Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole leads players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2018.
Box-Toppers points leaders for 2018-23
| OVERALL LEADERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 112.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | tex al | 95.0 |
| 3 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 91.0 |
| 4 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | sd nl | 80.1 |
| 5 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | tex al | 78.4 |
| 6 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 77.2 |
| 7 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 74.7 |
| 8 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 70.9 |
| 9 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | atl nl | 68.7 |
| 10 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 63.6 |
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 112.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | tex al | 95.0 |
| 3 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 91.0 |
| 4 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | tex al | 78.4 |
| 5 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 74.7 |
| 6 | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | pi sp | sea al | 62.5 |
| 7 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | tor al | 60.3 |
| 8 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 60.3 |
| 9 | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | tor al | 59.9 |
| 10 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | min al | 56.7 |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 74.7 |
| 2 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf dh | nyy al | 44.2 |
| 3 | Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | cle al | 41.9 |
| 4 | Bregman, Alex 3721 | 3b | hou al | 35.4 |
| 5 | Devers, Rafael 4038 | 3b | bos al | 33.5 |
| 6 | Semien, Marcus 3302 | 2b | tex al | 33.1 |
| 7 | Abreu, Jose 3308 | 1b | hou al | 31.7 |
| 8 | Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 30.2 |
| 9 | Tucker, Kyle 4277 | rf | hou al | 29.2 |
| 10 | Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | nyy al | 27.9 |
| NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | sd nl | 80.1 |
| 2 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 77.2 |
| 3 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 70.9 |
| 4 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | atl nl | 68.7 |
| 5 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 63.6 |
| 6 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 62.4 |
| 7 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 60.6 |
| 8 | Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 57.9 |
| 9 | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | mil nl | 56.5 |
| 10 | Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 56.5 |
| NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Betts, Mookie 3404 | rf 2b | lad nl | 45.3 |
| 2 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | lad nl | 44.2 |
| 3 | Martinez, J.D. 2922 | dh | lad nl | 43.4 |
| 4 | Yelich, Christian 3334 | lf | mil nl | 42.9 |
| 5 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | stl nl | 39.7 |
| 6 | Alonso, Pete 4118 | 1b | nym nl | 38.4 |
| 7 | Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | stl nl | 35.0 |
| 8 | Bogaerts, Xander 3383 | ss | sd nl | 33.9 |
| 9 | Soto, Juan 3994 | lf | sd nl | 33.0 |
| 10 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | dh 1b | phi nl | 31.5 |
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Cole has 112.4 Box-Toppers points over the period 2018-23, 17.4 points ahead of second-ranked player, Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer, who has 95.0 over that span.
Scherzer had led the six-year rolling Box-Toppers point total among all players at the end of the previous five seasons, beginning in 2018, when his 137.0 points over 2013-2018 led all players over that six-year period, 2.6 points ahead of second place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (134.4).
Here are the other four seasons Scherzer led the six-year rolling total:
After 2019, he led second-place Kershaw by 8.9 points (134.3-125.4) over the span 2014-19.
After 2020, he led second-place Kershaw by 14.6 points (116.2-101.6) over the span 2015-20.
After 2021, he led second-place Cole by 26.8 points (120.3-93.5) over the span 2016-21.
After 2022, he led second-place Cole by 2.2 points (104.6-102.4) over the span 2017-22.
Scherzer relinquished his grasp on the six-year rolling total after his 2017 total of 25.0 fell out of the 2018-23 rolling total, replaced by his 15.4 point total in 2023. Cole meanwhile had a big boost in his six-year rolling total with his 7.0 points in 2017 rolling away and his 17.0 points in 2023 rolling in.
Here is a look at Scherzer’s and Cole’s Box-Toppers point totals and rankings in each of the past six seasons:
2018: Scherzer—25.1 points with the Nationals, second overall and first among National League pitchers. Cole—18.0 points with the Astros, eighth overall and sixth among American League pitchers.
2019: Scherzer—15.4 points with the Nationals, ninth among NL pitchers. Cole—32.2 points with the Astros, first overall.
2020: Scherzer—4.0 points with the Nationals, 18th among NL pitchers. Cole—7.4 points with the Yankees, fifth among AL pitchers. (Pandemic-shortened season.)
2021: Scherzer—25.1 points with the Nationals and Dodgers, first overall. Cole—22.4 points with the Yankees, second overall, first among AL pitchers.
2022: Scherzer—10.0 points with the Mets, 24th among NL pitchers. Cole—15.4 points with the Yankees, eighth among AL pitchers.
2023: Scherzer—15.4 points with the Mets and Rangers, finishing season 10th overall, sixth among AL pitchers. Cole—17.0 points with the Yankees, seventh overall, fourth among AL pitchers.
Cole also leads AL pitchers over the six-year span of 2018-23 ahead of Scherzer. It is the fourth straight year Cole has led AL pitchers in the six-year rolling total.
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The players who make these top 10 charts over the period 2018-23 have demonstrated their long-term staying power. Weeded out are players who have single-season, flash-in-the-pan success and relative newcomers who haven’t yet proven their longevity. But it also rewards dominant players of the recent past whose success has waned lately.
NL pitchers
Scherzer had led NL pitchers over the six-year rolling total for five straight seasons, the same seasons he led all players in the rolling total. Moving to the AL in 2023, he broke that streak. But had he stayed in the NL to end 2023, his 95.0 Box-Toppers points over 2018-23 would have again ranked first among NL pitchers.
But instead, Padres pitcher Blake Snell rises to lead NL pitchers with 80.1 Box-Toppers points over 2018-23, fourth among all players over that span. After 2022, Snell was fifth among NL pitchers in the rolling six-year total (70.4 points over 2017-22). His 14.7 points in 2023 was sixth among NL pitchers. Notably, Snell led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2018 with the Rays when he had 27.2, his only single-season top 10 overall finish.
Snell narrowly leads Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (77.2 points) among NL pitchers in the six-year total over 2018-23. Nola ranks sixth overall. Nola earned 12.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 12th among NL pitchers.
AL batters
Shohei Ohtani of the Angels leads AL batters over the past six seasons with 74.7 Box-Toppers points over 2018-23. That total also ranks seventh overall and fifth among AL pitchers.
It is a commanding 30.5-point lead over second-place AL batter over that span, Aaron Judge of the Yankees, who has 44.2 points over 2018-23.
However, Box-Toppers combines the points Ohtani earns for batting and pitching when figuring his total. Plus, this year, Ohtani qualified to rank among batters in Box-Toppers rankings since he won more than 25 percent of his Player of the Game honors as a batter. In 2023, he earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors 16 times—eight as a pitcher and eight as a designated hitter.
However, in the previous two seasons (2021 and 2022), Ohtani qualified to rank only as a pitcher because he earned such an overwhelming majority of his Player of the Game honors at that position in each season (despite playing many more games as a designated hitter). So after 2022, Ohtani had 55.3 points over 2017-22, more than that year’s six-year rolling total leader among AL batters, Jose Ramirez of the Guardians (45.7). But because Ohtani only qualified to rank among pitchers in 2022 (he was 10th among AL pitchers over 2017-22), he is not ranked among batters for that season.
Separating Ohtani’s Box-Toppers points, he’s earned 29.2 points as a batter over 2018-23 and 45.5 as a pitcher over that span. His 29.2 points separately as a batter would rank eighth among AL batters over six years. His 45.5 points separately as a pitcher would rank 18th among AL pitchers over six years.
The 74.7 total Box-Toppers points Ohtani has earned over the past six years encompasses his entire Major League career so far. Ohtani led AL batters in 2023 with 19.4 points, the first time he has led a Box-Toppers season category. That total was also third overall and second among AL pitchers. Ohtani has ranked among the overall top 10 players in points twice (2022 and 2023), the top 10 AL pitchers three times (2021, 2022 and 2023) and the top 10 AL batters twice (2018 and 2023). Ohtani has signed with the Dodgers for 2024, moving to the National League.
NL batters
Mookie Betts of the Dodgers leads NL batters over the past six seasons with 45.3 Box-Toppers points over 2018-23.
This is the second straight season Betts has led NL batters in the six-year rolling total. He had 42.8 Box-Toppers points over 2017-22.
Betts also has the most points earned solely as a batter over the past six seasons. While Ohtani has more points (74.7), only 29.2 of those points were earned as a batter.
Betts leads second-ranked NL batter over 2018-23, Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers (44.2), by 1.1 points.
Here is a look at Betts’s past six seasons (he was with the AL Red Sox in 2018 and 2019 and with the NL Dodgers from 2020 to 2023):
2018—10.9, second among AL batters.
2019—8.7, eighth among AL batters.
2020—2.5, 23rd among NL batters.
2021–3.0, 62nd among NL batters.
2022—11.7, second among NL batters.
2023—8.5, eighth among NL batters.
Players are shown here with the teams they were on at the end of 2023. Only players active at the end of 2023 are listed.
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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