Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Gonzalez among best in Box-Toppers All-Star teams

Box-Toppers all-stars graphic.png

Still struggling with your All-Star vote?

Are you someone who truly wants to field a great team—voting for the best players—and not someone who is just willing to vote that .125 hitter in simply because he is on your favorite team?

Well, even if you aren't, Box-Toppers is going to take a look at the top players by position in each league. And as in past all-star updates, we'll look at the all-star teams in a couple of different ways: We'll look at who is leading in Box-Toppers points by position so far through the 2013 season. And we'll also look at players over the longer run, seeing who is leading in Box-Toppers points for the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons.

So, for example, Stephen Drew of the Red Sox is leading among American League shortstops so far in 2013 with 4.5 Box-Toppers points. But J.J. Hardy of the Orioles is leading among AL shortstops if you combine his 2012 and 2013 Box-Toppers points. Hardy has 9.2 (7.2 in 2012 and 2.0 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 1B: Chris Davis of the Orioles.​
  • AL 2B: Robinson Cano of the Yankees.​
  • AL 3B: Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, who also leads all AL batters in Box-Toppers for 2013 (9.7) and combined 2012-13 seasons (21.4).
  • AL pitchers: Yu Darvish of the Rangers and Chris Sale of the White Sox (but, again, fans don't vote on pitchers). 
  • NL 2B: Brandon Phillips of the Reds.​
  • NL CA: Brian McCann of the Braves.
  • NL OF: Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies.
  • NL pitcher: Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers.
  • NL middle reliever: Santiago Casilla of the Giants.

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  
ALPLAYERTEAMBTP PLAYERTEAMBTP
First baseDavis, Chris 2478bal al4.5 Davis, Chris 2478bal al16.5
Second baseCano, Robinson 2092nyy al4.5 Cano, Robinson 2092nyy al8.5
ShortstopDrew, Stephen 2210bos al4.5 Hardy, J.J. 2071bal al9.2
Third baseCabrera, Miguel 1776det al9.7 Cabrera, Miguel 1776det al21.4
CatcherArencibia, J.P. 2781tor al5.5 Mauer, Joe 1869min al13
Outfield 1Johnson, Kelly 2018tb al4.5 Trout, Mike 2949ana al13.5
Outfield 2Raburn, Ryan 2340cle al4.5 Hamilton, Josh 2332ana al11.5
Outfield 3Joyce, Matt 2480tb al3 Rios, Alex 1989chi al9.9
Designated hitterOrtiz, Davidbos al3.7 Butler, Billy 2330kc al12.7
Starting pitcher 1Masterson, Justin 2462cle al10.7 Verlander, Justin 2112det al30.8
Starting pitcher 2Buchholz, Clay 2363bos al9.1 Hernandez, Felix 2064sea al25.4
Starting pitcher 3Sale, Chris 2806chi al8.7 Darvish, Yu 3003tex al24.8
Starting pitcher 4Darvish, Yu 3003tex al8 Sale, Chris 2806chi al24.4
Middle relieverScheppers, Tanner 3136tex al3 Chen, Bruce 1170kc al8
Closing pitcherPerkins, Glen 2506min al5 Rodney, Fernando 1803tb al10
NL       
First baseGoldschmidt, Paul 2935ari nl5.2 LaRoche, Adam 1910dc nl11.5
Second basePhillips, Brandon 1691cin nl3.5 Phillips, Brandon 1691cin nl13
ShortstopCrawford, Brandon 2878sf nl3 Tulowitzki, Troy 2308col nl7
Third baseZimmerman, Ryan 2180dc nl3.7 Freese, David 2710stl nl11.7
CatcherMcCann, Brian 2179atl nl5 McCann, Brian 2179atl nl11
Outfield 1Harper, Bryce 3011dc nl5.9 Braun, Ryan J. 2300mil nl16
Outfield 2Gonzalez, Carlos 2460col nl5 Holliday, Matt 1836stl nl14.7
Outfield 3Pollock, A.J. 3142ari nl4.7 Gonzalez, Carlos 2460col nl14.2
Starting pitcher 1Harvey, Matt 3075nym nl9 Kershaw, Clayton 2494lad nl28.8
Starting pitcher 2Corbin, Patrick 3027ari nl8.4 Lynn, Lance 2992stl nl25.1
Starting pitcher 3Kershaw, Clayton 2494lad nl8 Strasburg, Stephen 2736dc nl23.4
Starting pitcher 4Miller, Shelby 3134 stl nl7.7 Gonzalez, Gio 2626dc nl22.7
Middle relieverCasilla, Santiago 2301sf nl2 Casilla, Santiago 2301sf nl6
Closing pitcherGrilli, Jason 2209pit nl4.7 Chapman, Aroldis 2826cin nl18
AL top playerMasterson, Justin 2462cle al10.7 Verlander, Justin 2112det al30.8
AL top batterCabrera, Miguel 1776det al9.7 Cabrera, Miguel 1776det al21.4
NL top playerHarvey, Matt 3075nym nl9 Kershaw, Clayton 2494lad nl28.8
NL top batterHarper, Bryce 3011dc nl5.9 Braun, Ryan J. 2300mil nl16