The Cleveland Indians finish the season atop Box-Toppers team rankings.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers final 2017 team rankings, through the games of Sunday, Oct. 1. 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. 22 to Oct 1. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of Sept. 21.| Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago | |
| 1 | Indians | 140.9 | 8.2 | 1 |
| 2 | Dodgers | 138.9 | 10.0 | 3 |
| 3 | Nationals | 135.3 | 5.7 | 2 |
| 4 | Astros | 131.7 | 9.2 | 4 |
| 5 | Yankees | 121.7 | 7.7 | 5 |
| 6 | Cubs | 120.5 | 9.7 | 8 |
| 7 | Red Sox | 118.8 | 5.5 | 6 |
| 8 | Dbacks | 118.3 | 6.2 | 7 |
| 9 | Brewers | 106.0 | 5.7 | 9 |
| 10 | Royals | 104.5 | 5.0 | 10 |
| 11 | Rockies | 103.1 | 5.5 | 11 |
| 12 | Mariners | 101.3 | 5.0 | 12 |
| 13 | Twins | 99.2 | 7.5 | 13 |
| 14 | Rays | 93.0 | 8.5 | 18 |
| 15 | Cardinals | 92.4 | 3.0 | 15 |
| 16 | Angels | 92.2 | 4.0 | 16 |
| 17 | Orioles | 91.9 | 1.0 | 14 |
| 18 | Rangers | 90.1 | 2.5 | 17 |
| 19 | Pirates | 87.5 | 7.5 | 21 |
| 20 | Marlins | 85.7 | 5.5 | 19 |
| 21 | Reds | 82.2 | 2.0 | 20 |
| 22 | Blue Jays | 81.1 | 5.7 | 22 |
| 23 | Mets | 75.0 | 5.0 | 25 |
| 24 | Braves | 74.7 | 4.0 | 24 |
| 25 | Athletics | 74.1 | 6.7 | 27 |
| 26 | Padres | 74.0 | 2.7 | 23 |
| 27 | Giants | 73.6 | 4.5 | 26 |
| 28 | Phillies | 68.4 | 5.0 | 28 |
| 29 | Tigers | 48.4 | 2.0 | 29 |
| 30 | White Sox | 40.1 | 6.0 | 30 |
But the Los Angeles Dodgers, who led much of the season, rebounded after a late-season slump, rising to top National League teams and were baseball’s hottest team in the final days of the season.
The Indians top team rankings report for the third week in a row with its players accumulating 140.9 Box-Toppers points on the season. The Dodgers were only 2.0 points behind at 138.9 and had a chance to tie the Indians for the overall lead on the final day of the season. The Dodgers passed the Washington Nationals (135.3), who led NL teams the previous two weeks.
While the Indians lead in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers point totals for 2017, they have baseball’s second-best winning percentage (.630), behind the Dodgers (.642).
The Indians gained 8.2 Box-Toppers points since the last team rankings report on Friday, Sept. 21, one of five teams to gain 8.0 or more points since the last team rankings report.
The Indians are led by pitchers Corey Kluber (22.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked fifth among all players) and Carlos Carrasco (21.8 Box-Toppers points, ranked sixth). Top batter is Edwin Encarnacion (12.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked first among AL batters). Twenty-three different Indians players earned Player of the Game honors in 2017.
The Dodgers rise from third last week to second this week, gaining 10.0 Box-Toppers points since the last team rankings report on Friday, Sept. 21, most of any team. The Dodgers led all teams in Box-Toppers team rankings each week from June 22 to Sept. 7 and built a seemingly insurmountable lead. But in late August, they went on a major slump and a long losing streak and fell to third place.
The Dodgers are led by pitcher Clayton Kershaw (23.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked third among all players). Top batter is Cody Bellinger (8.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 10th among NL batters). Twenty-seven different Dodgers players earned Player of the Game honors in 2017.
The Nationals fall from second to third place among all teams, gaining 5.7 points in the past week.
There are five teams that gained 8.0 or more Box-Toppers points from Sept 22 to the end of the season. In addition to the Dodgers and Indians, they are:
- The playoff-bound and NL Central champion Chicago Cubs, gaining 9.7 points, giving them 120.5 points for the season and rising from eighth to sixth among all teams.
- The playoff-bound and AL West champion Houston Astros, gaining 9.2 points, giving them 131.7 points for the season, maintaining their spot in fourth place among all teams.
- The non-playoff-bound Tampa Bay Rays, gaining 8.5 points, giving them 93.0 points for the season, rising from 18th to 14th among all teams, making the biggest rise since the last team rankings report.
Postseason teams occupy 10 of the top 13 spots in team rankings. There are three teams among the top 13 that did not make the postseason:
- The Milwaukee Brewers, ranked ninth with 106.0 points.
- The Kansas City Royals, ranked 10th with 104.5 points.
- The Seattle Mariners, ranked 12th with 101.3 points.
These two postseason teams rank lower than some teams that did not make the postseason:
- The Colorado Rockies, ranked 11th with 103.1 points.
- The Minnesota Twins, ranked 13th with 99.2 points, are the lowest-ranked postseason team.
The Chicago White Sox remain the lowest-ranked team in 30th place with 40.1 Box-Toppers points, earning 6.0 points 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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