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
Diamondbacks pitcher Eduardo Rodríguez is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, José Ramírez of the Guardians rises to first among American League batters after earning AL Batter of the Day honors, passing Riley Greene of the Tigers, who led the category for nearly three months.
Other Player of the Game winners Thursday include Tigers pitcher Rafael Montero and Ozzie Albies of the Braves.
Player of the Day
Rodríguez struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, six hits and one walk, in the 8-2 win over the Rockies.
Rodríguez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 for the season, 202nd among all players and 65th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day
Tigers pitcher Rafael Montero struck out two over 1 2/3 scoreless and hitless innings, allowing no walks, in the 4-3, 11-inning win over the Twins. Montero pitched in the 10th and 11th inning, closing the game and earning the win.
Montero earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and is 126th among AL pitchers, 26th among AL closers.
National League Batter of the Day
Ozzie Albies of the Braves homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Mets.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2025 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Thursday, Aug. 14.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 20.1 |
| 2 | Tarik Skubal | pi sp | Tigers | 17.4 |
| 3 | Nick Pivetta | pi sp | Padres | 16.7 |
| 4 | Paul Skenes | pi sp | Pirates | 16.1 |
| 5 | Garrett Crochet | pi sp | Red Sox | 14.1 |
| 6 | Sonny Gray | pi sp | Cardinals | 14.0 |
| 7 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | pi sp | Dodgers | 14.0 |
| 8 | Bryan Woo | pi sp | Mariners | 13.0 |
| 9 | Carlos Rodón | pi sp | Yankees | 12.7 |
| 10 | Jesús Luzardo | pi sp | Phillies | 12.7 |
American League Batter of the Day
José Ramírez of the Guardians doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 9-4 win over the Marlins.
Ramírez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 9.5 for the season, most among Thursday’s Player of the Game winners, 27th among all players and rising to first among AL batters, passing previous leader Riley Greene of the Tigers (9.0), who held the lead since May 16 and now falls to second place.
Debut
Nationals pitcher Shinnosuke Ogasawara (W, 1‑1) made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
2025 Box-Toppers points—AL batters 1—José Ramírez #Guardians 9.5* 2—Riley Greene #Tigers 9.0 3—George Springer #BlueJays 8.7 4—Wilyer Abreu #RedSox 8.5 5—Taylor Ward #Angels 8.5 6—Jose Altuve #Astros 8.0 *Earns 1.5 B-T point as Thursday’s AL Batter of the Day www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/8/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Aug 15, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Ogasawara (0.1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 3-2 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut July 6 and was playing in his seventh career game.
Scoring
Rodríguez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Montero earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.
Albies and Ramírez 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) 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.
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Thursday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Reviewing the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest Box-Toppers game scores.Top pitching matchup
None of Thursday’s three starters with the most 2025 Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors:Most 2025 Box-Toppers points among Thursday’s probable starters: 17.4—Tarik Skubal #Tigers 2nd* vs. MIN 12.7—Jesús Luzardo #Phillies 10th* vs. WSH 10.7—Matthew Boyd #Cubs 17th* vs. TOR *Overall rank 2025 All Thursday pitching matchups: www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/8/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Aug 14, 2025 at 11:13 AM
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▪️Tarik Skubal, Tigers (7IP 6H 3R 2BB 3K ND)
-4.0 B-T game score in win vs. MIN.
Player of the Game—Teammte Rafael Montero (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W) with +3.1 B-T game score.
▪️Jesús Luzardo, Phillies (6IP 4H 3R 3BB 7K L)
0.0 B-T game score in loss vs. WSH.
Player of the Game—Shinnosuke Ogasawara, Nationals (0.1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W) with +1.1 B-T game score.
▪️Matthew Boyd, Cubs (7IP 2H 2R BB 5K L)
+5.0 B-T game score in loss vs. TOR, day's highest game score among all players.
Player of the Game—Jeff Hoffman, Blue Jays (1IP H 0R 0BB 3K Sv) with +3.0 B-T game score.
High scores, no points
Highest Box-Toppers game scores for the day among players who did not earn Player of the Game honors:▪️+5.0—Matthew Boyd, Cubs (7IP 2H 2R BB 5K L)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. MIL, despite having higest game score among all players.
Player of the Game—Jeff Hoffman, Blue Jays (1IP H 0R 0BB 3K Sv) with +3.0 game score.
▪️+2.2—Kodai Senga, Mets (5.2IP 5H 2R BB 7K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. ATL.
Player of the Game—Ozzie Albies, Braves (HR 2B 3-4 R 3BI) with +3.0 game score.
▪️+2.0—Francisco Lindor, Mets (HR 3-4 2R BI)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. ATL
Player of the Game—Ozzie Albies, Braves (HR 2B 3-4 R 3BI) with +3.0 game score.
Lowest Box-Toppers game scores
Out of 204 total players Thursday, 56 pitchers-20.8—Bradley Blalock, Rockies (3.2IP 6H 7R 4BB 0K L vs. ARI)
-8.9—Edward Cabrera, Marlins
-8.0—Valente Bellozo, Marlins
-7.0—Logan Evans, Mariners
Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters
Out of 148 total batters Thursday-5.0—Adrian Del Castillo, Diamdonbacks 0-5 2K
-4.0—Nick Allen, Braves 0-4 2K
-4.0—Nick Castellanos, Phillies 0-4 2K
-4.0—Dillon Dingler, Tigers 0-4 2K
-4.0—Jakob Marsee, Marlins 0-4 2K
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).| 8/14 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +4.0 | ARI 8, COL 2 | Eduardo Rodríguez (W, 5‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| AL | +3.1 | DET 4, MIN 3 (F/11) | Rafael Montero (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| BAT | +3.0 | ATL 4, NYM 3 | Ozzie Albies 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +3.0 | CLE 9, MIA 4 | José Ramírez 3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | TOR 2, CHC 1 | Jeff Hoffman (S, 27) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +1.1 | BAL 5, SEA 3 | Tomoyuki Sugano (W, 10‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +1.1 | WSH 3, PHI 2 | Shinnosuke Ogasawara (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | cle al | 9.5 | 19.4 | 53.8 | 76.3 | -0.4 |
| Hoffman, Jeff 3806 | pi cp | tor al | 7.0 | 12.0 | 18.0 | 21.7 | +2.0 |
| Sugano, Tomoyuki 5163 | pi sp | bal al | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | +5.7 |
| Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | ari nl | 3.7 | 4.7 | 27.7 | 71.9 | +2.7 |
| Montero, Rafael 3410 | pi cp | det al | 1.7 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 5.7 | +1.7 |
| Albies, Ozzie 3953 | 2b | atl nl | 1.5 | 4.5 | 16.0 | 24.5 | -1.5 |
| Ogasawara, Shinnosuke 5252 | pi mr | dc nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PIT | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CHC | Rea, Colin 3582 | 2.0 | 12.4 | 17.4 | 21.1 |
| MIL | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CIN | Martinez, Nick 3430 | 5.7 | 15.4 | 27.8 | 34.5 |
| PHI | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | 20.1 | 41.5 | 92.7 | 125.1 |
| WSH | Gore, MacKenzie 4582 | 8.7 | 16.7 | 28.4 | 28.4 |
| TEX | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 52.5 | 149.2 |
| TOR | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | 5.0 | 12.7 | 63.9 | 76.6 |
| ATL | Waldrep, Hurston 5248 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| CLE | Cantillo, Joey 5106 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| MIA | Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 45.8 | 52.2 |
| BOS | Giolito, Lucas 3900 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 35.8 | 56.5 |
| SEA | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | 10.4 | 21.1 | 61.2 | 92.0 |
| NYM | Manaea, Sean 3637 | 1.0 | 16.4 | 43.8 | 70.3 |
| BAL | Young, Brandon* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| HOU | Valdez, Framber 4048 | 9.7 | 25.1 | 60.8 | 66.5 |
| CHW | Civale, Aaron 4173 | 3.0 | 10.1 | 35.5 | 38.5 |
| KC | Cameron, Noah 5167 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| DET | Morton, Charlie 2503 | 5.0 | 14.4 | 49.5 | 118.5 |
| MIN | Ohl, Pierson* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYY | Gil, Luis 4498 | 0.0 | 17.4 | 18.4 | 18.4 |
| STL | Pallante, Andre 4656 | 5.7 | 14.4 | 16.4 | 16.4 |
| ARI | Pfaadt, Brandon 4812 | 5.7 | 18.1 | 21.8 | 21.8 |
| COL | Gordon, Tanner 5230 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| LAA | Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 | 6.7 | 17.4 | 40.8 | 44.8 |
| ATH | Perkins, Jack 5225 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| SD | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| LAD | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | 3.7 | 5.7 | 48.6 | 276.1 |
| TB | Boyle, Joe 4948 | 2.0 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| SF | Roupp, Landen 5079 | 4.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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