Neither winner of the 2023 Cy Young Awards—Gerrit Cole of the Yankees nor Blake Snell of the Padres—led their league’s pitchers in Box-Toppers points in 2023.
Box-Toppers Cy Young Award ballot
Here is a look at Box-Toppers’ 2023 Cy Young ballot selections for the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) awards. The ballot requires votes out to five places for each leagues’ top pitcher.Players are shown with their team and their Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2023.
| AL Cy Young | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Chris Bassitt | Blue Jays | 20.1 |
| 2 | Kevin Gausman | Blue Jays | 18.7 |
| 3 | Gerrit Cole | Yankees | 17.0 |
| 4 | Luis Castillo | Mariners | 16.1 |
| 5 | Max Scherzer | Rangers | 15.4 |
| NL Cy Young | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Spencer Strider | Braves | 21.1 |
| 2 | Jesus Luzardo | Marlins | 17.8 |
| 3 | Freddy Peralta | Brewers | 17.7 |
| 4 | Zac Gallen | Diamondbacks | 16.7 |
| 5 | Zack Wheeler | Phillies | 14.7 |
Cole, the American League winner, ranked fourth among AL pitchers with 17.0 Box-Toppers points, behind AL leader Chris Bassitt of the Blue Jays (20.1). Snell, the National League winner, ranked sixth among NL pitchers with 14.7 Box-Toppers points, behind NL leader Spencer Strider of the Braves (21.1).
Bassitt finished 10th in AL Cy Young voting while Strider finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting.
A look at Box-Toppers’ Cy Young ballot.
A look at AL Cy Young voting and how candidates fared in Box-Toppers points.
A look at NL Cy Young voting and how candidates fared in Box-Toppers points.
The awards are voted on by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Votes are cast at the end of the regular season, before the start of the postseason, and were announced Wednesday.
AL Cy Young
Cole’s 17.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023 was seventh overall and fourth among AL pitchers. He was third place on Box-Toppers’ AL Cy Young ballot.
Box-Toppers choice for the award, Bassitt, led AL pitchers with 20.1 Box-Toppers points.
While Cole got off to a strong start in 2023 and even led all players in Box-Toppers points for two days early in the season (April 16 and April 22), he earned no Box-Toppers points in May and only earned 2.0 over June and July. During that three-month period, the Yankees were 9-7 in games he started and he only had Box-Toppers game scores above +3.0 in two games the Yankees won during that span, his only two Player of the Game honors during that period—June 20 and July 22.
After that three-month relatively sluggish period—which constitutes half the season—Cole earned 9.0 Box-Toppers points in August and September. That helped him to nearly catch up to the AL pitching leaders in Box-Toppers points, but left him short of the lead.
It also left him far short of even his best seasons. In fact, 17.0 Box-Toppers points is only his fifth-highest single season total. In previous seasons, Cole led AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points twice:
In 2019, he had 32.2 Box-Toppers points with the Astros, first overall and the fourth-highest single-season total since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
In 2021, he had 22.4 points with the Yankees, second overall.
However, in both of those seasons, Cole did not win AL Cy Young (2019 Cy Young results, 2021 Cy Young results.)
Cole and Bassitt both earned Player of the Game honors 13 times each in 2023. But Bassitt had the Box-Toppers points advantage because he earned overall Player of the Day honors five times (adding 1.0 bonus Box-Toppers point each time) and AL Player of the Day three times (adding 0.7 bonus points each time), while Cole earned overall Player of the Day honors four times (adding 1.0 bonus point each time).
Though Bassitt was Box-Toppers’ top-ranked AL pitcher in 2023 and one of only two players to reach 20 Box-Toppers points during the season, he finished a lowly 10th in AL Cy Young voting, picking up only one third-place vote and one fifth-place vote.
His Blue Jays teammate, Kevin Gausman, who ranked third in 2023 Box-Toppers points (18.7), finished third in AL Cy Young voting. Finishing second in voting was Twins pitcher Sonny Gray, who earned 10.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 20th among AL pitchers, third-lowest among the 12 AL pitchers who received votes.
Among the 12 who received votes for AL Cy Young, 11 earned 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points in 2023 and were among Box-Toppers’ top 26 AL pitchers. The exception: Red Sox reliever Chris Martin, who received one fifth-place vote and finished 12th in voting with one point, earned only 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2023,183rd among AL pitchers.
The AL pitcher with the most Box-Toppers points who did not receive AL Cy Young votes is Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, who earned 19.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023, second among AL pitchers. However, Ohtani earned half of his points (9.7) as a batter in 2023 and Box-Toppers didn’t include him on its ballot of the top five AL pitchers. His 9.7 points as a pitcher would rank 28th among AL pitchers.
The next-highest ranked AL pitcher to receive no Cy Young votes is Max Scherzer of the Rangers, whose 15.4 Box-Toppers points is sixth among AL pitchers. However, Scherzer earned 10.4 of his points with the NL Mets prior to being acquired by the Rangers at the August trade deadline.
So, who was the AL pitcher who played all season in the league and played exclusively as a pitcher who had the most Box-Toppers points to not receive any AL Cy Young votes? Logan Gilbert of the Mariners. He earned 13.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023, ninth among AL pitchers but received no AL Cy Young votes.
NL Cy Young
Snell earned 14.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 12th among all players and sixth among NL pitchers and 6.4 points behind NL pitching leader Strider (21.1).
While Snell led NL pitchers in earned run average in 2023 (2.25) and was second in strikeouts (234) behind Strider (281), he won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors nine times in 2023 compared to 17 for Strider. In other words, Strider was the key player most helpful to 17 Braves wins, nearly twice as many times (nine) as Snell was the key player in a Padres win.
Strider finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting, falling just short of the top three finalists, earning six second-place votes, nine third-place votes, five fourth-place votes and three fifth-place votes.
The Padres went only 17-15 in Snell’s 32 starts. In his first 11 starts, the Padres went 2-9. In six of those starts, he had a negative Box-Toppers game score. He did not win Player of the Game honors in any of those first 11 starts and did not win his first Player of the Game honor until June 5, failing to earn any Box-Toppers points for the first two months (fully one-third) of the season.
Snell earned 14.7 points in the final four months of the season, playing catchup, which is impressive, and puts him sixth among NL pitchers. While others see Snell as the runaway winner of the NL Cy Young, he doesn’t even appear on Box-Toppers ballot of the top five NL pitchers because he finished sixth in that category.
Strider on the other hand, earned Player of the Game more often and consistently in 2023, a total of 17 times, including three times in April, twice in May, three times in June, three times in July, four times in August and twice in September. He earned overall Player of the Day honors twice and earned NL Player of the Day honors three times.
Strider was also Box-Toppers’ choice for 2022 NL Rookie of the Year, but he didn’t win that either.
Snell received 28 of the 30 first-place votes for NL Cy Young. The other two receiving first-place votes finished second and third in voting:
Logan Webb of the Giants finished second in voting. His 12.4 Box-Toppers points was 11th among NL pitchers—second-fewest among the eight NL Cy Young vote recipients—and he was not among Box-Toppers’ five finalists for the award.
Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks finished third in voting. His 16.7 Box-Toppers points was fourth among NL pitchers. He was fourth place on Box-Toppers’ NL Cy Young ballot.
Box-Toppers’ second- and third- ranked NL pitchers received no NL Cy Young votes:
Jesus Luzardo of the Marlins, who ranked second among NL pitchers with 17.8 Box-Toppers points.
Freddy Peralta of the Brewers, who ranked third among NL pitchers with 17.7 Box-Toppers points.
All eight pitchers who received NL Cy Young votes are among the top 15 NL pitchers in 2023 Box-Toppers points. The lowest-ranked is Justin Steele of the Cubs, whose 11.1 Box-Toppers points in 2023 was 15th among NL pitchers. He finished fifth in NL Cy Young voting.
Cole, Snell win in IBWAA Cy Young voting
Box-Toppers votes in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) Cy Young Awards voting, which also picked Cole and Snell as top pitchers.
American League
1st Place: Gerrit Cole, Yankees—308 points
2nd Place: Sonny Gray, Twins—116 points
3rd Place: Kevin Gausman, Blue Jays—83 points
National League
1st Place: Blake Snell, Padres—265 points
2nd Place: Justin Steele, Cubs—155 points
3rd Place: Spencer Strider, Braves—121 points
Unlike in BBWAA voting, one of Box-Toppers’ two Cy Young choices was among the top three finishers for the award in IBWAA voting. Strider, Box-Toppers’ choice as NL Cy Young winner, finished third in the category in IBWAA voting. But Box-Toppers’ choice for AL Cy Young, Chris Bassitt of the Blue Jays, was not among the top three finishers in that category in either IBWAA or BBWAA voting.
IBWAA members include more than 800 baseball writers and content creators. Voting for full-season awards takes place prior to the start of the postseason each year, with selections announced in November.
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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Related
Box-Toppers’ Cy Young Awards: Bassitt over Cole in AL; Strider over Snell in NL
A look at Box-Toppers’ leaders for postseason awards, plus an award finalist overview
Box-Toppers 2023 player rankings leaders
Box-Toppers looks at previous year’s Cy Young voting: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015
American League Cy Young Award voting
Gerrit Cole of the Yankees was voted 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner as the league’s top pitcher. He ranked fourth among AL pitchers in 2023 Box-Toppers points (17.0), behind leader Chris Bassitt of the Blue Jays (20.1). Below are the AL pitchers in order of their voting finish, shown with their first- through fifth-place votes and their voting points total. Also shown are each player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2023 and their rank in points among AL pitchers.| AL pitcher | Team | Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Points | BTP | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gerrit Cole | Yankees | pi sp | 30 | 210 | 17.0 | 4 | ||||
| 2 | Sonny Gray | Twins | pi sp | 20 | 6 | 3 | 104 | 10.4 | 20 | ||
| 3 | Kevin Gausman | Blue Jays | pi sp | 7 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 82 | 18.7 | 3 | |
| 4 | Kyle Bradish | Orioles | pi sp | 6 | 8 | 5 | 39 | 14.0 | 7 | ||
| 5 | Luis Castillo | Mariners | pi sp | 2 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 16.1 | 5 | ||
| 6 | Zach Eflin | Rays | pi sp | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 12.0 | 15 | |
| 7 | Pablo López | Twins | pi sp | 5 | 1 | 11 | 13.4 | 10 | |||
| 8 | George Kirby | Mariners | pi sp | 1 | 6 | 8 | 13.7 | 8 | |||
| 9 | Framber Valdez | Astros | pi sp | 1 | 4 | 6 | 10.0 | 26 | |||
| 10 | Chris Bassitt | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 4 | 20.1 | 1 | |||
| 11 | Félix Bautista | Orioles | pi cp | 3 | 3 | 11.0 | 18 | ||||
| 12 | Chris Martin | Red Sox | pi cp | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 183 |
National League Cy Young Award voting
Blake Snell of the Padres was voted 2023 NL Cy Young Award winner as the league’s top pitcher. He ranked sixth among NL pitchers in 2023 Box-Toppers points (14.7), behind leader Spencer Strider of the Braves (21.1). Below are the NL pitchers in order of their voting finish, shown with their first- through fifth-place votes and their voting points total. Also shown are each player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2023 and their rank in points among NL pitchers.| NL pitcher | Team | Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Points | BTP | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blake Snell | Padres | pi sp | 28 | 2 | 204 | 14.7 | 6 | |||
| 2 | Logan Webb | Giants | pi sp | 1 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 86 | 12.4 | 11 |
| 3 | Zac Gallen | Diamondbacks | pi sp | 1 | 3 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 68 | 16.7 | 4 |
| 4 | Spencer Strider | Braves | pi sp | 6 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 64 | 21.1 | 1 | |
| 5 | Justin Steele | Cubs | pi sp | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 31 | 11.1 | 15 | |
| 6 | Zack Wheeler | Phillies | pi sp | 4 | 5 | 6 | 28 | 14.7 | 5 | ||
| 7 | Kodai Senga | Mets | pi sp | 3 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 12.7 | 10 | ||
| 8 | Corbin Burnes | Brewers | pi sp | 1 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 11.7 | 13 |