The Box-Toppers All-Star teams for the 2014 regular season are led by overall top player for the second straight season, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.
Nine teams each have two different players on the teams and a total of 20 teams are represented on the American League and National League teams.
The All-Star teams are comprised of the players with the highest Box-Toppers point totals by position in each league. In addition to the batters—eight in the NL and nine (including the designated hitter) in the AL—are the top four starting pitchers in each league, the top player who was predominately a middle-reliever and the top closing pitcher.
Kershaw was Box-Toppers Player of the Season, the top overall player, with 31.5 Box-Toppers points. Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is the top AL player with 25.8 Box-Toppers points, ranked second overall.
The top AL batter is White Sox rookie first baseman Jose Abreu with 15.5 points, ranked 14th overall. The top NL batter is Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki with 11.6 points, ranked 39th overall. (Tulowitzki was out with injuries nearly half the season, but still surpassed all other NL batters in Box-Toppers points—second among NL batters is Giants catcher Buster Posey with 8.5 points.)
Nine teams each had two players make the teams. In the AL, the Mariners, Angels, Orioles, Indians and Tigers each had two players. In the NL, the Giants, Braves, Marlins and Cardinals each had two players.
Three players from the All-Star teams are still active in the World Series:
• Wade Davis of the Royals, who led AL middle relief pitchers with 7.0 Box-Toppers points.
• Madison Bumgarner of the Giants, who ranked second among NL pitchers with 22.6 points.
• Buster Posey of the Giants, who led NL catchers with 8.5 points.
Six players were on Box-Toppers’ 2013 All-Star teams and returned to the 2014 teams:
• AL 2B: Robinson Cano, last year with the Yankees, this year with the Mariners (12.5 points in 2013, 6.5 in 2014).
• AL OF: Adam Jones, Orioles (8.0 points in 2013, 11.5 in 2014).
• AL Starting pitcher: Max Scherzer, Tigers (18.1 points in 2013, 22.1 in 2014).
• NL Starting pitcher: Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers (21.7 points in 2013, 31.5 in 2014).
• NL Starting pitcher: Adam Wainwright, Cardinals (20.2 points in 2013, 18.7 in 2014).
• NL Closing pitcher: Craig Kimbrel, Braves (12.7 points in 2013, 11.0 in 2014).
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.
End-of-season 2014 Box-Toppers All-Star teams
Here are the Box-Toppers All-Stars by position for both leagues. It includes players with the highest Box-Toppers points (BTP) by position in each league. Also included is the players' overall rank among all players.
| Pos | American League | Team | BTP | Rank | National League | Team | BTP | Rank | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | Jose Abreu | White Sox | 15.5 | 14 | Lucas Duda | Mets | 8.5 | 79 | ||
| 2B | Robinson Cano | Mariners | 6.5 | 135 | Jedd Gyorko | Padres | 7.2 | 103 | ||
| SS | Erick Aybar | Angels | 6.0 | 155 | Troy Tulowitzki | Rockies | 11.6 | 39 | ||
| 3B | Josh Donaldson | Athletics | 10.5 | 40 | Aramis Ramirez | Brewers | 5.0 | 194 | ||
| CA | Brian McCann | Yankees | 6.5 | 136 | Buster Posey | Giants | 8.5 | 76 | ||
| OF | Adam Jones | Orioles | 11.5 | 40 | Justin Upton | Braves | 8.2 | 80 | ||
| OF | Nelson Cruz | Orioles | 8.5 | 77 | Marcell Ozuna | Marlins | 8.0 | 88 | ||
| OF | Mike Trout | Angels | 8.5 | 78 | Matt Holliday | Cardinals | 7.5 | 97 | ||
| DH | Edwin Encarnacion | Blue Jays | 9.5 | 63 | ||||||
| SP | Corey Kluber | Indians | 25.8 | 2 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | 31.5 | 1 | ||
| SP | Max Scherzer | Tigers | 22.1 | 5 | Madison Bumgarner | Giants | 22.6 | 3 | ||
| SP | Felix Hernandez | Mariners | 20.8 | 6 | Johnny Cueto | Reds | 22.4 | 4 | ||
| SP | David Price | Tigers | 19.1 | 7 | Adam Wainwright | Cardinals | 18.7 | 8 | ||
| MR | Wade Davis | Royals | 7.0 | 117 | Michael Dunn | Marlins | 6.0 | 159 | ||
| CP | Carlos Carrasco | Indians | 10.7 | 52 | Craig Kimbrel | Braves | 11.0 | 45 |