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.
White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease is Thursday’s Opening Day Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Cease struck out 10 over 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run, two hits and no walks, in the 3-2 win over the Astros. Cease did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited with the White Sox trailing, 1-0.
Cease earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season and becomes the first leader in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2023.
Cease earned 20.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022, fifth overall and third among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Marcus Stroman struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and three walks, in the 4-0 win over the Brewers.
Stroman earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, his first points of the season and now ranks second in Box-Toppers season player rankings. In 2022, he earned 5.7 points, 51st among NL batters.
National League Batter of the Day—C.J. Cron of the Rockies hit two home runs, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 7-2 win over the Padres.
American League Batter of the Day—Adley Rutschman of the Orioles homered and went 5-for-5, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 10-9 win over the Red Sox.
Streak—Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons with his first Player of the Game honor of 2023.
Cole (6IP 3H 0R 2BB 11K W in the 5-0 win over the Giants) earned his first points in 2013 with the Pirates and now has 139.3 career points, rising to 32nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his 1.0 point Thursday, he passes Andy Pettitte (138.5) and Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner (139.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 31st-ranked player Jake Peavy (141.8). He ranks ninth among active player in career points, fourth among active AL players.
Cole’s best season was 2019 with the Astros when he led all players with 32.2 Box-Toppers points, the fourth-highest single-season total since 1995. He had 15.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022 with the Yankees, 17th overall and eighth among AL pitchers.
Streak—George Springer of the Blue Jays has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2023 Thursday.
Springer (5-6 4R BI in the 10-9 win over the Cardinals) earned his first points in 2014 with the Astros and now has 40.9 career points, 12th among active AL batters and third among active AL outfielders, behind Mike Trout of the Angels (81.2) and Aaron Judge of the Yankees (43.4).
Springer’s best season was 2022 with the Blue Jays when he had 8.0 points, fifth among AL batters.
Notable—While Thursday’s Opening Day featured many ace starting pitchers, few of them earned Player of the Game honors.
Five of the top 10 players in 2022 Box-Toppers points started Opening Day games Thursday, but among them, only Cease earned Player of the Game honors. Here’s how the other four fared:
Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani had a Box-Toppers game score of +11.0 (6IP 2H 0R 3BB 10K ND) but the Angels lost to the Athletics, 2-1. Ohtani ranked second overall in 2022 Box-Toppers points (24.7). Player of the Game was Athletics middle relief pitcher Domingo Acevedo (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K ND).
Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara had a Box-Toppers game score of -4.8 (5.2IP 3H 3R 2ER 4BB 2K ND) in the 5-3 loss to the Mets. Alcantara ranked third overall in 2022 Box-Toppers points 21.1, first among NL pitchers. Player of the Game was Mets closing pitcher David Robertson (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv).
Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 (6IP 4H 2R 0BB 6K W) in the 8-2 win over the Diamondbacks. But he was beaten out for Player of the Game by teammate Will Smith (2B 3-4 R 4BI). Both Urias and Smith had game scores of +4.0, but in cases when pitchers and batters game scores tie, the tiebreaker goes to the batter. Urias earned 19.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022, seventh overall and fourth among NL pitchers.
Diamondback pitcher Zac Gallen had a Box-Toppers game score of -7.8 (4.2IP 6H 5K 3BB 7K L) in the 8-2 loss to the Dodgers. Gallen ranked eighth in 2022 Box-Toppers points with 18.7, fifth among NL batters.
Two players with more than 200 career Box-Toppers points also did not earn Player of the Game honors in their Opening Day starts Thursday:
Mets pitcher Max Scherzer had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 (6IP 4H 3R 2BB 6K W) in the 5-3 win over the Marlins. Closer David Robertson was Player of the Game with a +3.0 game score. Scherzer’s 236.3 career Box-Toppers points is fourth among all players since 1995 and second among active players.
Royals pitcher Zack Greinke had a Box-Toppers game score of -1.9 (5.1IP 6H 2R BB 4K L) in the 2-0 loss to the Twins. Twins pitcher Pablo Lopez was Player of the Game with a +8.1 game score. Greinke’s 222.5 career Box-Toppers points is sixth among all players since 1995 and fourth among active players.
Scoring—Cease earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Stroman earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Cron and Rutschman each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Player of the Game winners (listed in the chart below) earn 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
| 3/30 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +12.1 | `CHW 3, HOU 2 | Dylan Cease | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | |
| +12.0 | NYY 5, SF 0 | Gerrit Cole, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | ||
| +11.0 | `SEA 3, CLE 0 | Luis Castillo | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +8.1 | MIN 2, KC 0 | Pablo López, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| NL | +8.0 | CHC 4, MIL 0 | Marcus Stroman, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | |
| +7.0 | TB 4, DET 0 | Shane McClanahan, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +6.0 | COL 7, SD 2 | C.J. Cron, 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +5.0 | BAL 10, BOS 9 | Adley Rutschman, C | 5 | 1 | 5 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | TOR 10, STL 9 | George Springer, RF | 6 | 4 | 5 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | LAD 8, ARI 2 | Will Smith, C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | ATL 7, WSH 2 | Travis d'Arnaud, DH | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | PIT 5, CIN 4 | Oneil Cruz, SS | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | NYM 5, MIA 3 | David Robertson, (S 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | `OAK 2, LAA 1 | Domingo Acevedo | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | TEX 11, PHI 7 | Jonah Heim, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 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. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2023 (’23). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’22-23), the period 2018-2023 (’18-23) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2023 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2022 total (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’23 | ’22-23 | ’18‑23 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | chi al | 2.0 | 22.4 | 38.8 | 38.8 | -18.4 |
| Stroman, Marcus 3327 | pi sp | chi nl | 1.7 | 7.4 | 28.4 | 56.2 | -4.0 |
| Cron, C.J. 3338 | 1b | col nl | 1.5 | 8.5 | 22.0 | 33.7 | -5.5 |
| Rutschman, Adley 4659 | ca ph | bal al | 1.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | -2.5 |
| McClanahan, Shane 4399 | pi sp | tb al | 1.0 | 17.4 | 22.1 | 22.1 | -15.4 |
| Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 1.0 | 16.4 | 96.4 | 139.3 | -14.4 |
| Lopez, Pablo 4028 | pi sp | min al | 1.0 | 11.7 | 34.8 | 34.8 | -9.7 |
| Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | pi sp | sea al | 1.0 | 11.0 | 47.4 | 55.8 | -9.0 |
| Springer, George 3337 | rf cf | tor al | 1.0 | 9.0 | 25.4 | 40.9 | -7.0 |
| d’Arnaud, Travis 3384 | dh ca | atl nl | 1.0 | 5.5 | 13.2 | 24.4 | -3.5 |
| Heim, Jonah 4492 | ca | tex al | 1.0 | 5.2 | 7.7 | 7.7 | -3.2 |
| Cruz, Oneil 4665 | ss | pit nl | 1.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | -2.5 |
| Smith, Will 4175 | ca dh | lad nl | 1.0 | 4.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | -2.0 |
| Robertson, David 2774 | pi cp mr | nym nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 | 38.0 | -1.0 |
| Acevedo, Domingo 4685 | pi mr | oak al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYM | Peterson, David 4347 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| MIA | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 16.1 | 16.1 |
| CHW | Lynn, Lance 2992 | 0.0 | 9.7 | 49.2 | 113.8 |
| HOU | Javier, Cristian 4290 | 0.0 | 15.7 | 23.7 | 23.7 |
| COL | Freeland, Kyle 3763 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 27.4 | 33.4 |
| SD | Martinez, Nick 3430 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 11.7 |
| ARI | Kelly, Merrill 4143 | 0.0 | 11.0 | 26.0 | 26.0 |
| LAD | May, Dustin 4214 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 |
| CLE | Gaddis, Hunter* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SEA | Ray, Robbie 3502 | 0.0 | 14.4 | 49.5 | 76.2 |
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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