Box-Toppers top pitchers and batters by team in 2015

Who had the most Box-Toppers points on each team in 2015? Here is the breakdown with the top batter and pitcher on each team. Players are shown with their 2015 Box-Toppers point (BTP) total and their overall rank among all players. Batters who led all players on their team are listed in bold.  

AL teams Top pitcher Pos BTP Rank Top batter Pos BTP Rank
Angels Richards, Garrett 3042 pi sp 11.0 35 Trout, Mike 2949 cf 12.0 29
Astros Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp 21.4 4 Correa, Carlos 3506 ss 7.2 102
Athletics Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp 17.8 12 Reddick, Josh 2936 rf 8.2 75
Blue Jays Price, David 2593 pi sp 21.1 5 Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 dh 10.4 40
Indians Carrasco, Carlos 2885 pi sp 18.0 11 Santana, Carlos 2757 1b 4.5 209
Mariners Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp 19.4 8 Cano, Robinson 2092 2b 6.5 121
Orioles Britton, Zachary 2835 pi cp 8.7 66 Davis, Chris 2478 1b 11.0 36
Rangers Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp 15.4 15 Beltre, Adrian 1141 3b 12.5 27
Rays Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp 16.0 14 Souza, Steven Jr. 3461 rf 5.5 169
Red Sox Miley, Wade 3006 pi sp 7.0 109 Bradley, Jackie Jr. 3293 cf lf rf 9.5 55
Royals Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp 12.8 25 Hosmer, Eric 2886 1b 9.0 62
Tigers Simon, Alfredo 2718 pi sp 7.0 104 Kinsler, Ian 2144 2b 6.5 123
Twins Gibson, Kyle 3312 pi sp 8.0 83 Hunter, Torii 1190 rf dh 8.0 84
White Sox Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp 18.8 10 Eaton, Adam 3253 cf 5.5 168
Yankees Pineda, Michael 2841 pi sp 10.7 38 Drew, Stephen 2210 2b 8.0 87
NL teams Top pitcher Pos BTP Rank Top batter Pos BTP Rank
Braves Miller, Shelby 3134 pi sp 10.0 44 Markakis, Nick 2116 rf 4.5 216
Brewers Nelson, Jimmy 3299 pi sp 8.4 73 Lind, Adam 2238 1b dh 6.5 124
Cardinals Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp 13.7 19 Grichuk, Randal 3474 rf lf cf 9.5 56
Cubs Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp 29.1 1 Rizzo, Anthony 3063 1b 8.5 68
Dbacks De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 pi sp 6.0 141 Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 1b 10.2 42
Dodgers Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp 25.7 2 Ethier, Andre 2137 rf lf 6.5 125
Giants Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp 17.0 13 Duffy, Matt 3504 3b 6.2 131
Marlins Ramos, A.J. 3210 pi cp 5.0 190 Bour, Justin 3433 1b 8.5 70
Mets deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp 22.4 3 Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 lf cf 10.9 37
Nationals Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp 21.0 6 Harper, Bryce 3011 lf rf 9.0 63
Padres Shields, James 2157 pi sp 7.4 101 Upton, Justin 2411 lf 9.0 61
Phillies Harang, Aaron 1599 pi sp 5.1 175 Howard, Ryan 2040 1b 5.5 163
Pirates Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp 19.0 9 McCutchen, Andrew 2637 cf 10.5 39
Reds Chapman, Aroldis 2826 pi cp 8.0 80 Frazier, Todd 2929 3b 8.9 64
Rockies De La Rosa, Jorge 1970 pi sp 6.0 142 Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 rf 11.5 31
What are those numbers after players' names?

Box-Toppers' high players by team does not include AL MVP Donaldson, who ranked 3rd among Blue Jays batters

Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays may have been voted American League 2015 Most Valuable Player but he was not even his team’s top batter in Box-Toppers points.

Donaldson, in fact, ranked third among Blue Jays batters, but it was close. Donaldson had 9.9 Box-Toppers points in 2015, behind teammates Edwin Encarnacion (10.4) and Jose Bautista (10.0).

The chart here shows pitchers and batters with the most Box-Toppers points on each team in 2015.

While AL MVP Donaldson was not among his team’s top batters in Box-Toppers points, the other major award winners did lead their teams (or team batters) in Box-Toppers points:

  • National League Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta led all Cubs (and all players in 2015) with 29.1 Box-Toppers points.
  • American League Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel led all Astros (and all AL players) with 21.4 Box-Toppers points.
  • National League Most Valuable Player Bryce Harper led all Nationals batters with 9.0 Box-Toppers points. However, he ranked fourth among all Nationals players (behind three pitchers) and seventh among all NL batters.

Pitchers were the overall team leader in Box-Toppers points in more than two-thirds of the cases—pitchers led 21 teams, while batters had the highest Box-Toppers point total on nine teams. They are:

  • Angels—Mike Trout had 12.0 Box-Toppers points, 29th among all players, beating the top pitcher Garrett Richards (11.0).
  • Orioles—Chris Davis (11.0, ranked 36th) outranked the team’s top pitcher Zach Britton (8.7).
  • Red Sox—Jackie Bradley Jr. (9.5, ranked 55th) outranked Wade Miley (7.0).
  • Diamondbacks—Paul Goldschmidt (10.2, ranked 42nd) outranked Rubby De La Rosa (6.0).
  • Marlins—Justin Bour (8.5, ranked 70th) outranked A.J. Ramos (5.0).
  • Padres—Justin Upton (9.0, ranked 61st) outranked James Shields (7.4).
  • Phillies—Ryan Howard (5.5, ranked 163rd) outranked Aaron Harang (5.1).
  • Reds—Todd Frazier (8.9, ranked 64th) outranked Aroldis Chapman (8.0).
  • Rockies—Carlos Gonzalez (11.5, ranked 31st and first among NL batters) outranked Jorge De La Rosa (6.0).

In six cases, the top overall player on a team had more than 20.0 Box-Toppers points on the season—Astros, Blue Jays, Cubs, Dodgers, Mets and Nationals. But in eight cases, the top overall player on a team had fewer than 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015—Red Sox, Tigers, Twins, Brewers, Marlins, Padres, Phillies and Reds.

The six teams with top players having more than 20.0 Box-Toppers points were among the top 11 ranked teams in Box-Toppers’ year-end team power rankings, ranging from the Cubs ranking third to the Nationals ranking 11th. The eight teams with the top players having fewer than 10.0 Box-Toppers points ranked in the bottom half of teams in Box-Toppers team rankings, ranging from the Twins ranking 16th to the Phillies ranking in 30th and last place.

The lowest-ranked player to lead his team’s pitchers in Box-Toppers points is A.J. Ramos of the Marlins, who had 5.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 190th among all players.

The lowest-ranked player to lead his team’s batters in Box-Toppers points is Nick Markakis of the Braves, who had 4.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked 216th among all players.

And the lowest-ranked player to lead all pitchers and batters on his team in Box-Toppers points is Ryan Howard of the Phillies, who had 5.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked 163rd among all players.

Starting pitchers outnumbered closers as team’s top pitcher, 27-3. The three closing pitchers who led their team’s pitchers in Box-Toppers points are:

  • Zach Britton of the Orioles with 8.7 Box-Toppers points.
  • A.J. Ramos of the Marlins with 5.0 Box-Toppers points.
  • Aroldis Chapman of the Reds with 8.0 Box-Toppers points.

The highest ranked player who did not lead his team’s pitchers or batters in Box-Toppers points is Zack Greinke of the Dodgers, who with 20.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked seventh among all players. However, Greinke ranked second among Dodgers players behind pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who had 25.7 Box-Toppers points, second among all players. In the offseason, Greinke signed a free-agent deal to play with the Diamondbacks starting in 2016.

Interesting/uninteresting fact—Rubby and Jorge De La Rosa, not related, both led their team’s pitchers in Box-Toppers points with the exact same point total—6.0. Both players finished behind a batter for the overall Box-Toppers points lead among players on their team. And both finished in consecutive spots in Box-Toppers overall player rankings—Rubby of the Diamondbacks finished 141st and Jorge of the Rockies finished 142nd. (Rubby held the tiebreaker advantage because he had more Box-Toppers points in 2014—4.0 vs. 3.7.)

Note—Players are listed on the team with whom they finished the 2015 season. Yoenis Cespedes, for example, is listed with the Mets, though he earned only 4.2 of his 10.9 Box-Toppers points with that team. (However, that was still more than any other Mets batter earned in 2015. Next highest batter is Curtis Granderson with 4.0.)

About Box-Toppers—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.

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