How did baseball’s statistical leaders do in Box-Toppers points in 2018?

Stat leaders’ Box-Toppers points
Here are leaders in seven key statistical categories for the 2018 baseball season and how they fared in Box-Toppers points (BTP). Rank shows each player’s standing among all players in Box-Toppers points.




  
    Batting average
  

    Leader
    Team
    Avg.
    BTP
    Rank
  

    Mookie Betts
    Red Sox
    .346
    10.9
    38
  

    Home runs
  

    Leader
    Team
    HR
    BTP
    Rank
  

    Khris Davis
    Athletics
    48
    4.5
    223
  

    Runs batted in
  

    Leader
    Team
    RBI
    BTP
    Rank
  

    J.D. Martinez
    Red Sox
    130
    12.5
    28
  

    Earned run average
  

    Leader
    Team
    ERA
    BTP
    Rank
  

    Jacob deGrom
    Mets
    1.70
    16.8
    12
  

    Wins
  

    Leader
    Team
    W
    BTP
    Rank
  

    Blake Snell
    Rays
    21
    27.2
    1
  

    Strikeouts
  

    Leader
    Team
    K
    BTP
    Rank
  

    Max Scherzer
    Nationals
    300
    25.1
    2
  

    Wins above replacement
  

    Leader
    Team
    WAR
    BTP
    Rank
  

    Mookie Betts
    Red Sox
    10.9
    10.9
    38
  
BTP: Box-Toppers points

The leaders of six of the seven key statistics were among Box-Toppers’ overall top 100 players for 2018. However, Khris Davis of the Athletics who led in home runs (48) ranked 223rd among all players with 4.5 Box-Toppers points, 47th among American League batters.

Box-Toppers’ overall top-ranked player Blake Snell of the Rays (27.2 Box-Toppers points) led all players in wins (21). Snell tied for 11th in strikeouts (221), ranked second in earned run average (1.89) and ranked fifth among pitchers in wins above replacement (WAR) (7.4), outside the overall top 10.

Box-Toppers’ top-ranked National League player Max Scherzer of the Nationals (25.1 Box-Toppers points, second place overall), ranked sixth in earned run average (2.53), tied for fourth in wins (18), first in strikeouts (300) and fifth in WAR (9.5).

Box-Toppers’ top-ranked AL batter J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox (12.5 Box-Toppers points, 28th place overall), ranked second in home runs (43), second in batting average (.330) and first in runs batted in (RBI) (130). His WAR of 6.4 ranked outside the overall top 10, but ranked ninth among all batters.

Box-Toppers’ top-ranked NL batter Christian Yelich of the Brewers (11.5 Box-Toppers points, 35th place overall), ranked tied for fourth in runs batted in (RBI) (110), tied for 12th in home runs (36), third in batting average (.326) and 10th in WAR (7.6).

Here is a look at the leaders in each statistical category:

Batting average

The batters with the top three Box-Toppers point totals in 2018 were also the batters with the three highest batting averages.

Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox and Christian Yelich of the Brewers had both the three highest batting averages in 2018 and the three highest Box-Toppers point totals among batters in 2018.

It is a little unusual for batting average leaders to be among Box-Toppers point leaders for batters. Usually, power hitters—who are among the season leaders in home runs and runs batted in— dominate the Box-Toppers batting leaderboards.

More details on batting average leaders, including how the top 10 fared in Box-Toppers points.

Home runs

Khris Davis of the Athletics led all players in home runs in 2018 but ranked relatively low in Box-Toppers player rankings—just 47th among American League batters.

Meanwhile, J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox, who led all batters in Box-Toppers points in 2018 with 12.5, ranked second in home runs (43). And just three of the top 10 home run hitters in 2018 are among the top 100 ranked players in Box-Toppers points for the season.

Davis led all players with 48 home runs, but had just 4.5 Box-Toppers points, which ranks 223rd among all players. Normally, the top home run hitter is among the top batters in Box-Toppers points and has been at least among the overall top 100 players in each of the past four seasons. Home runs generally help a player earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors more frequently and rack up more Box-Toppers points, but it wasn’t the case this year. Davis, in fact, has the second-fewest Box-Toppers points of any of the top 10 home run hitters. Only Nelson Cruz of the Mariners (37 home runs, tied for ninth place) has fewer (2.5 Box-Toppers points, 374th among all players).

More details on home run leaders, including how the top 10 fared in Box-Toppers points.

Runs batted in

Three of the top 10 runs batted in leaders are among their league’s top 10 batters in Box-Toppers points in 2018.

Two of those three led their leagues in Box-Toppers points in 2018—J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox led batters in Box-Toppers points (12.5) and RBIs (130), Christian Yelich of the Brewers led NL batters in Box-Toppers points (11.5) and ranked tied for fourth among all batters in RBIs (110). Javier Baez of the Cubs ranked third among NL batters in Box-Toppers points (10.0) and third among all batters in RBIs with 111, most among all NL batters.

More details on runs batted in leaders, including how the top 10 fared in Box-Toppers points.

Earned run average

Jacob deGrom of the Mets had the lowest earned run average of any pitcher in 2018 and ranked 12th in Box-Toppers player rankings.

The overall Box-Toppers points leader, Blake Snell of the Rays (25.5), ranked second in ERA (1.89).

Five of the top 10 ERA leaders finished in the top 10 in Box-Toppers points in 2018.

More details on earned run average leaders, including how the top 10 fared in Box-Toppers points.

Wins

Blake Snell of the Rays, who led all pitchers in wins in 2018 with 21, also led all players in Box-Toppers points during the season with 27.2.

Six of the overall top 11 players in Box-Toppers points in 2018 are also among the top 11 pitchers in wins for the season. Plus, all 11 pitchers leading in wins are among the overall top 40 players in Box-Toppers points for the season.

More details on wins leaders, including how the top 10 fared in Box-Toppers points.

Strikeouts

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who led National League players in Box-Toppers points in 2018, led all pitchers in strikeouts in 2018.

In fact, seven of the overall top 10-ranked players in 2018 Box-Toppers points are among the top 10 season strikeout leaders. And all 10 strikeout leaders rank among the top 17 players in 2018 Box-Toppers points.

Interestingly, Box-Toppers top-ranked player for 2018, Rays pitcher Blake Snell, is not among the top 10 season strikeout leaders. Snell, who led players with 27.2 Box-Toppers points, ranked just outside the top 10, tied for 11th place with 221 strikeouts, just one behind 10th place Corey Kluber of the Indians (222).

Scherzer led with 300 strikeouts in 2018. He had 25.1 Box-Toppers points, first among National League players and second among all players, just behind Snell.

More details on strikeout leaders, including how the top 10 fared in Box-Toppers points.

Wins above replacement

Eight of the 10 leaders in wins above replacement (WAR) for 2018 are among the top 100 players in Box-Toppers points for the season.

But only three players in the top 10 in WAR are among the top 15 in 2018 Box-Toppers points, while two rank far outside the top 100 in Box-Toppers points.

Mookie Betts of the Red Sox led all players in 2018 with a WAR of 10.9. Coincidentally, Betts had 10.9 Box-Toppers points in 2018, the exact same as his WAR number, though both are figured differently. While Betts’ 10.9 WAR led all players his 10.9 Box-Toppers points ranked 38th among all players, second among American League batters, behind teammate J.D. Martinez with 12.5 points. (Martinez had a WAR of 6.4 in 2018.)

American League pitchers occupied eight of the top 10 spots in Box-Toppers’ 2018 season player rankings. But there were no AL pitchers among the top 10 in baseball’s Wins Above Replacement statistic.

While AL pitchers fueled their teams to dominant records in 2018, WAR does not reflect—and some could argue, seriously disregards—the significant contributions of AL pitchers.

More details on wins above replacement leaders, including how the top 10 fared in Box-Toppers points.

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