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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Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Friday’s spring training games.
Suarez struck out five over 3 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 6-3 win over the Astros.
Suarez 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.
Suarez earned 3.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 83rd among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day
Royals pitcher Seth Lugo struck out two over three scoreless, hitless innings, walking none, into the 4-2 win over the Rangers.
Lugo would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Lugo earned 6.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023 with the Padres, 40th among NL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day
Rhys Hoskins of the Brewers hit a grand slam, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in five runs, in the 7-4 win over the Athletics.
Hoskins would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Hoskins earned no Box-Toppers points in 2023 with the Phillies, playing in no regular season games after being injured in last year’s spring training. His 6.5 points in 2022 was 12th among NL batters.
American League Batter of the Day
Miguel Sano of the Angels hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 8-7 win over the Rockies.
Sano would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Sano, 30, did not play in the Major Leagues in 2023 and injury limited him to 20 games in 2022 with the Twins. He did not earn Box-Toppers points either season. In 2021, his 5.5 Box-Toppers points with the Twins was 28th among AL batters.
This is his second Player of the Game honor for Sano during the 2024 spring training season. He also did it March 1 (HR 1-2 2R BI in the 5-3 win over the Padres).
Friday’s games
In Friday’s 14 completed spring training games featuring matchups between two Major League teams, there were 10 Player of the Game winners who had previously earned Box-Toppers points in regular season games.
Most notably, Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 7-5 win over the Cubs) had the most 2023 Box-Toppers points among Friday’s Player of the Game winners. Kelly earned 13.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, seventh among NL pitchers.
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.
One game ended in a tie (Pirates vs. Braves) 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, Suarez would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lugo would have earned 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Hoskins and Sano 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).| 3/8 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +6.1 | PHI 6, HOU 3 | Ranger Suárez (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| BAT | +5.0 | MIL 7, OAK 4 | Rhys Hoskins 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| AL | +5.0 | KC 4, TEX 2 | Seth Lugo (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| +5.0 | ARI 7, CHC 5 | Merrill Kelly (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +4.0 | NYM 3, MIA 1 | Luis Severino (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +4.0 | CLE 2, CHW 1 | Tanner Bibee (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||
| +4.0 | MIL 5, OAK 4 | Bryan Hudson (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +4.0 | TOR 2, NYY 1 | Mason Fluharty (S, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | CHC 9, SEA 5 | Matt Shaw 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | LAA 8, COL 7 | Miguel Sanó DH | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | STL 7, WSH 6 | Nolan Gorman 2B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | `PIT 6, MIN 3 | Martin Pérez | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| +2.1 | BAL 4, DET 3 | Bryan Baker (S, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 0.0 | PIT 6, ATL 6 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | ari nl | 0.0 | 13.0 | 39.0 | 39.0 |
| Gorman, Nolan 4633 | 2b | stl nl | 0.0 | 10.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Bibee, Tanner 4792 | pi sp | cle al | 0.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 |
| Lugo, Seth 3729 | pi sp | kc al | 0.0 | 6.4 | 15.4 | 24.4 |
| Perez, Martin 3213 | pi sp mr | pit nl | 0.0 | 4.7 | 17.5 | 34.5 |
| Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nym nl | 0.0 | 4.7 | 14.4 | 58.2 |
| Suarez, Ranger 4228 | pi sp | phi nl | 0.0 | 3.7 | 18.7 | 18.7 |
| Baker, Bryan 4710 | pi mr cp | bal al | 0.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Hoskins, Rhys 3909 | 1b | mil nl | 0.0 | 0.0 | 14.0 | 18.0 |
| Sano, Miguel 3527 | 1b | ana al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 9.5 | 31.0 |
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 six-year period (’19-23) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’24† | ’23 | ’19‑23 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WSH | Williams, Trevor 3792 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 16.4 | 29.4 |
| HOU | Urquidy, Jose 4194 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 23.1 | 23.1 |
| PIT | Ortiz, Luis 4738 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| DET | Manning, Matt 4550 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 |
| NYM | Manaea, Sean 3637 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 31.1 | 53.9 |
| STL | Matz, Steven 3516 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 26.1 | 48.4 |
| TOR | Tiedemann, Ricky* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| PHI | Walker, Taijuan 3453 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 30.8 | 57.2 |
| BAL | Kremer, Dean 4330 | 0.0 | 9.7 | 21.1 | 21.1 |
| ATL | Sale, Chris 2806 | 0.0 | 8.7 | 21.7 | 153.3 |
| NYY | Cortes, Nestor 4160 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 24.4 | 24.4 |
| MIN | Ober, Bailey 4441 | 0.0 | 8.7 | 18.4 | 18.4 |
| LAA | Anderson, Tyler 3656 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 24.4 | 37.4 |
| CLE | Allen, Logan T. 4789 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| COL | Hudson, Dakota 4035 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 16.4 | 17.4 |
| CHC | Taillon, Jameson 3658 | 0.0 | 5.4 | 25.1 | 51.5 |
| ARI | Henry, Tommy 4829 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| KC | Wacha, Michael 3276 | 0.0 | 11.0 | 30.5 | 61.2 |
| OAK | Muller, Kyle 4454 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| SF | Hicks, Jordan 3991 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 |
| TEX | Rodriguez, Yerry* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| LAD | Grove, Michael 4774 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| CIN | Abbott, Andrew 4839 | 0.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| ARI | Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | 0.0 | 13.0 | 34.4 | 67.2 |
| CHW | Soroka, Mike 3956 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 11.4 | 14.4 |
| SD | Waldron, Matt 4946 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| SEA | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | 0.0 | 16.1 | 54.5 | 70.9 |
| MIL | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | 0.0 | 17.7 | 47.8 | 56.5 |
| MIL | McKendry, Evan* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| OAK | Sears, JP 4627 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| BOS | Crawford, Kutter 4660 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 |
| TB | Curet, Yoniel* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIA | Puk, A.J. 4253 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| WSH | Davies, Zach 3581 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 15.0 | 31.7 |
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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