The Houston Astros stayed atop Box-Toppers team rankings for the second straight week thanks to their wins and additional trade-deadline acquisitions.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers' team rankings, through the games of Friday, July 30. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team have accumulated so far this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams have accumulated since the previous report through the games of Thursday, July 23. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of July 23.7/30 |
Teams |
BTP |
BTP /wk |
Wk ago |
| 1 | Astros | 85.8 | 12.5 | 1 |
| 2 | Dodgers | 84.1 | 13.4 | 3 |
| 3 | Cardinals | 82.0 | 9.5 | 2 |
| 4 | Pirates | 79.8 | 11.7 | 4 |
| 5 | Royals | 78.0 | 11.3 | 5 |
| 6 | Blue Jays | 76.5 | 20.1 | 13 |
| 7 | Giants | 74.8 | 14.0 | 9 |
| 8 | Nationals | 69.0 | 7.5 | 8 |
| 9 | Angels | 69.0 | 4.0 | 6 |
| 10 | Mets | 67.8 | 8.2 | 11 |
| 11 | Yankees | 65.6 | 5.7 | 10 |
| 12 | Cubs | 65.6 | 4.0 | 7 |
| 13 | Orioles | 62.7 | 6.5 | 14 |
| 14 | Twins | 58.6 | 2.5 | 15 |
| 15 | White Sox | 58.2 | 7.7 | 20 |
| 16 | Rangers | 56.9 | 7.3 | 24 |
| 17 | Rays | 56.5 | 2.0 | 19 |
| 18 | Indians | 53.7 | -1.5 | 16 |
| 19 | Padres | 52.4 | 5.0 | 26 |
| 21 | Marlins | 51.1 | -4.0 | 17 |
| 20 | Athletics | 50.9 | 1.0 | 22 |
| 22 | Dbacks | 50.4 | 5.5 | 27 |
| 24 | Mariners | 50.0 | 1.0 | 23 |
| 23 | Red Sox | 45.0 | 1.5 | 29 |
| 25 | Rockies | 43.7 | -1.0 | 28 |
| 26 | Tigers | 43.4 | -14.1 | 12 |
| 27 | Braves | 42.4 | -9.7 | 21 |
| 28 | Brewers | 42.3 | -6.5 | 25 |
| 29 | Reds | 40.8 | -14.1 | 18 |
| 30 | Phillies | 31.3 | -8.0 | 30 |
There was an overall shakeup in team rankings this week as players changed teams prior to the July 31 trade deadline: The Los Angeles Dodgers rose past the St. Louis Cardinals to take the lead among National League teams. The Toronto Blue Jays, picking up David Price and Troy Tulowitzki, had the biggest increase in Box-Toppers points over the past week. And the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers, which unloaded star players in trades, had the biggest decrease of the past week.
Astros players have accumulated 85.8 Box-Toppers points this season, including 12.5 over the past week. While they picked up points going 4-2 in the past week, they also gained Box-Toppers points by acquiring two players from the Milwaukee Brewers—center fielder Carlos Gomez (6.0 Box-Toppers points) and starting pitcher Mike Fiers (4.0).
The Astros are led by pitcher Dallas Keuchel (12.7 Box-Toppers points) and pitcher Scott Kazmir (11.7), who was acquired July 23. Top batter is Jose Altuve (7.0 Box-Toppers points). Twenty-two different Astros players have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors this season. The Astros have baseball’s fifth-best winning percentage (.563) and moved into first place this week in the American League West.
The Los Angeles Dodgers moved ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals to take the Box-Toppers points lead among NL teams. The Dodgers have 84.1 Box-Toppers points, picking up 13.4 over the past week and are ranked second overall. The Dodgers went 2-3 in the past week, but picked up Box-Toppers points in acquisitions—starting pitcher Alex Wood (4.7 Box-Toppers points), starter Mat Latos (4.0) and middle reliever Jim Johnson (2.0).
The Dodgers are led by pitchers Clayton Kershaw (13.0 Box-Toppers points) and Zack Greinke (12.0). Top batter is Andre Ethier (4.5). The Dodgers have the NL’s third-best winning percentage (.559).
The Cardinals, despite picking up 9.5 Box-Toppers points in the past week, fell to second in the NL and third overall with 82.0 Box-Toppers points. Despite this, they still have baseball’s best winning percentage (.637). The Cardinals have picked up two key players prior to the trade deadline—right fielder Brandon Moss (3.5 Box-Toppers points) and closing pitcher Steve Cishek (1.0).
The Toronto Blue Jays picked up the most Box-Toppers points in the past week—20.1. They rose from 13th to seventh in team rankings with 76.5 Box-Toppers points. The Blue Jays made the biggest splash of trade deadline teams so far, picking up starting pitcher David Price from the Tigers and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki from the Rockies. Price has the most Box-Toppers points of any player traded this season (13.1) and currently ranks fifth among all players. Tulowitzki led all NL players in Box-Toppers points in 2014 (11.6) and currently has 6.0 points.
The Blue Jays were one of two teams to rise into the top 10 of team rankings this week. The other was the New York Mets, rising from 11th to 10th with 67.8 Box-Toppers points. The Mets gained 8.2 Box-Toppers points in the past week, earning only 2.0 of those in trades.
Two teams fell from the top 10 list:
- The New York Yankees fell from 10th to 11th with 65.6 Box-Toppers points, picking up 5.7 points in the past week.
- The Chicago Cubs fell from seventh to 12th with 65.6 Box-Toppers points, picking up 4.0 points in the past week.
The Detroit Tigers and the Cincinnati Reds both lost the most Box-Toppers points during the past week, dropping 14.1 points each. The Tigers fell from 12th to 26th with 43.4 points. In addition to losing Price, they also traded closer Joakim Soria (4.7 points) to the Pirates. The Reds fell from 18th to 29th with 40.8 points. They traded two starters—Johnny Cueto (10.8) to the Royals and Mike Leake (9.0) to the Giants.
Six teams gained more than 10 Box-Toppers points during the past week, largely due to trades. In order from biggest gainer:
- Blue Jays (20.1)
- Giants (14.0)
- Dodgers (13.4)
- Astros (12.5)
- Pirates (11.7)
- Royals (11.3)
The Philadelphia Phillies remain in 30th and last place among all teams for the seventh straight week. The Phillies have 31.3 Box-Toppers points and lost 8.0 points since last week after trading away starting pitcher Cole Hamels (10.0) to the Texas Rangers and closer Jonathan Papelbon (4.0) to the Washington Nationals. Fourteen different Phillies players have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors this season.
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.