| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 19.4 | 1 | Strider, Spencer 4626 | pi sp | atl nl | 21.1 | |
| 2 | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | tor al | 18.7 | 2 | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | pi sp | fla nl | 17.8 | |
| 3 | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | tor al | 17.1 | 3 | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | mil nl | 17.7 | |
| 4 | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | pi sp | sea al | 16.1 | 4 | Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | ari nl | 15.7 | |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | tex al | 15.4 | 5 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 14.7 | |
| 6 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 15.0 | 6 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | sd nl | 14.7 | |
| 7 | Lopez, Pablo 4028 | pi sp | min al | 13.4 | 7 | Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | ari nl | 13.0 | |
| 8 | Miller, Bryce 4797 | pi sp | sea al | 13.1 | 8 | Keller, Mitch 4230 | pi sp | pit nl | 13.0 | |
| 9 | Bradish, Kyle 4597 | pi sp | bal al | 13.0 | 9 | Garrett, Braxton 4341 | pi sp | fla nl | 12.7 | |
| 10 | Gilbert, Logan 4439 | pi sp | sea al | 12.4 | 10 | Senga, Kodai 4762 | pi sp | nym nl | 12.7 | |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 19.4 | 1 | Acuna, Ronald Jr. 3947 | rf | atl nl | 10.7 | |
| 2 | Tucker, Kyle 4277 | rf | hou al | 12.5 | 2 | Alonso, Pete 4118 | 1b | nym nl | 10.5 | |
| 3 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf dh | nyy al | 10.0 | 3 | Gorman, Nolan 4633 | 2b | stl nl | 10.0 | |
| 4 | Devers, Rafael 4038 | 3b | bos al | 7.5 | 4 | Betts, Mookie 3404 | rf 2b | lad nl | 8.5 | |
| 5 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 7.5 | 5 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | lad nl | 8.5 | |
| 6 | Henderson, Gunnar 4739 | dh 3b ss | bal al | 7.5 | 6 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | stl nl | 8.2 | |
| 7 | McCormick, Chas 4444 | lf cf | hou al | 7.5 | 7 | Reynolds, Bryan 4169 | lf cf | pit nl | 7.7 | |
| 8 | Duran, Jarren 4783 | cf | bos al | 7.5 | 8 | Outman, James 4699 | cf | lad nl | 7.7 | |
| 9 | Paredes, Isaac 4666 | 3b 1b 2b | tb al | 7.2 | 9 | Arraez, Luis 4219 | 2b | fla nl | 7.5 | |
| 10 | Diaz, Yandy 3896 | 1b dh | tb al | 7.0 | 10 | Yelich, Christian 3334 | lf | mil nl | 7.5 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Braves pitcher Spencer Strider extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings this week.
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 Thursday, Sept. 21.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Strider, Spencer 4626 | pi sp | atl nl | 21.1 |
| 2 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 19.4 |
| 3 | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | tor al | 18.7 |
| 4 | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | pi sp | fla nl | 17.8 |
| 5 | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | mil nl | 17.7 |
| 6 | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | tor al | 17.1 |
| 7 | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | pi sp | sea al | 16.1 |
| 8 | Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | ari nl | 15.7 |
| 9 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | tex al | 15.4 |
| 10 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 15.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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Meanwhile, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels continues to lead both American League pitcher and batters in Box-Toppers points, despite being out for the remainder of the season. Plus, Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves continues to lead NL batters.
Strider leads
Strider leads Box-Toppers season player rankings with 21.1 Box-Toppers points, picking up 1.0 point in the past week. He leads over second-place Ohtani (19.4 points) and over second-place NL pitcher Jesus Luzardo of the Marlins (17.8).
Ohtani leads AL pitchers and batters
Ohtani leads AL pitchers for the 14th straight weekly player rankings report and leads AL batters for the 18th straight weekly report.
His 19.4 Box-Toppers points ranks ahead of second-place AL pitcher Kevin Gausman of the Blue Jays (18.7) and ahead of second-place AL batter Kyle Tucker of the Astros (12.5).
Ohtani has earned exactly half his points as a pitcher (9.7) and half as a batter (9.7). His pitching season was shut down when it was learned in late August he had a ligament tear in his pitching elbow. Ohtani also shut down his season as a batter this week with a strained right oblique. Ohtani this week underwent surgery to fix his elbow and is expected to be able to hit in 2024 but not be able to pitch again until 2025. He is a free agent, so his status of returning to the Angels is up in the air.
While Box-Toppers adds all of Ohtani’s points together and counts the overall total when ranking him as an AL pitcher and an AL batter, if they are separated, here is how Ohtani would rank:
Blake Snell @Padres (14.7 Box-Toppers points, 6th among NL pitchers) earned no B-T points in April & May. He earned his 1st B-T point June 5.
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) September 22, 2023
Gerrit Cole @Yankees (15.0 B-T pts, 6th among AL pitchers) had just 2.0 B-T points over May, June & July.https://t.co/R6qDWMD3YL
Spencer Strider @Braves rises this week to lead NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points over 2022-23:
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) September 22, 2023
1—Strider 34.5
2—Zac Gallen @Dbacks 34.4
3—Julio Urias @Dodgers 30.4
4—Zack Wheeler @Phillies 29.1
5—Sandy Alcantara @Marlins 28.1
6—Blake Snell @Padres 27.8
His 9.7 points as a batter would rank third among AL batters.
His 9.7 points as a pitcher would rank 24th among AL pitchers.
National League batters
Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves leads the category for the third week with 10.7 Box-Toppers points, picking up no points in the past week. He leads over second-place NL batter Pete Alonso of the Mets (10.5).
Acuna ranks 35th among all players.
Acuna’s current 10.7 point total would equal the lowest Box-Toppers point to lead a league category in a regular-length season. In 2016, Nolan Arenado of the Rockies led NL batters with 10.7 points, the lowest total to lead any category in a regular-length season since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
Box-Toppers almanac
Players who have earned Box-Toppers points so far in 2023—777 (there were 764 as of last week).
Players with more than 2.0 Box-Toppers points—392 (there were 377 as of last week).
Players with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points—47 (there were 41 as of last week).
Players who’ve made their Box-Toppers debut so far in 2023 (earning their first career Player of the Game honor)—185 (there were 178 as of last week).
Games completed so far in 2023—2,295, an average of 153.0 per team.
Percentage of scheduled season completed—94.4.
Pitchers again dominated this week, winning Player of the Game honors in 60 of the 96 games played (62.5 percent), with batters winning in 36 (37.5 percent). Batters’ share of Player of the Game honors for the season decreased from 41.0 percent last week to 40.8 percent this week (937 of the 2,295 games played). Pitchers have won in 1,358 games (59.2 percent).
Note
This is the next-to-last (and also penultimate) Box-Toppers player rankings report for 2023. There will be no rankings report next Friday, Sept. 29, as we will wait until after the end of the season a few days later, Sunday, Oct. 1, to post final player rankings.
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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