Box-Toppers Toppers Box
Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.▪️ Players of the Game
▪️ B-T points of day’s top players
▪️ Top 10 players in 2025
▪️ Upcoming pitching matchups
▪️ Thursday’s Sidelights Sidebar
▪️ Subscribe to newsletter
▪️ Support Box-Toppers
Rays pitcher Shane Baz is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2025 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Thursday, June 26.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 14.1 |
| 2 | Hunter Brown | pi sp | Astros | 11.4 |
| 3 | Garrett Crochet | pi sp | Red Sox | 11.1 |
| 4 | Bryan Woo | pi sp | Mariners | 11.0 |
| 5 | Nick Pivetta | pi sp | Padres | 11.0 |
| 6 | Tarik Skubal | pi sp | Tigers | 10.7 |
| 7 | Paul Skenes | pi sp | Pirates | 10.4 |
| 8 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | pi sp | Dodgers | 10.0 |
| 9 | Max Fried | pi sp | Yankees | 9.7 |
| 10 | Carlos Rodón | pi sp | Yankees | 9.7 |
Also Thursday, Astros pitcher Hunter Brown rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors, taking the lead among American League pitchers.
Other Player of the Game winners Thursday include Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and Agustín Ramírez of the Marlins.
Player of the Day
Baz struck out nine over eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the Royals.
Baz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, 26th among all players and 13th among AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw struck out five over six innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 3-1 win over the Rockies.
Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 for the season, 45th among NL pitchers.
Kershaw also now has 276.1 career Box-Toppers points, second among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails “all-time” leader Randy Johnson (282.5) by 6.4 points. (It should be noted that Johnson began his career in 1988, before the advent of Box-Toppers tracking. If his entire career were tracked, rough projections put his Box-Toppers point total at 380.)
Kershaw leads active players in career Box-Toppers points ahead of Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer (253.7). He leads active NL pitchers ahead of Giants pitcher Justin Verlander (247.0). (Neither Scherzer nor Verlander have earned Box-Toppers points so far this season.)
National League Batter of the Day
Agustín Ramírez of the Marlins homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 12-5 win over the Giants.
Ramírez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, sixth among NL batters.
American League Batter of the Day
There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because no AL batter won Player of the Game honors in the nine games completed.
Rankings
Astros pitcher Hunter Brown rises from seventh to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday, taking the lead among American League pitchers.
Brown (7IP 3H 0R 0BB 9K ND in the 2-1 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season, trailing only Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler (14.1 points). Brown rises to lead AL pitchers, passing previous leader Garrett Crochet of the Red Sox (11.1 points).
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Retired | 282.5 |
| 2 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 276.1 |
| 3 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | Rangers | 253.7 |
| 4 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | Astros | 247.0 |
| 5 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | Retired | 244.8 |
| 6 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | Free agent | 224.5 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b | Retired | 207.8 |
| 8 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | Retired | 203.4 |
| 9 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | Retired | 194.1 |
| 10 | Alex Rodriguez | 3b | Retired | 187.0 |
| 11 | Chris Sale | pi sp | Braves | 179.8 |
| 12 | Jon Lester | pi sp | Retired | 179.3 |
| 13 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | Retired | 175.1 |
| 14 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | Retired | 174.2 |
| 15 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | Retired | 170.7 |
| 16 | Johan Santana | pi sp | Retired | 166.6 |
| 17 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | Retired | 166.2 |
| 18 | Gerrit Cole | pi sp | Yankees | 165.0 |
| 19 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | Retired | 164.8 |
| 20 | John Smoltz | pi sp | Retired | 160.9 |
Notable
Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman now has 103.1 career Box-Toppers points, 84th-most among all players since tracking began in 1995, after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Gausman (8IP 2H 0R BB 6K W in the 6-0 win over the Guardians) passes two players on the “all-time” career points list with his 1.0 point Thursday: Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2) and Miguel Tejada (102.3). (It should be noted that Griffey began his career before Box-Toppers tracking began. He would have an estimated 140 career points if his career from 1989 were tracked.)
Gausman now trails 83rd-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0). (Moyer began his career in 1986, prior to the start of Box-Toppers tracking. Box-Toppers estimates he would have about 128 career points if his entire career were tracked.)
Gausman ranks 14th among active, signed players in career points, sixth among active AL pitchers.
He has 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 26th among AL pitchers.
Scoring
Baz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Kershaw earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day.
Ramírez earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day.
All of Thursday’s other Player of the Game winners (listed in the chart) 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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
For additional updates, follow Box-Toppers on Bluesky or Twitter (X).
Thursday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Reviewing the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest Box-Toppers game scores.Top pitching matchup
Result—HOU 2, PHI 1A Box-Toppers look at Thursday’s pitching matchups Notable—PHI at HOU Cristopher Sánchez @Phillies 16.4 B-T points over 2024-25, 37th* Hunter Brown @Astros 22.4 B-T points over 2024-25, 10th* *Overall rank, 2024-25 All Thursday pitching matchups: www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/6/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Jun 26, 2025 at 11:54 AM
[image or embed]
Hunter Brown, Astros, was Player of the Game (7IP 3H 0R 0BB 9K ND) with +13.0 B-T game score.
Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies, had +10.0 B-T game score in loss (6IP 5H R 0BB 11K ND).
Brown earns 1.0 B-T point, giving him 23.4 over 2024-25, rising to 6th overall over that span.
High scores, no points
Highest Box-Toppers game scores for the day among players who did not earn Player of the Game honors:▪️+10.0—Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies (7IP 3H 0R 0BB 9K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. HOU.
Player of the Game—Hunter Brown, Astros (7IP 3H 0R 0BB 9K ND) with +13.0 game score.
▪️+5.1—Bryan Abreu, Astros (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 4K W)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. PHI.
Player of the Game—Teammate Hunter Brown (7IP 3H 0R 0BB 9K ND) with +13.0 game score.
▪️+5.0—Tanner Bibee, Guardians (6IP 3H 3R 2ER 0BB 7K L)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. TOR.
Player of the Game—Kevin Gausman, Blue Jays (8IP 2H 0R BB 6K W) with +11.0 game score.
Lowest Box-Toppers game scores
Out of 253 total players Thursday, 74 pitchers-21.0—Zach Pop, Mariners (1IP 6H 8R 7ER 2BB K ND vs. MIN)
-17.0—Hayden Birdsong, Giants
-13.8—Janson Junk, Marlins
-11.0—Sean Hjelle, Giants
-8.0—T.J. McFarland, Athletics
Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters
Out of 179 total batters Thursday-5.0—Bo Bichette, Blue Jays 0-5 2K
-5.0—Heliot Ramos, Giants 0-5 2K
-5.0—Wilmer Flores, Giants 0-5 K
-4.0—Andy Pages, Dodgers 0-4 3K
-4.0—Carlos Santana, Guardians 0-4 3K
-4.0—Kyle Schwarber, Phillies 0-4 3K
-4.0—Trea Turner, Phillies 0-4 3K
Box-Toppers uses Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com and other sources to compile this information.
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).| 6/26 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +13.0 | TB 4, KC 0 | Shane Baz (W, 8‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| +13.0 | `HOU 2, PHI 1 | Hunter Brown | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||
| +11.0 | TOR 6, CLE 0 | Kevin Gausman (W, 6‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +8.0 | MIN 10, SEA 1 | Simeon Woods Richardson (W, 3‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| NL | +6.0 | LAD 3, COL 1 | Clayton Kershaw (W, 4‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| +6.0 | DET 8, ATH 0 | Dietrich Enns (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| +6.0 | CHC 3, STL 0 | Shota Imanaga (W, 4‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +4.2 | `NYM 4, ATL 0 | Griffin Canning | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | MIA 12, SF 5 | Agustín Ramírez DH | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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.
Back to top
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 2025 (’25). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’24-’25), the period 2020-2025 (’20-25) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2025 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2024 total (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’25 | ’24‑25 | ’20‑25 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown, Hunter 4729 | pi sp | hou al | 11.4 | 23.4 | 34.5 | 34.5 | -0.6 |
| Baz, Shane 4560 | pi sp | tb al | 7.0 | 11.0 | 12.7 | 12.7 | +3.0 |
| Ramírez, Agustín 5160 | dh | fla nl | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | +6.0 |
| Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | tor al | 5.0 | 15.0 | 61.1 | 103.1 | -5.0 |
| Canning, Griffin 4134 | pi sp | nym nl | 5.0 | 9.7 | 20.7 | 27.4 | +0.3 |
| Imanaga, Shota 4960 | pi sp | chi nl | 4.0 | 24.7 | 24.7 | 24.7 | -16.7 |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.7 | 5.7 | 48.6 | 276.1 | +1.7 |
| Woods Richardson, Simeon 4974 | pi sp | min al | 3.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | -0.7 |
| Enns, Dietrich 4544 | pi mr | det al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default view.
Back to top
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 2025 (’25), this year and last year (’24-25), over a six-year period (’20-25) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’25 | ’24‑25 | ’20‑25 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYM | Peterson, David 4347 | 3.0 | 7.7 | 20.7 | 20.7 |
| PIT | Keller, Mitch 4230 | 2.7 | 14.4 | 33.4 | 34.4 |
| ATH | Spence, Mitch 4986 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| NYY | Warren, Will 5143 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.4 |
| TB | Pepiot, Ryan 4714 | 6.0 | 15.7 | 22.7 | 22.7 |
| BAL | Sugano, Tomoyuki 5163 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| MIN | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| DET | Gipson‑Long, Sawyer 4940 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| SD | Cease, Dylan 4231 | 4.7 | 25.8 | 70.6 | 72.6 |
| CIN | Martinez, Nick 3430 | 2.7 | 12.4 | 24.8 | 31.5 |
| STL | Gray, Sonny 3259 | 8.0 | 20.4 | 54.0 | 118.3 |
| CLE | Ortiz, Luis 4738 | 7.4 | 16.4 | 17.4 | 17.4 |
| TOR | Berrios, Jose 3791 | 6.0 | 15.7 | 47.5 | 85.0 |
| BOS | Bello, Brayan 4727 | 2.7 | 10.4 | 13.4 | 13.4 |
| PHI | Abel, Mick 5184 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| ATL | Elder, Bryce 4709 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 |
| SF | Roupp, Landen 5079 | 3.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| CHW | Civale, Aaron 4173 | 0.0 | 7.1 | 32.5 | 35.5 |
| SEA | Gilbert, Logan 4439 | 4.7 | 17.7 | 52.2 | 52.2 |
| TEX | Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | 5.0 | 18.0 | 51.8 | 87.3 |
| CHC | Horton, Cade* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| HOU | Walter, Brandon 5205 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| COL | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIL | Quintana, Jose 3040 | 1.0 | 11.0 | 23.4 | 94.1 |
| LAD | May, Dustin 4214 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 13.4 | 15.4 |
| KC | Cameron, Noah 5167 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| WSH | Irvin, Jake 4805 | 7.7 | 17.7 | 20.7 | 20.7 |
| LAA | Soriano, Jose 4884 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| MIA | Perez, Eury 4814 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| ARI | Kelly, Merrill 4143 | 8.7 | 10.7 | 41.7 | 49.7 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default, game-by-game view.
Back to top