The rookies with the most Box-Toppers points in each league are among the finalists for baseball’s Rookie of the Year honors.
First baseman Jose Abreu of the White Sox leads all rookies in Box-Toppers points with 15.5 and is one of the three American League rookies named this week as a finalist for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America awards. Abreu ranks 14th among all players and also leads all AL batters in Box-Toppers points—but is not one of the three finalists for AL Most Valuable Player (more on that in a post in the coming days).
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom leads all National League rookies in Box-Toppers points with 13.0, ranking 26th among all players. He is one of three finalists for the NL rookie award. He ranks 12th among NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points.
While the highest-ranked rookie in Box-Toppers player rankings from each league is a finalist for the award, the rookie with the second-highest Box-Toppers point total in each league is excluded:
• Blue Jays rookie pitcher Marcus Stroman is not a finalist for the AL award, though he had 13.7 Box-Toppers points in 2014, ranking 23rd among all players and 12th among AL pitchers.
• Padres rookie pitcher Odrisamer Despaigne is not a finalist for the NL award, though he had 7.7 Box-Toppers points in 2014, ranking 96th among all players and 43rd among all NL pitchers.
The other two finalists for Rookie of the Year in each league are listed in the chart below.
The Jackie Robinson Rookies of the Year will be announced Monday, Nov. 10.
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.
Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year finalists
Here are the three finalists for Rookie of the Year in each league, ranked by their 2014 Box-Toppers point (BTP) totals. Also included is their overall rank among all players. Also listed are Box-Toppers’ top-ranked rookie from each league who were not named finalists.
| AL player | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | NL player | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jose Abreu | White Sox | 1b | 15.5 | 14 | Jacob deGrom | Mets | pi sp | 13.0 | 26 | |
| Matt Shoemaker | Angels | pi sp | 11.7 | 38 | Kolten Wong | Cardinals | 2b | 5.5 | 182 | |
| Dellin Betances | Yankees | pi mr | 4.7 | 215 | Billy Hamilton | Reds | cf | 3.5 | 293 | |
| *Marcus Stroman | Blue Jays | pi sp | 13.7 | 23 | *Odrisamer Despaigne | Padres | pi sp | 7.7 | 96 |
* These players were Box-Toppers' highest-ranking rookies in each league who were not named as finalists for the award. Both players had the second-highest Box-Toppers point total among rookies in their respective leagues.