A Box-Toppers look at 2017 All-Star Final Vote candidates

Anthony Rendon of the Nationals, Justin Bour of the Marlins and Logan Morrison of the Rays have the most 2017 Box-Toppers points among the 10 players who are All-Star Game Final Vote candidates.

All-Star Final Vote candidates

Here are the 2017 and 2016 Box-Toppers point (BTP) totals of the 2017 All-Star Game Final Vote candidates. Voters will choose one player from each league as the "final" player selected to the All-Star teams. Each league's players are listed from highest to lowest 2017 Box-Toppers point total.  

			BTP
AL player	Pos	Team	’17	’16
Logan Morrison	1b	Rays	4.2	2.0
Elvis Andrus	ss	Rangers	3.5	9.2
Mike Moustakas	dh 3b	Royals	3.0	1.0
Xander Bogaerts	ss	Red Sox	2.5	1.0
Didi Gregorius	ss	Yankees	1.0	2.0
			BTP
NL player	Pos	Team	’17	’16
Anthony Rendon	3b lf	Nationals	4.5	5.5
Justin Bour	1b	Marlins	4.5	2.5
Mark Reynolds	1b	Rockies	3.5	4.0
Kris Bryant	3b lf	Cubs	1.5	10.5
Justin Turner	3b lf	Dodgers	1.0	2.5

But if players’ 2016 Box-Toppers point totals are taken into consideration, Kris Bryant of the Cubs and Elvis Andrus of the Rangers would be considered leading candidates.

Voting ends today as fans pick one of the five players in each league to fill the final roster spots on the 2017 American League and National League All-Star teams.

In the AL, Logan Morrison of the Rays has the most 2017 Box-Toppers points among the five AL candidates with 4.2. That puts him 15th among AL batters for the season and fourth among AL first basemen.

However, Elvis Andrus of the Rangers, who has 3.5 Box-Toppers points this season, had 9.2 points in 2016, most of any of the five AL candidates. That ranked 10th among AL batters in 2016, second among AL shortstops. None of the other five AL candidates had more than 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016.

In the NL, Anthony Rendon of the Nationals and Justin Bour of the Marlins have the most 2017 Box-Toppers points among the five Final Vote candidates with 4.5. Rendon ranks 13th among NL batters and third among NL third basemen. Bour ranks 16th among NL batters and sixth among NL first basemen.

However, Kris Bryant of the Cubs, who has 1.5 Box-Toppers points in 2017, has the most 2016 points among the five NL candidates with 10.5. That ranked second among NL batters in 2016, behind Nolan Arenado of the Rockies (10.7). Bryant was also NL Most Valuable Player in 2016.

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.

Royals' Eric Hosmer is Box-Toppers Player of the Game as AL wins 2016 All-Star Game

Eric Hosmer of the Royals is Box-Toppers 2016 All-Star Player of the Game.

Hosmer hit a game-tying, second-inning homer and went 2-for-3, driving in two runs, in the American League’s 4-2 win over the National League.

Hosmer was also named All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.

Hosmer had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +2.0, tied with AL and Royal teammate Salvador Perez as highest scores earned by AL players. But Hosmer won Player of the Game on a tiebreaker because he had more at bats than Perez—3 vs. 2. Perez homered and drove in two runs in his two at bats.

Top pitcher of the game for the AL was Corey Kluber of the Indians (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W), who also had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0. Hosmer won Player of the Game honors over Kluber because in cases of game score ties, batters rank ahead of pitchers.

Kluber ranked ahead of two other AL pitchers who had Box-Toppers game scores of +2.0 (Dellin Betances of the Yankees and Kelvin Herrera of the Royals) because Kluber earned the win. Kluber leads AL players in Box-Toppers points this season with 12.5—he ranks fifth among all players.

Hosmer has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 42nd among AL batters. In 2015, Hosmer had 9.0 Box-Toppers points and ranked ninth among AL batters, his best season. Hosmer has 25.5 career Box-Toppers points, making his Box-Toppers debut in 2011. Since the start of 2011, he ranks 28th among AL batters in career Box-Toppers points.

Overall Box-Toppers points leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0), was selected to the NL All-Star team but did not pitch in the game—he is on the disabled list, recovering from a lower back injury.

Manny Machado of the Orioles, who leads AL batters in Box-Toppers points (8.7), went 0-for-3 in the All-Star Game and had a Box-Toppers game score of −3.0.

Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals, who leads NL batters in Box-Toppers points (7.5), was selected to the NL All-Star team but is out with an injury and did not play.

Top player for the NL team was Kris Bryant of the Cubs, who opened scoring with a first-inning solo homer. Bryant went 1-for-2 and had a Box-Toppers game score of +1.0.

Scoring—Just as All-Star Game statistics don’t count in a player’s regular season statistics, no Box-Toppers points are awarded for the All-Star Game.

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 game scores of AL All-Star players

Here are all the players who played for the winning American League team in Tuesday’s All-Star Game, listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score. Eric Hosmer had the highest game score and is Box-Toppers All-Star Player of the Game (POG) 

7/12	Score	AL All-Stars	Team	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
POG	2.0	Eric Hosmer, 1B	Royals	3	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Salvador Perez, C	Royals	2	1	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Corey Kluber (W,1-0)	Indians	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	Dellin Betances	Yankees	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Kelvin Herrera	Royals	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.1	Will Harris	Astros	-	-	-	-		0.1	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Jose Quintana	White Sox	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	1
	0.0	Jackie Bradley, LF	Red Sox	2	0	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	Mookie Betts, RF	Red Sox	2	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	Edwin Encarnacion, DH	Blue Jays	1	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	Cole Hamels	Rangers	-	-	-	-		1.0	2	0	0	0	1
	0.0	Robinson Cano, 2B	Mariners	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	Xander Bogaerts, SS	Red Sox	2	0	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	David Ortiz, DH	Red Sox	1	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	Carlos Beltran, RF	Yankees	1	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	Michael Saunders, RF	Blue Jays	1	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	Mark Trumbo, LF	Orioles	1	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	Ian Desmond, CF	Rangers	1	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	Josh Donaldson, 3B	Blue Jays	1	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	Miguel Cabrera, 1B	Tigers	1	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	Chris Sale	White Sox	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	1	1	0	1
	-1.8	Andrew Miller	Yankees	-	-	-	-		0.2	2	0	0	1	1
	-2.0	Mike Trout, CF	Angels	3	0	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	Francisco Lindor, SS	Indians	2	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	Matt Wieters, C	Orioles	2	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-3.0	Jose Altuve, 2B	Astros	3	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-3.0	Manny Machado, 3B	Orioles	3	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-4.0	Aaron Sanchez	Blue Jays	-	-	-	-		1.0	2	1	1	1	0

Last year's All-Star Game: David Price of the Rays is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in 2015 All-Star Game, though Angels' Mike Trout named MVP

David Price is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in 2015 All-Star Game

Rays pitcher David Price is Box-Toppers All-Star Player of the Game.

Price pitched the fourth inning and was the pitcher of record as the American League took the lead, picking up the win in Tuesday’s 6-3 win over the National League.

Price allowed no runs or hits in his single inning, picking up a Box-Toppers game score of 3.0, highest among all players on the winning American League team. 

Had he not earned the win or the save, he would not have had the required three innings to otherwise earn Player of the Game honors. In that case, Player of the Game would have gone to Prince Fielder of the Rangers (1-1 2BI), who had a Box-Toppers game score of 2.0.

Mike Trout of the Angels was named All-Star Most Valuable Player (HR 1-3 R BI). Trout had a Box-Toppers game score of 1.0, sixth-highest among AL players. Trout leads AL batters in Box-Toppers points so far this season (9.0).

Price has 13.1 Box-Toppers points this season, ranked fifth among all players, third among AL pitchers. His best season was 2014 with the Tigers, when he had 19.1 Box-Toppers points, seventh among all players and fourth among AL pitchers. He has earned 85.8 career Box-Toppers points over seven seasons and ranks 103rd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began.

Overall Box-Toppers points leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (15.0), did not pitch in the All-Star Game Tuesday because he started Sunday. Overall AL Box-Toppers points leader, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (14.4), had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of 2.0 (1IP 0H 0R K ND). Todd Frazier of the Reds, leader in Box-Toppers points among NL batters (7.2), had a Box-Toppers game score of −3.0 for the losing NL team (0-3).

Scoring—Just as All-Star Game statistics don’t count in a player’s regular season statistics, no Box-Toppers points are awarded for the All-Star Game.

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 game scores of AL All-Star players

Here are all the players who played for the winning American League team in Tuesday’s All-Star Game, listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score. David Price had the highest game score and is Box-Toppers All-Star Player of the Game (POG)

7/14	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
POG	3.0	AL	David Price (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	AL	Prince Fielder, DH	1	0	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	AL	Brian Dozier, 2B	1	1	1	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	AL	Felix Hernandez	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	AL	Wade Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	2
	1.0	AL	Mike Trout, CF	3	2	1	1	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	AL	Manny Machado, 3B	2	1	1	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	AL	Dellin Betances	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	1	1
	0.2	AL	Zach Britton	-	-	-	-	-	-		0.2	1	0	0	0	1
	0.0	AL	Lorenzo Cain, RF	3	0	2	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	AL	Brock Holt, LF	1	1	0	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	AL	Josh Donaldson, 3B	0	0	0	0	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	AL	Dallas Keuchel	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	2	1	0	0	1
	-1.0	AL	Alcides Escobar, SS	2	0	1	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	AL	Albert Pujols, 1B	2	1	0	0	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	AL	Mike Moustakas, 3B	1	0	0	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	AL	Stephen Vogt, C	1	0	0	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	AL	Russell Martin, C	1	0	0	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	AL	Jason Kipnis, 2B	1	0	0	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	AL	J.D. Martinez, RF	1	0	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.9	AL	Chris Archer	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	1	1	1	1	1
	-2.0	AL	Nelson Cruz, DH	2	0	0	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	AL	Adam Jones, LF	2	0	0	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	AL	Brett Gardner, CF	2	0	0	0	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	AL	Salvador Perez, C	2	0	0	0	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	AL	Jose Altuve, 2B	2	0	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	AL	Jose Iglesias, SS	2	0	0	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	AL	Mark Teixeira, 1B	2	0	0	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	AL	Glen Perkins	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	1	1	0	0

Last year's All-Star Game: Mike Trout is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in 2014 All-Star Game

Mike Trout is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in 2014 All-Star Game

Mike Trout of the Angels is Box-Toppers’ All-Star Player of the Game.

Trout, who also won the All-Star MVP Award Tuesday, tripled and went 2-for-3, scoring a run and drove in two more, as the American League defeated the National League 5-3 in the annual All-Star Game.

Trout had a Box-Toppers game score of 2.0, tied for the highest with five other pitchers from the winning AL team, but Trout won Player of the Game on a tie-breaker—in cases of Box-Toppers game score ties, batters beat pitchers.

Trout has earned 4.5 Box-Toppers points this season—including earning Player of the Game honors in his most recent game Sunday. He ranks 16th among AL batters in Box-Toppers points, seventh among AL outfielders.

Trout’s 4.5 Box-Toppers points this season is already better than the 3.5 he earned in 2013. His best season was 2012, when he had 11.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking fifth among AL batters. In his four seasons, he has 20.5 Box-Toppers points.

Trout currently ranks third among all players in Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball-Reference.com. While he ranks higher than any Angels player in the WAR stat, in Box-Toppers, he ranks fourth among Angels players, behind these players:

• Pitcher Garrett Richards, 12.7

• Shortstop Erick Aybar, 6.0

• Pitcher C.J. Wilson, 5.7

• Designated hitter/first baseman Albert Pujols, 4.5

Just as All-Star Game statistics don’t count in a player’s regular season statistics, no Box-Toppers points are awarded for the All-Star Game.

Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer, who pitched one inning in the fifth, was the second-ranked AL player, also with a Box-Toppers game score of 2.0. He finished ahead of other pitchers tied with 2.0 on a tiebreaker because he picked up the win. Scherzer currently leads AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points with 16.1. He ranks second among all players.

Craig Kimbrel of the Braves, usually a closing pitcher, had the highest Box-Toppers game score on the losing NL team of 4.0. Kimbrel pitched the seventh inning, allowed no hits or runs and struck out three. So though he had the highest Box-Toppers game score of any player Tuesday, he did not qualify as Player of the Game because he was on the losing side.

Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed Tuesday, click here.

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.

Box-Toppers game scores of AL All-Star players

Here are all the players who played for the winning American League team in Tuesday’s All-Star Game, listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score. Mike Trout had the highest game score and is Box-Toppers All-Star Player of the Game (POG) 

715	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
POG	2.0	AL	Mike Trout LF	3	1	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	AL	Max Scherzer (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	2
	2.0	AL	Glen Perkins (S, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	AL	Felix Hernandez	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	2
	2.0	AL	Yu Darvish (H, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	AL	Greg Holland (H, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.2	AL	Sean Doolittle (H, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		0.2	1	0	0	0	2
	1.1	AL	Koji Uehara (H, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		0.1	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	AL	Miguel Cabrera 1B	3	1	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	AL	Derek Jeter SS	2	1	2	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	AL	Jose Altuve 2B	0	0	0	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.2	AL	Scott Kazmir (H, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		0.2	1	0	0	0	1
	0.1	AL	Fernando Rodney (H, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		0.1	0	0	0	1	1
	0.0	AL	Alexei Ramirez SS	2	1	1	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	AL	Derek Norris C	2	1	1	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	AL	Erick Aybar SS	-	-	-	-	-	-		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	AL	Adrian Beltre 3B	0	0	0	0	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	AL	Kurt Suzuki C	-	-	-	-	-	-		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	AL	Brandon Moss RF	1	0	0	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	AL	Ian Kinsler PH, 2B	1	0	0	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	AL	Jose Abreu 1B	1	0	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	AL	Michael Brantley CF	1	0	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	AL	Salvador Perez C	1	0	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	AL	Chris Sale (BS, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	1	1	0	1
	-2.0	AL	Robinson Cano 2B	2	0	0	0	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	AL	Jose Bautista RF	2	0	0	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	AL	Yoenis Cespedes LF	2	0	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	AL	Nelson Cruz DH	2	0	0	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	AL	Kyle Seager PH, DH	2	0	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	AL	Adam Jones CF	2	0	0	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	AL	Josh Donaldson 3B	2	0	0	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-6.0	AL	Jon Lester (H, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	3	2	2	0	0

Last year's All-Star Game: White Sox' Chris Sale is 2013 All-Star Game top player in AL win

Box-Toppers' regular Friday rankings reports delayed until Monday during All-Star break

Box-Toppers normally updates weekly team rankings and weekly top player lists each Friday. This week’s updates will be delayed until Monday, July 14, during the All-Star break. There will also be no weekly update next Friday (because there will be no regular baseball games played to update during the week because of the All-Star break). Regular Friday weekly updates will resume July 25.

During the All-Star break, look for Box-Toppers special reports, which could include the top 100 players of the season in Box-Toppers points, the top 100 players of “all time” in Box-Toppers points (since 1995 when record keeping began), the Box-Toppers points leaders on each team—or whatever else sounds interesting and we have time for.

Angels' Richards, Cubs' Rizzo lead in Box-Toppers points among All-Star Final Vote candidates

Angels pitcher Garrett Richards and Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo are the most deserving players to be chosen in the All-Star Game Final Vote, according to their Box-Toppers point total.

All-Star Final Vote

Here are the candidates for the 2014 All-Star Final Vote. There are five candidates from each league. One from each league will be chosen by fans in online voting for the final All-Star roster spots. Voting ends Thursday. Players are shown here in order of their Box-Toppers points total this season.

	AL players	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Garrett Richards	pi sp	ana al	10.7
2	Corey Kluber	pi sp	cle al	10.4
3	Chris Sale	pi sp	chi al	10.0
4	Dallas Keuchel	pi sp	hou nl	8.7
5	Rick Porcello	pi sp	det al	5.0
	NL players	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Anthony Rizzo	1b	chi nl	5.5
2	Justin Upton	lf	atl nl	5.2
3	Casey McGehee	3b	fla nl	3.5
4	Anthony Rendon	2b	dc nl	2.0
5	Justin Morneau	1b	col nl	1.5

BTP: Box-Toppers points

Richards has the most points among the five American League players on the ballot and Rizzo has the most among the five National League players on the ballot in which fans vote for the 34th and final roster spots for both teams in the July 15 All-Star Game. Voting ends Thursday.

Richards has 10.7 Box-Toppers points, 10th among all players and fifth among AL pitchers, narrowly ahead of Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (10.4 Box-Toppers points, 12th among all players).

Richards is also the top-ranked AL player in Box-Toppers points who was not selected to the All-Star team.

Rizzo is the top player among the five NL players on the Final Vote ballot, but is far from the top-ranked NL player in Box-Toppers points who was not selected to the All-Star team. That honor would go to non-All-Star Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, who has 9.0 Box-Toppers points and ranks eighth among NL players.

Rizzo, by comparison, with 5.5 Box-Toppers points, ranks 29th among NL players. However, he ranks third among NL batters and is the top-ranked NL batter not selected to the All-Star team.

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.

A look at how Box-Toppers might pick the 2014 All-Stars

If Box-Toppers points rather than fan voting were used to determine Major League All-Star teams, you’d have very different teams, very pissed-off fans and one very stunned baseball blogger.

For example, if Box-Toppers points were used to determine All-Stars, there would be no Yasiel Puig, no Mike Trout, no Jose Bautista and no Derek Jeter in the game. And you would have players in the line-up, such as Daniel Murphy, Freddie Freeman and Erick Aybar, among others.

The All-Star Game is July 15. Online fan voting ends July 3, less than a week away.

Box-Toppers may have a different perspective on All-Stars because it tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Players only earn points if they are deemed to be Player of the Game, based on a simple box score formula.

So players such as Puig, Trout and Bautista, while they often put up impressive numbers, have not regularly been top player in games their teams have won recently. So while their fan All-Star vote may be high, their Box-Toppers point totals lately have been lower.

Another example of Box-Toppers not matching baseball’s conventional thinking is Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates. Last year, baseball writers voted him National League Most Valuable Player. But in Box-Toppers, he ranked 22nd among NL batters. However, this year, McCutchen has earned Player of the Game four times and picked up 5.0 Box-Toppers points and ranks fifth among NL batters and second among NL outfielders. 

Box-Toppers looks at the All-Star team in two different ways. First, it considers players on their performance during the 2014 season. But since this season is still a small data sample, it looks at last season, too, and considers players on their performance since the start of 2013.

For example, if you look at Box-Toppers points for just this season, Chris Colabello of the Twins is the second-ranked outfielder based on his early season performance. But Colabello slumped and has been in the minors for more than a month—which does not speak well for his All-Star credentials.

But looking at player’s performance since 2013 can be misleading, too. For example, Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees leads AL outfielders since the start of 2013 with 13.9 Box-Toppers points. But 12.9 of those were earned in 2013. Despite his strong 2013, he probably would not be considered an All-Star in 2014.

But then there’s a player like Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks. He actually is leading currently in NL voting for first basemen. And in fact, in 2013, he led all NL batters in Box-Toppers points, with 13.7. But this year, while his numbers are generally good, he is playing for a bad team and has earned only 1.5 Box-Toppers points. Despite his great 2013 in Box-Toppers, he is overshadowed in the NL at first base by Freddie Freeman of the Braves. Freeman leads all NL first basemen in Box-Toppers points for both 2014 and 2013-14.

But enough prelude. Here is a look a the All-Star teams. First, it’s the Box-Toppers points leaders by position and league for 2014. Then, it’s Box-Toppers points leaders by position and league for 2013-14. And finally, a look at current All-Star vote leaders, showing their current Box-Toppers point total and their rank in Box-Toppers by position and league.

2014

Jose Abreu of the White Sox leads AL batters in Box-Toppers points. He is on the AL All-Star ballot as first baseman and not as a designated hitter, but since he has played DH this season, we will break the “rules” and put him at DH and put Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, last year’s Box-Toppers AL batting leader, at first.

In the American League, only four of the nine starters are even among the top vote-getters at their positions. 

The National League is a little better—six of the eight Box-Toppers leaders for starting positions are among the All-Star voting leaders.

And though fan voters don’t get to pick pitchers, included here for both leagues are Box-Toppers leaders for starting pitchers (the top four starters) along with the top middle reliever and top closing pitcher.

Box-Toppers pick for All-Star starters based on 2014 stats? Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees for the AL and Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals for the NL.

All-Stars based on 2014 Box-Toppers points

Here are Box-Toppers points leaders by position for each league. Also shown is players' current ranking in All-Star fan voting by their position. A hyphen (-) indicates they are not among the league leaders in fan voting by their position. Also shown are pitching leaders. Fans don't get to vote on pitchers so their vote rank is marked with an asterisk (*).

Pos	AL players	Team	BTP	Vote rank
1B	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	7.5	1
2B	Rodriguez, Sean 2729	tb al	5.0	-
SS	Aybar, Erick 2416	ana al	6.0	-
3B	Donaldson, Josh 3144	oak al	6.5	1
CA	Perez, Salvador 2972	kc al	3.7	-
OF	Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	oak al	5.5	4
OF	Colabello, Chris 3235	min al	5.2	-
OF	Hunter, Torii 1190	det al	4.5	10
DH	Abreu, Jose 3308	chi al	8.5	-
SP	Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	nyy al	12.7	*
SP	Scherzer, Max 2588	det al	11.4	*
SP	Kazmir, Scott 1947	oak al	9.7	*
SP	Hernandez, Felix 2064	sea al	8.8	*
MR	Duffy, Danny 2915	kc al	6.0	*
CP	Uehara, Koji 2802	bos al	6.0	*
Pos	NL players	Team	BTP	Vote rank
1B	Freeman, Freddie 2887	atl nl	6.2	3
2B	Murphy, Daniel 2589	nym nl	4.5	-
SS	Tulowitzki, Troy 2308	col nl	10.6	1
3B	Ramirez, Aramis 1364	mil nl	3.5	1
CA	Lucroy, Jonathan 2744	mil nl	3.7	2
OF	Morse, Michael 2020	sf nl	5.5	-
OF	McCutchen, Andrew 2637	pit nl	5.0	2
OF	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	fla nl	4.7	4
SP	Wainwright, Adam 2150	stl nl	13.0	*
SP	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	12.7	*
SP	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	sf nl	12.5	*
SP	Cueto, Johnny 2400	cin nl	11.7	*
MR	Collmenter, Josh 2863	ari nl	4.0	*
CP	Kimbrel, Craig 2825	atl nl	5.0	*

BTP: Box-Toppers points
Vote rank: Where the player ranks by position in All-Star fan voting. A hyphen (-) indicates they are not among the leaders. An asterisk (*) indicates they are a pitcher and not eligible for fan voting.

What are those numbers after players' names? 

2013-14

These are Box-Toppers points leaders by position since the start of 2013. 

In the American League, the Box-Toppers leaders agree a little better with voters—seven of the nine Box-Toppers leaders are among the leaders in fan voting and three (Cabrera, Robinson Cano of the Mariners and Josh Donaldson of the Athletics) are vote leaders for their positions.

In the National League, five of the Box-Toppers position leaders are also among the vote leaders. However, Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies is the only player who leads his position in both Box-Toppers points and fan voting.

And though fan voters don’t get to pick pitchers, included here for both leagues are Box-Toppers leaders for starting pitchers (the top four starters) along with the top middle reliever and top closing pitcher.

Box-Toppers pick for starters based on 2013-14 stats? Max Scherzer of the Tigers for the AL and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers for the NL.

All-Stars based on 2013-14 Box-Toppers points

Here are Box-Toppers points leaders by position for each league. Also shown is players' current ranking in All-Star fan voting by their position. A hyphen (-) indicates they are not among the league leaders in fan voting by their position. Also shown are pitching leaders. Fans don't get to vote on pitchers so their vote rank is marked with an asterisk (*).

Pos	AL players	Team	BTP	Vote rank
1B	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	24.4	1
2B	Cano, Robinson 2092	sea al	15.5	1
SS	Aybar, Erick 2416	ana al	11.0	-
3B	Donaldson, Josh 3144	oak al	16.0	1
CA	McCann, Brian 2179	nyy al	9.5	3
OF	Soriano, Alfonso 1445	nyy al	13.9	-
OF	Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	oak al	12.5	4
OF	Choo, Shin-Soo 2267	tex al	11.0	14
DH	Ortiz, David	bos al	16.4	2
SP	Scherzer, Max 2588	det al	29.5	*
SP	Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	24.4	*
SP	Sale, Chris 2806	chi al	24.1	*
SP	Hernandez, Felix 2064	sea al	23.6	*
MR	Smyly, Drew 3009	det al	10.7	*
CP	Holland, Greg 2906	kc al	14.0	*
Pos	NL players	Team	BTP	Vote rank
1B	Freeman, Freddie 2887	atl nl	17.7	3
2B	Murphy, Daniel 2589	nym nl	13.0	-
SS	Tulowitzki, Troy 2308	col nl	14.6	1
3B	Alvarez, Pedro 2817	pit nl	10.2	-
CA	Posey, Buster 2745	sf nl	10.0	3
OF	Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	12.5	-
OF	Cuddyer, Michael 1826	col nl	11.5	14
OF	McCutchen, Andrew 2637	pit nl	11.0	2
SP	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	34.4	*
SP	Wainwright, Adam 2150	stl nl	33.2	*
SP	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	sf nl	28.2	*
SP	Greinke, Zack 1871	lad nl	26.8	*
MR	Collmenter, Josh 2863	ari nl	12.0	*
CP	Kimbrel, Craig 2825	atl nl	17.7	*

BTP: Box-Toppers points
Vote rank: Where the player ranks by position in All-Star fan voting. A hyphen (-) indicates they are not among the leaders. An asterisk (*) indicates they are a pitcher and not eligible for fan voting.

What are those numbers after players' names? 

Voting leaders

A case can be made for any of these players to be on the All-Star team.

Numbers? Performance? Yes, players like Yadier Molina, Yasiel Puig and Mike Trout have that. Though they may not register very highly on Box-Toppers, it’s hard to argue that they’re not All-Star worthy.

And a case can even be made for a player like Derek Jeter of the Yankees—is he an All-Star? Well, technically, there ARE probably better and more deserving AL shortstops based on any metric you put forth for this season and last season. But then, this is Derek Jeter. The Captain. His final season. Even Yankee haters may be forced to put the numbers aside for a moment and vote with their heart on this one.

Here are the leaders as of June 22 and 23 in All-Star voting by position. Also included in the chart are each of the leaders’ Box-Toppers points total for 2014 and their current rank among their position in their league. 

Only three players who lead for their position in All-Star voting also lead their position in Box-Toppers points:

• AL 3B Josh Donaldson of the Athletics.

• NL SS Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies.

• NL 3B Aramis Ramirez of the Pirates.

All-Stars voting leaders & their Box-Toppers rankings

Here are All-Star fan voting leaders as of June 22 and 23. For comparison, their Box-Toppers points totals for 2014 are included along with their rank at their position by league. (For example, Miguel Cabrera has 7.5 Box-Toppers points in 2014, second-most among AL first basemen.

Pos	AL players	Team	BTP	BTP rank
1B	Miguel Cabrera	det al	7.5	2
2B	Robinson Cano	sea al	3.0	4
SS	Derek Jeter	nyy al	0.0	22
3B	Josh Donaldson	oak al	6.5	1
CA	Matt Wieters	bal al	1.5	7
OF	Jose Bautista	tor al	2.5	15
OF	Mike Trout	ana al	2.0	23
OF	Melky Cabrera	tor al	3.0	10
DH	Nelson Cruz	bal al	3.0	10
Pos	NL players	Team	BTP	BTP rank
1B	Paul Goldschmidt	ari nl	1.5	13
2B	Chase Utley	phi nl	2.0	10
SS	Troy Tulowitzki	col nl	10.6	1
3B	Aramis Ramirez	mil nl	3.5	1
CA	Yadier Molina	stl nl	0.0	20
OF	Yasiel Puig	lad nl	1.0	44
OF	Andrew McCutchen	pit nl	5.0	2
OF	Carlos Gomez	mil nl	2.5	14

BTP: Box-Toppers points
BTP rank: Where the player ranks by position in their league in Box-Toppers points.

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.

A look at top 100 players in Box-Toppers points in 2013

With the baseball season in the middle of the All-Star break, let's also pause and look at Box-Toppers top 100 players for the season so far.

Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin leads the list with 14.4 Box-Toppers points. And Indians pitcher Justin Masterson leads among American League players with 13.7. 

Other notable players on the list: 

• Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, 2012 AL MVP and Triple Crown winner, in third place overall with 13.4 Box-Toppers points.
• Matt Harvey of the Mets, starting pitcher for the National League in the All-Star Game, eighth place, 11.0 points. 
• Chris Davis of the Orioles, 37 home runs at the All-Star break, 15th place, 10.2 points. 
• Max Scherzer of the Tigers, starting pitcher for the AL in the All-Star Game, 18th place, 9.7 points. 
• Bryce Harper of the Nationals, 2012 NL Rookie of the Year, 37th place, 6.9 points. 
• R.A. Dickey of the Blue Jays, 2012 NL Cy Young Award winner, 38th place, 6.7 points.
• Buster Posey of the Giants, 2012 NL MVP, 56th place, 6.0 points.

Two teams each have seven players on the Top 100 list—the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds. The Detroit Tigers have five players on the list, the most of any AL team. 

All 30 teams are represented on the list. However, one team, the Houston Astros, has only one player on the list, closing pitcher Jose Veras (6.0 points, in 61st place). The Astros have the fewest wins in baseball and the lowest team Box-Toppers points total.

Box-Toppers tends to favor pitchers over batters. And because of this, a vast majority of players (74) on the top 100 list are pitchers. Here is the breakdown of players on the list by their primary position:

• Starting pitchers: 65
• Closing pitchers: 8
• Third basemen: 6
• Outfielders: 6
• First basemen: 4
• Second basemen: 4
• Catchers: 4
• Designated hitters: 2
• Middle relief pitchers: 1
• Shortstops: 0

While pitchers dominate Box-Toppers points, their domination diminishes slightly over time. On the top 100 player list of all-time (since 1995), there are 53 pitchers, far fewer than the 74 on the top 100 list for this season. We will take a look at the top 100 Box-Toppers players of all-time (since 1995) in a future Box-Toppers post. 

Box-Toppers points reward players who most help their team win the most games. Top players from the winning team of each game are determined by a formula using standard box score statistics. These top players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game. Among each day's top players, bonus points are awarded for the top players and batters of the day in each league. Players accumulate points through the season to provide a data point for comparison, such as determining which players are most worthy as All-Stars or for postseason awards. 

What are those numbers after players' names?

How does Box-Toppers scoring work?

Top 100 players for 2013

RANK	PLAYER	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Corbin, Patrick 3027	pi sp	ari nl	14.4
2	Masterson, Justin 2462	pi sp	cle al	13.7
3	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	3b	det al	13.4
4	Moore, Matt 2975	pi sp	tb al	13.1
5	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	12.7
6	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	11.7
7	Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	11.7
8	Miller, Shelby 3134	pi sp	stl nl	11.4
9	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	11.0
10	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	10.7
11	Zimmermann, Jordan 2612	pi sp	dc nl	10.7
12	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	10.7
13	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	10.4
14	Lynn, Lance 2992	pi sp	stl nl	10.4
15	Davis, Chris 2478	1b	bal al	10.2
16	Buchholz, Clay 2363	pi sp	bos al	10.1
17	Darvish, Yu 3003	pi sp	tex al	10.0
18	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	det al	9.7
19	Iwakuma, Hisashi 30488	pi sp	sea al	9.7
20	Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	9.7
21	Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	lf	col nl	9.5
22	Lee, Cliff 1798	pi sp	phi nl	9.4
23	Gonzalez, Gio 2626	pi sp	dc nl	8.7
24	Latos, Mat 2644	pi sp	cin nl	8.7
25	Ortiz, David	dh	bos al	8.2
26	Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	8.0
27	Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	pit nl	8.0
28	Sanchez, Anibal 2187	pi sp	det al	8.0
29	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	8.0
30	Holland, Derek 2634	pi sp	tex al	7.7
31	Saunders, Joe 2214	pi sp	sea al	7.7
32	Minor, Mike 2894	pi sp	atl nl	7.0
33	McCann, Brian 2179	ca	atl nl	7.0
34	Kipnis, Jason 2933	2b	cle al	7.0
35	Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	nyy al	7.0
36	Stults, Eric 2352	pi sp	sd nl	7.0
37	Harper, Bryce 3011	lf	dc nl	6.9
38	Dickey, R.A. 1734	pi sp	tor al	6.7
39	Kuroda, Hiroki 2401	pi sp	nyy al	6.7
40	Colon, Bartolo	pi sp	oak al	6.7
41	Cobb, Alex 2916	pi sp	tb al	6.7
42	Zimmerman, Ryan 2180	3b	dc nl	6.7
43	Freeman, Freddie 2887	1b	atl nl	6.5
44	Cuddyer, Michael 1826	rf	col nl	6.5
45	Donaldson, Josh 3144	3b	oak al	6.5
46	Slowey, Kevin 2377	pi sp	fla nl	6.4
47	Alvarez, Pedro 2817	3b	pit nl	6.2
48	Wilson, C.J. 2074	pi sp	ana al	6.1
49	Chapman, Aroldis 2826	pi cp	cin nl	6.0
50	Samardzija, Jeff 2495	pi sp	chi nl	6.0
51	Bailey, Homer 2324	pi sp	cin nl	6.0
52	Hellickson, Jeremy 2778	pi sp	tb al	6.0
53	Peavy, Jake 1635	pi sp	chi al	6.0
54	Gee, Dillon 2808	pi sp	nym nl	6.0
55	Arroyo, Bronson 1375	pi sp	cin nl	6.0
56	Posey, Buster 2745	ca	sf nl	6.0
57	Carpenter, Matt 2987	2b	stl nl	6.0
58	Holland, Greg 2906	pi cp	kc al	6.0
59	Perkins, Glen 2506	pi cp	min al	6.0
60	Johnson, Jim 2417	pi cp	bal al	6.0
61	Veras, Jose 2464	pi cp	hou al	6.0
62	Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139	pi sp	lad nl	6.0
63	Teheran, Julio 3176	pi sp	atl nl	6.0
64	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	phi nl	5.7
65	Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	5.7
66	Lincecum, Tim 2288	pi sp	sf nl	5.7
67	Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	1b dh	tor al	5.7
68	Hudson, Tim 1231	pi sp	atl nl	5.7
69	Leake, Mike 2709	pi sp	cin nl	5.7
70	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	bos al	5.7
71	Feldman, Scott 2632	pi cp	bal al	5.7
72	Smyly, Drew 3009	pi cp mr	det al	5.7
73	Grilli, Jason 2209	pi cp	pit nl	5.7
74	Butler, Billy 2330	dh	kc al	5.5
75	Arencibia, J.P. 2781	ca	tor al	5.5
76	Jimenez, Ubaldo 2349	pi sp	cle al	5.4
77	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	5.0
78	Medlen, Kris 2596	pi sp	atl nl	5.0
79	Phillips, Brandon 1691	2b	cin nl	5.0
80	Mauer, Joe 1869	ca	min al	5.0
81	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	ana al	5.0
82	Jackson, Edwin 1812	pi sp	chi nl	5.0
83	Wood, Travis 2777	pi sp	chi nl	5.0
84	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	kc al	5.0
85	Griffin, A.J. 3074	pi sp	oak al	5.0
86	Soriano, Alfonso 1445	lf	chi nl	5.0
87	Venable, Will 2621	rf	sd nl	5.0
88	Frazier, Todd 2929	3b	cin nl	5.0
89	Collmenter, Josh 2863	pi mr sp	ari nl	5.0
90	Peralta, Wily 3123	pi sp	mil nl	5.0
91	Straily, Dan 3080	pi sp	oak al	5.0
92	Locke, Jeff 3133	pi sp	pit nl	5.0
93	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	5.0
94	Sabathia, C.C. 1492	pi sp	nyy al	4.7
95	Gallardo, Yovani 2333	pi sp	mil nl	4.7
96	Maholm, Paul 2078	pi sp	atl nl	4.7
97	Garza, Matt 2343	pi sp	chi nl	4.7
98	Nolasco, Ricky 2125	pi sp	lad nl	4.7
99	De La Rosa, Jorge 1970	pi sp	col nl	4.7
100	Pollock, A.J. 3142	cf	ari nl	4.7

BTP: Box-Toppers points for 2013

White Sox' Chris Sale is 2013 All-Star Game top player in AL win

White Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Box-Toppers All-Star Game Player of the Day.

Sale pitched two perfect innings Tuesday, struck out two and earned the win as the American League beat the National League 3-0. 

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, pitching in his final All-Star Game, was named the game Most Valuable Player after pitching the eighth inning, allowing no hits and no runs. 

Sure, picking Rivera, who is retiring after a brilliant and long career, is more a sentimental than logical choice. And choosing the top player in an All-Star Game is a bit of a fool's errand. The game has the feeling of a presidential ceremonial bill signing in which the president uses 15 different pens to sign a bill, so that key backers can each get a souvenir. This pen is used to make the "B," this to make the "a," and so on. In the All-Star Game, pitchers who are normally conditioned to throw seven to nine innings, are brought out to throw a ceremonial one or two innings—this one makes the "r," and this one makes the "a." In these conditions, it's hard to really determine who is the top player of the game any more than one can determine the pen that truly made the difference in the presidential bill signing.

For this year, we'll say Sale. True, his appearance was limited, but he did pitch two innings (scribbling the proverbial "c" and "k" of the presidential signature), more than any other AL pitcher.

Since it is the All-Star Game and it is an exhibition, no Box-Toppers points are awarded. (Sale has 10.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, ranking 10th among all players and third among AL pitchers.) 

Following the results chart below, we'll show the process of how a Box-Toppers Player of the Game is determined, using Tuesday's All-Star Game as our example:

716	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	4.0	American League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Chris Sale (W, 1-0)	2.0	0	0	0	0	2

Determining Box-Toppers Players of the Game

The chart below shows all players from the winning American League team who appeared in Tuesday's game. They are ranked in order of their Box-Toppers game score, from highest to lowest.

Sale, the top player, had a game score of 4.0.  (How the Box-Toppers game score formula works.) Joe Nathan, Rangers closing pitcher, was in second with 2.0. The top batter was Jason Kipnis of the Indians with 1.0. He and Salvador Perez of the Royals had identical scores of 1.0, but Kipnis breaks the tie because he has more RBIs. Rivera, the game MVP, has a Box-Toppers game score of 1.0.

Moving down the list, 14 players had Box-Toppers game scores below 0.0. 

Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
4.0	American League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Chris Sale (W, 1-0)	2.0	0	0	0	0	2
2.0	American League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Joe Nathan (S, 1)	1.0	1	0	0	0	2
2.0	American League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Max Scherzer	1.0	0	0	0	0	1
1.1	American League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Brett Cecil (H, 1)	0.0	0	0	0	0	1
1.1	American League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Steve Delabar (H, 1)	0.0	0	0	0	0	1
1.0	American League	Jason Kipnis 2B	1	0	1	1	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
1.0	American League	Salvador Perez C	1	1	1	0	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
1.0	American League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Grant Balfour (H, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	1	1
1.0	American League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Matt Moore (H, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0
1.0	American League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Mariano Rivera (H, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0
0.0	American League	Prince Fielder 1B	1	0	1	0	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
0.0	American League	Jhonny Peralta SS	1	0	1	0	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
0.0	American League	Jose Bautista RF	1	0	0	1	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
0.0	American League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Felix Hernandez (H, 1)	1.0	1	0	0	0	0
0.0	American League	Robinson Cano 2B	0	0	0	0	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
-0.9	American League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Greg Holland (H, 1)	0.0	1	0	0	0	0
-1.0	American League	Miguel Cabrera 3B	3	1	1	0	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
-1.0	American League	Adam Jones CF	3	1	1	0	0	2			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
-1.0	American League	Joe Mauer C	2	0	1	0	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
-1.0	American League	J.J. Hardy SS	2	0	0	1	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
-1.0	American League	Torii Hunter PH, CF	1	0	0	0	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
-1.0	American League	Manny Machado 3B	1	0	0	0	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
-1.0	American League	Nelson Cruz RF	1	0	0	0	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
-1.0	American League	Alex Gordon LF	1	0	0	0	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
-2.0	American League	Mike Trout LF, CF	3	0	1	0	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
-2.0	American League	Chris Davis 1B	3	0	1	0	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
-2.0	American League	Dustin Pedroia PR, 2B	2	0	0	0	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
-2.0	American League	David Ortiz DH	2	0	0	0	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
-2.0	American League	Edwin Encarnacion PH, DH	2	0	0	0	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0

All-Star rosters include most Box-Toppers points leaders, only a few minor snubs

With the 2013 All-Star Game here, it's time for a Box-Toppers examination of the choices for the game by fans and the managers.

Overall, not bad. The players with the highest Box-Toppers points totals in each league were almost always named to the American League and National League teams. 

For example, Box-Toppers points leader and Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin was named to the NL roster (though Mets pitcher Matt Harvey was named the game's starter). And AL points leader and Indians pitcher Justin Masterson was named to the AL roster (though Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer was named AL starter).

The player with the most Box-Toppers points this season who was not selected as an All-Star is Cardinals pitcher Shelby Miller, who has 11.4 Box-Toppers points, the fifth highest among NL pitchers and more than NL starter Harvey (11.0). 

Other notable snubs (a full list is in the chart below) include:

• Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez, the AL player with the most Box-Toppers points (8.0) left off the roster.
• Yunel Escobar of the Rays, who has more Box-Toppers points than any other AL shortstop (4.5). 
• J.P. Arencibia of the Blue Jays, who has more points than any other AL catcher (5.5). 
• Athletics outfielders Yoenis Cespedes and Josh Reddick, who are among the top three AL outfielders in Box-Toppers points. Both have 4.5. 
• Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals, who has more points than any other NL third basemen (6.7).

The elected starters for the AL are generally stronger than the starters for the NL in terms of Box-Toppers points and player rankings (see the charts at right). Five players are among the top one or two players in Box-Toppers points at their position among AL starters, while only three players in the NL can say the same.

The chart shows the players Box-Toppers points for the season, BTP, and their rank according to their field position in their league. Generally speaking, the the lower the rank by position number, the better. For example, Chris Davis, Miguel Cabrera, David Ortiz and Carlos Gonzalez all rank No. 1 among players in their respective positions. However, elected NL starter Carlos Beltran of the Cardinals, ranks only 39th among NL outfielders in Box-Toppers points for the season.

While the NL starting line-up is not as strong as the AL line-up, the NL reserves include most of the players leading in Box-Toppers points at their position. For example, in the reserves and pitchers chart at the right below the elected starters, you can see that four NL players leading in Box-Toppers points in their position were selected to the team by NL manager Bruce Bochy of the Giants. They include:

• Brian McCann of the Braves, leading among NL catchers with 7.0 Box-Toppers points.
• Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks, leading among NL first basemen with 9.7 Box-Toppers points. 
• Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals, leading among NL second basemen with 6.0 Box-Toppers points. 
• Everth Cabrera of the Padres, leading among NL shortstops with 4.5 Box-Toppers points. 

Often, players are chosen to the All-Star for sentimental and nostalgic reasons. That might seem to be the case for Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who has only 1.0 Box-Toppers point this season and ranks 137th among AL pitchers in points. And though he's having a strong year (30 saves in 32 chances and a 1.83 ERA), he hasn't picked up a lot of Box-Toppers points since he hasn't been the player who most contributed to the win in most of the games in which he's appeared. Still, Rivera has a very strong career Box-Toppers total. He has 122.4 career Box-Toppers points, 26th among all players since 1995 and second among closing pitchers only to Trevor Hoffman (129.4).  Even if he weren't having a great year statistically, his career Box-Toppers numbers would cry out for his selection to the All-Star Game in this, the year he is retiring.

Box-Toppers is set up to determine the players who most help their team win the most games. Top players from the winning team of each game are determined by a formula using standard box score statistics. These top players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game. Among each day's top players, bonus points are awarded for the top players and batters of the day in each league. Players accumulate points through the season to provide a data point for comparison, such as determining which players are most worthy as All-Stars. 

ALL-STAR GAME TOP SNUBS
AL PLAYERS	POS	TEAM	BTP	RANK BY POS.
Anibal Sanchez	PI SP	Tigers	8.0	10
Derek Holland	PI SP	Rangers	7.7	11
Joe Saunders	PI SP	Mariners	7.7	12
R.A. Dickey	PI SP	Blue Jays	6.7	13
Hiroki Kuroda	PI SP	Yankees	6.7	14
Josh Donaldson	3B	Athletics	6.5	2
Yunel Escobar	SS	Rays	4.5	1
J.P. Arencibia	CA	Blue Jays	5.5	1
Yoenis Cespedes	OF	Athletics	4.5	2
Josh Reddick	OF	Athletics	4.5	3
NL PLAYERS	POS	TEAM	BTP	RANK BY POS.
Shelby Miller	PI SP	Cardinals	11.4	5
Zack Greinke	PI SP	Dodgers	10.7	8
Lance Lynn	PI SP	Cardinals	10.4	9
Gio Gonzalez	PI SP	Nationals	8.7	11
Mat Latos	PI SP	Reds	8.7	12
Ryan Zimmerman	3B	Nationals	6.7	1

ALL-STAR GAME ELECTED STARTERS
AL PLAYERS	POS	TEAM	BTP	RANK BY POS.
Chris Davis	1B	Orioles	10.2	1
Robinson Canó	2B	Yankees	7.0	2
J. J. Hardy	SS	Orioles	3.0	4
Miguel Cabrera	3B	Tigers	13.4	1
Joe Mauer	C	Twins	5.0	2
Mike Trout	OF	Angels	3.5	9
Adam Jones	OF	Orioles	3.5	10
José Bautista	OF	Blue Jays	1.5	32
David Ortiz	DH	Red Sox	8.2	1
NL PLAYERS	POS	TEAM	BTP	RANK BY POS.
Joey Votto	1B	Reds	1.5	14
Brandon Phillips	2B	Reds	5.0	2
Troy Tulowitzki	SS	Rockies	2.0	7
David Wright	3B	Mets	1.0	12
Yadier Molina	C	Cardinals	3.0	5
Carlos Beltrán	OF	Cardinals	1.5	39
Carlos González	OF	Rockies	9.5	1
Bryce Harper	OF	Nationals	6.9	2

ALL-STAR GAME RESERVES & PITCHERS
AL PLAYERS	POS	TEAM	BTP	RANK BY POS.
Jason Castro	C	Astros	2.0	7
Salvador Pérez	C	Royals	0.0	18
Prince Fielder	1B	Tigers	3.5	7
Jason Kipnis	2B	Indians	7.0	1
Dustin Pedroia	2B	Red Sox	1.5	9
Ben Zobrist	2B	Rays	2.0	6
Manny Machado	3B	Orioles	1.0	14
Jhonny Peralta	SS	Tigers	1.0	11
Nelson Cruz	OF	Rangers	4.5	1
Alex Gordon	OF	Royals	1.0	42
Torii Hunter	OF	Tigers	1.0	43
Edwin Encarnación	DH	Blue Jays	5.7	2
Justin Masterson	PI SP	Indians	13.7	1
Matt Moore	PI SP	Rays	13.1	2
Chris Sale	PI SP	White Sox	10.7	3
Félix Hernández	PI SP	Mariners	10.4	4
Clay Buchholz	PI SP	Red Sox	10.1	5
Yu Darvish	PI SP	Rangers	10.0	6
Max Scherzer	PI SP	Tigers	9.7	7
Hisashi Iwakuma	PI SP	Mariners	9.7	8
Justin Verlander	PI SP	Tigers	8.0	9
Bartolo Colón	PI SP	Athletics	6.7	15
Greg Holland	PI CP	Royals	6.0	20
Glen Perkins	PI CP	Twins	6.0	21
Chris Tillman	PI SP	Orioles	4.0	35
Joe Nathan	PI CP	Rangers	3.0	59
Grant Balfour	PI CP	Athletics	3.0	60
Brett Cecil	PI MR	Blue Jays	2.0	93
Jesse Crain	PI MR	White Sox	2.0	96
Steve Delabar	PI MR CP	Blue Jays	1.0	112
Mariano Rivera	PI CP	Yankees	1.0	137
NL PLAYERS	POS	TEAM	BTP	RANK BY POS.
Buster Posey	C	Giants	6.0	2
Brian McCann	C	Braves	7.0	1
Paul Goldschmidt	1B	Diamondbacks	9.7	1
Allen Craig	1B	Cardinals	1.0	15
Freddie Freeman	1B	Braves	6.5	2
Matt Carpenter	2B	Cardinals	6.0	1
Marco Scutaro	2B	Giants	0.0	18
Pedro Álvarez	3B	Pirates	6.2	2
Everth Cabrera	SS	Padres	4.5	1
Jean Segura	SS	Brewers	2.5	6
Domonic Brown	OF	Phillies	3.5	15
Michael Cuddyer	OF	Rockies	6.5	3
Carlos Gómez	OF	Brewers	2.0	35
Andrew McCutchen	OF	Pirates	2.0	27
Patrick Corbin	PI SP	Diamondbacks	14.4	1
Clayton Kershaw	PI SP	Dodgers	12.7	2
Madison Bumgarner	PI SP	Giants	11.7	3
Adam Wainwright	PI SP	Cardinals	11.7	4
Matt Harvey	PI SP	Mets	11.0	6
Jordan Zimmermann	PI SP	Nationals	10.7	7
Cliff Lee	PI SP	Phillies	9.4	10
José Fernández	PI SP	Marlins	8.0	14
Aroldis Chapman	PI CP	Reds	6.0	18
Jason Grilli	PI CP	Pirates	5.7	29
Travis Wood	PI CP	Cubs	5.0	33
Jeff Locke	PI SP	Pirates	5.0	36
Craig Kimbrel	PI CP	Braves	3.0	52
Edward Mujica	PI CP	Cardinals	3.0	58
Sergio Romo	PI CP	Giants	2.0	77
Mark Melancon	PI MR	Pirates	1.0	121

BTP: Box-Toppers points for the current season.

RANK BY POS.: A players ranking among players in the same position for the current season. 

Box-Toppers deems Freeman, Uehara most worthy candidates for All-Star Final Vote

Red Sox closer Koji Uehara and Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman are the players most deserving to be voted to the All-Star Game in the Final Vote, according to Box-Toppers statistics.

Major League Baseball's All-Star Final Vote process gives fans the chance to select the final player on each All-Star team. Fans choose from a list of five players from each league who were either not selected by fans in general voting (which ended July 4) or selected by All-Star team managers to fill out the rosters.

Box-Toppers deems Freeman most worthy of earning the Final Vote in the National League. Of the 10 players on the Final Vote ballot, Freeman has the most Box-Toppers points with 5.0. He has the second-most Box-Toppers points of any NL first baseman, behind only Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks (8.7). 

Uehara narrowly earns Box-Toppers' endorsement in the American League. He has 3.0 Box-Toppers points, tied with Rangers relief pitcher Tanner Scheppers. However, Uehara breaks the tie because he has more total Box-Toppers points over the past three seasons (5.0 to 3.0).

Though by Box-Toppers standards, Uehara is the top AL player on the Final Vote ballot, he does rank only 56th among AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points for the season. Scheppers ranks 61st. Even among AL closers, Uehara ranks 13th.

The American League choices are all relief pitchers and are all a little weak in terms of Box-Toppers points. In fact, one player, Tigers relief pitcher Joaquin Benoit has 0.0 Box-Toppers points this season and earned only 1.0 last season.

The National League choices, by contrast, are all batters, and seem a little more interesting, exciting and substantial choices. Rookie sensation Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers is on the list. While his stats for his brief time in the majors are impressive (batting over .400 with eight homers since his June 3 debut), he has earned only 1.5 Box-Toppers points, the fewest of any Final Vote candidate in the National League.

Box-Toppers is set up to determine the players who most help their team win the most games. Top players from the winning team of each game are determined by a formula using standard box score statistics. These top players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game. Among each day's top players, bonus points are awarded for the top players and batters of the day in each league. Players accumulate points through the season to provide a data point for comparison, such as determining which players are most worthy as All-Stars.

Voting on the final candidates ends on Thursday. Fans can vote online.

	FINAL VOTE CANDIDATES
	AL PLAYERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Koji Uehara	pi cp	bos al	3.0
2	Tanner Scheppers	pi mr	tex al	3.0
3	Steve Delabar	pi mr	tor al	1.0
4	David Robertson	pi mr	nyy al	1.0
5	Joaquin Benoit	pi mr	det al	0.0
	NL PLAYERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Freddie Freeman	1b	atl nl	5.0
2	Ian Desmond	ss	dc nl	4.5
3	Adrian Gonzalez	1b	lad nl	3.0
4	Hunter Pence	rf	sf nl	2.0
5	Yasiel Puig	rf	lad nl	1.5

BTP: Box-Toppers points

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

BTP: Box-Toppers points

What are those numbers after players' names?

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. 

What are those numbers after players' names?

Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Gonzalez among best in Box-Toppers All-Star teams

Still struggling with your All-Star vote?

Are you someone who truly wants to field a great team—voting for the best players—and not someone who is just willing to vote that .125 hitter in simply because he is on your favorite team?

Well, even if you aren't, Box-Toppers is going to take a look at the top players by position in each league. And as in past all-star updates, we'll look at the all-star teams in a couple of different ways: We'll look at who is leading in Box-Toppers points by position so far through the 2013 season. And we'll also look at players over the longer run, seeing who is leading in Box-Toppers points for the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons.

So, for example, Stephen Drew of the Red Sox is leading among American League shortstops so far in 2013 with 4.5 Box-Toppers points. But J.J. Hardy of the Orioles is leading among AL shortstops if you combine his 2012 and 2013 Box-Toppers points. Hardy has 9.2 (7.2 in 2012 and 2.0 in 2013).

Box-Toppers also includes starting, middle relief and closing pitchers in its all-star line-ups, even though fans don't get to vote for them.

Several players appear on both the 2013 and the combined 2012-13 list, indicating they may be especially worthy of your attention as you fill out your ballot. They include:

• AL 1B: Chris Davis of the Orioles.​
• AL 2B: Robinson Cano of the Yankees.​
• AL 3B: Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, who also leads all AL batters in Box-Toppers for 2013 (9.7) and combined 2012-13 seasons (21.4).
• AL pitchers: Yu Darvish of the Rangers and Chris Sale of the White Sox (but, again, fans don't vote on pitchers). 
• NL 2B: Brandon Phillips of the Reds.​
• NL CA: Brian McCann of the Braves.
• NL OF: Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies.
• NL pitcher: Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers.
• NL middle reliever: Santiago Casilla of the Giants.

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
AL	PLAYER	TEAM	BTP		PLAYER	TEAM	BTP
First base	Davis, Chris 2478	bal al	4.5		Davis, Chris 2478	bal al	16.5
Second base	Cano, Robinson 2092	nyy al	4.5		Cano, Robinson 2092	nyy al	8.5
Shortstop	Drew, Stephen 2210	bos al	4.5		Hardy, J.J. 2071	bal al	9.2
Third base	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	9.7		Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	21.4
Catcher	Arencibia, J.P. 2781	tor al	5.5		Mauer, Joe 1869	min al	13
Outfield 1	Johnson, Kelly 2018	tb al	4.5		Trout, Mike 2949	ana al	13.5
Outfield 2	Raburn, Ryan 2340	cle al	4.5		Hamilton, Josh 2332	ana al	11.5
Outfield 3	Joyce, Matt 2480	tb al	3		Rios, Alex 1989	chi al	9.9
Designated hitter	Ortiz, David	bos al	3.7		Butler, Billy 2330	kc al	12.7
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	9.1		Hernandez, Felix 2064	sea al	25.4
Starting pitcher 3	Sale, Chris 2806	chi al	8.7		Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	24.8
Starting pitcher 4	Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	8		Sale, Chris 2806	chi al	24.4
Middle reliever	Scheppers, Tanner 3136	tex al	3		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	5.2		LaRoche, Adam 1910	dc nl	11.5
Second base	Phillips, Brandon 1691	cin nl	3.5		Phillips, Brandon 1691	cin nl	13
Shortstop	Crawford, Brandon 2878	sf nl	3		Tulowitzki, Troy 2308	col nl	7
Third base	Zimmerman, Ryan 2180	dc nl	3.7		Freese, David 2710	stl nl	11.7
Catcher	McCann, Brian 2179	atl nl	5		McCann, Brian 2179	atl nl	11
Outfield 1	Harper, Bryce 3011	dc nl	5.9		Braun, Ryan J. 2300	mil nl	16
Outfield 2	Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	5		Holliday, Matt 1836	stl nl	14.7
Outfield 3	Pollock, A.J. 3142	ari nl	4.7		Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	14.2
Starting pitcher 1	Harvey, Matt 3075	nym nl	9		Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	28.8
Starting pitcher 2	Corbin, Patrick 3027	ari nl	8.4		Lynn, Lance 2992	stl nl	25.1
Starting pitcher 3	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	8		Strasburg, Stephen 2736	dc nl	23.4
Starting pitcher 4	Miller, Shelby 3134	stl nl	7.7		Gonzalez, Gio 2626	dc nl	22.7
Middle reliever	Casilla, Santiago 2301	sf nl	2		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	9.7		Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	21.4
NL top player	Harvey, Matt 3075	nym nl	9		Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	28.8
NL top batter	Harper, Bryce 3011	dc nl	5.9		Braun, Ryan J. 2300	mil nl	16

BTP: Box-Toppers points

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cabrera, Mauer, Braun, McCann among top candidates for Box-Toppers All-Star teams

Who is worthy of your All-Star vote?

Let's take a look at who is leading Box-Toppers points by position and in each league. We'll look at it in a couple of different ways: We'll look at who is leading so far through the 2013 season. And since the sample size of the 1.5-month-old season is still fairly small, we'll also look at who is leading in Box-Toppers points for the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons.​

So, for example, Mitch Moreland of the Rangers is leading among American League first basemen ​so far in 2013 with 3.5 Box-Toppers points. But Mike Napoli of the Red Sox is leading among AL first basemen if you combine his 2012 and 2013 Box-Toppers points. Napoli has 10.7 (8.2 in 2012 and 2.5 in 2013).

Box-Toppers also includes starting, middle relief and closing pitchers in its all-star line-ups, even though fans don't get to vote for them.

Several players appear on both the 2013 and the combined 2012-13 list, indicating they may be especially worthy of your attention as you fill out your ballot. They include:​

• ​AL 3B: Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, who also leads all AL batters in Box-Toppers for 2013 (7.2) and combined 2012-13 seasons (18.9).
• AL CA: Joe Mauer of the Twins.
• AL OF: Chris Davis of the Orioles.​
• AL pitcher: Yu Darvish of the Rangers (but, again, fans don't vote on pitchers). Darvish leads all players in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season with 8.0.​
• NL CA: Brian McCann of the Braves.​
• NL OF: Ryan Braun of the Brewers. Braun leads NL batters for the combined 2012-13 seasons with 16.0.​
• NL OF: Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies.​
• NL pitcher: Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers. Kershaw leads NL players in points for the combined 2012-13 seasons with 27.8.​
• NL middle reliever: Santiago Casilla of the Giants.​

Here is how the Box-Toppers All-Star teams stood as of May 3.​

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
AL	PLAYER	TEAM	BTP		PLAYER	TEAM	BTP
First base	Moreland, Mitch 2799	tex al	3.5		Napoli, Mike 2161	bos al	10.7
Second base	Cano, Robinson 2092	nyy al	3.5		Cano, Robinson 2092	nyy al	7.5
Shortstop	Drew, Stephen 2210	bos al	2.5		Hardy, J.J. 2071	bal al	9.2
Third base	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	7.2		Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	18.9
Catcher	Mauer, Joe 1869	min al	3		Mauer, Joe 1869	min al	12
Outfield 1	Raburn, Ryan 2340	cle al	3.5		Davis, Chris 2478	bal al	14
Outfield 2	Wells, Vernon 1548	nyy al	3		Trout, Mike 2949	ana al	12
Outfield 3	Davis, Chris 2478	bal al	2		Hamilton, Josh 2332	ana al	11.5
Designated hitter	Hafner, Travis 1650	nyy al	3.5		Butler, Billy 2330	kc al	12.7
Starting pitcher 1	Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	8		Verlander, Justin 2112	det al	29.8
Starting pitcher 2	Masterson, Justin 2462	cle al	7.7		Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	24.8
Starting pitcher 3	Buchholz, Clay 2363	bos al	7.1		Hernandez, Felix 2064	sea al	24.4
Starting pitcher 4	Sale, Chris 2806	chi al	6.7		Dickey, R.A. 1734	tor al	23.1
Middle reliever	Scheppers, Tanner 3136	tex al	3		Chen, Bruce 1170	kc al	8
Closing pitcher	Balfour, Grant 1880	oak al	3		Rodney, Fernando 1803	tb al	10
NL
First base	Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	ari nl	3.5		Jones, Garrett 2655	pit nl	9.5
Second base	Carpenter, Matt 2987	stl nl	3.5		Phillips, Brandon 1691	cin nl	12
Shortstop	Desmond, Ian 2673	dc nl	2.5		Tulowitzki, Troy 2308	col nl	7
Third base	Zimmerman, Ryan 2180	dc nl	3.7		Freese, David 2710	stl nl	10.7
Catcher	McCann, Brian 2179	atl nl	3		McCann, Brian 2179	atl nl	9
Outfield 1	Harper, Bryce 3011	dc nl	5.9		Braun, Ryan J. 2300	mil nl	16
Outfield 2	Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	4		Holliday, Matt 1836	stl nl	14.7
Outfield 3	Braun, Ryan J. 2300	mil nl	3.5		Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	13.2
Starting pitcher 1	Miller, Shelby 3134	stl nl	7.7		Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	27.8
Starting pitcher 2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	7		Lynn, Lance 2992	stl nl	23.4
Starting pitcher 3	Harvey, Matt 3075	nym nl	7		Bumgarner, Madison 2753	sf nl	22.4
Starting pitcher 4	Corbin, Patrick 3027	ari nl	6.4		Strasburg, Stephen 2736	dc nl	22.4
Middle reliever	Casilla, Santiago 2301	sf nl	2		Casilla, Santiago 2301	sf nl	6
Closing pitcher	Feldman, Scott 2632	chi nl	3		Chapman, Aroldis 2826	cin nl	16
AL top player	Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	8		Verlander, Justin 2112	det al	29.8
AL top batter	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	7.2		Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	18.9
NL top player	Miller, Shelby 3134	stl nl	7.7		Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	27.8
NL top batter	Harper, Bryce 3011	dc nl	5.9		Braun, Ryan J. 2300	mil nl	16

BTP: Box-Toppers points

What are those numbers after players' names?

Box-Toppers takes early crack at picking All-Star teams

Is it too early to be voting on All-Stars for the midsummer classic?

Yes.

That said, voting is open at mlb.com and fans have already started to vote even though there is not enough evidence yet to reveal who the season's all-stars really are.​

Since it is not stopping fans, we won't let it stop us at Box-Toppers, either. We will take a look at who is leading in Box-Toppers points by position and in each league. We'll also choose pitchers, even though voters don't get to pick those.

And because the season is only a little more than a month old and there hasn't yet been enough baseball played to clearly determine top players, we'll look at our all-star teams in two different ways. We'll look at Box-Toppers point leaders so far through the young 2013 season. And we'll look at who is leading in Box-Toppers points for the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons.​

The lists for both teams are below.​

	2013 SEASON				2012-13 SEASONS
AL	PLAYER	TEAM	BTP		PLAYER	TEAM	BTP
First base	Moss, Brandon 2520	oak al	3		Napoli, Mike 2161	bos al	10.7
Second base	Kendrick, Howie 2191	ana al	2.5		Cano, Robinson 2092	nyy al	6
Shortstop	Lowrie, Jed 2437	oak al	2.5		Hardy, J.J. 2071	bal al	8.2
Third base	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	5.7		Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	17.4
Catcher	Wieters, Matt 2643	bal al	3		Mauer, Joe 1869	min al	10.5
Outfield 1	Raburn, Ryan 2340	cle al	3.5		Davis, Chris 2478	bal al	14
Outfield 2	Davis, Chris 2478	bal al	2		Hamilton, Josh 2332	ana al	11.5
Outfield 3	Willingham, Josh 2205	min al	2		Trout, Mike 2949	ana al	11
Designated hitter	Hafner, Travis 1650	nyy al	3.5		Butler, Billy 2330	kc al	11.2
Starting pitcher 1	Buchholz, Clay 2363	bos al	7.1		Verlander, Justin 2112	det al	27.8
Starting pitcher 2	Moore, Matt 2975	tb al	6.7		Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	22.8
Starting pitcher 3	Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	6		Hernandez, Felix 2064	sea al	22.4
Starting pitcher 4	Masterson, Justin 2462	cle al	4.7		Dickey, R.A. 1734	tor al	22.1
Middle reliever	Chen, Bruce 1170	kc al	2		Chen, Bruce 1170	kc al	8
Closing pitcher	Perkins, Glen 2506	min al	3		Rodney, Fernando 1803	tb al	8
NL
First base	Carpenter, Matt 2987	stl nl	2.5		LaRoche, Adam 1910	dc nl	9
Second base	Ellis, Mark 1614	lad nl	2.5		Phillips, Brandon 1691	cin nl	11
Shortstop	Tulowitzki, Troy 2308	col nl	1		Tulowitzki, Troy 2308	col nl	6
Third base	Frazier, Todd 2929	cin nl	2.5		Freese, David 2710	stl nl	10.7
Catcher	Posey, Buster 2745	sf nl	2		Posey, Buster 2745	sf nl	7.5
Outfield 1	Harper, Bryce 3011	dc nl	4.9		Braun, Ryan J. 2300	mil nl	15
Outfield 2	Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	4		Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	13.2
Outfield 3	Bruce, Jay 2453	cin nl	3		Holliday, Matt 1836	stl nl	11.7
Starting pitcher 1	Lynn, Lance 2992	stl nl	5.7		Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	25.8
Starting pitcher 2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	5		Lynn, Lance 2992	stl nl	23.4
Starting pitcher 3	Harvey, Matt 3075	nym nl	5		Gonzalez, Gio 2626	dc nl	21.7
Starting pitcher 4	Maholm, Paul 2078	atl nl	4.7		Bumgarner, Madison 2753	sf nl	21.4
Middle reliever	Casilla, Santiago 2301	sf nl	2		Casilla, Santiago 2301	sf nl	6
Closing pitcher	Chapman, Aroldis 2826	cin nl	2		Chapman, Aroldis 2826	cin nl	16
AL top player	Buchholz, Clay 2363	bos al	7.1		Verlander, Justin 2112	det al	27.8
AL top batter	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	5.7		Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	17.4
NL top player	Lynn, Lance 2992	stl nl	5.7		Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	25.8
NL top batter	Harper, Bryce 3011	dc nl	4.9		Braun, Ryan J. 2300	mil nl	15

BTP: Box-Toppers points

What are those numbers after players' names?