The Los Angeles Dodgers maintain their lead in Box-Toppers weekly team rankings report for the ninth straight week.
Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox maintain the lead among American League teams and the St. Louis Cardinals are the week’s hottest team.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers 2021 team rankings through games of Thursday, Sept. 23. 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. 17 to Sept. 23. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank on Sept. 16.| Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dodgers | 136.5 | +5.0 | 1 |
| 2 | Brewers | 118.3 | +2.5 | 2 |
| 3 | White Sox | 115.7 | +4.2 | 3 |
| 4 | Giants | 114.1 | +4.0 | 4 |
| 5 | Yankees | 112.8 | +5.2 | 5 |
| 6 | Braves | 112.7 | +5.7 | 7 |
| 7 | Red Sox | 111.2 | +5.5 | 9 |
| 8 | Astros | 110.0 | +5.5 | 11 |
| 9 | Rays | 108.5 | +3.0 | 10 |
| 10 | Blue Jays | 108.3 | +2.0 | 8 |
| 11 | Padres | 106.1 | -1.0 | 6 |
| 12 | Phillies | 103.6 | +6.2 | 13 |
| 13 | Athletics | 99.4 | +4.7 | 14 |
| 14 | Mets | 99.0 | +1.0 | 12 |
| 15 | Mariners | 97.7 | +6.7 | 15 |
| 16 | Cardinals | 96.9 | +8.5 | 17 |
| 17 | Reds | 93.0 | +3.7 | 16 |
| 18 | Indians | 91.0 | +4.5 | 18 |
| 19 | Rockies | 86.5 | +3.0 | 19 |
| 20 | Angels | 82.6 | +1.0 | 20 |
| 21 | Tigers | 77.6 | +4.0 | 21 |
| 22 | Twins | 72.2 | +4.5 | 23 |
| 23 | Marlins | 71.4 | +2.0 | 22 |
| 24 | Royals | 69.5 | +3.0 | 24 |
| 25 | Nationals | 53.6 | +4.0 | 26 |
| 26 | Orioles | 53.2 | +4.0 | 27 |
| 27 | Rangers | 52.2 | +2.0 | 25 |
| 28 | Pirates | 51.6 | +3.0 | 28 |
| 29 | Diamondbacks | 50.0 | +2.0 | 29 |
| 30 | Cubs | 46.5 | +1.0 | 30 |
This is the penultimate (and also next-to-last) team rankings report of the season. The final report will be posted after the completion of regular season games, currently scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 3.
Dodgers players have accumulated 136.5 Box-Toppers points in 2021, picking up 5.0 points in the past week. They lead the second-place overall team, the Milwaukee Brewers (118.3).
The Dodgers have baseball’s second-best winning percentage (.641) behind the San Francisco Giants (.647), who maintain fourth place in Box-Toppers team rankings this week (114.1 points). The Dodgers are one game behind the Giants in the National League West.
The Dodgers are led by pitcher Max Scherzer with 25.1 Box-Toppers points, who leads all players in Box-Toppers season player rankings. The Dodgers top batter is Max Muncy with 6.0 Box-Toppers points, 21st among NL batters. So far this season, 28 different players on the Dodgers roster have earned Player of the Game honors.
The Chicago White Sox lead among AL teams with 115.7 Box-Toppers points, picking up 4.2 points in the past week, maintaining their overall third-place ranking. This is the fourth straight week the White Sox have led AL teams. They have led AL teams for 19 of the past 21 weeks. The White Sox lead AL teams ahead of the second-place New York Yankees (112.8). The Yankees maintained their overall fifth-place ranking this week, picking up 5.2 points in the past week.
The White Sox are tied for the fourth-best winning percentage among AL teams (.562), behind the Tampa Bay Rays (.614), the Houston Astros (.595) and the Boston Red Sox (.575) and tied with the Yankees (.562). The Rays are ninth in Box-Toppers team rankings (108.5 Box-Toppers points), the Astros are eighth (110.0), the Red Sox are seventh (111.2) and the Yankees are fifth (112.8).
The White Sox are led by pitchers Lance Lynn and Dylan Cease, both with 12.4 Box-Toppers points. Lynn is seventh among AL pitchers and Cease is ninth. Top batter among the White Sox is Jose Abreu with 8.0 Box-Toppers points, fifth among AL batters. So far this season, 26 different players on the White Sox roster have earned Player of the Game honors.
The St. Louis Cardinals are the week’s hottest team, gaining 8.5 Box-Toppers points in the past week, most of any team, rising from 17th to 16th in team rankings with 96.9 points. The Cardinals won all seven games they played this week and are on a 12-game winning streak.
The Houston Astros had the biggest jump in team rankings this week, climbing three spots from 11th to eighth place with 110.0 Box-Toppers points, picking up 5.5 in the past week.
The San Diego Padres had the biggest decline in team rankings this week, falling five spots from sixth to 11th place with 106.1 points, with a net decline of 1.0 point. The Padres won only one of the six games they played this week but also released pitcher Jake Arrieta, who had earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points earlier this season when he was with the Cubs. The Padres were last week’s hottest team.
The Chicago Cubs maintained 30th and last place this week with 46.5 Box-Toppers points, picking up 1.0 point 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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