Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole leads players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2019.
Box-Toppers points leaders for 2019-24
| OVERALL LEADERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 104.1 |
| 2 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 81.6 |
| 3 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | dh | lad nl | 77.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | tex al | 71.9 |
| 5 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 69.5 |
| 6 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 68.9 |
| 7 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | sf nl | 68.6 |
| 8 | Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | sd nl | 67.9 |
| 9 | Fried, Max 4011 | pi sp | atl nl | 65.9 |
| 10 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 65.7 |
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 104.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | tex al | 71.9 |
| 3 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 68.9 |
| 4 | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | tor al | 65.6 |
| 5 | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | pi sp | sea al | 65.2 |
| 6 | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi sp | bal al | 64.6 |
| 7 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | tex al | 62.6 |
| 8 | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | tor al | 59.1 |
| 9 | Lopez, Pablo 4028 | pi sp | min al | 57.2 |
| 10 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 55.9 |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | dh cf | nyy al | 52.2 |
| 2 | Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | cle al | 45.8 |
| 3 | Soto, Juan 3994 | rf | nyy al | 36.5 |
| 4 | Devers, Rafael 4038 | 3b | bos al | 36.0 |
| 5 | Tucker, Kyle 4277 | rf | hou al | 35.2 |
| 6 | Alvarez, Yordan 4209 | dh | hou al | 33.2 |
| 7 | Semien, Marcus 3302 | 2b | tex al | 32.6 |
| 8 | Bregman, Alex 3721 | 3b | hou al | 30.7 |
| 9 | Lowe, Brandon 4108 | dh 2b | tb al | 28.5 |
| 10 | Springer, George 3337 | rf | tor al | 27.9 |
| NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 81.6 |
| 2 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 69.5 |
| 3 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | sf nl | 68.6 |
| 4 | Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | sd nl | 67.9 |
| 5 | Fried, Max 4011 | pi sp | atl nl | 65.9 |
| 6 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 65.7 |
| 7 | Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | ari nl | 63.5 |
| 8 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | atl nl | 63.3 |
| 9 | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | mil nl | 61.2 |
| 10 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | stl nl | 60.4 |
| NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | dh | lad nl | 77.7 |
| 2 | Alonso, Pete 4118 | 1b | nym nl | 43.4 |
| 3 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | lad nl | 42.2 |
| 4 | Betts, Mookie 3404 | ss rf | lad nl | 37.9 |
| 5 | Yelich, Christian 3334 | dh lf | mil nl | 34.9 |
| 6 | Ozuna, Marcell 3190 | dh | atl nl | 34.0 |
| 7 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | stl nl | 33.2 |
| 8 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | 1b | phi nl | 32.7 |
| 9 | Realmuto, J.T. 3491 | ca | phi nl | 32.2 |
| 10 | Martinez, J.D. 2922 | dh | nym nl | 31.9 |
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About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Cole has 104.1 Box-Toppers points over the period 2019-24, 22.5 points ahead of second-ranked player, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, who has 81.6 over that span.
This is the second straight season Cole has led the six-year rolling Box-Toppers point total among all players. After 2023, Cole’s 112.4 Box-Toppers points over 2018-23 led all players.
It is the fifth straight season Cole has led American League pitchers in the six-year rolling Box-Toppers point total:
After 2020, Cole’s 90.1 points over 2015-20 led AL pitchers over that span, ahead of second-place Justin Verlander of the Astros (88.4). He ranked fourth overall.
After 2021, Cole’s 93.5 points over 2016-21 led AL pitchers, ahead of Verlander (82.0). He ranked second overall.
After 2022, Cole’s 102.4 points over 2017-22 led AL pitchers, ahead of Verlander (93.3). He ranked second overall.
After 2023, Cole’s 112.4 points over 2018-23 led AL pitchers, ahead of Max Scherzer of the Rangers (95.0). He ranked first overall.
Cole maintains his overall lead in the six-year rolling total despite having his worst season in 2024 in the six-year span, ranking outside the top 10 AL pitchers. Here is a look at Cole’s Box-Toppers point totals and rankings in each of the past six seasons:
2019: 32.2 points with the Astros, first overall.
2020: 7.4 points with the Yankees, fifth among AL pitchers. (Pandemic-shortened season.)
2021: 22.4 points with the Yankees, second overall, first among AL pitchers.
2022: 15.4 points with the Yankees, eighth among AL pitchers.
2023: 17.0 points with the Yankees, seventh overall, fourth among AL pitchers.
2024: 9.7 points with the Yankees, 28th among AL pitchers.
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The players who make these top 10 charts over the period 2019-24 have demonstrated their long-term staying power. Weeded out are players who have single-season, flash-in-the-pan success and relative newcomers who haven’t yet proven their longevity. But it also rewards dominant players of the recent past whose success has waned lately.
NL pitchers
Zack Wheeler of the Phillies has the most Box-Toppers points over 2019-24 among National League pitchers with 81.6, second among all players over that span.
Second among NL pitchers over 2019-24 is Wheeler’s Phillies teammate Aaron Nola (69.5).
Wheeler led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2024 with 21.4. He also ranked among the top 10 players in 2021 with 21.1 points, third overall. He was among the top 10 NL pitchers in 2021 (when his 21.1 points was second) and in 2023 (when his 14.7 points ranked fifth).
NL batters
Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers leads NL batters over the past six seasons with 77.7 Box-Toppers points over 2019-24. That total also ranks third overall.
It is a commanding 34.3-point lead over second-place NL batter over that span, Pete Alonso of the Mets, who has 43.4 points over 2019-24.
However, Box-Toppers combines the points Ohtani has earned for batting and pitching when figuring his total. While Ohtani did not pitch in 2024 as he recovered from elbow surgery, the bulk of his points (45.5) from 2019-24 were earned as a pitcher when he was with the Los Angeles Angels. The 32.2 points he earned as a batter from 2019-24 would rank eighth among NL batters over that span, just behind Bryce Harper of the Phillies (32.7). It would rank 90th among all players over 2019-24.
Since Ohtani did not pitch in 2024, he did not qualify to rank among pitchers at the end of the season. If he had, his 77.7 points would have ranked second among NL pitchers behind Wheeler’s 81.6. But again, Ohtani’s actual total points earned as a pitcher over that span (45.5) would rank 18th among NL pitchers.
This is the second straight season Ohtani has led a league category in Box-Toppers points in a six-year rolling total. In 2023, while still with the Angels, his 74.7 points over 2018-23 led AL batters. He was also fifth among AL pitchers and seventh overall.
Ohtani is the only player since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 to qualify to rank among both pitchers and batters in the same season. He’s done it twice—2018 and 2023. In two other seasons (2019 and 2024), he qualified to rank only among batters as a designated hitter. In 2021 and 2022, he qualified to rank only as a starting pitcher. Though he played most of his games those two seasons as a designated hitter, he earned the overwhelming majority of his Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors as a pitcher. To qualify to rank at a position in Box-Toppers points, a player must have more than 25 percent of their Player of the Game honors earned at that position.
Ohtani led a league category in Box-Toppers points for a second straight season in 2024 when his 11.0 points led NL batters. In 2023, Ohtani earned 19.4 Box-Toppers points with the Angels, leading AL batters. (However, 9.7 of those points were earned as a pitcher. Excluding those, his 9.7 points as a designated hitter would have ranked third among AL batters in 2023.) Ohtani is the only player to lead batters in season Box-Toppers points in both leagues (since tracking began in 1995).
Here is a look at Ohtani’s Box-Toppers point totals for the past six seasons. He was with the Angels from 2019-23 and with the Dodgers in 2024:
2019: 6.5, all earned as a batter, 21st among AL batters.
2020: 0.0.
2021: 16.1, 4.0 points earned as a batter, 12.1 as a pitcher, third among AL pitchers, 12th overall (did not qualify to rank among batters).
2022: 24.7, 5.0 points earned as a batter, 19.7 as a pitcher, second among AL pitchers, second overall (did not qualify to rank among batters).
2023: 19.4, 9.7 points earned as a batter, 9.7 as a pitcher, first among AL batters, second among AL pitchers.
2024: 11.0, all earned as a batter, first among NL batters.
AL batters
Aaron Judge of the Yankees leads AL batters over the past six seasons with 52.2 Box-Toppers points over 2019-24.
He ranks ahead of second-place José Ramírez of the Guardians, who has 45.8 points over that span.
Judge has the most Box-Toppers points earned solely as a batter over the past six seasons. While Ohtani has more points (77.7), just 32.2 were earned as a designated hitter.
Judge led AL batters in two of the past three seasons and has been among the top 10 AL batters for five straight seasons. Here is a look at Judge’s Box-Toppers point totals for the past six seasons:
2019: 1.0.
2020: 4.0 (pandemic-shortened season), ninth among AL batters.
2021: 9.0, fourth among AL batters.
2022: 13.2, first among AL batters.
2023: 12.0, third among AL batters.
2024: 13.0, first among AL batters.
Players are shown here with the teams they were on at the end of 2024. Only players active at the end of 2024 are listed.
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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