Zack Greinke of the Dodgers had the lowest earned run average of any pitcher in 2015 and finished seventh in Box-Toppers player rankings.
The overall Box-Toppers points leader, Jake Arrieta of the Cubs, finished in second place in ERA, just behind Greinke.
ERA leaders’ Box-Toppers points
Here is how 2015 earned run average (ERA) leaders fared in Box-Toppers points. Players are listed from lowest (best) ERA. Also shown are their 2015 Box-Toppers points (BTP) and their rank in Box-Toppers tops among all players.| Player | Team | ERA | BTP | Rank | |
| 1 | Zack Greinke | Dodgers | 1.66 | 20.7 | 7 |
| 2 | Jake Arrieta | Cubs | 1.77 | 29.1 | 1 |
| 3 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | 2.13 | 25.7 | 2 |
| 4 | David Price | Blue Jays | 2.45 | 21.1 | 5 |
| 5 | Dallas Keuchel | Astros | 2.48 | 21.4 | 4 |
| 6 | Jacob deGrom | Mets | 2.54 | 22.4 | 3 |
| 7 | Gerrit Cole | Pirates | 2.60 | 19.0 | 12 |
| 8 | Matt Harvey | Mets | 2.71 | 15.4 | 16 |
| 9 | Sonny Gray | Athletics | 2.73 | 17.8 | 12 |
| 10 | John Lackey | Cardinals | 2.77 | 9.7 | 51 |
For the most part, ERA leaders correlated well with Box-Toppers points leaders. Of the 10 players with the lowest ERA, nine of them are among Box-Toppers top 20 players
Greinke led pitchers with an ERA of 1.66. He had 20.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked seventh among all players and fifth among NL pitchers.
However, Arrieta, who finished second with an ERA of 1.77, had about 40 percent more Box-Toppers points than Greinke in 2015—29.1. Arrieta ranked first in Box-Toppers player rankings and had the eighth-highest single-season point total since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began.
Last year’s ERA leader and last year’s overall Box-Toppers player rankings leader, Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers, finished third in ERA in 2015 with 2.13. Kershaw finished second in Box-Toppers player rankings with 25.7, which is tied for the 20th-highest single-season point total since 1995.
David Price of the Blue Jays had the lowest ERA of any American League pitcher, 2.45, the fourth-best overall. Price, who also pitched for the Tigers in 2015, finished second among AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points with 21.1, behind Dallas Keuchel of the Astros, who had 21.4. Keuchel finished just behind Price in ERA at 2.48.
While Greinke finished first in ERA, there were six other pitchers who had more Box-Toppers points in 2015. In addition to the already mentioned Arrieta, Kershaw, Keuchel and Price, the two others are Jacob deGrom of the Mets (third place with 22.4 Box-Toppers points) and Max Scherzer of the Nationals (sixth place with 21.0 points). Scherzer is the highest ranking player in Box-Toppers points who did not make the top 10 ERA list. Scherzer had an ERA of 2.79, ranked 11th among all pitchers.
John Lackey of the Cardinals is the only player among the top 10 in ERA who were not among the top 20 in Box-Toppers points. Lackey ranked 10th in ERA with 2.77, but had 9.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 51st among all players and 21st among NL pitchers.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers points are a measure of how much a player provides key contributions to his team’s wins. Specifically, 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.