Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2014, was voted National League Most Valuable Player Thursday.
Center fielder Mike Trout of the Angels was the unanimous choice for American League Most Valuable Player, though Trout ranked seventh among AL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2014.
The awards are voted on by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Box-Toppers’ top-ranked batters in both leagues—Jose Abreu of the White Sox and Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies—did not win an MVP. However, Abreu finished fourth in AL MVP voting and Tulowitzki received one 10th place vote in NL MVP voting.
Kershaw, who won his third Cy Young Award in four years on Wednesday, dominated all players in Box-Toppers points with 31.5, the most by any player in a single season since 2002 and the fourth-highest single-season point total since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. He is the fourth pitcher to win MVP in either league in the past 30 years.
AL MVP Trout, however, ranked behind six other AL batters in Box-Toppers points (see the top 10 AL batters for 2014), ranked 40th among all AL players and 78th among all players. Trout, with 8.5 Box-Toppers points, had slightly more than half the points as the AL leader among batters, Abreu (15.5).
Abreu simply was key to his team’s wins more often than Trout. Abreu earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors 12 times during the season (including winning AL Batter of the Day honors five times), while Trout earned Player of the Game honors eight times (earning AL Batter of the Day honors just once).
Abreu, who won AL Rookie of the Year honors Monday, had the most Box-Toppers points of any batter in either league. He ranked 14th among all players.
Tulowitzki had a huge lead in Box-Toppers points among NL batters, despite an injury and subsequent surgery which limited his playing time to just over half the season—he played in only 91 games. Still he earned 11.6 Box-Toppers points—Buster Posey of the Giants was second place with 8.5. He was Box-Toppers Player of the Game eight times (including winning NL Player of the Day three times and NL Batter of the Day twice). And Tulowitzki held his commanding lead in Box-Toppers points even though he earned his final points July 9.
Because of his limited playing time, it was unlikely Tulowitzki would be considered for a postseason award no matter how impressive his limited season was. However, he did receive one point in voting when he received a single 10th-place vote from baseball writer Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.
The batters with the highest Box-Toppers points who did not receive votes were:
• In the AL: Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays, 9.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked fifth among AL bates and 63rd among all players. Encarnacion had more Box-Toppers points than AL MVP Trout.
• In the NL: Adam LaRoche of the Nationals, 8.2 Box-Toppers points, ranked fifth among NL batters and 81st overall.
Box-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. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point 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.
National League Most Valuable Player Award voting
Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers was voted NL Most Valuable Player. Below are the NL players in order of their voting finish, shown with their first- through 10th-place votes and their voting points total. Also shown are each player’s Box-Toppers points (BTP) for 2014 and their overall rank in points among all players. Top NL batter in Box-Toppers points, Troy Tulowitzki, is highlighted in red below:
| NL player | Team | Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pts | BTP | Rnk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 18 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 355 | 31.5 | 1 | ||||||
| Giancarlo Stanton | Marlins | rf | 8 | 10 | 12 | 298 | 6.7 | 130 | |||||||
| Andrew McCutchen | Pirates | cf | 4 | 10 | 15 | 1 | 271 | 6.5 | 137 | ||||||
| Jonathan Lucroy | Brewers | ca | 1 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 167 | 6.7 | 132 | |||||
| Anthony Rendon | Nationals | 2b 3b | 1 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 155 | 4.5 |
233 | ||
| Buster Posey | Giants | ca | 1 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 152 | 8.5 | 76 | ||
| Adrian Gonzalez | Dodgers | 1b | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 57 | 7.2 | 101 | ||||
| Adam Wainwright | Cardinals | pi sp | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 53 | 18.7 | 8 | |||||
| Josh Harrison | Pirates | 2b 3b | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 52 | 2.0 | 444 | ||||
| Anthony Rizzo | Cubs | 1b | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 37 | 6.5 | 138 | |||||
| Hunter Pence | Giants | rf | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 34 | 2.5 | 367 | |||||
| Johnny Cueto | Reds | pi sp | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 22.4 | 4 | ||||||
| Russell Martin | Pirates | ca | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 4.5 | 228 | ||||||
| Matt Holliday | Cardinals | lf | 1 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 7.5 | 97 | |||||||
| Jhonny Peralta | Cardinals | ss | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 6.0 | 112 | ||||||
| Carlos Gomez | Brewers | cf | 2 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 3.5 | 290 | |||||||
| Justin Upton | Braves | lf | 1 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 8.2 | 80 | |||||||
| Jayson Werth | Nationals | rf | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 3.0 | 308 | |||||||
| Denard Span | Nationals | cf | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2.5 | 382 | ||||||||
| Yasiel Puig | Dodgers | rf | 2 | 1 | 8 | 1.0 | 593 | ||||||||
| Devin Mesoraco | Reds | ca | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7.0 | 114 | ||||||||
| Lucas Duda | Mets | 1b | 1 | 3 | 8.5 | 79 | |||||||||
| Freddie Freeman | Braves | 1b | 1 | 2 | 7.7 | 91 | |||||||||
| Justin Morneau | Rockies | 1b | 1 | 2 | 3.2 | 303 | |||||||||
| Dee Gordon | Dodgers | 2b | 1 | 1 | 5.0 | 203 | |||||||||
| Troy Tulowitzki | Rockies | ss | 1 | 1 | 11.6 | 39 | |||||||||
| *Adam LaRoche | Nationals | 1b | 0 | 8.2 | 81 |
* Batter with highest Box-Toppers point total in the league who did not receive any MVP votes.
American League Most Valuable Player Award voting
Mike Trout of the Angels was voted AL Most Valuable Player. Below are the AL players in order of their voting finish, shown with their first- through 10th-place votes and their voting points total. Also shown are each player’s Box-Toppers points (BTP) for 2014 and their overall rank in points among all players. Top AL batter in Box-Toppers points, Jose Abreu, is highlighted in red below:
| AL player | Team | Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pts | BTP | Rnk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Trout | Angels | cf | 30 | 420 | 8.5 | 78 | |||||||||
| Victor Martinez | Tigers | dh | 16 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 229 | 5.5 | 176 | ||||
| Michael Brantley | Indians | lf | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 191 | 3.5 | 283 | ||
| Jose Abreu | White Sox | lf | 1 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 145 | 15.5 | 14 | |
| Robinson Cano | Mariners | 2b | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 124 | 6.5 | 135 | |
| Jose Bautista | Blue Jays | rf cf | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 122 | 6.5 | 139 | ||
| Nelson Cruz | Orioles | dh lf | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 102 | 8.5 | 77 | |||
| Josh Donaldson | Athletics | 3b | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 96 | 10.5 | 53 | ||
| Miguel Cabrera | Tigers | 1b | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 82 | 12.5 | 28 | ||
| Felix Hernandez | Mariners | pi sp | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 48 | 20.8 | 6 | ||
| Corey Kluber | Indians | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 45 | 25.8 | 2 | ||||
| Alex Gordon | Royals | lf | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 44 | 3.0 | 203 | |||
| Jose Altuve | Astros | 2b | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 41 | 3.5 | 291 | |||||
| Adam Jones | Orioles | cf | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 34 | 11.5 | 40 | ||||
| Adrian Beltre | Rangers | 3b | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 0.0 | 733 | ||||||
| Greg Holland | Royals | pi cp | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 7.0 | 106 | |||||||
| Albert Pujols | Angels | dh 1b | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7.5 | 98 | ||||||||
| Howie Kendrick | Angels | 2b | 1 | 3 | 4.5 | 225 | |||||||||
| James Shields | Royals | pi sp | 1 | 3 | 13.7 | 22 | |||||||||
| Kyle Seager | Mariners | 3b | 1 | 1 | 8.0 | 89 | |||||||||
| *Edwin Encarnacion | Blue Jays | 1b dh | 0 | 9.5 | 63 |
* Batter with highest Box-Toppers point total in the league who did not receive any MVP votes.
Box-Toppers complete postseason awards coverage
Here are links to more details on each of baseball’s 2014 postseason awards, including Box-Toppers points leaders in each category and the full voting results and analysis:
Silver Slugger Awards
Box-Toppers points leaders win only four of the 18 awards in each position, voted on by baseball coaches and managers.
Rookie of the Year Awards
Box-Toppers points leaders win both the AL award (Jose Abreu of the White Sox) and NL award (Jacob deGrom of the Mets) as voted by baseball writers.
Cy Young Awards
Box-Toppers points leaders win both the AL award (Corey Kluber of the Indians) and NL award (Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers) as voted by baseball writers.
Most Valuable Player Awards
Box-Toppers overall points leader Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers, a pitcher, wins the NL MVP, as voted by baseball writers. However, the leader in Box-Toppers points among AL batters, Jose Abreu of the White Sox, finishes behind the AL MVP as voted by baseball writers, Mike Trout of the Angels.