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
▪️ Wednesday’s Sidelights Sidebar
▪️ Subscribe to newsletter
▪️ Support Box-Toppers
Braves pitcher Bryce Elder is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other Player of the Game winners Wednesday include Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen, Matt Chapman of the Giants, Guardians pitcher Joey Cantillo and Addison Barger of the Blue Jays.
Player of the Day
Elder struck out six over seven innings, allowing one run (none earned), four hits and no walks, in the 5-1 win over the Cubs.
Elder earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, 291st among all players and 84th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day
Guardians pitcher Joey Cantillo struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run, five hits and two walks, in the 8-1 win over the Red Sox.
Cantillo earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 for the season, 75th among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day
Matt Chapman of the Giants hit two home runs, including a three-run homer, in the 10-8 win over the Rockies. Chapman also doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs.
Chapman earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, 29th among NL batters.
American League Batter of the Day
Addison Barger of the Blue Jays homered, hit a sacrifice fly and went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 13-9 win over the Reds.
Barger recorded a +3.0 Box-Toppers game score Wednesday, same as another AL batter who won Player of the Game honors, Jo Adell of the Angels (HR 2-4 R 4BI in the 4-3 win over the Royals). But Barger beat Adell for AL Batter of the Day honors on a tiebreaker—he had a sacrifice fly while Adell did not.
Notable
Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen has the most 2025 Box-Toppers points among Wednesday’s 15 Player of the Game winners and becomes the 32nd player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points.
Gallen (6IP 4H 0R BB 5K W in the 2-0 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season, 30th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.
This is Gallen’s fourth season and fourth straight season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. His best season was 2022 with the Diamondbacks, when he had 18.7 points, eighth overall and fifth among NL pitchers. In 2024, he had 12.4 points with the Diamondbacks, 13th among NL pitchers.
Debut
Nasim Nuñez of the Nationals made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Nuñez (2HR 3-4 2R 4BI in the 10-5 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut March 30, 2024, and was playing in his 75th career game.
He recorded a +5.0 Box-Toppers game score, same as Wednesday’s NL Batter of the Day Matt Chapman of the Giants. But Chapman beat Nuñez for NL Batter of the Day honors on a tiebreaker with more doubles—one vs. zero.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2025 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Wednesday, Sept. 3.| 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 |
Scoring
Elder earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Cantillo earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.
Chapman and Barger each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day.
All of Wednesday’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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Wednesday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Box-Toppers post reviewing the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest Box-Toppers game scores is on Substack:
⬛ Cubs’ Horton has Wednesday’s highest game score, but no Player of the Game win
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).| 9/3 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +8.0 | ATL 5, CHC 1 | Bryce Elder (W, 6‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| +7.1 | STL 5, ATH 1 | Matthew Liberatore (W, 7‑11) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +6.0 | ARI 2, TEX 0 | Zac Gallen (W, 11‑13) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | SF 10, COL 8 | Matt Chapman 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | WSH 10, MIA 5 | Nasim Nuñez SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| AL | +4.0 | CLE 8, BOS 1 | Joey Cantillo (W, 4‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |
| BAT | +3.0 | TOR 13, CIN 9 | Addison Barger RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | LAA 4, KC 3 | Jo Adell RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | DET 6, NYM 2 | Kerry Carpenter DH | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | BAL 7, SD 5 | Yennier Cano (S, 2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | PIT 3, LAD 0 | Dennis Santana (S, 13) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.1 | CHW 4, MIN 3 | Grant Taylor (W, 1‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | TB 9, SEA 4 | Adrian Houser (W, 8‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 8 | ||
| +2.0 | MIL 6, PHI 3 | Jared Koenig (S, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.0 | HOU 8, NYY 7 | Yordan Alvarez LF | 5 | 1 | 4 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 | 22.4 | 67.8 | 73.5 | -2.4 |
| Adell, Jo 4527 | cf rf | ana al | 7.0 | 8.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | +6.0 |
| Houser, Adrian 4162 | pi sp | tb al | 6.7 | 7.7 | 21.1 | 23.1 | +5.7 |
| Liberatore, Matthew 4662 | pi sp mr | stl nl | 6.0 | 7.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | +5.0 |
| Chapman, Matt 3849 | 3b | sf nl | 5.0 | 15.2 | 27.7 | 43.7 | -5.2 |
| Carpenter, Kerry 4711 | dh rf | det al | 4.5 | 8.5 | 13.0 | 13.0 | +0.5 |
| Cantillo, Joey 5106 | pi sp mr | cle al | 3.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | +0.7 |
| Santana, Dennis 4275 | pi cp | pit nl | 3.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -1.0 |
| Elder, Bryce 4709 | pi sp | atl nl | 3.0 | 5.0 | 17.7 | 17.7 | +1.0 |
| Barger, Addison 5214 | rf | tor al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | +2.5 |
| Taylor, Grant 5207 | pi cp mr | chi al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Alvarez, Yordan 4209 | lf dh | hou al | 1.0 | 8.5 | 31.7 | 34.2 | -6.5 |
| Koenig, Jared 4755 | pi cp mr sp | mil nl | 1.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -2.0 |
| Cano, Yennier 4611 | pi cp | bal al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +1.0 |
| Nuñez, Nasim 5278 | ss | dc 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 Thursday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHI | Suarez, Ranger 4228 | 12.8 | 23.2 | 40.9 | 41.9 |
| MIL | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | 13.7 | 27.1 | 66.9 | 83.6 |
| LAD | Snell, Blake 3688 | 3.0 | 18.7 | 61.6 | 107.8 |
| PIT | Skenes, Paul 5005 | 18.1 | 31.1 | 31.1 | 31.1 |
| CLE | Allen, Logan T. 4789 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 |
| TB | Pepiot, Ryan 4714 | 9.0 | 18.7 | 25.7 | 25.7 |
| LAA | Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | 5.0 | 10.7 | 30.4 | 84.3 |
| KC | Cameron, Noah 5167 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| CHW | Ellard, Fraser* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIN | Bradley, Taj 4780 | 6.0 | 18.1 | 23.1 | 23.1 |
| NYY | Rodon, Carlos 3494 | 12.7 | 25.4 | 57.9 | 83.0 |
| HOU | Javier, Cristian 4290 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 33.4 | 33.4 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default, game-by-game view.
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