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Tarik Skubal of the Tigers, left, who led American League pitchers in Box-Toppers points, was named AL Cy Young Award winner. Chris Sale of the Braves, middle, who was voted National League Cy Young winner, finished fourth among NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points. Zack Wheeler of the Phillies, right, who led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2024, finished second in NL Cy Young voting.
One of two Box-Toppers season pitching leaders won their league’s 2024 Cy Young Award while the other fell just short.
Tarik Skubal of the Tigers, who led American League pitchers with 21.1 Box-Toppers points, won the AL Cy Young Award. However, Chris Sale of the Braves won the National League Cy Young Award ahead of Zack Wheeler of the Phillies, the overall season leader in Box-Toppers points.
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Box-Toppers’ top NL relief pitcher Ryan Helsley of the Cardinals wins 2024 NL Reliever of the Year. Emmanuel Clase of the Guardians wins AL Reliever of the Year ahead of Box-Toppers’ top AL reliever Josh Hader of the Astros.
Ryan Helsley of the Cardinals, who led NL relievers with 12.0 Box-Toppers points, won the NL award. But Emmanuel Clase of the Guardians won the AL award, ahead of Box-Toppers’ top AL reliever, Josh Hader of the Astros.
Hader led AL closers with 11.0 Box-Toppers points while Clase earned 4.0 points, eighth among AL closers. Clase did, however, lead AL closers with 47 saves in 2024. Hader had 34 saves in 2024, second-most in the AL.
Read MoreSeven Box-Toppers points leaders are among players selected for 2024’s 16-member “All-MLB” Team announced Thursday.
Three other Box-Toppers leaders were chosen for the “All-MLB” Second Team.
The All-MLB team was selected with half the vote coming from fans and half coming from an expert panel. Unlike the selections for baseball’s All-Star Game, players on not selected based on their affiliation with American League or National League. Rather, all players are chosen from all Major League Baseball regardless of league as “First Team” or “Second Team” players.
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In five of the six major postseason player awards, the 2024 Box-Toppers points leader for each honor is among the finalists announced by baseball writers Monday.
Here are the five awards for which Box-Toppers top-ranked players are among the finalists:
American League Cy Young Award—Tarik Skubal of the Tigers.
National League Cy Young Award—Zack Wheeler of the Phillies.
AL Most Valuable Player—Aaron Judge of the Yankees.
NL Most Valuable Player—Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers.
AL Rookie of the Year—Luis Gil of the Yankees.
Box-Toppers points leaders have never won all four major postseason awards since tracking began in 1995.
But this year, in the 30th season of tracking, there is a chance that the four Box-Toppers points category leaders (both league’s batters and pitchers) may win the four major awards (both league’s Most Valuable Player and Cy Young awards).
Read MorePete Alonso of the Mets and Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Friday’s two League Championship Series games.
In the National League, the New York Mets extend their best-of-seven-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, now trailing 3-2. In the American League, the New York Yankees take a 3-1 lead in their best-of—seven game series against the Cleveland Guardians.
Read MoreThe New York Yankees, Box-Toppers’ top-ranked American League team and the top seed among AL teams in the postseason, are favored over the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Championship Series.
The Yankees have the edge in overall Box-Toppers points and in starting and relief pitchers. However, the Guardians hold a surprising edge among the likely starting nine batters.
Read MoreLane Thomas of the Guardians is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s American League Division Series Game 5.
The Cleveland Guardians win the series in five games, 3-2, advancing to the AL Championship Series and eliminating the Detroit Tigers.
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Source: MLB.com
Both American League Division Series begin Saturday.
The Detroit Tigers face the Cleveland Guardians in one best-of-five game series and the Kansas City Royals face the New York Yankees in the other. The top two AL seeds, the Yankees (first) and the Guardians (second) received byes from the first round of playoffs and face the winners of the best-of-three Wild Card series played this week.
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Box-Toppers picks the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the 2024 World Series, beating the predicted American League champion Houston Astros.
Box-Toppers projects the Dodgers will have the most wins among all teams—103—and will be one of three teams with 99 or more wins, along with the Astros and the Atlanta Braves.
Read MoreOnly four Box-Toppers points leaders are among players selected for 2023’s 16-member “All-MLB” team announced this month. Three other Box-Toppers leaders were chosen for the “All-MLB” Second Team.
The All-MLB team players are not selected based on their affiliation with American League or National League. Rather, all players are chosen regardless of league as “First Team” or “Second Team” players.
Read MoreBox-Toppers’ top-ranked relief pitchers in both leagues were named 2023 Relievers of the Year by Major League Baseball.
Felix Bautista of the Orioles, who led American League relievers with 11.0 Box-Toppers points, won the AL award and Devin Williams of the Brewers, who led National League relievers with 8.0 Box-Toppers points, won the NL award.
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Box-Toppers choices for major postseason awards: AL MVP—Shohei Ohtani, Angels; NL MVP—Pete Alonso, Mets; AL Cy Young—Chris Bassitt, Blue Jays; NL Cy Young—Spencer Strider, Braves; AL Rookie of the Year—Gunnar Henderson, Orioles; NL Rookie of the Year—James Outman, Dodgers.
You’re going to hate Box-Toppers’ choices for postseason player honors.
That’s the impression I get from listening to and reading baseball commentators who by August were already declaring players as not even de facto but actual “don’t-argue-with-me-because-I’m-right-and-there’s-clearly-no-dispute” award winners.
Read MoreEdwin Diaz of the Mets and Emmanuel Clase of the Guardians were named 2022 Relievers of the Year by Major League Baseball Tuesday.
Diaz, the winner in the National League, ranked second among all NL closing pitchers with 7.0 Box-Toppers points. But Clase, winner in the American League, ranked far outside the top three AL closers—in 24th place—with 2.0 Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreSeven Box-Toppers points leaders are among players selected for 2022’s 16-member “All-MLB” team announced Tuesday.
One other Box-Toppers leader was chosen for the “All-MLB” Second Team.
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Box-Toppers’ choices for major postseason awards: American League Most Valuable Player—Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, National League Most Valuable Player—Pete Alonso of the Mets, AL Cy Young Award—Justin Verlander of the Astros and NL Cy Young Award—Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins.
Aaron Judge of the Yankees is Box-Toppers’ top-ranked American League batter in 2022. But Shohei Ohtani of the Angels is Box-Toppers’ choice for AL Most Valuable Player.
Box-Toppers cast votes for postseason honors for Ohtani, Justin Verlander, Sandy Alcantara and Pete Alonso, among others, in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) balloting, completed at the end of the regular season, prior to the start of postseason play.
Read MorePhillies pitcher Aaron Nola tops players in Friday’s three league division series playoff games.
Other Player of the Game winners in Friday’s league division series games: Padres closing pitcher Josh Hader and Guardians closing pitcher Emmanuel Clase.
Read MoreEmmanuel Clase of the Guardians is Box-Toppers 2022 All-Star Game Player of the Game.
Clase struck out three in a scoreless ninth inning, allowing no hits or walks, earning the save, in the American League’s 3-2 win Tuesday over the National League.
Read MoreAngels pitcher Andrew Heaney is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Nelson Cruz of the Twins regains the lead in 2019 Box-Toppers points among American League batters after earning AL Batter of the Day honors.
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.