Box-Toppers' top player Clayton Kershaw wins NL MVP; top-ranked AL batter Jose Abreu finishes behind Mike Trout for AL MVP

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2014, was voted National League Most Valuable Player Thursday.

Center fielder Mike Trout of the Angels was the unanimous choice for American League Most Valuable Player, though Trout ranked seventh among AL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2014.

The awards are voted on by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. 

Box-Toppers’ top-ranked batters in both leagues—Jose Abreu of the White Sox and Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies—did not win an MVP. However, Abreu finished fourth in AL MVP voting and Tulowitzki received one 10th place vote in NL MVP voting.

Kershaw, who won his third Cy Young Award in four years on Wednesday, dominated all players in Box-Toppers points with 31.5, the most by any player in a single season since 2002 and the fourth-highest single-season point total since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. He is the fourth pitcher to win MVP in either league in the past 30 years.

AL MVP Trout, however, ranked behind six other AL batters in Box-Toppers points (see the top 10 AL batters for 2014), ranked 40th among all AL players and 78th among all players. Trout, with 8.5 Box-Toppers points, had slightly more than half the points as the AL leader among batters, Abreu (15.5). 

Abreu simply was key to his team’s wins more often than Trout. Abreu earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors 12 times during the season (including winning AL Batter of the Day honors five times), while Trout earned Player of the Game honors eight times (earning AL Batter of the Day honors just once).

Abreu, who won AL Rookie of the Year honors Monday, had the most Box-Toppers points of any batter in either league. He ranked 14th among all players.

Tulowitzki had a huge lead in Box-Toppers points among NL batters, despite an injury and subsequent surgery which limited his playing time to just over half the season—he played in only 91 games. Still he earned 11.6 Box-Toppers points—Buster Posey of the Giants was second place with 8.5. He was Box-Toppers Player of the Game eight times (including winning NL Player of the Day three times and NL Batter of the Day twice). And Tulowitzki held his commanding lead in Box-Toppers points even though he earned his final points July 9.

Because of his limited playing time, it was unlikely Tulowitzki would be considered for a postseason award no matter how impressive his limited season was. However, he did receive one point in voting when he received a single 10th-place vote from baseball writer Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.

The batters with the highest Box-Toppers points who did not receive votes were:

• In the AL: Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays, 9.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked fifth among AL bates and 63rd among all players. Encarnacion had more Box-Toppers points than AL MVP Trout.

• In the NL: Adam LaRoche of the Nationals, 8.2 Box-Toppers points, ranked fifth among NL batters and 81st overall.

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.

National League Most Valuable Player Award voting

Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers was voted NL Most Valuable Player. Below are the NL players in order of their voting finish, shown with their first- through 10th-place votes and their voting points total. Also shown are each player’s Box-Toppers points (BTP) for 2014 and their overall rank in points among all players. Top NL batter in Box-Toppers points, Troy Tulowitzki, is highlighted in red below:

NL player Team Pos 1st 2nd 3rd 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts BTP Rnk
Clayton Kershaw Dodgers pi sp 18 9 1 2 355 31.5 1
Giancarlo Stanton Marlins rf 8 10 12 298 6.7 130
Andrew McCutchen Pirates cf 4 10 15 1 271 6.5 137
Jonathan Lucroy Brewers ca 1 13 6 7 1 167 6.7 132
Anthony Rendon Nationals 2b 3b
1 5 8 10 2 1 1 1 155 4.5
233
Buster Posey Giants ca 1 6 9 6 3 1 1 1 152 8.5 76
Adrian Gonzalez Dodgers 1b 1 4 2 3 3 1 57 7.2 101
Adam Wainwright Cardinals pi sp 1 4 4 3 2 53 18.7 8
Josh Harrison Pirates 2b 3b
1
2 5 1 4 4 52 2.0 444
Anthony Rizzo Cubs 1b 1 4 2 3 4 37 6.5 138
Hunter Pence Giants rf 1 3 2 3 1 34 2.5 367
Johnny Cueto Reds pi sp 1 3 2 2 22 22.4 4
Russell Martin Pirates ca 2 3 1 2 21 4.5 228
Matt Holliday Cardinals lf 1 1 2 17 7.5 97
Jhonny Peralta Cardinals ss 1 2 3 1 17 6.0 112
Carlos Gomez Brewers cf 2 3 1 13 3.5 290
Justin Upton Braves lf 1 1 4 10 8.2 80
Jayson Werth Nationals rf 1 1 3 9 3.0 308
Denard Span Nationals cf 1 1 8 2.5 382
Yasiel Puig Dodgers rf 2 1 8 1.0 593
Devin Mesoraco Reds ca 1 1 5 7.0 114
Lucas Duda Mets 1b 1 3 8.5 79
Freddie Freeman Braves 1b 1 2 7.7 91
Justin Morneau Rockies 1b 1 2 3.2 303
Dee Gordon Dodgers 2b 1 1 5.0 203
Troy Tulowitzki Rockies ss 1 1 11.6 39
*Adam LaRoche Nationals 1b 0 8.2 81

* Batter with highest Box-Toppers point total in the league who did not receive any MVP votes.

American League Most Valuable Player Award voting

Mike Trout of the Angels was voted AL Most Valuable Player. Below are the AL players in order of their voting finish, shown with their first- through 10th-place votes and their voting points total. Also shown are each player’s Box-Toppers points (BTP) for 2014 and their overall rank in points among all players. Top AL batter in Box-Toppers points, Jose Abreu, is highlighted in red below:

AL player Team Pos 1st 2nd 3rd 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts BTP Rnk
Mike Trout Angels cf 30 420 8.5 78
Victor Martinez Tigers dh 16 4 3 3 2 1 229 5.5 176
Michael Brantley Indians lf 8 6 5 4 1 1 1 1 191 3.5 283
Jose Abreu White Sox lf 1 6 3 1 6 5 2 2 1 145 15.5 14
Robinson Cano Mariners 2b 1 1 6 5 2 4 2 1 1 124 6.5 135
Jose Bautista Blue Jays rf cf 1 1 3 8 4 1 5 3 122 6.5 139
Nelson Cruz Orioles dh lf 6 3 2 2 2 1 1 102 8.5 77
Josh Donaldson Athletics 3b 1 2 2 3 3 6 5 2 96 10.5 53
Miguel Cabrera Tigers 1b 1 2 2 2 2 1 6 5 82 12.5 28
Felix Hernandez Mariners pi sp 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 48 20.8 6
Corey Kluber Indians pi sp 1 1 2 3 2 2 45 25.8 2
Alex Gordon Royals lf 1 1 2 2 3 1 2 44 3.0 203
Jose Altuve Astros 2b 1 3 3 3 9 41 3.5 291
Adam Jones Orioles cf 1 3 1 1 2 2 34 11.5 40
Adrian Beltre Rangers 3b 1 5 1 1 22 0.0 733
Greg Holland Royals pi cp 1 1 1 13 7.0 106
Albert Pujols Angels dh 1b
1
1 5 7.5 98
Howie Kendrick Angels 2b 1 3 4.5 225
James Shields Royals pi sp 1 3 13.7 22
Kyle Seager Mariners 3b 1 1 8.0 89
*Edwin Encarnacion Blue Jays 1b dh
0 9.5 63

* Batter with highest Box-Toppers point total in the league who did not receive any MVP votes.

Box-Toppers complete postseason awards coverage

Here are links to more details on each of baseball’s 2014 postseason awards, including Box-Toppers points leaders in each category and the full voting results and analysis:

Silver Slugger Awards

Box-Toppers points leaders win only four of the 18 awards in each position, voted on by baseball coaches and managers.

Rookie of the Year Awards

Box-Toppers points leaders win both the AL award (Jose Abreu of the White Sox) and NL award (Jacob deGrom of the Mets) as voted by baseball writers.

Cy Young Awards

Box-Toppers points leaders win both the AL award (Corey Kluber of the Indians) and NL award (Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers) as voted by baseball writers.

Most Valuable Player Awards

Box-Toppers overall points leader Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers, a pitcher, wins the NL MVP, as voted by baseball writers. However, the leader in Box-Toppers points among AL batters, Jose Abreu of the White Sox, finishes behind the AL MVP as voted by baseball writers, Mike Trout of the Angels.