| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Skubal, Tarik 4414 | pi sp | det al | 21.1 | 1 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 21.4 | |
| 2 | Gil, Luis 4498 | pi sp | nyy al | 17.4 | 2 | Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | sd nl | 21.1 | |
| 3 | Miller, Bryce 4797 | pi sp | sea al | 15.7 | 3 | Imanaga, Shota 4960 | pi sp | chi nl | 20.7 | |
| 4 | Kirby, George 4595 | pi sp | sea al | 15.4 | 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | atl nl | 19.1 | |
| 5 | Valdez, Framber 4048 | pi sp | hou al | 15.4 | 5 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.7 | |
| 6 | Cortes, Nestor 4160 | pi sp | nyy al | 15.4 | 6 | Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.4 | |
| 7 | Lugo, Seth 3729 | pi sp | kc al | 14.1 | 7 | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | mil nl | 13.4 | |
| 8 | Bibee, Tanner 4792 | pi sp | cle al | 14.0 | 8 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 13.4 | |
| 9 | Ober, Bailey 4441 | pi sp | min al | 13.4 | 9 | Fried, Max 4011 | pi sp | atl nl | 13.4 | |
| 10 | Houck, Tanner 4342 | pi sp | bos al | 13.4 | 10 | Skenes, Paul 5005 | pi sp | pit nl | 13.0 | |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | dh cf | nyy al | 13.0 | 1 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | dh | lad nl | 11.0 | |
| 2 | Soto, Juan 3994 | rf | nyy al | 11.0 | 2 | Lindor, Francisco 3586 | ss | nym nl | 10.9 | |
| 3 | Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | cle al | 9.9 | 3 | Adames, Willy 4041 | ss | mil nl | 10.5 | |
| 4 | Naylor, Josh 4154 | 1b | cle al | 9.0 | 4 | Chapman, Matt 3849 | 3b | sf nl | 10.2 | |
| 5 | Witt, Bobby Jr. 4592 | ss | kc al | 8.9 | 5 | Doyle, Brenton 4803 | cf | col nl | 9.7 | |
| 6 | Mountcastle, Ryan 4325 | 1b | bal al | 8.0 | 6 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | 1b | phi nl | 8.7 | |
| 7 | Neto, Zach 4821 | ss | ana al | 8.0 | 7 | Schwarber, Kyle 3536 | dh | phi nl | 8.5 | |
| 8 | Alvarez, Yordan 4209 | dh | hou al | 7.5 | 8 | Suarez, Eugenio 3355 | 3b | ari nl | 8.5 | |
| 9 | Langeliers, Shea 4715 | ca | oak al | 7.5 | 9 | Ozuna, Marcell 3190 | dh | atl nl | 7.5 | |
| 10 | Lowe, Brandon 4108 | dh 2b | tb al | 7.0 | 10 | Happ, Ian 3798 | lf | chi nl | 7.5 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler is 2024 Box-Toppers Player of the Year, holding the lead in Box-Toppers points since Sept. 6.
Box-Toppers Players of the Year
Here are Box-Toppers Player of the Year winners in each season of Box-Toppers tracking since 1995. Player of the Year is the player with the season’s highest Box-Toppers point total:| Year | Player | Pos | Team | BTP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Mariners | 23.7 |
| 1996 | John Smoltz | pi sp | Braves | 26.1 |
| 1997 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | Blue Jays | 27.4 |
| 1998 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Astros† | 26.4 |
| 1999 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Dbacks | 31.5 |
| 2000 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Dbacks | 33.7 |
| 2001 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Dbacks | 29.4 |
| 2002 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Dbacks | 33.7 |
| 2003 | Jason Schmidt | pi sp | Giants | 24.7 |
| 2004 | Johan Santana | pi sp | Twins | 26.8 |
| 2005 | Johan Santana | pi sp | Twins | 24.1 |
| 2006 | Johan Santana | pi sp | Twins | 25.7 |
| 2007 | Jake Peavy | pi sp | Padres | 23.4 |
| 2008 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | Brewers* | 26.7 |
| 2009 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | Royals | 21.5 |
| 2010 | Jon Lester | pi sp | Red Sox | 23.4 |
| 2011 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 26.1 |
| 2012 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | Tigers | 24.8 |
| 2013 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 21.7 |
| 2014 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 31.5 |
| 2015 | Jake Arrieta | pi sp | Cubs | 29.1 |
| 2016 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | Nationals | 25.7 |
| 2017 | Chris Sale | pi sp | Red Sox | 25.1 |
| 2018 | Blake Snell | pi sp | Rays | 27.2 |
| 2019 | Gerrit Cole | pi sp | Astros | 32.2 |
| 2020 | Shane Bieber | pi sp | Indians | 11.4§ |
| 2021 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | Dodgers** | 25.1 |
| 2022 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | Astros | 26.0 |
| 2023 | Spencer Strider | pi sp | Braves | 21.1 |
| 2024 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 21.4 |
* Played for the Indians before trade to the Brewers.
** Played for the Nationals before trade to the Dodgers.
§ Season shortened from 162 to 60 games due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers rises to first place among National League batters, making a meteoric rise from outside the top 10 NL batters until Sept. 19 and rising to first place only on Friday, Sept. 27, earning 6.0 of his 11.0 points for the season in a 13-day explosion.
Other category leaders remain unchanged: Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal leads American League pitchers and Aaron Judge of the Yankees leads AL batters.
Wheeler leads
Wheeler has 21.4 Box-Toppers points to lead all players, picking up no points in the final 10 days of the season to lead for the third week, ahead of second-place player, Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (21.1 points). Wheeler also leads NL pitchers ahead of Padres pitcher Dylan Cease (21.1 points).
Wheeler becomes the first Phillies player to win Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
National League batters
Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers rises to lead NL batters with 11.0 Box-Toppers points, passing previous leader, Willy Adames of the Brewers (10.5), who falls to third place. Ohtani leads NL batters ahead of Francisco Lindor of the Mets, who rose to second place with 10.9 points on the last day of the season Monday.
Despite Ohtani’s 50-home-run, 50-stolen-base season making him the favorite for NL Most Valuable Player, his Box-Toppers point total didn’t reflect that until almost the end of the season. The Box-Toppers’ Daily Scorecard post covering the games of Sept. 27, when Ohtani took the lead among NL batters, chronicles his rise in rankings from Aug. 30 onward, when he earned 7.0 of his 11.0 points for the season.
Ohtani ranks 41st among all players.
With Ohtani reaching 11.0 points, it ensures there will be no record set for the lowest Box-Toppers point total to lead a category. The record low point total to lead a category—10.7 by Nolan Arenado of the Rockies to lead NL batters in 2016—remains intact.
American League pitchers
Tarik Skubal of the Tigers leads AL pitchers for the ninth week with 21.1 Box-Toppers points, picking up 2.0 points since Sept. 19. He leads over second-place AL pitcher Luis Gil of the Yankees (17.4 points).
Skubal ranks second overall.
American League batters
Aaron Judge of the Yankees leads AL batters for the 15th straight week with 13.0 Box-Toppers points, picking up no points since Sept. 19. He is ahead of second-place AL batter Juan Soto of the Yankees (11.0 points).
Judge ranks 21st overall.
Players with 10 points
Six batters reached 10 Box-Toppers points this season, avoiding setting or tying a record for the fewest number of batters to reach that mark in a season since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
The fewest batters with 10 points in a season is four (2022). Six batters with 10 in 2024 is now the fifth-fewest batters with 10 points in a regular-length season since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
The six batters with 10 points in 2024 are Judge, Ohtani, Soto, Adames, Lindor and Matt Chapman of the Giants (10.2).
There are 59 players with 10 Box-Toppers points in 2024, second-most in any season. (There were 67 in 2001 and 58 in 2014). There are 53 pitchers with 10 Box-Toppers points in 2024, tied for the most with 2014.
It should be noted that in the early days of Box-Toppers tracking, which began in 1995, there were often more batters than pitchers with 10 Box-Toppers points in a season. For example, in 2000, of the 47 players with 10 or more points, 28 were batters and 19 were pitchers.
Box-Toppers almanac
Batters set a new record for the lowest share of Box-Toppers points earned in a season in 2024.
Batters won 37.2 percent of Box-Toppers points awarded in 2024, breaking the previous record low of 38.1 percent in 2022. Batters rebounded slightly in 2023 with 40.7 percent of all points after rules changes seemed to help them, but fell backward this year, setting the new record low.
Batters won 1,076.5 of the 2,890.2 points awarded in 2024. That compares to 2023, when batters won 1,172.2 of the 2,881.9 points awarded. In 2022, batters won 1,102.00 of the 2,891.8 points awarded.
Since the last player rankings report Sept. 19, batters won Player of the Game honors in 52 of the 133 games played (39.1 percent), while pitchers won 81 (60.9 percent). Batters’ share of Player of the Game honors won increased slightly from 37.0 percent on Sept. 19 to 37.1 percent to close the season, with batters winning Player of the Game in 901 of the 2,429 games played, while pitchers won in 1,528.
While batters have struggled to reach parity with pitchers in recent seasons, it wasn’t always this way: From 1995 to 2009, batters generally won half or more of all Box-Toppers points each season. But their share of points dropped precipitously after 2009.
(One game Sunday was rained out and canceled—Houston Astros at Cleveland Guardians—meaning both of those teams have 161 games this season, rather than the full 162, and that the season finished with 2,429 total games, one short of the scheduled 2,430.)
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 (X).
Your support via Buy Me a Coffee keeps Box-Toppers percolating. Thanks for your contributions!