Box-Toppers Player of the Season is Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.
Kershaw has 21.7 Box-Toppers points and rises from third to first place since the last player rankings report Sept. 20. He passes previous leader, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (20.2), now in second place.
This is the second time Kershaw has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Season honors. He was also top player in 2011, when he had 26.1 Box-Toppers points. He was top National League player in Box-Toppers points in 2012 with 20.8.
Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer is Box-Toppers American League Player of the Season. Scherzer has 18.1 Box-Toppers points, in fifth place on the overall player rankings list.
Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers is American League Batter of the Season. Cabrera has 16.9 Box-Toppers points, in eighth place overall and the only batter in player rankings top 10. Cabrera rose to the top of the AL batter ranking list on April 18 and held the top spot the rest of the season. He held the overall Box-Toppers points lead four different times during the season, as recently as June 29. Cabrera earned more Box-Toppers points in 2013 than in any of his other 11 seasons—second-most was 16.5 in 2009 with the Tigers.
Paul Goldchmidt of the Diamondbacks is National League Batter of the Season. Goldschmidt has 13.7 Box-Toppers points, in 22nd place overall.
Kershaw was the only 2012 leader in the four categories (NL pitching, NL batting, AL pitching, AL batting) to return to lead a category in 2013.
Last year's overall leader, Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander, with 24.8 Box-Toppers points, earned 10.0 in 2013, in 53rd place overall.
Adrian Beltre of the Rangers led AL batters in 2012 with 13.5. In 2013, he had 8.4, in 81st place overall.
Ryan Braun of the Brewers led NL batters in 2012 with 12.5. In 2013, he had 3.5, in 281st place overall and was suspended for the final 65 games of the season for violating baseball's performance-enhancing drug policy.
So, will finishing atop Box-Toppers category standings translate into postseason awards for these players?:
- Will Kershaw win NL Cy Young?
- Will Scherzer win AL Cy Young?
- Will Cabrera win AL Most Valuable Player award?
- Will Goldschmidt win NL MVP?
Stay tuned.
Previous player rankings report from Sept. 20.
Final rankings
As of Sunday, Sept. 29
| 2013 LEADERS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OVERALL LEADERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.7 |
| 2 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 20.2 |
| 3 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.4 |
| 4 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 19.0 |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 18.1 |
| 6 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 17.4 |
| 7 | Sanchez, Anibal 2187 | pi sp | det al | 17.1 |
| 8 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 3b | det al | 16.9 |
| 9 | Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 16.7 |
| 10 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 18.1 |
| 2 | Sanchez, Anibal 2187 | pi sp | det al | 17.1 |
| 3 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 16.1 |
| 5 | Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | tb al | 16.1 |
| 6 | Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048 | pi sp | sea al | 16.1 |
| 7 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 16.0 |
| 8 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 14.8 |
| 9 | Jimenez, Ubaldo 2349 | pi sp | cle al | 14.5 |
| 10 | Colon, Bartolo | pi sp | oak al | 13.1 |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 3b | det al | 16.9 |
| 2 | Soriano, Alfonso 1445 | lf | nyy al | 12.9 |
| 3 | Davis, Chris 2478 | 1b | bal al | 12.7 |
| 4 | Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | nyy al | 12.5 |
| 5 | Ortiz, David | dh | bos al | 12.4 |
| 6 | Raburn, Ryan 2340 | rf dh lf ph | cle al | 9.5 |
| 7 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | oak al | 9.5 |
| 8 | Butler, Billy 2330 | dh | kc al | 9.0 |
| 9 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | 1b dh | tor al | 8.7 |
| 10 | Fielder, Prince 2029 | 1b | det al | 8.5 |
| NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.7 |
| 2 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 20.2 |
| 3 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.4 |
| 4 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 19.0 |
| 5 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 17.4 |
| 6 | Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 16.7 |
| 7 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | stl nl | 16.1 |
| 8 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.7 |
| 9 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | stl nl | 15.4 |
| 10 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.0 |
| NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | ari nl | 13.7 |
| 2 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 11.5 |
| 3 | Cuddyer, Michael 1826 | rf | col nl | 11.5 |
| 4 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | lf | col nl | 11.0 |
| 5 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf | dc nl | 9.4 |
| 6 | Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 | 3b | dc nl | 9.2 |
| 7 | Venable, Will 2621 | rf cf | sd nl | 9.0 |
| 8 | Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | nym nl | 8.5 |
| 9 | Alvarez, Pedro 2817 | 3b | pit nl | 7.7 |
| 10 | Phillips, Brandon 1691 | 2b | cin nl | 7.5 |
BTP: Box-Toppers points for 2013 season