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Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow and Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Thursday’s two National League Division Series games.
The Los Angeles Dodgers eliminate Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team, the Philadelphia Phillies, in one of the series. The Chicago Cubs meanwhile force a deciding Game 5 Saturday with the Milwaukee Brewers, with a win to tie that series.
Read MoreJavier Báez of the Tigers tops players in Wednesday’s four League Division Series playoff games.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays advance to the American League Championship Series, eliminating the New York Yankees in four games in the AL Division Series.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani tops players in Saturday’s four League Division Series opening games.
Other Player of the Game winners in Saturday’s League Division Series games: Jackson Chourio of the Brewers, Tigers pitcher Will Vest and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays.
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Source: MLB.com
The Philadelphia Phillies are Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team while National League top-seed Milwaukee Brewers rank fifth among NL playoff teams in Box-Toppers points.
A Box-Toppers look at both National League Division Series, which begin Saturday.
Read MoreTigers pitcher Tarik Skubal tops players in Tuesday’s four Wild Card playoff games.
Other Player of the Game winners in Tuesday’s Wild Card series games: Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet, Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell and Cubs relief pitcher Daniel Palencia.
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Seven 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.
Read MorePhillies pitcher Cristopher Sánchez is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other Player of the Game winners Tuesday include Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert, Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom, Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd, Spencer Horwitz of the Pirates and Ty France of the Twins.
Read MoreOn 27 of the 30 Major League clubs, pitchers are the team’s leader in 2025 Box-Toppers points. Batters lead the other three teams.
Pitchers are dominating much the way they are winning the overwhelming majority of Box-Toppers points this season compared to batters. Pitchers are winning 61 percent of all points this season compared to 39 percent for batters. The all-time record-low share of points earned by batters is 37.2 percent set in 2024. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.)
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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 MoreRed Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third place in season player rankings.
Other Player of the Game winners Saturday include Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd, Byron Buxton of the Twins, Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani and Jackson Merrill of the Padres.
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The Detroit Tigers regain the lead in Box-Toppers team rankings this week, just edging last week’s leader the New York Yankees on a tiebreaker.
| Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tigers | 49.9 | 5.0 | 3 |
| 2 | Yankees | 49.9 | 4.0 | 1 |
| 3 | Cubs | 47.9 | 5.7 | 5 |
| 4 | Dodgers | 47.1 | 4.5 | 4 |
| 5 | Phillies | 46.2 | 1.0 | 2 |
| 6 | Mets | 42.7 | 5.5 | 9 |
| 7 | Diamondbacks | 41.3 | 7.2 | 15 |
| 8 | Padres | 41.3 | 4.0 | 8 |
| 9 | Mariners | 40.4 | 2.0 | 6 |
| 10 | Twins | 40.2 | 4.5 | 11 |
| 11 | Royals | 40.1 | 4.2 | 10 |
| 12 | Cardinals | 39.7 | 2.0 | 7 |
| 13 | Brewers | 38.7 | 4.5 | 13 |
| 14 | Reds | 38.6 | 3.0 | 12 |
| 15 | Astros | 38.3 | 4.7 | 18 |
| 16 | Blue Jays | 38.0 | 5.0 | 20 |
| 17 | Guardians | 37.9 | 3.7 | 14 |
| 18 | Red Sox | 37.8 | 4.0 | 17 |
| 19 | Rays | 37.2 | 6.0 | 21 |
| 20 | Rangers | 36.4 | 2.5 | 16 |
| 21 | Giants | 36.1 | 2.7 | 19 |
| 22 | Nationals | 32.6 | 2.0 | 22 |
| 23 | Angels | 30.5 | 3.0 | 24 |
| 24 | Braves | 30.4 | 0.0 | 23 |
| 25 | Orioles | 29.4 | 6.0 | 28 |
| 26 | Pirates | 29.1 | 2.0 | 25 |
| 27 | Marlins | 26.2 | 1.0 | 26 |
| 28 | Athletics | 26.0 | 1.5 | 27 |
| 29 | White Sox | 23.9 | 2.0 | 29 |
| 30 | Rockies | 14.4 | 3.7 | 30 |
Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs rise to lead National League teams and the Arizona Diamondbacks are the week’s hottest team.
Tigers players have accumulated 49.9 Box-Toppers points this season, rising from third place last week to first place this week. Though the Tigers have the same Box-Toppers point total as last week’s leader, the Yankees (49.9), they hold the tiebreaking edge because they earned more points in the past week (5.0 vs. 4.0). The Tigers also pass the Yankees to lead American League teams. The Yankees fall from first to second place overall and among AL teams.
The Tigers have baseball’s best winning percentage (.641) and are led by pitcher Tarik Skubal (8.0 Box-Toppers points, sixth among all players and fourth among AL pitchers). Tigers top batter is Riley Greene (6.5 points, first among AL batters). Seventeen different Tigers players have earned Player of the Game honors so far this season.
The Cubs rise from fifth to third place overall with 47.9 Box-Toppers points, picking up 5.7 in the past week. They pass last week’s NL team leader, the Philadelphia Phillies, who fall from second to fifth place overall and third among NL teams with 46.2 Box-Toppers points, picking up 1.0 point in the past week.
The Cubs have the best winning percentage among NL teams (.629), second-best among all teams behind the Tigers (.641).
The Cubs are led by designated hitter/outfielder Seiya Suzuki and outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, both with 6.5 Box-Toppers points. Suzuki ranks second among NL batters and Crow-Armstrong ranks third. Cubs top pitcher is Matthew Boyd (5.0 Box-Toppers points, 15th among NL pitchers). Nineteen different Cubs players have earned Box-Toppers points so far in 2025.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are the week’s hottest team, picking up 7.2 Box-Toppers points in the past week, most of any team. The Diamondbacks now have 41.3 Box-Toppers points for the season, rising from 15th to seventh place overall. That eight-spot rise is the biggest jump in rankings among all teams.
The Diamondbacks picked up 6.2 of those points by winning four of their six games in the past week and another 1.0 point by signing Tayler Scott, who had earned Player of the Game honors earlier this season when pitching for the Houston Astros.
Last week, the Diamondbacks had the biggest drop in rankings among all teams, falling five spots from 10th to 15th place overall with 34.1 Box-Toppers points, picking up 1.0 point in the previous week.
The St. Louis Cardinals fell from seventh to 12th place overall with 39.7 Box-Toppers points, picking up 2.0 points in the past week. That five-spot fall was biggest among all teams this week.
The Colorado Rockies remain in 30th and last place for the eighth straight week with 14.4 Box-Toppers points, picking up 3.7 points in the past week.
Box-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. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point 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.
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Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Tyler O'Neill of the Orioles rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after becoming the first player to earn Player of the Game honors three times in 2025.
Read MoreMookie Betts of the Dodgers and Jhonkensy Noel of the Guardians are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Thursday’s two League Championship Series games.
In both best-of-seven-games series, the Los Angeles Dodgers take a 3-1 lead over the New York Mets in the National League, while the Cleveland Guardians now trail the New York Yankees, 2-1, in the American League.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Walker Buehler is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s National League Championship Series Game 3.
Buehler struck out six over four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks in the 8-0 win over the Mets. The Los Angeles Dodgers take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven game series over the New York Mets.
Read MoreLane Thomas of the Guardians is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s American League Division Series Game 5.
The Cleveland Guardians win the series in five games, 3-2, advancing to the AL Championship Series and eliminating the Detroit Tigers.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s National League Division Series Game 5.
The Los Angeles Dodgers win the series in five games, 3-2, advancing to the NL Championship Series and eliminating the San Diego Padres.
Read MoreTigers pitcher Tarik Skubal and Garrett Hampson of the Royals are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Monday’s two American League Division Series playoff games.
Both AL Division Series are now even heading into Tuesday’s travel day before resuming Wednesday.
Read MoreFernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres and Nick Castellanos of the Phillies are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Sunday’s two National League Division Series playoff games.
Both NL Division Series are now even heading into Monday’s travel day before resuming Tuesday.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Dustin May is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Sunday’s spring training games.
May struck out seven over four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 8-1 win over the Reds.
Read MoreTigers pitcher Matthew Boyd is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Tuesday’s spring training games.
Boyd struck out seven over three innings, allowing one run, one hit and no walks, in the 16-3 win over the Cardinals.
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.