AL teams | Top pitcher | Pos | BTP | Rank | Top batter | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
Angels | Richards, Garrett 3042 | pi sp | 11.0 | 35 | Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | 12.0 | 29 | |
Astros | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | 21.4 | 4 | Correa, Carlos 3506 | ss | 7.2 | 102 | |
Athletics | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | 17.8 | 12 | Reddick, Josh 2936 | rf | 8.2 | 75 | |
Blue Jays | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | 21.1 | 5 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh | 10.4 | 40 | |
Indians | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | 18.0 | 11 | Santana, Carlos 2757 | 1b | 4.5 | 209 | |
Mariners | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | 19.4 | 8 | Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | 6.5 | 121 | |
Orioles | Britton, Zachary 2835 | pi cp | 8.7 | 66 | Davis, Chris 2478 | 1b | 11.0 | 36 | |
Rangers | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | 15.4 | 15 | Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | 12.5 | 27 | |
Rays | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | 16.0 | 14 | Souza, Steven Jr. 3461 | rf | 5.5 | 169 | |
Red Sox | Miley, Wade 3006 | pi sp | 7.0 | 109 | Bradley, Jackie Jr. 3293 | cf lf rf | 9.5 | 55 | |
Royals | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | 12.8 | 25 | Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | 9.0 | 62 | |
Tigers | Simon, Alfredo 2718 | pi sp | 7.0 | 104 | Kinsler, Ian 2144 | 2b | 6.5 | 123 | |
Twins | Gibson, Kyle 3312 | pi sp | 8.0 | 83 | Hunter, Torii 1190 | rf dh | 8.0 | 84 | |
White Sox | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | 18.8 | 10 | Eaton, Adam 3253 | cf | 5.5 | 168 | |
Yankees | Pineda, Michael 2841 | pi sp | 10.7 | 38 | Drew, Stephen 2210 | 2b | 8.0 | 87 | |
NL teams | Top pitcher | Pos | BTP | Rank | Top batter | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
Braves | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | 10.0 | 44 | Markakis, Nick 2116 | rf | 4.5 | 216 | |
Brewers | Nelson, Jimmy 3299 | pi sp | 8.4 | 73 | Lind, Adam 2238 | 1b dh | 6.5 | 124 | |
Cardinals | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | 13.7 | 19 | Grichuk, Randal 3474 | rf lf cf | 9.5 | 56 | |
Cubs | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | 29.1 | 1 | Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | 8.5 | 68 | |
Dbacks | De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 | pi sp | 6.0 | 141 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | 10.2 | 42 | |
Dodgers | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | 25.7 | 2 | Ethier, Andre 2137 | rf lf | 6.5 | 125 | |
Giants | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | 17.0 | 13 | Duffy, Matt 3504 | 3b | 6.2 | 131 | |
Marlins | Ramos, A.J. 3210 | pi cp | 5.0 | 190 | Bour, Justin 3433 | 1b | 8.5 | 70 | |
Mets | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | 22.4 | 3 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | lf cf | 10.9 | 37 | |
Nationals | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | 21.0 | 6 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf rf | 9.0 | 63 | |
Padres | Shields, James 2157 | pi sp | 7.4 | 101 | Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | 9.0 | 61 | |
Phillies | Harang, Aaron 1599 | pi sp | 5.1 | 175 | Howard, Ryan 2040 | 1b | 5.5 | 163 | |
Pirates | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | 19.0 | 9 | McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | cf | 10.5 | 39 | |
Reds | Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | pi cp | 8.0 | 80 | Frazier, Todd 2929 | 3b | 8.9 | 64 | |
Rockies | De La Rosa, Jorge 1970 | pi sp | 6.0 | 142 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | rf | 11.5 | 31 |
Box-Toppers' high players by team does not include AL MVP Donaldson, who ranked 3rd among Blue Jays batters
Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays may have been voted American League 2015 Most Valuable Player but he was not even his team’s top batter in Box-Toppers points.
Donaldson, in fact, ranked third among Blue Jays batters, but it was close. Donaldson had 9.9 Box-Toppers points in 2015, behind teammates Edwin Encarnacion (10.4) and Jose Bautista (10.0).
The chart here shows pitchers and batters with the most Box-Toppers points on each team in 2015.
While AL MVP Donaldson was not among his team’s top batters in Box-Toppers points, the other major award winners did lead their teams (or team batters) in Box-Toppers points:
- National League Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta led all Cubs (and all players in 2015) with 29.1 Box-Toppers points.
- American League Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel led all Astros (and all AL players) with 21.4 Box-Toppers points.
- National League Most Valuable Player Bryce Harper led all Nationals batters with 9.0 Box-Toppers points. However, he ranked fourth among all Nationals players (behind three pitchers) and seventh among all NL batters.
Pitchers were the overall team leader in Box-Toppers points in more than two-thirds of the cases—pitchers led 21 teams, while batters had the highest Box-Toppers point total on nine teams. They are:
- Angels—Mike Trout had 12.0 Box-Toppers points, 29th among all players, beating the top pitcher Garrett Richards (11.0).
- Orioles—Chris Davis (11.0, ranked 36th) outranked the team’s top pitcher Zach Britton (8.7).
- Red Sox—Jackie Bradley Jr. (9.5, ranked 55th) outranked Wade Miley (7.0).
- Diamondbacks—Paul Goldschmidt (10.2, ranked 42nd) outranked Rubby De La Rosa (6.0).
- Marlins—Justin Bour (8.5, ranked 70th) outranked A.J. Ramos (5.0).
- Padres—Justin Upton (9.0, ranked 61st) outranked James Shields (7.4).
- Phillies—Ryan Howard (5.5, ranked 163rd) outranked Aaron Harang (5.1).
- Reds—Todd Frazier (8.9, ranked 64th) outranked Aroldis Chapman (8.0).
- Rockies—Carlos Gonzalez (11.5, ranked 31st and first among NL batters) outranked Jorge De La Rosa (6.0).
In six cases, the top overall player on a team had more than 20.0 Box-Toppers points on the season—Astros, Blue Jays, Cubs, Dodgers, Mets and Nationals. But in eight cases, the top overall player on a team had fewer than 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015—Red Sox, Tigers, Twins, Brewers, Marlins, Padres, Phillies and Reds.
The six teams with top players having more than 20.0 Box-Toppers points were among the top 11 ranked teams in Box-Toppers’ year-end team power rankings, ranging from the Cubs ranking third to the Nationals ranking 11th. The eight teams with the top players having fewer than 10.0 Box-Toppers points ranked in the bottom half of teams in Box-Toppers team rankings, ranging from the Twins ranking 16th to the Phillies ranking in 30th and last place.
The lowest-ranked player to lead his team’s pitchers in Box-Toppers points is A.J. Ramos of the Marlins, who had 5.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 190th among all players.
The lowest-ranked player to lead his team’s batters in Box-Toppers points is Nick Markakis of the Braves, who had 4.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked 216th among all players.
And the lowest-ranked player to lead all pitchers and batters on his team in Box-Toppers points is Ryan Howard of the Phillies, who had 5.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked 163rd among all players.
Starting pitchers outnumbered closers as team’s top pitcher, 27-3. The three closing pitchers who led their team’s pitchers in Box-Toppers points are:
- Zach Britton of the Orioles with 8.7 Box-Toppers points.
- A.J. Ramos of the Marlins with 5.0 Box-Toppers points.
- Aroldis Chapman of the Reds with 8.0 Box-Toppers points.
The highest ranked player who did not lead his team’s pitchers or batters in Box-Toppers points is Zack Greinke of the Dodgers, who with 20.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked seventh among all players. However, Greinke ranked second among Dodgers players behind pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who had 25.7 Box-Toppers points, second among all players. In the offseason, Greinke signed a free-agent deal to play with the Diamondbacks starting in 2016.
Interesting/uninteresting fact—Rubby and Jorge De La Rosa, not related, both led their team’s pitchers in Box-Toppers points with the exact same point total—6.0. Both players finished behind a batter for the overall Box-Toppers points lead among players on their team. And both finished in consecutive spots in Box-Toppers overall player rankings—Rubby of the Diamondbacks finished 141st and Jorge of the Rockies finished 142nd. (Rubby held the tiebreaker advantage because he had more Box-Toppers points in 2014—4.0 vs. 3.7.)
Note—Players are listed on the team with whom they finished the 2015 season. Yoenis Cespedes, for example, is listed with the Mets, though he earned only 4.2 of his 10.9 Box-Toppers points with that team. (However, that was still more than any other Mets batter earned in 2015. Next highest batter is Curtis Granderson with 4.0.)
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.
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