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 Jesús Luzardo is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to seventh place in season player rankings.
Other Player of the Game winners Thursday include Tigers pitcher Framber Valdez, Guardians pitcher Gavin Williams, Ben Rice of the Yankees and Mike Yastrzemski of the Braves.
Player of the Day: Jesús Luzardo, Phillies
Luzardo struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 1-0 win over the Reds.
Luzardo earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.0 for the season, rising from ninth to seventh place among all players and fifth among National League pitchers.
AL Player of the Day: Framber Valdez, Tigers
Valdez struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Athletics.
Valdez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points as American League Player of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season, 52nd among all players and 23rd among AL pitchers.
AL Batter of the Day: Ben Rice, Yankees
Rice hit two home runs, including a three-run homer, in the 12-4 win over the Rays. Rice went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs.
NL Batter of the Day: Mike Yastrzemski, Braves
Yastrzemski hit a grand slam and went 1-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-5 win over the Pirates.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2026 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Thursday, July 9.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacob Misiorowski | pi sp | Brewers | 15.0 |
| 2 | Cristopher Sánchez | pi sp | Phillies | 14.7 |
| 3 | Dylan Cease | pi sp | Blue Jays | 14.4 |
| 4 | Cam Schlittler | pi sp | Yankees | 13.7 |
| 5 | Shohei Ohtani | pi sp dh | Dodgers | 13.7 |
| 6 | Braxton Ashcraft | pi sp | Pirates | 13.4 |
| 7 | Jesús Luzardo | pi sp | Phillies | 13.0 |
| 8 | Bryan Woo | pi sp | Mariners | 11.4 |
| 9 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 11.0 |
| 10 | Logan Gilbert | pi sp | Mariners | 11.0 |
Notable: Gavin Williams, Guardians
Williams became the 14th player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points in 2026 after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Williams (7IP 3H 2R BB 11K W in the 5-2 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, 11th among all players and fifth among AL pitchers.
This is his second straight season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. In 2025, he earned 11.7 points with the Guardians, 16th among AL pitchers.
Scoring
Luzardo earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points as Player of the Day.
Valdez earns 1.7 points as AL Player of the Day.
Rice and Yastrzemski each earn 1.5 points as their league’s Batter of the Day.
All of Thursday’s other Player of the Game winners (listed in the chart) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Player & Team Rankings
Box-Toppers usually posts player and team rankings on Fridays. However, the schedule shifts slightly for the upcoming All-Star break.
Here are the planned publication dates for the next two rankings reports:
Monday, July 13: This report will cover all games through Sunday, July 12, leading into the All-Star break.
Friday, July 24: The regular Friday schedule resumes here, covering the first week of post-All-Star break play.
Because there are no regular-season games during the break next week, there will be no updated rankings report on Friday, July 17.
Here are last Friday’s Box-Toppers team and player rankings reports.
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).| 7/8 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +14.0 | PHI 1, CIN 0 | Jesús Luzardo (W, 8‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | |
| AL | +11.0 | DET 4, ATH 1 | Framber Valdez (W, 5‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| +10.0 | CLE 5, MIN 2 | Gavin Williams (W, 10‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | ||
| BAT | +6.0 | NYY 12, TB 4 | Ben Rice DH | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | ARI 3, SD 1 | Merrill Kelly (W, 7‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | ATL 10, PIT 5 | Mike Yastrzemski RF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | MIL 8, STL 4 | Jake Bauers DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | MIA 8, SEA 4 | Griffin Conine LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | SF 8, COL 2 | Casey Schmitt 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | TEX 7, LAA 6 | Justin Foscue 2B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | NYM 7, KC 3 | Carson Benge RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | BAL 3, CHC 2 | Jeremiah Jackson PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.1 | `BOS 2, CHW 1 | Patrick Sandoval | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | pi sp | phi nl | 13.0 | 30.4 | 61.6 | 66.3 | -4.4 |
| Williams, Gavin 4865 | pi sp | cle al | 10.7 | 22.4 | 30.1 | 30.1 | -1.0 |
| Valdez, Framber 4048 | pi sp | det al | 5.7 | 17.4 | 63.8 | 74.2 | -6.0 |
| Jackson, Jeremiah 5277 | 2b | bal al | 5.2 | 6.2 | 6.2 | 6.2 | +4.2 |
| Bauers, Jake 3993 | 1b | mil nl | 4.0 | 8.0 | 17.0 | 26.0 | 0.0 |
| Yastrzemski, Mike 4203 | rf lf ph | atl nl | 4.0 | 8.0 | 17.5 | 19.5 | 0.0 |
| Schmitt, Casey 4807 | dh 3b 2b | sf nl | 4.0 | 7.5 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +0.5 |
| Benge, Carson 5360 | rf | nym nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Conine, Griffin 5304 | lf | fla nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | ari nl | 3.7 | 16.4 | 45.4 | 57.4 | -9.0 |
| Rice, Ben 5055 | dh | nyy al | 3.5 | 8.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | -1.0 |
| Foscue, Justin 5401 | 2b ph | tex al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Sandoval, Patrick 4357 | pi sp | bos al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16.7 | 17.7 | +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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIL | Sproat, Brandon 5324 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| PIT | Ashcraft, Braxton 5208 | 13.4 | 18.1 | 18.1 | 18.1 |
| PHI | Nola, Aaron 3569 | 4.7 | 10.4 | 62.5 | 125.5 |
| DET | Flaherty, Jack 3971 | 2.0 | 10.4 | 33.4 | 67.7 |
| NYY | Weathers, Ryan 4388 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 12.7 | 12.7 |
| WSH | Palmquist, Carson* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| KC | Avila, Luinder 5386 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| BAL | Young, Brandon 5253 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| CHC | Imanaga, Shota 4960 | 5.0 | 12.0 | 32.7 | 32.7 |
| CIN | Greene, Hunter 4651 | 0.0 | 13.4 | 34.8 | 34.8 |
| CLE | Messick Parker 5266 | 6.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| MIA | Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | 6.7 | 14.7 | 52.5 | 61.9 |
| SEA | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | 3.7 | 19.8 | 65.6 | 101.4 |
| TB | Martinez, Nick 3430 | 4.0 | 10.7 | 32.8 | 39.5 |
| BOS | Gray, Sonny 3259 | 10.0 | 24.0 | 65.3 | 134.3 |
| NYM | McLean, Nolan 5255 | 5.0 | 12.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 |
| ATH | Lopez, Jacob 5202 | 1.0 | 12.4 | 12.4 | 12.4 |
| CHW | Burke, Sean 5124 | 5.7 | 9.4 | 10.4 | 10.4 |
| HOU | Brown, Hunter 4729 | 2.0 | 15.4 | 38.5 | 38.5 |
| TEX | Quantrill, Cal 4195 | 1.0 | 7.7 | 26.4 | 30.4 |
| LAA | Rodriguez, Grayson 4790 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| MIN | Matthews, Zebby 5186 | 2.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| ATL | Sale, Chris 2806 | 6.7 | 18.1 | 47.9 | 190.5 |
| STL | Leahy, Kyle 5001 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| TOR | Bieber, Shane 4005 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 29.4 | 65.3 |
| SD | Sears, JP 4627 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 21.7 | 21.7 |
| ARI | Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | 4.0 | 8.7 | 32.7 | 76.9 |
| LAD | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | 13.7 | 19.2 | 90.4 | 104.9 |
| COL | Gordon, Tanner 5230 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| SF | Ray, Robbie 3502 | 5.7 | 15.1 | 50.9 | 95.0 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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