(Revised Monday, Oct. 1, to include results from the two NL tiebreaker games, which determined playoff seeding.)
The Boston Red Sox finish the season atop Box-Toppers team rankings, leading all teams for the ninth straight week.
Team rankings
Here are final Box-Toppers 2018 season team rankings, through the games of Monday, Oct. 1 (including the two NL tiebreaker games). The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team accumulated this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams accumulated from Sept 21 to Sept. 30. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of Sept. 20.| Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago | |
| 1 | Red Sox | 143.6 | 5.0 | 1 |
| 2 | Yankees | 135.2 | 8.7 | 2 |
| 3 | Brewers | 132.4 | 11.0 | 4 |
| 4 | Astros | 132.2 | 10.7 | 3 |
| 5 | Indians | 128.3 | 7.7 | 5 |
| 6 | Dodgers | 128.0 | 9.7 | 6 |
| 7 | Cubs | 122.5 | 7.0 | 7 |
| 8 | Athletics | 120.8 | 5.5 | 8 |
| 9 | Braves | 116.3 | 6.0 | 9 |
| 10 | Cardinals | 110.2 | 4.0 | 10 |
| 11 | Diamondbacks | 109.1 | 3.0 | 11 |
| 12 | Mariners | 108.0 | 5.7 | 13 |
| 13 | Rockies | 106.0 | 9.0 | 14 |
| 14 | Phillies | 105.6 | 2.0 | 12 |
| 15 | Nationals | 96.3 | 7.5 | 15 |
| 16 | Angels | 90.0 | 5.7 | 17 |
| 17 | Pirates | 89.8 | 5.0 | 16 |
| 18 | Twins | 88.4 | 8.7 | 18 |
| 19 | Rays | 86.0 | 6.5 | 19 |
| 20 | Mets | 84.9 | 8.7 | 21 |
| 21 | Giants | 80.2 | 1.0 | 20 |
| 22 | Marlins | 74.2 | 5.7 | 23 |
| 23 | Reds | 71.4 | 1.0 | 22 |
| 24 | Rangers | 66.9 | 3.0 | 24 |
| 25 | Tigers | 64.7 | 2.0 | 25 |
| 26 | White Sox | 64.0 | 2.0 | 26 |
| 27 | Padres | 60.9 | 5.7 | 28 |
| 28 | Blue Jays | 60.8 | 3.5 | 27 |
| 29 | Royals | 54.2 | 6.0 | 29 |
| 30 | Orioles | 44.9 | 3.5 | 30 |
Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Brewers maintain their lead among National League teams as they and the Houston Astros were the hottest two teams of the season’s final 10 days.
Red Sox players have accumulated 143.6 Box-Toppers points through the games of Sept. 30, picking up 5.0 points since the last team rankings report on Sept. 20. They also have baseball’s best winning percentage (.667).
The Red Sox are led by pitcher Chris Sale with 21.1 Box-Toppers points, who ranks fifth in Box-Toppers season player rankings. Top batter is J.D. Martinez (12.5 points), who ranks first among American League batters. Twenty-four different Red Sox players earned Player of the Game honors in 2018.
The Red Sox lead the second-place team, the New York Yankees, by 8.4 points. The Yankees have 135.2 points, picking up 8.7 points in the past week.
The Milwaukee Brewers lead NL teams in Box-Toppers team rankings for the fourth week, rising from fourth to third place overall with 132.4 Box-Toppers points, picking up 11.0 points since Sept. 20, most of any team.
The Brewers have the best record in the NL (.589), after beating the Cubs in the NL tiebreaker game to determine the Central Division champion. Prior to that, the Brewers were tied with the Cubs for best record in the NL (.586). The Cubs have 122.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, picking up 7.0 in the past week, maintaining their rank of seventh place, third among NL teams, behind the Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers (in sixth place with 128.0 points).
Top player for the Brewers is pitcher Jhoulys Chacin (13.7 Box-Toppers points), who ranks sixth among NL pitchers. Christian Yelich leads Brewers batters with 11.5 Box-Toppers points, first among NL batters. Twenty-nine different Brewers players have earned Box-Toppers points so far in 2018.
The Houston Astros are the hottest AL team since the last team rankings report on Sept. 20, picking up 10.7 points in that period, most of any team. The Astros, who won eight of their final 10 games, actually fall from third to fourth place among all teams with 132.2 points.
Nine of the top 10 teams in Box-Toppers team rankings qualified for the 10 postseason spots. The only team that didn’t was the 10th-ranked St. Louis Cardinals (110.2 points). They ranked ahead of NL playoff qualifier Colorado Rockies, whose 106.0 points in 2018 ranks 13th, behind three playoff non-qualifiers—the Cardinals, the Arizona Diamondbacks (109.1) and the Seattle Mariners (108.0).
No team rose further than one spot in the past 10 days. The Philadelphia Phillies had the biggest decline of the past 10 days, falling two spots from 12th to 14th place with 105.6 points, picking up just 2.0 points since Sept. 20.
The Baltimore Orioles rank last in 30th place for the fourth straight week with 44.9 Box-Toppers points, picking up 3.5 points 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.
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