Blog

Seven Box-Toppers points leaders among players named to 2024 All-MLB First Team

Shawn Plank November 15, 2024

Seven Box-Toppers points leaders are among players selected for 2024’s 16-member “All-MLB” Team announced Thursday.

Three other Box-Toppers leaders were chosen for the “All-MLB” Second Team.

The All-MLB team was selected with half the vote coming from fans and half coming from an expert panel. Unlike the selections for baseball’s All-Star Game, players on not selected based on their affiliation with American League or National League. Rather, all players are chosen from all Major League Baseball regardless of league as “First Team” or “Second Team” players.

Pirates’ Keller tops players Tuesday, Aug. 20; Orioles’ Kremer tops AL players

Shawn Plank August 21, 2024

Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Keller struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 4-0 win over the Rangers.

Yankees’ Juan Soto tops players in American League win in 2024 All-Star Game

Shawn Plank July 17, 2024

Juan Soto of the Yankees is Box-Toppers 2024 All-Star Game Player of the Game.

Soto hit a third-inning double that drove in two runs, in the American League’s 5-3 win Tuesday over the National League. Later that inning, he scored on a single by David Fry of the Guardians, which tied the game at 3-3. Soto went 1-for-1, scoring once and driving in two runs.

Luzardo leads Box-Toppers most improved list; 2 others win B-T Comeback Player

Shawn Plank December 2, 2023

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.

Top pitcher and batter in Box-Toppers points on each team at All-Star break

Shawn Plank July 14, 2023

Shohei Ohtani leads all Angels pitchers in 2023 Box-Toppers points. He also leads all Angels batters in 2023 Box-Toppers points.

The overall 2023 Box-Toppers points leader (13.9) at the All-Star break is the only player to lead his team in both categories. On the other 29 clubs, pitchers have the most Box-Toppers points on 24 teams and batters lead four teams.

Rays, Rangers have most players on Box-Toppers’ top 100 midseason player list

Shawn Plank July 13, 2023

The Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers have the most players among the top 100 in Box-Toppers’ 2023 player rankings at the All-Star break.

Both the Rays and Rangers have seven players on the top 100 list (which actually consists of 102 players because of a tie for 100th place). Both American League teams are also among the top three in Box-Toppers team rankings at the All-Star break—the Rays rank first and the Rangers rank third, second among AL teams.

Blue Jays’ Chris Bassitt leads Box-Toppers’ list of worthy but unchosen All-Stars

Shawn Plank July 11, 2023

Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt is the most deserving player not selected to the 2023 Major League Baseball All-Star teams.

Bassitt has 11.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023, fourth among all players and third among American League pitchers.

Padres’ Snell tops players for Saturday, July 8; Braves’ Strider rises to lead NL pitchers

Shawn Plank July 9, 2023

Padres pitcher Blake Snell is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, Braves pitcher Spencer Strider rises to lead National League pitchers in 2023 Box-Toppers points, rising to third place overall in Box-Toppers season player rankings, after earning Player of the Game honors.

Gallen leads Box-Toppers player rankings for 2nd week; Ohtani rises to lead AL batters

Shawn Plank May 19, 2023

Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen leads Box-Toppers player rankings report for the second straight week.

Gallen also maintains his lead among National League pitchers. Meanwhile, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels rises to lead American League batters, Jacob deGrom of the Rangers continues to lead AL pitchers and Sean Murphy of the Braves maintains his lead among NL batters.

Diamondbacks’ Gallen rises to lead Box-Toppers weekly player rankings report

Shawn Plank May 12, 2023

Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen rises to lead this week’s Box-Toppers player rankings report.

Gallen also maintains his lead among National League pitchers. Meanwhile, Jacob deGrom of the Rangers continues to lead American League pitchers, Jarren Duran of the Red Sox leads AL batters and Sean Murphy of the Braves leads NL batters.

Tigers’ Rodriguez tops players for Wednesday, May 10; Kershaw, Rodriguez rise in top 10

Shawn Plank May 11, 2023

Tigers pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to seventh place in season player rankings.

Also Wednesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors. Plus, Jarren Duran of the Red Sox rises to first place among American League batters in 2023 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

D-backs’ Kelly tops players for Friday, May 5; Rays’ Arozarena rises to lead AL batters

Shawn Plank May 6, 2023

Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Randy Arozarena of the Rays rises to first place among American League batters in 2023 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.

Rangers’ deGrom rises to lead player rankings, promptly going on injured list

Shawn Plank May 5, 2023

Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom rises to lead this week’s Box-Toppers player rankings report.

deGrom also rises to lead American League pitchers. Meanwhile, Red Sox teammates Jarren Duran and Masataka Yoshida both rise to tie for the lead among AL batters, Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks maintains his lead among National League pitchers and Bryan Reynolds of the Pirates maintains his lead among NL batters.

Rockies’ Freeland tops players for Wednesday, May 3; Ohtani, McClanahan rise in top 10

Shawn Plank May 4, 2023

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.

Blue Jays’ Berrios tops players for Tuesday, April 25; Nationals’ Gray tops NL players

Shawn Plank April 26, 2023

Blue Jays pitcher Jose Berrios is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Berrios struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 7-0 win over the White Sox.

Pirates’ Contreras tops players for Thursday, April 20; Yankees’ Rizzo tops AL players

Shawn Plank April 21, 2023

Pirates pitcher Roansy Contreras is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Contreras struck out eight over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, five hits and two walks, in the 4-3 win over the Reds.

Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.

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.