A look at players who made biggest gains in Box-Toppers points from 2019 to 2020—Brewers’ Corbin Burnes leads list

Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes had the biggest gain in Box-Toppers point totals from 2019 to 2020.

Burnes earned 7.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020 after earning no points in 2019. Burnes had earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points in his 2018 rookie season.

Most improved players

Here are the 25 players who had the biggest gains in Box-Toppers points (BTP) from 2019 to 2020, ranked by their rise in points this season. Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes had the biggest gain of 7.7 points, earning no points in 2019 and 7.7 in 2020. Athletics pitcher Jesus Luzardo had the biggest gain among rookie players, earning 4.7 Box-Toppers points in his first season. That 4.7-point gain is the fifth-biggest among all players.
 
Player Pos Team BTP Rise
1 Burnes, Corbin 4029 pi sp mil nl 7.7 +7.7
2 Walker, Taijuan 3453 pi sp tor al 6.0 +6.0
3 Lamet, Dinelson 3808 pi sp sd nl 9.0 +5.3
4 Tucker, Kyle 4277 lf hou al 5.0 +5.0
5 †Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp oak al 4.7 +4.7
6 Candelario, Jeimer 4025 1b 3b det al 4.0 +4.0
7 Rosenthal, Trevor 3124 pi cp sd nl 4.0 +4.0
8 Ruf, Darin 3575 lf dh sf nl 4.0 +4.0
9 Bard, Daniel 2657 pi cp mr col nl 4.0 +4.0
10 †Foster, Matt 4281 pi mr chi al 4.0 +4.0
10 †McKenzie, Triston 4303 pi sp cle al 4.0 +4.0
10 †Singer, Brady 4337 pi sp kc al 4.0 +4.0
13 †Akin, Keegan 4320 pi sp bal al 3.7 +3.7
14 Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 pi sp bos al 4.0 +3.0
15 Judge, Aaron 3767 rf nyy al 4.0 +3.0
16 Duvall, Adam 3573 lf dh rf ph atl nl 4.0 +3.0
17 Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss sd nl 3.0 +3.0
17 Richards, Garrett 3042 pi sp mr sd nl 3.0 +3.0
19 Wendle, Joey 3756 3b 2b ph tb al 3.0 +3.0
20 Mayers, Mike 3983 pi cp mr ana al 3.0 +3.0
21 Dolis, Rafael 3015 pi cp tor al 3.0 +3.0
22 †Dunning, Dane 4317 pi sp chi al 3.0 +3.0
22 †Lakins, Travis 4280 pi mr cp bal al 3.0 +3.0
22 †Sanchez, Sixto 4335 pi sp fla nl 3.0 +3.0
25 McCullers, Lance 3488 pi sp hou al 2.7 +2.7
What are those numbers after players' names?
BTP—Box-Toppers points
† Rookie status in 2020

Burnes’ 7.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020 ranked 11th among all players and seventh among National League pitchers.

Burnes earned 0.0 Box-Toppers points in 2019 despite making 32 appearances, including four starts. He appeared in 13 Brewers wins that season but did not earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in any of them.

By contrast, Burnes made 12 appearances in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, including making nine starts. He earned Player of the Game honors five times, including winning overall Player of the Day honors twice (on Aug. 28 and Sept. 9) and earning National League Player of the Day honors once (on Sept. 19.) Burnes earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point for each Player of the Game honor, a bonus 1.0 point for each Player of the Day honor and 0.7 bonus points for NL Player of the Day.

Because of the pandemic-shortened season, Burnes’ 7.7-point gain is the smallest to lead Box-Toppers’ biggest risers in any season since tracking began in 1995. Previously, the smallest point-gain to lead the risers list was in 1999 when Reds closing pitcher Scott Williamson led all risers with an 11.7-point gain—he earned 11.7 points in his 1999 rookie season. In 2019, a 7.7-point gain, equivalent to Burnes’ in 2020, would have ranked 19th among all risers from 2018 to 2019.

Blue Jays pitcher Taijuan Walker had the biggest gain among American League players. His gain of 6.0 points from 2019 to 2020 ranks second among all players. He earned 6.0 points in 2020 after earning no points in 2019. Walker, who also played for the Mariners in 2020, had not earned Box-Toppers points since 2017 when he was with the Diamondbacks.

Padres pitcher Dinelson Lamet had the biggest gain among players who also earned points in 2019. Lamet had a 5.3-point gain in 2020, third among all players. He earned 3.7 Box-Toppers points in 2019 and 9.0 in 2020.

Kyle Tucker of the Astros had the biggest gain among all batters. He had a 5.0-point gain in 2020, fourth among all players. He earned 5.0 points in 2020 after earning no points in his 2019 rookie season.

Athletics pitcher Jesus Luzardo had the biggest gain among rookie players, earning 4.7 Box-Toppers points. His 4.7-point gain was fifth among all players.

In addition to Luzardo, seven other players with rookie status were among the top 25 “most improved” players:

  • White Sox pitcher Matt Foster ranked tied for 10th with a 4.0-point gain to 4.0.

  • Indians pitcher Triston McKenzie ranked tied for 10th with a 4.0-point gain to 4.0.

  • Royals pitcher Brady Singer ranked tied for 10th with a 4.0-point gain to 4.0.

  • Orioles pitcher Keegan Akin ranked 13th with a 3.7-point gain to 3.7.

  • White Sox pitcher Dane Dunning ranked tied for 22nd with a 3.0-point gain to 3.0.

  • Orioles pitcher Travis Lakins ranked tied for 22nd with a 3.0-point gain to 3.0.

  • Marlins pitcher Sixto Sanchez ranked tied for 22nd with a 3.0-point gain to 3.0.

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Major League Baseball’s Comeback Player of the Year awards have some similarity to Box-Toppers’ Most Improved Players list.

The NL Comeback award went to Rockies pitcher Daniel Bard, whose 4.0-point improvement from 0.0 in 2019 to 4.0 in 2020 ranked ninth on Box-Toppers’ risers list. Until Bard earned Player of the Game honors on July 25, he had not earned a Box-Toppers point in more than nine years. Bard was out of the Major Leagues from 2013 to 2019. Bard earned 5.7 total Box-Toppers points from 2009 to 2011.

The AL Comeback award went to Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco, who played a full season in 2020 after being sidelined much of 2019 to battle leukemia. However, because the 2020 season was pandemic-shortened and because Carrasco performed well in 2019 prior to his cancer diagnosis, he actually had a decline in Box-Toppers points from 2019 to 2020. Carrasco earned 7.7 Box-Toppers points in 2019 and 5.0 points in 2020, a 2.7-point decline. In 2019, Carrasco earned 5.7 Box-Toppers points in starts through mid-May before being forced to stop for cancer treatment. He returned in September and earned 2.0 more points in relief appearances. In 2020, he earned Player of the Game honors four times in four starts, including winning overall Player of the Day honors on Sept. 20.

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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