The Houston Astros maintain top spot in Box-Toppers team rankings for the fifth straight week.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers 2018 season team rankings, through the games of Sunday, July 15. 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 July 6 to July 15. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of July 5.| Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago | |
| 1 | Astros | 81.6 | 8.0 | 1 |
| 2 | Red Sox | 79.2 | 10.5 | 4 |
| 3 | Yankees | 75.9 | 6.5 | 3 |
| 4 | Mariners | 72.6 | 2.5 | 2 |
| 5 | Indians | 67.9 | 5.0 | 5 |
| 6 | Diamondbacks | 66.4 | 6.7 | 7 |
| 7 | Dodgers | 66.4 | 5.0 | 6 |
| 8 | Nationals | 65.7 | 7.2 | 10 |
| 9 | Cubs | 65.2 | 6.5 | 9 |
| 10 | Phillies | 64.2 | 7.5 | 12 |
| 11 | Braves | 62.4 | 3.0 | 8 |
| 12 | Rockies | 62.3 | 7.5 | 13 |
| 13 | Athletics | 60.9 | 7.0 | 14 |
| 14 | Brewers | 60.6 | 3.5 | 11 |
| 15 | Twins | 58.0 | 10.2 | 18 |
| 16 | Angels | 57.1 | 5.5 | 17 |
| 17 | Giants | 56.8 | 4.7 | 15 |
| 18 | Cardinals | 54.9 | 3.0 | 16 |
| 19 | Pirates | 51.4 | 9.2 | 23 |
| 20 | Rays | 50.9 | 8.2 | 22 |
| 21 | Blue Jays | 50.3 | 4.0 | 19 |
| 22 | Rangers | 47.6 | 2.0 | 20 |
| 23 | Reds | 47.5 | 5.5 | 24 |
| 24 | Marlins | 47.4 | 6.5 | 26 |
| 25 | Padres | 47.3 | 3.7 | 21 |
| 26 | Tigers | 44.0 | 3.0 | 25 |
| 27 | Mets | 43.6 | 7.4 | 27 |
| 28 | White Sox | 37.6 | 4.0 | 28 |
| 29 | Orioles | 33.9 | 4.5 | 29 |
| 30 | Royals | 29.7 | 2.7 | 30 |
Meanwhile, the Arizona Diamondbacks regain a slim lead among National League teams and the Boston Red Sox are the hottest team since July 5.
Astros players have accumulated 81.6 Box-Toppers points through the games of July 15, picking up 8.0 points since Box-Toppers last team rankings report on July 5. The Astros have baseball’s third-best winning percentage (.646), behind the Boston Red Sox (.694) and the New York Yankees (.653). The Red Sox rank second in Box-Toppers team rankings (79.2 points) and the Yankees rank third (75.9).
The Astros are led by pitcher Gerrit Cole with 13.0 Box-Toppers points, who ranks seventh among all players. Cole is one of four Astros pitchers who has 10 or more Box-Toppers points this season. The others are:
Justin Verlander with 12.4 points, ranked ninth among all players.
Charlie Morton, 11.8, ranked 10th.
Lance McCullers Jr., 10.7, ranked 13th.
Evan Gattis leads Astros batters with 4.5 Box-Toppers points, 17th among AL batters. Seventeen different Astros players have earned Player of the Game honors so far this season.
The Arizona Diamondbacks rise past the Los Angeles Dodgers to lead NL teams. Both teams have 66.4 accumulated points for the season, but the Diamondbacks hold the slight advantage because they gained 6.7 points since July 5, while the Dodgers gained 5.0 points. The Diamondbacks rise from seventh to sixth place in overall team rankings, changing places with the Dodgers.
Top player for the Dodgers is pitcher Patrick Corbin, who ranks third among NL pitchers with 11.0 Box-Toppers points. Outfielder David Peralta leads Diamondbacks batters with 5.5 points, seventh among NL batters. Twenty different Diamondbacks players have earned Box-Toppers points so far in 2018.
The Boston Red Sox are the week’s hottest team, picking up 10.5 Box-Toppers points in the past week. The Red Sox have 79.2 Box-Toppers points on the season and rise from fourth to second place in team rankings.
The Pittsburgh Pirates had the biggest rise in team rankings since July 5, climbing four spots from 23rd to 19th place with 51.4 Box-Toppers points, picking up 9.2 points since July 5.
The San Diego Padres had the biggest decline in the past week, dropping four spots from 21st to 25th place with 47.3 Box-Toppers points, picking up 3.7 points since July 5.
The Atlanta Braves slipped out of the top 10, falling from eighth to 11th place with 62.4 Box-Toppers points, picking up 3.0 points since July 5. The Philadelphia Phillies rose into the top 10, rising from 12th to 10th place with 64.2 Box-Toppers points, picking up 7.5 points since July 5.
The Minnesota Twins also had a notable pre-All-Star break rise, picking up 10.2 Box-Toppers points since July 5 and rising from 18th to 15th place in team rankings with 58.0 points.
The Kansas City Royals maintain their spot in 30th and last place among all teams for the fourth straight week. The Royals have 29.7 Box-Toppers points, picking up 2.7 points in the past week.
Box-Toppers team rankings are normally posted weekly on Fridays during the season. But last Friday’s report was delayed until today to coincide with the All-Star break. And since regular season games don’t resume until Friday, July 20, the next rankings report is slated to be posted Friday, July 27.
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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