Here are the top 10 players by category (AL & NL pitching & batting) in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 22.
| 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 | 24.7 | |
| 2 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 | 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 | |
| 3 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 14.7 | 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 22.4 | |
| 4 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 14.1 | 4 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 21.1 | |
| 5 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 13.4 | 5 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.7 | |
| 6 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | det al | 12.7 | 6 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 | |
| 7 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 12.5 | 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 | |
| 8 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 12.4 | 8 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 | |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 12.4 | 9 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.7 | |
| 10 | Fulmer, Michael 3640 | pi sp | det al | 11.7 | 10 | Lackey, John 1640 | 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 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 12.5 | 2 | Bryant, Kris 3465 | lf 3b rf | chi nl | 10.5 | |
| 3 | Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 11.0 | 3 | Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | lf | mil nl | 10.5 | |
| 4 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 11.0 | 4 | Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 10.5 | |
| 5 | Martin, Russell 2202 | ca | tor al | 10.5 | 5 | Carpenter, Matt 2987 | 3b 1b 2b | stl nl | 8.5 | |
| 6 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | tor al | 9.7 | 6 | Carter, Chris 2828 | 1b | mil nl | 8.5 | |
| 7 | Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | tex al | 9.5 | 7 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | cf lf | nym nl | 8.0 | |
| 8 | Seager, Kyle 3031 | 3b | sea al | 9.5 | 8 | LeMahieu, DJ 3091 | 2b | col nl | 8.0 | |
| 9 | Wieters, Matt 2643 | ca | bal al | 9.5 | 9 | Tomas, Yasmany 3489 | rf lf | ari nl | 7.7 | |
| 10 | Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | tex al | 9.2 | 10 | Kemp, Matt 2151 | rf lf | atl nl | 7.5 |
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer leads Box-Toppers player rankings, but any of the top five players could contend for the season crown with a little more than a week to go in the season.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 22:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 24.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 22.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 21.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym al | 15.7 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 |
| 9 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| 10 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 14.7 |
Meanwhile, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber this week appears to have an insurmountable lead among American League pitchers in Box-Toppers points for the season.
Plus, Nolan Arenado of the Rockies becomes the new Box-Toppers points leader among National League batters this week, but four players are within 0.2 points of each other, making it a wide open race with only 10 days to go in the season.
Scherzer leads all players for the fifth straight week with 24.7 Box-Toppers points, but his lead has narrowed slightly. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22.7 points) is 2.0 points behind and could pass Scherzer if he wins Player of the Day honors in his next start, scheduled for Saturday.
In addition to Kershaw, three other players have a chance to lead in Box-Toppers points at season’s end:
- Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (22.4 Box-Toppers points) is 2.3 points behind.
- Kluber (21.2 points) is 3.5 points behind.
- Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (21.1) is 3.6 points behind.
Scherzer leads all players in Box-Toppers points and also leads NL pitchers.
American League pitchers—Kluber has all but secured the Box-Toppers 2016 AL pitching crown. His 21.2 point total is 4.4 points ahead of second-place AL pitcher, Cole Hamels of the Rangers (16.8). Hamels would need at least three starts to catch Kluber and likely only has two starts, at most, remaining this season. Kluber ranks fourth among all players in Box-Toppers points.
National League batters—Arenado rose this week to lead NL batters with 10.7 Box-Toppers points, passing previous leader Kris Bryant of the Cubs (10.5). Two other NL batters also have 10.5 points this season—third-ranked Ryan Braun of the Brewers and fourth-ranked Joey Votto of the Reds.
Only 3.2 Box-Toppers points separate the 10th-ranked NL batter (Matt Kemp of the Braves with 7.5) from the top-ranked NL batter. A late push by any in the NL batting top 10 list could result in that player topping the list at season’s end.
If Arenado’s lead with 10.7 points stands with a little more than week to go in the season, it would be the lowest point total to lead a category in Box-Toppers’ 22-season history. The record was set in 2015 when Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies led NL batters with 11.5 points. Interestingly, the previous record was 2014 when Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies led NL batters with 11.6. So if Arenado’s lead holds, not only will the low-point record be broken three years in a row, it will be broken each time by a batter from the Colorado Rockies.
Arenado ranks 36th among all players in Box-Toppers points this season.
American League batters—Manny Machado of the Orioles continues to lead with 12.7 Box-Toppers points, 20th among all players. He holds a 0.2-point lead over second-place player Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5). There are 3.5 points separating 10th-place player Elvis Andrus of the Rangers (9.2) from Machado, making it not out of the realm of possibility for any of the top 10 players to rise to the top spot by season’s end.
Last year, in the next-to-last (and also penultimate) player rankings report, Adrian Beltre of the Rangers ranked sixth among AL batters with 9.5 Box-Toppers points. In the season’s final 10 days, he picked up 3.0 Box-Toppers points and ended 2015 in first place among AL batters with 12.5. This year, Beltre ranks seventh among AL batters with the same 9.5-point total he had a year ago. He’d need 3.2 points to catch leader Machado.
So far this season, 703 different players have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. There are 378 players who have more than 2.0 Box-Toppers points. There are 139 players who have made their Box-Toppers debut so far this season (four in the past week), the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors.
This is the penultimate (and also next-to-last) Box-Toppers player rankings report for the 2016 season. There will be no regular report next Friday, Sept. 30—the final report will come after the season’s final games, scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 2.
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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