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Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale, 2017’s leader in Box-Toppers points, also was the season’s leader in strikeouts.
Six of the 10 leaders in strikeouts in 2017 were among the top 10 pitchers in their league in Box-Toppers points. All 10 strikeout leaders were among the overall top 100 players in Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreHalf of the top 10 runs batted in leaders are among their league’s top 10 batters in Box-Toppers points in 2017.
Overall RBI leader Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins (132) ranked second among National League batters in Box-Toppers points with 14.2.
Read MoreThree of the four pitchers who led the Major Leagues in wins in 2017 are among Box-Toppers’ top 10 players for the season.
And seven of the top 12 pitchers in wins in 2017 are among Box-Toppers’ top 10-ranked players.
Read MoreGiancarlo Stanton of the Marlins led all players in home runs in 2017 and ranked second among all batters in Box-Toppers points for the season. Four of the top 10 home run leaders in 2017 are among the overall top 100 players.
Read MoreCorey Kluber of the Indians had the lowest earned run average of any pitcher in 2017 and ranked fifth in Box-Toppers player rankings.
The overall Box-Toppers points leader, Chris Sale of the Red Sox (25.1), finished sixth place in ERA (2.90). Eight of the top 10 ERA leaders finished in the top 10 in Box-Toppers points in 2017.
Read MoreFive of the top 10 players in batting average for 2017 are among Box-Toppers’ top 100 players.
But two of the top 10 on the list were not even among the top half of players in 2017, including the overall batting average leader, Jose Altuve of the Astros, who ranked 387th among players in 2017 with just 2.5 Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreFour different players lead Box-Toppers’ four main leaderboards.
Three of the four were the top three-ranked players in Box-Toppers points in 2017 and the fourth is Box-Toppers’ all-time leader, Randy Johnson.
Read MoreAn analysis of 23 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching & batting in both leagues.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rose to third place in Box-Toppers’ overall “all-time” list in 2017, becoming the active leader in career points. Also in 2017, Albert Pujols became the “all-time” leader in career Box-Toppers points among batters and Zack Greinke rose into the overall top 10 in career Box-Toppers points since 1995.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw leads players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2012.
Kershaw has 147.2 Box-Toppers points over the period 2012-2017, 18.3 points ahead of second-place player in that span, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (128.9). However, Kershaw’s lead in the six-year rolling Box-Toppers point total is down from last year and is his narrowest lead since 2013.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer has more Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons than any other player.
Scherzer has earned 50.7 Box-Toppers points over 2016 and 2017. He ranked first in 2016 with 25.7 and second in 2017 with 25.0. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who led players in Box-Toppers two-season point totals for each of the past four seasons, falls to second place this year with 47.5 points.
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In 2017, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw broke the record for most consecutive seasons with 20 or more Box-Toppers points.
Kershaw earned 23.1 points in 2017, his seventh straight season with at least 20 points. Previously, pitcher Randy Johnson held the record, earning 20 points or more for six straight seasons, from 1997 to 2002. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.)
Read MoreRandy Johnson leads Box-Toppers "all-time" career top 100 list, since record-keeping began in 1995. Clayton Kershaw, ranked third overall, leads all active players. And Box-Toppers 2017 Player of the Year Chris Sale makes the biggest jump up the top 100 chart.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Box-Toppers’ top-ranked player over the past six seasons while Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Box-Toppers’ top-ranked player over the past two seasons.
Kershaw leads all players in Box-Toppers points over 2012-2017 with 147.2, ahead of Scherzer, in second place with 128.9.
Read MoreSadly, Jose Fernandez leads the list of players whose Box-Toppers point total declined most from 2016 to 2017. The 22.4-point decline is 8.0 points more than the next biggest decline which was the highest among players active in 2017—that belongs to Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto, whose 2017 point total dipped 14.4 points, from 16.4 in 2016 to 2.0 in 2017.
Read MoreBox-Toppers points leaders took home three of the six major postseason awards in 2017 as voted by baseball writers—both Rookie of the Year honors and the NL Cy Young Award.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Luis Severino had the biggest improvement in Box-Toppers point totals from 2016 to 2017, and is this season’s Box-Toppers’ Most Improved Player.
Severino had 19.1 more Box-Toppers points in 2017 than he did in 2016. In 2016, he had 2.0 Box-Toppers points and in 2017, he had 21.1 points, seventh among all players, fourth among American League pitchers.
Read MoreGiancarlo Stanton of the Marlins, who ranked second among National League batters in 2017 Box-Toppers points, was named NL Most Valuable Player Thursday.
But Jose Altuve of the Astros was named American League MVP despite his low Box-Toppers rankings—with just 2.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, he ranked 90th among AL batters and 387th among all players.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who led all National League players in 2017 Box-Toppers points, was voted NL Cy Young Award winner Wednesday.
However, Box-Toppers overall top player, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale, finished second in voting for the American League Cy Young Award. He lost to Indians pitcher Corey Kluber, who ranked second among AL pitchers in Box-Toppers rankings, fifth overall.
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How can it be that likely 2017 American League Most Valuable Player Jose Altuve has only 2.5 Box-Toppers points on the season?
Or should the question be: How is Jose Altuve even considered a candidate for AL MVP when he has only 2.5 Box-Toppers points?
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.