Drake Baldwin of the Braves, Box-Toppers’ choice for 2025 National League Rookie of the Year, was also voted winner of the honor by baseball writers Monday.
Box-Toppers Rookie of the Year ballot
Here is a look at Box-Toppers’ 2025 Rookie of the Year ballot selections for the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) awards. The ballot requires votes out to five places in each leagues' Rookie of the Year.Players are shown with their team and their Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2025.
| AL Rookie of the Year | ||
| Player | Team | BTP |
| Jacob Lopez | Athletics | 11.4 |
| Kyle Teel | White Sox | 5.0 |
| Will Warren | Yankees | 9.4 |
| Nick Kurtz | Athletics | 4.5 |
| Colson Montgomery | White Sox | 4.5 |
| NL Rookie of the Year | ||
| Player | Team | BTP |
| Drake Baldwin | Braves | 6.5 |
| Agustín Ramírez | Marlins | 6.0 |
| Isaac Collins | Brewers | 5.5 |
| Cade Horton | Cubs | 9.7 |
| Nolan McLean | Mets | 7.7 |
But Nick Kurtz of the Athletics, who won the American League Rookie of Year Award, was fourth among Box-Toppers’ top five choices for top AL rookie. Athletics pitcher Jacob Lopez, Box-Toppers’ choice for top AL rookie, received no votes from baseball writers in Monday’s balloting.
The top rookie awards were announced Monday, chosen by a vote of the Baseball Writers Association of America.
AL Rookie of the Year
Kurtz won the award, receiving all 30 first-place votes (see AL voting chart). He earned 4.5 Box-Toppers points in 2025, tied for 12th among AL rookies.
Kurtz hit 36 home runs and posted a 1.002 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) in just 117 games. A major highlight of Kurtz’s season was his four-home run game on July 25, in which he won Box-Toppers Player of the Day honors worth 2.0 Box-Toppers points. He is one of 21 players in Major League history to hit four homers in a game and one of three to do it in 2025.
But Kurtz only won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors three times in 2025 (also winning July 8 and Aug. 25).
His teammate, pitcher Jacob Lopez, by contrast, won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors eight times in 2025, earning 11.4 total Box-Toppers points, most among all AL rookies and most among all Athletics players. Lopez ranked 32nd among all players and 18th among AL pitchers.
Lopez had 2.0 more Box-Toppers points than the next-highest AL rookie, Yankees pitcher Will Warren (9.4 Box-Toppers points), who finished eighth in AL Rookie of the Year voting.
But Lopez was not even among the 15 rookies who received votes from baseball writers for AL top rookie.
Lopez’s overall statistics for the season are not overly impressive—he had a 7-7 record and a 4.08 ERA over 92.2 innings pitched (17 starts and four relief appearances). Yet on a game-by-game basis, he helped the Athletics more than any other player, winning Player of the Game honors in eight of the 21 games in which he pitched, including winning overall Player of the Day honors in two consecutive starts—Aug. 7 (7.2IP 3H 0R 0BB 10K W) and Aug. 12 (7IP 4H 0R 0BB 9K W).
Lopez made his Box-Toppers debut June 14 with his first career Player of the Game honor. However, Lopez made his Major League debut Aug. 14, 2023, with the Rays. While he played eight games over 2023 and 2024, his rookie status was still intact for 2025.
Two other Athletics players received AL top rookie votes:
Shortstop Jacob Wilson finished second in AL Rookie of the Year voting. Wilson earned 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 14th among AL rookies.
Starting pitcher Luis Morales finished tied for 13th in AL Rookie of the Year voting. He earned 2.5 Box-Toppers points in 2025, tied for 25th among AL rookies.
Three players who earned votes for AL top rookie have 0.0 Box-Toppers points and have yet to earn their first career Player of the Game honor and so have no Box-Toppers ranking—Red Sox catcher Carlos Narváez, Twins second baseman Luke Keaschall and Blue Jays relief pitcher Braydon Fisher.
NL Rookie of the Year
Baldwin was voted National League Rookie of the Year by baseball writers, receiving 21 of the 30 first-place votes (see NL voting chart).
Baldwin’s 6.5 Box-Toppers points is third among NL rookies, behind Cubs pitcher Cade Horton (9.7 points) and Mets pitcher Nolan McLean (7.7 points), but was Box-Toppers’ choice as top NL rookie. In cases in which batters and pitchers compete for the same award, we arbitrarily double batters’ totals to make them competitive with pitchers, giving Baldwin an adjusted total of 13.0, ahead of Horton’s 9.7. (Horton was fourth on Box-Toppers’ NL Rookie of the Year ballot.)
Baldwin hit 19 home runs and drove in 80 runs with a .274 batting average and an .810 OPS, playing in 124 games.
Horton finished second in NL rookie voting, picking up nine first-place votes. He went 11-4 with a 2.67 earned run average, striking out 97 in 118 innings over 23 games (22 starts). Horton's ERA was the best among rookie starting pitchers, and his 11 wins were the most among rookie pitchers.
Two players who earned votes for NL top rookie have 0.0 Box-Toppers points and have yet to earn their first career Player of the Game honor and so have no Box-Toppers ranking—Brewers infielder Caleb Durbin (who finished third in the voting) and Nationals outfielder Daylen Lile (who finished fifth).
IBWAA rookie voting
Box-Toppers votes in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) Rookie of the Year voting. Here are the internet writers’ top rookie choices
American League
1st Place: Nick Kurtz, Athletics—145 points
2nd Place: Jacob Wilson, Athletics—55 points
3rd Place: Roman Anthony, Red Sox—34 points
National League:
1st Place: Drake Baldwin, Braves—114 points
2nd Place: Cade Horton, Cubs—76 points
3rd Place: Caleb Durbin, Brewers—22 points
IBWAA members include more than 800 baseball writers and content creators. Voting for full-season awards takes place prior to the start of the postseason each year, with selections announced in November.
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. (No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.)
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A Box-Toppers look at past Rookie of the Year voting:
2024: Box-Toppers’ top AL rookie Gil wins AL Rookie of Year; top NL rookie Imanaga finishes 4th
2023: Box-Toppers’ top AL rookie Henderson wins AL Rookie of the Year; top NL rookie Outman finishes 3rd
2022: Box-Toppers’ top AL rookie Rodriguez wins AL Rookie of the Year; top NL rookie Strider finishes 2nd
2021: Box-Toppers’ top-ranked rookies Dalbec, Rogers, lose Rookie of the Year honors to Arozarena, India
2020: Short season limited opportunity to shine for newcomers
2019: Padres’ Chris Paddack, Box-Toppers’ dominant rookie for 2019, receives no Rookie of the Year votes; Alonso, Alvarez receive rookie honors.
2018: Ronald Acuna Jr., Shohei Ohtani, who led rookies in Box-Toppers points, win awards.
2017: Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, who led league rookies in Box-Toppers points, win awards.
2016: Box-Toppers disagrees with writers’ unanimous choice for Corey Seager as NL Rookie of the Year.
American League Rookie of the Year voting
Nick Kurtz of the Athletics was voted AL Rookie of the Year. However, Box-Toppers’ choice for top AL rookie is Athletics pitcher Jacob Lopez, who received no votes in AL Rookie of the Year voting. Here is the order of finish for the AL rookie award. Also shown are the votes each player received from baseball writers for first through fifth place, plus their overall voting point totals. Also shown are each player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2025 and their Box-Toppers rank among AL players with rookie status.| AL rookies | Team | Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Points | BTP | Rank† | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Kurtz | Athletics | 1b ph | 30 | 210 | 4.5 | T12 | ||||
| 2 | Jacob Wilson | Athletics | ss | 23 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 107 | 4.0 | 14 | |
| 3 | Roman Anthony | Red Sox | dh rf | 3 | 15 | 5 | 5 | 72 | 2.0 | T30 | |
| 4 | Noah Cameron | Royals | pi sp | 3 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 54 | 6.7 | T5 | |
| 5 | Colson Montgomery | White Sox | ss 3b | 1 | 5 | 9 | 23 | 4.5 | T13 | ||
| 6 | Carlos Narváez | Red Sox | ca | 2 | 5 | 5 | 21 | 0.0 | —§ | ||
| 7 | Jack Leiter | Rangers | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6.7 | T5 | ||
| 8 | Will Warren | Yankees | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 5 | 9.4 | 2 | |||
| 9 | Luke Keaschall | Twins | 2b | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0.0 | —§ | |||
| 10 | Braydon Fisher | Blue Jays | pi mr | 1 | 2 | 0.0 | —§ | ||||
| 10 | Shane Smith | White Sox | pi sp | 1 | 2 | 7.0 | 4 | ||||
| 10 | Cam Smith | Astros | rf | 1 | 2 | 3.5 | 18 | ||||
| 13 | Chandler Simpson | Rays | cf lf | 1 | 1 | 2.0 | T30 | ||||
| 13 | Luis Morales | Athletics | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 2.7 | T23 | ||||
| 13 | Jasson Domínguez | Yankees | lf | 1 | 1 | 2.5 | T25 | ||||
| * | Jacob Lopez | Athletics | pi sp | 0 | 11.4 | 1 |
† Rookie of the Year candidates are ranked among their league’s rookies in Box‑Toppers points. There were 82 AL players with rookie status who earned Box-Toppers points in 2025.
§ Player has yet to make his Box-Toppers debut by earning his first career Player of the Game honor and so has no 0.0 Box-Toppers points and no ranking.
* Box-Toppers’ choice for AL Rookie of the Year, Jacob Wilson, received no votes from baseball writers.
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National League Rookie of the Year voting
Drake Baldwin of the Braves, voted NL Rookie of the Year, was also Box-Toppers choice for the award. He earned 6.5 Box-Toppers points in 2025, most among NL rookie batters. Here is the order of finish for the NL rookie award. Also shown are the votes each player received from baseball writers for first through fifth place, plus their overall voting point totals. Also shown are each player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2025 and their Box-Toppers rank among NL players with rookie status.| NL rookies | Team | Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Points | BTP | Rank† | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drake Baldwin | Braves | ca | 21 | 9 | 183 | 6.5 | 3 | |||
| 2 | Cade Horton | Cubs | pi sp | 9 | 16 | 4 | 139 | 9.7 | 1 | ||
| 3 | Caleb Durbin | Brewers | 3b 2b | 2 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 69 | 0.0 | —§ | |
| 4 | Isaac Collins | Brewers | lf | 2 | 9 | 13 | 1 | 62 | 5.5 | 7 | |
| 5 | Daylen Lile | Nationals | rf | 1 | 3 | 8 | 17 | 0.0 | —§ | ||
| 6 | Agustin Ramírez | Marlins | dh | 2 | 6 | 10 | 6.0 | T5 | |||
| 7 | Chad Patrick | Brewers | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 3.0 | T17 | ||
| 8 | Jakob Marsee | Marlins | cf lf ph | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 3.5 | 15 | ||
| 9 | Jack Dreyer | Dodgers | pi mr | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1.0 | T46 | |||
| 9 | Matt Shaw | Cubs | 3b | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2.5 | T24 | |||
| 11 | Jacob Misiorowski | Brewers | pi sp | 1 | 2 | 6.0 | T5 | ||||
| 12 | Nolan McLean | Mets | pi sp | 2 | 2 | 7.7 | 2 | ||||
| 13 | Heriberto Hernández | Marlins | lf | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | T46 |
† 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, we adjust the batters’ total (doubling it) to make them more competitive. That made Nick Baldwin Box-Toppers’ choice as NL Rookie of the Year, with an adjusted Box-Toppers point total of 13.0, ahead of top-ranked NL rookie, Cubs pitcher Cade Horton with 9.7 Box-Toppers points. There were 77 NL players with rookie status who earned Box-Toppers points in 2025.
§ Player has yet to make his Box-Toppers debut by earning his first career Player of the Game honor and so has no 0.0 Box-Toppers points and no ranking.
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default view.