Lindor, Baez, Contreras among players rising onto Box-Toppers’ All-Star teams as voting deadline arrives

Here are Box-Toppers points leaders by position and by league for the current season (2018) and for this season and last season (2017-18) as of July 4. The top three outfielders and top four starting pitchers (SP) in each league over both time periods are shown. Also shown is closing pitcher (CP) with the most Box-Toppers points in each league over both time periods.  

2018 leaders 2017-18 leaders
AL players Team BTP Pos AL players Team BTP
Davidson, Matt 3292 chi al 5.2 1B Healy, Ryon 3685 sea al 13.7
Altuve, Jose 3007 hou al 3.5 2B Odor, Rougned 3336 tex al 9.7
Lindor, Francisco 3586 cle al 7.9 SS Lindor, Francisco 3586 cle al 11.4
Solarte, Yangervis 3304 tor al 5.2 3B Sano, Miguel 3527 min al 11.5
Sanchez, Gary 3701 nyy al 4.0 CA Perez, Salvador 2972 kc al 8.5
Mazara, Nomar 3614 tex al 7.0 OF Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 nyy al 18.2
Rosario, Eddie 3542 min al 6.5 OF Judge, Aaron 3767 nyy al 15.2
Haniger, Mitch 3772 sea al 6.5 OF Martinez, J.D. 2922 bos al 14.0
Martinez, J.D. 2922 bos al 8.5 DH Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 cle al 17.1
Severino, Luis 3567 nyy al 16.7 SP Severino, Luis 3567 nyy al 37.8
Paxton, James 3280 sea al 14.0 SP Sale, Chris 2806 bos al 35.8
Berrios, Jose 3791 min al 13.4 SP Kluber, Corey 3200 cle al 32.7
Cole, Gerrit 3232 hou al 12.0 SP Carrasco, Carlos 2885 cle al 29.5
Trivino, Lou 3939 oak al 6.0 CP Kimbrel, Craig 2825 bos al 13.7
NL players Team BTP Pos NL players Team BTP
Freeman, Freddie 2887 atl nl 6.5 1B Rizzo, Anthony 3063 chi nl 19.0
Baez, Javier 3395 chi nl 4.5 2B Gennett, Scooter 3254 cin nl 14.2
Crawford, Brandon 2878 sf nl 7.5 SS Baez, Javier 3395 chi nl 9.7
Suarez, Eugenio 3355 cin nl 7.5 3B Shaw, Travis 3544 col nl 13.0
Contreras, Willson 3776 chi nl 4.0 CA Contreras, Willson 3776 chi nl 9.5
Pederson, Joc 3621 lad nl 5.0 OF Bruce, Jay 2453 nym nl 11.5
Anderson, Brian W. 3954 fla nl 5.0 OF McCutchen, Andrew 2637 sf nl 11.0
Kemp, Matt 2151 lad nl 4.5 OF Harper, Bryce 3011 dc nl 10.0
Scherzer, Max 2588 dc nl 16.4 SP Scherzer, Max 2588 dc nl 41.4
Nola, Aaron 3569 phi nl 12.4 SP Nola, Aaron 3569 phi nl 28.2
Corbin, Patrick 3027 ari nl 11.0 SP Strasburg, Stephen 2736 dc nl 27.2
Pivetta, Nick 3825 phi nl 9.7 SP Greinke, Zack 1871 ari nl 27.1
Hand, Brad 2907 sd nl 6.0 CP Doolittle, Sean 3052 dc nl 11.0
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations

Francisco Lindor, Javier Baez and Willson Contreras are among the players rising onto Box-Toppers’ All-Star teams in the past week.

With Major League All-Star voting coming to a close today (Thursday, July 5), here is a look at who is leading at Box-Toppers points at each position in both leagues.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of July 4:  
 

 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Severino, Luis 3567 pi sp nyy al 16.7
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.4
3 Paxton, James 3280 pi sp sea al 14.0
4 Berrios, Jose 3791 pi sp min al 13.4
5 Nola, Aaron 3569 pi sp phi nl 12.4
6 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp hou al 12.0
7 Morton, Charlie 2503 pi sp hou al 11.8
8 Corbin, Patrick 3027 pi sp ari nl 11.0
9 Snell, Blake 3688 pi sp tb al 11.0
10 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp bos al 10.7
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations

Actually, because the 2018 season so far is a relatively small sample size, we’ll also look at top players since the start of the 2017 season.

Here are the changes to the teams since last week:

  • Francisco Lindor of the Indians rises to lead American League shortstops in Box-Toppers points over both the 2018 season and over the 2017-2018 seasons. Lindor has 7.9 points in 2018 and displaces last week’s AL shortstop leader for the season, Jean Segura of the Mariners (5.0 points). Lindor has 11.4 Box-Toppers points since the start of 2017 and displaces last week’s AL shortstop leader for 2017-18, Elvis Andrus of the Rangers (11.0).

  • Javier Baez of the Cubs rises to the second base spot on the 2018 National League All-Star team with 4.5 Box-Toppers points this season, displacing Daniel Descalso of the Diamondbacks (4.0). Baez also rises to the shortstop spot on the 2017-18 NL All-Star team with 9.7 points over the past two seasons, displacing Brandon Crawford of the Giants. (Crawford still occupies the shortstop spot on the 2018 NL All-Star team, leading at that position with 7.5 points this season.)

  • Willson Contreras of the Cubs rises to the catcher spot on the 2018 NL All-Star team with 4.0 Box-Toppers points, displacing J.T. Realmuto of the Marlins (4.0). (While both have the same Box-Toppers point total, Contreras has the edge because he had more 2017 Box-Toppers points—5.5 vs. 4.0).

  • Matt Kemp of the Dodgers rises to the third outfield spot on the 2018 NL All-Star team with 4.5 Box-Toppers points, displacing David Peralta of the Diamondbacks (4.5). (While both have the same Box-Toppers point total, Kemp has the edge because he had more 2017 Box-Toppers points—4.5 vs. 2.0).

  • J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox rises to the third outfield spot on the 2017-18 AL All-Star team with 14.0 Box-Toppers points, displacing Eddie Rosario of the Twins (12.7 points). Rosario still occupies the second outfield spot on the 2018 AL All-Star team with 6.5 points this season. Martinez also occupies the designated hitter spot on the 2018 AL All-Star team, leading at that position this season with 8.5 points.

  • Craig Kimbrel of the Red Sox rises to the closing pitcher spot on the 2017-18 AL All-Star team with 13.7 points over the past two seasons, displacing Edwin Diaz of the Mariners (13.0 points).

Luis Severino of the Yankees leads all players in 2018 with 16.7 Box-Toppers points, also leading all AL pitchers. Max Scherzer of the Nationals continues to lead all players over the past two seasons with 41.4 points over 2017-18, also leading all NL pitchers. Scherzer ranks second in 2018 points with 16.4. Severino ranks second in points over 2017-18 with 37.8.

The chart above shows the leaders in Box-Toppers points by position over the two time periods—the 2018 season and the combined 2017 and 2018 seasons.

The Box-Toppers National League team has 13 positions—the customary five infield spots, three for outfield, four for starting pitchers plus one spot for closing pitcher. The Box-Toppers American League team has 14 spots with the addition of the designated hitter.

There are three AL players who occupy All-Star spots on both the 2018 and 2017-18 teams:

  • Francisco Lindor, Indians, shortstop.

  • J.D. Martinez, Red Sox, designated hitter on the 2018 team, outfield on the 2017-18 team.

  • Luis Severino, Yankees, starting pitcher.

There are four NL players who occupy All-Star spots on both the 2018 and 2017-18 teams:

  • Javier Baez, Cubs, second baseman on the 2018 team, shortstop on the 2017-18 team.

  • Willson Contreras, Cubs, catcher.

  • Max Scherzer, Nationals, starting pitcher.

  • Aaron Nola, Phillies, starting pitcher.

There are four AL teams that have two players each on the 2018 AL All-Star team—Astros, Yankees, Twins and Mariners. The Indians have the most players on the 2017-18 AL All-Star team (four). The Dodgers have the most players on the 2018 NL All-Star team (four). The Nationals have the most players on the 2017-18 NL All-Star team (four).

Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. today, Thursday, July 5. The All-Star Game is July 17 at Nationals Park in Washington.

Though Box-Toppers lists pitchers here, fans do not elect pitchers to the All-Star teams.

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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Below: Most recent update of All-Star voting leader totals from Monday: