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Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow retakes the lead in Box-Toppers weekly player rankings after Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole led for the previous two weeks.
Meanwhile, Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers rises to lead National League pitchers, Adam Duvall of the Marlins rises to lead NL batters and J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox maintains his lead among American League batters.
Read MoreBrewers pitcher Adrian Houser is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. He also rises to lead National League pitchers in season player rankings.
Read MoreAnalyzing 26 years of Box-Toppers points leaders among American League and National League pitchers and batters each season.
Read MoreJose Abreu of the White Sox and Freddie Freeman of the Braves were voted 2020 Most Valuable Players Thursday, ahead of other Box-Toppers points leaders.
Abreu, who ranked sixth in Box-Toppers points among American League batters with 4.5, was voted AL MVP. Freeman, who ranked eighth in Box-Toppers points among National League batters with 3.5, was voted NL MVP.
Read MoreAlbert Pujols of the Angels has the most Box-Toppers points of any first baseman since tracking began in 1995.
Pujols also has the distinction of leading all American League first basemen in Box-Toppers points over the past season (2019), the past two seasons (2018-19) and the past six seasons (2014-19).
Read MoreAnalyzing 25 years of Box-Toppers points leaders among American League and National League pitchers and batters each season.
Read MoreNationals 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.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Monday’s National League Championship Series Game 3 win over the Cardinals.
Strasburg struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run, seven hits and no walks, in the 8-1 win over the Cardinals.
Read MoreThough the Washington Nationals are the Wild Card team, they seem to hold most of the advantages over the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series.
The Nationals have more wins and rank higher in Box-Toppers team rankings than the NL Central champion Cardinals. Still, the Cardinals have a Box-Toppers point advantage in starting batting lineups, as the teams begin the best-of-seven games series Friday in St. Louis.
Read MoreIn 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 MoreWalker Buehler of the Dodgers and Marcell Ozuna of the Cardinals are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Thursday’s pair of National League Division Series openers.
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Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole is Box-Toppers Player of the Year for 2019, earning the fourth-most Box-Toppers points in a single season since tracking began in 1995.
Meanwhile, Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals leads among National League pitchers, Nelson Cruz of the Twins leads among AL batters and Marcell Ozuna of the Cardinals leads among NL batters.
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Astros pitcher Justin Verlander maintains the lead in Box-Toppers weekly team rankings report for the 13th straight week.
Meanwhile, all category leaders remain the same as last week: Verlander leads American League pitchers, Josh Hader of the Brewers leads National League pitchers, Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers leads NL batters and Nelson Cruz of the Twins leads AL batters.
Read MoreRangers pitcher Mike Minor is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Gerrit Cole is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to lead Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Cole struck out 11 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 11-1 win over the Athletics.
Read MoreBlue Jays pitcher Matt Shoemaker is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Shoemaker struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 6-0 win over the Tigers.
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The New York Yankees are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2019 preseason rankings, rising from second place at the end of the 2018 season.
The 2018 World Series-champion Boston Red Sox fall from first at the end of last season to second place in the 2019 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Reds made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Arizona Diamondbacks had the biggest decline.
Read MoreAnalyzing 24 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching & batting in both leagues
Read MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer leads players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2013.
Scherzer has 137.0 Box-Toppers points over the period 2013-2018, just 2.6 points ahead of Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has 134.4 points over that span.
In fact, Scherzer unseats Kershaw from atop the six-year rolling Box-Toppers point total, a spot Kershaw has held at the end of each season since 2013, five straight seasons.
Read MoreChristian Yelich of the Brewers, who led National League batters in Box-Toppers points in 2018 with 11.5, was voted NL Most Valuable Player Thursday.
And Mookie Betts of the Red Sox, who ranked second among American League batters in Box-Toppers points with 10.9, was voted AL Most Valuable Player. Teammate J.D. Martinez, who led AL batters with 12.5 Box-Toppers points, finished fourth in AL MVP voting.
Read MoreBox-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.