| Silver Slugger winners | Box-Toppers points leaders | ||||||||
| AL winners | Team | BTP | Rank* | AL leaders | Team | BTP | Rank* | ||
| 1B | Miguel Cabrera | Tigers | 4.7 | 8 | Chris Davis | Orioles | 11.0 | 1 | |
| 2B | Jose Altuve | Astros | 7.0 | 2 | Stephen Drew | Yankees | 8.0 | 1 | |
| SS | Xander Bogaerts | Red Sox | 1.5 | 12 | Eduardo Escobar | Twins | 7.7 | 1 | |
| 3B | Josh Donaldson | Blue Jays | 9.9 | 2 | Adrian Beltre | Rangers | 12.5 | 1 | |
| CA | Brian McCann | Yankees | 6.5 | 1 | Brian McCann | Yankees | 6.5 | 1 | |
| OF | Mike Trout | Angels | 12.0 | 1 | Mike Trout | Angels | 12.0 | 1 | |
| OF | Nelson Cruz | Mariners | 2.0 | 33 | Jose Bautista | Blue Jays | 10.0 | 2 | |
| OF | J.D. Martinez | Tigers | 1.7 | 47 | Jackie Bradley Jr. | Red Sox | 9.5 | 3 | |
| DH | Kendrys Morales | Royals | 4.7 | 8 | Prince Fielder | Rangers | 11.5 | 1 | |
| NL winners | Team | BTP | Rank* | NL leaders | Team | BTP | Rank* | ||
| 1B | Paul Goldschmidt | Dbacks | 10.2 | 1 | Paul Goldschmidt | Dbacks | 10.2 | 1 | |
| 2B | Dee Gordon | Marlins | 1.5 | 19 | DJ LeMahieu | Rockies | 7.0 | 1 | |
| SS | Brandon Crawford | Giants | 3.5 | 6 | Starlin Castro | Cubs | 4.5 | 1 | |
| 3B | Nolan Arenado | Rockies | 8.5 | 2 | Todd Frazier | Reds | 8.9 | 1 | |
| CA | Buster Posey | Giants | 4.0 | 5 | Miguel Montero | Cubs | 5.5 | 1 | |
| OF | Bryce Harper | Nationals | 9.0 | 6 | Carlos Gonzalez | Rockies | 11.5 | 1 | |
| OF | Andrew McCutchen | Pirates | 10.5 | 3 | Yoenis Cespedes | Mets | 10.9 | 2 | |
| OF | Carlos Gonzalez | Rockies | 11.5 | 1 | Andrew McCutchen | Pirates | 10.5 | 3 | |
Rank*: Shows the players rank among all players in his league at that position. For example, Miguel Cabrera ranks eighth among AL first basemen in Box-Toppers points; Chris Davis ranks first.
Only 5 of 17 Silver Slugger Award winners also led their position in Box-Toppers points
If Box-Toppers points were used to choose Silver Slugger winners, the winners announced Thursday would be mostly different.
The awards are given to the top batter in each position in both leagues, but using Box-Toppers points, only five of the 17 announced winners would have been the same.
The awards are voted on by Major League Baseball coaches and managers. Box-Toppers analyzes traditional box scores and tracks which player most helps his team win the most games, awarding points for the top player in each game.
First, the good: There were five instances in which voters and Box-Toppers rankings agreed on choices:
- Brian McCann of the Yankees led American League catchers with 6.5 Box-Toppers points.
- Mike Trout of the Angels led AL outfielders with 12.0 points.
- Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks led National League first basemen with 10.2.
- Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies led NL outfielders with 11.5.
- Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates ranked third among NL outfielders with 10.5.
In the other 12 spots, about half of the Silver Slugger winners were close to the Box-Toppers leaders—either in second place or within a couple of Box-Toppers points of the leader. But the other half of Silver Slugger winners finished far behind the Box-Toppers leaders. Here is a position-by-position look at the Silver Slugger winners compared to Box-Toppers leaders:
AL first base
Award winner Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers had 4.7 Box-Toppers points, eighth among AL first basemen in 2015. In past years, Cabrera was one of the AL’s consistent Box-Toppers leaders among batters, but this was a down year for him and his team. Chris Davis of the Orioles led AL first basemen in Box-Toppers points with 11.0.
AL second base
Award winner Jose Altuve of the Astros had 7.0 Box-Toppers points, second among AL second basemen and finished within the margin of error range of Stephen Drew of the Yankees, who led AL second basemen with 8.0 Box-Toppers points.
AL shortstop
Award winner Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox had 1.5 Box-Toppers points, finishing 12th among AL shortstops, far behind the Box-Toppers leader at the position, Eduardo Escobar of the Twins, 7.7 Box-Toppers points.
AL third base
Award winner Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays had 9.9 Box-Toppers points, second among AL third basemen, not too far behind Adrian Beltre of the Rangers, who led players at that spot with 12.5.
AL catcher
Award winner Brian McCann of the Yankees led AL catchers with 6.5 Box-Toppers points.
AL outfield
Award winner Mike Trout of the Angels—it’s easy to see why he was chosen. He led AL outfielders in Box-Toppers points with 12.0. But award winners Nelson Cruz of the Mariners and J.D. Martinez of the Tigers finished well down the list among outfielders. Cruz had 2.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 33rd among AL outfielders and Martinez had 1.7, 47th on that list. The second- and third-ranked AL outfielders in Box-Toppers points were Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays with 10.0 points and Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox with 9.5.
NL first base
Award winner Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks led NL first basemen in Box-Toppers points with 10.2.
NL second base
Award winner Dee Gordon of the Marlins had only 1.5 Box-Toppers points, ranking 19th among NL second basemen. DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies led players at the position with 7.0 Box-Toppers points.
NL shortstop
Award winner Brandon Crawford of the Giants only had 3.5 Box-Toppers points and finished sixth among NL shortstops, but he was not far behind overall leader at the spot. Starlin Castro of the Cubs had 4.5 points, first among NL shortstops.
NL third base
Award winner Nolan Arenado of the Rockies had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, second among NL third basemen and not far behind overall leader at the spot, Todd Frazier of the Reds, with 8.9 points.
NL catcher
Award winner Buster Posey of the Giants had 4.0 Box-Toppers points, fifth among NL catchers, but did not finish far behind Miguel Montero of the Cubs, who led NL catchers in Box-Toppers points with 5.5.
NL outfield
Two of the Silver-Slugger awarded NL outfielders were among the top three in Box-Toppers points among NL outfielders—Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies (first, with 11.5 Box-Toppers points) and Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates (third, with 10.5). However, voters also chose Bryce Harper of the Nationals, who with 9.0 Box-Toppers points and ranking sixth among NL outfielders, was only 1.5 points behind the top three. Box-Toppers’ second-ranked NL outfielder for 2015 is Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets, who had 10.9 Box-Toppers points—however, only 4.2 of his points came while he was with the NL Mets, the rest came prior to his late July trade when he was still with the AL Tigers.
NL pitcher
OK, so the Silver Slugger voters also pick an NL pitcher and this year, they again chose Madison Bumgarner of the Giants. The sample size is simply too small for Box-Toppers to pick a credible winner among batting pitchers. Pitchers can earn Box-Toppers points for batting but it is relatively rare—only seven times in 2015 did a pitcher earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor for batting. No one did it more than once.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers points are a measure of how much a player provides key contributions to his team’s wins. Specifically, 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.