| Silver Slugger winners | Box-Toppers points leaders | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL winners | Team | BTP | Rank* | AL leaders | Team | BTP | Rank* | ||
| 1B | Jose Abreu | White Sox | 4.5 | 2 | Luke Voit | Yankees | 6.0 | 1 | |
| 2B | DJ LeMahieu | Yankees | 3.5 | 2 | Cavan Biggio | Blue Jays | 3.5 | 1 | |
| SS | Tim Anderson | White Sox | 4.5 | 1 | Tim Anderson | White Sox | 4.5 | 1 | |
| 3B | Jose Ramirez | Indians | 3.5 | 3 | Josh Donaldson | Twins | 4.0 | 1 | |
| CA | Salvador Perez | Royals | 0.0 | 22 | Danny Jansen | Blue Jays | 2.5 | 1 | |
| OF | Eloy Jimenez | White Sox | 5.5 | 1 | Eloy Jimenez | White Sox | 5.5 | 1 | |
| OF | Mike Trout | Angels | 4.5 | 4 | Max Kepler | Twins | 5.0 | 2 | |
| OF | Teoscar Hernandez | Blue Jays | 1.5 | 23 | Kyle Tucker | Astros | 5.0 | 3 | |
| DH | Nelson Cruz | Twins | 3.0 | 3 | Franmil Reyes | Indians | 3.5 | 1 | |
| NL winners | Team | BTP | Rank* | NL leaders | Team | BTP | Rank* | ||
| 1B | Freddie Freeman | Braves | 3.5 | 3 | Brandon Belt | Giants | 3.7 | 2** | |
| 2B | Donovan Solano | Giants | 2.0 | 7 | Asdrubal Cabrera | Nationals | 4.5 | 1 | |
| SS | Fernando Tatis Jr. | Padres | 3.0 | 5 | Didi Gregorius | Phillies | 3.5 | 1 | |
| 3B | Manny Machado | Padres | 3.0 | 3 | J.D. Davis | Mets | 3.5 | 2** | |
| CA | Travis d’Arnaud | Braves | 1.5 | 5 | J.T. Realmuto | Phillies | 3.5 | 1 | |
| OF | Mookie Betts | Dodgers | 2.5 | 11 | Marcell Ozuna | Braves | 4.5 | 1 | |
| OF | Juan Soto | Nationals | 2.0 | 18 | Trent Grisham | Padres | 4.5 | 2 | |
| OF | Ronald Acuna | Braves | 1.5 | 33 | Adam Duvall | Braves | 4.0 | 3 | |
| DH | Marcell Ozuna | Braves | 4.5 | 1 | Darin Ruf | Giants | 4.0 | 4** | |
Rank*: Shows the players rank among all players in his league at that position. For example, Jose Abreu ranks second among AL first basemen in Box-Toppers points; Luke Voit ranks first.
** These players did not rank first at their positions because another player who played two or more positions ranked ahead at this position:
• Brandon Belt of the Giants ranked second among NL first basemen (3.7 Box-Toppers points), behind Asdrubal Cabrera of the Nationals (4.5 points), who also led NL second basemen.
• J.D. Davis of the Mets ranked second among NL third basemen (3.5), also behind Cabrera (4.5), who also led NL third basemen.
• Darin Ruf of the Giants ranked fourth among NL designated hitters (4.0), behind Marcell Ozuna of the Braves (4.5), who also led NL outfielders, Cabrera (4.5), who also led NL second basemen and Adam Duvall of the Braves (4.0), who also ranked third among NL outfielders.
Only 3 of 18 Silver Slugger Award winners also led their position in Box-Toppers points
Only three of the 18 batters winning Silver Slugger Awards this week also were among the leaders at their positions in 2020 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 three Silver Slugger award winners who also would have been among Box-Toppers’ Silver Slugger recipients:
Tim Anderson of the White Sox led American League shortstops with 4.5 Box-Toppers points.
Eloy Jimenez of the White Sox led AL outfielders with 5.5 points.
Marcell Ozuna of the Braves led National League outfielders with 4.5 points. (Ozuna actually won the award at NL designated hitter, a Box-Toppers point category he also led.)
Here is a position-by-position look at the Silver Slugger winners compared to Box-Toppers leaders:
AL first base: Box-Toppers grade: B
Award-winner Jose Abreu of the White Sox had 4.5 Box-Toppers points and ranked second among AL first basemen. The Box-Toppers points leader at the position was Luke Voit of the Yankees with 6.0 Box-Toppers points, most among all AL batters and 22nd among all players.
AL second base: Box-Toppers grade: B
Award-winner DJ LeMahieu of the Yankees finished second among players at the position with 3.5 Box-Toppers points. However, LeMahieu only ranked second at the position on a tiebreaker, behind leader Cavan Biggio of the Blue Jays, who also had 3.5 Box-Toppers points. Biggio ranks ahead because he had more 2019 Box-Toppers points—6.2 vs. 3.5.
AL shortstop: Box-Toppers grade: A
Award-winner Tim Anderson of the White Sox also led AL shortstops with 4.5 Box-Toppers points.
AL third base: Box-Toppers grade: B
Award-winner Jose Ramirez of the Indians finished second among players at the position with 3.5 Box-Toppers points. The Box-Toppers points leader at the position was Josh Donaldson of the Twins with 4.0 Box-Toppers points, just 0.5 points ahead of Ramirez.
AL catcher: Box-Toppers grade: D
Award-winner Salvador Perez of the Royals earned no Box-Toppers points in 2020. In fact, he has earned no points since 2018 after sitting out 2019 with injuries. While he played 37 games in 2020, hitting 11 homers, 32 RBIs and batting .333, he did not earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in any of the Royals’ 26 wins. There were 13 AL catchers who earned Box-Toppers points in 2020. There were another eight AL catchers who did not earn points in 2020 but who did in 2019. Because Perez has not earned points since 2018, he ranks behind all of them, in 22nd place among AL catchers in 2020 Box-Toppers season player rankings.
The Box-Toppers points leader at the position is Danny Jansen of the Blue Jays, who had 2.5 Box-Toppers points. Jansen hit six homers, batted in 20 and had a batting average of only .183. But he did earn Player of the Game honors twice in 2020, the most of any AL catcher.
AL outfield: Box-Toppers grade: B-
Actually, that’s one A, one B and one D grade here. The A: Box-Toppers’ top-ranked AL outfielder Eloy Jimenez of the White Sox (5.5 Box-Toppers points) also won a Silver Slugger award. The B: Award-winner Mike Trout of the Angels ranked just outside the top three AL outfielders in Box-Toppers points—in fourth with 4.5. And the D: Award-winner Teoscar Hernandez of the Blue Jays ranked far outside to top three AL outfielders in Box-Toppers points—in 23rd with 1.5. After Jimenez, the next two top-ranked AL outfielders in 2020 Box-Toppers points are Max Kepler of the Twins (5.0) and Kyle Tucker of the Astros (5.0).
AL designated hitter: Box-Toppers grade: B
Award-winner Nelson Cruz of the Twins ranked third among AL designated hitters with 3.0 Box-Toppers points, just 0.5 points behind the leader Franmil Reyes of the Indians (3.5).
NL first base: Box-Toppers grade: B
Award-winner Freddie Freeman of the Braves ranked third among NL first basemen with 3.5 Box-Toppers points, just 0.2 points behind Brandon Belt of the Giants (3.7). Box-Toppers would give the award to Belt, though he ranked second among NL first basemen, because the points leader at the position, Asdrubal Cabrera of the Nationals (4.5 points), also led NL second basemen.
NL second base: Box-Toppers grade: C
Award-winner Donovan Solano of the Giants ranked seventh at the position with 2.0 Box-Toppers points. Asdrubal Cabrera of the Nationals led the position with 4.5 Box-Toppers points.
NL shortstop: Box-Toppers grade: B
Award-winner Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres ranked fifth at the position with 3.0 Box-Toppers points, just 0.5 points behind the leader, Didi Gregorius of the Phillies (3.5).
NL third base: Box-Toppers grade: B
Award-winner Manny Machado of the Padres ranked third at the position with 3.0 Box-Toppers points, just 0.5 points behind J.D. Davis of the Mets (3.5). Box-Toppers would give the award to Davis, though he ranked second among NL third basemen, because the points leader at the position, Asdrubal Cabrera of the Nationals (4.5 points), also led NL second basemen.
NL catcher: Box-Toppers grade: C
Award-winner Travis d’Arnaud of the Braves ranked fifth at the position with 1.5 Box-Toppers points. J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies led NL catchers in Box-Toppers points with 3.5.
NL outfield: Box-Toppers grade C-
None of the three outfielders selected for Silver Slugger awards ranked in the top 10 among NL outfielders. Mookie Betts of the Dodgers had 2.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked 11th; Juan Soto of the Nationals had 2.0, ranked 18th and Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves had 1.5, ranked 33rd. Box-Toppers’ top three-ranked NL outfielders are Marcell Ozuna of the Braves (4.5 points), Trent Grisham of the Padres (4.5) and Adam Duvall of the Braves (3.0).
NL designated hitter: Box-Toppers grade: A
Award-winner Marcell Ozuna of the Braves led NL designated hitters with 4.5 Box-Toppers points, most among NL batters. Box-Toppers actually gave Ozuna the award for NL outfielders, since he also played there in 2020. We gave the NL designated hitter award to the highest ranked player at that position who did not rank among the leaders at other positions. That was Darin Ruf of the Giants with 4.0 Box-Toppers points, fourth among players at the position. This is the first year a Silver Slugger award was given to an NL designated hitter. In previous years, Silver Slugger awards were given to NL pitchers, but no pitchers batted during the pandemic-shortened season with the designated hitter rule put in place during the season in the NL.
Giving an award to a pitcher for batter with such a small sample size of available statistics was an exercise in futility.
Small sample size also affected statistics across the board in this pandemic-shortened season. With only 60 games played rather than 162, there was not an opportunity for a single player to rise above the pack.
Normally, in seasons with larger sample sizes, Box-Toppers points leaders correlate better to Silver Slugger winners. Last year, in 2019, there were 10 instances in which Silver Slugger voter and Box-Toppers rankings agreed on choices for the award. 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). The smaller sample size in 2020 contributed to the huge decrease, with only three Box-Toppers points leaders winning Silver Slugger awards.
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.
Related
In 2019: 10 of the 17 Silver Slugger Award winners also led their position in Box-Toppers points
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.