Analyzing 30 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching & batting in both leagues

• Box-Toppers pitching leaders win postseason awards more often than Box-Toppers batting leaders.

• Randy Johnson has led his league category in Box-Toppers points more than any other player—he led his league’s pitchers six times.

• In 2024, two players led their league category in Box-Toppers points for a second time, becoming the 20th and 21st players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 who have led a season category more than once: Aaron Judge of the Yankees led American League batters with 13.0 Box-Toppers points (he also led AL batters in 2022 with 13.2 points) and Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers led National League batters with 11.0 Box-Toppers points (he also led AL batters in 2023 with 19.4 points when he was with the Angels).

• In 2024, three of the four Box-Toppers point category leaders (each league’s batters and pitchers) won the major postseason awards (each league’s Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Awards). It is only the fifth time in 30 seasons of Box-Toppers tracking that three of the four points leaders won postseason awards. (There’s never been a season when all four leaders won all four awards.)

• In 2024, Ohtani became just the fourth player (and first batter) since 1995 to lead a Box-Toppers point category in both leagues. He ranked first among AL batters in 2023 with the Angels and first among NL batters in 2024 with the Dodgers.

• Those are a few conclusions drawn from the Box-Toppers season-by-season leaders chart for each of the past 30 seasons.

How often do Box-Toppers leaders win postseason awards?

Pitchers with the most Box-Toppers points in their league win postseason awards far more often than batters who lead their league in points. To illustrate:

• 19 times in 30 seasons the National League pitching leader has won the NL Cy Young Award.

• 16 times in 30 seasons the American League pitching leader has won the AL Cy Young Award.

• Only six times in 30 seasons has the NL batting leader won the NL Most Valuable Player Award.

• And only five times in 30 seasons has the AL batting leader won the AL Most Valuable Player Award.

In other words, Box-Toppers pitching leaders and Cy Young Award winners are consistent with each other 58.3 percent of the time. Box-Toppers batting leaders and Most Valuable Player award winners are consistent with each other only 18.3 percent of the time. (In the accompanying chart, players who led their league category in Box-Toppers points and won a postseason award are marked with an asterisk.)

In 2024, three category leaders won postseason awards:

• Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal, who led AL pitchers with 21.1 Box-Toppers points, won the AL Cy Young Award.

• Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, who led NL batters with 11.0 Box-Toppers points, won the NL Most Valuable Player Award.

• Aaron Judge of the Yankees, who led AL batters with 13.0 Box-Toppers points, won the AL Most Valuable Player Award.

Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, who led NL pitchers (and all players) with 21.4 Box-Toppers points, did not win the NL Cy Young Award, the only 2024 category leader to not win a major postseason award. Chris Sale of the Braves won the NL Cy Young Award. He finished fourth among NL pitchers with 19.1 Box-Toppers points. Wheeler finished second in NL Cy Young voting.

While Box-Toppers’ AL batting leaders have won the fewest postseason awards among the four categories (five), they have won postseason awards three years in a row—2022 (Judge), 2023 (Ohtani) and 2024 (Judge), increasing their percentage of leaders winning awards from 7.4 percent in 2021 to 16.7 in 2024. The other two times an AL batting leader won the AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees in 2007 and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers in 2013.

Box-Toppers points are a measure of how much a player provides key contributions to his team’s wins. Specifically, 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. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point 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 has tracked every regular season Major League Baseball game since the start of the 1995 season. This website, Box-Toppers.com, began at the start of the 2013 season as a day-by-day demonstration of tabulating and evaluating this Box-Toppers metric.

Some other highlights looking at season-by-season Box-Toppers leaders:

Box-Toppers top ‘all-time’ players

Randy Johnson, who has the most career Box-Toppers points of any player (282.5), led his league in his Box-Toppers category more than any other player—he led his league’s pitchers in Box-Toppers points in six seasons.

In 2024, two players led their league category in Box-Toppers points for a second time, becoming the 20th and 21st players since 1995 to lead a season category more than once:

• Aaron Judge of the Yankees led AL batters with 13.0 Box-Toppers points (he also led AL batters in 2022 with 13.2 points).

• Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers led NL batters with 11.0 Box-Toppers points (he also led AL batters in 2023 with 19.4 points when he was with the Angels).

Judge and Ohtani are now both in a 13-way tie for ninth place among players with the most category leads (two each). They are also among 11 players who have led their league’s batters in Box-Toppers points more than once.

The other two Box-Toppers points category leaders for 2024—Wheeler and Skubal—are leading for the first time.

Albert Pujols, who retired at the end of 2022, has led his league’s batters in Box-Toppers points five times, more than any other batter. His five season category titles is tied for second-most with pitchers Pedro Martinez and Max Scherzer. Pujols also leads batters in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 with 207.8 (ranked seventh overall).

Curt Schilling, ranked ninth overall among all players since 1995 (194.1 career Box-Toppers points) is the highest-ranking player on the career points list to never lead a season league category in Box-Toppers points. However, in 1998, he had 19.0 Box-Toppers points, the most of any pitcher who pitched the entire season in the National League (he was with the Phillies). But Randy Johnson is considered Box-Toppers NL leader because he finished the 1998 season with the Astros (who were then in the NL) after a midseason trade from the AL Mariners. Johnson had 26.4 Box-Toppers points in 1998—the most of any player that season—12.0 with the AL Mariners and 14.4 with the NL Astros.

Also, while Schilling does not appear among the league’s season leaders in Box-Toppers points he did have the 11th-most Box-Toppers points in a single season—28.4 with the Diamondbacks in 2002. However, that year, he finished behind overall leader (Johnson, then his Diamondbacks teammate, with 33.7) and AL leader (Pedro Martinez of the Red Sox, 28.8 Box-Toppers points).

Felix Hernandez is the next-highest ranked player in overall career Box-Toppers points who never led a Box-Toppers category in a single season. Hernandez is ranked 12th in Box-Toppers points since 1995 with 175.1. Hernandez finished as high as second place among AL pitchers twice: In 2010, he had 20.4 Box-Toppers points, finishing behind Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester (23.4). In 2012, he had 18.7 points, finishing behind Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander (24.8).

Chipper Jones is the highest-ranked batter who never led his league's batters in Box-Toppers points in a single season. Jones, third baseman for the Braves, had 149.0 Box-Toppers points, sixth among all batters since 1995. In his best season—2001—he had 16.7 Box-Toppers points, finishing behind NL batting leader Todd Helton of the Rockies, who had 17.0.

Leading in Box-Toppers points in both leagues

Shohei Ohtani in 2024 became the fourth player (and first batter) since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 to lead a points category in both leagues, joining Max Scherzer, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez.

• Ohtani led AL batters in 2023 and led NL batters in 2024.

• Scherzer led NL pitchers in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2021 and led AL pitchers in 2013. 

• Johnson led AL pitchers in 1995 and NL pitchers from 1998 through 2002.

• Martinez led NL pitchers in 1997 and AL pitchers in 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003.

Team with most Box-Toppers points season titles

Players from the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians/Guardians franchises have had the most Box-Toppers category leaders, with nine each over the past 30 seasons.

In 2024, two teams—the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees—each got their seventh category leader (Ohtani with the Dodgers and Judge with the Yankees), maintaining their tie for seventh place among teams with the most Box-Toppers points season titles.

Here are Dodgers’ past category leaders:

• 2004: Eric Gagne led NL pitchers (19.7).

• 2011: Clayton Kershaw led NL pitchers (26.1).

• 2012: Kershaw led NL pitchers (20.8).

• 2013: Kershaw led NL pitchers (21.7).

• 2014: Kershaw led NL pitchers (31.5).

• 2021: Max Scherzer led NL pitchers (25.1).

Here are Yankees’ past category leaders:

• 2002: Jason Giambi led AL battters (17.0).

• 2004: Gary Sheffield led AL batters (16.2).

• 2007: Alex Rodriguez led AL batters (18.9).

• 2020: Luke Voit led AL batters (6.0).

• 2021: Gerrit Cole led AL pitchers (22.4).

• 2022: Aaron Judge led AL batters (13.2).

The Tigers had their sixth category leader in 2024 with Tarik Skubal leading AL pitchers. They rank seventh among teams. The Phillies, meanwhile, had their second category leader in 2024 with Zack Wheeler leading NL pitchers, moving them into a tie for 21st place among teams.

The Pittsburgh Pirates remain the only team without a player to lead its league’s batters or pitchers in Box-Toppers points (since tracking began in 1995), ranking 30th and last among all teams. The highest a Pirates player has ranked among NL pitchers or batters in a season is third place. In 1999, Brian Giles ranked third among NL batters with 14.2 points, 1.0 point behind leader Barry Bonds of the Giants (15.2) and in 2015, Andrew McCutchen ranked third among NL batters with 10.5 points, 1.0 point behind leader Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies (11.5).

Only once has the top batter and pitcher in the league come from the same team—in 2013 in the American League, when the top pitcher Max Scherzer and top batter, Miguel Cabrera, both came from the Tigers.

High and low season leaders

With 30 seasons of Box-Toppers tracking and four category leaders each season, there have been 120 total season category leaders. Two category leaders in 2024 rank among the lowest 20 percent in that group in point totals: Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge.

Ohtani’s 11.0 points is the fifth-lowest total to lead a season category. (It would be second-lowest if the 2020 pandemic year were excluded—only Nolan Arenado’s 10.7 points in 2016 to lead NL batters ranks lower among full season category leaders.) Judge’s 13.0 points is tied for the 20th-lowest total to lead a season category.

Also in 2024, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler had the second-lowest Box-Toppers point total (21.4) to lead final season player rankings (in a regular-length season). The lowest total to lead all players was 21.1 by Braves pitcher Spencer Strider in 2023.

These are the highest Box-Toppers points totals to lead a league category:

• AL pitching: 33.5 in 2000, Pedro Martinez of the Red Sox.

• NL pitching: 33.7 in 2000 and 2002, both by Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks.

• AL batter: 20.4 in 1996, Albert Belle of Cleveland.

• NL batter: 20.8 in 2006, Lance Berkman of the Astros.

The pandemic-shortened 2020 season unsurprisingly saw the lowest Box-Toppers points totals to lead each category:

• NL batter: 4.5, Marcell Ozuna of the Braves.

• AL batter: 6.0, Luke Voit of the Yankees.

• NL pitching: 10.0, Trevor Bauer of the Reds.

• AL pitching: 11.4, Shane Bieber of Cleveland.

However, in regular-length seasons, these are the lowest Box-Toppers points totals to lead a league category:

• AL pitching: 15.7 in 1996, Chuck Finley of the Angels,

• NL pitching: 19.1 in 2006, John Smoltz of the Braves.

• AL batter: 12.1 in 2017, Edwin Encarnacion of Cleveland.

• NL batter: 10.7 in 2016, Nolan Arenado of the Rockies.

Box-Toppers point totals for batters collectively dropped precipitously after 2009. Prior to that, batters earned half or more of all points earned. But since 2010, pitchers have earned the lion’s share of points, approaching 60 percent or more each season. As a result, batters have many fewer points today than they did in the 1990s or 2000s.

Of the top 18 lowest point totals to lead a category, only one happened prior to 2012—in 2008, Aubrey Huff of the Orioles led AL batters with 12.5 points. That is tied for the 14th-lowest total to lead a category.

In the decade of the 2000s, there were 35 instances of a batter reaching 15 Box-Toppers points in a single season. But during the decade of the 2010s, there were only seven. Further, in the 2000s, batters ranked among the overall top 10 players 23 times and there was only one season (2005) in which no batters were among the overall top 10. But in the 2010s, only one batter ranked among the overall top 10 in any of the 10 seasons—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers ranked eighth overall in 2013 with 16.9 points. He was the last exclusive batter to rank among the overall top 10 players in a season. (In 2023, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels ranked third in overall Box-Toppers points with 19.4 and qualified to rank as a batter, but earned only 9.7 of his points as a batter. The other 9.7 points were earned as a pitcher.)

Starters vs. closers

Only once in 60 opportunities has the honor for top league pitcher gone to anyone other than a starting pitcher. In 2004, closing pitcher Eric Gagne of the Dodgers led National League pitchers in Box-Toppers points with 19.7.

Gagne later admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs during his career.

Gagne’s 19.7 points is also the highest point total for any closing pitcher since 1995.

Batters beating pitchers

Leading pitchers generally score higher than leading batters. However, in three instances in 30 seasons, a batter beat the pitcher for Box-Toppers points leader for his league:

• 1996: Albert Belle of Cleveland had more Box-Toppers points than pitcher Chuck Finley of the Angels (20.4 vs. 15.7).

• 2006: Lance Berkman of the Astros had more Box-Toppers points than pitcher John Smoltz of the Braves (20.8 vs. 19.1).

• 2007: Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees had more Box-Toppers points than pitcher Johan Santana of the Twins (18.9 vs. 18.1).

However, in all three cases, the batter was not the overall leader in Box-Toppers points—that honor went to the pitcher in the opposite league:

• 1996: John Smoltz, Braves, 26.1 Box-Toppers points.

• 2006: Johan Santana, Twins, 25.7.

• 2007: Jake Peavy, Padres, 23.4.

Pitchers dominating batters

Eleven times in the past 30 seasons, including eight straight seasons from 2014 to 2021, a league-leading pitcher earned more than twice as many Box-Toppers points as the league-leading batter:

• 1999: Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks had 31.5 Box-Toppers points to lead the NL, more than double the NL leading batter, Barry Bonds of the Giants, 15.2 (2.07 times as many points).

• 2000: Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks had 33.7 Box-Toppers points to lead the NL, more than double the NL leading batter, Todd Helton of the Rockies, 15.2 (2.22 times as many points).

• 2014: Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers had 31.5 Box-Toppers points to lead the NL, more than double (and nearly triple) the points of NL leading batter Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies, 11.6 (2.72 times as many points).

• 2015: Jake Arrieta of the Cubs had 29.1 Box-Toppers points to lead the NL, more than double the points of NL leading batter Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies, 11.5 (2.53 times as many points).

• 2016: Max Scherzer of the Nationals had 25.7 Box-Toppers points to lead the NL, more than double the points of NL leading batter Nolan Arenado of the Rockies, 10.7 (2.40 times as many points).

• 2017: Chris Sale of the Red Sox had 25.1 Box-Toppers points to lead the AL, more than double the points of AL leading batter Edwin Encarnacion of Cleveland, 12.1 (2.07 times as many points).

• 2018: Blake Snell of the Rays had 27.2 Box-Toppers points to lead the AL, more than double the points of AL leading batter J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox, 12.5 (2.18 times as many points). Also, Max Scherzer of the Nationals had 25.1 Box-Toppers points to lead the NL, more than double the points of NL leading batter Christian Yelich of the Brewers, 11.5 (2.18 times as many points). This was the first and only time the league’s top pitcher earned more than twice as many points as the league’s top batter in both leagues in the same season.

• 2019: Gerrit Cole of the Astros had 32.2 Box-Toppers points to lead AL players, more than double the points of the AL leading batter Nelson Cruz of the Twins, 12.5 (2.58 times as many points).

• 2020: Trevor Bauer of the Reds had 10.0 Box-Toppers points to lead NL players, more than double the points of the NL leading batter Marcell Ozuna of the Braves, 4.5 (2.22 times as many points).

• 2021: Max Scherzer of the Dodgers had 25.1 Box-Toppers points to lead NL players, more than double the points of the NL leading batter Nick Castellanos of the Reds, 11.5 (2.18 times as many points).

In 2022, this eight-year streak was broken and in 2024, for the third straight season, both league’s top batters had more than half of the point total of the league’s top pitcher:

• NL batting leader Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers (11.0) had 51 percent of the points of NL pitching leader Zack Wheeler of the Phillies (21.4).

• AL batting leader Aaron Judge of the Yankees (13.0) had 62 percent of the points of AL pitching leader Tarik Skubal of the Tigers (21.1).

Box-Toppers leaders coinciding with postseason awards

Has there ever been a year in which the leaders of the four Box-Toppers point categories (each league’s batters and pitchers) won all four major postseason awards (each league’s Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Awards)?

No.

However, five times in the past 30 seasons three of the four Box-Toppers points leaders won postseason awards, including in 2024:

• 1997: Roger Clemens of the Blue Jays won AL Cy Young, Pedro Martinez of the Expos won NL Cy Young and Larry Walker of the Rockies won NL MVP. (AL batting Box-Toppers points leader Juan Gonzalez of the Rangers—16.3 Box-Toppers points—finished ninth in AL MVP voting. Ken Griffey Jr. of the Mariners—second among AL batters with 15.3 Box-Toppers points—was AL MVP.)

• 2009: Zack Greinke of the Royals won AL Cy Young, Tim Lincecum of the Giants won NL Cy Young and Albert Pujols of the Cardinals won NL MVP. (AL batting Box-Toppers points leader Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers—16.5 Box-Toppers points—finished fourth in AL MVP voting. Joe Mauer of the Twins—12th among AL batters with 9.2 Box-Toppers points—was AL MVP.)

• 2013: Max Scherzer of the Tigers won AL Cy Young, Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers won NL Cy Young and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers won AL MVP. (NL batting Box-Toppers points leader Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks—13.7 Box-Toppers points—finished second in NL MVP voting. Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates—who finished 22nd among NL batters with 6.0 Box-Toppers points—was NL MVP.)

• 2022: Justin Verlander of the Astros won AL Cy Young, Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins won NL Cy Young and Aaron Judge of the Yankees won AL MVP. (NL batting Box-Toppers points leader Pete Alonso of the Mets—14.9 points—finished eighth in NL MVP voting. Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals—seventh among NL batters with 7.5 points—was NL MVP.)

• 2024: Tarik Skubal of the Tigers won AL Cy Young, Aaron Judge of the Yankees won AL MVP and Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers won NL MVP. This is the only season both leagues’ Box-Toppers batting leaders won both MVP honors. (NL pitching Box-Toppers points leader Zack Wheeler of the Phillies—21.4 points—finished second in NL Cy Young voting. Chris Sale of the Braves—fourth among NL pitchers with 19.1 points—was voted NL Cy Young.)

Ten times in the past 30 seasons, including 2020, two of the leaders in Box-Toppers points categories also won postseason awards.

Eleven times, including 2023, only one of the Box-Toppers category leaders won a postseason award.

And only four times—including 2021—have all four Box-Toppers category leaders failed to win any of the major postseason awards. It also happened in 2003, 2012 and 2019.

Related

A look at Box-Toppers season-by-season AL & NL pitching & batting leaders, from 1995 on, at the close of recent past seasons: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023.