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
▪️ Wednesday’s Sidelights Sidebar
▪️ Subscribe to newsletter
▪️ Support Box-Toppers
Tigers pitcher Troy Melton is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Padres pitcher Nick Pivetta rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Other Player of the Game winners Wednesday include Reds pitcher Hunter Greene, Jakob Marsee of the Marlins, Twins pitcher Joe Ryan and Yainer Diaz of the Astros.
Player of the Day
Melton struck out six over five scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the White Sox.
Melton earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 for the season, 203rd among all players and 69th among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day
Reds pitcher Hunter Greene struck out six over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 8-0 win over the Phillies.
Greene earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 7.4 for the season, 25th among NL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day
Jakob Marsee of the Marlins hit two home runs, including a three-run homer, in the 13-4 win over the Guardians. Marsee also doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in seven runs.
This was Marsee’s Box-Toppers debut, his first career Player of the Game honor. Marsee made his Major League debut Aug. 1 and was playing in his 13th career game.
American League Batter of the Day
Yainer Diaz of the Astros homered and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 4-1 win over the Red Sox.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2025 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Wednesday, Aug. 13.| 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 |
Rankings
Padres pitcher Nick Pivetta rises from fourth to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Pivetta (6.2IP 4H R BB 5K W in the 11-1 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.7 for the season. He trails Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler (20.1 points) and Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (17.4). With his 1.0 point Wednesday, he passes Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (16.1 points) in season player rankings and now ranks second among NL pitchers, 3.4 points behind Wheeler.
Notable
Twins pitcher Joe Ryan becomes the 22nd player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Ryan (6.2IP 4H R 2BB 7K W in the 4-1 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, 16th among all players and ninth among AL pitchers.
This is the second season in which Ryan has earned 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He also did it in 2022 with the Twins, when he had 14.7 points, 10th among AL pitchers. He earned 9.7 points in 2024 with the Twins, 31st among AL pitchers.
2025 Box-Toppers points—NL pitchers 1—Zack Wheeler #Phillies 20.1 2—Nick Pivetta #Padres 16.7* 3—Paul Skenes #Pirates 16.1 4—Sonny Gray #STLCards 14.0 5—Yoshinobu Yamamoto #Dodgers 14.0 6—Jesús Luzardo #Phillies 12.7 *Earns 1.0 B-T pt as Player of the Game WE www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/8/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Aug 14, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Scoring
Melton earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Greene earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day.
Marsee and Diaz each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day.
All of Wednesday’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).
Wednesday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Reviewing the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest Box-Toppers game scores.Top pitching matchup
Result—ARI 6, TEX 4A Box-Toppers look at Wednesday’s pitching matchups Notable—ARI at TEX Zac Gallen #Dbacks 8.0 B-T points in 2025, 48th* Merrill Kelly #Rangers 10.7 B-T points in 2025, 17th* *Overall rank 2025 All Wednesday pitching matchups: www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/8/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Aug 13, 2025 at 1:01 PM
[image or embed]
Neither starter was Player of the Game.
Zac Gallen Diamondbacks, had -7.0 B-T game score (5IP 5H 3R 2BB K ND).
Merrill Kelly, Rangers, had -1.0 B-T game score in loss (6IP 7H 2R BB 5K ND).
Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks, was Player of the Game (HR 4-5 R 4BI) with +4.0 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:▪️+6.0—Bryan Reynolds, Pirates (2HR 3-4 2R 5BI)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. MIL
Player of the Game—Sal Frelick, Brewers (2B 2-3 4R 2BI) with +5.0 game score.
▪️+5.0—Cam Schlitter, Yankees (5IP 2H R 2BB 6K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. MIN.
Player of the Game—Joe Ryan, Twins (6.2IP 4H R 2BB 7K W) with +5.2 game score.
▪️+5.0—Shane Smith, White Sox (5IP 2H 0R 3BB 5K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. DET
Player of the Game—Troy Melton, Tigers (5IP H 0R 0BB 6K W) with +10.0 game score.
Lowest Box-Toppers game scores
Out of 448 total players Wednesday, 133 pitchers-19.8—Kai-Wei Teng, Giants (1.2IP 4H 7R 6ER 4BB 0K L vs. SD)
-17.0—Carlos Carrasco, Braves
-17.0—Seth Lugo, Royals
-16.0—Jake Irvin, Nationals
-13.9—David Peterson, Mets
Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters
Out of 315 total batters Wednesday-5.0—Heriberto Hernández, Marlins 0-5 3K
-5.0—Ozzie Albies, Braves 0-5 K
-5.0—Brendan Donovan, Cardinals 0-5 K
-5.0—Freddie Freeman, Dodgers 0-5 K
-5.0—Salvador Perez, Royals 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).| 8/13 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +10.0 | DET 1, CHW 0 | Troy Melton (W, 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| NL | +9.0 | CIN 8, PHI 0 | Hunter Greene (W, 5‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| +8.2 | CHC 4, TOR 1 | Cade Horton (W, 7‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| BAT | +8.0 | MIA 13, CLE 4 | Jakob Marsee CF‑LF | 5 | 2 | 4 | 7 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +7.0 | `BAL 4, SEA 3 | Trevor Rogers | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +5.2 | MIN 4, NYY 1 | Joe Ryan (W, 12‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| +5.0 | MIL 12, PIT 5 | Sal Frelick RF | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +5.0 | TB 8, ATH 2 | Drew Rasmussen (W, 10‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| +4.2 | SD 11, SF 1 | Nick Pivetta (W, 12‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +4.0 | ARI 6, TEX 4 | Ketel Marte 2B | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | ATL 11, NYM 6 | Michael Harris II CF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | HOU 4, BOS 1 | Yainer Diaz C | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | WSH 8, KC 7 | Nathaniel Lowe 1B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | COL 6, STL 5 | Hunter Goodman PH‑C | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | LAA 6, LAD 5 | Brock Burke (W, 6‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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.
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pivetta, Nick 3825 | pi sp | sd nl | 16.7 | 26.4 | 49.1 | 70.8 | +7.0 |
| Ryan, Joe 4539 | pi sp | min al | 10.7 | 20.4 | 46.5 | 46.5 | +1.0 |
| Rasmussen, Drew 4547 | pi sp | tb al | 9.7 | 11.4 | 31.2 | 31.2 | +8.0 |
| Greene, Hunter 4651 | pi sp | cin nl | 7.4 | 17.1 | 28.8 | 28.8 | -2.3 |
| Rogers, Trevor 4311 | pi sp | bal al | 6.7 | 8.7 | 22.7 | 22.7 | +4.7 |
| Horton, Cade 5216 | pi sp | chi nl | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | +6.0 |
| Goodman, Hunter 5033 | ca | col nl | 5.9 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 8.9 | +2.9 |
| Lowe, Nathaniel 4340 | 1b | dc nl | 5.5 | 7.5 | 19.5 | 19.5 | +3.5 |
| Marte, Ketel 3630 | 2b | ari nl | 4.5 | 11.5 | 21.5 | 33.5 | -2.5 |
| Melton, Troy 5231 | pi sp | det al | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | +3.7 |
| Diaz, Yainer 4871 | ca dh | hou al | 3.2 | 5.2 | 6.7 | 6.7 | +1.2 |
| Marsee, Jakob 5251 | cf lf | fla nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | +1.5 |
| Harris, Michael 4682 | cf | atl nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | -1.0 |
| Burke, Brock 4661 | pi mr | ana al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.0 |
| Frelick, Sal 4880 | rf | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 3.7 | +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 Thursday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEA | Evans, Logan 5192 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| BAL | Sugano, Tomoyuki 5163 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| CHC | Boyd, Matthew 3550 | 10.7 | 13.7 | 17.7 | 42.5 |
| TOR | Scherzer, Max 2588 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 59.5 | 256.7 |
| MIA | Cabrera, Edward 4641 | 8.7 | 10.7 | 20.8 | 20.8 |
| CLE | Bibee, Tanner 4792 | 4.0 | 18.0 | 26.7 | 26.7 |
| PHI | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | 12.7 | 14.7 | 48.6 | 48.6 |
| WSH | Lord, Brad 5234 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| ATL | Elder, Bryce 4709 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 |
| NYM | Senga, Kodai 4762 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 21.7 | 21.7 |
| DET | Skubal, Tarik 4414 | 17.4 | 38.5 | 68.6 | 68.6 |
| MIN | Ober, Bailey 4441 | 1.0 | 14.4 | 32.8 | 32.8 |
| ARI | Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 25.7 | 69.9 |
| COL | Blalock, Bradley 5232 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
* 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