A look at how WAR leaders fared in Box-Toppers points in 2019: We don't seem to be looking at the same game

Those who figure Wins Above Replacement and those who figure Box-Toppers points (me) often don’t seem to be looking at the same game.

But we are. We are looking at the exact same Major League Baseball game. In recent years, Box-Toppers has seen pitchers come to so overwhelmingly dominate the game that they’ve pushed batters’ relative achievements into the background. But WAR seems to persist in the notion that it is batters who are primarily the stars of the game, contributing more to help their teams win than pitchers.

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7 of top 11 RBI leaders among top 10 AL & NL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2019

Seven of the 11 top runs batted in leaders were among their league’s top 10 batters in Box-Toppers points in 2019.

However, overall RBI leader Anthony Rendon of the Nationals ranked outside the top 10 National League batters in Box-Toppers points.

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How 2019’s top home run hitters fared in Box-Toppers rankings—leader Pete Alonso ranked outside top 100

Pete Alonso of the Mets led all players in home runs in 2019 but was one of three top 10 home run hitters to rank outside the top 100 in season Box-Toppers points.

Meanwhile, Nelson Cruz of the Twins, who led all batters in Box-Toppers points in 2019 with 12.5, ranked tied for seventh in home runs with 41. Two of Box-Toppers’ top three-ranked National League batters—Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers and Christian Yelich of the Brewers—were also among the top 10 home run hitters in 2019.

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A look at Box-Toppers season-by-season AL & NL pitching & batting leaders, 1995-2019

Analyzing 25 years of Box-Toppers points leaders among American League and National League pitchers and batters each season.

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A look at Box-Toppers’ top 100 players for 2019

Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole tops Box-Toppers list of the top 100 players in 2019.

Cole had 32.2 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, which is the fourth-highest single-season point total in the 25 seasons of Box-Toppers tracking, which began in 1995. It was 1.5 points short of the record, 33.7, set by Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks in both 2000 and 2002.

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Box-Toppers 2019 year-end All-Star teams

The Box-Toppers All-Star teams for the 2019 regular season are led by overall Box-Toppers points leader, Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole.

The American League and National League All-Star teams are composed of the players with the highest Box-Toppers point totals by position in each league. In addition to the batters—eight in the NL and nine (including the designated hitter) in the AL—are the top four starting pitchers in each league and the top closing pitcher.

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A look at players who made biggest gains in Box-Toppers points from 2018 to 2019

Padres rookie pitcher Chris Paddack had the biggest gain in Box-Toppers point totals from 2018 to 2019.

Paddack earned 15.8 Box-Toppers points in his first season in 2019 after obviously earning no points in 2018, making his 15.8-point gain the largest among all players this season.

Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole had the biggest gain in Box-Toppers points among returning players and among American League pitchers. His 14.2-point gain from 2018 to 2019 was the second-biggest of the season.

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Players ranking highest in Box-Toppers points in 2019 fail to win any postseason awards

No Box-Toppers points leaders were among the winners in six major postseason awards for 2019.

In fact, looking at Box-Toppers’ ballot in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, none of the 10 candidates we chose for awards based on Box-Toppers points won an award.

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Bellinger, Trout win MVP Awards ahead of Box-Toppers’ decidedly outlier picks—Cole, Ozuna

Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers, who ranked third among National League batters in Box-Toppers points in 2019 with 11.2, was voted NL Most Valuable Player Thursday.

And Mike Trout of the Angels, who ranked ninth among American League batters in Box-Toppers points in 2019 with 8.7, was voted AL Most Valuable Player.

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A look at 2019 baseball awards finalists and how they fared in Box-Toppers rankings

The players who played the most key roles in helping their teams win the most games in 2019, for the most part, are not among the finalists for baseball’s postseason awards.

Gerrit Cole of the Astros, who led American League pitchers in Box-Toppers points with 32.2, is one of three finalists for the AL Cy Young Award. He is the only Box-Toppers point leader in any of the six categories to even be named as a finalist.

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How 2019 Silver Sluggers winners fared in Box-Toppers rankings

Ten of the 17 batters winning Silver Slugger Awards this week also were among the leaders at their positions in 2019 Box-Toppers point totals.

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NLCS Preview: Wild card Nationals seem to hold the cards against Cardinals

Though the Washington Nationals are the Wild Card team, they seem to hold most of the advantages over the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series.

The Nationals have more wins and rank higher in Box-Toppers team rankings than the NL Central champion Cardinals. Still, the Cardinals have a Box-Toppers point advantage in starting batting lineups, as the teams begin the best-of-seven games series Friday in St. Louis.

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Box-Toppers’ NL Division Series previews: Cardinals vs. Braves, Nationals vs. Dodgers

Both National League Division Series begin Thursday.

The NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals face the NL East champion Atlanta Braves in one best-of-five game series and the NL Wild Card champion Washington Nationals take on the Los Angeles Dodgers, champions of the NL West in the other series.

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Box-Toppers picks Astros’ Gerrit Cole for AL Cy Young & MVP: A look at our postseason awards ballot

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.

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Orioles’ Wojciechowski tops players for Friday, Sept. 27; Dodgers’ Bellinger rises to 3rd among NL batters

Orioles pitcher Asher Wojciechowski is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers rises to third place among National League batters in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

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Verlander, pitching no-hitter, tops players for Sunday, Sept. 1, regains player rankings lead, reaches 200 career Box-Toppers points

Astros pitcher Justin Verlander, pitching a no-hitter, is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to first place in season player rankings.

Verlander also becomes the seventh player in Box-Toppers tracking history (which began in 1995) to reach 200 career Box-Toppers points, rising to sixth place on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list.

In addition, Verlander Sunday had Box-Toppers’ highest Box-Toppers game score of any Player of the Game this season.

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Rangers’ Kolby Allard tops players for Saturday, Aug. 24; Phillies’ Dickerson tops NL players

Rangers pitcher Kolby Allard is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, making his Box-Toppers debut.

Allard struck out eight over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing six hits and no walks, in the 4-0 win over the White Sox.

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