If Box-Toppers points rather than fan voting were used to determine Major League All-Star teams, you’d have very different teams, very pissed-off fans and one very stunned baseball blogger.
For example, if Box-Toppers points were used to determine All-Stars, there would be no Yasiel Puig, no Mike Trout, no Jose Bautista and no Derek Jeter in the game. And you would have players in the line-up, such as Daniel Murphy, Freddie Freeman and Erick Aybar, among others.
The All-Star Game is July 15. Online fan voting ends July 3, less than a week away.
Box-Toppers may have a different perspective on All-Stars because it tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Players only earn points if they are deemed to be Player of the Game, based on a simple box score formula.
So players such as Puig, Trout and Bautista, while they often put up impressive numbers, have not regularly been top player in games their teams have won recently. So while their fan All-Star vote may be high, their Box-Toppers point totals lately have been lower.
Another example of Box-Toppers not matching baseball’s conventional thinking is Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates. Last year, baseball writers voted him National League Most Valuable Player. But in Box-Toppers, he ranked 22nd among NL batters. However, this year, McCutchen has earned Player of the Game four times and picked up 5.0 Box-Toppers points and ranks fifth among NL batters and second among NL outfielders.
Box-Toppers looks at the All-Star team in two different ways. First, it considers players on their performance during the 2014 season. But since this season is still a small data sample, it looks at last season, too, and considers players on their performance since the start of 2013.
For example, if you look at Box-Toppers points for just this season, Chris Colabello of the Twins is the second-ranked outfielder based on his early season performance. But Colabello slumped and has been in the minors for more than a month—which does not speak well for his All-Star credentials.
But looking at player’s performance since 2013 can be misleading, too. For example, Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees leads AL outfielders since the start of 2013 with 13.9 Box-Toppers points. But 12.9 of those were earned in 2013. Despite his strong 2013, he probably would not be considered an All-Star in 2014.
But then there’s a player like Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks. He actually is leading currently in NL voting for first basemen. And in fact, in 2013, he led all NL batters in Box-Toppers points, with 13.7. But this year, while his numbers are generally good, he is playing for a bad team and has earned only 1.5 Box-Toppers points. Despite his great 2013 in Box-Toppers, he is overshadowed in the NL at first base by Freddie Freeman of the Braves. Freeman leads all NL first basemen in Box-Toppers points for both 2014 and 2013-14.
But enough prelude. Here is a look a the All-Star teams. First, it’s the Box-Toppers points leaders by position and league for 2014. Then, it’s Box-Toppers points leaders by position and league for 2013-14. And finally, a look at current All-Star vote leaders, showing their current Box-Toppers point total and their rank in Box-Toppers by position and league.
2014
Jose Abreu of the White Sox leads AL batters in Box-Toppers points. He is on the AL All-Star ballot as first baseman and not as a designated hitter, but since he has played DH this season, we will break the “rules” and put him at DH and put Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, last year’s Box-Toppers AL batting leader, at first.
In the American League, only four of the nine starters are even among the top vote-getters at their positions.
The National League is a little better—six of the eight Box-Toppers leaders for starting positions are among the All-Star voting leaders.
And though fan voters don’t get to pick pitchers, included here for both leagues are Box-Toppers leaders for starting pitchers (the top four starters) along with the top middle reliever and top closing pitcher.
Box-Toppers pick for All-Star starters based on 2014 stats? Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees for the AL and Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals for the NL.
