Can Shohei Ohtani continue his lofty, Angelic Box-Toppers rankings with Dodgers?

Shohei Ohtani won Box-Toppers Player of the Game in both games of a doubleheader on July 27, 2023, in the first game as a pitcher (with a complete game, one-hit shutout) and in the second game as a batter (hitting two homers).

Shohei Ohtani: Breakdown of Box-Toppers points by season

There are a variety of ways to analyze Shohei Ohtani’s season‑by‑season Box‑Toppers point totals in his six seasons with the Angels. Here is a look at the Box‑Toppers points he earned each season as a batter, as a pitcher and in total. For a detailed explanation of the chart, see the bullet points below:

B‑T pts
batter		 Rank AL
batters		 B‑T pts
pitcher		 Rank AL
pitchers		 B‑T pts
total		 Rank AL
players		 Rank AL
batters		 Rank AL
pitchers		 Adjusted
B‑T pts		 Rank AL
players
2018 4.0 60 4.0 67 8.0 36 6 31 12.0 38
2019 6.5 21 0.0 200 6.5 60 21 ‑* 13.0 31
2020 0.0 122 0.0 223 0.0 259 122 ‑* 0.0 259
2021 4.0 54 12.1 11 16.1 3 ‑* 3 20.1 5
2022 5.0 26 19.7 3 24.7 2 ‑* 2 29.7 1
2023 9.7 3 9.7 28 19.4 2 1 2 29.1 1
⬛️ At left “B‑T pts batter” are the points he earned each season as a batter, followed by “Rank AL batters,” indicating where he would have ranked among AL batters considering only his batting points and excluding any points earned as a pitcher.
⬛️ The next two columns, “B‑T pts pitcher” and “Rank AL pitchers” show the points he earned each season only as a pitcher and where he would have ranked if only his pitching points were considered, excluding any points earned as a batter. (NOTE: In 2021, Ohtani earned 1.7 of his Box‑Toppers points as a pitcher but earned the points for his performance as a batter. Those points are included in his pitching numbers.)
⬛️ The next four columns reflect his combined batting and pitching Box‑Toppers point totals each season. “B‑T pts total” shows his total combined points. “Rank AL players” shows where that total ranked among all AL players. “Rank AL batters” shows where that combined total put him among AL batters. “Rank AL pitchers” shows where that combined total put him among AL pitchers.
⬛️ The final two right columns—“Adjusted B‑T pts” and “Rank AL player”—show Ohtani’s adjusted totals used when comparing against players for postseason awards in which batters and pitchers compete. Box‑Toppers doubles the point totals of batters in these cases to make them more competitive with pitchers, who inherently earn more points. For Ohtani, his batting totals are doubled and added to his pitching total. For example, in 2018, he had 4.0 points as a batter (doubled to 8.0), added to his 4.0 for pitching, giving him an adjusted total of 12.0. The final column shows where that adjusted total ranked among all AL pitchers’ and all other adjusted batters’ totals.
* Ohtani in different seasons has variously ranked among either batters or pitchers or both. To rank among players at a certain position, a player must have more than 25 percent of their Box‑Toppers Player of the Game honors at that position. In both 2018 and 2023, Ohtani had half his Player of the Game honors as pitcher and half as a batter, so ranked among both. In 2019, he earned all five Player of the Game honors as a batter, so only ranked among batters and did not rank among pitchers. In 2021, he earned 3 of 12 Player of the Game honors as a batter (25 ) and in 2022, he earned 4 of 17 Player of the Game honors as a batter (23.5) so did not rank as a batter either season, only as a pitcher. In the pandemic shortened 2020 season, Ohtani earned no points but ranked among only batters, carrying over his status from 2019.

Ohtani’s 2nd elbow surgery raises concerns about his pitching future

Summary: Shohei Ohtani, who signed a record free-agent deal with the Dodgers, has consistently been among Box-Toppers' highest-ranking players over the past three seasons.

Shohei Ohtani signs with the Los Angeles Dodgers after six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels.

However, his second surgery to repair his pitching elbow's ulnar collateral ligament, raises concerns about his future effectiveness. Not all pitchers excel after a second elbow surgery. This post will highlight some notable pitchers who showed mixed outcomes in their careers after a second surgery.

Also provided here are detailed season-by-season breakdowns of Ohtani's Box-Toppers’ points with his performances as both a pitcher and batter over his past six seasons with the Angels.

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Now that Shohei Ohtani has signed his massive free agent deal, just how good has he been as measured by Box-Toppers and how good will he be going forward?

Ohtani, who signed a $700 million, 10-year free agent deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, has been among Box-Toppers’ highest-ranking players in each of the last three seasons. And while he has come close, he’s never finished any season as Box-Toppers’ overall top-ranked player.

In his six years with the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani has been limited by injury and he will begin his Dodgers tenure already rehabbing from a second surgery to repair his right pitching elbow ulnar collateral ligament. (Ohtani did not label the surgery as “Tommy John” surgery in his introductory news conference this week, but it is thought to be either that or something very closely related.)

Not only will fans have to wait until at least 2025 to see him on the mound, but they’ll have to hope he is the rare player who can still pitch effectively after undergoing the procedure a second time.

Ohtani’s unique leadership in Box-Toppers points

Still, despite the setbacks, Ohtani has excelled. He is the only player in Box-Toppers tracking history (which began in 1995) to regularly rank among their league’s players in a season both as a pitcher and a batter. And not only does he merely qualify to rank among both batters and pitchers, he ranks among Box-Toppers’ top players in both categories.

While he’s never quite yet finished the season as Box-Toppers Player of the Year, he has come tantalizingly close to the overall points lead in the past two seasons. In fact, in each of the past two seasons, Ohtani has spent more days atop Box-Toppers season player rankings than any other player. But in both seasons—2022 and 2023—he fell short of finishing the season in first place overall:

Combination of batting, pitching points propels Ohtani

Ohtani’s strength in Box-Toppers points and rankings comes mainly from the combined points he earns as a pitcher and a batter, especially in the past three seasons:

  • In 2021, he ranked third among AL pitchers with 16.1 Box-Toppers points, which included 12.1 earned as a pitcher and 4.0 earned as a batter.

  • In 2022, he ranked second among AL pitchers with 24.7 Box-Toppers points, which included 19.7 earned as a pitcher and 5.0 earned as a batter.

  • In 2023, he ranked first among batters and second among AL pitchers with 19.4 Box-Toppers points, which included 9.7 earned as a batter and 9.7 earned as a pitcher. He qualified to rank among both pitchers and batters in 2023 (more on that later) and his first place ranking among AL batters is his only top ranking in a league category (pitching or batting) in his six-year career.

Considering Ohtani’s Box-Toppers points as a batter and as a pitcher separately, he doesn’t quite fare as well. However, in the past two seasons, his totals would have ranked among the top three players in his league category:

  • In 2022, the 19.7 Box-Toppers points he earned as a pitcher would have been third among AL pitchers.

  • In 2023, the 9.7 Box-Toppers points he earned as a batter would have been third among AL batters.

How elbow surgery will effect Ohtani’s Box-Toppers standing

Ohtani begins his 10-year contract with the Dodgers already recovering from surgery Sept. 19 to repair a torn ulna collateral ligament (UCL) in his right pitching elbow.

That means he will be unable to pitch in 2024 but said in his introductory news conference with the Dodgers this week that he expects to be able to bat on opening day. Of course that means one of Ohtani’s key assets will be missing in 2024.

Ohtani’s Box-Toppers rankings since 2018

Since Shohei Ohtani made his debut in 2018, he has earned 74.7 Box-Toppers points, which is seventh-most among all players, as noted in the top rankings chart below. In 2023, Ohtani qualified to rank among both pitchers and batters in Box-Toppers points, so holds rankings among both top 10 AL pitchers (fifth) and top 10 AL batters (first). It should be noted that his combined Box-Toppers point totals as a pitcher and batter are used to rank him in both categories. If judged separately, his 45.5 points as a pitcher would rank 18th among AL pitchers over 2018-23 and his 29.2 points as a batter would rank ninth among AL batters over 2018-23. Ohtani is moving to the National League with the Dodgers in 2024. His 74.7 Box-Toppers points would rank third among NL pitchers over 2018-23 and first among NL batters over 2018-23.

All players, 2018-2023
Player Pos Team BTP
1 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp nyy al 112.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 95.0
3 Verlander, Justin 2112 pi sp hou al 91.0
4 Snell, Blake 3688 pi sp sd nl 80.1
5 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp tex al 78.4
6 Nola, Aaron 3569 pi sp phi nl 77.2
7 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh  ana al 74.7
8 Wheeler, Zack 3204 pi sp phi nl 70.9
9 Morton, Charlie 2503 pi sp atl nl 68.7
10 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 63.6
AL pitchers, 2018-2023   
Player Pos Team BTP
1 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp nyy al 112.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 95.0
3 Verlander, Justin 2112 pi sp hou al 91.0
4 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp tex al 78.4
5 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh  ana al 74.7
6 Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 pi sp sea al 62.5
7 Berrios, Jose 3791 pi sp tor al 60.3
8 Bieber, Shane 4005 pi sp cle al 60.3
9 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 59.9
10 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp min al 56.7
AL batters, 2018-2023   
Player Pos Team BTP
1 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh  ana al 74.7
2 Judge, Aaron 3767 rf dh nyy al 44.2
3 Ramirez, Jose 3436 3b cle al 41.9
4 Bregman, Alex 3721 3b hou al 35.4
5 Devers, Rafael 4038 3b bos al 33.5
6 Semien, Marcus 3302 2b tex al 33.1
7 Abreu, Jose 3308 1b hou al 31.7
8 Trout, Mike 2949 cf ana al 30.2
9 Tucker, Kyle 4277 rf hou al 29.2
10 Rizzo, Anthony 3063 1b nyy al 27.9
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations

Ohtani has earned most of his Box-Toppers points as a pitcher. Over his six seasons, he has 74.7 career Box-Toppers points, 45.5 earned as a starting pitcher (60.9 percent) and 29.2 earned as a designated hitter (39.1 percent). (The 74.7 points Ohtani earned over his six seasons ranks seventh among all players over that span.)

While he has far fewer career points as a batter, he had his highest single-season total as a batter in 2023—9.7. Again, by itself that total would have ranked third among AL batters. Moving to the National League with the Dodgers in 2024, Ohtani’s 9.7 points from 2023 would have ranked fifth among NL batters.

What can we expect from Ohtani in 2024?

Past history isn’t always the best judge of future performance. But in 2024, based on what Ohtani has done only as a batter, he seems likely to earn somewhere in the neighborhood of 6.0 to 10.0 Box-Toppers points. That number is respectable and may put him among the top 10 NL batters (the 10th-ranked NL batter in 2023 was Bryan Reynolds of the Pirates with 7.7 Box-Toppers points). But frankly the Dodgers should expect a much higher point total based on the $70 million a year they are investing.

Of course, the Dodgers are likely looking to the longer term, to 2025 and beyond, when Ohtani is able to pitch again. Then, it is hoped, he can earn about what he averaged in the past three years as a pitcher (about 14.0 points), add it to his batting points and end with a point total exceeding 20.0, enough to lead the league and help perpetually propel the Dodgers to the postseason.

Still, Ohtani has only exceeded 20.0 Box-Toppers points in a season once, in 2022, when he had 24.7. Granted, he came close in 2023, but injuries shut him down in the final weeks of the season and he ended with 19.4.

Many pitchers struggle after second elbow surgery

Further, this is Ohtani’s second surgery to repair the critical elbow ligament. While Ohtani and other pitchers have come back to excel after one such surgery, the stories of pitchers returning to form after a second are farther and fewer between.

A Fox Sports story, “Shohei Ohtani's pitching future? How MLB starters have fared following second Tommy John surgery” from Aug. 25 says about “two dozen” starters have attempted to return after two elbow procedures with mixed results. Many struggled, did not return to their previous success, were relegated to bullpen roles and some did not return to the Majors to pitch again. An MLB.com story from Aug. 24 by Thomas Harrigan also highlights “Notable pitchers who underwent multiple Tommy John surgeries.”

Some notable strugglers who had their second procedure at about the same age as Ohtani (29):

Victor Zambrano

Zambrano earned 18.4 career Box-Toppers points from 2001 to 2005 for the Rays and Mets, but earned no points after his second surgery in 2006, making only 13 more Major League appearances for the Blue Jays and Orioles in his age 31 season in 2007.

Kris Medlen

Medlen earned 17.0 Box-Toppers points in 2012 as a reliever and starter with the Braves, 10th overall and seventh among NL pitchers and earned 11.0 points in 2013 with the Braves as a starter, 18th among NL pitchers. He had his second Tommy John surgery in spring 2014 at age 28 and made just 21 appearances over 2015-16, earning 2.0 total Box-Toppers points with the Royals. He came back briefly in 2018 with the Diamondbacks, making one appearance, before retiring after his age 32 season.

Josh Johnson

Johnson, who had three seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points with the Marlins, 2009 (10.0), 2010 (15.7, ninth among NL pitchers) and 2012 (10.0), earning 52.7 career Box-Toppers points, before undergoing his second Tommy John surgery in 2014 at age 30. He never appeared in the Majors after that, making only one more minor league appearance in 2015.

Other pitchers have had success after a second procedure:

Nathan Eovaldi

Eovaldi underwent his second Tommy John surgery in 2016 at age 26. He had earned Box-Toppers points in six seasons prior to that, with never more than 6.7 points in a season (2013, 2014 and 2016), earning 25.8 total points. After sitting out 2017, he returned in 2018 with his then-best season with the Rays and Red Sox, earning 8.7 Box-Toppers points, 29th among AL pitchers. In 2021, he had 14.1 Box-Toppers points with the Red Sox, his best season, sixth among AL pitchers and had 9.7 points in 2023 with the Rangers, 30th among AL pitchers and winning a World Series. Eovaldi has earned 43.5 of his 69.3 career Box-Toppers points since his second surgery.

Chris Capuano

Capuano underwent his second Tommy John surgery in 2008 at age 29. Prior to his second surgery, he earned 29.1 total Box-Toppers points in five seasons from 2003 to 2007, including 13.7 in 2006 with the Brewers, sixth among NL pitchers. After sitting out 2008 and 2009, he earned 25.4 more total Box-Toppers points in five seasons from 2010 to 2014, nearly equal to his total prior to the second surgery. His best season after his second surgery was 2012 with the Dodgers, when he had 10.4 points, 23rd among NL pitchers.

Joakim Soria

Soria underwent his second Tommy John surgery in 2012 at age 28. From 2007 to 2011, he was one of the AL’s top closing pitchers, earning 36.0 total Box-Toppers points with the Royals, including finishing among the top three AL closers in 2008 (10.0 points, second), 2009 (9.0 points, first) and 2010 (7.0 points, third). Upon his return in 2014, after sitting out 2012 and 2013, he didn’t rebound to the same level of success, but earned 16.7 more Box-Toppers points over six seasons from 2014 to 2019, his best season being 2015 with the Tigers and Pirates when he had 5.7 Box-Toppers points, finishing the season sixth among NL closing pitchers.

Several other notable active pitchers are waiting in the wings with their twice-repaired wings, hoping they can also return to their previous success after their second elbow procedure. They include:

Jacob deGrom

The Rangers pitcher deGrom earned 139.2 career Box-Toppers points from 2014 to 2023, was sixth among active AL pitchers in 2023. He had his second surgery June 12 and hopes to return around August 2024. After his last start April 28, he led all players in Box-Toppers points for 2023 with 7.7.

Shane McClanahan

The Rays pitcher McClanahan earned 16.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022, fourth among AL pitchers, in June he had 9.7 points for 2023, fourth among all players, but underwent his second surgery Aug. 21, making it possible but unlikely he would return late in 2024, more realistically being ready in 2025.

Walker Buehler

The Dodgers pitcher Buehler was among the top 10 NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points in three seasons: 2018—15.1 points, fifth; 2019—16.4 points, seventh; and 2021—16.7 points, eighth. On Aug. 22, 2022, he underwent his second Tommy John surgery, missing 2023, with plans to return in 2024.

Ohtani has brought complexity to Box-Toppers tracking

With Ohtani earning Box-Toppers points both as a batter and a pitcher, he has brought complexity to Box-Toppers tracking, which goes back to 1995.

In his six years in Major League Baseball with the Angels, Ohtani in different seasons has variously ranked in Box-Toppers among either batters or pitchers or both.

Before Ohtani came along, I established rules for how to rank players at the various positions they played and have stayed true to that for Ohtani. But as a pitcher and batter, Ohtani has complicated matters.

Here’s the rule I have used: To rank at a certain position, a player must have more than 25 percent of their Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors at that position.

For example, in 2000, Jim Thome of Cleveland earned 11 Player of the Game honors, eight while playing first base and three as a designated hitter. He qualified to be ranked at both positions because he earned more than 25 percent of his Player of the Game honors at both positions—27.3 percent as a DH and 72.7 percent at first base. As a result, his 11.5 Box-Toppers points that season ranked fourth among AL designated hitters and third among AL first basemen. He also ranked eighth among AL batters and that made perfect sense since all his points were earned as a batter.

But for Ohtani, this Box-Toppers rule has sometimes made him rank among just pitchers, just batters or both. Here’s a season-by-season look at Ohtani’s career, how Box-Toppers tracked him and how he ranked in Box-Toppers rankings:

2018

In his rookie season, he earned six Player of the Game honors, three as a starting pitcher and three as a designated hitter. With 50 percent of his Player of the Game honors as both a pitcher and a designated hitter, he qualified to rank at both positions. His 8.0 Box-Toppers points ranked sixth among AL batters (third among AL designated hitters) and 31st among AL pitchers, though separately, the 4.0 points earned as a batter would have ranked 60th among AL batters and the 4.0 points earned as a pitcher would have ranked 67th among AL pitchers.

Taken separately, the Box-Toppers points Ohtani earned as only a batter and only a pitcher were not that remarkable in 2018. But because he qualified to rank at both positions, fair or not, the points he earned in his opposite discipline greatly improved his rankings in both, lifting him to the top 10 among AL batters (sixth) and to 31st among AL pitchers.

Ohtani was the winner of the 2018 AL Rookie of the Year Award and at the time, was Box-Toppers’ choice for the award, too. However, even in the middle of Box-Toppers’ post on the award, we expressed doubts on our decision, and now in retrospect would have made Mitch Garver of the Twins our choice for 2018 top AL rookie.

Here is the reasoning on that: For awards in which batters and pitchers directly compete—such as Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player—we give batters a generous, if somewhat arbitrary, benefit of the doubt, doubling their Box-Toppers point total to make them more competitive with pitchers, who inherently earn more Box-Toppers points.

For example, in 2018, for NL Rookie of the Year, we chose Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves over Walker Buehler of the Dodgers, even though Buehler had 15.1 Box-Toppers points and Acuna had 9.2. But Acuna ranked ahead of Buehler after doubling his points, giving him an adjusted total of 18.4.

Garver earned 7.5 points as a batter and we should have adjusted that to 15.0. Ohtani meanwhile, would have had his batting points (4.0) doubled to 8.0 and added to his pitching total (4.0), giving him an adjusted overall total of 12.0, less than Garver’s adjusted total.

Ohtani’s adjusted Box-Toppers point total ranked 38th among all AL players in his rookie 2018 season.

2019

In the season after his first Tommy John surgery, Ohtani did not pitch. All five of his Player of the Game honors were earned as a designated hitter, so he did not qualify to rank among pitchers. His 6.5 Box-Toppers points was fifth among AL designated hitters and 21st among AL batters.

2020

In the pandemic-shortened season, Ohtani only pitched in two games and played DH in 40 games. He earned 0.0 Box-Toppers points. Though he had no Player of the Game honors in 2020, he qualified to rank among batters, carrying over his status from 2019, ranking 122nd among AL batters.

2021

This was the first of two straight seasons in which Ohtani ranked only as a pitcher despite playing the majority of his games as designated hitter.

In 2021, he earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors 12 times—nine times as a pitcher and three times as a designated hitter. That meant he earned 75 percent of his Player of the Game honors as a pitcher and 25 percent as a batter. Since he did not earn more than 25 percent of those honors as a batter, he only qualified to rank among pitchers in 2021.

Interestingly, one of the times he earned Player of the Game honors as a pitcher, he did it as a batter (earning 1.7 points as AL Player of the Day), back before rules changes allowed players to serve as both pitcher and designated hitter in a game, a rule tailored for and used only by Ohtani.

So in 2021, he earned 4.0 Box-Toppers points as a designated hitter and 12.1 as a starting pitcher (including 1.7 earned as a batting pitcher). He had 16.1 combined Box-Toppers points, which was third among all AL players, behind Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole (22.4) and Blue Jays pitcher Robbie Ray (17.7). But his combined 16.1 point total is also used to rank him among AL pitchers, in which he was also third overall.

However, figured separately, his 12.1 points earned as a pitcher would have ranked 11th among AL pitchers. His 4.0 points as a batter would have ranked 54th among AL batters, but in Box-Toppers calculations, he didn’t even qualify to rank among batters because so few of his Player of the Game honors came as a batter. This despite the fact that Ohtani played far more games as a designated hitter (126) than a starting pitcher (23).

This was also the year Ohtani won his first AL Most Valuable Player Award. Box-Toppers supported Jose Ramirez of Cleveland for AL MVP that year and had Ohtani eighth on our AL MVP ballot. In retrospect, we should have doubled Ohtani’s 4.0 points as a batter (8.0) and added it to the 12.1 he earned as a pitcher, giving him an adjusted total of 20.1, which still would not have given him Box-Toppers’ AL MVP, but would have put him fifth overall among AL players, still behind Ramirez, who had 13.0 Box-Toppers points, 26.0 adjusted points.

2022

Ohtani for the second straight season qualified only to rank among pitchers in Box-Toppers rankings despite playing far more games as a designated hitter because less than 25 percent of his Player of the Game honors came as a designated hitter.

In 2022, he earned Player of the Game honors 17 times—13 as a starting pitcher (76.5 percent) and four as a designated hitter (23.5 percent).

Ohtani earned his highest single-season Box-Toppers point total in 2022, 24.7, including 5.0 as a designated hitter and 19.7 as a starting pitcher. His 24.7 points ranked second among all players and all AL pitchers, behind Astros pitcher Justin Verlander (26.0), who only passed him for the lead on the next-to-last day of the season.

Despite finishing second in Box-Toppers points among AL pitchers, Box-Toppers had Ohtani in third place on our AL Cy Young ballot, based on the Box-Toppers points Ohtani earned as a pitcher. His 19.7 points earned as a pitcher was third among AL pitchers behind that year’s AL Cy Young winner Verlander and White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease (20.4). Ohtani finished fourth in “official” Cy Young voting.

Ohtani earned 5.0 Box-Toppers points as a designated hitter, which by itself, would have ranked 26th among AL batters. But because he had such a low proportion of his Player of the Game honors as a designated hitter, he did not qualify to rank among batters or among designated hitters in 2022.

Still, those 5.0 points he earned as a batter helped him to rank first among all AL players in adjusted Box-Toppers points for the season. Doubling his 5.0 points as a batter and adding it to his 19.7 he earned as a pitcher, gave him an adjusted total of 29.7, making him Box-Toppers’ choice for AL Most Valuable Player. Second place on our ballot was Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, who had 13.2 Box-Toppers points, with an adjusted total of 26.4. Judge ended up being voted AL MVP by baseball writers with Ohtani finishing second.

Though Ohtani earned Player of the Game honors far more frequently as a pitcher, he played more games as a batter in 2022. He played in 157 games as a batter—153 as designated hitter and four as a pinch hitter. He played in 28 games as a starting pitcher.

2023

Ohtani qualified to rank among both batters and pitchers for just the second season in his six-year career (also doing it in 2018), earning Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors exactly 50 percent of the time as a batter and 50 percent of the time as a pitcher.

Ohtani earned Player of the Game honors 16 times in 2023, eight times as a starting pitcher and eight times as a designated hitter. He also earned 9.7 Box-Toppers points as a pitcher and 9.7 as a designated hitter.

Because he qualified to rank among batters, Ohtani’s total 19.4 Box-Toppers points ranked first among AL batters, the first and only time he has led and league’s pitchers or batters in unadjusted season Box-Toppers points. However, if figured separately, Ohtani’s 9.7 points as a batter would have ranked third among AL batters, behind Kyle Tucker of the Astros (12.5) and Aaron Judge of the Yankees (12.0).

Ohtani ranked second among AL pitchers with his 19.4 point total, behind Chris Bassitt of the Blue Jays (20.1). However, figured separately, the 9.7 points he earned as a pitcher would have ranked 28th among AL pitchers. Though he had a high overall Box-Toppers point total, his relatively low total as a pitcher in 2023 put him out of top pitchers in contention for the AL Cy Young Award.

However, for the second straight season, Ohtani had the highest adjusted Box-Toppers point total (29.1—doubling his 9.7 points as a batter and adding to his 9.7 points as a pitcher) and was again Box-Toppers’ choice for AL Most Valuable Player. And in 2023, for the first time, Box-Toppers and baseball writers agreed Ohtani was AL MVP.

While Ohtani’s Box-Toppers point total was balanced evenly in 2023 (9.7 as a batter and 9.7 as a pitcher), he still served as a designated hitter in far more games than he pitched. He was a DH in 134 games and a starting pitcher in 23.

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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