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
▪️ Sunday’s Sidelights Sidebar
▪️ Subscribe to newsletter
▪️ Support Box-Toppers
Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, extending his lead in season player rankings.
Also Sunday, Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal is Sunday’s American League Player of the Day, maintaining second place in season player rankings and extending his lead among AL pitchers.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2025 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Sunday, July 6.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 18.1 |
| 2 | Tarik Skubal | pi sp | Tigers | 14.4 |
| 3 | Hunter Brown | pi sp | Astros | 12.4 |
| 4 | Bryan Woo | pi sp | Mariners | 12.0 |
| 5 | Nick Pivetta | pi sp | Padres | 12.0 |
| 6 | Paul Skenes | pi sp | Pirates | 11.4 |
| 7 | Garrett Crochet | pi sp | Red Sox | 11.1 |
| 8 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | pi sp | Dodgers | 11.0 |
| 9 | Sonny Gray | pi sp | Cardinals | 10.0 |
| 10 | Max Fried | pi sp | Yankees | 9.7 |
Other Player of the Game winners Sunday include Mickey Moniak of the Rockies, Ceddanne Rafaela of the Red Sox and Willy Adames of the Giants.
Player of the Day
Wheeler pitched a complete game, striking out 12 and allowing one run, one hit and no walks, in the 3-1 win over the Reds.
Wheeler allowed only one baserunner, giving up a fifth-inning home run to Austin Hays of the Reds.
Wheeler earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 18.1 for the season, extending his lead among all players ahead of second-place player, Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (14.4), who was Sunday’s AL Player of the Day.
Wheeler also extends his lead among National League pitchers, now 6.1 points ahead of second-place Nick Pivetta of the Padres (12.0 points). That large of a lead means it will take Pivetta at least four starts for a chance to catch Wheeler.
At just over halfway through the season, Wheeler is already approaching his single-season highest Box-Toppers points total of 21.4 in 2024, which led all players. At his current rate, Wheeler would finish the season with 32.6 Box-Toppers points, which would be the fourth-highest single-season point total since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
Wheeler recorded a +18.0 Box-Toppers game score Sunday, the third-best among all Player of the Game winners so far this season. Here are the two higher game scores in 2025:
+20.0 by Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal on May 25 (CG 2H 0R 0BB 13K W in the 5-0 win over the Guardians).
+19.0 by Cardinals pitcher Sonny Gray on June 27 (CG H 0R 0BB 11K W in the 5-0 win over the Guardians).
There was another +18.0 game score recorded by a Player of the Game winner in 2025, by Skubal on June 29 (7IP H 0R BB 13K W in the 3-0 win over the Twins). But Wheeler’s game score Sunday ranks ahead on a tiebreaker because he had more innings pitched in his game, nine vs. seven.
Wheeler also now has 123.1 career Box-Toppers points, 50th-most among all players since tracking began in 1995. He trails 49th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1). (It should be noted that 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 ranks eighth among active, signed players in career points, fifth among active NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 7-2, 10-inning win over the Guardians. Skubal did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Skubal earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 14.4 for the season, maintaining second place overall behind Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler (18.1 points), Sunday’s overall Player of the Day. Skubal extends his lead among AL pitchers, ahead of Hunter Brown of the Astros (12.4 points).
National League Batter of the Day
Mickey Moniak of the Rockies homered, tripled and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 6-4 win over the White Sox.
American League Batter of the Day
Ceddanne Rafaela of the Red Sox homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in one run, in the 6-4 win over the Nationals.
Notable
Willy Adames of the Giants earns Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Sunday.
Adames (HR 1-3 R 3BI in the 6-2 win over the Athletics) was also Player of the Game Saturday in the 7-2 win over the Athletics (3-5 0R 4BI). He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point each day, giving him 5.5 for the season, ninth among NL batters.
He also rises to first place among NL batters over 2024-25 with 16.0 Box-Toppers points over that span, passing previous leader Juan Soto of the Mets (16.0 points). While Adames and Soto both have 16.0 points, Adames ranks ahead because he has more 2025 points than Soto—5.5 vs 5.0.
Sunday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Reviewing the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest Box-Toppers game scores.Top pitching matchup
Result—SEA 1, PIT 0A Box-Toppers look at Sunday’s pitching matchups Notable—PIT at SEA Paul Skenes #Pirates 24.4 B-T points over 2024-25, 7th* George Kirby #Mariners 18.4 B-T points over 2024-25, 22nd* *Overall rank 2024-25 All Sunday pitching matchups: www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/7/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Jul 6, 2025 at 10:16 AM
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George Kirby, Mariners, was Player of the Game (6.1IP 4H 0R 0BB 9K W) with +11.1 B-T game score.
Paul Skenes, Pirates, had +10.0 game score in loss (5IP 5H 0R 0BB 10K ND).
Kirby earns 1.0 B-T point, giving him 19.4 over 2024-25, rising to 17th 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—Gavin Williams, Guardians (6IP H 0R 3BB 8K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. DET.
Player of the Game—Tarik Skubal, Tigers (7IP 3H 0R 0BB 10K ND) with +14.0 game score.
▪️+10.0—Paul Skenes, Pirates (5IP 5H 0R 0BB 10K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. SEA.
Player of the Game—George Kirby, Mariners (6.1IP 4H 0R 0BB 9K W) with +11.1 game score.
▪️+3.2—Chase Burns, Reds (4.2IP 2H R 4BB 7K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. PHI.
Player of the Game—Zack Wheeler, Phillies (CG H R 0BB 12K W vs. CIN) with +18.0 game score.
Lowest Box-Toppers game scores
Out of 444 total players Sunday, 129 pitchers-14.9—Cade Smith, Guardians (0.1IP 5H 6R 4ER 0BB 0K L vs. DET)
-10.9—Erick Fedde, Cardinals
-10.9—Shane Smith, White Sox
-10.8—John King, Cardinals
-10.8—Shinnosuke Ogasawara, Nationals
Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters
Out of 315 total batters Sunday-5.0—Matt Chapman, Giants 0-5 2K
-5.0—Josh Lowe, Rays 0-5 2K
-5.0—Jackson Merrill, Padres 0-5 2K
-5.0—Nolan Schanuel, Angels 0-5 2K
-5.0—Cam Smith, Astros 0-5 2K
Box-Toppers uses Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com and other sources to compile this information.
Debut
Blue Jays pitcher Ryan Burr made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Burr (1.1IP H 0R BB 3K W in the 3-2 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut Aug. 23, 2018, and was playing in his 101st career game.
Scoring
Wheeler earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Skubal earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day.
Moniak and Rafaela each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day.
All of Sunday’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).
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 123.1* 6—Sonny Gray #STLCards 120.3 *Earns 2.0 B-T points Sunday www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/7/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Jul 7, 2025 at 7:25 AM
2024-25 Box-Toppers points—NL batters 1—Willy Adames #SFGiants 16.0* 2—Juan Soto #Mets 16.0 3—Seiya Suzuki #Cubs 14.5 4—Shohei Ohtani #Dodgers 14.5 5—Francisco Lindor #Mets 13.4 6—Kyle Schwarber #Phillies 12.5 7—Eugenio Suárez #Dbacks 12.5 *Earns 1.0 B-T pt Sunday www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/7/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Jul 7, 2025 at 7:32 AM
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).| 7/6 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +18.0 | PHI 3, CIN 1 | Zack Wheeler (W, 9‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | |
| AL | +14.0 | `DET 7, CLE 2 (F/10) | Tarik Skubal | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| +11.1 | SEA 1, PIT 0 | George Kirby (W, 3‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||
| +11.0 | KC 4, ARI 0 | Michael Lorenzen (W, 5‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +10.0 | MIL 3, MIA 1 | Brandon Woodruff (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| +10.0 | CHC 11, STL 0 | Matthew Boyd (W, 9‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| +8.0 | `TB 7, MIN 5 (F/10) | Joe Boyle | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +6.2 | BAL 2, ATL 1 | Trevor Rogers (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +5.2 | SD 4, TEX 1 | Kyle Hart (W, 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | COL 6, CHW 4 | Mickey Moniak CF‑RF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | NYY 6, NYM 4 | Devin Williams (S, 12) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.1 | TOR 3, LAA 2 | Ryan Burr (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | BOS 6, WSH 4 | Ceddanne Rafaela CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.0 | HOU 5, LAD 1 | Zack Short SS | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | SF 6, ATH 2 | Willy Adames SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 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.
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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 | 18.1 | 39.5 | 90.7 | 123.1 | -3.3 |
| Skubal, Tarik 4414 | pi sp | det al | 14.4 | 35.5 | 65.6 | 65.6 | -6.7 |
| Boyd, Matthew 3550 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.0 | 11.0 | 15.0 | 39.8 | +5.0 |
| Adames, Willy 4041 | ss | sf nl | 5.5 | 16.0 | 32.1 | 35.1 | -5.0 |
| Rogers, Trevor 4311 | pi sp | bal al | 4.7 | 6.7 | 20.7 | 20.7 | +2.7 |
| Kirby, George 4595 | pi sp | sea al | 4.0 | 19.4 | 44.5 | 44.5 | -11.4 |
| Lorenzen, Michael 3479 | pi sp | kc al | 4.0 | 9.0 | 23.7 | 32.2 | -1.0 |
| Moniak, Mickey 4849 | rf cf | col nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 0.0 |
| Hart, Kyle 5140 | pi sp | sd nl | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | +2.7 |
| Rafaela, Ceddane 4988 | cf ss | bos al | 2.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +1.0 |
| Boyle, Joe 4948 | pi sp | tb al | 2.0 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | +0.3 |
| Williams, Devin 4319 | pi cp | nyy al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 17.0 | 17.0 | 0.0 |
| Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 52.9 | 62.6 | +1.0 |
| Short, Zack 4453 | ss 3b 2b | hou al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | +1.0 |
| Burr, Ryan 5219 | pi mr | tor 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 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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TB | Baz, Shane 4560 | 7.0 | 11.0 | 12.7 | 12.7 |
| DET | Flaherty, Jack 3971 | 3.0 | 15.0 | 30.7 | 60.3 |
| COL | Gomber, Austin 3985 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 20.0 | 24.7 |
| BOS | Fitts, Richard* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIA | Junk, Janson 4697 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| CIN | Singer, Brady 4337 | 3.0 | 13.0 | 36.7 | 36.7 |
| LAD | Yamamoto, Yoshinobu 4964 | 11.0 | 17.4 | 17.4 | 17.4 |
| MIL | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | 6.0 | 19.4 | 59.2 | 75.9 |
| PIT | Heaney, Andrew 3515 | 7.0 | 16.0 | 43.8 | 63.5 |
| KC | Cameron, Noah 5167 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| TOR | Berrios, Jose 3791 | 7.7 | 17.4 | 49.2 | 86.7 |
| CHW | Burke, Sean 5124 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| CLE | Bibee, Tanner 4792 | 4.0 | 18.0 | 26.7 | 26.7 |
| HOU | Brown, Hunter 4729 | 12.4 | 24.4 | 35.5 | 35.5 |
| TEX | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 51.5 | 148.2 |
| LAA | Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 | 5.7 | 16.4 | 39.8 | 43.8 |
| ARI | Gallen, Zac 4171 | 6.0 | 18.4 | 63.8 | 69.5 |
| SD | Pivetta, Nick 3825 | 12.0 | 21.7 | 44.4 | 66.1 |
| PHI | Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 | 6.0 | 17.4 | 21.4 | 21.4 |
| SF | Roupp, Landen 5079 | 3.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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