Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta and Leury Garcia of the White Sox are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Sunday’s pair of American League Division Series games.
Read MoreAstros’ McCullers, Rays’ Arozarena top players in pair of AL Division Series openers Thursday
Lance McCullers Jr. of the Astros and Randy Arozarena of the Rays are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Thursday’s pair of American League Division Series openers.
Read MoreBox-Toppers’ AL Division Series previews: White Sox vs. Astros, Red Sox vs. Rays
Both American League Division Series begin Thursday.
The AL Wild Card champion Boston Red Sox face the AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays in one best-of-five game series and the AL Central champion Chicago White Sox take on the Houston Astros, champions of the AL West, in the other series.
Read MoreBox-Toppers’ AL Wild Card Game preview—New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox
The New York Yankees visit the Boston Red Sox in the American League one-game Wild Card playoff game Tuesday.
Read MorePirates’ Crowe tops players for Friday, Oct. 1; Indians’ Ramirez extends AL batter rankings lead
Pirates pitcher Wil Crowe is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Jose Ramirez of the Indians extended his lead among American League batters in 2021 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreRed Sox’ Rodriguez tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 4; Scherzer, Ohtani rise into player rankings top 10
Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors. Plus, Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani rises to ninth place in season player rankings, extending his Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters.
Read MoreMets’ Megill tops players for Friday, July 23; Wheeler, Peralta rise in player rankings top 10
Mets pitcher Tylor Megill is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earn Player of the Game honors—Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler rises to third place and Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta rises to eighth place.
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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.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers’ top 100 players for 2018-19 and 2014-19
Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is Box-Toppers’ top-ranked player over the past two seasons while Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer ranks first in points over the past six seasons.
Verlander earned 51.6 Box-Toppers points combined in 2018 and 2019 to lead all players in that span while Scherzer earned 134.3 points from 2014-2019, most in that span.
Read MoreRed Sox’ Rodriguez tops players for Thursday, Sept. 19; Twins’ Cruz regains AL batter rankings lead
Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Nelson Cruz of the Twins regains the Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters after earning AL Batter of the Day honors.
Read MoreMets’ deGrom tops players for Saturday, Sept. 14; Astros’ Greinke rises to 8th in player rankings
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Astros pitcher Zack Greinke rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
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Dodgers, Red Sox have most players—six–among Box-Toppers’ top 100 for 2019 at All-Star break
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox have the most players—six each—among the top 100 in Box-Toppers’ 2019 player rankings at the All-Star break.
The Dodgers also are Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team going into the All-Star break, with its players accumulating 72.6 Box-Toppers points this season. The defending World Series champion Red Sox, while they have as many representatives among the top 100 players, rank lower—in 13th place overall, with 55.9 Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreCubs’ Cole Hamels tops players for Friday, April 12, rises to 15th on Box-Toppers career points list
Cubs pitcher Cole Hamels is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to 15th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995.
Hamels struck out six over eight innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, in the 5-1 win over the Angels.
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Yankees top Box-Toppers 2019 preseason team rankings; champion Red Sox fall to 2nd
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 MoreWins leader Blake Snell also led players in Box-Toppers points in 2018
Blake Snell of the Rays, who led all pitchers in wins in 2018 with 21, also led all players in Box-Toppers points during the season with 27.2.
Six of the overall top 11 players in Box-Toppers points in 2018 are also among the top 11 pitchers in wins for the season. Plus, all 11 pitchers leading in wins are among the overall top 40 players in Box-Toppers points for the season.
Read MoreA correction: Rays' Blake Snell leads by wider margin after fixing errors in 2018 Box-Toppers stats
Striving to create a more perfect Box-Toppers, I discovered some errors in player tracking in 2018 and have been correcting them in recent weeks.
There were 10 total errors I discovered that changed the Box-Toppers point totals for 17 different players. Those errors were discovered after re-examining about one-third of the 2,430 games played in the 2018 season. So in other words, after looking at about 830 games, I found 10 errors.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers’ top 100 players for 2018
Blake Snell tops Box-Toppers list of the top 100 players in 2018.
The Rays pitcher had 27.2 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, which is the 12th-highest single-season point total since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.
Read MoreSteve Pearce tops players in Saturday's World Series Game 4 as Red Sox take a 3-1 series lead over Dodgers
Steve Pearce of the Red Sox is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s World Series Game 4.
The Boston Red Sox win 9-6 to take a 3-1 lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the best-of-seven game series.
Pearce homered, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs. It is his first Player of the Game honor of the 2018 postseason.
Read MoreDodgers’ Walker Bueher tops players in Friday's World Series Game 3 marathon; Red Sox lead series, 2-1
Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s World Series Game 3.
The Los Angeles Dodgers win 3-2 in 18 innings, but the Boston Red Sox lead the best-of-seven series, 2-1.
Buehler struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks. He did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Red Sox tied the game after he exited.
Read MoreALCS preview: Red Sox hold Box-Toppers advantages in series, but defending champ Astros may be better than last year
The Boston Red Sox hold nearly all the advantages over the Houston Astros in the coming American League Championship Series.
But the Astros are the defending World Series champions and return in 2018 with a largely unchanged roster and even more wins than they had last season (103 vs. 101).
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