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The New York Yankees, Box-Toppers’ top-ranked American League team and the top seed among AL teams in the postseason, are favored over the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Championship Series.
The Yankees have the edge in overall Box-Toppers points and in starting and relief pitchers. However, the Guardians hold a surprising edge among the likely starting nine batters.
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Source: MLB.com
Both American League Division Series begin Saturday.
The Detroit Tigers face the Cleveland Guardians in one best-of-five game series and the Kansas City Royals face the New York Yankees in the other. The top two AL seeds, the Yankees (first) and the Guardians (second) received byes from the first round of playoffs and face the winners of the best-of-three Wild Card series played this week.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Marcus Stroman is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Stroman struck out five over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 4-1 win over the Padres.
Read MoreWilly Adames of the Brewers is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Sunday’s spring training games.
Also Sunday, Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola earned his third Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor of the 2024 spring training season.
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Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman regains the lead in this week’s Box-Toppers player rankings report.
Gausman rises from fifth place last week to take the top spot and also is the new leader among American League pitchers.
Read MoreCubs pitcher Marcus Stroman is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to ninth in season player rankings.
Also Monday, Aaron Judge of the Yankees rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Batter of the Day honors.
Read MoreCubs pitcher Drew Smyly 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 earned Player of the Game honors—Diamondbacks Zac Gallen rises to third place and Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani rises to sixth place.
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Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen rises to lead this week’s Box-Toppers player rankings report.
Rasmussen also leads American League pitchers. Meanwhile, Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks leads National League pitchers, Bryan Reynolds of the Pirates leads NL batters and Wander Franco of the Rays leads AL batters.
Read MoreTigers 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.
Read MoreTwins pitcher Sonny Gray is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Bryan Reynolds of the Pirates rises to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
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 MoreMarlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Friday’s spring training games.
Alcantara struck out eight over three scoreless and hitless innings, allowing no walks, in the 3-2 win over the Astros. Alcantara did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Astros took the lead after he exited.
Read MoreTwins pitcher Josh Winder is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
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Box-Toppers picks the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the 2022 World Series, beating the predicted American League champion Chicago White Sox.
Box-Toppers projects the Dodgers will have the most wins among all teams—111—and will be the only team with more than 100 wins this season.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2022 preseason rankings. They also ended 2021 as Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Oakland Athletics saw the biggest decline.
Read MoreGuardians pitcher Tanner Tully is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Friday’s spring training games.
Tully struck out four over three scoreless innings, allowing no hits, no runs and one walk, in the 3-2 win over the Reds.
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Julio Urias of the Dodgers, who led all pitchers in wins in 2021 with 20, also ranked fourth among all players in Box-Toppers points with 19.1.
Among the 13 pitchers with 14 or more wins in 2021, Urias is one of five who were among the top 10 in Box-Toppers points for the season. Meanwhile, Max Scherzer of the Dodgers, who led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2021, also had Box-Toppers’ highest Sincere Win Differential (SWD) of +10.1.
Read MoreSeven of the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points in 2021 also recorded among the 10 lowest earned run averages for the season.
Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes, who had the lowest ERA (2.43), ranked fifth in Box-Toppers points for 2021 (18.1), fourth among National League pitchers. Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer, who led all players with 25.1 Box-Toppers points, had the second-lowest ERA (2.46).
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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.
Read MoreMariners pitcher Marco Gonzalez is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after each earns Player of the Game honors—Athletics pitcher Chris Bassitt rises to seventh place and Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani rises to eighth.
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.