The Los Angeles Dodgers top Box-Toppers team rankings for the sixth straight week and are the week’s hottest team.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers' top 10 team rankings, through the games of Thursday, Aug. 3. 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 from July 28 to Aug. 3. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of July 27.| 8/3 | Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago |
| 1 | Dodgers | 102.5 | 13.0 | 1 |
| 2 | Nationals | 94.1 | 10.5 | 2 |
| 3 | Astros | 82.7 | 4.2 | 3 |
| 4 | Yankees | 79.9 | 11.7 | 10 |
| 5 | Cubs | 79.6 | 10.5 | 9 |
| 6 | Royals | 78.5 | 9.2 | 8 |
| 7 | Dbacks | 78.0 | 3.7 | 4 |
| 8 | Red Sox | 77.6 | 5.0 | 5 |
| 9 | Rockies | 75.4 | 6.0 | 7 |
| 10 | Indians | 74.5 | 4.5 | 6 |
| 11 | Mariners | 71.1 | 7.7 | 12 |
| 12 | Brewers | 69.6 | 3.7 | 11 |
| 13 | Orioles | 64.5 | 11.4 | 22 |
| 14 | Cardinals | 62.1 | 3.0 | 15 |
| 15 | Pirates | 62.0 | 4.5 | 17 |
| 16 | Rays | 61.3 | -1.0 | 13 |
| 17 | Mets | 59.8 | 5.0 | 18 |
| 18 | Angels | 59.0 | 5.5 | 20 |
| 19 | Twins | 55.8 | -5.0 | 14 |
| 20 | Marlins | 55.3 | 0.7 | 19 |
| 21 | Blue Jays | 55.2 | 2.0 | 21 |
| 22 | Rangers | 54.4 | -4.5 | 16 |
| 23 | Braves | 52.7 | 1.0 | 23 |
| 24 | Reds | 52.4 | 4.0 | 26 |
| 25 | Athletics | 48.7 | -1.2 | 24 |
| 26 | Tigers | 47.6 | -1.5 | 25 |
| 27 | Giants | 47.2 | 2.0 | 27 |
| 28 | Padres | 46.9 | 3.0 | 28 |
| 29 | Phillies | 38.5 | -2.5 | 29 |
| 30 | White Sox | 24.4 | -3.7 | 30 |
Meanwhile, the Houston Astros maintain their lead in Box-Toppers rankings among American League teams for the 11th straight week.
Six teams gained 9.2 or more Box-Toppers points in the past week, mainly due to July 31 deadline trades—the Dodgers, Washington Nationals, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles. Seven teams had a net loss of points in the past week, also mainly due to dealing away players at the trade deadline, including the bottom-ranked Chicago White Sox, which had a net loss in points for the third straight week.
Dodgers players have accumulated 102.5 Box-Toppers points so far this season, including 13.0 since last week, the most of any team. The Dodgers also have baseball’s best winning percentage (.704).
The Dodgers were the hottest team of the week, thanks in part to acquiring starting pitcher Yu Darvish from the Texas Rangers. The 7.0 Box-Toppers points Darvish has earned this season with the Rangers transfers to the Dodgers with the deadline trade. The Dodgers also picked up 6.0 Box-Toppers points in five wins in the past week.
The Dodgers are led by pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22.1 Box-Toppers points), who also leads all players in season player rankings. Kershaw, however, is on the disabled list and is not expected to return until at least late August. Dodgers’ top batter is Cody Bellinger (7.7), who ranks third among NL batters in Box-Toppers points. Twenty different Dodgers players have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors so far this season.
The Dodgers lead the second-ranked Washington Nationals. The Nationals have 94.1 Box-Toppers points, 8.4 points behind the Dodgers, and earned 10.5 points this past week.
The Astros lead AL teams for the 11th straight week. With 82.7 Box-Toppers points, including 4.2 in the past week, they maintain their overall third-place rank. The have baseball’s second-best winning percentage (.639).
The Astros are led by pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (9.4 Box-Toppers points), who ranks 17th among all players. McCullers is on the 10-day disabled list with lower back discomfort. Top batter is Josh Reddick (7.0 points), who ranks seventh among AL batters. Twenty-four different Astros players have earned Player of the Game honors so far this season.
With the July 31 trade deadline occurring in the past week, 13 teams had big swings in their accumulated Box-Toppers points totals for the season since last week—six teams gained 9.2 or more points and seven teams had net losses in points. Here’s the six teams with big gains:
- New York Yankees—Gained 7.7 points due to trades and 11.7 total points for the week, most among AL teams. The Yankees acquired starting pitcher Sonny Gray (5.7 Box-Toppers points) from the Oakland Athletics and Jaime Garcia (2.0 points) from the Minnesota Twins.
- Washington Nationals—Gained 7.5 points due to trades and 10.5 total points for the week. The Nationals acquired closing pitcher Brandon Kintzler (6.0) from the Twins and infielder Howie Kendrick (1.5) from the Philadelphia Phillies.
- Los Angeles Dodgers—As previously mentioned, gained 7.0 points in trades and 13.0 points for the week, acquiring Darvish (7.0) from the Rangers.
- Chicago Cubs—Gained 7.0 points due to trades and 10.5 total points for the week. The Cubs acquired closing pitcher Justin Wilson (4.0) and catcher Alex Avila (3.0) from the Detroit Tigers.
- Baltimore Orioles—Gained 6.0 points due to trades and 11.4 total points for the week. The Orioles acquired Jeremy Hellickson (4.0) from the Phillies and second baseman Tim Beckham (2.0) from the Tampa Bay Rays. The Orioles moved up nine places in team rankings this week—from 22nd to 13th—the biggest jump of any team.
- Kansas City Royals—Gained 5.7 points due to trades and 9.2 total points for the week. The Royals acquired outfielder Melky Cabrera (5.7) from the White Sox.
Here are the seven teams that had net losses in Box-Toppers points because of trades:
- Minnesota Twins—Lost 8.2 points due to trades and lost 5.0 in net points for the week, most of any team. The Twins dealt Kintzler (6.0) to the Nationals and Garcia (2.0) to the Yankees.
- Texas Rangers—Lost 7.0 points due to trades and lost 4.5 in net points for the week. The Rangers dealt Darvish (7.0) to the Dodgers. The Rangers fell six places in team rankings—most of any team—from 16th to 22nd.
- Detroit Tigers—Lost 7.0 points due to trades and lost 1.5 in net points for the week. The Tigers dealt Wilson (4.0) and Avila (3.0) to the Cubs.
- Chicago White Sox—Lost 5.7 points due to trades and lost 3.7 in net points for the week. The White Sox dealt Cabrera (5.7) to the Royals. It is the third straight week the White Sox have lost net points. On July 9, the White Sox had 44.1 Box-Toppers points (28th place) and today have just 24.4, a loss of 19.7 points. The White Sox rank in 30th and last place for the third straight week.
- Oakland Athletics—Lost 5.7 points due to trades and lost 1.2 in net points of the week. The Athletics dealt Gray (5.7) to the Yankees.
- Philadelphia Phillies—Lost 5.5 points due to trades and lost 2.5 in net points for the week. The Phillies dealt Hellickson (4.0) to the Orioles and Kendrick (1.5) to the Nationals.
- Tampa Bay Rays—Lost 2.0 points due to trades and lost 1.0 net point for the week. The Rays dealt Beckham (2.0) to the Orioles.
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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