The Los Angeles Dodgers top Box-Toppers team rankings for the 10th straight week despite earning only 1.0 Box-Toppers point during the past week.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers' top 10 team rankings, through the games of Thursday, Aug. 31. 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 Aug. 25 to Aug. 31. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of Aug. 24.| 8/31 | Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago |
| 1 | Dodgers | 122.2 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 2 | Nationals | 115.0 | 5.7 | 2 |
| 3 | Astros | 108.5 | 16.4 | 6 |
| 4 | Indians | 106.1 | 6.7 | 3 |
| 5 | Red Sox | 99.3 | 3.5 | 4 |
| 6 | Cubs | 97.3 | 6.2 | 7 |
| 7 | Dbacks | 97.1 | 7.7 | 8 |
| 8 | Yankees | 97.0 | 3.7 | 5 |
| 9 | Mariners | 89.8 | 6.7 | 11 |
| 10 | Royals | 88.5 | 1.0 | 9 |
| 11 | Rockies | 86.4 | 3.0 | 10 |
| 12 | Brewers | 85.6 | 5.5 | 12 |
| 13 | Orioles | 84.9 | 8.0 | 13 |
| 14 | Angels | 80.5 | 10.5 | 17 |
| 15 | Twins | 79.8 | 6.5 | 15 |
| 16 | Rangers | 77.6 | 9.5 | 19 |
| 17 | Rays | 73.0 | 5.7 | 20 |
| 18 | Marlins | 73.0 | 4.0 | 18 |
| 19 | Pirates | 73.0 | 0.0 | 16 |
| 20 | Cardinals | 72.4 | -2.7 | 14 |
| 21 | Reds | 69.3 | 4.0 | 21 |
| 22 | Blue Jays | 65.2 | 2.0 | 22 |
| 23 | Mets | 61.3 | 4.0 | 26 |
| 24 | Braves | 61.2 | 0.5 | 23 |
| 25 | Padres | 60.1 | 2.0 | 25 |
| 26 | Giants | 60.1 | 2.0 | 24 |
| 27 | Athletics | 53.7 | 3.0 | 28 |
| 28 | Phillies | 52.2 | 6.0 | 29 |
| 29 | Tigers | 41.9 | -13.2 | 27 |
| 30 | White Sox | 28.9 | -5.0 | 30 |
Meanwhile, the Houston Astros bounce back to lead American League teams in Box-Toppers rankings on the strength of two August deadline acquisitions. The Astros also gained more Box-Toppers points than any other team during the past week mainly because of those trades.
Dodgers players have accumulated 122.2 Box-Toppers points so far this season, including just 1.0 point since last week (when Kenta Maeda was Player of the Game on Friday, Aug. 25). The Dodgers also have baseball’s best winning percentage (.689).
The Dodgers are led by pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22.1 Box-Toppers points), who ranks second in season player rankings. Kershaw is slated to return from more than five weeks on the disabled list (back) Friday. Dodgers’ top batter is Cody Bellinger (8.7), who ranks fourth among NL batters in Box-Toppers points. Twenty-five different Dodgers players have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors so far this season.
The Dodgers lead the second-ranked Washington Nationals. The Nationals have 115.0 Box-Toppers points, 7.2 points behind the Dodgers, and earned 5.7 points this past week.
The Astros rise to retake the lead among AL teams in Box-Toppers points with 108.5, earning 16.4 in the past week, more than any other team. The Astros also rise from sixth place to third place among all teams and have baseball’s third-best winning percentage (.602), behind the Dodgers and Nationals (.609). The Astros had led AL teams in Box-Toppers points for 12 straight weeks before the Indians held the lead for the past two weeks.
The Astros rise comes mainly from acquiring two players this week—starting pitcher Justin Verlander (8.7 Box-Toppers points) from the Detroit Tigers and outfielder Cameron Maybin (4.0 points) from the Los Angeles Angels. The Astros picked up their combined 12.7 points and picked up another 3.7 points in three wins during the past week, for a total gain of 16.4 points.
The Astros are led by pitcher Lance McCullers (9.4 Box-Toppers points), who ranks eighth among AL pitchers. Top batter is Josh Reddick (7.0 points), who ranks 12th among AL batters. Twenty-eight different Astros players have earned Player of the Game honors so far this season.
Last week’s top-ranked AL team, the Cleveland Indians, fall to second among AL teams, fourth among all teams, with 106.1 Box-Toppers points, earning 6.7 points in the past week.
With teams making trades this week prior to the Aug. 31 deadline for players to be eligible for postseason play, several teams made notable positive or negative swings. The Astros made the biggest swing, gaining 16.4 Box-Toppers points. Here are four other teams with significant changes:
- The Los Angeles Angels gained 10.5 Box-Toppers points, rising from 17th to 14th place in rankings with 80.5 points. The Angels acquired outfielder Justin Upton (7.5 points) from the Tigers and infielder Brandon Phillips (2.5 points) from the Atlanta Braves. The Angels also traded away Cameron Maybin (4.0) to the Astros.
- The Detroit Tigers had a net loss of 13.2 Box-Toppers points, falling from 27th to 29th place in rankings with 41.9 points. The Tigers traded away Verlander (8.7) to the Astros and Upton (7.5) to the Angels.
- The Chicago White Sox had a net loss of 5.0 Box-Toppers points, remaining in 30th and last place for the seventh straight week with 28.9 Box-Toppers points. The White Sox traded starting pitcher Miguel Gonzalez (7.0 Box-Toppers points) to the Texas Rangers.
- The St. Louis Cardinals had a net loss of 2.7 Box-Toppers points, falling from 14th to 20th place—the biggest drop among all teams, with 72.4 points. The Cardinals traded starting pitcher Mike Leake (5.7 Box-Toppers points) to the Seattle Mariners.
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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