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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Angels pitcher Walbert Ureña is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other Player of the Game winners Thursday include Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski, Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola, Henry Davis of the Pirates, White Sox pitcher Erick Fedde and Trevor Story of the Red Sox.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2026 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Thursday, Sept. 17.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacob Misiorowski | pi sp | Brewers | 24.1 |
| 2 | Jesús Luzardo | pi sp | Phillies | 23.0 |
| 3 | Cam Schlittler | pi sp | Yankees | 21.7 |
| 4 | Dylan Cease | pi sp | Blue Jays | 21.4 |
| 5 | Cristopher Sánchez | pi sp | Phillies | 17.7 |
| 6 | Bryan Woo | pi sp | Mariners | 17.4 |
| 7 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | pi sp | Dodgers | 17.4 |
| 8 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 16.7 |
| 9 | Jacob deGrom | pi sp | Rangers | 16.4 |
| 10 | Braxton Ashcraft | pi sp | Pirates | 16.4 |
Player of the Day: Walbert Ureña, Angels
Ureña struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Twins. Ureña picked up a no-decision after Minnesota tied the game following his exit.
He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.0 for the season, 50th among all players and 24th among American League pitchers.
NL Player of the Day: Justin Wrobleski, Dodgers
Wrobleski struck out three over three scoreless and hitless innings, walking none, in the 8-2 win over the Reds. He picked up a no-decision, because he did not pitch the required five innings for a starter to earn the win.
Wrobleski served as an opener in the game rather than a full-fledged starter, as his workload was limited to 32 pitches after coming off the 15-day injured list Sept. 1 with left forearm inflammation. This was his fourth appearance since his return, all of three innings or fewer.
Wrobleski earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points as National League Player of the Day, giving him 9.1 for the season, 43rd among all players and 18th among NL pitchers.
NL Batter of the Day: Henry Davis, Pirates
Davis homered and went 1-for-2, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-4 win over the Brewers.
AL Batter of the Day: Trevor Story, Red Sox
Story hit a three-run home run and went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Rangers.
Notable: Erick Fedde, White Sox
Fedde has the most 2026 Box-Toppers points among Thursday’s Player of the Game winners.
Fedde (4.2IP 4H R 2BB 6K ND in the 3-1 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.7 for the season, 38th among all players and 20th among AL pitchers.
Career Box-Toppers points—Active NL pitchers 1—Chris Sale #Braves 197.2 2—Yu Darvish #Padres 144.4 3—Zack Wheeler #Phillies 141.8 4—Aaron Nola #Phillies 127.5* 5—Kevin Gausman #Cubs 120.2 6—Blake Snell #Dodgers 116.5 7—Shohei Ohtani #Dodgers 106.9 *Earns 1.0 B-T point Thursday
— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) 10:27 AM · Sep 18, 2026
Also notable: Aaron Nola, Phillies
Nola now has 127.5 career Box-Toppers points—rising to 46th overall since tracking began in 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday (7IP 3H 0R 3BB 4K W in the 3-0 win over the Mets).
Nola, with his 1.0 point Thursday, passes two players on the “all-time” career points list—Roy Oswalt (127.2) and John Lackey (127.2). He now trails 45th-ranked player Jered Weaver (127.8).
Nola ranks ninth among active, signed players in career points and fourth among active NL pitchers.
Nola now has 6.7 Box-Toppers points in 2026, 37th among NL pitchers.
Thursday’s Sidelights Sidebar
Box-Toppers review of the day's top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest B-T game scores:
⬛ Twins’ Bradley has 9 Ks over 7 innings, but fails to win top player honors in extra-innings loss
Debut
Astros relief pitcher Ethan Pecko made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor (5.2IP 3H R 0BB 4K ND in the 6-2 win over the Royals). The 2026 rookie made his Major League debut Aug. 19 and was playing in his sixth career game.
He is the second player named Ethan to make his Box-Toppers debut within two days—Ethan Salas of the Padres made his debut Wednesday. Since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, only three players named Ethan have won Player of the Game honors and earned Box-Toppers points. The other is pitcher Ethan Martin, who earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point in his only career Player of the Day honor on Aug. 19, 2013 with the Phillies. Baseball-Reference.com lists seven players named Ethan in Major League Baseball history.
Scoring
Ureña earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points as Player of the Day.
Wrobleski earns 1.7 points as NL Player of the Day.
Davis and Story 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.
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).| 9/17 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 12.0 | `LAA 5, MIN 4 (F/10) | Walbert Ureña | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| NL | 6.0 | `LAD 8, CIN 2 | Justin Wrobleski | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 5.0 | PHI 3, NYM 0 | Aaron Nola (W, 7‑10) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 4.2 | `HOU 6, KC 2 | Ethan Pecko (H, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | PIT 7, MIL 4 | Henry Davis C | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 2.2 | `CHW 3, DET 1 | Erick Fedde | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | SD 9, COL 2 | Dustin Harris CF‑RF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | BOS 4, TEX 3 | Trevor Story SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| 2.0 | TB 10, ATH 1 | Richie Palacios 2B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fedde, Erick 4065 | pi sp mr | chi al | 9.7 | 12.4 | 34.9 | 39.6 | +7.0 |
| Wrobleski, Justin 5062 | pi sp | lad nl | 9.1 | 15.1 | 17.1 | 17.1 | +3.1 |
| Ureña, Walbert 5350 | pi sp | ana al | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +9.0 |
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 6.7 | 12.4 | 64.5 | 127.5 | +1.0 |
| Davis, Henry 4973 | ca pr | pit nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +4.0 |
| Palacios, Richie 4654 | 2b ph | tb al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +2.0 |
| Harris, Dustin 5472 | rf cf | sd nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Story, Trevor 3607 | ss | bos al | 1.5 | 9.5 | 24.2 | 47.2 | -6.5 |
| Pecko, Ethan 5480 | pi mr | hou 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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHC | Holmes, Clay 4022 | 4.7 | 9.7 | 21.7 | 22.7 |
| CIN | Burns, Chase 5301 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| KC | Dobnak, Randy 4263 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 6.0 |
| PIT | Skenes, Paul 5005 | 13.7 | 34.8 | 47.8 | 47.8 |
| MIL | May, Dustin 4214 | 8.7 | 14.4 | 22.1 | 26.1 |
| BAL | Povich, Cade 5029 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| ATH | Barnett, Mason 5376 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| CLE | Espino, Daniel* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BOS | Suarez, Ranger 4228 | 9.7 | 25.5 | 53.6 | 54.6 |
| TB | Seymour, Ian 5265 | 8.7 | 12.4 | 12.4 | 12.4 |
| PHI | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYM | Thornton, Zac 5414 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| DET | Sears, Andrew* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CHW | Sandlin, David 5368 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| TOR | Cease, Dylan 4231 | 21.4 | 30.1 | 96.0 | 98.0 |
| TEX | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ATL | Mahle, Tyler 3929 | 8.1 | 13.8 | 34.2 | 46.2 |
| HOU | Lambert, Peter 4155 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 11.7 | 13.7 |
| SEA | Woo, Bryan 4842 | 17.4 | 35.4 | 55.8 | 55.8 |
| COL | Hughes, Gabriel* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| WSH | Cavalli, Cade 5244 | 10.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 |
| STL | Leahy, Kyle 5001 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 9.7 | 9.7 |
| MIN | Prielipp, Connor 5397 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| LAA | Rodriguez, Grayson 4790 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| MIA | Phillips, Tyler 5064 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| SD | Pivetta, Nick 3825 | 3.7 | 21.4 | 52.8 | 75.5 |
| NYY | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 69.5 | 170.0 |
| ARI | Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | 9.0 | 13.7 | 37.7 | 81.9 |
| SF | Perdomo, Cesar* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| LAD | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | 6.7 | 11.7 | 48.5 | 72.2 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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