The Los Angeles Dodgers maintain the lead in Box-Toppers team rankings for the third week.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers 2019 season team rankings, through the games of Sunday, July 7. 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 June 28 to July 7. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of June 27.| Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dodgers | 72.6 | +4.0 | 1 |
| 2 | Astros | 71.5 | +8.2 | 3 |
| 3 | Twins | 68.3 | +4.5 | 2 |
| 4 | Rays | 66.4 | +7.5 | 5 |
| 5 | Yankees | 66.4 | +5.5 | 4 |
| 6 | Nationals | 65.7 | +11.0 | 9 |
| 7 | Braves | 63.8 | +7.0 | 7 |
| 8 | Indians | 63.1 | +7.4 | 8 |
| 9 | Athletics | 59.7 | +7.7 | 11 |
| 10 | Cubs | 59.1 | +1.5 | 6 |
| 11 | Diamondbacks | 58.1 | +5.0 | 10 |
| 12 | Phillies | 56.8 | +5.7 | 12 |
| 13 | Red Sox | 55.9 | +5.5 | 15 |
| 14 | Brewers | 55.1 | +4.0 | 13 |
| 15 | Rangers | 54.7 | +4.0 | 14 |
| 16 | Padres | 52.3 | +4.7 | 18 |
| 17 | Rockies | 51.7 | +2.5 | 16 |
| 18 | Pirates | 49.6 | +7.7 | 22 |
| 19 | Cardinals | 49.6 | +4.5 | 20 |
| 20 | White Sox | 49.4 | +3.0 | 19 |
| 21 | Reds | 47.3 | +6.0 | 24 |
| 22 | Angels | 46.9 | -1.2 | 17 |
| 23 | Mets | 46.4 | +2.0 | 21 |
| 24 | Mariners | 43.8 | +2.0 | 23 |
| 25 | Giants | 41.5 | +8.0 | 27 |
| 26 | Marlins | 40.4 | +3.5 | 25 |
| 27 | Blue Jays | 40.1 | +6.4 | 26 |
| 28 | Royals | 33.7 | +2.0 | 28 |
| 29 | Orioles | 32.9 | +7.7 | 30 |
| 30 | Tigers | 30.4 | +2.0 | 29 |
Meanwhile, the Houston Astros regain the lead among American League teams and the Washington Nationals are the week’s hottest team going into the All-Star break.
Dodgers players have accumulated 72.6 Box-Toppers points through the games of July 7, picking up 4.0 points since the last team rankings report on June 27. The Dodgers also have baseball’s best winning percentage (.652).
While this is the third week this season the Dodgers have led team rankings, they have led National League teams now for eight straight weeks.
The Dodgers are led by pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu with 11.7 Box-Toppers points, eighth among all players and fourth among NL pitchers. Top batter is Cody Bellinger (9.2 Box-Toppers points), who ranks 17th among all players and second among NL batters. Nineteen different Dodgers players have earned Box-Toppers points so far this season in the team’s 60 wins.
The Astros pass the Minnesota Twins to regain the lead among AL teams. The Astros had led AL teams for six straight weeks until the week ending June 27, when the Twins passed them. This week, the Astros rise from third to second place overall with 71.5 Box-Toppers points (just 1.1 points behind the Dodgers), picking up 8.2 points since the last team rankings report on June 27, the biggest point gain among AL teams. The Twins, meanwhile, fall from second to third place overall with 68.3 Box-Toppers points, picking up 4.5 points since June 27.
The Astros are led by pitcher Justin Verlander, who has 14.8 Box-Toppers points, first among all players and AL pitchers. Top batter is Alex Bregman (5.5 points, ninth among AL batters). Seventeen different Astros players have earned Box-Toppers points so far this season in the team’s 57 wins.
The Washington Nationals are the week’s hottest team, picking up 11.0 Box-Toppers points since the last team rankings report on June 27. The Nationals rise three spots from ninth to sixth overall with 65.7 points.
The Pittsburgh Pirates make the biggest jump up team rankings, rising four spots from 22nd to 18th place with 49.6 Box-Toppers points, picking up 7.7 points since the last team rankings report on June 27.
The Los Angeles Angels experienced the biggest decline in points and rankings among all teams, after the death this week of pitcher Tyler Skaggs. The Angels fell five spots, most of any team, from 17th to 22nd place with 46.9 Box-Toppers points, with a net loss of 1.2 points since the last team rankings report on June 27.
While the Angels won three games since June 27, earning 3.5 Box-Toppers points in the process, they lost the 4.7 points Skaggs had earned so far this season when he unexpectedly died for reasons still unknown on July 1 at age 27. That gave the Angels a net loss of 1.2 points.
As with any player who is no longer on a team, either through retirement, release or death, Box-Toppers removes that players’ points from the team’s season total. In 2016, when Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez was killed in a boating accident near the end of the season, the 22.4 Box-Toppers points he earned were removed from the team’s total, causing them to fall from 12th to 22nd place among all teams.
The Detroit Tigers fall from 29th to 30th and last place in Box-Toppers team rankings with 30.4 Box-Toppers points, picking up 2.0 points since June 27. The Baltimore Orioles, who had been in last place for the previous three team rankings reports, rise to 29th place with 32.9 Box-Toppers points, picking up 7.7 points since June 27.
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 Thursday, July 11, the next rankings report is slated to be posted Friday, July 19.
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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