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A Box-Toppers preview of the 2021 baseball season.
First, a commentary on baseball and COVID-19. Though case rates are declining and vaccines are slowly arriving, coronavirus cases are higher now than during most of the shortened 2020 baseball season. Yet baseball is on the fast track to return to normalcy.
Second, an introduction to the Box-Toppers metric, used to track and compare players since 1995.
Read MoreRays pitcher Tyler Glasnow is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Saturday’s spring training games.
Glasnow struck out 10 over five scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 2-0 win over the Twins.
Read MoreMariners pitcher James Paxton is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Sunday’s spring training games.
Paxton struck out eight over 4 1/3 innings, allowing one run, two hits and two walks, in the 3-1 win over the Brewers. Paxton did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the score was tied, 1-1, when he exited.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2021 preseason rankings. They also ended 2020 as Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team and World Series champions.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Chicago Cubs saw the biggest decline.
Read MoreIndians pitcher Shane Bieber, who led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2020, also led all pitchers in strikeouts during the season.
Ten of the top 11 strikeouts leaders were also among the top 14 overall players in Box-Toppers points in 2020.
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The two pitchers with the most wins in 2020 were also among the top three in Box-Toppers points for the season.
Shane Bieber of the Indians and Yu Darvish of the Cubs both had eight wins in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, most among all pitchers. Bieber had 11.4 Box-Toppers points, most of all players and Darvish had 9.7 points, third-most and second among National League pitchers.
Read MoreThe two pitchers with the lowest earned run averages in 2020—Shane Bieber and Trevor Bauer—were also Box-Toppers’ two top-ranked players for the season.
In fact, six of the seven ERA leaders for 2020 rank among the top 10 overall players in Box-Toppers points for the season.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Gerrit Cole holds the lead in three of Box-Toppers’ main leaderboards at the end of 2020, most of any player.
Cole leads all players in Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons (2019-2020) and also leads American League pitchers over the past two seasons and past six seasons (2015-2020). Cole has 39.6 Box-Toppers points over 2019-20 and 90.1 over 2015-20.
Read MoreAnalyzing 26 years of Box-Toppers points leaders among American League and National League pitchers and batters each season.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Gerrit Cole has more Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons than any other player.
Cole has earned 39.6 Box-Toppers points over 2019 and 2020. He led all players in 2019 with 32.2 Box-Toppers points, the fourth-highest single-season total since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he had 7.4 Box-Toppers points, 12th among all players and fifth among American League pitchers.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Box-Toppers’ top-ranked player over the past two seasons while Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer ranks first in points over the past six seasons.
Cole earned 39.6 Box-Toppers points combined in 2019 and 2020 to lead all players in that span, while Scherzer earned 116.2 from 2015-2020, most in that span.
Read MoreIndians pitcher Shane Bieber tops Box-Toppers list of the top 100 players of 2020.
Bieber had 11.4 Box-Toppers points during the pandemic-shortened regular season. And because it was such a short season—reduced from 162 games to 60—it is the lowest total to lead all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, beating the previous low set by Royals pitcher Zack Greinke, who led all players with 21.5 points in 2009.
Read MoreSelections for Major League Baseball’s 2020 “All-MLB” teams announced this past week rarely coincided with the season’s Box-Toppers points leaders.
Only one All-MLB First Team batter was among the Box-Toppers points leaders at his position—Marcell Ozuna of the Braves led all designated hitters with 4.5 Box-Toppers points. However, three of the four All-MLB First Team starting pitchers were also among the top three players in Box-Toppers points for 2020—Shane Bieber of the Indians (11.4), Trevor Bauer of the Reds (10.0) and Yu Darvish of the Cubs (9.7).
Read MoreA detailed look at Box-Toppers points leaders for 2020, including overall top 10 leaders and the top 10 in both the American League and National League. Also includes the top 10 overall batters, plus top 10 in both AL and NL, plus top batters by position in each league. Also includes top 10 biggest dippers and risers—players whose Box-Toppers point increased and decreased most from 2019.
Read MoreBox-Toppers points leaders won two of the six major postseason awards for 2020.
Both Cy Young Award winners also led their league’s pitchers in Box-Toppers points in 2020—AL winner Shane Bieber of the Indians led AL pitchers with 11.4 and NL winner Trevor Bauer of the Reds led NL pitchers with 10.0. Bieber and Bauer also were Box-Toppers top two ranked players in 2020, the only two who earned 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points in the pandemic-shortened season.
Read MoreJose Abreu of the White Sox and Freddie Freeman of the Braves were voted 2020 Most Valuable Players Thursday, ahead of other Box-Toppers points leaders.
Abreu, who ranked sixth in Box-Toppers points among American League batters with 4.5, was voted AL MVP. Freeman, who ranked eighth in Box-Toppers points among National League batters with 3.5, was voted NL MVP.
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Box-Toppers’ two top-ranked pitchers in 2020 won this season’s Cy Young Awards.
Shane Bieber of the Indians, who led all American League players with 11.4 Box-Toppers points, was named Cy Young winner in the AL. And Trevor Bauer of the Reds, who led all National League players with 10.0 Box-Toppers points, was named winner in the NL.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers All-Star teams for 2020 seems incomplete. So for added context, Box-Toppers is also looking at the All-Star teams over the past two seasons, 2019-20.
Read MoreRays pitcher Blake Snell topped players Tuesday in the four American League Wild Card games to open the 2020 postseason.
Snell was Player of the Game in the 3-1 win over the Blue Jays. In addition, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito and Astros pitcher Framber Valdez were Player of the Game winners Tuesday in their AL Wild Card Game 1 wins.
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.