Mets pitcher Max Scherzer leads players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2017.
Box-Toppers points leaders for 2017-22
| OVERALL LEADERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | nym nl | 104.6 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 102.4 |
| 3 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 93.3 |
| 4 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 86.4 |
| 5 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 81.0 |
| 6 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 75.6 |
| 7 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | sd nl | 70.4 |
| 8 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 68.4 |
| 9 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | atl nl | 66.4 |
| 10 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | kc al | 66.4 |
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 102.4 |
| 2 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 93.3 |
| 3 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | kc al | 66.4 |
| 4 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | sea al | 65.5 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | tb al | 59.7 |
| 6 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | tor al | 58.9 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 58.2 |
| 8 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | chi al | 57.9 |
| 9 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 56.3 |
| 10 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp | ana al | 55.3 |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | cle al | 45.7 |
| 2 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf cf | nyy al | 43.4 |
| 3 | Martinez, J.D. 2922 | dh | bos al | 42.2 |
| 4 | Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | nyy al | 37.0 |
| 5 | Bogaerts, Xander 3383 | ss | bos al | 35.7 |
| 6 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | dh | nyy al | 34.2 |
| 7 | Bregman, Alex 3721 | 3b | hou al | 32.4 |
| 8 | Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 32.2 |
| 9 | Story, Trevor 3607 | 2b | bos al | 30.2 |
| 10 | Springer, George 3337 | cf rf | tor al | 29.4 |
| NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | nym nl | 104.6 |
| 2 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 86.4 |
| 3 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 81.0 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 75.6 |
| 5 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | sd nl | 70.4 |
| 6 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 68.4 |
| 7 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | atl nl | 66.4 |
| 8 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | nym nl | 63.3 |
| 9 | Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 57.9 |
| 10 | Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | lad nl | 57.3 |
| NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Betts, Mookie 3404 | rf | lad nl | 42.8 |
| 2 | Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | stl nl | 40.2 |
| 3 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | stl nl | 38.9 |
| 4 | Yelich, Christian 3334 | lf | mil nl | 38.7 |
| 5 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | lad nl | 37.2 |
| 6 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | dh | phi nl | 35.5 |
| 7 | Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224 | dh | dc nl | 34.7 |
| 8 | Realmuto, J.T. 3491 | ca | phi nl | 32.7 |
| 9 | Ozuna, Marcell 3190 | lf dh | atl nl | 30.7 |
| 10 | Grichuk, Randal 3474 | rf cf | col nl | 29.9 |
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Scherzer has 104.6 Box-Toppers points over the period 2017-2022, 2.2 points ahead of second-ranked player Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, who has 102.4 points over that span.
It is the fifth straight year Scherzer has led the six-year rolling Box-Toppers point total:
After 2021, he had 120.3 points over 2016-21, to lead all players over that six-year period.
After 2020, he had 116.2 points over 2015-20, to lead all player over that six-year period.
After 2019, he had 134.3 points over 2014-19, to lead all players over that six-year period.
After 2018, he had 137.0 points over 2013-2018, leading all players over that six-year period.
Scherzer maintains the six-year rolling points lead despite the fact that his 2016 point total is no longer included, a season in which he led all players with 25.7 points. Here is a look at each of Scherzer’s six seasons included in his 104.6-point total:
In 2017, he had 25.0 points, second overall and first among National League pitchers.
In 2018, he had 25.1 points, second overall and first among NL pitchers.
In 2019, he had 15.4 points, 15th overall and ninth among NL pitchers.
In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he had 4.0 points, 45th among all players and 18th among NL pitchers.
In 2021, he had 25.1 points, first among all players.
In 2022, he had 10.0 points, 52nd among all players and 24th among NL pitchers.
Scherzer was with the Nationals from 2017 to 2020, was with the Nationals and Dodgers in 2021 and with the Mets in 2022.
Scherzer’s 2.2-point lead over second-place Cole is the smallest Scherzer has had in the five seasons he has led the six-year rolling total. Previously, his narrowest lead was the first year he led the rolling total in 2018, when he held a 2.6-point lead over Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw in points over 2013-18 (137.0-134.4). That season, Scherzer unseated Kershaw from the six-year rolling points total, a spot Kershaw had held for five straight seasons, from 2013 to 2017, a streak Scherzer has now equaled.
Scherzer also leads NL pitchers over the past six years, 18.2 points ahead of second-place Jacob deGrom of the Mets, who earned 86.4 points over 2017-22. deGrom has signed with the AL Rangers for 2023.
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The players who make these top 10 charts over the period 2017-22 have demonstrated their long-term staying power. Weeded out are players who have single-season, flash-in-the-pan success and relative newcomers who haven’t yet proven their longevity. But it also rewards dominant players of the recent past whose success has waned lately.
AL pitchers
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole leads American League pitchers over the past six seasons with 102.4 Box-Toppers points over 2017-22. He ranks second among all players over that span, behind Scherzer.
This is the third season Cole has led AL pitchers in the six-year rolling total. After 2020, he had 90.1 points over 2015-20. After 2021, he had 93.5 points over 2016-21.
Cole leads second-place AL pitcher Justin Verlander of the Astros, who has 93.3 Box-Toppers points over 2017-22. Verlander ranks second over the six-year period despite earning only 1.0 total point over 2020 and 2021. He earned 1.0 point in 2020 before undergoing Tommy John surgery and sitting out the entire 2021 season. But Verlander has had three seasons in the past six years with more than 20 Box-Toppers points, including 2018 (24.1, second among AL pitchers), 2019 (27.5, second among AL pitchers) and 2022 (26.0, first among all players). Verlander has signed to play with the Mets in the National League for 2023.
Here is a look at how Cole ranked in each of the past six seasons:
2017—7.0 points with the Pirates, 101st overall, 33rd among NL pitchers.
2018—18.0 points with the Astros, eighth overall, sixth among AL pitchers.
2019—32.2 points with the Astros, first overall, fourth-highest single-season point total since tracking began in 1995.
2020—7.4 points with the Yankees, 12th overall, fifth among AL pitchers.
2021–22.4 points with the Yankees, second overall, first among AL pitchers.
2022—15.4 points with the Yankees, 17th overall, eighth among AL pitchers.
AL batters
Jose Ramirez of the Guardians leads AL batters over the past six seasons with 45.7 Box-Toppers points over 2017-22. He leads the second-place AL batter, Aaron Judge of the Yankees (43.4), by 2.3 points.
Last season, Ramirez ranked fifth among AL batters over 2016-21 with 35.5 Box-Toppers points.
Ramirez has been among the top 10 AL batters in season points three times in the past six years, including in 2021 (when he led AL batters with 13.0 points), 2022 (when he ranked second with 11.7) and 2017 (when he ranked fifth with 10.0).
Last year’s six-year rolling points leader, J.D. Martinez (who had 42.7 points over 2016-21), falls to third place among AL batters for 2017-22 with 42.2 points.
NL batters
Mookie Betts of the Dodgers leads NL batters over the past six seasons with 42.8 Box-Toppers points over 2017-22.
Betts leads second-ranked NL batter Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals (40.2) by 2.6 points. Arenado led the six-year rolling total for the past two seasons (43.4 over 2015-20 and 43.9 over 2016-21).
Here is a look at Betts’s past six seasons (he was with the AL Red Sox from 2017 to 2019 and with the NL Dodgers from 2020 to 2022):
2017—6.0, 29th among AL batters.
2018—10.9, second among AL batters.
2019—8.7, eighth among AL batters.
2020—2.5, 23rd among NL batters.
2021–3.0, 62nd among NL batters.
2022—11.7, second among NL batters.
Betts ranked third among NL batters last year in the six-year rolling total. He had 37.3 points from 2016-21.
Players are shown here with the teams they were on at the end of 2022. Only players active at the end of 2022 are listed.
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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