A look at how opening day starters have fared in Box-Toppers points and an opening day introduction to Box-Toppers.
Read MoreHere we go anyway: Box-Toppers opening day preview of 2021 season
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.
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Wins leaders Shane Bieber, Yu Darvish among top 3 in 2020 Box-Toppers points
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 MoreHow earned run average leaders fared in Box-Toppers points: Top 2 in player rankings—Bieber, Bauer—also top 2 in ERA
The 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 MoreA look at Box-Toppers season-by-season AL & NL pitching & batting leaders, 1995-2020
Analyzing 26 years of Box-Toppers points leaders among American League and National League pitchers and batters each season.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers’ top 100 players for 2020
Indians 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 MoreAwards wrap-up: Box-Toppers points leaders win 2 of 6 major postseason awards in 2020
Box-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.
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Box-Toppers points leaders Shane Bieber, Trevor Bauer win 2020 Cy Young Awards
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 2020 baseball awards finalists and how they fared in Box-Toppers rankings
Box-Toppers’ picks for postseason awards include Shane Bieber, Trevor Bauer, Luke Voit
Box-Toppers has cast votes for postseason honors for Shane Bieber, Luke Voit and for Trevor Bauer—twice.
I have cast my vote in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) for Reds pitcher Bauer to be both National League Cy Young Award winner and NL Most Valuable Player.
Read MoreWhat would 2019 have looked like if only the final 60 games of season were played?
What would the 2019 baseball season have looked like if only the final 60 games were played?
In many ways, it would have looked exactly like the entire, overall 2019 season: From about July 25 on in 2019, the Houston Astros were Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team and Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole was Box-Toppers’ top-ranked player. Both also led for the overall 2019 season.
Read MorePlay ball? Trouble with COVID's curve: Do we even deserve baseball in 2020?
To get a reward, you need to complete a task. As other nations sacrificed to bring coronavirus case counts down, to flatten the curve, we didn’t. Cases increased. It seems crazy to reward ourselves now with baseball, putting many at risk, simply because we want it. We are not worthy.
And yet, here we are: So here’s an opening day introduction to Box-Toppers, tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score statistics. We begin our 26th season of tracking and our eighth season on the web.
Read MoreWho led in Box-Toppers points on each team in 2019? A look at each club’s top pitcher & batter
Pitchers led their team’s players in Box-Toppers points on 25 of 30 teams in 2019. Batters led all team’s players on the other five. Chart shows the players who led his team’s pitchers and batters in Box-Toppers points in 2019.
Read MoreTop 6 in Box-Toppers points in 2019 also among top 11 strikeout leaders for season
Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole, who led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2019, also led all pitchers in strikeouts during the season.
In fact, each of the top six-ranked players in Box-Toppers points were among the top 11 strikeout leaders in 2019.
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Top 2 wins leaders—Astros’ Justin Verlander & Gerrit Cole—also led all players in Box-Toppers points
Justin Verlander of the Astros, who led all pitchers in wins 2019 with 21, ranked second among all players in Box-Toppers points with 27.5.
Verlander’s teammate, Gerrit Cole, who led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2019 with 32.2, ranked second in wins with 20.
Of the 12 pitchers with 16 or more wins in 2019, five of them ranked among the top 10 in Box-Toppers points and 10 of them ranked among the top 50 in Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreHow earned run average leaders fared in Box-Toppers points: ERA leader Ryu ranked 10th in player rankings
Hyun-Jin Ryu of the Dodgers had the lowest earned run average of any pitcher in 2019 and ranked 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings.
The overall Box-Toppers points leader, Gerrit Cole of the Astros (32.2), ranked third in ERA (2.50).
Read MoreA 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.
Read MoreBox-Toppers selects six players for Hall of Fame in internet writers’ ballot
Box-Toppers votes Todd Helton, Derek Jeter, Jeff Kent,, Curt Schilling, Billy Wagner and Larry Walker into the Hall of Fame on Internet Baseball Writers of America ballot.
Read MorePlayers 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.
Read MoreVerlander, deGrom win 2019 Cy Young Awards over Box-Toppers leaders Cole, Strasburg
Gerrit Cole of the Astros, who led all players in 2019 Box-Toppers points and had the fourth-highest single-season point total in Box-Toppers’ 25-year tracking history, fell short of winning baseball’s top pitching prize Wednesday.
Teammate Justin Verlander, who ranked second overall in Box-Toppers points, edged Cole to win the 2019 American League Cy Young Award. Cole finished second in voting. In the National League, Jacob deGrom of the Mets won the Cy Young Award for the second straight year. He finished second among NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points behind leader Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals.
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