Blog
Albert Pujols of the Angels has the most Box-Toppers points of any first baseman since tracking began in 1995.
Pujols also has the distinction of leading all American League first basemen in Box-Toppers points over the past season (2019), the past two seasons (2018-19) and the past six seasons (2014-19).
Read MoreThe Box-Toppers All-Star teams for 2014-19 consist of the best players over the past six seasons, which includes seven of the 27 players who are also on Box-Toppers 2018-19 All-Star teams.
Also, among the 27 players on the teams, there are eight players who are on Box-Toppers 2019 All-Star teams and six who are on All-Star teams over all three time spans—for 2019, for 2018-19 and for 2014-19. Leading the 2014-19 All-Stars is Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who ranks first in Box-Toppers points over that six-season period with 134.3.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer holds the lead in three of Box-Toppers’ main leaderboards at the end of 2019, most of any player.
Scherzer leads all players in Box-Toppers points over the past six seasons (2014-2019) and also leads National League pitchers in points over those same past six seasons, plus he leads NL pitchers over 2018-19. Scherzer has 134.3 Box-Toppers points over 2014-19 and 40.5 points over 2018-19.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreAstros 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 MoreThe Box-Toppers All-Star teams for 2013-18 consist of the best players over the past six seasons, which includes 11 of the 27 players who are also on Box-Toppers 2017-18 All-Star teams.
Also, among the 27 players on the teams, there are five players who are on Box-Toppers 2018 All-Star teams and four who are on All-Star teams over all three time spans—for 2018, for 2017-18 and for 2013-18.
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 MoreThe Box-Toppers All-Star teams for 2017-18 consist of the best players at each position in each league over those previous two seasons.
Among the 27 players included on the American and National League teams are 15 who are also on Box-Toppers 2018 All-Star teams (those players are denoted in the chart above with an asterisk).
Read More
The New York Yankees are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2019 preseason rankings, rising from second place at the end of the 2018 season.
The 2018 World Series-champion Boston Red Sox fall from first at the end of last season to second place in the 2019 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Reds made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Arizona Diamondbacks had the biggest decline.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer leads two of Box-Toppers’ four main leaderboards and came within 2.1 Box-Toppers points of leading three of the four after the 2018 season.
Scherzer has the most Box-Toppers points of any player over the past two seasons (50.1 over 2017 and 2018) and the most points of any player over the past six seasons (137.0 from 2013 to 2018). Scherzer finished second in overall points in 2018 with 25.1, just behind leader Rays pitcher Blake Snell (27.2).
Read MoreNationals 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 MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer has more Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons than any other player.
Scherzer has earned 50.1 Box-Toppers points over 2017 and 2018. He ranked second among all players in both seasons.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Box-Toppers’ top-ranked player over both the past two seasons and past six seasons.
Scherzer has the most Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons (50.1 over 2017 and 2018) and the most points over the past six seasons (137.0 from 2013 to 2018).
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 MoreThe Box-Toppers All-Star teams for the 2018 regular season are led by overall Box-Toppers points leader, Rays pitcher Blake Snell.
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.
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 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.