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The Los Angeles Dodgers are Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team going into 2025 but with player injuries factored in, the New York Mets hold the overall edge.
The current 2025 roster of last year’s World Series champion Dodgers accumulated 118.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, most of any team. However, with several players injured and expected to miss time in 2025, their injury-adjusted Box-Toppers point total drops to 106.7, fifth among all teams.
Read MoreIn 2024, teams with the most Box-Toppers points earned by pitchers generally ranked higher in overall Box-Toppers team rankings.
For example, the Philadephia Phillies led all teams with 124.9 Box-Toppers points. Pitchers earned 78.0 of those points, fifth-most among all teams. Box-Toppers’ seven top-ranked teams were all among the top 10 in points earned by pitchers.
However, the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers were a notable anomaly. While the team finished eighth overall in Box-Toppers points (113.7), they finished 11th in points earned by pitchers (66.2) and third in points earned by batters (47.5).
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Box-Toppers points leaders among 2024 free agents include Blake Snell, Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes and Clayton Kershaw.
Blake Snell and Juan Soto are among this season’s free-agent players with the most 2024 Box-Toppers points.
Snell leads the entire class, earning 15.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024 with the Giants, most among all free-agent players, seventh among all players and fifth among National League pitchers.
Soto has the most 2024 Box-Toppers points among all free-agent batters, earning 11.0 with the Yankees, seventh among all free agents, 43rd among all players in 2024 and second among American League batters (behind only teammate Aaron Judge’s 13.0).
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The Wild Card round of Major League Baseball’s postseason begins Tuesday with four best-of-three series.
All series take place at the higher-seed’s home ballpark. The winners of each series will face one of their league’s top-two seeded teams in league divisional series beginning Saturday.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Framber Valdez is Sunday's Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Valdez struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk in the 2-0 win over the White Sox.
Read MoreCubs pitcher Shota Imanaga is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third place in season player rankings.
Imanaga struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing two runs, two hits and one walk, in the 7-3 win over the Twins.
Read MoreTwins pitcher Chris Paddack is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, Padres pitcher Dylan Cease rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
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Mariners pitcher Wade Miley is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 17.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 5 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 14.1 |
| 6 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 12.5 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.4 |
| 8 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 12.4 |
| 9 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.0 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 11.0 |
Miley struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, one hit and one walk, in the 4-1 win over the Cubs.
National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher Colin Rea pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit, no walks and striking out four, in the 11-0 win over the Cardinals. Rea did not pitch the requisite five innings to earn the win, picking up a no decision. He exited in the fourth with elbow soreness.
American League Batter of the Day—Mike Napoli of the Indians homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, driving in two runs, in the 6-3 win over the Athletics.
National League Batter of the Day—Cameron Rupp of the Phillies went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in one run, in the 9-5 win over the Braves.
Notable—Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ became the 18th player with 10 or more Box-Toppers points on the season after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Happ (7IP 3H R 3BB 11K W in the 9-1 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season, most of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday. Happ now ranks 17th among all players and seventh among AL pitchers.
Also notable—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander now has 130.6 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Verlander (CG 5H 2R BB 11K W in the 3-2 win over the Astros) now ranks 30th among all players in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 29th-ranked player Jason Giambi (133.4). Verlander has 6.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 26th among AL pitchers.
Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Braden Shipley made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Shipley (6IP 5H 0R BB 4K in the 4-2 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut July 25 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,695th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Miley earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rea earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Napoli and Rupp each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 7/30 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | SEA 4, CHC 1 | Wade Miley (W,7-8) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
| 10.0 | DET 3, HOU 2 | Justin Verlander (W,11-6) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | ||
| 10.0 | TOR 9, BAL 1 | J.A. Happ (W,14-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11 | ||
| NL | 6.1 | `MIA 11, STL 0 | Colin Rea | - | - | - | - | 3.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 5.0 | MIL 5, PIT 3 | Chase Anderson (W,6-10) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 4.0 | ARI 4, LAD 2 | Braden Shipley (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | TB 6, NYY 3 | Alex Colome (S,24) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | CLE 6, OAK 3 | Mike Napoli, 1B | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | `TEX 2, KC 1 | Martin Perez | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | `LAA 5, BOS 2 | Cam Bedrosian (H,7) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | `CHW 6, MIN 5 (10) | Miguel Gonzalez | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2.0 | SD 2, CIN 1 (10) | Brad Hand (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | PHI 9, ATL 5 | Cameron Rupp, C | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.0 | SF 5, WSH 3 | Brandon Belt, 1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | COL 7, NYM 2 | Daniel Descalso, PH | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 10.0 | 23.1 | 38.5 | 46.5 | -3.1 |
| Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | det al | 6.0 | 12.4 | 75.6 | 130.6 | -0.4 |
| Anderson, Chase 3328 | pi sp | mil nl | 6.0 | 10.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 2.0 |
| Belt, Brandon 2943 | 1b | sf nl | 6.0 | 7.5 | 19.5 | 19.5 | 4.5 |
| Gonzalez, Miguel 3062 | pi sp | chi al | 5.7 | 12.4 | 34.5 | 34.5 | -1.0 |
| Colome, Alex 3189 | pi cp | tb al | 5.0 | 10.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 | 0.0 |
| Rupp, Cameron 3556 | ca | phi nl | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 4.0 |
| Miley, Wade 3006 | pi sp | sea al | 4.0 | 11.0 | 34.4 | 34.4 | -3.0 |
| Napoli, Mike 2161 | 1b | cle al | 3.5 | 8.0 | 35.7 | 54.7 | -1.0 |
| Hand, Brad 2907 | pi mr cp sp | sd nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.0 |
| Rea, Colin 3582 | pi sp | fla nl | 2.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 1.7 |
| Perez, Martin 3213 | pi sp | tex al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 1.0 |
| Bedrosian, Cam 3694 | pi cp mr | ana al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Descalso, Daniel 2855 | ss ph | col nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 10.2 | 10.2 | 0.0 |
| Shipley, Braden 3695 | pi sp | ari nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.7 |
| 2 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 21.1 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 19.4 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 19.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 19.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.0 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 17.4 |
| 8 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 17.0 |
| 10 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 16.8 |
Also Tuesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw regained the lead in Box-Toppers player rankings and Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to 10th. Also, two players with more than 150 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday—Kershaw and Giants pitcher Tim Hudson, who rose to 13th place among all players since 1995.
Player of the Day—Liriano struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 7-3 win over the Reds.
Liriano earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.9 for the season. He rises to 16th place among all players and ninth among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 7-4 win over the Indians.
National League Batter of the Day—Starlin Castro of the Cubs hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 8-5 win over the Cardinals.
American League Batter of the Day—Eric Hosmer of the Royals hit a three-run double in the 4-2 win over the Twins.
Hosmer earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 9.0 for the season and rises to fifth among AL batters.
New leader—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw regained the top spot in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
| Date | Player | Team | BTP |
| 4/5 | Adam Wainwright | stl nl | 2.0 |
| 4/6 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 2.0 |
| 4/13 | Scott Kazmir | oak al | 3.7 |
| 4/18 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 4.0 |
| 6/26 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 14.0 |
| 7/9 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 14.4 |
| 7/12 | Max Scherzer | dc nl | 15.0 |
| 7/24 | Felix Hernandez | sea al | 15.4 |
| 7/26 | Jacob deGrom | nym nl | 16.4 |
| 9/2 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 20.7 |
| 9/5 | Jake Arrieta | chi nl | 21.1 |
| 9/8 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 21.7 |
Kershaw (7IP 4H 2R 8K W in the 6-4 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.7 for the season. He passes previous leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (21.1 points), who took the lead from Kershaw on Saturday, Sept. 5.
Kershaw also now has 155.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 15th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 14th-place player Mike Mussina (155.6).
Rankings—Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings Tuesday. Gray (7IP 5H 0R 4K W in the 4-0 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.8 for the season. He ranks fifth among AL pitchers.
Notable—Giants pitcher Tim Hudson rose to 13th place among all players in Box-Toppers since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Hudson (6IP 4H R 4K W in the 6-2 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 156.0 career Box-Toppers points. With his point Tuesday, he passes Mike Mussina (155.6) on the “all-time” list and trails 12th-place player Felix Hernandez (160.7). (Mussina started his career in 1991, before Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995, and would likely have an estimated 190 total Box-Toppers points if his entire career were tracked.) Hudson has 3.0 Box-Toppers points this season.
Debuts—Four players made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Liriano earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rodon earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Castro and Hosmer each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/8 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | Pirates | Francisco Liriano (W,10-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| AL | 7.0 | White Sox | Carlos Rodon (W,7-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| 7.0 | Phillies | Aaron Nola (W,6-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W,13-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 6.0 | `Padres | Colin Rea | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 5.2 | Marlins | Kyle Barraclough (MR) (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Cubs | Starlin Castro, 2B | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Athletics | Sonny Gray (W,13-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | Giants | Tim Hudson (W,7-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 3.1 | `Tigers | Drew VerHagen (MR) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | `Blue Jays | R.A. Dickey | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | Rangers | Shawn Tolleson (S,31) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | `Orioles | T.J. McFarland (MR) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Mets | Kirk Nieuwenhuis, PH-LF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | Royals | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.