Clayton Kershaw holds a dominating lead in Box-Toppers points since start of 2011

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw holds a dominating lead among players in Box-Toppers points since 2011.

Box-Toppers points leaders for 2011-16


OVERALL LEADERS POS TEAM BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 150.2
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 111.3
3 Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 100.0
4 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 95.5
5 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 91.4
6 Price, David 2593 pi sp bos al 89.5
7 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 84.8
8 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 84.4
9 Verlander, Justin 2112 pi sp det al 84.3
10 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 80.4
AL PITCHERS POS TEAM BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 91.4
2 Price, David 2593 pi sp bos al 89.5
3 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 84.8
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 84.4
5 Verlander, Justin 2112 pi sp det al 84.3
6 Shields, James 2157 pi sp chi al 68.6
7 Weaver, Jered 2178 pi sp ana al 67.0
8 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 65.4
9 Liriano, Francisco 2104 pi sp tor al 63.4
10 Kennedy, Ian 2723 pi sp kc al 60.5
AL BATTERS POS TEAM BTP
1 Cabrera, Miguel 1776 1b det al 65.3
2 Davis, Chris 2478 1b bal al 49.4
3 Trout, Mike 2949 cf ana al 49.0
4 Beltre, Adrian 1141 3b tex al 47.9
5 Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 dh 1b tor al 46.6
6 Pujols, Albert 1438 dh 1b ana al 45.0
7 Ortiz, David dh bos al 43.9
8 Cano, Robinson 2092 2b sea al 43.5
9 Upton, Justin 2411 lf det al 42.6
10 Donaldson, Josh 3144 3b tor al 39.6
NL PITCHERS POS TEAM BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 150.2
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 111.3
3 Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 100.0
4 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 95.5
5 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 80.4
6 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 80.3
7 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 75.2
8 Gonzalez, Gio 2626 pi sp dc nl 72.8
9 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 72.5
10 Wainwright, Adam 2150 pi sp stl nl 61.3
NL BATTERS POS TEAM BTP
1 McCutchen, Andrew 2637 cf pit nl 48.2
2 Braun, Ryan J. 2300 lf mil nl 46.5
3 Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 rf col nl 45.7
4 Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 cf lf nym nl 39.9
5 Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 1b ari nl 39.9
6 Freeman, Freddie 2887 1b atl nl 38.7
7 Holliday, Matt 1836 1b lf dh stl nl 37.7
8 Kemp, Matt 2151 rf lf atl nl 37.5
9 Gonzalez, Adrian 2193 1b lad nl 36.4
10 Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 rf fla nl 33.7
BTP: Box-Toppers points
What are those numbers after players' names?

Kershaw has 150.2 Box-Toppers points over the period 2011-16, 38.9 points ahead of the second place player in that span, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (111.3 Box-Toppers points). How dominating is Kershaw’s lead? It is more than Kershaw has ever earned in a single season (31.5) and more than the single-season record for points (33.7 by Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson in 2000 and 2002).

It also exceeds the lead Kershaw had last year over the previous six seasons. At the end of 2015, Kershaw had a 36.1-point lead over players from 2010-2015.

Kershaw has built his lead by being ranked either first or second among all players in Box-Toppers points for each of the past six seasons:

  • 2011: 26.1, first among all players, tied for the 16th-highest single-season total since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
  • 2012: 20.8, second among all players, first among National League pitchers.
  • 2013: 21.7, first among all players.
  • 2014: 31.5, first among all players, tied for the fourth-highest single-season total since Box-Toppers tracking began.
  • 2015: 25.7, second among all players, second among NL pitchers, tied for the 20th-highest single-season total since Box-Toppers tracking began.
  • 2016: 24.4, second among all players, second among NL pitchers.

Kershaw has held the rolling six-season lead in Box-Toppers points for four straight years:

The players who make these top 10 charts over the period 2011-16 have demonstrated their long-term staying power. Weeded out are players who have single-season, flash-in-the-pan success and relative newcomers who haven’t yet proven their longevity. But it also rewards dominant players of the recent past whose success has waned lately.

There is one new category leader on the rolling six-season list from last year: Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates now leads NL batters over 2011-2016 with 48.2 Box-Toppers points, ahead of second-place player Ryan Braun of the Brewers (46.5). Last year, Braun led NL batters over 2010-2015 with 51.0 Box-Toppers points. McCutchen ranked third on that list with 43.9 points.

Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez maintains his lead among American League pitchers over the past six seasons. Hernandez has 91.4 Box-Toppers points over 2011-2016, ahead of second-place player David Price of the Red Sox (89.5). However, Hernandez had a career-low season in 2016 with just 6.0 Box-Toppers points. In 2015, his lead over second-place Price over 2010-2015 was 17.0 points (105.8 to 88.8). Plus, Hernandez fell from second place last year to fifth place this year among all players in the six-season rolling total rankings.

This is the third straight season Hernandez has led AL pitchers in Box-Toppers’ six-season rolling total: In 2014, Hernandez had 105.5 Box-Toppers points over 2009 to 2014, ahead of second-place player Justin Verlander of the Tigers (92.1).

Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers leads AL batters over 2011-2016 with 65.3 Box-Toppers points, ahead of second-place player Chris Davis of the Orioles (49.4). Cabrera has now led AL batters in Box-Toppers’ six-season rolling rankings for three straight seasons: In 2015, he had 60.8 points over 2010-2015 and in 2014, he had 72.6 points over 2009-2014.

Other notable players:

About Box-Toppers—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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Related: Top 100 players for 2011-16