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 2026
▪️ Upcoming pitching matchups
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Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other Player of the Game winners Wednesday include Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani, Astros pitcher Spencer Arrighetti and Sal Stewart of the Reds.
Player of the Day: Shota Imanaga, Cubs
Imanaga struck out 11 over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 11-2 win over the Phillies.
Imanaga earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and is 37th in season player rankings, 12th among National League pitchers.
AL Player of the Day: Spencer Arrighetti, Astros
Arrighetti struck out 10 over six innings, allowing one run, two hits and four walks, in the 3-1 win over the Rockies.
Arrighetti earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and is 61st in season player rankings, 23rd among American League pitchers.
NL Batter of the Day: Sal Stewart, Reds
Stewart hit a pair of three-run home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 8-3 win over the Giants.
AL Batter of the Day
There is no AL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because no AL batter won Player of the Game honors in the 15 games completed. Pitchers won Player of the Game honors in 13 of Wednesday’s 15 games, with NL batters winning in the other two.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2026 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Wednesday, April 15.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | José Soriano | pi sp | Angels | 6.0 |
| 2 | Taj Bradley | pi sp | Twins | 4.7 |
| 3 | Max Fried | pi sp | Yankees | 4.0 |
| 4 | Jeffrey Springs | pi sp | Rays | 4.0 |
| 5 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | pi sp | Dodgers | 3.7 |
| 6 | Braxton Ashcraft | pi sp | Pirates | 3.7 |
| 7 | Randy Vásquez | pi sp | Padres | 3.4 |
| 8 | Paul Skenes | pi sp | Pirates | 3.0 |
| 9 | Cristopher Sánchez | pi sp | Phillies | 3.0 |
| 10 | MacKenzie Gore | pi sp | Rangers | 3.0 |
Notable: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers
Ohtani has the most 2026 Box-Toppers points among Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.
Ohtani (6IP 2H R 2BB 10K W in the 8-2 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.7 for the season, 19th in season player rankings and ninth among NL pitchers.
Paradoxically, his 2.7 points also rank second among NL batters (behind Alec Burleson of the Cardinals with 3.0), even though Ohtani has earned all his points this season as a pitcher. Ohtani still qualifies to rank among batters based on his 2025 Box-Toppers statistics. (He won Player of the Game honors five times in 2025—three times as a batter and twice as a pitcher.)
Wednesday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Box-Toppers review of the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest B-T game scores:
⬛ Phillies’ Luzardo, Wednesday’s top-ranked starter, records day’s lowest B‑T game score
Ohtani now has 93.9 career Box-Toppers points with 50.2 earned as a pitcher and 43.7 earned as a batter.
Debut
Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Rays pitcher Jesse Scholtens (5IP H 0R 2BB K W in the 8-3 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut April 7, 2023, and was playing in his 30th career game.
Athletics closing pitcher Joel Kuhnel (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv in the 8-3 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut Aug. 16, 2019, and was playing in his 87th career game.
Padres pitcher Alek Jacob (2IP H 0R BB 3K W in the 7-6 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut July 15, 2023, and was playing in his 40th career game.
Scoring
Imanaga earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Arrighetti earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.
Stewart earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day.
All of Wednesday’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).| 4/15 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +11.0 | CHC 11, PHI 2 | Shota Imanaga (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |
| +10.0 | LAD 8, NYM 2 | Shohei Ohtani (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | ||
| AL | +8.0 | HOU 3, COL 1 | Spencer Arrighetti (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 10 | |
| +7.0 | PIT 2, WSH 0 | Carmen Mlodzinski (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| +6.2 | ATL 6, MIA 3 | Bryce Elder (W, 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| BAT | +6.0 | CIN 8, SF 3 | Sal Stewart 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +6.0 | `DET 2, KC 1 | Jack Flaherty | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||
| +5.0 | BOS 9, MIN 5 | Connelly Early (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| +5.0 | TB 8, CHW 3 | Jesse Scholtens (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||
| +3.1 | ATH 6, TEX 5 | Joel Kuhnel (S, 3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | ARI 8, BAL 5 (F/10) | Adrian Del Castillo C | 5 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | SD 7, SEA 6 | Alek Jacob (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | STL 5, CLE 3 | Riley O’Brien (S, 5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | NYY 5, LAA 4 | David Bednar (W, 1‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | MIL 2, TOR 1 | Aaron Ashby (W, 4‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
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 2026 (’26). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’25-26), the period 2021-2026 (’21-26) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2026 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2025 total (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’26 | ’25‑26 | ’21‑26 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | lad nl | 2.7 | 8.2 | 79.4 | 93.9 | -2.8 |
| Imanaga, Shota 4960 | pi sp | chi nl | 2.0 | 9.0 | 29.7 | 29.7 | -5.0 |
| Elder, Bryce 4709 | pi sp | atl nl | 2.0 | 7.0 | 21.7 | 21.7 | -3.0 |
| Mlodzinski, Carmen 4894 | pi sp mr | pit nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0.0 |
| Ashby, Aaron 4511 | pi mr sp | mil nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 11.4 | 11.4 | 0.0 |
| O’Brien, Riley 5280 | pi cp | stl nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Arrighetti, Spencer 5022 | pi sp | hou al | 1.7 | 2.7 | 9.4 | 9.4 | +0.7 |
| Stewart, Sal 5288 | 1b | cin nl | 1.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | -1.0 |
| Flaherty, Jack 3971 | pi sp | det al | 1.0 | 9.4 | 32.4 | 66.7 | -7.4 |
| Bednar, David 4499 | pi cp | nyy al | 1.0 | 8.0 | 25.0 | 25.0 | -6.0 |
| Del Castillo, Adrian 5087 | ca dh | ari nl | 1.0 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | -2.0 |
| Early, Connelly 5282 | pi sp | bos al | 1.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | -0.7 |
| Jacob, Alek 5323 | pi cp | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Kuhnel, Joel 5322 | pi cp | oak al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Scholtens, Jesse 5321 | pi sp | tb 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 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 | ’25‑26 | ’21‑26 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WSH | Griffin, Foster 5317 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| PIT | Ashcraft, Braxton 5208 | 3.7 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.4 |
| SF | Roupp, Landen 5079 | 1.0 | 5.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| CIN | Burns, Chase 5301 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| KC | Bubic, Kris 4413 | 3.0 | 11.7 | 16.7 | 16.7 |
| DET | Montero, Keider 5057 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 9.7 | 9.7 |
| LAA | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYY | Fried, Max 4011 | 4.0 | 18.4 | 68.6 | 85.3 |
| TOR | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 29.8 | 104.4 |
| MIL | Sproat, Brandon* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| TB | Matz, Steven 3516 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 21.1 | 53.4 |
| CHW | Kay, Anthony 4285 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| TEX | Leiter, Jack 5132 | 1.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| ATH | Lopez, Jacob 5202 | 0.0 | 11.4 | 11.4 | 11.4 |
| BAL | Baz, Shane 4560 | 0.0 | 10.7 | 16.4 | 16.4 |
| CLE | Messick Parker 5266 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| COL | Mejia, Juan* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| HOU | Weiss, Ryan* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SEA | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | 1.0 | 17.1 | 62.9 | 98.7 |
| SD | Buehler, Walker 3943 | 1.0 | 7.0 | 29.4 | 66.6 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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