Box-Toppers is casting a vote for the American League Cy Young Award to Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole.
We are also casting our vote for AL Most Valuable Player to … Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole.
Read MoreAstros’ Gerrit Cole tops players for Friday, Sept. 13, extends lead in Box-Toppers player rankings
Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole, Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, extends his lead in season player rankings and now has the 11th-best single-season Box-Toppers point total in 25 seasons.
Cole struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing one run, four hits and two walks, in the 4-1 win over the Royals.
Read MoreCubs’ Cole Hamels tops players for Friday, April 12, rises to 15th on Box-Toppers career points list
Cubs pitcher Cole Hamels is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to 15th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995.
Hamels struck out six over eight innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, in the 5-1 win over the Angels.
Read MoreWins leader Blake Snell also led players in Box-Toppers points in 2018
Blake Snell of the Rays, who led all pitchers in wins in 2018 with 21, also led all players in Box-Toppers points during the season with 27.2.
Six of the overall top 11 players in Box-Toppers points in 2018 are also among the top 11 pitchers in wins for the season. Plus, all 11 pitchers leading in wins are among the overall top 40 players in Box-Toppers points for the season.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers season-by-season AL & NL pitching & batting leaders, 1995-2018
Analyzing 24 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching & batting in both leagues
Read MoreMax Scherzer leads players in Box-Toppers points since start of 2013
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer leads players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2013.
Scherzer has 137.0 Box-Toppers points over the period 2013-2018, just 2.6 points ahead of Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has 134.4 points over that span.
In fact, Scherzer unseats Kershaw from atop the six-year rolling Box-Toppers point total, a spot Kershaw has held at the end of each season since 2013, five straight seasons.
Read MoreWhy Box-Toppers is voting pitchers Scherzer, Snell as league MVPs over batters
No 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 MoreBlue Jays’ Pillar tops players for Friday, July 13; Diamondbacks’ Godley tops NL players
Kevin Pillar of the Blue Jays is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Pillar hit two doubles and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 13-7 win over the Red Sox.
Read MoreRoyals' Scott Barlow tops players for Tuesday, May 29; Phillies’ Arrieta tops NL players
Royals pitcher Scott Barlow is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, making his Box-Toppers debut.
Barlow struck out five over four scoreless extra innings, as he closed the game, allowing no hits and one walk, in the 2-1, 14-inning win over the Twins.
Read MorePhillies' Jake Arrieta tops players for Thursday, April 19; Astros' Morton tops AL players
Phillies pitcher Jake Arrieta is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Astros pitcher Charlie Morton rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
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Clayton Kershaw is Box-Toppers’ most-mentioned player since 2013 & over past year; Dodgers are most-mentioned team
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw has been mentioned on Box-Toppers.com more than any other player.
His team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, is also Box-Toppers’ most-mentioned team.
Read MoreKershaw remains strong over past half decade—who is rising & who is declining among baseball's top stars
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, Box-Toppers’ dominant player over the period 2012-2017, remains Box-Toppers’ dominant player over the period 2013-2017.
The 2013-2017 Box-Toppers point total for all players comes from dropping the points they earned in the 2012 season from their 2012-2017 totals. Box-Toppers uses this longer-term total to gauge a players’ staying power over the recent past.
And at the beginning of a season, when the rolling six-year total drops the earliest year of that timeframe, a player’s change in position in the rankings can give a clue to whether that player is improving, holding steady or declining.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers season-by-season AL & NL pitching & batting leaders, 1995-2017
An analysis of 23 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching & batting in both leagues.
Read MoreMax Scherzer takes lead in Box-Toppers points over 2 seasons, passing Kershaw
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer has more Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons than any other player.
Scherzer has earned 50.7 Box-Toppers points over 2016 and 2017. He ranked first in 2016 with 25.7 and second in 2017 with 25.0. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who led players in Box-Toppers two-season point totals for each of the past four seasons, falls to second place this year with 47.5 points.
Read MoreBox-Toppers' big dippers—players whose 2017 point total declined most from 2016: Jose Fernandez leads list
Sadly, Jose Fernandez leads the list of players whose Box-Toppers point total declined most from 2016 to 2017. The 22.4-point decline is 8.0 points more than the next biggest decline which was the highest among players active in 2017—that belongs to Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto, whose 2017 point total dipped 14.4 points, from 16.4 in 2016 to 2.0 in 2017.
Read MoreBrad Peacock tops players in World Series Game 3 as Astros take a 2-1 series lead
Astros pitcher Brad Peacock is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in World Series Game 3 Friday.
The Houston Astros win 5-3 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven game series.
Read MoreYankees' Masahiro Tanaka, Cubs' Jake Arrieta top players in Wednesday's LCS games
Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka and Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Wednesday’s League Championship Series games.
Read MoreDodgers' Yu Darvish, Yankees' Aaron Judge top players in Tuesday's LCS games
Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish and Aaron Judge of the Yankees are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Tuesday’s League Championship Series games.
Read MoreNLCS preview: Dodgers enter rematch against Cubs with more favorable stats, but L.A. declining since midseason, while Chicago is rising
The 2017 National League Championship Series is a rematch of the 2016 series between the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers. But this year, the tables are turned.
Last year, the Cubs were kings, leading Box-Toppers team rankings in 2016 almost wire-to-wire, and coming into their NLCS matchup against the Dodgers holding practically every advantage. This year, they’ve scraped together their success with a pitching staff that is little more than half as good as it was when it led them to a World Series title in 2016.
Read MoreNationals' Strasburg, Yankees' Chapman top players in Wednesday's League Division Series games
Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg and Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman are Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Players of the Day in two League Division Series games.
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