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Astros pitcher Ronel Blanco is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Friday’s spring training games.
Blanco struck out five over four scoreless, hitless innings, walking two, in the 5-3 win over the Phillies.
Blanco 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.
Blanco, 30, has appeared in 24 regular season Major League games over 2022 and 2023 with the Astros, but has yet to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in any of those, so has 0.0 career Box-Toppers points.
This is his second Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor of the 2024 spring training season. He also did it Feb. 29 (2.2IP 2H 0R BB 2K W in the 2-1 win over the Mets).
National League Player of the Day
Pirates pitcher Quinn Priester struck out five over 4 2/3 innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 6-2 win over the Yankees. Priester did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied, 1-1, when he exited.
Priester would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Priester, 23, appeared in 10 regular season Major League games in 2023 with the Pirates, but did not earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in any of those, so has 0.0 career Box-Toppers points.
American League Batter of the Day
Nick Meyer of the Rays went 1-for-1, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 7-2 win over the Orioles.
Meyer would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Meyer, 27, has yet to make his regular season Major League debut and so has 0.0 career Box-Toppers points.
National League Batter of the Day
Jon Berti of the Marlins hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 8-4 win over the Cardinals.
Berti would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Berti earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 82nd among NL batters.
Notable
In addition to Blanco, three other players earned their second Player of the Game honor of spring training Friday:
Tigers pitcher Drew Anderson (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 5K Sv in the 9-6 win over the Blue Jays) also also earned Player of the Game honors Feb. 27 (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 6-4 win over the Blue Jays).
Red Sox pitcher Garrett Whitlock (4.1IP 2H 0R BB 5K ND in the 8-5 win over the Twins) also earned Player of the Game honors Feb. 29 (3IP 3H R 0BB 6K W in the 5-2 win over the Tigers).
Tigers pitcher Matt Manning (4IP H 0R BB 4K W in the 6-1 win over the Braves) also earned Player of the Game honors March 3 (3IP H R 0BBB 4K ND in the 7-2 win over the Yankees). Manning also has the most 2023 Box-Toppers points among Friday’s spring training Player of the Game winners. His 4.7 points in 2023 was 64th among AL pitchers.
Friday’s games
In Friday’s 10 completed spring training games featuring matchups between two Major League teams, there were seven Player of the Game winners who had previously earned Box-Toppers points in regular season games.
In three of Friday’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.
Scoring
No Box-Toppers points are awarded in exhibition games. Were it a regular season day, Blanco would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Priester would have earned 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Meyer and Berti would have each earned 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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).| 3/15 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +7.0 | HOU 5, PHI 3 | Ronel Blanco (W, 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| +7.0 | DET 9, TOR 6 | Drew Anderson (S, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| +6.1 | `BOS 8, MIN 5 | Garrett Whitlock | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +6.0 | DET 6, ATL 1 | Matt Manning (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| NL | +4.2 | `PIT 6, NYY 2 | Quinn Priester | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| +4.0 | `CLE 6, KC 1 | Tyler Beede | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | TB 7, BAL 2 | Nick Meyer 1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | CHW 3, CHC 2 (F/8) | Tanner Banks (S, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | MIA 8, STL 4 | Jon Berti 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.0 | WSH 7, NYM 3 | Lane Thomas RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manning, Matt 4550 | pi sp | det al | 0.0 | 4.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 |
| Whitlock, Garrett 4431 | pi sp | bos al | 0.0 | 4.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| Thomas, Lane 4623 | rf | dc nl | 0.0 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| Berti, Jon 4132 | 3b ss 2b ph | fla nl | 0.0 | 3.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| Banks, Tanner 4743 | pi cp | chi al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Anderson, Drew 4559 | pi mr | det al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Beede, Tyler 4166 | pi sp | cle al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Saturday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STL | Mikolas, Miles 3034 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 21.8 | 36.2 |
| WSH | Law, Derek 3657 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| BOS | Criswell, Cooper 4840 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| BAL | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | 0.0 | 11.7 | 52.9 | 55.9 |
| TB | Pepiot, Ryan 4714 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| MIN | Lopez, Pablo 4028 | 0.0 | 13.4 | 45.5 | 47.2 |
| TOR | Espino, Paolo 4443 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| NYY | Gil, Luis 4498 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| PHI | Allard, Kolby 4232 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| MIA | Rogers, Trevor 4311 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 |
| KC | Lyles, Jordan 3100 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 21.4 | 33.1 |
| CHC | Smyly, Drew 3009 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 26.7 | 62.2 |
| DET | Skubal, Tarik 4414 | 0.0 | 10.7 | 30.1 | 30.1 |
| PIT | Keller, Mitch 4230 | 0.0 | 13.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 |
| SEA | Kirby, George 4595 | 0.0 | 13.7 | 25.1 | 25.1 |
| CIN | Abbott, Andrew 4839 | 0.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| CLE | McKenzie, Triston 4303 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 32.1 | 32.1 |
| SF | Jefferies, Daulton 4571 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| ARI | Nelson, Ryne 4728 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 8.4 | 8.4 |
| TEX | Bradford, Cody 4938 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| SF | Howard, Spencer 4386 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| CHW | Kopech, Michael 4385 | 0.0 | 8.0 | 22.7 | 22.7 |
| MIL | Junis, Jakob 3857 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 12.7 | 21.7 |
| OAK | Boyle, Joe 4948 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| CHC | Brown, Ben* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| LAA | Silseth, Chase 4605 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| OAK | Muller, Kyle 4454 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| COL | Freeland, Kyle 3763 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 20.7 | 39.1 |
| CHW | Woodford, Jake 4293 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| SEA | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | 0.0 | 16.1 | 54.5 | 70.9 |
| TEX | Rodriguez, Yerry* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIL | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | 0.0 | 17.7 | 47.8 | 56.5 |
| NYM | Tonkin, Michael 3615 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 8.0 |
| HOU | France, J.P. 4811 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| PIT | Jones, Jared* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ATL | Morton, Charlie 2503 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 53.9 | 104.1 |
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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