Shohei Ohtani of the Angels and Bryce Harper of the Phillies were voted 2021 Most Valuable Players Thursday, ahead of other Box-Toppers points leaders.
Box-Toppers Most Valuable Player award ballot
Here are Box-Toppers' ballot selections for the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) 2021 Most Valuable Player awards. The ballot required voters to pick the top 10 players in each league.Players are shown with their team and their Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2021.
| AL Most Valuable Player | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Jose Ramirez | Indians | 13.0 |
| 2 | Gerrit Cole | Yankees | 22.4 |
| 3 | J.D. Martinez | Red Sox | 10.7 |
| 4 | Brandon Lowe | Rays | 10.5 |
| 5 | Aaron Judge | Yankees | 9.0 |
| 6 | Robbie Ray | Blue Jays | 17.7 |
| 7 | Xander Bogaerts | Red Sox | 8.5 |
| 8 | Shohei Ohtani | Angels | 16.1 |
| 9 | Jose Abreu | White Sox | 8.0 |
| 10 | Matt Olson | Athletics | 8.0 |
| NL Most Valuable Player | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Max Scherzer | Dodgers | 25.1 |
| 2 | Nick Castellanos | Reds | 11.5 |
| 3 | Zack Wheeler | Phillies | 21.1 |
| 4 | Fernando Tatis Jr. | Padres | 10.2 |
| 5 | Joey Votto | Reds | 9.7 |
| 6 | Julio Urias | Dodgers | 19.1 |
| 7 | Corbin Burnes | Brewers | 18.1 |
| 8 | Nolan Arenado | Cardinals | 9.0 |
| 9 | Paul Goldschmidt | Cardinals | 9.0 |
| 10 | German Marquez | Rockies | 17.4 |
Ohtani, who ranked third in Box-Toppers points among all American League players with 16.1, was voted AL MVP. Harper, who ranked 28th among National League batters with 5.5 Box-Toppers points, was voted NL MVP.
Voting was done by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). The results were similar in the separate vote by the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA), in which Box-Toppers has a vote.
Box-Toppers points leaders were among the vote recipients for MVP in each league in BBWAA balloting. (See charts below American League Most Valuable Player Award voting and National League Most Valuable Player Award voting for voting results and how top candidates fared in Box-Toppers points and rankings.)
Box-Toppers chose Jose Ramirez of the Indians as AL MVP. He led AL batters in 2021 Box-Toppers points with 13.0 and finished sixth in AL MVP voting. Box-Toppers chose Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer as NL MVP. He led all players with 25.1 Box-Toppers points. He finished 14th in NL MVP voting.
We chose Scherzer, a pitcher, for the award because he had more than twice as many Box-Toppers points as the top NL batter, Nick Castellanos of the Reds (11.5), who finished 12th in NL MVP voting.
AL Most Valuable Player
Ohtani won all 30 first-place votes for AL MVP and it is hard to argue he is not deserving.
He is a once-in-a-century marvel as an outstanding two-way player, hitting 42 home runs and driving in 100 runs as a designated hitter and starting 23 games as a pitcher with 156 strikeouts and a 3.18 earned run average. In a way, his 16.1 Box-Toppers point total reflected that—he ranked third among AL players.
But because he earned such an overwhelming majority of his Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors as a pitcher, he did not qualify to be ranked among batters.
Ohtani played 155 games in 2021, serving as designated hitter in 126 and starting 23 games as a pitcher. He earned Player of the Game honors 12 times—nine times as a starting pitcher and three times as a designated hitter. In order for players to be listed at a certain position, they need to have more than 25 percent of their Player of the Game honors at that position. Ohtani earned exactly 25 percent of his Player of the Game honors as a designated hitter and so was not ranked as a batter.
However, there was a period in 2021 in which Ohtani had more than 25 percent of his Player of the Game honors as a designated hitter. During that span, he was qualified to be ranked among batters. He took the lead among AL batters July 30 with 11.4 Box-Toppers points and held it through the weekly player rankings report of Sept. 2, when he had a fairly commanding lead. However, on Sept. 3, Ohtani earned Player of the Game honors as a pitcher for the ninth time of the season. That put him short of qualifying to be ranked as a batter. This meant that Ohtani went from ranking first among AL batters to being removed from batter rankings entirely because he no longer qualified. And it was his final Player of the Game honor of 2021, so his status didn’t change by the end of the season.
Ironically, Ohtani earned Player of the Game honors four times for batting this season, but one of those honors on April 26 came while he was a starting pitcher. It is one of five times this season a pitcher earned Player of the Game honors for batting.
Despite this, Box-Toppers still had Ohtani on our AL MVP ballot for his pitching prowess, ranking him eighth among all AL players. And Box-Toppers had him in third place on our AL Cy Young Award ballot, seeing him actually more deserving of that award.
We voted for Ramirez as AL MVP simply because, with 13.0 Box-Toppers points, he was the one AL batter who most often was the key player in his team’s wins. Ramirez earned Player of the Game honors in 11 Indians wins, including winning AL Batter of the Day honors four times (June 8, June 28, Aug. 9 and Sept. 19.)
But Ramirez got little consideration for AL MVP in 2021, unlike three other seasons in which he was among the top three on the ballot—2017, 2018 and 2020. Interestingly, Ramirez did not rank among Box-Toppers’ top three candidates for AL MVP in any of those seasons:
In 2017, he finished third in AL MVP voting, but was fifth among AL batters with 10.0 Box-Toppers points.
In 2018, he finished third in AL MVP voting but was 17th among AL batters with 6.0 Box-Toppers points.
In 2020, he finished second in AL MVP voting but was 14th among AL batters with 3.5 Box-Toppers points in the pandemic-shortened season.
Rounding out the top three in AL MVP voting were Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Marcus Semien, both of the Blue Jays. While both had outstanding statistical seasons, they rarely were the key player in a Blue Jays win. Bo Bichette led Blue Jays batters in 2021 Box-Toppers points with 7.0 with Semien’s 6.2 the second-most. Guerrero’s 3.7 points was seventh among Blue Jays batters, as he earned Player of the Game honors only three times in 2021—April 27 (when he was AL Player of the Day), June 5 and Sept. 3.
Box-Toppers’ highest-ranking AL batter not to earn MVP votes was J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox, who ranked second among AL batters with 10.7 Box-Toppers points and led the category much of the season.
Box-Toppers’ third- through eighth-ranked AL batters did receive AL MVP votes:
3. Brandon Lowe of the Rays, 10.5 Box-Toppers points, finished 10th in AL MVP voting.
4. Aaron Judge of the Yankees, 9.0 points, finished fourth in voting.
5. Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox, 8.5 points, finished 13th in voting.
6. Jose Abreu of the White Sox, 8.0 points, finished 14th in voting.
7. Matt Olson of the Athletics, 8.0 points, finished eighth in voting.
8. Rafael Devers of the Red Sox, 7.5 points, finished 11th in voting.
Four pitchers received AL MVP votes and all were among Box-Toppers’ top six-ranked AL pitchers in 2021:
1. Gerrit Cole of the Yankees, 22.4 Box-Toppers points, finished 17th in AL MVP voting.
2. Robbie Ray of the Blue Jays, 17.7 points, finished tied for 15th in voting.
3. Ohtani, 16.1 points, won the AL MVP.
6. Nathan Eovaldi of the Red Sox, 14.1 points, finished tied for 15th in voting.
NL Most Valuable Player
Harper won 17 of 30 first-place votes for NL MVP. Four other players divided the rest.
Harper led the NL with 42 doubles, a .615 slugging percentage and an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of 1.044. He played in 141 games and hit 35 homers, 84 RBIs and hit for a .309 average.
But he had just 5.5 Box-Toppers points and ranked 28th among all NL batters. He earned Player of the Game honors only in four Phillies’ wins this season and all in the second half of the season—July 6, Aug. 4, Aug. 12 and Sept. 16. He wasn’t even the top Phillies batter in Box-Toppers points. That was catcher J.T. Realmuto, who had 7.2 Box-Toppers points, 12th among NL batters.
The Phillies were 71-70 in games he played. They were 11-10 in games he did not play.
By contrast, when Harper won the NL MVP in 2015 when he was with the Nationals, he earned 9.0 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL batters.
Seven of Box-Toppers’ top 10 NL batters were among NL MVP vote-getters:
1. Nick Castellanos of the Reds, 11.5 Box-Toppers points, finished 12th in NL MVP voting.
2. Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres, 10.2 points, finished third in voting, receiving two first-place votes.
3. Joey Votto of the Reds, 9.7 points, finished 16th in voting.
5. Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals, 9.0 points, finished sixth in voting.
6. Austin Riley of the Braves, 8.5 points, finished seventh in voting.
8. Bryan Reynolds of the Pirates, 8.0 points, finished 11th in voting.
9. Tyler O'Neill of the Cardinals, 8.0 points, finished eighth in voting.
Box-Toppers’ highest-ranking NL batter not to earn MVP votes was Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals, who ranked fourth among NL batters with 9.0 Box-Toppers points.
Five pitchers received NL MVP votes, including these three who were among Box-Toppers’ top four-ranked NL pitchers in 2021:
1. Scherzer, 25.1 Box-Toppers points, finished 14th in NL MVP voting.
2. Zack Wheeler of the Phillies, 21.1 points, finished 19th in voting.
4. Corbin Burnes of the Brewers, 18.1 points, finished 15th in voting.
IBWAA voting for MVP
The Internet Baseball Writers Association of America voted Ohtani and Harper as their 2021 Most Valuable Players. Here are the reported IBWAA results:
AL MVP
1st Place: Shohei Ohtani, Angels - 685 points
2nd Place: Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., Blue Jays - 623 points
3rd Place: Marcus Semien, Blue Jays - 461 points
NL MVP
1st Place: Bryce Harper, Phillies - 583 points
2nd Place: Fernando Tatis, Jr., Padres - 562 points
3rd Place: Juan Soto, Nationals - 550 points
Box-Toppers, as a member of the IBWAA, voted for Jose Ramirez of the Indians as AL MVP and Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer as the NL MVP.
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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Related
Box-Toppers’ picks for postseason awards include Max Scherzer, Gerrit Cole, Jose Ramirez
A look at 2021 awards finalists and how they fared in Box-Toppers rankings
Box-Toppers looks at previous year’s MVP voting: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013
American League Most Valuable Player Award voting
Shohei Ohtani of the Angels was voted AL Most Valuable Player. Below are the AL players in order of their voting finish, shown with their first- through 10th-place votes and their voting points total. Also shown are each player’s Box-Toppers points (BTP) for 2021 and their rank among AL batters (except in the case of pitchers, denoted with †, in which case their rank among AL pitchers is shown).| 1st-10th place votes | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL player | Team | Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Points | BTP | Rank | |
| 1 | Shohei Ohtani | Angels | pi sp* | 30 | 420 | 16.1 | 3† | |||||||||
| 2 | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | Blue Jays | 1b | 29 | 1 | 269 | 3.7 | 59 | ||||||||
| 3 | Marcus Semien | Blue Jays | 2b | 24 | 4 | 2 | 232 | 6.2 | 19 | |||||||
| 4 | Aaron Judge | Yankees | rf | 3 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 171 | 9.0 | 4 | ||||
| 5 | Carlos Correa | Astros | ss | 11 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 163 | 7.0 | 13 | ||||
| 6 | Jose Ramirez | Indians | 3b | 4 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 133 | 13.0 | 1 | ||||
| 7 | Salvador Perez | Royals | ca | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 103 | 4.5 | 44 | ||
| 8 | Matt Olson | Athletics | 1b | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 90 | 8.0 | 7 | |||
| 9 | Cedric Mullins | Orioles | cf | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 87 | 3.5 | 69 | |||
| 10 | Brandon Lowe | Rays | 2b | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 34 | 10.5 | 3 | |||||
| 11 | Rafael Devers | Red Sox | 3b | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 28 | 7.5 | 8 | ||||||
| 12 | Bo Bichette | Blue Jays | ss | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7.0 | 15 | |||||||
| 13 | Xander Bogaerts | Red Sox | ss | 2 | 3 | 7 | 8.5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 14 | Jose Abreu | White Sox | 1b | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8.0 | 6 | ||||||||
| 15 | Robbie Ray | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1 | 4 | 17.7 | 2† | |||||||||
| 15 | Nathan Eovaldi | Red Sox | pi sp | 1 | 4 | 14.1 | 6† | |||||||||
| 17 | Gerrit Cole | Yankees | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 4 | 22.4 | 1† | ||||||||
| 18 | Jose Altuve | Astros | 2b | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6.5 | 18 | ||||||||
| 19 | Teoscar Hernandez | Blue Jays | rf lf | 1 | 2 | 4.5 | 39 | |||||||||
| 20 | Mitch Haniger | Mariners | rf | 1 | 1 | 7.5 | 11 | |||||||||
| 20 | Kyle Tucker | Astros | rf | 1 | 1 | 7.2 | 12 | |||||||||
| 20 | Mike Zunino | Rays | ca | 1 | 1 | 3.0 | 80 | |||||||||
| 20 | Austin Meadows | Rays | lf dh | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 162 | |||||||||
* Shohei Ohtani played most of his games as a designated hitter in 2021, however, he won the overwhelming majority of his Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors as a starting pitcher (nine of 12). For players to be listed at a position in Box-Toppers rankings, they need to have more than 25 percent of their Player of the Game honors at that position. Since Ohtani had only 25 percent of his Player of the Game honors at DH, he did not qualify to rank at that position or among batters. He earned 12.1 of his 16.1 Box-Toppers points as a starting pitcher and 4.0 as a DH.
† When an AL pitcher received MVP votes, their Box-Toppers ranking is shown among AL pitchers.
National League Most Valuable Player Award voting
Bryce Harper of the Phillies was voted NL Most Valuable Player. Below are the NL players in order of their voting finish, shown with their first- through 10th-place votes and their voting points total. Also shown are each player’s Box-Toppers points (BTP) for 2021 and their rank among NL batters (except in the case of pitchers, denoted with †, in which case their rank among NL pitchers is shown).| 1st-10th place votes | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL player | Team | Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Points | BTP | Rank | |
| 1 | Bryce Harper | Phillies | rf | 17 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 348 | 5.5 | 28 | |||||
| 2 | Juan Soto | Nationals | rf | 6 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 274 | 6.0 | 21 | |||
| 3 | Fernando Tatis Jr. | Padres | ss | 2 | 5 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 244 | 10.2 | 2 | ||||
| 4 | Brandon Crawford | Giants | ss | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 213 | 7.5 | 11 | ||
| 5 | Trea Turner | Dodgers | ss 2b | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 185 | 2.5 | 75 | |
| 6 | Paul Goldschmidt | Cardinals | 1b | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 128 | 9.0 | 5 | |||
| 7 | Austin Riley | Braves | 3b | 1 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 111 | 8.5 | 6 | |||
| 8 | Tyler O'Neill | Cardinals | lf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 62 | 8.0 | 9 | ||||
| 9 | Freddie Freeman | Braves | 1b | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 43 | 4.5 | 36 | ||||
| 10 | Max Muncy | Dodgers | 1b 2b | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 38 | 6.0 | 23 | |||||
| 11 | Bryan Reynolds | Pirates | cf | 3 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 33 | 8.0 | 8 | ||||||
| 12 | Nick Castellanos | Reds | rf | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 24 | 11.5 | 1 | ||||||
| 13 | Ozzie Albies | Braves | 2b | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 7.0 | 15 | |||||||
| 14 | Max Scherzer | Dodgers | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 25.1 | 1† | |||||||
| 15 | Corbin Burnes | Brewers | pi sp | 1 | 3 | 9 | 18.1 | 4† | ||||||||
| 16 | Joey Votto | Reds | 1b | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 9.7 | 3 | |||||||
| 17 | Willy Adames | Brewers | ss | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 3.5 | 54 | |||||||
| 18 | Manny Machado | Padres | 3b | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5.9 | 25 | |||||||
| 19 | Zack Wheeler | Phillies | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 21.1 | 2† | |||||||
| 20 | Adam Wainwright | Cardinals | pi sp | 1 | 3 | 12.0 | 18† | |||||||||
| 21 | Kevin Gausman | Giants | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 13.7 | 11† | |||||||||
| 21 | Buster Posey | Giants | ca | 1 | 1 | 6.5 | 20 | |||||||||
| 21 | LaMonte Wade Jr. | Giants | lf rf | 1 | 1 | 2.0 | 107 | |||||||||
† When an NL pitcher received MVP votes, their Box-Toppers ranking is shown among NL pitchers.