The Philadelphia Phillies lead Box-Toppers team rankings for the 13th straight week.
Meanwhile, the Baltimore Orioles continue to lead American League teams and the Arizona Diamondbacks are the hottest team of the week.
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The Philadelphia Phillies lead Box-Toppers team rankings for the 13th straight week.
Meanwhile, the Baltimore Orioles continue to lead American League teams and the Arizona Diamondbacks are the hottest team of the week.
Read MorePadres pitcher Dinelson Lamet had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2020 to 2021.
Lamet, who earned 9.0 Box-Toppers points in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season (fifth among all players and third among National League pitchers), earned 2.0 points in 2021. After a stellar 2020 season, he battled injury early in 2021, struggled and went from a starter to a bullpen pitcher.
Read MoreHere is a detailed look at Box-Toppers point leaders for 2021.
The chart accompanying this post shows points leaders for the season by several different categories and classifications,
Read MoreThe Los Angeles Dodgers are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2021 preseason rankings. They also ended 2020 as Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team and World Series champions.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Chicago Cubs saw the biggest decline.
Read MoreIndians pitcher Shane Bieber, who led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2020, also led all pitchers in strikeouts during the season.
Ten of the top 11 strikeouts leaders were also among the top 14 overall players in Box-Toppers points in 2020.
Read MoreThe two pitchers with the most wins in 2020 were also among the top three in Box-Toppers points for the season.
Shane Bieber of the Indians and Yu Darvish of the Cubs both had eight wins in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, most among all pitchers. Bieber had 11.4 Box-Toppers points, most of all players and Darvish had 9.7 points, third-most and second among National League pitchers.
Read MoreThe two pitchers with the lowest earned run averages in 2020—Shane Bieber and Trevor Bauer—were also Box-Toppers’ two top-ranked players for the season.
In fact, six of the seven ERA leaders for 2020 rank among the top 10 overall players in Box-Toppers points for the season.
Read MoreSelections for Major League Baseball’s 2020 “All-MLB” teams announced this past week rarely coincided with the season’s Box-Toppers points leaders.
Only one All-MLB First Team batter was among the Box-Toppers points leaders at his position—Marcell Ozuna of the Braves led all designated hitters with 4.5 Box-Toppers points. However, three of the four All-MLB First Team starting pitchers were also among the top three players in Box-Toppers points for 2020—Shane Bieber of the Indians (11.4), Trevor Bauer of the Reds (10.0) and Yu Darvish of the Cubs (9.7).
Read MoreBrewers pitcher Corbin Burnes had the biggest gain in Box-Toppers point totals from 2019 to 2020.
Burnes earned 7.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020 after earning no points in 2019. Burnes had earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points in his 2018 rookie season.
Read MoreBox-Toppers’ two top-ranked pitchers in 2020 won this season’s Cy Young Awards.
Shane Bieber of the Indians, who led all American League players with 11.4 Box-Toppers points, was named Cy Young winner in the AL. And Trevor Bauer of the Reds, who led all National League players with 10.0 Box-Toppers points, was named winner in the NL.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers All-Star teams for 2020 seems incomplete. So for added context, Box-Toppers is also looking at the All-Star teams over the past two seasons, 2019-20.
Read MoreBoth National League Division Series begin Tuesday.
The Miami Marlins face the Atlanta Braves in one best-of-five game series and the San Diego Padres take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the other series.
Read MoreBox-Toppers has cast votes for postseason honors for Shane Bieber, Luke Voit and for Trevor Bauer—twice.
I have cast my vote in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) for Reds pitcher Bauer to be both National League Cy Young Award winner and NL Most Valuable Player.
Read MoreReds pitcher Trevor Bauer is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to second place in season player rankings.
Also Tuesday, Indians pitcher Shane Bieber increased his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors and seems to have an insurmountable lead to be Box-Toppers’ 2020 Player of the Year.
In addition, two other players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earn Player of the Game honors Tuesday—Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda rises to seventh place and Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow rises to eighth place.
Read MoreIndians pitcher Carlos Carrasco is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Padres pitcher Dinelson Lamet rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Read MorePadres pitcher Dinelson Lamet is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Also Monday, Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MorePadres pitcher Dinelson Lamet is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Lamet struck out 11 over 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing six hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Rockies. Lamet did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Read MorePadres pitcher Dinelson Lamet is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Braves pitcher Max Fried rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MorePadres pitcher Dinelson Lamet is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Lamet struck out 12 over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and four walks, in the 9-4 win over the Mariners.
Read MoreBox-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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.