griffin 4134 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 17.7 | 17.7 |
| SF | Black, Mason* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| TEX | Winn, Cole* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CHW | Nastrini, Nick* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| LAD | Yarbrough, Ryan 3962 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 30.1 | 37.1 |
| COL | Criswell, Jeff* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CLE | Lively, Ben 3903 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 |
| SD | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 50.5 | 60.2 |
| CIN | Martinez, Nick 3430 | 0.0 | 7.4 | 12.4 | 19.1 |
| MIL | Wilson, Bryse 4048 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 |
Games shown are spring training games between MLB teams. Doesn't include games vs. non-MLB teams.
† Players don’t earn Box-Toppers points in spring training games, only regular season games, so no pitcher has earned any points in 2024.
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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