Dodgers’ Ohtani tops players for Wednesday, May 13; Blue Jays’ Cease rises to 7th place

Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2026 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Wednesday, May 13.
  Player Pos Team BTP
1 Paul Skenes pi sp Pirates 9.0
2 José Soriano pi sp Angels 8.0
3 Braxton Ashcraft pi sp Pirates 7.7
4 Cristopher Sánchez pi sp Phillies 7.0
5 Max Fried pi sp Yankees 7.0
6 Gavin Williams pi sp Guardians 6.7
7 Dylan Cease pi sp Blue Jays 6.4
8 Chris Sale pi sp Braves 5.7
9 Jacob deGrom pi sp Rangers 5.7
10 Cam Schlittler pi sp Yankees 5.7
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Also Wednesday, Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease rises to seventh in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Other Player of the Game winners Wednesday include Orioles pitcher Kyle Bradish, Red Sox pitcher Sonny Gray, Mickey Moniak of the Rockies and Nick Kurtz of the Athletics.

Player of the Day: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers

Ohtani struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks, in the 4-0 win over the Giants.

Ohtani earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season, rising to 12th among all players and fifth among National League pitchers.

Ohtani, just more than a month into the season, has already exceeded his 2025 Box-Toppers point total of 5.5, which was 27th among NL batters, a rather low total given his status as the NL Most Valuable Player. But Othani and other MVP favorites, like Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh, did not perform well in Box-Toppers in 2025 because they were often beaten for Player of the Game honors by teammates who performed better in games. (More on this: Why Judge, Raleigh, Ohtani don’t appear on Box-Toppers’ 2025 MVP ballots.) However, when Ohtani was also voted NL MVP in 2024, he led NL batters with 11.0 Box-Toppers points.

Wednesday was Ohtani’s fourth Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor of 2026 and his third as a pitcher. Because he now only has one of his four Player of the Game honors as a designated hitter (25 percent), Ohtani no longer ranks among batters in Box-Toppers rankings. To be ranked at a certain position, a player must have more than 25 percent of their Player of the Game honors at that position. Consequently, Ohtani has dropped from the batter rankings and now appears exclusively in the pitcher rankings.

The last time Ohtani finished a season ranking only among pitchers was 2022 with the Angels, his best season, when he had 24.7 points, second overall and second among American League pitchers. He was Player of the Game 17 times in 2022, four as a designated hitter (23.5 percent) and 13 as a pitcher (76.5 percent).

Ohtani now has 96.9 career Box-Toppers points, 52.2 earned as a pitcher and 44.7 earned as a batter.

AL Player of the Day: Kyle Bradish, Orioles.

AL Player of the Day: Kyle Bradish, Orioles

Bradish struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and three walks, in the 7-0 win over the Yankees.

Bradish earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and is 49th among AL pitchers.

NL Batter of the Day: Mickey Moniak, Rockies.

NL Batter of the Day: Mickey Moniak, Rockies

Moniak hit a three-run home run, tripled, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring once and driving in five runs, in the 10-4 win over the Pirates.

AL Batter of the Day: Nick Kurtz, Athletics.

AL Batter of the Day: Nick Kurtz, Athletics

Kurtz hit a grand slam, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 6-2 win over the Cardinals.

Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease rises to seventh in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Rankings: Dylan Cease, Blue Jays

Cease rises to seventh in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Cease (7IP 3H R 3BB 9K ND in the 5-3, 10-inning win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.4 for the season. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.

Sonny Gray, Red Sox, now has 127.3 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 44th among all players since tracking began in 1995..

Career Box-Toppers points—active players 1—Max Scherzer #BlueJays 257.7 2—Justin Verlander #Tigers 250.0 3—Chris Sale #Braves 189.5 4—Gerrit Cole #Yankees 165.0 5—Jacob deGrom #Rangers 156.9 6—Yu Darvish #Padres 144.4 7—Sonny Gray #RedSox 127.3* *Earns 1.0 B-T point Wednesday

— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) 8:43 AM · May 14, 2026

Wednesday’s Sidelights Sidebar

Box-Toppers review of the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest B-T game scores:

Misiorowski records Wednesday’s highest B‑T game score but fails to win Player of the Game

Notable: Sonny Gray, Red Sox

Gray now has 127.3 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 44th among all players since tracking began in 1995, after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Gray (6IP 2H R BB 6K W in the 3-1 win over the Phillies) passes four players on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list after earning 1.0 point Wednesday—Mariano Rivera (126.4), Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler (127.1), Roy Oswalt (127.2) and John Lackey (127.2). (Wheeler passed Gray on the career points list Tuesday.) Gray now trails 43rd-ranked player Jered Weaver (127.8).

Passing Wheeler, Gray ranks seventh among active, signed players in career points, fifth among active AL pitchers.

Gray now has 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2026, 22nd among AL pitchers.

Debut

White Sox relief pitcher Tyler Davis made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Davis (1.2IP 0H 0R BB 2K W in the 6-5 win over the Royals) made his Major League debut April 25 and was playing in his seventh career game.

Scoring

  • Ohtani earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points as Player of the Day.

  • Bradish earns 1.7 points as AL Player of the Day.

  • Moniak and Kurtz each earn 1.5 points as their league’s 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.

Help us stay accurate! Spot a mistake? Contact Box-Toppers here so we can fix it.

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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).
5/13 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
MLB +9.0 LAD 4, SF 0 Shohei Ohtani (W, 3‑2)   7.0 4 0 0 2 8
AL +9.0 BAL 7, NYY 0 Kyle Bradish (W, 2‑5)   6.0 1 0 0 3 7
  +8.0 `TOR 5, TB 3 (F/10) Dylan Cease   7.0 3 1 1 3 9
  +7.0 BOS 3, PHI 1 Sonny Gray (W, 4‑1)   6.0 2 1 1 1 6
  +4.1 `NYM 3, DET 2 (F/10) Huascar Brazobán   2.1 0 0 0 0 2
BAT +4.0 COL 10, PIT 4 Mickey Moniak CF‑LF 5 1 3 5  
BAT +4.0 ATH 6, STL 2 Nick Kurtz 1B 4 2 2 4  
  +4.0 CLE 4, LAA 2 Cade Smith (S, 13)   1.0 0 0 0 0 3
  +4.0 `WSH 8, CIN 7 (F/10) Mitchell Parker   3.0 0 0 0 1 2
  +3.1 `HOU 4, SEA 3 (F/10) Enyel De Los Santos   1.1 0 0 0 0 2
  +3.0 TEX 6, ARI 5 Jake Burger 1B 4 1 2 4  
  +2.2 CHW 6, KC 5 Tyler Davis (W, 1‑1)   1.2 0 0 0 1 2
  +2.0 SD 3, MIL 1 Gavin Sheets LF 4 1 2 3  
  +2.0 MIA 9, MIN 5 Xavier Edwards 2B 4 3 2 1  
  +2.0 ATL 4, CHC 1 Mike Yastrzemski PH‑RF 1 1 1 1  
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.
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 (+/-).
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Player of the Game Pos Team ’26 ’25‑26 ’21‑26 Career +/‑
Cease, Dylan 4231 pi sp tor al 6.4 15.1 81.0 83.0 -2.3
Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp lad nl 5.7 11.2 82.4 96.9 +0.2
Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp bos al 3.0 17.0 58.3 127.3 -11.0
Smith, Cade 5066 pi cp cle al 3.0 9.0 11.0 11.0 -3.0
Parker, Mitchell 4982 pi mr sp cp dc nl 2.0 5.0 11.0 11.0 -1.0
Edwards, Xavier 5122 2b fla nl 2.0 5.0 7.0 7.0 -1.0
Bradish, Kyle 4597 pi sp bal al 1.7 2.7 27.7 27.7 +0.7
Moniak, Mickey 4849 cf lf col nl 1.5 6.5 12.5 12.5 -3.5
Kurtz, Nick 5221 1b oak al 1.5 6.0 6.0 6.0 -3.0
Sheets, Gavin 4457 lf dh sd nl 1.0 7.5 19.0 19.0 -5.5
Yastrzemski, Mike 4203 rf ph atl nl 1.0 5.0 14.5 16.5 -3.0
Burger, Jake 4629 1b 3b dh tex al 1.0 2.5 12.2 12.2 -0.5
Brazoban, Huascar 4787 pi mr nym nl 1.0 2.0 5.7 5.7 0.0
De Los Santos, Enyel 4737 pi mr cp hou al 1.0 1.0 3.0 3.0 +1.0
Dyler, Tyler 5355 pi mr chi al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?
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.
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Game Starter ’26 ’25‑26 ’21‑26 Career
COL Dollander, Chase 5169 3.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
PIT Montgomery, Mason* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
WSH Griffin, Foster 5317 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
CIN Burns, Chase 5301 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
DET Montero, Keider 5057 1.0 5.0 9.7 9.7
NYM McLean, Nolan 5255 2.0 9.7 9.7 9.7
MIA Garrett, Braxton 4341 0.0 0.0 21.4 22.4
MIN Matthews, Zebby 5186 0.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
SD Canning, Griffin 4134 1.0 6.0 19.7 28.4
MIL Harrison, Kyle 4914 3.0 5.0 13.0 13.0
SEA Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 1.0 17.1 62.9 98.7
HOU Burrows, Mike 5196 1.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
STL McGreevy, Michael 5113 3.0 7.0 9.0 9.0
ATH Lopez, Jacob 5202 1.0 12.4 12.4 12.4
PHI Luzardo, Jesus 4282 5.0 22.4 53.6 58.3
BOS Suarez, Ranger 4228 5.0 20.8 48.9 49.9
CHC Brown, Ben 4967 2.0 7.0 12.0 12.0
ATL Sale, Chris 2806 5.7 17.1 46.9 189.5
KC Bubic, Kris 4413 4.7 13.4 18.4 18.4
CHW Kay, Anthony 4285 1.0 1.0 3.0 4.0
SF Roupp, Landen 5079 4.0 8.7 10.7 10.7
LAD Sheehan, Emmet 4886 1.0 4.0 8.7 8.7
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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