| AL teams | Top pitcher | Pos | BTP | Rank | Top batter | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Angels | Nolasco, Ricky 2125 | pi sp | 11.4 | 36 | Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | 12.5 | 25 | |
| Astros | McHugh, Collin 3316 | pi sp | 10.7 | 40 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | 12.5 | 26 | |
| Athletics | Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | 6.7 | 135 | Davis, Khris 3242 | lf dh | 6.7 | 128 | |
| Blue Jays | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | 14.7 | 11 | Martin, Russell 2202 | ca | 10.5 | 48 | |
| Indians | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | 21.2 | 5 | Lindor, Francisco 3586 | ss | 7.0 | 199 | |
| Mariners | Walker, Taijuan 3453 | pi sp | 7.7 | 95 | Seager, Kyle 3031 | 3b | 9.5 | 61 | |
| Orioles | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | 10.8 | 39 | Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b ss | 12.7 | 21 | |
| Rangers | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | 17.8 | 6 | Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | 9.5 | 59 | |
| Rays | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | 9.0 | 65 | Longoria, Evan 2423 | 3b | 6.5 | 141 | |
| Red Sox | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | 12.4 | 27 | Ortiz, David | dh | 8.0 | 90 | |
| Royals | Duffy, Danny 2915 | pi sp | 10.7 | 44 | Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | 8.5 | 70 | |
| Tigers | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | 14.7 | 12 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | 12.0 | 33 | |
| Twins | Santiago, Hector 3109 | pi sp | 11.4 | 35 | Kepler, Max 3664 | rf | 6.5 | 146 | |
| White Sox | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | 13.4 | 15 | Frazier, Todd 2929 | 3b | 6.2 | 150 | |
| Yankees | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | 14.1 | 14 | Castro, Starlin 2767 | 2b ss | 7.9 | 112 | |
| NL teams | Top pitcher | Pos | BTP | Rank | Top batter | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Braves | Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | 10.7 | 43 | Kemp, Matt 2151 | rf lf | 7.5 | 101 | |
| Brewers | Guerra, Junior 3633 | pi sp | 9.0 | 68 | Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | lf | 10.5 | 47 | |
| Cardinals | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | 12.4 | 29 | Carpenter, Matt 2987 | 3b 1b 2b | 9.5 | 60 | |
| Cubs | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | 22.1 | 4 | Bryant, Kris 3465 | lf 3b rf | 10.5 | 46 | |
| Dbacks | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | 9.7 | 56 | Tomas, Yasmany 3489 | rf lf | 7.7 | 98 | |
| Dodgers | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | 24.4 | 2 | Grandal, Yasmani 3058 | ca | 7.2 | 106 | |
| Giants | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | 16.4 | 8 | Belt, Brandon 2943 | 1b | 7.0 | 118 | |
| Marlins | * Phelps, David 2994 | pi sp mr | 6.7 | 130 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | 6.5 | 138 | |
| Mets | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | 16.7 | 7 | Bruce, Jay 2453 | rf | 8.5 | 73 | |
| Nationals | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | 25.7 | 1 | Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | 7.5 | 103 | |
| Padres | Hand, Brad 2907 | pi mr | 5.0 | 214 | Myers, Wil 3228 | 1b | 9.7 | 58 | |
| Phillies | Hellickson, Jeremy 2778 | pi sp | 13.1 | 18 | Rupp, Cameron 3556 | ca | 6.5 | 145 | |
| Pirates | Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi mr sp | 9.0 | 67 | McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | cf | 7.0 | 109 | |
| Reds | Finnegan, Brandon 3535 | pi sp | 7.0 | 117 | Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | 10.5 | 49 | |
| Rockies | Chatwood, Tyler 2856 | pi sp | 7.0 | 122 | Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | 10.7 | 42 |
What are those numbers after players' names?
Box-Toppers' top players by team does not include AL Cy Young Porcello, who ranked 6th among Red Sox
Three of the four players who won Cy Young or Most Valuable Player awards in 2016 also led their team’s pitchers or batters in Box-Toppers points in 2016.
The only exception: American League Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello did not lead Red Sox pitchers in Box-Toppers points. In fact, with only 8.0 Box-Toppers points, he finished fifth among Red Sox pitchers and sixth among all Red Sox players. While Porcello led all pitchers with 22 wins in 2016, he was frequently beat by his teammates for Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in Red Sox wins.
Porcello finished behind Red Sox overall leader, pitcher David Price (12.4 Box-Toppers points), pitcher Drew Pomeranz (12.4—Price ranks ahead of Pomeranz because he had more Box-Toppers points in 2015, 21.1 vs. 3.0), pitcher Steven Wright (8.4), closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel (8.0) and Red Sox batting leader David Ortiz (8.0). (Kimbrel and Ortiz rank ahead of Porcello because they had more Box-Toppers points in 2015.)
The chart here shows pitchers and batters with the most Box-Toppers points on each team in 2016.
While AL Cy Young winner Porcello was not among his team’s top pitchers in Box-Toppers points, the other major award winners did lead their teams (or team’s batters) in Box-Toppers points:
- National League Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer led all Nationals players (and all players in 2016) with 25.7 Box-Toppers points.
- American League Most Valuable Player Mike Trout led all Angels players with 12.5 Box-Toppers points. Trout ranked second among AL batters, behind Manny Machado of the Orioles (12.7).
- National League Most Valuable Player Kris Bryant led all Cubs batters with 10.5 Box-Toppers points. However, he ranked sixth among all Cubs players behind their dominant five-pitcher starting rotation: Jon Lester (22.1 Box-Toppers points), Jake Arrieta (15.7), John Lackey (13.4), Kyle Hendricks (13.4) and Jason Hammel (13.0) all finished among the overall top 20 players in Box-Toppers points for 2016. Bryant ranked second among NL batters, behind Nolan Arenado of the Orioles (10.7).
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 12.5 Box-Toppers points, 25th among all players, beating the team’s top pitcher Ricky Nolasco (11.4).
- Astros—Jose Altuve had 12.5 Box-Toppers points, 26th among all players, outranking the team’s top pitcher Collin McHugh (10.7).
- Athletics—Khris Davis had 6.7 Box-Toppers points, outranking Sean Manaea (6.7). (Though they had the same Box-Toppers point total, Davis outranked Manaea because he had more Box-Toppers points in 2015—4.0 vs. 0.0.)
- Mariners—Kyle Seager had 9.5 Box-Toppers points, outranking Taijuan Walker (7.7).
- Orioles—Manny Machado had 12.7 Box-Toppers points, outranking Kevin Gausman (10.8).
- Brewers—Ryan Braun had 10.5 Box-Toppers points, outranking Junior Guerra (9.0).
- Padres—Wil Myers had 9.7 Box-Toppers points, outranking Brad Hand (5.0).
- Reds—Joey Votto had 10.5 Box-Toppers points, outranking Brandon Finnegan (7.0).
- Rockies—Nolan Arenado had 10.7 Box-Toppers points, outranking Tyler Chatwood (7.0).
In four cases, the top overall player on a team had more than 20.0 Box-Toppers points on the season—Indians, Cubs, Dodgers and Nationals. But in seven cases, the top overall player on a team had fewer than 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016—Athletics, Mariners, Rays, Diamondbacks, Marlins, Padres and Pirates.
It should be noted that players are listed as team leaders actually finished the 2016 season on the team with whom their listed. For example, Matt Kemp is listed with the Braves, even though he also played for the Padres early in the season. But by the same token, the late Jose Fernandez is not listed with the Marlins. When he died in a boating accident Sept. 25, it was a week prior to the end of the season. Had he lived and finished the season, he would have been listed as Marlins team leader with 22.4 points. Instead, pitcher David Phelps (6.7 Box-Toppers points) is listed as Marlins team leader.
If Fernandez were listed as Marlins’ leader, then five teams (rather than four) would have had team leaders with more than 20.0 Box-Toppers points and six teams (rather than seven) would have had team leaders with fewer than 10.0 points.
The four teams that had players with more than 20.0 Box-Toppers points on their roster at the close of the season all finished in the top eight spots in Box-Toppers’ final team rankings, ranging from the Cubs in first place to the Nationals in eighth. (The Marlins finished the season in 22nd place; had Fernandez lived, his points would have put them in 12th place at season’s end.) The seven teams with the top players having fewer than 10.0 Box-Toppers points ranked as high as 14th (Mariners) and as low as 30th and last place (Padres).
The lowest-ranked player to lead his team’s players is Marlins pitcher David Phelps, who with 6.7 Box-Toppers points, ranks 130th among all players. (However, Fernandez had been the team leader with 22.4 until he died Sept. 25). The next lowest-ranked player to lead his team’s players is Khris Davis of the Athletics, who with 6.7 Box-Toppers points, ranks 128th.
The lowest-ranked player to lead his team’s batters is Todd Frazier of the White Sox, who with 6.2 Box-Toppers points, ranks 150th among all players.
The lowest-ranked player to lead his team’s pitchers is Brad Hand of the Padres, who with 5.0 Box-Toppers points, ranks 214th among all players. Hand is also the lowest-ranked player among the 60 listed top pitchers and batters by team.
Eighteen of the 60 players listed here rank outside of Box-Toppers top 100 players for 2016, including seven NL batters, six AL batters, four NL pitchers and only one AL pitcher (Sean Manaea of the Athletics, with 6.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 135th).
Nearly all players listed as top pitcher for their team are primarily starting pitchers—28 out of 30. Only Hand of the Padres and Pirates pitcher Juan Nicasio are listed primarily as middle relievers. Hand earned Box-Toppers points three times in 2016 as a middle reliever and twice as a closer. Nicasio earned Box-Toppers points four times in 2016 as a middle reliever and three times as a starter.
The highest-ranked player who did not lead his team’s pitchers or batters in Box-Toppers points (other than Fernandez) is Jake Arrieta of the Cubs, who with 15.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked ninth among all players and second among all Cubs, behind Jon Lester (22.1).
Of the 60 players listed here, 12 were also top pitcher or batter on their team in 2015: Pitchers Cole Hamels, Chris Archer, David Price, Chris Sale, Carlos Martinez, Clayton Kershaw, Johnny Cueto and Max Scherzer, plus batters Mike Trout, Adrian Beltre, Eric Hosmer and Andrew McCutchen.
Two of those 12 players were top player for one team in 2015 and top player for a different team in 2016:
- Price led Blue Jays players in 2015 with 21.1 Box-Toppers points and led Red Sox players in 2016 with 12.4.
- Cueto led Royals players in 2015 with 12.8 and led Giants players in 2016 with 16.4.
Nine of the 12 repeaters were top overall player on their team for the second straight year. In addition to Price and Cueto (who switched teams), they are:
- Cole Hamels, who led Rangers players in 2015 with 15.4 and in 2016 with 17.8.
- Chris Archer, who led Rays in 2015 with 16.0 and in 2016 with 9.0.
- Chris Sale, who led White Sox in 2015 with 18.8 and in 2016 with 13.4.
- Mike Trout, who led Angels in 2015 with 12.0 and in 2016 with 12.5.
- Carlos Martinez, who led Cardinals in 2015 with 13.7 and in 2016 with 12.4.
- Clayton Kershaw, who led Dodgers in 2015 with 25.7 and in 2016 with 24.4.
- Max Scherzer, who led Nationals in 2015 with 21.0 and in 2016 with 25.7.
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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
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