| Silver Slugger winners | Box-Toppers points leaders | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL winners | Team | BTP | Rank* | AL leaders | Team | BTP | Rank* | ||
| 1B | Carlos Santana | Indians | 4.5 | 7 | Albert Pujols | Angels | 11.0 | 1 | |
| 2B | DJ LeMahieu | Yankees | 3.5 | 7 | Gleyber Torres | Yankees | 12.0 | 1 | |
| SS | Xander Bogaerts | Red Sox | 8.2 | 4 | Marcus Semien | Athletics | 8.7 | 2** | |
| 3B | Alex Bregman | Astros | 10.0 | 1 | Alex Bregman | Astros | 10.0 | 1 | |
| CA | Mitch Garver | Twins | 7.5 | 1 | Mitch Garver | Twins | 7.5 | 1 | |
| OF | Mookie Betts | Red Sox | 8.7 | 1 | Mookie Betts | Red Sox | 8.7 | 1 | |
| OF | George Springer | Astros | 5.7 | 11 | Mike Trout | Angels | 8.7 | 2 | |
| OF | Mike Trout | Angels | 8.7 | 2 | J.D. Martinez | Red Sox | 8.5 | 3 | |
| DH | Nelson Cruz | Twins | 12.5 | 1 | Nelson Cruz | Twins | 12.5 | 1 | |
| NL winners | Team | BTP | Rank* | NL leaders | Team | BTP | Rank* | ||
| 1B | Freddie Freeman | Braves | 10.2 | 1 | Freddie Freeman | Braves | 10.2 | 1 | |
| 2B | Ozzie Albies | Braves | 6.5 | 5 | Asdrubal Cabrera | Nationals | 8.0 | 1 | |
| SS | Trevor Story | Rockies | 7.0 | 1 | Trevor Story | Rockies | 7.0 | 1 | |
| 3B | Anthony Rendon | Nationals | 5.0 | 9 | Nolan Arenado | Rockies | 9.0 | 1 | |
| CA | J.T. Realmuto | Phillies | 7.0 | 1 | J.T. Realmuto | Phillies | 7.0 | 1 | |
| OF | Ronald Acuna Jr. | Braves | 3.7 | 22 | Marcell Ozuna | Cardinals | 12.0 | 1 | |
| OF | Cody Bellinger | Dodgers | 11.2 | 3 | Christian Yelich | Brewers | 11.7 | 2 | |
| OF | Christian Yelich | Brewers | 11.7 | 2 | Cody Bellinger | Dodgers | 11.2 | 3 | |
Rank*: Shows the players rank among all players in his league at that position. For example, Carlos Santana ranks seventh among AL first basemen in Box-Toppers points; Albert Pujols ranks first.
** Gleyber Torres of the Yankees led both AL second basemen and AL shortstops in Box-Toppers points. Marcus Semien of the Athletics had the most points among players finishing second in both those categories, so we put Torres at second base (where he won three of his 10 Player of the Game honors in 2019) and put Semien at shortstop (where he won all seven of his 2019 Player of the Game honors).
10 of the 17 Silver Slugger Award winners also led their position in Box-Toppers points
Ten of the 17 batters winning Silver Slugger Awards this week also were among the leaders at their positions in 2019 Box-Toppers point totals.
The awards are given to the top batter in each position in both leagues, voted on by Major League Baseball coaches and managers. Box-Toppers analyzes traditional box scores and tracks which player most helps his team win the most games, awarding points for the top player in each game.
The 10 instances in which voters and Box-Toppers rankings agreed on the choices is a big increase from recent years. In 2016, six Box-Toppers position leaders won Silver Slugger Awards, in 2017, there were seven and in 2018, there were seven (or eight, depending on how you count). This is either an indication that voters are using Box-Toppers as a tool, a data point, to help determine top players. Or more likely, it is a really lucky coincidence.
The 10 instances in which voters and Box-Toppers had the same player at the top of a position:
Alex Bregman of the Astros led American League third basemen with 10.0 Box-Toppers points.
Mitch Garver of the Twins led AL catchers with 7.5 points.
Mookie Betts of the Red Sox led AL outfielders with 8.7 points.
Mike Trout of the Angels ranked second among AL outfielders with 8.7 points, taking one of the three Silver Slugger awards given to AL outfielders.
Nelson Cruz of the Twins led AL designated hitters with 12.5 points.
Freddie Freeman of the Braves led National League first basemen with 10.2 points.
Trevor Story of the Rockies led NL shortstops with 7.0 points.
J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies led NL catchers with 7.0 points.
Christian Yelich of the Brewers ranked second among NL outfielders with 11.7 points, taking one of the three Silver Slugger awards given to NL outfielders.
Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers ranked third among NL outfielders with 11.2 points, one of the three Silver Slugger awards given to NL outfielders.
Here is a position-by-position look at the Silver Slugger winners compared to Box-Toppers leaders:
AL first base: Box-Toppers grade: D
Award-winner Carlos Santana of the Indians had 4.5 Box-Toppers points and ranked seventh among AL first basemen. The Box-Toppers points leader at the position was the resurgent Albert Pujols of the Angels with 11.0 Box-Toppers points, his first season with more than 10 points since moving to the Angels and his first since 2011 (12.5) with the Cardinals.
AL second base: Box-Toppers grade: D
Award-winner DJ LeMahieu of the Yankees finished seventh among players at the position with 3.5 Box-Toppers points. Box-Toppers would have given the award to teammate Gleyber Torres, who led at the position with 12.0 points. Torres played both shortstop and second base, leading in Box-Toppers points at both positions. Box-Toppers awards just one Silver Slugger per player, so to decide which spot to put Torres, we look at the highest second-place player at each position. They are Cavan Biggio of the Blue Jays at second base with 6.2 points and Marcus Semien of the Athletics at shortstop with 8.7 points. Since Semien has more points, we give him the Silver Slugger at shortstop and award Torres at second. While Torres roughly split his play between the two positions (65 games at second base and 77 at shorstop, according to Baseball-Reference.com), he earned only three of his 10 Player of the Game honors at second base; the rest were at shortstop. Still, he earned 4.0 Box-Toppers points at second base, which is still more than the 3.5 that award-winner LeMahieu earned all season.
AL shortstop: Box-Toppers grade: B
Award-winner Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox finished fourth at the position with 8.2 Box-Toppers points, but that was only 0.5 points behind Marcus Semien of the Athletics, who had 8.7 points and while he finished second among players at the position, he receives Box-Toppers’ Silver Slugger Award, since the actual leader at the position Gleyber Torres of the Yankees (12.0), also led AL second basemen.
AL third base: Box-Toppers grade: A
Award-winner Alex Bregman of the Astros also led AL third basemen with 10.0 Box-Toppers points.
AL catcher: Box-Toppers grade: A
Award-winner Mitch Garver of the Twins also led AL catchers with 7.5 Box-Toppers points.
AL outfield: Box-Toppers grade: B
Actually, that’s two A’s and one D grade here. The two A’s: Box-Toppers top two-ranked AL outfielders won Silver Slugger Awards—Mookie Betts of the Red Sox (first with 8.7 Box-Toppers points) and Mike Trout of the Angels (second with 8.7). (Betts ranked higher than Trout on a tiebreaker since he had more 2018 Box-Toppers points—10.9 vs. 8.0.) Box-Toppers gives a D to the choice of George Springer of the Astros, who ranked 11th at the position with 5.7 points. Box-Toppers instead would have awarded the third AL outfielder Silver Slugger to J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox, third at the position with 8.5 points.
AL designated hitter: Box-Toppers grade: A
Award-winner Nelson Cruz of the Twins also led AL designated hitters with 12.5 Box-Toppers points.
NL first base: Box-Toppers grade: A
Award-winner Freddie Freeman of the Braves also led NL first basemen with 10.2 Box-Toppers points.
NL second base: Box-Toppers grade: B
Award-winner Ozzie Albies of the Braves ranked fifth at the position with 6.5 Box-Toppers points. Asdrubal Cabrera of the Nationals led the position with 8.0 Box-Toppers points.
NL shortstop: Box-Toppers grade: A
Award-winner Trevor Story of the Rockies also led NL shortstops with 7.0 Box-Toppers points.
NL third base: Box-Toppers grade: D
Award-winner Anthony Rendon of the Nationals ranked ninth at the position with 5.0 Box-Toppers points. Nolan Arenado of the Rockies led the position with 9.0 points.
NL catcher: Box-Toppers grade: A
Award-winner J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies also led NL catchers with 7.0 Box-Toppers points.
NL outfield: Box-Toppers grade B-
Two of the three award-winners were among the top three NL outfielders in Box-Toppers points, so those choices deserve an “A” grade—Christian Yelich of the Brewers ranked second at the position with 11.7 points and Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers rank third with 11.2 points. However, the third winner, Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves ranked 22nd at the position with 3.7 points. Box-Toppers instead would have given the third award to Marcell Ozuna of the Cardinals with 12.0 Box-Toppers points, most among NL outfielders. Ozuna also led all NL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2019.
NL pitcher: Box-Toppers grade: Incomplete
Award-winner is Zack Greinke of the Astros.
In seventh grade, I had a teacher who, rather than putting a letter grade on an assignment I handed in, wrote at the top, “Surely you jest.” This also seems an appropriate answer to the question, “Who should we give an actual award to for the best batter among pitchers?” There is simply too small a sample size to pick a credible winner among batting pitchers. It is like giving an auxiliary Cy Young Award to the position player who pitched to save the bullpen on the wrong side of a blowout. Pitchers can earn Box-Toppers points for batting but it is relatively rare—it happened six times in 2019. However, one of those six times it was done by award-winner Greinke, when he was with the Diamondbacks. On April 2, in fact, he earned NL Batter of the Day honors. Greinke was traded to the AL Astros at the July 31 trade deadline, giving him less opportunity to bat. Despite not playing in the NL for the final one-third of the season, he still won the award, which seems like an admission for just how inconsequential and non-existent the award for this position should be.
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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
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In 2018: Seven (or eight) of 17 Silver Slugger Award winners also led their position in Box-Toppers points.
In 2017: Seven of 17 Silver Slugger Award winners also led their position in Box-Toppers points.
In 2016: Six of the 17 Silver Slugger winners were leaders at their position in Box-Toppers rankings.