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Spencer Strider extends lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings with a week to go

Shawn Plank September 22, 2023
Here are standings of the top 10 players by category (AL & NL pitching & batting) in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2023 season through games of Sept. 21.

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 21.1
2 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 18.7 2 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 17.8
3 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 17.1 3 Peralta, Freddy 3965 pi sp mil nl 17.7
4 Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 pi sp sea al 16.1 4 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 15.7
5 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 15.4 5 Wheeler, Zack 3204 pi sp phi nl 14.7
6 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp nyy al 15.0 6 Snell, Blake 3688 pi sp sd nl 14.7
7 Lopez, Pablo 4028 pi sp min al 13.4 7 Kelly, Merrill 4143 pi sp ari nl 13.0
8 Miller, Bryce 4797 pi sp sea al 13.1 8 Keller, Mitch 4230 pi sp pit nl 13.0
9 Bradish, Kyle 4597 pi sp bal al 13.0 9 Garrett, Braxton 4341 pi sp fla nl 12.7
10 Gilbert, Logan 4439 pi sp sea al 12.4 10 Senga, Kodai 4762 pi sp nym nl 12.7
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 12.5 2 Alonso, Pete 4118 1b nym nl 10.5
3 Judge, Aaron 3767 rf dh nyy al 10.0 3 Gorman, Nolan 4633 2b stl nl 10.0
4 Devers, Rafael 4038 3b bos al 7.5 4 Betts, Mookie 3404 rf 2b lad nl 8.5
5 Altuve, Jose 3007 2b hou al 7.5 5 Freeman, Freddie 2887 1b lad nl 8.5
6 Henderson, Gunnar 4739 dh 3b ss bal al 7.5 6 Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 1b stl nl 8.2
7 McCormick, Chas 4444 lf cf hou al 7.5 7 Reynolds, Bryan 4169 lf cf pit nl 7.7
8 Duran, Jarren 4783 cf bos al 7.5 8 Outman, James 4699 cf lad nl 7.7
9 Paredes, Isaac 4666 3b 1b 2b tb al 7.2 9 Arraez, Luis 4219 2b fla nl 7.5
10 Diaz, Yandy 3896 1b dh tb al 7.0 10 Yelich, Christian 3334 lf mil nl 7.5
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations

Braves pitcher Spencer Strider extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings this week.

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, Sept. 21.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 21.1
2 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh ana al 19.4
3 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 18.7
4 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 17.8
5 Peralta, Freddy 3965 pi sp mil nl 17.7
6 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 17.1
7 Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 pi sp sea al 16.1
8 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 15.7
9 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 15.4
10 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp nyy al 15.0
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Back to top

Meanwhile, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels continues to lead both American League pitcher and batters in Box-Toppers points, despite being out for the remainder of the season. Plus, Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves continues to lead NL batters.

Strider leads

Strider leads Box-Toppers season player rankings with 21.1 Box-Toppers points, picking up 1.0 point in the past week. He leads over second-place Ohtani (19.4 points) and over second-place NL pitcher Jesus Luzardo of the Marlins (17.8).

Ohtani leads AL pitchers and batters

Ohtani leads AL pitchers for the 14th straight weekly player rankings report and leads AL batters for the 18th straight weekly report.

His 19.4 Box-Toppers points ranks ahead of second-place AL pitcher Kevin Gausman of the Blue Jays (18.7) and ahead of second-place AL batter Kyle Tucker of the Astros (12.5).

Ohtani has earned exactly half his points as a pitcher (9.7) and half as a batter (9.7). His pitching season was shut down when it was learned in late August he had a ligament tear in his pitching elbow. Ohtani also shut down his season as a batter this week with a strained right oblique. Ohtani this week underwent surgery to fix his elbow and is expected to be able to hit in 2024 but not be able to pitch again until 2025. He is a free agent, so his status of returning to the Angels is up in the air.

While Box-Toppers adds all of Ohtani’s points together and counts the overall total when ranking him as an AL pitcher and an AL batter, if they are separated, here is how Ohtani would rank:

Blake Snell @Padres (14.7 Box-Toppers points, 6th among NL pitchers) earned no B-T points in April & May. He earned his 1st B-T point June 5.
Gerrit Cole @Yankees (15.0 B-T pts, 6th among AL pitchers) had just 2.0 B-T points over May, June & July.https://t.co/R6qDWMD3YL

— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) September 22, 2023

Spencer Strider @Braves rises this week to lead NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points over 2022-23:
1—Strider 34.5
2—Zac Gallen @Dbacks 34.4
3—Julio Urias @Dodgers 30.4
4—Zack Wheeler @Phillies 29.1
5—Sandy Alcantara @Marlins 28.1
6—Blake Snell @Padres 27.8

— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) September 22, 2023
  • His 9.7 points as a batter would rank third among AL batters.

  • His 9.7 points as a pitcher would rank 24th among AL pitchers.

National League batters

Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves leads the category for the third week with 10.7 Box-Toppers points, picking up no points in the past week. He leads over second-place NL batter Pete Alonso of the Mets (10.5).

Acuna ranks 35th among all players.

Acuna’s current 10.7 point total would equal the lowest Box-Toppers point to lead a league category in a regular-length season. In 2016, Nolan Arenado of the Rockies led NL batters with 10.7 points, the lowest total to lead any category in a regular-length season since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.

Box-Toppers almanac

  • Players who have earned Box-Toppers points so far in 2023—777 (there were 764 as of last week).

  • Players with more than 2.0 Box-Toppers points—392 (there were 377 as of last week).

  • Players with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points—47 (there were 41 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)—185 (there were 178 as of last week).

  • Games completed so far in 2023—2,295, an average of 153.0 per team.

  • Percentage of scheduled season completed—94.4.

  • Pitchers again dominated this week, winning Player of the Game honors in 60 of the 96 games played (62.5 percent), with batters winning in 36 (37.5 percent). Batters’ share of Player of the Game honors for the season decreased from 41.0 percent last week to 40.8 percent this week (937 of the 2,295 games played). Pitchers have won in 1,358 games (59.2 percent).

Note

This is the next-to-last (and also penultimate) Box-Toppers player rankings report for 2023. There will be no rankings report next Friday, Sept. 29, as we will wait until after the end of the season a few days later, Sunday, Oct. 1, to post final player rankings.

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.

Related

Last week’s Box-Toppers season player rankings report

TagsBox-Toppers Player Rankings, Spencer Strider, Shohei Ohtani, Ronald Acuña Jr., Jesus Luzardo, Kevin Gausman, Kyle Tucker, Pete Alonso, Nolan Arenado
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Box-Toppers

Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.

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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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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