| Award | Winner | Team | BTP | Rank* | BTP leader | Team | BTP | Rank* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player of the Year | Shohei Ohtani | Angels | 16.1 | 12 | Max Scherzer | Dodgers | 25.1 | 1 |
| AL Outstanding Player | Shohei Ohtani | Angels | 16.1 | 3† | Jose Ramirez | Indians | 13.0 | 1 |
| NL Outstanding Player | Bryce Harper | Phillies | 5.5 | 28 | Nick Castellanos | Reds | 11.5 | 1 |
| AL Outstanding Pitcher | Robbie Ray | Blue Jays | 17.7 | 2 | Gerrit Cole | Yankees | 22.4 | 1 |
| NL Outstanding Pitcher | Max Scherzer | Dodgers | 25.1 | 1 | Max Scherzer | Dodgers | 25.1 | 1 |
| AL Outstanding Rookie | Ryan Mountcastle | Orioles | 3.0 | 11§ | Bobby Dalbec | Red Sox | 5.4 | 1 |
| NL Outstanding Rookie | Jonathan India | Reds | 3.7 | 2 | Trevor Rogers | Marlins | 9.0 | 1 |
| AL Comeback Player | Trey Mancini | Orioles | 2.5 | 163 | Carlos Rodon | White Sox | 11.7 | 6** |
| NL Comeback Player | Buster Posey | Giants | 6.5 | 41 | Alex Wood | Giants | 13.0 | 7** |
* Rank is shown based on the overall group the player is compared against. For example, Shohei Ohtani ranks 12th among all players, but ranks third among all AL players.
** For Comeback Player, ranks shown are among each league’s most improved players in Box‑Toppers point total from 2020 to 2021. Neither Rodon nor Wood rank first among their league’s most improved point totals, but in terms of suffering a setback, missing significant time and coming back, they each rank highest in their league.
† Ohtani ranks 3rd among AL pitchers, but 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).
§ Ranked outside Box‑Toppers’ top 10 AL rookies.
Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer is the only Box-Toppers points leader to win one of nine Players Choice Awards for 2021 as voted by the players’ union.
Scherzer, who led all players in 2021 Box-Toppers points with 25.1, was voted National League Outstanding Pitcher.
In the other eight relevant categories, a player lower in Box-Toppers player rankings won the award.
Player of the Year
Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani won the award, though he finished 12th overall in Box-Toppers points with 16.1, 9.0 points behind overall leader Scherzer (25.1) and 6.3 points behind top AL pitcher Gerrit Cole (22.4).
Ohtani ranked third among AL pitchers, behind Cole (22.4) and Robbie Ray of the Blue Jays (17.7).
But I think Ohtani won the award more for his unique two-way playing, serving as both a designated hitter and starting pitcher.
Ohtani played 155 games in 2021, serving as designated hitter in 126 and starting 23 games as a pitcher. He earned Player of the Game honors 12 times—nine times as a starting pitcher and three times as a designated hitter. Though he played in far more games as a designated hitter, he only earned 4.0 total Box-Toppers points from that position, while earning the other 12.1 as a starting pitcher.
And though he served primarily as a designated hitter, he did not qualify to be ranked among batters in Box-Toppers points since he earned the overwhelming majority of his Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors as a pitcher.
However, there was a period in 2021 in which Ohtani had more than 25 percent of his Player of the Game honors as a designated hitter. During that span, he was qualified to be ranked among batters. He took the lead among AL batters July 30 with 11.4 Box-Toppers points and held it through the weekly player rankings report of Sept. 2, when he had a fairly commanding lead. However, on Sept. 3, Ohtani earned Player of the Game honors as a pitcher for the ninth time of the season. In order for players to be listed at a certain position, they need to have more than 25 percent of their Player of the Game honors at that position. This was Ohtani’s 12th Player of the Game honor of the season, meaning only three such honors—exactly 25 percent—came as a designated hitter. And since such an overwhelming majority of his Player of the Game honors came as a pitcher, he was no longer listed even secondarily as a batter. This meant that Ohtani went from ranking first among AL batters to being removed from the rankings entirely because he no longer qualified.
Ironically, Ohtani earned Player of the Game honors four times for batting this season, but one of those honors on April 26 came while he was a starting pitcher. It is one of five times this season a pitcher earned Player of the Game honors for batting.
AL Outstanding Player
Ohtani won this award, which seems intended for the league’s top batter. Jose Ramirez of the Indians led AL batters with 13.0 Box-Toppers points, 21st among all players.
Again, while Ohtani did have more 2021 Box-Toppers points than Ramirez (16.1), he did not qualify to be ranked among AL batters because the overwhelming majority of his Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in 2021 (75%) came as a starting pitcher, with only 25% coming as a designated hitter.
Ohtani did rank third among all AL players in 2021 points.
NL Outstanding Player
Bryce Harper of the Phillies won the award, though Nick Castellanos of the Reds was Box-Toppers top NL batter. Harper had 5.5 Box-Toppers points in 2021, ranked 28th among NL batters. Castellanos had 11.5 points, ranked first.
AL Outstanding Pitcher
Robbie Ray of the Blue Jays won the award and was second among AL pitchers in 2021 Box-Toppers points with 17.7. He trailed overall AL pitching leader Gerrit Cole of the Yankees (22.4) by 4.7 points.
NL Outstanding Pitcher
Max Scherzer of the Dodgers won the award and was Box-Toppers’ top NL pitcher (and top overall player) with 25.1 Box-Toppers points. Scherzer was 4.0 points ahead of second-place NL pitcher Zack Wheeler of the Phillies, whose 21.1 points ranked third among all players.
AL Outstanding Rookie
Ryan Mountcastle of the Orioles won the award, though Bobby Dalbec of the Red Sox was Box-Toppers top AL rookie. Mountcastle had 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2021, which ranked outside the top 10 AL rookies in Box-Toppers points during the season.
Dalbec had 5.4 points, 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 ranked second on Box-Toppers’ Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) AL Rookie of the Year ballot. (Box-Toppers somewhat arbitrarily gives batters a benefit of the doubt in awards like these that directly compare batters and pitchers. Because pitchers often receive more Box-Toppers points, Box-Toppers requires batters to simply have more than half the point total of pitchers to whom they are being directly compared in order to rank higher.)
NL Outstanding Rookie
Jonathan India of the Reds won the award, though Marlins pitcher Trevor Rogers was Box-Toppers top NL rookie. India earned 3.7 Box-Toppers points and ranked second on Box-Toppers NL Rookie of the Year ballot. Rogers earned 9.0 points, first among NL rookies, and had more than double the points India earned.
AL Comeback Player
Trey Mancini of the Orioles won the award with his compelling story of returning to Major League Baseball after missing the 2020 season to be treated for colon cancer. In 2021, Mancini played in 147 games and was invited to participate in the All-Star Game Home Run Derby in July.
But Mancini earned only 2.5 Box-Toppers points in 2021 after earning none in 2020. His 2.5-point gain from 2020 to 2021 ranks a lowly 163rd among “most improved” AL players.
White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon is Box-Toppers candidate for AL Comeback Player of the Year. He earned 11.7 Box-Toppers points in 2021 (12th among AL pitchers) after earning no points in 2020, pitching in only four games in the pandemic-shortened season. His 11.7-point gain from 2020 to 2021 ranks sixth among all AL players and most among players who suffered a setback or missed significant playing time to return to the Major Leagues.
There are five AL players who had bigger point gains from 2020 to 2021, but none can necessarily be considered “comeback” players since they all played in 2020 and either had down seasons that year or remarkably good seasons in 2021:
1. Blue Jays pitcher Robbie Ray gained 16.7 points from 1.0 in 2020 to 17.7 in 2021. Ray pitched in 12 games in the pandemic-shortened season.
2. Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani gained 16.1 points from 0.0 in 2020 to 16.1 in 2021. Ohtani played in 44 of the Angels 60 games, mainly as a designated hitter.
3. Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole gained 15.0 points from 7.4 in 2020 to 22.4 in 2021.
4. White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease gained 14.4 points from 0.0 in 2020 to 14.4 in 2021. Cease started 12 games in 2020.
5. Athletics pitcher Sean Manaea gained 13.7 points from 2.0 in 2020 to 15.7 in 2021.
Rodon had two consecutive relatively down seasons. In 2019, he earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points in a full season, pitching only seven games. He had no points in 2020 in four games. He came back in 2021 to have his highest single-season Box-Toppers point total of his career (11.7) after his previous high of 8.1 in 2015.
NL Comeback Player
Buster Posey of the Giants won the award after coming back in 2021 after opting out of playing during the 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But Posey’s teammate, pitcher Alex Wood, is Box-Toppers candidate for NL Comeback Player.
Posey earned 6.5 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 20th among NL batters and second among NL catchers, behind J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies (7.2). But his 6.5-point gain (from 0.0 in 2020 to 6.5 in 2021) ranks only 41st among all NL players in 2021, 10th among all NL batters.
But Wood earned 13.0 Box-Toppers points in 2021 (14th among NL pitchers) after earning none in either 2019 or 2020. Wood achieved a significant return to prominence after earning 15.7 Box-Toppers points in 2017 with the Dodgers, eighth among NL pitchers. His 13.0-point gain from 2020 to 2021 ranks seventh among all NL players. There are six NL players who made bigger Box-Toppers point gains from 2020 to 2021, but none can really be considered “comeback” players:
1. Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer gained 21.1 Box-Toppers points from 4.0 in 2020 to 25.1 in 2021.
2. Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler gained 20.1 points from 1.0 in 2020 to 21.1 in 2021.
3. Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias gained 18.1 points from 1.0 in 2020 to 19.1 in 2021.
4. Giants pitcher Logan Webb gained 14.5 points from 1.0 in 2020 to 15.5 in 2021.
5. Rockies pitcher German Marquez gained 14.4 points from 3.0 in 2020 to 17.4 in 2021.
6. Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove gained 14.1 points from 2.0 in 2020 to 16.1 in 2021.
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The baseball union also awarded the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award to Marcus Semien of the Blue Jays, an honor given to a player whose leadership inspires others. Semien earned 6.2 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 19th among AL batters and fourth among AL second basemen.
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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