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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Andrew Benintendi of the White Sox is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, George Springer of the Blue Jays rises to first place among American League batters after earning Player of the Game honors.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2025 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Tuesday, Sept. 2.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tarik Skubal | pi sp | Tigers | 20.4 |
| 2 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 20.1 |
| 3 | Paul Skenes | pi sp | Pirates | 18.1 |
| 4 | Nick Pivetta | pi sp | Padres | 17.7 |
| 5 | Garrett Crochet | pi sp | Red Sox | 16.1 |
| 6 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | pi sp | Dodgers | 15.7 |
| 7 | Jesús Luzardo | pi sp | Phillies | 14.7 |
| 8 | Nathan Eovaldi | pi sp | Rangers | 14.4 |
| 9 | Sonny Gray | pi sp | Cardinals | 14.0 |
| 10 | Bryan Woo | pi sp | Mariners | 14.0 |
Player of the Day
Benintendi hit two home runs, including a three-run homer, in the 12-3 win over the Twins. Benintendi also went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs.
Benintendi earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.5 for the season, 243rd among all players and 45th among AL batters.
It’s the 12th time this season a batter has won overall Player of the Day honors and the second day in a row—Juan Soto of the Mets won Player of the Day Monday. It’s also the third time in the past six days a batter has won overall Player of the Day honors—Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies did it last Thursday.
Pitchers have won all other days of the season. In 2024, only five batters won overall Player of the Day honors.
National League Player of the Day
Kyle Tucker of the Cubs hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Braves.
Tucker exited the game early with calf tightness but described the situation as day-to-day.
Tucker earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season, 32nd among NL batters.
AL and NL Batters of the Day
There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the overall Player of the Day is AL batter Andrew Benintendi. There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Kyle Tucker.
2025 Box-Toppers points—AL batters 1—George Springer #BlueJays 9.7* 2—José Ramírez #Guardians 9.5 3—Riley Greene #Tigers 9.0 4—Junior Caminero #Rays 9.0* 5—Wilyer Abreu #RedSox 8.5 6—Taylor Ward #Angels 8.5 *Earns 1.0 B-T point as Player of the Game Tuesday www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/9/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Sep 3, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Rankings
George Springer of the Blue Jays rises to first place among American League batters after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Springer (2HR 3-4 3R 3BI in the 12-9 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.7 for the season, 32nd among all players and rising to first among AL batters, passing previous leader José Ramírez of the Guardians (9.5 points), who falls to second place.
While there is about a month remaining in the season, the 9.7-point total Springer has to lead AL batters would be the lowest point total to lead a category (in a regular-length season) since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. The record low is 10.7 points by Nolan Arenado of the Rockies to lead NL batters in 2016. The record low to lead AL batters in a season is 12.1 by Edwin Encarnacion of Cleveland in 2017. (Point totals to lead categories were lower in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.)
Also, while Springer leads AL batters in Box-Toppers points, he’s not necessarily in the conversation for candidates to win the AL Most Valuable Player Award. However, the prime candidates for that award aren’t even among the top 10 batters in Box-Toppers points:
Tuesday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Box-Toppers post reviewing the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest Box-Toppers game scores is on Substack:
⬛ Crochet records Tuesday’s 3rd-lowest game score, but Red Sox hold on to win
Aaron Judge of the Yankees has hit 43 home runs, second among AL batters, but has just 5.0 Box-Toppers points, 24th among AL batters.
Cal Raleigh of the Mariners has 51 home runs, first among all batters, but has just 6.0 Box-Toppers points, 13th among AL batters.
Despite the prodigious home run totals, neither player is winning Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors frequently. Either their team is losing the game when they hit homers or a teammate is winning Player of the Game honors, outperforming them, when they do hit home runs.
Clayton Kershaw #Dodgers did not earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game in start Tuesday vs. PIT (5IP 4H 4R 4BB 3K ND) with -8.0 B-T game score. He remains in 2nd in career B-T pts (since 1995) at 278.8, 3.7 behind "all-time" leader Randy Johnson (282.5). www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/9/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Sep 3, 2025 at 2:03 PM
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However, in 2024, Judge was able to win Player of the Game honors frequently while hitting lots of home runs. He led AL batters in both homers (58) and Box-Toppers points (13.0).
Also, while Judge and Raleigh currently lag behind the AL batting Box-Toppers points leaders, there is a month left in the season and so, still time to rise in rankings. Last year on Sept. 2, Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers had 5.0 Box-Toppers points for the season and ranked outside the top 10 NL batters in Box-Toppers points. But he earned 6.0 points in a 13-day surge at the end of the season, giving him 11.0 for 2024 and rising to first among NL batters, in a season in which his 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases made him the overwhelming NL MVP favorite.
Scoring
Benintendi earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Tucker earns 1.7 points for being NL Player 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
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.
For additional updates, follow Box-Toppers on Bluesky or Twitter (X).
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).| 9/2 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +7.0 | CHW 12, MIN 3 | Andrew Benintendi LF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | TOR 12, CIN 9 | George Springer DH | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +5.0 | BOS 11, CLE 7 | Ceddanne Rafaela CF‑2B‑CF | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | TB 6, SEA 5 | Junior Caminero 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | NYY 7, HOU 1 | Jazz Chisholm Jr. 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| NL | +3.0 | CHC 4, ATL 3 | Kyle Tucker RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | NYM 12, DET 5 | Nolan McLean (W, 4‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | ||
| +3.0 | `STL 2, ATH 1 | Matt Svanson (H, 3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | LAA 5, KC 1 | Jo Adell DH | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | ARI 5, TEX 3 | Ketel Marte DH | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | PIT 9, LAD 7 | Jared Triolo SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | WSH 5, MIA 2 | Jacob Young CF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | SF 7, COL 4 | Ryan Walker (S, 13) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.0 | BAL 6, SD 2 | Emmanuel Rivera 3B | 5 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Springer, George 3337 | dh rf | tor al | 9.7 | 15.7 | 31.9 | 57.6 | +3.7 |
| Caminero, Junior 5089 | 3b | tb al | 9.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | +8.0 |
| Adell, Jo 4527 | cf | ana al | 6.0 | 7.0 | 10.5 | 10.5 | +5.0 |
| McLean, Nolan 5255 | pi sp | nym nl | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | +6.0 |
| Chisholm, Jazz Jr. 4364 | 2b | nyy al | 5.7 | 8.2 | 18.2 | 18.2 | +3.2 |
| Marte, Ketel 3630 | 2b | ari nl | 5.5 | 12.5 | 22.5 | 34.5 | -1.5 |
| Rafaela, Ceddane 4988 | cf | bos al | 5.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | +4.0 |
| Tucker, Kyle 4277 | rf | chi nl | 4.7 | 10.7 | 39.9 | 39.9 | -1.3 |
| Benintendi, Andrew 3815 | lf | chi al | 3.5 | 7.7 | 14.4 | 30.1 | -0.7 |
| Svanson, Matt 5258 | pi mr | stl nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +3.0 |
| Young, Jacob 4950 | cf | dc nl | 2.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | +0.5 |
| Rivera, Emmanuel 4526 | 3b | bal al | 1.0 | 3.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 | -1.7 |
| Walker, Ryan 4955 | pi cp mr | sf nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | -1.0 |
| Triolo, Jared 4902 | ss 2b 1b | pit nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | +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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIA | Perez, Eury 4814 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| WSH | Parker, Mitchell 4982 | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| NYM | Holmes, Clay 4022 | 4.0 | 7.0 | 16.0 | 17.0 |
| DET | Mize, Casey 4377 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 |
| TEX | Leiter, Jack 5132 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| ARI | Gallen, Zac 4171 | 9.0 | 21.4 | 66.8 | 72.5 |
| BAL | Povich, Cade 5029 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| SD | Cortes, Nestor 4160 | 3.0 | 18.4 | 40.8 | 42.8 |
| LAD | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | 5.5 | 16.5 | 76.7 | 91.2 |
| PIT | Ashcraft, Braxton 5208 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| TOR | Bieber, Shane 4005 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 39.8 | 64.3 |
| CIN | Littell, Zack 4533 | 5.7 | 14.1 | 20.1 | 20.1 |
| CLE | Cantillo, Joey 5106 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| BOS | Bernardino, Brennan 4996 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| SEA | Kirby, George 4595 | 8.0 | 23.4 | 48.5 | 48.5 |
| TB | Houser, Adrian 4162 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 20.1 | 22.1 |
| LAA | Dana, Caden* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| KC | Bergert, Ryan 5198 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| ATL | Elder, Bryce 4709 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 |
| CHC | Horton, Cade 5216 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| CHW | Gómez, Yoendrys 5249 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| MIN | Matthews, Zebby 5186 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| PHI | Nola, Aaron 3569 | 2.7 | 16.1 | 62.5 | 117.8 |
| MIL | Quintana, Jose 3040 | 2.0 | 12.0 | 24.4 | 95.1 |
| ATH | Springs, Jeffrey 4372 | 8.7 | 13.7 | 31.1 | 31.1 |
| STL | Liberatore, Matthew 4662 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| NYY | Warren, Will 5143 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 9.4 |
| HOU | Alexander, Jason 5241 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| SF | Ray, Robbie 3502 | 9.4 | 13.1 | 46.2 | 89.3 |
| COL | Marquez, German 3788 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 26.8 | 53.9 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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