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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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Padres pitcher Randy Vásquez is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to second place in season player rankings and first place among National League pitchers.
Other Player of the Game winners Tuesday include Elly De La Cruz of the Reds, Twins pitcher Cole Sands and Colson Montgomery of the White Sox.
Player of the Day: Randy Vásquez, Padres
Vásquez struck out five over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Rockies.
Vásquez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.4 for the season, rising to second place overall, behind Angels pitcher José Soriano (7.0 points). Vásquez rises to first place among NL pitchers, passing previous leader, Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers (3.7 points).
AL Player of the Day: Cole Sands, Twins
Twins closing pitcher Cole Sands struck out three over two scoreless and hitless innings, allowing no walks, in the 5-3 win over the Mets.
Sands earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being American League Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and is 83rd in season player rankings, 28th among AL pitchers and third among AL closing pitchers.
NL Batter of the Day: Elly De La Cruz, Reds
De La Cruz hit two home runs and went 3-for-6, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 12-6 win over the Rays.
AL Batter of the Day: Colson Montgomery, White Sox
Montgomery homered, doubled and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 11-5 win over the Diamondbacks.
Montgomery earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 2.5 for the season, 37th in season player rankings and third among AL batters.
Debut
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2026 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Tuesdsay, April 21.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | José Soriano | pi sp | Angels | 7.0 |
| 2 | Randy Vásquez | pi sp | Padres | 5.4 |
| 3 | Gavin Williams | pi sp | Guardians | 4.7 |
| 4 | Taj Bradley | pi sp | Twins | 4.7 |
| 5 | Max Fried | pi sp | Yankees | 4.0 |
| 6 | Jeffrey Springs | pi sp | Rays | 4.0 |
| 7 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | pi sp | Dodgers | 3.7 |
| 8 | Chris Sale | pi sp | Braves | 3.7 |
| 9 | Dylan Cease | pi sp | Blue Jays | 3.7 |
| 10 | Max Muncy | 3b | Dodgers | 3.7 |
Curtis Mead of the Nationals made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Mead (HR 1-2 2R 3BI in the 11-4 win over the Braves) made his Major League debut April 4, 2023, and was playing in his 169th career game.
Scoring
Vásquez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Sands earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.
De La Cruz and Montgomery each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day.
All of Tuesday’s other Player of the Game winners (listed in the chart) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers
Tuesday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Box-Toppers review of the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest B-T game scores:
⬛ Dollander records best B‑T game score among Tuesday’s non-Player of the Game winners
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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(An earlier version of this post listed the incorrect Player of the Game winner in the Giants’ win over the Dodgers.)
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).| 4/21 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.0 | SD 1, COL 0 | Randy Vásquez (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| BAT | +5.0 | CIN 12, TB 6 | Elly De La Cruz SS | 6 | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AL | +5.0 | MIN 5, NYM 3 | Cole Sands (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| +4.0 | WSH 11, ATL 4 | Curtis Mead PH-DH | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| +4.0 | TEX 5, PIT 1 | Kumar Rocker (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +4.0 | SF 3, LAD 1 | Landen Roupp (W, 4-1) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 | ||
| +4.0 | ATH 5, SEA 2 | Jack Perkins (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.1 | NYY 4, BOS 0 | Luis Gil (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | CHW 11, ARI 5 | Colson Montgomery SS | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| +2.0 | KC 6, BAL 5 | Michael Massey 2B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| +2.0 | TOR 4, LAA 2 | Lenyn Sosa PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| +2.0 | CHC 7, PHI 4 | Shota Imanaga (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| +2.0 | MIL 12, DET 4 | Grant Anderson (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.1 | STL 5, MIA 3 | Dustin May (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +1.0 | CLE 8, HOU 5 | Angel Martínez LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vasquez, Randy 4841 | pi sp | sd nl | 5.4 | 10.8 | 13.8 | 13.8 | 0.0 |
| Imanaga, Shota 4960 | pi sp | chi nl | 3.0 | 10.0 | 30.7 | 30.7 | -4 |
| Roupp, Landen 5079 | pi sp | sf nl | 3.0 | 7.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | -1.7 |
| Montgomery, Colson 5235 | ss 3b | chi al | 2.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -2 |
| May, Dustin 4214 | pi sp | stl nl | 2.0 | 7.7 | 15.4 | 19.4 | -3.7 |
| Perkins, Jack 5225 | pi cp mr | oak al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +1.0 |
| Sands, Cole 5017 | pi cp mr | min al | 1.7 | 2.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 0.7 |
| De La Cruz, Elly 4844 | ss dh | cin nl | 1.5 | 5.0 | 15.5 | 15.5 | -2 |
| Sosa, Lenyn 4907 | 2b 1b ph | tor al | 1.0 | 9.5 | 14.5 | 14.5 | -7.5 |
| Rocker, Kumar 5108 | pi sp | tex al | 1.0 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | -3.7 |
| Martínez, Angel 5212 | lf | cle al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Gil, Luis 4498 | pi sp | nyy al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 20.4 | 20.4 | 0.0 |
| Massey, Michael 4749 | 2b | kc al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +1.0 |
| Anderson, Grant 4828 | pi mr | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 | +1.0 |
| Mead, Curtis 5333 | dh ph | dc nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Wednesday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STL | Leahy, Kyle 5001 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| MIA | Junk, Janson 4697 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 6.4 | 6.4 |
| CIN | Williamson, Brandon* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| TB | Martinez, Nick 3430 | 1.0 | 7.7 | 29.8 | 36.5 |
| HOU | Lambert, Peter 4155 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 |
| CLE | Bibee, Tanner 4792 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 29.7 | 29.7 |
| BAL | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 59.5 | 78.6 |
| KC | Wacha, Michael 3276 | 2.0 | 12.1 | 49.0 | 83.7 |
| TOR | Lauer, Eric 4017 | 1.0 | 11.0 | 28.4 | 41.8 |
| LAA | Soriano, Jose 4884 | 7.0 | 19.7 | 23.7 | 23.7 |
| ATH | Civale, Aaron 4173 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 35.8 | 41.5 |
| SEA | Gilbert, Logan 4439 | 1.0 | 14.1 | 61.6 | 61.6 |
| MIL | Patrick, Chad 5131 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| DET | Mize, Casey 4377 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 |
| ATL | Perez, Martin 3213 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 23.2 | 42.9 |
| WSH | Littell, Zack 4533 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 21.1 | 21.1 |
| NYY | Fried, Max 4011 | 4.0 | 18.4 | 68.6 | 85.3 |
| BOS | Suarez, Ranger 4228 | 3.0 | 18.8 | 46.9 | 47.9 |
| MIN | Prielipp, Connor* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYM | Holmes, Clay 4022 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 18.0 | 19.0 |
| PHI | Backhus, Kyle* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CHC | Boyd, Matthew 3550 | 1.0 | 11.7 | 16.7 | 43.5 |
| PIT | Ashcraft, Braxton 5208 | 3.7 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.4 |
| TEX | Leiter, Jack 5132 | 1.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| SD | Buehler, Walker 3943 | 1.0 | 7.0 | 29.4 | 66.6 |
| COL | Sugano, Tomoyuki 5163 | 1.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| CHW | Kay, Anthony 4285 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| ARI | Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 28.7 | 72.9 |
| LAD | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | 2.7 | 8.2 | 79.4 | 93.9 |
| SF | Mahle, Tyler 3929 | 1.7 | 7.4 | 27.8 | 39.8 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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