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Nationals pitcher Jake Irvin is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s spring training games.
Meanwhile, Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt, who led American League pitchers in 2023 with 20.1 Box-Toppers points, is Wednesday’s AL Player of the Day.
Player of the Day
Irvin stuck out five over five scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 2-1 win over the Marlins. Irving did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Marlins tied the game after he exited.
Irvin 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.
Irvin earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 103rd among NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day
Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt struck out nine over 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 10-3 win over the Pirates.
Bassitt would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Bassitt earned 20.1 Box-Toppers points in 2023, second among all players (behind Braves pitcher Spencer Strider’s 21.1) and first among AL pitchers (ahead of Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani’s 19.4).
National League Batter of the Day
Luke Maile of the Reds hit a grand slam and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 19-11 win over the Giants.
Maile would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Maile earned 0.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023 in 74 games with the Reds. He has 3.5 career Box-Toppers points, last earning 2.0 points in 2018 with the Blue Jays.
American League Batter of the Day
White Sox pitcher Korey Lee homered, tripled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 15-4 win over the Brewers.
Lee would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Lee has 0.0 career Box-Toppers points in 36 regular season games over two seasons with the Astros and White Sox.
Notable
Three players each earned their second Player of the Game honor of spring training Wednesday:
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (4.2IP 2H R 2BB 5K ND in the 4-1 win over the Tigers) also earned Player of the Game honors Feb. 25 (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 4-0 win over the Yankees) when he was overall Player of the Day.
Orlando Arcia of the Braves (HR 2-3 2R 2BI in the 7-5 win over the Orioles) also earned Player of the Game honors March 3 (HR 1-2 R 2BI in the 3-2 win over the Phillies).
Mets pitcher Luis Severino (4IP 2H R 0BB 3K ND in the 6-5 win over the Astros) also earned Player of the Game honors March 8 (3IP 3H 0R 0BB 4K W in the 3-1 win over the Marlins).
Wednesday’s games
In Wednesday’s 15 completed spring training games featuring matchups between two Major League teams, there were 11 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 (Cardinals vs. Twins) 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, Irvin would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Bassitt would have earned 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Maile and Lee would have each earned 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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).| 3/13 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.0 | `WSH 2, MIA 1 | Jake Irvin | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| AL | +8.1 | TOR 10, PIT 3 | Chris Bassitt (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
| BAT | +6.0 | CIN 19, SF 11 | Luke Maile C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +6.0 | TB 4, MIN 3 | Jacob Lopez (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +6.0 | `KC 3, LAA 2 | Daniel Lynch IV | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +5.0 | SD 12, OAK 11 | Jurickson Profar LF | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | CHC 8, CLE 3 | Garrett Cooper DH | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.2 | `PHI 4, DET 1 | Aaron Nola | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | CHW 15, MIL 4 | Korey Lee C | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | ATL 7, BAL 5 | Orlando Arcia SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | `NYM 6, HOU 5 | Luis Severino | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +2.0 | SEA 8, LAD 1 | Mitch Garver DH | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | BOS 9, NYY 4 | Romy Gonzalez 2B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | COL 7, ARI 5 | Benny Montgomery RF‑CF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | STL 1, MIN 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | tor al | 0.0 | 20.1 | 57.9 | 63.9 |
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 0.0 | 12.0 | 56.1 | 101.7 |
| Garver, Mitch 3950 | ca dh | sea al | 0.0 | 6.5 | 16.5 | 24.0 |
| Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nym nl | 0.0 | 4.7 | 14.4 | 58.2 |
| Arcia, Orlando 3717 | ss | atl nl | 0.0 | 4.0 | 12.2 | 15.7 |
| Irvin, Jake 4805 | pi sp | dc nl | 0.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Cooper, Garrett 4184 | dh 1b rf | chi nl | 0.0 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Lynch, Daniel 4488 | pi sp | kc al | 0.0 | 1.0 | 9.4 | 9.4 |
| Profar, Jurickson 3665 | lf | sd nl | 0.0 | 1.0 | 8.2 | 14.2 |
| Gonzalez, Romy 4817 | ss 2b | bos al | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Maile, Luke 3709 | ca | cin nl | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.5 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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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 2024 (’24)†, last year (’23), over a five-year period (’19-23) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’24† | ’23 | ’19‑23 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYM | Butto, Jose 4933 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| STL | Lynn, Lance 2992 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 50.9 | 118.5 |
| TOR | Francis, Bowden* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIN | Ober, Bailey 4441 | 0.0 | 8.7 | 18.4 | 18.4 |
| BOS | Winckowski, Josh 4784 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| PHI | Suarez, Ranger 4228 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 18.7 | 18.7 |
| TB | Littell, Zack 4533 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| ATL | Sale, Chris 2806 | 0.0 | 8.7 | 21.7 | 153.3 |
| NYY | Stroman, Marcus 3327 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 31.4 | 62.2 |
| DET | Mize, Casey 4377 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| BAL | Rodriguez, Grayson 4790 | 0.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| PIT | Gonzales, Marco 3408 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 22.1 | 36.5 |
| COL | Lambert, Peter* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CLE | Allen, Logan T. 4789 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| OAK | Sears, JP 4627 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| CHC | Imanaga, Shota* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| LAA | Anderson, Tyler 3656 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 24.4 | 37.4 |
| CHW | Soroka, Mike 3956 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 11.4 | 14.4 |
| KC | Wacha, Michael 3276 | 0.0 | 11.0 | 30.5 | 61.2 |
| ARI | Henry, Tommy 4829 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| MIL | Junk, Janson 4697 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| SEA | Woo, Bryan 4842 | 0.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 |
| HOU | Urquidy, Jose 4194 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 23.1 | 23.1 |
| WSH | Davies, Zach 3581 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 15.0 | 31.7 |
| CIN | Martinez, Nick 3430 | 0.0 | 7.4 | 12.4 | 19.1 |
| TEX | Gray, Jon 3634 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 29.7 | 53.1 |
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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