Indians pitcher Shane Bieber, who led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2020, also led all pitchers in strikeouts during the season.
Ten of the top 11 strikeouts leaders were also among the top 14 overall players in Box-Toppers points in 2020.
Strikeout leaders’ Box-Toppers points
Here is how 2020 strikeout (K) leaders fared in Box-Toppers points. Players are ranked by strikeouts. Also shown are their 2020 Box-Toppers points (BTP) and their rank in Box-Toppers points among all players.| Player | Team | K | BTP | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shane Bieber | Indians | 122 | 11.4 | 1 |
| 2 | Jacob deGrom | Mets | 104 | 8.7 | 6 |
| 3 | Trevor Bauer | Reds | 100 | 10.0 | 2 |
| 4 | Lucas Giolito | White Sox | 97 | 7.0 | 13 |
| 5 | Aaron Nola | Phillies | 96 | 7.7 | 10 |
| 6 | Gerrit Cole | Yankees | 94 | 7.4 | 12 |
| 7 | Dinelson Lamet | Padres | 93 | 9.0 | 5 |
| 7 | Yu Darvish | Cubs | 93 | 9.7 | 3 |
| 9 | Max Scherzer | Nationals | 92 | 4.0 | 45 |
| 10 | Tyler Glasnow | Rays | 91 | 8.0 | 8 |
| 10 | Brandon Woodruff | Brewers | 91 | 7.0 | 14 |
Bieber led all pitchers with 122 strikeouts and also had the most Box-Toppers points in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season with 11.4.
Ranking second in strikeouts was Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom with 104. He had 8.7 Box-Toppers points, sixth among all players and fourth among National League pitchers.
Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer ranked third in strikeouts with 100. He led NL players in Box-Toppers points with 10.0, second overall behind Bieber.
Seven of Box-Toppers’ overall top 10-ranked players for 2020 are among the 11 players with 91 or more strikeouts for the season. In addition to Bieber, deGrom and Bauer, here are the others in order of their Box-Toppers player ranking for 2020:
Yu Darvish of the Cubs, whose 93 strikeouts tied for seventh. He had 9.7 Box-Toppers points, third overall and second among NL pitchers.
Dinelson Lamet of the Padres, whose 93 strikeouts tied for seventh. He had 9.0 Box-Toppers points, fifth overall and third among NL pitchers.
Tyler Glasnow of the Rays, whose 91 strikeouts tied for 10th. He had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, eighth overall and fourth among American League pitchers.
Aaron Nola of the Phillies, whose 96 strikeouts ranked fifth. He had 7.7 Box-Toppers points, 10th overall and sixth among NL pitchers.
Three other strikeout leaders ranked just outside Box-Toppers’ overall top 10 players, but all three still ranked among their league’s top 10 pitchers:
Gerrit Cole of the Yankees had 94 strikeouts, ranked sixth. His 7.4 Box-Toppers points ranked 12th overall, fifth among AL pitchers.
Lucas Giolito of the White Sox had 97 strikeouts, ranked fourth. His 7.0 Box-Toppers points ranked 13th overall, sixth among AL pitchers.
Brandon Woodruff of the Brewers had 91 strikeouts, tied for 10th. His 7.0 Box-Toppers points ranked 14th overall, eighth among NL pitchers.
The only pitcher among the 11 strikeout leaders who ranked outside the overall top 14 in Box-Toppers points and who ranked outside his league’s top 10 pitchers is Max Scherzer of the Nationals. Scherzer had 92 strikeouts, ninth-most, but had just 4.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 45th overall and 18th among NL pitchers. Scherzer appeared in 12 games in 2020, the Nationals won seven of those games and Scherzer won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in four of those. Scherzer did reach double-digit strikeouts in five games in 2020, but his team lost two of those games, giving Player of the Game honors to a player on the opposing team.
By contrast, strikeout and Box-Toppers points leader Bieber had 10 or more strikeouts in eight games in 2020. The Indians won all eight of those games and Bieber earned Player of the Game honors in seven of them (the lone exception was Sept. 17, when teammate Jose Ramirez won Player of the Game honors.)
There were three pitchers who ranked in Box-Toppers’ overall top 10 who were not among the 11 top strikeout leaders:
Lance Lynn of the Rangers, who ranked fourth with 9.1 Box-Toppers points, had 89 strikeouts, tied for 12th-most.
Kenta Maeda of the Twins, who ranked seventh with 8.4 Box-Toppers points, had 80 strikeouts, 17th-most.
Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers, who ranked ninth with 7.7 Box-Toppers points, had 62 strikeouts, tied for 34th-most. Kershaw won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors six times starting in eight Dodgers wins (in 10 total starts) and though he only had 10 or more strikeouts once, he won Player of the Game honors frequently, in part, because he walked so few batters—never more than two in a game and only eight for the season.
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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