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
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Phillies pitcher Ranger Suárez is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2025 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Sunday, Aug. 24.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 20.1 |
| 2 | Tarik Skubal | pi sp | Tigers | 19.4 |
| 3 | Paul Skenes | pi sp | Pirates | 18.1 |
| 4 | Nick Pivetta | pi sp | Padres | 17.7 |
| 5 | Garrett Crochet | pi sp | Red Sox | 15.1 |
| 6 | Jesús Luzardo | pi sp | Phillies | 14.7 |
| 7 | Nathan Eovaldi | pi sp | Rangers | 14.4 |
| 8 | Sonny Gray | pi sp | Cardinals | 14.0 |
| 9 | Bryan Woo | pi sp | Mariners | 14.0 |
| 10 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | pi sp | Dodgers | 14.0 |
Other Player of the Game winners Sunday include Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert, Rangers pitcher Merrill Kelly, Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the Yankees and Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers.
Player of the Day
Suárez struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 3-2 win over the Nationals.
Suárez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.8 for the season, 11th among all players and seventh among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day
Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert struck out 13 over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 11-4 win over the Athletics.
Gilbert earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 11.1 for the season, 19th among all players and 10th among AL pitchers.
Gilbert becomes the 25th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his fourth season and fourth straight season with 10 or more points, all with the Mariners:
In 2022, he had 14.1 points, 12th among AL pitchers.
In 2023, he had 13.4 points, ninth among AL pitchers.
In 2024, he had 13.0 points, 11th among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day
Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the Yankees hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 7-2 win over the Red Sox.
Chisholm earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season, 26th among AL batters.
National League Batter of the Day
Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-2 win over the Padres.
Freeman earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season, 30th among NL batters.
2025 Box-Toppers points—NL pitchers 1—Zack Wheeler #Phillies 20.1 2—Paul Skenes #Pirates 18.1* 3—Nick Pivetta #Padres 17.7 4—Jesús Luzardo #Phillies 14.7 5—Sonny Gray #STLCards 14.0 6—Yoshinobu Yamamoto #Dodgers 14.0 *Earns 1.0 B-T pt as Player of the Game Sunday www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/8/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Aug 25, 2025 at 6:48 AM
Rankings
Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes rises from fourth to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Skenes (7IP 3H 0R 0BB 7K W in the 4-0 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 18.1 for the season. He passes Padres pitcher Nick Pivetta (17.7 points) and now trails Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler (20.1 points) and Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (19.4 points).
Passing Pivetta, he rises to second among NL pitchers, trailing Wheeler by 2.0 points. While players can earn 2.0 points for each Player of the Day honor, it would take Skenes at least two starts to pass Wheeler because if both have 20.1 points, Wheeler would rank ahead based on having more 2024 points—21.4 vs. 13.0.
Wheeler, however, is out for the season, having been diagnosed with venous thoracic outlet syndrome. He will undergo thoracic outlet decompression surgery and recovery time is expected to be six to eight months.
Notable
Rangers pitcher Merrill Kelly now has 11.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Kelly (7IP 4H 0R 2BB 8K W in the 5-0 win over the Guardians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and his 11.7 points ranks 16th among all players, eighth among AL pitchers.
Sunday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Box-Toppers post reviewing the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest Box-Toppers game scores is on Substack:
⬛ Two top 10 pitchers match up Sunday, but neither wins Player of the Game honors
Scoring
Suárez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Gilbert earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.
Chisholm and Freeman 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.
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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).| 8/24 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +15.0 | PHI 3, WSH 2 | Ranger Suárez (W, 10‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | |
| AL | +13.0 | SEA 11, ATH 4 | Logan Gilbert (W, 4‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | |
| +11.0 | PIT 4, COL 0 | Paul Skenes (W, 8‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| +9.0 | TEX 5, CLE 0 | Merrill Kelly (W, 10‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| +9.0 | `CIN 6, ARI 1 | Brady Singer | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | ||
| +6.0 | BAL 3, HOU 2 | Trevor Rogers (W, 7‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | ||
| +6.0 | TB 7, STL 2 | Ryan Pepiot (W, 9‑10) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +5.2 | CHW 8, MIN 0 | Yoendrys Gómez | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| +4.1 | KC 10, DET 8 | John Schreiber (W, 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | NYY 7, BOS 2 | Jazz Chisholm Jr. 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +3.0 | LAD 8, SD 2 | Freddie Freeman 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | `ATL 4, NYM 3 | Bryce Elder | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +3.0 | CHC 4, LAA 3 | Jameson Taillon (W, 9‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +2.0 | MIA 5, TOR 3 | Jakob Marsee CF‑LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | SF 4, MIL 3 | Luis Matos RF‑LF | 4 | 2 | 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.
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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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skenes, Paul 5005 | pi sp | pit nl | 18.1 | 31.1 | 31.1 | 31.1 | +5.1 |
| Suarez, Ranger 4228 | pi sp | phi nl | 12.8 | 23.2 | 40.9 | 41.9 | +2.4 |
| Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | tex al | 11.7 | 13.7 | 44.7 | 52.7 | +9.7 |
| Gilbert, Logan 4439 | pi sp | sea al | 11.1 | 24.1 | 58.6 | 58.6 | -1.9 |
| Singer, Brady 4337 | pi sp | cin nl | 9.0 | 19.0 | 42.7 | 42.7 | -1.0 |
| Rogers, Trevor 4311 | pi sp | bal al | 8.7 | 10.7 | 24.7 | 24.7 | +6.7 |
| Pepiot, Ryan 4714 | pi sp | tb al | 8.0 | 17.7 | 24.7 | 24.7 | -1.7 |
| Taillon, Jameson 3658 | pi sp | chi nl | 7.4 | 15.4 | 40.5 | 66.9 | -0.6 |
| Chisholm, Jazz Jr. 4364 | 2b cf | nyy al | 4.7 | 7.2 | 17.2 | 17.2 | +2.2 |
| Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | lad nl | 4.5 | 10.0 | 36.5 | 95.9 | -1.0 |
| Marsee, Jakob 5251 | cf lf ph | fla nl | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | +3.5 |
| Gómez, Yoendrys 5249 | pi sp | chi al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Matos, Luis E. 5006 | rf lf | sf nl | 1.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | -1.5 |
| Elder, Bryce 4709 | pi sp | atl nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 | -1.0 |
| Schreiber, John 4598 | pi mr | kc al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOS | Bernardino, Brennan 4996 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| BAL | Sugano, Tomoyuki 5163 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| ATL | Strider, Spencer 4626 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 39.5 | 39.5 |
| MIA | Cabrera, Edward 4641 | 8.7 | 10.7 | 20.8 | 20.8 |
| TB | Seymour, Ian* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CLE | Bibee, Tanner 4792 | 4.0 | 18.0 | 26.7 | 26.7 |
| WSH | Lord, Brad 5234 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| NYY | Schlittler, Cam 5261 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| MIN | Ryan, Joe 4539 | 10.7 | 20.4 | 46.5 | 46.5 |
| TOR | Scherzer, Max 2588 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 59.5 | 256.7 |
| PHI | Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 | 11.0 | 22.4 | 26.4 | 26.4 |
| NYM | Senga, Kodai 4762 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 21.7 | 21.7 |
| ARI | Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 27.7 | 71.9 |
| MIL | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 58.6 | 68.3 |
| KC | Cameron, Noah 5167 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| CHW | Smith, Shane 5158 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| PIT | Oviedo, Johan 4442 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| STL | McGreevy, Michael 5113 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| LAA | Soriano, Jose 4884 | 9.7 | 12.7 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| TEX | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 52.5 | 149.2 |
| SD | Sears, JP 4627 | 4.0 | 11.7 | 20.7 | 20.7 |
| SEA | Miller, Bryce 4797 | 2.0 | 17.7 | 30.8 | 30.8 |
| DET | Skubal, Tarik 4414 | 19.4 | 40.5 | 70.6 | 70.6 |
| ATH | Ginn, J.T. 5142 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| CIN | Greene, Hunter 4651 | 8.4 | 18.1 | 29.8 | 29.8 |
| LAD | Sheehan, Emmet 4886 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 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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