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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Rays pitcher Ryan Pepiot is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Thursday’s spring training games.
Pepiot struck out six over five innings, allowing one run, one hit and no walks, in the 6-5 win over the Phillies. Pepiot did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Phillies took the lead after he exited.
Pepiot 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.
Pepiot earned 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023 with the Dodgers, 55th among National League pitchers. He has the most 2023 Box-Toppers points among Thursday’s spring training Player of the Game winners.
National League Player of the Day
Giants pitcher Landen Roupp struck out five over three scoreless and hitless innings, allowing two walks, in the 7-6 win over the Brewers.
Roupp would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day if this were a regular season game. Because it’s a preseason exhibition game, no Box-Toppers points are awarded.
Roupp, 25, 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
Zack Short of the Mets hit a grand slam and went 1-for-1, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 10-5 win over the Tigers.
Short would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day if this were a regular season game. Because it’s a preseason exhibition game, no Box-Toppers points are awarded.
Short earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023 with the Tigers, 75th among AL batters.
American League Batter of the Day
Ryan Bliss of the Mariners hit a three-run homer and went 1-for-1, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 7-6 win over the Reds.
Bliss would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day if this were a regular season game. Because it’s a preseason exhibition game, no Box-Toppers points are awarded.
Bliss, 24, has yet to make his regular season Major League debut and so has 0.0 career Box-Toppers points.
Notable
Astros pitcher Ronel Blanco Thursday earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the third time in the 2024 spring training season (4IP 2H 0R 0BB 5K Sv in the 9-1 win over the Cardinals). He was also Player of the Game Feb. 29 and overall Player of the Day on March 15.
Two other players earned their second Player of the Game of the spring Thursday:
Red Sox pitcher Cooper Criswell (4IP 2H 0R 0BB 4K ND in the 3-2 win over the Orioles) was also Player of the Game on March 11.
Lane Thomas of the Nationals (HR 1-2 3R BI in the 9-8 win over the Twins) was also Player of the Game on March 15.
Thursday’s games
In Thursday’s 12 completed spring training games featuring matchups between two Major League teams, there were five Player of the Game winners who had previously earned Box-Toppers points in regular season games.
In six of Thursday’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 (White Sox vs. Royals) 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, Pepiot would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Roupp would have earned 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Short and Bliss would have each earned 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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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Related
Thursday’s regular season results: Jake Cronenworth tops players in 2nd Korea game Thursday, as Padres beat Dodgers
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).| 3/21 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +8.0 | `TB 6, PHI 5 | Ryan Pepiot | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| +7.0 | HOU 9, STL 1 | Ronel Blanco (S, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| NL | +6.0 | SF 7, MIL 6 | Landen Roupp (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| +6.0 | `BOS 3, BAL 2 | Cooper Criswell | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | NYM 10, DET 5 | Zack Short 2B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | CHC 5, COL 2 | Cole Roederer CF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | SEA 7, CIN 6 | Ryan Bliss 2B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | WSH 9, MIN 8 | Lane Thomas RF | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | CLE 8, KC 5 | Carlos Carrasco (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +3.0 | TOR 3, PIT 2 | Ricky Tiedemann (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| +2.0 | ATL 5, NYY 2 | Jorge Juan (S, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 0.0 | CHW 3, KC 3 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pepiot, Ryan 4714 | pi mr sp | tb al | 0.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Thomas, Lane 4623 | rf | dc nl | 0.0 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| Short, Zack 4453 | 3b 2b ph | nym nl | 0.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 0.0 | 1.7 | 24.1 | 111.5 |
| Criswell, Cooper 4840 | pi mr | bos al | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Friday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIN | Lopez, Pablo 4028 | 0.0 | 13.4 | 45.5 | 47.2 |
| TB | Cleavinger, Garrett* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| DET | Skubal, Tarik 4414 | 0.0 | 10.7 | 30.1 | 30.1 |
| PHI | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | 0.0 | 14.7 | 60.2 | 83.6 |
| ATL | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIN | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYM | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYY | Gil, Luis 4498 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| BOS | Hagenman, Justin* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| TOR | White, Mitch 4519 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| CIN | Ashcraft, Graham 4645 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| OAK | Wood, Alex 3246 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 23.0 | 63.1 |
| SF | Winn, Keaton 4931 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| CHC | Steele, Justin 4415 | 0.0 | 11.1 | 19.1 | 19.1 |
| CHC | Assad, Javier 4899 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| SF | Webb, Logan 4258 | 0.0 | 12.4 | 40.3 | 40.3 |
| TEX | Bradford, Cody 4938 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| CLE | Bieber, Shane 4005 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 53.9 | 60.3 |
| COL | Freeland, Kyle 3763 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 20.7 | 39.1 |
| TEX | Urena, Jose 3492 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 23.4 |
| OAK | Boyle, Joe 4948 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| CHW | Woodford, Jake 4293 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| SEA | Hancock, Emerson* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ARI | Nelson, Ryne 4728 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 8.4 | 8.4 |
| CHW | Cannon, Jonathan* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| LAA | Soriano, Jose 4884 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| KC | Ragans, Cole 4889 | 0.0 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| MIL | Junis, Jakob (Jake) 3857 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 12.7 | 21.7 |
| MIL | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | 0.0 | 17.7 | 47.8 | 56.5 |
| SEA | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | 0.0 | 16.1 | 54.5 | 70.9 |
| WSH | Law, Derek 3657 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| HOU | Valdez, Framber 4048 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 39.4 | 41.4 |
| PIT | Jones, Jared* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BAL | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | 0.0 | 11.7 | 52.9 | 55.9 |
| STL | Mikolas, Miles 3034 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 21.8 | 36.2 |
| MIA | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
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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