Marlins’ Meyer tops players for Saturday, May 2; Braves’ Sale rises to lead NL pitchers

Marlins pitcher Max Meyer is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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Marlins pitcher Max Meyer is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, while Braves ace Chris Sale rises to the top of National League pitching rankings.

Other Player of the Game winners Saturday include White Sox pitcher Sean Burke, Cody Bellinger of the Yankees and Marcell Ozuna of the Pirates.

Player of the Day: Max Meyer, Marlins

Meyer struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the Phillies.

Meyer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, 47th among all players and 17th among NL pitchers.

AL Player of the Day: Sean Burke, White Sox.

AL Player of the Day: Sean Burke, White Sox

Burke struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the Padres.

Burke earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being American League Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, 23rd among AL pitchers.

AL Batter of the Day: Cody Bellinger, Yankees.

AL Batter of the Day: Cody Bellinger, Yankees

Bellinger hit two home runs, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 9-4 win over the Orioles.

Bellinger earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 2.5 for the season, seventh among AL batters.

NL Batter of the Day: Marcell Ozuna, Pirates.

NL Batter of the Day: Marcell Ozuna, Pirates

Ozuna hit two doubles and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 17-7 win over the Reds.

Braves ace Chris Sale rises to the top of National League pitching rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2026 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Saturday, May 2.
  Player Pos Team BTP
1 Max Fried pi sp Yankees 7.0
2 José Soriano pi sp Angels 7.0
3 Gavin Williams pi sp Guardians 6.7
4 Chris Sale pi sp Braves 5.7
5 Cam Schlittler pi sp Yankees 5.7
6 Tyler Glasnow pi sp Dodgers 5.7
7 Randy Vásquez pi sp Padres 5.4
8 Paul Skenes pi sp Pirates 5.0
9 Ranger Suárez pi sp Red Sox 5.0
10 Taj Bradley pi sp Twins 4.7
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Rankings: Chris Sale, Braves

Sale rises to first place among National League pitchers in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Sale (7IP 3H R 3BB 11K W in the 9-1 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.7 for the season, rising from ninth to fourth place among all players. He passes the previous NL pitching leader, Tyler Glasnow of the Dodgers. Though Sale and Glasnow both have 5.7 points, Sale ranks higher on a tiebreaker with more 2025 points—11.4 vs. 5.0.

Sale also now has 189.5 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.)

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 189.5
BTP: Box-Toppers points

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).

Debut

Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:

  • Angels pitcher Sam Bachman (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K ND in the 4-3, 10-inning win over the Mets) made his Major League debut May 26, 2023, and was playing in his 46th career game.

  • Hunter Feduccia of the Rays (2B SAC 1-1 R 0BI in the 5-1 win over the Giants) made his Major League debut July 31, 2024, and was playing in his 60th career game.

Scoring

  • Meyer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.

  • Burke earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.

  • Bellinger and Ozuna each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day.

  • All of Saturday’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).
5/2 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
MLB +12.0 MIA 4, PHI 0 Max Meyer (W, 2‑0)   7.0 1 0 0 1 7
  +10.0 ATL 9, COL 1 Chris Sale (W, 6‑1)   7.0 3 1 1 3 11
AL +9.0 CHW 4, SD 0 Sean Burke (W, 2‑2)   6.0 4 0 0 1 8
BAT +7.0 NYY 9, BAL 4 Cody Bellinger LF 4 3 4 4  
  +7.0 CHC 2, ARI 0 Shota Imanaga (W, 3‑2)   7.0 4 0 0 1 5
  +4.2 `LAA 4, NYM 3 (F/10) Sam Bachman   1.2 0 0 0 0 3
BAT +4.0 PIT 17, CIN 7 Marcell Ozuna DH 5 3 3 3  
  +4.0 CLE 14, ATH 6 Kyle Manzardo PH‑1B 1 1 1 3  
  +3.0 HOU 6, BOS 3 Christian Walker 1B 4 2 3 2  
  +3.0 TOR 11, MIN 4 Myles Straw RF 2 2 1 2  
  +3.0 STL 3, LAD 2 Michael McGreevy (W, 2‑2)   6.0 3 0 0 3 3
  +3.0 KC 3, SEA 2 (F/10) Lucas Erceg (S, 9)   1.0 0 0 0 0 2
  +2.0 DET 5, TEX 1 Dillon Dingler C 4 1 2 3  
  +1.0 TB 5, SF 1 Hunter Feduccia C 1 1 1 0  
  +1.0 MIL 4, WSH 1 David Hamilton PR‑3B 0 1 0 0  
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 +/‑
Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp atl nl 5.7 17.1 46.9 189.5 -5.7
Imanaga, Shota 4960 pi sp chi nl 4.0 11.0 31.7 31.7 -3.0
Walker, Christian 3958 1b hou al 3.5 8.0 23.0 29.5 -1.0
Meyer, Max 4965 pi sp fla nl 3.0 7.0 9.0 9.0 -1.0
Burke, Sean 5124 pi mr sp chi al 2.7 6.4 7.4 7.4 -1.0
Bellinger, Cody 3781 lf nyy al 2.5 8.4 20.1 41.0 -3.4
Straw, Myles 4152 dh rf pr tor al 2.0 6.7 7.7 10.2 -2.7
McGreevy, Michael 5113 pi sp cp stl nl 2.0 6.0 8.0 8.0 -2.0
Ozuna, Marcell 3190 dh pit nl 1.5 7.2 24.7 71.4 -4.2
Dingler, Dillon 5081 ca det al 1.0 4.5 5.5 5.5 -2.5
Manzardo, Kyle 5114 dh 1b ph cle al 1.0 3.0 4.5 4.5 -1.0
Erceg, Lucas 4826 pi cp mr kc al 1.0 2.0 5.0 5.0 0.0
Hamilton, David 5030 3b 2b ss pr mil nl 1.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 0.0
Bachman, Sam 5345 pi mr ana al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
Feduccia, Hunter 5346 ca tb al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?
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A Box-Toppers look at Sunday’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
TOR Yesavage, Trey 5287 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
MIN Ryan, Joe 4539 1.0 12.7 48.5 48.5
BAL Gibson, Trey* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
NYY Fried, Max 4011 7.0 21.4 71.6 88.3
CIN Burns, Chase 5301 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
PIT Ashcraft, Braxton 5208 4.7 9.4 9.4 9.4
HOU Bolton, Cody* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
BOS Suarez, Ranger 4228 5.0 20.8 48.9 49.9
MIL Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
WSH Littell, Zack 4533 0.0 6.7 21.1 21.1
PHI Luzardo, Jesus 4282 4.0 21.4 52.6 57.3
MIA Paddack, Chris 4093 0.0 5.0 17.7 36.5
SF Mahle, Tyler 3929 3.4 9.1 29.5 41.5
TB Matz, Steven 3516 2.0 4.0 21.1 53.4
LAD Wrobleski, Justin 5062 2.7 8.7 10.7 10.7
STL May, Dustin 4214 2.0 7.7 15.4 19.4
ARI Kelly, Merrill 4143 0.0 12.7 41.7 53.7
CHC Boyd, Matthew 3550 1.0 11.7 16.7 43.5
ATL Strider, Spencer 4626 0.0 5.0 40.5 40.5
COL Freeland, Kyle 3763 1.0 5.0 25.7 46.1
CLE Messick Parker 5266 3.7 4.7 4.7 4.7
ATH Civale, Aaron 4173 1.0 6.0 35.8 41.5
NYM Holmes, Clay 4022 2.0 7.0 19.0 20.0
LAA Kochanowicz, Jack 5094 1.0 3.0 5.0 5.0
CHW Kay, Anthony 4285 1.0 1.0 3.0 4.0
SD Canning, Griffin 4134 0.0 5.0 18.7 27.4
KC Bubic, Kris 4413 3.0 11.7 16.7 16.7
SEA Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 1.0 17.1 62.9 98.7
TEX Leiter, Jack 5132 1.0 7.7 7.7 7.7
DET Holton, Tyler 4775 0.0 1.0 6.0 6.0
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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