All-Star rosters include most Box-Toppers points leaders, only a few minor snubs

With the 2013 All-Star Game here, it's time for a Box-Toppers examination of the choices for the game by fans and the managers.

Overall, not bad. The players with the highest Box-Toppers points totals in each league were almost always named to the American League and National League teams. 

For example, Box-Toppers points leader and Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin was named to the NL roster (though Mets pitcher Matt Harvey was named the game's starter). And AL points leader and Indians pitcher Justin Masterson was named to the AL roster (though Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer was named AL starter).

The player with the most Box-Toppers points this season who was not selected as an All-Star is Cardinals pitcher Shelby Miller, who has 11.4 Box-Toppers points, the fifth highest among NL pitchers and more than NL starter Harvey (11.0). 

Other notable snubs (a full list is in the chart below) include:

• Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez, the AL player with the most Box-Toppers points (8.0) left off the roster.
• Yunel Escobar of the Rays, who has more Box-Toppers points than any other AL shortstop (4.5). 
• J.P. Arencibia of the Blue Jays, who has more points than any other AL catcher (5.5). 
• Athletics outfielders Yoenis Cespedes and Josh Reddick, who are among the top three AL outfielders in Box-Toppers points. Both have 4.5. 
• Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals, who has more points than any other NL third basemen (6.7).

The elected starters for the AL are generally stronger than the starters for the NL in terms of Box-Toppers points and player rankings (see the charts at right). Five players are among the top one or two players in Box-Toppers points at their position among AL starters, while only three players in the NL can say the same.

The chart shows the players Box-Toppers points for the season, BTP, and their rank according to their field position in their league. Generally speaking, the the lower the rank by position number, the better. For example, Chris Davis, Miguel Cabrera, David Ortiz and Carlos Gonzalez all rank No. 1 among players in their respective positions. However, elected NL starter Carlos Beltran of the Cardinals, ranks only 39th among NL outfielders in Box-Toppers points for the season.

While the NL starting line-up is not as strong as the AL line-up, the NL reserves include most of the players leading in Box-Toppers points at their position. For example, in the reserves and pitchers chart at the right below the elected starters, you can see that four NL players leading in Box-Toppers points in their position were selected to the team by NL manager Bruce Bochy of the Giants. They include:

• Brian McCann of the Braves, leading among NL catchers with 7.0 Box-Toppers points.
• Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks, leading among NL first basemen with 9.7 Box-Toppers points. 
• Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals, leading among NL second basemen with 6.0 Box-Toppers points. 
• Everth Cabrera of the Padres, leading among NL shortstops with 4.5 Box-Toppers points. 

Often, players are chosen to the All-Star for sentimental and nostalgic reasons. That might seem to be the case for Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who has only 1.0 Box-Toppers point this season and ranks 137th among AL pitchers in points. And though he's having a strong year (30 saves in 32 chances and a 1.83 ERA), he hasn't picked up a lot of Box-Toppers points since he hasn't been the player who most contributed to the win in most of the games in which he's appeared. Still, Rivera has a very strong career Box-Toppers total. He has 122.4 career Box-Toppers points, 26th among all players since 1995 and second among closing pitchers only to Trevor Hoffman (129.4).  Even if he weren't having a great year statistically, his career Box-Toppers numbers would cry out for his selection to the All-Star Game in this, the year he is retiring.

Box-Toppers is set up to determine the players who most help 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. These top players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game. Among each day's top players, bonus points are awarded for the top players and batters of the day in each league. Players accumulate points through the season to provide a data point for comparison, such as determining which players are most worthy as All-Stars. 

ALL-STAR GAME TOP SNUBS
AL PLAYERS	POS	TEAM	BTP	RANK BY POS.
Anibal Sanchez	PI SP	Tigers	8.0	10
Derek Holland	PI SP	Rangers	7.7	11
Joe Saunders	PI SP	Mariners	7.7	12
R.A. Dickey	PI SP	Blue Jays	6.7	13
Hiroki Kuroda	PI SP	Yankees	6.7	14
Josh Donaldson	3B	Athletics	6.5	2
Yunel Escobar	SS	Rays	4.5	1
J.P. Arencibia	CA	Blue Jays	5.5	1
Yoenis Cespedes	OF	Athletics	4.5	2
Josh Reddick	OF	Athletics	4.5	3
NL PLAYERS	POS	TEAM	BTP	RANK BY POS.
Shelby Miller	PI SP	Cardinals	11.4	5
Zack Greinke	PI SP	Dodgers	10.7	8
Lance Lynn	PI SP	Cardinals	10.4	9
Gio Gonzalez	PI SP	Nationals	8.7	11
Mat Latos	PI SP	Reds	8.7	12
Ryan Zimmerman	3B	Nationals	6.7	1

ALL-STAR GAME ELECTED STARTERS
AL PLAYERS	POS	TEAM	BTP	RANK BY POS.
Chris Davis	1B	Orioles	10.2	1
Robinson Canó	2B	Yankees	7.0	2
J. J. Hardy	SS	Orioles	3.0	4
Miguel Cabrera	3B	Tigers	13.4	1
Joe Mauer	C	Twins	5.0	2
Mike Trout	OF	Angels	3.5	9
Adam Jones	OF	Orioles	3.5	10
José Bautista	OF	Blue Jays	1.5	32
David Ortiz	DH	Red Sox	8.2	1
NL PLAYERS	POS	TEAM	BTP	RANK BY POS.
Joey Votto	1B	Reds	1.5	14
Brandon Phillips	2B	Reds	5.0	2
Troy Tulowitzki	SS	Rockies	2.0	7
David Wright	3B	Mets	1.0	12
Yadier Molina	C	Cardinals	3.0	5
Carlos Beltrán	OF	Cardinals	1.5	39
Carlos González	OF	Rockies	9.5	1
Bryce Harper	OF	Nationals	6.9	2

ALL-STAR GAME RESERVES & PITCHERS
AL PLAYERS	POS	TEAM	BTP	RANK BY POS.
Jason Castro	C	Astros	2.0	7
Salvador Pérez	C	Royals	0.0	18
Prince Fielder	1B	Tigers	3.5	7
Jason Kipnis	2B	Indians	7.0	1
Dustin Pedroia	2B	Red Sox	1.5	9
Ben Zobrist	2B	Rays	2.0	6
Manny Machado	3B	Orioles	1.0	14
Jhonny Peralta	SS	Tigers	1.0	11
Nelson Cruz	OF	Rangers	4.5	1
Alex Gordon	OF	Royals	1.0	42
Torii Hunter	OF	Tigers	1.0	43
Edwin Encarnación	DH	Blue Jays	5.7	2
Justin Masterson	PI SP	Indians	13.7	1
Matt Moore	PI SP	Rays	13.1	2
Chris Sale	PI SP	White Sox	10.7	3
Félix Hernández	PI SP	Mariners	10.4	4
Clay Buchholz	PI SP	Red Sox	10.1	5
Yu Darvish	PI SP	Rangers	10.0	6
Max Scherzer	PI SP	Tigers	9.7	7
Hisashi Iwakuma	PI SP	Mariners	9.7	8
Justin Verlander	PI SP	Tigers	8.0	9
Bartolo Colón	PI SP	Athletics	6.7	15
Greg Holland	PI CP	Royals	6.0	20
Glen Perkins	PI CP	Twins	6.0	21
Chris Tillman	PI SP	Orioles	4.0	35
Joe Nathan	PI CP	Rangers	3.0	59
Grant Balfour	PI CP	Athletics	3.0	60
Brett Cecil	PI MR	Blue Jays	2.0	93
Jesse Crain	PI MR	White Sox	2.0	96
Steve Delabar	PI MR CP	Blue Jays	1.0	112
Mariano Rivera	PI CP	Yankees	1.0	137
NL PLAYERS	POS	TEAM	BTP	RANK BY POS.
Buster Posey	C	Giants	6.0	2
Brian McCann	C	Braves	7.0	1
Paul Goldschmidt	1B	Diamondbacks	9.7	1
Allen Craig	1B	Cardinals	1.0	15
Freddie Freeman	1B	Braves	6.5	2
Matt Carpenter	2B	Cardinals	6.0	1
Marco Scutaro	2B	Giants	0.0	18
Pedro Álvarez	3B	Pirates	6.2	2
Everth Cabrera	SS	Padres	4.5	1
Jean Segura	SS	Brewers	2.5	6
Domonic Brown	OF	Phillies	3.5	15
Michael Cuddyer	OF	Rockies	6.5	3
Carlos Gómez	OF	Brewers	2.0	35
Andrew McCutchen	OF	Pirates	2.0	27
Patrick Corbin	PI SP	Diamondbacks	14.4	1
Clayton Kershaw	PI SP	Dodgers	12.7	2
Madison Bumgarner	PI SP	Giants	11.7	3
Adam Wainwright	PI SP	Cardinals	11.7	4
Matt Harvey	PI SP	Mets	11.0	6
Jordan Zimmermann	PI SP	Nationals	10.7	7
Cliff Lee	PI SP	Phillies	9.4	10
José Fernández	PI SP	Marlins	8.0	14
Aroldis Chapman	PI CP	Reds	6.0	18
Jason Grilli	PI CP	Pirates	5.7	29
Travis Wood	PI CP	Cubs	5.0	33
Jeff Locke	PI SP	Pirates	5.0	36
Craig Kimbrel	PI CP	Braves	3.0	52
Edward Mujica	PI CP	Cardinals	3.0	58
Sergio Romo	PI CP	Giants	2.0	77
Mark Melancon	PI MR	Pirates	1.0	121

BTP: Box-Toppers points for the current season.

RANK BY POS.: A players ranking among players in the same position for the current season.