Postseason awards wrap-up: Box-Toppers leaders win 3 of 6 major honors for 2017

Box-Toppers points leaders won three of six major postseason awards for 2017 as voted by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Here are the winners of the six major awards (left) and the Box-Toppers points (BTP) leader in each category (right). Rank shows the players’ rank among all players in 2017.
 
Rookie of the Year
AL winner Team Pos BTP Rank AL BTP leader Team Pos BTP Rank
Aaron Judge Yankees rf 11.2 26 Aaron Judge Yankees rf 11.2 26
NL winner Team Pos BTP Rank NL BTP leader Team Pos BTP Rank
Cody Bellinger Dodgers 1b lf 8.7 64 Cody Bellinger Dodgers 1b lf 8.7 64
Cy Young Award
AL winner Team Pos BTP Rank AL BTP leader Team Pos BTP Rank
Corey Kluber Indians pi sp 22.0 5 Chris Sale Red Sox pi sp 25.1 1
NL winner Team Pos BTP Rank NL BTP leader Team Pos BTP Rank
Max Scherzer Nationals pi sp 25.0 2 Max Scherzer Nationals pi sp 25.0 2
Most Valuable Player Award
AL winner Team Pos BTP Rank AL BTP leader Team Pos BTP Rank
Jose Altuve Astros 2b 2.5 387 Edwin Encarnacion Indians dh 1b 12.1 22
NL winner Team Pos BTP Rank NL BTP leader Team Pos BTP Rank
Giancarlo Stanton Marlins rf 14.2 17 Anthony Rizzo Cubs 1b 15.5 14
BTP: Box-Toppers points

Box-Toppers points leaders took home three of the six major postseason awards in 2017 as voted by baseball writers:

But the other three major awards, including both league’s awards for Most Valuable Player, went to players who did not lead their category in Box-Toppers points. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America voters chose different players for those awards.

In two of those three cases, the player baseball writers chose for the award was close to the top in Box-Toppers rankings for their category:

  • AL Cy Young Award—Winner Corey Kluber ranked second in Box-Toppers points among AL pitchers with 22.0 (fifth overall) behind overall Box-Toppers points leader Chris Sale of the Red Sox with 25.1 Box-Toppers points.
  • NL Most Valuable Player—Winner Giancarlo Stanton ranked second in Box-Toppers points among NL batters with 14.2 (17th overall) behind Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs, who led NL batters with 15.5 points (14th overall).

But in one of the six cases, the winner chosen by baseball writers for a postseason award was nowhere close to the leader in Box-Toppers rankings for their category:

  • AL Most Valuable Player—Winner Jose Altuve of the Astros had only 2.5 Box-Toppers points and ranked 90th among AL batters, 387th among all players. Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians led AL batters with 12.1 Box-Toppers points, 22nd among all players.

The post linked here goes into some detail about why Box-Toppers deems Altuve unworthy of the MVP honor in 2017. But it comes down to this: Altuve simply wasn’t the key contributor to many Astros wins. Other Astros players often beat him out for Player of the Game in the team’s 101 wins. Despite a great statistical season (leading in hits, batting average and wins above replacement), Altuve only won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors twice in the regular season. The post examines each of the Astros’ 101 wins in 2017 and shows which Astros player earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in each.

In 2016 and 2015, Box-Toppers and baseball writers coincided on two of the major six awards. In 2014, Box-Toppers and baseball writers were the same in five of six cases and in 2013 in four of six.

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.