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.
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Giants pitcher Jordan Hicks is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Saturday’s spring training games.
Meanwhile, among Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners for Saturday are two of 2023’s Box-Toppers points leaders: Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo, who ranked fifth among American League pitchers with 16.1 Box-Toppers points and Kyle Tucker of the Astros, who ranked second among AL batters with 12.5 points.
Player of the Day
Hicks struck out six over three scoreless, hitless innings, allowing one walk, in the 5-1 win over the Athletics. Hicks did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Hicks 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.
Hicks earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023 with the Cardinals and the Blue Jays, finishing the season 87th among AL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day
Byron Buxton of the Twins homered, hit two triples and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 10-7 win over the Yankees.
Buxton would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Buxton earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2023 playing in 85 games. He earned 5.5 points in 2022, 23rd among AL batters.
National League Batter of the Day
Jack Rogers of the Reds went 1-for-1 and drove in two runs, in the 7-5 win over the Diamondbacks.
Rogers would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day if this were a regular season game. Rogers was the only NL batter to win Player of the Game honors in the 17 spring training games played and completed.
Rogers, 24, has yet to make his regular season Major League debut and so has 0.0 career Box-Toppers points.
American League Batter of the Day
There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Byron Buxton.
Notable
Two 2023 Box-Toppers points leaders were among Player of the Game winners in Saturday’s 17 spring training games:
Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo (4IP 2H 0R 0BB 4K W in the 7-6 win over the Brewers) had 16.1 Box-Toppers points in 2023, fifth among AL pitchers.
Kyle Tucker of the Astros (HR 2-2 R 3BI in the 9-4 win over the Nationals) had 12.5 Box-Toppers points in 2023, second among AL batters.
Also notable
Red Sox pitcher Kutter Crawford won Player of the Game honors for the second time Saturday during the 2024 spring training season.
Crawford (3IP 2H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 4-0 win over the Rays) was also Player of the Game March 3 (3IP 2H 0R 0BB 4K ND in the 3-1 win over the Blue Jays).
Saturday’s games
In Saturday’s 17 completed spring training games featuring matchups between two Major League teams, there were 12 Player of the Game winners who had previously earned Box-Toppers points in regular season games.
In four of Saturday’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 (White Sox vs. Padres) and so no Player of the Game honor was awarded.
Scoring
No Box-Toppers points are awarded in exhibition games. Were it a regular season day, Hicks would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Buxton would have earned 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Rogers would have earned 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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).| 3/9 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +8.0 | `SF 5, OAK 1 | Jordan Hicks | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| +7.1 | LAD 7, TEX 1 | Michael Grove (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| AL | +7.0 | MIN 10, NYY 7 | Byron Buxton CF | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +6.0 | SEA 7, MIL 6 | Luis Castillo (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +5.0 | LAA 5, CLE 4 | Jake Marisnick RF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | BAL 10, ATL 3 | Coby Mayo DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | HOU 9, WSH 4 | Kyle Tucker RF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | TOR 13, PHI 5 | Will Robertson RF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | NYM 9, STL 3 | Sean Manaea (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| +3.1 | MIA 4, WSH 1 | A.J. Puk (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +3.0 | OAK 4, MIL 2 | Armando Alvarez 3B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | DET 8, PIT 5 | Keston Hiura 1B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | CHC 5, COL 0 | Thomas Pannone (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | BOS 4, TB 0 | Kutter Crawford (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | KC 6, ARI 5 | Vinnie Pasquantino DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | CIN 7, ARI 5 | Jack Rogers LF | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 0.0 | CHW 1, SD 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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | pi sp | sea al | 0.0 | 16.1 | 54.5 | 70.9 |
| Tucker, Kyle 4277 | rf | hou al | 0.0 | 12.5 | 29.2 | 29.2 |
| Crawford, Kutter 4660 | pi sp | bos al | 0.0 | 5.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 |
| Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi mr sp | nym nl | 0.0 | 3.7 | 31.1 | 53.9 |
| Hicks, Jordan 3991 | pi cp | sf nl | 0.0 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 |
| Puk, A.J. 4253 | pi cp mr | fla nl | 0.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Buxton, Byron 3604 | dh cf | min al | 0.0 | 1.0 | 10.5 | 21.7 |
| Grove, Michael 4774 | pi sp | lad nl | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Pasquantino, Vinnie 4766 | dh | kc al | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Hiura, Keston 4189 | dh 1b 2b | det al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.2 | 6.2 |
| Marisnick, Jake 3428 | cf | ana al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 12.7 |
| Pannone, Thomas 4051 | pi mr sp | chi nl | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 |
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 Sunday’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 | Civale, Aaron 4173 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 28.4 | 28.4 |
| BOS | Whitlock, Garrett 4431 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| TOR | Harrison, Deveraux* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BAL | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | 0.0 | 11.7 | 52.9 | 55.9 |
| WSH | Adon, Joan 4580 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| MIN | Lopez, Pablo 4028 | 0.0 | 13.4 | 45.5 | 47.2 |
| PHI | Castillo, Max* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| PIT | Priester, Quinn* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIA | Weathers, Ryan 4388 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| HOU | Martinez, Seth 4678 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| ATL | Smith-Shawver, AJ 4951 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| NYY | Schmidt, Clarke 4581 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 6.4 | 6.4 |
| BAL | Suarez, Albert 3870 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| TOR | Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 27.4 | 27.4 |
| DET | Hurter, Brant* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYM | Houser, Adrian 4162 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 15.4 | 15.4 |
| STL | Graceffo, Gordon* | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| MIA | Cabrera, Edward 4641 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 10.1 | 10.1 |
| CLE | Curry, Xzavion 4875 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| CIN | Lodolo, Nick 4586 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| ARI | Pfaadt, Brandon 4812 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| LAD | Stone, Gavin 4942 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| KC | Singer, Brady 4337 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 23.7 | 23.7 |
| OAK | Blackburn, Paul 3869 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 8.7 | 11.7 |
| CHC | Smyly, Drew 3009 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 26.7 | 62.2 |
| TEX | Bradford, Cody 4938 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| CHW | Flexen, Chris 4368 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| SF | Howard, Spencer 4386 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| SD | Brito, Jhony 4761 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| LAA | Silseth, Chase 4605 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| SF | Romero, Tommy* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SEA | Kirby, George 4595 | 0.0 | 13.7 | 25.1 | 25.1 |
| MIL | Junis, Jakob (Jake) 3857 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 12.7 | 21.7 |
| COL | Feltner, Ryan 4635 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
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 2024.
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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