Mariners pitcher Matt Brash is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Sunday’s spring training games.
Brash struck out six over three scoreless, hitless innings, allowing no walks, in the 7-1 win over the Athletics.
Read MoreBraves’ Davidson, Orioles’ Martin top players in Saturday’s spring training games
Braves pitcher Tucker Davidson is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Saturday’s spring training games.
Davidson struck out four over three scoreless, hitless innings, allowing no walks, in the 8-6 win over the Twins. Davidson did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Twins tied the game after he exited.
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Dodgers top Box-Toppers 2022 preseason team rankings; White Sox top AL teams
The Los Angeles Dodgers are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2022 preseason rankings. They also ended 2021 as Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Oakland Athletics saw the biggest decline.
Read MoreRays’ Lowe, Rockies’ Stovall top players in Friday’s spring training games
Brandon Lowe of the Rays is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Friday’s spring training games.
Lowe hit a grand slam and went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 9-4 win over the Orioles.
Read MoreTigers’ Mize, Diamondbacks’ Beer top players in Thursday’s spring training games
Tigers pitcher Casey Mize is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Thursday’s spring training games.
Mize struck out six over three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 5-3, seven-inning win over the Yankees. Mize did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Read MoreDiamondbacks’ Kelly, Rangers’ Garver top players in Wednesday’s spring training games
Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s spring training games.
Kelly struck out eight over three scoreless, hitless innings, allowing no walks, in the 5-3 win over the Giants. Kelly did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Giants tied the game after he exited.
Read MoreMets’ deGrom, White Sox’ Giolito top players in Tuesday’s spring training games
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Tuesday’s spring training games.
deGrom struck out five over two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 2-0 win over the Astros. deGrom did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Read MoreMarlins’ Meyer, Rangers’ McCarthy top players in Monday’s spring training games
Marlins pitcher Max Meyer is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Monday’s spring training games.
Meyer struck out five over four scoreless and hitless innings of middle relief, walking none, in the 3-0 win over the Mets. Meyer did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because starting pitcher Elieser Hernandez was credited for the win, despite pitching only two innings.
Read MoreNationals’ Cavalli, Royals’ Rivera top players in Sunday’s spring training games
Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Sunday’s spring training games.
Cavalli struck out six over three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 3-2 win over the Astros.
Read MoreRed Sox’ Pivetta, Reds’ Garcia top players in Saturday’s spring training games
Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Saturday’s spring training games.
Pivetta struck out five over three scoreless and hitless innings, allowing no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Twins.
Read MoreGuardians’ Tully, Braves’ Vines tops players in Friday’s spring training games
Guardians pitcher Tanner Tully is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Friday’s spring training games.
Tully struck out four over three scoreless innings, allowing no hits, no runs and one walk, in the 3-2 win over the Reds.
Read MoreRed Sox’ Marrero tops players in Thursday’s opening spring training games
Elih Marrero of the Red Sox is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Thursday’s opening spring training games.
Marrero hit two doubles and went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 14-1 win over the Twins.
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A Box-Toppers look at unsigned free agents as lockout set to end
With a new collective bargaining agreement finalized and set to be ratified Thursday, Major League clubs will soon be scrambling to sign players in the rich free agency pool.
And baseball bloggers will be scrambling to finish their blogs on free agent players before they quickly become outdated. Clayton Kershaw leads Box-Toppers’ list of free agent players.
Read MoreAn overview look at how baseball's 2021 statistical leaders ranked in Box-Toppers points
The leaders in three specific pitching categories—earned run average, wins and strikeouts—were among the overall top 10 players in Box-Toppers points.
However, the leaders in three specific batting categories—batting average, home runs and runs batted in—did not fare well in Box-Toppers points. All three ranked outside the top 200 overall players in Box-Toppers points and also ranked outside the top 10 players among their league’s batters.
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While Box-Toppers stat reflects the decline of batters, they still dominate WAR
Looking at the top 10 players in the Wins Above Replacement (WAR) statistic for each of the past 25 seasons, gives the impression batters are holding steady as the dominant force in baseball.
Yet, in recent years, batters are striking out more and hitting for lower batting averages against pitchers who are holding batters down and stealing their lunch money. Looking at the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points for each of the past 25 seasons provides a more accurate reflection of the game—one in which batters performed well and even dominated through about 2009, until pitchers’ announced their presence with authority from 2010 on.
Read More6 of top 10 strikeout leaders also among Box-Toppers’ top 10 players for 2021
Six of the 10 top strikeout leaders in 2021 were also among the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points for the season.
Blue Jays pitcher Robbie Ray led all players with 248 strikeouts. He ranked sixth overall in Box-Toppers points with 17.7, second among American League pitchers. Ray won the AL Cy Young Award.
Read More5 of 11 top RBI leaders among Box-Toppers’ top 100 players in 2021
Five of the top 11 runs batted in leaders were among the top 100 players in Box-Toppers points in 2021. All five were also among their league’s top 10 batters in Box-Toppers rankings.
However, Salvador Perez of the Royals, who led all players with 121 RBIs, had just 4.5 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 222nd among all players and 44th among American League batters.
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A look at how 2021 wins leaders fared in Box-Toppers points
Julio Urias of the Dodgers, who led all pitchers in wins in 2021 with 20, also ranked fourth among all players in Box-Toppers points with 19.1.
Among the 13 pitchers with 14 or more wins in 2021, Urias is one of five who were among the top 10 in Box-Toppers points for the season. Meanwhile, Max Scherzer of the Dodgers, who led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2021, also had Box-Toppers’ highest Sincere Win Differential (SWD) of +10.1.
Read More6 of 12 top home run leaders among their league’s top 10 batters in Box-Toppers points
While six of the top 12 home run hitters in 2021 ranked among their league’s top 10 batters in Box-Toppers points for the season, the two top home run hitters ranked low.
Salvador Perez of the Royals and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays led all players with 48 home runs each in 2021, but both were the lowest ranked among the 12 top home run hitters in Box-Toppers points, both ranking outside the overall top 200 players.
Read More7 of top 10 in earned run average also among top 10 in Box-Toppers points for 2021
Seven of the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points in 2021 also recorded among the 10 lowest earned run averages for the season.
Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes, who had the lowest ERA (2.43), ranked fifth in Box-Toppers points for 2021 (18.1), fourth among National League pitchers. Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer, who led all players with 25.1 Box-Toppers points, had the second-lowest ERA (2.46).
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