Blog
Analyzing 29 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching and batting in both leagues.
In 2023, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, American League Most Valuable Player, was the only player who won a major postseason award and also led his Box-Toppers category (leading AL batters with 19.4). Also, Pete Alonso of the Mets became the ninth batter since 1995 to lead his league’s batters in Box-Toppers points more than once, leading NL batters for the second straight season.
Read MoreIn 2022, Justin Verlander led American League pitchers in season Box-Toppers points for the third time in his career, tied for the seventh-most times a player has led a season points category.
Also in 2022, the New York Mets and Miami Marlins each had their first Box-Toppers points category leader—Pete Alonso and Sandy Alcantara— leaving the Pittsburgh Pirates as the only team to never have a player lead a category since tracking began in 1995.
Read MorePadres pitcher Yu Darvish is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara regains the Box-Toppers points lead among National League pitchers, rising to fourth place overall, after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreAnalyzing 27 years of Box-Toppers points leaders among American League and National League pitchers and batters each season.
Read MorePirates pitcher Wil Crowe is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Jose Ramirez of the Indians extended his lead among American League batters in 2021 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read More
Graphic corrected Monday, October 4, 2021, to reflect that Robbie Ray is a member of the Blue Jays.
Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer leads Box-Toppers season player rankings for the second week.
Meanwhile, Jose Ramirez of the Indians rises to lead American League batters in rankings. Also, Gerrit Cole of the Yankees continues to lead AL pitchers and Nick Castellanos of the Reds continues to lead National League batters.
Read MoreAthletics pitcher Frankie Montas is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Jose Ramirez of the Indians rises to first place among American League batters after earning AL Batter of the Day honors, passing previous leader J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox.
Read More
Graphic corrected Monday, October 4, 2021 to reflect that Robbie Ray is a member of the Blue Jays.
Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer rises to lead Box-Toppers season player rankings this week, passing previous leader, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, who falls to second place.
Meanwhile, Cole continues to lead American League pitchers and both league’s leaders among batters remain the same: J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox leads AL batters and Nick Castellanos of the Reds leads National League batters.
Read More
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole leads in Box-Toppers season player rankings for the fourth straight week.
Meanwhile, J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox assumes the lead among American League batters after previous leader Shohei Ohtani of the Angels no longer qualified to be ranked among batters after earning the overwhelming majority of his Player of the Game honors this season as a pitcher.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Jon Lester is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Lester struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing six hits and no walks, in the 18-1 win over the Marlins.
Read MorePhillies pitcher Zack Wheeler is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fourth place in season player rankings.
Also Thursday, two other players rise into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earned Player of the Game honors—Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta rises to sixth place and Marlins pitcher Trevor Rogers rises to eighth place.
Read MoreAnalyzing 26 years of Box-Toppers points leaders among American League and National League pitchers and batters each season.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer leads players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2015.
Scherzer has 116.2 Box-Toppers points over the period 2015-2020, 14.6 points ahead of Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has 101.6 points over that span.
Read MoreIndians pitcher Shane Bieber tops Box-Toppers list of the top 100 players of 2020.
Bieber had 11.4 Box-Toppers points during the pandemic-shortened regular season. And because it was such a short season—reduced from 162 games to 60—it is the lowest total to lead all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, beating the previous low set by Royals pitcher Zack Greinke, who led all players with 21.5 points in 2009.
Read MoreReds pitcher Trevor Bauer is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to second place in season player rankings.
Bauer struck out nine in a scoreless seven-inning complete game, allowing one hit and three walks, in the 5-0, seven-inning win over the Royals.
Read MorePhillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Nola struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 13-8 win over the Braves.
Read MoreRays pitcher Tyler Glasnow is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester extended his streak of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points to 15—tied for the third-longest active streak—after earning National League Player of the Day honors. Lester also rises to 12th place on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list.
Read MoreNelson Cruz of the Twins is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, extending his streak of earning Box-Toppers points to 15 consecutive seasons.
Cruz hit two homers and two doubles, going 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in seven runs, in the 14-2 win over the White Sox.
Read MoreCubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Meanwhile, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander extended his consecutive streak of seasons earning Box-Toppers points to 15, tied for the third-longest active streak.
Read MoreAlbert Pujols has the chance in 2020 to break the record for most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points.
If Pujols of the Angels earns Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors once in 2020, he will have earned Box-Toppers points for 20 straight seasons (2001-2020). Pujols is currently tied for the longest streak at 19 seasons with three other players—CC Sabathia, Jason Giambi and Carlos Beltran.
Read MoreBox-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.