Mariners' Hernandez continues Box-Toppers player rankings lead; Hosmer, Harper rise to lead batters

King Felix reigns for 4th week. Pirates' Cole is top NL pitcher. Royals' Hosmer rises to lead AL batters, Nationals' Harper rises to lead NL batters.

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Kershaw leads players in Box-Toppers points; Indians' Kluber takes AL pitching lead

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw still leads all players in Box-Toppers points. Meanwhile, there is a new leader this week among American League pitchers—Corey Kluber of the Indians.

Top players

Through Thursday, Sept. 18


 OVERALL LEADERS POS TEAM BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 30.5
2 Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 22.6
3 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 22.1
4 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp det al 21.1
5 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 19.8
6 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp cin nl 19.4
7 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 17.4
8 Price, David 2593 pi sp det al 17.1
9 Wainwright, Adam 2150 pi sp stl nl 17.0
10 Richards, Garrett 3042 pi sp ana al 15.7
AL PITCHERS POS TEAM BTP
1 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 22.1
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp det al 21.1
3 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 19.8
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 17.4
5 Price, David 2593 pi sp det al 17.1
6 Richards, Garrett 3042 pi sp ana al 15.7
7 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp oak al 14.7
8 Kazmir, Scott 1947 pi sp oak al 14.1
9 Hutchison, Drew 3038 pi sp tor al 14.0
10 Shields, James 2157 pi sp kc al 13.7
AL BATTERS POS TEAM BTP
1 Abreu, Jose 3308 1b chi al 15.5
2 Cabrera, Miguel 1776 1b det al 12.5
3 Donaldson, Josh 3144 3b oak al 10.5
4 Jones, Adam 2347 cf bal al 10.5
5 Cruz, Nelson 2224 dh lf bal al 8.5
6 Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 1b dh lf tor al 8.0
7 Carter, Chris 2828 dh hou al 8.0
8 Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 lf bos al 8.0
9 Seager, Kyle 3031 3b sea al 8.0
10 Pujols, Albert 1438 dh 1b ana al 7.5
NL PITCHERS POS TEAM BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 30.5
2 Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 22.6
3 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp cin nl 19.4
4 Wainwright, Adam 2150 pi sp stl nl 17.0
5 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 15.5
6 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 14.7
7 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 13.7
8 Teheran, Julio 3176 pi sp atl nl 13.4
9 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp phi nl 12.4
10 Fister, Doug 2688 pi sp dc nl 12.4
NL BATTERS POS TEAM BTP
1 Tulowitzki, Troy 2308 ss col nl 11.6
2 Ozuna, Marcell 3190 cf fla nl 8.0
3 Freeman, Freddie 2887 1b atl nl 7.7
4 Posey, Buster 2745 ca sf nl 7.5
5 Holliday, Matt 1836 lf stl nl 7.5
6 Duda, Lucas 2818 1b nym nl 7.5
7 Yelich, Christian 3334 lf fla nl 7.5
8 Gonzalez, Adrian 2193 1b lad nl 7.2
9 Upton, Justin 2411 lf atl nl 7.2
10 Howard, Ryan 2040 1b phi nl 7.2
BTP: Box-Toppers points

Kershaw now has 30.5 Box-Toppers points to lead all players and still has a chance to break the single-season record of 33.7 Box-Toppers points, recorded twice by Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks in 2000 and 2002. With perhaps two starts remaining—including one Friday against the Cubs—Kershaw would need to earn at least National League Player of the Day for both games (worth 1.7 points each) to pass Johnson.

Kluber takes the lead in Box-Toppers points among AL pitchers—he now has 22.1 and passes Max Scherzer of the Tigers (21.1), who had led the category since early July. Scherzer was Box-Toppers AL pitcher of the year in 2013 with 18.1 points. Kluber currently ranks third among all players in Box-Toppers points.

Jose Abreu of the White Sox still leads AL batters in Box-Toppers points with 15.5. He had been the only batter in the overall top 10 until this week, when he fell to 12th place.

Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies still leads National League batters in Box-Toppers points with 11.6. Tulowitzki will have played in just over half the season’s games (91) and is out for the season recovering from hip surgery. None of the top 10 NL batters scored Box-Toppers points this week.

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.

Note: This is the next-to-last (and also penultimate) Box-Toppers player ranking report of the season. Rather than the regular Friday player ranking report next week, the final player ranking report will come after the season’s final games Sunday, Sept. 28, probably on Monday, Sept. 29. Or thereabouts.

What are those numbers after players' names?