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Jonathan Aranda of the Rays is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s American League Championship Series Game 4 as Tampa Bay evens the series with Cleveland.
Jonathan Aranda went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs to lead the Rays past the Guardians.
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 MoreWhite 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.
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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.
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Phillies pitcher Jesús Luzardo is Box-Toppers’ most improved player in 2025, becoming just the second player to win the honor in a second season since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
Meanwhile, the consensus 2025 Comeback Player of the Year winner in the American League, Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom, ranks fifth among Box-Toppers’ most-improved players in 2025.
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.
Read MoreAngels pitcher José Soriano is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other Player of the Game winners Monday include Padres pitcher Yu Darvish and Ramón Urías of the Red Sox.
Read MoreCubs pitcher Cade Horton is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other Player of the Game winners Wednesday include Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman, Junior Caminero of the Rays and Blake Perkins of the Brewers.
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The Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays have the most players among the top 100 in Box-Toppers’ 2025 player rankings at the All-Star break.
Both teams each have six players among the top 100. Three other teams each have five players in the top 100—the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers.
Read MoreCubs pitcher Ben Brown is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Cardinals pitcher Sonny Gray rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Other Player of the Game winners Saturday include Royals pitcher Michael Wacha, Junior Caminero of the Rays and Max Muncy of the Dodgers.
Read MoreBlue Jays pitcher José Berríos is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other Player of the Game winners Thursday are Nationals pitcher MacKenzie Gore, Braves pitcher Chris Sale, Junior Caminero of the Rays and Rafael Marchán of the Phillies.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Jake Irvin is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to seventh in season player rankings.
Also Saturday, Yankees pitcher Max Fried rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Will Warren is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s spring training games.
Warren struck out four over three scoreless and hitless innings, allowing no walks and earning the win, in the 7-0 win over the Cardinals.
Read MoreBlue Jays pitcher Bowden Francis is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Francis struck out 12 over eight innings, allowing one run, one hit and three walks, in the 3-1 win over the Angels.
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.