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Brewers' reliever Aaron Ashby and Guardians’ outfielder Chase DeLauter earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in Monday's League Championship Series action.
Ashby earned the save in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series as the Brewers took a 2-0 lead over the Dodgers. DeLauter, meanwhile, led the Guardians’ offensive surge past the Rays in the American League Championship Series opening game.
Read MoreThe American League’s top two-seeded teams play in the AL Championship Series, but Box-Toppers favors the second-seeded Cleveland Guardians over the top-seed Tampa Bay Rays.
The Rays have far more wins than the Guardians (98 vs. 85) but rank only marginally higher in Box-Toppers team rankings:
Rays: 115.0 combined Box-Toppers points in 2026, fifth overall, second among AL teams.
Guardians: 112.1 points, seventh overall, third among AL teams.
The Guardians hold the Box-Toppers edge over the Rays in several key categories.
Read MoreGavin Williams is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s American League Division Series Game 5, leading the Cleveland Guardians past the Chicago White Sox to clinch the series.
Read MorePatrick Bailey of the Guardians earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Thursday as Cleveland defeated Chicago 9-5 in American League Division Series Game 4 to force a deciding Game 5.
Read MoreMiddle relievers swept Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Wednesday across all four Division Series games, as three teams advanced to the League Championship Series.
Guardians pitcher Foster Griffin led all winners in Cleveland's ALDS Game 3 victory over the White Sox, staving off elimination and forcing a Game 4.
Wednesday’s other Player of the Game winners:
Aaron Ashby, Brewers: Earned top player honors in Milwaukee’s NLDS Game 4 victory, eliminating San Diego.
Tanner Scott, Dodgers: Earned top player honors in Los Angeles' NLDS Game 4 victory, eliminating Atlanta.
Ian Seymour, Rays: Earned top player honors in Tampa Bay's ALDS Game 3 victory, completing a three-game sweep of New York.
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 MoreGiants pitcher Logan Webb is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sánchez bolsters his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. In addition, Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani rises to second place in season player rankings, earning Player of the Game honors for a second straight day. He did it Tuesday as a designated hitter and Wednesday as a starting pitcher.
Read MorePadres pitcher Michael King is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Mariners pitcher Bryan Woo enters the season top 10 after earning American League Player of the Day honors, while veterans Sonny Gray and José Ramírez climbed the all-time leaderboards.
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The New York Yankees are Box-Toppers’ pick to win the 2026 World Series, defeating the projected National League champion Chicago Cubs.
Box-Toppers projects the Yankees will win 100 games and the American League pennant, ahead of the Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, and Boston Red Sox.
Read MoreCubs pitcher Cade Horton is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Monday’s spring training games.
Other top players Monday include Brandon Lockridge of the Brewers, Luke Keaschall of the Twins and George Springer of the Blue Jays.
Read MoreTwins pitcher Mick Abel is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Monday’s spring training games.
Other top performers include Romeo Sanabria (Padres), the National League Player of the Day, and José Ramírez (Guardians), the American League Batter of the Day.
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Five Box-Toppers category leaders were also 2025 Players Choice Award winners, headlined by the surprising National League Outstanding Player selection, Kyle Schwarber, who beat out unanimous NL MVP Shohei Ohtani for the honor.
But while the players and Box-Toppers data found common ground for the top NL player, a massive disparity emerged for the game’s overall top honor. Players voted Cal Raleigh of the Mariners as Player of the Year, even though he earned just 6.0 Box-Toppers points—ranking 24th among American League batters and 139th among all players.
Read MoreBoth Hank Aaron Award-winners for 2025—Aaron Judge of the Yankees in the American League and Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers in the National League—won the honor for the second straight season.
However, neither player led their league’s batters in Box-Toppers points in 2025, though both ranked first in 2024.
Read MoreFour Box-Toppers points leaders are among players selected for 2025’s 16-member “All-MLB” Team. Five other Box-Toppers leaders are among the “All-MLB” Second Team.
The All-MLB team is selected with half the vote coming from fans and half coming from an expert panel. Unlike the selections for baseball’s All-Star Game, players are chosen not based on their affiliation with the American League or National League. Instead, players are selected from all Major League Baseball teams, regardless of league affiliation, and are designated as “First Team” or “Second Team.”
Read MoreSeven of the 20 batters winning Silver Slugger Awards in 2025 were also among the leaders at their positions in 2025 Box-Toppers point totals.
The awards are given to the top batter in each position in both leagues, voted on by Major League Baseball coaches and managers. Box-Toppers, analyzing traditional box scores, tracks which players most help their teams win the most games, awarding points for the top player in each game.
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Aaron Judge of the Yankees and Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers won 2025 Most Valuable Player Awards Thursday over Box-Toppers’ choices for the awards, Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal and Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies.
Aaron Judge of the Yankees and Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers won 2025 Most Valuable Player Awards Thursday over Box-Toppers’ choices for the awards, Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal and Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies.
Both Judge and Ohtani won their league’s award for the second straight year—Judge in the American League and Ohtani in the National League.
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These four are both Box-Toppers top-ranked players and finalists for major 2025 postseason awards: Tarik Skubal of the Tigers, Paul Skenes of the Pirates, Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies and Drake Baldwin of the Braves.
In four of the six major postseason player awards, the 2025 Box-Toppers points leader for each honor is among the finalists announced by baseball writers.
There are two awards in which the Box-Toppers leader is not among the finalists: AL Most Valuable Player and AL Rookie of the Year.
Read MoreSeven of the eight starting pitchers in Tuesday’s opening Wild Card round games have more than 10 Box-Toppers points in 2025, and are among the season’s top 40 overall players.
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal, Box-Toppers’ 2025 Player of the Year, leads the way. His 22.1 Box-Toppers points led all players during the regular season, and he starts Game 1 of AL Wild Card Series against the Guardians.
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Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal is 2025 Box-Toppers Player of the Year, holding the lead in Box-Toppers points since Aug. 31.
Meanwhile, Paul Skenes of the Pirates rises to first place among National League pitchers, passing previous leader Zack Wheeler of the Phillies on Sept. 24.
Read MorePhillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other Player of the Game winners Friday include Rangers pitcher Jack Leiter, Spencer Horwitz of the Pirates, Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees and Lenyn Sosa of the White Sox.
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.