| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 23.1 | 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 23.1 | |
| 2 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 19.8 | 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.0 | |
| 3 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 19.1 | 3 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 19.8 | |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 19.0 | 4 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 18.1 | |
| 5 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 | 5 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 15.0 | |
| 6 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 13.7 | 6 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 14.8 | |
| 7 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 11.7 | 7 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.7 | |
| 8 | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | bal al | 11.1 | 8 | Nelson, Jimmy 3299 | pi sp | mil nl | 14.0 | |
| 9 | Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi sp | cle al | 10.4 | 9 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.0 | |
| 10 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 9.4 | 10 | Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.0 | |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh 1b | cle al | 12.1 | 1 | Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | chi nl | 15.5 | |
| 2 | Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | tex al | 11.0 | 2 | Gennett, Scooter 3254 | 2b | cin nl | 10.7 | |
| 3 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 10.2 | 3 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 10.0 | |
| 4 | Bruce, Jay 2453 | rf | cle al | 10.0 | 4 | Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | col nl | 9.2 | |
| 5 | Healy, Ryon 3685 | dh 1b | oak al | 9.7 | 5 | Parra, Gerardo 2746 | rf lf | col nl | 9.0 | |
| 6 | Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 9.5 | 6 | Bellinger, Cody 3781 | 1b rf lf | lad nl | 8.7 | |
| 7 | Sano, Miguel 3527 | 3b | min al | 8.5 | 7 | Posey, Buster 2745 | ca 1b | sf nl | 8.5 | |
| 8 | Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b 2b | cle al | 8.5 | 8 | Rendon, Anthony 3258 | 3b | dc nl | 8.0 | |
| 9 | Reddick, Josh 2936 | rf lf cf | hou al | 8.0 | 9 | Grichuk, Randal 3474 | rf | stl nl | 8.0 | |
| 10 | Iglesias, Jose 3532 | ss | det al | 8.0 | 10 | Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | dc nl | 7.5 |
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw clings to the Box-Toppers season player rankings lead.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of Sept. 14:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 23.1 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 23.1 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.0 |
| 4 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 19.8 |
| 5 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 19.8 |
| 6 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 19.1 |
| 7 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 19.0 |
| 8 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 18.1 |
| 9 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 |
| 10 | Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | chi nl | 15.5 |
Kershaw has 23.1 Box-Toppers points, his same total as a week ago. But Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale now also has 23.1 points on the season, the same total as Kershaw. But Kershaw ranks higher on a tiebreaker—he had more 2016 Box-Toppers points, 24.4 vs. 13.4.
Sale could take the overall Box-Toppers points lead as soon as Friday if he earns at least Player of the Game honors (worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point) in his start against the Rays.
Also, just 0.1 Box-Toppers point separates the top three players—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer ranks third with 23.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.
With just over two weeks remaining in the season, the race for Box-Toppers Player of the Year seems to be a toss-up among the top three players—Kershaw, who was Player of the Year in 2011, 2013 and 2014; Scherzer, who was Player of the Year in 2016 and Sale, whose best finish was ninth place in 2014 (17.4 points).
However, if pitchers have three starts remaining in the season, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for Player of the Year to be among pitchers who are within 6.0 Box-Toppers points of Kershaw and Sale. They include:
- Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, in fourth place with 19.8 Box-Toppers points.
- Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco, in fifth with 19.8 points.
- Yankees pitcher Luis Severino, in sixth with 19.1.
- Indians pitcher Corey Kluber, in seventh with 19.0.
- Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke, in eighth with 18.1.
The leaders of all key categories maintain their season Box-Toppers points leads since last week:
National League pitchers—Kershaw still narrowly leads Scherzer, 23.1 to 23.0.
American League pitchers—Chris Sale of the Red Sox maintains his lead with 23.1 Box-Toppers points, earning 1.0 point in the past week. He leads second-place AL pitcher Carlos Carrasco of the Indians (19.8). Sale ranks second among all players.
National League batters—Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs maintains his lead with 15.5 Box-Toppers points, earning 1.5 points in the past week. He leads second-place NL batter Scooter Gennett of the Reds (10.7). Rizzo ranks 10th among all players.
Rizzo is the first batter to be ranked among the overall top 10 players since June 27 and has the second-highest Box-Toppers point total for a batter in the past five seasons (behind the 16.9 points Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers earned in 2013).
American League batters—Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians maintains his lead with 12.1 Box-Toppers points, earning no points in the past week. He leads second-place AL batter Elvis Andrus of the Rangers (11.0). Encarnacion ranks 18th among all players.
So far this season, 732 different players have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. There are 384 players who have more than 2.0 Box-Toppers points. There are 157 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. Seven 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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