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
▪️ Friday’s Sidelights Sidebar
▪️ Subscribe to newsletter
▪️ Support Box-Toppers
Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta 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. 29.| 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 | 16.1 |
| 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 Friday include Astros pitcher Cristian Javier, Dansby Swanson of the Cubs and Anthony Volpe of the Yankees.
Player of the Day
Peralta struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 7-2 win over the Blue Jays.
Peralta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.7 for the season, 11th among all players and seventh among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day
Astros pitcher Cristian Javier struck out six over six scoreless and hitless innings, allowing three walks, in the 2-0 win over the Angels. Javier did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Javier threw 85 pitches in his fourth start since returning from Tommy John surgery last season. It was his first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor since May 16, 2024, prior to the surgery.
While Javier allowed no hits, the pitcher who replaced him gave up a hit to the first batter he faced in the seventh inning—Enyel De Los Santos gave up a double to Yoán Moncada of the Angels, one of two hits he allowed and the only Angels hits of the game.
Javier earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and is 133rd among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day
Dansby Swanson of the Cubs hit two home runs, tripled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 11-7 win over the Rockies.
American League Batter of the Day
Anthony Volpe of the Yankees homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 10-2 win over the White Sox.
Friday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Box-Toppers post reviewing the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest Box-Toppers game scores is on Substack:
⬛ Skenes does not gain Box-Toppers points despite win, plus 6Ks over 6 innings
Scoring
Peralta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Javier earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.
Swanson and Volpe 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.
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Walker Buehler, 31, released by #RedSox. He had 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, which was 54th among AL pitchers. He had 2nd Tommy John surgery in 2022. Before that, with #Dodgers: 2018—15.1 B-T points, 5th* 2019—16.4, 7th* 2021—16.7, 8th* *Top 10 rank among NL pitchers
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Aug 30, 2025 at 8:13 AM
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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).| 8/29 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +12.0 | MIL 7, TOR 2 | Freddy Peralta (W, 16‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| +9.0 | ARI 3, LAD 0 | Zac Gallen (W, 10‑13) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| AL | +9.0 | `HOU 2, LAA 0 | Cristian Javier | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | |
| BAT | +7.0 | CHC 11, COL 7 | Dansby Swanson SS | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +7.0 | NYM 19, MIA 9 | Brandon Nimmo LF | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +5.0 | SF 15, BAL 8 | Luis Matos LF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.2 | DET 5, KC 3 | Kyle Finnegan (W, 4‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +3.1 | STL 7, CIN 5 (F/10) | Matt Svanson (W, 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | NYY 10, CHW 2 | Anthony Volpe SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | PHI 2, ATL 1 | Jhoan Duran (S, 24) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | MIN 7, SD 4 | Royce Lewis 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | TEX 5, ATH 2 | Jonah Heim C | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | PIT 4, BOS 2 | Dennis Santana (S, 11) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +1.0 | CLE 5, SEA 4 | Nolan Jones RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | TB 4, WSH 1 | Brandon Lowe 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | mil nl | 13.7 | 27.1 | 66.9 | 83.6 | +0.3 |
| Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | ari nl | 9.0 | 21.4 | 66.8 | 72.5 | -3.4 |
| Lowe, Brandon 4108 | 2b | tb al | 7.0 | 14.0 | 34.5 | 35.5 | 0.0 |
| Nimmo, Brandon 3895 | lf | nym nl | 5.5 | 10.0 | 16.5 | 23.9 | +1.0 |
| Volpe, Anthony 4793 | ss | nyy al | 4.2 | 4.2 | 5.7 | 5.7 | +4.2 |
| Duran, Jhoan 4622 | pi cp | phi nl | 4.0 | 10.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | -2.0 |
| Swanson, Dansby 3751 | ss | chi nl | 4.0 | 9.0 | 26.2 | 38.7 | -1.0 |
| Lewis, Royce 4606 | 3b | min al | 3.5 | 5.5 | 10.5 | 10.5 | +1.5 |
| Finnegan, Kyle 4535 | pi cp mr | det al | 3.0 | 8.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | -2.0 |
| Heim, Jonah 4492 | ca | tex al | 2.5 | 5.0 | 16.2 | 16.2 | 0.0 |
| Santana, Dennis 4275 | pi cp mr | pit nl | 2.0 | 6.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -2.0 |
| Matos, Luis E. 5006 | lf rf | sf nl | 2.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | -0.5 |
| Jones, Nolan 4686 | lf | cle al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +1.0 |
| Svanson, Matt 5258 | pi mr | stl nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Javier, Cristian 4290 | pi sp | hou al | 1.7 | 2.7 | 33.4 | 33.4 | +0.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIL | Priester, Quinn 5059 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| TOR | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | 10.4 | 20.4 | 66.5 | 108.5 |
| TB | Pepiot, Ryan 4714 | 8.0 | 17.7 | 24.7 | 24.7 |
| WSH | Irvin, Jake 4805 | 7.7 | 17.7 | 20.7 | 20.7 |
| MIA | Cabrera, Edward 4641 | 10.7 | 12.7 | 22.8 | 22.8 |
| NYM | Peterson, David 4347 | 5.7 | 10.4 | 23.4 | 23.4 |
| PIT | Oviedo, Johan 4442 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| BOS | May, Dustin 4214 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 15.4 | 17.4 |
| ATL | Sale, Chris 2806 | 7.4 | 26.5 | 37.2 | 179.8 |
| PHI | Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 | 11.0 | 22.4 | 26.4 | 26.4 |
| STL | McGreevy, Michael 5113 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| CIN | Abbott, Andrew 4839 | 9.7 | 14.7 | 25.7 | 25.7 |
| LAA | Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | 5.0 | 10.7 | 30.4 | 84.3 |
| HOU | Arrighetti, Spencer 5022 | 1.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| NYY | Schlittler, Cam 5261 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| CHW | Smith, Shane 5158 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| SD | Pivetta, Nick 3825 | 17.7 | 27.4 | 50.1 | 71.8 |
| MIN | Bradley, Taj 4780 | 6.0 | 18.1 | 23.1 | 23.1 |
| SEA | Gilbert, Logan 4439 | 11.1 | 24.1 | 58.6 | 58.6 |
| CLE | Williams, Gavin 4865 | 7.0 | 10.7 | 14.7 | 14.7 |
| DET | Flaherty, Jack 3971 | 6.7 | 18.7 | 34.4 | 64.0 |
| KC | Kolek, Stephen 5046 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| BAL | Rogers, Trevor 4311 | 8.7 | 10.7 | 24.7 | 24.7 |
| SF | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CHC | Assad, Javier 4899 | 1.0 | 7.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| COL | Brown, McCade* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ARI | Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 27.7 | 71.9 |
| LAD | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | 3.0 | 14.7 | 47.8 | 63.5 |
| TEX | Kelly, Merrill 4143 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 44.7 | 52.7 |
| ATH | Barnett, Mason* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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