Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Padres pitcher Nick Pivetta rises to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreYankees’ Fried tops players for Wednesday, April 9; Chourio, Mahle rise in top 10
Yankees pitcher Max Fried is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earned Player of the Game honors—Jackson Chourio of the Brewers rises to third place and Rangers pitcher Tyler Mahle rises to ninth.
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Zack Wheeler leads players in Box-Toppers points over past 2 seasons (2023-24)
Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler has more Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons than any other player.
Wheeler earned 36.1 Box-Toppers points over 2023 and 2024. He ranked 11th among all players in 2022 with 14.7 Box-Toppers points and first among all players in 2024 with 21.4 points. Wheeler ranked fifth among National League pitchers in 2023 and led NL pitchers in 2024.
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Box-Toppers’ big dippers—players whose 2024 point total declined most from 2023: Spencer Strider leads list
Braves pitcher Spencer Strider had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2023 to 2024.
Strider led all players in 2023 with 21.1 Box-Toppers points but earned just 1.0 point in 2024, a 20.1-point decline, which is also the fifth-largest decline (in regular-length seasons) since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
Read MoreCubs’ Imanaga tops players Tuesday, Aug. 6, rising to 3rd in season player rankings
Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third place in season player rankings.
Imanaga struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing two runs, two hits and one walk, in the 7-3 win over the Twins.
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Phillies, Orioles have most players on Box-Toppers’ top 100 midseason player list
The Philadelphia Phillies have the most players among the top 100 in Box-Toppers’ 2024 player rankings at the All-Star break.
Meanwhile, the Baltimore Orioles have the most players in the top 100 among American League teams.
Read MorePhillies’ Aaron Nola tops players for Monday, April 15, rising to 7th in player rankings
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to seventh place in season player rankings.
Nola struck out nine over 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run, four hits and one walk, in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Rockies. Nola did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied when he exited.
Read MoreRoyals’ Singer tops players for Sunday, March 31; Padres’ Kim tops NL players
Royals pitcher Brady Singer is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Singer struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 11-0 win over the Twins.
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Box-Toppers picks Dodgers over Astros in 2024 World Series, plus our awards forecasts
Box-Toppers picks the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the 2024 World Series, beating the predicted American League champion Houston Astros.
Box-Toppers projects the Dodgers will have the most wins among all teams—103—and will be one of three teams with 99 or more wins, along with the Astros and the Atlanta Braves.
Read MoreNationals’ Irvin, Blue Jays’ Bassitt top players in spring games for Wednesday, March 13
Nationals pitcher Jake Irvin is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s spring training games.
Meanwhile, Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt, who led American League pitchers in 2023 with 20.1 Box-Toppers points, is Wednesday’s AL Player of the Day.
Read MoreShohei Ohtani leads players in Box-Toppers points over past 2 seasons (2022-23)
Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani has more Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons than any other player.
Ohtani has earned 44.1 Box-Toppers points over 2022 and 2023. He ranked second among all players in 2022 with 24.7 Box-Toppers points and third among all players in 2023 with 19.4 points.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers season-by-season AL & NL pitching & batting leaders, 1995-2023
Analyzing 29 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching and batting in both leagues.
In 2023, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, American League Most Valuable Player, was the only player who won a major postseason award and also led his Box-Toppers category (leading AL batters with 19.4). Also, Pete Alonso of the Mets became the ninth batter since 1995 to lead his league’s batters in Box-Toppers points more than once, leading NL batters for the second straight season.
Read MoreA detailed look at Box-Toppers points leaders for 2023: Top players by position in each league
Braves, Astros, Mariners among leaders in Box-Toppers offseason team rankings
The Atlanta Braves are Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team going into 2024, with a roster mostly intact from 2023 when they had baseball’s best record.
Meanwhile, the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners are Box-Toppers’ top two American League teams, with the Mariners having one of the best offseason improvements of any team so far. And also, while the Los Angeles Dodgers have made big offseason splashes adding Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Teoscar Hernandez, their offseason ranking has actually fallen from third place last season to fourth place now.
Read MoreA pitchers vs. batters breakdown of each team’s Box-Toppers point total for 2023
The World Series champion Texas Rangers, leaders among all teams in Box-Toppers points in 2023, also led all teams in points earned by pitchers. The Los Angeles Dodgers, meanwhile, which finished third overall among all teams, had the most points won by batters in 2023.
Read MoreFour Box-Toppers points leaders among players named to 2023 All-MLB First Team
Only four Box-Toppers points leaders are among players selected for 2023’s 16-member “All-MLB” team announced this month. Three other Box-Toppers leaders were chosen for the “All-MLB” Second Team.
The All-MLB team players are not selected based on their affiliation with American League or National League. Rather, all players are chosen regardless of league as “First Team” or “Second Team” players.
Read MoreCan Shohei Ohtani continue his lofty, Angelic Box-Toppers rankings with Dodgers?
Shohei Ohtani, who signed a record free-agent deal with the Dodgers, has consistently been among Box-Toppers' highest-ranking players over the past three seasons.
However, his second surgery to repair his pitching elbow's ulnar collateral ligament, raises concerns about his future effectiveness. A Box-Toppers look at Ohtani’s career and the mixed outcomes of pitchers with a second elbow surgery.
Read MoreBox-Toppers points leaders Ohtani, Henderson win 2023 Players Choice Awards
Only two of Box-Toppers category leaders also won Players Choice Awards for 2023 as voted by the players’ union: Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, who was voted American League Outstanding Player and Gunnar Henderson of the Orioles was voted AL Outstanding Rookie.
Read MoreLuzardo leads Box-Toppers most improved list; 2 others win B-T Comeback Player
While Marlins pitcher Jesus Luzardo is Box-Toppers’ most improved player in 2023, our choices for Comeback Players of the Year are Eduardo Rodriguez of the Tigers and Jason Heyward of the Dodgers.
Meanwhile, the consensus choices for Comeback Players of the Year—Cody Bellinger and Liam Hendriks—did not rank very highly among Box-Toppers most improved players in 2023.
Read MoreBox-Toppers 2023 year-end All-Star teams
The Box-Toppers All-Star teams for the 2023 regular season are led by overall Box-Toppers points leader, Braves pitcher Spencer Strider.
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 nine batters in each league are the top four starting pitchers in each league and the top closing pitcher.
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