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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Pirates pitcher Jared Jones is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other Player of the Game winners Thursday include Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert and Yankees pitcher Max Fried.
Player of the Day: Jared Jones, Pirates
Jones struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks, in the 2-0 win over the White Sox.
Jones took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before giving up a two-out double to Colson Montgomery, the only hit he allowed.
Jones earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, 68th among all players and 29th among National League pitchers.
AL Player of the Day: Logan Gilbert, Mariners
Gilbert struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 4-3 win over the Rangers.
Gilbert earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points as American League Player of the Day, giving him 14.7 for the season, 13th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers.
AL and NL Batters of the Day
There are no AL or NL Batters of the Day for Thursday, as pitchers swept Player of the Game honors in all five completed contests.
Thursday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Box-Toppers review of the day's top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest B-T game scores:
⬛ Rangers’ deGrom posts day’s best game score but does not win Player of the Game in loss
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2026 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Thursday, Sept. 10.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacob Misiorowski | pi sp | Brewers | 23.1 |
| 2 | Jesús Luzardo | pi sp | Phillies | 23.0 |
| 3 | Dylan Cease | pi sp | Blue Jays | 20.4 |
| 4 | Cam Schlittler | pi sp | Yankees | 19.7 |
| 5 | Cristopher Sánchez | pi sp | Phillies | 17.7 |
| 6 | Bryan Woo | pi sp | Mariners | 16.4 |
| 7 | Braxton Ashcraft | pi sp | Pirates | 16.4 |
| 8 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 15.7 |
| 9 | Gavin Williams | pi sp | Guardians | 15.7 |
| 10 | Shohei Ohtani | pi sp dh | Dodgers | 15.7 |
Notable: Max Fried, Yankees
Fried reaches 11.0 Box-Toppers points in 2026 after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday (3.1IP H R 2BB 7K ND in the 10-3 win over the Rockies). He ranks 25th overall and 12th among AL pitchers.
Fried recorded a +5.1 Box-Toppers game score and qualified for Player of the Game honors because he pitched at least three innings. He just beat teammate Anthony Volpe, who recorded a +5.0 game score, for Player of the Game honors (GS 3-4 R 5BI). Volpe had Thursday’s highest Box-Toppers game score among all batters who played Thursday.
Scoring
Jones earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points as Player of the Day.
Gilbert earns 1.7 points as AL Player 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).| 9/10 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 12.0 | PIT 2, CHW 0 | Jared Jones (W, 4‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| AL | 7.0 | SEA 4, TEX 3 | Logan Gilbert (W, 12‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 11 | |
| 5.1 | `NYY 10, COL 3 | Max Fried | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | `ATL 3, TB 1 | Martín Pérez | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 5.0 | `HOU 2, PHI 1 | Cristian Javier | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gilbert, Logan 4439 | pi sp | sea al | 14.7 | 27.8 | 75.3 | 75.3 | +1.6 |
| Fried, Max 4011 | pi sp | nyy al | 11.0 | 25.4 | 75.6 | 92.3 | -3.4 |
| Perez, Martin 3213 | pi sp | atl nl | 8.4 | 10.1 | 30.6 | 50.3 | +6.7 |
| Jones, Jared 4956 | pi sp | pit nl | 7.7 | 7.7 | 14.7 | 14.7 | +7.7 |
| Javier, Cristian 4290 | pi mr sp | hou al | 4.7 | 6.4 | 36.1 | 38.1 | +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), this year and last year ('25-26), over six years ('21-26), and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’26 | ’25‑26 | ’21‑26 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PIT | Dotel, Wilber 5367 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| CHC | Imanaga, Shota 4960 | 8.0 | 15.0 | 35.7 | 35.7 |
| COL | Adams, Mason* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| DET | Valdez, Framber 4048 | 7.7 | 19.4 | 65.8 | 76.2 |
| LAA | Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 | 1.0 | 8.7 | 41.1 | 46.8 |
| WSH | Cavalli, Cade 5244 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| NYM | McLean, Nolan 5255 | 8.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 | 15.7 |
| NYY | Rodon, Carlos 3494 | 2.7 | 16.4 | 61.6 | 86.7 |
| BAL | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | 1.0 | 8.0 | 60.5 | 79.6 |
| TOR | Scherzer, Max 2588 | 3.0 | 6.0 | 58.5 | 259.7 |
| HOU | Ullola, Miguel* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| TB | Rasmussen, Drew 4547 | 14.0 | 23.7 | 45.2 | 45.2 |
| KC | Lugo, Seth 3729 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 29.5 | 45.5 |
| BOS | Gray, Sonny 3259 | 13.0 | 27.0 | 68.3 | 137.3 |
| LAD | Snell, Blake 3688 | 4.7 | 11.7 | 66.6 | 116.5 |
| MIA | Gusto, Ryan 5156 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| PHI | Nola, Aaron 3569 | 5.7 | 11.4 | 63.5 | 126.5 |
| ATL | Sale, Chris 2806 | 13.4 | 24.8 | 54.6 | 197.2 |
| CIN | Abbott, Andrew 4839 | 2.0 | 12.7 | 28.7 | 28.7 |
| MIL | May, Dustin 4214 | 6.7 | 12.4 | 20.1 | 24.1 |
| CLE | Messick Parker 5266 | 9.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 |
| MIN | Bradley, Taj 4780 | 14.4 | 20.4 | 37.5 | 37.5 |
| CHW | Kay, Anthony 4285 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 |
| STL | Liberatore, Matthew 4662 | 7.7 | 13.7 | 20.7 | 20.7 |
| SEA | Kirby, George 4595 | 7.0 | 18.0 | 58.5 | 58.5 |
| ATH | Springs, Jeffrey 4372 | 6.0 | 14.7 | 37.1 | 37.1 |
| TEX | Rocker, Kumar 5108 | 5.7 | 10.4 | 11.4 | 11.4 |
| ARI | Kelly, Merrill 4143 | 4.7 | 17.4 | 46.4 | 58.4 |
| SD | Ray, Robbie 3502 | 7.4 | 16.8 | 52.6 | 96.7 |
| SF | Molina, Anthony 5112 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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