What would a 60-game schedule look like? Here's a Box-Toppers look at 2019 after 60 games on June 4

Here are the top 10 players by category (AL & NL pitching & batting) in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2019 season through the games of June 6.

	AL PITCHERS	POS	TEAM	BTP			NL PITCHERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	hou al	13.8		1	Hader, Josh 3881	pi cp	mil nl	10.0
2	Morton, Charlie 2503	pi sp	tb al	9.8		2	Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139	pi sp	lad nl	9.7
3	Odorizzi, Jake 3291	pi sp	min al	8.4		3	Hendricks, Kyle 3386	pi sp	chi nl	8.7
4	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	hou al	7.7		4	Castillo, Luis 3840	pi sp	cin nl	8.4
5	Bieber, Shane 4005	pi sp	cle al	7.7		5	Paddack, Chris 4093	pi sp	sd nl	7.7
6	Giolito, Lucas 3900	pi sp	chi al	7.7		6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	7.2
7	Snell, Blake 3688	pi sp	tb al	7.0		7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	7.0
8	Peacock, Brad 2968	pi sp	hou al	7.0		8	Marquez, German 3788	pi sp	col nl	6.7
9	Glasnow, Tyler 3948	pi sp mr	tb al	6.7		9	Eflin, Zach 3679	pi sp	phi nl	6.7
10	Minor, Mike 2894	pi sp	tex al	6.0		10	Lucchesi, Joey 3936	pi sp	sd nl	6.7
	AL BATTERS	POS	TEAM	BTP			NL BATTERS	POS	TEAM	BTP
1	Gallo, Joey 3485	lf cf	tex al	6.0		1	Bellinger, Cody 3781	rf 1b	lad nl	8.2
2	Kepler, Max 3664	cf rf	min al	5.7		2	Bell, Josh E. 3682	1b	pit nl	7.7
3	Smith, Dwight Jr. 4112	lf	bal al	4.7		3	Ozuna, Marcell 3190	lf	stl nl	7.0
4	Bregman, Alex 3721	3b	hou al	4.5		4	Yelich, Christian 3334	rf	mil nl	5.5
5	Gardner, Brett 2486	cf	nyy al	4.5		5	Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	5.0
6	Vogelbach, Daniel 4070	dh	sea al	4.5		6	Marte, Ketel 3630	2b cf ss	ari nl	5.0
7	Abreu, Jose 3308	1b dh	chi al	4.0		7	Arcia, Orlando 3717	ss	mil nl	4.7
8	Voit, Luke 4053	1b dh	nyy al	4.0		8	Conforto, Michael 3622	rf	nym nl	4.0
9	Pujols, Albert 1438	1b	ana al	4.0		9	Story, Trevor 3607	ss	col nl	4.0
10	Martinez, J.D. 2922	dh rf	bos al	3.5		10	Belt, Brandon 2943	1b	sf nl	4.0

What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations

Imagine a Major League Baseball season beginning normally in the spring and ending on June 4.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2019 season through the games of June 4.

 

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	hou al	13.8
2	Hader, Josh 3881	pi cp	mil nl	10.0
3	Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139	pi sp	lad nl	9.7
4	Morton, Charlie 2503	pi sp	tb al	8.8
5	Hendricks, Kyle 3386	pi sp	chi nl	8.7
6	Castillo, Luis 3840	pi sp	cin nl	8.4
7	Odorizzi, Jake 3291	pi sp	min al	8.4
8	Bellinger, Cody 3781	rf 1b	lad nl	8.2
9	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	hou al	7.7
10	Bieber, Shane 4005	pi sp	cle al	7.7

What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations

That’s what the proposed pandemic-shortened 60-game schedule for 2020 will seem like.

In 2019, most clubs had played at least 60 games by June 4. That was barely more than a third of the regular season’s 162 games (37 percent). But for 2020, if all goes according to plan and the coronavirus doesn’t intervene to cut it even shorter, 60 games will be the complete, entire season.

If the 2019 season had ended after 60 games on June 4, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander would have been Box-Toppers Player of the Year (13.8 Box-Toppers points) and the eventual World Series champion Washington Nationals would have ranked 15th in Box-Toppers team rankings, far outside postseason contention.

Verlander eventually finished second among players in Box-Toppers points with 27.5, behind then-teammate Gerrit Cole with 32.2 points, which is the fourth-highest single-season point total since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. On June 4, Cole ranked ninth overall and fourth among American League pitchers with 7.7 Box-Toppers points. After June 4, Cole earned 24.5 more points in the season’s final 102 games, which by itself was more than all but two players (himself and Verlander) earned during the entire season.

On June 4, Verlander was on pace to earn 37.3 Box-Toppers points (the record in one season is 33.7). Cole was on pace to earn 20.8. However, Verlander on June 4 had already earned 50 percent of his season’s total points. Cole, meanwhile, had earned only 24 percent of his 2019 points.

National League pitchers

Brewers closing pitcher Josh Hader led all NL pitchers after 60 games in 2019 with 10.0 Box-Toppers points on June 4, which was second among all players (behind Verlander’s 13.8).

Verlander and Hader were the only players to reach 10.0 Box-Toppers points by June 4. In the full 2019 season, 50 players reached 10.0 Box-Toppers points.

Hader ended finishing third among NL pitchers and eighth overall with 17.7 Box-Toppers points. It was the third-highest single-season total for a closing pitcher in Box-Toppers tracking history (Eric Gagne of the Dodgers had 19.7 in 2004 and 19.0 in 2003).

Eventual NL pitching leader Stephen Strasburg had 7.0 Box-Toppers points on June 4, seventh among NL pitchers. He finished with 20.7 Box-Toppers points, third overall.

National League batters

Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers led NL batters after 60 games in 2019 with 8.2 Box-Toppers points on June 4, which was eighth overall. Bellinger eventually finished third among NL batters with 11.2 points over the full season, 35th among all players. On June 4, he already had 73 percent of his 2019 total points.

Eventual NL batting leader Marcell Ozuna, then with the Cardinals, had 12.0 Box-Toppers points in 2019. On June 4, he had 7.0 points, third among NL batters.

On June 4, Bellinger was the only batter among the overall top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings. Had the season ended that day after 60 games, it would have been the first time since 2013 that a batter finished the season ranked in the overall top 10. The last time it happened, Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers ranked eighth with 16.9 Box-Toppers points in 2013. That was the only time in the decade of the 2010s that a batter finished among the overall top 10 in Box-Toppers points, however, it happened 23 times in the decade of the 2000s, a period in which batters earned a larger share of Box-Toppers points.

American League batters

Joey Gallo of the Rangers led AL batters after 60 games with 6.0 Box-Toppers points on June 4, which was 24th overall.

Gallo earned no more points in 2019, finishing with 6.0 and ranking 28th among AL batters, 144th overall.

Eventual AL batting leader Nelson Cruz of the Twins (12.5 Box-Toppers points) was not among the top 10 AL batters in Box-Toppers points on June 4—he had just 2.5 points.

How June 4’s top 10 fared

Here is a look at how the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points on June 4 fared over the entire 2019 season:

1. Verlander, 13.8 points, finished second overall with 27.5.

2. Hader, 10.0 points, finished eighth overall, third among NL pitchers, with 17.7.

3. Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu, 9.7 points, finished 10th overall, fourth among NL pitchers, with 17.4

4. Rays pitcher Charlie Morton, 8.8 points, finished fifth overall, third among AL pitchers, with 18.8.

5. Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks, 8.7 points, finished 23rd overall, 13th among NL pitchers, with 13.4.

6. Reds pitcher Luis Castillo, 8.4 points, finished 18th overall, 11th among NL pitchers, with 14.4.

7. Twins pitcher Jake Odorizzi, 8.4 points, finished 27th overall, 12th among AL pitchers, with 12.4.

8. Bellinger, 8.2 points, finished 35th overall, third among NL batters, with 11.2.

9. Cole, 7.7 points, finished first overall with 32.2.

10. Indians pitcher Shane Bieber, 7.7 points, finished sixth overall, fourth among AL pitchers, with 18.1.

Of the 10, only two players ranked higher at the end of the season than they did on June 4—Cole and Bieber. The other eight ranked lower, including four who ended the season ranking outside the overall top 10—Hendricks, Castillo, Odorizzi and Bellinger.

Here is a look at how the top 10 at 2019 season’s end fared on June 4:

1. Cole, 32.2 points, ranked ninth with 7.7.

2. Verlander, 27.5 points, ranked first with 13.8.

3. Strasburg, 20.7 points, had 7.0 points, seventh among NL pitchers.

4. Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom, 19.1 points, had 4.7 points, outside the top 10 NL pitchers.

5. Morton, 18.8 points, ranked fourth with 8.8 points, third among AL pitchers.

6. Bieber, 18.1 points, ranked 10th with 7.7 points, fourth among AL pitchers.

7. Astros pitcher Zack Greinke, 17.9 points, ranked sixth among NL pitchers with 7.2 (he was with the Diamondbacks at the time).

8. Hader, 17.7 points, ranked second with 10.0 points, first among NL pitchers.

9. Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger, 17.4 points, had 4.0 points, outside the top 10 AL pitchers.

10. Ryu, 17.4 points, ranked third with 9.7 points, second among NL pitchers.

Six of the 10 players on the season-ending top 10 list were among the top 10 on June 4. Of the four who were not among the overall top 10 on June 4, two of them were among their league’s top 10 pitchers—Strasburg and Greinke. The other two—deGrom and Clevinger—ranked outside their league’s top 10 pitchers on June 4.

World Series champs ranked 15th among teams after 60 games

After about 60 games in 2019, the Houston Astros led all teams in Box-Toppers team rankings. The eventual World Series champion Washington Nationals ranked 15th with 37.4 points. (The Nationals finished the 2019 regular season ranked second behind the Astros, 158.2-132.9.)

The Washington Nationals are the most notable team not among the overall top 10 teams on June 6. The World Series champions, who ranked second overall at the end of 2019 with 132.9 accumulated Box-Toppers points, ranked 15th with 37.4 points on June 6, shortly after they played their 60th game.

On June 4, the Nationals were 27-33, fourth in the NL East standings, 5.5 games behind the division-leading Phillies and five games behind the Braves, the then-second-ranked NL Wild Card team. In the last 102 games, they went 66-36. Their .647 winning percentage after June 4 was third among all teams behind only the Oakland Athletics (.653) and Houston Astros (.650).

The Nationals are one of five teams that finished the season among the overall top 10 teams who were not a top 10 team on June 6. The others were the Oakland Athletics, the Atlanta Braves, the Cleveland Indians and New York Mets. The five teams among the top 10 on June 6 that were not in the top 10 at the end of the 2019 season were the Chicago Cubs, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Boston Red Sox.

Here is a look at how the top 10 on June 6 finished the season:

1. Astros, 55.6 accumulated Box-Toppers points. Finished first with 158.1 accumulated points. AL champions, lost World Series to Nationals.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers, 52.6 points. Finished third, 129.9 points. Lost NL Divisional Series to Nationals.

3. Minnesota Twins, 51.3 points. Finished seventh, 115.7 points. Lost AL Divisional Series to Yankees.

4. Tampa Bay Rays, 48.2 points. Finished sixth, 123.2 points. Lost AL Divisional Series to Astros.

5. Cubs, 44.6 points. Finished 11th, 107.9. Did not qualify for postseason.

6. New York Yankees, 44.4 points. Finished fifth, 123.4 points. Lost AL Championship Series to Astros.

7. Brewers, 41.7 points. Finished 14th, 104.9 points. Lost NL Wild Card Game to Nationals.

8. Phillies, 40.6 points. Finished 15th, 103.7 points. Did not qualify for postseason.

9. Diamondbacks, 39.1 points. Finished 17th, 92.8 points. Did not qualify for postseason.

10. Red Sox, 38.9 points. Finished 13th, 105.0 points. Did not qualify for postseason.

Here is a look at the top 10 Box-Toppers team rankings at the end of the regular season and where they stood in the rankings as of June 6:

1. Astros, 158.1 points. Ranked first, 55.6 points. Lost World Series to Nationals.

2. Nationals, 132.9 points. Ranked 15th, 37.4 points. Beat Astros in World Series.

3. Dodgers, 129.9 points. Ranked second, 52.6. Lost NL Divisional Series to Nationals.

4. Athletics, 124.9 points. Ranked 16th, 37.3. Lost AL Wild Card Game to Rays.

5. Yankees, 123.4 points. Ranked sixth, 44.4. Lost AL Championship Series to Astros.

6. Rays, 123.2 points. Ranked fourth, 48.2. Lost AL Divisional Series to Astros.

7. Twins, 115.7 points. Ranked third, 51.3. Lost AL Divisional Series to Yankees.

8. Braves, 112.7 points. Ranked 12th, 38.6. Lost NL Divisional Series to Cardinals.

9. Indians, 110.8 points. Ranked 13th, 38.3. Did not qualify for postseason.

10. Mets, 108.7 points. Ranked 18th, 36.4. Did not qualify for postseason.

How recent Box-Toppers’ 60-game leaders have fared in final rankings

The last time a player led Box-Toppers season player rankings in early June and ended up leading the rankings for the entire season was in 2009. That season, then-Royals pitcher Zack Greinke finished the season as Box-Toppers Player of the Year with 21.5 Box-Toppers points. On both June 4 and June 11 that season, he led all players with 12.1 Box-Toppers points.

Going back to 2013, when the Box-Toppers blog started, none of the leaders in Box-Toppers points after about 60 games finished the season ranked first. All those early season leaders, however, finished among the overall top 10. Here is a look at how Box-Toppers’ top-ranked player in early June (after about 60 games) fared in Box-Toppers’ final season player rankings. Also, how the final season leader fared after about 60 games.

2013

Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers led all players with 10.7 Box-Toppers points on June 7. Cabrera finished the season ranked eighth with 16.9 points, first among AL batters.

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw led all players at season’s end with 21.7 points. On June 7, he had 8.0 points, outside the overall top 10 and fifth among NL pitchers.

Cabrera was the last batter to rank among the overall top 10 players in Box-Toppers points at season’s end. No batter has ever led all players in Box-Toppers points over a complete season since tracking began in 1995. Three times batters have finished second overall:

• 1996: Albert Belle of the Indians ranked second with 20.4 points, behind overall leader, Braves pitcher John Smoltz (26.1).

• 2006: Lance Berkman of the Astros ranked second with 20.8 points, behind overall leader, Twins pitcher Johan Santana (25.7).

• 2007: Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees ranked second with 18.9 points, behind overall leader, Padres pitcher Jake Peavy (23.4).

2014

Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright led all players with 12.0 Box-Toppers points on June 5. Wainwright finished the season ranked eighth with 18.7 points, fourth among NL pitchers.

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw led all players at season’s end with 31.5 points. On June 5, he had 6.7 points, outside the overall top 10 and ninth among NL pitchers.

2015

Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez led all players with 11.4 Box-Toppers points on June 4. Hernandez finished the season ranked eighth with 19.4 points, third among AL pitchers.

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta led all players at season’s end with 29.1 points. On June 4, he had 5.0 points, outside both the overall top 10 and the top 10 among NL pitchers.

2016

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw led all players with 14.0 Box-Toppers points on June 2. Kershaw finished the season ranked second with 24.4 points, second among NL pitchers.

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer led all players at season’s end with 25.7 points. On June 2, he had 7.0 points, ninth overall and sixth among NL pitchers.

2017

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw led all players with 10.7 Box-Toppers points on June 1. Kershaw finished the season ranked third with 23.1 points, second among NL pitchers.

Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale led all players at season’s end with 25.1 points. On June 1, he had 8.4 points, fourth overall and second among AL pitchers.

2018

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer led all players with 15.4 Box-Toppers points on June 7. Scherzer finished the season ranked second with 25.1 points, first among NL pitchers.

Rays pitcher Blake Snell led all players at season’s end with 27.2 points. On June 7, he had 7.0 points, outside the overall top 10 and ninth among AL pitchers.

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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Related: 

• Box-Toppers blog post after 60 games in 2019: On June 4, Justin Verlander ranked first in Box-Toppers season player rankings

• Box-Toppers player rankings as of June 6, 2019: Showing top 10 overall and top 10 among NL and AL pitchers and batters after about 60 games of the 2019 season

• Box-Toppers team rankings as of June 6, 2019: Showing rankings after about 60 games of the 2019 season

• Box-Toppers year-end 2019 player rankings: Astros’ Gerrit Cole is 2019 Box-Toppers Player of the Year

• Box-Toppers year-end 2019 team rankings: Houston Astros finish 2019 with large lead in Box-Toppers team rankings

• Box-Toppers detail leaders, season-by season, 1995-2019: A sprawling, scrolling chart showing the top 5 and 10 players by a variety of classifications and categories in each of the 25 seasons of Box-Toppers player tracking