Box-Toppers' top pitchers Jake Arrieta of the Cubs and Dallas Keuchel of the Astros are Cy Young Award finalists. But Box-Toppers' top batters Adrian Beltre of the Rangers and Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies are not MVP finalists.
Read MoreBatting average leaders do not make big impact in Box-Toppers player rankings
Only three of the top 10 players in batting average for 2015 are among Box-Toppers' top 100 players.
Read MoreGiants' Chris Heston pitches no-hitter, tops players for Tuesday, June 9, rises to 8th in Box-Toppers player rankings
Giants pitcher Chris Heston, pitching a no-hitter, is Tuesday's Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to eighth in season player rankings.
Heston struck out 11 over nine innings, allowing no hits, runs or walks, in the 5-0 win over the Mets. Heston allowed three base runners—he hit three batters with pitches.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of June 9.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 12.4 |
| 2 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 11.0 |
| 3 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 11.0 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.4 |
| 5 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 9.7 |
| 6 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 9.7 |
| 7 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.0 |
| 8 | Heston, Chris 3437 | pi sp | sf nl | 8.7 |
| 9 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 8.1 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 |
Heston earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season, rising to eighth in player rankings and fifth among NL pitchers.
Heston had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of 20, the second-highest score of the season. On May 13, Corey Kluber of the Indians had the season’s highest Box-Toppers game score so far—25 (8IP H 0R 0BB 18K).
American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out seven in the 6-0 win over the Cubs.
National League Batter of the Day—Joey Votto of the Reds hit three home runs, going 3-for-4, scoring four times and driving in four runs, in the 11-2 win over the Phillies.
American League Batter of the Day—Kole Calhoun of the Angels doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 8-2 win over the Rays.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Brewers pitcher Taylor Jungman (7IP 3H R 5K W in the 4-1 win over the Pirates) was also making his Major League debut Tuesday. He is the 3,493rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon (6IP 4H 0R 5K W in the 4-2 win over the Astros) made his Major League debut April 21 and was playing in his ninth career game. He is the 3,494th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Heston earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sanchez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Votto and Calhoun each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 6/9 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 20.0 | Giants | Chris Heston (W, 6-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | |
| BAT | 7.0 | Reds | Joey Votto 1B | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AL | 6.2 | Tigers | Anibal Sanchez (W, 4-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| 6.0 | Rockies | Jorge De La Rosa (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 6.0 | Yankees | Masahiro Tanaka (W, 4-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 6.0 | Brewers | Taylor Jungmann (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | White Sox | Carlos Rodon (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | Rangers | Nick Martinez (W, 5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||
| 4.1 | Royals | Chris Young (W, 5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Angels | Kole Calhoun RF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Dodgers | Kenley Jansen (S, 7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | Orioles | Zach Britton (S, 16) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Braves | Andrelton Simmons SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Edwin Encarnacion DH | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Mariners | Dustin Ackley PH, LF | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Athletics' Drew Pomeranz (7IP 0R 6K) tops players for Friday, April 10
Athletics pitcher Drew Pomeranz is Friday’s Player of the Day.
Pomeranz pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six, in the 12-0 win over the Mariners.
National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Brandon Morrow pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out seven in the 1-0 win over the Giants. Morrow did not earn the win in the game because he exited with the score tied 0-0—the Padres scored the game’s only run in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 10.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 2.0 |
| 2 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 2.0 |
| 3 | Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | oak al | 2.0 |
| 4 | Wilson, C.J. 2074 | pi sp | ana al | 2.0 |
| 5 | Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 2.0 |
| 6 | Pomeranz, Drew 3061 | pi sp | oak al | 2.0 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 1.7 |
| 8 | Harang, Aaron 1599 | pi sp | phi nl | 1.7 |
| 9 | Peralta, David 3370 | lf | ari nl | 1.7 |
| 10 | Morrow, Brandon 2264 | pi sp | sd nl | 1.7 |
American League Batter of the Day—Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays went 3-for-3 with a double, drove in two and scored four times in the 12-5 win over the Orioles. Bautista has now scored at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons. He scored his first Box-Toppers point in 2006 with the Pirates. His best year was 2010 with the Blue Jays when he had 15.2 Box-Toppers points, the most among AL batters. He had 6.5 points in 2014, ranked eighth among AL outfielders. For his career, he has 53.4 Box-Toppers points, which ranks third among active AL outfielders (behind Torii Hunter—107.9 and Carlos Beltran—95.4). He ranks 120th among all batters since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began.
National League Batter of the Day—Joey Votto of the Reds hit two home runs and drove in four runs in the 5-4 win over the Cardinals.
Scoring—Pomeranz earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Morrow earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Bautista and Votto each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 410 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Athletics | Drew Pomeranz (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 10.2 | Twins | Tommy Milone (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| NL | 7.0 | `Padres | Brandon Morrow | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | |
| BAT | 6.0 | Blue Jays | Jose Bautista RF | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | Reds | Joey Votto 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | `Phillies | Jerome Williams | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | `Dbacks | Andrew Chafin | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 3.0 | Marlins | Giancarlo Stanton RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Astros | Colby Rasmus LF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Braves | Jim Johnson (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | Royals | Wade Davis (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | Tigers | Nick Castellanos 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Pirates | Pedro Alvarez 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.1 | `Red Sox | Wade Miley | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 1.0 | Rockies | DJ LeMahieu 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Box-Toppers endorses fans' AL All-Star picks but rips up the NL lineup
Fans seem to be doing a good job so far of voting for an American League All-Star team that makes sense, according to Box-Toppers statistics.
But the National League team that fans are picking could use some wholesale changes to better coincide with position leaders in Box-Toppers points.
There's still time to correct those mistakes. Voting for the All-Star Game closes this week, July 4. The All-Star Game is July 16 at Citi Field in New York.
Box-Toppers stats agree (or largely agree) with eight of the nine AL position players currently leading in voting for the All-Star Game. However, Box-Toppers only agrees with two of the eight NL vote leaders. In the chart (at right), the fan vote leaders are listed, followed by their current rank by position in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season, followed by a Box-Toppers judgment of fans' selections.
Box-Toppers stats indicate the biggest snubs are:
• Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks should be top NL first baseman. He leads among NL first basemen in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season (8.7) and also leads his position in points over the 2012 and 2013 season (13.2). Current fan voting leader, Joey Votto of the Reds, is 14th among NL first basemen in Box-Toppers points in 2013 (1.5) and ninth place over the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons (6.7). As of June 23, Votto led in fan voting among NL first basemen with 2.7 million votes. Goldschmidt was in second place with 2.3 million.
• Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies should be among the top NL outfielders. He leads all NL batters in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season (9.5) and also leads all NL batters in points over the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons (18.7). Two of the current fan voting leaders for NL outfield do not rank very highly in their position in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season: Carlos Beltran of the Cardinals ranks 33rd and Justin Upton of the Braves ranks 45th. Gonzalez ranks fourth in fan voting for NL outfield with 2.1 million votes. Beltran has 3.5 million, Upton has 2.5 million and Bryce Harper of the Nationals has 2.4 million.
In the chart at right, Box-Toppers gives its judgment as either "Good" (these are the players Box-Toppers stats would deem worthy of an All-Star start), "OK" (these are not necessarily the most worthy players, but they are among Box-Toppers points leaders in that position) or "Should be's" (these are players Box-Toppers stats would deem unworthy of the honor and suggesting a substitute who is leading or is among the leaders in Box-Toppers points).
In the American League, Box-Toppers suggests only one substitute: Adam Jones of the Orioles, vote leader among AL outfielders should be replaced with Yoenis Cespedes of the Athletics. Jones ranks 19th among AL outfielders in Box-Toppers points for 2013 while Cespedes is the leader.
In the National League, Box-Toppers can only endorse two of the fans' selections: Brandon Phillips of the Reds at second base and Bryce Harper of the Nationals in the outfield.
Here are AL All-Star voting leaders as of June 23.
Here are NL All-Star voting leaders as of June 23.
The chart below shows Box-Toppers points leaders by position so far through the 2013 season. The columns to the right look at players over the longer run, seeing who is leading in Box-Toppers points for the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons.
The chart also includes Box-Toppers points leaders among starting, middle relief and closing pitchers, even though fans don't get to vote on those.
Here is how the Box-Toppers All-Star teams stand as of today:
| ALL-STAR VOTE LEADERS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL PLAYERS | TEAM | RANK BY POS. | BOX-TOPPERS JUDGMENT | |
| 1B | Chris Davis | bal al | 1 | Good |
| 2B | Robinson Cano | nyy al | 1 | Good |
| SS | J.J. Hardy | bal al | 3 | Good |
| 3B | Miguel Cabrera | det al | 1 | Good |
| CA | Joe Mauer | min al | 2 | Good |
| OF | Adam Jones | bal al | 19 | Should be Yoenis Cespedes, OAK |
| OF | Mike Trout | ana al | 5 | Good |
| OF | Nick Markakis | bal al | 6 | OK |
| DH | David Ortiz | bos al | 3 | OK |
| NL PLAYERS | TEAM | RANK BY POS. | BOX-TOPPERS JUDGMENT | |
| 1B | Joey Votto | cin nl | 14 | Should be Paul Goldschmidt, ARI |
| 2B | Brandon Phillips | cin nl | 1 | Good |
| SS | Troy Tulowitzki | col nl | 5 | OK, but should be Everth Cabrera, SD |
| 3B | David Wright | nym nl | 12 | Should be Pedro Alvarez, PIT |
| CA | Yadier Molina | stl nl | 8 | Should be Brian McCann, ATL |
| OF | Carlos Beltran | stl nl | 33 | Should be Carlos Gonzalez, COL |
| OF | Justin Upton | atl nl | 45 | Should be Matt Holliday, STL |
| OF | Bryce Harper | dc nl | 2 | Good |
RANK BY POS: Where the player ranks by fielding position in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season.
| 2013 SEASON | 2012-13 SEASONS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL | PLAYER | TEAM | BTP | PLAYER | TEAM | BTP | |
| First base | Davis, Chris 2478 | bal al | 6 | Davis, Chris 2478 | bal al | 18 | |
| Second base | Cano, Robinson 2092 | nyy al | 4.5 | Kipnis, Jason 2933 | cle al | 9.5 | |
| Shortstop | Drew, Stephen 2210 | bos al | 4.5 | Hardy, J.J. 2071 | bal al | 10.2 | |
| Third base | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 10.7 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 22.4 | |
| Catcher | Arencibia, J.P. 2781 | tor al | 5.5 | Mauer, Joe 1869 | min al | 14 | |
| Outfield 1 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | oak al | 4.5 | Trout, Mike 2949 | ana al | 14.5 | |
| Outfield 2 | Johnson, Kelly 2018 | tb al | 4.5 | Hamilton, Josh 2332 | ana al | 11.5 | |
| Outfield 3 | Nava, Daniel 2740 | bos al | 4.5 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | oak al | 10.5 | |
| Designated hitter | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | tor al | 5.7 | Butler, Billy 2330 | kc al | 15.2 | |
| Starting pitcher 1 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | cle al | 11.7 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | det al | 30.8 | |
| Starting pitcher 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | chi al | 10.7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | sea al | 27.4 | |
| Starting pitcher 3 | Buchholz, Clay 2363 | bos al | 10.1 | Sale, Chris 2806 | chi al | 26.4 | |
| Starting pitcher 4 | Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048 | sea al | 9.7 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | tex al | 25.8 | |
| Middle reliever | Tazawa, Junichi 3151 | bos al | 4 | Chen, Bruce 1170 | kc al | 8 | |
| Closing pitcher | Perkins, Glen 2506 | min al | 6 | Rodney, Fernando 1803 | tb al | 11 | |
| NL | |||||||
| First base | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | ari nl | 8.7 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | ari nl | 13.2 | |
| Second base | Phillips, Brandon 1691 | cin nl | 5 | Phillips, Brandon 1691 | cin nl | 14.5 | |
| Shortstop | Cabrera, Everth 2625 | sd nl | 4.5 | Cabrera, Everth 2625 | sd nl | 7.5 | |
| Third base | Alvarez, Pedro 2817 | pit nl | 5.2 | Freese, David 2710 | stl nl | 14.2 | |
| Catcher | McCann, Brian 2179 | atl nl | 6 | McCann, Brian 2179 | atl nl | 12 | |
| Outfield 1 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | col nl | 9.5 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | col nl | 18.7 | |
| Outfield 2 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | dc nl | 5.9 | Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | mil nl | 16 | |
| Outfield 3 | Pollock, A.J. 3142 | ari nl | 4.7 | Holliday, Matt 1836 | stl nl | 15.7 | |
| Starting pitcher 1 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | ari nl | 11.4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | lad nl | 31.5 | |
| Starting pitcher 2 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | stl nl | 11.4 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | stl nl | 27.1 | |
| Starting pitcher 3 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | nym nl | 11 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | sf nl | 25.4 | |
| Starting pitcher 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | lad nl | 10.7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | dc nl | 25.4 | |
| Middle reliever | Collmenter, Josh 2863 | ari nl | 5 | Collmenter, Josh 2863 | ari nl | 7 | |
| Closing pitcher | Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | cin nl | 6 | Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | cin nl | 20 | |
| AL top pitcher | Masterson, Justin 2462 | cle al | 11.7 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | det al | 30.8 | |
| AL top batter | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 10.7 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 22.4 | |
| NL top pitcher | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | ari nl | 11.4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | lad nl | 31.5 | |
| NL top batter | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | col nl | 9.5 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | col nl | 18.7 |
Tigers' Miguel Cabrera, Reds' Brandon Phillips among leaders in All-Star voting and Box-Toppers standings
Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers and Brandon Phillips of the Reds are among players who are leaders both in fan All-Star voting and Box-Toppers standings.
In fact, Box-Toppers standings roughly coincide with about half of the players currently leading in All-Star voting.
Major League Baseball released All-Star vote standings for the National League on June 9 and released American League standings on June 3. The current leaders by league and by position are listed in the far right columns in the chart below. Note that five of the players currently leading in All-Star voting also rank first in their position in the league in Box-Toppers points. Three others rank second.
Overall, it's either a very good showing by fans or a decent affirmation of Box-Toppers' worth as a measure of player performance. Or it could be that we're all wrong.
Fans and Box-Toppers generally agree on these players:
- AL 1B: Chris Davis of the Orioles.
- AL 2B: Robinson Cano of the Yankees.
- AL 3B: Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers.
- AL CA: Joe Mauer of the Twins. (Mauer ranks second among AL catchers in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season, but leads among AL catchers when both the 2012 and 2013 seasons are combined.)
- AL OF: Mike Trout of the Angels. (Trout ranks seventh among AL outfielders in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season, but leads among AL outfielders over the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons.)
- AL DH: David Oritz of the Red Sox.
- NL 1B: Brandon Phillips of the Reds.
- NL CA: Buster Posey of the Giants. (Posey is second to Brian McCann of the Braves in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season and the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons, but it is a pretty close race.)
- NL OF: Bryce Harper of the Nationals. (Harper is second among NL outfielders in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season.)
There are a few instances in which Box-Toppers ranked a player lower than fans:
- AL SS: Elvis Andrus of the Rangers ranks ninth in Box-Toppers points among AL shortstops for the 2013 season. He has 1.0 point this season and only 2.0 the past two seasons.
- AL OF: Adam Jones of the Orioles ranks 13th in Box-Toppers points among AL outfielders.
- AL OF: Torii Hunter of the Angels ranks 55th in Box-Toppers among AL outfielders. Though Hunter has scored no Box-Toppers points this season, he ranks second among AL outfielders in Box-Toppers points over the period of 2008-2013.
- NL 1B: Joey Votto of the Reds ranks 10th in Box-Toppers points among NL first basemen.
- NL SS: Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies ranks fifth among NL shortstops.
- NL 3B: Pablo Sandoval of the Giants ranks seventh among NL third basemen.
- NL OF: Justin Upton of the Braves ranks 20th among NL outfielders.
- NL OF: Carlos Beltran of the Cardinals ranks 28th among NL outfielders.
There are only a few obvious snubs by Box-Toppers measures, but there are still a couple of weeks before All-Star voting closes to fix the problems:
- NL 1B: Should be Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks. Goldschmidt leads all NL batters in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season with 8.7. He leads NL first basemen in Box-Toppers points for 2013 and over the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons. He is second among NL first basemen in All-Star voting with over 900,000 votes, more than 600,000 behind Votto.
- NL SS: Should be Everth Cabrera of the Padres. Cabrera leads NL shortstops in Box-Toppers points for 2013 and over the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons. He's not in the top five among NL shortstops in All-Star voting.
- NL OF: Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies should be among the top three. He is currently seventh in All-Star voting with 955,000—Carlos Beltran of the Cardinals, currently third in voting among NL outfielders, has 1,550,000. Gonzalez leads all NL outfielders in Box-Toppers points for both the 2013 season and the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons.
- NL CA: Buster Posey leads in fan voting, but Brian McCann of the Braves has very narrow Box-Toppers points leads over Posey. But it hardly matters since Posey has nearly 2 million fan votes and McCann has barely 500,000.
The chart below shows Box-Toppers points leaders by position so far through the 2013 season. The middle columns look at players over the longer run, seeing who is leading in Box-Toppers points for the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons. And the far right columns show the current All-Star fan vote leaders, with their rank by position in Box-Toppers points in the 2013 season.
The chart also includes Box-Toppers points leaders among starting, middle and relief closing pitchers, even though fans don't get to vote on those.
Voting for the All-Star game is open until July 4.
Here is how the Box-Toppers All-Star teams stand as of today:
| 2013 SEASON | 2012-13 SEASONS | ALL-STAR VOTE LEADERS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL | PLAYER | TEAM | BTP | PLAYER | TEAM | BTP | PLAYER | TEAM | RANK BY POS. | ||
| First base | Davis, Chris 2478 | bal al | 4.5 | Davis, Chris 2478 | bal al | 16.5 | Chris Davis | bal al | 1 | ||
| Second base | Cano, Robinson 2092 | nyy al | 4.5 | Kipnis, Jason 2933 | cle al | 9.5 | Robinson Cano | nyy al | 1 | ||
| Shortstop | Drew, Stephen 2210 | bos al | 4.5 | Escobar, Yunel 2331 | tb al | 10 | Elvis Andrus | tex al | 9 | ||
| Third base | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 10.7 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 22.4 | Miguel Cabrera | det al | 1 | ||
| Catcher | Arencibia, J.P. 2781 | tor al | 5.5 | Mauer, Joe 1869 | min al | 13 | Joe Mauer | min al | 2 | ||
| Outfield 1 | Johnson, Kelly 2018 | tb al | 4.5 | Trout, Mike 2949 | ana al | 13.5 | Mike Trout | ana al | 7 | ||
| Outfield 2 | Nava, Daniel 2740 | bos al | 4.5 | Hamilton, Josh 2332 | ana al | 11.5 | Adam Jones | bal al | 13 | ||
| Outfield 3 | Raburn, Ryan 2340 | cle al | 4.5 | Rios, Alex 1989 | chi al | 9.9 | Torii Hunter | det al | 55 | ||
| Designated hitter | Ortiz, David | bos al | 5.2 | Butler, Billy 2330 | kc al | 13.7 | David Ortiz | bos al | 1 | ||
| Starting pitcher 1 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | cle al | 10.7 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | det al | 30.8 | |||||
| Starting pitcher 2 | Buchholz, Clay 2363 | bos al | 10.1 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | tex al | 25.8 | |||||
| Starting pitcher 3 | Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048 | sea al | 9.7 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | det al | 25.7 | |||||
| Starting pitcher 4 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | tex al | 9 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | sea al | 25.4 | |||||
| Middle reliever | Tazawa, Junichi 3151 | bos al | 4 | Chen, Bruce 1170 | kc al | 8 | |||||
| Closing pitcher | Perkins, Glen 2506 | min al | 5 | Rodney, Fernando 1803 | tb al | 10 | |||||
| NL | |||||||||||
| First base | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | ari nl | 8.7 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | ari nl | 13.2 | Joey Votto | cin nl | 10 | ||
| Second base | Phillips, Brandon 1691 | cin nl | 5 | Phillips, Brandon 1691 | cin nl | 14.5 | Brandon Phillips | cin nl | 1 | ||
| Shortstop | Cabrera, Everth 2625 | sd nl | 4.5 | Cabrera, Everth 2625 | sd nl | 7.5 | Troy Tulowitzki | col nl | 5 | ||
| Third base | Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 | dc nl | 5.2 | Freese, David 2710 | stl nl | 12.7 | Pablo Sandoval | sf nl | 7 | ||
| Catcher | McCann, Brian 2179 | atl nl | 5 | McCann, Brian 2179 | atl nl | 11 | Buster Posey | sf nl | 2 | ||
| Outfield 1 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | col nl | 8 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | col nl | 17.2 | Justin Upton | atl nl | 20 | ||
| Outfield 2 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | dc nl | 5.9 | Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | mil nl | 16 | Bryce Harper | dc nl | 2 | ||
| Outfield 3 | Pollock, A.J. 3142 | ari nl | 4.7 | Holliday, Matt 1836 | stl nl | 15.7 | Carlos Beltran | stl nl | 28 | ||
| Starting pitcher 1 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | stl nl | 9.7 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | lad nl | 28.8 | |||||
| Starting pitcher 2 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | ari nl | 9.4 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | stl nl | 26.1 | |||||
| Starting pitcher 3 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | nym nl | 9 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | dc nl | 23.4 | |||||
| Starting pitcher 4 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | stl nl | 8.7 | Gonzalez, Gio 2626 | dc nl | 22.7 | |||||
| Middle reliever | Collmenter, Josh 2863 | ari nl | 3 | Casilla, Santiago 2301 | sf nl | 6 | |||||
| Closing pitcher | Grilli, Jason 2209 | pit nl | 4.7 | Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | cin nl | 18 | |||||
| AL top player | Masterson, Justin 2462 | cle al | 10.7 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | det al | 30.8 | |||||
| AL top batter | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 10.7 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 22.4 | |||||
| NL top player | Miller, Shelby 3134 | stl nl | 9.7 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | lad nl | 28.8 | |||||
| NL top batter | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | ari nl | 8.7 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | col nl | 17.2 |
BTP: Box-Toppers points
RANK BY POS: Where the player ranks by fielding position in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season.
Pirates' Francisco Liriano (7IP 2R 9K) tops players for Wednesday, May 22
Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano is Wednesday's Player of the Day. Liriano threw seven scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and striking out nine in the 1-0 win over the Cubs.
Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson is American League Player of the Day. Wilson allowed only one run and struck out 10 over eight innings in the 7-1 win over the Mariners.
Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays is American League Batter of the Day. Bautista homered twice, hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning, drove in all of Toronto's four runs and went 4-for-4 in the 4-3 win over the Rays.
Joey Votto of the Reds is National League Batter of the Day. Votto homered and went 2-for-3 in the 7-4 win over the Mets.
Standings update: Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz rises to second place in player standings (see updated standings on the home page) for the 2013 season and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers rises to fifth. Buchholz (7IP 1R) was Player of the Game in the 6-2 win over the White Sox. Cabrera (HR 2-for-4) was Player of the Game in the 11-7 win over the Indians. Both players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point Wednesday. Buchholz now has 9.1 and Cabrera has 8.2, trailing season leader Justin Masterson of the Indians (9.7).
Liriano receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Day. Wilson receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Bautista and Votto receive 1.5 each for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Wednesday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point:
| 522 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 13.0 | Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Francisco Liriano (W, 3-0) | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 9.0 | Phillies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Cliff Lee (W, 5-2) | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |||
| AL | 8.0 | Angels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | C.J. Wilson (W, 4-3) | 8.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | Blue Jays | Jose Bautista RF | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 4.1 | `Nationals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Gio Gonzalez | 7.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |||
| 4.0 | Orioles | Chris Davis 1B | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| BAT | 4.0 | Reds | Joey Votto 1B | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 4.0 | Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tyler Lyons (W, 1-0) | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||
| 4.0 | `Rangers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Neal Cotts (H, 1) | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 3.0 | Tigers | Miguel Cabrera 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 3.0 | Braves | Evan Gattis C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Dodgers | Carl Crawford LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Rockies | Carlos Gonzalez LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.0 | Astros | Jason Castro C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.0 | Red Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Clay Buchholz (W, 7-0) | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.