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The Kansas City Royals rise to lead Box-Toppers team rankings, passing last week’s leader, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers continue to lead National League teams (in second place overall) and the Philadelphia Phillies are the week’s hottest team (rising to third place overall).
Read MorePhillies pitcher Ranger Suarez is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fourth in season player rankings.
Also Tuesday, two other player rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors: Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert rises to second place and Cardinals closing pitcher Ryan Helsley rises to third place.
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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.
Read MoreJake Cronenworth of the Padres is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Thursday’s regular season opening game in Seoul, South Korea.
Cronenworth tripled, hit a sacrifice fly and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 15-11 win over the Dodgers, the second regular season game of the 2024 season.
Read MoreDodgers closing pitcher Evan Phillips is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s regular season opening game in Seoul, South Korea.
Phillips struck out one in one scoreless, hitless inning, walking none and picking up the save, in the 5-2 win over the Padres, the first official game of the 2024 season.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Gerrit Cole leads players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2018.
Cole has 112.4 Box-Toppers points over the period 2018-23, 17.4 points ahead of second-ranked player, Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer, who has 95.0 over that span.
Read MoreAngels pitcher Shohei Ohtani has more Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons than any other player.
Ohtani has earned 44.1 Box-Toppers points over 2022 and 2023. He ranked second among all players in 2022 with 24.7 Box-Toppers points and third among all players in 2023 with 19.4 points.
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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 MoreThe 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 MoreSix 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 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 MoreOnly 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.
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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.
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 MoreShohei 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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Source: MLB.com
Both National League Division Series begin Saturday.
The Philadelphia Phillies face the Atlanta Braves in one best-of-five game series and the Arizona Diamondbacks face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the other. The top two NL seeds, the Braves (first) and the Dodgers (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 MorePhillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Nola struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 3-0 win over the Cardinals.
Read MoreDiamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Kelly struck out 12 over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 3-2 win over the Reds. Kelly did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Reds tied the game after he exited.
Read MoreGuardians pitcher Aaron Civale is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen regains the lead among National League pitchers in 2023 Box-Toppers points, rising to fourth in overall season player rankings, after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher James Paxton is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day
Paxton struck out seven over 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 5-0 win over the Blue Jays.
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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.
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.