Freddie Freeman of the Braves may be seeded seventh among the eight players in Monday’s Home Run Derby, but he has the most 2018 Box-Toppers points in the group.
How Home Run Derby participants fare in Box-Toppers points
Here are the eight participants in Monday's Home Run Derby, listed according to their assigned tournament seed. Also shown are each players home runs so far this season (’18 HR), plus their Box-Toppers points for the current season (’18 BTP) and last season (’17 BTP).| Player | Team | ’18 HR | ’18 BTP | ’17 BTP | |
| 1 | Jesus Aguilar | Brewers | 24 | 4.5 | 5.0 |
| 2 | Bryce Harper | Nationals | 23 | 3.0 | 7.0 |
| 3 | Max Muncy | Dodgers | 22 | 2.5 | 0.0 |
| 4 | Alex Bregman | Astros | 20 | 3.5 | 3.0 |
| 5 | Kyle Schwarber | Cubs | 18 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| 6 | Javier Baez | Cubs | 19 | 6.0 | 5.2 |
| 7 | Freddie Freeman | Braves | 16 | 6.5 | 3.0 |
| 8 | Rhys Hoskins | Phillies | 14 | 1.0 | 2.0 |
Freeman has 6.5 Box-Toppers points this season and ranks third among National League batters in Box-Toppers season player rankings. However, his 16 home runs this season is seventh-most among the eight derby participants and has him seeded seventh in the tournament-style derby.
That means Freeman, despite his comparative lack of home runs, has done more to help the Braves win more games this season than the other seven participants.
Javier Baez of the Cubs has the next-most Box-Toppers points this season, 6.0. Baez is seeded sixth (19 home runs).
Alex Bregman of the Astros has the most Box-Toppers points of any American League home run derby participant (3.5), mainly because he is only AL participant among the eight. There is only one AL player in the home run derby despite the fact that eight of the top 11 players in home runs this season are in the AL.
Only two of the top 11 home run hitters this season are participating the derby—top-seeded Jesus Aguilar of the Brewers, who ranks seventh with 24 and second-seeded Bryce Harper of the Nationals, who ranks eighth with 23.
Harper has the most 2017 Box-Toppers points of the eight participants, 7.0. In 2017, Harper ranked 19th among NL batters. But Harper has just 3.0 Box-Toppers points this season and has not earned Player of the Game honors in three months, last on April 16.
Max Muncy of the Dodgers is seeded third and has 22 homers on the season, tied for 12th. He has just 2.5 Box-Toppers points in 2018 and none in 2017. In fact, Muncy did not make his Box-Toppers debut until May 19 this season, though he made his Major League debut April 25, 2015.
Rhys Hoskins of the Phillies is seeded eighth and has the fewest homers of the eight derby participants (14, which is not even among the top 50 totals for the season). He also has the fewest 2018 Box-Toppers points (1.0) and the second-lowest 2017 Box-Toppers point total (2.0) of the eight participants.
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Baseball’s top-tier home-run hitters are mostly American Leaguers and mostly sitting the derby out this year. Here is a list of the top 11 home run hitters in 2018, their Box-Toppers point totals and rankings:
1. J.D. Martinez, Red Sox, 29 home runs, 8.5 Box-Toppers points, first among AL batters.
1. Jose Ramirez, Indians, 29 home runs, 4.0 Box-Toppers points, 21st among AL batters.
3. Francisco Lindor, Indians, 25 homers, 7.9 Box-Toppers points, second among AL batters.
3. Aaron Judge, Yankees, 25 homers, 4.0 Box-Toppers points, 20th among AL batters.
3. Mike Trout, Angels, 25 homers, 5.5 Box-Toppers points, ninth among AL batters.
6. Manny Machado, Orioles, 24 homers, 4.0 Box-Toppers points, 23rd among AL batters.
6. Jesus Aguilar, Brewers, 24 homers, 4.5 Box-Toppers points, 17th among NL batters and a derby participant.
8. Bryce Harper, Nationals, 23 homers, 3.0 Box-Toppers points, 33rd among NL batters and a derby participant.
8. Mookie Betts, Red Sox, 23 homers, 7.2 Box-Toppers points, third among AL batters.
8. Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees, 23 homers, 4.0 Box-Toppers points, 19th among AL batters.
8. Nolan Arenado, Rockies, 23 homers, 4.0 Box-Toppers points.
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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