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The Los Angeles Dodgers are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2024 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the San Diego Padres saw the biggest decline.
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Source: MLB.com
The Wild Card round of Major League Baseball’s postseason begins Tuesday with four best-of-three series.
Here is a Box-Toppers look at the eight teams competing in the four Wild Card round series.
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The Tampa Bay Rays regain the Box-Toppers season player rankings lead after falling to second place last week.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers rise to lead National League teams and the Los Angeles Angels are the week’s hottest team.
Read MoreWhite Sox pitcher Dylan Cease is Thursday’s Opening Day Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreThe San Diego Padres hold the advantage over the Philadelphia Phillies in the upcoming 2022 National League Championship Series.
Going into the postseason, both teams would have been voted Least Likely to Succeed, as they are the two-lowest seeded NL playoff teams and both rank lowest in Box-Toppers rankings among NL postseason teams.
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Trade deadline deals helped both the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres rise closer to the top of Box-Toppers team rankings this week.
But the top two spots in Box-Toppers team rankings remain the same with the New York Yankees in first place and the top National League team, the Los Angeles Dodgers in second.
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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 MoreThree of the four players who won Cy Young or Most Valuable Player awards in 2017 also led their teams in Box-Toppers points for the season.
The only exception: American League Most Valuable Player Jose Altuve did not lead Astros batters in Box-Toppers points. In fact, with only 2.5 Box-Toppers points, he finished 11th among Astros batters and 21st among all Astros players.
Read MoreThe Houston Astros rank higher in Box-Toppers team rankings, though the New York Yankees hold an advantage in starting pitching and top-10 ranked players as they face off in the American League Championship Series starting Friday.
Read MoreYankees pitcher David Robertson is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Tuesday’s American League Wild Card Game.
Robertson pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings of middle relief, allowing three hits, one walk, striking out three and earning the win, in the 8-4 win over the Royals.
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While the Dodgers and Astros continue leading Box-Toppers team rankings, the Cubs, Nationals and Yankees make big gains thanks in part to post All-Star Game trades.
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Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to take the season Box-Toppers points lead among American League pitchers.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 5 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 14.1 |
| 6 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 12.5 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.4 |
| 8 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.0 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 11.0 |
| 10 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
Hamels struck out 12 over eight innings, allowing two runs, six hits and one walk, in the 3-2 win over the Royals.
Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.1 for the season, rising from seventh to fifth in overall season player rankings. He rises to first among AL pitchers, passing previous leader Corey Kluber of the Indians (12.5).
Hamels also takes the lead among AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2015. He has 29.5 Box-Toppers points in the span, the same totals as Chris Sale of the White Sox and David Price of the Red Sox, but Hamels holds the tiebreaker and ranks higher because he has more points in 2016.
Hamels also now has 140.3 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 25th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Thursday, Hamels passes two players on the “all-time” list—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (138.4) and Andy Pettitte (138.5). Hamels now trails 24th-ranked player, Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8). Hamels also now ranks 10th in career Box-Toppers points among active players.
National League Player of the Day—Cubs closing pitcher Aroldis Chapman pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits or walks and striking out two, in the 3-1 win over the White Sox. It is his first Player of the Game honor he has earned since being traded from the Yankees earlier this week.
Chapman earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 6.4 for the season, rising to first among all closing pitchers, passing previous leader David Robertson of the White Sox (5.0).
National League Batter of the Day—Aaron Altherr of the Phillies hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 5-4 win over the Marlins.
American League Batter of the Day—Max Kepler of the Twins homered, tripled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 6-2 win over the Orioles.
Debut—Angels closing pitcher Cam Bedrosian made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Bedrosian (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut June 3, 2014, and was playing in his 93rd career game. He is the 3,694th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Chapman earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Altherr and Kepler each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-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. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 7/28 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | TEX 3, KC 2 | Cole Hamels (W,12-2) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 12 | |
| NL | 3.1 | CHC 3, CHW 1 | Aroldis Chapman (S,21) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| BAT | 3.0 | PHI 7, ATL 5 | Aaron Altherr, RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 3.0 | MIN 6, BAL 2 | Max Kepler, RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | LAA 2, BOS 1 | Cam Bedrosian (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | STL 5, MIA 4 | Aledmys Diaz, SS | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIL 6, ARI 4 | Hernan Perez, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | COL 2, NYM 1 | Carlos Estevez (S,11) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.1 | WSH 4, SF 2 | Shawn Kelley (S,5) | - | - | - | - | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 14.1 | 29.5 | 81.1 | 140.3 | -1.3 |
| Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | pi cp | chi nl | 6.4 | 14.4 | 44.4 | 45.4 | -1.6 |
| Diaz, Aledmys 3612 | ss | stl nl | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 |
| Estevez, Carlos 3641 | pi cp | col nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Kepler, Max 3664 | rf | min al | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Perez, Hernan 3577 | 3b ss ph | mil nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Altherr, Aaron 3563 | rf | phi nl | 1.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 0.5 |
| Kelley, Shawn 2630 | pi cp mr | dc nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 10.0 | -1.0 |
| Bedrosian, Cam 3694 | pi cp | ana al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
A look at Box-Toppers points leaders by position and by league for the 2016 season and for the combined 2015-16 seasons.
Read MoreBox-Toppers points leaders by position and league in both the 2016 season the combined 2015-16 seasons.
Read MoreNationals' offseason net gain in Box-Toppers points pushes them to top of preseason team rankings. Meanwhile, the Yankees and Athletics plummet in rankings and the Cubs and Red Sox make big leaps upward.
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.