| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 22.4 | 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | lad nl | 25.1 | |
| 2 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | tor al | 17.7 | 2 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 21.1 | |
| 3 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp | ana al | 16.1 | 3 | Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.1 | |
| 4 | Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 15.7 | 4 | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi sp | mil nl | 18.1 | |
| 5 | Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | chi al | 14.4 | 5 | Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 17.4 | |
| 6 | Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | bos al | 14.1 | 6 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 17.1 | |
| 7 | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | oak al | 13.7 | 7 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 | |
| 8 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 12.7 | 8 | Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.7 | |
| 9 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | chi al | 12.4 | 9 | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 16.1 | |
| 10 | Montas, Frankie 3803 | pi sp | oak al | 12.4 | 10 | Webb, Logan 4258 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.5 | |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | cle al | 13.0 | 1 | Castellanos, Nicholas 3349 | rf | cin nl | 11.5 | |
| 2 | Martinez, J.D. 2922 | dh | bos al | 10.7 | 2 | Tatis, Fernando Jr. 4101 | ss | sd nl | 10.2 | |
| 3 | Lowe, Brandon 4108 | 2b | tb al | 10.5 | 3 | Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 9.7 | |
| 4 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 9.0 | 4 | Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | stl nl | 9.0 | |
| 5 | Bogaerts, Xander 3383 | ss | bos al | 8.5 | 5 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | stl nl | 9.0 | |
| 6 | Abreu, Jose 3308 | 1b | chi al | 8.0 | 6 | Riley, Austin 4144 | 3b | atl nl | 8.5 | |
| 7 | Olson, Matt 3836 | 1b | oak al | 8.0 | 7 | Duvall, Adam 3573 | rf lf | atl nl | 8.0 | |
| 8 | Devers, Rafael 4038 | 3b | bos al | 7.5 | 8 | Reynolds, Bryan 4169 | cf | pit nl | 8.0 | |
| 9 | France, Ty 4243 | 1b | sea al | 7.5 | 9 | O’Neill, Tyler 4074 | lf | stl nl | 8.0 | |
| 10 | Walsh, Jared 4332 | 1b | ana al | 7.5 | 10 | Winker, Jesse 3988 | lf | cin nl | 7.5 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer is 2021 Box-Toppers Player of the Year.
Meanwhile Gerrit Cole of the Yankees is Box-Toppers American League Player of the Year, Jose Ramirez of the Indians is Box-Toppers top AL batter and Nick Castellanos of the Reds is Box-Toppers top National League batter.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2021. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Sunday, Oct. 3. FINAL STANDINGS.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | lad nl | 25.1 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 22.4 |
| 3 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 21.1 |
| 4 | Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.1 |
| 5 | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi sp | mil nl | 18.1 |
| 6 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | tor al | 17.7 |
| 7 | Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 17.4 |
| 8 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 17.1 |
| 9 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 10 | Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
All four category leaders remain the same since Box-Toppers last player rankings report on Sept. 23.
Scherzer has 25.1 Box-Toppers points, earning no points since Sept. 23. He leads over second-place player Cole (22.4 points). He leads NL pitchers over second-place Zack Wheeler of the Phillies (21.1).
This is the third straight player rankings report Scherzer has led. He has led NL pitchers for six straight reports, dating back to Aug. 26.
Scherzer’s 25.1 points is tied for the 27th-highest single-season point total for any player since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. It is Scherzer’s fourth season with 25 or more Box-Toppers points.
Box-Toppers Players of the Year
Here are Box-Toppers Player of the Year winners in each season of Box-Toppers tracking since 1995. Player of the Year is the player with the season’s highest Box-Toppers point total:| Year | Player | Pos | Team | BTP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Mariners | 23.7 |
| 1996 | John Smoltz | pi sp | Braves | 26.1 |
| 1997 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | Blue Jays | 27.4 |
| 1998 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Astros† | 26.4 |
| 1999 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Dbacks | 31.5 |
| 2000 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Dbacks | 33.7 |
| 2001 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Dbacks | 29.4 |
| 2002 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Dbacks | 33.7 |
| 2003 | Jason Schmidt | pi sp | Giants | 24.7 |
| 2004 | Johan Santana | pi sp | Twins | 26.8 |
| 2005 | Johan Santana | pi sp | Twins | 24.1 |
| 2006 | Johan Santana | pi sp | Twins | 25.7 |
| 2007 | Jake Peavy | pi sp | Padres | 23.4 |
| 2008 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | Brewers* | 26.7 |
| 2009 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | Royals | 21.5 |
| 2010 | Jon Lester | pi sp | Red Sox | 23.4 |
| 2011 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 26.1 |
| 2012 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | Tigers | 24.8 |
| 2013 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 21.7 |
| 2014 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 31.5 |
| 2015 | Jake Arrieta | pi sp | Cubs | 29.1 |
| 2016 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | Nationals | 25.7 |
| 2017 | Chris Sale | pi sp | Red Sox | 25.1 |
| 2018 | Blake Snell | pi sp | Rays | 27.2 |
| 2019 | Gerrit Cole | pi sp | Astros | 32.2 |
| 2020 | Shane Bieber | pi sp | Indians | 11.4§ |
| 2021 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | Dodgers** | 25.1 |
* Played for the Indians before trade to the Brewers.
** Played for the Nationals before trade to the Dodgers.
§ Season shortened from 162 to 60 games due to the coronavirus pandemic.
This is the second time Scherzer has been Box-Toppers Player of the Year, he also did it in 2016 with the Nationals when he had 25.7 points. Scherzer leads NL pitchers for the fourth time. He had previously led AL pitchers in 2013 with the Tigers (18.1), so his five seasons to lead a league category in Box-Toppers points is tied for the second-most since 1995. Only Randy Johnson led his league’s pitchers in more seasons (six). Two other players led their league category in Box-Toppers points five times—Pedro Martinez (leading AL and NL pitchers) and Albert Pujols (leading NL batters).
American League pitchers—Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole leads the category for the 14th straight report, dating back to June 17. He has 22.4 Box-Toppers points, earning no points since Sept. 23 and ranks second overall behind Scherzer (25.1). Cole leads AL pitchers ahead of second-place Robbie Ray of the Blue Jays (17.7).
This is the second time Cole has been top AL pitcher. He led all players in 2019 with the Astros (32.2 points).
American League batters—Jose Ramirez of the Indians is AL Batter of the Year, finishing first in the category with 13.0 Box-Toppers points, ahead of second-place J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox, who ranks second (10.7). Ramirez ranks 21st among all players.
While Shohei Ohtani of the Angels had more Box-Toppers points in 2021 (16.1), he did not qualify to be ranked among batters since he earned the overwhelming majority of his Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors as a pitcher (nine of 12, the other three coming as a designated hitter). Ohtani earned 4.0 of his Box-Toppers points as a designated hitter and 12.1 as a starting pitcher. However, on April 26, when he served as a starting pitcher, he earned AL Player of the Day honors (1.7 points) for batting.
National League batters—Nick Castellanos of the Reds is Box-Toppers’ 2021 NL Batter of the Year, finishing with 11.5 Box-Toppers points. He leads over second-place NL batter Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres (10.2 points) and ranks 35th among all players.
His 11.5 points are tied for the second-lowest point total to lead a league category in a regular-length season since tracking began in 1995. Only Nolan Arenado of the Rockies, who led NL batters in 2016 with 10.7, has a lower point total to lead a category. Two other players led NL batters with 11.5 points in past seasons—Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies in 2015 and Christian Yelich of the Brewers in 2018.
Top 10 list exits and entrances—Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler entered Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings on the final day of the season—in 10th place with 16.7 points. He displaced Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani (16.1), who fell to 12th.
The #BT40—The Box-Toppers 40 (#BT40) is made up of the 40 players on Box-Toppers’ four top 10 category lists—AL and NL pitchers and batters. The #BT40 are listed in the chart at the top of this page.
Four players joined the #BT40 this week:
Frankie Montas of the Athletics rises to 10th place among AL pitchers with 12.4 points.
Ty France of the Mariners rises to ninth place among AL batters with 7.5 points.
Jared Walsh of the Angels rises to 10th place among AL batters with 7.5 points.
Logan Webb of the Giants rises to 10th place among NL pitchers with 15.5 points.
Those four displace these four players: Mariners pitcher Chris Flexen, Yordan Alvarez of the Astros, Bo Bichette of the Blue Jays and Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.
It should be noted that the #BT40 are not the overall top 40 players, but the top 10 in each of four categories. The lowest-ranking player among the #BT40 is Jared Walsh of the Angels (7.5 points, 10th among AL batters), who ranks 87th overall.
Box-Toppers almanac
Players who have earned Box-Toppers points so far in 2021—799 (it was 779 as of Sept. 23).
Players with more than 2.0 Box-Toppers points—395 (it was 378 as of Sept. 23).
Players who’ve made their Box-Toppers debut so far in 2021 (earning their first career Player of the Game honor)—207 (it was 196 as of Sept. 23).
Games completed in 2021—2,429. One game was cancelled because of rain—the Sept. 16 game between the Rockies and Braves, which wasn’t rescheduled to be played at the end of the season because it did not affect playoff standings.
While batters won nearly half the Player of the Game honors from Sept. 23 to the end of the season, pitchers ended the season winning just over 60 percent of all such honors during the season. Since Sept. 23, batters won Player of the Game honors in 68 of the 140 games played (48.6 percent), while pitchers won the other 72 (51.4 percent). That brings the season’s final total to 960 Player of the Game honors won by batters (39.5 percent) and 1,469 won by pitchers (60.5 percent). That is a decrease in the overall share of Player of the Game honors won by pitchers since Sept. 23, when it stood at 61.0 percent.
About Box-Toppers—Box-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. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point 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.
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