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
▪️ Sunday’s Sidelights Sidebar
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Reds pitcher Hunter Greene is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw now has 279.8 career Box-Toppers points, edging closer to the Box-Toppers-era “all-time” career points leader, Randy Johnson (282.5 points).
Other Player of the Game winners Sunday include Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo, Otto Lopez of the Marlins, Rangers pitcher Patrick Corbin and Lenyn Sosa of the White Sox.
Player of the Day
Greene struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run, one hit and two walks, in the 3-2 win over the Mets.
Greene earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.4 for the season, 23rd among NL pitchers.
Greene becomes the 35th player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points in 2025. It is his first season with 10 or more points. His previous high was 2024, when he had 9.7 Box-Toppers points, 29th among NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day
Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo struck out six over six innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, in the 18-2 win over the Braves.
Castillo earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.1 for the season, 18th among all players and ninth among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day
Otto Lopez of the Marlins hit two home runs, including a three-run homer, in the 5-4 win over the Phillies. Lopez went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs.
American League Batter of the Day
Lenyn Sosa of the White Sox homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 6-4 win over the Tigers.
Sosa earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.5 for the season, 11th among AL batters.
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Retired | 282.5 |
| 2 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 279.8 |
| 3 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | Rangers | 256.7 |
| 4 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | Astros | 248.0 |
| 5 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | Retired | 244.8 |
| 6 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | Free agent | 224.5 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b | Retired | 207.8 |
| 8 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | Retired | 203.4 |
| 9 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | Retired | 194.1 |
| 10 | Alex Rodriguez | 3b | Retired | 187.0 |
| 11 | Chris Sale | pi sp | Braves | 180.8 |
| 12 | Jon Lester | pi sp | Retired | 179.3 |
| 13 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | Retired | 175.1 |
| 14 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | Retired | 174.2 |
| 15 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | Retired | 170.7 |
| 16 | Johan Santana | pi sp | Retired | 166.6 |
| 17 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | Retired | 166.2 |
| 18 | Gerrit Cole | pi sp | Yankees | 165.0 |
| 19 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | Retired | 164.8 |
| 20 | John Smoltz | pi sp | Retired | 160.9 |
Notable
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw now has 279.8 career Box-Toppers points, edging closer to the Box-Toppers-era “all-time” career points lead, after earning 1.0 point as Player of the Game Sunday.
Kershaw (5.2IP 4H 2R BB 8K W in the 5-2 win over the Orioles) is now 2.7 points behind Randy Johnson, who earned 282.5 Box-Toppers points from 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) until his retirement in 2009. (It should be noted that Johnson began his career in 1988, before the advent of Box-Toppers tracking. If his entire career were tracked, rough projections put his Box-Toppers point total at 380.)
(One other thing to note: There are some instances on the Box-Toppers website where Johnson’s career total is listed as 278.8. However, in 2020, Box-Toppers began an audit of 1995 statistics, which added 3.7 points to Johnson’s career total, giving him his current 282.5 total.)
Kershaw ranks second on the “all-time” list with his points earned since 2008, when his career began. He would need at least two starts to pass Johnson’s 1995-2009 total, earning a maximum of 2.0 points each time. Kershaw may have three starts remaining this season.
Kershaw extends his lead among active players in career points, ahead of Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer (256.7 points). He leads active NL pitchers ahead of Justin Verlander of the Giants (248.0 points).
Kershaw now has 7.4 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 31st among NL pitchers.
Career Box-Toppers points—Active AL pitchers 1—Max Scherzer #BlueJays 256.7 2—Gerrit Cole #Yankees 165.0 3—Jacob deGrom #Rangers 150.2 4—Charlie Morton #Tigers 120.5 5—Kevin Gausman #BlueJays 110.2 6—Patrick Corbin #Rangers 104.4* *Earns 1.0 B-T point Sunday www.box-toppers.com/blog/2025/9/...
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) Sep 8, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Also notable
Rangers pitcher Patrick Corbin now has 104.4 career Box-Toppers points—84th-most among all players since 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Corbin (5.2IP 3H R BB 5K ND in the 4-2 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and passes Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” career points list. He trails 83rd-ranked player Scott Kazmir (105.1). (Moyer began his career in 1986, prior to the start of Box-Toppers tracking. Box-Toppers estimates he would have about 128 career points if his entire career were tracked.)
Corbin ranks 15th among active, signed players in career points, sixth among active AL pitchers.
Corbin now has 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 35th among AL pitchers.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2025 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Sunday, Sept. 7.| 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 | 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 |
One more notable thing
Guardians closing pitcher Cade Smith earns Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Sunday.
Smith (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K Sv in the 2-1 win over the Rays) was also Player of the Game Saturday in the 3-2 win over the Rays (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv). He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for each Player of the Game honor and now has 4.0 for the season, eighth among AL closing pitchers.
Debut
Angels pitcher Mitch Farris made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Farris (6IP 3H 2R BB 4K ND in the 4-3 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut Sept. 2 and was playing in his second career game.
Scoring
Sunday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Box-Toppers post reviewing the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest Box-Toppers game scores is on Substack:
⬛ Ohtani just misses winning Player of the Game Sunday for 2nd time in 3 days
Greene earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Castillo earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.
Lopez and Sosa each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day.
All of Sunday’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).| 9/7 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +14.0 | CIN 3, NYM 2 | Hunter Greene (W, 6‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | |
| +8.0 | MIL 10, PIT 2 | Jacob Misiorowski (W, 5‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| AL | +6.0 | SEA 18, ATL 2 | Luis M. Castillo (W, 9‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| BAT | +5.0 | MIA 5, PHI 4 | Otto Lopez SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | BOS 7, ARI 4 | Aroldis Chapman (S, 29) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +4.2 | LAD 5, BAL 2 | Clayton Kershaw (W, 10‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| +4.2 | `TEX 4, HOU 2 | Patrick Corbin | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +4.1 | MIN 5, KC 1 | Bailey Ober (W, 5‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +4.0 | WSH 6, CHC 3 | Josh Bell PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | CLE 2, TB 1 | Cade Smith (S, 11) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | CHW 6, DET 4 | Lenyn Sosa 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.0 | SD 8, COL 1 | Manny Machado 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | `LAA 4, ATH 3 | Mitch Farris | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +1.0 | NYY 4, TOR 3 | Ben Rice 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | STL 4, SF 3 | Nathan Church CF‑RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | pi sp | sea al | 12.1 | 22.8 | 62.9 | 93.7 | +1.4 |
| Greene, Hunter 4651 | pi sp | cin nl | 11.4 | 21.1 | 32.8 | 32.8 | +1.7 |
| Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b | sd nl | 8.0 | 15.0 | 32.4 | 68.8 | +1.0 |
| Sosa, Lenyn 4907 | 2b | chi al | 7.5 | 11.0 | 12.5 | 12.5 | +4.0 |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.4 | 9.4 | 52.3 | 279.8 | +5.4 |
| Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | tex al | 7.0 | 12.0 | 29.8 | 104.4 | +2.0 |
| Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | pi cp | bos al | 6.0 | 9.0 | 20.0 | 75.1 | +3.0 |
| Misiorowski, Jacob 5200 | pi sp | mil nl | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | +6.0 |
| Bell, Josh E. 3682 | dh 1b | dc nl | 4.0 | 10.0 | 20.0 | 37.7 | -2.0 |
| Lopez, Otto 5021 | ss | fla nl | 4.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | +2.0 |
| Smith, Cade 5066 | pi cp | cle al | 4.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | +2.0 |
| Rice, Ben 5055 | 1b ca dh | nyy al | 3.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +2.0 |
| Ober, Bailey 4441 | pi sp | min al | 2.0 | 15.4 | 33.8 | 33.8 | -11.4 |
| Church, Nathan 5273 | cf rf | stl nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Farris, Mitch 5281 | pi sp | ana al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Monday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KC | Bergert, Ryan 5198 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| CLE | Cecconi, Slade 4913 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| WSH | Cavalli, Cade 5244 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| MIA | Junk, Janson 4697 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| NYM | McLean, Nolan 5255 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| PHI | Nola, Aaron 3569 | 2.7 | 16.1 | 62.5 | 117.8 |
| CHC | Imanaga, Shota 4960 | 7.0 | 27.7 | 27.7 | 27.7 |
| ATL | Elder, Bryce 4709 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 17.7 | 17.7 |
| MIL | Quintana, Jose 3040 | 2.0 | 12.0 | 24.4 | 95.1 |
| TEX | Latz, Jacob 5204 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| MIN | Woods Richardson, Simeon 4974 | 4.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| LAA | Dana, Caden* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CIN | Lodolo, Nick 4586 | 7.7 | 16.7 | 23.7 | 23.7 |
| SD | Darvish, Yu 3003 | 4.7 | 13.4 | 60.0 | 144.4 |
| STL | Mikolas, Miles 3034 | 7.0 | 11.0 | 29.8 | 47.2 |
| SEA | Woo, Bryan 4842 | 14.0 | 25.7 | 34.4 | 34.4 |
| ARI | Crismatt, Nabil 4449 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| SF | Webb, Logan 4258 | 8.0 | 19.0 | 57.6 | 59.3 |
| BOS | Crochet, Garrett 4434 | 16.1 | 26.8 | 27.8 | 27.8 |
| ATH | Morales, Luis 5268 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| COL | Dollander, Chase 5169 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| LAD | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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