Here are final standings of top 10 players by category (AL & NL pitching & batting) in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Oct. 2.
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL PITCHERS* | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.2 | 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 25.7 | |
| 2 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 17.8 | 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.4 | |
| 3 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 14.7 | 3 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 22.1 | |
| 4 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | det al | 14.7 | 4 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 | |
| 5 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 14.1 | 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 16.4 | |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 13.4 | 6 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.7 | |
| 7 | Fulmer, Michael 3640 | pi sp | det al | 12.7 | 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 | |
| 8 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 12.5 | 8 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 | |
| 9 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 12.4 | 9 | Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.4 | |
| 10 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 12.4 | 10 | Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.4 | |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b ss | bal al | 12.7 | 1 | Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | col nl | 10.7 | |
| 2 | Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 12.5 | 2 | Bryant, Kris 3465 | lf 3b rf | chi nl | 10.5 | |
| 3 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 12.5 | 3 | Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | lf | mil nl | 10.5 | |
| 4 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 12.0 | 4 | Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 10.5 | |
| 5 | Wieters, Matt 2643 | ca | bal al | 11.0 | 5 | Myers, Wil 3228 | 1b | sd nl | 9.7 | |
| 6 | Martin, Russell 2202 | ca | tor al | 10.5 | 6 | Carpenter, Matt 2987 | 3b 1b 2b | stl nl | 9.5 | |
| 7 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | tor al | 9.7 | 7 | Carter, Chris 2828 | 1b | mil nl | 9.5 | |
| 8 | Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | tex al | 9.5 | 8 | Bruce, Jay 2453 | rf | nym nl | 8.5 | |
| 9 | Seager, Kyle 3031 | 3b | sea al | 9.5 | 9 | Suarez, Eugenio 3355 | 3b | cin nl | 8.5 | |
| 10 | Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | tex al | 9.2 | 10 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | cf lf | nym nl | 8.0 |
* NOTE: Jose Fernandez had 24.4 Box-Toppers points and would rank third among NL pitchers. Fernandez, who played for the Miami Marlins, died in a boating accident Sept. 25.
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Box-Toppers Player of the Year for 2016.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Oct. 2 (2016 final standings):| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 25.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.4 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | died* | 22.4 |
| 4 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 22.1 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.2 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 17.8 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 16.4 |
| 9 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.7 |
| 10 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
* Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident Sept. 25. His team was the Miami Marlins.
Scherzer earned 25.7 Box-Toppers points in 2016, winning the crown by 1.3 points over second-place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (24.4), who finishes second for the second straight season. Scherzer also won the National League Player of the Year crown.
Other category leaders:
Box-Toppers American League Player of the Year—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber had 21.2 points, finishing 3.4 points ahead of second-place AL pitcher Cole Hamels of the Rangers (17.8). Kluber ranks fifth among all players. This is the second season Kluber has led AL pitchers; he also led in 2014 with 25.8 points.
Box-Toppers American League Batter of the Year—Manny Machado of the Orioles had 12.7 points, finishing 0.2 points ahead both second- and third-place players, Mike Trout of the Angels and Jose Altuve of the Astros (both with 12.5). Machado ranks 21st among all players.
Box-Toppers National League Batter of the Year—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies had 10.7 points, finishing 0.2 points ahead of second-, third- and fourth-ranked players, Kris Bryant of the Cubs, Ryan Braun of the Brewers and Joey Votto of the Reds (all with 10.5). Arenado ranks 42nd among all players.
Box-Toppers Players of the Year
Here are Box-Toppers Player of the Year winners in each season of Box-Toppers tracking (since 1995). Player of the Year is the player with the season’s highest Box-Toppers point (BTP) total:| Year | Player | Pos | Team | BTP |
| 1995 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Mariners | 23.7 |
| 1996 | John Smoltz | pi sp | Braves | 26.1 |
| 1997 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | Blue Jays | 27.4 |
| 1998 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Astros† | 26.4 |
| 1999 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Dbacks | 31.5 |
| 2000 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Dbacks | 33.7 |
| 2001 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Dbacks | 29.4 |
| 2002 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Dbacks | 33.7 |
| 2003 | Jason Schmidt | pi sp | Giants | 24.7 |
| 2004 | Johan Santana | pi sp | Twins | 26.8 |
| 2005 | Johan Santana | pi sp | Twins | 24.1 |
| 2006 | Johan Santana | pi sp | Twins | 25.7 |
| 2007 | Jake Peavy | pi sp | Padres | 23.4 |
| 2008 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | Brewers | 26.7 |
| 2009 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | Royals | 21.5 |
| 2010 | Jon Lester | pi sp | Red Sox | 23.4 |
| 2011 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 26.1 |
| 2012 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | Tigers | 24.8 |
| 2013 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 21.7 |
| 2014 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 31.5 |
| 2015 | Jake Arrieta | pi sp | Cubs | 29.1 |
| 2016 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | Nationals | 25.7 |
| † Played for Mariners before trade to Astros. | ||||
Arenado’s 10.7 points is the lowest total to lead a category in Box-Toppers’ 22-season history (See Lowest point total to lead category chart). The previous record was set in 2015 when Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies led NL batters with 11.5 points. Interestingly, prior to that, the record was 2014 when Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies led NL batters with 11.6. So not only has the low-point record been broken three years in a row, it has been broken each time by a batter from the Colorado Rockies.
Machado’s 12.7 point total to lead AL batters came close to breaking the all-time low for AL batters (set in 2015, when Adrian Beltre of the Rangers led the category with 12.5 points). While Machado escaped setting an all-time low, his 12.7 is the seventh-lowest total to lead a category in Box-Toppers’ 22-year history, the third-lowest among AL batting leaders.
Interestingly, eight of the 10 lowest point totals to lead a Box-Toppers category have happened in the past five seasons, since 2012. Each time it was an AL or NL batter that had the top 10-lowest point total. In fact, the only two times in the past five seasons that a Box-Toppers batting leader has not been in the dubious low-10 list were:
2013—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers led AL batters with 16.9 points.
2014—Jose Abreu of the White Sox led AL batters with 15.5.
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Lowest points to lead category
Nolan Arenado of the Rockies set the record for lowest Box-Toppers point total to win a season category—his 10.7 points led National League batters in 2016. Here are the lowest-point totals to win a league category in the 22 seasons of Box-Toppers record keeping:| Player | Team | BTP | Category | |
| 1 | Nolan Arenado | col nl | 10.7 | 2016 NL bat |
| 2 | Carlos Gonzalez | col nl | 11.5 | 2015 NL bat |
| 3 | Troy Tulowitzki | col nl | 11.6 | 2014 NL bat |
| 4 | Adrian Beltre | tex al | 12.5 | 2015 AL bat |
| 4 | Aubrey Huff | bal al | 12.5 | 2008 AL bat |
| 6 | Ryan Braun | mil nl | 12.5 | 2012 NL bat |
| 7 | Manny Machado | bal al | 12.7 | 2016 AL bat |
| 8 | Adrian Beltre | tex al | 13.0 | 2012 AL bat |
| 9 | Paul Goldschmidt | ari nl | 13.7 | 2013 NL bat |
| 9 | Bret Boone | sea al | 13.7 | 2001 AL bat |
At the last Box-Toppers player rankings report on Sept. 22, there were four players who had a chance to take the lead from Scherzer—Kershaw and three other players, including Kluber, Jon Lester of the Cubs (who finished fourth among all players with 22.1) and Jose Fernandez.
Obviously, none caught him. And one of those players, Fernandez, was killed Sept. 25 in a boating accident in Miami where he played for the Marlins. Fernandez had 22.4 Box-Toppers points, third-most among all players this season.
This season, 730 different players have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. There are 395 players who have more than 2.0 Box-Toppers points and 54 with 10.0 or more points. There are 151 players who have made their Box-Toppers debut so far this season (12 since Sept. 22), the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors.
Here are comparisons with those numbers from the previous two seasons:
- Players earning Player of the Game honors—2015 (751), 2014 (722).
- Players earning more than 2.0 Box-Toppers points—2015 (402), 2014 (399).
- Players earning 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points—2015 (47), 2014 (58).
- Players making their Box-Toppers debut—2015 (172), 2014 (135).
About Box-Toppers—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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