Cam Smith of the Astros is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Tuesday’s spring training games.
Smith hit two home runs and went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-5 win over the Mets.
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Dodgers, Mets, Phillies among leaders in Box-Toppers offseason team rankings
The Los Angeles Dodgers are Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team going into 2025 but with player injuries factored in, the New York Mets hold the overall edge.
The current 2025 roster of last year’s World Series champion Dodgers accumulated 118.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, most of any team. However, with several players injured and expected to miss time in 2025, their injury-adjusted Box-Toppers point total drops to 106.7, fifth among all teams.
Read MoreNationals’ Gore tops players Saturday, Sept. 21; Mets’ Manaea rises to 8th place
Nationals pitcher MacKenzie Gore is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Mets pitcher Sean Manaea rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MorePadres’ Darvish tops players for Sunday, May 19, rising to 8th in player rankings
Padres pitcher Yu Darvish is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to eighth place in season player rankings.
Darvish struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 9-1 win over the Braves.
Read MoreReds’ Lodolo tops players for Saturday, April 13; Cubs’ Imanaga rises to 4th in rankings
Reds pitcher Nick Lodolo is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MorePhillies’ Suarez tops players for Thursday, April 11; Royals’ Witt tops AL players
Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Suarez struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 5-1 win over the Pirates.
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Box-Toppers picks Dodgers over Astros in 2024 World Series, plus our awards forecasts
Box-Toppers picks the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the 2024 World Series, beating the predicted American League champion Houston Astros.
Box-Toppers projects the Dodgers will have the most wins among all teams—103—and will be one of three teams with 99 or more wins, along with the Astros and the Atlanta Braves.
Read MoreGiants’ Hicks, Twins’ Buxton top players in spring games for Saturday, March 9
Giants pitcher Jordan Hicks is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Saturday’s spring training games.
Meanwhile, among Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners for Saturday are two of 2023’s Box-Toppers points leaders: Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo, who ranked fifth among American League pitchers with 16.1 Box-Toppers points and Kyle Tucker of the Astros, who ranked second among AL batters with 12.5 points.
Read MoreA detailed look at Box-Toppers points leaders for 2023: Top players by position in each league
Braves, Astros, Mariners among leaders in Box-Toppers offseason team rankings
The Atlanta Braves are Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team going into 2024, with a roster mostly intact from 2023 when they had baseball’s best record.
Meanwhile, the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners are Box-Toppers’ top two American League teams, with the Mariners having one of the best offseason improvements of any team so far. And also, while the Los Angeles Dodgers have made big offseason splashes adding Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Teoscar Hernandez, their offseason ranking has actually fallen from third place last season to fourth place now.
Read MoreA pitchers vs. batters breakdown of each team’s Box-Toppers point total for 2023
The World Series champion Texas Rangers, leaders among all teams in Box-Toppers points in 2023, also led all teams in points earned by pitchers. The Los Angeles Dodgers, meanwhile, which finished third overall among all teams, had the most points won by batters in 2023.
Read MoreHow 2023 Silver Sluggers winners fared in Box-Toppers rankings
Six of the 20 batters winning Silver Slugger Awards in 2023 were also among the leaders at their positions in 2023 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. Box-Toppers, analyzing traditional box scores, tracks which player most helps his team win the most games, awarding points for the top player in each game.
Read MoreBox-Toppers’ top-ranked nominees—Ohtani, Acuna—win 2023 Hank Aaron Awards
Box-Toppers’ top-ranked nominees in both leagues won 2023’s Hank Aaron Awards for top offensive player. But Box-Toppers would have chosen two other players for the honors.
Shohei Ohtani of the Angels won the award in the American League and Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves won the award in the National League.
Read MoreFour Box-Toppers points leaders among players named to 2023 All-MLB First Team
Only four Box-Toppers points leaders are among players selected for 2023’s 16-member “All-MLB” team announced this month. Three other Box-Toppers leaders were chosen for the “All-MLB” Second Team.
The All-MLB team players are not selected based on their affiliation with American League or National League. Rather, all players are chosen regardless of league as “First Team” or “Second Team” players.
Read MoreCan Shohei Ohtani continue his lofty, Angelic Box-Toppers rankings with Dodgers?
Shohei Ohtani, who signed a record free-agent deal with the Dodgers, has consistently been among Box-Toppers' highest-ranking players over the past three seasons.
However, his second surgery to repair his pitching elbow's ulnar collateral ligament, raises concerns about his future effectiveness. A Box-Toppers look at Ohtani’s career and the mixed outcomes of pitchers with a second elbow surgery.
Read MoreBox-Toppers points leaders Ohtani, Henderson win 2023 Players Choice Awards
Only two of Box-Toppers category leaders also won Players Choice Awards for 2023 as voted by the players’ union: Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, who was voted American League Outstanding Player and Gunnar Henderson of the Orioles was voted AL Outstanding Rookie.
Read MoreLuzardo leads Box-Toppers most improved list; 2 others win B-T Comeback Player
While Marlins pitcher Jesus Luzardo is Box-Toppers’ most improved player in 2023, our choices for Comeback Players of the Year are Eduardo Rodriguez of the Tigers and Jason Heyward of the Dodgers.
Meanwhile, the consensus choices for Comeback Players of the Year—Cody Bellinger and Liam Hendriks—did not rank very highly among Box-Toppers most improved players in 2023.
Read MoreBox-Toppers 2023 year-end All-Star teams
The Box-Toppers All-Star teams for the 2023 regular season are led by overall Box-Toppers points leader, Braves pitcher Spencer Strider.
The American League and National League All-Star teams are composed of the players with the highest Box-Toppers point totals by position in each league. In addition to nine batters in each league are the top four starting pitchers in each league and the top closing pitcher.
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Shohei Ohtani of the Angels and Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Braves were voted 2023 Most Valuable Player award winners. While Ohtani was also Box-Toppers’ choice as AL MVP, Pete Alonso of the Mets was Box-Toppers’ NL MVP leader over Acuña.
Box-Toppers’ pick Ohtani wins AL MVP, but Acuña wins NL MVP over our pick, Alonso
Shohei Ohtani of the Angels was voted 2023 American League Most Valuable Player Wednesday. He was also Box-Toppers’ choice as AL MVP.
However, in the National League, Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves was voted MVP—he finished second in Box-Toppers’ NL MVP ballot behind Pete Alonso of the Mets.
Read MoreBox-Toppers’ MVP Awards: Ohtani reigns over AL; Alonso edges Acuña in NL
Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, favorite for American League Most Valuable Player, is also Box-Toppers’ choice for the award. But Box-Toppers’ choice for NL MVP, Pete Alonso of the Mets, is not among the finalists for the award, expected to go to Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves, who is second on Box-Toppers’ NL MVP ballot.
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