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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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Source: MLB.com
Both National League Division Series begin Saturday.
The San Diego Padres face the Los Angeles Dodgers in one best-of-five game series and the New York Mets face the Philadelphia Phillies in the other. The top two NL seeds, the Dodgers (first) and the Phillies (second) received byes from the first round of playoffs and face the winners of the best-of-three Wild Card series played this week.
Read MorePadres pitcher Joe Musgrove tops players in Wednesday’s four Wild Card playoff games.
Three teams swept the best-of-three-game series Wednesday and will advance to their league division series beginning Saturday—the Padres, Tigers and Royals. The Brewers and Mets will play a decisive Game 3 in their Wild Card series on Thursday.
Read MorePadres pitcher Michael King tops players in Tuesday’s four Wild Card playoff games:
Other Player of the Game winners in Tuesday’s Wild Card series games:
Royals pitcher Cole Ragans.
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal.
Mark Vientos of the Mets.
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 MoreBrewers pitcher Corbin Burnes is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Braves pitcher Chris Sale rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. In addition, Willy Adames of the Brewers rises to lead National League batters in 2024 Box-Toppers points after earning NL Batter of the Day honors.
Read MorePadres pitcher Joe Musgrove is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Musgrove struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 3-0 win over the Tigers.
Read MorePadres pitcher Joe Musgrove is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Musgrove struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 7-0 win over the Mets.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2024 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the San Diego Padres saw the biggest decline.
Read MoreJake Cronenworth of the Padres is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Thursday’s regular season opening game in Seoul, South Korea.
Cronenworth tripled, hit a sacrifice fly and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 15-11 win over the Dodgers, the second regular season game of the 2024 season.
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The Atlanta Braves are Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team going into 2024, with a roster mostly intact from 2023 when they had baseball’s best record.
Meanwhile, the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners are Box-Toppers’ top two American League teams, with the Mariners having one of the best offseason improvements of any team so far. And also, while the Los Angeles Dodgers have made big offseason splashes adding Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Teoscar Hernandez, their offseason ranking has actually fallen from third place last season to fourth place now.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Carlos Rodon had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2022 to 2023.
Rodon had 19.8 Box-Toppers points in 2022 with the Giants, sixth among all players and third among National League pitchers. But moving to the Yankees in 2023, he earned only 1.0 Box-Toppers point. That 18.8-point decline was the biggest among all players.
Read MorePadres pitcher Joe Musgrove is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Marlins pitcher Jesus Luzardo rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
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The New York Mets are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2023 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the World Series champion Houston Astros saw the biggest decline.
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The New York Yankees and New York Mets lead Box-Toppers offseason rankings after landing the winter’s two biggest free agents.
The Yankees rank first after Carlos Rodon Thursday agreed to a free agent deal. Rodon earned 19.8 Box-Toppers points in 2022 with the Giants, sixth overall and third among National League pitchers. He ranked second among all free agents going into the 2023 season.
Read MorePhillies closing pitcher Seranthony Dominguez is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s National League Championship Series Game 3.
Dominguez struck out three over two scoreless innings, allowing one hit, no walks and earning the save.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Framber Valdez is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Thursday’s American League Championship Series Game 2.
Valdez struck out nine over seven innings, allowing two runs (none earned), four hits and no walks.
Read MoreThe San Diego Padres hold the advantage over the Philadelphia Phillies in the upcoming 2022 National League Championship Series.
Going into the postseason, both teams would have been voted Least Likely to Succeed, as they are the two-lowest seeded NL playoff teams and both rank lowest in Box-Toppers rankings among NL postseason teams.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Luis Garcia tops players in Saturday’s four league division series playoff games.
Other Player of the Game winners in Saturday’s league division series games: Padres closing pitcher Josh Hader, Phillies pitcher Noah Syndergaard and Guardians closing pitcher Eli Morgan.
Read MoreBox-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.