| American League | National League | |||||||||
| Elected starters | Elected starters | |||||||||
| Pos | Player | Team | BTP | Rank | Pos | Player | Team | BTP | Rank | |
| CA | Salvador Pérez | Royals | 5.5 | 56 | CA | Buster Posey | Giants | 5.5 | 59 | |
| 1B | Justin Smoak | Blue Jays | 5.5 | 58 | 1B | Ryan Zimmerman | Nationals | 4.5 | 85 | |
| 2B | José Altuve | Astros | 0.0 | 576 | 2B | Daniel Murphy | Nationals | 4.5 | 78 | |
| 3B | José Ramírez | Indians | 4.5 | 86 | 3B | Nolan Arenado | Rockies | 5.5 | 51 | |
| SS | Carlos Correa | Astros | 5.5 | 53 | SS | Zack Cozart | Reds | 2.0 | 296 | |
| OF | Mike Trout # | Angels | 1.0 | 386 | OF | Charlie Blackmon | Rockies | 2.7 | 228 | |
| OF | Aaron Judge | Yankees | 8.2 | 14 | OF | Bryce Harper | Nationals | 6.0 | 40 | |
| OF | George Springer | Astros | 5.0 | 66 | OF | Marcell Ozuna | Marlins | 3.7 | 139 | |
| DH | Corey Dickerson | Rays | 2.0 | 284 | ||||||
| Reserves | Reserves | |||||||||
| Pos | Player | Team | BTP | Rank | Pos | Player | Team | BTP | Rank | |
| CA | Gary Sánchez | Yankees | 0.0 | 627 | CA | Yadier Molina | Cardinals | 4.5 | 81 | |
| 1B | Yonder Alonso | Athletics | 3.0 | 193 | 1B | Paul Goldschmidt | Dbacks | 4.7 | 75 | |
| 2B | Robinson Canó * | Mariners | 4.0 | 104 | 1B | Joey Votto | Reds | 2.5 | 236 | |
| 2B | Starlin Castro # | Yankees | 3.0 | 175 | 2B | Josh Harrison | Pirates | 1.0 | 457 | |
| 2B | Jonathan Schoop | Orioles | 4.5 | 80 | 2B | DJ LeMahieu | Rockies | 2.5 | 239 | |
| 3B | Mike Moustakas | Royals | 3.0 | 196 | 3B | Jake Lamb | Dbacks | 3.5 | 153 | |
| 3B | Miguel Sanó | Twins | 7.5 | 24 | 3B | Justin Turner | Dodgers | 1.0 | 445 | |
| SS | Francisco Lindor | Indians | 1.5 | 356 | SS | Corey Seager | Dodgers | 4.0 | 118 | |
| OF | Mookie Betts * | Red Sox | 5.0 | 67 | OF | Cody Bellinger | Dodgers | 7.7 | 22 | |
| OF | Michael Brantley | Indians | 0.0 | 772 | OF | Michael Conforto | Mets | 4.0 | 114 | |
| OF | Avisail García | White Sox | 4.0 | 122 | OF | Ender Inciarte | Braves | 4.5 | 84 | |
| OF | Justin Upton * | Tigers | 5.0 | 64 | OF | Giancarlo Stanton | Marlins | 3.5 | 150 | |
| DH | Nelson Cruz | Mariners | 3.5 | 151 | ||||||
| Pitchers | Pitchers | |||||||||
| Pos | Player | Team | BTP | Rank | Pos | Player | Team | BTP | Rank | |
| SP | Chris Archer * | Rays | 4.0 | 102 | CP | Wade Davis | Cubs | 1.0 | 421 | |
| MR | Dellin Betances | Yankees | 4.0 | 116 | SP | Zack Greinke | Dbacks | 11.4 | 7 | |
| SP | Yu Darvish # | Rangers | 6.0 | 39 | MR | Brad Hand | Padres | 0.0 | 616 | |
| MR | Chris Devenski * | Astros | 5.0 | 70 | CP | Greg Holland | Rockies | 8.0 | 18 | |
| SP | Michael Fulmer # | Tigers | 4.7 | 74 | CP | Kenley Jansen | Dodgers | 3.0 | 178 | |
| SP | Dallas Keuchel # | Astros | 7.4 | 25 | SP | Clayton Kershaw # | Dodgers | 21.1 | 1 | |
| CP | Craig Kimbrel | Red Sox | 7.7 | 21 | CP | Corey Knebel | Brewers | 4.0 | 129 | |
| CP | Brandon Kintzler * | Twins | 5.0 | 72 | SP | Carlos Martínez | Cardinals | 7.5 | 23 | |
| SP | Corey Kluber # | Indians | 8.0 | 15 | MR | Pat Neshek | Phillies | 0.0 | 1128 | |
| SP | Lance McCullers Jr. | Astros | 9.4 | 10 | SP | Robbie Ray | Dbacks | 10.0 | 9 | |
| MR | Andrew Miller | Indians | 3.0 | 173 | SP | Max Scherzer | Nationals | 17.0 | 2 | |
| CP | Roberto Osuna * | Blue Jays | 1.0 | 436 | SP | Stephen Strasburg | Nationals | 10.4 | 8 | |
| SP | Chris Sale | Red Sox | 13.1 | 3 | SP | Alex Wood * | Dodgers | 12.0 | 5 | |
| SP | Ervin Santana | Twins | 12.4 | 4 | ||||||
| SP | Luis Severino | Yankees | 6.7 | 32 | ||||||
| SP | Jason Vargas | Royals | 9.0 | 11 | ||||||
| Worthy but unchosen | Worthy but unchosen | |||||||||
| Pos | Player | Team | BTP | Rank | Pos | Player | Team | BTP | Rank | |
| DH | Ryon Healy | Athletics | 8.7 | 13 | 3B | Kris Bryant | Cubs | 2.5 | 235 | |
| OF | Trey Mancini | Orioles | 6.2 | 36 | 2B | Scooter Gennett | Reds | 5.5 | 60 | |
| OF | Melky Cabrera | White Sox | 5.7 | 49 | OF | Jay Bruce | Mets | 7.0 | 27 | |
| DH | Edwin Encarnacion | Indians | 7.9 | 19 | 1B | Matt Adams | Braves | 6.5 | 33 | |
| SP | Carlos Carrasco | Indians | 11.4 | 6 | OF | Aaron Altherr | Phillies | 6.0 | 41 | |
* Player selected as roster replacement
Ryon Healy of the Athletics is the most worthy, but unchosen player, among the 2017 Major League Baseball All-Star team starters and reserves.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of July 9:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 17.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 13.1 |
| 4 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 |
| 5 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.0 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 11.4 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 11.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.4 |
| 9 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 10 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 9.4 |
Healy has 8.7 Box-Toppers points in 2017 and leads all American League batters. He ranks 13th among all players in Box-Toppers points.
Healy has divided his time among designated hitter, third base and first base in 2017, and would be the Box-Toppers leader at any of those positions on the AL All-Star team based on his 8.7 total points this year.
Though Healy has the most Box-Toppers points of any AL batter, his name recognition may be low and his accomplishments may be overshadowed by Box-Toppers’ second-ranked AL batter, Aaron Judge of the Yankees with 8.2 Box-Toppers points.
But the third-ranked AL batter in Box-Toppers points, Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians (7.9), should suffer from no lack of name recognition—but he is also not among the AL starters or reserves.
Box-Toppers’ fifth- and sixth-ranked AL batters are also not among the AL All-Stars: Trey Mancini of the Orioles (6.2 Box-Toppers points) and Melky Cabrera of the White Sox (5.7 points).
While most of Box-Toppers’ top-ranked pitchers made both league All-Star teams, one was left out—Carlos Carrasco of the Indians (11.4 Box-Toppers points in 2017), who ranks third among AL pitchers.
In the National League, several players who rank in the top 10 among NL batters did not make the NL All-Star roster:
- Outfielder Jay Bruce of the Mets, who ranks second with 7.0 Box-Toppers points.
- First basemen Matt Adams of the Braves, who ranks third with 6.5 points.
- Outfielder Aaron Altherr of the Phillies, who ranks fifth with 6.0 points.
- Second basemen Scooter Gennett of the Reds, who ranks 10th with 5.5 points.
One other player who is on the borderline of “worthy but unchosen” is Kris Bryant of the Cubs. Though he only has 2.5 Box-Toppers points in 2017, he did have a great couple of previous seasons, including winning 2015 NL Rookie of the Year and 2016 NL Most Valuable Player Award and was a key member of the 2016 World Series champions. He had 10.5 Box-Toppers points in 2016, second among NL batters. Based on his 2017 performance, he is not an All-Star. But All-Star games should also reward for past performance, especially recent past performance and especially recent past unprecedentedly outstanding performance.
Most players voted or selected for the All-Star teams in 2017 seem good and reasonable choices. Nine of the top 10 players in Box-Toppers overall player rankings (with the exception of Carrasco) were chosen for the teams, including overall leader Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers with 21.1 points (though he won’t appear in the game because he last pitched Sunday) and AL leader Chris Sale of the Red Sox, with 13.1 points.
But there were a lot of what Box-Toppers sees as questionable calls.
Phillies reliever Pat Neshek was selected to the NL All-Stars. But Neshek has earned no Box-Toppers points in 2017. Not only that, but he has no Box-Toppers points in 2016 and none in 2015. In fact, Neshek last earned Player of the Game honors Aug. 5, 2014, nearly three full calendar years ago, when he was playing for the Cardinals.
Granted, middle relievers do not earn a lot of Box-Toppers points—it usually takes between 5.0 and 10.0 points to lead a league’s middle relievers. But there are middle relievers who do earn Box-Toppers points by being the player that most contributed to a team’s win. For example, Brad Hand of the Padres, another middle reliever selected to the NL All-Star team, also has no Box-Toppers points in 2017. But in 2016, he ranked fourth among NL middle relievers with 5.0 Box-Toppers points.
A look at some other players whose selection to a 2017 All-Star team raises questions:
- Jose Altuve of the Astros was voted to start at second base for the AL team, but he has no Box-Toppers points in 2017, despite leading the league in hits. However, Altuve did have 12.5 Box-Toppers points in 2016, third among AL batters.
- Mike Trout of the Angels was voted to start in the outfield for the AL team, but has just 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2017 and is out injured and won’t play. However, he had 12.5 points in 2016, second among AL batters. And like Bryant, he should also be judged on past performance—he was the AL Most Valuable Player in 2016.
- Corey Dickerson of the Rays was voted to start at designated hitter for the AL team. But Dickerson has only 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2017 and only 4.5 in 2016. There are other DH candidates more worthy—including Healy and Encarnacion, as mentioned previously.
- Gary Sanchez of the Yankees was selected as reserve catcher on the AL All-Star team, but has no Box-Toppers points in 2017. However, Sanchez had 4.5 points in 2016, which ranked fifth among AL catchers.
- Francisco Lindor of the Indians was selected as reserve shortstop on the AL All-Star team, but has only 1.5 Box-Toppers points in 2017. However, Lindor had 7.0 points in 2016, which ranked fifth among AL shortstops.
- Michael Brantley of the Indians was selected as reserve outfielder on the AL All-Star team, but has no points in 2017 and had only 1.0 point in 2016.
- Blue Jays pitcher Roberto Osuna was selected as reserve closing pitcher on the AL All-Star team, but has only 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2017 and just 3.0 in 2016.
- Zack Cozart of the Reds was voted to start at shortstop on the NL All-Star team. But Cozart has just 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2017 and just 2.0 in 2016.
- Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies was voted starting outfielder for the NL All-Star team. But Blackmon has just 2.7 Box-Toppers points in 2017 and just 4.0 in 2016.
- Marcell Ozuna of the Marlins was voted starting outfielder for the NL All-Star team. But Ozuna has only 3.7 Box-Toppers points in 2017 and 5.0 in 2016.
- Josh Harrison of the Pirates was selected as reserve at second base for the NL All-Stars. But Harrison has just 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2017 and just 2.0 in 2016.
- DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies was selected as reserve at second base for the NL All-Stars. But LeMahieu has only 2.5 Box-Toppers points in 2017 and just 2.5 in 2016.
- Wade Davis of the Cubs was selected as reserve closing pitcher for the NL All-Stars. But Davis has only 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2017 and had just 4.0 in 2016 with the Royals.
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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