| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Skubal, Tarik 4414 | pi sp | det al | 22.1 | 1 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 20.1 | |
| 2 | Crochet, Garrett 4434 | pi sp | bos al | 17.8 | 2 | Skenes, Paul 5005 | pi sp | pit nl | 20.1 | |
| 3 | Woo, Bryan 4842 | pi sp | sea al | 15.0 | 3 | Pivetta, Nick 3825 | pi sp | sd nl | 17.7 | |
| 4 | Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | tex al | 14.4 | 4 | Suarez, Ranger 4228 | pi sp | phi nl | 15.8 | |
| 5 | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | tor al | 14.1 | 5 | Yamamoto, Yoshinobu 4964 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.7 | |
| 6 | Brown, Hunter 4729 | pi sp | hou al | 13.4 | 6 | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | pi sp | phi nl | 15.7 | |
| 7 | Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | nyy al | 12.7 | 7 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | stl nl | 14.0 | |
| 8 | Soriano, Jose 4884 | pi sp | ana al | 12.7 | 8 | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | mil nl | 13.7 | |
| 9 | Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | tex al | 12.7 | 9 | Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 | pi sp | phi nl | 13.7 | |
| 10 | Gilbert, Logan 4439 | pi sp | sea al | 12.1 | 10 | Greene, Hunter 4651 | pi sp | cin nl | 11.4 | |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |||
| 1 | Springer, George 3337 | dh rf | tor al | 9.7 | 1 | Yelich, Christian 3334 | dh | mil nl | 11.2 | |
| 2 | Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | cle al | 9.5 | 2 | Schwarber, Kyle 3536 | dh | phi nl | 11.0 | |
| 3 | Greene, Riley 4675 | lf cf | det al | 9.0 | 3 | Suzuki, Seiya 4924 | dh | chi nl | 9.5 | |
| 4 | Caminero, Junior 5089 | 3b | tb al | 9.0 | 4 | Crow-Armstrong, Pete 5073 | cf | chi nl | 9.5 | |
| 5 | Abreu, Wilyer 4911 | rf | bos al | 8.5 | 5 | Adames, Willy 4041 | ss | sf nl | 8.5 | |
| 6 | Perez, Salvador 2972 | ca | kc al | 8.5 | 6 | Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b | sd nl | 8.0 | |
| 7 | Ward, Taylor 4345 | lf | ana al | 8.5 | 7 | Devers, Rafael 4038 | dh | sf nl | 7.7 | |
| 8 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | lf 2b dh | hou al | 8.0 | 8 | Wood, James 5078 | lf dh | dc nl | 7.7 | |
| 9 | Story, Trevor 3607 | ss | bos al | 8.0 | 9 | Muncy, Max 3969 | 3b | lad nl | 7.5 | |
| 10 | Suarez, Eugenio 3355 | 3b | sea al | 7.5 | 10 | Alonso, Pete 4118 | 1b | nym nl | 7.2 |
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Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal leads Box-Toppers season player rankings for the second week in a row.
Meanwhile, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, out for the season, continues to lead National League pitchers, as second-place Paul Skenes of the Pirates was unable to pass him this week, despite a valiant challenge.
Other category leaders also remain the same this week as last week: Christian Yelich of the Brewers leads NL batters and George Springer of the Blue Jays leads American League batters.
Skubal leads
Skubal has 22.1 Box-Toppers points, earning 1.7 points in the past week, in his second week atop player rankings. He leads over second-place player, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler (20.1 points).
This is the 10th straight week Skubal has led AL pitchers, currently 4.3 points ahead of second-place Garrett Crochet of the Red Sox (17.8). It would take Crochet at least three starts, with a possible maximum of 2.0 points each time, to pass Skubal’s current point total. (Crochet has as many as three starts remaining this season.)
National League pitchers
Wheeler’s 20.1 points still narrowly ranks first among NL pitchers. But Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes, second among NL pitchers, has the same 20.1-point total for the season. Though Wheeler and Skenes have the same season total, Wheeler ranks higher because he has more 2024 points—21.4 vs. 13.0.
Skenes could have passed Wheeler by winning Player of the Game this week in his start on Wednesday. While, he performed well, recording a +11.0 Box-Toppers game score, he did not win Player of the Game honors because the Pirates lost to the Orioles. It was the day’s highest game score among non-Player of the Game winners. As a result, Skenes remains in second place among NL pitchers and third overall.
This is the 17th straight week Wheeler has led NL pitchers. Wheeler ranks second overall.
Wheeler last earned Player of the Game honors Aug. 10, went on the injured list Aug. 16 with a diagnosed blood clot and was ruled out for the season on Aug. 23 with a diagnosis of venous thoracic outlet syndrome. That is a condition in which the subclavian vein, located below the collar bone, is compressed, leading to symptoms like arm swelling, discoloration, and heaviness. Wheeler was set to undergo thoracic outlet decompression surgery, with recovery time expected to be six to eight months.
National League batters
Christian Yelich of the Brewers leads for the sixth week with 11.2 Box-Toppers points, picking up no points in the past week. He leads over second-place Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies (11.0 points).
Yelich ranks 26th among all players.
American League batters
George Springer of the Astros leads for the second week with 9.7 Box-Toppers points, picking up no points in the past week. He leads over second-place José Ramírez of the Guardians (9.5 points).
Springer ranks 37th among all players.
With a little more than two weeks to go in the season, there is a chance this could be the lowest Box-Toppers point total to lead a single-season category since player tracking began in 1995. The record low is 10.7 points by Nolan Arenado of the Rockies to lead NL batters in 2016. The record low to lead AL batters in a season is 12.1 by Edwin Encarnacion of Cleveland in 2017. (Point totals to lead categories were lower in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.)
Box-Toppers almanac
Batters won Player of the Game honors in 34 of the 95 games played in the past week (35.8 percent) with pitchers winning the other 61 (64.2 percent).
Batters’ share of Player of the Game honors for the season decreased from 39.5 percent last week to 39.3 percent this week (864 times in 2,198 total games). Pitchers have won Player of the Game honors in the other 1,334 games (60.7 percent).
Batters’ share of Box-Toppers points earned this season decreased from 39.5 percent last week to 39.4 percent this week (1,028.3 points out of 2,612.5 total awarded). Pitchers have won 60.6 percent of all points.
Last year, batters had the lowest share of points compared to pitchers (37.2 percent) in any season since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
While batters have struggled to reach parity with pitchers in recent seasons, it wasn’t always this way: From 1995 to 2009, batters generally won half or more of all Box-Toppers points each season. But their share of points dropped precipitously after 2009.
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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