Forrest Wall of the Braves is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Thursday’s spring training games.
Box-Toppers Toppers Box
Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.▪️ Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.
▪️ Box-Toppers points of the day’s top players.
▪️ A B-T look at upcoming pitching matchups.
▪️ Subscribe to Box-Toppers Email Newsletter.
▪️ Donate & support Box-Toppers. Thanks!
Wall hit two three-run home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 12-9 win over the Rays.
Wall 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.
Wall has played in 15 regular season Major League games, all in 2023, but did not earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in any of them and so has 0.0 career Box-Toppers points.
American League Player of the Day
Jorge Mateo of the Orioles hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-8 win over the Pirates.
Mateo would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Mateo earned 3.5 Box-Toppers points in 2023 with the Orioles, 53rd among AL batters.
AL and NL Batters of the Day
There were no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day Thursday since both league’s top batters were also their league’s overall Player of the Day.
Notable
Diamondbacks pitcher Ryne Nelson earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second time during the 2024 spring training season Thursday.
Nelson (3IP 2H R 0BB 5K W in the 2-1 win over the Giants) also earned Player of the Game honors on Saturday, Feb. 24 (2IP 2H 0R 0BB 5K W in the 6-2 win over the Rockies).
Nelson earned 6.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023 with the Diamondbacks, 39th among NL pitchers.
Thursday’s games
In Thursday’s 16 spring training games featuring matchups between two Major League teams, there were 11 Player of the Game winners had previously earned Box-Toppers points in regular season games.
Most notably, Braves pitcher Spencer Strider (3IP 2H 0R BB 5K W in the 5-0 win over the Twins), had the most 2023 Box-Toppers points among Thursday’s Player of the Game winners. Strider’s 21.1 Box-Toppers points in 2023 led all players.
In four of Thursday’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 (Marlins vs. Yankees) 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, Wall would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Mateo would have earned 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. All of Thursday’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.
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.
For additional updates, follow Box-Toppers on Twitter.
Buy me a coffee to support Box-Toppers. And thanks!
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).| 2/29 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +6.0 | ATL 12, TB 9 | Forrest Wall LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | ATL 5, MIN 0 | Spencer Strider (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| AL | +4.0 | BAL 9, PIT 8 | Jorge Mateo SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | CHW 6, KC 1 | Gavin Sheets 1B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | BOS 5, DET 2 | Garrett Whitlock (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +4.0 | `TEX 7, MIL 5 | Nathan Eovaldi | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| +4.0 | ARI 2, SF 1 | Ryne Nelson (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| +4.0 | WSH 3, STL 1 | Patrick Corbin (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +3.0 | COL 10, CHC 9 | Ezequiel Tovar SS | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | SD 5, OAK 3 | Graham Pauley 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | CHW 6, SEA 5 | Nicky Lopez 2B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | CIN 5, LAD 4 | Edwin Arroyo SS | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | LAA 4, CLE 1 | Ehire Adrianza 2B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.2 | HOU 2, NYM 1 | Ronel Blanco (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +1.0 | PHI 5, TOR 0 | Cristian Pache CF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | MIA 0, NYY 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.
Back to top
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).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’24† | ’23 | ’19‑23 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strider, Spencer 4626 | pi sp | atl nl | 0.0 | 21.1 | 34.5 | 34.5 |
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | tex al | 0.0 | 9.7 | 34.8 | 69.3 |
| Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | dc nl | 0.0 | 7.1 | 34.2 | 92.4 |
| Nelson, Ryne 4728 | pi sp | ari nl | 0.0 | 6.7 | 8.4 | 8.4 |
| Tovar, Ezequiel 4801 | ss | col nl | 0.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 |
| Whitlock, Garrett 4431 | pi sp | bos al | 0.0 | 4.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| Mateo, Jorge 4669 | ss ph pr | bal al | 0.0 | 3.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 |
| Sheets, Gavin 4457 | rf | chi al | 0.0 | 1.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 |
| Lopez, Nicky 4224 | ss 2b | chi al | 0.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Pache, Cristian 4872 | cf ph | phi nl | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Adrianza, Ehire 3902 | ss 3b ph | ana al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.5 | 7.2 |
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.
Back to top
A Box-Toppers look at Friday’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 | Valdez, Framber 4048 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 39.4 | 41.4 |
| WSH | Gore, MacKenzie 4582 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| NYM | Severino, Luis 3567 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 14.4 | 58.2 |
| STL | Liberatore, Matthew 4662 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| TB | Lopez, Jacob* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| PIT | Keller, Mitch 4230 | 0.0 | 13.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 |
| BOS | Giolito, Lucas 3900 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 41.1 | 48.1 |
| MIN | Ryan, Joe 4539 | 0.0 | 8.7 | 26.1 | 26.1 |
| PHI | Suarez, Ranger 4228 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 18.7 | 18.7 |
| DET | Maeda, Kenta 3609 | 0.0 | 11.1 | 33.9 | 64.6 |
| BAL | Wells, Tyler 4428 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 |
| ATL | Elder, Bryce 4709 | 0.0 | 8.0 | 12.7 | 12.7 |
| MIA | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | 0.0 | 17.8 | 33.9 | 33.9 |
| PHI | Nola, Aaron 3569 | 0.0 | 12.0 | 56.1 | 101.7 |
| OAK | Wood, Alex 3246 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 23.0 | 63.1 |
| KC | Ragans, Cole 4889 | 0.0 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| TEX | Sampson, Adrian 4147 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| SF | Harrison, Kyle 4914 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| CHW | Kopech, Michael 4385 | 0.0 | 8.0 | 22.7 | 22.7 |
| CHC | Steele, Justin 4415 | 0.0 | 11.1 | 19.1 | 19.1 |
| LAA | Detmers, Reid 4513 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 14.7 | 14.7 |
| SD | Vasquez, Randy 4841 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| SEA | Woo, Bryan 4842 | 0.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 |
| COL | Freeland, Kyle 3763 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 20.7 | 39.1 |
| SD | Iriarte, Jairo* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIL | Wilson, Bryse 4048 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 |
| TOR | Dallas, Chad* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYY | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | 0.0 | 17.0 | 94.4 | 155.3 |
| ARI | Cecconi, Slade 4913 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| CIN | Williamson, Brandon 4813 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| CLE | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 24.1 | 111.5 |
| LAD | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | 0.0 | 12.4 | 42.8 | 48.8 |
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?
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.
Back to top