Brewers’ Harrison tops players for Wednesday, May 20; Ohtani, Sale rise in top 10 list

Brewers pitcher Kyle Harrison is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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Brewers pitcher Kyle Harrison is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Wednesday, Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani and Braves pitcher Chris Sale rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both won Player of the Game honors.

Other Player of the Game winners Wednesday include Blue Jays pitcher Trey Yesavage, Ketel Marte of the Diamondbacks and Randy Arozarena of the Mariners.

Player of the Day: Kyle Harrison, Brewers

Harrison struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Cubs.

Harrison earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, 16th among all players and ninth among National League pitchers.

AL Player of the Day: Trey Yesavage, Blue Jays.

AL Player of the Day: Trey Yesavage, Blue Jays

Yesavage struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 2-1 win over the Yankees.

Yesavage earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points as American League Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, 35th among AL pitchers.

NL Batter of the Day: Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks.

NL Batter of the Day: Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks

Marte homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 6-3 win over the Giants.

AL Batter of the Day: Randy Arozarena, Mariners.

AL Batter of the Day: Randy Arozarena, Mariners

Arozarena homered and went 1-for-2, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 5-4 win over the White Sox.

Arozarena earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points as AL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, second among AL batters, behind Jeremiah Jackson of the Orioles (4.2 points).

Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers, rises from eighth to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings Wednesday.

Rankings: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2026 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Wednesday, May 20.
  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 Shohei Ohtani pi sp dh Dodgers 7.7
6 Braxton Ashcraft pi sp Pirates 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
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Ohtani rises from eighth to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors as a pitcher Wednesday.

Ohtani (5IP 3H 0R 2BB 4K W in the 4-0 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.7 for the season. He ranks third among NL pitchers, behind Paul Skenes of the Pirates and Cristopher Sánchez of the Phillies, both with 9.0 points. He increases his lead among NL batters, ahead of Sal Stewart of the Reds (5.0 points), who rose to second place after winning Player of the Game honors Wednesday (HR 2B 4-5 3R 2BI in the 9-4 win over the Phillies).

Ohtani also served as designated hitter Wednesday (HR 1-4 2R BI), recording a 0.0 Box-Topper game score, less than the +4.0 game score he posted as a pitcher.

Ohtani has now earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors six times in 2026, four as a pitcher (earning 5.7 total points) and twice as a designated hitter (earning 2.0 total points). Because he has more than 25 percent of his Player of the Game honors as a batter (33.3 percent) and a pitcher (66.7 percent), he qualifies to rank at both positions with his full 7.7 Box-Toppers point total. However, his 2.0 Box-Toppers points earned as a designated hitter would rank him 28th among NL batters and his 5.7 points earned as a pitcher would rank him 11th among NL pitchers.

Ohtani now has 98.9 career Box-Toppers points, 53.3 earned as a pitcher and 45.7 as a batter.

Chris Sale, Braves, rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

All-time leaders

Here are Box-Toppers top 10 players since record keeping began in 1995:
  Player Pos Team BTP
1 Randy Johnson pi sp Retired 282.5
2 Clayton Kershaw pi sp Retired 280.8
3 Max Scherzer pi sp Blue Jays 257.7
4 Justin Verlander pi sp Tigers 250.0
5 Pedro Martinez pi sp Retired 244.8
6 Zack Greinke pi sp Free agent 224.5
7 Albert Pujols 1b Retired 207.8
8 CC Sabathia pi sp Retired 203.4
9 Curt Schilling pi sp Retired 194.1
10 Chris Sale pi sp Braves 190.5
BTP: Box-Toppers points

Rankings: Chris Sale, Braves

Sale rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Sale (7IP 4H R 0BB 8K W in the 9-1 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.7 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL pitchers.

Sale also now has 190.5 career Box-Toppers points, 10th among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails ninth-ranked player, Curt Schilling (194.1), on the “all-time” list. (It should be noted that Schilling would have an estimated 232 career points if his entire career from 1988 were tracked.)

Sale ranks third among active players in career points, behind Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer (257.7) and Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander (250.0). Sale ranks first among active NL pitchers, ahead of Yu Darvish of the Padres (144.4).

Konnor Griffin of the Pirates made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Debut

Konnor Griffin of the Pirates made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Griffin (4-5 3R 0BI in the 7-0 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut April 3 and was playing in his 43rd career game.

Scoring

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

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

  • Marte and Arozarena 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).
5/20 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
MLB +15.0 MIL 5, CHC 0 Kyle Harrison (W, 5‑1)   7.0 2 0 0 1 11
AL +12.0 TOR 2, NYY 1 Trey Yesavage (W, 2‑1)   6.0 2 0 0 0 8
  +9.0 ATL 9, MIA 1 Chris Sale (W, 7‑3)   7.0 4 1 1 0 8
  +9.0 MIN 4, HOU 1 Joe Ryan (W, 3‑3)   6.0 4 1 1 0 9
  +6.0 `CLE 3, DET 2 (F/10) Tanner Bibee   8.0 4 1 1 1 5
BAT +5.0 ARI 6, SF 3 Ketel Marte 2B 3 3 3 2  
  +5.0 TEX 5, COL 4 Jacob Latz (W, 1‑1)   2.0 1 0 0 0 4
  +4.0 CIN 9, PHI 4 Sal Stewart 3B‑1B 5 3 4 2  
BAT +4.0 SEA 5, CHW 4 Randy Arozarena LF 2 3 1 2  
  +4.0 LAD 4, SD 0 Shohei Ohtani (W, 4‑2)   5.0 3 0 0 2 4
  +3.0 WSH 8, NYM 4 CJ Abrams SS 4 2 2 3  
  +3.0 `ATH 6, LAA 5 (F/10) Luis Medina   2.0 1 0 0 0 2
  +2.0 PIT 7, STL 0 Konnor Griffin SS 5 3 4 0  
  +2.0 `TB 5, BAL 3 Steven Matz   4.0 3 1 1 2 5
  +1.1 `BOS 4, KC 3 Greg Weissert (H, 4)   1.1 1 0 0 0 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 +/‑
Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh lad nl 7.7 13.2 84.4 98.9 +2.2
Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp atl nl 6.7 18.1 47.9 190.5 -4.7
Harrison, Kyle 4914 pi sp mil nl 6.0 8.0 16.0 16.0 +4.0
Stewart, Sal 5288 1b 3b cin nl 5.0 7.5 7.5 7.5 +2.5
Arozarena, Randy 4331 lf sea al 4.0 9.5 28.0 29.5 -1.5
Ryan, Joe 4539 pi sp min al 3.0 14.7 50.5 50.5 -8.7
Abrams, CJ 4688 ss dc nl 3.0 5.0 10.0 10.0 +1.0
Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp tb al 3.0 5.0 22.1 54.4 +1.0
Yesavage, Trey 5287 pi sp tor al 2.7 3.7 3.7 3.7 +1.7
Latz, Jacob 5204 pi cp tex al 2.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 -2.0
Marte, Ketel 3630 2b ari nl 1.5 7.0 22.0 36.0 -4.0
Bibee, Tanner 4792 pi sp cle al 1.0 8.0 30.7 30.7 -6.0
Weissert, Greg 4724 pi mr cp bos al 1.0 2.0 7.0 7.0 0.0
Medina, Luis 4876 pi mr sp oak al 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 +1.0
Griffin, Konnor 5363 ss pit nl 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
CLE Cantillo, Joey 5106 3.0 8.7 11.7 11.7
DET Mize, Casey 4377 1.0 8.0 15.7 15.7
PIT Ashcraft, Braxton 5208 7.7 12.4 12.4 12.4
STL May, Dustin 4214 2.0 7.7 15.4 19.4
NYM Peterson, David 4347 1.0 6.7 22.4 24.4
WSH Cavalli, Cade 5244 0.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
ATL Strider, Spencer 4626 2.0 7.0 42.5 42.5
MIA Alcantara, Sandy 4061 4.0 12.0 49.8 59.2
TOR Fisher, Braydon 5316 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
NYY Rodon, Carlos 3494 0.0 13.7 58.9 84.0
ATH Severino, Luis 3567 1.0 5.0 24.1 69.9
LAA Soriano, Jose 4884 8.0 20.7 24.7 24.7
COL Agnos, Zach 5315 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
ARI Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 2.0 6.7 30.7 74.9
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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