| Award | Winner | Team | BTP | Rank* | BTP leader | Team | BTP | Rank* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player of the Year | Aaron Judge | Yankees | 13.0 | 21 | Aaron Judge | Yankees | 13.0 | 21§ |
| AL Outstanding Player | Aaron Judge | Yankees | 13.0 | 1 | Aaron Judge | Yankees | 13.0 | 1 |
| NL Outstanding Player | Shohei Ohtani | Dodger | 11.0 | 1 | Shohei Ohtani | Dodger | 11.0 | 1 |
| AL Outstanding Pitcher | Tarik Skubal | Tigers | 21.1 | 1 | Tarik Skubal | Tigers | 21.1 | 1 |
| NL Outstanding Pitcher | Chris Sale | Braves | 19.1 | 4 | Zack Wheeler | Phillies | 21.4 | 1 |
| AL Outstanding Rookie | Colton Cowser | Orioles | 2.5 | 23† | Luis Gil | Yankees | 17.4 | 1† |
| NL Outstanding Rookie | Jackson Merrill | Padres | 5.0 | 14† | Shota Imanaga | Cubs | 20.7 | 1† |
| AL Comeback Player | Tyler O’Neill | Red Sox | 4.2 | 42** | Nestor Cortes | Yankees | 15.4 | 2** |
| NL Comeback Player | Chris Sale | Braves | 19.1 | 6** | Reynaldo López | Braves | 12.8 | 3** |
* Rank is shown based on the overall group the player is compared against. For example, Aaron Judge ranks 21th among all players, but ranks first among all AL batters.
§ While Judge ranks 21st among all players, he has the highest adjusted Box-Toppers point total among all players. In cases in which pitchers and batters compete for the same award, Box-Toppers arbitrarily doubles the point totals of batters. When doubled, Judge’s 13.0 points becomes 26.0, more than the highest-ranked pitcher, Zack Wheeler of the Phillies (21.4).
† Rookie players are ranked among their league’s players with rookie status in 2024.
** For Comeback Player, ranks shown are among each league’s most improved players in Box-Toppers point total from 2023 to 2024. Neither Cortes nor López rank first among players with the biggest increases in Box-Toppers points, but both are their league’s top non-rookie among most improved players.
Three Box-Toppers category leaders also won Players Choice Awards for 2024 as voted by the players’ union:
Aaron Judge of the Yankees was voted American League Outstanding Player and also was Box-Toppers’ choice as AL Most Valuable Player. His 13.0 Box-Toppers points was 21st overall and first among AL batters.
Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers was voted National League Outstanding Player and was also Box-Toppers’ choice as NL Most Valuable Player. His 11.0 Box-Toppers points was 41st overall and first among NL batters.
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal was voted AL Outstanding Pitcher and also was Box-Toppers’ choice as NL Cy Young Award winner. His 21.1 Box-Toppers points was second overall and first among AL pitchers.
In addition, the players’ union also named Judge as overall Player of the Year, a choice that would also coincide with Box-Toppers’ selection. Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler led all players with 21.4 Box-Toppers points in 2024. But when comparing pitchers with batters, we arbitrarily double batters’ points to make them more competitive with pitchers. That would give Judge an adjusted total of 26.0, ahead of Wheeler’s 21.4. (Wheeler would rank fifth among all players in adjusted point totals, behind Judge, Ohtani and two other batters.)
Here is a look at this year’s Players Choice Award winners (presented by the Major League Baseball Players Association) in nine categories and the Box-Toppers points leader in each category:
Player of the Year, AL Outstanding Player
Judge was voted Player of the Year for the season in which he led all batters with 58 home runs, 144 runs batted in, a .701 slugging percentage and a 1.159 on-base plus slugging percentage.
Judge’s 13.0 Box-Toppers points was 21st overall and first among AL batters.
His batter-adjusted Box-Toppers point total (arbitrarily doubled) puts him over the top as Player of the Year. Here are the top-ranked players for 2024 based on batter-adjusted point totals:
Judge, 13.0 Box-Toppers points (adjusted to 26.0).
Ohtani, 11.0 (adjusted to 22.0).
Juan Soto of the Yankees, 11.0 (22.0).
Francisco Lindor of the Mets, 10.9 (21.8).
Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, 21.4.
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal, 21.1.
Padres pitcher Dylan Cease, 21.1.
Willy Adames of the Brewers, 10.5 (21.0).
Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga, 20.7.
Matt Chapman of the Giants, 10.2 (20.4).
Judge was also AL Outstanding Player, an award reserved for batters. His 13.0 Box-Toppers points led all batters and all AL batters ahead of teammate Soto (11.0), who finished second. Judge was also voted AL Most Valuable Player.
This is the second time Judge has been both Player of the Year and Outstanding AL Player. He also did it in 2022. He was Outstanding AL Rookie in 2017.
NL Outstanding Player
Award-winner Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers also led NL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2024 with 11.0. He was also voted NL Most Valuable Player.
Ohtani’s 11.0 Box-Toppers points ranked 41st among all players and second among all batters, behind Judge.
Despite Ohtani’s 50-home-run, 50-stolen-base season making him the favorite for NL MVP much of the season, 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).
Ohtani was Player of the Year in 2021 and was AL Outstanding Player in 2021 and 2023 when he was with the Angels.
AL Outstanding Pitcher
Award-winner Tarik Skubal of the Tigers also ranked first among AL pitchers with 21.1 Box-Toppers points, second-most overall. Skubal also won the 2024 AL Cy Young Award.
Skubal led all pitchers in wins (18) and strikeouts (228). He led AL pitchers in earned run average (2.39).
In Box-Toppers rankings, Skubal finished ahead of second-place AL pitcher Luis Gil of the Yankees (17.4).
NL Outstanding Pitcher
Braves pitcher Chris Sale won the Players Choice Award but finished fourth among NL pitchers with 19.1 Box-Toppers points. Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler led NL pitchers—and all players—with 21.4 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). He also won the NL Cy Young Award.
But Sale finished behind Wheeler and two other NL pitchers in 2024 Box-Toppers points:
Dylan Cease of the Padres, 21.1 Box-Toppers points.
Shota Imanaga of the Cubs, 20.7 Box-Toppers points.
Injuries down the stretch in 2024 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.
AL Outstanding Rookie
Colton Cowser of the Orioles won the Players Choice Award but was not among Box-Toppers top AL rookies in 2024. His 2.5 Box-Toppers points was 23rd among all AL players with rookie status in 2024, eighth among AL rookie batters.
Box-Toppers’ choice for the award is Yankees pitcher Luis Gil, whose 17.4 Box-Toppers points led AL rookies, ranked sixth overall and second among all AL pitchers. 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.
Gil also won the 2024 AL Rookie of the Year award with Cowser finishing second in voting.
NL Outstanding Rookie
Jackson Merrill of the Padres won the Players Choice Award but was not among Box-Toppers top NL rookies in 2024. His 5.0 Box-Toppers points was 14th among all NL players with rookie status in 2024, second among NL rookie batters.
Box-Toppers’ choice for the award is Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga, whose 20.7 Box-Toppers points was first among NL players with rookie status, fourth among all players and third among all 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.
Merrill finished second in 2024 NL Rookie of the Year voting while Imanaga finished fourth. Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes won NL Rookie of the Year. His 13.0 Box-Toppers points was second among NL rookies, behind Imanaga.
AL Comeback Player
Tyler O'Neill of the Red Sox won the Players Choice Award, but Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes is Box-Toppers’ choice for AL Comeback Player.
O’Neill had a gain of 4.2 Box-Toppers points, earning 0.0 in 2023 with the Cardinals and 4.2 in 2024 with the Red Sox, which was the 11th-biggest gain among AL batters. O’Neill was limited to 72 games in 2023, spending time on the injured list with a lower back strain. He played in 113 games in 2024.
But Cortes had the biggest Box-Toppers points improvement among non-rookie AL players. He earned 15.4 Box-Toppers points in 2024, sixth among AL pitchers, after earning 2.0 in 2023. That 13.4-point gain from 2023 to 2024 ranked third among season-to-season improvements, most among non-rookies, trailing Cubs pitcher Shota Imagana (+20.7) and Yankees pitcher Luis Gil (+17.4), both rookies.
Cortes spent time on the injured list in 2023 with a left rotator cuff strain, limiting him to 12 games. He bounced back to pitch 31 games in 2024, matching his single-season high of 15.4 Box-Toppers points he recorded in 2022 with the Yankees, when he ranked ninth among AL pitchers.
Cortes ranked eighth on the 2023 Box-Toppers Big Dippers list, players whose Box-Toppers point total declined the most from 2022 to 2023. Cortes had a 13.4-point decline from 15.4 in 2022 to 2.0 in 2023.
NL Comeback Player
Braves pitcher Chris Sale won the Players Choice Award but his teammate Reynaldo López is Box-Toppers choice for the award.
Sale made a strong case for comeback player. He earned 19.1 Box-Toppers points in 2024 with the Braves, fifth overall and fourth among NL pitchers. He earned 8.7 points in 2023 with the Red Sox. His 10.4-point gain from 2023 was 13th-highest among all players, sixth among NL players, fourth among NL non-rookies.
But López earned 12.8 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 11th among NL pitchers, after earning 1.0 point in 2023 with the White Sox, Angels and Guardians. That 11.8-point gain from 2023 to 2024 is fifth-biggest among all players, third among all NL players and first among all NL non-rookies.
Both Sale and López experienced a resurgence of previous success after several subpar seasons.
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 Bluesky or Twitter (X).
Your support via Buy Me a Coffee keeps Box-Toppers percolating. Thanks for your contributions!
Related
A look at Box-Toppers’ leaders for postseason awards, plus an award finalist overview
Awards wrap-up: Box-Toppers leaders win 4 of 6 major postseason honors in 2024