Cubs’ Gausman tops players for Monday, Aug. 24; Mariners’ Raleigh tops AL players

Cubs pitcher Kevin Gausman is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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Cubs pitcher Kevin Gausman is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Other Player of the Game winners Monday include Cal Raleigh of the Mariners, Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen, Daylen Lile of the Nationals and Corey Seager of the Rangers.

Player of the Day: Kevin Gausman, Cubs

Gausman struck out six over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 7-0 win over the Diamondbacks.

Career Box-Toppers points—Active NL pitchers 1—Chris Sale #Braves 195.2 2—Yu Darvish #Padres 144.4 3—Zack Wheeler #Phillies 138.1 4—Aaron Nola #Phillies 126.5 5—Kevin Gausman #Cubs 118.2* 6—Blake Snell #Dodgers 115.5 *Earns 2.0 B-T points Monday www.box-toppers.com/blog/2026/8/...

— Box-Toppers Baseball (@boxtoppers.bsky.social) 8:00 AM · Aug 25, 2026

Gausman earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, 92nd among all players and 34th among National League pitchers.

It is the first points he has earned since being traded from the Blue Jays before the Aug. 3 trade deadline and his first points in more than three months (the last was May 22).

Gausman also has 118.2 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 56th among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. With his 2.0 points Monday, he passes five players on the “all-time” career points list—Todd Helton (116.4), Mark Buehrle (116.7), Adrian Beltre (116.8), Barry Zito (117.4) and Johnny Cueto (118.2). (Though he has the same point total as Cueto, Gausman ranks ahead on a tiebreaker, having earned points more recently.) Gausman now trails 56th-ranked player Carlos Delgado (118.7).

Gausman ranks 10th among active, signed players in career points, fifth among active NL pitchers.

AL Player of the Day: Cal Raleigh, Mariners

Raleigh hit three home runs and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 9-2 win over the Phillies.

Raleigh earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points as American League Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, 60th among AL batters.

AL Player of the Day: Cal Raleigh, Mariners.

NL Batter of the Day: Daylen Lile, Nationals

Lile hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 13-3 win over the Rockies.

Lile earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points as NL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season, 21st among NL batters.

AL Batter of the Day

There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Cal Raleigh.

Drew Rasmussen, Rays, has the most 2026 Box-Toppers points among Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.

Monday’s Sidelights Sidebar

Box-Toppers review of the day's top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest B-T game scores:

⬛ Neither Wheeler nor Gilbert win Player of the Game honors in Monday’s marquee matchup

Notable: Drew Rasmussen, Rays

Rasmussen has the most 2026 Box-Toppers points among Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.

Rasmussen (6IP 3H R 0BB 5K W in the 4-1 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.0 for the season, 16th among all players and eighth among AL pitchers.

Streak: Corey Seager, Rangers

Seager has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2026 Monday.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2026 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Monday, Aug. 24.

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Jacob Misiorowski	pi sp	Brewers	21.4
2	Dylan Cease	pi sp	Blue Jays	18.4
3	Jesús Luzardo	pi sp	Phillies	18.0
4	Braxton Ashcraft	pi sp	Pirates	16.4
5	Cristopher Sánchez	pi sp	Phillies	15.7
6	Cam Schlittler	pi sp	Yankees	15.7
7	Shohei Ohtani	pi sp dh	Dodgers	15.7
8	Gavin Williams	pi sp	Guardians	13.7
9	Kyle Harrison	pi sp	Brewers	13.7
10	Bryan Woo	pi sp	Mariners	13.4

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Seager (2-2B 3-4 R 3BI in the 11-2 win over the White Sox) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Dodgers and now has 34.2 career points, 20th among active AL batters and fourth among active AL shortstops.

Seager’s best season was 2017 with the Dodgers, when he had 7.0 points, first among NL shortstops. In 2025, he had 1.0 point with the Rangers, one of three previous seasons when he extended his consecutive-season streak with just 1.0 point (he also did it in 2018 and 2019).

Scoring

• Gausman earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points as Player of the Day.

• Raleigh earns 1.7 points as AL Player of the Day.

• Lile earns 1.5 points as NL Batter of the Day.

• All of Monday’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).

8/24	BTG	Game	Player	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	CHC 7, ARI 0	Kevin Gausman (W, 7‑11)	‑	‑	‑	‑		7.0	3	0	0	1	6
AL	7.0	SEA 9, PHI 2	Cal Raleigh C	3	3	3	4		‑	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑
	6.0	TB 4, DET 1	Drew Rasmussen (W, 14‑5)	‑	‑	‑	‑		6.0	3	1	1	0	5
BAT	5.0	WSH 13, COL 3	Daylen Lile LF	5	2	3	5		‑	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑
	5.0	MIN 9, ATH 6	Zebby Matthews (W, 8‑8)	‑	‑	‑	‑		7.0	6	1	1	1	7
	4.1	SF 5, CIN 0	Jason Foley (W, 1‑1)	‑	‑	‑	‑		1.1	0	0	0	0	3
	4.0	CLE 4, LAA 2	Parker Messick (W, 10‑8)	‑	‑	‑	‑		6.0	3	1	1	1	4
	4.0	PIT 3, SD 2 (F/12)	Yohan Ramírez (S, 2)	‑	‑	‑	‑		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	3.0	TEX 11, CHW 2	Corey Seager SS	4	1	3	3		‑	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑
	1.0	BOS 4, MIA 2	Mickey Gasper DH	2	0	2	1		‑	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑

MLB—Overall Box‑Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box‑Toppers points.
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 (+/-).
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Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’26	’25‑26	’21‑26	Career	+/‑
Rasmussen, Drew 4547	pi sp	tb al	13.0	22.7	44.2	44.2	+3.3
Messick Parker 5266	pi sp	cle al	9.7	10.7	10.7	10.7	+8.7
Gausman, Kevin 3191	pi sp	chi nl	6.0	20.1	75.2	118.2	-8.1
Lile, Daylen 5353	lf	dc nl	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	+5.7
Matthews, Zebby 5186	pi sp	min al	4.7	8.7	8.7	8.7	+0.7
Ramirez, Yohan 4756	pi cp mr	pit nl	3.0	4.0	6.0	6.0	+2.0
Raleigh, Cal 4481	ca	sea al	2.7	8.7	26.4	26.4	-3.3
Gasper, Mickey 5267	dh ca	bos al	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	+1.0
Seager, Corey 3587	ss	tex al	1.0	2.0	16.2	34.2	0.0
Foley, Jason 4906	pi mr cp	sf nl	1.0	1.0	7.0	7.0	+1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Tuesday’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.
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Game	Starter	’26	’25‑26	’21‑26	Career
BOS	Tolle, Payton 5348	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7
MIA	Phillips, Tyler 5064	3.0	3.0	5.0	5.0
TB	Seymour, Ian 5265	7.7	11.4	11.4	11.4
DET	Jobe, Jackson 5141	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
COL	Adams, Mason	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
WSH	Alvarez, Andrew 5274	2.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
HOU	Pecko, Ethan*	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
NYY	Warren, Will 5143	5.7	15.1	15.1	15.1
KC	Lugo, Seth 3729	1.0	6.0	28.5	44.5
TOR	Scherzer, Max 2588	1.0	4.0	56.5	257.7
MIL	Harrison, Kyle 4914	13.7	15.7	23.7	23.7
NYM	Thornton, Zac 5414	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
LAD	Glasnow, Tyler 3948	5.7	10.7	47.5	71.2
ATL	Elder, Bryce 4709	6.7	11.7	26.4	26.4
TEX	deGrom, Jacob 3343	13.4	24.4	59.2	164.6
CHW	Kay, Anthony 4285	4.0	4.0	6.0	7.0
BAL	Bassitt, Chris 3413	1.0	8.0	60.5	79.6
STL	Liberatore, Matthew 4662	7.7	13.7	20.7	20.7
CLE	Williams, Gavin 4865	13.7	25.4	33.1	33.1
LAA	Ureña, Walbert 5350	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0
CHC	Holmes, Clay 4022	3.0	8.0	20.0	21.0
ARI	Pfaadt, Brandon 4812	3.7	11.4	27.5	27.5
MIN	Bradley, Taj 4780	13.4	19.4	36.5	36.5
ATH	Jump, Gage 5372	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0
PHI	Nola, Aaron 3569	5.7	11.4	63.5	126.5
SEA	Kirby, George 4595	5.0	16.0	56.5	56.5
PIT	Skenes, Paul 5005	11.0	32.1	45.1	45.1
SD	King, Michael 4549	6.0	10.4	37.8	37.8
CIN	Singer, Brady 4337	1.0	11.0	40.7	44.7
SF	Houser, Adrian 4162	0.0	7.7	21.1	24.1

Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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