The Los Angeles Dodgers maintain their lead in Box-Toppers weekly team rankings report for the fifth straight week.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers 2021 team rankings through games of Thursday, Aug. 26. 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 Aug. 20 to Aug. 26. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank on Aug. 19.| Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dodgers | 114.8 | +6.0 | 1 |
| 2 | Brewers | 100.8 | +5.7 | 4 |
| 3 | Yankees | 100.6 | +5.5 | 3 |
| 4 | White Sox | 100.6 | +3.7 | 2 |
| 5 | Braves | 97.8 | +4.0 | 5 |
| 6 | Giants | 94.4 | +5.0 | 7 |
| 7 | Red Sox | 94.2 | +4.7 | 6 |
| 8 | Astros | 92.5 | +5.5 | 10 |
| 9 | Padres | 90.4 | +1.7 | 8 |
| 10 | Rays | 90.1 | +4.0 | 11 |
| 11 | Phillies | 88.9 | +1.0 | 9 |
| 12 | Mets | 86.5 | +3.0 | 12 |
| 13 | Blue Jays | 82.4 | +4.0 | 15 |
| 14 | Athletics | 82.0 | +1.0 | 13 |
| 15 | Mariners | 81.5 | +1.0 | 14 |
| 16 | Reds | 80.8 | +5.0 | 16 |
| 17 | Indians | 77.1 | +6.7 | 19 |
| 18 | Cardinals | 74.9 | +3.0 | 17 |
| 19 | Rockies | 73.5 | +4.0 | 20 |
| 20 | Angels | 72.7 | +1.0 | 18 |
| 21 | Tigers | 67.3 | +3.0 | 21 |
| 22 | Twins | 57.5 | +1.0 | 22 |
| 23 | Royals | 56.8 | +5.5 | 24 |
| 24 | Marlins | 56.5 | +3.0 | 23 |
| 25 | Diamondbacks | 46.0 | +3.5 | 25 |
| 26 | Nationals | 44.4 | +2.7 | 26 |
| 27 | Pirates | 41.6 | +3.7 | 28 |
| 28 | Orioles | 41.2 | -0.5 | 27 |
| 29 | Rangers | 38.0 | +3.5 | 29 |
| 30 | Cubs | 36.0 | +2.0 | 30 |
Meanwhile, the New York Yankees rise to lead American League teams and the Cleveland Indians are the week’s hottest team.
Dodgers players have accumulated 114.8 Box-Toppers points in 2021, picking up 6.0 points in the past week, most among National League teams. They lead the second-place overall team, the Milwaukee Brewers (100.8).
The Dodgers have a winning percentage of .633, second-best among all teams, behind the San Francisco Giants (.654), who rank sixth in Box-Toppers team rankings with 94.4 points. The Dodgers are 2 1/2 games behind the Giants in the National League West.
The Dodgers are led by pitcher Max Scherzer with 17.4 Box-Toppers points, second overall and first among National League pitchers. The Dodgers top batter is Max Muncy with 6.0 Box-Toppers points, 11th among NL batters. So far this season, 28 different players on the Dodgers roster have earned Player of the Game honors.
The Yankees rise to lead AL teams, just edging out the Chicago White Sox, which had led AL teams for 11 straight weeks and 15 of the previous 16 weeks. Both the Yankees and the White Sox have accumulated 100.6 Box-Toppers points for the season, but the Yankees rank ahead because they had more Box-Toppers points in the past week—5.5 vs. 3.7. The Yankees rank third overall, holding steady from last week, and the White Sox rank fourth, falling two spots from second place last week.
The Yankees last led AL teams in Box-Toppers rankings on May 27, when they led all teams.
The Yankees have the second-best winning percentage among AL teams (.591), behind the Tampa Bay Rays (.622) and tied with the Houston Astros (.591). The Rays are 10th in Box-Toppers team rankings (90.1 Box-Toppers points) and the Astros are eighth (92.5).
The Yankees are led by pitcher Gerrit Cole with 19.4 Box-Toppers points, first among all players. Yankees’ top batter is Aaron Judge with 4.5 Box-Toppers points, 19th among AL batters. So far this season, 29 different players on the Yankees roster have earned Player of the Game honors.
The Cleveland Indians are the week’s hottest team, gaining 6.7 Box-Toppers points in the past week, most of any team, rising from 19th to 17th in team rankings with 77.1 Box-Toppers points. The Indians won five of the six games they played this week. Two of the Indians who won Player of the Game honors this week also won bonus Box-Toppers points—pitcher Triston McKenzie won overall Player of the Day (worth 2.0 total points) on Aug. 21 and pitcher Cal Quantrill won AL Player of the Day (worth 1.7 total points) on Aug. 22.
The Indians are one of four teams to climb two spots in team rankings this week, the biggest rise among teams this week. The others are:
Milwaukee Brewers, rising from fourth to second with 100.8 points, picking up 5.7 in the past week.
Houston Astros, rising from 10th to eighth with 92.5 points, picking up 5.5 in the past week.
Toronto Blue Jays, rising from 15th to 13th with 82.4 points, picking up 4.0 in the past week.
Three teams fell two spots in team rankings, tied for the biggest decline among all teams in the past week:
Chicago White Sox fell from second to fourth with 100.6 points, picking up 3.7 in the past week.
Philadelphia Phillies fell from ninth to 11th with 88.9 points, picking up 1.0 in the past week.
Los Angeles Angels fell from 18th to 20th with 72.7 points, picking up 1.0 in the past week.
The Baltimore Orioles had a net loss of 0.5 points this week, giving them 41.2 points, falling from 27th to 28th place. While the Orioles won two games this week (ending their 19-game losing streak) and earning 2.5 Box-Toppers points, they released third baseman Maikel Franco (2.0 points) and designated for assignment pitcher Cesar Valdez (2.0 points), while claiming off waivers pitcher Chris Ellis (1.0 point) from the Rays. In short, they picked up 3.5 points, but lost 4.0 points, resulting in the 0.5-point net loss.
The Chicago Cubs maintained 30th and last place this week with 36.0 Box-Toppers points, picking up 2.0 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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.