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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White Sox pitcher Sean Burke is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other Player of the Game winners Thursday include Giants pitcher Robbie Ray, Elly De La Cruz of the Reds, Kody Clemens of the Twins and Mets closing pitcher Devin Williams.
Player of the Day: Sean Burke, White Sox
Burke struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 2-1, 11-inning win over the Yankees. Burke did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Burke earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.1 for the season, 14th among all players and seventh among American League pitchers.
Burke becomes the 20th player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points in 2026. This is his first season with 10 or more points. His previous best season was 2025 with the White Sox with 3.7 points, 86th among AL pitchers.
NL Player of the Day: Robbie Ray, Giants
Ray struck out six over six innings, allowing one run, four hits and one walk, in the 4-1 win over the Padres.
Ray earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points as National League Player of the Day, giving him 7.4 for the season, 38th among all players and 17th among NL pitchers.
NL Batter of the Day: Elly De La Cruz, Reds
De La Cruz hit three doubles and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in one run, in the 3-2 win over the Pirates.
De La Cruz earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points as NL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, 45th among all players and fifth among NL batters.
AL Batter of the Day: Kody Clemens, Twins
Clemens hit a walk-off grand slam, going 1-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 4-3 win over the Royals.
Clemens earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points as AL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, third among AL batters, behind Yordan Alvarez of the Astros (7.5 points) and Nick Kurtz of the Athletics (7.0 points). (Kurtz ranks ahead of Clemens with more 2025 points—4.5 vs. 3.5).
Thursday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Box-Toppers review of the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest B-T game scores:
⬛ Cameron records day’s best game score but does not win Player of the Game in Royals’ loss
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2026 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Thursday, July 30.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacob Misiorowski | pi sp | Brewers | 17.7 |
| 2 | Dylan Cease | pi sp | Blue Jays | 16.4 |
| 3 | Cam Schlittler | pi sp | Yankees | 15.7 |
| 4 | Cristopher Sánchez | pi sp | Phillies | 14.7 |
| 5 | Jesús Luzardo | pi sp | Phillies | 14.0 |
| 6 | Shohei Ohtani | pi sp dh | Dodgers | 13.7 |
| 7 | Braxton Ashcraft | pi sp | Pirates | 13.4 |
| 8 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 13.0 |
| 9 | Taj Bradley | pi sp | Twins | 12.4 |
| 10 | Logan Gilbert | pi sp | Mariners | 12.0 |
Notable: Devin Williams, Mets
Williams wins Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for a second straight day Thursday (1IP 0H 0R BB 2K Sv in the 4-2 win over the Marlins). Williams was also Player of the Game in Wednesday’s 3-2 win over the Braves (1IP H 0R 0BB K Sv).
Williams earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point each day, giving him 3.0 for the season, ninth among NL closing pitchers.
Scoring
Burke earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points as Player of the Day.
Ray earns 1.7 points as NL Player of the Day.
De La Cruz and Clemens 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.
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).| 7/30 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +11.0 | `CHW 2, NYY 1 (F/11) | Sean Burke | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |
| NL | +5.0 | SF 4, SD 1 | Robbie Ray (W, 10‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| +4.0 | `TB 3, TEX 2 | Steven Matz | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | CIN 3, PIT 2 | Elly De La Cruz SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +2.0 | MIN 4, KC 3 | Kody Clemens RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.0 | LAD 6, SEA 2 | Teooscar Hernández DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | ATL 5, WSH 4 | Mike Yastrzemski LF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | NYM 4, MIA 2 | Devin Williams (S, 16) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | BOS 5, ATH 4 | Aroldis Chapman (S, 26) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +1.2 | CHC 4, STL 2 (F/10) | Aaron Civale (S, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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.
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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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burke, Sean 5124 | pi sp | chi al | 11.1 | 14.8 | 15.8 | 15.8 | +7.4 |
| Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | sf nl | 7.4 | 16.8 | 52.6 | 96.7 | -2.0 |
| De La Cruz, Elly 4844 | ss | cin nl | 7.0 | 10.5 | 21.0 | 21.0 | +3.5 |
| Clemens, Kody 4679 | 1b rf | min al | 7.0 | 10.5 | 11.5 | 11.5 | +3.5 |
| Yastrzemski, Mike 4203 | rf lf | atl nl | 5.0 | 9.0 | 18.5 | 20.5 | +1.0 |
| Hernandez, Teoscar 3713 | lf | lad nl | 4.5 | 7.2 | 23.7 | 35.9 | +1.8 |
| Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | tb al | 4.0 | 6.0 | 23.1 | 55.4 | +2.0 |
| Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | pi cp | bos al | 3.0 | 9.0 | 22.0 | 78.1 | -3.0 |
| Williams, Devin 4319 | pi cp | nym nl | 3.0 | 5.0 | 20.0 | 21.0 | +1.0 |
| Civale, Aaron 4173 | pi sp cp mr | chi nl | 2.0 | 7.0 | 36.8 | 42.5 | -3.0 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYY | Warren, Will 5143 | 3.7 | 13.1 | 13.1 | 13.1 |
| CHC | Imanaga, Shota 4960 | 6.0 | 13.0 | 33.7 | 33.7 |
| PIT | Skenes, Paul 5005 | 11.0 | 32.1 | 45.1 | 45.1 |
| CIN | Greene, Hunter 4651 | 2.0 | 15.4 | 36.8 | 36.8 |
| PHI | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BAL | Young, Brandon 5253 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| STL | Leahy, Kyle 5001 | 3.0 | 6.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| TOR | Cease, Dylan 4231 | 16.4 | 25.1 | 91.0 | 93.0 |
| ARI | Bratt, Mitch* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CLE | Bibee, Tanner 4792 | 4.7 | 11.7 | 34.4 | 34.4 |
| CHW | Fedde, Erick 4065 | 5.7 | 8.4 | 30.9 | 35.6 |
| TB | Martinez, Nick 3430 | 5.0 | 11.7 | 33.8 | 40.5 |
| MIA | Junk, Janson 4697 | 2.0 | 6.7 | 8.4 | 8.4 |
| NYM | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | 0.0 | 14.7 | 65.9 | 84.6 |
| WSH | Griffin, Foster 5317 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 9.4 |
| ATL | Elder, Bryce 4709 | 4.7 | 9.7 | 24.4 | 24.4 |
| TEX | Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | 7.7 | 22.1 | 64.9 | 104.4 |
| HOU | Brown, Hunter 4729 | 3.0 | 16.4 | 39.5 | 39.5 |
| KC | Wacha, Michael 3276 | 6.7 | 16.8 | 53.7 | 88.4 |
| COL | Sugano, Tomoyuki 5163 | 2.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 |
| MIL | Drohan, Shane 5359 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| LAA | Johnson, Ryan 5391 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| DET | Mize, Casey 4377 | 4.0 | 11.0 | 18.7 | 18.7 |
| ATH | Springs, Jeffrey 4372 | 4.0 | 12.7 | 35.1 | 35.1 |
| SF | Whisenhunt, Carson | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SD | Rodriguez, Bradgley* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BOS | Suarez, Ranger 4228 | 7.0 | 22.8 | 50.9 | 51.9 |
| LAD | Henriquez, Edgardo 5293 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| MIN | Matthews, Zebby 5186 | 2.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| SEA | Miller, Bryce 4797 | 6.7 | 9.7 | 38.5 | 38.5 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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