Box-Toppers Toppers Box
Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.▪️ Players of the Game
▪️ B-T points of day’s top players
▪️ Top 10 players in 2025
▪️ Upcoming pitching matchups
▪️ Sunday’s Sidelights Sidebar
▪️ Subscribe to newsletter
▪️ Support Box-Toppers
Twins pitcher Joe Ryan is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Astros pitcher Hunter Brown rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Other Player of the Game winners include Reds pitcher Nick Lodolo, Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola, Kristian Campbell of the Red Sox and Josh Naylor of the Diamondbacks.
Player of the Day
Ryan struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Angels.
Ryan earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, 30th in season player rankings and 12th among American League pitchers.
Ryan had a +13.0 Box-Toppers game score Sunday, the same as two other Player of the Game winners:
Reds pitcher Nick Lodolo (7IP 2H 0R BB 9K W in the 8-1 win over the Rockies).
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (6IP 4H 0R 0BB 11K W in the 7-0 win over the Orioles).
But Ryan won Player of the Day honors over both, ranking ahead on tiebreakers. He beat Lodolo because he had more strikeouts—11 vs. nine. He beat Skubal because he had more innings pitched—seven vs. six.
National League Player of the Day
Reds pitcher Nick Lodolo struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 8-1 win over the Rockies.
Lodolo earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, 18th among NL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day
Kristian Campbell of the Red Sox doubled and went 2-for-2, scoring four times and driving in two runs, in the 13-3 win over the Guardians.
Campbell earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 2.5 for the season, ninth among AL batters.
National League Batter of the Day
Josh Naylor of the Diamondbacks hit two doubles and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 6-4 win over the Braves.
Naylor earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 2.5 for the season, sixth among NL batters.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2025 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Sunday, April 27.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Pivetta | pi sp | Padres | 6.0 |
| 2 | Hunter Brown | pi sp | Astros | 5.4 |
| 3 | Garrett Crochet | pi sp | Red Sox | 5.4 |
| 4 | Andrew Heaney | pi sp | Pirates | 5.0 |
| 5 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | pi sp | Dodgers | 5.0 |
| 6 | Logan Gilbert | pi sp | Mariners | 4.7 |
| 7 | Tyler Mahle | pi sp | Rangers | 4.7 |
| 8 | Pete Alonso | 1b | Mets | 4.5 |
| 9 | Carson Kelly | ca | Cubs | 4.5 |
| 10 | Shane Baz | pi sp | Rays | 4.0 |
Rankings
Astros pitcher Hunter Brown rises from ninth to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Brown (6IP 7H R BB 9K W in the 7-3 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers points, giving him 5.4 for the season. He rises to the lead among AL pitchers, passing Garrett Crochet of the Red Sox, who falls to second place. Though Brown and Crochet both have 5.4 Box-Toppers points in 2025, Brown ranks ahead because he has more 2024 points—12.0 vs. 10.7.
Streak
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 consecutive seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2025 Sunday.
Nola (7IP 3H R BB 6K ND in the 3-2, 10-inning win over the Cubs) earned his first points in 2015 with the Phillies and now has 116.1 career points, rising to 57th place among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers began. With 1.0 point Sunday, he passes Torii Hunter (115.9) on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list. He now trails 56th-ranked player Todd Helton (116.4).
Nola ranks eighth among active, signed players in career points, fifth among active NL pitchers.
Nola’s best season was 2018 with the Phillies when he had 21.1 Box-Toppers points, fifth overall and second among NL pitchers. He earned 13.4 points in 2024 with the Phillies, eighth among NL pitchers.
Sunday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Top pitching matchup
▪️Kevin Gausman, Blue Jays11.0 Box-Toppers points over 2024-25, 25th among AL pitchers
▪️Max Fried, Yankees
17.1 Box-Toppers points over 2024-25, 6th among AL pitchers
Result—NYY 11, TOR 2
Neither starter was Player of the Game.
Gausman had a -15.8 B-T game score in loss (2.2IP 3H 6R 5BB 2K L).
Fried had a -1.0 B-T game score (6IP 6H R 2BB 3K W).
Player of the Game—Anthony Volpe, Yankees (HR 2B 2-3 2R 2BI) with +3.0 game score.
High scores, no points
Highest Box-Toppers game scores for the day among players who did not earn Player of the Game honors:▪️+6.0—Davis Martin, White Sox (6IP 3H 0R 2BB 5K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. ATH.
Player of the Game—Luis Urías, Athletics (HR 1-3 R 2BI) with +1.0 game score.
▪️+5.1—Tylor Megill, Mets (6.1IP 3H 3R BB 9K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. WSH.
Player of the Game—Riley Adams, Nationals (HR 1-3 R 3BI) with +2.0 game score.
▪️+4.0—Andy Pages, Dodgers (HR 4-5 R 4BI)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. PIT.
Player of the Game—Teammate Ben Casparius (3.2IP 2H 0R 0BB 5K W) with +6.2 game score.
Lowest Box-Toppers game scores
Out of 439 total players Sunday, 135 pitchers-20.0—Mitchell Parker, Nationals (5IP 7H 7R 6ER 5BB 0K ND vs. NYM)
-19.9—Logan Allen, Guardians
-16.8—Erick Fedde, Cardinals
-16.0—Bradley Blalock, Rockies
-15.9—Bailey Falter, Pirates
Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters
Out of 304 total batters Sunday-5.0—Ozzie Albies, Braves 0-5 K
-5.0—Bryce Harper, Phillies 0-5 K
-4.0—Heston Kjerstad, Orioles 0-4 4K
-4.0—Joey Bart, Pirates 0-4 3K
-4.0—Seiya Suzuki, Cubs 0-4 3K
-4.0—Christian Walker, Astros 0-4 3K
-4.0—Bo Bichette, Blue Jays 0-4 3K
Box-Toppers uses Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com and other sources to compile this information.
Debut
Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Dodgers pitcher Ben Casparius (3.2IP 2H 0R 0BB 5K W in the 9-2 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut Aug. 31, 2024, and was playing in his 14th career game.
Chandler Simpson of the Rays (3-4 2R BI in the 4-2 win over the Padres) made his Major League debut April 19 and was playing in his eighth career game.
Scoring
Ryan earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Lodolo earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day.
Campbell and Naylor 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) 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.
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2025 Box-Toppers points—AL pitchers 1—Hunter Brown #Astros 5.4* 2—Garrett Crochet #RedSox 5.4 3—Logan Gilbert #Mariners 4.7 4—Tyler Mahle #Rangers 4.7 5—Shane Baz #RaysBaseball 4.0 6—Max Fried #Yankees 3.7 *Earns 1.0 B-T point as Player of the Game Sunday www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/4/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Apr 28, 2025 at 6:36 AM
Career Box-Toppers points—Active NL pitchers 1—Clayton Kershaw #Dodgers 272.4 2—Justin Verlander #SFGiants 247.0 3—Chris Sale #Braves 172.4 4—Yu Darvish #Padres 139.7 5—Aaron Nola #Phillies 116.1* 6—Sonny Gray #STLCards 112.3 *Earns 1.0 B-T point Sunday www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/4/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Apr 28, 2025 at 6:44 AM
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).| 4/27 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +13.0 | MIN 5, LAA 0 | Joe Ryan (W, 2‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| NL | +13.0 | CIN 8, COL 1 | Nick Lodolo (W, 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| +13.0 | DET 7, BAL 0 | Tarik Skubal (W, 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | ||
| +7.0 | `PHI 3, CHC 1 (F/10) | Aaron Nola | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +6.2 | LAD 9, PIT 2 | Ben Casparius (W, 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +6.0 | BOS 13, CLE 3 | Kristian Campbell 2B | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | HOU 7, KC 3 | Hunter Brown (W, 4‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | ||
| +5.0 | `SF 3, TEX 2 | Hayden Birdsong | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| +4.0 | `NYY 5, TOR 1 | Clarke Schmidt | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | ||
| +3.0 | NYY 11, TOR 2 | Anthony Volpe SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | SEA 7, MIA 6 | J.P. Crawford SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | ARI 6, ATL 4 | Josh Naylor DH | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.0 | TB 4, SD 2 | Chandler Simpson CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | WSH 8, NYM 7 | Riley Adams C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | MIL 7, STL 1 | Christian Yelich DH | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | ATH 3, CHW 2 (F/10) | Luis Urías 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 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 2025 (’25). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’24-’25), the period 2020-2025 (’20-25) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2025 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2024 total (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’25 | ’24‑25 | ’20‑25 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown, Hunter 4729 | pi sp | hou al | 5.4 | 17.4 | 28.5 | 28.5 | -6.6 |
| Skubal, Tarik 4414 | pi sp | det al | 3.0 | 24.1 | 54.2 | 54.2 | -18.1 |
| Ryan, Joe 4539 | pi sp | min al | 3.0 | 12.7 | 38.8 | 38.8 | -6.7 |
| Yelich, Christian 3334 | dh | mil nl | 3.0 | 6.5 | 26.2 | 69.9 | -0.5 |
| Lodolo, Nick 4586 | pi sp | cin nl | 2.7 | 11.7 | 18.7 | 18.7 | -6.3 |
| Naylor, Josh 4154 | dh 1b | ari nl | 2.5 | 11.5 | 22.0 | 23.5 | -6.5 |
| Crawford, J.P. 3937 | ss | sea al | 2.5 | 3.5 | 17.0 | 22.5 | +1.5 |
| Campbell, Kristian 5133 | 2b | bos al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | +2.5 |
| Birdsong, Hayden 5063 | pi sp mr | sf nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 1.0 | 14.4 | 60.8 | 116.1 | -12.4 |
| Schmidt, Clarke 4581 | pi sp | nyy al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 11.4 | 11.4 | -3.0 |
| Urias, Luis 4218 | 2b 3b | oak al | 1.0 | 2.7 | 11.4 | 13.9 | -0.7 |
| Volpe, Anthony 4793 | ss | nyy al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | +1.0 |
| Adams, Riley 4518 | ca | dc nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | +1.0 |
| Casparius, Ben 5161 | pi mr | lad nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Simpson, Chandler 5162 | cf | tb 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 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 2025 (’25), this year and last year (’24-25), over a six-year period (’20-25) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’25 | ’24‑25 | ’20‑25 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYM | Canning, Griffin 4134 | 1.0 | 5.7 | 16.7 | 23.4 |
| WSH | Williams, Trevor 3792 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 20.4 | 35.4 |
| MIN | Ober, Bailey 4441 | 0.0 | 13.4 | 31.8 | 31.8 |
| CLE | Williams, Gavin 4865 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| NYY | Warren, Will 5143 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| BAL | Sugano, Tomoyuki* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| STL | Pallante, Andre 4656 | 1.0 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| CIN | Martinez, Nick 3430 | 0.0 | 9.7 | 22.1 | 28.8 |
| ATH | Sears, JP 4627 | 1.0 | 8.7 | 17.7 | 17.7 |
| TEX | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 23.8 | 98.4 |
| DET | Flaherty, Jack 3971 | 1.0 | 13.0 | 28.7 | 58.3 |
| HOU | Blanco, Ronel 4959 | 1.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| ATL | Elder, Bryce 4709 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 |
| COL | Feltner, Ryan 4635 | 1.7 | 3.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| MIA | Cabrera, Edward 4641 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 12.1 | 12.1 |
| LAD | May, Dustin 4214 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 12.4 | 14.4 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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