Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team for 2020, the Los Angeles Dodgers, hold a considerable edge over the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2020 World Series.
Read MoreRays’ Morton, Dodgers’ Buehler top players in Saturday's league championship series games
Rays pitcher Charlie Morton and Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Saturday’s two league championship series games.
Read MoreAstros’ Valdez, Dodgers’ Seager top players in Friday's league championship series games
Astros pitcher Framber Valdez and Corey Seager of the Dodgers are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Friday’s two league championship series games.
Read MoreBraves’ Fried, Rays’ Morton top players in Monday's league championship series games
Braves pitcher Max Fried and Rays pitcher Charlie Morton are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Monday’s two league championship series games.
Read MoreRays’ Diego Castillo tops players in Sunday's AL Championship Series Game 1
Rays closing pitcher Diego Castillo is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Sunday’s American League Championship Series Game 1.
Castillo picked up the final five outs for the Rays, striking out one over 1 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit, no walks and picking up the save, in the 2-1 win over the Astros.
Read MoreRays hold Box-Toppers advantages in AL Championship Series, but Astros have proven surprising
The Houston Astros, Box-Toppers’ lowest-ranked team in the 2020 postseason, face the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Championship Series.
The Astros ranked 17th among all teams in Box-Toppers regular season rankings. The Rays meanwhile ranked ninth among all teams, though they had the best record in the AL and were the top-seeded AL team in the playoffs.
Read MoreBraves’ Anderson, Athletics’ Hendriks among top players in Wednesday's league division series games
In four league division series playoff games Wednesday these are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners:
Braves pitcher Ian Anderson is top player in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over the Marlins.
Athletics closing pitcher Liam Hendriks is top player in Wednesday’s 9-7 win over the Astros.
Corey Seager of the Dodgers is top player in Wednesday’s 6-5 win over the Padres.
Kevin Kiermaier of the Rays is top player in Wednesday’s 8-4 win over the Yankees.
Braves’ d'Arnaud, Dodgers’ May among top players in Tuesday's league division playoff games
In four league division series playoff games Tuesday these are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners:
Travis d'Arnaud of the Braves is top player in Tuesday’s 9-5 win over the Marlins.
Dodgers pitcher Dustin May is top player in Tuesday’s 5-1 win over the Padres.
George Springer of the Astros is top player in Tuesday’s 5-2 win over the Athletics.
Manuel Margot of the Rays is top player in Tuesday’s 7-5 win over the Yankees.
What would a 60-game schedule look like? Here's a Box-Toppers look at 2019 after 60 games on June 4
Imagine a Major League Baseball season beginning normally in the spring and ending on June 4.
That’s what the proposed pandemic-shortened 60-game schedule for 2020 will seem like.
In 2019, most clubs had played at least 60 games by June 4. That was barely more than a third of the regular season’s 162 games (37 percent). But for 2020, if all goes according to plan and the coronavirus doesn’t intervene to cut it even shorter, 60 games will be the complete, entire season.
Read MoreA look at how WAR leaders fared in Box-Toppers points in 2019: We don't seem to be looking at the same game
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.
Read MoreTop 6 in Box-Toppers points in 2019 also among top 11 strikeout leaders for season
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.
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Top 2 wins leaders—Astros’ Justin Verlander & Gerrit Cole—also led all players in Box-Toppers points
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.
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Yankees top Box-Toppers 2020 preseason team rankings; champion Nationals rank 2nd
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.
Read MoreBellinger, Trout win MVP Awards ahead of Box-Toppers’ decidedly outlier picks—Cole, Ozuna
Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers, who ranked third among National League batters in Box-Toppers points in 2019 with 11.2, was voted NL Most Valuable Player Thursday.
And Mike Trout of the Angels, who ranked ninth among American League batters in Box-Toppers points in 2019 with 8.7, was voted AL Most Valuable Player.
Read MoreVerlander, deGrom win 2019 Cy Young Awards over Box-Toppers leaders Cole, Strasburg
Gerrit Cole of the Astros, who led all players in 2019 Box-Toppers points and had the fourth-highest single-season point total in Box-Toppers’ 25-year tracking history, fell short of winning baseball’s top pitching prize Wednesday.
Teammate Justin Verlander, who ranked second overall in Box-Toppers points, edged Cole to win the 2019 American League Cy Young Award. Cole finished second in voting. In the National League, Jacob deGrom of the Mets won the Cy Young Award for the second straight year. He finished second among NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points behind leader Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals.
Read MoreA look at 2019 baseball awards finalists and how they fared in Box-Toppers rankings
The players who played the most key roles in helping their teams win the most games in 2019, for the most part, are not among the finalists for baseball’s postseason awards.
Gerrit Cole of the Astros, who led American League pitchers in Box-Toppers points with 32.2, is one of three finalists for the AL Cy Young Award. He is the only Box-Toppers point leader in any of the six categories to even be named as a finalist.
Read MoreAstros, Yankees resume AL Championship Series Thursday after Wednesday's rainout
Wednesday’s American League Championship Series Game 4 in New York was postponed by rain and rescheduled for Thursday.
The Houston Astros lead the New York Yankees in the best-of-seven game series, 2-1.
Read MoreALCS Preview: Rocketing Astros face the rising, resilient, rehabilitating Yankees
Do the New York Yankees even stand a chance facing the rocketing Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series?
Astros players accumulated by far the most Box-Toppers points of any team (158.1). The Yankees had 123.4 points, ranked fifth overall. The Astros top three pitchers are among Box-Toppers’ top-10 ranked players in 2019. Meanwhile, the Yankees top player, James Paxton (14.1 Box-Toppers points), ranks 19th overall.
Read MoreMorton, Scherzer, Torres, Goldschmidt top players in Monday's four league division series games
In four league division series playoff games Monday these are Box-Toppers Players of the Game:
Rays pitcher Charlie Morton, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, Gleyber Torres of the Yankees and Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals.
Read MoreBraves’ Mike Soroka, Dodgers’ Russell Martin top players in Sunday's pair of NLDS games
Braves pitcher Mike Soroka and Russell Martin of the Dodgers are Sunday’s Box-Toppers top players in a pair of National League Division Series games.
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