Blog
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole leads players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2019.
Cole has 104.1 Box-Toppers points over the period 2019-24, 22.5 points ahead of second-ranked player, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, who has 81.6 over that span.
Read More
Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler has more Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons than any other player.
Wheeler earned 36.1 Box-Toppers points over 2023 and 2024. He ranked 11th among all players in 2022 with 14.7 Box-Toppers points and first among all players in 2024 with 21.4 points. Wheeler ranked fifth among National League pitchers in 2023 and led NL pitchers in 2024.
Read More
The Los Angeles Dodgers are Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team going into 2025 but with player injuries factored in, the New York Mets hold the overall edge.
The current 2025 roster of last year’s World Series champion Dodgers accumulated 118.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, most of any team. However, with several players injured and expected to miss time in 2025, their injury-adjusted Box-Toppers point total drops to 106.7, fifth among all teams.
Read More
Braves pitcher Spencer Strider had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2023 to 2024.
Strider led all players in 2023 with 21.1 Box-Toppers points but earned just 1.0 point in 2024, a 20.1-point decline, which is also the fifth-largest decline (in regular-length seasons) since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
Read More
Box-Toppers’ choices for baseball’s major postseason player awards won four of six 2024 honors:
Aaron Judge of the Yankees won the American League Most Valuable Player Award.
Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers won the National League Most Valuable Player Award.
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal won the AL Cy Young Award.
Yankees pitcher Luis Gil won the AL Rookie of the Year Award.
The Los Angeles Dodgers won the 2024 World Series after the season’s 12 playoff-qualifying teams played a total of 43 postseason games over 30 days in October.
Here is a recap look at Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in each of the 43 postseason games for 2024.
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 MoreMets pitcher Sean Manaea and Padres closing pitcher Robert Suarez are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Tuesday’s two National League Division Series playof games.
The Mets and Padres both take 2-1 leads in their best-of-five game series as both series resume Wednesday with Game 4s. Both American League Division Series also resume Wednesday’s with two Game 3s.
Read More
Source: MLB.com
Both National League Division Series begin Saturday.
The San Diego Padres face the Los Angeles Dodgers in one best-of-five game series and the New York Mets face the Philadelphia Phillies in the other. The top two NL seeds, the Dodgers (first) and the Phillies (second) received byes from the first round of playoffs and face the winners of the best-of-three Wild Card series played this week.
Read MoreMets pitcher Jose Quintana tops players in Thursday’s Wild Card series-clinching win.
Quintana struck out five over six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 4-2 win over the Brewers. Quintana did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Read More
The Philadelphia Phillies have the most players among the top 100 in Box-Toppers’ 2024 player rankings at the All-Star break.
Meanwhile, the Baltimore Orioles have the most players in the top 100 among American League teams.
Read More
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 More
The Los Angeles Dodgers are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2024 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the San Diego Padres saw the biggest decline.
Read MoreGiancarlo Stanton of the Yankees is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s spring training games.
Stanton hit three home runs, including a grand slam, a sacrifice fly and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in eight runs, in the 12-0 win over the Pirates.
Read MoreBlue Jays pitcher Andrew Bash is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s spring training games.
Bash struck out three over two scoreless and hitless innings of middle relief, walking none, in the 3-2 win over the Rays. Bash also picked up the win.
Read MoreAngels 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.
Read MoreAnalyzing 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.
Read More
The Atlanta Braves are Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team going into 2024, with a roster mostly intact from 2023 when they had baseball’s best record.
Meanwhile, the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners are Box-Toppers’ top two American League teams, with the Mariners having one of the best offseason improvements of any team so far. And also, while the Los Angeles Dodgers have made big offseason splashes adding Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Teoscar Hernandez, their offseason ranking has actually fallen from third place last season to fourth place now.
Read MoreSix of the 20 batters winning Silver Slugger Awards in 2023 were also among the leaders at their positions in 2023 Box-Toppers point totals.
The awards are given to the top batter in each position in both leagues, voted on by Major League Baseball coaches and managers. Box-Toppers, analyzing traditional box scores, tracks which player most helps his team win the most games, awarding points for the top player in each game.
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.