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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 MoreRockies pitcher Kyle Freeland is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to ninth place in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, two other players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors—Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani rises to fifth place and Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan rises to sixth place.
Read MoreRays pitcher Drew Rasmussen is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to first place in season player rankings.
Also Sunday, Giants pitcher Anthony DeSclafani rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreTwins pitcher Sonny Gray is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Bryan Reynolds of the Pirates rises to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
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Could 2023 be the season Clayton Kershaw passes Randy Johnson for the “all-time” lead in career Box-Toppers points?
Or could this coming season be the year when Kershaw loses the lead among active players in career Box-Toppers points to either Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander?
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Astros pitcher Justin Verlander tops Box-Toppers list of the top 100 players of 2022.
Verlander had 26.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season. Verlander came back after sitting out most of the previous two seasons, recovering from Tommy John surgery. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2020 and none in 2021. His 26.0 point gain from 0.0 in 2021 to 26.0 in 2022 is the largest single-season point gain for any player since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
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.
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During the 2022 season, Justin Verlander rose from sixth to fifth place on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points top 10 list.
It was the only player movement among Box-Toppers “all-time” career points top 10 players overall, among the top 10 pitchers and among the top 10 batters. Retired pitcher Randy Johnson still leads all players in career Box-Toppers points with 282.5 (tracking began in 1995).
Read MoreAngels pitcher Touki Toussaint is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Toussaint struck out six over five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 5-4, 12-inning win over the Athletics. Toussaint did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Read MoreRoyals pitcher Jonathan Heasley is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreRockies pitcher Ty Blach is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Nelson Cruz of the Nationals has now has earned Box-Toppers points in 17 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2022. It’s the third-longest active streak.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2022 preseason rankings. They also ended 2021 as Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Oakland Athletics saw the biggest decline.
Read MoreAnalyzing 27 years of Box-Toppers points leaders among American League and National League pitchers and batters each season.
Read MoreReds pitcher Wade Miley is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Miley struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 4-3 win over the Cubs.
Read MoreIndians pitcher Cal Quantrill is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors—Rockies pitcher German Marquez rises to third place and Athletics pitcher Chris Bassitt rises to seventh place.
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 MoreRockies pitcher Austin Gomber is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to 10th place in season player rankings.
Also Monday, Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers rises to 20th place on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list after earning Player of the Game honors.
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 MoreYankees pitcher Gerrit Cole holds the lead in three of Box-Toppers’ main leaderboards at the end of 2020, most of any player.
Cole leads all players in Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons (2019-2020) and also leads American League pitchers over the past two seasons and past six seasons (2015-2020). Cole has 39.6 Box-Toppers points over 2019-20 and 90.1 over 2015-20.
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.