A look at how WAR leaders fared in Box-Toppers points in 2019: We don't seem to be looking at the same game

Shawn Plank April 8, 2020

Those who figure Wins Above Replacement and those who figure Box-Toppers points (me) often don’t seem to be looking at the same game.

But we are. We are looking at the exact same Major League Baseball game. In recent years, Box-Toppers has seen pitchers come to so overwhelmingly dominate the game that they’ve pushed batters’ relative achievements into the background. But WAR seems to persist in the notion that it is batters who are primarily the stars of the game, contributing more to help their teams win than pitchers.

Top 6 in Box-Toppers points in 2019 also among top 11 strikeout leaders for season

Shawn Plank April 6, 2020

Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole, who led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2019, also led all pitchers in strikeouts during the season.

In fact, each of the top six-ranked players in Box-Toppers points were among the top 11 strikeout leaders in 2019.

7 of top 11 RBI leaders among top 10 AL & NL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2019

Shawn Plank April 3, 2020

Seven of the 11 top runs batted in leaders were among their league’s top 10 batters in Box-Toppers points in 2019.

However, overall RBI leader Anthony Rendon of the Nationals ranked outside the top 10 National League batters in Box-Toppers points.

Top 2 wins leaders—Astros’ Justin Verlander & Gerrit Cole—also led all players in Box-Toppers points

Shawn Plank March 30, 2020

Justin Verlander of the Astros, who led all pitchers in wins 2019 with 21, ranked second among all players in Box-Toppers points with 27.5.

Verlander’s teammate, Gerrit Cole, who led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2019 with 32.2, ranked second in wins with 20.

Of the 12 pitchers with 16 or more wins in 2019, five of them ranked among the top 10 in Box-Toppers points and 10 of them ranked among the top 50 in Box-Toppers points.

How 2019’s top home run hitters fared in Box-Toppers rankings—leader Pete Alonso ranked outside top 100

Shawn Plank March 27, 2020

Pete Alonso of the Mets led all players in home runs in 2019 but was one of three top 10 home run hitters to rank outside the top 100 in season Box-Toppers points.

Meanwhile, Nelson Cruz of the Twins, who led all batters in Box-Toppers points in 2019 with 12.5, ranked tied for seventh in home runs with 41. Two of Box-Toppers’ top three-ranked National League batters—Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers and Christian Yelich of the Brewers—were also among the top 10 home run hitters in 2019.

How earned run average leaders fared in Box-Toppers points: ERA leader Ryu ranked 10th in player rankings

Shawn Plank March 26, 2020

Hyun-Jin Ryu of the Dodgers had the lowest earned run average of any pitcher in 2019 and ranked 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings.

The overall Box-Toppers points leader, Gerrit Cole of the Astros (32.2), ranked third in ERA (2.50).

Only 2 of top 10 batting average leaders in 2019 among overall top 100 in Box-Toppers points

Shawn Plank March 25, 2020

Just two of the top 10 players with the highest batting averages in 2019 were among the overall top 100 players in Box-Toppers points for the season: Christian Yelich of the Brewers and Nolan Arenado of the Rockies.

An overview of Box-Toppers category leaders over several time frames after 2019

Shawn Plank March 24, 2020

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer holds the lead in three of Box-Toppers’ main leaderboards at the end of 2019, most of any player.

Scherzer leads all players in Box-Toppers points over the past six seasons (2014-2019) and also leads National League pitchers in points over those same past six seasons, plus he leads NL pitchers over 2018-19. Scherzer has 134.3 Box-Toppers points over 2014-19 and 40.5 points over 2018-19.

Box-Toppers picks Yankees over Nationals in 2020 World Series

Shawn Plank March 18, 2020

Box-Toppers picks the New York Yankees to beat the Washington Nationals in the 2020 World Series.

Box-Toppers projects the Yankees will have the most wins among all teams—110—and will be the only team with more than 100 wins this season.

Of course, these projections are made with the assumption that each team will play a complete 162-game schedule. That is thrown into doubt now that Coronavirus precautions have prompted baseball to suspend spring training and delay the start of the season.

Yankees top Box-Toppers 2020 preseason team rankings; champion Nationals rank 2nd

Shawn Plank March 9, 2020

The New York Yankees are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2020 preseason rankings, rising from fifth place at the end of the 2019 season.

The 2019 World Series-champion Washington Nationals, ranked second at the end of 2019, maintain second place in the 2020 preseason rankings.

Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Houston Astros—2019’s top-ranked team and American League champion—had the biggest decline.

A look at Box-Toppers season-by-season AL & NL pitching & batting leaders, 1995-2019

Shawn Plank March 4, 2020

Analyzing 25 years of Box-Toppers points leaders among American League and National League pitchers and batters each season.

A look at Box-Toppers' ‘all-time' top 10 lists—top overall players, top pitchers, top batters—since tracking began in 1995

Shawn Plank February 27, 2020

The Box-Toppers career points top 10 list had no new members during the 2019 season but saw a massive reshuffling among players ranked fourth through 10th.

Meanwhile, there was one new player rising into the top 10 list among pitchers in “all-time” career Box-Toppers points in 2019 (Cole Hamels of the Cubs). Plus, the top 10 “all-time” points list for batters was largely dormant during 2019 and included just two active players—Albert Pujols of the Angels and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers. However, Cabrera actually rose from sixth to fifth place, while earning just 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2019.

Max Scherzer leads players in Box-Toppers points since start of 2014

Shawn Plank February 22, 2020

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer leads players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2014.

Scherzer has 134.3 Box-Toppers points over the period 2014-2019, 8.9 points ahead of Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has 125.4 points over that span.

Justin Verlander leads players in Box-Toppers points over past 2 seasons (2018-19)

Shawn Plank February 20, 2020

Astros pitcher Justin Verlander has more Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons than any other player.

Verlander has earned 51.6 Box-Toppers points over 2018 and 2019. He ranked third in 2018 with 24.1 points and second in 2019 with 27.5.

A look at Box-Toppers top 100 players of ‘all-time’ after the 2019 season

Shawn Plank February 17, 2020

Randy Johnson leads all players in career Box-Toppers points and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Johnson earned 278.8 Box-Toppers points from the time Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995 until he retired in 2009.

A look at Box-Toppers’ top 100 players for 2018-19 and 2014-19

Shawn Plank February 11, 2020

Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is Box-Toppers’ top-ranked player over the past two seasons while Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer ranks first in points over the past six seasons.

Verlander earned 51.6 Box-Toppers points combined in 2018 and 2019 to lead all players in that span while Scherzer earned 134.3 points from 2014-2019, most in that span.

2020 sees biggest decline in managers who have won World Series with their current team

Shawn Plank February 3, 2020

As of Jan. 14, 2020, for the sixth time ever and the first time in more than 40 years, there is only one manager who has won a World Series on the team he is currently managing (Dave Martinez of the Nationals).

To close 2019, there were six managers who won a World Series with his current team. Going from six such managers to one is the biggest drop in one offseason since the World Series was first played in 1903.

How 2020 Hall of Fame candidates fared in Box-Toppers

Shawn Plank January 21, 2020

Derek Jeter and Larry Walker were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Tuesday.

Both received the necessary 75 percent of the vote from members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and will be inducted in the Hall in Cooperstown, N.Y., in July.

Box-Toppers’ big dippers—players whose 2019 point total declined most from 2018: Corey Kluber leads list

Shawn Plank January 17, 2020

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2018 to 2019.

Kluber, who earned 21.7 Box-Toppers points in 2018 (fourth among all players), earned no points in 2019. His decline of 21.7 points was ahead of Rays pitcher Blake Snell, whose 10.0 points in 2019 represented a 17.2-point drop from the 27.2 points he earned to lead all players in 2018.

A look at Box-Toppers’ top 100 players for 2019

Shawn Plank January 13, 2020

Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole tops Box-Toppers list of the top 100 players in 2019.

Cole had 32.2 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, which is the fourth-highest single-season point total in the 25 seasons of Box-Toppers tracking, which began in 1995. It was 1.5 points short of the record, 33.7, set by Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks in both 2000 and 2002.