Box-Toppers 2014 All-Star teams led by Kershaw, Kluber, Abreu, Tulowitzki

The Box-Toppers All-Star teams for the 2014 regular season are led by overall top player for the second straight season, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.

Nine teams each have two different players on the teams and a total of 20 teams are represented on the American League and National League teams.

The All-Star teams are comprised of the players with the highest Box-Toppers point totals by position in each league. In addition to the batters—eight in the NL and nine (including the designated hitter) in the AL—are the top four starting pitchers in each league, the top player who was predominately a middle-reliever and the top closing pitcher.

Kershaw was Box-Toppers Player of the Season, the top overall player, with 31.5 Box-Toppers points. Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is the top AL player with 25.8 Box-Toppers points, ranked second overall.

The top AL batter is White Sox rookie first baseman Jose Abreu with 15.5 points, ranked 14th overall. The top NL batter is Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki with 11.6 points, ranked 39th overall. (Tulowitzki was out with injuries nearly half the season, but still surpassed all other NL batters in Box-Toppers points—second among NL batters is Giants catcher Buster Posey with 8.5 points.)

Nine teams each had two players make the teams. In the AL, the Mariners, Angels, Orioles, Indians and Tigers each had two players. In the NL, the Giants, Braves, Marlins and Cardinals each had two players.

Three players from the All-Star teams are still active in the World Series:

• Wade Davis of the Royals, who led AL middle relief pitchers with 7.0 Box-Toppers points.

• Madison Bumgarner of the Giants, who ranked second among NL pitchers with 22.6 points.

• Buster Posey of the Giants, who led NL catchers with 8.5 points.

Six players were on Box-Toppers’ 2013 All-Star teams and returned to the 2014 teams:

• AL 2B: Robinson Cano, last year with the Yankees, this year with the Mariners (12.5 points in 2013, 6.5 in 2014).

• AL OF: Adam Jones, Orioles (8.0 points in 2013, 11.5 in 2014).

• AL Starting pitcher: Max Scherzer, Tigers (18.1 points in 2013, 22.1 in 2014).

• NL Starting pitcher: Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers (21.7 points in 2013, 31.5 in 2014).

• NL Starting pitcher: Adam Wainwright, Cardinals (20.2 points in 2013, 18.7 in 2014).

• NL Closing pitcher: Craig Kimbrel, Braves (12.7 points in 2013, 11.0 in 2014).

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.

End-of-season 2014 Box-Toppers All-Star teams 

Here are the Box-Toppers All-Stars by position for both leagues. It includes players with the highest Box-Toppers points (BTP) by position in each league. Also included is the players' overall rank among all players.

Pos American League Team BTP Rank National League Team BTP Rank
1B Jose Abreu White Sox 15.5 14 Lucas Duda Mets 8.5 79
2B Robinson Cano Mariners 6.5 135 Jedd Gyorko Padres 7.2 103
SS Erick Aybar Angels 6.0 155 Troy Tulowitzki Rockies 11.6 39
3B Josh Donaldson Athletics 10.5 40 Aramis Ramirez Brewers 5.0 194
CA Brian McCann Yankees 6.5 136 Buster Posey Giants 8.5 76
OF Adam Jones Orioles 11.5 40 Justin Upton Braves 8.2 80
OF Nelson Cruz Orioles 8.5 77 Marcell Ozuna Marlins 8.0 88
OF Mike Trout Angels 8.5 78 Matt Holliday Cardinals 7.5 97
DH Edwin Encarnacion Blue Jays 9.5 63
SP Corey Kluber Indians 25.8 2 Clayton Kershaw Dodgers 31.5 1
SP Max Scherzer Tigers 22.1 5 Madison Bumgarner Giants 22.6 3
SP Felix Hernandez Mariners 20.8 6 Johnny Cueto Reds 22.4 4
SP David Price Tigers 19.1 7 Adam Wainwright Cardinals 18.7 8
MR Wade Davis Royals 7.0 117 Michael Dunn Marlins 6.0 159
CP Carlos Carrasco Indians 10.7 52 Craig Kimbrel Braves 11.0 45

Los Angeles Angels finish season atop Box-Toppers team rankings despite slumping finish

The Los Angeles Angels finish the season atop Box-Toppers team rankings—but they had the fewest Box-Toppers points of any American League team in the past 10 days.

Final team rankings

Here are Box-Toppers' final team rankings for the 2014 season, which ended Sunday, Sept. 28. 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 have accumulated since Sept. 18.

928 Teams BTP BTP
/wk		 Last
wk
rank
1 *Angels 124.2 3.0 1
2 *Dodgers 123.2 8.0 2
3 *Athletics 117.6 5.7 3
4 *Nationals 115.5 11.5 8
5 *Cardinals 114.8 5.7 5
6 *Orioles 113.4 4.0 4
7 *Tigers 112.9 6.0 6
8 *Giants 110.8 4.5 7
9 Blue Jays 106.5 8.5 9
10 *Royals 101.1 6.5 11
11 *Pirates 99.9 6.7 16
12 Mariners 99.9 5.0 10
13 Indians 99.6 7.7 15
14 Yankees 96.4 8.9 17
15 Marlins 95.6 3.5 13
16 Brewers 94.7 4.7 14
17 Braves 92.1 3.0 16
18 Reds 90.5 6.5 19
19 Mets 89.9 6.0 21
21 Rays 88.2 3.7 18
20 Padres 88.0 7.5 22
22 White Sox 86.6 4.0 20
24 Phillies 82.0 3.0 24
23 Twins 81.3 6.0 25
25 Astros 79.9 3.7 23
26 Rockies 78.6 4.5 26
27 Cubs 75.2 6.0 27
28 Rangers 73.7 7.7 29
29 Dbacks 70.7 2.0 28
30 Red Sox 68.7 6.5 30
* Playoff team
BTP: Box-Toppers points

The Los Angeles Dodgers meanwhile remained atop National League teams in Box-Toppers rankings—a spot they’ve held since July 3— and moved to within one point of the Angels.

Angels players have accumulated 124.2 Box-Toppers points (only 3.0 since the last ranking report on Sept. 18) and the Dodgers have 123.2. (The Dodgers picked up 8.0 points since Sept. 18, second-best among NL teams.)

The Angels are led by pitcher Garrett Richards, who has 15.7 Box-Toppers points and is out for the season with a torn knee tendon. Richards ranks 13th among all players and seventh among AL pitchers. Pitcher Matt Shoemaker has the most Box-Toppers points among active Angels players, with 11.7. He ranks 22nd among AL pitchers. Their top batter, Mike Trout, has 8.5 Box-Toppers points and ranks seventh among AL batters.

The Angels also have baseball’s best winning percentage (.605).

The Dodgers are led by overall Box-Toppers points leader, pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has 31.5 points. Pitcher Zack Greinke has the second-most Box-Toppers points among Dodgers players—16.5, ranking sixth among NL pitchers. Their top batter, Adrian Gonzalez, has 7.2 Box-Toppers points and ranks 10th among NL batters.

The Dodgers have the second-best winning percentage in the NL (.580), behind the Washington Nationals (.593). The Nationals had the hottest past 10 days of any team, picking up 11.5 Box-Toppers points, giving them 115.5 for the season and moving from eighth to fourth place overall, second among NL teams.

All 10 teams bound for the playoffs finished in the top 11 spots in Box-Toppers team rankings. The only non-playoff team to finish in the top 10 is the Toronto Blue Jays, who finish ninth with 106.5 points, ahead of two playoff-bound teams—the Kansas City Royals and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Oakland Athletics, who led Box-Toppers team rankings much of the season, were the last team to secure a playoff berth Sunday. They finish in third place overall with 117.6 Box-Toppers points, second among AL teams. They nearly lost their wild card spot to the Seattle Mariners, who with 99.9 Box-Toppers points, finished 12th among all teams.

Last year’s World Series champions, the Boston Red Sox, finish the 2014 season at the bottom of Box-Toppers team rankings, in 30th place with 68.7 points.

How did Box-Toppers preseason picks fare during the 2014 season? Only five of the 10 teams picked to make the playoff actually earned postseason berths (The good: Tigers, Orioles, Nationals, Cardinals and Dodgers. The bad: Red Sox, Rangers, Rays, Reds and Braves. The missed: Royals, Angels, Athletics, Pirates and Giants.) Four of six division winners were predicted correctly (Tigers, Nationals, Cardinals and Dodgers). But our preseason World Series pick of Dodgers over Tigers is still a possibility.

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. 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.

Los Angeles Angels dethrone Athletics to top Box-Toppers team rankings

The Los Angeles Angels have dethroned the Oakland Athletics from the top of Box-Toppers team rankings, a spot they held since July 13.

In this week’s report, the Angels have 107.7 Box-Toppers points, passing the Athletics, with 107.4 points.

Top 10 teams

Here are Box-Toppers' Top 10 teams, through the games of Thursday, Sept. 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 have accumulated in the past week.

904 Teams BTP BTP
/wk		 Last
wk
rank
1 Angels 107.7 4.0 2
2 Athletics 107.4 2.2 1
3 Dodgers 104.1 3.0 3
4 Cardinals 101.1 7.0 4
5 Tigers 99.4 6.0 5
6 Giants 97.1 6.7 6
7 Orioles 95.4 10.4 8
8 Nationals 94.0 4.7 7
9 Blue Jays 92.0 10.0 13
10 Mariners 88.4 5.0 11
BTP: Box-Toppers points

The Angels have the best winning percentage in baseball (.604). And they’ve had the best winning percentage the past two weeks, but until now, were never able to overtake the Athletics in Box-Toppers points. The Athletics were able to boost their Box-Toppers points total through July trades, especially an early July trade with the Cubs, bringing them pitchers Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija.

But the Angels swept the Athletics in a four-game series last weekend, helping them move to the top in Box-Toppers rankings. The Athletics, now in second place in Box-Toppers rankings, have a winning percentage of .568, third-best in the American League and fourth best among all teams.

The Angels leading player, pitcher Garrett Richards, who has 15.7 Box-Toppers points, is out for the season with a torn knee tendon. Richards still ranks ninth among all players and sixth among AL pitchers. The next-highest rated Angels player is pitcher Matt Shoemaker, with 10.7 Box-Toppers points. He ranks 17th among AL pitchers.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are still the top National League team in Box-Toppers points. Dodgers players have accumulated 104.1 Box-Toppers points and remain in third place among all teams. They’ve been the top NL team since the July 3 team rankings report.

The Dodgers are led by overall Box-Toppers points leader, pitcher Clayton Kershaw (27.8) and pitcher Zack Greinke (13.8 Box-Toppers points, who ranks fifth among NL pitchers).

The Dodgers have the second-best winning percentage in the NL (.557), behind the Washington Nationals (.572). The Nationals have 94.0 Box-Toppers points and rank eighth among all teams, fourth among NL teams..

The Baltimore Orioles had the best week of any team, scoring 10.4 Box-Toppers points, rising from eighth to seventh place with 95.4.

The Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners both rose into the top 10 list this week. The Blue Jays picked up 10.0 Box-Toppers points to rise from 13th to ninth place with 92.0 Box-Toppers points. And the Mariners picked up 5.0 Box-Toppers points to rise from 11th to 10th place, with 88.4.

The Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers both fell out of the top 10. The Royals fell from ninth to 11th place, with 86.6 Box-Toppers points, picking up only 2.0 points during the week. The Brewers fell from 10th to 13th place, with 84.0 Box-Toppers points, after they picked up 0.0 points during the week.

The Boston Red Sox remain the lowest-ranked team with 56.7 Box-Toppers points.

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. 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.

Oakland Athletics have most players on Box-Toppers Top 100 list

The Oakland Athletics, baseball’s best team at the All-Star break, has seven players on Box-Toppers Top 100 players list, the most of any team.

The list is led by Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw who has earned 18.1 Box-Toppers points this season and Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer with 16.1. Kershaw led all players in 2013 with 21.7 Box-Toppers points and Scherzer led all American League players in 2013 with 18.1.

Top 100 list 2014

Here is Box-Toppers Top 100, listing players with the highest Box-Toppers points totals at the All-Star break.


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 18.1
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp det al 16.1
3 Wainwright, Adam 2150 pi sp stl nl 14.0
4 Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp sf nl 13.5
5 Kazmir, Scott 1947 pi sp oak al 13.1
6 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 12.8
7 Richards, Garrett 3042 pi sp ana al 12.7
8 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp cin nl 12.7
9 Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 pi sp nyy al 12.7
10 Tulowitzki, Troy 2308 ss col nl 11.6
11 Teheran, Julio 3176 pi sp atl nl 11.4
12 Lincecum, Tim 2288 pi sp sf nl 10.4
13 Price, David 2593 pi sp tb al 10.4
14 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 10.4
15 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 10.1
16 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 10.0
17 Abreu, Jose 3308 1b chi al 9.5
18 Darvish, Yu 3003 pi sp tex al 9.4
19 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 9.0
20 Hutchison, Drew 3038 pi sp tor al 9.0
21 Colon, Bartolo pi sp nym nl 8.7
22 Alvarez, Henderson 2951 pi sp fla nl 8.7
23 Simon, Alfredo 2718 pi sp cin nl 8.7
24 Hammel, Jason 2235 pi sp oak al 8.7
25 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 8.7
26 Lohse, Kyle 1487 pi sp mil nl 8.4
27 Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 pi sp lad nl 8.4
28 Hughes, Phil 2272 pi sp min al 8.4
29 Young, Chris 1933 pi sp sea al 8.4
30 Kimbrel, Craig 2825 pi cp atl nl 8.0
31 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp bos al 8.0
32 Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 1b dh lf tor al 8.0
33 Freeman, Freddie 2887 1b atl nl 7.7
34 Hudson, Tim 1231 pi sp sf nl 7.7
35 Lackey, John 1640 pi sp bos al 7.7
36 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 7.7
37 Chavez, Jesse 2780 pi sp oak al 7.7
38 Beckett, Josh 1544 pi sp lad nl 7.7
39 Cabrera, Miguel 1776 1b det al 7.5
40 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 7.0
41 Lynn, Lance 2992 pi sp stl nl 7.0
42 Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048 pi sp sea al 7.0
43 Zimmermann, Jordan 2612 pi sp dc nl 7.0
44 Gonzalez, Gio 2626 pi sp dc nl 7.0
45 Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp atl nl 7.0
46 Uehara, Koji 2802 pi cp bos al 7.0
47 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 7.0
48 Shields, James 2157 pi sp kc al 6.7
49 Kennedy, Ian 2723 pi sp sd nl 6.7
50 Donaldson, Josh 3144 3b oak al 6.5
51 Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 lf oak al 6.5
52 McCutchen, Andrew 2637 cf pit nl 6.5
53 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 6.4
54 McHugh, Collin 3316 pi sp hou al 6.4
55 Colabello, Chris 3235 1b dh rf min al 6.2
56 Gallardo, Yovani 2333 pi sp mil nl 6.0
57 Collmenter, Josh 2863 pi sp ari nl 6.0
58 Aybar, Erick 2416 ss ana al 6.0
59 Duffy, Danny 2915 pi sp mr kc al 6.0
60 Doolittle, Sean 3052 pi cp oak al 6.0
61 Elias, Roenis 3309 pi sp sea al 6.0
62 Buehrle, Mark 1407 pi sp tor al 5.7
63 Wilson, C.J. 2074 pi sp ana al 5.7
64 Fister, Doug 2688 pi sp dc nl 5.7
65 Ross, Tyson 2840 pi sp sd nl 5.7
66 Vogelsong, Ryan 1820 pi sp sf nl 5.7
67 Hahn, Jesse 3354 pi sp sd nl 5.7
68 Hunter, Torii 1190 rf det al 5.5
69 Rizzo, Anthony 3063 1b chi nl 5.5
70 Ramirez, Alexei 2537 ss chi al 5.5
71 Morse, Michael 2020 lf sf nl 5.5
72 Upton, Justin 2411 lf atl nl 5.2
73 Masterson, Justin 2462 pi sp cle al 5.0
74 Miller, Shelby 3134 pi sp stl nl 5.0
75 Bailey, Homer 2324 pi sp cin nl 5.0
76 Holland, Greg 2906 pi cp kc al 5.0
77 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp phi nl 5.0
78 Burnett, A.J. 1300 pi sp phi nl 5.0
79 Vargas, Jason 2055 pi sp kc al 5.0
80 Cashner, Andrew 2807 pi sp sd nl 5.0
81 Wood, Travis 2777 pi sp chi nl 5.0
82 Chapman, Aroldis 2826 pi cp cin nl 5.0
83 Leake, Mike 2709 pi sp cin nl 5.0
84 Porcello, Rick 2573 pi sp det al 5.0
85 Smyly, Drew 3009 pi sp mr det al 5.0
86 Cishek, Steve 2997 pi cp fla nl 5.0
87 Perez, Martin 3213 pi sp tex al 5.0
88 Roark, Tanner 3261 pi sp dc nl 5.0
89 Volquez, Edinson 2220 pi sp pit nl 5.0
90 Wacha, Michael 3276 pi sp stl nl 5.0
91 Suzuki, Kurt 2344 ca min al 5.0
92 Seager, Kyle 3031 3b sea al 5.0
93 Koehler, Tom 3159 pi sp fla nl 5.0
94 Dozier, Brian 3219 2b min al 5.0
95 Robertson, David 2774 pi cp nyy al 5.0
96 Tomlin, Josh 2771 pi sp cp cle al 5.0
97 Rodriguez, Sean 2729 lf 1b 2b dh ph tb al 5.0
98 Duda, Lucas 2818 1b nym nl 5.0
99 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 5.0
100 Cobb, Alex 2916 pi sp tb al 4.7
BTP: Box-Toppers points

Pitcher Scott Kazmir leads the seven Athletics on the top 100 list, he has 13.1 Box-Toppers points and is in fifth place overall (second among AL pitchers). The other Athletics players are:

• Jason Hammel, starting pitcher, in 24th place with 8.7. (Hammel earned all 8.7 Box-Toppers points with the Cubs, prior to being traded to the Athletics.)

• Jesse Chavez, starting pitcher, in 37th place with 7.7.

• Sonny Gray, starting pitcher, in 47th place with 7.0.

• Josh Donaldson, third base, in 50th place with 6.5.

• Yoenis Cespedes, left field, in 51st place with 6.5.

• Sean Doolittle, closing pitcher, in 60th place with 6.0.

Athletics players have accumulated 79.0 Box-Toppers points this season, the most of any team. The Los Angeles Dodgers, in second place, have 69.7.

While the addition of Hammel gives the Athletics seven players in the top 100, they would still have the most players on the list without him, with six. No other team has more than five players on the list. There are five teams with five players each—the Atlanta Braves, the Cincinnati Reds, the Washington Nationals, the Detroit Tigers and the Seattle Mariners.

All but one team is represented on the top 100 list. The only team without a member is the Baltimore Orioles. That team’s leader in Box-Toppers points, Nelson Cruz, designated hitter and left fielder, has 4.5 points, in 109th place. The Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies both have one player on the top 100 list.

Pitchers dominate the top 100 list, with 80 members—73 of them starting pitchers. Box-Toppers tends to favor pitchers over batters, especially in the short-term. Star pitchers tend to rack up points in quick batches while batters tend to pick up points steadily over long periods of time. For example, the Box-Toppers “all-time” top 100 list has 45 batters and 55 pitchers (the “all-time” list tracks players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began).

Here is a breakdown of the top 100 list by position:

• Starting pitchers 73

• Closing pitchers 7

• First base 7

• Outfield 6 (4 LF, 1 CF, 1 RF)

• Shortstop 3

• Third base 2

• Second base 1

• Catcher 1

Here are some notable players’ statuses in the top 100.

• Last year’s Cy Young Award winners are ranked No. 1 and 2. Kershaw, the reigning National League winner, is in first place with 18.1 Box-Toppers points and Scherzer, the reigning AL winner, is in second place with 16.1.

• Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies leads all NL batters and is in 10th place overall, with 11.6 Box-Toppers points.

• Jose Abreu of the White Sox leads all AL batters and is in 17th place overall, with 9.5 Box-Toppers points.

• Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, 2013’s AL Most Valuable Player is in 39th place overall with 7.5 Box-Toppers points. He ranks third among AL batters.

• Pitcher Jose Fernandez of the Marlins, 2013’s NL Rookie of the Year is in 40th place overall with 7.0 Box-Toppers points. However, Fernandez is injured and now out for the rest of the season.

• Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates, 2013’s NL MVP, is in 52nd place overall with 6.5 Box-Toppers points (already more than the 6.0 he earned last season, when he ranked 22nd among NL batters). McCutchen currently ranks third among NL batters.

• Pitcher Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals, who started the All-Star Game for the NL, is ranked third overall with 14.0 Box-Toppers points. He ranks second among NL pitchers.

• Pitcher Felix Hernandez of the Mariners, who started the All-Star Game for the AL, is ranked sixth overall with 12.8 Box-Toppers points. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

• Wil Myers of the Rays, 2013’s AL Rookie of the Year has 1.0 Box-Toppers point and is not on this year’s top 100. (He had 3.5 Box-Toppers points in 2013.)

• Pitcher Chris Archer of the Rays, who led AL Rookies in Box-Toppers points in 2013, is in 53rd place with 6.4 Box-Toppers points. (Last season, he had 11.7 Box-Toppers points.)

So far this season, 578 players have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors and so have at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point. Eighty new players have earned Player of the Game honors for the first time this season, making their Box-Toppers debut.

 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. 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.

What are those numbers after players' names?

San Francisco Giants stay atop Box-Toppers team rankings, Blue Jays remain top AL team

The San Francisco Giants are on top of Box-Toppers team rankings for the second straight week.

Giants players had accumulated 47.9 Box-Toppers points through Thursday, June 5.

The Giants are led by pitchers Madison Bumgarner (10.5 Box-Toppers points, third place in Box-Toppers player rankings, second place among National League pitchers), Tim Hudson (5.7 points, 14th place among NL pitchers) and Ryan Vogelsong (5.7 points, 15th place among NL pitchers).

Top 10 teams

Here are Box-Toppers' Top 10 teams, through the games of Thursday, June 5. 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 have accumulated during the past week.

605

Teams

BTP
BTP
/wk		 Last 
wk 
rank
1 Giants 47.9 6.0 1
2 Blue Jays 45.4 6.0 2
3 Athletics 43.9 6.0 3
4 Marlins 42.1 5.2 5
5 Brewers 40.4 4.7 7
6 Angels 39.3 2.0 4
7 White Sox 39.0 4.0 8
8 Mariners 37.3 5.5 14
9 Dodgers 37.1 3.2 10
10 Cardinals 36.5 2.0 9
BTP: Box-Toppers points

The Toronto Blue Jays remain the top American League team in Box-Toppers points and remain in second place among all teams. Blue Jays players have 45.4 Box-Toppers points.

The Blue Jays are led by pitchers Drew Hutchison (6.0 Box-Toppers points, 11th place among AL pitchers) and Mark Buehrle (5.7 points, 12th among AL pitchers).

The Cleveland Indians were the hottest team of the week with 7.7 Box-Toppers points. They rose from 22nd to 13th place in Box-Toppers team rankings with 35.6 Box-Toppers points.

The Seattle Mariners rose into the top 10 this week, picking up 5.5 Box-Toppers points over the past week, giving them 37.3 for the season, in eighth place overall. The Colorado Rockies fell out of the top 10, earning no Box-Toppers points over the week ending Thursday, June 6—with 36.5 points, they fell from sixth to 11th place.

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. 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.