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Braves pitcher Chris Sale is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to sixth place in season player rankings.
Also Monday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extended his streak of earning Box-Toppers points to 17 straight seasons—tied for the longest active streak—after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2024.
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During the 2023 season, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander each rose one spot on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points top 10 list.
They were the only player movements among Box-Toppers “all-time” career points top 10 players overall, among the top 10 pitchers and among the top 10 batters. Pitcher Randy Johnson, who retired in 2009, still leads all players in career Box-Toppers points with 282.5 (tracking began in 1995).
Read MoreAnalyzing 29 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching and batting in both leagues.
In 2023, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, American League Most Valuable Player, was the only player who won a major postseason award and also led his Box-Toppers category (leading AL batters with 19.4). Also, Pete Alonso of the Mets became the ninth batter since 1995 to lead his league’s batters in Box-Toppers points more than once, leading NL batters for the second straight season.
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Box-Toppers is voting for six players for 2024 Hall of Fame induction on the internet writers’ ballot—Adrián Beltré, Todd Helton, Matt Holliday, Torii Hunter, Joe Mauer and Billy Wagner.
Box-Toppers is voting for six players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the 2024 Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) ballot.
Box-Toppers is voting for these players, listed alphabetically by last name: Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton, Matt Holliday, Torii Hunter, Joe Mauer and Billy Wagner.
Read MoreRockies pitcher Kyle Freeland is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to ninth place in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, two other players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors—Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani rises to fifth place and Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan rises to sixth place.
Read MoreRays pitcher Drew Rasmussen is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to first place in season player rankings.
Also Sunday, Giants pitcher Anthony DeSclafani rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
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The New York Mets are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2023 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the World Series champion Houston Astros saw the biggest decline.
Read MoreNo single player leads more than two of Box-Toppers’ main leaderboards at the end of 2022.
Max Scherzer, who led five of the leaderboards at the close of 2021, most of any player, is now one of six players to lead two of the 18 leaderboards after the 2022 season.
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Could 2023 be the season Clayton Kershaw passes Randy Johnson for the “all-time” lead in career Box-Toppers points?
Or could this coming season be the year when Kershaw loses the lead among active players in career Box-Toppers points to either Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander?
Read MoreIn 2022, Justin Verlander led American League pitchers in season Box-Toppers points for the third time in his career, tied for the seventh-most times a player has led a season points category.
Also in 2022, the New York Mets and Miami Marlins each had their first Box-Toppers points category leader—Pete Alonso and Sandy Alcantara— leaving the Pittsburgh Pirates as the only team to never have a player lead a category since tracking began in 1995.
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During the 2022 season, Justin Verlander rose from sixth to fifth place on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points top 10 list.
It was the only player movement among Box-Toppers “all-time” career points top 10 players overall, among the top 10 pitchers and among the top 10 batters. Retired pitcher Randy Johnson still leads all players in career Box-Toppers points with 282.5 (tracking began in 1995).
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The New York Yankees and New York Mets lead Box-Toppers offseason rankings after landing the winter’s two biggest free agents.
The Yankees rank first after Carlos Rodon Thursday agreed to a free agent deal. Rodon earned 19.8 Box-Toppers points in 2022 with the Giants, sixth overall and third among National League pitchers. He ranked second among all free agents going into the 2023 season.
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Box-Toppers is voting for four players for 2023 Hall of Fame induction on the internet writers’ ballot—Todd Helton, Torii Hunter, Jeff Kent and Billy Wagner.
Box-Toppers is voting for four players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the 2023 Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) ballot.
Box-Toppers is voting for these players: Todd Helton, Torii Hunter, Jeff Kent and Billy Wagner.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Justin Verlander is the clear-cut choice for Comeback Player of the Year in the American League, but three different National League players have won 2022 comeback awards, none of whom were among Box-Toppers’ top NL resurgent players.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Cristian Javier is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Pete Alonso of the Mets extends his lead among National League batters and now has the most Box-Toppers points for any batter in a single season since 2017 and the eighth-most for any batter in a single season from 2010 forward.
Read MorePadres pitcher Blake Snell is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Snell struck out 13 over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 1-0 win over the Cardinals.
Read MoreMariners pitcher George Kirby is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Kirby struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 3-1 win over the Braves.
Read MoreAngels pitcher Touki Toussaint is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Toussaint struck out six over five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 5-4, 12-inning win over the Athletics. Toussaint did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Read MoreWhite Sox pitcher Dylan Cease is the most deserving player not selected to the 2022 Major League Baseball All-Star teams.
A Box-Toppers look at All-Star starters, reserves and snubs.
Read MoreRoyals pitcher Jonathan Heasley is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreBox-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.