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The Los Angeles Dodgers rise past the New York Yankees to take the lead in Box-Toppers team rankings this week.
The Yankees, who led all teams for the previous seven weeks, remain in the lead of American League teams. Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs are the week’s hottest team.
Read MoreGiants pitcher Logan Webb is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Webb struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and one walk, in the 5-1 win over the Brewers. Webb did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited when the game was tied, 1-1.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers lead Box-Toppers weekly team rankings report for the second week in a row.
Meanwhile, the Oakland Athletics, the week’s hottest team, rise to lead American League teams.
Read MoreIndians pitcher Shane Bieber is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to second place in season player rankings.
Also Tuesday, two other players rise into Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors—Red Sox pitcher Matt Barnes and Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer.
Read MoreRays pitcher Tyler Glasnow is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to first place in season player rankings.
Also Monday, three other players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors—Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta and Padres pitcher Yu Darvish.
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Box-Toppers picks the New York Yankees to beat the Chicago Cubs in the 2019 World Series.
In addition, Box-Toppers projects the Yankees will win 111 games in 2019, one of four teams projected to win 100 or more games this season. All 2018 American League playoff teams are projected to return to the postseason, while three different teams are forecast for the National League postseason—the Nationals, Phillies and Mets.
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The New York Yankees are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2019 preseason rankings, rising from second place at the end of the 2018 season.
The 2018 World Series-champion Boston Red Sox fall from first at the end of last season to second place in the 2019 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Reds made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Arizona Diamondbacks had the biggest decline.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Rick Porcello is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 after earning Player of the Game honors—Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin rises to eighth place and Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to ninth place.
Porcello, Corbin and Kluber are among five players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points this season who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Read MoreBrewers pitcher Chase Anderson is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day
Also Tuesday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer retakes the Box-Toppers season player rankings lead, passing previous leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, after earning Player of the Game honors.
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Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins is Saturday’s Player of the Day and rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Stanton homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two, in the 8-0 win over the Nationals. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season. He is the overall top-ranked batter and trails only Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, who has 6.0 Box-Toppers points.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 6.0 |
| 2 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 |
| 3 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 4.0 |
| 4 | Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | oak al | 3.7 |
| 5 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.7 |
| 6 | DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | pi sp | cin nl | 3.7 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 3.4 |
| 8 | Harang, Aaron 1599 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.4 |
| 9 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 3.0 |
| 10 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 3.0 |
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Ernesto Frieri struck out three in an inning of middle relief in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays. Frieri had the AL-highest Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +4, which was tied with Orioles pitcher Wei-Yin Chen, who was Player of the Game in the win over the Red Sox. But Frieri won the tiebreaker as AL Player of the Day because he earned the win in his game while Chen earned no decision.
American League Batter of the Day—Jed Lowrie of the Astros doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-3 win over the Athletics.
National League Batter of the Day—Since the top NL player who earned Player of the Game honors was a batter (Stanton) there is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Saturday.
Rankings—Besides Stanton, two other players who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings:
Streak—Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 12 straight seasons. Burnett was Player of the Game in Saturday’s 2-1 win over the Diamondbacks (7IP R 4K ND) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.
Burnett began the 12-season streak in 2004, the year he earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points with the Marlins and has earned Player of the Game honors at least once in every season since. However, Burnett earned his first Box-Toppers points in 1999 with the Marlins. He did not score any Box-Toppers points in 2003, the only season since 1999 that he had 0.0 points.
Burnett had his best seasons in 2002 and 2005, both with the Marlins, when he scored 13.7 Box-Toppers points. In 2002, he ranked fourth among NL pitchers. In 2005, he ranked ninth among NL pitchers. In 2014, he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points with the Phillies, ranking 37th among NL pitchers.
Burnett has 122.8 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 33rd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He ranks 22nd among all pitchers since 1995. His career point total ranks sixth among active pitchers currently in the NL.
Scoring—Stanton earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Frieri earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Lowrie earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL 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
| 4/25 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 5.0 | Marlins | Giancarlo Stanton RF | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | `Cardinals | Adam Wainwright | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.2 | Mets | Matt Harvey (W, 4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 4.0 | Dodgers | Andre Ethier RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| AL | 4.0 | Rays | Ernesto Frieri (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4.0 | `Orioles | Wei-Yin Chen | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Astros | Jed Lowrie SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | `Pirates | A.J. Burnett | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | Tigers | Joakim Soria (S, 6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Braves | Jason Grilli (S, 7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Twins | Eduardo Nunez LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Angels | Grant Green 2B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Giants | Joe Panik 2B | 0 | 0 | 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. | ||||||||||||||||
Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer is Thursday’s Player of the Day.
Bauer pitched six no-hit, shutout innings and struck out 11 in the 5-1 win over the Astros. The Indians bid for a combined no-hitter among four pitchers ended in the ninth inning when reliever Nick Hagadone gave up the only hit to the Astros, a home run by Jed Lowrie.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 2.0 |
| 2 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 2.0 |
| 3 | Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | oak al | 2.0 |
| 4 | Wilson, C.J. 2074 | pi sp | ana al | 2.0 |
| 5 | Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 2.0 |
| 6 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 1.7 |
| 7 | Harang, Aaron 1599 | pi sp | phi nl | 1.7 |
| 8 | Peralta, David 3370 | lf | ari nl | 1.7 |
| 9 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 1.7 |
| 10 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh 1b | tor al | 1.5 |
National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Matt Harvey, in his first start since August 2013, pitched six scoreless innings and struck out nine in the 6-3 win over the Nationals. Harvey had 15.0 Box-Toppers points in 2013 before undergoing Tommy John surgery and ended that season ranked 10th among NL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays homered and went 2-for-4 in the 6-3 win over the Yankees.
National League Batter of the Day—There was no NL Batter of the Day Thursday because no NL batters earned Player of the Game honors.
Scoring—Bauer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Harvey earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Encarnacion earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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
| 409 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | Indians | Trevor Bauer (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 11 | |
| NL | 10.0 | Mets | Matt Harvey (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| 7.0 | Tigers | Shane Greene (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 6.0 | Royals | Edinson Volquez (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 6.0 | Rangers | Nick Martinez (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | Red Sox | Justin Masterson (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | Reds | Aroldis Chapman (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | Giants | George Kontos (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | Blue Jays | Edwin Encarnacion DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Rangers pitcher Derek Holland is Monday's Player of the Day. Holland pitched a complete-game shutout, striking out nine, in the 12-0 win over the Astros.
Holland earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.7 for the season, putting him in 36th place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Brewers pitcher Marco Estrada is National League Player of the Day. Estrada pitched seven shutout innings, giving up only two hits, in the 5-0 win over the Braves.
Nick Hundley of the Padres is NL Batter of the Day. Hundley hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4 in the 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks.
Jed Lowrie of the Athletics is American League Batter of the Day. Lowrie hit a three-run homer in the 10-5 win over the Angels.
Notable: Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright had a chance to retake the lead in Box-Toppers player rankings in his start against the Nationals Monday, but did not score any Box-Toppers points. Though Wainwright earned the win in the 4-3 victory, he gave up seven hits and three runs over seven innings and his Box-Toppers game score was -1.0. Closing pitcher Trevor Rosenthal was the Cardinals Player of the Game with a Box-Toppers game score of 1.2.
Wainwright is still in third place in Box-Toppers player rankings (see the updated top 10 list on the home page) with 19.2 points. He trails overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has 20.7. Wainwright has one last chance to catch or pass Kershaw in his scheduled start on the final day of the regular season Sunday against the Cubs. (Kershaw has his final regular season scheduled start Friday against the Rockies.)
Holland receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Estrada receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Hundley and Lowrie each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Monday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 923 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 11.0 | Rangers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Derek Holland (W, 10-9) | 9.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| NL | 8.0 | Brewers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Marco Estrada (W, 7-4) | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 8.0 | `Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Charlie Morton | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 7.2 | Marlins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Nathan Eovaldi (W, 4-6) | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |||
| 4.2 | `Royals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Yordano Ventura | 5.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |||
| 3.1 | White Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jose Quintana (W, 9-6) | 7.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | |||
| 3.0 | `Reds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Johnny Cueto | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | |||
| BAT | 2.0 | Padres | Nick Hundley C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Athletics | Jed Lowrie DH | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2.0 | Rays | James Loney PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.2 | Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Trevor Rosenthal (S, 1) | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| 1.0 | Twins | Ryan Doumit PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
The Atlanta Braves have moved up in Box-Toppers team power rankings to claim the top spot after being No. 2 last week.
The Braves have accumulated the most Box-Toppers points this season (15.4), followed by last week's top team, the Oakland Athletics (14.0). The Braves also have the best record in baseball at 13-2 and are 9-1 in their last 10 games. The A's have the best record in the American League at 12-4.
The Braves are led by pitchers Paul Maholm, the overall Box-Toppers points leader this season (4.7) and Tim Hudson (2.7). Nine different Braves have been named Player of the Game this season and have at least one Box-Toppers point.
Nine different A's players have also been named Player of the Game this season, led by first baseman Brandon Moss (with 3.0 Box-Toppers points) and shortstop Jed Lowrie (2.5)
| 418 | Top 10 Teams | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Braves | 15.4 |
| 2 | Athletics | 14.0 |
| 3 | Red Sox | 13.2 |
| 4 | Rockies | 13.0 |
| 5 | Cardinals | 12.5 |
| 6 | Tigers | 11.9 |
| 7 | Rangers | 11.7 |
| 8 | Reds | 11.5 |
| 9 | Nationals | 11.4 |
| 10 | Diamondbacks | 10.4 |
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.