2016 leaders
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Box-Toppers Player of the Year for 2016.
Scherzer earned 25.7 Box-Toppers points in 2016, winning the crown by 1.3 points over second-place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (24.4), who finishes second for the second straight season. Scherzer also won the National League Player of the Year crown.
Other category leaders:
Box-Toppers American League Player of the Year—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber had 21.2 points, finishing 3.4 points ahead of second-place AL pitcher Cole Hamels of the Rangers (17.8). Kluber ranks fifth among all players. This is the second season Kluber has led AL pitchers; he also led in 2014 with 25.8 points.
Box-Toppers American League Batter of the Year—Manny Machado of the Orioles had 12.7 points, finishing 0.2 points ahead both second- and third-place players, Mike Trout of the Angels and Jose Altuve of the Astros (both with 12.5). Machado ranks 21st among all players.
Box-Toppers National League Batter of the Year—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies had 10.7 points, finishing 0.2 points ahead of second-, third- and fourth-ranked players, Kris Bryant of the Cubs, Ryan Braun of the Brewers and Joey Votto of the Reds (all with 10.5). Arenado ranks 42nd among all players.
Arenado’s 10.7 points is the lowest total to lead a category in Box-Toppers’ 22-season history. The previous record was set in 2015 when Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies led NL batters with 11.5 points. Interestingly, prior to that, the record was 2014 when Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies led NL batters with 11.6. So not only has the low-point record been broken three years in a row, it has been broken each time by a batter from the Colorado Rockies.
Box-Toppers points leaders took home two of the six major postseason awards in 2016 as voted by baseball writers.
American League Rookie of the Year Michael Fulmer, pitcher for the Tigers, led AL rookies in Box-Toppers points. And National League Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer, pitcher for the Nationals, led all NL pitchers—and all players in Box-Toppers points.
But the other four major awards for top rookie, Cy Young for best pitcher and overall Most Valuable Player, went to players who did not lead their category in Box-Toppers points:
- NL Rookie of the Year: Corey Seager of the Dodgers, who had 4.0 Box-Toppers points and ranked about 15th among NL rookies.
- AL Cy Young Award: Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello, who had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, 31st among AL pitchers. (Why Porcello ranks so low.)
- NL Most Valuable Player: Kris Bryant of the Cubs, who had 10.5 Box-Toppers points, second among NL batters.
- AL Most Valuable Player: Mike Trout of the Angels, who had 12.5 Box-Toppers points, second among AL batters.
More leaders:
Box-Toppers points leaders for 2016
| OVERALL LEADERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 25.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.4 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | died* | 22.4 |
| 4 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 22.1 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.2 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 17.8 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 16.4 |
| 9 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.7 |
| 10 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.2 |
| 2 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 17.8 |
| 3 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 14.7 |
| 4 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | det al | 14.7 |
| 5 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 14.1 |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 13.4 |
| 7 | Fulmer, Michael 3640 | pi sp | det al | 12.7 |
| 8 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 12.5 |
| 9 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 12.4 |
| 10 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 12.4 |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b ss | bal al | 12.7 |
| 2 | Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 12.5 |
| 3 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 12.5 |
| 4 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 12.0 |
| 5 | Wieters, Matt 2643 | ca | bal al | 11.0 |
| 6 | Martin, Russell 2202 | ca | tor al | 10.5 |
| 7 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | tor al | 9.7 |
| 8 | Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | tex al | 9.5 |
| 9 | Seager, Kyle 3031 | 3b | sea al | 9.5 |
| 10 | Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | tex al | 9.2 |
| NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 25.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.4 |
| 3 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 22.1 |
| 4 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 16.4 |
| 6 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.7 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| 8 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
| 9 | Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.4 |
| 10 | Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.4 |
| NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | col nl | 10.7 |
| 2 | Bryant, Kris 3465 | lf 3b rf | chi nl | 10.5 |
| 3 | Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | lf | mil nl | 10.5 |
| 4 | Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 10.5 |
| 5 | Myers, Wil 3228 | 1b | sd nl | 9.7 |
| 6 | Carpenter, Matt 2987 | 3b 1b 2b | stl nl | 9.5 |
| 7 | Carter, Chris 2828 | 1b | mil nl | 9.5 |
| 8 | Bruce, Jay 2453 | rf | nym nl | 8.5 |
| 9 | Suarez, Eugenio 3355 | 3b | cin nl | 8.5 |
| 10 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | cf lf | nym nl | 8.0 |
BTP: Box-Toppers points
What are those numbers after players' names?