| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 22.4 | 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.1 | |
| 2 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp | ana al | 16.1 | 2 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 18.1 | |
| 3 | Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 14.7 | 3 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 17.1 | |
| 4 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | tor al | 14.7 | 4 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 | |
| 5 | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | oak al | 13.7 | 5 | Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 16.4 | |
| 6 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | tb al | 12.7 | 6 | Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.4 | |
| 7 | Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | bos al | 11.4 | 7 | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi sp | mil nl | 15.1 | |
| 8 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 | 8 | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 15.1 | |
| 9 | Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 | 9 | Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.7 | |
| 10 | Giolito, Lucas 3900 | pi sp | chi al | 10.4 | 10 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 13.1 | |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Martinez, J.D. 2922 | dh | bos al | 10.7 | 1 | Castellanos, Nicholas 3349 | rf | cin nl | 10.5 | |
| 2 | Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | cle al | 9.5 | 2 | Tatis, Fernando Jr. 4101 | ss | sd nl | 10.2 | |
| 3 | Lowe, Brandon 4108 | 2b | tb al | 9.0 | 3 | Duvall, Adam 3573 | rf lf | atl nl | 8.0 | |
| 4 | Bogaerts, Xander 3383 | ss | bos al | 7.5 | 4 | Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 8.0 | |
| 5 | Abreu, Jose 3308 | 1b | chi al | 7.0 | 5 | Riley, Austin 4144 | 3b | atl nl | 7.5 | |
| 6 | Olson, Matt 3836 | 1b | oak al | 7.0 | 6 | Winker, Jesse 3988 | lf | cin nl | 7.5 | |
| 7 | Devers, Rafael 4038 | 3b | bos al | 6.5 | 7 | Reynolds, Bryan 4169 | cf | pit nl | 7.0 | |
| 8 | Walsh, Jared 4332 | 1b | ana al | 6.5 | 8 | Swanson, Dansby 3751 | ss | atl nl | 7.0 | |
| 9 | Haniger, Mitch 3772 | rf | sea al | 6.5 | 9 | Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | stl nl | 7.0 | |
| 10 | Tucker, Kyle 4277 | rf | hou al | 6.2 | 10 | Albies, Ozzie 3953 | 2b | atl nl | 7.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole leads in Box-Toppers season player rankings for the fourth straight week.
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, Sept. 9.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 22.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.1 |
| 3 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 18.1 |
| 4 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 17.1 |
| 5 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 6 | Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 16.4 |
| 7 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp | ana al | 16.1 |
| 8 | Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.4 |
| 9 | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi sp | mil nl | 15.1 |
| 10 | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 15.1 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Meanwhile, J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox assumes the lead among American League batters after previous leader Shohei Ohtani of the Angels no longer qualified to be ranked among batters after earning the overwhelming majority of his Player of the Game honors this season as a pitcher.
Two other category leaders remain the same as last week: Max Scherzer of the Dodgers continues to lead National League pitchers and Nick Castellanos of the Reds continues to lead NL batters.
Cole has 22.4 Box-Toppers points, picking up no points in the past week, to lead all players ahead of overall second-place player Scherzer (21.1 points). Cole maintains his lead among AL pitchers for the 11th straight report, dating back to June 17. Cole leads AL pitchers ahead of second-place Shohei Ohtani of the Angels (16.1).
American League batters—J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox assumes the lead with 10.7 Box-Toppers points, rising from second place last week. Ohtani had ranked first among AL batters with 15.1 points, but as of Friday, Sept. 3, he no longer qualifies to be ranked as a batter under Box-Toppers rules.
In order for players to be listed at a certain position, they need to have more than 25 percent of their Player of the Game honors at that position. But on Friday, Sept. 3, Ohtani earned Player of the Game honors as a pitcher (giving him 16.1 points). It was his 12th Player of the Game honor of the season and his ninth as a starting pitcher. That means only three such honors—exactly 25 percent—have come as a designated hitter. And since such an overwhelming majority of his Player of the Game honors come as a pitcher, he is no longer listed even secondarily as a batter.
However, Ohtani could still qualify to again be listed among batters if he earns Player of the Game honors as a designated hitter one more time this season. That would mean four of his 13 Player of the Game honors came as a batter (30.8 percent). However, Ohtani has not earned Player of the Game honors as a designated hitter since July 28, more than a month ago–his last four such honors have been awarded for his pitching performances.
Martinez ranks ahead of second-place AL batter Jose Ramirez of the Indians (9.5 points). Martinez ranks 28th among all players in 2021 Box-Toppers points.
National League pitchers—Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer leads for the third week with 21.1 Box-Toppers points, picking up 2.0 points in the past week. He is trailed in second place by Zack Wheeler of the Phillies (18.1 points).
Scherzer ranks second overall in 2021 Box-Toppers points.
National League batters—Nick Castellanos of the Reds leads for the second week with 10.5 Box-Toppers points, earning no points in the past week. He leads over second-place NL batter Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres (10.2 points) and ranks 30th among all players.
Analysis—Cole has a commanding lead among AL pitchers. Ohtani is 6.3 points behind and has four starts (perhaps five) remaining in the season. If Ohtani earned overall Player of the Day honors in four starts (and Cole earned no more points) that would give Ohtani the lead with 24.1. Ohtani could also take the lead by earning AL Player of the Day honors (1.7 points each) in four starts, giving him 22.9 points to Cole’s 22.4.
However, Ohtani also has potential to add to his Box-Toppers point total by earning Player of the Game honors as a designated hitter on the days he is not batting.
This year is also shaping up to have potential record-low Box-Toppers points among league batting leaders. The lowest Box-Toppers point total to lead NL batters in a regular 162-game schedule is 10.7 by Nolan Arenado of the Rockies in 2016, which is also the lowest point total to lead any category in a regular-length season. Current NL batting leader Nick Castellanos of the Reds has 10.5 points with three weeks to go.
The lowest total to lead AL batters in a regular-length season is 12.1 by Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians in 2017. Current AL batting leader J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox has 10.7 points.
It should be noted that the pandemic-shortened 2020 season produced the lowest point totals to lead all categories.
Top 10 list exits and entrances—No players rose into the Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list this week.
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.
Four players joined the #BT40 this week:
Mitch Haniger of the Mariners rises to ninth place among AL batters with 6.5 points.
Kyle Tucker of the Astros rises to 10th place among AL batters with 6.2 points.
Yu Darvish of the Padres rises to 10th place among NL pitchers with 13.1 points.
Ozzie Albies of the Braves rises to 10th place among NL batters with 7.0 points.
Those four displace these four players: Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, Hunter Renfroe of the Red Sox, Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta and Brandon Crawford of the Giants. While Ohtani falls from AL batter rankings, he still ranks among the top 10 AL pitchers.
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 Kyle Tucker of the Astros (6.2 points, 10th among AL batters), who ranks 101st overall.
Box-Toppers almanac
Players who have earned Box-Toppers points so far in 2021—749 (it was 733 as of last week).
Players with more than 2.0 Box-Toppers points—358 (it was 345 as of last week).
Players who’ve made their Box-Toppers debut so far in 2021 (earning their first career Player of the Game honor)—179 (it was 168 as of last week).
Games completed so far in 2021—2,100, an average of 140 per team.
Percentage of scheduled season completed—86.4.
In the 96 games completed from Sept. 3 to 9, pitchers and batters exactly split winning Player of the Game honors 50-50—pitchers won in 48 games and batters also won in 48 games. That decreased the overall share of Player of the Game honors won by pitchers this season to 61.8 percent of all games (1,298 out of 2,100), compared to 38.2 percent won by batters (802 out of 2,100). (Last week, through games of Sept. 2, pitchers had 62.4 percent of all Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors this season.)
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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