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Box-Toppers supports four players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on the 2026 ballot: Cole Hamels, Félix Hernández, Torii Hunter and Chase Utley.
Box-Toppers is voting for four players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the 2026 Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) ballot.
Box-Toppers is voting for these players, listed alphabetically by last name. (To jump directly to their Box-Toppers-focused profile below, click the jump link next to their name.)
Read MoreWhite Sox pitcher Shane Smith is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day on the last day of the regular season.
Other Player of the Game winners Sunday include Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sánchez, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, Braves pitcher Chris Sale, Alejandro Kirk of the Blue Jays, Marlins pitcher Edward Cabrera and Jackson Merrill of the Padres.
Read MoreBraves pitcher Chris Sale is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreRockies pitcher Kyle Freeland is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other Player of the Game winners Friday include Braves pitcher Chris Sale, Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman, Rangers pitcher Merrill Kelly, Colson Montgomery of the White Sox, Ian Happ of the Cubs, Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sánchez and Brewers pitcher Quinn Priester.
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The Detroit Tigers regain the lead in Box-Toppers team rankings this week, passing the New York Yankees, as they have swapped leads for the fourth straight week.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers rise to lead National League teams and the Atlanta Braves are the week’s hottest team.
Read MoreBraves pitcher Chris Sale is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to 11th place on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list.
Also Wednesday, Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreAngels pitcher Yusei Kikuchi is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler extended his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. In addition, Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly rises to sixth place after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreBlue Jays pitcher José Berríos is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other Player of the Game winners Thursday are Nationals pitcher MacKenzie Gore, Braves pitcher Chris Sale, Junior Caminero of the Rays and Rafael Marchán of the Phillies.
Read MoreTwins pitcher Joe Ryan is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third place in season player rankings.
Also Friday, Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Riley Greene of the Tigers rises to first place among American League batters after earning AL Batter of the Day honors. In addition, Braves pitcher Chris Sale rises to 10th place among pitchers on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreTwins pitcher Pablo López is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earned Player of the Game honors:
Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler rises to third place.
Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen rises to seventh place.
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Friday’s spring training games.
Both league’s 2024 Box-Toppers points leaders and both league’s 2024 Cy Young Award winners won Player of the Game honors on Friday.
Read MoreBraves pitcher Chris Sale is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Saturday’s spring training games.
Other Player of the Game winners Saturday include Astros pitcher Framber Valdez, Henry Davis of the Pirates, Corey Seager of the Rangers and Royals pitcher Austin Cox.
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The most notable change in Box-Toppers “all-time” career points top 10 lists at the end of 2024 is an almost complete lack of change.
No players changed position, and only three—Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander—earned any Box-Toppers points in 2024, each adding just 2.0. The lack of movement contrasts with 2023 when four players combined for 40.9 points and when Scherzer and Verlander both rose one spot in the rankings.
Read MoreBox-Toppers coverage of the 2025 Major League Baseball season begins with the first spring training game Thursday.
Since 1995, Box-Toppers has tracked each Major League game played, tracking 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.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers season-by-season leaders chart for each of the past 30 seasons, including the leaders in Box-Toppers points each season among four main categories—American League and National League pitchers and batters.
Also, a look at how often Box-Toppers leaders win major postseason awards (Cy Young and Most Valuable Player), what players have led a Box-Toppers season category most often since tracking began in 1995 and what teams have had the most category leaders in 30 seasons. Also, a look at the lowest point totals to lead a season category, which includes 2024 leaders.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers are Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team going into 2025 but with player injuries factored in, the New York Mets hold the overall edge.
The current 2025 roster of last year’s World Series champion Dodgers accumulated 118.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, most of any team. However, with several players injured and expected to miss time in 2025, their injury-adjusted Box-Toppers point total drops to 106.7, fifth among all teams.
Read MoreIn 2024, teams with the most Box-Toppers points earned by pitchers generally ranked higher in overall Box-Toppers team rankings.
For example, the Philadephia Phillies led all teams with 124.9 Box-Toppers points. Pitchers earned 78.0 of those points, fifth-most among all teams. Box-Toppers’ seven top-ranked teams were all among the top 10 in points earned by pitchers.
However, the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers were a notable anomaly. While the team finished eighth overall in Box-Toppers points (113.7), they finished 11th in points earned by pitchers (66.2) and third in points earned by batters (47.5).
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Box-Toppers points leaders Aaron Judge of the Yankees (left), Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers (middle) and Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (left) also were winners of the 2024 Players Choice Awards as voted by members of the players’ union.
Three Box-Toppers category leaders also won Players Choice Awards for 2024 as voted by the players’ union:
Aaron Judge of the Yankees was voted American League Outstanding Player and also was Box-Toppers’ choice as AL Most Valuable Player.
Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers was voted National League Outstanding Player and was also Box-Toppers’ choice as NL Most Valuable Player.
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal was voted AL Outstanding Pitcher and also was Box-Toppers’ choice as NL Cy Young Award winner.
While Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga is Box-Toppers’ most improved player in 2024, our choices for Comeback Players of the Year are Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes and Braves pitcher Reynaldo Lopez.
Meanwhile, one of the consensus choices for Comeback Player of the Year—Braves pitcher Chris Sale—ranks 13th among Box-Toppers’ most-improved players in 2024.
Read MoreOverall Box-Toppers points leader, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, leads the Box-Toppers All-Star teams for the 2024 regular season.
The American League and National League All-Star teams are composed of the players with the highest Box-Toppers point totals by position in each league. In addition to nine batters in each league are the top four starting pitchers in each league and the top closing pitcher.
Read MoreBox-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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.