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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Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler is Sunday’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 Sunday, May 17.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Skenes | pi sp | Pirates | 9.0 |
| 2 | Cristopher Sánchez | pi sp | Phillies | 9.0 |
| 3 | José Soriano | pi sp | Angels | 8.0 |
| 4 | Cam Schlittler | pi sp | Yankees | 7.7 |
| 5 | Braxton Ashcraft | pi sp | Pirates | 7.7 |
| 6 | Max Fried | pi sp | Yankees | 7.0 |
| 7 | Gavin Williams | pi sp | Guardians | 6.7 |
| 8 | Shohei Ohtani | pi sp dh | Dodgers | 6.7 |
| 9 | Davis Martin | pi sp | White Sox | 6.7 |
| 10 | Dylan Cease | pi sp | Blue Jays | 6.4 |
Other Player of the Game winners Sunday include Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman, Gavin Sheets of the Padres and Edgar Quero of the White Sox.
Player of the Day: Zack Wheeler, Phillies
Wheeler struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 6-0 win over the Pirates.
Wheeler earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, 31st among all players and 13th among National League pitchers.
Wheeler also now has 129.1 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 40th place among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. With his 2.0 points Sunday, he leaps past seven players on the “all-time” career points list:
Roy Oswalt (127.2)
John Lackey (127.2)
Red Sox pitcher Sonny Gray (127.3)
Jered Weaver (127.5)
A.J. Burnett (127.8)
Vladimir Guerrero (128.3)
Trevor Hoffman (128.4)
(Among these players, Hoffman is the only one whose career began before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. If his entire career from 1993 were tracked, his career total would be about 135.)
Wheeler now trails 39th-ranked player Jason Giambi (133.4).
Passing Gray, Wheeler now ranks seventh among active, signed players in career points and third among active NL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the Braves (189.5) and Yu Darvish of the Padres (144.4).
AL Player of the Day: Nathan Eovaldi, Rangers
Eovaldi struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and two walks, in the 8-0 win over the Astros.
Sunday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Box-Toppers review of the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest B-T game scores:
⬛ Box-Toppers points leader Skenes records negative game score in Sunday loss to Phillies
Eovaldi earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points as American League Player of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season, 13th among all players and seventh among AL pitchers.
Eovaldi also now has 102.4 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 86th place among all players since tracking began in 1995. With his 1.7 points Sunday, he passes six players on the “all-time” career points list:
Matt Holliday (100.8)
Jason Schmidt (101.2)
Mark Teixeira (101.3)
Tim Wakefield (101.3)
Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2)
Miguel Tejada (102.3)
(Among these players, Wakefield and Griffey both began their careers before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. If Wakefield’s entire career from 1992 were tracked, he would have about 110 points. If Griffey’s entire career from 1989 were tracked, he would have about 140 points.)
Eovaldi now trails 85th-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0).
Eovaldi ranks 14th among active, signed players in career points, eighth among active AL pitchers.
NL Batter of the Day: Gavin Sheets, Padres
Sheets hit two home runs, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-3 win over the Mariners.
AL Batter of the Day: Edgar Quero, White Sox
Quero hit a walk-off, 10th-inning, two-run home run in the 9-8, 10-inning win over the Cubs. Quero went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs.
Career Box-Toppers points—Active AL pitchers 1—Max Scherzer #BlueJays 257.7 2—Justin Verlander #Tigers 250.0 3—Gerrit Cole #Yankees 165.0 4—Jacob deGrom #Rangers 156.9 5—Sonny Gray #RedSox 127.3 6—Kevin Gausman #BlueJays 115.2* *Earns 1.0 B-T point Sunday
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) 8:33 AM · May 18, 2026
Notable: Kevin Gausman, Blue Jays
Gausman now has 115.2 career Box-Toppers points—rising to 62nd-most since tracking began in 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Gausman (6IP 4H 0R 0BB 5K W in the 4-1 win over the Tigers), with his 1.0 point Sunday passes three players on the “all-time” careeer points list—Ervin Santana (114.4), Josh Beckett (114.9) and Tim Lincecum (115.0). He now trails 61st-ranked player, Torii Hunter (115.9).
Gausman ranks 10th among active, signed players in career points, sixth among active AL pitchers.
Gausman has 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2026, 22nd among AL pitchers.
Debut
Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Sasaki (7IP 4H R 0BB 8K W in the 10-1 win over the Angels) made his Major League debut March 19, 2025, and was playing in his 18th career game.
Scoring
Wheeler earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points as Player of the Day.
Eovaldi earns 1.7 points as AL Player of the Day.
Sheets and Quero each earn 1.5 points as their league’s Batter of the Day.
All of Sunday’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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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—Zack Wheeler #Phillies 129.1* *Earns 2.0 B-T points Sunday
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) 8:18 AM · May 18, 2026
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).| 5/17 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +10.0 | PHI 6, PIT 0 | Zack Wheeler (W, 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| +9.0 | LAD 10, LAA 1 | Roki Sasaki (W, 2‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| AL | +8.0 | TEX 8, HOU 0 | Nathan Eovaldi (W, 5‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| +7.0 | TOR 4, DET 1 | Kevin Gausman (W, 3‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +6.0 | SD 8, SEA 3 | Gavin Sheets LF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.1 | KC 2, STL 0 | Stephen Kolek (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +4.1 | BAL 7, WSH 3 | Anthony Nunez (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +4.0 | ARI 8, COL 6 | Corbin Carroll RF | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | ATL 8, BOS 1 | Grant Holmes (W, 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | CHW 9, CHC 8 (F/10) | Edgar Quero C | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | SF 10, ATH 1 | Harrison Bader CF | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | CLE 10, CIN 3 | Kyle Manzardo 1B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | MIN 5, MIL 4 | Ryan Jeffers DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | NYM 7, NYY 6 (F/10) | Tyrone Taylor PH‑LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | TB 6, MIA 3 | Junior Caminero 3B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | tex al | 5.7 | 20.1 | 62.9 | 102.4 | -8.7 |
| Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 4.0 | 24.1 | 95.7 | 129.1 | -16.1 |
| Carroll, Corbin 4818 | rf | ari nl | 3.5 | 8.7 | 15.2 | 15.2 | -1.7 |
| Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | tor al | 3.0 | 17.1 | 72.2 | 115.2 | -11.1 |
| Sheets, Gavin 4457 | lf dh | sd nl | 2.5 | 9.0 | 20.5 | 20.5 | -4.0 |
| Jeffers, Ryan 4432 | ca dh | min al | 2.0 | 8.7 | 18.9 | 18.9 | -4.7 |
| Holmes, Grant 5127 | pi sp | atl nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -1.0 |
| Manzardo, Kyle 5114 | 1b dh ph | cle al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 0.0 |
| Nunez, Anthony 5334 | pi cp mr | bal al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Quero, Edgar 5172 | ca | chi al | 1.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | -0.5 |
| Caminero, Junior 5089 | 3b | tb al | 1.0 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | -8.0 |
| Kolek, Stephen 5046 | pi sp | kc al | 1.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -4.0 |
| Bader, Harrison 4071 | cf | sf nl | 1.0 | 4.0 | 11.0 | 14.0 | -2.0 |
| Taylor, Tyrone 4393 | lf ph | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | +1.0 |
| Sasaki, Roki 5358 | pi sp | lad 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 Monday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATL | Ritchie, JR* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIA | Meyer, Max 4965 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| BAL | Rogers, Trevor 4311 | 1.0 | 12.7 | 27.7 | 28.7 |
| TB | McClanahan, Shane 4399 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 34.8 | 34.8 |
| CIN | Lodolo, Nick 4586 | 0.0 | 9.7 | 25.7 | 25.7 |
| PHI | Painter, Andrew 5302 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| CLE | Cecconi, Slade 4913 | 1.0 | 7.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| DET | Valdez, Framber 4048 | 3.0 | 14.7 | 61.1 | 71.5 |
| NYM | Scott, Christian 5344 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| WSH | Irvin, Jake 4805 | 2.0 | 9.7 | 22.7 | 22.7 |
| TOR | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 29.8 | 104.4 |
| NYY | Weathers, Ryan 4388 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| BOS | Gray, Sonny 3259 | 3.0 | 17.0 | 58.3 | 127.3 |
| KC | Lugo, Seth 3729 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 28.5 | 44.5 |
| HOU | Imai, Tatsua 5307 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| MIN | Rojas, Kendry* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIL | Sproat, Brandon 5324 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| CHC | Imanaga, Shota 4960 | 5.0 | 12.0 | 32.7 | 32.7 |
| TEX | Gore, MacKenzie 4582 | 4.0 | 12.7 | 32.4 | 32.4 |
| COL | Quintana, Jose 3040 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 25.4 | 96.1 |
| ATH | Ginn, J.T. 5142 | 3.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 |
| LAA | Ureña, Walbert 5350 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| CHW | Schultz, Noah 5330 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| SEA | Woo, Bryan 4842 | 4.7 | 22.7 | 43.1 | 43.1 |
| LAD | Yamamoto, Yoshinobu 4964 | 3.7 | 21.4 | 27.8 | 27.8 |
| SD | King, Michael 4549 | 2.0 | 6.4 | 33.8 | 33.8 |
| SF | Ray, Robbie 3502 | 2.7 | 12.1 | 47.9 | 92.0 |
| ARI | Gallen, Zac 4171 | 1.0 | 13.7 | 65.5 | 77.2 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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