| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 19.4 | 1 | Strider, Spencer 4626 | pi sp | atl nl | 19.1 | |
| 2 | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | tor al | 15.4 | 2 | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | pi sp | fla nl | 15.1 | |
| 3 | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | tor al | 14.7 | 3 | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | mil nl | 14.7 | |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | tex al | 14.4 | 4 | Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | ari nl | 13.7 | |
| 5 | Lopez, Pablo 4028 | pi sp | min al | 13.4 | 5 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 12.0 | |
| 6 | Miller, Bryce 4797 | pi sp | sea al | 13.1 | 6 | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi sp | mil nl | 11.7 | |
| 7 | Gilbert, Logan 4439 | pi sp | sea al | 12.4 | 7 | Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 11.0 | |
| 8 | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | pi sp | sea al | 12.4 | 8 | Garrett, Braxton 4341 | pi sp | fla nl | 10.7 | |
| 9 | Bradish, Kyle 4597 | pi sp | bal al | 12.0 | 9 | Senga, Kodai 4762 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.7 | |
| 10 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 11.0 | 10 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.1 | |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 19.4 | 1 | Acuna, Ronald Jr. 3947 | rf | atl nl | 10.7 | |
| 2 | Tucker, Kyle 4277 | rf | hou al | 11.0 | 2 | Alonso, Pete 4118 | 1b | nym nl | 9.0 | |
| 3 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf dh | nyy al | 10.0 | 3 | Gorman, Nolan 4633 | 2b dh | stl nl | 9.0 | |
| 4 | Devers, Rafael 4038 | 3b | bos al | 7.5 | 4 | Betts, Mookie 3404 | rf 2b | lad nl | 8.5 | |
| 5 | McCormick, Chas 4444 | lf cf | hou al | 7.5 | 5 | Outman, James 4699 | cf | lad nl | 7.7 | |
| 6 | Duran, Jarren 4783 | cf | bos al | 7.5 | 6 | Yelich, Christian 3334 | lf | mil nl | 7.5 | |
| 7 | Paredes, Isaac 4666 | 3b 1b 2b | tb al | 7.2 | 7 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | lad nl | 7.0 | |
| 8 | Rengifo, Luis 4178 | 2b | ana al | 7.0 | 8 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | stl nl | 6.7 | |
| 9 | Semien, Marcus 3302 | 2b | tex al | 6.7 | 9 | Adames, Willy 4041 | ss | mil nl | 6.7 | |
| 10 | Henderson, Gunnar 4739 | dh 3b ss | bal al | 6.5 | 10 | Arraez, Luis 4219 | 2b | fla nl | 6.5 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Shohei Ohtani leads Box-Toppers season player rankings for the 11th straight week, though he briefly lost the lead this week before regaining it.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2023. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Thursday, Aug. 31.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 19.4 |
| 2 | Strider, Spencer 4626 | pi sp | atl nl | 19.1 |
| 3 | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | tor al | 15.4 |
| 4 | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | pi sp | fla nl | 15.1 |
| 5 | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | tor al | 14.7 |
| 6 | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | mil nl | 14.7 |
| 7 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | tex al | 14.4 |
| 8 | Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | ari nl | 13.7 |
| 9 | Lopez, Pablo 4028 | pi sp | min al | 13.4 |
| 10 | Miller, Bryce 4797 | pi sp | sea al | 13.1 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Back to top
Braves pitcher Spencer Strider, who continues his lead among National League players, led rankings for one day before Ohtani rebounded with a 0.3-point lead.
Meanwhile, Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves rises to lead NL batters this week.
Ohtani leads
2023 lead changes
Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.| Date | Player | Team | BTP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3/30 | Dylan Cease | chi al | 2.0 |
| 4/4 | Luis Castillo | sea al | 2.7 |
| 4/5 | Jesus Luzardo | fla nl | 3.7 |
| 4/7 | Bryan Reynolds | pit nl | 3.7 |
| 4/8 | Jeffrey Springs | tb al | 3.7 |
| 4/9 | Drew Rasmussen | tb al | 4.0 |
| 4/12 | Kevin Gausman | tor al | 4.0 |
| 4/16 | Gerrit Cole | nyy al | 4.0 |
| 4/17 | Jacob deGrom | tex al | 5.0 |
| 4/19 | Drew Rasmussen | tb al | 5.0 |
| 4/22 | Gerrit Cole | nyy al | 5.0 |
| 4/23 | Kevin Gausman | tor al | 6.0 |
| 4/26 | Zac Gallen | ari nl | 6.7 |
| 4/28 | Jacob deGrom | tex al | 7.7 |
| 5/8 | Zac Gallen | ari nl | 7.7 |
| 5/21 | Shohei Ohtani | ana al | 8.4 |
| 5/24 | Shane McClanahan | tb al | 8.7 |
| 5/30 | Zac Gallen | ari nl | 8.7 |
| 5/31 | Shohei Ohtani | ana al | 9.4 |
| 6/1 | Kevin Gausman | tor al | 10.0 |
| 6/13 | Shohei Ohtani | ana al | 12.9 |
| 8/25 | Spencer Strider | atl nl | 19.1 |
| 8/26 | Shohei Ohtani | ana al | 19.4 |
Ohtani, the Angels pitcher/designated hitter, also leads both American League pitchers and batters with 19.4 Box-Toppers points, picking up 1.0 point in the past week.
Ohtani lost the overall lead when he was passed by Strider on Aug. 25, but earned 1.0 point as Player of the Game Aug. 26 to regain the lead. Ohtani now leads Strider (19.1) by 0.3 points. Ohtani leads AL pitchers for the 11th straight week, ahead of Chris Bassitt of the Blue Jays (15.4) and leads AL batters for the 15th straight week, ahead of Kyle Tucker of the Astros (11.0).
Ohtani has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors 16 times in 2023—eight as a designated hitter and eight as a starting pitcher. He has 9.7 Box-Toppers points as a batter and 9.7 as a starting pitcher.
However, Ohtani’s pitching season has been shut down when it was learned in late August he had a ligament tear in his pitching elbow. It is unclear if it will require surgery. Ohtani is continuing to serve as a designated hitter and won Player of the Game honors as a batter Aug. 26, after the pitching injury.
NEW: Inbox notification of each post!
While Box-Toppers adds all his points together and counts the overall total when ranking him as an AL pitcher and an AL batter, if they are separated, Ohtani still ranks fairly high. His 9.7 points as a batter would rank third among AL batters. His 9.7 points a pitcher would rank 16th among AL pitchers.
National League pitchers
Braves pitcher Spencer Strider leads the category for the fifth straight week with 19.1 Box-Toppers points, picking up 1.7 points in the past week. Strider took the lead in Box-Toppers player rankings for one day this week, Aug. 25. Strider leads over second-place NL pitcher Jesus Luzardo of the Marlins (15.1 points).
Strider ranks second overall.
National League batters
Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves rises to lead the category this week, winning NL Batter of the Day honors twice in the past week, adding 3.0 points to his 2023 total, which is now 10.7
Acuna passes Pete Alonso of the Mets (9.0) to take the lead in Box-Toppers points among NL batters. Alonso falls to second.
Acuna ranks 22nd among all players.
Box-Toppers almanac
Players who have earned Box-Toppers points so far in 2023—733 (there were 717 as of last week).
Players with more than 2.0 Box-Toppers points—353 (there were 341 as of last week).
Players with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points—34 (there were 26 as of last week).
Players who’ve made their Box-Toppers debut so far in 2023 (earning their first career Player of the Game honor)—159 (there were 151 as of last week).
Games completed so far in 2023—2,008, an average of 133.9 per team.
Percentage of scheduled season completed—82.6.
Pitchers won the majority of all Player of the Game honors this week—57 in the 93 games played (61.3 percent), with batters winning in 36 games (38.7 percent). Batters share of Player of the Game honors for the season decreased slightly from 40.7 percent last week to 40.6 percent this week (816 of the 2,008 games played). Pitchers have won in 1,192 games (59.4 percent).
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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
For additional updates, follow Box-Toppers on Twitter.