| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Cam Schlittler | pi sp | Yankees | 21.7 | 1 | Jacob Misiorowski | pi sp | Brewers | 24.1 | |
| 2 | Dylan Cease | pi sp | Blue Jays | 21.4 | 2 | Jesús Luzardo | pi sp | Phillies | 23.0 | |
| 3 | Bryan Woo | pi sp | Mariners | 17.4 | 3 | Cristopher Sánchez | pi sp | Phillies | 17.7 | |
| 4 | Jacob deGrom | pi sp | Rangers | 16.4 | 4 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | pi sp | Dodgers | 17.4 | |
| 5 | Gavin Williams | pi sp | Guardians | 15.7 | 5 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 16.7 | |
| 6 | Logan Gilbert | pi sp | Mariners | 14.7 | 6 | Braxton Ashcraft | pi sp | Pirates | 16.4 | |
| 7 | Taj Bradley | pi sp | Twins | 14.4 | 7 | Mason Miller | pi cp | Padres | 16.0 | |
| 8 | Drew Rasmussen | pi sp | Rays | 14.0 | 8 | Shohei Ohtani | pi sp dh | Dodgers | 15.7 | |
| 9 | Sonny Gray | pi sp | Red Sox | 13.0 | 9 | Tarik Skubal | pi sp | Dodgers | 13.7 | |
| 10 | Sean Burke | pi sp | White Sox | 12.1 | 10 | Paul Skenes | pi sp | Pirates | 13.7 | |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Riley Greene | lf | Tigers | 9.0 | 1 | Shohei Ohtani | pi sp dh | Dodgers | 15.7 | |
| 2 | Pete Alonso | 1b | Orioles | 8.2 | 2 | Sal Stewart | 1b | Reds | 13.0 | |
| 3 | Yordan Alvarez | dh | Astros | 7.5 | 3 | Michael Harris | cf | Braves | 9.5 | |
| 4 | Yandy Díaz | dh | Rays | 7.5 | 4 | Dansby Swanson | ss | Cubs | 9.2 | |
| 5 | Willson Contreras | 1b | Red Sox | 7.0 | 5 | Daylen Lile | lf | Nationals | 9.2 | |
| 6 | Nick Kurtz | 1b | Athletics | 7.0 | 6 | Jake McCarthy | cf lf rf | Rockies | 8.7 | |
| 7 | Kody Clemens | 1b rf | Twins | 7.0 | 7 | Pete Crow‑Armstrong | cf | Cubs | 8.5 | |
| 8 | Munetaka Murakami | 1b | White Sox | 7.0 | 8 | Ty France | 1b | Padres | 8.5 | |
| 9 | Jac Caglianone | 1b | Royals | 6.9 | 9 | Alec Burleson | 1b | Cardinals | 8.5 | |
| 10 | Jazz Chisholm Jr. | 2b | Yankees | 6.5 | 10 | Elly De La Cruz | ss | Reds | 8.0 |
Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski tops Box-Toppers overall player rankings for a 10th consecutive week, solidifying his lead with about a week to go in the season.
Meanwhile, Cam Schlittler of the Yankees regains the lead among American League pitchers in 2026 Box-Toppers points and Riley Greene of the Tigers rises to first place among AL batters. Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers remains in first place among National League batters.
This is the next-to-last (and also penultimate) Box-Toppers player rankings report for the season. With a little over one week to go in the season, final player rankings will be posted after the conclusion of regular season games, Sunday, Sept. 27.
Misiorowski leads
The Brewers fireballer leads all players with 24.1 Box-Toppers points, picking up 1.0 in the past week. He leads over Jesús Luzardo of the Phillies (23.0), who ranks second overall and among NL pitchers. Luzardo, however, is on the injured list, unlikely to return in the regular season.
With Luzardo sidelined, only two players have a realistic opportunity to catch Misiorowski for Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors:
Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler, who has 21.7 points (2.4 points behind)
Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease, who has 21.4 points (2.7 points behind)
Both would need to win Player of the Game honors in each of their two final starts of the season—earning overall or AL Player of the Day bonus points in at least one—while Misiorowski remains scoreless.
American League pitchers
Cam Schlittler of the Yankees passes Dylan Cease of the Blue Jays to take the lead among AL pitchers. Schlittler, who led in late June and early July, has 21.7 Box-Toppers points (third overall). Cease, who led AL pitchers for nine straight weeks, falls to second with 21.4.
American League batters
Riley Greene of the Tigers passes Pete Alonso of the Orioles to take the lead among AL batters. Greene has 9.0 Box-Toppers points (45th overall) while Alonso, who led for three weeks, falls to second place with 8.2.
AL batters continue to lag significantly behind NL batters in total points earned this season (502.8 vs. 575.7). Five of the top 10 NL batters have higher point totals than Greene.
The top AL batter is on pace to potentially set a record for the lowest point total to lead a category in a full season since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. The current record low was set last season when George Springer of the Blue Jays led AL batters with 9.7 points. Greene needs one more Player of the Game honor to pass 9.7 points.
National League batters
Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers leads for the 17th straight report with 15.7 Box-Toppers points (13th overall), picking up no points in the past week. Ohtani has not earned Player of the Game honors since Aug. 17 and is currently on the injured list (earliest potential return date Sept. 23). Second-place NL batter Sal Stewart of the Reds has 13.0 points.
Ohtani has earned Player of the Game honors 13 times this season—six as a batter (7.0 points) and seven as a starting pitcher (8.7 points). Because at least 25% of his honors came from each role (46.2% batting, 53.8% pitching), he qualifies to rank at both positions with his full 15.7-point total.
Looked at individually, his 8.7 points as a pitcher would rank 23rd among NL pitchers and his 7.0 points as a designated hitter would rank 13th among NL batters.
Box-Toppers almanac
Players with 10 points
There are currently 32 players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points this season.
Historical Context: Only two other seasons ended with 32 or fewer 10-point players: 1995 (32 players in a strike-shortened 144-game season) and 2020 (two players in a pandemic-shortened 60-game season). The fewest 10-point players in a full 162-game season was 38 in 2017.
Pitcher vs. Batter Split: In 1995, 23 of the 32 10-point players were batters. In 2026, 31 of the 32 are pitchers, with only two batters reaching double digits (Ohtani counts as both).
Threshold Watch: Eighteen players currently sit between 9.0 and 9.7 points, one Player of the Game honor away from reaching 10 points.
Share of points: Pitchers vs. batters
Batters had a bounceback week, winning Player of the Game honors in 41 of the 94 games played (43.6%), while pitchers won in 53 (56.4%).
Batters’ overall share of points this season increased from 38.8% last week to 39.9% this week.
Batters have won fewer than 40% of all Box-Toppers points awarded in four of the past five seasons (surpassing that mark only in 2023 at 40.7%) and set a record-low share of 37.2% in 2024.
While batters have struggled to reach parity with pitchers in recent seasons, it wasn’t always this way: From 1995 to 2009, batters generally won half or more of all Box-Toppers points each season. But their share of points dropped precipitously after 2009.
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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