| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Bradley, Taj 4780 | pi sp | min al | 4.7 | 1 | Vasquez, Randy 4841 | pi sp | sd nl | 3.4 | |
| 2 | Fried, Max 4011 | pi sp | nyy al | 4.0 | 2 | Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.0 | |
| 3 | Soriano, Jose 4884 | pi sp | ana al | 4.0 | 3 | Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | pi sp | fla nl | 3.0 | |
| 4 | Gore, MacKenzie 4582 | pi sp | tex al | 3.0 | 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | atl nl | 2.7 | |
| 5 | Springs, Jeffrey 4372 | pi sp | oak al | 3.0 | 5 | Skenes, Paul 5005 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 | |
| 6 | Crochet, Garrett 4434 | pi sp | bos al | 2.7 | 6 | Yamamoto, Yoshinobu 4964 | pi sp | lad nl | 2.0 | |
| 7 | Williams, Gavin 4865 | pi sp | cle al | 2.7 | 7 | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | pi sp | phi nl | 2.0 | |
| 8 | Woo, Bryan 4842 | pi sp | sea al | 2.0 | 8 | Cabrera, Edward 4641 | pi sp | chi nl | 2.0 | |
| 9 | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | tor al | 2.0 | 9 | Miller, Mason 4975 | pi cp | sd nl | 2.0 | |
| 10 | Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | tor al | 2.0 | 10 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | lad nl | 2.0 | |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Rooker, Brent 4795 | dh | oak al | 1.7 | 1 | Burleson, Alec 4874 | 1b dh | stl nl | 3.0 | |
| 2 | Ward, Taylor 4345 | lf | bal al | 1.5 | 2 | Wiemer, Joey 4804 | rf | dc nl | 2.7 | |
| 3 | India, Jonathan 4469 | 2b 3b dh | kc al | 1.5 | 3 | Yelich, Christian 3334 | dh ph | mil nl | 2.0 | |
| 4 | Isbel, Kyle 4548 | cf | kc al | 1.5 | 4 | Olson, Matt 3836 | 1b | atl nl | 2.0 | |
| 5 | Rocchio, Brayan 5100 | ss 2b | cle al | 1.5 | 5 | Robert, Luis 4296 | cf | nym nl | 2.0 | |
| 6 | Vierling, Matt 4652 | rf 3b ph | det al | 1.5 | 6 | Conine, Griffin 5304 | rf | fla nl | 2.0 | |
| 7 | Rosario, Amed 3879 | 2b 3b | nyy al | 1.5 | 7 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | lad nl | 1.7 | |
| 8 | Jansen, Danny 4163 | ca | tex al | 1.5 | 8 | Pages, Andy 5123 | cf | lad nl | 1.5 | |
| 9 | Vargas, Miguel 5229 | 1b | chi al | 1.5 | 9 | Turang, Brice 4779 | 2b | mil nl | 1.5 | |
| 10 | Diaz, Yandy 3896 | dh 1b | tb al | 1.5 | 10 | Fulford, Braxton 5206 | dh ca ph | col nl | 1.5 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Twins pitcher Taj Bradley leads Box-Toppers first weekly player rankings report of the 2026 season.
Bradley also leads American League pitchers. Meanwhile, Randy Vásquez of the Padres leads National League pitchers, Alec Burleson of the Cardinals leads NL batters and Brent Rooker of the Athletics leads AL batters.
Bradley leads
Bradley has 4.7 Box-Toppers points in 2026, first overall, ahead of Yankees pitcher Max Fried (4.0), who is second overall and second among AL pitchers.
Bradley has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors three times in 2026: March 28, April 2 and April 7. He earned 6.0 points in 2025 with the Rays, before being traded to the Twins at the trade deadline. His 6.0 points in 2025 were 51st among AL pitchers.
National League pitchers
Randy Vásquez of the Padres leads with 3.4 Box-Toppers points, ahead of Cristopher Sánchez of the Phillies, who ranks second with 3.0 points.
Vásquez ranks fourth overall.
National League batters
Alec Burleson of the Cardinals leads with 3.0 Box-Toppers points, ahead of second-place Joey Wiemer of the Nationals (2.7 points). Burleson ranks ninth overall, the only batter among the top 10 players.
American League batters
Brent Rooker of the Athletics leads with 1.7 Box-Toppers points, ahead of second-place AL batter Taylor Ward of the Orioles (1.5). Rooker ranks 37th overall.
Box-Toppers almanac
Pitchers have dominated in winning Player of the Game in recent seasons. While batters have struggled to reach parity with pitchers in recent seasons, it wasn’t always this way: From 1995 to 2009, batters generally won half or more of all Box-Toppers points each season. But their share of points dropped precipitously after 2009.
In 2025, batters won 38.7 percent of all Box-Toppers points awarded, their third-lowest share since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. But that was better than 2024, when batters won only 37.2 percent of the points, the lowest recorded by Box-Toppers. Batters’ share has been below 40 percent in six seasons, all since 2014 or later.
Early 2026 data shows batters are struggling even more than during their record-low 2024 season. So far, batters have claimed just 35.1% of all points awarded, a slight dip from last year’s 38.7%.
Pitchers have won Player of the Game honors in 123 of the 188 games played in 2026 (65.4 percent) while batters have won in 65 games (34.6 percent). This past week (April 3 to 9), pitchers won in 58 of the 88 games played (61.7 percent) while batters won in 36 games (38.3 percent).
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.
Help us stay accurate! Spot a mistake? Contact Box-Toppers here so we can fix it.
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