Patrick 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, led by Guardians’ Griffin, sweep LDS top player honors Wednesday
Middle 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.
Dodgers’ Yamamoto, Padres’ Cronenworth top players in Tuesday’s NLDS games
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto leads Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Tuesday’s National League Division Series games.
Yamamoto won top player honors in the Game 3 win over the Braves. Meanwhile, Jake Cronenworth is Box-Toppers’ top player in Tuesday’s other NL Division Series game, keeping the Padres alive with their win over the Brewers.
Read MoreWhite Sox’ Burke, Rays’ Seymour top players in Monday’s AL Division Series games
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’ Fuentes, Brewers’ Frelick top players in Sunday’s NL Division Series games
Braves 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 MoreRays’ Rasmussen tops players in Saturday’s opening League Division Series games
Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen, who took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, leads all Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Saturday’s opening League Division Series playoff games.
Other Player of the Game winners Saturday: White Sox closing pitcher Grant Taylor, Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal and Brewers closing pitcher Trevor Megill.
Read More
Source: MLB.com
Box-Toppers’ NL Division Series preview: Braves vs. Dodgers, Padres vs. Brewers
Dodgers are Box-Toppers top-ranked team while NL top-seed Brewers rank second in B‑T points
Both National League Division Series begin Saturday.
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The Atlanta Braves face the Los Angeles Dodgers in one best-of-five game series while the San Diego Padres face the Milwaukee Brewers in the other. The top two NL seeds, the Brewers (first) and the Dodgers (second), received byes from the first round of playoffs and face the winners of the best-of-three Wild Card series played this week.
NL Division Series: Braves at Dodgers
The Dodgers are Box-Toppers’ top-ranked overall team in 2026 with 142.7 points (6.4 ahead of Milwaukee's 136.3), though they enter as the NL’s 2nd playoff seed after finishing three games behind the Brewers for MLB's best record.
The Braves enter as the 3rd seed in the NL, ranking 4th among NL teams in Box-Toppers points (6th overall) with 113.7. Atlanta trails Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and the Philadelphia Phillies (117.4), whom the Braves defeated 2-1 in the Wild Card series. The Dodgers enjoyed a first-round bye.
The pitching matchup Saturday
Braves—Dylan Dodd, 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2026, 490th overall, 122nd among NL pitchers. Dodd is normally a reliever. Atlanta is expected to employ a bullpen game on Saturday as injuries have depleted their rotation. Reliever Ray Kerr earned Player of the Game honors as an opener in Thursday’s Game 3 win over Philadelphia.Other possible pitchers in Game 1 include Grant Holmes, JR Ritchie, AJ Smith-Shawver, or Brent Suter.
Dodgers—Tarik Skubal, 14.7 Box-Toppers points in 2026, 19th overall, 11th among NL pitchers.
A look at all four of Saturday’s Division Series pitching matchups
Key Braves Players:
Top Pitcher: Starter Chris Sale leads Atlanta with 15.4 Box-Toppers points (16th overall, 10th among NL pitchers) and is the likely starter for Game 2 on Sunday.
Other Pitchers: Tyler Mahle (9.1 points), Martín Pérez (8.4 points), and Bryce Elder (6.5 points).
Top Batters: Outfielder Michael Harris II leads Braves batters with 9.5 Box-Toppers points (4th among NL batters). Other key hitters include Ozzie Albies (6.5 points), Matt Olson (6.0 points), and Mike Yastrzemski (6.0 points).
Key Dodgers Players:
Top Pitcher: Yoshinobu Yamamoto leads Los Angeles with 17.4 Box-Toppers points (8th overall, 5th among NL pitchers).
Shohei Ohtani Breakdown: Ohtani ranks second on the team with 15.7 overall Box-Toppers points (15th overall, 9th among NL pitchers, 1st among NL batters). Combined, he has earned 8.7 points as a pitcher (which would rank 28th among NL pitchers) and 7.0 points as a designated hitter (which would rank 16th among NL batters). Ohtani last earned Player of the Game honors on Aug. 17.
Rotation Depth: The next four highest-ranked Dodgers are all starting pitchers: Tarik Skubal (14.7 points, 11th among NL pitchers; 6.0 points since being traded from the Tigers), Justin Wrobleski (9.1 points, 21st among NL pitchers), Tyler Glasnow (8.4 points, 29th among NL pitchers), and Emmet Sheehan (7.0 points, 36th among NL pitchers).
Top Batters & Notables: Center fielder Andy Pages (6.7 points, 18th among NL batters), Kyle Tucker (4.5 points, 42nd among NL batters), Freddie Freeman (3.5 points), and Mookie Betts (2.5 points).
The Box-Toppers point totals of all players on the teams’ active rosters at season’s end are here. Players who did not earn Box-Toppers points in 2026 are not listed. Players who earned points in 2026 are listed even if they are not on the roster for the upcoming postseason series due to injury or for other reasons.
Braves vs. Dodgers
Here are players for both teams in the NL Division Series beginning Saturday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2026. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters. Players not listed earned no Box-Toppers points in 2026.| Atlanta Braves | Los Angeles Dodgers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Chris Sale | pi sp | 15.4 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | pi sp | 17.4 | |
| Michael Harris | cf | 9.5 | Shohei Ohtani | pi sp dh | 15.7 | |
| Tyler Mahle | pi sp | 9.1 | Tarik Skubal | pi sp | 14.7 | |
| Martín Pérez | pi sp | 8.4 | Justin Wrobleski | pi sp | 9.1 | |
| Bryce Elder | pi sp | 6.7 | Tyler Glasnow | pi sp | 8.4 | |
| Ozzie Albies | 2b | 6.5 | Emmet Sheehan | pi sp | 7.0 | |
| Matt Olson | 1b | 6.0 | Andy Pagés | cf | 6.7 | |
| Mike Yastrzemski | rf lf | 6.0 | Roki Sasaki | pi sp | 5.4 | |
| Grant Holmes | pi sp | 5.7 | Kris Bubic | pi sp | 4.7 | |
| Ronald Acuña Jr. | rf | 5.2 | Blake Snell | pi sp | 4.7 | |
| Reynaldo López | pi sp | 4.0 | Kyle Tucker | rf | 4.5 | |
| Dominic Smith | dh | 3.5 | Teoscar Hernández | lf | 4.5 | |
| Lane Thomas | cf rf | 3.0 | Tommy Edman | 2b | 4.5 | |
| Raisel Iglesias | pi cp mr | 3.0 | Eric Lauer | pi sp | 4.0 | |
| Drake Baldwin | ca | 2.5 | Tanner Scott | pi cp | 4.0 | |
| Spencer Strider | pi sp | 2.0 | Max Muncy | 3b | 3.7 | |
| Mauricio Dubón | ss lf 1b 2b | 2.0 | Freddie Freeman | 1b | 3.5 | |
| Dylan Dodd | pi cp | 2.0 | Dalton Rushing | ca | 3.2 | |
| Didier Fuentes | pi mr | 2.0 | Alex Freeland | 2b | 3.0 | |
| Víctor Mederos | pi cp | 2.0 | Mookie Betts | ss | 2.5 | |
| Michael Grove | pi sp mr | 1.7 | Edwín Díaz | pi cp | 2.0 | |
| Sean Murphy | ca dh | 1.5 | Alex Vesia | pi mr cp | 2.0 | |
| Robert Suárez | pi mr cp | 1.0 | Edgardo Henríquez | pi mr cp | 2.0 | |
| AJ Smith-Shawver | pi mr sp | 1.0 | Chadwick Tromp | ca | 1.5 | |
| Austin Riley | 3b | 1.0 | Will Klein | pi mr cp | 1.0 | |
| Ha-Seong Kim | ss pr | 1.0 | Brock Stewart | pi cp mr | 1.0 | |
| Dylan Lee | pi mr cp | 1.0 | Blake Treinen | pi cp mr | 1.0 | |
| Brent Suter | pi sp mr cp | 1.0 | Hunter Feduccia | ca | 1.0 | |
| Totals | 113.7 | Totals | 142.7 | |||
NL Division Series: Padres at Brewers
The NL Central champion Brewers are the NL's top playoff seed and rank 2nd overall in Box-Toppers team standings (136.3 points). The Padres, who finished second in the NL West, enter as the 5th seed and rank 11th overall (104.5 points, 6th among NL teams).
The Brewers received a first-round bye, while the Padres advanced by sweeping the Chicago Cubs 2-0 in the Wild Card round.
The pitching matchup Saturday:
Padres—Robbie Ray, 7.4 Box-Toppers points in 2026, 87th among all players, 33rd among NL pitchers.
Brewers—Jacob Misiorowski, 26.1 Box-Toppers points in 2026, first among all players, first among NL pitchers.
A look at all four of Saturday’s Division Series pitching matchups
Key Padres players
Top Pitcher & Standout Closer: Closer Mason Miller leads San Diego with 16.0 Box-Toppers points (13th overall, 7th among NL pitchers, 1st among all closers). This marks the 4th-highest single-season point total for a closing pitcher since 1998.
Top Batter: First baseman Ty France leads Padres hitters with 9.5 points (5th among NL batters).
Starting Pitching: Randy Vásquez (9.4 points), Robbie Ray (7.4 points), Michael King (7.0 points), and Casey Mize (5.0 points).
Notables: Jackson Merrill (5.0 points), Fernando Tatis Jr. (4.5 points), and Manny Machado (1.0 point).
Key Brewers players
Player of the Year: Starter Jacob Misiorowski leads all MLB players with 26.1 Box-Toppers points, tied for the 19th-highest single-season total since tracking began in 1995.
Starting Rotation: Milwaukee's top four point earners are all starters: Misiorowski, Kyle Harrison (14.7 points, 12th among NL pitchers), Logan Henderson (10.4 points, 18th among NL pitchers), and Dustin May (8.7 points, 28th among NL pitchers).
Relief & Position Players: Reliever Chad Patrick (6.0 points, 1st among NL middle relievers), catcher William Contreras (5.7 points, 29th among NL batters), first baseman Jake Bauers (5.0 points, 34th among NL batters), Jackson Chourio (2.5 points), and Christian Yelich (2.0 points).
The Box-Toppers point totals of all players on the teams’ active rosters at season’s end are here. Players who did not earn Box-Toppers points in 2026 are not listed. Players who earned points in 2026 are listed even if they are not on the roster for the upcoming postseason series due to injury or for other reasons.
Padres vs. Brewers
Here are players for both teams in the NL Division Series beginning Saturday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2026. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters. Players not listed earned no Box-Toppers points in 2026.| San Diego Padres | Milwaukee Brewers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Mason Miller | pi cp | 16.0 | Jacob Misiorowski | pi sp | 26.1 | |
| Ty France | 1b | 9.5 | Kyle Harrison | pi sp | 14.7 | |
| Randy Vásquez | pi sp | 9.4 | Logan Henderson | pi sp | 10.4 | |
| Robbie Ray | pi sp | 7.4 | Dustin May | pi sp | 8.7 | |
| Michael King | pi sp | 7.0 | Chad Patrick | pi mr | 7.0 | |
| Casey Mize | pi sp | 5.0 | Robert Gasser | pi sp | 6.0 | |
| Adrián Morejón | pi mr | 5.0 | William Contreras | ca | 5.7 | |
| Jackson Merrill | cf | 5.0 | Jake Bauers | 1b | 5.0 | |
| Nick Pivetta | pi sp | 4.7 | Aaron Ashby | pi mr | 5.0 | |
| Fernando Tatis Jr. | rf | 4.5 | Antonio Senzatela | pi cp mr | 5.0 | |
| Griffin Canning | pi sp mr | 3.0 | Brice Turang | 2b | 4.7 | |
| Bradgley Rodríguez | pi mr | 3.0 | Trevor Megill | pi cp | 4.0 | |
| Gavin Sheets | lf dh | 2.5 | Garrett Mitchell | cf | 4.0 | |
| Xander Bogaerts | ss | 2.5 | Brandon Sproat | pi sp | 4.0 | |
| JP Sears | pi sp mr | 2.0 | Brandon Woodruff | pi sp | 3.0 | |
| Dustin Harris | rf cf | 2.0 | Jackson Chourio | lf | 2.5 | |
| Samad Taylor | lf | 2.0 | Christian Yelich | dh ph | 2.0 | |
| Ramón Laureano | lf | 1.5 | Gary Sánchez | dh ca | 2.0 | |
| Jake Cronenworth | 3b 2b | 1.5 | Joey Ortiz | ss 3b | 2.0 | |
| Luis Campusano | ca | 1.5 | Sal Frelick | rf lf | 2.0 | |
| Ethan Salas | ca | 1.5 | Abner Uribe | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Manny Machado | 3b | 1.0 | Shane Drohan | pi sp cp | 2.0 | |
| Walker Buehler | pi sp | 1.0 | Andrew Vaughn | 1b | 1.5 | |
| Freddy Fermin | ca dh | 1.0 | JoJo Romero | pi mr cp | 1.0 | |
| Austin Hays | dh lf | 1.0 | DL Hall | pi mr sp | 1.0 | |
| Miguel Andújar | dh lf | 1.0 | David Hamilton | 3b 2b ss pr | 1.0 | |
| Luis Rengifo | 3b 2b ph | 1.0 | Bryse Wilson | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Yuki Matsui | pi mr | 1.0 | Grant Anderson | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Jase Bowen | rf pr | 1.0 | Coleman Crow | pi sp | 1.0 | |
| Luis Lara | rf | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 88.5 | Totals | 136.3 | |||
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.
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A Box-Toppers look at Saturday’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.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’26 | ’25‑26 | ’21‑26 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHW | Smith, Hagen 5466 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| CLE | Messick Parker 5266 | 11.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 |
| ATL | Dodd, Dylan 5318 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| LAD | Skubal, Tarik 4414 | 14.7 | 36.8 | 88.0 | 88.0 |
| NYY | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 70.5 | 171.0 |
| TB | Rasmussen, Drew 4547 | 15.0 | 24.7 | 46.2 | 46.2 |
| SD | Ray, Robbie 3502 | 7.4 | 16.8 | 52.6 | 96.7 |
| MIL | Misiorowski, Jacob 5200 | 26.1 | 32.1 | 32.1 | 32.1 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default, game-by-game view.
Source: MLB.com
Box-Toppers’ AL Division Series preview: White Sox vs. Guardians, Yankees vs. Rays
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 MoreBraves’ Kerr tops players in Thursday’s Wild Card Series-clinching win over Phillies
Yankees’ Fried tops players Wednesday as 3 teams complete Wild Card Series sweeps
Max Fried leads all Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Wednesday’s Wild Card playoff games.
Other Player of the Game winners in Wednesday’s Wild Card games: Chase Meidroth of the White Sox, Gavin Sheets of the Padres and Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter.
Read MoreYankees’ Schlittler, Padres’ King top players in Tuesday’s opening Wild Card games
Cam 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.
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Source: MLB.com
A Box-Toppers preview of the four Wild Card Series beginning Tuesday, Sept. 29
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’ Jacob Misiorowski is 2026 Box-Toppers Player of the Year
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.
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Mets’ Tong tops players for Saturday, Sept. 26; Astros’ Peña tops AL players
Mets pitcher Jonah Tong is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
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Read MoreMarlins’ Pérez tops players for Friday, Sept. 25; Angels’ Detmers tops AL players
Marlins pitcher Eury Pérez is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other Player of the Game winners Friday include Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal, Angels pitcher Reid Detmers, White Sox pitcher Sean Burke, Luke Keaschall of the Twins and Geraldo Perdomo of the Diamondbacks.
Read MorePirates’ Skenes tops players for Thursday, Sept. 24, Astros’ Spence tops AL players
Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
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Read MoreBraves’ Sale tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 23; Alonso extends AL batting lead
Braves pitcher Chris Sale is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
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