| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 27.2 | 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 25.1 | |
| 2 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 24.1 | 2 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 21.1 | |
| 3 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.7 | 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.8 | |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 20.1 | 4 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 16.0 | |
| 5 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 19.1 | 5 | Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.1 | |
| 6 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 18.0 | 6 | Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 14.7 | |
| 7 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 17.8 | 7 | Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi sp | mil nl | 13.7 | |
| 8 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 17.7 | 8 | Foltynewicz, Mike 3455 | pi sp | atl nl | 13.7 | |
| 9 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 17.0 | 9 | Flaherty, Jack 3971 | pi sp | stl nl | 13.1 | |
| 10 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | nyy al | 15.7 | 10 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 13.0 | |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Martinez, J.D. 2922 | lf dh rf | bos al | 12.5 | 1 | Yelich, Christian 3334 | rf lf | mil nl | 11.5 | |
| 2 | Betts, Mookie 3404 | rf | bos al | 10.9 | 2 | Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | chi nl | 10.0 | |
| 3 | Lindor, Francisco 3586 | ss | cle al | 9.6 | 3 | Baez, Javier 3395 | ss 2b 3b | chi nl | 10.0 | |
| 4 | Davidson, Matt 3292 | 3b dh 1b | chi al | 8.7 | 4 | Acuña, Ronald Jr. 3947 | lf | atl nl | 9.2 | |
| 5 | Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 8.0 | 5 | Peralta, David 3370 | lf | ari nl | 8.5 | |
| 6 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 8.0 | 6 | Granderson, Curtis 2051 | dh rf | mil nl | 8.2 | |
| 7 | Odor, Rougned 3336 | 2b | tex al | 7.5 | 7 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | ari nl | 7.5 | |
| 8 | Rosario, Eddie 3542 | lf | min al | 7.5 | 8 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 7.5 | |
| 9 | Garver, Mitch 3950 | ca | min al | 7.5 | 9 | Reynolds, Mark 2297 | 1b 3b 2b ph | dc nl | 7.5 | |
| 10 | Healy, Ryon 3685 | 1b | sea al | 7.0 | 10 | Suarez, Eugenio 3355 | 3b | cin nl | 7.5 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
(This post was edited Monday, November 19, 2018, to correct an error in the Box-Toppers point total of Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom. During the 2018 season, an extra, unearned point was added to his total. There is more information about this at the bottom of the post.)
(Note: Player rankings are updated to reflect Box-Toppers points earned in the two NL tiebreaker games played Monday, Oct. 1.)
Rays pitcher Blake Snell is Box-Toppers 2018 Player of the Year.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of Sept. 30:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 27.2 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 25.1 |
| 3 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 24.1 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.7 |
| 5 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 21.1 |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 20.1 |
| 7 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 19.1 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 18.0 |
| 9 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 17.8 |
| 10 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 17.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Snell, with 27.2 Box-Toppers points in 2018, finishes first in Box-Toppers season player rankings, ahead of second-place player, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (25.1).
Meanwhile, Christian Yelich of the Brewers rises to first place among National League batters in Box-Toppers points this week, as the regular season comes to a close.
While Snell wins Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors he only led season player rankings for a total of 13 days all season—he took the lead from Scherzer on Sept. 18. By contrast, Scherzer, who led player rankings eight different times, led 117 days during the season.
Box-Toppers Players of the Year
Here are Box-Toppers Player of the Year winners in each season of Box-Toppers tracking since 1995. Player of the Year is the player with the season’s highest Box-Toppers point total:| Year | Player | Pos | Team | BTP |
| 1995 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Mariners | 23.7 |
| 1996 | John Smoltz | pi sp | Braves | 26.1 |
| 1997 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | Blue Jays | 27.4 |
| 1998 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Astros† | 26.4 |
| 1999 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Dbacks | 31.5 |
| 2000 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Dbacks | 33.7 |
| 2001 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Dbacks | 29.4 |
| 2002 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Dbacks | 33.7 |
| 2003 | Jason Schmidt | pi sp | Giants | 24.7 |
| 2004 | Johan Santana | pi sp | Twins | 26.8 |
| 2005 | Johan Santana | pi sp | Twins | 24.1 |
| 2006 | Johan Santana | pi sp | Twins | 25.7 |
| 2007 | Jake Peavy | pi sp | Padres | 23.4 |
| 2008 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | Brewers | 26.7 |
| 2009 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | Royals | 21.5 |
| 2010 | Jon Lester | pi sp | Red Sox | 23.4 |
| 2011 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 26.1 |
| 2012 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | Tigers | 24.8 |
| 2013 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 21.7 |
| 2014 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 31.5 |
| 2015 | Jake Arrieta | pi sp | Cubs | 29.1 |
| 2016 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | Nationals | 25.7 |
| 2017 | Chris Sale | pi sp | Red Sox | 25.1 |
| 2018 | Blake Snell | pi sp | Rays | 27.2 |
American League pitchers—Snell maintains the lead among AL pitchers with 27.2 Box-Toppers points, picking up 3.0 points in the past week. He leads second-place AL pitcher, Justin Verlander of the Astros (24.1).
National League pitchers—Scherzer maintains his lead among NL pitchers for the 21st straight week. He has 25.1 Box-Toppers points, picking up 2.0 points since Sept. 20. He leads second-place NL pitcher Aaron Nola of the Phillies (21.1), who ranks fifth overall.
American League batters—J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox (12.5 points, picking up 1.0 point in the past week) leads the category for the 12th week in a row. Martinez leads second-place AL batter, teammate Mookie Betts (10.9). Martinez ranks 28th among all players.
National League batters—Christian Yelich of the Brewers rises to first among NL batters with 11.5 Box-Toppers points. On Sept. 20, in the previous player rankings report, Yelich ranked eighth place among NL batters with 7.5 points. Yelich passes the NL batting leader on Sept. 20, Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves (9.2 points). He leads second-place NL batter Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs (10.0 points).
Batters were poised to have the lowest Box-Toppers point totals to lead their league’s batters in Box-Toppers’ 24-year history. But in the final two days of the season, the two league batting leaders each earned Player of the Game honors to avoid setting the dubious records:
Lowest points to lead category
Nolan Arenado holds the record for lowest Box-Toppers point total to lead category (10.7 to lead National League batters in 2016). Here are the lowest-point totals to win a league category since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995:| Player | Team | BTP | Category | |
| 1 | Nolan Arenado | col nl | 10.7 | 2016 NL bat |
| 2 | Carlos Gonzalez | col nl | 11.5 | 2015 NL bat | 2 | Christian Yelich | mil nl | 11.5 | 2018 NL bat |
| 4 | Troy Tulowitzki | col nl | 11.6 | 2014 NL bat |
| 5 | Edwin Encarnacion | cle al | 12.1 | 2017 AL bat |
| 6 | Adrian Beltre | tex al | 12.5 | 2015 AL bat |
| 6 | Aubrey Huff | bal al | 12.5 | 2008 AL bat |
| 6 | Ryan Braun | mil nl | 12.5 | 2012 NL bat |
| 6 | J.D. Martinez | bos al | 12.5 | 2018 AL bat |
| 10 | Manny Machado | bal al | 12.7 | 2016 AL bat |
| 11 | Adrian Beltre | tex al | 13.0 | 2012 AL bat |
| 12 | Paul Goldschmidt | ari nl | 13.7 | 2013 NL bat |
| 12 | Bret Boone | sea al | 13.7 | 2001 AL bat |
Martinez’s 12.5 points to lead AL batters is now just tied for the second-lowest total to lead AL batters in a season. The record-low is 12.1 points that Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians had in 2017 to lead AL batters.
Yelich’s 11.5 points to lead NL batters is now just tied for the second-lowest total to lead NL batters in a season. The record-low is 10.7 points Nolan Arenado of the Rockies had in 2016 to lead NL batters.
Notable—(Updated Monday, November 19, 2018): Previously, this part of the post was about how Yankees pitcher Luis Severino fell out of the top 10 after being ranked there all season. But with the downward revision of Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom’s Box-Toppers point total, Severino actually stays in the top 10, achieving the feat of being ranked in the top 10 in each of the season’s 25 weekly player rankings reports.
deGrom had displaced Severino, rising to ninth place. But with his downward revision, explained in more detail at the bottom of this post, he actually does not rise into the top 10, but finishes the season in 12th place overall with 16.8 Box-Toppers points, third among NL pitchers.
This season, 744 different players have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. There are 400 players who have more than 2.0 Box-Toppers points. There are 175 players who have made their Box-Toppers debut so far this season (including 13 since Sept. 20) the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors.
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.
Last player rankings report from Sept. 20.
NOTE ABOUT JACOB DEGROM: After this post was published, Box-Toppers discovered an error: Jacob deGrom was credited with 1.0 more Box-Toppers point than he actually earned in 2018. This post has been changed to include deGrom’s actual Box-Toppers point total and player ranking position at the time of this post. Subtracting a point from deGrom’s season total meant he had 16.8 Box-Toppers points, rather than 17.8. Despite the change, he still finished third among National League pitchers. However, the change moves him from ninth place to 12th place in overall season player rankings, moving him out of the top 10 and keeping Yankees pitcher Luis Severino (17.7 points) in the top 10 for the season, in 10th place.
This is made all the more odd and awkward because the error was discovered while compiling the post about deGrom winning the NL Cy Young Award on Wednesday, Nov. 14. deGrom was the near-unanimous choice for the award, but even with his higher, incorrect Box-Toppers point total (17.8), Box-Toppers had him ranked third among NL pitchers, needing nearly 50 percent more points to catch the NL pitching leader, Max Scherzer of the Nationals (25.1).
My post was about how Scherzer was more deserving of the award than the widely acclaimed deGrom because Scherzer actually helped his team win more games. Despite deGrom’s great performances, the Mets lost most of the games he pitched. Since winning is the name of the game and since Box-Toppers points are only awarded in wins, deGrom’s point total was far lower—but it was still remarkable, given all the losses, that he reached as high as third place among NL pitchers. While writing about how deGrom wasn’t as deserving of the award, I found the error (the extra point), and correcting the record (subtracting the point), I found he was even more undeserving.