Postseason awards wrap-up: Box-Toppers leaders win 4 of 6 major honors in 2024

Here's how Box-Toppers points leaders fared in the six major postseason awards for 2024 as voted by the Baseball Writers Association of America. The winners of the six major awards are listed at left with the Box-Toppers points (BTP) leader in each category listed at right. Rank shows the players’ rank among all players in 2024.

Most Valuable Player
AL winner	Team	Pos	BTP	Rank		AL BTP leader	Team	Pos	BTP	Rank
Aaron Judge	Yankees	cf rf	13.0	21		Aaron Judge	Yankees	cf rf	13.0	21
NL winner	Team	Pos	BTP	Rank		NL BTP leader	Team	Pos	BTP	Rank
Shohei Ohtani	Dodgers	dh	11.0	41		Shohei Ohtani	Dodgers	dh	11.0	41
Cy Young Award
AL winner	Team	Pos	BTP	Rank		AL BTP leader	Team	Pos	BTP	Rank
Tarik Skubal	Tigers	pi sp	21.1	2		Tarik Skubal	Tigers	pi sp	21.1	2
NL winner	Team	Pos	BTP	Rank		NL BTP leader	Team	Pos	BTP	Rank
Chris Sale	Braves	pi sp	19.1	5		Zack Wheeler	Phillies	pi sp	21.4	1
Rookie of the Year
AL winner	Team	Pos	BTP	Rank		AL BTP leader	Team	Pos	BTP	Rank
Luis Gil	Yankees	pi sp	17.4	6		Luis Gil	Yankees	pi sp	17.4	6
NL winner	Team	Pos	BTP	Rank		NL BTP leader	Team	Pos	BTP	Rank
Paul Skenes	Pirates	pi sp	13.0	23		Shota Imanaga	Cubs	pi sp	20.7	4

BTP: Box-Toppers points

Box-Toppers’ choices for baseball’s major postseason player awards won four of six 2024 honors:

Box-Toppers postseason honors ballot

Here is a look at Box-Toppers’ ballot selections for the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) 2024 postseason awards. The ballot requires votes out to 10 places for Most Valuable Player in both leagues, five for Cy Young Awards and Rookie of the Year in each league, plus three for Manager of the Year and Reliever of the Year in each league.

Players are shown with their team and their Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2024.

	AL Most Valuable Player
	Player	Team	BTP
1	Aaron Judge	Yankees	13.0
2	Juan Soto	Yankees	11.0
3	Tarik Skubal	Tigers	21.1
4	Jose Ramirez	Guardians	9.9
5	Josh Naylor	Guardians	9.0
6	Bobby Witt Jr.	Royals	8.9
7	Luis Gil	Yankees	17.4
8	Ryan Mountcastle	Orioles	8.0
9	Zach Neto	Angels	8.0
10	Bryce Miller	Mariners	15.7
	NL Most Valuable Player
	Player	Team	BTP
1	Shohei Ohtani	Dodgers	11.0
2	Francisco Lindor	Mets	10.9
3	Zack Wheeler	Phillies	21.4
4	Dylan Cease	Padres	21.1
5	Willy Adames	Brewers	10.5
6	Shota Imanaga	Cubs	20.7
7	Matt Chapman	Giants	10.2
8	Brenton Doyle	Rockies	9.7
9	Chris Sale	Braves	19.1
10	Bryce Harper	Phillies	8.7
	AL Cy Young
	Player	Team	BTP
1	Tarik Skubal	Tigers	21.1
2	Luis Gil	Yankees	17.4
3	Bryce Miller	Mariners	15.7
4	George Kirby	Mariners	15.4
5	Framber Valdez	Astros	15.4
	NL Cy Young
	Player	Team	BTP
1	Zack Wheeler	Phillies	21.4
2	Dylan Cease	Padres	21.1
3	Shota Imanaga	Cubs	20.7
4	Chris Sale	Braves	19.1
5	Blake Snell	Giants	15.7
	AL Rookie of the Year
	Player	Team	BTP
1	Luis Gil	Yankees	17.4
2	Max Schuemann	Athletics	5.0
3	Colt Keith	Tigers	5.0
4	Jhonkensy Noel	Guardians	5.0
5	Wilyer Abreu	Red Sox	4.5
	NL Rookie of the Year
	Player	Team	BTP
1	Shota Imanaga	Cubs	20.7
2	Paul Skenes	Pirates	13.0
3	Jackson Chourio	Brewers	5.7
4	Jackson Merrill	Padres	5.0
5	Tobias Myers	Brewers	10.0

Box-Toppers gives batters a generous, if somewhat arbitrary, benefit of the doubt in these rankings. In cases where batters are directly compared to pitchers, Box-Toppers ranks batters as if their season Box-Toppers point total were doubled.
For example, in rankings for AL MVP, Aaron Judge ranks first with 13.0 points even though several pitchers (notably Tarik Skubal of the Tigers with 21.1) have more points. Box-Toppers arbitrarily doubles batters’ point totals in figuring these rankings, which would give Judge 26.0 points, ahead of Skubal’s 21.1.
While MVP is traditionally a batter's award, it has been awarded to pitchers either when they have a dominant season, no batters particularly rise to the occasion—or both.

• Aaron Judge of the Yankees won the American League Most Valuable Player Award.

• Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers won the National League Most Valuable Player Award.

• Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal won the AL Cy Young Award.

• Yankees pitcher Luis Gil won the AL Rookie of the Year Award.

All four led in 2024 Box-Toppers points in their respective awards categories. However, for two other awards announced last week, voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), Box-Toppers leaders were not among the winners.

Here is a summary of how Box-Toppers’ choices fared in postseason awards:

American League Most Valuable Player

Judge was unanimously voted 2024 AL MVP Thursday and was also Box-Toppers’ choice for the award.

Judge led all batters with 13.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024 and was first among AL batters and 21st among all players.

Judge led all players in 2024 in home runs (58), runs batted in (144), walks (133), on-base percentage (.458), slugging percentage (.701) and on-base plus slugging percentage (1.159).

He earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors 11 times in 2024, including winning AL Batter of the Day honors four times. (He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point for each Player of the Game honor and 0.5 bonus points for each AL Batter of the Day honor.)

Judge won AL MVP in 2022, but was second that year on Box-Toppers’ AL MVP ballot, behind Shohei Ohtani of the Angels. With Judge’s AL MVP win, it is only the fifth time in 30 seasons that the leading AL batter in Box-Toppers points won the MVP.

National League Most Valuable Player

Ohtani was unanimously voted 2024 NL MVP Thursday and was also Box-Toppers’ choice for the award.

Ohtani led NL batters with 11.0 Box-Toppers points, 41st among all players.

Award finalists

Here are finalists for the Cy Young, Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year awards to be given this month, as named by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Players are listed with their Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2024 and their Box-Toppers rank in their award category.

Cy Young finalists
AL finalists	Team	BTP	Rank*
Tarik Skubal	Tigers	21.1	1
Seth Lugo	Royals	14.1	7
Emmanuel Clase	Guardians	4.0	70
NL finalists	Team	BTP	Rank*
Zack Wheeler	Phillies	21.4	1
Chris Sale	Braves	19.1	4
Paul Skenes	Pirates	13.0	10
Most Valuable Player Awards finalists
AL finalists	Team	BTP	Rank*
Aaron Judge	Yankees	13.0	1
Juan Soto	Yankees	11.0	2
Bobby Witt Jr.	Royals	8.9	5
NL finalists	Team	BTP	Rank*
Shohei Ohtani	Dodgers	11.0	1
Francisco Lindor	Mets	10.9	2
Ketel Marte	D-backs	7.0	12
Rookie of the Year finalists
AL finalists	Team	BTP	Rank†
Luis Gil	Yankees	17.4	1
Colton Cowser	Orioles	2.5	23
Austin Wells	Yankees	2.5	24
NL finalists	Team	BTP	Rank†
Paul Skenes	Pirates	13.0	2
Jackson Chourio	Brewers	5.7	12
Jackson Merrill	Padres	5.0	14
**Shota Imanaga	Cubs	20.7	1

BTP—Box-Toppers points
* Rank shows a player’s rank among potential players eligible for the award. For example, AL Cy Young finalists are ranked among AL pitchers, AL MVP finalists are ranked among AL batters.
** Player led the league category in Box-Toppers points but is not among the three finalists for the award.
† Rookie of the Year candidates are ranked among their league’s rookies in Box‑Toppers points. However, for awards in which batters and pitchers directly compete, such as Rookie of the Year, we adjust the batters’ total (doubling it) to make them more competitive.

Despite Ohtani’s 50-home-run, 50-stolen-base season making him the favorite for NL Most Valuable Player, his Box-Toppers point total didn’t reflect that until almost the end of the season. Box-Toppers Daily Scorecard post covering the games of Sept. 27, when Ohtani took the lead among NL batters, chronicles his rise in rankings from Aug. 30 onward, when he earned 7.0 of his 11.0 points for the season. Ohtani was not even ranked among the top 10 NL batters in Box-Toppers points until Sept. 19.

Ohtani led all players in runs (134) and total bases (411) and led NL batters in home runs (54), runs batted in (130), on-base percentage (.390), slugging percentage (.546) and on-base plus slugging percentage (1.036). He was second among NL players in stolen bases (59) and batting average (.310).

He earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors 10 times in 2024, including winning NL Batter of the Day honors twice. In a year in which he did not also pitch (after undergoing elbow surgery a year ago), his Box-Toppers point total was lower than it was in his three previous seasons with the Angels.

Ohtani won AL MVP with the Angels in 2021 and 2023. In 2021, Box-Toppers’ choice for the award was Jose Ramirez of Cleveland. Ohtani was our choice in 2022 when Judge won. And in 2023, Ohtani was both Box-Toppers’ choice and the actual award winner.

American League Cy Young Award

Skubal was unanimously voted 2024 AL Cy Young Award winner Wednesday and was also Box-Toppers’ choice for the award.

His 21.1 Box-Toppers points was first among AL pitchers and second among all players, behind Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler’s 21.4.

It is his first Cy Young Award in his best season. His previous best seasons were 2022 and 2023 with the Tigers when he earned 10.7 Box-Toppers points each season. He ranked 23rd among AL pitchers in 2022 and 19th among AL pitchers in 2023.

Skubal led all pitchers in wins (18) and strikeouts (228). He led AL pitchers in earned run average (2.39).

Skubal won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors 15 times during the regular season, including winning overall Player of the Day honors four times and earning AL Player of the Day honors three times. He earned 1.0 point for each Player of the Game honor, 1.0 bonus point for each Player of the Day and 0.7 bonus points for each AL Player of the Day honor. (He also won Player of the Game honors twice in the postseason, but no Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games, plus voting on awards happens before the playoffs begin.)

National League Cy Young Award

Braves pitcher Chris Sale was voted NL Cy Young Award winner Wednesday over 2024 overall Box-Toppers points leader, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler.

Wheeler, who led all players with 21.4 Box-Toppers points, finished second in NL Cy Young voting. Sale, the NL winner, ranked fourth among NL pitchers with 19.1 Box-Toppers points.

Sale won the NL pitching Triple Crown in 2024 by leading in wins (18), earned run average (2.38) and strikeouts (225).

This is Sale’s first Cy Young Award, however, his 2024 Box-Toppers point total is his third-highest single-season total. Sale was 2017 Box-Toppers Player of the Year, leading all players with 25.1 Box-Toppers points when he was with the Red Sox, a season in which he was Box-Toppers’ pick for the AL Cy Young Award, ahead of winner Corey Kluber of Cleveland, whose 22.0 points was second among AL pitchers that season.

Sale also had 20.1 Box-Toppers points in 2018 with the Red Sox, fourth among AL pitchers. He finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting that season.

After recording seven straight seasons with 15.0 or more Box-Toppers points from 2012 to 2018, Sale slipped to 11.0 points in 2019 with the Red Sox, struggling with left shoulder inflammation in the second half of the season that put him on the injured list. He further struggled with injury, including undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2020, recording no points in 2020, 2.0 in 2021 and 0.0 again in 2022 before rebounding to 8.7 in 2023. After being traded from the Red Sox to the Braves for 2024, Sale recorded his highest Box-Toppers point total since 2018. His 10.4-point gain from 2023 to 2024 is the 10th-largest among all non-rookie players.

Injuries down the stretch in 2024 also prevented Sale from starting after Sept. 19. Had he made two more starts, he could have had as many as 23.1 Box-Toppers points for the season, passing Wheeler’s 21.4 for the overall lead.

American League Rookie of the Year

Yankees pitcher Luis Gil, Box-Toppers’ choice for 2024 American League Rookie of the Year, was also voted winner of the honor by baseball writers Monday.

He earned 17.4 Box-Toppers points in 2024, first among AL rookies, second among AL pitchers and sixth among all players.

While Gil was Box-Toppers’ runaway winner for top AL rookie—no other rookie had even one-third of Gil’s point total—baseball writers saw it as a much closer race, with Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser claiming second place with nearly as many first-place votes (13 vs. 15) and finishing only five voting points behind Gil. (Cowser earned 2.5 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 23rd among AL rookies and 87th among AL batters.)

Gil got off to a hot start but struggled in the second half of the season, earning only 4.0 of his 17.4 points after June 4. Voters often discount players who slump in the second half of the season no matter how consequential they were in the first half. Gil did so well in those first two months of the season that Box-Toppers even had him in second-place on our AL Cy Young Award ballot. But Gil received no AL Cy Young votes—despite his dominating start.

National League Rookie of the Year

Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes was voted NL Rookie of the Year over Box-Toppers’ top-ranked NL rookie Shota Imanaga.

Skenes earned 13.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, second among NL rookies, 10th among NL pitchers and 23rd among all players. Box-Toppers voted him second on its NL rookie ballot.

Box-Toppers’ choice for the award, Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga, finished fourth in NL rookie voting. Imanaga led NL rookies with 20.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, fourth among all players and third among NL pitchers.

Some voters might have been reluctant to vote for Imanaga as the top rookie since he is 31 years old and spent eight seasons pitching in Japan’s professional league. But he is new to the Major Leagues and is technically a rookie.

Skenes got off to a slower start in 2024, starting the season in the minor leagues and did not make his Major League debut until May 11, by which point Imanaga already had earned 7.7 Box-Toppers points. From the time of Skenes’ Box-Toppers debut (May 17), both pitchers earned the same Box-Toppers point total for the remainder of the season—13.0.

Box-Toppers leaders closer than ever to going 4-for-4 in major awards?

Among those six awards, Box-Toppers leaders were four-for-six in coinciding with baseball writers’ choices.

Box-Toppers points leaders have never won all four major postseason awards—both league’s MVP and Cy Young Awards—since tracking began in 1995, an imperfect streak that now extends to 30 straight seasons.

While Judge and Ohtani won the MVPs and Skubal won the AL Cy Young, the NL Cy Young went to Sale over Box-Toppers’ NL pitching leader Wheeler.

With three of four Box-Toppers leaders winning postseason awards, 2024 was just the fifth time since tracking began in 1995 that three of the four Box-Toppers points leaders won postseason awards. The others were 1997, 2009, 2013 and 2022.

Of the five times that three of four Box-Toppers leaders won awards, 2024 was perhaps the closest Box-Toppers and baseball writers were to coinciding: In the NL Cy Young vote, Wheeler finished second while NL Cy Young winner Sale finished fourth among NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points. Here are the previous four times three of four Box-Toppers leaders won awards:

• 1997: Roger Clemens of the Blue Jays won AL Cy Young, Pedro Martinez of the Expos won NL Cy Young and Larry Walker of the Rockies won NL MVP. (AL batting Box-Toppers points leader Juan Gonzalez of the Rangers—16.3 Box-Toppers points—finished ninth in AL MVP voting. Ken Griffey Jr. of the Mariners—second among AL batters with 15.3 Box-Toppers points—was AL MVP.)

• 2009: Zack Greinke of the Royals won AL Cy Young, Tim Lincecum of the Giants won NL Cy Young and Albert Pujols of the Cardinals won NL MVP. (AL batting Box-Toppers points leader Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers—16.5 Box-Toppers points—finished fourth in AL MVP voting. Joe Mauer of the Twins—12th among AL batters with 9.2 Box-Toppers points—was AL MVP.)

• 2013: Max Scherzer of the Tigers won AL Cy Young, Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers won NL Cy Young and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers won AL MVP. (NL batting Box-Toppers points leader Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks—13.7 Box-Toppers points—finished second in NL MVP voting. Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates—who finished 22nd among NL batters with 6.0 Box-Toppers points—was NL MVP.)

• 2022: Justin Verlander of the Astros won AL Cy Young, Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins won NL Cy Young and Aaron Judge of the Yankees won AL MVP. (NL batting Box-Toppers points leader Pete Alonso of the Mets—14.9 points—finished eighth in NL MVP voting. Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals—seventh among NL batters with 7.5 points—was NL MVP.)

Ten times in the past 30 seasons, two of the leaders in Box-Toppers points categories also won the four major postseason awards.

Eleven times, including 2023, only one of the Box-Toppers category leaders won one of the four major postseason award. (AL batting Box-Toppers points leader Shohei Ohtani of the Angels also won AL MVP.)

And only four times have all four Box-Toppers category leaders failed to win any of the major postseason awards—2003, 2012, 2019 and 2021.

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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• Box-Toppers 2024 player rankings leaders

• A Box-Toppers look at postseason awards—For 1st time in 30 years, our picks may win

• Box-Toppers points leaders are finalists in 5 of 6 major postseason player awards

• Box-Toppers’ top AL rookie Gil wins AL Rookie of Year; top NL rookie Imanaga finishes 4th

• Cy Young results: Box-Toppers leader Skubal wins AL award, Sale tops Wheeler in NL

• Box-Toppers batting leaders Judge, Ohtani win Most Valuable Player awards

• Box-Toppers awards wrap-ups from previous seasons: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014