Players on the First and Second teams shown in bold were chosen for Box-Toppers’ All-MLB team.
| Pos | First team | Team | BTP | Rank | Pos | Second team | Team | BTP | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | Paul Goldschmidt | Cardinals | 7.5 | 88 | 1B | Freddie Freeman | Dodgers | 8.5 | 73 | |
| 2B | Jose Altuve | Astros | 4.0 | 227 | 2B | Andres Gimenez | Guardians | 2.0 | 469 | |
| SS | Trea Turner | Dodgers | 0.0 | 861 | SS | Francisco Lindor | Mets | 6.7 | 107 | |
| 3B | Manny Machado | Padres | 5.5 | 150 | 3B | Nolan Arenado | Cardinals | 7.0 | 94 | |
| CA | J.T. Realmuto | Phillies | 5.5 | 146 | CA | Will Smith | Dodgers | 3.0 | 314 | |
| OF | Aaron Judge | Yankees | 13.2 | 28 | OF | Julio Rodriguez | Mariners | 7.5 | 90 | |
| OF | Mookie Betts | Dodgers | 11.7 | 38 | OF | Kyle Schwarber | Phillies | 2.0 | 412 | |
| OF | Mike Trout | Angels | 5.0 | 180 | OF | Kyle Tucker | Astros | 4.5 | 205 | |
| DH | Yordan Alvarez | Astros | 8.7 | 70 | DH | Shohei Ohtani* | Angels | 24.7 | 2 | |
| SP | Sandy Alcantara | Marlins | 21.1 | 3 | SP | Julio Urias | Dodgers | 19.4 | 7 | |
| SP | Shohei Ohtani | Angels | 24.7 | 2 | SP | Dylan Cease | White Sox | 20.4 | 5 | |
| SP | Justin Verlander | Astros | 26.0 | 1 | SP | Max Fried | Braves | 16.0 | 12 | |
| SP | Framber Valdez | Astros | 16.0 | 14 | SP | Aaron Nola | Phillies | 16.0 | 13 | |
| SP | Alek Manoah | Blue Jays | 13.1 | 30 | SP | Max Scherzer | Mets | 10.0 | 52 | |
| RP | Edwin Diaz | Mets | 7.0 | 100 | RP | Ryan Helsley | Cardinals | 6.0 | 135 | |
| RP | Emmanuel Clase | Guardians | 2.0 | 423 | RP | Ryan Pressly | Astros | 6.0 | 131 |
* Ohtani did not qualify to rank among AL batters and AL designated hitters because he earned such an overwhelming majority of his Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors as a starting pitcher. He earned four of his 17 Player of the Game honors as a batter (23.5 percent), compared to 13 as a pitcher (76.5 percent).
Seven Box-Toppers points leaders are among players selected for 2022’s 16-member “All-MLB” team announced Tuesday.
Box-Toppers All-MLB team choices
Here are Box-Toppers’ choices for the All-MLB team. Players chosen are the Box-Toppers points leader at each position regardless of league. Shown here are the Box-Toppers points leader at each position, their point total and their rank among all players in Box-Toppers points for 2022.Three of Box-Toppers’ choices for All-Stars do not appear on the ballot—Trevor Story, Mark Canha and Brandon Woodruff. Box-Toppers’ next highest-ranked player at each position who appear on the ballot are shown at the bottom of the chart—Marcus Semien, George Springer and Carlos Rodon.
| Pos | Player | Team | BTP | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | Pete Alonso | Mets | 14.9 | 20 |
| 2B | Trevor Story* | Red Sox | 7.0 | 97 |
| SS | Xander Bogaerts | Red Sox | 7.0 | 95 |
| 3B | Jose Ramirez | Indians | 11.7 | 36 |
| CA | Cal Raleigh | Mariners | 7.5 | 89 |
| OF | Aaron Judge | Yankees | 13.2 | 28 |
| OF | Mookie Betts | Dodgers | 11.7 | 38 |
| OF | Mark Canha* | Mets | 8.7 | 72 |
| DH | Yordan Alvarez | Astros | 8.7 | 70 |
| SP | Justin Verlander | Astros | 26.0 | 1 |
| SP | Shohei Ohtani | Angels | 24.7 | 2 |
| SP | Sandy Alcantara | Marlins | 21.1 | 3 |
| SP | Brandon Woodruff* | Brewers | 20.8 | 4 |
| SP | Dylan Cease | White Sox | 20.4 | 5 |
| RP | Daniel Bard | Rockies | 8.0 | 81 |
| RP | Edwin Diaz | Mets | 7.0 | 100 |
| 2B | Marcus Semien† | Rangers | 7.0 | 99 |
| OF | George Springer† | Blue Jays | 8.0 | 79 |
| SP | Carlos Rodon† | Giants | 19.8 | 6 |
* Three players had the most 2022 Box-Toppers points at their position but do not appear on the All-MLB Team ballot. Instead, Box-Toppers voted for the next-highest ranked player at each position, marked on the chart with a †.
† Box-Toppers substitute choices for All-MLB Team. They are the next-highest ranking player at the position who appear on the All-MLB Team ballot.
One other Box-Toppers leader was chosen for the “All-MLB” Second Team.
The All-MLB team was selected with half the vote coming from fans and half coming from an expert panel. Unlike the selections for baseball’s All-Star Game, players on not selected based on their affiliation with American League or National League. Rather, all players are chosen regardless of league as “First Team” or “Second Team” players.
Here is a Box-Toppers position-by-position look at the All-MLB teams, how players chosen for the teams fared in Box-Toppers points and who Box-Toppers would have chosen for those spots based on their season Box-Toppers point total.
First base
Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals was chosen as the First Team selection. His 7.5 Box-Toppers points ranked 88th among all players, seventh among NL batters and fourth among all first basemen.
Second Team selection is Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers, who had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, 73rd among all players, fourth among NL batters and second among all first basemen.
Box-Toppers chose Pete Alonso of the Mets, who led all batters, as well as all first basemen with 14.9 Box-Toppers points. He ranked 20th among all players.
Second base
Jose Altuve of the Astros was chosen as First Team selection. His 4.0 Box-Toppers points ranked 227th among all players and eighth among all second basemen.
Second Team selection is Andres Gimenez of the Guardians, who had 2.0 Box-Toppers points, 469th among all players, 31st among all second basemen.
Box-Toppers selection, Trevor Story of the Red Sox led at the position with 7.0 Box-Toppers points, 97th among all players and 11th among AL batters. Story, however, was not among the eight finalists on the ballot at the position.
Shortstop
Trea Turner of the Dodgers, chosen as First Team selection, earned 0.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 861st among all players and 57th among all shortstops. While Turner played 160 games in 2022 and was in the top 10 among NL batters in batting average, runs scored, hits, total bases, doubles, triples and runs batted in, he did not earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in any game—there was always another teammate who beat him out for the honor in Dodgers’ wins.
Second Team selection is Francisco Lindor of the Mets, whose 6.7 Box-Toppers points ranked 107th among all players and second among all shortstops.
Box-Toppers selection, Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox led at the position with 7.0 Box-Toppers points, 95th among all players and ninth among AL batters.
Third base
Manny Machado of the Padres was chosen as First Team selection. His 5.5 Box-Toppers points ranked 150th among all players, 10th among all third basemen.
Second Team selection is Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals, whose 7.0 Box-Toppers points ranked 94th among all players, ninth among NL batters and sixth among all third basemen.
Box-Toppers selection, Jose Ramirez of the Guardians led at the position with 11.7 Box-Toppers points, 36th among all players and second among AL batters.
Catcher
J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies was chosen as First Team selection. His 5.5 Box-Toppers points ranked 146th among all players and second among all catchers.
Second Team selection is Will Smith of the Dodgers, whose 3.0 Box-Toppers points is 314th among all players and 16th among all catchers.
Box-Toppers selection, Cal Raleigh of the Mariners led at the position with 7.5 Box-Toppers points, 89th among all players and seventh among AL batters.
Outfield
Aaron Judge of the Yankees, Mookie Betts of the Dodgers and Mike Trout of the Angels are First Team selections. Since they aren’t listed in alphabetical order, I have to assume they are ranked in order of their listing.
Of the three, Judge and Betts were also two of Box-Toppers’ selections to its All-MLB team. Judge ranked first among all outfielders (13.2 Box-Toppers points, 28th overall, first among AL batters) and Betts ranked second among all outfielders (11.7 points, 38th overall, second among NL batters).
Trout with 5.0 points ranked 180th overall and 20th among all outfielders.
Second Team selections were Julio Rodriguez of the Mariners, Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies and Kyle Tucker of the Astros. None of the three were Box-Toppers All-MLB Team selections.
Rodriguez with 7.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked 90th overall and fifth among all outfielders. Schwarber with 2.0 points, ranked 412th overall and 90th among all outfielders. Tucker with 4.5 points, ranked 205th overall and 22nd among all outfielders.
Box-Toppers three choices for outfielders include the previously mentioned Judge and Betts, plus Mark Canha of the Mets ranked third at the position with 8.7 Box-Toppers points, 72nd among all players and third among NL batters. (Canha, however, was not one of 20 outfield finalists to appear on the ballot.)
Designated hitter
Yordan Alvarez of the Astros, the First Team selection, is also Box-Toppers All-MLB Team selection. He led all designated hitters with 8.7 Box-Toppers points, 70th overall and third among AL batters.
Second Team selection is Shohei Ohtani of the Angels. Ohtani earned 24.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022, second among all players. However, because Ohtani earned such an overwhelming majority of his Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors as a pitcher (13 of 17), he did not qualify to be ranked among batters (even though he played far more games as a batter than a pitcher). Ohtani earned only 5.0 of his points as a designated hitter; the other 19.7 came as a starting pitcher. 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. Ohtani earned 23.5 percent of his Player of the Game honors as a designated hitter and so was not ranked as a batter.
Starting pitchers
Four of Box-Toppers’ top five-ranked starting pitchers are among players selected to either the All-MLB First or Second Teams.
Three of Box-Toppers’ top five pitchers were selected for the All-MLB First Team and one was selected to the All-MLB Second Team.
The First Team selections: Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels and Justin Verlander of the Astros. The Second Team selection: Dylan Cease of the White Sox.
Alcantara had 21.1 Box-Toppers points, third overall and first among NL pitchers. Ohtani had 24.7 points, second overall and second among AL pitchers. Verlander had 26.0 points, first among all players. (It should be noted that Ohtani earned 19.7 of his points as a starting pitcher, 5.0 as a designated hitter. While his combined total of 24.7 was second among all pitchers, his 19.7 points earned as a pitcher would still rank sixth among all pitchers.)
The other two All-MLB First Team selections: Framber Valdez of the Astros, with 16.0 Box-Toppers points, 14th among all pitchers and Alek Manoah of the Blue Jays, 13.1 points, 28th among all pitchers.
Second Team selections include Cease, Julio Urias of the Dodgers, Max Fried of the Braves, Aaron Nola of the Phillies and Max Scherzer of the Mets.
Cease, a Box-Toppers All-MLB Team selection, had 20.4 Box-Toppers points, fifth among all pitchers.
The other four Second-Team selections: Urias had 19.4 points, seventh among all pitchers; Fried had 16.0 points, 12th among all pitchers; Nola had 16.0 points, 13th among all pitchers and Scherzer had 10.0 points, 48th among all pitchers. (Scherzer led all players in 2021 with 25.1 Box-Toppers points.)
Box-Toppers’ fifth choice for All-MLB Team starting pitcher is Brandon Woodruff of the Brewers, whose 20.8 Box-Toppers points was fourth among all pitchers. Woodruff, however, was not among the 23 starting pitchers on the All-MLB team ballot.
Relief pitchers
Edwin Diaz of the Mets and Emmanuel Clase of the Guardians are MLB All-Star First Team selections. Diaz, chosen as a relief pitcher on Box-Toppers’ All-MLB team, was also the second-ranked closing pitcher with 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 100th overall. Clase had 2.0 Box-Toppers points, 42nd among closing pitchers.
Second Team relief pitchers are Ryan Helsley of the Cardinals and Ryan Pressly of the Astros. Helsley had 6.0 Box-Toppers points, seventh among all closing pitchers and Pressly had 6.0 points, fifth among all closers.
Box-Toppers’ top choice for All-MLB Team relief pitcher was Daniel Bard of the Rockies, who led all closing pitchers with 8.0 Box-Toppers points, 81st overall.
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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