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Cubs pitcher Cade Horton is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Monday’s spring training games.
Other top players Monday include Brandon Lockridge of the Brewers, Luke Keaschall of the Twins and George Springer of the Blue Jays.
Player of the Day: Cade Horton, Cubs
Horton struck out 10 over five innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 5-2 win over the Guardians.
Horton earned 9.7 Box-Toppers points in his 2025 rookie season, 21st among National League pitchers and first among NL rookies, ahead of Mets pitcher Nolan McLean (7.7) and Drake Baldwin of the Braves (6.5). (Why Baldwin was Box-Toppers’ choice for 2025 NL Rookie of the Year over Horton.)
AL Player of the Day: Luke Keaschall, Twins
Keaschall hit a three-run home run, doubled and went 2-for-2, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 5-1 win over the Pirates.
Keaschall played 49 games in his 2025 rookie season but did not earn Player of the Game honors in any of them.
NL Batter of the Day: Brandon Lockridge, Brewers
Lockridge hit a grand slam and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 24-9 win over the Dodgers.
Lockridge has played in 79 games over the past two seasons, including 67 in 2025 for the Padres and Brewers, but has yet to earn regular-season Player of the Game honors and so has 0.0 Box-Toppers points.
AL Batter of the Day
There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Luke Keaschall.
Notable: George Springer, Blue Jays
George Springer of the Blue Jays has the highest 2025 Box-Toppers points ranking among Monday’s Player of the Game winners.
Springer (HR 2-2 2R BI in the 5-4, six-inning win over the Marlins) earned 9.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025, first among AL batters, ahead of José Ramírez of the Guardians (9.5) and Salvador Perez of the Royals (9.5). (Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh, both AL MVP favorites, trailed Springer in 2025 Box-Toppers points: A look at why that happened.)
Springer’s 9.7 points is the lowest Box-Toppers point total to lead any category in a regular-length season since tracking began in 1995. The previous record low was 10.7 points by Nolan Arenado of the Rockies to lead NL batters in 2016.
While overall Player of the Day Cade Horton also had 9.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025, Springer ranked higher (46th vs. 49th) because he has more 2024 Box-Toppers points (6.0 vs. 0.0).
Monday’s games
In 11 spring training games between two Major League teams:
Seven games featured Player of the Game winners with previous career Box-Toppers points; six of those earned points in 2025 (see table).
Four games featured Player of the Game winners with 0.0 career regular-season Box-Toppers points.
(Excludes World Baseball Classic games.)
Monday’s Scoring Summary
No official Box-Toppers points are awarded for preseason exhibition games. Had this been the regular season, points would have been awarded as follows:
Cade Horton, Cubs: 2.0 points (Player of the Day)
Luke Keaschall, Twins: 1.7 points (AL Player of the Day)
Brandon Lockridge, Brewers: 1.5 points (NL Batter of the Day)
All other winners, listed in the chart: 1.0 point
About Box-Toppers
Box-Toppers tracks who contributes most to their team’s victory. Using standard box score statistics, we identify the Player of the Game for every MLB contest. In the regular season, winners earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point, with bonus points awarded to the top overall and league-specific players of the day. More on how Box-Toppers works.
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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).| 3/16 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.0 | CHC 5, CLE 2 | Cade Horton (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| +7.0 | `SD 3, SF 1 | Walker Buehler | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | MIL 24, LAD 9 | Brandon Lockridge RF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | ARI 11, CIN 6 | LuJames Groover 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| AL | +4.0 | MIN 5, PIT 1 | Luke Keaschall LF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | ATL 11, TB 2 | Eli White RF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | DET 13, PHI 6 | Jahmai Jones RF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | TOR 5, MIA 4 (F/6) | George Springer DH | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.2 | ATH 3, LAA 0 | Jeffrey Springs (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| +2.1 | TEX 3, CHW 2 | MacKenzie Gore (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||
| +2.0 | WSH 12, NYM 6 | Viandel Pena 2B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
MLB—Overall Box‑Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box‑Toppers points.
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.
N/A—Not applicable. No Player of the Game was chosen because the game ended in a tie.
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. No points are awarded during spring training games, so all players have 0.0 Box-Toppers points for 2026. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2025 (’25). Also shown is their point total for the period 2021-2025 (’21-25) and each players’ career point total. (Player of the Game winners not listed here have yet to earn Box-Toppers points during the regular season.)Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’26 | ’25 | ’21‑25 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Springer, George 3337 | dh rf | tor al | 0.0 | 9.7 | 29.9 | 57.6 |
| Horton, Cade 5216 | pi sp | chi nl | 0.0 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 |
| Gore, MacKenzie 4582 | pi sp | tex al | 0.0 | 8.7 | 28.4 | 28.4 |
| Springs, Jeffrey 4372 | pi sp | oak al | 0.0 | 8.7 | 31.1 | 31.1 |
| Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | sd nl | 0.0 | 6.0 | 28.4 | 65.6 |
| White, Eli 4462 | rf | atl nl | 0.0 | 2.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Jones, Jahmai 4534 | 2b | det al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Tuesday’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 2026 (’26)†, last year (’25), over five years (’21-25), and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’26† | ’25 | ’21‑25 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAL | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 59.5 | 78.6 |
| DET | Verlander, Justin 2112 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 43.4 | 250.0 |
| HOU | McCullers, Lance 3488 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 16.1 | 51.7 |
| PIT | Keller, Mitch 4230 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 37.4 | 38.4 |
| STL | May, Dustin 4214 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 13.4 | 17.4 |
| WSH | Irvin, Jake 4805 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 20.7 | 20.7 |
| MIN | Ober, Bailey 4441 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 34.8 | 34.8 |
| PHI | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | 0.0 | 17.4 | 48.6 | 53.3 |
| ATL | Lopez, Reynaldo 3712 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 21.2 | 42.0 |
| BOS | Gray, Sonny 3259 | 0.0 | 14.0 | 55.3 | 124.3 |
| NYY | Warren, Will 5143 | 0.0 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 9.4 |
| TB | Pepiot, Ryan 4714 | 0.0 | 10.7 | 27.4 | 27.4 |
| NYM | Manaea, Sean 3637 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 42.8 | 71.3 |
| MIA | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ATH | Morales, Luis 5268 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| CHW | Kay, Anthony 4285 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 |
| SEA | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| COL | Dollander, Chase 5169 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| SD | Marquez, German 3788 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 23.8 | 53.9 |
| SEA | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| LAA | Farris, Mitch 5281 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| CHC | Imanaga, Shota 4960 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 27.7 | 27.7 |
| CLE | Allard, Kolby 4232 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 |
| CIN | Lodolo, Nick 4586 | 0.0 | 9.7 | 25.7 | 25.7 |
| LAD | Sasaki, Roki* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| KC | Falter, Bailey 4473 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 19.1 | 19.1 |
Games shown are spring training games between MLB teams. Doesn't include games vs. non-MLB teams.
† Players don’t earn Box-Toppers points in spring training games, only regular season games, so no pitcher has earned any points in 2026.
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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