The Chicago Cubs regain the top spot in Box-Toppers team rankings one week after the Boston Red Sox ended their three-month reign at number one.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers' team rankings, through the games of Thursday, July 28. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team have accumulated so far this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams accumulated from July 22 to 28. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of July 21.| 7/28 | Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago |
| 1 | Cubs | 84.7 | 8.9 | 2 |
| 2 | Red Sox | 82.9 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 3 | Dodgers | 76.3 | 3.5 | 3 |
| 4 | Nationals | 75.7 | 4.0 | 5 |
| 5 | Indians | 73.3 | 1.0 | 4 |
| 6 | Giants | 71.1 | 5.5 | 6 |
| 7 | Blue Jays | 70.8 | 6.5 | 8 |
| 8 | Rangers | 70.4 | 6.5 | 9 |
| 9 | Mets | 67.1 | 4.7 | 10 |
| 10 | Marlins | 67.1 | 2.0 | 7 |
| 11 | Orioles | 67.0 | 4.7 | 11 |
| 12 | Tigers | 66.1 | 4.5 | 12 |
| 13 | Pirates | 64.2 | 4.0 | 13 |
| 14 | Astros | 64.0 | 5.2 | 15 |
| 15 | Cardinals | 62.9 | 4.0 | 14 |
| 16 | Phillies | 60.8 | 5.2 | 16 |
| 17 | Rockies | 57.9 | 6.5 | 20 |
| 18 | Angels | 56.8 | 3.7 | 18 |
| 19 | Royals | 55.8 | 2.0 | 17 |
| 20 | Mariners | 54.8 | 4.7 | 22 |
| 21 | White Sox | 54.3 | 4.0 | 21 |
| 22 | Yankees | 52.9 | 0.3 | 19 |
| 23 | Athletics | 51.1 | 5.5 | 24 |
| 24 | Rays | 50.2 | 1.0 | 23 |
| 25 | Dbacks | 46.6 | 2.0 | 25 |
| 26 | Brewers | 44.0 | 4.5 | 27 |
| 27 | Reds | 43.5 | 4.5 | 28 |
| 28 | Twins | 41.7 | 0.0 | 26 |
| 29 | Padres | 38.1 | 1.5 | 29 |
| 30 | Braves | 31.5 | -1.5 | 30 |
The Cubs picked up a net of 8.9 Box-Toppers points since last week’s team rankings report, the most of any team, giving them 84.7 points for the season. The Cubs pass the Red Sox, with 82.9 points, picking up only 1.0 point in the past week.
Most of the Cubs’ gain happened because they acquired closing pitcher Aroldis Chapman from the Yankees. Chapman had 5.7 Box-Toppers points at the time of the trade and now has 6.4.
The Cubs have baseball’s best winning percentage (.604) and are led by pitchers Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester (10.7 Box-Toppers points each). Top batter is Kris Bryant (7.0). Twenty-one different Cubs players have earned Player of the Game honors so far this season.
The Cubs had been in first place in Box-Toppers team weekly rankings from April 21 through July 10 but fell to second, behind the Red Sox, in last week’s (July 21) report.
The Red Sox, while only picking up 1.0 Box-Toppers point in the past week, only fall to second place overall this week and still lead all American League teams. The Red Sox are led by pitcher Drew Pomeranz (10.4 Box-Toppers points, all earned while he was a member of the Padres). Red Sox’ leading batter is second baseman Aaron Hill (5.5 points, all earned while he was a member of the Brewers). Twenty-six different Red Sox players have earned Player of the Game honors so far this season.
The Atlanta Braves remain 30th and last place among all teams with 31.5 Box-Toppers points. The Braves lost a net of 1.5 points in the past week after trading pitchers Lucas Harrell (3.0 points) and Dario Alvarez (1.0) to the Texas Rangers.
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.