Box-Toppers

Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Leaders
    • 2022
    • 2021-2022
    • 2017-2022
    • All-time (1995-2022)
    • Season leaders '95-'24
    • Detail leaders, ’95-’25
    • Archive
  • About
    • What?
    • How?
    • Why?
    • Who?
    • Contact
  • Home
  • Blog
    • 2022
    • 2021-2022
    • 2017-2022
    • All-time (1995-2022)
    • Season leaders '95-'24
    • Detail leaders, ’95-’25
    • Archive
    • What?
    • How?
    • Why?
    • Who?
    • Contact

Blog

  • All
  • image
player rankings 20210527.jpg

Rays’ Tyler Glasnow retakes lead in Box-Toppers weekly player rankings

Shawn Plank May 28, 2021
Here are standings of the top 10 players by category (AL & NL pitching & batting) in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2021 season through the games of May 27.

AL PITCHERS POS TEAM BTP NL PITCHERS POS TEAM BTP
1 Glasnow, Tyler 3948 pi sp tb al 10.7 1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 8.4
2 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp nyy al 10.7 2 Woodruff, Brandon 3868 pi sp mil nl 8.4
3 Civale, Aaron 4173 pi sp cle al 6.7 3 Wheeler, Zack 3204 pi sp phi nl 8.4
4 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp oak al 6.0 4 Darvish, Yu 3003 pi sp sd nl 7.7
5 Means, John 4115 pi sp bal al 6.0 5 Bauer, Trevor 3065 pi sp lad nl 7.4
6 Bieber, Shane 4005 pi sp cle al 5.7 6 Rogers, Trevor 4311 pi sp fla nl 7.0
7 Lynn, Lance 2992 pi sp chi al 5.7 7 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 6.7
8 Pineda, Michael 2841 pi sp min al 5.0 8 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 6.0
9 Rodon, Carlos 3494 pi sp chi al 5.0 9 Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp ari nl 6.0
10 Cease, Dylan 4231 pi sp chi al 5.0 10 Urias, Julio 3652 pi sp lad nl 6.0
AL BATTERS POS TEAM BTP NL BATTERS POS TEAM BTP
1 Martinez, J.D. 2922 dh bos al 6.2 1 Duvall, Adam 3573 rf lf fla nl 4.5
2 Bogaerts, Xander 3383 ss bos al 5.5 2 Arenado, Nolan 3306 3b stl nl 4.0
3 Abreu, Jose 3308 1b dh chi al 4.0 3 Castellanos, Nicholas 3349 rf cin nl 4.0
4 Devers, Rafael 4038 3b bos al 4.0 4 Story, Trevor 3607 ss col nl 3.2
5 Walsh, Jared 4332 1b ana al 4.0 5 Cron, C.J. 3338 1b col nl 3.0
6 Olson, Matt 3836 1b oak al 3.5 6 Cronenworth, Jake 4380 2b ph sd nl 3.0
7 Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 dh nyy al 3.5 7 Heyward, Jason 2695 rf ph chi nl 2.5
8 Arozarena, Randy 4331 lf dh tb al 3.0 8 Freeman, Freddie 2887 1b ph atl nl 2.5
9 Garcia, Adolis 4387 cf dh tex al 3.0 9 Tatis, Fernando Jr. 4101 ss sd nl 2.5
10 Mercedes, Yermin 4367 dh chi al 3.0 10 Machado, Manny 3087 3b sd nl 2.5
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations

Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow retakes the lead in Box-Toppers weekly player rankings after Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole led for the previous two weeks.

Meanwhile, Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers rises to lead National League pitchers, Adam Duvall of the Marlins rises to lead NL batters and J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox maintains his lead among American League batters.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2021. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Thursday, May 27.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Glasnow, Tyler 3948 pi sp tb al 10.7
2 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp nyy al 10.7
3 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 8.4
4 Woodruff, Brandon 3868 pi sp mil nl 8.4
5 Wheeler, Zack 3204 pi sp phi nl 8.4
6 Darvish, Yu 3003 pi sp sd nl 7.7
7 Bauer, Trevor 3065 pi sp lad nl 7.4
8 Rogers, Trevor 4311 pi sp fla nl 7.0
9 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 6.7
10 Civale, Aaron 4173 pi sp cle al 6.7
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations

Glasnow has 10.7 Box-Toppers points in 2021, rising past previous leader Cole. Though both Glasnow and Cole have 10.7 points for the season, Glasnow ranks higher because he had more 2020 points—8.0 vs. 7.4. Passing Cole, Glasnow also rises to first among AL pitchers. Cole falls to second place overall and among AL pitchers.

National League pitchers—Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers rises to lead with 8.4 Box-Toppers points, third place overall, passing last week’s leader Yu Darvish of the Padres (7.7), who falls to fourth place. Kershaw leads over second-place NL pitcher Brandon Woodruff of the Brewers. Though Kershaw, Woodruff and Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler all have 8.4 points for the season, Kershaw ranks ahead because he had more 2020 points—7.7 vs. 7.0 for Woodruff and 1.0 for Wheeler.

National League batters—Adam Duvall of the Marlins rises to lead with 4.5 Box-Toppers points, passing last week’s leader Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals (4.0), who falls to second place. Duvall ranks 40th among all players in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

American League batters—J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox leads for the seventh straight week with 6.2 Box-Toppers points, picking up no points in the past week. He falls from ninth place overall last week to 11th this week. He ranks ahead of second-place AL batter Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox (5.5 points).

Top 10 list exits and entrances—Two players rise into Box-Toppers top 10 overall players list this week:

  • Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer rises to seventh place with 7.4 points.

  • Indians pitcher Aaron Civale rises to 10th place with 6.7 points.

They displace two players who were on the top 10 list last week—J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox and Orioles pitcher John Means.

The #BT40—The Box-Toppers 40 (#BT40) is made up of the 40 players on Box-Toppers’ four top 10 category lists—AL and NL pitchers and batters. The #BT40 are listed in the chart at the top of this page.

Eight players joined the #BT40 this week:

  • Chris Bassitt of the Athletics rises to fourth place among AL pitchers with 6.0 points.

  • Michael Pineda of the Twins rises to eight place among AL pitchers with 5.0 points.

  • Dylan Cease of the White Sox rises to 10th place among AL pitchers with 5.0 points.

  • Rafael Devers of the Red Sox rises to fourth place among AL batters with 4.0 points.

  • Adolis Garcia of the Rangers rises to ninth place among AL batters with 3.0 points.

  • Julio Urias of the Dodgers rises to 10th place among NL pitchers with 6.0 points.

  • Jake Cronenworth of the Padres rises to sixth place among NL batters with 3.0 points.

  • Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres rises to ninth place among NL batters with 2.5 points.

Those eight displace these eight players: Yankees pitcher Corey Kluber, Tigers pitcher Spencer Turnbull, Athletics pitcher Sean Manaea, Jeimer Candelario of the Tigers, Marcus Semien of the Blue Jays, Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta, Gregory Polanco of the Pirates and Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals.

It should be noted that the #BT40 are not the overall top 40 players, but the top 10 in each of four categories. The lowest-ranking player among the #BT40 is Manny Machado of the Padres (2.5 points, 10th among NL batters), who ranks 104th overall.

Box-Toppers almanac

  • Players who have earned Box-Toppers points so far in 2021—423

  • Players with more than 2.0 Box-Toppers points—119

  • Players who’ve made their Box-Toppers debut so far in 2021 (earning their first career Player of the Game honor)—59

  • Players who’ve made their Box-Toppers debut in the past week—9

  • Games completed so far in 2021—744

  • Percentage of scheduled season completed—30.6

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.

Related

Last week’s Box-Toppers season player rankings report

TagsBox-Toppers Player Rankings, Tyler Glasnow, Gerrit Cole, Clayton Kershaw, Adam Duvall, J.D. Martinez, Yu Darvish, Brandon Woodruff, Zack Wheeler, Nolan Arenado, Xander Bogaerts, Trevor Bauer, Aaron Civale, John Means, Chris Bassitt, Michael Pineda, Dylan Cease, Rafael Devers, Adolis Garcia, Julio Urias, Jake Cronenworth, Fernando Tatis Jr., Corey Kluber, Spencer Turnbull, Sean Manaea, Jeimer Candelario, Marcus Semien, Freddy Peralta, Gregory Polanco, Paul Goldschmidt, Manny Machado
  • Blog
  • Older
  • Newer

Quick links

▪️ Newsletter
Sign up for Box-Toppers’ email newsletter for post updates.
▪️ Contribute
Support Box-Toppers by contributing in $5 increments at Buy me a coffee.
▪️ Search
Search Box-Toppers website.

Past posts

Hover over dates to see that day's posts.
No results found
Advanced search

Recent posts

Featured
Brewers’ Gasser top players in Monday’s World Series Game 3 blowout win over Rays
October 27, 2026
Brewers’ Gasser top players in Monday’s World Series Game 3 blowout win over Rays
October 27, 2026

Brewers starting pitcher Robert Gasser earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in Monday’s World Series Game 3 as Milwaukee beat Tampa Bay 10-1 to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.

Gasser struck out three over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk. Milwaukee can complete a sweep of the best-of-seven series in Game 4 on Tuesday in Tampa Bay.

Read more →
October 27, 2026
Reliever Aaron Ashby tops players in Brewers’ World Series Game 2 win Saturday
October 25, 2026
Reliever Aaron Ashby tops players in Brewers’ World Series Game 2 win Saturday
October 25, 2026

Brewers closing pitcher Aaron Ashby earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in Saturday’s World Series Game 2 win over the Rays.

Ashby struck out three over 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks while picking up the save as Milwaukee beat Tampa Bay 5-4 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Read more →
October 25, 2026
B-T Player of the Year Misiorowski tops players in Brewers’ World Series Game 1 win
October 24, 2026
B-T Player of the Year Misiorowski tops players in Brewers’ World Series Game 1 win
October 24, 2026

Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in Friday’s World Series Game 1 win over the Rays.

Misiorowski struck out three over five innings, allowing one run on four hits and one walk, as Milwaukee beat Tampa Bay 3-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Read more →
October 24, 2026
A Box-Toppers look at regular-season meeting of 2026 World Series foes Rays, Brewers
October 22, 2026
A Box-Toppers look at regular-season meeting of 2026 World Series foes Rays, Brewers
October 22, 2026

Before meeting in the 2026 World Series, the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers played a three-game regular-season series in Milwaukee, with the Brewers winning two of three.

While their World Series matchup forms the final bookend of the 2026 season, their first meeting served as an opening bookend back in late March, the second regular-season series for both teams.

Read more →
October 22, 2026
Brewers hold Box-Toppers points advantages over Rays in 2026 World Series
October 21, 2026
Brewers hold Box-Toppers points advantages over Rays in 2026 World Series
October 21, 2026

The Milwaukee Brewers hold Box-Toppers points advantages over the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2026 World Series.

The Brewers rank higher than the Rays in overall Box-Toppers points and hold decided points advantages in starting pitchers and overall pitching depth. However, the Rays hold a slight points edge among the starting nine batters and bench players.

Read more →
October 21, 2026

Follow Box-Toppers

▪️ Subscribe RSS
▪️ Bluesky
▪️ Twitter/X
▪️ Facebook
▪️ Apple News
▪️ Substack

Box-Toppers tag cloud

Top 20 topics mentioned in Box-Toppers blog. For top 100 topics, click here.

  • Box-Toppers Daily Scorecard
  • Box-Toppers debut
  • Clayton Kershaw
  • Max Scherzer
  • Los Angeles Dodgers
  • Justin Verlander
  • Shohei Ohtani
  • Gerrit Cole
  • Chris Sale
  • Box-Toppers Player Rankings
  • Postseason
  • Houston Astros
  • New York Yankees
  • Zack Greinke
  • Streak with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in a season
  • Zack Wheeler
  • Aaron Judge
  • Jacob deGrom
  • Box-Toppers Team Power Rankings
  • MLB
facebook

© 2013-2026 Shawn Plank

Box-Toppers

Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.

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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.

facebook