Brewers’ Misiorowski leads player rankings for 8th week; Cease leads AL pitchers

Here are standings of the top 10 players by category (AL & NL pitching & batting) in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2026 season through games of Thursday, Sept. 3:

	AL PITCHERS	POS	TEAM	BTP			NL PITCHERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Dylan Cease	pi sp	Blue Jays	20.4		1	Jacob Misiorowski	pi sp	Brewers	21.4
2	Cam Schlittler	pi sp	Yankees	18.7		2	Jesus Luzardo	pi sp	Phillies	21.0
3	Gavin Williams	pi sp	Guardians	15.7		3	Cristopher Sanchez	pi sp	Phillies	17.7
4	Jacob deGrom	pi sp	Rangers	15.4		4	Braxton Ashcraft	pi sp	Pirates	16.4
5	Bryan Woo	pi sp	Mariners	14.4		5	Shohei Ohtani	pi sp dh	Dodgers	15.7
6	Taj Bradley	pi sp	Twins	14.4		6	Zack Wheeler	pi sp	Phillies	14.0
7	Logan Gilbert	pi sp	Mariners	13		7	Kyle Harrison	pi sp	Brewers	13.7
8	Drew Rasmussen	pi sp	Rays	13		8	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	pi sp	Dodgers	13.4
9	Sean Burke	pi sp	White Sox	12.1		9	Chris Sale	pi sp	Braves	13.4
10	Sonny Gray	pi sp	Red Sox	12		10	Paul Skenes	pi sp	Pirates	12.7
	AL BATTERS	POS	TEAM	BTP			NL BATTERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Pete Alonso	1b	Orioles	8.2		1	Shohei Ohtani	pi sp dh	Dodgers	15.7
2	Yordan Alvarez	dh	Astros	7.5		2	Sal Stewart	1b	Reds	13.0
3	Yandy Diaz	dh	Rays	7.5		3	Dansby Swanson	ss	Cubs	9.2
4	Willson Contreras	1b	Red Sox	7.0		4	Jake McCarthy	cf lf rf	Rockies	8.7
5	Nick Kurtz	1b	Athletics	7.0		5	Pete Crow‑Armstrong	cf	Cubs	8.5
6	Kody Clemens	1b rf	Twins	7.0		6	Michael Harris	cf ph	Braves	8.5
7	Munetaka Murakami	1b	White Sox	7.0		7	Ty France	1b	Padres	8.5
8	Jac Caglianone	1b	Royals	6.9		8	Alec Burleson	1b	Cardinals	8.5
9	Jazz Chisholm Jr.	2b	Yankees	6.5		9	Daylen Lile	lf	Nationals	8.2
10	Dillon Dingler	ca	Tigers	6.5		10	CJ Abrams	ss	Nationals	8.0

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Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski leads Box-Toppers overall player rankings for an eighth consecutive week.

All Box-Toppers category leaders remain unchanged since last week:

• AL Pitchers: Dylan Cease, Blue Jays

• NL Batters: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers

• AL Batters: Pete Alonso, Orioles

Misiorowski leads all players and National League pitchers with 21.4 Box-Toppers points, picking up no points in the past week. He stays ahead of Jesús Luzardo of the Phillies (21.0 points), who ranks second to Misiorowski overall and among NL pitchers.

American League pitchers

Dylan Cease of the Blue Jays leads AL pitchers for the eighth consecutive week with 20.4 Box-Toppers points, gaining 2.0 points in the past week. He stays ahead of Cam Schlittler of the Yankees (18.7 points). Cease ranks third overall.

National League batters

Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers leads for the 15th straight report with 15.7 Box-Toppers points, picking up no points in the past week. He leads second-place NL batter Sal Stewart of the Reds (13.0 points).

Ohtani ranks eighth overall.

Ohtani has earned Player of the Game honors 13 times this season—six as a batter (7.0 points) and seven as a starting pitcher (8.7 points). Because at least 25% of his honors came from each role (46.2% batting, 53.8% pitching), he qualifies to rank at both positions with his full 15.7-point total.

Looked at individually, his 8.7 points as a pitcher would rank 18th among NL pitchers and his 7.0 points as a designated hitter would rank 11th among NL batters.

American League batters

Pete Alonso of the Orioles leads for the second week with 8.2 Box-Toppers points, picking up no points in the past week. He ranks ahead of second-place Yordan Alvarez of the Astros (7.5 points). Alonso ranks 48th overall.

AL batters continue to lag significantly behind NL batters in total points earned this season (468.1 vs. 537.4)—in fact, eight of the top 10 NL batters have higher point totals than Alonso.

With three weeks remaining, the top AL batter is on pace to potentially set a record for the lowest point total to lead a category in a full season since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. The record low was set last season when George Springer of the Blue Jays led AL batters with 9.7 points; Alonso needs 1.5 more points to reach that mark.

Box-Toppers almanac

After winning a majority of Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors last week for the first time this season, batters fell back to earth this week. Batters won in 38 of the 97 games played (39.2%), while pitchers won in 59 (60.8%).

Batters’ overall share of points this season decreased from 40.2% last week to 40.1% this week.

Batters have won fewer than 40% of all Box-Toppers points awarded in four of the past five seasons (surpassing that mark only in 2023 at 40.7%) and set a record-low share of 37.2% in 2024.

While batters have struggled to reach parity with pitchers in recent seasons, it wasn’t always this way: From 1995 to 2009, batters generally won half or more of all Box-Toppers points each season. But their share of points dropped precipitously after 2009.

About Box-Toppers

Box-Toppers tracks who contributes most to their team’s victory. Using standard box score statistics, we identify the Player of the Game for every MLB contest. In the regular season, winners earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point, with bonus points awarded to the top overall and league-specific players of the day. More on how Box-Toppers works.

Help us stay accurate! Spot a mistake? Contact Box-Toppers here so we can fix it.

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Related

Last week’s Box-Toppers player rankings report

Mariners’ Kirby tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 25; Orioles’ Alonso rises to lead AL batters

Mariners pitcher George Kirby is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Box-Toppers Toppers Box

Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.
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▪️ B-T points of day’s top players
▪️ Top 10 players in 2026
▪️ Upcoming pitching matchups
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Mariners pitcher George Kirby is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Tuesday, Pete Alonso of the Orioles rises to first place among American League batters, passing previous leader Yordan Alvarez of the Astros, after earning AL Batter of the Day honors.

Other Player of the Game winners Tuesday include Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes and Ryan Waldschmidt of the Diamondbacks.

Player of the Day: George Kirby, Mariners

Kirby struck out nine over 7.2 innings, allowing one run, six hits and one walk, in the 4-1 win over the Phillies.

Kirby earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, 65th among all players and 30th among American League pitchers.

NL Player of the Day: Paul Skenes, Pirates.

NL Player of the Day: Paul Skenes, Pirates

Skenes struck out four over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Padres. Skenes did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.

He earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points as National League Player of the Day, giving him 12.7 for the season, 17th among all players and ninth among NL pitchers.

AL Batter of the Day: Pete Alonso, Orioles.

2026 Box-Toppers points—AL batters 1—Pete Alonso #Orioles 8.2* 2—Yordan Alvarez #Astros 7.5 3—Yandy Díaz #Rays 7.5 4—Willson Contreras #RedSox 7.0 5—Nick Kurtz #Athletics 7.0 6—Kody Clemens #Twins 7.0 *Earns 1.5 B-T points as Tuesday AL Batter of the Day www.box-toppers.com/blog/2026/8/...

— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) 7:53 AM · Aug 26, 2026

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2026 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Tuesday, Aug. 25.

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Jacob Misiorowski	pi sp	Brewers	21.4
2	Dylan Cease	pi sp	Blue Jays	18.4
3	Jesús Luzardo	pi sp	Phillies	18.0
4	Braxton Ashcraft	pi sp	Pirates	16.4
5	Cristopher Sánchez	pi sp	Phillies	15.7
6	Cam Schlittler	pi sp	Yankees	15.7
7	Shohei Ohtani	pi sp dh	Dodgers	15.7
8	Gavin Williams	pi sp	Guardians	13.7
9	Kyle Harrison	pi sp	Brewers	13.7
10	Bryan Woo	pi sp	Mariners	13.4

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AL Batter of the Day: Pete Alonso, Orioles

Alonso hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 13-1 win over the Cardinals.

Alonso earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points as AL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.2 for the season, rising to first place among AL batters, passing previous leader Yordan Alvarez of the Astros (7.5 points). Alonso ranks 43rd among all players.

NL Batter of the Day: Ryan Waldschmidt, Diamondbacks

Waldschmidt hit a walk-off, pinch-hit, two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning in the 5-4 win over the Cubs. Waldschmidt went 1-for-1, scoring once and driving in two runs.

Debut

Tuesday’s Sidelights Sidebar

Box-Toppers review of the day's top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest B-T game scores:

⬛ Holmes posts Tuesday’s best game score but D-backs come back to beat Cubs in walk-off

Three 2026 rookie relief pitchers made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, each earning their first career Player of the Game honor:

• Nate Lavender of the Mets (2IP 0H 0R 0BB K ND in the 3-2, 10-inning win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut Aug. 4 and was playing in his ninth career game.

• Drew Sommers of the Tigers (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 4-1 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut Aug. 22, 2025, and was playing in his 36th career game.

• Mark Manfredi of the Rockies (1IP H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 3-1 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut Aug. 19 and was playing in his fourth career game.

Scoring

• Kirby earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points as Player of the Day.

• Skenes earns 1.7 points as NL Player of the Day.

• Alonso and Waldschmidt each earn 1.5 points as their league’s Batter of the Day.

• All of Tuesday’s other Player of the Game winners (listed in the chart) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers

Box-Toppers tracks who contributes most to their team’s victory. Using standard box score statistics, we identify the Player of the Game for every MLB contest. In the regular season, winners earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point, with bonus points awarded to the top overall and league-specific players of the day. More on how Box-Toppers works.

Help us stay accurate! Spot a mistake? Contact Box-Toppers here so we can fix it.

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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).

8/25	BTG	Game	Player	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.2	SEA 4, PHI 1	George Kirby (W, 9‑10)	‑	‑	‑	‑		7.2	6	1	1	1	9
NL	7.0	`PIT 1, SD 0	Paul Skenes	‑	‑	‑	‑		6.0	3	0	0	0	4
	6.1	ATH 4, MIN 2	Gage Jump (W, 6‑8)	‑	‑	‑	‑		6.1	3	2	2	2	9
BAT	6.0	BAL 13, STL 1	Pete Alonso 1B	4	2	4	4		‑	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑
	5.0	HOU 9, NYY 7	Yainer Diaz C	4	3	3	3		‑	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑
	5.0	CHW 11, TEX 7	Tristan Peters LF	3	2	3	3		‑	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑
	4.0	CLE 8, LAA 6 (F/10)	Steven Kwan DH‑CF	5	3	5	1		‑	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑
	4.0	BOS 7, MIA 3 (F/11)	Mickey Gasper DH	2	2	2	2		‑	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑
	3.1	SF 3, CIN 1	Anthony Molina (W, 1‑0)	‑	‑	‑	‑		4.1	1	0	0	1	1
BAT	3.0	ARI 5, CHC 4	Ryan Waldschmidt PH	1	1	1	2		‑	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑
	3.0	`NYM 3, MIL 2 (F/10)	Nate Lavender (H, 6)	‑	‑	‑	‑		2.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.2	DET 4, TB 1	Drew Sommers (W, 1‑3)	‑	‑	‑	‑		1.2	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	COL 3, WSH 1	Mark Manfredi (W, 1‑0)	‑	‑	‑	‑		1.0	1	0	0	0	2
	1.0	ATL 4, LAD 3	Ozzie Albies 2B	3	0	2	2		‑	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑
	1.0	KC 5, TOR 3	Seth Lugo (W, 6‑7)	‑	‑	‑	‑		5.0	6	1	1	1	5

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.
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 2026 (’26). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’25-26), the period 2021-2026 (’21-26) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2026 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2025 total (+/-).
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Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’26	’25‑26	’21‑26	Career	+/‑
Skenes, Paul 5005	pi sp	pit nl	12.7	33.8	46.8	46.8	-8.4
Alonso, Pete 4118	1b	bal al	8.2	15.4	50.3	58.8	+1.0
Kirby, George 4595	pi sp	sea al	7.0	18.0	58.5	58.5	-4.0
Jump, Gage 5372	pi sp	oak al	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	+6.0
Albies, Ozzie 3953	2b	atl nl	5.5	8.5	22.0	31.5	+2.5
Diaz, Yainer 4871	ca	hou al	3.5	6.7	10.2	10.2	+0.3
Gasper, Mickey 5267	dh	bos al	3.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	+2.0
Waldschmidt, Ryan 5361	cf ph	ari nl	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	+2.5
Lugo, Seth 3729	pi sp	kc al	2.0	7.0	29.5	45.5	-3.0
Peters, Tristan 5433	cf lf	chi al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	+2.0
Kwan, Steven 4573	dh cf	cle al	1.0	4.5	15.7	15.7	-2.5
Molina, Anthony 5112	pi mr	sf nl	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	+1.0
Lavender, Nate 5448	pi mr	nym nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	+1.0
Manfredi, Mark 5450	pi mr	col nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	+1.0
Sommers, Drew 5449	pi mr	det al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	+1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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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 2026 ('26), this year and last year ('25-26), over six years ('21-26), and their career point total.
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Game	Starter	’26	’25‑26	’21‑26	Career
TB	Peralta, Freddy 3965	0.0	14.7	65.9	84.6
DET	Melton, Troy 5231	7.0	10.7	10.7	10.7
CHC	Boyd, Matthew 3550	3.0	13.7	18.7	45.5
ARI	Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480	7.0	11.7	35.7	79.9
CIN	Lodolo, Nick 4586	1.0	10.7	26.7	26.7
SF	Roupp, Landen 5079	5.0	9.7	11.7	11.7
CLE	Cantillo, Joey 5106	9.7	15.4	18.4	18.4
LAA	Rodriguez, Grayson 4790	1.0	1.0	13.0	13.0
PHI	Luzardo, Jesus 4282	18.0	35.4	66.6	71.3
SEA	Woo, Bryan 4842	13.4	31.4	51.8	51.8
PIT	Chandler, Bubba 5269	3.0	7.7	7.7	7.7
SD	Vasquez, Randy 4841	7.4	12.8	15.8	15.8
BOS	Gray, Sonny 3259	12.0	26.0	67.3	136.3
MIA	Gusto, Ryan 5156	3.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
COL	Gordon, Tanner 5230	0.0	3.7	3.7	3.7
WSH	Waldron, Matt 4946	1.0	1.0	8.0	8.0
HOU	Lambert, Peter 4155	6.7	6.7	11.7	13.7
NYY	Undecided	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
KC	Dobnak, Randy 4263	1.0	1.0	2.0	6.0
TOR	Miles, Spencer 5357	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
MIL	May, Dustin 4214	6.7	12.4	20.1	24.1
NYM	Stock, Robert 5437	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
LAD	Sasaki, Roki 5358	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.4
ATL	Smith-Shawver, AJ 4951	0.0	4.7	6.7	6.7
TEX	Gore, MacKenzie 4582	10.0	18.7	38.4	38.4
CHW	Burke, Sean 5124	11.1	14.8	15.8	15.8
BAL	Bradish, Kyle 4597	7.1	8.1	33.1	33.1
STL	McGreevy, Michael 5113	5.0	9.0	11.0	11.0
MIN	Prielipp, Connor 5397	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
ATH	Ginn, J.T. 5142	4.0	9.7	9.7	9.7

Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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