Blog
White Sox pitcher Sean Burke leads Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Monday’s American League Division Series games.
Burke won top player honors pitching in middle relief in the Game 2 win over the Guardians. Rays pitcher Ian Seymour won Player of the Game honors in the other AL Division Series Game 2, also pitching middle relief in the win over the Yankees.
Read MoreBraves relief pitcher Didier Fuentes leads Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Sunday’s National League Division Series games, both low-scoring, one-run contests.
Fuentes pitched 3.2 innings as one of six Atlanta pitchers in a bullpen effort that kept Los Angeles at bay in a 3-2 win. Meanwhile, Sal Frelick of the Brewers earned Player of the Game honors in Milwaukee's 4-3 win over San Diego, driving in the Brewers' first run and scoring the ninth-inning walk-off winning run.
Read More
Source: MLB.com
Both American League Division Series begin Saturday.
The Chicago White Sox face the Cleveland Guardians in one best-of-five game series while the New York Yankees face the Tampa Bay Rays in the other. The top two AL seeds, the Rays (first) and the Guardians (second) received byes from the first round of playoffs and face the winners of the best-of-three Wild Card series played this week.
Read MoreCam Schlittler leads all Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Tuesday's opening Wild Card playoff action. Joining him as Tuesday's Players of the Game: Padres pitcher Michael King, Braves pitcher Chris Sale, and White Sox relief pitcher Grant Taylor.
Read More
Source: MLB.com
Four of the eight starting pitchers in Tuesday’s opening Wild Card round games earned more than 10 Box-Toppers points in 2026, and two are among the season’s top three players.
Phillies pitcher Jesús Luzardo—whose 23.0 Box-Toppers points rank second overall and second among National League pitchers—leads the way as he takes the mound for Game 1 against the Braves. Meanwhile, Box-Toppers’ top American League pitcher, Cam Schlittler of the Yankees (21.7 points, third overall), starts Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series against the Red Sox.
Read More
Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski is 2026 Box-Toppers Player of the Year, finishing with 26.1 Box-Toppers points, most of any player this season.
Meanwhile, Cam Schlittler of the Yankees finishes as the top American League pitcher, Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers leads National League batters, and Pete Alonso of the Orioles rises to lead AL batters.
Read More
The Los Angeles Dodgers finish 2026 atop Box-Toppers team rankings, leading for the ninth straight week and were the hottest team of the last 10 days of the season.
Meanwhile, the New York Yankees continue to lead American League teams.
Read More
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.
Read More
The Los Angeles Dodgers hold the top spot in Box-Toppers for the eighth consecutive week in the penultimate (and next-to-last) team rankings report for the 2026 season.
Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Brewers maintain second place overall and the New York Yankees continue to hold the lead among American League teams.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Cam Schlittler is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, passing Dylan Cease of the Blue Jays for the lead among American League pitchers—even though Cease also won Player of the Game honors in his Sunday start.
Schlittler rises to third place overall while Cease drops from third to fourth, despite earning Player of the Game honors. Other Player of the Game winners Sunday include Red Sox pitcher Payton Tolle, Lawrence Butler of the Athletics and J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Andrew Alvarez is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Mariners pitcher Bryan Woo maintains sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read More
Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski leads Box-Toppers overall player rankings for a ninth consecutive week with his lead narrowed to just 0.1 point.
Misiorowski also briefly lost the top overall spot for one day this week before regaining it.
Read More
The Los Angeles Dodgers hold the top spot in Box-Toppers team rankings for the seventh consecutive week, expanding their lead over the second-place Milwaukee Brewers.
Meanwhile, the New York Yankees maintain the lead among American League teams and the Pittsburgh Pirates made the biggest jump in team rankings.
Read MoreAngels pitcher Reid Detmers is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski regains the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings, winning National League Player of the Day, one day after Phillies pitcher Jesús Luzardo passed him for the lead.
Read MoreMariners pitcher Bryan Woo is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to sixth place in season player rankings.
Other Player of the Game winners Sunday include Red Sox pitcher Payton Tolle, Cardinals pitcher Cooper Hjerpe, Jake Burger of the Rangers, Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Braves, Padres closing pitcher Mason Miller and Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes.
Read More
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Dylan Cease | pi sp | Blue Jays | 20.4 | 1 | Jacob Misiorowski | pi sp | Brewers | 21.4 | |
| 2 | Cam Schlittler | pi sp | Yankees | 18.7 | 2 | Jesus Luzardo | pi sp | Phillies | 21.0 | |
| 3 | Gavin Williams | pi sp | Guardians | 15.7 | 3 | Cristopher Sanchez | pi sp | Phillies | 17.7 | |
| 4 | Jacob deGrom | pi sp | Rangers | 15.4 | 4 | Braxton Ashcraft | pi sp | Pirates | 16.4 | |
| 5 | Bryan Woo | pi sp | Mariners | 14.4 | 5 | Shohei Ohtani | pi sp dh | Dodgers | 15.7 | |
| 6 | Taj Bradley | pi sp | Twins | 14.4 | 6 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 14.0 | |
| 7 | Logan Gilbert | pi sp | Mariners | 13 | 7 | Kyle Harrison | pi sp | Brewers | 13.7 | |
| 8 | Drew Rasmussen | pi sp | Rays | 13 | 8 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | pi sp | Dodgers | 13.4 | |
| 9 | Sean Burke | pi sp | White Sox | 12.1 | 9 | Chris Sale | pi sp | Braves | 13.4 | |
| 10 | Sonny Gray | pi sp | Red Sox | 12 | 10 | Paul Skenes | pi sp | Pirates | 12.7 | |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Pete Alonso | 1b | Orioles | 8.2 | 1 | Shohei Ohtani | pi sp dh | Dodgers | 15.7 | |
| 2 | Yordan Alvarez | dh | Astros | 7.5 | 2 | Sal Stewart | 1b | Reds | 13.0 | |
| 3 | Yandy Diaz | dh | Rays | 7.5 | 3 | Dansby Swanson | ss | Cubs | 9.2 | |
| 4 | Willson Contreras | 1b | Red Sox | 7.0 | 4 | Jake McCarthy | cf lf rf | Rockies | 8.7 | |
| 5 | Nick Kurtz | 1b | Athletics | 7.0 | 5 | Pete Crow‑Armstrong | cf | Cubs | 8.5 | |
| 6 | Kody Clemens | 1b rf | Twins | 7.0 | 6 | Michael Harris | cf ph | Braves | 8.5 | |
| 7 | Munetaka Murakami | 1b | White Sox | 7.0 | 7 | Ty France | 1b | Padres | 8.5 | |
| 8 | Jac Caglianone | 1b | Royals | 6.9 | 8 | Alec Burleson | 1b | Cardinals | 8.5 | |
| 9 | Jazz Chisholm Jr. | 2b | Yankees | 6.5 | 9 | Daylen Lile | lf | Nationals | 8.2 | |
| 10 | Dillon Dingler | ca | Tigers | 6.5 | 10 | CJ Abrams | ss | Nationals | 8.0 |
Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski leads Box-Toppers overall player rankings for an eighth consecutive week.
All Box-Toppers category leaders remain unchanged since last week:
AL Pitchers: Dylan Cease, Blue Jays
NL Batters: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers
AL Batters: Pete Alonso, Orioles
Misiorowski leads all players and National League pitchers with 21.4 Box-Toppers points, picking up no points in the past week. He stays ahead of Jesús Luzardo of the Phillies (21.0 points), who ranks second to Misiorowski overall and among NL pitchers.
Dylan Cease of the Blue Jays leads AL pitchers for the eighth consecutive week with 20.4 Box-Toppers points, gaining 2.0 points in the past week. He stays ahead of Cam Schlittler of the Yankees (18.7 points). Cease ranks third overall.
Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers leads for the 15th straight report with 15.7 Box-Toppers points, picking up no points in the past week. He leads second-place NL batter Sal Stewart of the Reds (13.0 points).
Ohtani ranks eighth overall.
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 18th among NL pitchers and his 7.0 points as a designated hitter would rank 11th among NL batters.
Pete Alonso of the Orioles leads for the second week with 8.2 Box-Toppers points, picking up no points in the past week. He ranks ahead of second-place Yordan Alvarez of the Astros (7.5 points). Alonso ranks 48th overall.
AL batters continue to lag significantly behind NL batters in total points earned this season (468.1 vs. 537.4)—in fact, eight of the top 10 NL batters have higher point totals than Alonso.
With three weeks remaining, 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 record low was set last season when George Springer of the Blue Jays led AL batters with 9.7 points; Alonso needs 1.5 more points to reach that mark.
After winning a majority of Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors last week for the first time this season, batters fell back to earth this week. Batters won in 38 of the 97 games played (39.2%), while pitchers won in 59 (60.8%).
Batters’ overall share of points this season decreased from 40.2% last week to 40.1% 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.
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.
Follow us: Bluesky | X | Facebook | Substack (newsletter)
The Los Angeles Dodgers hold the top spot in Box-Toppers team rankings for the sixth consecutive week, though their lead over the second-place Milwaukee Brewers has closed to under 1.0 point.
Meanwhile, the New York Yankees maintain the lead among American League teams and the Baltimore Orioles and Philadephia Phillies posted the week’s biggest points gains.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Cam Schlittler is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fourth place in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease becomes the third player to reach 20 Box-Toppers points in 2026 (20.4) after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreGuardians pitcher Gavin Williams is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to seventh place in season player rankings.
Phillies pitcher Jesús Luzardo moved within 0.4 points of the overall lead after winning Player of the Game honors Tuesday, while Mariners pitcher Bryan Woo jumped into 10th place in overall season rankings.
Read MoreRangers pitcher Jacob deGrom is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to eighth place in season player rankings.
Also Monday, Twins pitcher Taj Bradley rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreBox-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.