| AL East | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Top pitcher | Pos | BTP | Rank | Top batter | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Orioles | Bautista, Felix 4668 | pi cp | 8.0 | 19 | Mountcastle, Ryan 4325 | 1b dh ph | 4.2 | 105 | |
| Red Sox | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | 5.7 | 61 | *Duran, Jarren 4783 | cf | 7.5 | 26 | |
| Yankees | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | 7.0 | 30 | *Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf cf dh | 7.5 | 25 | |
| Rays | McClanahan, Shane 4399 | pi sp | 9.7 | 8 | Paredes, Isaac 4666 | 3b 1b 2b | 6.2 | 42 | |
| Blue Jays | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | 12.0 | 2 | Belt, Brandon 2943 | 1b dh | 3.0 | 188 | |
| AL Central | |||||||||
| Team | Top pitcher | Pos | BTP | Rank | Top batter | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| White Sox | Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | 7.0 | 28 | Burger, Jake 4629 | dh 3b | 4.0 | 126 | |
| Guardians | Bibee, Tanner 4792 | pi sp | 4.7 | 95 | *Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | 5.2 | 67 | |
| Tigers | Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | 6.0 | 50 | Vierling, Matt 4652 | rf cf | 5.0 | 80 | |
| Royals | Singer, Brady 4337 | pi sp | 2.0 | 257 | Fermin, Freddy 4862 | ca ph | 2.0 | 328 | |
| Twins | Lopez, Pablo 4028 | pi sp | 8.0 | 17 | Farmer, Kyle 4003 | 2b 3b ss | 2.5 | 233 | |
| AL West | |||||||||
| Team | Top pitcher | Pos | BTP | Rank | Top batter | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Angels | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | dh pi sp | 13.9 | 1 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | dh pi sp | 13.9 | 1 | |
| Astros | Brown, Hunter 4729 | pi sp | 8.4 | 15 | Tucker, Kyle 4277 | rf | 5.5 | 63 | |
| Athletics | Sears, JP 4627 | pi sp | 2.0 | 272 | *Noda, Ryan 4791 | 1b ph | 5.0 | 84 | |
| Mariners | Miller, Bryce 4797 | pi sp | 9.4 | 10 | Crawford, J.P. 3937 | ss | 3.5 | 151 | |
| Rangers | Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | 8.7 | 13 | Seager, Corey 3587 | ss | 5.2 | 68 | |
| NL East | |||||||||
| Team | Top pitcher | Pos | BTP | Rank | Top batter | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Braves | Strider, Spencer 4626 | pi sp | 11.7 | 3 | Acuna, Ronald Jr. 3947 | rf | 6.0 | 48 | |
| Marlins | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | pi sp | 11.1 | 5 | Arraez, Luis 4219 | 2b | 5.5 | 62 | |
| Nationals | Gray, Josiah 4503 | pi sp | 4.7 | 90 | Garrett, Stone 4767 | lf dh | 4.5 | 100 | |
| Mets | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | 8.7 | 12 | Alonso, Pete 4118 | 1b | 4.5 | 96 | |
| Phillies | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | 8.0 | 16 | Castellanos, Nick 3349 | rf | 4.5 | 97 | |
| NL Central | |||||||||
| Team | Top pitcher | Pos | BTP | Rank | Top batter | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Cubs | Stroman, Marcus 3327 | pi sp | 7.7 | 24 | Happ, Ian 3798 | lf | 2.5 | 237 | |
| Reds | Abbott, Andrew 4839 | pi sp | 7.0 | 35 | Fraley, Jake 4430 | lf ph | 5.5 | 66 | |
| Brewers | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi sp | 7.7 | 21 | Adames, Willy 4041 | ss | 5.7 | 57 | |
| Pirates | Keller, Mitch 4230 | pi sp | 8.0 | 20 | Reynolds, Bryan 4169 | lf cf | 4.7 | 91 | |
| Cardinals | Montgomery, Jordan 3814 | pi sp | 6.7 | 38 | Gorman, Nolan 4633 | 2b dh | 5.0 | 76 | |
| NL West | |||||||||
| Team | Top pitcher | Pos | BTP | Rank | Top batter | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Diamondbacks | Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | 10.7 | 6 | Carroll, Corbin 4818 | rf lf | 2.0 | 203 | |
| Rockies | Freeland, Kyle 3763 | pi sp | 5.7 | 56 | Tovar, Ezequiel 4801 | ss | 4.5 | 101 | |
| Dodgers | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | 10.1 | 7 | Outman, James 4699 | cf | 5.7 | 60 | |
| Padres | Wacha, Michael 3276 | pi sp | 8.0 | 18 | Soto, Juan 3994 | lf | 4.0 | 120 | |
| Giants | Webb, Logan 4258 | pi sp | 6.0 | 44 | Conforto, Michael 3622 | rf | 4.5 | 99 | |
What are those numbers after players' names?
Shohei Ohtani leads all Angels pitchers in 2023 Box-Toppers points. He also leads all Angels batters in 2023 Box-Toppers points.
Box-Toppers Toppers Box
Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.▪️ Top 10 players in 2023 Box-Toppers points.
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The overall 2023 Box-Toppers points leader (13.9) at the All-Star break is the only player to lead his team in both categories. On the other 29 clubs, pitchers have the most Box-Toppers points on 25 teams and batters lead four teams.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2023. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Sunday, July 9.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | dh pi sp | ana al | 13.9 |
| 2 | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | tor al | 12.0 |
| 3 | Strider, Spencer 4626 | pi sp | atl nl | 11.7 |
| 4 | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | tor al | 11.4 |
| 5 | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | pi sp | fla nl | 11.1 |
| 6 | Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.7 |
| 7 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.1 |
| 8 | McClanahan, Shane 4399 | pi sp | tb al | 9.7 |
| 9 | Garrett, Braxton 4341 | pi sp | fla nl | 9.7 |
| 10 | Miller, Bryce 4797 | pi sp | sea al | 9.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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The chart shows who has the most Box-Toppers points on each team at midseason 2023. At left, is the team’s pitching leader with their Box-Toppers point total and their overall rank among all players. At right, is the team’s batting leader. The four batters who lead their team in Box-Toppers points are denoted with an asterisk.
Uniquely, Ohtani is the only player to even qualify to rank among both pitchers and batters in Box-Toppers player rankings. Ohtani has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors 12 times in 2023—six as a designated hitter and six as a starting pitcher. To qualify to rank in a category, a player must have more than 25 percent of their Player of the Game honors in that category. Ohtani easily qualifies to rank as both pitcher and batter since exactly 50 percent of his Player of the Game honors come in each category.
And of course, not only does Ohtani lead all Angels players, he ranks first among all players, ahead of second-place player, Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman (12.0), who also ranks second among American League pitchers. Ohtani also leads all batters and all AL batters ahead of second-place Aaron Judge of the Yankees (7.5).
Ohtani’s combined 13.9 Box-Toppers point total is used when considering where he ranks overall and among pitchers and batters. In other words, point totals aren’t separated out to rank him by category. If they were, his 7.2 Box-Toppers points as a batter would rank third among AL batters and his 6.7 points as pitcher would rank 19th among AL pitchers.
However, if his points were separated that way, he would still lead both all Angels pitchers and all Angels batters. His 7.2 points as a batter would rank ahead of next-highest Angels batter Luis Rengifo (5.0) and his 6.7 points as a pitcher would rank ahead of next-highest Angels pitcher Reid Detmers (5.7).
Batters who lead their teams
On four teams, batters have the most 2023 Box-Toppers points:
New York Yankees—Aaron Judge (7.5 Box-Toppers points, 25th overall and second among AL batters) ranks ahead of the team’s top pitcher Gerrit Cole (7.0 points, 30th overall, 15th among AL pitchers).
Boston Red Sox—Jarren Duran (7.5 Box-Toppers points, 26th overall and third among AL batters) ranks ahead of the team’s top pitcher Chris Sale (5.7 points, 61st overall, 29th among AL pitchers).
Cleveland Guardians—Jose Ramirez (5.2 Box-Toppers points, 67th overall and eighth among AL batters) ranks ahead of the team’s top pitcher Tanner Bibee (4.7 points, 95th overall and 38th among AL pitchers).
Oakland Athletics—Ryan Noda (5.0 Box-Toppers points, 84th overall and 14th among AL batters) ranks ahead of the team’s top pitcher JP Sears (2.0 points, 272nd overall and 71st among AL pitchers).
There is one team—the Kansas City Royals—in which both the top pitcher and batter have the same 2023 Box-Toppers point total, but the pitcher ranks ahead because he has more 2022 Box-Toppers points.
Brady Singer leads Royals pitchers with 2.0 Box-Toppers points. Freddy Fermin leads Royals batters also with 2.0 Box-Toppers points. But Singer had 11.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022 while Fermin had 0.0, giving Singer his higher 257th overall ranking to Fermin’s overall 328th ranking.
Pitchers lead 25 teams
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Pitchers lead their club in Box-Toppers points on 25 teams, leading the team’s top batter by anywhere from 0.2 points (the Washington Nationals, where pitcher Josiah Gray’s 4.7 points beats batter Stone Garrett’s 4.5 points) to 9.0 points (the Toronto Blue Jays, where pitcher Kevin Gausman’s 12.0 points beats batter Brandon Belt’s 3.0 points).
After the Blue Jays, here are the next four largest point gaps between a team’s top pitcher and top batter:
Arizona Diamondbacks—Top pitcher Zac Gallen (10.7 points, sixth overall and third among NL pitchers) leads top batter Corbin Carroll (2.0 points, 203rd overall, 40th among NL batters) by 8.7 points.
Seattle Mariners—Top pitcher Bryce Miller (9.4 points, 10th overall and fifth among AL pitchers) leads top batter J.P. Crawford (3.5 points, 151st overall, 28th among AL batters) by 5.9 points.
Atlanta Braves—Top pitcher Spencer Strider (11.7 points, third overall, first among NL pitchers) leads top batter Ronald Acuna Jr. (6.0 points, 48th overall, first among NL batters) by 5.7 points.
Miami Marlins—Top pitcher Jesus Luzardo (11.1 points, fifth overall, second among NL pitchers) leads top batter Luis Arraez (5.5 points, 62nd overall, fourth among NL batters) by 5.6 points.
On 16 of the 25 teams in which the pitcher leads, the point total gap between top pitcher and top batter is 4.0 points or less. On nine of the teams, the point gap is greater than 4.0.
Pitchers trend of dominance is continuing
Pitchers tend to earn more Box-Toppers points than batters, a trend that noticeably increased in the game after 2009. From 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, until 2009, batters generally won half or more of all Box-Toppers points awarded. But after 2009, batters had a precipitous decline as pitchers dominated, winning the majority of Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors, including more than 60 percent in three recents seasons, a mark around which they are hovering in 2023, even with rules changes that some thought might help batters.
So far in 2023, 1,609.4 Box-Toppers points have been awarded in the 1,357 games played. Pitchers have earned 954.0 points. Batters won earned 655.4 points. (These figures do separate Ohtani’s points earned as a pitcher and a batter.) That means pitchers have won 59.3 percent of all Box-Toppers points awarded, compared to 40.7 percent for batters.
Lowest totals to lead teams
The lowest Box-Toppers point total to lead a team is 2.0 by Royals pitcher Brady Singer. The Royals also have the lowest-ranking player to lead a team’s batters, Freddy Fermin with 2.0 points. The Royals currently rank 30th and last in Box-Toppers team rankings.
The lowest-ranking player to lead his team’s pitchers in Box-Toppers points is JP Sears, who leads Athletics pitchers with 2.0 points, ranking 272nd overall, behind Royals’ top pitcher Singer (ranked 257nd).
Other facts
All four main Box-Toppers points category leaders are also among their team leaders in Box-Toppers points.
Ohtani leads both AL pitchers and batters and also leads both Angels pitchers and batters.
Spencer Strider leads NL pitchers with 11.7 Box-Toppers points and also leads Braves pitchers.
Ronald Acuna Jr. leads NL batters with 6.0 points and also leads Braves batters. However, Acuna ranks third among all Braves players, behind Strider (11.7) and pitcher Bryce Elder (6.0).
The player with the highest Box-Toppers point total who is not among his team’s leaders is Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt, whose 11.4 points ranks fourth overall but second among Blue Jays pitchers, behind Kevin Gausman (12.0).
The batter with the highest Box-Toppers point total who is not among his team’s leaders is Randy Arozarena of the Rays, whose 6.0 points is fourth among AL batters, but second among Rays batters, behind Isaac Paredes (6.2).
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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
For additional updates, follow Box-Toppers on Twitter.
Related
A Box-Toppers look at Friday’s pitching matchups
A Box-Toppers look at the upcoming day’s probable pitching matchups. Teams are paired below with visiting teams on top and home teams on the bottom. Each team’s starting pitcher is shown with their Box-Toppers point total from 2023 (’23), over a two-year period (’22-23), over a six-year period (’18-23) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’23 | ’22‑23 | ’18‑23 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SD | Darvish, Yu 3003 | 3.0 | 19.8 | 58.4 | 127.0 |
| PHI | Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| MIA | Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | 4.0 | 25.1 | 44.2 | 44.2 |
| BAL | Kremer, Dean 4330 | 4.0 | 11.7 | 15.4 | 15.4 |
| SF | Stripling, Ross 3629 | 0.0 | 12.0 | 32.4 | 38.1 |
| PIT | Hill, Rich 2215 | 4.0 | 11.7 | 32.4 | 83.2 |
| ARI | Nelson, Ryne 4728 | 5.7 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 7.4 |
| TOR | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| LAD | Urias, Julio 3652 | 5.0 | 24.4 | 50.5 | 57.2 |
| NYM | Verlander, Justin 2112 | 4.0 | 30.0 | 82.6 | 236.6 |
| MIL | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | 7.7 | 23.1 | 51.9 | 51.9 |
| CIN | Ashcraft, Graham 4645 | 2.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| CHW | Kopech, Michael 4385 | 6.0 | 15.0 | 20.7 | 20.7 |
| ATL | Morton, Charlie 2503 | 4.0 | 14.4 | 62.7 | 98.1 |
| BOS | Bello, Brayan 4727 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| CHC | Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | 3.0 | 7.7 | 39.8 | 71.6 |
| CLE | Civale, Aaron 4173 | 3.0 | 8.0 | 25.4 | 25.4 |
| TEX | Gray, Jon 3634 | 4.7 | 10.7 | 38.4 | 50.1 |
| TB | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 39.1 | 39.1 |
| KC | Marsh, Alec* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| WSH | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| STL | Mikolas, Miles 3034 | 5.7 | 17.8 | 32.5 | 35.2 |
| NYY | Rodon, Carlos 3494 | 0.0 | 19.8 | 37.5 | 56.6 |
| COL | Gomber, Austin 3985 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 18.7 | 18.7 |
| HOU | France, J.P. 4811 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| LAA | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | 13.9 | 38.6 | 69.2 | 69.2 |
| MIN | Maeda, Kenta 3609 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 36.5 | 56.5 |
| OAK | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| DET | Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 40.8 | 60.2 |
| SEA | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | 6.4 | 16.4 | 52.8 | 61.2 |
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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