The Boston Red Sox rise to lead Box-Toppers team rankings after acquiring Ian Kinsler from the Angels and winning five of six games they played this week.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers 2018 season team rankings, through the games of Thursday, Aug. 2. 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 July 27 to Aug. 2. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of July 26.| Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago | |
| 1 | Red Sox | 101.0 | 13.4 | 2 |
| 2 | Yankees | 93.6 | 4.0 | 1 |
| 3 | Astros | 91.6 | 4.0 | 3 |
| 4 | Indians | 85.6 | 7.0 | 5 |
| 5 | Dodgers | 84.9 | 9.5 | 7 |
| 6 | Cubs | 81.6 | 3.0 | 4 |
| 7 | Diamondbacks | 79.9 | 8.5 | 8 |
| 8 | Mariners | 79.8 | 3.0 | 6 |
| 9 | Brewers | 77.6 | 9.0 | 12 |
| 10 | Nationals | 75.6 | 5.9 | 11 |
| 11 | Braves | 74.9 | 9.5 | 14 |
| 12 | Athletics | 73.9 | 3.5 | 9 |
| 13 | Phillies | 73.2 | 3.5 | 10 |
| 14 | Rockies | 70.3 | 4.0 | 13 |
| 15 | Pirates | 67.1 | 9.2 | 19 |
| 16 | Cardinals | 64.1 | 5.0 | 16 |
| 17 | Giants | 64.0 | 5.2 | 17 |
| 18 | Twins | 57.2 | -6.0 | 15 |
| 19 | Angels | 55.3 | -3.3 | 18 |
| 20 | Marlins | 54.6 | 3.0 | 20 |
| 21 | Rays | 50.2 | 2.3 | 22 |
| 22 | Tigers | 48.7 | 1.2 | 23 |
| 23 | Reds | 48.0 | -1.5 | 21 |
| 24 | Rangers | 44.7 | 3.5 | 27 |
| 25 | Mets | 44.6 | -0.5 | 24 |
| 26 | Padres | 44.3 | 1.0 | 25 |
| 27 | Blue Jays | 41.6 | -1.0 | 26 |
| 28 | White Sox | 38.6 | 2.0 | 28 |
| 29 | Royals | 33.7 | 0.5 | 29 |
| 30 | Orioles | 31.9 | 2.5 | 30 |
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers rise to lead National League teams after acquiring second baseman Brian Dozier from the Twins and pitcher John Axford from the Blue Jays.
The Red Sox pass last week’s team rankings leader, the New York Yankees, who fall to second place with 93.6 points, picking up 4.0 points in the past week.
Red Sox players have accumulated 101.0 Box-Toppers points through the games of Aug. 2. They’ve picked up 13.4 points since last week, most of any team. They picked up 7.4 points in their five wins and the other 6.0 points in the Kinsler trade. Kinsler earned 6.0 points this season with the Angels, 10th among American League batters.
The Red Sox also have baseball’s best winning percentage (.691). They are led by pitcher Chris Sale with 18.1 Box-Toppers points, who ranks second among all players. Top batter is J.D. Martinez (8.5 points), who ranks first among AL batters. Nineteen different Red Sox players have earned Player of the Game honors so far this season.
The Los Angeles Dodgers rise past last week’s NL leading team, the Chicago Cubs. The Dodgers have 84.9 Box-Toppers points, rising from seventh to fifth among all teams, picking up 9.5 points in the past week, thanks in part to acquisitions of Dozier (2.5 points on the season) and Axford (2.0 points). The Dodgers picked up 5.0 more points in four wins this week.
Top player for the Dodgers is pitcher Kenta Maeda (8.7 Box-Toppers points), who ranks ninth among NL pitchers. Joc Pederson leads Dodgers batters with 5.0 Box-Toppers points, 18th among NL batters. Twenty-five different Dodgers players have earned Box-Toppers points so far in 2018.
The Cubs, last week’s top NL team, fall from fourth to sixth place overall with 81.6 Box-Toppers points, picking up 3.0 points in the past week.
Two teams rise into the overall top 10 this week:
- The Milwaukee Brewers rise from 12th to ninth place with 77.6 points, picking up 9.0 points in the past week, thanks in part to acquiring Jonathan Schoop from the Orioles (3.5 points) and Mike Moustakas From the Royals (2.5 points).
- The Washington Nationals rise from 11th to 10th place with 75.6 points, picking up 5.9 points in the past week.
Two teams fall from the top 10 this week:
- The Oakland Athletics fall from ninth to 12th place with 73.9 points, picking up 3.5 points in the past week.
- The Philadelphia Phillies fall from 10th to 13th place with 73.2 points, picking up 3.5 points in the past week.
Three teams fell three spots each in team rankings this week, the biggest decline for any team. In addition to the Athletics and the Phillies, the Minnesota Twins also fell three spots from 15th to 18th place with 57.2 points. The Twins had a net loss of 6.0 points during the week—the biggest point decline of any team—after trading away Dozier to the Dodgers (2.5), pitcher Lance Lynn to the Yankees (1.0) and third baseman Eduardo Escobar to the Diamondbacks (3.5).
Four other teams had a net loss in points this past week after trading away players:
- The Los Angeles Angels had a net loss of 3.3 points, falling from 18th to 19th place with 55.3 points, after trading Kinsler (6.0) to the Red Sox.
- The Cincinnati Reds had a net loss of 1.5 points, falling from 21st to 23rd place with 48.0 points, after trading outfielder Adam Duvall (4.5) to the Braves.
- The Toronto Blue Jays had a net loss of 1.0 point, falling from 26th to 27th place with 41.6 points, after trading away three players—Steve Pearce (Red Sox) and relief pitchers Roberto Osuna (Astros) and John Axford (Dodgers). Osuna and Axford both have 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2018. Pearce had 1.0 point at the time of the trade but on Thursday earned overall Player of the Day honors with the Red Sox, giving him 3.0 points for the season.
- The New York Mets had a net loss of 0.5 points, falling from 24th to 25th place with 44.6 points, after trading infielder Asdrubal Cabrera (2.5 points) to the Phillies.
The Pittsburgh Pirates had the biggest rankings climb of the past week, rising four spots from 19th to 15th place with 67.1 points, picking up 9.2 points in the past week, after acquiring pitchers Keone Kela (4.0) from the Rangers and Chris Archer (3.7) from the Rays. The Pirates also traded pitcher Tyler Glasnow (who now has 3.0 points this season) to the Rays.
One other team making significant gains this past week is the Atlanta Braves, picking up 9.5 points since July 26 and rising from 14th to 11th place overall with 74.9 Box-Toppers points. The Braves acquired Adam Duvall (4.5 points) from the Reds and earned 5.0 more points in four wins this week.
The Baltimore Orioles remain in 30th and last place for the second straight week with 31.9 Box-Toppers points. However, despite trading Jonathan Schoop (3.5) to the Brewers this week, the Orioles had a net gain of 2.5 points since last 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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