Anthony Rizzo of the Yankees is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Friday’s spring training games.
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Rizzo hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 8-4 win over the Blue Jays.
Rizzo 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.
Rizzo earned 6.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 20th among AL batters. His 70.4 career Box-Toppers points (earned from 2012-23) is most among Friday’s spring training Player of the Game winners. That ranks third among active AL batters, behind Mike Trout of the Angels (84.2) and Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees (75.9).
National League Player of the Day
Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow struck out five over three scoreless, hitless innings, allowing one walk, in the 6-4 win over the Guardians.
Glasnow did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Guardians took the lead after he exited. Glasnow would not have earned the win in a regular season game because he did not pitch the required five innings for a starting pitcher to earn the win. However, because Glasnow pitched at least three innings, he qualified to be considered for Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors despite not earning the win or save.
Glasnow would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Glasnow had the most 2023 Box-Toppers points among Friday’s spring training Player of the Game winners. His 12.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023 with the Rays was 14th among AL pitchers.
Both Rizzo and Glasnow had +7.0 Box-Toppers game scores Friday, but Rizzo held the tiebreaker to win Player of the Day honors over Glasnow because in cases of game score ties, batters rank ahead of pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day
Gilberto Celestino of the Pirates hit a grand slam and went 2-for-2, scoring once and driving in five runs, in the 12-8 win over the Rays.
Celestino would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day if this were a regular season game.
Celestino has played in 145 regular season Major League games over 2021 and 2022 with the Twins but did not earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in any of them and so has 0.0 career Box-Toppers points.
American League Batter of the Day
There is no separate AL Batters of the Day for Friday because the overall Player of the Day is AL batter Anthony Rizzo.
Notable
Royals pitcher Cole Ragans earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second time during the 2024 spring training season Friday.
Ragans (3IP H 0R BB 3K ND in the 5-4 win over the Athletics) also earned Player of the Game honors on Sunday, Feb. 25 (2IP 3H 0R 0BB 5K ND in the 1-0 win over the Angels).
Ragans earned 4.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023 with the Royals, 65th among AL pitchers.
Friday’s games
In Friday’s 16 spring training games featuring matchups between two Major League teams, there were 10 Player of the Game winners who had previously earned Box-Toppers points in regular season games.
In five of Friday’s games, the Player of the Game winner was a player who has yet to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in the regular season and so has 0.0 career Box-Toppers points.
One game ended in a tie (Marlins vs. Phillies) and so no Player of the Game honors were awarded.
Scoring
No Box-Toppers points are awarded in exhibition games. Were it a regular season day, Rizzo would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Glasnow would have earned 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Celestino would have earned 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart) 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).| 3/1 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +7.0 | NYY 8, TOR 4 | Anthony Rizzo 1B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| NL | +7.0 | `LAD 6, CLE 4 | Tyler Glasnow | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| BAT | +6.0 | PIT 12, TB 8 | Gilberto Celestino LF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | ARI 12, CIN 8 | Tim Tawa CF | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +5.0 | MIN 5, BOS 3 | Ryan Varland (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +4.0 | SF 11, TEX 5 | J.D. Davis 3B | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | `KC 5, OAK 4 | Cole Ragans | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | CHC 10, CHW 6 | Owen Caissie LF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | HOU 10, WSH 8 | Grae Kessinger SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | COL 10, SEA 9 | Bradley Zimmer CF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | DET 4, PHI 2 | Parker Meadows CF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | LAA 5, SD 3 | Miguel Sanó 3B | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | MIL 4, SD 3 | Owen Miller 2B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | BAL 3, ATL 1 | Ryan O’Hearn 1B | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | STL 3, NYM 2 | Alec Burleson LF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | MIA 6, PHI 6 | 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 2024. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2023 (’23). Also shown is their point total for the period 2019-2023 (’19-23) 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 | ’24† | ’23 | ’19‑23 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | lad nl | 0.0 | 12.4 | 42.8 | 48.8 |
| Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | nyy al | 0.0 | 6.4 | 17.9 | 70.4 |
| Ragans, Cole 4889 | pi sp | kc al | 0.0 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| O’Hearn, Ryan 4043 | 1b rf lf dh | bal al | 0.0 | 3.0 | 9.5 | 11.5 |
| Varland, Louie 4758 | pi sp mr | min al | 0.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Miller, Owen 4558 | 2b 1b | mil nl | 0.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Davis, J.D. 4146 | dh 3b lf | sf nl | 0.0 | 1.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| Burleson, Alec 4874 | lf | stl nl | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Zimmer, Bradley 3858 | cf rf pr | col nl | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 5.5 |
| Sano, Miguel 3527 | 1b | ana al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 9.5 | 31.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Saturday’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 2024 (’24)†, last year (’23), over a six-year period (’19-23) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’24† | ’23 | ’19‑23 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WSH | Gray, Josiah 4503 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 11.4 | 11.4 |
| BOS | Bello, Brayan 4727 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| PIT | Contreras, Roansy 4574 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| DET | Flaherty, Jack 3971 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 32.2 | 45.3 |
| STL | Thompson, Zack 4773 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| HOU | Javier, Cristian 4290 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 30.7 | 30.7 |
| BOS | Pivetta, Nick 3825 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 24.7 | 44.4 |
| TB | McKay, Brendan 4182 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| MIN | Ober, Bailey 4441 | 0.0 | 8.7 | 18.4 | 18.4 |
| PHI | Abel, Mick* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYY | Stroman, Marcus 3327 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 31.4 | 62.2 |
| BAL | Irvin, Cole 4140 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 18.4 | 18.4 |
| ATL | Lopez, Reynaldo 3712 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 21.5 | 29.2 |
| TOR | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | 0.0 | 20.1 | 57.9 | 63.9 |
| NYM | Manaea, Sean 3637 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 31.1 | 53.9 |
| MIA | Perez, Eury 4814 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| KC | Lugo, Seth 3729 | 0.0 | 6.4 | 15.4 | 24.4 |
| CLE | Bieber, Shane 4005 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 53.9 | 60.3 |
| CHC | Imanaga, Shota* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| LAD | Yarbrough, Ryan 3962 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 30.1 | 37.1 |
| SD | King, Michael 4549 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 |
| SF | Black, Mason* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CHW | Cease, Dylan 4231 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 46.8 | 46.8 |
| TEX | Gray, Jon 3634 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 29.7 | 53.1 |
| ARI | Allen, Logan S. 4167 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| LAA | Soriano, Jose 4884 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| CIN | Greene, Hunter 4651 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| COL | Quantrill, Cal 4195 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 17.7 | 17.7 |
| OAK | Spence, Mitch* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SEA | Hancock, Emerson* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| LAD | Hurt, Kyle* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIL | Junk, Janson 4697 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
Games shown are spring training games between MLB teams. Doesn't include games vs. non-MLB teams.
† Players don’t earn Box-Toppers points in spring training games, only regular season games, so no pitcher has earned any points in 2024.
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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