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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▪️ Support Box-Toppers
Athletics pitcher Luis Severino is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Pirates pitcher Braxton Ashcraft also reclaimed the overall lead in Box-Toppers season rankings after winning National League 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 Thursday, May 21.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Braxton Ashcraft | pi sp | Pirates | 9.4 |
| 2 | Paul Skenes | pi sp | Pirates | 9.0 |
| 3 | Cristopher Sánchez | pi sp | Phillies | 9.0 |
| 4 | José Soriano | pi sp | Angels | 8.0 |
| 5 | Cam Schlittler | pi sp | Yankees | 7.7 |
| 6 | Shohei Ohtani | pi sp dh | Dodgers | 7.7 |
| 7 | Max Fried | pi sp | Yankees | 7.0 |
| 8 | Gavin Williams | pi sp | Guardians | 6.7 |
| 9 | Chris Sale | pi sp | Braves | 6.7 |
| 10 | Davis Martin | pi sp | White Sox | 6.7 |
Player of the Day: Luis Severino, Athletics
Severino struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing two runs, three hits and no walks, in the 3-2, 10-inning win over the Angels. Severino did not earn the win because the game was tied when he exited.
Severino earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, 77th among all players and 30th among American League pitchers.
NL Player of the Day: Braxton Ashcraft, Pirates
Ashcraft struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and two walks, in the 6-2 win over the Cardinals.
Ashcraft earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points, jumping from sixth to first place overall with 9.4 points. He leapfrogged previous leader and teammate Paul Skenes (9.0), while also taking the lead among NL pitchers
Ashcraft previously led season player rankings for one day, May 9 with 7.7 points, before he was passed by Angels pitcher José Soriano on May 10 (8.0 points).
NL Batter of the Day: Mike Yastrzemski, Braves
Yastrzemski homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-3 win over the Marlins.
Thursday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Box-Toppers review of the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest B-T game scores:
⬛ Nationals’ Cavalli posts Thursday’s best game score among non-Player of the Game winners
AL Batter of the Day
There is no AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because no AL batter won Player of the Game honors in the seven games completed.
Scoring
Severino earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points as Player of the Day.
Ashcraft earns 1.7 points as NL Player of the Day.
Yastrzemski earns 1.5 points as NL 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).| 5/21 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +10.0 | `ATH 3, LAA 2 (F/10) | Luis Severino | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 | |
| NL | +8.0 | PIT 6, STL 2 | Braxton Ashcraft (W, 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | |
| +7.1 | `TOR 2, NYY 0 | Spencer Miles (H, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +6.0 | `ARI 2, COL 1 | Eduardo Rodriguez | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +5.2 | CLE 3, DET 1 | Joey Cantillo (W, 4‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | ATL 9, MIA 3 | Mike Yastrzemski LF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | `NYM 2, WSH 1 | Brooks Raley (H, 8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashcraft, Braxton 5208 | pi sp | pit nl | 9.4 | 14.1 | 14.1 | 14.1 | +4.7 |
| Cantillo, Joey 5106 | pi sp | cle al | 4.0 | 9.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 | -1.7 |
| Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | ari nl | 3.0 | 7.7 | 31.7 | 75.9 | -1.7 |
| Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | oak al | 3.0 | 7.0 | 26.1 | 71.9 | -1.0 |
| Yastrzemski, Mike 4203 | rf lf ph | atl nl | 2.5 | 6.5 | 16.0 | 18.0 | -1.5 |
| Miles, Spencer 5357 | pi mr | tor al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Raley, Brooks 4336 | pi mr cp | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 | +1.0 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOU | Arrighetti, Spencer 5022 | 4.4 | 5.4 | 12.1 | 12.1 |
| CHC | Taillon, Jameson 3658 | 1.0 | 11.1 | 44.2 | 70.6 |
| CLE | Williams, Gavin 4865 | 6.7 | 18.4 | 26.1 | 26.1 |
| PHI | Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 | 9.0 | 24.4 | 39.8 | 39.8 |
| STL | Leahy, Kyle 5001 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| CIN | Paddack, Chris 4093 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 17.7 | 36.5 |
| TB | Martinez, Nick 3430 | 3.0 | 9.7 | 31.8 | 38.5 |
| NYY | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 64.5 | 165.0 |
| PIT | Chandler, Bubba 5269 | 1.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| TOR | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | 3.0 | 17.1 | 72.2 | 115.2 |
| MIN | Prielipp, Connor* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BOS | Tolle, Payton 5348 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| NYM | Myers, Tobias 5026 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| MIA | Perez, Eury 4814 | 1.7 | 8.7 | 14.7 | 14.7 |
| DET | Flaherty, Jack 3971 | 1.0 | 9.4 | 32.4 | 66.7 |
| BAL | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | 1.0 | 8.0 | 60.5 | 79.6 |
| WSH | Mikolas, Miles 3034 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 29.8 | 47.2 |
| ATL | Elder, Bryce 4709 | 4.7 | 9.7 | 24.4 | 24.4 |
| LAD | Wrobleski, Justin 5062 | 2.7 | 8.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 |
| MIL | Henderson, Logan 5150 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| SEA | Gilbert, Logan 4439 | 1.0 | 14.1 | 61.6 | 61.6 |
| KC | Cameron, Noah 5167 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| TEX | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | 5.7 | 16.7 | 51.5 | 156.9 |
| LAA | Rodriguez, Grayson 4790 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| ATH | Springs, Jeffrey 4372 | 4.0 | 12.7 | 35.1 | 35.1 |
| SD | Buehler, Walker 3943 | 1.0 | 7.0 | 29.4 | 66.6 |
| COL | Sugano, Tomoyuki 5163 | 1.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| ARI | Soroka, Michael 3956 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 21.4 |
| CHW | Martin, Davis 4657 | 6.7 | 9.7 | 14.7 | 14.7 |
| SF | McDonald, Trevor 5297 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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