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
▪️ Tuesday’s Sidelights Sidebar
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▪️ Support Box-Toppers
Orioles pitcher Dean Kremer is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other Player of the Game winners Tuesday include Guardians pitcher Gavin Williams, Padres pitcher Randy Vásquez, Iván Herrera of the Cardinals and Nathaniel Lowe of the Red Sox.
Player of the Day
Kremer struck out four over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 6-0 win over the Rays.
Kremer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, 79th among all players and 32nd among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day
Padres pitcher Randy Vásquez struck out three over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks, in the 7-0 win over the Brewers.
Vásquez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 5.4 for the season, 52nd among NL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day
Iván Herrera of the Cardinals hit a three-run home run and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-8 win over the Giants.
Herrera earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, 21st among NL batters.
American League Batter of the Day
Nathaniel Lowe of the Red Sox went 2-for-2, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 4-1 win over the Blue Jays.
Lowe earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, 14th among AL batters.
Notable
Guardians pitcher Gavin Williams has the most 2025 Box-Toppers points among Tuesday’s 15 Player of the Game winners.
Williams (6IP 4H 2R 2BB 12K W in the 5-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season, 27th among all players and 15th among AL pitchers.
Debut
Marlins closing pitcher Josh Simpson made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Simpson (1.1IP H 0R 0BB K W in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut June 21 and was playing in his 29th career game.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2025 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Tuesday, Sept. 23.| 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 |
Scoring
Kremer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Vásquez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day.
Herrera and Lowe each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day.
All of Tuesday’s other Player of the Game winners (listed in the chart) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers
Tuesday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Box-Toppers post reviewing the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest Box-Toppers game scores is on Substack:
⬛ Skubal fails to add to 1st-place 2025 Box-Toppers point total in loss to Guardians
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).| 9/23 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.1 | BAL 6, TB 0 | Dean Kremer (W, 11‑10) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| +8.0 | CLE 5, DET 2 | Gavin Williams (W, 12‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 | ||
| +7.0 | MIN 4, TEX 1 | Zebby Matthews (W, 5‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| NL | +7.0 | SD 7, MIL 0 | Randy Vásquez (W, 6‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
| +7.0 | KC 8, LAA 4 | Cole Ragans (W, 3‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ||
| +7.0 | NYM 9, CHC 7 | Edwin Díaz (S, 27) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | STL 9, SF 8 | Iván Herrera DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | ATL 3, WSH 2 | Michael Harris II CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | BOS 4, TOR 1 | Nathaniel Lowe 1B | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | ATH 5, HOU 1 | Jacob Wilson SS | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | ARI 5, LAD 4 | Adrian Del Castillo PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | SEA 4, COL 3 | Gabe Speier (W, 4‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +2.2 | `PIT 4, CIN 2 | Johan Oviedo | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | ||
| +1.1 | MIA 6, PHI 5 (F/11) | Josh Simpson (W, 4‑2) (BS, 2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.1 | NYY 3, CHW 2 | Luke Weaver (W, 4‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williams, Gavin 4865 | pi sp | cle al | 11.7 | 15.4 | 19.4 | 19.4 | +8.0 |
| Diaz, Edwin 3690 | pi cp | nym nl | 8.0 | 12.0 | 26.7 | 53.7 | +4.0 |
| Kremer, Dean 4330 | pi sp | bal al | 7.7 | 16.4 | 37.5 | 37.5 | -1.0 |
| Lowe, Nathaniel 4340 | 1b | bos al | 7.0 | 9.0 | 21.0 | 21.0 | +5.0 |
| Ragans, Cole 4889 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 | 18.0 | 22.4 | 22.4 | -6.0 |
| Herrera, Ivan 4954 | dh | stl nl | 6.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +4.0 |
| Vasquez, Randy 4841 | pi sp | sd nl | 5.4 | 7.4 | 8.4 | 8.4 | +3.4 |
| Matthews, Zebby 5186 | pi sp | min al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Wilson, Jacob 5159 | ss | oak al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Del Castillo, Adrian 5087 | dh ph | ari nl | 3.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | +1.5 |
| Speier, Gabe 4268 | pi mr | sea al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | +3.0 |
| Weaver, Luke 3719 | pi cp | nyy al | 2.0 | 6.0 | 11.0 | 31.7 | -2.0 |
| Harris, Michael 4682 | cf | atl nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 0.0 |
| Oviedo, Johan 4442 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 | +2.0 |
| Simpson, Josh 5295 | pi cp | fla nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Wednesday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WSH | Alvarez, Andrew 5274 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| ATL | Elder, Bryce 4709 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 19.7 | 19.7 |
| MIL | Patrick, Chad 5131 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| SD | Cease, Dylan 4231 | 8.7 | 29.8 | 74.6 | 76.6 |
| TB | Baz, Shane 4560 | 9.7 | 13.7 | 15.4 | 15.4 |
| BAL | Wells, Tyler 4428 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| DET | Flaherty, Jack 3971 | 8.4 | 20.4 | 36.1 | 65.7 |
| CLE | Bibee, Tanner 4792 | 7.0 | 21.0 | 29.7 | 29.7 |
| PIT | Skenes, Paul 5005 | 20.1 | 33.1 | 33.1 | 33.1 |
| CIN | Greene, Hunter 4651 | 13.4 | 23.1 | 34.8 | 34.8 |
| MIA | Weathers, Ryan 4388 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 9.7 | 9.7 |
| PHI | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | 15.7 | 17.7 | 51.6 | 51.6 |
| CHW | Ellard, Fraser* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYY | Fried, Max 4011 | 13.4 | 26.8 | 69.3 | 80.3 |
| BOS | Crochet, Garrett 4434 | 18.8 | 29.5 | 30.5 | 30.5 |
| TOR | Scherzer, Max 2588 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 59.5 | 256.7 |
| NYM | Tong, Jonah 5291 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| CHC | Boyd, Matthew 3550 | 10.7 | 13.7 | 17.7 | 42.5 |
| MIN | Bradley, Taj 4780 | 6.0 | 18.1 | 23.1 | 23.1 |
| TEX | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 53.5 | 150.2 |
| KC | Kolek, Stephen 5046 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| LAA | Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 | 6.7 | 17.4 | 40.8 | 44.8 |
| COL | Gordon, Tanner 5230 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| SEA | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | 14.1 | 24.8 | 64.9 | 95.7 |
| LAD | Snell, Blake 3688 | 7.0 | 22.7 | 65.6 | 111.8 |
| ARI | Nelson, Ryne 4728 | 8.4 | 16.8 | 25.2 | 25.2 |
| STL | Gray, Sonny 3259 | 14.0 | 26.4 | 60.0 | 124.3 |
| SF | Brubaker, JT 4382 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| HOU | Brown, Hunter 4729 | 13.4 | 25.4 | 36.5 | 36.5 |
| ATH | Severino, Luis 3567 | 3.0 | 9.7 | 22.1 | 67.9 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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