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
▪️ Saturday’s Sidelights Sidebar
▪️ Subscribe to newsletter
▪️ Support Box-Toppers
Guardians pitcher Slade Cecconi is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other Player of the Game winners Saturday include Angels pitcher Kyle Hendricks, Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón, Mariners pitcher George Kirby, Nacho Alvarez Jr. of the Braves and Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen.
Player of the Day
Cecconi struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 6-0 win over the Twins.
Cecconi earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, 135th among all players and 52nd among American League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day
Angels pitcher Kyle Hendricks struck out five over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 3-0 win over the Rockies.
Hendricks earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, 32nd among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day
Nacho Alvarez Jr. of the Braves hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 6-5 win over the Tigers.
This was Alvarez’s Box-Toppers debut, his first career Player of the Game honor. Alvarez made his Major League debut July 22, 2024, and was playing in his 60th career game.
American League Batter of the Day
There is no AL Batter of the Day for Saturday because no AL batter won Player of the Game honors in the 16 games completed.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2025 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Saturday, Sept. 20.| 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 | 18.8 |
| 5 | Bryan Woo | pi sp | Mariners | 18.0 |
| 6 | Nick Pivetta | pi sp | Padres | 17.7 |
| 7 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | pi sp | Dodgers | 16.7 |
| 8 | Ranger Suárez | pi sp | Phillies | 15.8 |
| 9 | Jesús Luzardo | pi sp | Phillies | 15.7 |
| 10 | Freddy Peralta | pi sp | Brewers | 14.7 |
Notable
Three players with more than 10 Box-Toppers points in 2025 earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:
Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón (7IP 4H R BB 8K W in the 6-1 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.7 for the season, 15th among all players and seventh among AL pitchers.
Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen (7IP 4H 3R 2BB 9K W in the 4-3 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.7 for the season, 20th among all players and 11th among NL pitchers.
Mariners pitcher George Kirby (6IP 5H 0R 0BB 7K W in the 6-4 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season, 30th among all players and 17th among AL pitchers.
Scoring
Saturday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Box-Toppers post reviewing the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest Box-Toppers game scores is on Substack:
⬛ Pirates’ Ashcraft has day’s top game score among non-Player of the Game winners
Cecconi earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Hendricks earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.
Alvarez earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day.
All of Saturday’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).| 9/20 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +12.0 | CLE 6, MIN 0 | Slade Cecconi (W, 7‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| +10.0 | CLE 8, MIN 0 | Logan T. Allen (W, 8‑11) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +10.0 | PIT 2, ATH 0 | Bubba Chandler (W, 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| AL | +9.0 | LAA 3, COL 0 | Kyle Hendricks (W, 8‑10) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| +8.0 | NYY 6, BAL 1 | Carlos Rodón (W, 17‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| +8.0 | SEA 6, HOU 4 | George Kirby (W, 10‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| +4.2 | KC 2, TOR 1 | Noah Cameron (W, 9‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | ATL 6, DET 5 | Nacho Alvarez Jr. 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | ARI 4, PHI 3 | Zac Gallen (W, 13‑14) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9 | ||
| +4.0 | `LAD 7, SF 5 | Will Klein (H, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | `BOS 6, TB 3 | Kyle Harrison | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| +3.0 | MIA 4, TEX 3 | Cade Gibson (W, 4‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | MIL 3, STL 2 (F/10) | Jared Koenig (W, 6‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +2.0 | SD 7, CHW 3 | Ryan O’Hearn 1B | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | WSH 5, NYM 3 (F/11) | PJ Poulin (S, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.0 | CIN 6, CHC 3 | TJ Friedl CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | nyy al | 13.7 | 26.4 | 58.9 | 84.0 | +1.0 |
| Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | ari nl | 12.7 | 25.1 | 70.5 | 76.2 | +0.3 |
| Kirby, George 4595 | pi sp | sea al | 11.0 | 26.4 | 51.5 | 51.5 | -4.4 |
| Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | ana al | 7.7 | 13.4 | 33.1 | 87.0 | +2.0 |
| Cameron, Noah 5167 | pi sp | kc al | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | +6.7 |
| Allen, Logan T. 4789 | pi sp | cle al | 6.0 | 9.0 | 16.7 | 16.7 | +3.0 |
| Cecconi, Slade 4913 | pi sp | cle al | 6.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +4.0 |
| O’Hearn, Ryan 4043 | 1b rf dh | sd nl | 4.5 | 6.5 | 15.0 | 18.0 | +2.5 |
| Chandler, Bubba 5269 | pi sp mr | pit nl | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | +3.7 |
| Friedl, TJ 4720 | cf dh | cin nl | 3.5 | 8.5 | 14.5 | 14.5 | -1.5 |
| Poulin, PJ 5263 | pi cp mr | dc nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +3.0 |
| Harrison, Kyle 4914 | pi sp | bos al | 2.0 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | -4.0 |
| Koenig, Jared 4755 | pi cp mr sp | mil nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -1.0 |
| Gibson, Cade 5209 | pi mr | fla nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Klein, Will 5215 | pi cp mr | lad nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Alvarez, Nacho 5294 | 3b | atl nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | +1.5 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Sunday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYY | Schlittler, Cam 5261 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| BAL | Bradish, Kyle 4597 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 26.0 | 26.0 |
| ATH | Spence, Mitch 4986 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| PIT | Burrows, Mike 5196 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| ATL | Strider, Spencer 4626 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 39.5 | 39.5 |
| DET | Mize, Casey 4377 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 |
| CHC | Taillon, Jameson 3658 | 8.4 | 16.4 | 41.5 | 67.9 |
| CIN | Abbott, Andrew 4839 | 10.7 | 15.7 | 26.7 | 26.7 |
| WSH | Irvin, Jake 4805 | 7.7 | 17.7 | 20.7 | 20.7 |
| NYM | Manaea, Sean 3637 | 2.0 | 17.4 | 44.8 | 71.3 |
| CLE | Cantillo, Joey 5106 | 4.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| MIN | Woods Richardson, Simeon 4974 | 6.0 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 |
| SD | King, Michael 4549 | 4.4 | 17.1 | 31.8 | 31.8 |
| CHW | Burke, Sean 5124 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| TOR | Yesavage, Trey 5287 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| KC | Wacha, Michael 3276 | 9.1 | 19.5 | 46.0 | 80.7 |
| MIL | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | 14.7 | 28.1 | 67.9 | 84.6 |
| STL | Liberatore, Matthew 4662 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| MIA | Perez, Eury 4814 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| TEX | Kelly, Merrill 4143 | 12.7 | 14.7 | 45.7 | 53.7 |
| LAA | Dana, Caden* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| COL | Freeland, Kyle 3763 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 24.7 | 44.1 |
| PHI | Suarez, Ranger 4228 | 15.8 | 26.2 | 43.9 | 44.9 |
| ARI | Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | 4.7 | 5.7 | 28.7 | 72.9 |
| SF | McDonald, Trevor* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| LAD | Sheehan, Emmet 4886 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| SEA | Gilbert, Logan 4439 | 12.1 | 25.1 | 59.6 | 59.6 |
| HOU | Alexander, Jason 5241 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 |
| BOS | Early, Connelly 5282 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| TB | Boyle, Joe 4948 | 2.0 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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