Yankees’ Cole tops players Thursday, Sept. 26, rising to 18th on B-T career points list

Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Cole struck out five over 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 10-1 win over the Orioles.

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Reds’ Martinez tops players Friday, Sept. 20; Ohtani earns 3rd top player honor in 6 days

Reds pitcher Nick Martinez is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers earns Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second straight day and third time in the past week, rising to fifth place among National League batters in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

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Yankees’ Cole tops players Friday, Aug. 16; Brewers’ Civale tops NL players

Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Cole struck out eight over six scoreless innnings, allowing four hits and two walks, in the 3-0 win over the Tigers.

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Padres’ Cease tops players Thursday, July 25, with no-hitter, increasing his rankings lead

Padres pitcher Dylan Cease is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, pitching a no-hitter and increasing his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

Cease allowed no hits in a complete game shutout, striking out nine and allowing three walks in the 3-0 win over the Nationals. He threw 114 pitches.

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Royals’ Wacha tops players Friday, July 19; Guardians’ Bibee rises to 5th in rankings

Royals pitcher Michael Wacha is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Guardians pitcher Tanner Bibee rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

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Rays’ Bradley tops players Friday, July 12; Reds’ Hinds tops NL players in B-T debut

Rays pitcher Taj Bradley is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Bradley struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and two walks, in the 2-0 win over the Guardians.

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Rays’ Bradley tops players for Sunday, June 30; Brewers’ Peralta tops NL players

Rays pitcher Taj Bradley is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole extended his streak of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points to 12 after winning his first Player of the Game honor of 2024.

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Twins’ López tops players for Sunday, June 23; Mets’ Severino tops NL players

Twins pitcher Pablo Lopez is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer has now earned Box-Toppers points in 16 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2024.

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Marlins’ Garrett tops players for Friday, May 24; Guaridans’ Ramirez tops AL players

Marlins pitcher Braxton Garrett is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, pitching a complete game, four-hit shutout.

Also Friday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander now has 247.0 career Box-Toppers points—fourth-most since 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Christian Yelich of the Brewers has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons.

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Twins’ Ober tops players for Sunday, May 12; Royals’ Lugo rises to lead AL pitchers

Twins pitcher Bailey Ober is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Royals pitcher Seth Lugo rises to first place among American League pitchers (fifth overall) after earning Player of the Game honors. In addition, Cardinals closing pitcher Ryan Helsley rises to ninth place in season player rankings.

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Shohei Ohtani leads players in Box-Toppers points over past 2 seasons (2022-23)

Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani has more Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons than any other player.

Ohtani has earned 44.1 Box-Toppers points over 2022 and 2023. He ranked second among all players in 2022 with 24.7 Box-Toppers points and third among all players in 2023 with 19.4 points.

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A look at Box-Toppers season-by-season AL & NL pitching & batting leaders, 1995-2023

Analyzing 29 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching and batting in both leagues.

In 2023, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, American League Most Valuable Player, was the only player who won a major postseason award and also led his Box-Toppers category (leading AL batters with 19.4). Also, Pete Alonso of the Mets became the ninth batter since 1995 to lead his league’s batters in Box-Toppers points more than once, leading NL batters for the second straight season.

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Box-Toppers’ big dippers—players whose 2023 point total declined most from 2022: Carlos Rodon leads list

Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodon had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2022 to 2023.

Rodon had 19.8 Box-Toppers points in 2022 with the Giants, sixth among all players and third among National League pitchers. But moving to the Yankees in 2023, he earned only 1.0 Box-Toppers point. That 18.8-point decline was the biggest among all players.

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Can Shohei Ohtani continue his lofty, Angelic Box-Toppers rankings with Dodgers?

Shohei Ohtani, who signed a record free-agent deal with the Dodgers, has consistently been among Box-Toppers' highest-ranking players over the past three seasons.

However, his second surgery to repair his pitching elbow's ulnar collateral ligament, raises concerns about his future effectiveness. A Box-Toppers look at Ohtani’s career and the mixed outcomes of pitchers with a second elbow surgery.

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Luzardo leads Box-Toppers most improved list; 2 others win B-T Comeback Player

While Marlins pitcher Jesus Luzardo is Box-Toppers’ most improved player in 2023, our choices for Comeback Players of the Year are Eduardo Rodriguez of the Tigers and Jason Heyward of the Dodgers.

Meanwhile, the consensus choices for Comeback Players of the Year—Cody Bellinger and Liam Hendriks—did not rank very highly among Box-Toppers most improved players in 2023.

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Box-Toppers’ MVP Awards: Ohtani reigns over AL; Alonso edges Acuña in NL

Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, favorite for American League Most Valuable Player, is also Box-Toppers’ choice for the award. But Box-Toppers’ choice for NL MVP, Pete Alonso of the Mets, is not among the finalists for the award, expected to go to Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves, who is second on Box-Toppers’ NL MVP ballot.

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