Who is worthy of your All-Star vote?
Let's take a look at who is leading Box-Toppers points by position and in each league. We'll look at it in a couple of different ways: We'll look at who is leading so far through the 2013 season. And since the sample size of the 1.5-month-old season is still fairly small, we'll also look at who is leading in Box-Toppers points for the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons.
So, for example, Mitch Moreland of the Rangers is leading among American League first basemen so far in 2013 with 3.5 Box-Toppers points. But Mike Napoli of the Red Sox is leading among AL first basemen if you combine his 2012 and 2013 Box-Toppers points. Napoli has 10.7 (8.2 in 2012 and 2.5 in 2013).
Box-Toppers also includes starting, middle relief and closing pitchers in its all-star line-ups, even though fans don't get to vote for them.
Several players appear on both the 2013 and the combined 2012-13 list, indicating they may be especially worthy of your attention as you fill out your ballot. They include:
- AL 3B: Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, who also leads all AL batters in Box-Toppers for 2013 (7.2) and combined 2012-13 seasons (18.9).
- AL CA: Joe Mauer of the Twins.
- AL OF: Chris Davis of the Orioles.
- AL pitcher: Yu Darvish of the Rangers (but, again, fans don't vote on pitchers). Darvish leads all players in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season with 8.0.
- NL CA: Brian McCann of the Braves.
- NL OF: Ryan Braun of the Brewers. Braun leads NL batters for the combined 2012-13 seasons with 16.0.
- NL OF: Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies.
- NL pitcher: Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers. Kershaw leads NL players in points for the combined 2012-13 seasons with 27.8.
- NL middle reliever: Santiago Casilla of the Giants.
Here is how the Box-Toppers All-Star teams stood as of May 3.
Voting for the All-Star game is open until July 4.
Here is how the Box-Toppers All-Star teams stand as of today:
| 2013 SEASON | 2012-13 SEASONS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL | PLAYER | TEAM | BTP | PLAYER | TEAM | BTP | |
| First base | Moreland, Mitch 2799 | tex al | 3.5 | Napoli, Mike 2161 | bos al | 10.7 | |
| Second base | Cano, Robinson 2092 | nyy al | 3.5 | Cano, Robinson 2092 | nyy al | 7.5 | |
| Shortstop | Drew, Stephen 2210 | bos al | 2.5 | Hardy, J.J. 2071 | bal al | 9.2 | |
| Third base | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 7.2 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 18.9 | |
| Catcher | Mauer, Joe 1869 | min al | 3 | Mauer, Joe 1869 | min al | 12 | |
| Outfield 1 | Raburn, Ryan 2340 | cle al | 3.5 | Davis, Chris 2478 | bal al | 14 | |
| Outfield 2 | Wells, Vernon 1548 | nyy al | 3 | Trout, Mike 2949 | ana al | 12 | |
| Outfield 3 | Davis, Chris 2478 | bal al | 2 | Hamilton, Josh 2332 | ana al | 11.5 | |
| Designated hitter | Hafner, Travis 1650 | nyy al | 3.5 | Butler, Billy 2330 | kc al | 12.7 | |
| Starting pitcher 1 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | tex al | 8 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | det al | 29.8 | |
| Starting pitcher 2 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | cle al | 7.7 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | tex al | 24.8 | |
| Starting pitcher 3 | Buchholz, Clay 2363 | bos al | 7.1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | sea al | 24.4 | |
| Starting pitcher 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | chi al | 6.7 | Dickey, R.A. 1734 | tor al | 23.1 | |
| Middle reliever | Scheppers, Tanner 3136 | tex al | 3 | Chen, Bruce 1170 | kc al | 8 | |
| Closing pitcher | Balfour, Grant 1880 | oak al | 3 | Rodney, Fernando 1803 | tb al | 10 | |
| NL | |||||||
| First base | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | ari nl | 3.5 | Jones, Garrett 2655 | pit nl | 9.5 | |
| Second base | Carpenter, Matt 2987 | stl nl | 3.5 | Phillips, Brandon 1691 | cin nl | 12 | |
| Shortstop | Desmond, Ian 2673 | dc nl | 2.5 | Tulowitzki, Troy 2308 | col nl | 7 | |
| Third base | Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 | dc nl | 3.7 | Freese, David 2710 | stl nl | 10.7 | |
| Catcher | McCann, Brian 2179 | atl nl | 3 | McCann, Brian 2179 | atl nl | 9 | |
| Outfield 1 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | dc nl | 5.9 | Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | mil nl | 16 | |
| Outfield 2 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | col nl | 4 | Holliday, Matt 1836 | stl nl | 14.7 | |
| Outfield 3 | Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | mil nl | 3.5 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | col nl | 13.2 | |
| Starting pitcher 1 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | stl nl | 7.7 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | lad nl | 27.8 | |
| Starting pitcher 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | lad nl | 7 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | stl nl | 23.4 | |
| Starting pitcher 3 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | nym nl | 7 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | sf nl | 22.4 | |
| Starting pitcher 4 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | ari nl | 6.4 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | dc nl | 22.4 | |
| Middle reliever | Casilla, Santiago 2301 | sf nl | 2 | Casilla, Santiago 2301 | sf nl | 6 | |
| Closing pitcher | Feldman, Scott 2632 | chi nl | 3 | Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | cin nl | 16 | |
| AL top player | Darvish, Yu 3003 | tex al | 8 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | det al | 29.8 | |
| AL top batter | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 7.2 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 18.9 | |
| NL top player | Miller, Shelby 3134 | stl nl | 7.7 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | lad nl | 27.8 | |
| NL top batter | Harper, Bryce 3011 | dc nl | 5.9 | Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | mil nl | 16 |