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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Reds pitcher Chase Burns is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Phillies pitcher Jesús Luzardo rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Other Player of the Game winners Thursday include Twins pitcher Zebby Matthews, Randal Grichuk of the White Sox and Ryan O'Hearn of the Pirates.
Player of the Day: Chase Burns, Reds
Burns struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 15-1 win over the Nationals.
Burns earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, 37th among all players and 16th among National League pitchers.
AL Player of the Day: Zebby Matthews, Twins
Matthews struck out five over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 9-1 win over the Marlins.
Matthews earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being American League Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and is 45th among AL pitchers.
AL Batter of the Day: Randal Grichuk, White Sox
Grichuk homered and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 6-2 win over the Royals.
Grichuk earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons from 2015 to 2024 but earned no points in 2025, playing in 113 games for the Diamondbacks and Royals. His 48.4 career Box-Toppers points ranks 11th among active AL batters.
NL Batter of the Day: Ryan O’Hearn, Pirates
O’Hearn homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-2 win over the Rockies.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2026 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Thursday, May 14.| 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 | Jesús Luzardo | pi sp | Phillies | 6.0 |
| 9 | Chris Sale | pi sp | Braves | 5.7 |
| 10 | Jacob deGrom | pi sp | Rangers | 5.7 |
Thursday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Box-Toppers review of the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest B-T game scores:
⬛ Thursday’s top mound duel: Suárez has higher game score, but Luzardo is Player of the Game
Rankings: Jesús Luzardo, Phillies
Luzardo rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Luzardo (6IP 4H 0R BB 4K ND in the 3-1 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.
Scoring
Burns earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points as Player of the Day.
Matthews earns 1.7 points as AL Player of the Day.
Grichuk and O’Hearn each earn 1.5 points as 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).| 5/14 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.0 | CIN 15, WSH 1 | Chase Burns (W, 5‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| +9.0 | `CHC 2, ATL 0 | Ben Brown | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| AL | +7.0 | MIN 9, MIA 1 | Zebby Matthews (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| +7.0 | MIL 7, SD 1 | Kyle Harrison (W, 4‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| +5.0 | `PHI 3, BOS 1 | Jesús Luzardo | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | CHW 6, KC 2 | Randal Grichuk LF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | LAD 5, SF 2 | Emmet Sheehan (W, 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | PIT 7, COL 2 | Ryan O’Hearn RF‑1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | STL 5, ATH 4 | Riley O’Brien (S, 13) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | SEA 8, HOU 3 | Luke Raley CF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | NYM 9, DET 4 | Marcus Semien 2B | 3 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | pi sp | phi nl | 6.0 | 23.4 | 54.6 | 59.3 | -11.4 |
| Harrison, Kyle 4914 | pi sp | mil nl | 4.0 | 6.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | +2.0 |
| Burns, Chase 5301 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Raley, Luke 4868 | rf cf | sea al | 3.5 | 3.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | +3.5 |
| Brown, Ben 4967 | pi sp mr | chi nl | 3.0 | 8.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | -2.0 |
| O’Brien, Riley 5280 | pi cp | stl nl | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +1.0 |
| Semien, Marcus 3302 | 2b | nym nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 26.9 | 52.1 | -1.0 |
| Sheehan, Emmet 4886 | pi sp | lad nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 9.7 | 9.7 | -1.0 |
| Matthews, Zebby 5186 | pi sp | min al | 1.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | -2.3 |
| O’Hearn, Ryan 4043 | rf 1b dh | pit nl | 1.5 | 6.0 | 15.0 | 19.5 | -3.0 |
| Grichuk, Randal 3474 | lf dh | chi al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 18.5 | 48.4 | +1.5 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHI | Nola, Aaron 3569 | 2.7 | 8.4 | 60.5 | 123.5 |
| PIT | Ashcraft, Braxton 5208 | 7.7 | 12.4 | 12.4 | 12.4 |
| TOR | Yesavage, Trey 5287 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| DET | Madden, Ty* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BAL | Baz, Shane 4560 | 1.0 | 11.7 | 17.4 | 17.4 |
| WSH | Littell, Zack 4533 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 21.1 | 21.1 |
| CIN | Abbott, Andrew 4839 | 1.0 | 11.7 | 27.7 | 27.7 |
| CLE | Bibee, Tanner 4792 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 29.7 | 29.7 |
| MIA | Junk, Janson 4697 | 2.0 | 6.7 | 8.4 | 8.4 |
| TB | Scholtens, Jesse 5321 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| NYY | Schlittler, Cam 5261 | 5.7 | 13.1 | 13.1 | 13.1 |
| NYM | Holmes, Clay 4022 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 19.0 | 20.0 |
| MIL | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIN | Ryan, Joe 4539 | 2.0 | 13.7 | 49.5 | 49.5 |
| BOS | Early, Connelly 5282 | 2.0 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| ATL | Strider, Spencer 4626 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 42.5 | 42.5 |
| CHC | Cabrera, Edward 4641 | 2.0 | 13.7 | 25.8 | 25.8 |
| CHW | Burke, Sean 5124 | 2.7 | 6.4 | 7.4 | 7.4 |
| TEX | Leiter, Jack 5132 | 2.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 |
| HOU | Arrighetti, Spencer 5022 | 3.4 | 4.4 | 11.1 | 11.1 |
| KC | Wacha, Michael 3276 | 4.7 | 14.8 | 51.7 | 86.4 |
| STL | May, Dustin 4214 | 2.0 | 7.7 | 15.4 | 19.4 |
| ARI | Kelly, Merrill 4143 | 1.0 | 13.7 | 42.7 | 54.7 |
| COL | Freeland, Kyle 3763 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 25.7 | 46.1 |
| LAD | Snell, Blake 3688 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 61.9 | 111.8 |
| LAA | Kochanowicz, Jack 5094 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| SD | Vasquez, Randy 4841 | 5.4 | 10.8 | 13.8 | 13.8 |
| SEA | Hancock, Emerson 4985 | 2.0 | 4.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| SF | Mahle, Tyler 3929 | 3.4 | 9.1 | 29.5 | 41.5 |
| ATH | Civale, Aaron 4173 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 35.8 | 41.5 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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