Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers' team rankings, through the games of Thursday, Aug. 4. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team have accumulated so far this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams accumulated from July 29 to Aug. 4. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of July 28.| 8/4 | Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago |
| 1 | Cubs | 91.4 | 6.7 | 1 |
| 2 | Dodgers | 91.2 | 14.9 | 3 |
| 3 | Red Sox | 88.9 | 6.0 | 2 |
| 4 | Nationals | 83.1 | 7.4 | 4 |
| 5 | Blue Jays | 82.8 | 12.0 | 7 |
| 6 | Giants | 82.0 | 10.9 | 6 |
| 7 | Indians | 81.8 | 8.5 | 5 |
| 8 | Rangers | 81.4 | 11.0 | 8 |
| 9 | Mets | 79.8 | 12.7 | 9 |
| 10 | Orioles | 77.0 | 10.0 | 11 |
| 11 | Tigers | 75.1 | 9.0 | 12 |
| 12 | Marlins | 70.8 | 3.7 | 10 |
| 13 | Cardinals | 65.4 | 2.5 | 15 |
| 14 | Astros | 65.0 | 1.0 | 14 |
| 15 | Phillies | 64.8 | 4.0 | 16 |
| 16 | Rockies | 61.9 | 4.0 | 17 |
| 17 | Royals | 58.8 | 3.0 | 19 |
| 18 | Pirates | 58.2 | -6.0 | 13 |
| 19 | White Sox | 56.3 | 2.0 | 21 |
| 20 | Mariners | 55.8 | 1.0 | 20 |
| 21 | Angels | 54.1 | -2.7 | 18 |
| 22 | Twins | 51.9 | 10.2 | 28 |
| 23 | Rays | 48.2 | -2.0 | 24 |
| 24 | Yankees | 46.9 | -6.0 | 22 |
| 25 | Dbacks | 44.6 | -2.0 | 25 |
| 26 | Brewers | 44.0 | 0.0 | 26 |
| 27 | Reds | 42.0 | -1.5 | 27 |
| 28 | Athletics | 39.7 | -11.4 | 23 |
| 29 | Braves | 39.5 | 8.0 | 30 |
| 30 | Padres | 37.1 | -1.0 | 29 |
The Chicago Cubs maintain the top spot in Box-Toppers team rankings this week, though the week’s hottest team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, nearly caught them.
Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox maintain their spot atop American League teams in Box-Toppers points in this week’s rankings report.
Cubs players have accumulated 91.4 Box-Toppers points this season, picking up 6.7 points in the past week. The Cubs also have baseball’s best winning percentage (.617). The Cubs are led by pitcher Jon Lester (12.4 Box-Toppers points). Top batter is Kris Bryant (7.0 points). Twenty-two different Cubs players have earned Player of the Game honors so far this season.
The week’s hottest team, the Los Angeles Dodgers nearly caught the Cubs this week, picking up 14.9 Box-Toppers points, giving them 91.2, only 0.2 behind the Cubs. The Dodgers rise from third to second place among all teams.
Most of the Dodgers’ 14.9-point gain in the past week came in the form of trade-deadline acquisitions. The Dodgers picked up two players from the Athletics—pitcher Rich Hill (9.4 Box-Toppers points) and right fielder Josh Reddick (3.5 points).
The Red Sox maintain their spot atop AL teams with 88.9 Box-Toppers points, picking up 6.0 in the past week. The Red Sox fall from second to third among all teams. The Red Sox are led by pitcher Drew Pomeranz (10.4 Box-Toppers points, all of which were earned while he was with the Padres). Top batter is Aaron Hill (5.5 points, all of which were earned while he was with the Brewers). Twenty-eight different Red Sox players have earned Player of the Game honors so far this season.
While the Red Sox have more Box-Toppers points than any AL team, the team ranks sixth among AL teams in winning percentage (.551) and is in third place in the AL East, two games behind the Baltimore Orioles.
In addition to the Dodgers, there were six other teams that had a net gain of 10 or more Box-Toppers points in the past week, thanks largely to players acquired by the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline:
- The New York Mets had a net gain of 12.7 Box-Toppers points in the past week (79.8 accumulated points, maintaining their rank of ninth place among all teams), after acquiring Jay Bruce (7.5 points) from the Reds and Jon Niese (2.0) from the Pirates.
- The Toronto Blue Jays had a net gain of 12.0 Box-Toppers points in the past week (82.8 accumulated points, rising from seventh to fifth among all teams), after acquiring Francisco Liriano (6.0 points) from the Pirates.
- The Texas Rangers had a net gain of 11.0 Box-Toppers points in the past week (81.4 accumulated points, maintaining their rank of eighth place among all teams), after acquiring Carlos Beltran (4.0 points) from the Yankees, Jonathan Lucroy (3.0) from the Brewers and Lucas Harrell (3.0) from the Braves.
- The San Francisco Giants had a net gain of 10.9 Box-Toppers points in the past week (82.0 accumulated points, maintaining their rank of sixth place among all teams), after acquiring Matt Moore (6.7) from the Rays and Eduardo Nunez (3.5) from the Twins.
- The Minnesota Twins had a net gain of 10.2 Box-Toppers points in the past week (51.9 accumulated points, rising from 28th to 22nd among all teams, the biggest rise of the week), after acquiring Hector Santiago (10.4 points) from the Angels. The Twins also traded away Ricky Nolasco (5.7) to the Angels and Eduardo Nunez (3.5) to the Giants.
- The Baltimore Orioles had a net gain of 10.0 Box-Toppers points in the past week (77.0 accumulated points, rising from 11th to 10th among all teams), after acquiring Wade Miley (4.0 points) from the Mariners and Steve Pearce (2.0) from the Rays.
Eight teams had a net loss in Box-Toppers points from last week, also thanks to players traded away by the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline. Those teams are:
- The Oakland Athletics had a net loss of 11.4 Box-Toppers points in the past week (39.7 accumulated points, falling from 23rd to 28th among all teams), after trading Rich Hill (9.4) and Josh Reddick (3.5) to the Dodgers.
- The New York Yankees had a net loss of 6.0 Box-Toppers points.
- The Pittsburgh Pirates had a net loss of 6.0 Box-Toppers points.
- The Los Angeles Angels had a net loss of 6.0 Box-Toppers points.
- The Arizona Diamondbacks had a net loss of 2.0 Box-Toppers points.
- The Tampa Bay Rays had a net loss of 2.0 Box-Toppers points.
- The Cincinnati Reds had a net loss of 1.5 Box-Toppers points.
- The San Diego Padres had a net loss of 1.0 point.
The Padres fall from 29th to 30th and last place among all teams with 37.1 Box-Toppers points. Last week’s lowest-ranked team, the Atlanta Braves, rise to 29th place with 39.5 Box-Toppers points, picking up 8.0 points in the past week.
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.