Here 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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A 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.

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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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A look at Box-Toppers top 100 players of 'all-time' after the 2018 season

Randy Johnson leads all players in career Box-Toppers points and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

The most likely rival to Johnson’s throne at the moment is Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw who has 214.8 career Box-Toppers points, third among all players since 1995 and most among active players. 

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Indians’ Carlos Carrasco tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 1; Nationals’ Milone tops NL players

Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Carrasco struck out 10 over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 2-0 win over the Twins.

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A look at Box-Toppers top 100 players of 'all-time' after the 2017 season

Randy Johnson leads Box-Toppers "all-time" career top 100 list, since record-keeping began in 1995. Clayton Kershaw, ranked third overall, leads all active players. And Box-Toppers 2017 Player of the Year Chris Sale makes the biggest jump up the top 100 chart.

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A look at Box-Toppers' top 100 players for 2016-17 and 2012-17

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Box-Toppers’ top-ranked player over the past six seasons while Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Box-Toppers’ top-ranked player over the past two seasons.

Kershaw leads all players in Box-Toppers points over 2012-2017 with 147.2, ahead of Scherzer, in second place with 128.9.

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Box-Toppers 2017 year-end All-Star teams

The Box-Toppers All-Star teams for the 2017 regular season are led by overall Box-Toppers points leader, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale.

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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