| Award | Winner | Team | BTP | Rank* | BTP leader | Team | BTP | Rank* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player of the Year | Ronald Acuña Jr. | Braves | 10.7 | 41 | Shohei Ohtani | Angels | 19.4 | 3§ |
| AL Outstanding Player | Shohei Ohtani | Angels | 19.4 | 1 | Shohei Ohtani | Angels | 19.4 | 1 |
| NL Outstanding Player | Ronald Acuña Jr. | Braves | 10.7 | 2 | Pete Alonso | Mets | 12.0 | 1 |
| AL Outstanding Pitcher | Gerrit Cole | Yankees | 17.0 | 3 | Chris Bassitt | Blue Jays | 20.1 | 1 |
| NL Outstanding Pitcher | Blake Snell | Padres | 14.7 | 6 | Spencer Strider | Braves | 21.1 | 1 |
| AL Outstanding Rookie | Gunnar Henderson | Orioles | 7.5 | 7† | Gunnar Henderson | Orioles | 7.5 | 7† |
| NL Outstanding Rookie | Corbin Carroll | Diamondbacks | 3.0 | 24† | James Outman | Dodgers | 8.7 | 3† |
| AL Comeback Player | Liam Hendriks | White Sox | 0.0 | 470** | Eduardo Rodriguez | Tigers | 13.0 | 2** |
| NL Comeback Player | Cody Bellinger | Cubs | 5.5 | 61** | Jason Heyward | Dodgers | 7.5 | 8** |
* Rank is shown based on the overall group the player is compared against. For example, Pete Alonso ranks 28th among all players, but ranks first among all NL batters.
§ While Ohtani ranks third among all players, he has the highest adjusted Box-Toppers point total among all players. In cases in which pitchers and batters compete for the same award, Box-Toppers arbitrarily doubles the point totals of batters. Ohtani earned 9.7 of his 19.4 points as a batter, giving him an adjusted total of 29.1, ahead of both Spencer Strider (21.1) and Chris Bassitt (20.1).
† Rookie players are ranked among their league’s players with rookie status in 2023. Neither Henderson nor Outman led their league’s rookies in Box-Toppers points—both trailed pitchers. However, for awards in which batters and pitchers directly compete, we arbitrarily double batters’ Box-Toppers point totals. While Henderson ranked seventh among AL rookies, he trailed six pitchers. But his adjusted total of 15.0 beat top AL rookie, Mariners pitcher Bryce Miller (13.1). While Outman ranked third among NL rookies, his adjusted total of 17.4 beat top NL rookie, Mets pitcher Kodai Senga (12.7).
** For Comeback Player, ranks shown are among each league’s most improved players in Box-Toppers point total from 2022 to 2023. Neither Rodriguez nor Heyward rank first among their league’s most improved in Box-Toppers points, but in terms of suffering a setback, missing significant time and coming back, both rank highest in their leagues.
Only two of Box-Toppers category leaders also won Players Choice Awards for 2023 as voted by the players’ union:
Two of Box-Toppers category leaders also won Players Choice Awards for 2023 as voted by the players’ union: Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, who was voted American League Outstanding Player and Gunnar Henderson of the Orioles was voted AL Outstanding Rookie.
Shohei Ohtani of the Angels was voted American League Outstanding Player and also was Box-Toppers’ choice as AL Most Valuable Player. His 19.4 Box-Toppers points was third overall, second among AL pitchers and first among AL batters.
Gunnar Henderson of the Orioles was voted AL Outstanding Rookie and was also Box-Toppers’ choice as AL Rookie of the Year. His 7.5 Box-Toppers points was seventh among AL rookies, but first among AL rookie batters.
Here is a look at this year’s Players Choice Award winners (presented by the Major League Baseball Players Association) in nine categories and the Box-Toppers points leader in each category:
Player of the Year
Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves was voted Player of the Year for the season in which he was the first to hit 40 home runs (41) and steal 70 bases (73).
But Acuna’s 10.7 Box-Toppers points ranked 41st among all players and second among NL batters, behind Pete Alonso of the Mets (12.0).
While Braves pitcher Spencer Strider led all players in 2023 Box-Toppers points with 21.1, our choice for Player of the Year is Shohei Ohtani of the Angels. Ohtani earned 19.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023, which ranked third overall and second among AL players. But Ohtani ranks higher because we adjust batters’ Box-Toppers point totals—doubling them—to make them more competitive in comparisons with pitchers, who inherently earn more points. In Ohtani’s case, we doubled the 9.7 points he earned as a batter and added it to the 9.7 points he earned as a pitcher, giving him an adjusted total of 29.1, highest among all players.
Here’s a look at the top 10 overall players in 2023 Box-Toppers points by their adjusted totals (actual points in parentheses):
Ohtani 29.1 (19.4)
Kyle Tucker, Astros 25.0 (12.5)
Aaron Judge, Yankees 24.0 (12.0)
Pete Alonso, Mets 24.0 (12.0)
Ronald Acuna Jr., Braves, 21.4 (10.7)
Spencer Strider, Braves, 21.1 (21.1)
Chris Bassitt, Blue Jays, 20.1 (20.1)
Freddie Freeman, Dodgers, 20.0 (10.0)
Nolan Gorman, Cardinals, 20.0 (10.0)
Kevin Gausman, Blue Jays, 18.7 (18.7)
AL Outstanding Player
Players chose Ohtani as AL Outstanding Player as does Box-Toppers. Ohtani’s 19.4 Box-Toppers points leads all AL batters.
However, Ohtani earned 9.7 of his 19.4 Box-Toppers points as a batter, so if we based this award by batting alone, Ohtani finishes third behind two other AL players who earned their entire 2023 Box-Toppers point totals solely as a batter—Tucker (12.5) and Judge (12.0).
But the award is outstanding “player” and pitchers are players, too, so we take into account what Ohtani did on the mound when considering him for this award and his adjusted Box-Toppers point total (29.1) lifts him to first place among all AL players.
Ohtani was also voted AL Most Valuable Player by “official” baseball writers and by Box-Toppers.
NL Outstanding Player
Award-winner Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves ranked second among NL batters with 10.7 Box-Toppers points, behind Pete Alonso of the Mets with 12.0.
In fact, Alonso only passed Acuna for the lead Sept. 27, in the final days of the season. Acuna frankly smokes Alonso in a head-to-head statistical comparison. But Alonso won Player of the Game honors nine times in 2023 vs. Acuna’s eight.
Alonso was the Mets’ second-ranked player behind pitcher Kodai Senga (12.7 points). Acuna was second among Braves players with 10.7 points, but finished far behind first place player, pitcher Spencer Strider (21.1), who earned Player of the Game honors six times in games in which Acuna had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 or better. That means some of Acuna’s potential Box-Toppers points were blocked by teammate Strider.
While Alonso was on a team that did less well (25th in Box-Toppers team rankings compared to the Braves’ second place), he was one of the team’s few stars and was more key in the rarer instances they were victorious.
AL Outstanding Pitcher
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole won the Players Choice Award but finished fourth among AL pitchers with 17.0 Box-Toppers points. Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt led AL pitchers with 20.1 Box-Toppers points.
While Cole ranks fourth among AL pitchers, Box-Toppers has him ranked third in this comparison group. That’s because Ohtani, who ranks ahead with 19.4 Box-Toppers points (second among AL pitchers) earned half his points as a batter. If we compare AL players Box-Toppers points earned just as pitchers, Ohtani has 9.7, which would put him 28th among AL pitchers and lift Cole to third place.
Cole was AL Cy Young Award winner but he had a three-month stretch in which he earned only 2.0 Box-Toppers points. 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.
After 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.
NL Outstanding Pitcher
Padres pitcher Blake Snell won the Players Choice Award but finished sixth among NL pitchers with 14.7 Box-Toppers points. Braves pitcher Spencer Strider led NL pitchers—and all players—with 21.1 Box-Toppers points.
Snell won the NL Cy Young Award, but only 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.
In addition, the Padres won just over half the games Snell started—17 of 32. 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, but puts him just sixth among NL pitchers.
AL Outstanding Rookie
Award-winner Gunnar Henderson of the Orioles was also Box-Toppers choice as top AL rookie, even though he didn’t lead AL rookies in Box-Toppers points.
Henderson earned 7.5 Box-Toppers points in 2023, seventh among AL players with rookie status. But for awards in which batters and pitchers directly compete, we double the points of batters to make them more competitive with pitchers. That gives Henderson an adjusted total of 15.0, moving him ahead of the six AL rookie pitchers, including Mariners pitcher Bryce Miller, who leads AL rookies with 13.1 points.
Henderson was also voted AL Rookie of the Year.
NL Outstanding Rookie
Corbin Carroll of the Diamondbacks won the Players Choice Award but was not among Box-Toppers’ top NL rookies in 2023. His 3.0 Box-Toppers points was 24th among all NL players with rookie status in 2023, 10th among NL rookie batters.
Box-Toppers’ choice for the award was James Outman of the Dodgers, whose 8.7 Box-Toppers points was third among NL players with rookie status. But for awards in which batters and pitchers directly compete, we double the points of batters to make them more competitive with pitchers. Outman’s adjusted total of 17.4 puts him ahead of Box-Toppers’ top-ranked NL rookie, Mets pitcher Kodai Senga (12.7 Box-Toppers points).
Carroll was the runaway winner of the NL Rookie of the Year Award and did beat Outman in nearly every statistical category, but Outman won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors seven times in 2023 compared to just three for Carroll. In other words, he was the key player most helpful in earning Dodgers wins seven times, more than double Carroll’s total.
AL Comeback Player
White Sox closing pitcher Liam Hendriks won the Players Choice Award, but Tigers pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez is Box-Toppers’ choice for AL Comeback Player.
Hendriks had a compelling story of returning to pitch after treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but actually fared worse in 2023 than 2022. He earned no Box-Toppers points in 2023 after earning 5.0 in 2022. He made only five appearances in 2023 before injury forced him to undergo Tommy John surgery in August. While the sentiment in giving the award to Hendriks, returning to play after battling cancer, is understandable, the honor may be a year or two too early, awarded before he’s able to stage a true comeback to his previous level of performance.
For Comeback Player, Box-Toppers seeks a player who once performed well, suffered a setback and rebounded to previous or better levels of performance. In the AL, our choice was Tigers pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez, who earned 13.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023 after earning 0.0 in 2022. That 13.0-point gain was the second-biggest improvement in Box-Toppers points among AL players.
Rodriguez in 2023 was returning to Box-Toppers point totals he had in previous seasons. He ranked eighth on the 2022 Box-Toppers Big Dippers list, players whose Box-Toppers point total declined the most from 2021 to 2022. Rodriguez had a 10.0-point decline from 10.0 in 2021 to 0.0 in 2022.
The only AL player with a bigger improvement in Box-Toppers points in 2023 is rookie Mariners pitcher Bryce Miller, who earned 13.1 Box-Toppers points in his first season.
Hendriks not only was not among Box-Toppers most improved players, but with his net loss of 5.0 points, ranks second among AL closing pitchers with the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from last season.
Among 504 AL players active in 2022 and 2023 who earned Box-Toppers points in either season, Hendriks’ 5.0-point decline ranks 470th among “improving” players. Put another way, his 5.0-point decline ranks 35th among AL players in this group who declined most in points.
NL Comeback Player
Cody Bellinger of the Cubs won the Players Choice Award but Jason Heyward of the Dodgers is Box-Toppers choice for the award.
Bellinger gained just 3.5 Box-Toppers points from 2022 (2.0) to 2023 (5.5), 112th-best among all players, 61st among NL players and 27th among NL batters. But Heyward had a gain of 7.5 points, from 0.0 in 2022 to 7.5 in 2023. That improvement ranks 22nd among all players, eighth among NL players and first among NL batters.
Box-Toppers leaders did better in 2022 Players Choice Awards
Last year, Box-Toppers leaders fared better in Players Choice Awards than this year. In 2022, five Box-Toppers points category leaders won nine of the players’ union awards compared to just two in 2023.
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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