Astros pitcher Framber Valdez is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Thursday’s American League Championship Series Game 2.
Valdez struck out nine over seven innings, allowing two runs (none earned), four hits and no walks.
Read MoreAstros’ Verlander, Padres’ Hader top players in Wednesday’s LCS playoff games
Astros pitcher Justin Verlander and Padres closing pitcher Josh Hader are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Wednesday’s two league championship series games.
Read MoreALCS Preview: Astros favored because of pitching advantage, but Yankees have bats
Box-Toppers numbers favor the Houston Astros over the New York Yankees in the upcoming American League Championship Series.
Both teams were the two top seeds among AL postseason teams (Astros in first, Yankees in second) and both teams dominated the AL all season, with one or the other leading Box-Toppers team rankings nearly every week of the season.
Read MoreAstros’ Garcia tops players in Saturday’s league division series playoff games
Astros pitcher Luis Garcia tops players in Saturday’s four league division series playoff games.
Other Player of the Game winners in Saturday’s league division series games: Padres closing pitcher Josh Hader, Phillies pitcher Noah Syndergaard and Guardians closing pitcher Eli Morgan.
Read MorePhillies’ Nola tops players in Friday’s league division series games
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola tops players in Friday’s three league division series playoff games.
Other Player of the Game winners in Friday’s league division series games: Padres closing pitcher Josh Hader and Guardians closing pitcher Emmanuel Clase.
Read MoreBox-Toppers’ AL Division Series previews: Guardians vs. Yankees, Mariners vs. Astros
Both American League Division Series begin Tuesday.
The Houston Astros face the Seattle Mariners in one best-of-five game series and the New York Yankees face the Cleveland Guardians in the other. The top two AL seeds, the Astros (first) and the Yankees (second) received byes from the first round of playoffs and face the winners of the best-of-three Wild Card series played over the weekend.
Read MorePhillies’ Nola tops players for Monday, Oct. 3; Woodruff, Musgrove rise in top 10 list
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earn Player of the Game honors—Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff rises to fourth place and Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove rises to ninth place.
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Yankees, Brewers, Dodgers have most players among Box-Toppers’ top 100 players
Three teams each have seven players among the top 100 in Box-Toppers’ 2022 player rankings at the All-Star break.
The New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers each have seven players on the top 100 list, tied for the most of any team.
Read MoreYankees’ Severino tops players for Saturday, June 4; Mets’ Alonso rises to player rankings lead
Yankees pitcher Luis Severino is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Pete Alonso of the Mets rises to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Batter of the Day honors.
Read MoreBox-Toppers’ big dippers—players whose 2021 point total declined most from 2020: Dinelson Lamet leads list
Padres pitcher Dinelson Lamet had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2020 to 2021.
Lamet, who earned 9.0 Box-Toppers points in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season (fifth among all players and third among National League pitchers), earned 2.0 points in 2021. After a stellar 2020 season, he battled injury early in 2021, struggled and went from a starter to a bullpen pitcher.
Read MoreComeback Player winners Mancini, Posey rank far outside Box-Toppers’ top 25 most improved players
Trey Mancini of the Orioles and Buster Posey of the Giants were named Comeback Players of the Year for 2021 Monday.
Both ranked far outside Box-Toppers’ 25 most-improved players list for 2021 and neither were among Box-Toppers’ top candidate in either league for the player who had the biggest bounce back to a successful season this year.
Read MoreA look at players who made biggest gains in Box-Toppers points from 2019 to 2020—Brewers’ Corbin Burnes leads list
Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes had the biggest gain in Box-Toppers point totals from 2019 to 2020.
Burnes earned 7.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020 after earning no points in 2019. Burnes had earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points in his 2018 rookie season.
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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 MoreYankees’ James Paxton tops players in Friday's ALCS Game 5 over Astros, forcing Game 6
Yankees pitcher James Paxton is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s American League Championship Series Game 5 win over the Astros.
Paxton struck out nine over six innings, allowing one run, four hits and four walks, in the 4-1 win, forcing Game 6 of the series Saturday in Houston. The Astros lead the best-of-seven series, 3-2.
Read MoreAstros’ Cole, Nationals’ Corbin top players in Tuesday's league championship games
Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole and Nationals pitcher Patrick Corbin are top players in Tuesday’s pair of league championship games.
The Astros take a 2-1 lead over the Yankees in the American League Championship Series and the Nationals win the National League Championship Series, sweeping the Cardinals, 4-0.
Read MoreNationals’ Stephen Strasburg tops players in Monday's NLCS Game 3 win over Cardinals
Nationals 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 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.
Read MoreYankees’ Severino tops players for Sunday, Sept 22; Astros’ Cole clinches Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors
Yankees pitcher Luis Severino is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
In addition, Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole wraps up Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors after the only other player in contention for the season Box-Toppers points lead—teammate Justin Verlander—did not earn Player of the Game honors Sunday. With only one start remaining for Verlander and only 2.0 Box-Toppers points possible, Cole’s 2.7-point lead is now all but insurmountable.
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