Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Box-Toppers Player of the Year for 2014, winning the title for the third time in four seasons.
Meanwhile, the winners in other Box-Toppers categories:
Top players 2014
Through Sunday, Sept. 28End of season
| OVERALL LEADERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 31.5 |
| 2 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 25.8 |
| 3 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 22.6 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 22.4 |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 22.1 |
| 6 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 20.8 |
| 7 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 19.1 |
| 8 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 18.7 |
| 9 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.4 |
| 10 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.7 |
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 25.8 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 22.1 |
| 3 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 20.8 |
| 4 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 19.1 |
| 5 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.4 |
| 6 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | oak al | 16.4 |
| 7 | Richards, Garrett 3042 | pi sp | ana al | 15.7 |
| 8 | Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | oak al | 15.1 |
| 9 | Hughes, Phil 2272 | pi sp | min al | 14.1 |
| 10 | Hutchison, Drew 3038 | pi sp | tor al | 14.0 |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Abreu, Jose 3308 | 1b | chi al | 15.5 |
| 2 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 12.5 |
| 3 | Jones, Adam 2347 | cf | bal al | 11.5 |
| 4 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | oak al | 10.5 |
| 5 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | 1b dh lf | tor al | 9.5 |
| 6 | Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224 | dh lf | bal al | 8.5 |
| 7 | Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 8.5 |
| 8 | Carter, Chris 2828 | dh | hou al | 8.0 |
| 9 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | lf | bos al | 8.0 |
| 10 | Seager, Kyle 3031 | 3b | sea al | 8.0 |
| NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 31.5 |
| 2 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 22.6 |
| 3 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 22.4 |
| 4 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 18.7 |
| 5 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.7 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.5 |
| 7 | Zimmermann, Jordan 2612 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.0 |
| 8 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 14.7 |
| 9 | Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 14.4 |
| 10 | Fister, Doug 2688 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.4 |
| NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Tulowitzki, Troy 2308 | ss | col nl | 11.6 |
| 2 | Posey, Buster 2745 | ca | sf nl | 8.5 |
| 3 | Duda, Lucas 2818 | 1b | nym nl | 8.5 |
| 4 | Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | atl nl | 8.2 |
| 5 | LaRoche, Adam 1910 | 1b | dc nl | 8.2 |
| 6 | Ozuna, Marcell 3190 | cf | fla nl | 8.0 |
| 7 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 7.7 |
| 8 | Holliday, Matt 1836 | lf | stl nl | 7.5 |
| 9 | Yelich, Christian 3334 | lf | fla nl | 7.5 |
| 10 | Gonzalez, Adrian 2193 | 1b | lad nl | 7.2 |
American League Player of the Year: Indians pitcher Corey Kluber.
American League Batter of the Year: Jose Abreu of the White Sox.
National League Batter of the Year: Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies.
Kershaw finishes with 31.5 Box-Toppers points in 2014, the highest single-season point total in 12 years, tied for the fourth-most Box-Toppers points in a single season (since record keeping began in 1995) and his own personal best for a season. It was only the sixth time in 20 seasons that a player had reached 30 Box-Toppers points.
Kershaw also led all players two of the previous three seasons:
• In 2011, he led all players with 26.1 points.
• In 2013, he led all players with 21.7 points.
In addition, Kershaw has now led all National League players in Box-Toppers points for four straight years (from 2011 to 2014)—in 2012, he had 20.8 Box-Toppers points, the most among NL players and second among all players.
Kershaw began the season with 102.1 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 54th among all players and 34th among all pitchers (since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). He ends the season with 133.6 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 21st among all players and 15th among all pitchers.
Kluber wins AL Player of the Year, coming on strong late in the season to overcome longtime category leader, Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer, who was top AL player in 2013. Kluber finished with 25.8 Box-Toppers points, which is the 17th-highest single-season point total since record keeping began in 1995. Only 10 other players have scored more in a single season (several have done it more than once). Kluber finished second among all players in 2014 Box-Toppers points.
Rookie Jose Abreu wins AL Batter of the Year honors with 15.5 Box-Toppers points. He finished 14th among all players. Abreu beat the 2013 AL Batter of the Year Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, who finished second with 12.5 Box-Toppers points. Mike Trout of the Angels, a favorite for AL Most Valuable Player, had 8.5 Box-Toppers points in 2014, seventh place among AL batters.
Tulowitzki wins NL Batter of the Year, even though he was out injured and recovering from hip surgery most of the season. While he only played just over half the season (91 games), he earned more Box-Toppers points than any other NL batter—11.6. In fact, he finished more than 3.0 points ahead of the second-place finisher, Buster Posey of the Giants (8.5). Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates, a favorite for NL Most Valuable Player, had 6.5 Box-Toppers points in 2014, 18th place among NL batters.
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. 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.