Seven of the eight starting pitchers in Tuesday’s opening Wild Card round games have more than 10 Box-Toppers points in 2025, and are among the season’s top 40 overall players.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers 2025 final team rankings through games of Sunday, Sept. 28. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team accumulated this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams accumulated from Sept. 19 to Sept. 28. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of Sept. 18.| Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phillies | 131.4 | 7.4 | 1 |
| 2 | Yankees | 127.1 | 10.2 | 3 |
| 3 | Rangers | 123.6 | 2.7 | 2 |
| 4 | Padres | 118.6 | 8.2 | 7 |
| 5 | Dodgers | 117.9 | 7.0 | 9 |
| 6 | Mariners | 117.6 | 7.7 | 8 |
| 7 | Cubs | 117.6 | 5.2 | 6 |
| 8 | Red Sox | 112.7 | 6.5 | 10 |
| 9 | Brewers | 112.6 | -0.7 | 5 |
| 10 | Blue Jays | 111.7 | 7.5 | 11 |
| 11 | Tigers | 109.3 | -5.0 | 4 |
| 12 | Royals | 107.4 | 6.5 | 12 |
| 13 | Braves | 106.0 | 14.5 | 16 |
| 14 | Mets | 104.5 | 6.0 | 13 |
| 15 | Reds | 102.7 | 7.5 | 15 |
| 16 | Astros | 101.9 | 3.5 | 14 |
| 17 | Guardians | 96.3 | 8.5 | 17 |
| 18 | Marlins | 84.9 | 7.7 | 21 |
| 19 | Giants | 84.8 | 5.0 | 19 |
| 20 | Angels | 84.6 | 3.7 | 18 |
| 21 | Cardinals | 80.4 | 4.5 | 22 |
| 22 | Rays | 80.0 | 2.0 | 20 |
| 23 | Athletics | 77.4 | 4.0 | 23 |
| 24 | Orioles | 76.5 | 6.5 | 26 |
| 25 | Twins | 75.4 | 2.5 | 25 |
| 26 | Diamondbacks | 74.9 | 2.0 | 24 |
| 27 | Pirates | 69.7 | 7.0 | 27 |
| 28 | White Sox | 64.4 | 4.0 | 28 |
| 29 | Nationals | 60.1 | 4.0 | 29 |
| 30 | Rockies | 47.0 | 2.0 | 30 |
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal, Box-Toppers’ 2025 Player of the Year, leads the way. His 22.1 Box-Toppers points led all players during the regular season, and he starts Game 1 of American League Wild Card Series against the Guardians.
Tuesday’s starters feature two other players who rank among Box-Toppers’ overall season player rankings top 10:
Garrett Crochet of the Red Sox, 19.8 Box-Toppers points, fourth overall, starts Game 1 in the AL Wild Card series against the Yankees.
Nick Pivetta of the Padres, 17.7 Box-Toppers points, sixth overall, starts Game 1 in the National League Wild Card series against the Cubs.
Tuesday’s only starting pitcher without 10 Box-Toppers points in 2025 is Blake Snell of the Dodgers (7.0 points, 98th overall). However, Snell has the most career points among Tuesday’s eight starters—111.8, which is 10th among active NL pitchers.
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The Wild Card round of Major League Baseball’s postseason begins Tuesday with four best-of-three series.
All series take place at the higher-seed’s home ballpark. The winners of each series will face one of their league’s top two seeded teams in league divisional series beginning Saturday.
All Game 1 matches are Tuesday, all Game 2 matches are Wednesday and any Game 3 matches, if necessary, will be Thursday.
Here is a Box-Toppers look at the eight teams competing in the four Wild Card round series:
American League Wild Card Round: Tigers at Guardians
The Cleveland Guardians host the Detroit Tigers in one AL Wild Card series. The winner will face the Seattle Mariners, the second-seeded AL team, in the AL Division Series.
The Guardians, winners of the AL Central Division, are the third-seeded team in the AL. The Tigers, the third-ranked AL Wild Card team, are the sixth seed.
The Guardians rank 17th in Box-Toppers team rankings with its players accumulating 96.3 Box-Toppers points in 2025, including picking up 8.5 points in the final 10 days of the season. They are Box-Toppers’ lowest-ranked team among the 12 postseason teams.
The Tigers rank 11th with 109.3 Box-Toppers points, including a net loss of 5.0 points in the final 10 days of the season.
Starting pitchers for Game 1 are:
Tigers—Tarik Skubal, 22.1 Box-Toppers points in 2025, first among all players and first among AL pitchers.
Guardians—Gavin Williams, 11.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 28th among all players and 16th among AL pitchers.
Both starters lead their teams in 2025 Box-Toppers points.
Key Tigers players include:
Top batter is Riley Greene, 9.0 points, fourth among AL batters.
Starting pitchers Jack Flaherty (8.4 points, 30th among AL pitchers) and Casey Mize (7.0 points, 45th among AL pitchers).
Key Guardians players include:
Top batter is José Ramírez (9.5 points, second among AL batters).
The next-highest-ranked Guardians player is starting pitcher Luis Ortiz (7.4 points, 36th among AL pitchers) who was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave July 3 while Major League Baseball conducts an investigation related to sports gambling. That leave has been extended indefinitely.
The next three highest-ranking Guardians players are starting pitchers Tanner Bibee (7.0 points, 39th among AL pitchers), Logan Allen (6.0 points, 54th among AL pitchers) and Slade Cecconi (6.0 points, 56th among AL pitchers).
American League Wild Card Round: Red Sox at Yankees
The New York Yankees host the Boston Red Sox in one AL Wild Card series. The winner will face the Toronto Blue Jays, the top-seeded AL team, in the AL Division Series.
The Yankees, the top AL Wild Card team, are the fourth-seeded team in the AL. The Red Sox, the second-ranked AL Wild Card team, are the fifth seed.
The Yankees are Box-Toppers’ highest-ranking AL team with 127.1 Box-Toppers points in 2025, second among all teams, picking up 10.2 points in the final 10 days of the season. The Red Sox rank eighth among all teams with 112.7 points, picking up 6.5 points in the final 10 days of the season.
Starting pitchers for Game 1 are:
Red Sox—Garrett Crochet, 19.8 Box-Toppers points in 2025, fourth among all players and second among AL pitchers.
Yankees—Max Fried, 14.4 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 13th among all players and fifth among AL pitchers.
Both starters lead their teams in 2025 Box-Toppers points.
Key Red Sox players include:
Starting pitcher Lucas Giolito, 9.4 points, 26th among AL pitchers.
Top batter is Wilyer Abreu, 8.5 points, sixth among AL batters.
Key Yankees players include:
Starting pitchers Carlos Rodón (13.7 points, eighth among AL pitchers), Will Warren (9.4 points, 27th among AL pitchers) and Cam Schlittler (7.4 points, 38th among AL pitchers).
Top batter is Jazz Chisholm Jr. with 7.2 points, 12th among AL batters.
AL Most Valuable Player leading candidate Aaron Judge ranks third among Yankees batters with 6.5 points, 20th among AL batters.
National League Wild Card Round: Reds at Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers host the Cincinnati Reds in one NL Wild Card series. The winner will face the Philadelphia Phillies, the second-seeded NL team, in the NL Division Series.
The Dodgers, winners of the NL West Division, are the third-seeded team in the NL. The Reds, the third-ranked NL Wild Card team, are the sixth seed.
The Dodgers rank fifth in Box-Toppers team rankings with its players accumulating 117.9 Box-Toppers points in 2025, including picking up 7.0 points in the final 10 days of the season.
The Reds rank 15th with 102.7 Box-Toppers points, including picking up 7.5 points in the final days of the season. They rank behind two NL teams that did not qualify for the postseason—the Atlanta Braves (106.0 points) and the New York Mets (104.5 points).
Starting pitchers for Game 1 are:
Reds—Hunter Greene, 13.4 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 10th among NL pitchers.
Dodgers—Blake Snell, 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 36th among NL pitchers.
Other key Reds players include:
Starting pitchers Andrew Abbott (10.7 points, 15th among NL pitchers), Brady Singer (10.0 points, 18th among NL pitchers) and Nick Lodolo (9.7 points, 19th among NL pitchers).
Top batter Spencer Steer, 5.0 points, 38th among NL batters.
Other key Dodgers players include:
Starting pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto (17.7 points, seventh overall, fourth among NL pitchers), Andrew Heaney (8.7 points, 25th among NL pitchers) and Clayton Kershaw (8.4 points, 28th among NL pitchers). (Neither Heaney nor Kershaw are on the Dodgers roster for the Wild Card round. Heaney has appeared in just one game for the Dodgers since his release from the Pirates.)
Top batter is Max Muncy (7.5 points, 10th among NL batters).
Shohei Ohtani, a favorite for NL Most Valuable Player, has 5.5 Box-Toppers points, which is 27th among NL batters and 55th among NL pitchers.
National League Wild Card Round: Padres at Cubs
The Chicago Cubs host the San Diego Padres in one NL Wild Card series. The winner will face the Milwaukee Brewers, the top-seeded NL team, in the NL Division Series.
The Cubs, the top NL Wild Card team, are the fourth-seeded team in the NL. The Padres, the second-ranked NL Wild Card team, are the fifth seed.
The Padres rank fourth in Box-Toppers team rankings with its players accumulating 118.6 Box-Toppers points in 2025, including picking up 8.2 points in the final 10 days of the season.
The Cubs rank seventh with 117.6 Box-Toppers points, including picking up 5.2 points in the final days of the season.
Starting pitchers for Game 1 are:
Padres—Nick Pivetta, 17.7 Box-Toppers points, sixth overall and third among NL pitchers.
Cubs—Matthew Boyd, 10.7 Box-Toppers points, 16th among NL pitchers.
Both starters lead their teams in 2025 Box-Toppers points.
Key Padres players include:
Top batter is Manny Machado, 9.5 points, third among NL batters.
Starting pitcher Dylan Cease, 8.7 points, 24th among NL pitchers.
Closing pitcher Mason Miller, 7.0 points, 38th among NL pitchers, second among NL closing pitchers.
Key Cubs players include:
Starting pitchers Jameson Taillon, 10.1 points, 17th among NL pitchers.
Top batters include Seiya Suzuki (9.5 points, fourth among NL batters) and Pete Crow-Armstrong (9.5 points, fifth among NL batters).
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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Related
Final 2025 Box-Toppers player rankings: Tigers’ Skubal is 2025 Box-Toppers Player of the Year; Skenes rises to lead NL pitchers
Final 2025 Box-Toppers team rankings: Phillies finish 2025 atop Box-Toppers team rankings; Yankees rise to lead AL teams
A Box-Toppers look at Tuesday’s Wild Card round 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 | BOS | ’25 | ’24‑25 | ’20‑25 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DET | Skubal, Tarik 4414 | 22.1 | 43.2 | 73.3 | 73.3 |
| CLE | Williams, Gavin 4865 | 11.7 | 15.4 | 19.4 | 19.4 |
| SD | Pivetta, Nick 3825 | 17.7 | 27.4 | 50.1 | 71.8 |
| CHC | Boyd, Matthew 3550 | 10.7 | 13.7 | 17.7 | 42.5 |
| BOS | Crochet, Garrett 4434 | 19.8 | 30.5 | 31.5 | 31.5 |
| NYY | Fried, Max 4011 | 14.4 | 27.8 | 70.3 | 81.3 |
| CIN | Greene, Hunter 4651 | 13.4 | 23.1 | 34.8 | 34.8 |
| LAD | Snell, Blake 3688 | 7.0 | 22.7 | 65.6 | 111.8 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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