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Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.▪️ Players of the Game
▪️ B-T points of day’s top players
▪️ Top 10 players in 2025
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Angels pitcher Yusei Kikuchi is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2025 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Monday, June 9.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 12.1 |
| 2 | Carlos Rodón | pi sp | Yankees | 9.7 |
| 3 | Tarik Skubal | pi sp | Tigers | 9.0 |
| 4 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | pi sp | Dodgers | 9.0 |
| 5 | Max Fried | pi sp | Yankees | 8.7 |
| 6 | Merill Kelly | pi sp | Diamondbacks | 8.7 |
| 7 | Paul Skenes | pi sp | Pirates | 8.4 |
| 8 | Hunter Brown | pi sp | Astros | 8.4 |
| 9 | Garrett Crochet | pi sp | Red Sox | 8.4 |
| 10 | Sonny Gray | pi sp | Cardinals | 8.0 |
Also Monday, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler extended his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. In addition, Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly rises to sixth place after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day
Kikuchi struck out five over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 7-4 win over the Athletics.
Kikuchi earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, 64th among all players and 27th among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day
Braves pitcher Chris Sale (7IP 5H R 2BB 11K W in the 7-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points, giving him 5.4 for the season, 33rd among all players and 14th among NL pitchers.
Sale also now has 177.8 career Box-Toppers points, 12th-most among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 11th-ranked player Jon Lester (179.3). Sale ranks 10th among all pitchers since 1995.
Sale ranks fourth among active, signed players in career points, third among active NL pitchers behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (273.4) and Justin Verlander of the Giants (247.0).
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Retired | 282.5 |
| 2 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 273.4 |
| 3 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | Rangers | 253.7 |
| 4 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | Astros | 247.0 |
| 5 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | Retired | 244.8 |
| 6 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | Free agent | 224.5 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b | Retired | 207.8 |
| 8 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | Retired | 203.4 |
| 9 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | Retired | 194.1 |
| 10 | Alex Rodriguez | 3b | Retired | 187.0 |
| 11 | Jon Lester | pi sp | Retired | 179.3 |
| 12 | Chris Sale | pi sp | Braves | 177.8 |
| 13 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | Retired | 175.1 |
| 14 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | Retired | 174.2 |
| 15 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | Retired | 170.7 |
| 16 | Johan Santana | pi sp | Retired | 166.6 |
| 17 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | Retired | 166.2 |
| 18 | Gerrit Cole | pi sp | Yankees | 165.0 |
| 19 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | Retired | 164.8 |
| 20 | John Smoltz | pi sp | Retired | 160.9 |
National League Batter of the Day
Jake Fraley of the Reds (HR 3-4 2R 2BI in the 7-4 win over the Guardians) earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points, his first points of the season.
American League Batter of the Day
Alejandro Kirk of the Blue Jays (HR 2-2B 4-5 R 2BI in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Cardinals) earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points, giving him 2.5 for the season, 33rd among AL batters.
Rankings
Wheeler maintains lead
Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler extended his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Wheeler (6IP 3H R BB 7K ND in the 4-3, 11-inning win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.1 for the season, ahead of second-place player, Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón (9.7 points). Wheeler leads NL pitchers ahead of second-place Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers (9.0 points).
Wheeler led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2024 with 21.4.
Wheeler also now has 117.1 career Box-Toppers points, 56th-most among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. With his 1.0 point Monday, he passes three players on the “all-time” career points list—Todd Helton (116.4), Mark Buehrle (116.7) and Adrian Beltré (116.8). He now trails 55th-ranked player Barry Zito (117.4).
Wheeler ranks 10th among active, signed players in career points, seventh among active NL pitchers, just behind teammate Aaron Nola (117.8).
Kelly rises to sixth place
Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Kelly (6IP 4H 0R 2BB 7K ND in the 8-4, 11-inning win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season. He ranks third among NL pitchers behind Zack Wheeler of the Phillies (12.1 points) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers (9.0 points).
Career Box-Toppers points—Active NL pitchers 1—Kershaw #Dodgers 273.4 2—Verlander #SFGiants 247.0 3—Chris Sale #Braves 177.8* 4—Darvish #Padres 139.7 5—Gray #STLCards 118.3 6—Nola #Phillies 117.8 7—Zack Wheeler #Phillies 117.1† *Earns 1.7 pts MO †Earns 1.0 pt MO www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/6/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Jun 10, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Scoring
Kikuchi earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Sale earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day.
Fraley and Kirk each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day.
All of Monday’s other Player of the Game winners (listed in the chart) earn 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).| 6/9 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +10.1 | LAA 7, ATH 4 | Yusei Kikuchi (W, 2‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| NL | +9.0 | ATL 7, MIL 1 | Chris Sale (W, 4‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | |
| +7.0 | `PHI 4, CHC 3 (F/11) | Zack Wheeler | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +7.0 | `ARI 8, SEA 4 (F/11) | Merrill Kelly | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| +4.0 | PIT 10, MIA 3 | Caleb Ferguson (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | CIN 7, CLE 4 | Jake Fraley RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | `LAD 8, SD 7 (F/10) | Anthony Banda | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | TOR 5, STL 4 (F/10) | Alejandro Kirk C | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +1.0 | TB 10, BOS 8 (F/11) | José Caballero 2B | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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.
All other players listed here 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. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2025 (’25). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’24-’25), the period 2020-2025 (’20-25) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2025 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2024 total (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’25 | ’24‑25 | ’20‑25 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 12.1 | 33.5 | 84.7 | 117.1 | -9.3 |
| Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | ari nl | 8.7 | 10.7 | 41.7 | 49.7 | +6.7 |
| Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | atl nl | 5.4 | 24.5 | 35.2 | 177.8 | -13.7 |
| Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 | pi sp | ana al | 4.0 | 14.7 | 38.1 | 42.1 | -6.7 |
| Kirk, Alejandro 4353 | ca | tor al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 11.5 | 11.5 | +2.5 |
| Caballero, Jose 4968 | rf 3b 2b ss | tb al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Fraley, Jake 4430 | rf dh | cin nl | 1.5 | 2.5 | 14.7 | 14.7 | +0.5 |
| Ferguson, Caleb 4006 | pi mr | pit nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 9.0 | +1.0 |
| Banda, Anthony 3867 | pi mr sp | lad nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 4.7 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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