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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Athletics pitcher Jacob Lopez is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Player of the Day
Lopez struck out 10 over 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 6-0 win over the Nationals.
Lopez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.4 for the season, 39th among all players and 19th among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day
Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing seven hits and no walks, in the 7-0 win over the Reds.
Skenes earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 16.1 for the season, rising from fourth to third place among all players, behind Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler (19.1 points) and Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (17.4 points). Skenes ranks second among NL pitchers, 3.0 points behind Wheeler.
With a maximum of 2.0 Box-Toppers points that can be earned in each game, Skenes would need at least two starts to catch or pass Wheeler.
National League Batter of the Day
Drake Baldwin of the Braves hit two home runs, including a three-run homer, in the 8-6 win over the Marlins. Baldwin went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs.
Baldwin earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.5 for the season, 10th among NL batters.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2025 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Thursday, Aug. 7.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 19.1 |
| 2 | Tarik Skubal | pi sp | Tigers | 17.4 |
| 3 | Paul Skenes | pi sp | Pirates | 16.1 |
| 4 | Nick Pivetta | pi sp | Padres | 15.7 |
| 5 | Garrett Crochet | pi sp | Red Sox | 14.1 |
| 6 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | pi sp | Dodgers | 14.0 |
| 7 | Sonny Gray | pi sp | Cardinals | 13.0 |
| 8 | Bryan Woo | pi sp | Mariners | 13.0 |
| 9 | Jesús Luzardo | pi sp | Phillies | 12.7 |
| 10 | Nathan Eovaldi | pi sp | Rangers | 12.4 |
American League Batter of the Day
There is no AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because no AL batter won Player of the Game honors in the four games completed.
Scoring
Lopez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Skenes earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day.
Baldwin earns 1.5 points for being NL 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.
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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).| 8/7 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +14.2 | ATH 6, WSH 0 | Jacob Lopez (W, 5‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| NL | +7.0 | PIT 7, CIN 0 | Paul Skenes (W, 7‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| BAT | +5.0 | ATL 8, MIA 6 | Drake Baldwin C | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | `SEA 4, CHW 3 (F/11) | Logan Gilbert | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
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 | 16.1 | 29.1 | 29.1 | 29.1 | +3.1 |
| Gilbert, Logan 4439 | pi sp | sea al | 9.4 | 22.4 | 56.9 | 56.9 | -3.6 |
| Lopez, Jacob 5202 | pi sp | oak al | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.4 | +8.4 |
| Baldwin, Drake 5149 | ca | atl nl | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | +6.5 |
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.
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CIN | Burns, Chase* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| PIT | Keller, Mitch 4230 | 5.7 | 17.4 | 36.4 | 37.4 |
| HOU | Brown, Hunter 4729 | 12.4 | 24.4 | 35.5 | 35.5 |
| NYY | Schlitter, Cam* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ATH | Ginn, J.T. 5142 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| BAL | Sugano, Tomoyuki 5163 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| LAA | Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | 5.0 | 10.7 | 30.4 | 84.3 |
| DET | Skubal, Tarik 4414 | 17.4 | 38.5 | 68.6 | 68.6 |
| MIA | Cabrera, Edward 4641 | 6.7 | 8.7 | 18.8 | 18.8 |
| ATL | Elder, Bryce 4709 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 |
| CLE | Bibee, Tanner 4792 | 4.0 | 18.0 | 26.7 | 26.7 |
| CHW | Civale, Aaron 4173 | 3.0 | 10.1 | 35.5 | 38.5 |
| PHI | Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 | 10.0 | 21.4 | 25.4 | 25.4 |
| TEX | Kelly, Merrill 4143 | 10.7 | 12.7 | 43.7 | 51.7 |
| KC | Cameron, Noah 5167 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| MIN | Ryan, Joe 4539 | 9.7 | 19.4 | 45.5 | 45.5 |
| NYM | Senga, Kodai 4762 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 21.7 | 21.7 |
| MIL | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 57.6 | 67.3 |
| CHC | Boyd, Matthew 3550 | 10.7 | 13.7 | 17.7 | 42.5 |
| STL | McGreevy, Michael 5113 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| BOS | Buehler, Walker 3943 | 4.0 | 5.7 | 32.1 | 63.6 |
| SD | Pivetta, Nick 3825 | 15.7 | 25.4 | 48.1 | 69.8 |
| COL | Gomber, Austin 3985 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 20.0 | 24.7 |
| ARI | Gallen, Zac 4171 | 8.0 | 20.4 | 65.8 | 71.5 |
| TB | Rasmussen, Drew 4547 | 8.7 | 10.4 | 30.2 | 30.2 |
| SEA | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | 10.4 | 21.1 | 61.2 | 92.0 |
| TOR | Scherzer, Max 2588 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 59.5 | 256.7 |
| LAD | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | 3.7 | 5.7 | 48.6 | 276.1 |
| WSH | Irvin, Jake 4805 | 7.7 | 17.7 | 20.7 | 20.7 |
| SF | Teng, Kai-Wei* | 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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