Box-Toppers pitching leaders and top rookies are among the finalists for the Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year honors. But Box-Toppers batting leaders are excluded from the list of finalists for Most Valuable Player Awards.
Award finalists
Here are finalists for the Cy Young, Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year awards to be given in mid-November, as named by the Baseball Writers of America. Players are listed by their Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2016 and their Box-Toppers rank in their award category. Both players who led their leagues in batting in Box-Toppers points who were not named as finalists are listed in italics.| Cy Young finalists | |||
| AL finalists | Team | BTP | Rank* |
| Corey Kluber | Indians | 21.2 | 1 |
| Justin Verlander | Tigers | 14.7 | 4 |
| Rick Porcello | Red Sox | 8.0 | 31 |
| NL finalists | Team | BTP | Rank* |
| Max Scherzer | Nationals | 25.7 | 1 |
| Jon Lester | Cubs | 22.1 | 3 |
| Kyle Hendricks | Cubs | 13.4 | 10 |
| Most Valuable Player Awards finalists | |||
| AL finalists | Team | BTP | Rank* |
| Mike Trout | Angels | 12.5 | 2 |
| Jose Altuve | Astros | 12.5 | 3 |
| Mookie Betts | Red Sox | 6.2 | 37 |
| **Manny Machado | Orioles | 12.7 | 1 |
| NL finalists | Team | BTP | Rank* |
| Kris Bryant | Cubs | 10.5 | 2 |
| Daniel Murphy | Nationals | 7.5 | 15 |
| Corey Seager | Dodgers | 4.0 | 53 |
| **Nolan Arenado | Rockies | 10.7 | 1 |
| Rookie of the Year finalists | |||
| AL finalists | Team | BTP | Rank† |
| Michael Fulmer | Tigers | 12.7 | 1 |
| Gary Sanchez | Yankees | 4.5 | 9 |
| Tyler Naquin | Indians | 2.0 | 35 |
| NL finalists | Team | BTP | Rank† |
| Kenta Maeda | Dodgers | 10.0 | 1 |
| Corey Seager | Dodgers | 4.0 | 15†† |
| Trea Turner | Nationals | 2.5 | 27 |
* Rank shows a player’s rank among potential players eligible for the award. For example, AL Cy Young finalists are ranked among AL pitchers, AL MVP finalists are ranked among AL batters.
** Manny Machado and Nolan Arenado both led their leagues in Box-Toppers points among batters but neither was named a finalist for their league’s MVP award.
† Rookie of the Year finalists are ranked among players in their league who made their Box-Toppers debut in 2016. There were 70 AL players who made their Box-Toppers debut in 2016 and 81 NL players.
†† Corey Seager made his Box-Toppers debut in 2015 but still has rookie status in 2016. His 4.0 Box-Toppers points would have ranked 15th among the 81 NL players who made their Box-Toppers debut in 2016.
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America, who vote on the award-winners, announced the finalists, usually the top three in voting. Rookie of the Year Awards will be given Monday, Nov. 14, Cy Young Awards on Wednesday, Nov. 16 and MVP Awards on Thursday, Nov. 17.
AL Rookie of the Year
Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer leads AL rookies with 12.7 Box-Toppers points and is among the finalists for AL Rookie of the Year. Fulmer ranks seventh among AL pitchers and 23rd among all players.
Other AL Rookie of the Year finalists:
- Gary Sanchez of the Yankees, who had 4.5 Box-Toppers points, ninth among AL rookies, 62nd among AL batters and 242nd among all players.
- Tyler Naquin of the Indians, who had just 2.0 Box-Toppers points, 35th among AL rookies, 109th among AL batters and 484th among all players.
One notable AL rookie not in consideration: Dae-Ho Lee of the Mariners had 7.7 Box-Toppers points, second among AL rookies, 20th among AL batters and 99th among all players.
NL Rookie of the Year
Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda leads NL rookies with 10.0 Box-Toppers points and is among the finalists for NL Rookie of the Year. Maeda ranks 21st among NL pitchers and 54th among all players.
Other NL Rookie of the Year finalists:
- Corey Seager of the Dodgers, who has just 4.0 Box-Toppers points. Seager ranks 53rd among NL batters and 266th among all players. Seager made his Box-Toppers debut in 2015 earning his first Player of the Game honor. He would rank 15th among players making their debut in 2016. Seager is also a candidate for NL MVP.
- Trea Turner of the Nationals, who has just 2.5 Box-Toppers points, 27th among NL rookies, 84th among NL batters and 394th among all players.
Two NL rookies not in contention for the award are Brewers pitcher Junior Guerra (9.0 Box-Toppers points, 25th among NL pitchers) and Rockies pitcher Jon Gray (7.0 Box-Toppers points, 38th among NL pitchers).
NL Cy Young
Box-Toppers’ 2016 Player of the Year Max Scherzer of the Nationals is among the finalists for National League Cy Young Award. Scherzer led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2016 with 25.7.
Other NL Cy Young finalists:
- Cubs pitcher Jon Lester finished fourth among all players with 22.1 Box-Toppers points, third among NL pitchers active at season’s end.
- Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks finished 17th among all players with 13.4 Box-Toppers points, 10th among NL pitchers active at season’s end.
Two other pitchers ranked higher than Lester in Box-Toppers points in 2016, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (24.4 points, ranked second overall) and Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (22.4 points, ranked third overall). Kershaw was likely excluded from Cy Young consideration because he missed two months of the season due to injury, but that didn’t stop him from being in contention for Box-Toppers Player of the Year going into the final week of the season. Kershaw led NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points from 2011 to 2014 and has finished second in both 2015 and 2016. He led all players in points in 2011, 2013 and 2014. Fernandez, who was killed Sept. 25, the final week of the season, was also in contention to be Box-Toppers Player of the Year going into the final week of the season. He had 22.4 Box-Toppers points.
AL Cy Young
Box-Toppers’ top-ranked AL pitcher Corey Kluber of the Indians is among the finalists for the American League Cy Young Award. Kluber led AL pitchers with 21.2 Box-Toppers points, ranking fifth among all players.
Other AL Cy Young finalists:
- Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander ranked fourth among AL pitchers with 14.7 Box-Toppers points.
- Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello ranked just 31st among AL pitchers with only 8.0 Box-Toppers points. However, Porcello led all players in wins with 22. That didn’t necessarily translate into Porcello being the player on his team who was most key to each of those wins, see: Why does wins leader Rick Porcello have so few Box-Toppers points from Sept. 17.
Two AL pitchers who ranked higher than Verlander in Box-Toppers points are Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (17.8 Box-Toppers points, second among AL pitchers, sixth overall) and Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ (14.7 Box-Toppers points, third among AL pitchers, 11th overall).
AL MVP
Manny Machado of the Orioles led AL batters in Box-Toppers points with 12.7, the seventh-lowest total to lead a category in Box-Toppers’ 22-year history, the third-lowest among AL batting leaders.
But Machado is not among the three finalists listed by baseball writers for the AL MVP award. They are:
- Mike Trout of the Angels, who ranked second among AL batters with 12.5 Box-Toppers points. Trout was AL MVP in 2014.
- Jose Altuve of the Astros, who ranked third among AL batters with 12.5 Box-Toppers points.
- Mookie Betts of the Red Sox, who ranked 37th among AL batters with 6.2 Box-Toppers points.
Other AL batters high in the rankings who were excluded from MVP consideration: Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (12.0 Box-Toppers points) and Matt Wieters of the Orioles (11.0).
NL MVP
Nolan Arenado of the Rockies led NL batters in Box-Toppers points with 10.7, the lowest point total to lead any single season category since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. The previous record was set in 2015 when Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies led NL batters with 11.5 points. Interestingly, prior to that, the record was 2014 when Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies led NL batters with 11.6. So not only has the low-point total record been broken three years in a row, it has been broken each time by a batter from the Colorado Rockies.
Arenado is not among the finalists for NL MVP. They are:
- Kris Bryant of the Cubs, who ranks second among NL batters with 10.5 Box-Toppers points.
- Daniel Murphy of the Nationals, who ranks 15th among NL batters with 7.5 Box-Toppers points.
- Corey Seager of the Dodgers, who ranks 53rd among NL batters with 4.0 Box-Toppers points.
Other NL batters ranked highly in Box-Toppers points excluded from MVP consideration are Ryan Braun of the Brewers (10.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked third among NL batters) and Joey Votto of the Reds (10.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among NL batters).
About Box-Toppers—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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