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.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Sunday’s spring training games.
Kershaw struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 3-0 win over the Angels.
Kershaw 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.
Kershaw earned 10.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 21st among National League pitchers. His 259.3 career Box-Toppers points is second among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, behind Randy Johnson (282.5) and first among all active players.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Jhony Brito struck out three over 5 1/3 scoreless and hitless innings, allowing no walks, in the 6-2 win over the Blue Jays.
Brito would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Brito has yet to make his regular season Major League debut and so has 0.0 career Box-Toppers points.
American League Batter of the Day—Yainer Diaz of the Astros hit a grand slam, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 24-1 win over the Cardinals.
Diaz made his regular season Major League debut Sept. 2, 2022, has played in six games, 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—Jason Vosler of the Reds doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in no runs, in the 7-5 win over the Rockies.
Volser earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2022 with the Giants.
Notable—Braves pitcher Spencer Strider has the most 2022 Box-Toppers points among Sunday’s spring training Player of the Game winners.
Strider (4IP 2H 0R BB 4K W in the 8-1 win over the Pirates) earned 13.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 13th among NL pitchers.
This was also his second Player of the Game honor of 2023 spring training. He also did it March 4.
Also notable—Giants pitcher Alex Wood also earned his second Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor of 2023 spring training Sunday.
Wood (5.1IP 3H 3R 2ER 3BB 10K W in the 9-6 win over the Athletics) was also Player of the Game March 21, when he was overall Player of the Day.
In Sunday’s 16 spring training games, four ended in a tie in which no Player of the Game honor was awarded (see chart below for game details). In the remaining 12, 10 who earned Player of the Game honors have earned Box-Toppers points in the past (see those players here); the remaining two 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, Kershaw would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Brito would have earned 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Diaz and Vosler would have each earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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
| 3/26 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +10.0 | LAD 3, LAA 0 | Clayton Kershaw, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| AL | +8.1 | NYY 6, TOR 2 | Jhony Brito, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| BAT | +8.0 | HOU 24, STL 1 | Yainer Diaz, DH | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +7.0 | CHC 5, KC 0 | Justin Steele, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +7.0 | `MIN 7, BOS 2 | Sonny Gray | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +6.0 | COL 4, CHW 2 | Austin Gomber, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +5.0 | ATL 8, PIT 1 | Spencer Strider, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +4.1 | SF 9, OAK 5 | Alex Wood, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 10 | ||
| +4.0 | BAL 4, PHI 2 | Kyle Bradish, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | DET 11, TB 10 | Jonathan Schoop, 2B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | CLE 3, CIN 2 | Trevor Stephan, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +1.0 | CIN 7, COL 5 | Jason Vosler, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 0.0 | WSH 2, MIA 2 | N/A | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | MIA 3, NYM 3 | N/A | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | ARI 4, MIL 4 | N/A | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | SEA 5, SD 5 | 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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strider, Spencer 4626 | pi sp | atl nl | 0.0 | 13.4 | 13.4 | 13.4 |
| Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | min al | 0.0 | 12.1 | 46.3 | 87.5 |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 0.0 | 10.7 | 52.5 | 259.3 |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | sf nl | 0.0 | 7.0 | 25.0 | 60.1 |
| Bradish, Kyle 4597 | pi sp | bal al | 0.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Steele, Justin 4415 | pi sp | chi nl | 0.0 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| Gomber, Austin 3985 | pi sp | col nl | 0.0 | 3.0 | 17.7 | 17.7 |
| Stephan, Trevor 4446 | pi mr cp | cle al | 0.0 | 3.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| Schoop, Jonathan 3307 | 2b 1b | det al | 0.0 | 2.5 | 16.7 | 32.2 |
| Vosler, Jason 4448 | 3b 1b | cin nl | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Monday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STL | Matz, Steven 3516 | 0.0 | 5.4 | 27.8 | 44.4 |
| BAL | Kremer, Dean 4330 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 11.4 | 11.4 |
| PIT | Brubaker, JT 4382 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| MIN | Ryan, Joe 4539 | 0.0 | 14.7 | 17.4 | 17.4 |
| BOS | Houck, Tanner 4342 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| ATL | Chavez, Jesse 2780 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 8.7 | 32.8 |
| TB | Workman, Logan* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYY | Schmidt, Clarke 4581 | 0.0 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| PHI | Walker, Taijuan 3453 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 23.1 | 49.5 |
| TOR | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | 0.0 | 11.0 | 39.8 | 43.8 |
| SD | Lugo, Seth 3729 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 13.0 | 18.0 |
| SEA | Gonzales, Marco 3408 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 32.5 | 36.5 |
| CHW | Clevinger, Mike 3707 | 0.0 | 6.4 | 39.5 | 53.9 |
| CHC | Taillon, Jameson 3658 | 0.0 | 10.7 | 32.1 | 46.1 |
| COL | Urena, Jose 3492 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 13.7 | 23.4 |
| MIL | Lauer, Eric 4017 | 0.0 | 9.4 | 28.8 | 28.8 |
| KC | Bubic, Kris 4413 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| TEX | Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 33.8 | 59.6 |
| LAD | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 22.4 | 52.5 |
| LAA | Anderson, Tyler 3656 | 0.0 | 12.7 | 30.4 | 35.4 |
| CLE | Civale, Aaron 4173 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 22.4 | 22.4 |
| ARI | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 31.4 | 139.1 |
| OAK | Kaprielian, James 4416 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 12.4 | 12.4 |
| SF | Stripling, Ross 3629 | 0.0 | 12.0 | 32.4 | 38.1 |
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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