Awards wrap-up: Box-Toppers points leaders win 2 of 6 major postseason awards in 2020

Here's how Box-Toppers points leaders fared in the six major postseason awards for 2020 as voted by the Baseball Writers Association of Ameica. The winners of the six major awards are listed at left with the Box-Toppers points (BTP) leader in each category listed at right. Rank shows the players’ rank among all players in 2020.

Most Valuable Player
AL winner Team Pos BTP Rank AL BTP leader Team Pos BTP Rank
Jose Abreu White Sox 1b 4.5 41 Luke Voit Yankees 1b 6.0 22
NL winner Team Pos BTP Rank NL BTP leader Team Pos BTP Rank
Freddie Freeman Braves 1b ph 3.5 70 Marcell Ozuna* Braves lf dh 4.5 38
Cy Young Award
AL winner Team Pos BTP Rank AL BTP leader Team Pos BTP Rank
Shane Bieber Indians pi sp 11.4 1 Shane Bieber Indians pi sp 11.4 1
NL winner Team Pos BTP Rank NL BTP leader Team Pos BTP Rank
Trevor Bauer Reds pi sp 10.0 2 Trevor Bauer Reds pi sp 10.0 2
Rookie of the Year
AL winner Team Pos BTP Rank AL BTP leader Team Pos BTP Rank
Kyle Lewis Mariners cf 1.0 T‑440 Jose Marmolejos** Mariners 1b lf 2.7 T‑126
NL winner Team Pos BTP Rank NL BTP leader Team Pos BTP Rank
Devin Williams Brewers pi mr 1.0 T‑440 Josh Fuentes** Rockies 1b ph 2.0 T‑219
* While Marcell Ozuna led NL batters in Box-Toppers points, Box-Toppers actually voted Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer for NL MVP. We did this because Bauer had more than twice as many 2020 Box-Toppers points as Ozuna (10.0 vs. 4.5).
** Pitchers actually led AL and NL rookies in 2020, but Box-Toppers treats the Rookie of the Year award as primarily a batter's award and gives batters the benefit of a doubt, doubling their Box-Toppers point total when comparing them to pitchers. Pitcher Jesus Luzardo of the Athletics had the most Box-Toppers points among AL rookies (4.7) and pitcher Sixto Sanchez of the Marlins had the most points among NL rookies (3.0).
BTP: Box-Toppers points
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Box-Toppers points leaders won two of the six major postseason awards for 2020.

Box-Toppers postseason honors ballot

Here is a look at the ballot selections Box-Toppers is making for the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) 2020 postseason awards. The ballot requires votes out to 10 places for Most Valuable Player in both leagues, five for Cy Young Awards in each league and three for each leagues' Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year and Reliever of the Year.

Players are shown with their team and their Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2020.

AL Most Valuable Player
Player Team BTP
1 Luke Voit Yankees 6.0
2 Shane Bieber Indians 11.4
3 Eloy Jimenez White Sox 5.5
4 Max Kepler Twins 5.0
5 Kyle Tucker Astros 5.0
6 Lance Lynn Rangers 9.1
7 Mike Trout Angels 4.5
8 Jose Abreu White Sox 4.5
9 Tim Anderson White Sox 4.5
10 Kenta Maeda Twins 8.4
NL Most Valuable Player
Player Team BTP
1 Trevor Bauer Reds 10.0
2 Yu Darvish Cubs 9.7
3 Marcell Ozuna Braves 4.5
4 Asdrubal Cabrera Nationals 4.5
5 Trent Grisham Padres 4.5
6 Dinelson Lamet Padres 9.0
7 Jacob deGrom Mets 8.7
8 Adam Duvall Braves 4.0
9 Darin Ruf Giants 4.0
10 Clayton Kershaw Dodgers 7.7
AL Cy Young
Player Team BTP
1 Shane Bieber Indians 11.4
2 Lance Lynn Rangers 9.1
3 Kenta Maeda Twins 8.4
4 Tyler Glasnow Rays 8.0
5 Gerrit Cole Yankees 7.4
NL Cy Young
Player Team BTP
1 Trevor Bauer Reds 10.0
2 Yu Darvish Cubs 9.7
3 Dinelson Lamet Padres 9.0
4 Jacob deGrom Mets 8.7
5 Clayton Kershaw Dodgers 7.7
AL Rookie of the Year
Player Team BTP
1 Jose Marmolejos Mariners 2.7
2 Jesus Luzardo Athletics 4.7
3 Evan White Mariners 2.0
NL Rookie of the Year
Player Team BTP
1 Josh Fuentes Rockies 2.0
2 Alec Bohm Phillies 2.0
3 Sixto Sanchez Marlins 3.0
AL Manager of the Year
Player Team Team BTP
1 Bob Melvin Athletics 45.2
2 Terry Francona Indians 45.0
3 Rocco Baldelli Twins 43.8
NL Manager of the Year
Player Team Team BTP
1 Dave Roberts Dodgers 52.8
2 Jayce Tingler Padres 48.0
3 David Ross Cubs 46.5
AL Reliever of the Year
Player Team BTP
1 Liam Hendriks Athletics 4.0
2 Matt Foster White Sox 4.0
3 Greg Holland Royals 3.0
NL Reliever of the Year
Player Team BTP
1 Trevor Rosenthal Padres 4.0
2 Daniel Bard Rockies 4.0
3 Freddy Peralta Brewers 2.0
Box-Toppers gives batters a generous, if somewhat arbitrary, benefit of the doubt in these rankings. In cases where batters are directly compared to pitchers, Box-Toppers ranks batters as if their season Box-Toppers point total were doubled. For example, in rankings for AL MVP, Luke Voit ranks first with 6.0 points even though several pitchers have more points (most notably, Shane Bieber of the Indians, ranked second in AL MVP voting with 11.4). Though Voit has fewer points than Bieber, Box-Toppers arbitrarily doubles batters point totals in figuring these rankings, which would give Voit 12.0 points, beating Bieber’s 11.4. While MVP is traditionally a batter's award, it has been awarded to pitchers either when they have a dominant season, no batters particularly rise to the occasion—or both.

Both Cy Young Award winners also led their league’s pitchers in Box-Toppers points in 2020—AL winner Shane Bieber of the Indians led AL pitchers with 11.4 and NL winner Trevor Bauer of the Reds led NL pitchers with 10.0. Bieber and Bauer also were Box-Toppers top two ranked players in 2020, the only two who earned 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points in the pandemic-shortened season.

However, the Box-Toppers points leaders for both Most Valuable Player and both Rookie of the Year awards did not win the awards voted on last week by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Here is a look at how Box-Toppers’ choices fared in the other four major awards:

  • American League Most Valuable Player: Winner Jose Abreu of the White Sox ranked sixth among AL batters in Box-Toppers points (4.5). However, Box-Toppers choice for the award, Luke Voit of the Yankees (6.0 Box-Toppers points, first among AL batters), finished ninth in AL MVP voting.

  • National League Most Valuable Player: Winner Freddie Freeman of the Braves ranked eighth among NL batters in Box-Toppers points (3.5). However, Box-Toppers choice for the award was Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer with 10.0 Box-Toppers points. He finished 10th in NL MVP voting. While this is normally a batters award, Box-Toppers chose Bauer for the award over top-ranked NL batter Marcell Ozuna of the Braves (4.5 Box-Toppers points) because Bauer had more than twice as many points as Ozuna, who finished sixth in NL MVP voting. Ozuna was Box-Toppers’ third choice as NL MVP, behind both Bauer and Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish (9.7 points).

  • American League Rookie of the Year: Winner Kyle Lewis of the Mariners had 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2020, tied for 440th in season player rankings. Box-Toppers’ top-ranked AL rookie was first baseman/outfielder Jose Marmolejos of the Mariners with 2.7 Box-Toppers points, in a four-way tie for 126th in season player rankings. He received no Rookie of the Year votes. Athletics pitcher Jesus Luzardo actually had the most Box-Toppers points among AL rookies in 2020 (4.7). However, in cases of awards where batters are directly compared to pitchers, Box-Toppers ranks batters as if their season Box-Toppers point total were doubled. Luzardo ranked 10th in AL Rookie of the Year voting.

  • National League Rookie of the Year: Winner Devin Williams of the Brewers, a middle relief pitcher, had 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2020, tied for 440th in season player rankings. Box-Toppers’ top NL rookie was first baseman Josh Fuentes of the Rockies with 2.0 Box-Toppers points, in a 17-way tie for 219th place in season player rankings. He received no Rookie of the Year votes. Rookie Marlins pitcher Sixto Sanchez actually had more Box-Toppers points in 2020 (3.0), but again, in cases of awards where batters are directly compared to pitchers, Box-Toppers ranks batters as if their season Box-Toppers point total were doubled. That gave Fuentes the advantage. (Sanchez ranked eighth in NL Rookie of the Year voting.)

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This season marked an improvement over 2019 when none of the Box-Toppers points leaders won any of the six major postseason awards. Box-Toppers points leaders and winners of major postseason awards usually better coincide—looking at major postseason awards—American League and National League Most Valuable Player, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards—Box-Toppers points leaders had won at least two of the six each year from 2013 to 2018:

  • In 2013, Box-Toppers and baseball writers picked the same winner for four of six awards.

  • In 2014, five of six.

  • In 2015, two of six.

  • In 2016, two of six.

  • In 2017, three of six.

  • In 2018, two (or three or four, depending on how you count) of six.

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Going back to the start of Box-Toppers tracking in 1995, this is the 10th time that the Box-Toppers category leaders have won two of the four major postseason awards—AL and NL MVP and Cy Young.

Here is a breakdown of the other 16 seasons:

  • In three seasons, none of the Box-Toppers leaders won any of the four postseason awards—2003, 2012 and 2019.

  • In 10 seasons, one of the Box-Toppers leaders won one of the four postseason awards.

  • In three seasons, three of the Box-Toppers leaders won three of the four postseason awards.

  • There has never been a season in which the leaders of all four of Box-Toppers’ point categories won all four major postseason awards.

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Box-Toppers votes in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) for 10 postseason awards—those six we’ve mentioned, plus top AL and NL relievers and managers. 

AL Reliever of the Year

The Box-Toppers points leader for AL top reliever was also the choice of IBWAA voters: Liam Hendriks of the Athletics led AL relievers with 4.0 Box-Toppers points and finished first in IBWAA voting.

However, Box-Toppers’ choices in the other three awards were not IBWAA top vote-getters:

NL Reliever of the Year

Devin Williams of the Brewers was the IBWAA’s choice. But Williams received only 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2020, tied for 440th among all players. Box-Toppers chose Trevor Rosenthal of the Padres, who led NL relievers with 4.0 Box-Toppers points, 57th among all players. True, Rosenthal was traded from the AL Royals during the season. But due to the unusual nature of the shortened season with increased interleague play blurring league lines, I went with Rosenthal.

AL Manager of the Year

Kevin Cash of the Rays was IBWAA’s choice. Box-Toppers picked Bob Melvin of the Athletics based on the fact that the Athletics led AL teams in Box-Toppers points in 2020 (45.2). Melvin ranked third in IBWAA voting. Cash’s Rays finished 2020 with 43.4 Box-Toppers points, ninth overall and fifth among AL teams. Interestingly, we chose Terry Francona of the Indians as our second-choice for top AL manager in 2020, even though Francona’s time in the dugout was limited by illness. However, the Indians did have the second-highest accumulated Box-Toppers point total among AL teams (45.0). Plus, Francona was still officially the manager and the team’s 35 wins during the season are officially credited to him. So whether the Indians thrived because of Francona’s delegation skills or because of his absence, his team was still the AL’s second-best as measured by Box-Toppers.

NL Manager of the Year

Don Mattingly of the Marlins was the IBWAA’s choice. Box-Toppers chose Dave Roberts of the Dodgers, whose team ranked first in 2020 Box-Toppers points with 52.8. The Marlins finished 14th in Box-Toppers team rankings with 35.5, seventh among NL teams. Manager awards often seem to be based on how the team performed based on expectations. Everyone expected Roberts to win and contend for the World Series, so he received fewer votes, finishing third in IBWAA voting. Few expected the Marlins to do as well as they did, boosting Mattingly’s chances to win the award. 

In separate voting, the BBWAA also voted Cash and Mattingly as Managers of the Year. Also in separate voting, a panel of retired relievers also chose Hendriks and Williams as Relievers of the Year.

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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