Ten of the 11 leaders in strikeouts in 2015 were among the top 10-ranked pitchers in their league in Box-Toppers points.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw led all players in strikeouts with 301. He ranked second in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 25.7.
Strikeout leaders’ Box-Toppers points
Here is how 2015 strikeout (K) leaders fared in Box-Toppers points. Players are ranked by strikeouts. Also shown are their 2015 Box-Toppers points (BTP) and their rank in Box-Toppers points among all players.| Player | Team | K | BTP | Rank | |
| 1 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | 301 | 25.7 | 2 |
| 2 | Max Scherzer | Nationals | 276 | 21.0 | 6 |
| 3 | Chris Sale | White Sox | 274 | 18.8 | 10 |
| 4 | Chris Archer | Rays | 252 | 16.0 | 14 |
| 5 | Corey Kluber | Indians | 245 | 13.4 | 21 |
| 6 | Jake Arrieta | Cubs | 236 | 29.1 | 1 |
| 7 | Madison Bumgarner | Giants | 234 | 17.0 | 13 |
| 8 | David Price | Blue Jays | 225 | 21.1 | 5 |
| 9 | Carlos Carrasco | Inidans | 216 | 18.0 | 11 |
| 9 | Dallas Keuchel | Astros | 216 | 21.4 | 4 |
| 9 | James Shields | Padres | 216 | 7.4 | 101 |
White Sox pitcher Chris Sale led American League pitchers in strikeouts with 274, ranked third overall. He had 18.8 Box-Toppers points, ranked 10th among all pitchers and fourth among AL pitchers.
Overall Box-Toppers points leader Jake Arrieta of the Cubs (29.1) ranks sixth in strikeouts with 236. AL Box-Toppers points leader Dallas Keuchel of the Astros (21.4) is tied for ninth in strikeouts with 216.
The only player among the top 11 in strikeouts in 2015 who was not also among his league’s top 10 pitchers is James Shields of the Padres. Shields struck out 216, tied for ninth. But Shields only had 7.4 Box-Toppers points in 2015, ranked 33rd among NL pitchers and 101st among all players.
The highest ranked pitcher in Box-Toppers points who did not make the top 10 list in strikeouts is Jacob deGrom of the Mets. deGrom struck out 205, tied for 15th and had 22.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked third among all players and third 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.