Blog

Tigers’ Flaherty tops players for Thursday, May 30; Yankees’ Soto boosts AL batting lead

Shawn Plank May 31, 2024

Tigers pitcher Jack Flaherty is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Thursday, Juan Soto of the Yankees increases his lead among American League batters in 2024 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.

Braves, Astros, Mariners among leaders in Box-Toppers offseason team rankings

Shawn Plank January 18, 2024

The Atlanta Braves are Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team going into 2024, with a roster mostly intact from 2023 when they had baseball’s best record.

Meanwhile, the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners are Box-Toppers’ top two American League teams, with the Mariners having one of the best offseason improvements of any team so far. And also, while the Los Angeles Dodgers have made big offseason splashes adding Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Teoscar Hernandez, their offseason ranking has actually fallen from third place last season to fourth place now.

Box-Toppers’ AL Division Series preview: Rangers vs. Orioles, Twins vs. Astros

Shawn Plank October 6, 2023

Both American League Division Series begin Saturday.

The Texas Rangers face the Baltimore Orioles in one best-of-five game series and the Minnesota Twins face the Houston Astros in the other. The top two AL seeds, the Orioles (first) and the Astros (second) received byes from the first round of playoffs and face the winners of the best-of-three Wild Card series played this week.

A Box-Toppers preview of the four Wild Card Series beginning Tuesday, Oct. 3

Shawn Plank October 3, 2023

The Wild Card round of Major League Baseball’s postseason begins Tuesday with four best-of-three series.

Here is a Box-Toppers look at the eight teams competing in the four Wild Card round series.

Yankees’ Cole tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 27, rising to 7th; Alonso leads NL batters

Shawn Plank September 28, 2023

Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to seventh place in season player rankings.

Also Wednesday, Pete Alonso of the Mets rises to first place among National League batters in 2023 Box-Toppers points after earning NL Batter of the Day honors, passing previous leader Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves.

Phillies’ Sanchez tops players for Sunday, Sept. 24, Diamondbacks’ Gallen rises to 7th

Shawn Plank September 25, 2023

Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Rangers’ Lyles tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 14; Nationals’ Fedde tops NL players

Shawn Plank September 15, 2021

Rangers pitcher Jordan Lyles is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Lyles struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 8-1 win over the Astros.

Mets’ deGrom tops players for Saturday, June 5, rising to 4th in player rankings

Shawn Plank June 6, 2021

Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fourth place in season player rankings.

deGrom struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the Padres.

Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.

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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.