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Nationals pitcher MacKenzie Gore is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s spring training games.
Other Player of the Game winners Wednesday include Nolan Jones of the Rockies, Red Sox pitcher Cooper Criswell and Joc Pederson of the Rangers.
Player of the Day
Gore struck out six over 5 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks, in the 9-3 win over the Astros.
Gore had a Box-Toppers game score of +6.1, best among all Nationals players and highest among all Wednesday Player of the Game winners.
Gore earned 8.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 39th among NL pitchers and most among Wednesday’s Player of the Game winners.
This is the second time during the 2025 spring training season that Gore has won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He also did it March 1 in the 7-0 win over the Marlins (3IP 2H 0R BB 4K W).
American League Player of the Day
Red Sox pitcher Cooper Criswell struck out four over three scoreless innigs, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 6-5 win over the Twins.
Criswell earned 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 62nd among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day
Nolan Jones of the Rockies doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 13-2 win over the Padres.
Jones earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2024.
American League Batter of the Day
Joc Pederson of the Rangers hit a three-run homer and went 1-for-2, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Reds.
Pederson earned 6.5 Box-Toppers points in 2024 with the Diamondbacks, 14th among NL batters.
This is the second time during the 2025 spring training season that Pederson has won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He also did it Feb. 24 in the 11-3 win over the White Sox (HR 1-2 2R 3BI).
Wednesday’s games
In Wednesday’s 11 completed spring training games, there were seven Player of the Game winners who had previously earned Box-Toppers points in regular season games. In three of Wednesday’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.
One game ended in a tie (Angels vs. White Sox). No Player of the Game honors are awarded in tie games.
Scoring
No Box-Toppers points are awarded in exhibition games. Were it a regular season day:
Gore would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Criswell would have earned 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.
Jones and Pederson would have each earned 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day.
All of Wednesday’s other Player of the Game winners (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).| 3/12 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +6.1 | WSH 9, HOU 3 | MacKenzie Gore (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | |
| +6.0 | NYM 2, STL 0 | Paul Blackburn (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | COL 13, SD 2 | Nolan Jones LF | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| AL | +5.0 | BOS 6, MIN 5 | Cooper Criswell (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| +4.2 | DET 5, TB 1 | Brenan Hanifee (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +4.0 | ATL 13, BAL 5 | Michael Harris II CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | TEX 4, CIN 3 | Joc Pederson 1B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | KC 7, SEA 6 | Tyler Tolbert PR‑SS‑3B | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.2 | SF 11, CLE 2 | Tristan Beck (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +1.1 | ARI 5, ATH 2 | Yilber Diaz (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 0.0 | LAA 1, CHW 1 | 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 2025. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2024 (’24). Also shown is their point total for the period 2020-2024 (’20-24) 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 | ’25 | ’24 | ’20‑24 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gore, MacKenzie 4582 | pi sp | dc nl | 0.0 | 8.0 | 19.7 | 19.7 |
| Pederson, Joc 3621 | dh | tex al | 0.0 | 6.5 | 22.4 | 37.9 |
| Criswell, Cooper 4840 | pi sp | bos al | 0.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Blackburn, Paul 3869 | pi sp | nym nl | 0.0 | 4.0 | 12.7 | 15.7 |
| Harris, Michael 4682 | cf | atl nl | 0.0 | 2.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| Jones, Nolan 4686 | lf | col nl | 0.0 | 1.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Beck, Tristan 4823 | pi mr cp | sf nl | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
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.
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A Box-Toppers look at Thursday’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 2025 (’25)†, last year (’24), over a five-year period (’20-24) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’25† | ’24 | ’20‑24 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STL | Matz, Steven 3516 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 17.1 | 49.4 |
| HOU | Arrighetti, Spencer 5022 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| WSH | Herz, DJ 5032 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| TB | Baz, Shane 4560 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| PIT | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIN | Ober, Bailey 4441 | 0.0 | 13.4 | 31.8 | 31.8 |
| ATL | Pilar, Anderson* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| PHI | Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 | 0.0 | 11.4 | 15.4 | 15.4 |
| NYY | Fried, Max 4011 | 0.0 | 13.4 | 55.9 | 66.9 |
| DET | Jobe, Jackson* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BAL | Povich, Cade 5029 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| TOR | Lucas, Easton 5068 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| BOS | Newcomb, Sean 3831 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 20.1 |
| NYM | Peterson, David 4347 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 17.7 | 17.7 |
| HOU | Blanco, Ronel 4959 | 0.0 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 |
| MIA | Cabrera, Edward 4641 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 12.1 | 12.1 |
| ATH | Sears, JP 4627 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 16.7 | 16.7 |
| CIN | Lodolo, Nick 4586 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 |
| SD | Darvish, Yu 3003 | 0.0 | 8.7 | 55.3 | 139.7 |
| KC | Lynch, Daniel 4488 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 10.4 | 10.4 |
| TEX | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SF | Ray, Robbie 3502 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 36.8 | 79.9 |
| MIL | Alexander, Tyler 4196 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 15.4 | 18.4 |
| CHW | Leasure, Jordan* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CLE | Ortiz, Luis 4738 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| COL | Dollander, Chase* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ARI | Mena, Cristian* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SEA | Hancock, Emerson 4985 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
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 2025.
* Player has yet to earn any career 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.
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