Blog
Twenty-five pitchers and five batters lead their teams in Box-Toppers points at the 2019 All-Star break.
The five batters who have the most points on their club at the All-Star break are Brett Gardner of the Yankees, Mike Trout of the Angels, Josh Bell of the Pirates, Marcell Ozuna of the Cardinals and Nolan Arenado of the Rockies.
Read MoreRangers pitcher Lance Lynn is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Lynn struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Rays.
Read MoreThere are nine players who lead their league’s positions in Box-Toppers points who are also among the finalists in the newfangled All-Star “general” election being held this week.
But there are eight players who lead their league’s position in Box-Toppers points who are not even listed among the top three finalists (top nine for outfielders) for their positions.
Read MoreWith the first round of All-Star voting ending today, here is a look at who is leading in Box-Toppers points at each position in both leagues.
Actually, because the 2019 season so far is a relatively small sample size—just under halfway complete—we’ll also look at top players since the start of the 2018 season.
Read MoreMarlins pitcher Jordan Yamamoto is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Eloy Jimenez of the White Sox rises to lead American League batters in 2019 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreAngels pitcher Felix Pena is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Pena struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 13-0 win over the Tigers.
Read MoreCubs pitcher Jon Lester is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Marcell Ozuna of the Cardinals rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreStriving to create a more perfect Box-Toppers, I discovered some errors in player tracking in 2018 and have been correcting them in recent weeks.
There were 10 total errors I discovered that changed the Box-Toppers point totals for 17 different players. Those errors were discovered after re-examining about one-third of the 2,430 games played in the 2018 season. So in other words, after looking at about 830 games, I found 10 errors.
Read MoreKhris Davis of the Athletics led all players in home runs in 2018 but ranked relatively low in Box-Toppers player rankings—just 47th among American League batters.
Meanwhile, J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox, who led all batters in Box-Toppers points in 2018 with 12.5, ranked second in home runs. And just three of the top 10 home run hitters in 2018 are among the top 100 ranked players in Box-Toppers points for the season.
Read MoreAnalyzing 24 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching & batting in both leagues
Read MoreChristian Yelich of the Brewers, who led National League batters in Box-Toppers points in 2018 with 11.5, was voted NL Most Valuable Player Thursday.
And Mookie Betts of the Red Sox, who ranked second among American League batters in Box-Toppers points with 10.9, was voted AL Most Valuable Player. Teammate J.D. Martinez, who led AL batters with 12.5 Box-Toppers points, finished fourth in AL MVP voting.
Read MoreAbout half of the top batters by position as measured by Box-Toppers points are among Silver Slugger Award winners announced Thursday.
The awards are given to the top batter in each position in both leagues. But as measured by Box-Toppers points, only seven (maybe eight) of the 17 announced winners would have been the same.
Read MoreBaseball’s postseason award finalists named this week are also among Box-Toppers’ top-ranked players for 2018.
The lone exception: J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox, who led all batters in 2018 with 12.5 Box-Toppers points, is not among the three finalists for the American League Most Valuable Player Award.
Read MoreBlake Snell tops Box-Toppers list of the top 100 players in 2018.
The Rays pitcher had 27.2 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, which is the 12th-highest single-season point total since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.
Read MoreBoth National League Division Series begin Thursday.
The Wild Card Colorado Rockies face the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers in one best-of-five game series and the NL East winners, the Atlanta Braves take on the Los Angeles Dodgers, champions of the NL West in the other series.
Read MoreThe Colorado Rockies visit the Chicago Cubs in the National League one-game Wild Card playoff game Tuesday.
Read More
Rays pitcher Blake Snell is Box-Toppers 2018 Player of the Year.
Snell, with 27.2 Box-Toppers points in 2018, finishes first in Box-Toppers season player rankings, ahead of second-place player, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (25.1).
Meanwhile, Christian Yelich of the Brewers rises to first place among National League batters in Box-Toppers points this week, as the regular season comes to a close.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Justin Verlander is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his third-place spot in season player rankings.
Also Saturday, Rays pitcher Blake Snell finished his 2018 Box-Toppers Player of the Year season with a flourish, earning Player of the Game honors, extending his lead over Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer in season player rankings.
In addition, Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola rises to fifth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. And Christian Yelich of the Brewers extends his lead among National League batters in 2018 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Read MoreNo batters are deserving of the Most Valuable Player Award this year.
Collectively, batters are faring worse, with their statistics trending downward in recent years. This year has been an even lower point.
Box-Toppers is voting pitcher Max Scherzer as NL MVP and Blake Snell as AL MVP.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and maintains his second-place spot in season player rankings in his final start of 2018.
Meanwhile, Christian Yelich of the Brewers rises to first place among National League batters in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning NL Batter of the Day honors, passing previous leader Javier Baez of the Cubs.
Read MoreBox-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.