Box-Toppers’ picks for postseason awards include Max Scherzer, Gerrit Cole, Jose Ramirez

Box-Toppers has cast votes for postseason honors for Gerrit Cole, Jose Ramirez and for Max Scherzer—twice.

Box-Toppers postseason honors ballot

Here is a look at the ballot selections Box-Toppers is making for the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) 2021 postseason awards. The ballot requires votes out to 10 places for Most Valuable Player in both leagues, five for Cy Young Awards in each league and three for each leagues' Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year and Reliever of the Year.

Players are shown with their team and their Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2021.

AL Most Valuable Player  
Player Team BTP
1 Jose Ramirez Indians 13.0
2 Gerrit Cole Yankees 22.4
3 J.D. Martinez Red Sox 10.7
4 Brandon Lowe Rays 10.5
5 Aaron Judge Yankees 9.0
6 Robbie Ray Blue Jays 17.7
7 Xander Bogaerts Red Sox 8.5
8 Shohei Ohtani Angels 16.1
9 Jose Abreu White Sox 8.0
10 Matt Olson Athletics 8.0
NL Most Valuable Player  
Player Team BTP
1 Max Scherzer Dodgers 25.1
2 Nick Castellanos Reds 11.5
3 Zack Wheeler Phillies 21.1
4 Fernando Tatis Jr. Padres 10.2
5 Joey Votto Reds 9.7
6 Julio Urias Dodgers 19.1
7 Corbin Burnes Brewers 18.1
8 Nolan Arenado Cardinals 9.0
9 Paul Goldschmidt Cardinals 9.0
10 German Marquez Rockies 17.4
AL Cy Young  
Player Team BTP
1 Gerrit Cole Yankees 22.4
2 Robbie Ray Blue Jays 17.7
3 Shohei Ohtani Angels 16.1
4 Sean Manaea Athletics 15.7
5 Dylan Cease White Sox 14.4
NL Cy Young  
Player Team BTP
1 Max Scherzer Dodgers 25.1
2 Zack Wheeler Phillies 21.1
3 Julio Urias Dodgers 19.1
4 Corbin Burnes Brewers 18.1
5 German Marquez Rockies 17.4
AL Rookie of the Year  
Player Team BTP
1 Bobby Dalbec Red Sox 5.4
2 Alek Manoah Blue Jays 10.7
3 Triston McKenzie Indians 10.4
NL Rookie of the Year  
Player Team BTP
1 Trevor Rogers Marlins 9.0
2 Jonathan India Reds 3.7
3 Bryan De La Cruz Marlins 3.5
AL Manager of the Year  
Player Team Team BTP
1 Tony La Russa White Sox 124.9
2 Aaron Boone Yankees 119.8
3 Kevin Cash Rays 116.4
NL Manager of the Year  
Player Team Team BTP
1 Dave Roberts Dodgers 146.7
2 Gabe Kapler Giants 124.6
3 Craig Counsell Brewers 122.8
AL Reliever of the Year  
Player Team BTP
1 Liam Hendriks White Sox 7.0
2 Craig Kimbrel White Sox 6.7
3 Jose Suarez Angels 6.4
NL Reliever of the Year  
Player Team BTP
1 Ian Kennedy Phillies 8.7
2 Alex Reyes Cardinals 6.7
3 Kenley Jansen Dodgers 6.0
Box-Toppers gives batters a generous, if somewhat arbitrary, benefit of the doubt in these rankings. In cases where batters are directly compared to pitchers, Box-Toppers ranks batters as if their season Box-Toppers point total were doubled. For example, in rankings for AL MVP, Jose Rarmiez ranks first with 13.0 points even though several pitchers have more points (most notably, Gerrit Cole of the Yankees, ranked second in AL MVP voting with 22.4). Though Ramirez has fewer points than Cole, Box-Toppers arbitrarily doubles batters point totals in figuring these rankings, which would give Rarmirez 26.0 points, beating Cole’s 22.4. While MVP is traditionally a batter's award, it has been awarded to pitchers either when they have a dominant season, no batters particularly rise to the occasion—or both.

I have cast my vote in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) for Dodgers pitcher Scherzer to be both National League Cy Young Award winner and NL Most Valuable Player.

In addition to picking Scherzer for both major NL postseason honors, Box-Toppers is selecting:

American League Cy Young Award—Gerrit Cole of the Yankees.

American League Most Valuable Player—Jose Ramirez of the Indians.

American League Rookie of the Year—Bobby Dalbec of the Red Sox.

National League Rookie of the Year—Trevor Rogers of the Marlins.

American League Manager of the Year—Tony La Russa of the White Sox.

National League Manager of the Year—Dave Roberts of the Dodgers.

American League Reliever of the Year—Liam Hendriks of the White Sox.

National League Reliever of the Year—Ian Kennedy of the Phillies.

Votes were cast at the close of the regular season, prior to the start of postseason play.

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Scherzer is my choice for NL Cy Young because he led NL pitchers (and all players) in Box-Toppers points in 2021 with 25.1, ahead of second-place Zack Wheeler of the Phillies (21.1).

I pick Scherzer for NL MVP because he had more than twice as many 2021 Box-Toppers points as the top NL batter Nick Castellanos of the Reds (11.5). 

Batters in recent years have earned a far lower share of Box-Toppers points compared to pitchers. Prior to 2010, batters earned half or more of all points awarded, but since then, pitchers have dominated earning upwards of 60 percent of all points awarded. That continued in 2021—pitchers won 60.8 percent of all 2,888.4 Box-Toppers points awarded, while batters won 39.2 percent.

This has resulted in top batters in the league often having fewer than half of the Box-Toppers points as the league’s top pitchers. This happened eight times in 14 chances from 2014-2020 after happening only twice in 38 chances from 1995-2013. With Castellanos having fewer than half the points of Scherzer, it’s happening again in 2021. 

Pitchers are eligible to win MVP awards and two have done so in the past 10 years—in 2011, Justin Verlander of the Tigers won AL MVP and in 2014, Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers won NL MVP.

Here is a look at other Box-Toppers award selections:

American League Most Valuable Player

Jose Ramirez, Indians

Ramirez led AL batters with 13.0 Box-Toppers points, 21st among all players, ahead of second-place J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox (10.7 points). However, I place Martinez in third place in AL MVP voting behind top AL pitcher Gerrit Cole of the Yankees, because Cole had more than twice as many points as Ramirez. 

While Shohei Ohtani of the Angels had more Box-Toppers points in 2021 (16.1), he did not qualify to be ranked among batters since he earned the overwhelming majority of his Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors as a pitcher (nine of 12, the other three coming as a designated hitter). Ohtani earned 4.0 of his Box-Toppers points as a designated hitter and 12.1 as a starting pitcher. However, on April 26, when he served as a starting pitcher, he earned AL Player of the Day honors (1.7 points) for batting.

Despite not qualifying to be ranked among batters, Box-Toppers does put Ohtani in eighth place on the AL MVP ballot for his performance as a pitcher. He is one of three pitchers on the AL MVP ballot, along with Cole and Robbie Ray of the Blue Jays (17.7 Box-Toppers points), in sixth place on the ballot.

American League Cy Young Award

Gerrit Cole, Yankees

Cole had a substantial lead (4.7 points) among AL pitchers with 22.4 Box-Toppers points, second overall behind Scherzer. Second-place AL pitcher Robbie Ray of the Blue Jays earned 17.7 points.

Cole slumped late in the season, last earning Player of the Game honors Sept. 1 and some voters place more importance on late-season performance, which makes little sense since wins early in the season count the same as late wins. Cole earned Player of the Game honors four times in April, twice in May, twice in June, twice in July, three times in August and once in September on Sept. 1. Cole led AL pitchers in Box-Toppers weekly rankings reports from June 17 onward.

Rookies of the Year

AL—Bobby Dalbec, Red Sox

NL—Trevor Rogers, Marlins

First baseman Bobby Dalbec earned 5.4 Box-Toppers points in 2021, most among AL rookie batters. He also had more than half the Box-Toppers points of top AL rookie pitcher Alek Manoah of the Blue Jays (10.7), who ranks second on Box-Toppers’ AL rookie ballot.

Starting pitcher Trevor Rogers earned 9.0 Box-Toppers points in 2021, leading all NL rookies. Second baseman Jonathan India of the Reds, who ranks second on Box-Toppers’ NL rookie ballot, had 3.7 Box-Toppers points, fewer than half the points Rogers earned.

Though IBWAA voters were required to give only their top three choices for Rookie of the Year, Box-Toppers made a list of the top 10 in each league. Here are Box-Toppers’ fourth- through 10th-ranked AL rookies for 2021:

Here are Box-Toppers’ fourth- through 10th-ranked NL rookies for 2021:

Managers of the Year

AL—Tony La Russa, White Sox

NL—Dave Roberts, Dodgers

Our criteria for this award is straightforward. Which teams had the most Box-Toppers points. The Dodgers led all teams with 146.7 accumulated Box-Toppers points, so Roberts is first on Box-Toppers’ NL managers ballot. The White Sox led AL teams with 124.9 Box-Toppers points, second overall, and so La Russa is first on Box-Toppers’ AL managers ballot.

Relievers of the Year

AL—Liam Hendriks, White Sox

NL—Ian Kennedy, Phillies

Kennedy, the former starting pitcher, led all closers in 2021 with 8.7 Box-Toppers points.

Hendriks led AL closers for the second straight year. He led in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season with 4.0 points with the Athletics.

An admittedly odd vote for second place among AL closers—Box-Toppers has Craig Kimbrel of the White Sox in that spot with 6.7 points. While he was technically second place in points among closing pitchers who finished the season with an AL team, he actually earned all of his points in the NL with the Cubs prior to being traded at midseason to the White Sox. While he was still a reliever, he was primarily used as a middle relief pitcher and did not earn any Box-Toppers points while with the White Sox. So yes, we are voting him in second place for an AL award when he earned all of his points early in the season as an NL pitcher. But there’s a lot of crossover these days with interleague play blurring the distinctions between the leagues and early season performance should not be discounted, though it frequently is.

Though IBWAA voters were required to give only their top three choices for Reliever of the Year, Box-Toppers made a list of the top five in each league. Here are Box-Toppers’ fourth- and fifth-ranked AL relievers for 2021:

Here are Box-Toppers’ fourth- and fifth-ranked NL relievers for 2021:

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These are only Box-Toppers’ choices for awards. The collective IBWAA voting results will be announced in November, around the time the “official” Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) awards are revealed.

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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