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
▪️ Subscribe to newsletter
▪️ Support Box-Toppers
Athletics pitcher J.T. Ginn is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other Player of the Game winners Thursday include Keibert Ruiz of the Nationals, Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga, Trent Grisham of the Yankees and Guardians closing pitcher Cade Smith.
Player of the Day: J.T. Ginn, Athletics
Ginn struck out eight over eight innings, allowing one run, four hits and one walk, in the 12-1 win over the Phillies.
Ginn earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, 50th in season player rankings and 22nd among American League pitchers.
NL Player of the Day: Keibert Ruiz, Nationals
Ruiz homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 7-5 win over the Twins.
Ruiz earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points as National League Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, 11th among NL batters.
AL Batter of the Day: Trent Grisham, Yankees
Grisham doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-2 win over the Rangers.
Grisham earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points as AL Player of the Day, giving him 2.5 for the season, eighth among AL batters.
NL Batter of the Day
There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Keibert Ruiz.
Notable: Shota Imanaga, Cubs
Imanaga has the most 2026 Box-Toppers points among Thursday’s Player of the Game winners.
Imanaga (6IP 6H R 3BB 10K W in the 8-3 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season, 14th in season player rankings and eighth among NL pitchers.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2026 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Thursday, May 7.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Skenes | pi sp | Pirates | 7.0 |
| 2 | Max Fried | pi sp | Yankees | 7.0 |
| 3 | José Soriano | pi sp | Angels | 7.0 |
| 4 | Gavin Williams | pi sp | Guardians | 6.7 |
| 5 | Braxton Ashcraft | pi sp | Pirates | 6.7 |
| 6 | Cristopher Sánchez | pi sp | Phillies | 6.0 |
| 7 | Chris Sale | pi sp | Braves | 5.7 |
| 8 | Cam Schlittler | pi sp | Yankees | 5.7 |
| 9 | Taj Bradley | pi sp | Twins | 5.7 |
| 10 | Tyler Glasnow | pi sp | Dodgers | 5.7 |
Also notable: Cade Smith, Guardians
Smith wins Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for a second straight day Thursday.
Smith (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv in the 8-5 win over the Royals) was also Player of the Game in Wednesday’s 3-1 win over the Royals (1IP H 0R 0BB 3K Sv). He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point each day, giving him 2.0 for the season, second among AL closing pitchers, behind Jack Perkins of the Athletics (3.0 points).
Scoring
Ginn earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points as Player of the Day.
Ruiz earns 1.7 points as NL Player of the Day.
Grisham earns 1.5 points as AL Batter of the Day.
All of Thursday’s other Player of the Game winners (listed in the chart) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Thursday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Box-Toppers review of the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest B-T game scores:
⬛ Padres’ King records best game score among Thursday’s non-Player of the Game winners
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.
Follow us: Bluesky | X | Facebook | Substack (newsletter)
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).| 5/7 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.0 | ATH 12, PHI 1 | J.T. Ginn (W, 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| NL | +6.0 | WSH 7, MIN 5 | Keibert Ruiz C | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | CHC 8, CIN 3 | Shota Imanaga (W, 4‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | ||
| +4.0 | COL 6, NYM 2 | Jake McCarthy CF‑RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | STL 2, SD 1 | Matthew Liberatore (W, 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | NYY 9, TEX 2 | Trent Grisham CF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | TB 8, BOS 4 | Chandler Simpson PH‑LF | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | CLE 8, KC 5 | Cade Smith (S, 10) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | PIT 4, ARI 2 | Gregory Soto (S, 3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.0 | MIA 4, BAL 3 | Connor Norby 1B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 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.
Back to top
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imanaga, Shota 4960 | pi sp | chi nl | 5.0 | 12.0 | 32.7 | 32.7 | -2.0 |
| Liberatore, Matthew 4662 | pi sp | stl nl | 3.0 | 9.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | -3.0 |
| Ginn, J.T. 5142 | pi sp mr | oak al | 3.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 | -2.7 |
| Ruiz, Keibert 4616 | ca | dc nl | 2.7 | 2.7 | 16.4 | 16.4 | +2.7 |
| Grisham, Trent 4246 | cf ph | nyy al | 2.5 | 9.7 | 17.2 | 24.2 | -4.7 |
| Smith, Cade 5066 | pi cp | cle al | 2.0 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | -4.0 |
| Simpson, Chandler 5162 | lf pr ph | tb al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Norby, Connor 5188 | 1b 3b | fla nl | 1.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | -1.5 |
| Soto, Gregory 4371 | pi cp mr | pit nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | -1.0 |
| McCarthy, Jake 4621 | cf rf | col nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default view.
Back to top
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 | Burrows, Mike 5196 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| CIN | Lodolo, Nick 4586 | 0.0 | 9.7 | 25.7 | 25.7 |
| COL | Dollander, Chase 5169 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| PHI | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | 5.0 | 22.4 | 53.6 | 58.3 |
| ATH | Lopez, Jacob 5202 | 0.0 | 11.4 | 11.4 | 11.4 |
| BAL | Bradish, Kyle 4597 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 26.0 | 26.0 |
| LAA | Detmers, Reid 4513 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 23.4 | 23.4 |
| TOR | Cease, Dylan 4231 | 3.7 | 12.4 | 78.3 | 80.3 |
| TB | Scholtens, Jesse 5321 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| BOS | Early, Connelly 5282 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| WSH | Griffin, Foster 5317 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| MIA | Snelling, Robby* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIN | Prielipp, Connor* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CLE | Messick Parker 5266 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| DET | Montero, Keider 5057 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 9.7 | 9.7 |
| KC | Bubic, Kris 4413 | 4.7 | 13.4 | 18.4 | 18.4 |
| NYY | Fried, Max 4011 | 7.0 | 21.4 | 71.6 | 88.3 |
| MIL | Misiorowski, Jacob 5200 | 3.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| SEA | Hancock, Emerson 4985 | 2.0 | 4.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| CHW | Burke, Sean 5124 | 2.7 | 6.4 | 7.4 | 7.4 |
| CHC | Brown, Ben 4967 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| TEX | Rocker, Kumar 5108 | 1.0 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| NYM | McLean, Nolan 5255 | 1.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 |
| ARI | Nelson, Ryne 4728 | 1.0 | 9.4 | 26.2 | 26.2 |
| STL | McGreevy, Michael 5113 | 2.0 | 6.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| SD | Canning, Griffin 4134 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 19.7 | 28.4 |
| ATL | Sale, Chris 2806 | 5.7 | 17.1 | 46.9 | 189.5 |
| LAD | Sheehan, Emmet 4886 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| PIT | Mlodzinski, Carmen 4894 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| SF | Ray, Robbie 3502 | 1.7 | 11.1 | 46.9 | 91.0 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default, game-by-game view.
Back to top