The Texas Rangers maintain the lead in Box-Toppers team rankings for the second week.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves continue to lead National League teams and the Philadelphia Phillies are the week’s hottest team.
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Rangers, boosted by trade deadline deals, rise to lead Box-Toppers team rankings
The Texas Rangers, largely on the strength of their trade deadline pitcher acquisitions, rise to lead this week’s Box-Toppers season team rankings.
The Rangers gained the most Box-Toppers points by far of any team in the past week (21.1) thanks mostly to acquiring Max Scherzer (10.4 points) from the Mets and Jordan Montgomery (6.7 points) from the Cardinals.
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Texas Rangers rise to 1st, ending Tampa Bay Rays’ season-long lead atop team rankings
For the first time this season, the Tampa Bay Rays have fallen from first place in Box-Toppers team rankings, passed by the new leaders, the Texas Rangers.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves continue to lead National League teams and the Milwaukee Brewers are the week’s hottest team.
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Rays, Rangers have most players on Box-Toppers’ top 100 midseason player list
The Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers have the most players among the top 100 in Box-Toppers’ 2023 player rankings at the All-Star break.
Both the Rays and Rangers have seven players on the top 100 list (which actually consists of 102 players because of a tie for 100th place). Both American League teams are also among the top three in Box-Toppers team rankings at the All-Star break—the Rays rank first and the Rangers rank third, second among AL teams.
Read MorePadres’ Darvish tops players for Saturday, June 3; Braves’ Strider rises to 9th
Padres pitcher Yu Darvish is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Braves pitcher Spencer Strider rises to ninth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreAstros’ Valdez tops players for Sunday, May 21; Angels’ Ohtani is new rankings leader
Astros pitcher Framber Valdez is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani is the new leader in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Padres pitcher Michael Wacha rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreTigers’ Rodriguez tops players for Tuesday, April 18; Cubs’ Stroman rises to 8th place
Tigers pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Cubs pitcher Marcus Stroman rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw has now earned Box-Toppers points in 16 straight seasons—tied for the third-longest active streak—after earning National League Player of the Day honors Tuesday.
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Mets lead 2023 Box-Toppers preseason team rankings; Yankees top AL teams
The New York Mets are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2023 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the World Series champion Houston Astros saw the biggest decline.
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Yankees, Mets lead Box-Toppers offseason team rankings, landing biggest free agents
The New York Yankees and New York Mets lead Box-Toppers offseason rankings after landing the winter’s two biggest free agents.
The Yankees rank first after Carlos Rodon Thursday agreed to a free agent deal. Rodon earned 19.8 Box-Toppers points in 2022 with the Giants, sixth overall and third among National League pitchers. He ranked second among all free agents going into the 2023 season.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers’ choices for 2022 All-MLB team
White Sox’ Dylan Cease tops Box-Toppers’ list of worthy, but unchosen All-Stars
White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease is the most deserving player not selected to the 2022 Major League Baseball All-Star teams.
A Box-Toppers look at All-Star starters, reserves and snubs.
Read MoreNationals’ Corbin tops players for Tuesday, June 28; Mariners’ Ray tops AL players
Nationals pitcher Patrick Corbin is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Corbin struck out 12 over eight innings, allowing one run, five hits and two walks, in the 3-1 win over the Pirates.
Read MoreWhite Sox’ Kopech tops players for Tuesday, June 7; Verlander, Skubal, Wright rise in top 10 list
White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, three players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after each earned Player of the Game honors—Astros pitcher Justin Verlander rises to second place, Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal rises to fourth place and Braves pitcher Kyle Wright rises to sixth place.
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While Box-Toppers stat reflects the decline of batters, they still dominate WAR
Looking at the top 10 players in the Wins Above Replacement (WAR) statistic for each of the past 25 seasons, gives the impression batters are holding steady as the dominant force in baseball.
Yet, in recent years, batters are striking out more and hitting for lower batting averages against pitchers who are holding batters down and stealing their lunch money. Looking at the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points for each of the past 25 seasons provides a more accurate reflection of the game—one in which batters performed well and even dominated through about 2009, until pitchers’ announced their presence with authority from 2010 on.
Read More6 of 12 top home run leaders among their league’s top 10 batters in Box-Toppers points
While six of the top 12 home run hitters in 2021 ranked among their league’s top 10 batters in Box-Toppers points for the season, the two top home run hitters ranked low.
Salvador Perez of the Royals and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays led all players with 48 home runs each in 2021, but both were the lowest ranked among the 12 top home run hitters in Box-Toppers points, both ranking outside the overall top 200 players.
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Milwaukee Brewers lead Box-Toppers offseason team rankings, Mets make biggest jump
The Milwaukee Brewers are the top-ranked team going into 2022, leading Box-Toppers offseason team rankings as of mid-December.
Players currently signed to the Brewers 40-man roster accumulated 111.1 Box-Toppers points during the 2021 season, most of any team. The Chicago White Sox rank second overall with 109.2 Box-Toppers points, leading all American League teams.
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These six players were selected for the 16-member All-MLB First Team and were also Box-Toppers’ choices for the All-MLB team: Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres, Aaron Judge of the Yankees, Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer, Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole and White Sox pitcher Liam Hendriks.
Six Box-Toppers points leaders among players named to 2021 All-MLB First Team
Six Box-Toppers points leaders are among players selected for 2021’s 16-member “All-MLB” team announced Tuesday.
Another three Box-Toppers leaders were chosen for the “All-MLB” Second Team.
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Shohei Ohtani of the Angels and Bryce Harper of the Phillies win the American League and National League Most Valuable Player awards. However, Jose Ramirez of the Indians led AL batters and Nick Castellanos of the Reds led NL batters in 2021 Box-Toppers points.
Ohtani, Harper win MVP Awards ahead of Box-Toppers batting leaders Ramirez, Castellanos
Shohei Ohtani of the Angels and Bryce Harper of the Phillies were voted 2021 Most Valuable Players Thursday, ahead of other Box-Toppers points leaders.
Ohtani, who ranked third in Box-Toppers points among all American League players with 16.1, was voted AL MVP. Harper, who ranked 28th among National League batters with 5.5 Box-Toppers points, was voted NL MVP.
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These five players were 2021 Silver Slugger Award winners and also led their league’s position in Box-Toppers points for the season: Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox, Aaron Judge of the Yankees, Ozzie Albies of the Braves, Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres and Nick Castellanos of the Reds.
How 2021 Silver Sluggers winners fared in Box-Toppers rankings
Only five of the 17 batters winning Silver Slugger Awards Thursday also were among the leaders at their positions in 2021 Box-Toppers point totals.
The awards are given to the top batter in each position in both leagues, voted on by Major League Baseball coaches and managers.
Read MoreHank Aaron Award winners trailed most other finalists in 2021 Box-Toppers points
The two players who won the Hank Aaron Award, given to the best offensive performer in each league, trailed most of the award finalists in 2021 Box-Toppers points.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays and Bryce Harper of the Phillies were chosen Tuesday as winners by a panel of eight Hall of Fame players and a Major League Baseball fan vote.
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