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
▪️ Subscribe to newsletter
▪️ Support Box-Toppers
Blue Jays pitcher Shane Bieber is Friday’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 Friday, Aug. 22.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 20.1 |
| 2 | Tarik Skubal | pi sp | Tigers | 19.4 |
| 3 | Nick Pivetta | pi sp | Padres | 17.7 |
| 4 | Paul Skenes | pi sp | Pirates | 17.1 |
| 5 | Jesús Luzardo | pi sp | Phillies | 14.7 |
| 6 | Nathan Eovaldi | pi sp | Rangers | 14.4 |
| 7 | Garrett Crochet | pi sp | Red Sox | 14.1 |
| 8 | Sonny Gray | pi sp | Cardinals | 14.0 |
| 9 | Bryan Woo | pi sp | Mariners | 14.0 |
| 10 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | pi sp | Dodgers | 14.0 |
Also Friday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earn Player of the Game honors: Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi rises to sixth place and Mariners pitcher Bryan Woo rises to ninth place.
Other Player of the Game winners Friday include Pirates pitcher Braxton Ashcraft, Padres pitcher Yu Darvish, Royce Lewis of the Twins and Gabriel Moreno of the Diamondbacks.
Player of the Day
Bieber struck out nine over six innings, allowing one run, two hits and no walks, in the 5-2 win over the Marlins.
Bieber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and is 361st among all players, 102nd among American League pitchers.
Bieber was making his first Major League start since undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery in April 2024. Bieber led all players in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season with 11.4 Box-Toppers points, when he was with Cleveland. In 2019 with Cleveland, he ranked sixth overall with 18.1 points, fourth among AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day
Pirates pitcher Braxton Ashcraft struck out six over five scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 9-0 win over the Rockies.
Ashcraft earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season, 47th among NL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day
Royce Lewis of the Twins hit a grand slam and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 9-7 win over the White Sox.
National League Batter of the Day
Gabriel Moreno of the Diamondbacks hit a three-run home run and went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the Reds.
Rankings
Two players rose in the Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earned Player of the Game honors Friday:
Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (7IP 4H R 0BB 9K ND in the 4-3 win over the Guardians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.4 for the season, rising from ninth to sixth place overall and second among AL pitchers, 5.0 points behind Tarik Skubal of the Tigers (19.4 points). It would take Eovaldi at least three starts (earning a maximum of 2.0 points each time) to pass Skubal in rankings.
Mariners pitcher Bryan Woo (7IP H R 2BB 7K W in the 3-2 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.0 for the season, rising from 10th to ninth place overall and fourth among AL pitchers.
Notable
Padres pitcher Yu Darvish now has 144.4 career Box-Toppers points—33rd-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Darvish (6IP H R BB 5K W in the 2-1 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and trails 32nd-ranked player on the “all-time” career points list, David Ortiz (145.9).
Darvish ranks seventh among active, signed players in career points, fourth among active NL pitchers.
His 4.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025 is 50th among NL pitchers.
Career Box-Toppers points—Active NL pitchers 1—Clayton Kershaw #Dodgers 277.1 2—Justin Verlander #SFGiants 247.0 3—Chris Sale #Braves 179.8 4—Yu Darvish #Padres 144.4* 5—Zack Wheeler #Phillies 125.1 6—Sonny Gray #STLCards 124.3 *Earns 1.0 B-T point Friday www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/8/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Aug 23, 2025 at 8:29 AM
[image or embed]
Debut
Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Friday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Nationals pitcher PJ Poulin (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 5-4 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut Aug. 5 and was playing in his 10th career game.
Carson Williams of the Rays (HR 2-4 2R 3BI in the 10-6 win over the Cardinals) was also making his Major League debut Friday.
Scoring
Bieber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Ashcraft earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day.
Lewis and Moreno each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day.
All of Friday’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).
Félix Bautista #Orioles likely to miss entire 2026 season after undergoing shoulder surgery. He missed 2024 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. He led AL closers in 2023 with 11.0 Box-Toppers points. He had 2.0 B-T points in 2025 in 35 appearances.
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Aug 23, 2025 at 8:43 AM
[image or embed]
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).| 8/22 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +11.0 | TOR 5, MIA 2 | Shane Bieber (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| +10.0 | `TEX 4, CLE 3 | Nathan Eovaldi | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||
| +9.0 | SEA 3, ATH 2 | Bryan Woo (W, 11‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| NL | +9.0 | PIT 9, COL 0 | Braxton Ashcraft (W, 4‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| +8.0 | BOS 1, NYY 0 | Brayan Bello (W, 10‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +7.0 | SD 2, LAD 1 | Yu Darvish (W, 3‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +6.0 | NYM 12, ATL 7 | Nolan McLean (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| +5.1 | HOU 10, BAL 7 | Bryan Abreu (S, 2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +5.0 | `CHC 3, LAA 2 | Javier Assad | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +5.0 | WSH 5, PHI 4 | PJ Poulin (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | MIN 9, CHW 7 | Royce Lewis 3B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | TB 10, STL 6 | Carson Williams SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | DET 7, KC 5 | Zach McKinstry SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | ARI 6, CIN 5 (F/11) | Gabriel Moreno C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +1.0 | MIL 5, SF 4 | William Contreras C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | tex al | 14.4 | 27.4 | 61.2 | 96.7 | +1.4 |
| Woo, Bryan 4842 | pi sp | sea al | 14.0 | 25.7 | 34.4 | 34.4 | +2.3 |
| Bello, Brayan 4727 | pi sp | bos al | 7.4 | 15.1 | 18.1 | 18.1 | -0.3 |
| Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 4.7 | 13.4 | 60.0 | 144.4 | -4.0 |
| Ashcraft, Braxton 5208 | pi sp | pit nl | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | +4.7 |
| Contreras, William 4717 | ca | mil nl | 4.0 | 8.2 | 12.2 | 12.2 | -0.2 |
| McLean, Nolan 5255 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +3.0 |
| Lewis, Royce 4606 | 3b | min al | 2.5 | 4.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | +0.5 |
| Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | tor al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 39.8 | 64.3 | 0.0 |
| McKinstry, Zach 5086 | ss dh | det al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Moreno, Gabriel 4781 | ca | ari nl | 1.5 | 3.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | -0.5 |
| Assad, Javier 4899 | pi sp | chi nl | 1.0 | 7.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 | -5.0 |
| Abreu, Bryan 4663 | pi cp mr | hou al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -1.0 |
| Poulin, PJ 5263 | pi cp | dc nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Williams, Carson 5264 | ss | tb al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +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 Saturday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOS | Crochet, Garrett 4434 | 14.1 | 24.8 | 25.8 | 25.8 |
| NYY | Warren, Will 5143 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 9.4 |
| TOR | Berrios, Jose 3791 | 10.7 | 20.4 | 52.2 | 89.7 |
| MIA | Junk, Janson 4697 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| WSH | Parker, Mitchell 4982 | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| PHI | Nola, Aaron 3569 | 2.7 | 16.1 | 62.5 | 117.8 |
| KC | Wacha, Michael 3276 | 8.1 | 18.5 | 45.0 | 79.7 |
| DET | Paddack, Chris 4093 | 4.0 | 9.7 | 19.7 | 35.5 |
| COL | Freeland, Kyle 3763 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 22.7 | 42.1 |
| PIT | Burrows, Mike 5196 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| HOU | Javier, Cristian 4290 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 31.7 | 31.7 |
| BAL | Kremer, Dean 4330 | 4.7 | 13.4 | 34.5 | 34.5 |
| CLE | Allen, Logan T. 4789 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 |
| TEX | Leiter, Jack 5132 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| MIN | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CHW | Martin, Davis 4657 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| SF | Webb, Logan 4258 | 8.0 | 19.0 | 57.6 | 59.3 |
| MIL | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | 11.7 | 25.1 | 64.9 | 81.6 |
| NYM | Holmes, Clay 4022 | 4.0 | 7.0 | 16.0 | 17.0 |
| ATL | Quantrill, Cal 4195 | 6.7 | 11.7 | 27.4 | 29.4 |
| CIN | Abbott, Andrew 4839 | 9.7 | 14.7 | 25.7 | 25.7 |
| ARI | Crismatt, Nabil 4449 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| LAD | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | 3.0 | 14.7 | 47.8 | 63.5 |
| SD | Cortes, Nestor 4160 | 2.0 | 17.4 | 39.8 | 41.8 |
| CHC | Horton, Cade 5216 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| LAA | Mederos, Victor* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ATH | Springs, Jeffrey 4372 | 7.7 | 12.7 | 30.1 | 30.1 |
| SEA | Kirby, George 4595 | 8.0 | 23.4 | 48.5 | 48.5 |
* 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