More pitchers lead their teams in Box-Toppers points at the All-Star break than batters.
Top player by team
Here are Box-Toppers points (BTP) leaders on each of the 30 teams as of the 2017 All-Star break. Teams are grouped with their league division and listed alphabetically by nickname.| American League | |||
| East | Player | Pos | BTP |
| Blue Jays | Smoak, Justin 2731 | 1b | 5.5 |
| Orioles | Mancini, Trey 3766 | lf 1b | 6.2 |
| Rays | Faria, Jacob 3816 | pi sp | 4.7 |
| Red Sox | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | 13.1 |
| Yankees | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | 8.2 |
| Central | Player | Pos | BTP |
| Indians | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | 11.4 |
| Royals | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | 9.0 |
| Tigers | Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | 5.0 |
| Twins | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | 12.4 |
| White Sox | Cabrera, Melky 2143 | lf | 5.7 |
| West | Player | Pos | BTP |
| Angels | Meyer, Alex 3742 | pi sp | 5.0 |
| Astros | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | 9.4 |
| Athletics | Healy, Ryon 3685 | dh 1b 3b | 8.7 |
| Mariners | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | 7.0 |
| Rangers | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | 6.0 |
| National League | |||
| East | Player | Pos | BTP |
| Braves | Adams, Matt 3220 | 1b | 6.5 |
| Marlins | Straily, Dan 3080 | pi sp | 8.7 |
| Mets | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | 7.7 |
| Nationals | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | 17.0 |
| Phillies | Altherr, Aaron 3563 | rf lf cf | 6.0 |
| Central | Player | Pos | BTP |
| Brewers | Nelson, Jimmy 3299 | pi sp | 8.0 |
| Cardinals | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | 7.5 |
| Cubs | Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | 8.0 |
| Pirates | Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | 7.0 |
| Reds | Feldman, Scott 2632 | pi sp | 6.0 |
| West | Player | Pos | BTP |
| Dbacks | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | 11.4 |
| Dodgers | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | 21.1 |
| Giants | Samardzija, Jeff 2495 | pi sp | 6.0 |
| Padres | Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi sp | 6.7 |
| Rockies | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | 8.0 |
Twenty-two pitchers lead their teams in Box-Toppers points compared to eight batters who lead their teams.
But before Thursday, pitchers led 23 teams. That number decreased by one Thursday when Jose Quintana was traded from the Chicago White Sox to the Chicago Cubs. Quintana had been the White Sox player with the most Box-Toppers points (8.0), but after the move, batter Melky Cabrera became the White Sox Box-Toppers points leader (5.7). Meanwhile, Quintana became the Cubs Box-Toppers points leader, displacing another pitcher, Jon Lester (6.0).
There are six teams in which the leading player has 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. All are pitchers. They are:
- Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 21.1 points, ranked first overall.
- Nationals—Max Scherzer, 17.0 points, ranked second overall.
- Red Sox—Chris Sale, 13.1 points, ranked third.
- Twins—Ervin Santana, 12.4 points, ranked fourth.
- Indians—Carlos Carrasco, 11.4 points, ranked sixth.
- Diamondbacks—Zack Greinke, 11.4 points, ranked seventh.
There are nine players who have 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points so far this season. That means there are three players with 10.0 or more points who do not lead their team:
- Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood, 12.0 points, ranked fifth.
- Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, 10.4 points, ranked eighth.
- Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray, 10.0 points, ranked ninth.
Among the 30 leaders, here is a breakdown of the positions they play:
- 21—Starting pitcher
- 5—Outfield
- 2—First base
- 1—Designated hitter
- 1—Closing pitcher
Here are the eight batters who lead their teams in Box-Toppers points in order of their point totals:
- 8.7—Athletics, Ryon Healy, ranked first among American League batters.
- 8.2—Yankees, Aaron Judge, ranked second among AL batters.
- 6.5—Braves, Matt Adams, ranked third among National League batters.
- 6.2—Orioles, Trey Mancini, ranked fifth among AL batters.
- 6.0—Phillies, Aaron Altherr, ranked fifth among NL batters.
- 5.7—White Sox, Melky Cabrera, ranked sixth among AL batters.
- 5.5—Blue Jays, Justin Smoak, ranked 10th among AL batters.
- 5.0—Tigers, Justin Upton, ranked 12th among AL batters.
Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers leads NL batters in Box-Toppers points with 7.7, but ranks third among Dodgers in Box-Toppers points, behind Kershaw (21.1) and Wood (12.0). The leaders of the other three main categories all lead their teams in Box-Toppers points:
- NL pitchers—Kershaw, Dodgers, 21.1.
- AL pitchers—Sale, Red Sox, 13.1.
- AL batters—Healy, Athletics, 8.7.
Of the 22 pitchers who lead their teams in Box-Toppers points, all but one are starters. The exception: Closing pitcher Greg Holland leads the Rockies with 8.0 Box-Toppers points.
The lowest Box-Toppers point total to lead teams belongs to starting pitcher Jacob Faria, who leads the Rays with 4.7 Box-Toppers points. Faria ranks 77th among all players and 24th among all AL pitchers. Despite having the lowest-ranked leader, the Rays still rank 10th among all teams in accumulated Box-Toppers points for 2017 with 54.6.
Here are the next four lowest-ranked team leaders:
- 5.0—Angels, starting pitcher Alex Meyer.
- 5.0—Tigers, outfielder Justin Upton.
- 5.5—Blue Jays, first baseman Justin Smoak.
- 5.7—White Sox, outfielder Melky Cabrera.
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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