| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 21.1 | 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.1 | |
| 2 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 15.1 | 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 22.0 | |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 14.4 | 3 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 15.4 | |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 14.0 | 4 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.4 | |
| 5 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 13.7 | 5 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.0 | |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 13.4 | 6 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 12.7 | |
| 7 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 9.4 | 7 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 11.8 | |
| 8 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 9.0 | 8 | Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | chi nl | 11.0 | |
| 9 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 8.7 | 9 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 11.0 | |
| 10 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 8.4 | 10 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.0 | |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh | cle al | 11.1 | 1 | Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | chi nl | 11.5 | |
| 2 | Healy, Ryon 3685 | dh 1b | oak al | 9.7 | 2 | Bellinger, Cody 3781 | 1b rf lf | lad nl | 8.7 | |
| 3 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 9.2 | 3 | Posey, Buster 2745 | ca 1b | sf nl | 8.5 | |
| 4 | Bruce, Jay 2453 | rf | cle al | 9.0 | 4 | Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | col nl | 8.2 | |
| 5 | Sano, Miguel 3527 | 3b | min al | 8.5 | 5 | Gennett, Scooter 3254 | 2b | cin nl | 8.2 | |
| 6 | Iglesias, Jose 3532 | ss | det al | 8.0 | 6 | Parra, Gerardo 2746 | rf lf | col nl | 8.0 | |
| 7 | Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | tex al | 7.5 | 7 | Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | dc nl | 7.5 | |
| 8 | Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 7.5 | 8 | Ozuna, Marcell 3190 | lf | fla nl | 7.2 | |
| 9 | Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | det al | 7.5 | 9 | McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | cf | pit nl | 7.0 | |
| 10 | Mancini, Trey 3766 | lf 1b | bal al | 7.2 | 10 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 7.0 |
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw clings to his lead in Box-Toppers weekly season player rankings, even though he’s been on the disabled list for more than a month.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of Aug. 24:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 22.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 21.1 |
| 4 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 15.4 |
| 5 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 15.1 |
| 6 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.4 |
| 7 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 14.4 |
| 8 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 14.0 |
| 9 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.0 |
| 10 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 13.7 |
Two players—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (22.0 Box-Toppers points) and Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (21.1)—have had opportunities to pass Kershaw’s 22.1 Box-Toppers points in recent weeks, but neither has done it. And so, Kershaw now leads the rankings for the 15th straight week.
Scherzer moved within 1.1 Box-Toppers points of Kershaw after earning Player of the Game honors Aug. 7. Scherzer has had one chance to pass Kershaw on Aug. 13 and while he did earn Player of the Game honors (worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point) and move with 0.1 of Kershaw, he missed his chance to pass Kershaw, which would have happened if he’d earned NL Player of the Day (worth 1.7 Box-Toppers points) or overall Player of the Day (worth 2.0). Scherzer has since gone on the disabled list with a strained neck and could return as soon as Sunday.
Sale moved within 1.0 Box-Toppers point of Kershaw after earning Player of the Day honors Aug. 13. Since then, Sale has had two chances to pass Kershaw on Aug. 19 and Aug. 24, but the Red Sox lost both games and Sale earned no Box-Toppers points.
(See below for a season-long comparison chart of the three Box-Toppers points leaders)
Scherzer also ranks second to Kershaw among National League pitchers. Sale holds a dominating lead over American League pitchers in Box-Toppers points.
Kershaw, who went on the disabled list July 24, could be out until late August or early September. Last season, he had a herniated disk and missed 10 weeks, losing the commanding Box-Toppers points lead he had in 2016 and finishing second in final player rankings to Scherzer (25.7 points to 24.4). It was a year ago today (Aug. 25, 2016) that Scherzer passed Kershaw to take the 2016 Box-Toppers points lead.
The leaders in other key categories maintain their season Box-Toppers points leads:
American League pitchers—Chris Sale of the Red Sox maintains his lead with 21.1 Box-Toppers points, earning no points in the past week. He leads second-place AL pitcher Luis Severino of the Yankees (15.1). Sale ranks third among all players, behind Kershaw (22.1) and Scherzer (22.0).
National League batters—Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs maintains his lead with 11.5 Box-Toppers points, earning 1.0 point in the past week. He leads second-place NL batter Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers (8.7). Rizzo ranks 14th among all players.
American League batters—Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians maintains his lead with 11.1 Box-Toppers points, earning no points in the past week. He leads second-place AL batter Ryon Healy of the Athletics (9.7). Encarnacion ranks 15th among all players.
Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rose onto Box-Toppers overall top 10 players list since last week. Strasburg (14.4 points) rises to sixth. He displaces Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco (13.4), who falls to 11th.
So far this season, 695 different players have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. There are 351 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, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors. Ten players debuted in the past week.
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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