The Chicago Cubs maintain the lead in Box-Toppers’ weekly team rankings for the second week, while the Chicago White Sox rise to lead American League teams.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers' team rankings, through the games of Thursday, April 28. 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 Thursday, April 21. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of April 21.| 4/28 | Teams | BTP | BTP /wk |
Wk ago |
| 1 | Cubs | 21.0 | 5.0 | 1 |
| 2 | White Sox | 17.7 | 6.0 | 5 |
| 3 | Phillies | 17.4 | 6.4 | 8 |
| 4 | Nationals | 17.4 | 4.0 | 2 |
| 5 | Orioles | 16.9 | 4.7 | 3 |
| 6 | Pirates | 16.7 | 6.2 | 10 |
| 7 | Mets | 16.0 | 7.0 | 16 |
| 8 | Giants | 15.0 | 6.5 | 19 |
| 9 | Royals | 14.9 | 3.0 | 4 |
| 10 | Rays | 14.8 | 4.0 | 9 |
Meanwhile, the New York Mets were the hottest team of the week, picking up 7.0 Box-Toppers points.
Cubs players have accumulated 21.0 Box-Toppers points so far this season, including 5.0 in the past week. The Cubs also have baseball’s best winning percentage (.762).
The Cubs are led by Box-Toppers’ overall points leader, pitcher Jake Arrieta (5.0). Their top batter is Anthony Rizzo (2.0 points). Ten different Cubs players have earned Box-Toppers points so far this season.
The White Sox rise from fifth to second in overall team rankings, becoming the top AL team, with 17.7 Box-Toppers points, including 6.0 in the past week. They are led by pitchers Chris Sale (4.0 Box-Toppers points) and Mat Latos (3.7). Eight different White Sox players have earned Box-Toppers points so far this season.
Last week’s top AL team, the Baltimore Orioles, fall from third among teams last week to fifth, with 16.9 Box-Toppers points.
The Mets picked up 7.0 Box-Toppers points in the past week, most of any team, giving them 16.0 for the season, rising from 16th to seventh place in team rankings.
One other team rose into the top 10 in team rankings this week—The San Francisco Giants rose from 19th to eighth with 15.0 Box-Toppers points, picking up 6.5 in the past week.
Two teams fell out of the top 10 from last week:
- The Texas Rangers fell from sixth to 14th with 13.4 Box-Toppers points, picking up 4.0 in the past week.
- The Los Angeles Dodgers fell from seventh to 17th (the biggest drop of the week) with 13.0 Box-Toppers points, picking up 2.0 in the past week.
The Atlanta Braves fall from 29th to 30th and last place in this week’s rankings. The Braves have 6.5 Box-Toppers points, picking up 1.5 in the past week. Last week’s bottom team, the Miami Marlins, rose to 23rd with 10.0 Box-Toppers points, picking up 6.0 in the past week.
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.