Here are Box-Toppers points leaders by position and by league for the current season (2017) and for this season and last season (2016-17) as of June 26. The top three outfielders and top four starting pitchers (SP) in each league over both time periods are shown. Also shown is closing pitcher (CP) with the most Box-Toppers points in each league over both time periods.


2017 leaders				2016-17 leaders
AL players	Team	BTP	Pos	AL players	Team	BTP
Healy, Ryon 3685	oak al	7.2	1B	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	14.0
Schoop, Jonathan 3307	bal al	4.5	2B	Altuve, Jose 3007	hou al	12.5
Goins, Ryan 3478	tor al	4.0	SS	Andrus, Elvis 2582	tex al	12.7
Sano, Miguel 3527	min al	7.5	3B	Machado, Manny 3087	bal al	15.2
Perez, Salvador 2972	kc al	4.5	CA	Martin, Russell 2202	tor al	10.5
Judge, Aaron 3767	nyy al	8.2	OF	Trout, Mike 2949	ana al	13.5
Mancini, Trey 3766	bal al	6.2	OF	Upton, Justin 2411	det al	10.7
Cabrera, Melky 2143	chi al	4.7	OF	Trumbo, Mark 2851	bal al	10.2
Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	cle al	6.2	DH	Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	cle al	14.2
Santana, Ervin 2005	min al	12.4	SP	Kluber, Corey 3200	cle al	27.2
Sale, Chris 2806	bos al	12.1	SP	Sale, Chris 2806	bos al	25.5
Carrasco, Carlos 2885	cle al	9.4	SP	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	cle al	21.8
McCullers, Lance 3488	hou al	9.4	SP	Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	nyy al	18.8
Kimbrel, Craig 2825	bos al	7.7	CP	Kimbrel, Craig 2825	bos al	15.7

NL players	Team	BTP	Pos	NL players	Team	BTP
Adams, Matt 3220	atl nl	6.5	1B	Votto, Joey 2366	cin nl	13.0
Gennett, Scooter 3254	cin nl	4.5	2B	Murphy, Daniel 2589	dc nl	10.5
Seager, Corey 3587	lad nl	4.0	SS	Seager, Corey 3587	lad nl	8.0
Arenado, Nolan 3306	col nl	4.5	3B	Arenado, Nolan 3306	col nl	15.2
Posey, Buster 2745	sf nl	5.5	CA	Wieters, Matt 2643	dc nl	11.0
Bruce, Jay 2453	nym nl	6.0	OF	Bruce, Jay 2453	nym nl	14.5
Harper, Bryce 3011	dc nl	6.0	OF	Bryant, Kris 3465	chi nl	12.0
Altherr, Aaron 3563	phi nl	6.0	OF	Braun, Ryan J. 2300	mil nl	11.5
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	16.4	SP	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	40.8
Scherzer, Max 2588	dc nl	13.0	SP	Scherzer, Max 2588	dc nl	38.7
Ray, Robbie 3502	ari nl	10.0	SP	Lester, Jon 2173	chi nl	27.1
Wood, Alex 3246	lad nl	9.0	SP	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	dc nl	22.5
Holland, Greg 2906	col nl	7.0	CP	Rodney, Fernando 1803	ari nl	9.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

With Major League All-Star voting ending this week, here’s a look at who is leading in Box-Toppers points at each position in both leagues.

Actually, because the first half of the season (now nearly complete) is a relatively small sample size, we’ll also look at top players since the start of the 2016 season.

Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers leads all players in both 2017 and combined 2016-17 points. Kershaw’s 16.4 points in 2017 and 40.8 points over 2016-17 also leads all National League pitchers.

The chart above shows the leaders in Box-Toppers points by position over the two time periods—the 2017 season and the combined 2016 and 2017 seasons.

The Box-Toppers National League team has 13 positions—the customary five infield spots, three for outfield, four for starting pitchers plus one spot for closing pitcher. The Box-Toppers American League team has 14 spots with the addition of the designated hitter.

There are four AL players who occupy All-Star spots at their positions for both 2017 and 2016-17:

Designated hitter—Edwin Encarnacion, Indians
Starting pitcher—Chris Sale, Red Sox
Starting pitcher—Carlos Carrasco, Indians
Closing pitcher—Craig Kimbrel, Red Sox

There are five NL players who occupy All-Star spots at their positions for both 2017 and 2016-17:

Shortstop—Corey Seager, Dodgers
Third base—Nolan Arenado, Rockies
Outfield—Jay Bruce, Mets
Starting pitcher—Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
Starting pitcher—Max Scherzer, Nationals

Voting for All-Star teams closes 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday for the game July 11 in Miami.

Here are the ballot leaders as of this week’s final update before voting closes and where the leaders stand in Box-Toppers rankings:

American League

1B—Eric Hosmer, Royals

2017—1.0 Box-Toppers point, 19th among AL 1B.
2016-17—9.5 points, fourth among AL 1B.

2016-17 leader among AL first basemen, Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, ranks fourth in voting at his position.

2B—Jose Altuve, Astros

2017—0.0 points, 11th among AL 2B.
2016-17—12.5 points, 1st among AL 2B.

SS—Carlos Correa, Astros

2017—2.5 points, 5th among AL SS.
2016-17—10.2 points, 3rd among AL SS.

Neither 2017 AL shortstop leader in Box-Toppers points Ryan Goins of the Blue Jays nor 2016-17 AL shortstop leader Elvis Andrus of the Rangers are among the top five vote-getters for AL shortstop.

3B—Miguel Sano, Twins

2017—7.5 points, 1st among AL 3B.
2016-17—10.5 points, 3rd among AL 3B.

Manny Machado of the Orioles, who ranks 1st among AL third basemen over 2016-17, ranks fifth in voting among AL third basemen.

CA—Salvador Perez, Royals

2017—4.5 points, 1st among AL CA.
2016-17—8.5 points, 2nd among AL CA.

OF—Aaron Judge, Yankees

2017—8.2 points, 1st among AL OF.
2016-17—8.2 points, 14th among AL OF.

OF—Mike Trout, Angels

2017—1.0 point, 40th among AL OF.
2016-17—13.5 points, 1st among AL OF.

OF—George Springer, Astros

2017—2.5 points, 22nd among AL OF.
2016-17—9.0 points, 10th among AL OF.

Four players who were among the top three AL outfielders in either 2017 or 2016-17 are not among the top 15 AL outfielders in All-Star voting—Trey Mancini of the Orioles, Melky Cabrera of the White Sox, Justin Upton of the Tigers and Mark Trumbo of the Orioles.

DH—Nelson Cruz, Mariners

2017—3.5 points, 3rd among AL DH.
2016-17—10.0 points, 5th among AL DH.

Box-Toppers points leader for AL designated hitter for both 2017 and 2016-17, Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians, is in third place in All-Star voting at his position.

National League

1B—Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals

2017—4.5 points, 7th among NL 1B.
2016-17—6.0 points, 14th among NL 1B.

Joey Votto of the Reds, who leads NL first basemen in Box-Toppers points over 2016-17, ranks fifth in voting at his position.

2B—Daniel Murphy, Nationals

2017—3.0 points, 4th among NL 2B.
2016-17—10.5, 1st among NL 2B.

SS—Zack Cozart, Reds

2017—1.0 point, 15th among NL SS.
2016-17—3.0 points, 13th among NL SS.

Corey Seager of the Dodgers, who ranks first in Box-Toppers points among NL shortstops over both 2017 and 2016-17, ranks second in All-Star voting at NL shortstop.

3B—Kris Bryant, Cubs

2017—1.5 points, 12th among NL 3B.
2016-17—12.0 points, 2nd among NL 3B.

Nolan Arenado of the Rockies, who ranks first in Box-Toppers points among NL third basemen over both 2017 and 2016-17, ranks second in All-Star voting at NL third base.

(While Bryant does not lead in Box-Toppers points among NL third basemen in either 2017 or 2016-17, he does make Box-Toppers All-Star 2016-17 team as the second NL outfielder, since he did earn Player of the Game honors several times in 2016 at that position.)

CA—Buster Posey, Giants

2017—5.5 points, 1st among NL CA.
2016-17—9.0 points, 2nd among NL CA.

Matt Wieters of the Nationals, who ranks first in Box-Toppers points among NL catchers over 2016-17, ranks fifth in All-Star voting at his position.

OF—Bryce Harper, Nationals

2017—6.0 points, 2nd among NL OF.
2016-17—9.0 points, 8th among NL OF.

OF—Charlie Blackmon, Rockies

2017—2.7 points, 17th among NL OF.
2016-17—6.7 points, 17th among NL OF.

OF—Marcell Ozuna, Marlins

2017—1.7 points, 33rd among NL OF.
2016-17—6.7 points, 18th among NL OF.

Jay Bruce of the Mets, who ranks first in Box-Toppers points among NL outfielders over both 2017 and 2016-17, ranks 13th in All-Star voting among NL outfielders.

Two other highly-ranked NL outfielders in Box-Toppers point totals—Aaron Altherr of the Phillies and Ryan Braun of the Brewers—are not among the top 15 NL outfield All-Star vote-getters.

Oddly, pitchers are not elected to All-Star teams and are chosen by All-Star game managers.

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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A look at Box-Toppers All-Star leaders and how they compare to All-Star vote-getters