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
▪️ Monday’s Sidelights Sidebar
▪️ Subscribe to newsletter
▪️ Support Box-Toppers
Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, two players in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list earn Player of the Game honors: Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, first place overall, extends his lead, and Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes, rises from ninth to fifth place overall.
Other Player of the Game winners Monday include Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman, Drake Baldwin of the Braves and Brice Matthews of the Astros.
Player of the Day
Woodruff struck out five over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 6-0 win over the Mariners.
Woodruff earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, 161st among all players and 53rd among National League pitchers.
It is his third start since his return July 6, after more than a season out recovering from October 2023 right shoulder surgery. He has won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in each of the three starts: July 6, July 12 and July 21.
Career Box-Toppers points—Active AL pitchers 1—Max Scherzer #BlueJays 255.7 2—Gerrit Cole #Yankees 165.0 3—Jacob deGrom #Rangers 148.2 4—Charlie Morton #Orioles 118.5 5—Carlos Carrasco #Yankees 114.2 6—Kevin Gausman #BlueJays 104.8* *Earns 1.7 B-T points Monday www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/7/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Jul 22, 2025 at 7:48 AM
American League Player of the Day
Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and two walks, in the 4-1 win over the Yankees.
Gausman earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 6.7 for the season, 49th among all players and 20th among AL pitchers.
Gausman also now has 104.8 career Box-Toppers points, 82nd-most among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. With his 1.7 points Monday, he passes two players on the “all-time” career points list—Jamie Moyer (104.0) and Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell (104.8). (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 and Snell both have the same 104.8 career point total but Gausman ranks ahead because he has more 2025 points—6.7 vs. 0.0.)
Gausman now trails 81st-ranked player Scott Kazmir (105.1).
Passing Snell, Gausman now ranks 13th among active, signed players in career points, sixth among active AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day
Drake Baldwin of the Braves hit two doubles and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 9-5 win over the Giants.
Baldwin earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, 17th among NL batters.
American League Batter of the Day
Brice Matthews of the Astros hit two home runs, including a three-run homer, in the 6-3 win over the Diamondbacks. Matthews went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs.
This was Matthews’ Box-Toppers debut, his first career Player of the Game honor. Matthews made his Major League debut July 11 and was playing in his fifth career game.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2025 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Monday, July 21.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 19.1 |
| 2 | Tarik Skubal | pi sp | Tigers | 16.4 |
| 3 | Nick Pivetta | pi sp | Padres | 14.7 |
| 4 | Garrett Crochet | pi sp | Red Sox | 13.1 |
| 5 | Paul Skenes | pi sp | Pirates | 12.4 |
| 6 | Hunter Brown | pi sp | Astros | 12.4 |
| 7 | Bryan Woo | pi sp | Mariners | 12.0 |
| 8 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | pi sp | Dodgers | 12.0 |
| 9 | Carlos Rodón | pi sp | Yankees | 11.7 |
| 10 | Sonny Gray | pi sp | Cardinals | 11.0 |
Rankings
Two players in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list earned Player of the Game honors Monday: Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, first place overall, extended his lead and Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes, rose from ninth to fifth place overall.
Wheeler extends lead
Wheeler (6IP 7H 2R 0BB 10K ND in the 3-2, 10-inning win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 19.1 for the season, first among all players, now 2.7 points ahead of the second-place player, Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (16.4 points). Wheeler leads NL pitchers, 4.4 points ahead of second-place Nick Pivetta of the Padres (14.7 points).
Wheeler has led all players since May 11. He led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2024 with 21.4.
Wheeler also now has 124.1 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 49th among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. With his 1.0 point Monday, he passes Gary Sheffield (124.1). (Wheeler ranks ahead because he has earned points in 2025; Sheffield is retired. Sheffield began his career before the 1995 advent of Box-Toppers. If his entire career from 1988 were tracked, Box-Toppers estimates his career total at 155.)
Wheeler now trails 48th-ranked player Lance Lynn (124.5), who retired after the 2024 season.
Wheeler ranks eighth among active, signed players in career points, fifth among active NL pitchers.
Skenes rises to fifth
Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (6IP 3H 0R BB 6K W in the 3-0 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.4 for the season, rising from ninth to fifth place overall, third among NL pitchers, behind Zack Wheeler of the Phillies (19.1 points) and Nick Pivetta of the Padres (14.7 points).
Career Box-Toppers points—Active NL pitchers 1—Clayton Kershaw #Dodgers 276.1 2—Justin Verlander #SFGiants 247.0 3—Chris Sale #Braves 179.8 4—Yu Darvish #Padres 139.7 5—Zack Wheeler #Phillies 124.1* 6—Sonny Gray #STLCards 121.3 *Earns 1.0 B-T points Monday www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/7/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Jul 22, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Debut
In addition to Matthews, two other players also made their Box-Toppers debut Monday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Brady House of the Nationals (2B SF 3-4 2R BI in the 10-8 win over the Reds) made his Major League debut June 16 and was playing in his 26th career game.
Miguel Vargas of the White Sox (HR 1-3 2R 2BI in the 8-3 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut Aug. 3, 2022, and was playing in his 268th career game.
Scoring
Woodruff earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Gausman earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.
Baldwin and Matthews each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day.
All of Monday’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).
Monday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Reviewing the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest Box-Toppers game scores.Top pitching matchup
Result—TOR 4, NYY 1A Box-Toppers look at Monday’s pitching matchups Notable—NYY at TOR Carlos Rodón #Yankees 24.4 B-T points over 2024-25, 4th* Kevin Gausman #BlueJays 15.0 B-T points over 2024-25, 26th* *Rank among AL pitchers, 2024-25 All Monday pitching matchups: www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/7/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Jul 21, 2025 at 4:41 PM
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Kevin Gausman, Blue Jays, was Player of the Game (7IP 4H R 2BB 8K W) with +7.0 B-T game score.
Carlos Rodón, Yankees, had -8.0 B-T game score in loss (5IP 6H 4R 2ER 5BB 4K L).
Gausman earns 1.7 B-T points as AL Player of the Day, giving him 16.7 over 2024-25, rising to 23rd among AL pitchers 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:▪️+4.0—Jeff Hoffman, Blue Jays (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K Sv)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. NYY.
Player of the Game—Teammate Kevin Gausman (7IP 4H R 2BB 8K W) with +7.0 game score.
▪️+3.0—John Rave, Royals (HR 2-4 3R 2BI)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. CHC
Player of the Game—Teammate Salvador Perez (2HR 2-5 2R 4BI) with +3.0 game score. (Though they both had +3.0 game scores, Perez beat Rave for Player of the Game because he had more at bats—5 vs. 4.)
▪️+3.0—Ramón Laureano, Orioles (HR 2-4 R 4BI)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. CLE.
Player of the Game—José Ramírez, Guardians (HR 1-5 3R 3BI) with +2.0 game score.
Lowest Box-Toppers game scores
Out of 426 total players Monday, 127 pitchers-18.0—Shane Baz, Rays (4IP 8H 8R 2BB 4K L vs. CHW)
-17.9—Brady Singer, Reds
-15.0—Chris Flexen, Cubs
-15.0—Hayden Birdsong, Giants
-14.8—Jake Irvin, Nationals
Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters
Out of 299 total batters Monday-5.0—Mike Tauchman, White Sox 0-5 3K
-5.0—Lawrence Butler, Athletics 0-5 2K
-5.0—Vinnie Pasquantino, Royals 0-5 K
-5.0—Willi Castro, Twins 0-5 K
-5.0—Chandler Simpson, Rays 0-5 K
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).| 7/21 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.0 | MIL 6, SEA 0 | Brandon Woodruff (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| +8.0 | PIT 3, DET 0 | Paul Skenes (W, 5‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| AL | +7.0 | TOR 4, NYY 1 | Kevin Gausman (W, 7‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| BAT | +6.0 | ATL 9, SF 5 | Drake Baldwin DH | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +5.0 | HOU 6, ARI 3 | Brice Matthews 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | `PHI 3, BOS 2 (F/10) | Zack Wheeler | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 | ||
| +4.0 | TEX 7, ATH 2 | Josh Jung 3B | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | NYM 7, LAA 5 | Edwin Díaz (S, 20) | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.2 | SD 2, MIA 1 | Adrian Morejon (W, 8‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | KC 12, CHC 4 | Salvador Perez C | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | STL 6, COL 2 | Willson Contreras 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | CLE 10, BAL 5 | José Ramírez 3B | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | WSH 10, CIN 8 | Brady House 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | LAD 5, MIN 2 | Will Smith C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | CHW 8, TB 3 | Miguel Vargas 1B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 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 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 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 19.1 | 40.5 | 91.7 | 124.1 | -2.3 |
| Skenes, Paul 5005 | pi sp | pit nl | 12.4 | 25.4 | 25.4 | 25.4 | -0.6 |
| Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | tor al | 6.7 | 16.7 | 62.8 | 104.8 | -3.3 |
| Perez, Salvador 2972 | ca 1b | kc al | 6.5 | 10.0 | 23.0 | 55.2 | +3.0 |
| Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | cle al | 6.0 | 15.9 | 50.3 | 72.8 | -3.9 |
| Diaz, Edwin 3690 | pi cp | nym nl | 6.0 | 10.0 | 24.7 | 51.7 | +2.0 |
| Morejon, Adrian 4298 | pi mr | sd nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +5.0 |
| Baldwin, Drake 5149 | ca | atl nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +5.0 |
| Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 55.9 | 65.6 | +4.0 |
| Contreras, Willson 3776 | 1b | stl nl | 3.0 | 6.5 | 22.0 | 34.5 | -0.5 |
| Jung, Josh 4751 | 3b | tex al | 2.0 | 4.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | -0.5 |
| Matthews, Brice 5227 | 2b | hou al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | +1.5 |
| Smith, Will 4175 | ca | lad nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 14.0 | 17.0 | -3.0 |
| House, Brady 5228 | 3b | dc nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Vargas, Miguel 5229 | 1b | chi al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Tuesday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAL | Young, Brandon* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CLE | Cantillo, Joey 5106 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| DET | Mize, Casey 4377 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| PIT | Keller, Mitch 4230 | 5.7 | 17.4 | 36.4 | 37.4 |
| SD | Kolek, Stephen 5046 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| MIA | Cabrera, Edward 4641 | 4.7 | 6.7 | 16.8 | 16.8 |
| BOS | Fitts, Richard* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| PHI | Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 | 7.0 | 18.4 | 22.4 | 22.4 |
| CIN | Burns, Chase* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| WSH | Lord, Brad* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYY | Schlitter, Cam* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| TOR | Scherzer, Max 2588 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 58.5 | 255.7 |
| LAA | Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | 4.0 | 9.7 | 29.4 | 83.3 |
| NYM | Montas, Frankie 3803 | 1.0 | 7.0 | 30.1 | 42.5 |
| SF | Roupp, Landen 5079 | 3.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| ATL | Daniel, Davis 4953 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| CHW | Martin, Davis 4657 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| TB | Rasmussen, Drew 4547 | 7.7 | 9.4 | 29.2 | 29.2 |
| KC | Hill, Rich 2215 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 18.7 | 83.2 |
| CHC | Boyd, Matthew 3550 | 9.7 | 12.7 | 16.7 | 41.5 |
| ATH | Ginn, J.T. 5142 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| TEX | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 51.5 | 148.2 |
| STL | Fedde, Erick 4065 | 2.7 | 11.4 | 26.2 | 29.9 |
| COL | Blalock, Bradley* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| HOU | Valdez, Framber 4048 | 9.7 | 25.1 | 60.8 | 66.5 |
| ARI | Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 25.7 | 69.9 |
| MIL | Misiorowski, Jacob 5200 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| SEA | Gilbert, Logan 4439 | 6.7 | 19.7 | 54.2 | 54.2 |
| MIN | Woods Richardson, Simeon 4974 | 4.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| LAD | Yamamoto, Yoshinobu 4964 | 12.0 | 18.4 | 18.4 | 18.4 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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