Giants’ Wood, Yankees’ Donaldson top players in spring games for Tuesday, March 21

Giants pitcher Alex Wood is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Tuesday’s spring training games.

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.
▪️ Box-Toppers points of the day’s top players.
▪️ A B-T look at upcoming pitching matchups.

Giants pitcher Alex Wood is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Tuesday’s spring training games.

Wood struck out six over five scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 12-1 win over the Dodgers.

Wood 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.

Wood earned 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 39th among National League pitchers.

Josh Donaldson of the Yankees is Box-Toppers AL Player of the Day in Tuesday’s spring training games.

American League Player of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Yankees hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, going 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 6-3 win over the Tigers.

Donaldson would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day if this were a regular season game.

Donaldson earned 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 30th among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—David Peralta of the Dodgers hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 4-2 win over the Guardians.

Peralta earned 2.5 Box-Toppers points in 2022.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Josh Donaldson.

Angels pitcher Tyler Anderson is Box-Toppers Player of the Games in Tuesday’s spring training win over the Diamondbacks.

Notable—Angels pitcher Tyler Anderson has the most 2022 Box-Toppers points among Tuesday’s spring training Player of the Game winners.

Anderson (6IP 3H 0R 2BB 4K W in the 7-1 win over the Diamondbacks) earned 12.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022 with the Dodgers, 15th among NL pitchers.

Also notable—Four of Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners also won the honor previously during 2023 spring training:

  • Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon (5IP 4H 2R 0BB 9K W in the 6-2, seven-inning win over the Royals) was also Player of the Game March 4.

  • White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito (4.1IP H 2R 2BB 6K ND in the 6-5 win over the Brewers) was also Player of the Game March 10.

  • Pirates pitcher JT Brubaker (5IP 4H 2R 0BB 6K ND in the 4-3 win over the Phillies) was also Player of the Game March 5.

  • Ryan Mountcastle of the Orioles (HR 2-3 2R BI in the 6-2 win over the Red Sox) was also Player of the Game March 8.

Box-Toppers tracks spring training games between two Major League teams and does not track World Baseball Classic games or other games that involve non-Major League teams. (Though Japan’s first baseman Kazuma Okamoto was Box-Toppers Player of the Game in the WBC Championship Game 3-2 win Tuesday over the United States—HR 2-4 2R BI.)

Japan’s Kazuma Okamoto is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Tuesday’s World Baseball Classic Championship Game win over the United States.

In Monday’s 13 spring training games, one ended in a tie in which no Player of the Game honor was awarded (see chart below for game details). In the remaining 12, nine who earned Player of the Game honors have earned Box-Toppers points in the past (see those players here); the remaining three players have yet to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in a regular season game.

Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in exhibition games. Were it a regular season day, Wood would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Donaldson would have earned 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Peralta would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) 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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

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).
Back to top

3/21 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +10.0 SF 12, LAD 1 Alex Wood, (W 1‑1) 5.0 1 0 0 0 6
+7.0 SD 14, COL 2 Anderson Espinoza, (W 1‑0) 4.0 1 0 0 1 5
+6.0 CHC 6, KC 2 (F/7) Jameson Taillon, (W 2‑0) 5.0 4 2 2 0 9
AL +5.0 NYY 6, DET 3 Josh Donaldson, 3B 3 2 2 4
+5.0 LAA 7, ARI 1 Tyler Anderson, (W 1‑0) 6.0 3 0 0 2 4
+4.0 HOU 2, MIA 1 Ronel Blanco, (W 2‑0) 3.0 1 0 0 1 3
+3.1 `CHW 6, MIL 5 Lucas Giolito 4.1 1 2 2 2 6
BAT +3.0 LAD 4, CLE 2 David Peralta, LF 3 1 2 3
+3.0 MIN 5, TB 2 Carlos Correa, SS 3 2 2 2
+3.0 OAK 6, LAA 5 J.T. Ginn, (W 1‑0) 3.0 1 0 0 0 1
+3.0 `PIT 4, PHI 3 JT Brubaker 5.0 4 2 2 0 6
+2.0 BAL 6, BOS 2 Ryan Mountcastle, 1B 3 2 2 1
0.0 WSH 4, STL 4 N/A
No points are awarded for exhibition games, but were this an actual regular season day, this is how points would be awarded:
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.
Back to top

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 2023. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2022 (’22). Also shown is their point total for the period 2018-2022 (’18-22) 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 ’23 ’22 ’18‑22 Career
Anderson, Tyler 3656 pi sp ana al 0.0 12.7 30.4 35.4
Taillon, Jameson 3658 pi sp chi nl 0.0 10.7 32.1 46.1
Wood, Alex 3246 pi sp sf nl 0.0 7.0 25.0 60.1
Mountcastle, Ryan 4325 1b bal al 0.0 5.0 9.5 9.5
Donaldson, Josh 3144 3b nyy al 0.0 5.0 18.0 65.6
Giolito, Lucas 3900 pi sp chi al 0.0 4.0 40.1 43.1
Peralta, David 3370 lf lad nl 0.0 2.5 18.5 32.4
Correa, Carlos 3506 ss min al 0.0 2.0 15.0 36.9
Brubaker, JT 4382 pi sp pit nl 0.0 2.0 6.0 6.0
What are those numbers after players' names?
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.
Back to top

A Box-Toppers look at Wednesday’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 2023 (’23), over a two-year period (’22-23), over a six-year period (’18-23) and their career point total.
Back to top

Game Starter ’23 ’22‑23 ’18‑23 Career
PHI Walker, Taijuan 3453 0.0 7.7 23.1 49.5
TB Springs, Jeffrey 4372 0.0 10.7 13.7 13.7
ATL Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
DET Manning, Matt 4550 0.0 3.0 4.0 4.0
NYY Schmidt, Clarke 4581 0.0 4.4 4.4 4.4
WSH Gore, MacKenzie 4582 0.0 4.7 4.7 4.7
BAL Kremer, Dean 4330 0.0 7.7 11.4 11.4
TOR Berrios, Jose 3791 0.0 9.0 49.9 58.9
HOU Brown, Hunter 4729 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
NYM Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
STL Montgomery, Jordan 3814 0.0 9.4 20.1 26.1
MIA Rogers, Trevor 4311 0.0 3.0 13.0 13.0
CHC Alzolay, Adbert 4170 0.0 2.0 10.7 10.7
OAK Kaprielian, James 4416 0.0 5.0 12.4 12.4
TEX Gray, Jon 3634 0.0 6.0 33.7 45.4
SF Stripling, Ross 3629 0.0 12.0 32.4 38.1
KC Yarbrough, Ryan 3962 0.0 2.0 34.1 34.1
CHW Martin, Davis 4657 0.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
CHW Clevinger, Mike 3707 0.0 6.4 39.5 53.9
TEX Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 0.0 6.0 33.8 59.6
LAA Detmers, Reid 4513 0.0 7.0 8.0 8.0
COL Urena, Jose 3492 0.0 1.0 13.7 23.4
MIN Ryan, Joe 4539 0.0 14.7 17.4 17.4
BOS Houck, Tanner 4342 0.0 3.0 11.7 11.7
SD Lugo, Seth 3729 0.0 2.0 13.0 18.0
CIN Ashcraft, Graham 4645 0.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
LAD Pepiot, Ryan 4714 0.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
SEA Kirby, George 4595 0.0 11.4 11.4 11.4
Starters subject to change.
Games shown are spring training games between MLB teams. Doesn't include World Baseball Classic or games vs. non-MLB teams.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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, game-by-game view.
Back to top