Blog
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw leads the list of Box-Toppers Active Career All-Stars and is one of three active players to be included on Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team.
The Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team consists of the best players by position since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and includes 12 players who have retired and three who are still active—Kershaw, along with Albert Pujols of the Angels and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers.
Read MoreThe Box-Toppers All-Star teams for 2012-17 consist of the best players over the past six seasons, which includes 12 of the 27 players who are also on Box-Toppers 2016-17 All-Star teams.
Also, among the 27 players on the teams, there are 11 players who are on Box-Toppers 2017 All-Star teams and 10 who are on All-Star teams over all three time spans—for 2017, for 2016-17 and for 2012-17.Leading the 2012-17 All-Stars is Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who ranks first in Box-Toppers points over the past six seasons with 147.2.
Read MoreThe Box-Toppers All-Star teams for 2016-17 consist of the best players at each position in each league over the past two seasons.
Among the 27 players included on the American and National League teams are 17 who are also on Box-Toppers 2017 All-Star teams. Leading the 2016-17 All-Stars is Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who ranks first in Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons with 50.7.
Read MoreIn 2017, Carlos Beltran tied Jason Giambi for the longest streak of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points at 19. With Beltran's retirement, CC Sabathia and Albert Pujols now have the longest active streaks of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points at 17.
Read MoreHow did baseball’s statistical leaders do in Box-Toppers points in 2017?
The leaders of five of the seven key statistics were among Box-Toppers’ overall top 100 players for 2017. However, Jose Altuve of the Astros who led the other two statistical categories—batting average and wins above replacement (WAR)—ranked far outside the overall top 100 players. Altuve ranked 387th with just 2.5 Box-Toppers points, 90th among American League batters.
Read MoreSix of the 10 leaders in baseball’s Wins Above Replacement statistic for 2017 are among the top 100 players in Box-Toppers points for the season.
However, four of the top 10 in WAR, including overall leader, Jose Altuve, rank well outside Box-Toppers’ top 100 players for 2017.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Chris Sale, 2017’s leader in Box-Toppers points, also was the season’s leader in strikeouts.
Six of the 10 leaders in strikeouts in 2017 were among the top 10 pitchers in their league in Box-Toppers points. All 10 strikeout leaders were among the overall top 100 players in Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreHalf of the top 10 runs batted in leaders are among their league’s top 10 batters in Box-Toppers points in 2017.
Overall RBI leader Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins (132) ranked second among National League batters in Box-Toppers points with 14.2.
Read MoreThree of the four pitchers who led the Major Leagues in wins in 2017 are among Box-Toppers’ top 10 players for the season.
And seven of the top 12 pitchers in wins in 2017 are among Box-Toppers’ top 10-ranked players.
Read MoreGiancarlo Stanton of the Marlins led all players in home runs in 2017 and ranked second among all batters in Box-Toppers points for the season. Four of the top 10 home run leaders in 2017 are among the overall top 100 players.
Read MoreCorey Kluber of the Indians had the lowest earned run average of any pitcher in 2017 and ranked fifth in Box-Toppers player rankings.
The overall Box-Toppers points leader, Chris Sale of the Red Sox (25.1), finished sixth place in ERA (2.90). Eight of the top 10 ERA leaders finished in the top 10 in Box-Toppers points in 2017.
Read MoreFive of the top 10 players in batting average for 2017 are among Box-Toppers’ top 100 players.
But two of the top 10 on the list were not even among the top half of players in 2017, including the overall batting average leader, Jose Altuve of the Astros, who ranked 387th among players in 2017 with just 2.5 Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreFour different players lead Box-Toppers’ four main leaderboards.
Three of the four were the top three-ranked players in Box-Toppers points in 2017 and the fourth is Box-Toppers’ all-time leader, Randy Johnson.
Read MoreAn analysis of 23 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching & batting in both leagues.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rose to third place in Box-Toppers’ overall “all-time” list in 2017, becoming the active leader in career points. Also in 2017, Albert Pujols became the “all-time” leader in career Box-Toppers points among batters and Zack Greinke rose into the overall top 10 in career Box-Toppers points since 1995.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw leads players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2012.
Kershaw has 147.2 Box-Toppers points over the period 2012-2017, 18.3 points ahead of second-place player in that span, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (128.9). However, Kershaw’s lead in the six-year rolling Box-Toppers point total is down from last year and is his narrowest lead since 2013.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer has more Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons than any other player.
Scherzer has earned 50.7 Box-Toppers points over 2016 and 2017. He ranked first in 2016 with 25.7 and second in 2017 with 25.0. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who led players in Box-Toppers two-season point totals for each of the past four seasons, falls to second place this year with 47.5 points.
Read More
In 2017, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw broke the record for most consecutive seasons with 20 or more Box-Toppers points.
Kershaw earned 23.1 points in 2017, his seventh straight season with at least 20 points. Previously, pitcher Randy Johnson held the record, earning 20 points or more for six straight seasons, from 1997 to 2002. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.)
Read MoreRandy Johnson leads Box-Toppers "all-time" career top 100 list, since record-keeping began in 1995. Clayton Kershaw, ranked third overall, leads all active players. And Box-Toppers 2017 Player of the Year Chris Sale makes the biggest jump up the top 100 chart.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Box-Toppers’ top-ranked player over the past six seasons while Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Box-Toppers’ top-ranked player over the past two seasons.
Kershaw leads all players in Box-Toppers points over 2012-2017 with 147.2, ahead of Scherzer, in second place with 128.9.
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.