Justin Verlander sets Box-Toppers record for biggest one-season improvement

Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is the clear-cut choice for Comeback Player of the Year in the American League, but three different National League players have won 2022 comeback awards, none of whom were among Box-Toppers’ top NL resurgent players.

Most improved players

Here are the players who had the biggest gains in Box-Toppers points (BTP) from 2021 to 2022, ranked by their rise in points this season. Astros pitcher Justin Verlander had the biggest gain of 26.0 points, earning 0.0 points in 2021 and 26.0 in 2022. Braves pitcher Spencer Strider had the biggest gain among rookie players, earning 13.4 Box-Toppers points in his first season. That 13.4-point gain is the fourth-biggest among all players.
This list includes the 25 players with the biggest point gains, plus others who received the NL Comeback Player Awards, Brandon Drury, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Albert Pujols.

Player Pos Team BTP Rise
1 Verlander, Justin 2112 pi sp hou al 26.0 +26.0
2 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 18.7 +14.7
3 Wright, Kyle 4349 pi sp atl nl 14.4 +14.4
4 Strider, Spencer 4626† pi sp atl nl 13.4 +13.4
5 Mikolas, Miles 3034 pi sp stl nl 12.1 +12.1
6 Ryan, Joe 4539† pi sp min al 14.7 +12.0
7 Alonso, Pete 4118 1b nym nl 14.9 +11.9
8 McClanahan, Shane 4399 pi sp tb al 16.4 +11.7
9 Alcantara, Sandy 4061 pi sp fla nl 21.1 +11.4
10 Kirby, George 4595† pi sp sea al 11.4 +11.4
11 Valdez, Framber 4048 pi sp hou al 16.0 +11.0
12 Cortes, Nestor 4160 pi sp nyy al 15.4 +10.4
13 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp stl nl 11.4 +10.4
14 Javier, Cristian 4290 pi sp hou al 15.7 +9.7
15 Carrasco, Carlos 2885 pi sp nym nl 9.7 +9.7
16 Rasmussen, Drew 4547 pi sp tb al 11.1 +9.1
17 Thompson, Keegan 4579† pi sp chi nl 9.0 +9.0
18 Singer, Brady 4337 pi sp kc al 11.7 +8.7
19 Betts, Mookie 3404 rf lad nl 11.7 +8.7
20 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp ana al 24.7 +8.6
21 Rodon, Carlos 3494 pi sp sf nl 19.8 +8.1
22 Perez, Martin 3213 pi sp tex al 9.1 +8.1
23 Kelly, Merrill 4143 pi sp ari nl 11.0 +8.0
24 Springs, Jeffrey 4372 pi sp tb al 10.7 +7.7
25 Rodriguez, Julio 4590† cf sea al 7.5 +7.5
78 Drury, Brandon 3744 dh sd nl 4.5 +4.5
169 Acuna, Ronald Jr. 3947 rf atl nl 3.5 +2.5
337 Pujols, Albert 1438 dh 1b ph stl nl 3.0 +1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?
BTP—Box-Toppers points
† Rookie status in 2021

Verlander not only led players in Box-Toppers points gained from 2021 to 2022, he set the record for most points gained in one season since tracking began in 1995.

Verlander earned no Box-Toppers points in 2021 as he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. He came back in 2022 to earn 26.0 Box-Toppers points, leading all players for the season.

Verlander’s 26.0-point gain breaks the record for most points gained from one season to the next, set by Blake Snell of the Rays in 2018, who gained 22.2 points, earning 5.0 points in 2017 and 27.2 in 2018.

Verlander won AL Comeback Player of the Year by a vote of 30 MLB.com writers Tuesday. Separately, he has won two other comeback player awards from both the players’ union (in the Players Choice Awards) and from The Sporting News.

No consensus on NL Comeback Awards

Biggest one-season gains in Box-Toppers points

Here are the players who had the biggest gains in Box-Toppers points (BTP) from one season to the next since 1996. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.) Astros pitcher Justin Verlander set the record for the biggest one-season gain of 26.0 points in 2022, when he earned 26.0 points in 2022 after earning 0.0 in 2021.

Player Pos Team BTP Rise Year
1 Justin Verlander pi sp Astros 26.0 +26.0 2022
2 Blake Snell pi sp Rays 27.2 +22.2 2018
3 Max Scherzer pi sp Dodgers 25.1 +21.1 2021
4 Corey Kluber pi sp Indians 25.8 +20.8 2014
5 Zack Wheeler pi sp Phillies 21.1 +20.1 2021
6 Stephen Strasburg pi sp Nationals 20.4 +19.4 2012
7 Luis Severino pi sp Yankees 21.1 +19.1 2017
8 Jose Fernandez† pi sp Marlins 19.0 +19.0 2013
9 Johnny Cueto pi sp Reds 22.4 +18.4 2014
10 Kerry Wood† pi sp Cubs 18.2 +18.2 1998
11 Julio Urias pi sp Dodgers 19.1 +18.1 2021
12 Pedro Martinez pi sp Red Sox 28.8 +17.8 2002
13 Esteban Loaiza pi sp White Sox 18.8 +17.8 2003
14 John Smoltz pi sp Braves 26.1 +17.7 1996
15 Javier Vazquez pi sp Expos 23.4 +17.7 2001
16 Lance Lynn pi sp Cardinals 17.7 +17.7 2012
BTP—Box-Toppers points
† Rookie status
NOTES: The 2020 season was shortened from 162 to 60 games by the COVID-19 pandemic, so players made larger gains on average in 2021 and smaller gains on average in 2020.
Rookie pitcher Hideo Nomo of the Dodgers had a 19.2-Box-Toppers point gain in 1995. But that was Box-Toppers first season of tracking, so we don’t have 1994 numbers to reflect the gains of other players and use 1996 as our first season of tracking players’ gains and losses in points from one season to the next. Nomo’s 19.2-point gain would rank seventh on this list. He ranked third among all players in 1995.

The choice for Verlander as top AL comeback player was pretty clear—he won all three comeback player awards and was also Box-Toppers’ most improved player. The award for top NL comeback player was less clear. In fact, three different players won the three different awards and Box-Toppers had completely different candidates for most improved NL player.

Here is an overview:

  • Albert Pujols of the Cardinals was named Comeback Player of the Year by MLB.com writers.

  • Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves was named Comeback Player of the Year by the players’ union.

  • Brandon Drury of the Padres was named Comeback Player of the Year by The Sporting News.

  • Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen had the biggest gain in Box-Toppers points from 2021 to 2022 among all NL players.

  • But Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas is Box-Toppers’ choice for Comeback Player of the Year, having had the biggest Box-Toppers point gain among players who came back after either missing time due to injury or having a resurgent season.

The three players who won NL Comeback Player Awards were not even among the top 25 players in Box-Toppers points gained from 2021 to 2022.

Brandon Drury

The Sporting News chose Drury as NL Comeback Player. Drury, who also played with the Reds in 2022, made a gain of 4.5 Box-Toppers points in 2022 (earning 4.5 points), 78th among all players and 10th among NL batters.

Ronald Acuna Jr.

The players’ union chose Acuna as NL Comeback Player. However, Acuna made a gain of only 2.5 Box-Toppers points from 2021 to 2022 (earning 3.5 in 2022), the 169th biggest gain among all players, 30th-biggest gain among NL batters.

Albert Pujols

MLB.com writers chose Pujols as NL Comeback Player, which is a peculiar and purely sentimental choice. Pujols made a gain of only 1.0 Box-Toppers point from 2021 to 2022 (earning 3.0 in 2022), which was the 337th-biggest gain among all players, 162nd among all batters.

Pujols simply did not have a comeback season in 2022. If anything, he had a slightly better season than the one he had in 2021, closing his final season before retirement on an up note, while recording his 700th career home run during the season. He played in the same number of games as 2021 (109) and hit slightly more homers (24 vs. 17) and more RBIs (68 vs. 50). Given that he was once a player accustomed to 35 homers and 100 RBIs each season, he did not approach anything like a comeback to those statistics, rather having a season very comparable to the one he had in 2021.

From a Box-Toppers perspective, he was the player who most helped his team win in three games in 2022, earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point each time, giving him 3.0 for the season. That was better than the 2.0 points he earned in 2021 with the Angels and Dodgers, but just 1.0 point better.

The points Pujols earned in 2022 helped him extend his record streak of earning Box-Toppers points in 22 consecutive seasons. And while his 3.0 points are tied for the second-most he’s earned in a single season since 2017, they are tied for the third-fewest he’s earned in his 22-year career, ahead of only the 1.0 point he earned in 2020 (the pandemic-shortened season) and the 2.0 he earned in 2021. (He also earned 3.0 points in 2018.)

From a Box-Toppers perspective, Pujols was a much better candidate for Comeback Player of the Year in 2019 with the Angels, when he earned 11.0 Box-Toppers points (third among AL batters), an 8.0-point gain from the 3.0 he earned in 2018. Pujols ranked 16th among players with the biggest gain in Box-Toppers points from 2018 to 2019, third among all AL batters. It was his first season with 10.0 or more points since 2011.

Pujols has 207.8 career Box-Toppers points, seventh among all players since player tracking began in 1995 and most among all batters, ahead of Alex Rodriguez (187.0). He led NL batters in Box-Toppers points in five seasons and had more than 10.0 points in a season 10 times, including exceeding 15.0 points in season six times.

Zac Gallen

The NL player making the biggest gain in Box-Toppers points from 2021 to 2022 is Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen, who made a 14.7-point gain, earning 4.0 points in 2021 and 18.7 in 2022. That was the second-biggest gain among all players behind Verlander. But that gap between first and second is an enormous 11.3 points, with Verlander’s gain in points nearly doubling Gallen’s.

Miles Mikolas

However, Gallen doesn’t really qualify as a “comeback” player since he pitched 23 games in 2021. Box-Toppers’ choice for NL Comeback Player is Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas, who earned 12.1 Box-Toppers points in 2022 after earning no points in either 2020 or 2021. He missed 2020 after undergoing flexor tendon surgery in his right arm and also missed most of the 2021 season, pitching in only nine games.

Mikolas is the highest-ranking NL player who meets the criteria for comeback player, he ranks fourth among NL players in points gained from 2021 to 2022, behind:

  • Gallen, who gained 14.7 points from 4.0 in 2021 to 18.7 in 2022.

  • Braves pitcher Kyle Wright, who gained 14.4 points from 0.0 in 2021 to 14.4 in 2022.

  • Braves pitcher Spencer Strider, who gained 13.4 points from 0.0 in 2021 to 13.4 in 2022.

Gallen pitched in 23 games in 2021 and 31 in 2022 and while he had the most-improved season among NL players, he wasn’t making any sort of “comeback.” Both Wright and Strider are younger players just beginning their careers and also are not making any sort of comeback. Mikolas is truly a comeback player after having previously recording a comparably high 11.7 Box-Toppers point total in 2018 with the Cardinals.

More on Justin Verlander

Verlander earned 26.0 Box-Toppers points after earning none in 2021 and earning only 1.0 in 2020. In 2019, he earned 27.5 Box-Toppers points, his highest-single season total, but finished second overall to then-teammate Gerrit Cole (32.2). Verlander led all players in 2022 after having previously done it in 2012 with the Tigers, when he had 24.8 points. The 10-year gap between leading all players in Box-Toppers points is the longest since tracking began.

Verlander’s 26.0-point gain is one of only five times a player has increased their point total by more than 20 points from one season to the next. In addition to Verlander and Snell, the other three are:

  • Max Scherzer, who gained 21.1 points from 2020 with the Nationals (4.0) to 2021 with the Nationals and Dodgers (25.1).

  • Corey Kluber of Cleveland, who gained 20.8 points from 2013 (5.0) to 2014 (25.8).

  • Zack Wheeler of the Phillies, who gained 20.1 points from 2020 (1.0) to 2021 (21.1).

(In Scherzer’s and Wheeler’s cases, it should be noted that point totals in 2020 were diminished because it was a pandemic-shortened season.)

Batters

Pete Alonso of the Mets had the biggest Box-Toppers point gain from 2021 to 2022 among all batters.

His 11.9-point gain from 2021 (3.0) to 2022 (14.9) is seventh among all players. Alonso also led all NL batters in 2022 Box-Toppers points.

Rookie Julio Rodriguez of the Mariners had the biggest point gain among AL batters, earning 7.5 points in his first year. That 7.5-point gain ranks 25th among Box-Toppers’ most improved players.

Among non-rookies, the AL player with the biggest gain in Box-Toppers points is Eugenio Suarez of the Mariners, whose 7.0-point gain from 1.0 in 2021 (with the Reds) to 8.0 in 2022 was second among AL batters and 29th among all players.

There are only three batters on Box-Toppers top 25 most improved players list—Alonso, Rodriguez and Mookie Betts of the Dodgers, whose 8.7-point gain to 11.7 points in 2022 ranks 19th among all players.

Rookies

Box-Toppers’ 25 most improved players list includes five rookies, including four who previously earned no Box-Toppers points, each making their Box-Toppers debut in 2022.

The exception—Twins pitcher Joe Ryan, who had rookie status in 2022, despite pitching in 2021 and earning 2.7 points. In 2022, he earned 14.7 Box-Toppers points, most among all rookie players, and had a gain of 12.0 points, sixth overall, second among AL players (behind Verlander’s +26.0) and second among all rookies.

Braves pitcher Spencer Strider had the biggest gain in points among all rookies, earning 13.4 points in his first season. That 13.4-point gain was fourth overall and third among NL pitchers.

The three other rookies on Box-Toppers top 25 most improved list:

  • Mariners pitcher George Kirby, whose 11.4-point gain from 0.0 in 2021 to 11.4 in 2022 was 10th-best, fourth among AL pitchers.

  • Cubs pitcher Keegan Thompson, whose 9.0-point gain from 0.0 in 2021 to 9.0 in 2022 was 17th-best.

  • Rodriguez, whose 7.5-points gain from 0.0 in 2021 to 7.5 in 2022 was 25th-best.

Other notable gainers

  • NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins had the ninth-biggest gain in points (+11.4) from 2021 (9.7) to 2022 (21.1). Alcantara led NL players in 2022 Box-Toppers points and ranked third overall.

  • Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, who was Box-Toppers’ choice for AL Most Valuable Player, had the 20th-biggest gain in points (+8.6) from 2021 (16.1) to 2022 (24.7). Ohtani ranked second among all players and all AL pitchers in 2022, behind Verlander.

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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