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.
Athletics pitcher Adam Oller is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Thursday’s spring training games.
Oller struck out seven over four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 1-0 win over the Dodgers. Oller did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Oller 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.
Oller earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2022.
National League Player of the Day—Edmundo Sosa of the Phillies hit two home runs and went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-6 win over the Orioles.
Sosa would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Sosa earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022. This is the second time he’s earned NL Player of the Day honors during this year’s spring training. He also did it Feb. 27.
American League Batter of the Day—Narciso Crook of the Red Sox hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, going 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 11-7 win over the Yankees.
Crook made his Major League debut June 30, 2022, and played in four games last season with the Cubs, but has yet to earn his first regular season Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor and so has 0.0 career Box-Toppers points.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Edmundo Sosa.
Notable—Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman has the most 2022 Box-Toppers points among the nine who earned Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Gausman (3.2IP 2H 0R 0BB 2K ND in the 3-1 win over the Braves) earned 12.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 15th among AL pitchers.
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. In Thursday’s nine spring training games, there are eight who earned Player of the Game honors who have earned Box-Toppers points in the past (see those players here); the remaining player (Crook) has 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, Oller would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sosa would have earned 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Crook would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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.
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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).Back to top
| 3/9 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +7.0 | `OAK 1, LAD 0 | Adam Oller | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| BAT | +6.0 | BOS 11, NYY 7 | Narciso Crook, RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| NL | +5.0 | PHI 7, BAL 6 | Edmundo Sosa, SS | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.1 | DET 10, PIT 7 | Miguel Diaz, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.2 | `TOR 3, ATL 1 | Kevin Gausman | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | SD 6, CLE 4 | Jose Azocar, CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | CHC 8, CIN 6 | Luis Torrens, C | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | TB 6, TOR 1 | Brandon Lowe, 2B | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | SF 5, MIL 2 | Michael Conforto, RF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | tor al | 0.0 | 12.7 | 34.1 | 69.4 |
| Lowe, Brandon 4108 | 2b | tb al | 0.0 | 3.5 | 16.0 | 16.0 |
| Sosa, Edmundo 4495 | ss ph | phi nl | 0.0 | 2.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Azocar, Jose 4624 | dh pr | sd nl | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Oller, Adam 4719 | pi sp | oak al | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Diaz, Miguel 4016 | pi mr sp | det al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Torrens, Luis 4452 | dh ph | chi nl | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Conforto, Michael 3622 | rf | sf nl | 0.0 | 0.0 | 17.2 | 28.2 |
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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOR | Thompson, Zach 4437 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| BOS | Kluber, Corey 3200 | 0.0 | 11.0 | 37.7 | 125.1 |
| PIT | Brubaker, JT 4382 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| PHI | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | 0.0 | 14.4 | 56.2 | 68.9 |
| ATL | Anderson, Ian 4312 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 |
| TB | Springs, Jeffrey 4372 | 0.0 | 10.7 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| NYY | Severino, Luis 3567 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 27.4 | 53.5 |
| DET | Turnbull, Spencer 4086 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| HOU | Dubin, Shawn* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYM | Verlander, Justin 2112 | 0.0 | 26.0 | 78.6 | 232.6 |
| LAA | Detmers, Reid 4513 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| LAD | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | 0.0 | 10.7 | 52.5 | 259.3 |
| SD | Groome, Jay* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| KC | Lyles, Jordan 3100 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 23.4 | 31.1 |
| TEX | Dunning, Dane 4317 | 0.0 | 4.4 | 9.4 | 9.4 |
| OAK | Blackburn, Paul 3869 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 |
| CHW | Giolito, Lucas 3900 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 40.1 | 43.1 |
| CHC | Smyly, Drew 3009 | 0.0 | 8.7 | 20.7 | 56.2 |
| CIN | Overton, Connor* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SEA | Kirby, George 4595 | 0.0 | 11.4 | 11.4 | 11.4 |
| SF | Wood, Alex 3246 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 25.0 | 60.1 |
| COL | Gomber, Austin 3985 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 17.7 | 17.7 |
| CLE | McKenzie, Triston 4303 | 0.0 | 15.7 | 30.1 | 30.1 |
| MIL | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | 0.0 | 20.8 | 53.6 | 54.6 |
| NYM | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| STL | Montgomery, Jordan 3814 | 0.0 | 9.4 | 20.1 | 26.1 |
| MIN | Ryan, Joe 4539 | 0.0 | 14.7 | 17.4 | 17.4 |
| BAL | Bradish, Kyle 4597 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| MIA | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 16.1 | 16.1 |
| WSH | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 43.1 | 85.3 |
| ARI | Pfaadt, Brandon* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CIN | Lodolo, Nick 4586 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
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?
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