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Braves pitcher Didier Fuentes is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s spring training games.
Other top players Wednesday include Luke Raley of the Mariners, Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani and Ildemaro Vargas of the Diamondbacks.
Player of the Day: Didier Fuentes, Braves
Fuentes struck out eight over four scoreless and hitless innings, allowing no walks, in the 3-2 win over the Phillies.
The 20-year-old started four games in 2025 with the Athletics but did not earn Player of the Game in any of them and so has 0.0 career Box-Toppers points. His rookie status is still intact for 2026.
AL Player of the Day: Luke Raley, Mariners
Raley hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 7-3 win over the Brewers.
Injuries (oblique, back spasms) limited Raley to 73 games in 2025 and he earned no Box-Toppers points. In 2024, he earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points, playing in 137 games.
NL Batter of the Day: Ildemaro Vargas, Diamondbacks
Vargas went 1-for-2, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 16-8 win over the Cubs.
Vargas earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2025. He missed about two months after suffering a fractured foot in June after being hit by a pitch, returning in August.
AL Batter of the Day
There is no separate American League Batter of the Day for Wednesday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Luke Raley.
Notable: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers
Ohtani has the most 2025 Box-Toppers points among Wednesday’s Player of the Game winners.
Ohtani (4.1IP H 0R 2BB 4K W in the 5-1, eight-inning win over the Giants) earned 5.5 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 55th among NL pitchers and 27th among NL batters.
The two-way player last had a full season of both pitching and batting in 2023 with the Angels, when his 19.4 Box-Toppers points were third overall, second among American League pitchers and first among AL batters. He earned 9.7 of his points that season as a pitcher and 9.7 as a batter.
But after suffering a UCL tear in late 2023, he underwent elbow surgery that kept him off the mound all of 2024. However, he continued to bat and earned 11.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, first among NL batters in a season in which he hit 54 home runs and stole 59 bases, winning the NL Most Valuable Player award.
He did not pitch in 2025 until June 16 and was used sparingly, slowly building up innings as the season progressed. Despite a season in which he excelled at the plate, hitting 54 home runs and again winning NL MVP, he did not perform well in the Box-Toppers metric in 2025, earning only 3.5 points as a batter and 2.0 as a pitcher, for his combined 5.5 point total. (Why Ohtani and other MVP favorites did not perform well in Box-Toppers in 2025.)
Also notable: Braxton Ashcraft, Pirates
Braxton Ashcraft earned his second Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor of the 2026 spring training season on Wednesday.
Ashcraft (5.1IP 5H R 0ER 0BB 8K W in the 3-1 win over the Tigers) also did it Feb. 28. He earned 4.7 Box-Toppers points in his 2025 rookie season.
Wednesday’s games
In 12 spring training games between two Major League teams:
Seven games featured Player of the Game winners with previous career Box-Toppers points; four of those earned points in 2025 (see table).
Five games featured Player of the Game winners with 0.0 career regular-season Box-Toppers points.
Wednesday’s Scoring Summary
No Box-Toppers points are awarded for preseason exhibition games. Had this been the regular season, points would have been awarded as follows:
Didier Fuentes, Braves: 2.0 points (Player of the Day)
Luke Raley, Mariners: 1.7 points (AL Player of the Day)
Ildemaro Vargas, Diamondbacks: 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).| 3/18 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +12.0 | ATL 3, PHI 2 | Didier Fuentes (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| +7.1 | PIT 3, DET 1 | Braxton Ashcraft (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| +7.0 | `STL 4, HOU 1 | Kyle Leahy | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| AL | +6.0 | SEA 7, MIL 3 | Luke Raley DH | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.1 | LAD 5, SF 1 (F/8) | Shohei Ohtani (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| +5.0 | `NYY 1, BOS 0 | Carlos Lagrange | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +4.0 | LAA 7, CIN 4 | Josh Lowe DH | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | TEX 12, KC 3 | Josh Jung 3B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | ARI 16, CHC 8 | Ildemaro Vargas 2B | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.1 | LAA 4, MIL 3 | Houston Harding (S, 2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | COL 8, CIN 6 | Vimael Machín 2B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | BAL 3, TOR 2 | Albert Suárez (W, 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | dh pi sp | lad nl | 0.0 | 5.5 | 76.7 | 91.2 |
| Ashcraft, Braxton 5208 | pi sp | pit nl | 0.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| Leahy, Kyle 5001 | pi mr cp | stl nl | 0.0 | 3.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| Vargas, Ildemaro 3924 | 2b 3b | ari nl | 0.0 | 1.0 | 4.5 | 7.0 |
| Suarez, Albert 3870 | pi sp | bal al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 |
| Raley, Luke 4868 | lf 1b | sea al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Lowe, Josh 4838 | rf dh | ana al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 |
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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WSH | Littell, Zack 4533 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 21.1 | 21.1 |
| STL | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| TB | Rasmussen, Drew 4547 | 0.0 | 9.7 | 31.2 | 31.2 |
| PHI | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BAL | Kremer, Dean 4330 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 35.8 | 37.5 |
| NYY | Fried, Max 4011 | 0.0 | 14.4 | 64.6 | 81.3 |
| NYY | Weathers, Ryan 4388 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 9.7 | 9.7 |
| TOR | Ponce, Cody 4542 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| NYM | Senga, Kodai 4762 | 0.0 | 8.0 | 21.7 | 21.7 |
| HOU | Lambert, Peter 4155 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 |
| PIT | Sanders, Cam* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BAL | Rogers, Trevor 4311 | 0.0 | 11.7 | 26.7 | 27.7 |
| MIN | Abel, Mick 5184 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| BOS | Bello, Brayan 4727 | 0.0 | 7.4 | 18.1 | 18.1 |
| LAA | Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 40.1 | 45.8 |
| KC | Bubic, Kris 4413 | 0.0 | 8.7 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| KC | Cameron, Noah 5167 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| CLE | Messick Parker 5266 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| ARI | Soroka, Michael 3956 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 16.4 |
| CHW | Martin, Davis 4657 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| SEA | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ATH | Civale, Aaron 4173 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 34.8 | 40.5 |
| SF | Webb, Logan 4258 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 57.6 | 60.3 |
| COL | Sugano, Tomoyuki 5163 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| CHW | Cannon, Jonathan 5036 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| SD | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| TEX | Latz, Jacob 5204 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| MIL | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | 0.0 | 9.7 | 54.6 | 71.3 |
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?
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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