Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer leads players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2015.
Box-Toppers points leaders for 2015-20
| OVERALL LEADERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 116.2 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 101.6 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 92.4 |
| 4 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 90.1 |
| 5 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 88.4 |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 88.4 |
| 7 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 84.0 |
| 8 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | hou al | 83.4 |
| 9 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 79.0 |
| 10 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | tex al | 78.3 |
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 90.1 |
| 2 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 88.4 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 88.4 |
| 4 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 84.0 |
| 5 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | hou al | 83.4 |
| 6 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | tex al | 78.3 |
| 7 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | nyy al | 61.9 |
| 8 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 57.6 |
| 9 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | tb al | 53.0 |
| 10 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | nyy al | 50.2 |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 50.7 |
| 2 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh | chi al | 39.5 |
| 3 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b ph | min al | 39.1 |
| 4 | Pujols, Albert 1438 | 1b | ana al | 35.5 |
| 5 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | dh lf | nyy al | 34.7 |
| 6 | Martinez, J.D. 2922 | dh rf | bos al | 33.7 |
| 7 | Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224 | dh | min al | 32.0 |
| 8 | Odor, Rougned 3336 | 2b | tex al | 30.2 |
| 9 | LeMahieu, DJ 3091 | 2b | nyy al | 30.0 |
| 10 | Grichuk, Randal 3474 | cf | tor al | 29.9 |
| NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 116.2 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 101.6 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 92.4 |
| 4 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 79.0 |
| 5 | Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cin nl | 68.7 |
| 6 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 67.2 |
| 7 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | atl nl | 63.4 |
| 8 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | phi nl | 63.2 |
| 9 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 63.0 |
| 10 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | lad nl | 58.3 |
| NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | col nl | 43.4 |
| 2 | Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | chi nl | 42.5 |
| 3 | Yelich, Christian 3334 | lf | mil nl | 37.7 |
| 4 | Betts, Mookie 3404 | rf | lad nl | 37.3 |
| 5 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | stl nl | 37.1 |
| 6 | Ozuna, Marcell 3190 | lf dh | atl nl | 36.2 |
| 7 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | dh rf | phi nl | 36.0 |
| 8 | Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b ss | sd nl | 35.9 |
| 9 | McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | lf | phi nl | 35.5 |
| 10 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b ph | atl nl | 34.7 |
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Scherzer has 116.2 Box-Toppers points over the period 2015-2020, 14.6 points ahead of Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has 101.6 points over that span.
It is the third straight year Scherzer has led the six-year rolling Box-Toppers point total. After 2019, he had 134.3 points over 2014-19, to lead all players over that six-year period. And after 2018, he had 137.0 points over 2013-2018, leading all players over that six-year period.
Scherzer’s success came early in the six-year period—he has not ranked highly in Box-Toppers points in recent seasons:
In 2015, he had 21.0 Box-Toppers points, sixth overall and fourth among National League pitchers.
In 2016, he had 25.7 points, first among all players.
In 2017, he had 25.0 points, second overall and first among NL pitchers.
In 2018, he had 25.1 points, second overall and first among NL pitchers.
In 2019, he had 15.4 points, 15th overall and ninth among NL pitchers.
In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he had 4.0 points, 45th among all players and 18th among NL pitchers.
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The players who make these top 10 charts over the period 2015-20 have demonstrated their long-term staying power. Weeded out are players who have single-season, flash-in-the-pan success and relative newcomers who haven’t yet proven their longevity. But it also rewards dominant players of the recent past whose success has waned lately.
AL pitchers
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole leads American League pitchers over the past six seasons with 90.1 Box-Toppers points over 2015-20. He ranks fourth among all players over that span, behind three NL pitchers—Scherzer (116.2), Kershaw (101.6) and Jacob deGrom of the Mets (92.4).
Cole passes Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale, who led AL pitchers in the six-year rolling total each of the previous two seasons. Sale, who earned no points in 2020, fell to third place among AL pitchers with 88.4 points over 2015-20.
Cole leads second-place AL pitcher Justin Verlander of the Astros, who has 88.4 Box-Toppers points over 2015-20. While Verlander and Sale both have 88.4 points over the same span, Verlander ranks ahead because he had more 2020 Box-Toppers points—1.0 vs. 0.0.
Cole ranked sixth among AL pitchers in points over 2014-19 with 88.4. Here is a look at how he ranked in each of the past six seasons:
2015—19.0 points with the Pirates, ninth overall, sixth among NL pitchers.
2016—6.5 points with the Pirates, 136th overall, 44th among NL pitchers.
2017—7.0 points with the Pirates, 101st overall, 33rd among NL pitchers.
2018—18.0 points with the Astros, eighth overall, sixth among AL pitchers.
2019—32.2 points with the Astros, first overall, fourth-highest single-season point total since tracking began in 1995.
2020—7.4 points with the Yankees, 12th overall, fifth among AL pitchers.
AL batters
Mike Trout of the Angels leads AL batters over the past six seasons with 50.7 Box-Toppers points over 2015-20. It is the second straight season Trout has led the six-year rolling total—after 2019, he had 54.7 points over 2014-19. Trout ranks 24th among all players over the past six seasons.
Despite Trout’s first-place ranking among AL batters over the past six seasons, he’s never led AL batters in Box-Toppers points in any season but has been ranked among the top 10 AL batters in five of the past six seasons:
2015-12.0, second.
2016—12.5, second.
2017—5.0, 45th.
2018—8.0, fifth.
2019—8.7, ninth.
2020—4.5, fifth.
Trout has a large lead over the second place AL batter over the past six seasons, Edwin Encarnacion of the White Sox, who has 39.5 points over 2015-20.
NL batters
Nolan Arenado of the Rockies leads NL batters over the past six seasons with 43.4 Box-Toppers points over 2015-20. He ranks 41st among all players.
Arenado passes last year’s six-year rolling total leader among NL batters, Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs. After 2019, Rizzo led NL batters with 49.0 points over 2014-19. In 2020, Rizzo falls to second among NL batters with 42.5 points over 2015-20. Arenado ranked third in the ranking among NL batters over 2014-19 with 43.9 points.
Arenado rises to first place despite earning only 1.0 Box-Toppers points in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, 80th among NL batters. Here is a look at his past six seasons and his rank each season among NL batters:
2015—8.5 points, 10th.
2016—10.7, first.
2017—9.2, fifth.
2018—5.0, 31st.
2019—9.0, sixth.
2020—1.0, 80th.
Players are shown here with the teams they were on at the end of 2020. Only players active at the end of 2020 are listed.
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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