Neither of Box-Toppers’ choices for top pitcher are among 6 announced finalists
With Major League Baseball announcing finalists this week for major postseason awards, in preparation for next week’s award presentations, Box-Toppers is spending a few days going over its selections for those awards.
Here’s the plan:
Thursday—Rookies of the Year
Box-Toppers Cy Young Award ballot
Here is a look at Box-Toppers’ 2023 Cy Young ballot selections for the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) awards. The ballot requires votes out to five places for each leagues’ top pitcher.Players are shown with their team and their Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2023.
| AL Cy Young | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Chris Bassitt | Blue Jays | 20.1 |
| 2 | Kevin Gausman | Blue Jays | 18.7 |
| 3 | Gerrit Cole | Yankees | 17.0 |
| 4 | Luis Castillo | Mariners | 16.1 |
| 5 | Max Scherzer | Rangers | 15.4 |
| NL Cy Young | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Spencer Strider | Braves | 21.1 |
| 2 | Jesus Luzardo | Marlins | 17.8 |
| 3 | Freddy Peralta | Brewers | 17.7 |
| 4 | Zac Gallen | Diamondbacks | 16.7 |
| 5 | Zack Wheeler | Phillies | 14.7 |
Friday—Cy Young Awards
Saturday—Most Valuable Players
Sunday—Wrap up of all Box-Toppers selections plus a look at all awards finalists. This will include the awards reviewed over the three days, plus the awards for Managers of the Year and Relievers of the Year.
Here is part two for Friday, a look at Box-Toppers’ choices for Cy Young Awards for top pitchers in each league:
American League—Chris Bassitt of the Blue Jays.
National League—Spencer Strider of the Braves.
Neither pitcher was among the six finalists for the award announced this week, even though they ranked first (Strider) and second (Bassitt) in overall Box-Toppers season player rankings and were the only two players this season to reach 20.0 Box-Toppers points.
Bassitt is Box-Toppers’ choice for AL Cy Young
Bassitt led AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points in 2023 with 20.1, finishing the season second overall, behind Braves pitcher Spencer Strider (21.1).
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is the favorite to win AL Cy Young. He earned 17.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, seventh overall and fourth among AL pitchers. He is third place on Box-Toppers’ AL Cy Young ballot.
While Cole got off to a strong start in 2023 and even led all players in Box-Toppers points for two days early in the season (April 16 and April 22), he earned no Box-Toppers points in May and only earned 2.0 over June and July. During that three-month period, the Yankees were 9-7 in games he started and he only had Box-Toppers game scores above +3.0 in two games the Yankees won during that span, his only two Player of the Game honors during that period—June 20 and July 22.
Cole closes hot after three-month sluggish period
Since that three-month relatively sluggish period—which constitutes half the season—Cole earned 9.0 Box-Toppers points in August and September. That helped him to nearly catch up to the AL pitching leaders in Box-Toppers points, but left him short of the lead.
It also left him far short of even his best seasons. In fact, 17.0 Box-Toppers points is only his fifth-highest single season total. In previous seasons, Cole led AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points twice—in 2019, he had 32.2 Box-Toppers points with the Astros, first overall and the fourth-highest single-season total since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and in 2021, he had 22.4 points with the Yankees, second overall. However, in both of those seasons, Cole did not win AL Cy Young (2019 Cy Young results, 2021 Cy Young results.)
Cole and Bassitt both earned Player of the Game honors 13 times each in 2023. But Bassitt had the Box-Toppers points advantage because he earned overall Player of the Day honors five times (adding 1.0 bonus Box-Toppers point each time) and AL Player of the Day three times (adding 0.7 bonus points each time), while Cole earned overall Player of the Day honors four times (adding 1.0 bonus point each time).
Considering Gausman, Ohtani, Castillo, Scherzer
Placing second on Box-Toppers’ AL Cy Young ballot between Bassitt and Cole is Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman, who earned 18.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023. Gausman earned Player of the Game honors 11 times, fewer than both Bassitt and Cole, but he earned Player of the Day honors seven times, most among the three. He also earned AL Player of the Day honors once.
Shohei Ohtani of the Angels was not among Box-Toppers’ top five AL Cy Young finalists, even though he ranked third among AL pitchers with 19.4 Box-Toppers points. That’s because for Cy Young consideration, we subtracted the points Ohtani earned while batting. Ohtani earned exactly half of his points as a pitcher (9.7) and half as a batter (9.7). His 9.7 points as pitcher would rank 28th among AL pitchers.
While Ohtani is not among Box-Toppers’ AL Cy Young top five this year, he was in third place on Box-Toppers’ 2022 ballot. He earned 24.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022, second overall and second among AL pitchers. He earned 19.7 points of those as a pitcher, which by itself ranked third among AL pitchers.
Luis Castillo of the Mariners (16.1 Box-Toppers points) was fourth place on Box-Toppers’ AL Cy Young ballot and Max Scherzer of the Rangers (15.4 points) was fifth place. While Scherzer earned the bulk of his 2023 points (10.4) with the NL Mets prior to his August trade deadline deal, his entire 15.4 total is ranked among AL pitchers since he finished his season with the Rangers.
Strider strides far ahead among NL pitchers
Strider led NL pitchers with 21.1 Box-Toppers points, finishing the season first overall.
Padres pitcher Blake Snell, the favorite to win the award, earned 14.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 12th among all players and sixth among NL pitchers, 6.4 points behind Strider.
Snell led NL pitchers in earned run average in 2023 (2.25) and was second in strikeouts (234) behind Strider (281).
But Snell won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors nine times in 2023 compared to 17 for Strider. In other words, Strider was the key player most helpful to 17 Braves wins, nearly twice as many times (nine) as Snell was the key player in a Padres win.
And it’s not that Snell didn’t have an impressive season. It’s just that the Padres didn’t. And the Padres often lost games in which Snell performed well. Snell proponents seem to overlook those losses. But the Padres went only 17-15 in his 32 starts. And in nine of those 15 losses, Snell had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 or better, which means he was likely in the running for Player of the Game honors in the Padres win. So while many of the losses weren’t necessarily Snell’s fault, they are still losses.
Snell’s forgettable early season struggles have been—well, forgotten
Part of the problem with postseason awards is that voters and writers tend to forget the season extends back to the spring. Most seem to only pay attention to what players do from late July to mid September. Anything before that is forgotten and anything that happens after is discounted or shrugged off or rationalized. (Snell earned 8.0 of his 14.7 Box-Toppers points from July 30 to Sept. 19.)
Snell’s early season is seemingly forgotten. In his first 11 starts, the Padres went 2-9. In six of those starts, he had a negative Box-Toppers game score. He did not win Player of the Game honors in any of those first 11 starts and did not win his first Player of the Game honor until June 5, failing to earn any Box-Toppers points for the first two months (fully one-third) of the season.
Snell earned 14.7 points in the final four months of the season, playing catchup, which is impressive, and puts him sixth among NL pitchers. But if he had earned 14.7 points in his first four months, he would have been second overall in Box-Toppers points and first among NL pitchers on Aug. 1.
In short: Yes, Snell is good. But it’s a full season and he and the Padres haven’t always excelled, getting off to a horrible start. He has racked up impressive stats but they haven’t added up to Padres wins.
In fact, while others see Snell as the runaway winner of the NL Cy Young, he doesn’t even appear on Box-Toppers ballot of the top five NL pitchers because he finished sixth in that category.
It’s not like Snell hasn’t excelled in the past. He was Box-Toppers’ 2018 Player of the Year, leading all players with 27.2 Box-Toppers points when he was with the Rays and winning the AL Cy Young Award.
Strider had best season among all players as measured by Box-Toppers
Strider earned Player of the Game honors 17 times, including three times in April, twice in May, three times in June, three times in July, four times in August and twice in September. He earned overall Player of the Day honors twice and earned NL Player of the Day honors three times.
Strider led the second-place NL pitcher, Jesus Luzardo of the Marlins (17.8 Box-Toppers points), by 3.3 points. Luzardo, who won Player of the Game honors 12 times, would have needed to win Player of the Game honors at least two more times to catch Strider.
He was followed closely by Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta with 17.7 Box-Toppers points, who also won Player of the Game honors 12 times.
Fourth among NL pitchers was Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks with 16.7 Box-Toppers points. He won Player of the Game honors 13 times (though he did not win Player of the Game honors in any of his six postseason starts).
Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler ranked fifth among NL pitchers with 14.7 Box-Toppers points, earning Player of the Game honors 10 times, one more time than the sixth-ranked Snell. While Wheeler and Snell both had 14.7 points in 2023, Wheeler ranked higher—and therefore appeared on the ballot rather than Snell—because he had more 2022 Box-Toppers points—14.4 vs. 13.1.
Strider was also Box-Toppers’ choice for 2022 NL Rookie of the Year, but he didn’t win that either.
Finalists
Neither of Box-Toppers’ choices for the awards are among the finalists for the award announced Monday.
Cy Young Award finalists
Here are finalists for the Cy Young Awards to be given next week, as named by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Players are listed alphabetically with their Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2023 and their Box-Toppers rank among their league’s pitchers.| AL finalists | Team | BTP | Rank* |
| Gerrit Cole | Yankees | 17.0 | 4 |
| Kevin Gausman | Blue Jays | 18.7 | 3 |
| Sonny Gray | Twins | 10.4 | 20 |
| **Chris Bassitt | Blue Jays | 20.1 | 1 |
| NL finalists | Team | BTP | Rank* |
| Zac Gallen | Diamondbacks | 16.7 | 4 |
| Blake Snell | Padres | 14.7 | 6 |
| Logan Webb | Giants | 12.4 | 11 |
| **Spencer Strider | Braves | 21.1 | 1 |
* Rank shows a player’s Box-Toppers rank among their league’s pitchers.
** Player led the league category in Box-Toppers points but is not among the three finalists for the award.
Here’s a look at the three finalists for the award in both leagues and how they fared in Box-Toppers points:
American League
Gerrit Cole of the Yankees, 17.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, seventh among all players, fourth among AL pitchers. He is third place on Box-Toppers ballot.
Kevin Gausman of the Blue Jays, 18.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023, fourth among all players, third among AL pitchers. He is second place on Box-Toppers ballot.
Sonny Gray of the Twins, 10.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 42nd among all players, 20th among AL pitchers. Gray was far outside the top five ballot spots on Box-Toppers’ AL Cy Young ballot.
National League
Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks, 16.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023, eighth among all players, fourth among NL pitchers. He is fourth place on Box-Toppers ballot.
Blake Snell of the Padres, 14.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 12th among all players, sixth among NL pitchers. While he will win the NL Cy Young, he was just outside the five available spots on Box-Toppers’ ballot.
Logan Webb of the Giants, 12.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 25th among all players, 11th among NL pitchers. Not on Box-Toppers ballot.
Cole, Snell win in IBWAA Cy Young voting
IBWAA Cy Young winners: AL—Gerrit Cole of the Yankees. NL—Blake Snell of the Padres.
The finalists announced Monday are for awards voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), which will be presented next week. The Cy Young Award winners will be announced next Wednesday.
Box-Toppers voted for major postseason awards separately as a member of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA). That group also cast ballots for all the major awards and announced its Cy Young Award winners Wednesday:
American League
1st Place: Gerrit Cole, Yankees—308 points
2nd Place: Sonny Gray, Twins—116 points
3rd Place: Kevin Gausman, Blue Jays—83 points
National League:
1st Place: Blake Snell, Padres—265 points
2nd Place: Justin Steele, Cubs—155 points (Steele earned 11.1 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 15th among NL pitchers.)
3rd Place: Spencer Strider, Braves—121 points
IBWAA members include more than 800 baseball writers and content creators. Voting for full-season awards takes place prior to the start of the postseason each year, with selections announced in November.
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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