Mariners pitcher Ariel Miranda is Saturday’s Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day.
Box-Toppers is tracking several days of the 2018 spring training season to demonstrate the Box-Toppers player tracking metric and to prepare for the upcoming 2,430-game season.
2018 preseason team rankings
(Twins rise to fifth to fourth Saturday after claiming Kennys Vargas from the Reds. The Twins gain the 4.0 Box-Toppers points Vargas earned in 2017—with the Twins. Updated with current roster information on March 25.)The Washington Nationals are the top-ranked preseason team in Box-Toppers rankings. Players on their preseason roster accumulated 140.3 Box-Toppers points in the 2017 season. Shown below in the 2018 column is the accumulated 2017 Box-Toppers point total for each player on that team’s current roster. Also shown in the 2017 column is each team’s Box-Toppers point total at the end of last season. The final column (+/-) shows the change in team rosters’ Box-Toppers points from the end of last season until now.
| Teams | 2017 | 2018 | +/- | |
| 1 | Nationals | 135.3 | 140.3 | 5.0 |
| 2 | Indians | 140.9 | 139.4 | -1.5 |
| 3 | Dodgers | 138.9 | 132.9 | -6.0 |
| 4 | Twins | 99.2 | 128.5 | 29.3 |
| 5 | Brewers | 106.0 | 126.6 | 20.6 |
| 6 | Yankees | 121.7 | 122.9 | 1.2 |
| 7 | Cubs | 120.5 | 120.7 | 0.2 |
| 8 | Astros | 131.7 | 118.6 | -13.1 |
| 9 | Red Sox | 118.8 | 113.8 | -5.0 |
| 10 | Diamondbacks | 118.3 | 109.1 | -9.2 |
| 11 | Mariners | 101.3 | 107.3 | 6.0 |
| 12 | Mets | 75.0 | 105.5 | 30.5 |
| 13 | Blue Jays | 81.1 | 93.0 | 11.9 |
| 14 | Rangers | 90.1 | 87.8 | -2.3 |
| 15 | Rockies | 103.1 | 85.9 | -17.2 |
| 16 | Orioles | 91.9 | 84.3 | -7.6 |
| 17 | Giants | 73.6 | 83.4 | 9.8 |
| 18 | Cardinals | 92.4 | 81.4 | -11.0 |
| 19 | Athletics | 74.1 | 78.8 | 4.7 |
| 20 | Phillies | 68.4 | 76.8 | 8.4 |
| 21 | Angels | 92.2 | 72.5 | -19.7 |
| 22 | Pirates | 87.5 | 69.5 | -18.0 |
| 23 | Padres | 74.0 | 69.3 | -4.7 |
| 24 | Reds | 82.2 | 67.4 | -14.8 |
| 25 | Braves | 74.7 | 66.0 | -8.7 |
| 26 | Royals | 104.5 | 63.4 | -41.1 |
| 27 | Marlins | 85.7 | 57.9 | -27.8 |
| 28 | Tigers | 48.4 | 51.8 | 3.4 |
| 29 | Rays | 93.0 | 51.6 | -41.4 |
| 30 | White Sox | 40.1 | 48.7 | 8.6 |
Miranda struck out four over three scoreless innings, allowing no hits and one walk, in the 7-3 win over the Cubs. Miranda picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win or save. Starter Felix Hernandez (3.2IP 4H R BB 3K) was credited with the win, as he exited the game with the Mariners leading. However, Hernandez had a Box-Toppers game score of -0.8, while Miranda, who pitched the requisite three innings to qualify as Player of the Game, had a Box-Toppers game score of +6.0, highest among all the day’s Player of the Game honorees.
Miranda had 6.0 Box-Toppers points in 2017, 42nd among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Christian Yelich of the Brewers homered, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-6 win over the Athletics. Yelich had 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2017 with the Marlins, 40th among NL batters.
American League Batter of the Day—Erik Kratz of the Yankees doubled and went 2-for-2, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 13-6 win over the Blue Jays. Kratz had no Box-Toppers points in 2017 with the Indians and Yankees. He last earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Aug. 18, 2014, with the Royals.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Christian Yelich.
Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Miranda would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Yelich would earn 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Kratz would earn 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Note—Seventeen spring training games were scheduled for Saturday—15 are listed below. Two games are not listed. The Royals and Diamondbacks are not listed because they tied, 4-4. And the Giants lost to the Sacramento River Cats, 6-5. It is not listed because the River Cats are a non-Major League opponent.
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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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (BTG)| 3/24 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 6.0 | `SEA 7, CHC 3 | Ariel Miranda (H, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| NL | 5.0 | MIL 10, OAK 5 | Christian Yelich (LF) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | 4.0 | NYY 13, TOR 6 | Erik Kratz (C) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 4.0 | ARI 15, LAA 9 | Nick Ahmed (SS) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 4.0 | `NYY 8, ATL 3 | Luis Severino | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 4.0 | `SD 6, CIN 2 | Clayton Richard | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | MIA 4, WSH 3 | Yadiel Rivera (SS) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 3.0 | BOS 6, HOU 0 | Xander Bogaerts (SS) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 3.0 | CHW 7, LAD 3 | Juan Perez (2B) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 3.0 | MIN 12, BAL 4 | Willians Astudillo (C) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 3.0 | CLE 10, TEX 3 | Corey Kluber (W, 4‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | PHI 4, DET 1 | Drew Hutchison (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | PIT 7, TB 5 | David Freese (DH) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 2.0 | CHC 3, COL 0 | Anthony Rizzo 1B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |||
| 2.0 | STL 8, NYM 7 | Patrick Wisdom (PH) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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.
Box-Toppers
Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.