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 MoreHow 2023 Silver Sluggers winners fared in Box-Toppers rankings
Six of the 20 batters winning Silver Slugger Awards in 2023 were also among the leaders at their positions in 2023 Box-Toppers point totals.
The awards are given to the top batter in each position in both leagues, voted on by Major League Baseball coaches and managers. Box-Toppers, analyzing traditional box scores, tracks which player most helps his team win the most games, awarding points for the top player in each game.
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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Source: MLB.com
Box-Toppers’ NL Division Series preview: Phillies vs. Braves, Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers
Both National League Division Series begin Saturday.
The Philadelphia Phillies face the Atlanta Braves in one best-of-five game series and the Arizona Diamondbacks face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the other. The top two NL seeds, the Braves (first) and the Dodgers (second) received byes from the first round of playoffs and face the winners of the best-of-three Wild Card series played this week.
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Braves’ Spencer Strider is Box-Toppers’ 2023 Player of the Year
Braves pitcher Spencer Strider is 2023 Box-Toppers Player of the Year, holding the season lead in Box-Toppers points since Sept. 13.
Meanwhile, Chris Bassitt of the Blue Jays rises to lead American League pitchers and Pete Alonso of the Mets rises to lead National League batters in the season’s final player rankings report. While Shohei Ohtani of the Angels loses the lead among AL pitchers, he still retains the top spot among AL batters.
Read MoreMarlins’ Luzardo tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 22; Luzardo, Gallen rise in top 10 list
Marlins pitcher Jesus Luzardo is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third in season player rankings.
Also Tuesday, Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MorePadres’ Darvish tops players for Saturday, July 29; Astros’ Abreu tops AL players
Padres pitcher Yu Darvish is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Darvish struck out nine over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 4-0 win over the Rangers.
Read MoreRockies’ Freeland tops players for Wednesday, May 3; Ohtani, McClanahan rise in top 10
Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to ninth place in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, two other players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors—Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani rises to fifth place and Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan rises to sixth place.
Read MoreReds’ Lodolo, Blue Jays’ Gausman top players in spring games for Monday, March 20
Reds pitcher Nick Lodolo is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Monday’s spring training games.
Lodolo struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and three walks, in the 10-0 win over the Angels.
Read MoreRockies’ Marquez, Angels’ Rosenberg top players in spring games for Tuesday, March 14
Rockies pitcher German Marquez is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Tuesday’s spring training games.
Marquez struck out seven over four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 5-2 win over the Cubs.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers season-by-season AL & NL pitching & batting leaders, 1995-2022
In 2022, Justin Verlander led American League pitchers in season Box-Toppers points for the third time in his career, tied for the seventh-most times a player has led a season points category.
Also in 2022, the New York Mets and Miami Marlins each had their first Box-Toppers points category leader—Pete Alonso and Sandy Alcantara— leaving the Pittsburgh Pirates as the only team to never have a player lead a category since tracking began in 1995.
Read MoreBrewers’ Burnes tops players for Sunday, May 29; McClanahan, Cease rise in top 10
Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earned Player of the Game honors—Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan rises to second place and White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease rises to sixth place.
Read MoreBox-Toppers’ big dippers—players whose 2021 point total declined most from 2020: Dinelson Lamet leads list
Padres pitcher Dinelson Lamet had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2020 to 2021.
Lamet, who earned 9.0 Box-Toppers points in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season (fifth among all players and third among National League pitchers), earned 2.0 points in 2021. After a stellar 2020 season, he battled injury early in 2021, struggled and went from a starter to a bullpen pitcher.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers season-by-season AL & NL pitching & batting leaders, 1995-2021
Analyzing 27 years of Box-Toppers points leaders among American League and National League pitchers and batters each season.
Read MoreGerrit Cole leads players in Box-Toppers points over past 2 seasons (2020-21)
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole has more Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons than any other player.
Cole has earned 29.8 Box-Toppers points over 2020 and 2021. He ranked second among all players in 2021 with 22.4 Box-Toppers points and 12th among all players with 7.4 in 2020, a season shortened to 60 games by the coronavirus pandemic. Cole led American League pitchers in 2021 and ranked fifth among AL pitchers in 2020.
Read MoreA look at 2021 opening day starters’ Box-Toppers points & an intro to Box-Toppers
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.
Read More8 of 14 RBI leaders among top 100 players in Box-Toppers points for 2020
Eight of the top 14 runs batted in leaders were among the top 100 players in Box-Toppers points in 2020.
Six of those players were also among their league’s top 10 batters during the pandemic-shortened season.
Read MoreHow 2020’s top home run hitters fared in Box-Toppers rankings—Luke Voit led batters in both homers & Box-Toppers points
Five of top 10 batting average leaders in 2020 among overall top 100 in Box-Toppers points
Five of the top 10 players in batting average for 2020 are among Box-Toppers’ top 100 players.
DJ LeMahieu of the Yankees led all players with a .364 batting average in the pandemic-shortened, 60-game 2020 season. He had 3.5 Box-Toppers points, 75th among all players and 13th among American League batters.
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