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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Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman is Thursday’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 Thursday, Sept. 11.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tarik Skubal | pi sp | Tigers | 22.1 |
| 2 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 20.1 |
| 3 | Paul Skenes | pi sp | Pirates | 20.1 |
| 4 | Garrett Crochet | pi sp | Red Sox | 17.8 |
| 5 | Nick Pivetta | pi sp | Padres | 17.7 |
| 6 | Ranger Suárez | pi sp | Phillies | 15.8 |
| 7 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | pi sp | Dodgers | 15.7 |
| 8 | Jesús Luzardo | pi sp | Phillies | 15.7 |
| 9 | Bryan Woo | pi sp | Mariners | 15.0 |
| 10 | Nathan Eovaldi | pi sp | Rangers | 14.4 |
Also Thursday, Phillies pitcher Jesús Luzardo rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Other Player of the Game winners Thursday include Padres pitcher Randy Vásquez and Aaron Judge of the Yankees.
Player of the Day
Gausman pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout, striking out nine and walking one, in the 6-0 win over the Astros.
Gausman earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.1 for the season, 11th among all players and fifth among American League pitchers.
Gausman also now has 112.2 career Box-Toppers points, 70th-most among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. With his 2.0 points Thursday, he passes Tom Glavine (110.6) on the “all-time” career points list. (It should be noted that Glavine began his career prior to the 1995 advent of Box-Toppers. If his entire career from 1987 were tracked, Box-Toppers estimates he would have about 170 career points.)
Gausman now trails 69th-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8). (Brown also began his career prior to the start of player tracking in 1995. Box-Toppers estimates that Brown would have about 164 career points if his entire career from 1986 were tracked.)
Gausman ranks 13th among active, signed players in career points, fifth among active AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day
Padres pitcher Randy Vásquez struck out nine over six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 2-0 win over the Rockies.
Vásquez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 for the season, 78th among NL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day
Aaron Judge of the Yankees hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 9-3 win over the Tigers.
Judge earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.5 for the season, 15th among AL batters.
Though both he and Cal Raleigh of the Mariners are leading contenders for AL Most Valuable Player honors mainly due to their prodigious home run totals this season (Judge has 46 and Raleigh has 53), neither rank that highly in Box-Toppers points in 2025. Among AL batters, Judge is 15th with 6.5 and Raleigh is 16th with 6.0. Neither has frequently been the key contributor in their team wins, despite their otherwise impressive individual statistics, contributing to their comparatively low Box-Toppers point totals.
In 2024, Judge hit 58 home runs and also led all AL batters in Box-Toppers points for the season with 13.0. But Thursday was his first Player of the Game honor in more than two months—his last was on June 29, when his 5.0 points was fourth among AL batters.
Still, Judge is only 3.2 points behind the current AL batter leading in Box-Toppers points—George Springer of the Blue Jays with 9.7—so a surge to the top of the rankings is still achievable with more than two weeks to go in the season.
National League Batter of the Day
There is no NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because no NL batter won Player of the Game honors in the nine games completed.
Rankings
Phillies pitcher Jesús Luzardo rises from ninth to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Luzardo (8IP 5H 4R 0BB 10K W in the 6-4 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.7 for the season. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.
Scoring
Gausman earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Vásquez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.
Judge earns 1.5 points for being AL 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).| 9/11 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +15.0 | TOR 6, HOU 0 | Kevin Gausman (W, 10‑10) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| NL | +11.0 | SD 2, COL 0 | Randy Vásquez (W, 5‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| +5.0 | PHI 6, NYM 4 | Jesús Luzardo (W, 14‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 10 | ||
| +4.2 | CHW 5, TB 1 | Shane Smith (W, 6‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | NYY 9, DET 3 | Aaron Judge RF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | MIA 5, WSH 0 | Ryan Weathers (W, 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +3.0 | CLE 3, KC 2 | Cade Smith (S, 13) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.2 | `SEA 7, LAA 6 (F/12) | Bryce Miller | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 11 | ||
| +1.0 | BAL 3, PIT 2 | Grant Wolfram (W, 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | pi sp | phi nl | 15.7 | 17.7 | 51.6 | 51.6 | +13.7 |
| Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | tor al | 14.1 | 24.1 | 70.2 | 112.2 | +4.1 |
| Judge, Aaron 3767 | dh rf | nyy al | 6.5 | 19.5 | 57.7 | 74.9 | -6.5 |
| Smith, Cade 5066 | pi cp | cle al | 5.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | +3.0 |
| Smith, Shane 5158 | pi sp | chi al | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +5.0 |
| Vasquez, Randy 4841 | pi sp | sd nl | 3.7 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | +1.7 |
| Miller, Bryce 4797 | pi sp | sea al | 3.0 | 18.7 | 31.8 | 31.8 | -12.7 |
| Wolfram, Grant 5222 | pi mr | bal al | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | +2.7 |
| Weathers, Ryan 4388 | pi sp | fla nl | 2.0 | 7.0 | 9.7 | 9.7 | -3.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TB | Baz, Shane 4560 | 8.7 | 12.7 | 14.4 | 14.4 |
| CHC | Boyd, Matthew 3550 | 10.7 | 13.7 | 17.7 | 42.5 |
| KC | Lorenzen, Michael 3479 | 4.0 | 9.0 | 23.7 | 32.2 |
| PHI | Buehler, Walker 3943 | 5.0 | 6.7 | 33.1 | 64.6 |
| PIT | Keller, Mitch 4230 | 6.7 | 18.4 | 37.4 | 38.4 |
| WSH | Lord, Brad 5234 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| BAL | Rogers, Trevor 4311 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 25.7 | 25.7 |
| TOR | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | 5.0 | 12.7 | 63.9 | 76.6 |
| CHW | Perez, Martin 3213 | 1.7 | 7.4 | 22.2 | 41.9 |
| CLE | Bibee, Tanner 4792 | 4.0 | 18.0 | 26.7 | 26.7 |
| DET | Skubal, Tarik 4414 | 22.1 | 43.2 | 73.3 | 73.3 |
| MIA | Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 47.8 | 54.2 |
| NYY | Gil, Luis 4498 | 0.0 | 17.4 | 18.4 | 18.4 |
| BOS | Giolito, Lucas 3900 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 36.8 | 57.5 |
| TEX | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 53.5 | 150.2 |
| NYM | Tong, Jonah* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| HOU | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ATL | Waldrep, Hurston 5248 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| ARI | Pfaadt, Brandon 4812 | 7.7 | 20.1 | 23.8 | 23.8 |
| MIN | Lopez, Pablo 4028 | 6.0 | 17.7 | 57.2 | 64.9 |
| STL | Pallante, Andre 4656 | 5.7 | 14.4 | 16.4 | 16.4 |
| MIL | Priester, Quinn 5059 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| COL | Gordon, Tanner 5230 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| SD | Sears, JP 4627 | 4.0 | 11.7 | 20.7 | 20.7 |
| CIN | Singer, Brady 4337 | 10.0 | 20.0 | 43.7 | 43.7 |
| ATH | Ginn, J.T. 5142 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| LAA | Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 | 6.7 | 17.4 | 40.8 | 44.8 |
| SEA | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | 12.1 | 22.8 | 62.9 | 93.7 |
| LAD | Yamamoto, Yoshinobu 4964 | 15.7 | 22.1 | 22.1 | 22.1 |
| SF | Verlander, Justin 2112 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 42.4 | 248.0 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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