The Los Angeles Dodgers top Box-Toppers team rankings for the fourth straight week.
Meanwhile, the Houston Astros maintain their lead in Box-Toppers rankings among American League teams for the ninth straight week.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers' top 10 team rankings, through the games of Thursday, July 20. 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 accumulated since the All-Star break from July 14 to 20. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank at the All-Star break on July 9.| 7/20 | Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago |
| 1 | Dodgers | 84.5 | 5.5 | 1 |
| 2 | Nationals | 79.6 | 11.5 | 2 |
| 3 | Astros | 72.5 | 4.4 | 3 |
| 4 | Dbacks | 69.3 | 5.2 | 4 |
| 5 | Red Sox | 66.6 | 4.0 | 5 |
| 6 | Rockies | 65.9 | 5.2 | 6 |
| 7 | Cubs | 62.9 | 15.0 | 19 |
| 8 | Yankees | 62.5 | 8.0 | 11 |
| 9 | Indians | 60.0 | 1.0 | 7 |
| 10 | Rays | 59.3 | 4.7 | 10 |
| 11 | Brewers | 58.7 | 2.0 | 8 |
| 12 | Twins | 57.8 | 3.0 | 9 |
| 13 | Mariners | 57.4 | 5.0 | 12 |
| 14 | Rangers | 54.9 | 3.2 | 13 |
| 15 | Pirates | 54.5 | 6.5 | 18 |
| 16 | Royals | 54.4 | 4.0 | 16 |
| 17 | Cardinals | 54.4 | 4.0 | 15 |
| 18 | Braves | 51.7 | 4.5 | 20 |
| 19 | Angels | 51.5 | 1.0 | 14 |
| 20 | Orioles | 51.1 | 4.0 | 21 |
| 21 | Mets | 50.3 | 5.0 | 25 |
| 22 | Marlins | 49.1 | 1.0 | 17 |
| 23 | Athletics | 48.9 | 2.7 | 22 |
| 24 | Blue Jays | 48.7 | 4.5 | 27 |
| 25 | Padres | 48.3 | 3.0 | 24 |
| 26 | Reds | 46.7 | 1.0 | 23 |
| 27 | Tigers | 46.6 | 2.0 | 26 |
| 28 | Giants | 44.2 | 3.0 | 29 |
| 29 | Phillies | 37.6 | 3.0 | 30 |
| 30 | White Sox | 32.1 | -12.0 | 28 |
In addition, four teams involved in trades since the All-Star break had major swings in their Box-Toppers point totals since the last rankings report on July 9, led by the past week’s hottest team, the Chicago Cubs, gaining 15.0 points in the past week. The other teams making big Box-Toppers point swings:
- The Washington Nationals gained 11.5 points.
- The New York Yankees gained 8.0 points.
- The Chicago White Sox lost 12.0 points.
Dodgers players have accumulated 84.5 Box-Toppers points so far this season, including 5.5 since the last team rankings report. The Dodgers also have baseball’s best winning percentage (.688).
The Dodgers are led by pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22.1 Box-Toppers points), who also leads all players in season player rankings. Top batter is Cody Bellinger (7.7), who ranks second among NL batters in Box-Toppers points. Seventeen different Dodgers players have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors so far this season.
The Astros lead AL teams for the ninth straight week. With 72.5 Box-Toppers points, including 4.4 in the past week, they maintain their overall third-place rank. The have baseball’s second-best winning percentage (.663).
The Astros are led by pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (9.4 Box-Toppers points), who ranks 12th among all players. Top batter is Carlos Correa (5.5 points), who ranks seventh among AL batters. Correa is on the disabled list with a torn left thumb ligament and is not expected to return until at least mid-September. Twenty-three different Astros players have earned Player of the Game honors so far this season.
The Chicago Cubs are the week’s hottest team, picking up 15.0 Box-Toppers points since July 9, giving them 62.9 accumulated Box-Toppers points for the season and rising from 19th to seventh place. That rise of 12 spots is also the biggest of the week.
The Cubs picked up 8.0 of those 15.0 Box-Toppers points by acquiring starting pitcher Jose Quintana from the Chicago White Sox. Quintana had 8.0 Box-Toppers points at the time of the trade and has since earned 2.0 more points with the Cubs. He leads Cubs players with 10.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, ranking ninth among all players.
The Cubs picked up the additional 7.0 of the 15.0 Box-Toppers points by winning six straight games since the All-Star break. Quintana earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for earning overall Player of the Day honor in his first start with the Cubs on July 16. In the other five games, the Cubs players each earned Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point per game.
The Washington Nationals gained 11.5 Box-Toppers points in the past week, including 4.0 points in trades. The Nationals acquired two relief pitchers Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle from the Oakland Athletics. Both players have 2.0 Box-Toppers points each.
The Nationals now have 79.6 Box-Toppers points, maintaining their overall rank of second place and move 6.0 points closer to the leading Dodgers than last week, trailing them now by 4.9.
The New York Yankees gained 8.0 Box-Toppers points in the past week, including 4.0 points by acquiring closing pitcher David Robertson from the White Sox. The Yankees also acquired third basemen Todd Frazier from the White Sox, but Frazier has no Box-Toppers points in 2017.
The Yankees now have 62.5 Box-Toppers points, rising from 11th to eight in team rankings.
The Chicago White Sox, meanwhile, lost 12.0 Box-Toppers points, trading away both Quintana (8.0) to the Cubs and Robertson (4.0) to the Yankees. In addition, the White Sox have lost six straight games since the All-Star break and so have earned no Box-Toppers points in the past week. The White Sox also traded away Frazier, but lost no Box-Toppers points because of that since Fraizer has no points on the season.
The White Sox loss of 12.0 Box-Toppers points in the biggest of the week and drops them from 28th to 30th and last place among all teams. They replace the Philadelphia Phillies, who held the last place spot for eight straight weeks. The Phillies now rank 29th with 37.6 points, earning 3.0 points in the past week.
With the Cubs and Yankees rising into the top 10 this week, two other teams fell from the top 10:
- The Milwaukee Brewers fell from eighth to 11th with 58.7 points, earning 2.0 since July 9.
- The Minnesota Twins fell from ninth to 12th with 57.8 points, earning 3.0 since July 9.
Two teams fell five places in team rankings, tied for the biggest placement drop:
- The Los Angeles Angels fell from 14th to 19th place with 51.5 points, earning 1.0 since July 9.
- The Miami Marlins fell from 17th to 22nd place with 49.1 points, earning 1.0 since July 9.
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.
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