| Most Valuable Player | ||||||||||
| AL winner | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | AL BTP leader | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Shohei Ohtani | Angels | pi sp dh | 19.4 | 3 | Shohei Ohtani | Angels | pi sp dh | 19.4 | 3 | |
| NL winner | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | NL BTP leader | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Ronald Acuña Jr. | Braves | rf | 10.7 | 41 | Pete Alonso | Mets | 1b | 12.0 | 28 | |
| Cy Young Award | ||||||||||
| AL winner | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | AL BTP leader | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Gerrit Cole | Yankees | pi sp | 17.0 | 7 | Chris Bassitt | Blue Jays | pi sp | 20.1 | 2 | |
| NL winner | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | NL BTP leader | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Blake Snell | Padres | pi sp | 14.7 | 12 | Spencer Strider | Braves | pi sp | 21.1 | 1 | |
| Rookie of the Year | ||||||||||
| AL winner | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | AL BTP leader | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Gunnar Henderson | Orioles | 3b dh ss | 7.5 | 89 | Gunnar Henderson | Orioles | 3b dh ss | 7.5 | 89 | |
| NL winner | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | NL BTP leader | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Corbin Carroll | Diamondbacks | rf lf | 3.0 | 366 | James Outman | Dodgers | cf | 8.7 | 67 | |
For AL MVP, Shohei Ohtani had an adjusted Box-Toppers point total of 29.1, which beat top AL pitcher Chris Bassitt of the Blue Jays (20.1).
For NL MVP, Pete Alonso had an adjusted Box-Toppers point total of 24.0, which beat top NL pitcher Spencer Strider of the Braves, 21.1.
For NL Rookie of the Year, James Outman had an adjusted Box-Toppers point total of 17.4, which beat top NL rookie pitcher Kodai Senga of the Mets, 12.7.
BTP: Box-Toppers points
Box-Toppers’ choices for baseball’s major postseason awards won two of six of the 2023 honors.
Box-Toppers postseason honors ballot
Here is a look at Box-Toppers’ ballot selections for the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) 2023 postseason awards. The ballot requires votes out to 10 places for Most Valuable Player in both leagues, five for Cy Young Awards in each league and three for each leagues' Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year and Reliever of the Year.Players are shown with their team and their Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2023.
| AL Most Valuable Player | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Shohei Ohtani | Angels | 19.4 |
| 2 | Kyle Tucker | Astros | 12.5 |
| 3 | Aaron Judge | Yankees | 12.0 |
| 4 | Chris Bassitt | Blue Jays | 20.1 |
| 5 | Kevin Gausman | Blue Jays | 18.7 |
| 6 | Gerrit Cole | Yankees | 17.0 |
| 7 | Luis Castillo | Mariners | 16.1 |
| 8 | Bobby Witt Jr. | Royals | 7.7 |
| 9 | Max Scherzer | Rangers | 15.4 |
| 10 | Brandon Drury | Angels | 7.5 |
| NL Most Valuable Player | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Pete Alonso | Mets | 12.0 |
| 2 | Ronald Acuña Jr. | Braves | 10.7 |
| 3 | Spencer Strider | Braves | 21.1 |
| 4 | Freddie Freeman | Dodgers | 10.0 |
| 5 | Nolan Gorman | Cardinals | 10.0 |
| 6 | Christian Yelich | Brewers | 9.2 |
| 7 | Juan Soto | Padres | 9.0 |
| 8 | Jesus Luzardo | Marlins | 17.8 |
| 9 | Freddy Peralta | Brewers | 17.7 |
| 10 | Zac Gallen | Diamondbacks | 16.7 |
| AL Cy Young | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Chris Bassitt | Blue Jays | 20.1 |
| 2 | Kevin Gausman | Blue Jays | 18.7 |
| 3 | Gerrit Cole | Yankees | 17.0 |
| 4 | Luis Castillo | Mariners | 16.1 |
| 5 | Max Scherzer | Rangers | 15.4 |
| NL Cy Young | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Spencer Strider | Braves | 21.1 |
| 2 | Jesus Luzardo | Marlins | 17.8 |
| 3 | Freddy Peralta | Brewers | 17.7 |
| 4 | Zac Gallen | Diamondbacks | 16.7 |
| 5 | Zack Wheeler | Phillies | 14.7 |
| AL Rookie of the Year | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Gunnar Henderson | Orioles | 7.5 |
| 2 | Bryce Miller | Mariners | 13.1 |
| 3 | Hunter Brown | Astros | 10.1 |
| NL Rookie of the Year | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | James Outman | Dodgers | 8.7 |
| 2 | Ezequiel Tovar | Rockies | 6.5 |
| 3 | Kodai Senga | Mets | 12.7 |
While MVP is traditionally a batter's award, it has been awarded to pitchers either when they have a dominant season, no batters particularly rise to the occasion—or both.
Shohei Ohtani of the Angels won the American League Most Valuable Player Award and Gunnar Henderson of the Orioles won the AL Rookie of the Year Award.
But for the other four awards announced last week, voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), Box-Toppers leaders were not among the winners.
Here is a summary of how Box-Toppers’ choices fared in postseason awards:
American League Most Valuable Player
Ohtani was voted 2023 AL MVP Wednesday and was also Box-Toppers’ choice for the award.
Ohtani earned 19.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023, second among all AL players, behind Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt (20.1). However, in figuring postseason awards in categories in which batters and pitchers are eligible for the same honor, Box-Toppers arbitrarily doubles the Box-Toppers point totals for batters to make it more difficult for pitchers to win what are often considered “batter’s awards” such as the MVP.
Ohtani earned 9.7 points as a batter and 9.7 as a pitcher. Doubling his 9.7 batting points and adding it to his 9.7 pitching points, gives him a 29.1 adjusted total, beating Bassitt’s 20.1 total.
Ohtani earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors 16 times in 2023—eight as a designated hitter and eight as a starting pitcher. If separated, Ohtani’s 9.7 points as a pitcher would rank 28th among AL pitchers and his 9.7 points as a batter would rank third among AL batters.
National League Most Valuable Player
Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves won the award over Box-Toppers NL batting leader Pete Alonso of the Mets.
Award finalists
Here are finalists for the Cy Young, Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year awards to be given this week, as named by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Players are listed by their Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2023 and their Box-Toppers rank in their award category.| Cy Young finalists | |||
| AL finalists | Team | BTP | Rank* |
| Gerrit Cole | Yankees | 17.0 | 4 |
| Kevin Gausman | Blue Jays | 18.7 | 3 |
| Sonny Gray | Twins | 10.4 | 20 |
| **Chris Bassitt | Blue Jays | 20.1 | 1 |
| NL finalists | Team | BTP | Rank* |
| Zac Gallen | Diamondbacks | 16.7 | 4 |
| Blake Snell | Padres | 14.7 | 6 |
| Logan Webb | Giants | 12.4 | 11 |
| **Spencer Strider | Braves | 21.1 | 1 |
| Most Valuable Player Awards finalists | |||
| AL finalists | Team | BTP | Rank* |
| Shohei Ohtani | Angels | 19.4 | ‑§ |
| Corey Seager | Rangers | 6.2 | 22 |
| Marcus Semien | Rangers | 6.7 | 15 |
| NL finalists | Team | BTP | Rank* |
| Ronald Acuña Jr. | Braves | 10.7 | 2 |
| Mookie Betts | Dodgers | 8.5 | 8 |
| Freddie Freeman | Dodgers | 10.0 | 3 |
| **Pete Alonso | Mets | 12.0 | 1 |
| Rookie of the Year finalists | |||
| AL finalists | Team | BTP | Rank† |
| Tanner Bibee | Guardians | 8.7 | 3 |
| Triston Casas | Red Sox | 5.5 | 10 |
| Gunnar Henderson | Orioles | 7.5 | 7 |
| NL finalists | Team | BTP | Rank† |
| Corbin Carroll | Diamondbacks | 3.0 | 24 |
| James Outman | Dodgers | 8.7 | 3 |
| Kodai Senga | Mets | 12.7 | 1 |
* Rank shows a player’s rank among potential players eligible for the award. For example, AL Cy Young finalists are ranked among AL pitchers, AL MVP finalists are ranked among AL batters.
** Player led the league category in Box-Toppers points but is not among the three finalists for the award.
† Rookie of the Year candidates are ranked among their league’s rookies in Box‑Toppers points. However, for awards in which batters and pitchers directly compete, such as Rookie of the Year, we adjust the batters’ total (doubling it) to make them more competitive.
§ Ohtani earned 9.7 of his 19.4 Box-Toppers points as a batter and 9.7 as a pitcher. His 19.4 points was third among all players, second among AL pitchers and first among AL batters. If Ohtani’s points were figured separately, his 9.7 batting points would rank third among AL batters and his 9.7 pitching points would rank 28th among AL pitchers. Among AL players, Ohtani ranked behind Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt (20.1). In figuring AL MVP, Box-Toppers arbitrarily doubles batters’ point totals when comparing them to pitchers. Doubling Ohtani’s 9.7 batting points gives him an adjusted total of 29.1, moving him ahead of Bassitt.
Acuna was second among NL batters with 10.7 Box-Toppers points, behind Alonso with 12.0. Alonso finished tied for 17th in NL MVP voting, receiving only one eighth-place vote, while Acuna won the NL MVP on a unanimous ballot.
Despite Acuna’s superiority in many statistical categories, Alonso won Player of the Game honors nine times in 2023 vs. Acuna’s eight. Though he was on a team that won 75 games vs. the Braves’ 104, he was the NL batter who most often was the key player to his team’s wins.
Braves pitcher Spencer Strider led NL players with 21.1 Box-Toppers points. But both Alonso and Acuna ranked ahead of him on Box-Toppers MVP ballot due to their batter adjusted point total. In figuring postseason awards in categories in which batters and pitchers are eligible for the same honor, Box-Toppers arbitrarily doubles the Box-Toppers point totals for batters. That gives Alonso an adjusted total of 24.0 and Acuna an adjusted total of 21.4, both beating Strider.
American League Cy Young Award
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole won the award over Box-Toppers AL pitching leader Chris Bassitt of the Blue Jays.
Cole’s 17.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023 was seventh overall and fourth among AL pitchers. He was third place on Box-Toppers’ AL Cy Young ballot.
Box-Toppers choice for the award, Bassitt, led AL pitchers with 20.1 Box-Toppers points, second among all players.
While Cole got off to a strong start in 2023 and even led all players in Box-Toppers points for two days early in the season (April 16 and April 22), he earned no Box-Toppers points in May and only earned 2.0 over June and July. During that three-month period, the Yankees were 9-7 in games he started and he only had Box-Toppers game scores above +3.0 in two games the Yankees won during that span, his only two Player of the Game honors during that period—June 20 and July 22.
After that three-month relatively sluggish period—which constitutes half the season—Cole earned 9.0 Box-Toppers points in August and September. That helped him to nearly catch up to the AL pitching leaders in Box-Toppers points, but left him short of the lead.
Though Bassitt was Box-Toppers’ top-ranked AL pitcher in 2023 and one of only two players to reach 20 Box-Toppers points during the season, he finished a lowly 10th in AL Cy Young voting, picking up only one third-place vote and one fifth-place vote.
National League Cy Young Award
Padres pitcher Blake Snell won the award over 2023 overall Box-Toppers points leader, Braves pitcher Spencer Strider.
Snell earned 14.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 12th among all players and sixth among NL pitchers and 6.4 points behind NL pitching leader Strider (21.1).
While Snell led NL pitchers in earned run average in 2023 (2.25) and was second in strikeouts (234) behind Strider (281), he won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors nine times in 2023 compared to 17 for Strider. In other words, Strider was the key player most helpful to 17 Braves wins, nearly twice as many times (nine) as Snell was the key player in a Padres win.
Strider finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting, falling just short of the top three finalists.
The Padres went only 17-15 in Snell’s 32 starts. In his first 11 starts, the Padres went 2-9. In six of those starts, he had a negative Box-Toppers game score. He did not win Player of the Game honors in any of those first 11 starts and did not win his first Player of the Game honor until June 5, failing to earn any Box-Toppers points for the first two months (fully one-third) of the season.
Snell earned 14.7 points in the final four months of the season, playing catchup, which is impressive, and puts him sixth among NL pitchers. While others see Snell as the runaway winner of the NL Cy Young, he doesn’t even appear on Box-Toppers ballot of the top five NL pitchers because he finished sixth in that category.
American League Rookie of the Year
Gunnar Henderson of the Orioles, Box-Toppers’ choice for 2023 American League Rookie of the Year, was also voted winner of the honor by baseball writers Monday.
Henderson earned 7.5 Box-Toppers points in 2023 (89th among all players, eighth among AL batters and most among rookie batters), which was slightly more than half the point total of the top AL rookie pitcher, Bryce Miller of the Mariners (13.1).
In cases in which batters and pitchers are eligible for the same award, we give batters a generous, if arbitrary, benefit of the doubt and double their Box-Toppers point total when comparing them to pitchers. This gives Henderson an adjusted total of 15.0 points, which beats Miller’s 13.1.
While Henderson had the seventh-highest Box-Toppers point total among AL rookies, he trailed six pitchers, including Miller.
National League Rookie of the Year
Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll was voted National League Rookie of the Year over Box-Toppers’ choice, Dodgers outfielder James Outman.
Carroll earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023 and was not among Box-Toppers’ finalists for the award, ranking 24th among all NL rookies and 10th among NL rookie batters.
Box-Toppers’ choice for the award, Dodgers center fielder James Outman, finished third in NL rookie voting. Outman had 8.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023, third among NL rookies and most among NL rookie batters. With his batters’ adjusted total of 17.4, he ranked atop NL rookies, ahead of Mets pitcher Kodai Senga, whose 12.7 Box-Toppers points led NL rookies. Senga finished second in NL rookie voting.
As we’ve stated previously, there’s no doubt Carroll had an outstanding season and when comparing season statistics, he beats Outman in just about every conceivable category. (Check this comparison of their seasons in Baseball Reference’s Stathead player comparison). But simply accumulating big statistics doesn’t necessarily produce results. It’s not necessarily the size that matters, as some claim in slightly unrelated matters, it’s what you’re able to do with it. To what end were these statistics accumulated? Did they help Carroll contribute to his team’s wins?
Only three times in 2023 did Carroll win Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in a Diamondbacks win. Outman, by contrast, won Player of the Game honors seven times, more than twice as often as Carroll.
•
Among those six awards, Box-Toppers leaders were two-for-six in coinciding with baseball writers’ choices. In the 11 seasons including 2023 and going back to 2013, Box-Toppers leaders have won an average of 2.4 of the six awards each season, doing as well as coinciding five times in 2014 and as poorly as going zero-for-six twice, in 2019 and 2021. Here is a look at each of the past 10 seasons:
In 2013, Box-Toppers and baseball writers picked the same winner for four of six awards.
In 2014, five of six.
In 2015, two of six.
In 2016, two of six.
In 2017, three of six.
In 2018, two (or three or four, depending on how you count) of six.
In 2019, zero of six.
In 2020, two of six.
In 2021, zero of six.
In 2022, three (or four, depending on how you count) of six.
•
Among the four major postseason awards—AL and NL Cy Young and Most Valuable Player Awards—Box-Toppers leaders won only one award in 2023—Ohtani won AL MVP.
That marks the 11th time in 29 seasons of Box-Toppers tracking that only one of Box-Toppers leaders won one of the four major awards.
Since 1995, when Box-Toppers player tracking began, there has never been a year in which Box-Toppers leaders won all four major postseason awards. However, there have been three seasons in which Box-Toppers leaders won three of the four awards—1997, 2009 and 2013.
There have been 11 times when Box-Toppers leaders have won two of the four major awards, including 2022. There have been four seasons in which no Box-Toppers points leader won any of the four major awards—2003, 2012, 2019 and 2021.
That means that in 25 of Box-Toppers’ 29 seasons of tracking, at least one Box-Toppers leader has won at least one of four major postseason awards.
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
A look at Box-Toppers’ leaders for postseason awards, plus an award finalist overview
Box-Toppers’ Rookies of the Year: Outman outmans Carroll in NL; Henderson is top in AL
Box-Toppers’ Cy Young Awards: Bassitt over Cole in AL; Strider over Snell in NL
Box-Toppers’ MVP Awards: Ohtani reigns over AL; Alonso edges Acuña in NL
Box-Toppers’ top AL rookie Henderson wins AL Rookie of the Year; top NL rookie Outman finishes 3rd
Cole, Snell win 2023 Cy Young Awards over Box-Toppers leaders Bassitt, Strider
Box-Toppers’ pick Ohtani wins AL MVP, but Acuña wins NL MVP over our pick, Alonso