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
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Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, edging closer to the 2025 Box-Toppers points lead among National League pitchers.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2025 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Thursday, Sept. 4.| 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 | 20.1 |
| 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 |
Other Player of the Game winners Thursday include Ryan Pepiot of the Rays, Kyle Teel of the White Sox and Phillies pitcher Ranger Suárez.
Player of the Day
Skenes struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 5-3 win over the Dodgers.
Skenes earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 20.1 for the season, maintaining third place among all players, behind Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (20.4 points) and Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler (20.1 points).
Skenes also maintains second place among NL pitchers behind Wheeler. Though Wheeler and Skenes both now have 20.1 Box-Toppers points for the season, Wheeler ranks higher because he has more 2024 points—21.4 vs. 13.0.
However, Wheeler is now out for the season after being diagnosed with venous thoracic outlet syndrome. He will undergo thoracic outlet decompression surgery and recovery time is expected to be six to eight months.
Skenes becomes the third player this season to reach 20 Box-Toppers points. It is his first season with 20 or more points. In his 2024 rookie season with the Pirates, he earned 13.0 Box-Toppers points, 10th among NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day
Rays pitcher Ryan Pepiot struck out six over five hitless and scoreless innings, allowing two walks, in the 4-2 win over the Guardians.
Though he was pitching a no-hitter, Pepiot was pulled after 90 pitches. Rays relievers subsequently gave up three hits and two runs.
Pepiot earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season, 26th among all players and 15th among AL pitchers.
Pepiot becomes the 33rd player in 2025 to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his first season with 10 or more points. His previous high was 9.7 points in 2024 with the Rays, 32nd among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day
Kyle Teel of the White Sox homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 11-8 win over the Twins.
Teel earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, 29th among AL batters.
National League Batter of the Day
There is no NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because no NL batter won Player of the Game honors in the six games completed.
2025 Box-Toppers points—NL pitchers 1—Zack Wheeler #Phillies 20.1† 2—Paul Skenes #Pirates 20.1* 3—Nick Pivetta #Padres 17.7 †Though Wheeler & Skenes both have 20.1, Wheeler ranks ahead on tiebreaker with more 2024 pts—21.4 vs. 13.0. *Earns 2.0 B-T points Thursday www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/9/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Sep 5, 2025 at 7:47 AM
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Notable
Phillies pitcher Ranger Suárez now has 13.8 Box-Toppers points in 2025 after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Suárez (6IP 6H 0R 2BB 4K W in the 2-0 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and his 13.8 points now ranks 11th among all players, seventh among NL pitchers.
Scoring
Skenes earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Pepiot earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.
Teel earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day.
All of Thursday’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).| 9/4 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +11.0 | PIT 5, LAD 3 | Paul Skenes (W, 10‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| AL | +9.0 | TB 4, CLE 2 | Ryan Pepiot (W, 11‑10) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| BAT | +5.0 | CHW 11, MIN 8 | Kyle Teel C | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | NYY 8, HOU 4 | Ryan McMahon 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | KC 4, LAA 3 | Lucas Erceg (W, 7‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | PHI 2, MIL 0 | Ranger Suárez (W, 11‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skenes, Paul 5005 | pi sp | pit nl | 20.1 | 33.1 | 33.1 | 33.1 | +7.1 |
| Suarez, Ranger 4228 | pi sp | phi nl | 13.8 | 24.2 | 41.9 | 42.9 | +3.4 |
| Pepiot, Ryan 4714 | pi sp | tb al | 10.7 | 20.4 | 27.4 | 27.4 | +1.0 |
| Teel, Kyle 5213 | ca | chi al | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +5.0 |
| McMahon, Ryan 4004 | 3b | nyy al | 3.0 | 6.7 | 18.9 | 28.6 | -0.7 |
| Erceg, Lucas 4826 | pi mr | kc al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Friday’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 | Irvin, Jake 4805 | 7.7 | 17.7 | 20.7 | 20.7 |
| CHC | Assad, Javier 4899 | 1.0 | 7.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| CHW | Smith, Shane 5158 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| DET | Flaherty, Jack 3971 | 6.7 | 18.7 | 34.4 | 64.0 |
| MIL | Priester, Quinn 5059 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| PIT | Oviedo, Johan 4442 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| NYM | Peterson, David 4347 | 5.7 | 10.4 | 23.4 | 23.4 |
| CIN | Abbott, Andrew 4839 | 9.7 | 14.7 | 25.7 | 25.7 |
| LAD | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | 3.0 | 14.7 | 47.8 | 63.5 |
| BAL | Kremer, Dean 4330 | 4.7 | 13.4 | 34.5 | 34.5 |
| TOR | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | 10.4 | 20.4 | 66.5 | 108.5 |
| NYY | Schlittler, Cam 5261 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| PHI | Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 | 12.7 | 24.1 | 28.1 | 28.1 |
| MIA | Bellozo, Valente 5082 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| SEA | Gilbert, Logan 4439 | 11.1 | 24.1 | 58.6 | 58.6 |
| ATL | Sale, Chris 2806 | 7.4 | 26.5 | 37.2 | 179.8 |
| CLE | Williams, Gavin 4865 | 9.0 | 12.7 | 16.7 | 16.7 |
| TB | Jax, Griffin 4478 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| MIN | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| KC | Wacha, Michael 3276 | 8.1 | 18.5 | 45.0 | 79.7 |
| HOU | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| TEX | Kelly, Merrill 4143 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 44.7 | 52.7 |
| SF | Seymour, Carson* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| STL | McGreevy, Michael 5113 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| SD | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| COL | Freeland, Kyle 3763 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 22.7 | 42.1 |
| ATH | Barnett, Mason* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| LAA | Soriano, Jose 4884 | 12.7 | 15.7 | 16.7 | 16.7 |
| BOS | Tolle, Payton* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ARI | Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 27.7 | 71.9 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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