Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Monday’s spring training games.
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Skubal struck out six over three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox.
Skubal did not earn the win because the Red Sox tied the game after he exited. However, Skubal was eligible to win Player of the Game honors because he pitched at least three innings and had the Tigers’ highest Box-Toppers game score (+8.0).
Skubal 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.
Skubal earned 10.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 19th among American League pitchers and most among Monday’s spring training Player of the Game winners.
National League Player of the Day
Padres pitcher Matt Waldron struck out six over four middle relief innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 2-1 win over the Cubs. Waldron also picked up the win because he was the Padres pitcher of record when the team took the lead in the eighth inning.
Waldron would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day if this were a regular season game.
He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2023 with the Padres, his only career point.
This was the second time during the 2024 spring training season that Waldron won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He also did it Wednesday, Feb. 28 (3IP H 0R 0BB 2K ND in the 3-1 win over the White Sox).
National League Batter of the Day
Christian Encarnacion-Strand of the Reds hit a three-run homer, tripled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 15-8 win over the Athletics.
Encarnacion-Strand would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day if this were a regular season game.
He earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points in 2023 with the Reds, his only career points.
American League Batter of the Day
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 5-2 win over the Phillies.
Guerrero would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Guerrero earned 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023 with the Blue Jays, 51st among AL batters.
Monday’s games
In Monday’s 12 spring training games featuring matchups between two Major League teams, there were 11 Player of the Game winners who had previously earned Box-Toppers points in regular season games.
In one of Monday’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 (Jordan Beck of the Rockies, Player of the Game in the 12-10 win over the Giants).
Scoring
No Box-Toppers points are awarded in exhibition games. Were it a regular season day, Skubal would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Waldron would have earned 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Encarnacion-Strand and Guerrero would have each earned 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart) 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).| 3/4 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +8.0 | `DET 2, BOS 1 | Tarik Skubal | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| NL | +5.0 | SD 2, CHC 1 | Matt Waldron (W, 1‑0)(BS, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| +5.0 | `LAA 3, TEX 2 | Tyler Anderson | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | CIN 15, OAK 8 | Christian Encarnacion‑Strand DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | `NYY 3, MIA 2 | Clarke Schmidt | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +4.0 | `WSH 1, STL 0 | Trevor Williams | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | COL 12, SF 10 | Jordan Beck PH‑CF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | PIT 7, TB 3 | Luis L. Ortiz (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | TOR 5, PHI 2 | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.0 | MIN 4, ATL 3 | Royce Lewis DH | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | MIN 7, BAL 2 | Brock Stewart (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.0 | CHW 5, ARI 2 | Kevin Pillar RF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skubal, Tarik 4414 | pi sp | det al | 0.0 | 10.7 | 30.1 | 30.1 |
| Williams, Trevor 3792 | pi sp | dc nl | 0.0 | 5.7 | 16.4 | 29.4 |
| Guerrero, Vladimir Jr. 4142 | 1b dh | tor al | 0.0 | 4.0 | 16.6 | 16.6 |
| Lewis, Royce 4606 | 3b dh | min al | 0.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Anderson, Tyler 3656 | pi sp | ana al | 0.0 | 2.0 | 24.4 | 37.4 |
| Schmidt, Clarke 4581 | pi sp mr cp | nyy al | 0.0 | 2.0 | 6.4 | 6.4 |
| Encarnacion-Strand, Christian 4883 | dh | cin nl | 0.0 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Waldron, Matt 4946 | pi sp | sd nl | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Ortiz, Luis 4738 | pi sp | pit nl | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Pillar, Kevin 3486 | lf rf ph | chi al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 8.0 | 17.5 |
| Stewart, Brock 3722 | pi sp | min al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Tuesday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TB | Uwasawa, Naoyuki* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BOS | Whitlock, Garrett 4431 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| TOR | Berrios, Jose 3791 | 0.0 | 10.4 | 42.5 | 69.3 |
| PIT | Jones, Jared* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIN | Paddack, Chris 4093 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 25.8 | 25.8 |
| STL | Mikolas, Miles 3034 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 21.8 | 36.2 |
| BAL | Suarez, Albert 3870 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| PHI | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | 0.0 | 14.7 | 60.2 | 83.6 |
| DET | Olson, Reese 4861 | 0.0 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 7.4 |
| ATL | Strider, Spencer 4626 | 0.0 | 21.1 | 34.5 | 34.5 |
| MIA | Rogers, Trevor 4311 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 |
| HOU | Blanco, Ronel* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYY | Tully, Tanner* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYM | Megill, Tylor 4464 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 |
| SEA | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CLE | Williams, Gavin 4865 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| MIL | Junis, Jakob 3857 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 12.7 | 21.7 |
| SF | Webb, Logan 4258 | 0.0 | 12.4 | 40.3 | 40.3 |
| SD | Avila, Pedro 4105 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| ARI | Nelson, Ryne 4728 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 8.4 | 8.4 |
| TEX | White, Owen* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SEA | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CHC | Kilian, Caleb* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| KC | Singer, Brady 4337 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 23.7 | 23.7 |
| LAA | Silseth, Chase 4605 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| LAD | Miller, Bobby 4820 | 0.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 |
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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