A look at 2022 awards finalists and how they fared in Box-Toppers rankings

Box-Toppers’ top-ranked players are, for the most part, finalists for 2022 major postseason awards, as announced by baseball writers Monday.

Award finalists

Here are finalists for the Cy Young, Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year awards to be given next week, as named by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Players are listed by their Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2022 and their Box-Toppers rank in their award category.

Cy Young finalists
AL finalists Team BTP Rank*
Justin Verlander Astros 26.0 1
Dylan Cease White Sox 20.4 3
Alek Manoah Blue Jays 13.1 14
NL finalists Team BTP Rank*
Sandy Alcantara Marlins 21.1 1
Julio Urias Dodgers 19.4 4
Max Fried Braves 16.0 8
Most Valuable Player Awards finalists
AL finalists Team BTP Rank*
Shohei Ohtani Angels 24.7 ‑§
Aaron Judge Yankees 13.2 1
Yordan Alvarez Astros 8.7 3
NL finalists Team BTP Rank*
Paul Goldschmidt Cardinals 7.5 7
Nolan Arenado Cardinals 7.0 9
Manny Machado Padres 5.5 23
**Pete Alonso Mets 14.9 1
Rookie of the Year finalists
AL finalists Team BTP Rank†
Julio Rodriguez Mariners 7.5 2
Steven Kwan Guardians 5.0 7
Adley Rutschman Orioles 4.0 15
NL finalists Team BTP Rank†
Spencer Strider Braves 13.4 1
Brendan Donovan Cardinals 4.0 14
Michael Harris II Braves 3.5 18
BTP—Box-Toppers points
* Rank shows a player’s rank among potential players eligible for the award. For example, AL Cy Young finalists are ranked among AL pitchers, AL MVP finalists are ranked among AL batters.
** Player led the league category in Box-Toppers points but is not among the three finalists for the award.
† Rookie of the Year candidates are ranked among players who made their Box-Toppers debut in 2022. (Some players who still qualified as rookies in 2022 made their Box-Toppers debut in 2021.)
§ Ohtani finished second among AL players in Box-Toppers points (24.7), but did not qualify to rank among AL batters because he earned such an overwhelming majority of his Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors as a pitcher. He earned four of his 17 Player of the Game honors as a batter (23.5 percent), compared to 13 as a pitcher (76.5 percent). In cases for awards, such as MVP, in which batters and pitchers directly compete, we arbitrarily double a batter’s Box-Toppers point total to compare them with pitchers. While that would give Judge 26.4 points, it would give Ohtani 29.7 points if you double the 5.0 points he earned as a batter. With the adjusted totals, Box-Toppers gives Ohtani AL MVP over Judge and over top AL pitcher Justin Verlander of the Astros (26.0 points).

In five of the six major awards, the Box-Toppers points leader for 2022 in that category is among the three finalists for the awards, which will be announced next week. The only exception: National League Most Valuable Player, in which Pete Alonso of the Mets, who led NL batters with 14.9 Box-Toppers points in 2022, is not among the three finalists.

But Box-Toppers top-ranked players for other awards are finalists, including:

The Baseball Writers’ Association of America, which votes on the award-winners, announced the finalists, the top three in voting for each award. In addition to Cy Young and MVP awards, the group also announced top three finalists for Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year in each league. Rookie of the Year Awards will be given Monday, Nov. 14, Manager of the Year on Tuesday, Nov. 15, Cy Young Awards on Wednesday, Nov. 16 and MVP Awards on Thursday, Nov. 17.

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.

AL Cy Young

Verlander, our choice for the award, led all players and all AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points with 26.0.

The other finalists:

  • White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease, 20.4 Box-Toppers points, third among AL pitchers.

  • Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah, 13.1 points, 14th among AL pitchers.

NL Cy Young

Alcantara, our choice for the award, led NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points with 21.1.

The other finalists:

  • Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias, 19.4 Box-Toppers points, fourth among NL pitchers.

  • Braves pitcher Max Fried, 16.0 points, eighth among NL pitchers.

AL MVP

While finalist Aaron Judge of the Yankees is Box-Toppers top-ranked AL batter for 2022, we choose finalist Shohei Ohtani of the Angels as AL MVP.

At first glance, Judge is AL MVP. He led all AL batters with 13.2 Box-Toppers points in a season in which he hit 62 home runs, breaking the 61-year-old AL single-season record.

Judge also had more than half of the Box-Toppers points of top AL pitcher, Verlander (26.0). In recent seasons, Box-Toppers has awarded its MVP to pitchers who have more than twice as many points as the league’s top batter. In this case, it was close, but doubling Judge’s 13.2 points gives him 26.4 points to Verlander’s 26.0.

Ohtani earned 24.7 points in 2022. However, he earned 5.0 of those points as a designated hitter. Since we’re doubling Judge’s points as a batter, we should double those Ohtani earned as a batter, too. So doubling those points (10.0) and adding them to the points he earned as a starting pitcher (19.7), gives Ohtani an adjusted total of 29.7, more than both Judge (26.4) and Verlander (26.0).

That’s why we choose Ohtani over both Judge and Verlander for AL MVP.

And though Ohtani served as a batter in 157 games in 2022, he does not qualify to rank among batters in Box-Toppers rankings because he earned such an overwhelming majority of his Player of the Game honors as a starting pitcher (13 of 17).

The third finalist for AL MVP is Yordan Alvarez of the Astros, whose 8.7 Box-Toppers points was third among AL batters, behind second-place Jose Ramirez of the Guardians (11.7), who was not named a finalist.

NL MVP

Pete Alonso of the Mets led NL batters with 14.9 Box-Toppers points, 20th among all players, but was not among the three finalists for NL Most Valuable Player. They are:

  • Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals, who ranks seventh among NL batters with 7.5 Box-Toppers points.

  • Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals, who ranks ninth among NL batters with 7.0 points.

  • Manny Machado of the Padres, who ranks 23rd among NL batters with 5.5 points.

The three finalists were not even among the 10 players we voted for NL MVP.

AL Rookie of the Year

Julio Rodriguez of the Mariners, our choice for the award, had 7.5 Box-Toppers points in 2022, second among AL players who made their Box-Toppers debut during the season.

Ranking above Rodriguez among AL players making their Box-Toppers debut in 2022 is Mariners pitcher George Kirby (11.4 points). But in awards like these in which pitchers and batters are directly compared, we give batters the benefit of a doubt, doubling their point total when comparing them to pitchers. In this case, that gives Rodriguez 15.0 points to Kirby’s 11.4.

And in addition to that, there is another AL rookie with more points, Twins pitcher Joe Ryan, who earned 14.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022. While Ryan still had rookie status in 2022, he made his Box-Toppers debut in 2021, so is not ranked among players making their debut in 2022. But Rodriguez’s adjusted total of 15.0 also edges out Ryan’s 14.7.

Rodriguez ranked eighth among all AL batters in Box-Toppers points.

The other two finalists include neither Kirby nor Ryan:

  • Steven Kwan of the Guardians, 5.0 Box-Toppers points, seventh among AL players making their Box-Toppers debut in 2022.

  • Adley Rutschman of the Orioles, 4.0 points, 15th among AL players making their Box-Toppers debut in 2022.

There were 99 AL players who made their Box-Toppers debut in 2022, including Rodriguez, Kwan, Rutschman and Kirby.

NL Rookie of the Year

Braves pitcher Spencer Strider led NL rookies with 13.4 Box-Toppers points and is one of three finalists for the award.

The others are:

  • Brendan Donovan of the Cardinals, 4.0 Box-Toppers points, 14th among NL players who made their debut in 2022.

  • Michael Harris II of the Braves, 3.5 points, 18th among players who made their debut in 2022.

There were 92 NL players who made their Box-Toppers debut in 2022, including Strider, Donovan and Harris.

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