Henderson named to Box-Toppers 2023 All-Rookie Team but Carroll falls short

Gunnar Henderson of the Orioles, the American League Rookie of the Year, is among the players on Box-Toppers 2023 All-Rookie Team.

Box-Toppers 2023 All-Rookie team

Here are the Box-Toppers points leaders for 2023 at each position among all players with rookie status. The team includes nine batters and six pitchers—four starters and two relievers.

Pos Player Team BTP Rookie
rank		 Overall
rank
1B Ryan Noda Athletics 6.0 16 144
2B Matt McLain Reds 3.5 39 303
SS Ezequiel Tovar Rockies 6.5 14 122
3B Elly De La Cruz Reds 5.5 20 162
CA Francisco Alvarez Mets 5.5 19 118
OF James Outman Dodgers 8.7 5 67
OF Masataka Yoshida Red Sox 4.5 27 215
OF Brenton Doyle Rockies 4.0 31 268
DH Gunnar Henderson Orioles 7.5 11 89
SP Bryce Miller Mariners 13.1 1 17
SP Kodai Senga Mets 12.7 2 22
SP Andrew Abbott Reds 11.0 3 39
SP Hunter Brown Astros 10.1 4 46
RP Tristan Beck Giants 6.0 15 142
RP Ryan Pepiot Dodgers 5.0 21 175
BTP—Box-Toppers points

But Corbin Carroll of the Diamondbacks, voted National League Rookie of the Year, is not among the players on the team, having finished sixth among rookie outfielders with 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023.

Henderson is placed at designated hitter on Box-Toppers All-Rookie team, even though he only played 11 games at that position in 2023, compared to 84 at third base and 83 at shortstop. However, Henderson won two of his six 2023 Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors as a DH. Since more than 25 percent of his Player of the Game honors came at that position, he qualifies to rank as a DH, as well as at third base and shortstop.

Henderson earned 7.5 Box-Toppers points in 2023, which ranks first at all three positions among rookies—designated hitter, shortstop and third base. He also ranks fourth overall among all designated hitters, second among all shortstops and second among all third basemen. He ranks 11th among all rookies and 89th among all players. He was placed at DH on the All-Rookie team to open spots for other high-scoring rookies at shortstop and third base.

Shortstop

Ezequiel Tovar of the Rockies was placed at shortstop on the All-Rookie team. His 6.5 Box-Toppers points was second among rookie shortstops (behind Henderson), fifth among all shortstops, 14th among all rookies and 122nd among all players.

Third base

Elly De La Cruz of the Reds was placed at third base on the All-Rookie team. His 5.5 Box-Toppers points was second among rookie third basemen (behind Henderson), seventh among all third basemen, 20th among all rookies and 162nd among all players.

Outfielders

James Outman of the Dodgers led all rookie batters in 2023 with 8.7 Box-Toppers points and was one of three Box-Toppers All-Rookie Team outfielders, along with Masataka Yoshida of the Red Sox (4.5 points) and Brenton Doyle of the Rockies (4.0 points).

Notably not among Box-Toppers All-Rookie Team outfielders is Corbin Carroll of the Diamondbacks, the runaway winner of the NL Rookie of the Year Award. But Carroll earned only 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, ranking 24th among all NL rookies, 10th among NL rookie batters and sixth among all rookie outfielders.

There’s no doubt Carroll had an outstanding season and when comparing season statistics, he beats Outman, Box-Toppers’ choice for NL Rookie of the Year, in just about every conceivable category. (Check this comparison of their seasons in Baseball Reference’s Stathead player comparison). But simply accumulating big statistics doesn’t necessarily produce results. It’s not necessarily the size that matters, as some claim in slightly unrelated matters, it’s what you’re able to do with it. To what end were these statistics accumulated? Did they help Carroll contribute to his team’s wins?

2023 statistical comparison: Outman vs. Carroll

Corbin Carroll of the Diamondbacks beats James Outman of the Dodgers in just about every statistical comparison for 2023. Yet Outman earned nearly three times as many Box-Toppers points during the season, 8.7 vs. 3.0. That made Outman Box-Toppers' choice for top NL rookie.

Player G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB OPS+
James Outman 151 567 483 86 120 16 3 23 70 16 68 181 0.248 0.353 0.437 0.790 211 112
Corbin Carroll 155 645 565 116 161 30 10 25 76 54 57 125 0.285 0.362 0.506 0.868 286 134
Statistics source: Baseball-Reference.com. For more statistical comparisons of Carroll and Outman, click here.

Only three times in 2023 did Carroll win Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in a Diamondbacks win. Outman, by contrast, won Player of the Game honors seven times, more than twice as often as Carroll. Much more explanation on our reasoning of Outman over Carroll for top NL rookie in a previous post.

Five rookie outfielders had more 2023 Box-Toppers points than Carroll, including the three named to the All-Rookie Team—Outman, Yoshida and Doyle. The others were:

Outman’s 8.7 Box-Toppers points was sixth among all outfielders and seventh among NL batters. Yoshida’s 4.5 points was 36th among all outfielders and Doyle’s 4.0 points was 44th among all outfielders. Carroll’s 3.0 points was 68th among all outfielders.

Here is a look at the other spots on Box-Toppers All-Rookie Team:

First base

Ryan Noda of the Athletics led rookie first basemen with 6.0 Box-Toppers points, 12th among all first basemen, 16th among all rookies and 144th overall.

Second base

Matt McLain of the Reds led rookie second basemen with 3.5 Box-Toppers points, 17th among all second basemen, 39th among all rookies and 303rd overall.

Catcher

Francisco Alvarez of the Mets led rookie catchers with 5.5 Box-Toppers points, second among all catchers, 19th among all rookies and 118th overall.

Starting pitchers

The four rookie pitchers with the most 2023 Box-Toppers points were selected for the All-Rookie Team, including:

  • Bryce Miller of the Mariners, whose 13.1 Box-Toppers points led all rookie players, was 11th among AL pitchers and 17th overall.

  • Kodai Senga of the Mets, whose 12.7 Box-Toppers points was second among all rookie players, first among NL rookies and 22nd overall.

  • Andrew Abbott of the Reds, whose 11.0 Box-Toppers points was third among all rookie players, 39th overall.

  • Hunter Brown of the Astros, whose 10.1 Box-Toppers points was fourth among all rookie players, 46th overall.

Relief pitchers

The two rookie relievers with the most 2023 Box-Toppers points were selected for the All-Rookie Team:

  • Tristan Beck of the Giants, whose 6.0 Box-Toppers points was sixth among middle relievers, 15th among all rookies and 142nd overall.

  • Ryan Pepiot of the Dodgers, whose 5.0 Box-Toppers points was ninth among middle relievers, 21st among all rookies and 175th overall.

Highest ranking players not on Box-Toppers All-Rookie Team

The highest-ranked rookie players who did not make Box-Toppers All-Rookie Team are three pitchers who each earned 8.7 Box-Toppers points, tied for sixth among all rookie players and tied for 69th overall:

The highest-ranking rookie batter who did not make Box-Toppers All-Rookie Team is Red Sox first basemen Triston Casas, whose 5.5 Box-Toppers points was 18th among all rookies, but second among rookie first basemen, behind Ryan Noda of the Athletics (6.0).

There are 468 players who were classified as rookies in 2023, according to Baseball-Reference.com. Of those, 177 earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in 2023. Of those, 87 finished the season on an American League team, 88 on a National League team and two finished the season not on a Major League roster.

There were no rookies on Box-Toppers 2023 year-end All-Star American League and National League teams.

Other all-rookie teams

Here is a look at two other all-rookie teams for 2023:

Corbin Carroll, not on Box-Toppers All-Rookie Team, was selected on both the Pipeline and Baseball Digest teams. Other notable anomalies:

  • Yainer Diaz of the Astros was selected as top rookie catcher on both teams. Diaz had just 1.5 Box-Toppers points in 2023, sixth among all rookie catchers and 89th among all rookies.

  • Josh Jung of the Rangers was selected as top rookie third basemen on the Pipeline team. His 3.5 Box-Toppers points in 2023 was fourth among rookie third basemen and 37th among all rookies.

  • Spencer Steer of the Reds was selected as designated hitter on the Pipeline team and 10th man on the Baseball Digest team. His 3.0 Box-Toppers points was 43rd among all rookies, fifth among rookie third basemen and third among rookie first basemen. (He did not qualify to rank among designated hitters.)

  • Yennier Cano of the Orioles was selected as relief pitcher on both teams. Cano had just 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, fifth among all rookie closing pitchers and 60th among all rookies.

  • Edouard Julien of the Twins was selected as Baseball Digest’s top rookie second basemen and is on the Pipeline second rookie team as a designated hitter. Julien had 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, fifth among rookie second basemen and 74th among all rookies. (He did not qualify to rank among designated hitters, as he won no Player of the Game honors at that position.)

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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