A look at how Box-Toppers might pick the 2014 All-Stars

If Box-Toppers points rather than fan voting were used to determine Major League All-Star teams, you’d have very different teams, very pissed-off fans and one very stunned baseball blogger.

For example, if Box-Toppers points were used to determine All-Stars, there would be no Yasiel Puig, no Mike Trout, no Jose Bautista and no Derek Jeter in the game. And you would have players in the line-up, such as Daniel Murphy, Freddie Freeman and Erick Aybar, among others.

The All-Star Game is July 15. Online fan voting ends July 3, less than a week away.

Box-Toppers may have a different perspective on All-Stars because it tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Players only earn points if they are deemed to be Player of the Game, based on a simple box score formula.

So players such as Puig, Trout and Bautista, while they often put up impressive numbers, have not regularly been top player in games their teams have won recently. So while their fan All-Star vote may be high, their Box-Toppers point totals lately have been lower.

Another example of Box-Toppers not matching baseball’s conventional thinking is Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates. Last year, baseball writers voted him National League Most Valuable Player. But in Box-Toppers, he ranked 22nd among NL batters. However, this year, McCutchen has earned Player of the Game four times and picked up 5.0 Box-Toppers points and ranks fifth among NL batters and second among NL outfielders. 

Box-Toppers looks at the All-Star team in two different ways. First, it considers players on their performance during the 2014 season. But since this season is still a small data sample, it looks at last season, too, and considers players on their performance since the start of 2013.

For example, if you look at Box-Toppers points for just this season, Chris Colabello of the Twins is the second-ranked outfielder based on his early season performance. But Colabello slumped and has been in the minors for more than a month—which does not speak well for his All-Star credentials.

But looking at player’s performance since 2013 can be misleading, too. For example, Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees leads AL outfielders since the start of 2013 with 13.9 Box-Toppers points. But 12.9 of those were earned in 2013. Despite his strong 2013, he probably would not be considered an All-Star in 2014.

But then there’s a player like Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks. He actually is leading currently in NL voting for first basemen. And in fact, in 2013, he led all NL batters in Box-Toppers points, with 13.7. But this year, while his numbers are generally good, he is playing for a bad team and has earned only 1.5 Box-Toppers points. Despite his great 2013 in Box-Toppers, he is overshadowed in the NL at first base by Freddie Freeman of the Braves. Freeman leads all NL first basemen in Box-Toppers points for both 2014 and 2013-14.

But enough prelude. Here is a look a the All-Star teams. First, it’s the Box-Toppers points leaders by position and league for 2014. Then, it’s Box-Toppers points leaders by position and league for 2013-14. And finally, a look at current All-Star vote leaders, showing their current Box-Toppers point total and their rank in Box-Toppers by position and league.

2014

Jose Abreu of the White Sox leads AL batters in Box-Toppers points. He is on the AL All-Star ballot as first baseman and not as a designated hitter, but since he has played DH this season, we will break the “rules” and put him at DH and put Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, last year’s Box-Toppers AL batting leader, at first.

In the American League, only four of the nine starters are even among the top vote-getters at their positions. 

The National League is a little better—six of the eight Box-Toppers leaders for starting positions are among the All-Star voting leaders.

And though fan voters don’t get to pick pitchers, included here for both leagues are Box-Toppers leaders for starting pitchers (the top four starters) along with the top middle reliever and top closing pitcher.

Box-Toppers pick for All-Star starters based on 2014 stats? Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees for the AL and Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals for the NL.

All-Stars based on 2014 Box-Toppers points

Here are Box-Toppers points leaders by position for each league. Also shown is players' current ranking in All-Star fan voting by their position. A hyphen (-) indicates they are not among the league leaders in fan voting by their position. Also shown are pitching leaders. Fans don't get to vote on pitchers so their vote rank is marked with an asterisk (*).

Pos	AL players	Team	BTP	Vote rank
1B	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	7.5	1
2B	Rodriguez, Sean 2729	tb al	5.0	-
SS	Aybar, Erick 2416	ana al	6.0	-
3B	Donaldson, Josh 3144	oak al	6.5	1
CA	Perez, Salvador 2972	kc al	3.7	-
OF	Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	oak al	5.5	4
OF	Colabello, Chris 3235	min al	5.2	-
OF	Hunter, Torii 1190	det al	4.5	10
DH	Abreu, Jose 3308	chi al	8.5	-
SP	Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	nyy al	12.7	*
SP	Scherzer, Max 2588	det al	11.4	*
SP	Kazmir, Scott 1947	oak al	9.7	*
SP	Hernandez, Felix 2064	sea al	8.8	*
MR	Duffy, Danny 2915	kc al	6.0	*
CP	Uehara, Koji 2802	bos al	6.0	*
Pos	NL players	Team	BTP	Vote rank
1B	Freeman, Freddie 2887	atl nl	6.2	3
2B	Murphy, Daniel 2589	nym nl	4.5	-
SS	Tulowitzki, Troy 2308	col nl	10.6	1
3B	Ramirez, Aramis 1364	mil nl	3.5	1
CA	Lucroy, Jonathan 2744	mil nl	3.7	2
OF	Morse, Michael 2020	sf nl	5.5	-
OF	McCutchen, Andrew 2637	pit nl	5.0	2
OF	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	fla nl	4.7	4
SP	Wainwright, Adam 2150	stl nl	13.0	*
SP	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	12.7	*
SP	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	sf nl	12.5	*
SP	Cueto, Johnny 2400	cin nl	11.7	*
MR	Collmenter, Josh 2863	ari nl	4.0	*
CP	Kimbrel, Craig 2825	atl nl	5.0	*

BTP: Box-Toppers points
Vote rank: Where the player ranks by position in All-Star fan voting. A hyphen (-) indicates they are not among the leaders. An asterisk (*) indicates they are a pitcher and not eligible for fan voting.

What are those numbers after players' names? 

2013-14

These are Box-Toppers points leaders by position since the start of 2013. 

In the American League, the Box-Toppers leaders agree a little better with voters—seven of the nine Box-Toppers leaders are among the leaders in fan voting and three (Cabrera, Robinson Cano of the Mariners and Josh Donaldson of the Athletics) are vote leaders for their positions.

In the National League, five of the Box-Toppers position leaders are also among the vote leaders. However, Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies is the only player who leads his position in both Box-Toppers points and fan voting.

And though fan voters don’t get to pick pitchers, included here for both leagues are Box-Toppers leaders for starting pitchers (the top four starters) along with the top middle reliever and top closing pitcher.

Box-Toppers pick for starters based on 2013-14 stats? Max Scherzer of the Tigers for the AL and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers for the NL.

All-Stars based on 2013-14 Box-Toppers points

Here are Box-Toppers points leaders by position for each league. Also shown is players' current ranking in All-Star fan voting by their position. A hyphen (-) indicates they are not among the league leaders in fan voting by their position. Also shown are pitching leaders. Fans don't get to vote on pitchers so their vote rank is marked with an asterisk (*).

Pos	AL players	Team	BTP	Vote rank
1B	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	24.4	1
2B	Cano, Robinson 2092	sea al	15.5	1
SS	Aybar, Erick 2416	ana al	11.0	-
3B	Donaldson, Josh 3144	oak al	16.0	1
CA	McCann, Brian 2179	nyy al	9.5	3
OF	Soriano, Alfonso 1445	nyy al	13.9	-
OF	Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	oak al	12.5	4
OF	Choo, Shin-Soo 2267	tex al	11.0	14
DH	Ortiz, David	bos al	16.4	2
SP	Scherzer, Max 2588	det al	29.5	*
SP	Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	24.4	*
SP	Sale, Chris 2806	chi al	24.1	*
SP	Hernandez, Felix 2064	sea al	23.6	*
MR	Smyly, Drew 3009	det al	10.7	*
CP	Holland, Greg 2906	kc al	14.0	*
Pos	NL players	Team	BTP	Vote rank
1B	Freeman, Freddie 2887	atl nl	17.7	3
2B	Murphy, Daniel 2589	nym nl	13.0	-
SS	Tulowitzki, Troy 2308	col nl	14.6	1
3B	Alvarez, Pedro 2817	pit nl	10.2	-
CA	Posey, Buster 2745	sf nl	10.0	3
OF	Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	12.5	-
OF	Cuddyer, Michael 1826	col nl	11.5	14
OF	McCutchen, Andrew 2637	pit nl	11.0	2
SP	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	34.4	*
SP	Wainwright, Adam 2150	stl nl	33.2	*
SP	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	sf nl	28.2	*
SP	Greinke, Zack 1871	lad nl	26.8	*
MR	Collmenter, Josh 2863	ari nl	12.0	*
CP	Kimbrel, Craig 2825	atl nl	17.7	*

BTP: Box-Toppers points
Vote rank: Where the player ranks by position in All-Star fan voting. A hyphen (-) indicates they are not among the leaders. An asterisk (*) indicates they are a pitcher and not eligible for fan voting.

What are those numbers after players' names? 

Voting leaders

A case can be made for any of these players to be on the All-Star team.

Numbers? Performance? Yes, players like Yadier Molina, Yasiel Puig and Mike Trout have that. Though they may not register very highly on Box-Toppers, it’s hard to argue that they’re not All-Star worthy.

And a case can even be made for a player like Derek Jeter of the Yankees—is he an All-Star? Well, technically, there ARE probably better and more deserving AL shortstops based on any metric you put forth for this season and last season. But then, this is Derek Jeter. The Captain. His final season. Even Yankee haters may be forced to put the numbers aside for a moment and vote with their heart on this one.

Here are the leaders as of June 22 and 23 in All-Star voting by position. Also included in the chart are each of the leaders’ Box-Toppers points total for 2014 and their current rank among their position in their league. 

Only three players who lead for their position in All-Star voting also lead their position in Box-Toppers points:

• AL 3B Josh Donaldson of the Athletics.

• NL SS Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies.

• NL 3B Aramis Ramirez of the Pirates.

All-Stars voting leaders & their Box-Toppers rankings

Here are All-Star fan voting leaders as of June 22 and 23. For comparison, their Box-Toppers points totals for 2014 are included along with their rank at their position by league. (For example, Miguel Cabrera has 7.5 Box-Toppers points in 2014, second-most among AL first basemen.

Pos	AL players	Team	BTP	BTP rank
1B	Miguel Cabrera	det al	7.5	2
2B	Robinson Cano	sea al	3.0	4
SS	Derek Jeter	nyy al	0.0	22
3B	Josh Donaldson	oak al	6.5	1
CA	Matt Wieters	bal al	1.5	7
OF	Jose Bautista	tor al	2.5	15
OF	Mike Trout	ana al	2.0	23
OF	Melky Cabrera	tor al	3.0	10
DH	Nelson Cruz	bal al	3.0	10
Pos	NL players	Team	BTP	BTP rank
1B	Paul Goldschmidt	ari nl	1.5	13
2B	Chase Utley	phi nl	2.0	10
SS	Troy Tulowitzki	col nl	10.6	1
3B	Aramis Ramirez	mil nl	3.5	1
CA	Yadier Molina	stl nl	0.0	20
OF	Yasiel Puig	lad nl	1.0	44
OF	Andrew McCutchen	pit nl	5.0	2
OF	Carlos Gomez	mil nl	2.5	14

BTP: Box-Toppers points
BTP rank: Where the player ranks by position in their league in Box-Toppers points.

Box-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.

Box-Toppers' batting leader Miguel Cabrera wins AL MVP; NL leader Goldschmidt finishes behind McCutchen for NL MVP

Box-Toppers' top-ranked batter Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers was named American League Most Valuable Player Thursday.

But the National League leading batter in Box-Toppers points, Paul Goldschmidt, finished in second place in NL MVP voting by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates, who finished 71st among NL players and 22nd among NL batters in Box-Toppers points, was voted NL MVP.

Cabrera had 16.9 Box-Toppers points for the season, first among all batters, third among all AL players and eighth among all players. He was consistently the only batter in the overall player top 10 list during the season. He led all players in Box-Toppers points four different times during the season, most recently from June 28 to June 30.

Cabrera was voted first on 28 of the 30 writers’ ballots, winning his second straight MVP award. However, in 2012, Cabrera ranked third among AL batters in Box-Toppers points with 11.7, behind Adrian Beltre (13.5) and Chris Davis (12.0). Cabrera ranked third in 2012 despite his Triple Crown season.

McCutchen, voted NL MVP, had 6.0 Box-Toppers points for the season. He was voted first on 28 of the 30 writers’ ballots and was voted on all 30 ballots no lower than third place. However, as the 22nd-ranked NL batter in Box-Toppers points, he wouldn’t have even appeared on Box-Toppers’ 10-spot ballot.

Box-Toppers’ top NL batter Goldschmidt had 13.7 Box-Toppers points and received 15 of the writers’ second place votes, enough to secure the NL MVP runner-up spot.

So what went wrong here? Why do the writers so unanimously see McCutchen as the MVP and Box-Toppers so ... does not? (In fact, McCutchen is not even the highest-ranked batter in Box-Toppers points on his team—that honor goes to Pedro Alvarez, with 7.7 points.)

McCutchen’s batting average is .317. He hit 21 homers and 84 RBIs, scored 97 runs and stole 27 bases. Goldschmidt’s numbers were just as good, often better—.302 average, 36 homers, 125 RBIs. But McCutchen’s team made the postseason. Goldschmidt’s didn’t. Plus, words being used to describe McCutchen are “all-around player,” a “heart-and-soul” guy—intangibles. By their very nature, it’s hard to measure intangibles.

But Box-Toppers measures tangibles. The player who most helps his team win the most games earns the most Box-Toppers points. And to be fair, Box-Toppers doesn’t measure defensive play—for batters, it relies on what they produce at the plate. So it is possible that a lot of McCutchen’s valuableness gets missed that way.

Though in the previous two seasons, McCutchen has fared better in Box-Toppers points than he did in 2013. In 2011, he had 9.7 Box-Toppers points, in eighth place among NL batters. And in 2012, he had 8.5, finishing just out of the top 10 among NL batters.

So, by Box-Toppers standards, Goldschmidt very simply more often helped his team win more games than did McCutchen.

A couple of other players were voted by writers to higher spots than would be recommended by their Box-Toppers point total:

• Mike Trout of the Angels was voted in second place in AL MVP voting with five first place votes. He had 3.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, in 144th place among all AL players and 62nd among all AL batters. (In 2012, he also finished second in AL MVP voting, but in 2012, he finished fifth among AL batters with 11.0 Box-Toppers points.)
• Yadier Molina of the Cardinals was voted in third place in NL MVP voting with two first place votes. He had 4.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, in 126th place among all NL players and 52nd among all NL batters. However, Molina is rightly given credit for his defensive skills as a catcher and his role in shaping a pitching staff with four or five Cy Young-worthy starters. Box-Toppers doesn’t measure that.

There were several players who had high Box-Toppers point totals who did not receive MVP votes. Three of the Box-Toppers top 10 AL batters received no votes and seven of the Box-Toppers top 10 NL batters were shut out:

• Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees had 12.9 Box-Toppers points, 12th among all AL players and second among all AL batters. However, Soriano played in the National League for the Cubs at the start of the season and switched to the American League in July.
• Billy Butler of the Royals had 9.0 Box-Toppers points, 33rd among all AL players and eighth among AL batters.
• Prince Fielder of the Tigers had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, 39th among all AL players and 10th among AL batters.
• Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies had 11.0 Box-Toppers points, 22nd among all NL players and fourth among NL batters.
• Bryce Harper of the Nationals had 9.4 Box-Toppers points, 34th among all NL players and fifth among NL batters.
• Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals had 9.2 Box-Toppers points, 35th among all NL players and sixth among NL batters.
• Will Venable of the Padres had 9.0 Box-Toppers points, 36th among all NL players and seventh among NL batters.
• Daniel Murphy of the Mets had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, 40th among all NL players and eighth among NL batters.
• Pedro Alvarez of the Pirates had 7.7 Box-Toppers points, 45th among all NL players and ninth among NL batters.
• Brandon Phillips of the Reds had 7.5 Box-Toppers points, 48th among all NL players and 10th among NL batters.

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Top players from the winning team of each game are determined by a formula using standard box score statistics. The player on the winning team with the highest Box-Toppers game score is Player of the Game and receives 1.0 Box-Toppers point. The Player of the Game with the highest overall Box-Toppers game score for all the games played that day is Player of the Day and earns a total of 2.0 Box-Toppers points. The top player in the opposite league receives a total of 1.7 Box-Toppers points. If both the day’s top overall player and top player in the opposite league are pitchers, then the top American League and top National League batter of the day receive a total of 1.5 Box-Toppers points each.

Here are the final Box-Toppers Player Rankings for 2013, showing the top 10 overall players, plus the top 10 in AL and NL pitching and AL and NL batting. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers season point totals.

Box-Toppers rankings of MVP Award candidates 

Here are the results of Most Valuable Player Award voting in both leagues. Players are listed in order of their vote total. The far right columns show how many Box-Toppers points (BTP) they earned during the 2013 season and how each player ranked in Box-Toppers points among all players in their league.

MVP vote
AL
Player	Pos	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Points	BTP	Rank*
Miguel Cabrera	3b	Tigers	23	7									385	16.9	3
Mike Trout	cf lf	Angels	5	19	3	1	1		1				282	3.5	144
Chris Davis	1b	Orioles	1	4	11	12	1		1				232	12.7	14
Josh Donaldson	3b	Athletics	1		14	9	3	3					222	9.5	31
Robinson Cano	2b	Yankees			1	5	9	2	6	5	2		150	12.5	17
Evan Longoria	3b	Rays					4	6	6	4	5	3	103	5.5	82
Dustin Pedroia	2b	Red Sox				1	5	5	5	4	2	1	99	3.5	145
Adrian Beltre	3b	Rangers					2	8	7	3	4	2	99	8.4	41
Manny Machado	3b	Orioles					2	1	2	5	5	7	57	1.0	316
David Ortiz	dh	Red Sox				2	1	2	2	1	2	2	47	12.4	18
Jason Kipnis	2b	Indians					1	1		3	3	5	31	8.0	44
Max Scherzer	pi sp	Tigers			1			2		1	1	2	25	18.1	1
Adam Jones	cf	Orioles					1			1			9	8.0	43
Edwin Encarnacion	1b dh	Blue Jays								1	2		7	8.7	38
Greg Holland	pi cp	Royals								1			3	11.0	22
Carlos Santana	ca	Indians								1			3	1.0	287
Coco Crisp	cf	Athletics									1	1	3	4.0	129
Jacoby Ellsbury	cf	Red Sox									1	1	3	5.5	83
Torii Hunter	rf	Tigers									1		2	4.0	125
Hisashi Iwakuma	pi sp	Mariners									1		2	16.1	7
Koji Uehara	pi cp	Red Sox										2	2	6.0	76
Yu Darvish	pi sp	Rangers										1	1	16.0	8
Felix Hernandez	pi sp	Mariners										1	1	14.8	9
Salvador Perez	ca 1b	Royals										1	1	2.5	195
Shane Victorino	rf	Red Sox										1	1	4.5	112
Notable AL snubs
Alfonso Soriano	lf	Yankees											0	12.9	12
Billy Butler	dh	Royals											0	9.0	33
Prince Fielder	1b	Tigers											0	8.5	39
NL
Player, Club	Pos	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Points	BTP	Rank*
Andrew McCutchen	cf	Pirates	28	1	1								409	6.0	71
Paul Goldschmidt	1b	D-Backs		15	9	1	3	2					242	13.7	12
Yadier Molina	ca	Cardinals	2	8	4	6	6		1		2	1	219	4.0	126
Matt Carpenter	2b	Cardinals		6	5	4	3	9	1	1	1		194	7.5	49
Freddie Freeman	1b	Braves				5	7	8	8	1	1		154	11.5	19
Joey Votto	1b	Reds			2	8	7	3	4		1	2	149	4.5	109
Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	Dodgers			8	4		4	5	4	1		146	21.7	1
Hanley Ramirez	ss	Dodgers			1	1	2	1	2	3	3	3	58	5.0	87
Carlos Gomez	cf	Brewers					1		3	6	2	3	43	3.0	162
Jay Bruce	rf	Reds					1	1	3		2	3	30	4.5	112
Craig Kimbrel	pi cp	Braves				1		1		3	3		27	12.7	18
Shin Soo Choo	cf	Reds						1	1	1	4	3	23	7.0	55
Jayson Werth	rf	Nationals							1	2	2	6	20	6.5	66
Andrelton Simmons	ss	Braves								2	4		14	1.5	261
Yasiel Puig	rf	Dodgers							1	2			10	1.5	259
Hunter Pence	rf	Giants								1	1	2	7	6.5	63
Troy Tulowitzki	ss	Rockies									2	1	5	4.0	124
Allen Craig	lf 1b	Cardinals								1		1	4	5.0	84
Adrian Gonzalez	1b	Dodgers								1		1	4	5.0	86
Buster Posey	ca	Giants								1			3	7.0	54
Adam Wainwright	pi sp	Cardinals								1			3	20.2	2
Michael Cuddyer	rf	Rockies										3	3	11.5	20
Matt Holliday	lf	Cardinals									1		2	6.5	62
Russell Martin	ca	Pirates										1	1	2.0	212
Notable NL snubs
Carlos Gonzalez	lf	Rockies											0	11.0	22
Bryce Harper	lf	Nationals											0	9.4	34
Ryan Zimmerman	3b	Nationals											0	9.2	35
Will Venable	rf cf	Padres											0	9.0	36
Daniel Murphy	2b	Mets											0	8.5	40
Pedro Alvarez	3b	Pirates											0	7.7	45
Brandon Phillips	2b	Reds											0	7.5	48

* Rank among players (batters and pitchers) in the league (AL or NL) in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season.

Source: Baseball Writers Association of America

Cardinals' Adam Wainwright grabs slim lead in Box-Toppers player rankings with 1 week to go

Box-Toppers has a new leader in player rankings with only one week left in the season. 

Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright takes the lead in the penultimate (and also next-to-last) weekly look at Box-Toppers player rankings. Wainwright has 19.2 Box-Toppers points and passed last week's leader, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (19.0).

Wainwright picked up 2.5 Box-Toppers points over the past week, rising from sixth to first in overall Box-Toppers player rankings. The race for the leading player in Box-Toppers points is tight going into the final week of the season, with eight players within 2.5 points of Wainwright.

Wainwright's outright lead and lead among National League pitchers is slim. Three other NL pitchers could pass him in the season's final week—Dodgers Clayton Kershaw or Zack Greinke or Patrick Corbin of the Diamondbacks. (Jose Fernandez of the Marlins was not scheduled to pitch again this season.)

National League players hold down the top five spots in player rankings. The top American League player is Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer, who this week passed previous AL leader Miguel Cabrera, also of the Tigers. Scherzer is in sixth place overall in player rankings with 17.1 Box-Toppers points and Cabrera with 16.9, has fallen from fifth to eight place overall. 

Scherzer passed previous AL pitching leader Justin Masterson of the Indians this week. And Scherzer's top spot going into the final week is also not secure, with four other AL pitchers within 1.0 Box-Toppers point of him.

Cabrera maintains his dominance among AL batters. He is the sole batter among the top 10 players and leads second-place AL batter, Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees (12.9), by 4.0 Box-Toppers points.  

Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks continues to lead among NL batters with 13.7 Box-Toppers points. His nearest competitors among NL batters are both 2.2 points behind him—Freddie Freeman of the Braves and Michael Cuddyer of the Rockies both have 11.5 Box-Toppers points.

Previous player rankings report from Sept. 12. 

What are those numbers after players' names?

How does Box-Toppers scoring work?

Top players

As of Thursday, Sept. 19

	2013 LEADERS
	OVERALL LEADERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	19.2
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	19.0
3	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.7
4	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	18.4
5	Corbin, Patrick 3027	pi sp	ari nl	17.4
6	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	det al	17.1
7	Sanchez, Anibal 2187	pi sp	det al	17.1
8	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	3b	det al	16.9
9	Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	pit nl	16.7
10	Masterson, Justin 2462	pi sp	cle al	16.4
	AL PITCHERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	det al	17.1
2	Sanchez, Anibal 2187	pi sp	det al	17.1
3	Masterson, Justin 2462	pi sp	cle al	16.4
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	16.1
5	Moore, Matt 2975	pi sp	tb al	16.1
6	Darvish, Yu 3003	pi sp	tex al	15.0
7	Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048	pi sp	sea al	14.4
8	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	13.1
9	Jimenez, Ubaldo 2349	pi sp	cle al	12.8
10	Tillman, Chris 2754	pi sp	bal al	12.7
	AL BATTERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	3b	det al	16.9
2	Soriano, Alfonso 1445	lf	nyy al	12.9
3	Davis, Chris 2478	1b	bal al	12.7
4	Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	nyy al	12.5
5	Ortiz, David	dh	bos al	12.4
6	Raburn, Ryan 2340	rf dh lf ph	cle al	9.5
7	Donaldson, Josh 3144	3b	oak al	9.5
8	Butler, Billy 2330	dh	kc al	9.0
9	Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	1b dh	tor al	8.7
10	Fielder, Prince 2029	1b	det al	8.5
	NL PITCHERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	19.2
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	19.0
3	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.7
4	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	18.4
5	Corbin, Patrick 3027	pi sp	ari nl	17.4
6	Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	pit nl	16.7
7	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	15.7
8	Miller, Shelby 3134	pi sp	stl nl	15.4
9	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	15.0
10	Lynn, Lance 2992	pi sp	stl nl	14.1
	NL BATTERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	13.7
2	Freeman, Freddie 2887	1b	atl nl	11.5
3	Cuddyer, Michael 1826	rf	col nl	11.5
4	Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	lf	col nl	11.0
5	Harper, Bryce 3011	lf	dc nl	9.4
6	Zimmerman, Ryan 2180	3b	dc nl	9.2
7	Venable, Will 2621	rf cf	sd nl	9.0
8	Phillips, Brandon 1691	2b	cin nl	7.5
9	Carpenter, Matt 2987	2b	stl nl	7.5
10	Murphy, Daniel 2589	2b	nym nl	7.5

BTP: Box-Toppers points for 2013 season

Marlins' Jose Fernandez leads all players in Box-Toppers points—does he have a shot at Cy Young? Probably not

With only two weeks left in the season, Box-Toppers has a new leader atop player standings—rookie Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez. 

Fernandez, who has 19.0 Box-Toppers points this season, passed last week's leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has 18.7 points and is in second place. 

But Fernandez' days atop player rankings may be numbered. He made what was expected to be his final start of the season this week, in part to protect his young arm and also because the Marlins are not in the playoff hunt.

The race for the not-at-all coveted top spot in Box-Toppers player rankings is a tight one. Any one of the top 10 players, who are within 2.9 Box-Toppers points of the lead, could rise and claim it. Nine of the top 10 players are pitchers and could have two or three starts left in the season, giving them plenty of opportunity to pick up 3.0 or more Box-Toppers points to claim the top spot.

The race for top National League pitcher is extremely tight, with Fernandez currently narrowly leading the way. The top four players are all National League pitchers and are only 1.6 points apart. So, for example, if Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin were to earn at least NL Player of the Day honors in his next start, he would earn 1.7 points and have 19.1 for the season, enough to pass Fernandez.

The top American League player remains Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers. The third baseman—the sole batter among the top 10—has 16.9 Box-Toppers points and is in fifth place overall. Though other AL pitchers could challenge him for overall top AL player in Box-Toppers points, his lead among AL batters seems secure—he leads second-place player Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees (12.9) by 4.0 Box-Toppers points.

The top American League pitcher remains Justin Masterson of the Indians with 16.4 Box-Toppers points. He falls from seventh to eight place overall. Masterson continues to lead AL pitchers despite not scoring a Box-Toppers point since July 27. 

Still, he has maintained a narrow lead among AL pitchers of 1.3 points or less since then. In other words, Masterson is not exactly on fire and no other AL pitchers seem eager to steal his crown from him. (Masterson has been injured recently but hopes to return to pitching before the end of the season.) 

Masterson's lead among AL pitchers does appear shaky, with five other pitchers within 1.5 Box-Toppers points of catching him with two weeks left. 

Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks continues to lead among NL batters with 12.7 Box-Toppers points. There are three players who trail him by fewer than 2.0 Box-Toppers points. Freddie Freeman of the Braves and Michael Cuddyer of the Rockies, both of whom have 11.5 Box-Toppers points and both of whom have been hot recently, seem to have the best shot of catching Goldschmidt.

Now: Would any of these leaders in Box-Toppers points categories have any shot at all of winning actual coveted postseason awards? 

For example, if Fernandez keeps his lead among NL pitchers, would he be worthy of winning the NL Cy Young Award? Worthy? Yes. Will he get it? Unlikely, since he comes from a non-playoff team and an ignored media market.  It will probably be Kershaw. However, Fernandez should receive more-than-serious consideration for NL Rookie of the Year.

Will Justin Masterson win the AL Cy Young if he keeps his lead? No, probably not. Though Box-Toppers credits him with being most responsible for bringing his teams wins more often, I don't think he is viewed as The One for the Indians. Plus, the Tigers have overshadowed the Indians in the AL Central and their pitchers, especially Max Scherzer who has 19 wins, have been the media favorites.

Will Cabrera win AL most valuable player? Yes. He should. 

Will Goldschmidt win NL MVP? No. Again, he's playing for a non-playoff team. Freddie Freeman of the Braves, in second in Box-Toppers NL batters list, would be a good candidate, but I think writers will probably pick an "intangible" guy, a leader in the clubhouse, a "spark plug" on the field, a light-hitting catcher or something. Or perhaps even someone like Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers. Though the rookie is a media juggernaut, he earned his 1.5 and only Box-Toppers points of the season on June 4.

Previous player rankings report from Sept. 5. 

What are those numbers after players' names?

How does Box-Toppers scoring work? 

Top players

As of Thursday, Sept. 12

	2013 LEADERS
	OVERALL LEADERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	19.0
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.7
3	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	18.4
4	Corbin, Patrick 3027	pi sp	ari nl	17.4
5	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	3b	det al	16.9
6	Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	16.7
7	Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	pit nl	16.7
8	Masterson, Justin 2462	pi sp	cle al	16.4
9	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	16.1
10	Sanchez, Anibal 2187	pi sp	det al	16.1
	AL PITCHERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Masterson, Justin 2462	pi sp	cle al	16.4
2	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	16.1
3	Sanchez, Anibal 2187	pi sp	det al	16.1
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	det al	15.4
5	Moore, Matt 2975	pi sp	tb al	15.1
6	Darvish, Yu 3003	pi sp	tex al	15.0
7	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	13.1
8	Tillman, Chris 2754	pi sp	bal al	12.7
9	Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048	pi sp	sea al	12.4
10	Buchholz, Clay 2363	pi sp	bos al	11.1
	AL BATTERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	3b	det al	16.9
2	Soriano, Alfonso 1445	lf	nyy al	12.9
3	Davis, Chris 2478	1b	bal al	12.7
4	Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	nyy al	12.5
5	Ortiz, David	dh	bos al	12.4
6	Raburn, Ryan 2340	rf dh lf ph	cle al	9.5
7	Butler, Billy 2330	dh	kc al	9.0
8	Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	1b dh	tor al	8.7
9	Donaldson, Josh 3144	3b	oak al	8.5
10	Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	8.4
	NL PITCHERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	19.0
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.7
3	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	18.4
4	Corbin, Patrick 3027	pi sp	ari nl	17.4
5	Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	16.7
6	Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	pit nl	16.7
7	Miller, Shelby 3134	pi sp	stl nl	15.4
8	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	15.0
9	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	14.7
10	Lynn, Lance 2992	pi sp	stl nl	14.1
	NL BATTERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	12.7
2	Freeman, Freddie 2887	1b	atl nl	11.5
3	Cuddyer, Michael 1826	rf	col nl	11.5
4	Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	lf	col nl	11.0
5	Venable, Will 2621	rf cf	sd nl	9.0
6	Harper, Bryce 3011	lf	dc nl	8.4
7	Zimmerman, Ryan 2180	3b	dc nl	7.7
8	Phillips, Brandon 1691	2b	cin nl	7.5
9	Carpenter, Matt 2987	2b	stl nl	7.5
10	Murphy, Daniel 2589	2b	nym nl	7.5

BTP: Box-Toppers points for 2013 season

Angels' Mark Trumbo (HR, 5-5) tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 10

Mark Trumbo of the Angels is Tuesday's Player of the Day. Trumbo homered and went 5-for-5 in the 12-6 win over the Blue Jays. 

Padres pitcher Andrew Cashner is National League Player of the Day. Cashner allowed two runs and struck out seven over 7 2/3 innings in the 8-2 win over the Phillies. 

Michael Cuddyer of the Rockies is NL Batter of the Day. Cuddyer hit two homers, including a three-run shot, went 3-for-5 and drove in four runs in the 9-8 win over the Giants. Cuddyer rises to 31st in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 11.5 for the season.

Notables: Four other Players of the Games from Tuesday are among the top 40 in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season:

• Cardinals pitcher Shelby Miller rises to 11th in the rankings (6.2IP 0R W in 4-2 win vs. Brewers). He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 15.4 for the season.
• Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees rises to 21st in rankings (2HR 3RBI in 7-5 win vs. Orioles).  He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 12.9 for the season.
• Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz rises to 33rd in rankings (5IP 0R 6K W in 2-0 win vs. Rays). He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 11.1 for the season.
• Braves closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel rises to 37th in rankings (1IP 0R 2K Sv in 4-3 win vs. Marlins). He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 10.7 for the season. 

Trumbo receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Cashner receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Cuddyer receives  1.5 for being NL Batter of the Day.

All of Tuesday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

910	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	7.0	Angels	Mark Trumbo 1B	5	5	5	2	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	7.0	Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Clay Buchholz (W, 10-0)	5.0	3	0	0	1	6
	6.2	`Royals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Luke Hochevar (H, 6)	1.2	0	0	0	0	5
NL	5.2	Padres	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Andrew Cashner (W, 9-8)	7.2	4	2	2	1	7
BAT	4.0	Rockies	Michael Cuddyer RF	5	2	3	4	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	4.0	Tigers	Alex Avila C	4	2	4	2	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	4.0	Twins	Josh Willingham LF	3	2	2	3	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.2	Cardinals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Shelby Miller (W, 13-9)	6.2	5	0	0	2	4
	3.0	Astros	Jose Altuve 2B	6	3	3	3	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Cubs	Welington Castillo C	5	2	3	3	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Nationals	Jayson Werth RF	4	2	3	2	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Dodgers	Scott Van Slyke PH	1	1	1	2	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Pirates	Andrew McCutchen CF	5	1	3	3	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Yankees	Alfonso Soriano LF	5	2	2	3	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Braves	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Craig Kimbrel (S, 46)	1.0	1	0	0	0	2

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Dodgers' Kershaw holds lead in Box-Toppers player rankings, Tigers' Cabrera becomes top AL player

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw maintains his top spot in Box-Toppers player rankings, while Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers takes the lead among American League players.

Kershaw has 18.7 Box-Toppers to lead for the second straight week. 

Cabrera has 16.9 points to rise from 10th overall last week to fourth this week. He passes Indians pitcher Justin Masterson (16.4 points, now in fifth overall), the previous AL leader.

Masterson still leads in Box-Toppers points among AL pitchers. 

Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks  leads among NL batters with 11.7 Box-Toppers points. Goldschmidt is in 25th place among all players. 

Thirty-five players have accumulated 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points so far this season. Only five are batters—Cabrera, Goldschmidt, Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies (11.0), Chris Davis of the Orioles (12.7) and Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees (11.9).

Previous player rankings report from Aug. 22. 

What are those numbers after players' names?

How does Box-Toppers scoring work?

Top players

As of Thursday, Aug. 29

	2013 LEADERS
	OVERALL LEADERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.7
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	18.0
3	Corbin, Patrick 3027	pi sp	ari nl	17.4
4	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	3b	det al	16.9
5	Masterson, Justin 2462	pi sp	cle al	16.4
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	15.7
7	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	det al	15.4
8	Moore, Matt 2975	pi sp	tb al	15.1
9	Darvish, Yu 3003	pi sp	tex al	15.0
10	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	15.0
	AL PITCHERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Masterson, Justin 2462	pi sp	cle al	16.4
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	det al	15.4
3	Moore, Matt 2975	pi sp	tb al	15.1
4	Darvish, Yu 3003	pi sp	tex al	15.0
5	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	14.4
6	Sanchez, Anibal 2187	pi sp	det al	14.4
7	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	13.1
8	Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048	pi sp	sea al	12.4
9	Tillman, Chris 2754	pi sp	bal al	11.7
10	Kuroda, Hiroki 2401	pi sp	nyy al	10.4
	AL BATTERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	3b	det al	16.9
2	Davis, Chris 2478	1b	bal al	12.7
3	Soriano, Alfonso 1445	lf	nyy al	11.9
4	Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	nyy al	9.5
5	Ortiz, David	dh	bos al	9.2
6	Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	8.4
7	Jones, Adam 2347	cf	bal al	8.0
8	Kipnis, Jason 2933	2b	cle al	8.0
9	Raburn, Ryan 2340	rf dh ph	cle al	8.0
10	Carter, Chris 2828	dh lf 1b	hou al	7.9
	NL PITCHERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.7
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	18.0
3	Corbin, Patrick 3027	pi sp	ari nl	17.4
4	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	15.7
5	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	15.0
6	Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	14.7
7	Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	pit nl	14.7
8	Miller, Shelby 3134	pi sp	stl nl	14.4
9	Latos, Mat 2644	pi sp	cin nl	13.4
10	Lynn, Lance 2992	pi sp	stl nl	13.1
	NL BATTERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	11.7
2	Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	lf	col nl	11.0
3	Freeman, Freddie 2887	1b	atl nl	9.5
4	Venable, Will 2621	rf cf	sd nl	9.0
5	Cuddyer, Michael 1826	rf	col nl	8.5
6	Harper, Bryce 3011	lf	dc nl	8.4
7	Carpenter, Matt 2987	2b	stl nl	7.5
8	McCann, Brian 2179	ca	atl nl	7.0
9	Posey, Buster 2745	ca	sf nl	7.0
10	Zimmerman, Ryan 2180	3b	dc nl	6.7

BTP: Box-Toppers points for 2013 season

Red Sox' Shane Victorino (2HR 7RBI) tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 27

Shane Victorino of the Phillies is Tuesday's Player of the Day. Victorino hit two home runs, drove in seven runs, scored four runs and went 3-for-3 in the 13-2 win over the Orioles.

Mets pitcher Jon Niese is National League Player of the Day. Niese pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout in the 5-0 win over the Phillies. 

Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers is NL Batter of the Day. Ramirez homered, drove in four runs and went 4-for-5 in the 7-6 win over the Pirates. 

Notable: Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees rises to 23rd in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season after he earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday. Soriano (2HR 4RBI in 7-1 win vs. Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.9 for the season. 

Victorino receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Niese receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Ramirez receives 1.5 for being NL Batter of the Day.

All of Tuesday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

827	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	11.0	Red Sox	Shane Victorino RF	3	4	3	7	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
NL	10.0	Mets	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jon Niese (W, 6-6)	9.0	3	0	0	1	5
	6.1	`Diamondbacks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Josh Collmenter	3.1	1	0	0	0	4
	5.0	Cubs	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Travis Wood (W, 8-10)	7.0	5	1	0	2	6
	4.1	Royals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			James Shields (W, 9-8)	7.1	4	1	1	4	7
	4.1	`Braves	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Scott Downs (H, 3)	1.1	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	4.0	Brewers	Aramis Ramirez 3B	5	1	4	4	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Yankees	Alfonso Soriano LF	5	2	2	4	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Athletics	Brandon Moss RF	2	2	1	2	1	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Rangers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Tanner Scheppers (W, 6-2)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Angels	Erick Aybar SS	4	0	2	4	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Nationals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Ross Ohlendorf (W, 3-0)	5.0	3	1	1	1	3
	2.0	Giants	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Sergio Romo (S, 32)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.1	White Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Donnie Veal (W, 2-3)	0.1	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Cardinals	Shane Robinson PR, LF	0	1	0	0	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw takes Box-Toppers points lead, Masterson, Cabrera, Goldschmidt among leaders

Note: Box-Toppers is playing catch-up after time away. These are Box-Toppers weekly player standings as of Thursday, Aug. 22:

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw takes over the top spot in Box-Toppers player rankings. 

Kershaw has 18.7 Box-Toppers points as of Thursday, Aug. 22, taking over the lead from Indians pitcher Justin Masterson (16.4 points), who has fallen to third place behind Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin (17.4).

Masterson continues to lead American League players in Box-Toppers points.

Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers remains the leader among American League batters with 14.4 Box-Toppers points. However, Cabrera fell from ninth to 10th place overall this week.

Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks  leads among NL batters with 11.7 Box-Toppers points. Goldschmidt is in 23rd place among all players. 

Thirty-two players have accumulated 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points so far this season. Only five are batters—Cabrera, Goldschmidt, Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies (11.0), Chris Davis of the Orioles (12.7) and Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees (10.9).

Previous player rankings report from Aug. 15. 

What are those numbers after players' names?

How does Box-Toppers scoring work?

Top players

As of Thursday, Aug. 22

	2013 LEADERS
	OVERALL LEADERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.7
2	Corbin, Patrick 3027	pi sp	ari nl	17.4
3	Masterson, Justin 2462	pi sp	cle al	16.4
4	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.0
5	Moore, Matt 2975	pi sp	tb al	15.1
6	Darvish, Yu 3003	pi sp	tex al	15.0
7	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	15.0
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	14.7
9	Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	pit nl	14.7
10	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	3b	det al	14.4
	AL PITCHERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Masterson, Justin 2462	pi sp	cle al	16.4
2	Moore, Matt 2975	pi sp	tb al	15.1
3	Darvish, Yu 3003	pi sp	tex al	15.0
4	Sanchez, Anibal 2187	pi sp	det al	14.4
5	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	det al	13.7
6	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	13.1
7	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	12.7
8	Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048	pi sp	sea al	12.4
9	Tillman, Chris 2754	pi sp	bal al	10.7
10	Kuroda, Hiroki 2401	pi sp	nyy al	10.4
	AL BATTERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	3b	det al	14.4
2	Davis, Chris 2478	1b	bal al	12.7
3	Soriano, Alfonso 1445	lf	nyy al	10.9
4	Ortiz, David	dh	bos al	9.2
5	Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	nyy al	8.5
6	Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	8.4
7	Jones, Adam 2347	cf	bal al	8.0
8	Raburn, Ryan 2340	rf dh ph	cle al	8.0
9	Donaldson, Josh 3144	3b	oak al	7.5
10	Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	1b dh	tor al	7.2
	NL PITCHERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.7
2	Corbin, Patrick 3027	pi sp	ari nl	17.4
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.0
4	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	15.0
5	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	14.7
6	Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	pit nl	14.7
7	Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	13.7
8	Latos, Mat 2644	pi sp	cin nl	13.4
9	Miller, Shelby 3134	pi sp	stl nl	13.4
10	Lynn, Lance 2992	pi sp	stl nl	13.1
	NL BATTERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	11.7
2	Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	lf	col nl	11.0
3	Freeman, Freddie 2887	1b	atl nl	9.5
4	Cuddyer, Michael 1826	rf	col nl	8.5
5	Harper, Bryce 3011	lf	dc nl	8.4
6	Venable, Will 2621	rf cf	sd nl	8.0
7	Carpenter, Matt 2987	2b	stl nl	7.5
8	McCann, Brian 2179	ca	atl nl	7.0
9	Posey, Buster 2745	ca	sf nl	7.0
10	Zimmerman, Ryan 2180	3b	dc nl	6.7

BTP: Box-Toppers points for 2013 season

Cubs' Arrieta tops players for Friday, Aug. 16, Dodgers' Greinke rises to 9th in Box-Toppers standings

Note: Box-Toppers is playing catch-up after time away. These are Box-Toppers results for Friday, Aug. 16:

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Friday's Player of the Day, while Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player standings. 

Arrieta pitched seven shutout innings and struck out seven in the 7-0 win over the Cardinals.

Greinke rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers standings after he earned Player of the Game honors Friday. Greinke (7.1IP 0R W in the 4-0 win vs. the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.7 for the season.

Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma is American League Player of the Day. Iwakuma gave up one run over seven innings, striking out eight, in the 3-1 win over the Rangers. Iwakuma rises to 19th place in Box-Toppers player season standings. He earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 points.

Hunter Pence of the Giants is National League Batter of the Day. Pence drove in five runs and went 3-for-6 in the 14-10 win over the Marlins. 

Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees is AL Batter of the Day. Soriano hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4 in the 10-3 win over the Red Sox. Soriano rises to 25th in Box-Toppers player season standings. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.9 for the season. This is his highest single-season Box-Toppers points total in his 13 Major League seasons, surpassing 2006 when he had 10.5 with the Washington Nationals.

In addition, this is the third time in the past four days that Soriano has earned Player of the Game honors. He has earned 4.9 Box-Toppers points over that span. Soriano has earned 5.9 of his 10.9 points since he was traded to the Yankees from the Chicago Cubs on July 26.

Arrieta receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Iwakuma receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Pence and Soriano each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Friday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

816	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	10.0	Cubs	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jake Arrieta (W, 1-0)	7.0	2	0	0	2	7
	8.1	`Braves	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Alex Wood	6.1	5	1	1	0	9
AL	6.0	Mariners	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Hisashi Iwakuma (W, 11-6)	7.0	4	1	1	3	8
	6.0	Mets	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jon Niese (W, 5-6)	6.0	6	1	1	1	9
BAT	5.0	Giants	Hunter Pence RF	6	3	3	5	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
BAT	5.0	Yankees	Alfonso Soriano LF	4	2	3	4	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	5.0	Royals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Danny Duffy (W, 1-0)	6.0	1	0	0	3	3
	4.0	Astros	Chris Carter DH	4	1	2	5	0	2			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.1	Dodgers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Zack Greinke (W, 11-3)	7.1	3	0	0	4	3
	3.0	Brewers	Jonathan Lucroy C	5	2	3	3	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Rockies	Wilin Rosario DH	4	2	2	2	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	White Sox	Adam Dunn 1B	3	2	2	1	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Rays	Jose Lobaton C	4	0	3	2	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Royals	Eric Hosmer 1B	4	1	2	2	1	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Pirates	Jose Tabata RF	3	1	1	2	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	0.0	Athletics	Yoenis Cespedes CF, LF	4	1	1	2	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Reds' Arroyo, Yankees' Soriano top players for Wednesday, Aug. 14

Note: Box-Toppers is playing catch-up after time away. These are Box-Toppers results for Wednesday, Aug. 14:

Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo is Wednesday's Player of the Day. Arroyo pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and striking out seven in the 5-0 win over the Cubs.

Arroyo becomes the 30th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season, moving him into 26th place among players.

Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees is American League Player of the Day. Soriano homered twice, drove in seven runs and went 3-for-3 in the 11-3 win over the Angels. It is the second straight day Soriano has been AL Player of the Day. 

Corey Dickerson of the Rockies is National League Batter of the Day. Dickerson hit two doubles and a triple, driving in two runs, in the 4-2 win over the Padres.

Notable: Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano moves into 17th place in Box-Toppers player season standings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday. Liriano (CG 1R 6K W in the 5-1 win vs. the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.7 for the season.

Arroyo receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Soriano receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Dickerson receives 1.5 for being NL Batter of the Day.

All of Wednesday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

814	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	12.0	Reds	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Bronson Arroyo (W, 11-9)	7.0	2	0	0	0	7
AL	10.0	Yankees	Alfonso Soriano LF	3	3	3	7	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	8.0	Pirates	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Francisco Liriano (W, 13-5)	9.0	4	1	1	1	6
	6.0	`Astros	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jarred Cosart	6.0	3	0	0	1	4
	6.0	`Diamondbacks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Josh Collmenter	3.0	2	0	0	0	5
	4.0	Indians	Jason Giambi DH	3	2	2	3	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	4.0	`Blue Jays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Esmil Rogers	6.0	5	1	1	1	6
BAT	3.0	Rockies	Corey Dickerson LF	4	2	3	2	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Dodgers	Andre Ethier PH	1	1	1	2	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	`Rangers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Tanner Scheppers (H, 21)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.2	Tigers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Joaquin Benoit (S, 15)	1.2	1	0	0	1	3
	2.0	Rays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Joel Peralta (W, 2-5)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	Braves	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Craig Kimbrel (S, 38)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Marlins	Justin Ruggiano RF	4	1	3	1	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	0.0	Nationals	Anthony Rendon 2B	4	1	1	2	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Marlins' Jose Fernandez tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 13, rises to 7th in Box-Toppers player standings

Note: Box-Toppers is playing catch-up after time away. These are Box-Toppers results for Tuesday, Aug. 13:

Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez is Tuesday's Player of the Day and rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers player standings for the season. 

Fernandez pitched seven shutout innings in the 1-0, 10-inning win over the Royals. However, Fernandez left with the game tied 0-0 and earned no decision.

Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 15.0 for the season, moving up to seventh place among all players. 

Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees is American League Player of the Day. Soriano hit two homers and drove in six runs in the 14-7 win over the Angels. 

Scooter Gennett of the Brewers is National League Batter of the Day. Gennett hit two homers and drove in three runs in the 5-1 win over the Rangers.  This was Gennett's Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors. He is the 3,254th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record-keeping began in 1995.

Notable: Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks rises to 20th place in Box-Toppers player standings for the season after he earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday. Goldschmidt (2HR including walk-off, 3-5 in 4-3, 11-inning win vs. Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season. In addition, he becomes top NL batter in Box-Toppers points, passing Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies (11.0). 

Fernandez receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Soriano receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Gennett receives 1.5 for being NL Batter of the Day.

All of Tuesday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

813	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	9.0	`Marlins	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jose Fernandez	7.0	3	0	0	1	6
AL	6.0	Yankees	Alfonso Soriano LF	6	3	3	6	0	2			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	5.0	Indians	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Zach McAllister (W, 5-7)	6.0	4	2	1	1	7
	4.0	Braves	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Kris Medlen (W, 10-10)	7.0	5	1	1	1	5
	3.1	Reds	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			J.J. Hoover (W, 3-5)	2.1	1	0	0	0	2
	3.1	Padres	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Tim Stauffer (W, 2-1)	1.1	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	3.0	Brewers	Scooter Gennett 2B	4	2	2	3	0	2			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	`Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Ryan Dempster	7.0	4	1	1	2	4
	3.0	`Cardinals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Trevor Rosenthal	1.0	1	0	0	0	3
	3.0	Mariners	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Danny Farquhar (S, 5)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Diamondbacks	Paul Goldschmidt 1B	5	2	3	2	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	White Sox	Avisail Garcia RF	4	2	2	2	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Dodgers	A.J. Ellis C	2	1	1	2	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.1	Astros	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Chia-Jen Lo (S, 1)	1.1	0	0	0	1	1
	1.0	Nationals	Ian Desmond SS	4	2	3	0	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Giants' Tim Lincecum, pitching a no-hitter, is top player for Saturday, July 13

Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum, pitching a no-hitter against the Padres, is Saturday's Player of the Day.

Lincecum struck out 13 and allowed only four walks in the 9-0 win. 

Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez is American League Player of the Day. Hernandez threw eight scoreless innings in the 6-0 win over the Angels. 

Lonnie Chisenhall of the Indians is AL Batter of the Day. Chisenhall hit a grand slam in the 5-3 win over the Royals. 

Alfonso Soriano of the Cubs is National League Batter of the Day. Soriano homered and went 2-for-5 in the 6-4 win over the Cardinals. 

Notable: Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke and Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez are the 14th and 15th players with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points this season. Both were top players in their games Saturday. Greinke (CG 0R 2H 9K in the 1-0 win vs. the Rockies) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, putting him in 12th place overall. Hernandez, the AL Player of the Day, earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points, giving him 10.4 for the season, putting him in 13th place overall. 

Lincecum receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Hernandez receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Chisenhall and Soriano each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Saturday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point: 

713	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	18.0	Giants	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Tim Lincecum (W, 5-9)	9.0	0	0	0	4	13
	15.0	Dodgers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Zack Greinke (W, 8-2)	9.0	2	0	0	1	9
AL	5.0	Mariners	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Felix Hernandez (W, 10-4)	8.0	7	0	0	0	4
	4.0	Athletics	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			A.J. Griffin (W, 8-6)	8.0	6	0	0	1	3
	4.0	`Phillies	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			John Lannan	8.0	4	1	1	1	3
	4.0	Braves	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Craig Kimbrel (S, 26)	1.0	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	3.0	Indians	Lonnie Chisenhall 3B	4	1	2	4	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Rays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Fernando Rodney (S, 22)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	Diamondbacks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Will Harris (W, 2-0)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.2	Blue Jays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Casey Janssen (S, 18)	0.2	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Rangers	Nelson Cruz RF	5	2	4	1	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Twins	Pedro Florimon SS	2	1	1	2	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Pirates	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jason Grilli (S, 29)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.1	`White Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Nate Jones	1.1	2	0	0	0	2
	1.0	Marlins	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Steve Cishek (W, 3-4)	1.0	2	0	0	0	2
BAT	0.0	Cubs	Alfonso Soriano LF	5	2	2	1	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.