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Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.▪️ Players of the Game
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Andrés Chaparro of the Nationals is Friday’s Box-Toppers 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 Friday, July 17.| 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 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 13.0 |
| 8 | Jesús Luzardo | pi sp | Phillies | 13.0 |
| 9 | Bryan Woo | pi sp | Mariners | 11.4 |
| 10 | Logan Gilbert | pi sp | Mariners | 11.0 |
Other Player of the Game winners Friday include Braves pitcher Chris Sale, Tigers pitcher Keider Montero and Wilyer Abreu of the Red Sox.
Player of the Day: Andrés Chaparro, Nationals
Chaparro hit two home runs, including a three-run homer, in the 23-4 win over the Athletics. Chaparro went 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in eight runs.
Chaparro becomes just the sixth batter to win overall Player of the Day honors in 2026 (pitchers have won the honor the other 106 days of the season). Also, Chaparro’s +11.0 Box-Toppers game score Friday is the second-highest for a batter winning Player of the Game honors in 2026.
Here are the other five batters who have won Player of the Day honors in 2026:
Matt Olson of the Braves, April 2.
William Contreras of the Brewers, April 30.
Willi Castro of the Rockies, June 14.
Esmerlyn Valdez of the Pirates, July 11.
Only one batter who won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in 2026 has a higher game score than Chaparro: Ryan O'Hearn of the Pirates recorded a +12.0 game score on July 7 (3HR 4-5 3R 10BI in the 12-4 win over the Braves). However, O’Hearn won only National League Batter of the Day honors that day because pitcher Zack Wheeler beat him for Player of the Day honors with a +15.0 game score in the Phillies’ win over the Reds.
This was Chaparro’s Box-Toppers debut, his first career Player of the Game honor. Chaparro made his Major League debut Aug. 13, 2024, and was playing in his 99th career game.
Chaparro earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and ranks 340th among all players, 83rd among NL batters.
AL Player of the Day: Keider Montero, Tigers
Montero struck out five over 3 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, closing the game and picking up the win, in the 2-1 victory over the Angels.
Montero earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points as American League Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 for the season, 60th among AL pitchers.
AL Batter of the Day: Wilyer Abreu, Red Sox
Abreu hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 5-3 win over the Rays.
NL Batter of the Day
There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall Player of the Day is NL batter Andrés Chaparro.
Notable: Chris Sale, Braves
Career Box-Toppers points—active players 1—Max Scherzer #BlueJays 257.7 2—Justin Verlander #Tigers 250.0 3—Chris Sale #Braves 191.5* 4—Gerrit Cole #Yankees 167.0 5—Jacob deGrom #Rangers 160.9 6—Yu Darvish #Padres 144.4 7—Zach Wheeler #Phillies 138.1 *Earns 1.0 B-T point Friday
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) 9:28 AM · Jul 18, 2026
Sale has the most 2026 Box-Toppers points among Friday’s Player of the Game winners.
Sale (7IP 2H 0R 0BB 6K W in the 15-1 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.7 for the season, 26th among all players and 14th among NL pitchers.
Sale also now has 191.5 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.)
Friday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Box-Toppers review of the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest B-T game scores:
⬛ Detmers has Friday’s 3rd-best game score but does not win top player honors as Angels lose
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).
Sale recorded a +11.0 Box-Toppers game score Friday, the same as Chaparro. But Chaparro won Player of the Day over Sale on a tiebreaker because in cases of game score ties, batters rank ahead of pitchers.
Debut
In addition to Chaparro, Orioles pitcher Cam Sanders also made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Sanders (0.2IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 3-2 win over the Astros) made his Major League debut Aug. 5, 2025, and was playing in his 16th career game.
Scoring
Chaparro earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points as Player of the Day.
Montero earns 1.7 points as AL Player of the Day.
Abreu earns 1.5 points as AL Batter of the Day.
All of Friday’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).| 7/17 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +11.0 | WSH 23, ATH 4 | Andrés Chaparro 1B | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +11.0 | ATL 15, TEX 1 | Chris Sale (W, 10‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| AL | +7.1 | DET 2, LAA 1 | Keider Montero (W, 6‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| +7.0 | BOS 10, TB 0 | Jake Bennett (W, 5‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +5.0 | CIN 7, COL 2 | Brady Singer (W, 4‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +4.0 | SF 7, SEA 0 | Landen Roupp (W, 7‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | ||
| +4.0 | `MIL 2, MIA 1 (F/10) | Logan Henderson | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +4.0 | CHW 12, TOR 4 | Tyler Schweitzer (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +3.2 | `LAD 2, NYY 1 | Roki Sasaki | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | BOS 5, TB 3 | Wilyer Abreu RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.0 | STL 5, ARI 4 | Masyn Winn SS | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.2 | BAL 3, HOU 2 | Cam Sanders (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.1 | MIN 5, CHC 2 | Bailey Ober (W, 7‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| +1.0 | KC 7, SD 6 (F/10) | Michael Massey 2B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | atl nl | 7.7 | 19.1 | 48.9 | 191.5 | -3.7 |
| Roupp, Landen 5079 | pi sp | sf nl | 5.0 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 | +0.3 |
| Bennett, Jake 5396 | pi sp | bos al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Montero, Keider 5057 | pi sp cp | det al | 3.7 | 7.7 | 12.4 | 12.4 | -0.3 |
| Sasaki, Roki 5358 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | +3.7 |
| Abreu, Wilyer 4911 | rf | bos al | 3.0 | 11.5 | 17.5 | 17.5 | -5.5 |
| Ober, Bailey 4441 | pi sp | min al | 2.7 | 5.7 | 37.5 | 37.5 | -0.3 |
| Henderson, Logan 5150 | pi sp | mil nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -1.0 |
| Massey, Michael 4749 | 2b | kc al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +2.0 |
| Chaparro, Andrés 5409 | 1b | dc nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Schweitzer, Tyler 5399 | pi cp | chi al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Singer, Brady 4337 | pi sp | cin nl | 1.0 | 11.0 | 40.7 | 44.7 | -9.0 |
| Winn, Masyn 5117 | ss | stl nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -3.0 |
| Sanders, Cam 5410 | pi mr | bal al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Saturday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PIT | Jones, Jared 4956 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| CLE | Williams, Gavin 4865 | 10.7 | 22.4 | 30.1 | 30.1 |
| MIN | Bradley, Taj 4780 | 10.4 | 16.4 | 33.5 | 33.5 |
| CHC | Boyd, Matthew 3550 | 2.0 | 12.7 | 17.7 | 44.5 |
| CHW | Martin, Davis 4657 | 9.7 | 12.7 | 17.7 | 17.7 |
| TOR | Bieber, Shane 4005 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 29.4 | 65.3 |
| CIN | Lowder, Rhett 5107 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| COL | Sugano, Tomoyuki 5163 | 2.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 |
| NYM | Manaea, Sean 3637 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 42.8 | 71.3 |
| PHI | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | 13.0 | 30.4 | 61.6 | 66.3 |
| TB | Seymour, Ian 5265 | 4.7 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.4 |
| BOS | Sandoval, Patrick 4357 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16.7 | 17.7 |
| TEX | Gore, MacKenzie 4582 | 6.0 | 14.7 | 34.4 | 34.4 |
| ATL | Murphy, Owen* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BAL | Rogers, Trevor 4311 | 4.0 | 15.7 | 30.7 | 31.7 |
| HOU | Arrighetti, Spencer 5022 | 6.4 | 7.4 | 14.1 | 14.1 |
| MIA | Meyer, Max 4965 | 9.7 | 13.7 | 15.7 | 15.7 |
| MIL | Drohan, Shane 5359 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| SD | Canning, Griffin 4134 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 20.7 | 29.4 |
| KC | Dobnak, Randy 4263 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 |
| STL | May, Dustin 4214 | 5.7 | 11.4 | 19.1 | 23.1 |
| ARI | Pfaadt, Brandon 4812 | 1.7 | 9.4 | 25.5 | 25.5 |
| PIT | Ashcraft, Braxton 5208 | 13.4 | 18.1 | 18.1 | 18.1 |
| CLE | Allen, Logan T. 4789 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 16.7 | 16.7 |
| LAD | Sheehan, Emmet 4886 | 4.0 | 7.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| NYY | Weathers, Ryan 4388 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| SF | Webb, Logan 4258 | 5.0 | 14.0 | 62.6 | 65.3 |
| SEA | Woo, Bryan 4842 | 11.4 | 29.4 | 49.8 | 49.8 |
| WSH | Littell, Zack 4533 | 3.0 | 9.7 | 24.1 | 24.1 |
| ATH | Ginn, J.T. 5142 | 3.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 |
| DET | Skubal, Tarik 4414 | 5.7 | 27.8 | 79.0 | 79.0 |
| LAA | Rodriguez, Grayson 4790 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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