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Here’s an overview of Box-Toppers point leaders for 2024. The chart shows:
• Overall top 10 leaders and top 10 pitchers and batters in the American and National leagues.
• Top batters by position—top 10 for outfielders and top five for other positions.
• The top 10 players with the biggest declines ("dippers") and increases ("risers") in points from 2023.
• Top relief pitchers, featuring the top five closing (CP) and middle relief (MR) pitchers in both leagues.
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Box-Toppers points leaders Aaron Judge of the Yankees (left), Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers (middle) and Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (left) also were winners of the 2024 Players Choice Awards as voted by members of the players’ union.
Three Box-Toppers category leaders also won Players Choice Awards for 2024 as voted by the players’ union:
Aaron Judge of the Yankees was voted American League Outstanding Player and also was Box-Toppers’ choice as AL Most Valuable Player.
Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers was voted National League Outstanding Player and was also Box-Toppers’ choice as NL Most Valuable Player.
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal was voted AL Outstanding Pitcher and also was Box-Toppers’ choice as NL Cy Young Award winner.
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 MoreYankees pitcher Carlos Rodon had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2022 to 2023.
Rodon had 19.8 Box-Toppers points in 2022 with the Giants, sixth among all players and third among National League pitchers. But moving to the Yankees in 2023, he earned only 1.0 Box-Toppers point. That 18.8-point decline was the biggest among all players.
Read MoreOnly 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.
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Astros pitcher Justin Verlander tops Box-Toppers list of the top 100 players of 2022.
Verlander had 26.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season. Verlander came back after sitting out most of the previous two seasons, recovering from Tommy John surgery. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2020 and none in 2021. His 26.0 point gain from 0.0 in 2021 to 26.0 in 2022 is the largest single-season point gain for any player since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
Read MoreMets pitcher Max Scherzer had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2021 to 2022.
Scherzer led all players in 2021 with 25.1 Box-Toppers points when he was with the Nationals and Dodgers. Scherzer earned 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022. While that was still 24th among National League pitchers, it was a 15.1-point decline from 2021, the biggest among all players.
Read MoreHere is a detailed look at Box-Toppers point leaders for 2022.
The chart accompanying this post shows points leaders for the season by several different categories and classifications.
Read MorePadres 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 MoreAstros pitcher Justin Verlander had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2019 to 2020.
Verlander, who earned 27.5 Box-Toppers points in 2019 (second among all players), earned 1.0 point in 2020. His decline of 26.5 points was ahead of Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, whose 7.4 points in 2020 represented a 24.8-point drop from the 32.2 points he earned to lead all players in 2019.
Read MoreHere is a detailed look at Box-Toppers point leaders for 2019.
The chart accompanying this post shows points leaders for the season by several different categories and classifications.
Read MoreIndians pitcher Corey Kluber had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2018 to 2019.
Kluber, who earned 21.7 Box-Toppers points in 2018 (fourth among all players), earned no points in 2019. His decline of 21.7 points was ahead of Rays pitcher Blake Snell, whose 10.0 points in 2019 represented a 17.2-point drop from the 27.2 points he earned to lead all players in 2018.
Read MoreTwins pitcher Ervin Santana had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2017 to 2018.
Santana, who earned 16.1 Box-Toppers points in 2017 (ninth among all players), earned no points in 2018. His decline of 16.1 points was just ahead of Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, whose 6.7 points in 2018 represented a 15.1-point drop from the 22.5 points he earned in 2017.
Read MoreSadly, Jose Fernandez leads the list of players whose Box-Toppers point total declined most from 2016 to 2017. The 22.4-point decline is 8.0 points more than the next biggest decline which was the highest among players active in 2017—that belongs to Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto, whose 2017 point total dipped 14.4 points, from 16.4 in 2016 to 2.0 in 2017.
Read MoreAthletics pitcher Sonny Gray had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers point total from 2015 to 2016—16.8. Both 2015 Cy Young Award winners, Dallas Keuchel and Jake Arrieta, are among the top four "big dippers" in points from 2015 to 2016.
Read MoreAdam Wainwright of the Cardinals, out with injury much of 2015, had the biggest Box-Toppers point decline from 2014. Jose Abreu of the White Sox had biggest dip among AL players.
Read MoreBox-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.