Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers 2019 season team rankings, through the games of Thursday, Sept. 19. 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. 13 to 19. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of Sept. 12.| Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Astros | 148.1 | +7.2 | 1 |
| 2 | Nationals | 122.4 | +2.0 | 2 |
| 3 | Dodgers | 121.4 | +3.0 | 3 |
| 4 | Athletics | 119.2 | +6.7 | 6 |
| 5 | Yankees | 117.9 | +3.5 | 4 |
| 6 | Rays | 116.5 | +3.5 | 5 |
| 7 | Braves | 109.7 | +7.0 | 8 |
| 8 | Twins | 108.2 | +6.2 | 9 |
| 9 | Indians | 107.8 | +4.0 | 7 |
| 10 | Cubs | 104.9 | +5.0 | 10 |
| 11 | Phillies | 100.7 | +2.0 | 11 |
| 12 | Red Sox | 100.5 | +4.7 | 12 |
| 13 | Cardinals | 100.1 | +5.9 | 13 |
| 14 | Mets | 98.8 | +5.0 | 14 |
| 15 | Brewers | 98.4 | +5.0 | 15 |
| 16 | Reds | 92.6 | +5.0 | 16 |
| 17 | Diamondbacks | 85.3 | +4.0 | 17 |
| 18 | Rangers | 79.4 | 0.0 | 18 |
| 19 | Padres | 78.6 | +1.7 | 19 |
| 20 | Rockies | 78.2 | +4.5 | 21 |
| 21 | White Sox | 77.6 | +2.5 | 20 |
| 22 | Angels | 73.4 | +2.0 | 23 |
| 23 | Giants | 71.9 | +0.5 | 22 |
| 24 | Mariners | 65.9 | +5.0 | 25 |
| 25 | Pirates | 64.9 | 0.0 | 24 |
| 26 | Royals | 57.7 | +1.0 | 26 |
| 27 | Blue Jays | 56.5 | +5.5 | 28 |
| 28 | Marlins | 56.1 | +2.5 | 27 |
| 29 | Orioles | 50.9 | +2.0 | 29 |
| 30 | Tigers | 45.1 | +2.0 | 30 |
The Houston Astros maintain the lead in Box-Toppers team rankings, leading for the ninth straight week, and are also the hottest team of the past week.
Meanwhile, the Washington Nationals maintain their lead among National League teams in the penultimate (and also next-to-last) weekly team rankings report of the 2019 season. The final team rankings report will be posted after the completion of regular season games Sunday, Sept. 29.
Astros players have accumulated 148.1 Box-Toppers points, picking up 7.2 in the past week, most of any team. They lead the second-place Nationals by 25.7 points (their lead increased from 20.5 points last week). The Astros also have baseball’s best winning percentage (.654). In their nine straight weeks leading Box-Toppers team rankings, this is the first week they have also had baseball’s best winning percentage.
The Astros are led by pitcher Gerrit Cole, who has 29.2 Box-Toppers points, first among all players and all American League pitchers. Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is second in Box-Toppers player rankings (26.5 points) and Astros pitcher Zack Greinke is ninth (15.9 points). Top batter is Alex Bregman (10.0 points, fifth among AL batters). Twenty-seven different Astros players have earned Box-Toppers points so far this season.
This is the 11th straight week the Astros have led AL teams. They’ve led AL teams 17 of the past 18 weeks, including leading all teams for five straight weeks from May 16 to June 13.
The Nationals lead NL teams for the seventh straight week with 122.4 Box-Toppers points, picking up 2.0 points over the past week. The Nationals maintain their second-place overall rank.
Though the Nationals lead NL teams in Box-Toppers points, they are fourth among NL teams in winning percentage (.550), behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (.641), the Atlanta Braves (.610) and St. Louis Cardinals (.562). The Nationals are second in the NL East, 9 1/2 games behind the Braves, but currently hold the top NL Wild Card position. The Dodgers rank third among all teams in Box-Toppers points (121.4), the Braves rank seventh (109.7) and the Cardinals rank 13th (100.1).
The Nationals are led by pitcher Stephen Strasburg with 18.7 Box-Toppers points, third among all players and first among NL pitchers. Nationals’ top batter is Asdrubal Cabrera (7.5 Box-Toppers points), who ranks 10th among NL batters. Twenty-seven different Nationals players have earned Box-Toppers points so far this season.
The Oakland Athletics had the biggest rise of the week, climbing two spots from sixth to fourth with 119.2 Box-Toppers points, picking up 6.7 points in the past week.
The Cleveland Indians had the biggest decline of the past week, falling two spots from seventh to ninth with 107.8 Box-Toppers points, picking up 4.0 points in the past week.
The Atlanta Braves had a larger-than-expected gain after a Box-Toppers record keeping error was found. The Braves gained 7.0 points this week, rising from eighth to seventh place with 109.7 Box-Toppers points, even though players only earned 3.0 points in the team’s three wins this week. However, Mark Melancon, who was Player of the Game in the Braves win Thursday against the Phillies, had been inadvertently included with his former team, the San Francisco Giants. Melancon was traded from the Giants to the Braves July 31. Fixing that error gave the Braves his 5.0 Box-Toppers points for 2019, including the 2.0 points he earned with the Giants and the 3.0 points—including Thursday’s 1.0 point—he’s earned with the Braves.
That correction also took away points from the Giants’ total. Even though the Giants won four games this week, they only had a 0.5-point gain from last week, giving them 71.9 points for the season, falling from 22nd to 23rd place.
The Detroit Tigers maintain 30th and last place in Box-Toppers team rankings for the ninth straight week with 45.1 points, picking up 2.0 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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