The Los Angeles Angels lead Box-Toppers’ first team rankings report of 2018.

Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers 2018 season team rankings, through the games of Thursday, April 12. 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 April 6 to 12. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of April 5.


 



  
    
    
    
    
    
  

    

    Teams
    BTP
    BTP/wk
    Wk ago
  

    1
    Angels
    12.0
    7.0
    9
  

    2
    Red Sox
    11.9
    5.2
    2
  

    3
    Mets
    11.5
    6.0
    8
  

    4
    Pirates
    11.2
    5.7
    7
  

    5
    Indians
    10.7
    8.2
    24
  

    6
    Twins
    10.7
    4.0
    5
  

    7
    Astros
    10.7
    4.0
    3
  

    8
    Diamondbacks
    10.0
    3.0
    1
  

    9
    Nationals
    9.4
    2.7
    6
  

    10
    Yankees
    9.2
    2.5
    4
  

    11
    Blue Jays
    8.5
    4.0
    12
  

    12
    Rockies
    8.0
    4.0
    13
  

    13
    Brewers
    7.7
    3.0
    10
  

    14
    Braves
    7.5
    3.0
    11
  

    15
    Cubs
    7.2
    4.2
    21
  

    16
    Giants
    7.2
    3.7
    16
  

    17
    Cardinals
    7.0
    3.5
    17
  

    18
    Phillies
    6.5
    3.5
    19
  

    19
    Orioles
    6.2
    4.2
    27
  

    20
    Dodgers
    6.0
    3.0
    22
  

    21
    Mariners
    6.0
    3.0
    20
  

    22
    Padres
    5.7
    4.0
    28
  

    23
    Athletics
    5.7
    2.0
    14
  

    24
    Tigers
    4.5
    2.0
    23
  

    25
    Rangers
    4.5
    1.0
    18
  

    26
    White Sox
    4.5
    1.0
    15
  

    27
    Rays
    3.5
    2.5
    29
  

    28
    Royals
    3.0
    2.0
    30
  

    29
    Reds
    3.0
    1.0
    26
  

    30
    Marlins
    3.0
    1.0
    25
  

Meanwhile, the New York Mets are the top-ranked National League team and the Cleveland Indians are the hottest team of the past week.

Angels players have accumulated 12.0 Box-Toppers points during the first two weeks of the season, most of any team. The Angels’ have the third-best winning percentage among the 30 Major League teams (.786), behind the Mets (.909) and the Boston Red Sox (.833). The Mets rank third in Box-Toppers team rankings (11.5 points), while the Red Sox are in second (11.9), just 0.1 behind the Angels.

The Angels are led by Justin Upton and Shohei Ohtani, both of whom have 2.0 Box-Toppers points so far this season. Upton ranks 23rd among all players and third among American League batters and Ohtani ranks 33rd among all players and 12th among AL pitchers (Ohtani, the two-way player, also has performed well at designated hitter, but earned his only Player of the Game honor so far this season while pitching). Ten different Angels players have earned Box-Toppers points so far in 2017. The Angels ranked ninth last week. (Box-Toppers didn’t post rankings last week since there was only a week’s worth of data on the season.)

The Mets lead NL teams with 11.5 Box-Toppers points, third among all teams. The Mets are led by pitcher Zack Wheeler (2.0 Box-Toppers points, eighth among NL pitchers). Top batter is Jay Bruce (1.5 Box-Toppers points, eighth among NL batters). Ten different Mets players have earned Box-Toppers points so far in 2018.

The Indians are the hottest team of the week, earning 8.2 Box-Toppers points in the past week. They have 10.7 points on the season, fifth among all teams, rising from 24th place last week.

Last week’s hottest team was the Arizona Diamondbacks with 7.0 Box-Toppers points in the initial week of the season, topping team rankings as of April 5. The Diamondbacks fall to eighth place this week with 10.0 total points, picking up 3.0 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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Preseason team rankings report.