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Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sánchez is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Thursday, as 22 Major League teams open their 2026 seasons.
Other top players Thursday include Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet, Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal, Chase DeLauter of the Guardians, Alec Burleson of the Cardinals and Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Player of the Day: Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies
Sánchez struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 5-3 win over the Rangers.
Sánchez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. This allows him to take the early season lead over Wednesday’s top player, Max Fried. While both now have 2.0 points on the season, Sánchez holds the tie-breaker for the top spot in player rankings based on his superior 2025 season total (15.8 vs. 14.4).
Sánchez’s 15.8 points in 2025 were 11th among all players and seventh among National League pitchers.
AL Player of the Day: Garrett Crochet, Red Sox
Crochet struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 3-0 win over the Reds.
Crochet earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points in his first game, putting him in third place in early-season rankings. He earned 19.8 points in 2025, fourth overall and second among American League pitchers, behind Tarik Skubal of the Tigers 22.1.
AL Batter of the Day: Chase DeLauter, Guardians
DeLauter hit two home runs and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 6-4 win over the Mariners.
This was DeLauter’s Box-Toppers debut and his first career Player of the Game honor. While it was his regular-season Major League debut, the 24-year-old actually made his MLB debut in 2025, appearing in two postseason games for the Guardians after a strong minor league performance.
NL Batter of the Day: Alec Burleson, Cardinals
Burleson homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-7 win over the Rays.
Notable
In addition to Crochet, two other players who finished among the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points for 2025 won Player of the Game honors Thursday:
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (6IP 3H R 0ER 0BB 6K W in the 8-2 win over the Padres) led all players with 22.1 Box-Toppers points in 2025.
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6IP 5H 2R 0BB 6K W in the 8-2 win over the Diamondbacks) earned 17.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025, seventh overall and fourth among NL pitchers.
Scoring
Sánchez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Crochet earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.
DeLauter and Burleson each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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 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).| 3/26 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +13.0 | PHI 5, TEX 3 | Cristopher Sánchez (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| AL | +9.0 | BOS 3, CIN 0 | Garrett Crochet (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| +9.0 | MIL 14, CHW 2 | Jacob Misiorowski (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11 | ||
| +8.0 | DET 8, SD 2 | Tarik Skubal (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +7.0 | LAA 3, HOU 0 | José Soriano (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | ||
| +5.0 | BAL 2, MIN 1 | Trevor Rogers (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | CLE 6, SEA 4 | Chase DeLauter RF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +3.0 | STL 9, TB 7 | Alec Burleson 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | WSH 10, CHC 4 | Joey Wiemer RF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | LAD 8, ARI 2 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +1.0 | NYM 11, PIT 7 | Luis Robert Jr. CF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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. 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 | ’25‑26 | ’21‑26 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 | pi sp | phi nl | 2.0 | 17.4 | 32.8 | 32.8 | -13.4 |
| Crochet, Garrett 4434 | pi sp | bos al | 1.7 | 21.5 | 33.2 | 33.2 | -18.1 |
| Burleson, Alec 4874 | 1b dh | stl nl | 1.5 | 2.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | +0.5 |
| DeLauter, Chsae 5298 | rf | cle al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | +1.5 |
| Skubal, Tarik 4414 | pi sp | det al | 1.0 | 23.1 | 74.3 | 74.3 | -21.1 |
| Yamamoto, Yoshinobu 4964 | pi sp | lad nl | 1.0 | 18.7 | 25.1 | 25.1 | -16.7 |
| Soriano, Jose 4884 | pi sp | ana al | 1.0 | 13.7 | 17.7 | 17.7 | -11.7 |
| Rogers, Trevor 4311 | pi sp | bal al | 1.0 | 12.7 | 27.7 | 28.7 | -10.7 |
| Misiorowski, Jacob 5200 | pi sp | mil nl | 1.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -5.0 |
| Robert, Luis 4296 | cf | nym nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 14.0 | 15.0 | -3.0 |
| Wiemer, Joey 4804 | rf | dc nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | +1.0 |
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 2026 (’26)†, last year (’25), over five years (’21-25), and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’26 | ’25‑26 | ’21‑26 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYY | Schlittler, Cam 5261 | 0.0 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 7.4 |
| SF | Ray, Robbie 3502 | 0.0 | 9.4 | 45.2 | 89.3 |
| ATH | Severino, Luis 3567 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 23.1 | 68.9 |
| TOR | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | 0.0 | 14.1 | 69.2 | 112.2 |
| COL | Freeland, Kyle 3763 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 24.7 | 45.1 |
| MIA | Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | 0.0 | 8.0 | 45.8 | 55.2 |
| KC | Ragans, Cole 4889 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 23.4 | 23.4 |
| ATL | Sale, Chris 2806 | 0.0 | 11.4 | 41.2 | 183.8 |
| LAA | Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 40.1 | 45.8 |
| HOU | Burrows, Mike 5196 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| CLE | Williams, Gavin 4865 | 0.0 | 11.7 | 19.4 | 19.4 |
| SEA | Kirby, George 4595 | 0.0 | 11.0 | 51.5 | 51.5 |
| DET | Valdez, Framber 4048 | 0.0 | 11.7 | 58.1 | 68.5 |
| SD | King, Michael 4549 | 0.0 | 4.4 | 31.8 | 31.8 |
| ARI | Nelson, Ryne 4728 | 0.0 | 8.4 | 25.2 | 25.2 |
| LAD | Sheehan, Emmet 4886 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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