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Box-Toppers points leaders have never won all four major postseason awards since tracking began in 1995.
But this year, in the 30th season of tracking, there is a chance that the four Box-Toppers points category leaders (both league’s batters and pitchers) may win the four major awards (both league’s Most Valuable Player and Cy Young awards).
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The Wild Card round of Major League Baseball’s postseason begins Tuesday with four best-of-three series.
All series take place at the higher-seed’s home ballpark. The winners of each series will face one of their league’s top-two seeded teams in league divisional series beginning Saturday.
Read MoreTigers pitcher Tarik Skubal is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to second place in season player rankings and securing 2024 American League Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors.
Skubal struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Rays.
Read MoreGiants pitcher Blake Snell is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreThree of Box-Toppers four main category leaders, including the overall leader in Box-Toppers points for 2024, were not selected to the 2024 Major League Baseball All-Star teams.
Yankees pitcher Luis Gil, who leads all players with 14.4 Box-Toppers points, was not selected to participate in the All-Star Game. Joining him as key All-Star snubs are Dylan Cease of the Padres, who leads National League pitchers with 12.4 points and outfielder Brenton Doyle of the Rockies, who leads NL batters with 8.7 points.
Read MoreRays pitcher Taj Bradley is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Bradley struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and two walks, in the 2-0 win over the Guardians.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2024 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the San Diego Padres saw the biggest decline.
Read MoreOnly four Box-Toppers points leaders are among players selected for 2023’s 16-member “All-MLB” team announced this month. Three other Box-Toppers leaders were chosen for the “All-MLB” Second Team.
The All-MLB team players are not selected based on their affiliation with American League or National League. Rather, all players are chosen regardless of league as “First Team” or “Second Team” players.
Read MoreBox-Toppers’ top-ranked relief pitchers in both leagues were named 2023 Relievers of the Year by Major League Baseball.
Felix Bautista of the Orioles, who led American League relievers with 11.0 Box-Toppers points, won the AL award and Devin Williams of the Brewers, who led National League relievers with 8.0 Box-Toppers points, won the NL award.
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Box-Toppers choices for major postseason awards: AL MVP—Shohei Ohtani, Angels; NL MVP—Pete Alonso, Mets; AL Cy Young—Chris Bassitt, Blue Jays; NL Cy Young—Spencer Strider, Braves; AL Rookie of the Year—Gunnar Henderson, Orioles; NL Rookie of the Year—James Outman, Dodgers.
You’re going to hate Box-Toppers’ choices for postseason player honors.
That’s the impression I get from listening to and reading baseball commentators who by August were already declaring players as not even de facto but actual “don’t-argue-with-me-because-I’m-right-and-there’s-clearly-no-dispute” award winners.
Read MoreBox-Toppers favors the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series, though the Arizona Diamondbacks have the slight edge among starting pitchers.
Both teams fought through higher-ranked teams to make their way to the league championship series, so neither is particularly highly ranked in Box-Toppers team rankings for 2023.
Read MorePadres pitcher Blake Snell is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Braves pitcher Spencer Strider extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreBrewers pitcher Corbin Burnes is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fifth in season player rankings.
Also Thursday, Braves pitcher Spencer Strider rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, extending his lead among National League pitchers, after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreBlue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Bassitt pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout, striking out eight and walking two, in the 3-0 win over the Braves.
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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.
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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.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Framber Valdez is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s World Series Game 6.
The Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 to win the best-of-seven game World Series, 4-2.
Read MoreAstros closing pitcher Ryan Pressly is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Thursday’s World Series Game 5.
The Houston Astros win 3-2 to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven game series, which resumes Saturday with Game 6 in Houston.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Framber Valdez is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s World Series Game 2.
The Houston Astros win 5-2 to tie the Philadelphia Phillies 1-1 in the best-of-seven game series.
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The Houston Astros hold significant Box-Toppers points advantages over the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2022 World Series.
The Astros were Box-Toppers’ second-ranked team in the regular season while the Phillies were 13th overall, just barely above the middle of the pack of all 30 teams. The Astros are the highest-ranked American League team in Box-Toppers rankings, while the Phillies are the lowest-ranking National League postseason team.
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.