The Houston Astros finish the 2019 season with a large lead in Box-Toppers team rankings.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers 2019 season team rankings, through the season’s final games of Sunday, Sept. 29. 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. 20 to 29. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of Sept. 19.| Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Astros | 158.1 | +10.0 | 1 |
| 2 | Nationals | 132.9 | +10.5 | 2 |
| 3 | Dodgers | 129.9 | +8.5 | 3 |
| 4 | Athletics | 124.9 | +5.7 | 4 |
| 5 | Yankees | 123.4 | +5.5 | 5 |
| 6 | Rays | 123.2 | +6.7 | 6 |
| 7 | Twins | 115.7 | +7.5 | 8 |
| 8 | Braves | 112.7 | +3.0 | 7 |
| 9 | Indians | 110.8 | +3.0 | 9 |
| 10 | Mets | 108.7 | +9.9 | 14 |
| 11 | Cubs | 107.9 | +3.0 | 10 |
| 12 | Cardinals | 105.8 | +5.7 | 13 |
| 13 | Red Sox | 105.0 | +4.5 | 12 |
| 14 | Brewers | 104.9 | +6.5 | 15 |
| 15 | Phillies | 103.7 | +3.0 | 11 |
| 16 | Reds | 95.6 | +3.0 | 16 |
| 17 | Diamondbacks | 92.8 | +7.5 | 17 |
| 18 | Rangers | 85.9 | +6.5 | 18 |
| 19 | White Sox | 85.0 | +7.4 | 21 |
| 20 | Rockies | 83.2 | +5.0 | 20 |
| 21 | Padres | 80.1 | +1.5 | 19 |
| 22 | Angels | 76.4 | +3.0 | 22 |
| 23 | Giants | 75.6 | +3.7 | 23 |
| 24 | Pirates | 69.6 | +4.7 | 25 |
| 25 | Mariners | 69.4 | +3.5 | 24 |
| 26 | Marlins | 62.1 | +6.0 | 28 |
| 27 | Blue Jays | 62.0 | +5.5 | 27 |
| 28 | Royals | 60.7 | +3.0 | 26 |
| 29 | Orioles | 57.4 | +6.5 | 29 |
| 30 | Tigers | 47.1 | +2.0 | 30 |
The Astros lead the rankings for the 10th straight week, while the Washington Nationals continue to lead National League teams in the rankings and were the hottest team since the last rankings report Sept. 19.
Astros players accumulated 158.1 Box-Toppers points, picking up 10.0 since the last rankings report Sept. 19, most among AL teams. They lead the Nationals (132.9) by 25.2 points. The Astros also have baseball’s best winning percentage (.660).
On July 25, the Astros held a 2.4-point lead over the then-second place Los Angeles Dodgers and padded their lead July 31, picking up pitcher Zack Greinke in a trade from the Arizona Diamondbacks. At the time Greinke had 13.2 Box-Toppers points, helping propel the Astros to a 19.1-point lead in team rankings on Aug. 1. Greinke finished the season with 17.9 points. Even without his points, the Astros would have 140.2 points and still hold a 7.3-point lead over the now-second place Nationals.
The Astros are led by pitcher Gerrit Cole, who has 32.2 Box-Toppers points, first among all players and all American League pitchers. Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is second in Box-Toppers player rankings (27.5 points) and Astros pitcher Zack Greinke is seventh (17.9 points). Top batter is Alex Bregman (10.0 points, fifth among AL batters). Twenty-eight different Astros players earned Box-Toppers points in 2019.
This is the 12th straight week the Astros have led AL teams. They’ve led AL teams 18 of the past 19 weeks, including leading all teams for five straight weeks from May 16 to June 13.
The Nationals lead NL teams for the eighth straight week with 132.9 Box-Toppers points, picking up 10.5 points since the last team rankings report Sept. 19, most of any team. The Nationals maintain their second-place overall rank.
Though the Nationals lead NL teams in Box-Toppers points, they are third among NL teams in winning percentage (.574), behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (.654) and the Atlanta Braves (.599). The Nationals are second in the NL East, four games behind the Braves, but are the top NL Wild Card team. (They also gained 5 1/2 games on the Braves since the last team rankings report Sept. 19.) The Dodgers rank third among all teams in Box-Toppers points (129.9) and the Braves rank eighth (112.7).
The Nationals are led by pitcher Stephen Strasburg with 20.7 Box-Toppers points, third among all players and first among NL pitchers. The Nationals have three players among the top 10 NL pitchers—Strasburg (20.7, first), Patrick Corbin (16.4, sixth) and Max Scherzer (15.4, ninth). Nationals’ top batter is Asdrubal Cabrera (9.0 Box-Toppers points), who ranks seventh among NL batters. Twenty-seven different Nationals players earned Box-Toppers points in 2019.
The New York Mets had the biggest rise since Sept. 19, climbing four spots from 14th to 10th with 108.7 Box-Toppers points, picking up 9.9 points since Sept. 19.
The Philadelphia Phillies had the biggest decline since Sept. 19, falling four spots from 11th to 15th with 103.7 Box-Toppers points, picking up 3.0 points since Sept. 19.
The Detroit Tigers maintain 30th and last place in Box-Toppers team rankings for the 10th straight week with 47.1 points, picking up 2.0 points since Sept. 19.
Eight of the top 10 teams in Box-Toppers rankings qualified for the postseason. The lowest-ranked team to qualify for the postseason is the NL second-ranked Wild Card team, the Milwaukee Brewers (14th place with 104.9 points). There are four non-postseason qualifiers who finished ahead of the Brewers:
Cleveland Indians, ninth place, 110.8 points.
New York Mets, 10th place, 108.7 points.
Chicago Cubs, 11th place, 107.9 points.
Boston Red Sox, 13th place, 105.0 points.
Here’s a brief look at the postseason qualifiers:
AL East champion—New York Yankees, finished fifth overall, third among AL teams with 123.4 points. Second-best winning percentage in AL (.636).
AL Central champion—Minnesota Twins, finished seventh overall, fifth among AL teams with 115.7 points. Third-best winning percentage in AL (.623).
AL West champion—Houston Astros, finished first overall with 158.1 points. Best winning percentage (.660).
AL first Wild Card—Oakland Athletics, finished fourth overall, second among AL teams with 124.9 points. Third-best winning percentage in AL (.599).
AL second Wild Card—Tampa Bay Rays, finished sixth overall, fourth among AL teams with 123.2 points. Fifth-best winning percentage in AL (.593).
NL East champion—Atlanta Braves, finished eighth overall, third among NL teams with 112.7 points. Second-best winning percentage in NL (.599).
NL Central champion—St. Louis Cardinals, finished 12th overall, sixth among NL teams, behind non-playoff qualifiers Mets and Cubs with 105.8 points. Fourth-best winning percentage in NL (.562).
NL West champion—Los Angeles Dodgers, finished third overall, second among NL teams with 129.9 points. Best winning percentage in NL (.654), second-best overall behind Astros.
NL first Wild Card—Washington Nationals, finished second overall, first among NL teams with 132.9 points. Third-best winning percentage in NL (.574).
NL second Wild Card—Milwaukee Brewers, finished 14th overall, seventh among NL teams with 104.9 points. Fifth-best winning percentage in NL (.549).
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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