The Houston Astros have risen to the top of Box-Toppers team rankings, thanks to their acquisition Thursday of pitcher Scott Kazmir from the Athletics.
The Astros pass the St. Louis Cardinals, who had been atop team rankings since June 5.
Top 10 teams
Here are Box-Toppers' Top 10 teams, through the games of Friday, July 23. 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 Sunday, July 12. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of July 12.7/23 |
Teams |
BTP |
BTP /wk |
Wk ago |
| 1 | Astros | 73.3 | 16.2 | 8 |
| 2 | Cardinals | 72.5 | 7.5 | 1 |
| 3 | Dodgers | 70.7 | 6.0 | 2 |
| 4 | Pirates | 68.1 | 6.2 | 3 |
| 5 | Royals | 66.7 | 5.0 | 4 |
| 6 | Angels | 65.0 | 8.7 | 9 |
| 7 | Cubs | 61.6 | 4.0 | 7 |
| 8 | Nationals | 61.5 | 3.0 | 5 |
| 9 | Giants | 60.8 | 4.7 | 10 |
| 10 | Yankees | 59.9 | 5.0 | 12 |
With the trade for Kazmir, the Astros pick up the 9.7 Box-Toppers points he earned with the Athletics, giving the Astros 73.3 Box-Toppers points for the season. They were in eighth place among all teams at the last team ranking report on July 12. Without Kazmir’s points, the Astros would have 63.6 Box-Toppers points and rank seventh among all teams.
The Astros are led by pitcher Dallas Keuchel (12.7 Box-Toppers points) and Kazmir (9.7). Top batter is Jose Altuve (6.0 Box-Toppers points). Twenty-one different Astros players have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors this season. The Astros have baseball’s seventh-best winning percentage (.557) and are in second place in the American League West.
The Astros, thanks to Kazmir’s 9.7 Box-Toppers points, picked up the most Box-Toppers points since the last team ranking report on July 12, prior to the All-Star break. The Astros picked up 16.2 points. Were it not for the trade, the Los Angeles Angels would have been the hottest team since the All-Star break, picking up 8.7 Box-Toppers points in that span.
The Astros also pass the Kansas City Royals as top AL team. The Royals fell from fourth to fifth among all teams since July 12, with 66.7 Box-Toppers points.
Meanwhile, the Oakland Athletics, which lose Kazmir in the trade, had a net loss of 6.0 Box-Toppers points since July 12. With 49.9 Box-Toppers points, they fell from 11th to 22nd place among all teams.
Though the St. Louis Cardinals lost their perch atop team rankings, they still lead all of baseball in winning percentage (.642) and picked up the most Box-Toppers points of any National League team since the All-Star break—7.5.
Cardinals players have accumulated 72.5 Box-Toppers points this season and lead all NL teams for the seventh straight team ranking report. Pitcher Carlos Martinez leads the Cardinals in Box-Toppers points with 11.7. Randal Grichuk leads Cardinals batters with 7.0 points. Twenty-three different Cardinals players have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors this season.
One team rose into the top 10 rankings this week—The New York Yankees, with 59.9 Box-Toppers points, picked up 5.0 points since the last report, and rose from 12th to 10th.
One team fell from the top 10 rankings this week—The New York Mets, with 59.6 Box-Toppers points, picked up 2.0 points since the last report, and fell from sixth to 11th.
The Philadelphia Phillies remain in 30th and last place among all teams for the sixth straight week. The Phillies have 39.3 Box-Toppers points and picked up 6.5 points since the last report. Thirteen 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.