The Texas Rangers still hold a narrowing lead in Box-Toppers team rankings this week, despite a terrible two-week stretch that has them falling to third place in the American League West Division.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers 2023 team rankings through games of Thursday, Aug. 31. 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 Aug. 25 to Aug. 31 . The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of Aug. 24.| Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rangers | 112.1 | 2.7 | 1 |
| 2 | Braves | 108.4 | 7.7 | 2 |
| 3 | Rays | 104.6 | 4.5 | 3 |
| 4 | Dodgers | 102.7 | 6.0 | 4 |
| 5 | Astros | 102.0 | 6.0 | 5 |
| 6 | Orioles | 99.0 | 4.5 | 6 |
| 7 | Phillies | 95.2 | 7.0 | 10 |
| 8 | Blue Jays | 94.5 | 4.0 | 7 |
| 9 | Brewers | 93.2 | 4.0 | 8 |
| 10 | Marlins | 90.7 | 2.0 | 9 |
| 11 | Mariners | 89.3 | 5.7 | 11 |
| 12 | Cubs | 85.6 | 4.0 | 14 |
| 13 | Diamondbacks | 84.9 | 2.0 | 13 |
| 14 | Giants | 84.8 | 6.7 | 16 |
| 15 | Reds | 81.9 | 8.5 | 19 |
| 16 | Twins | 81.9 | 3.0 | 15 |
| 17 | Padres | 79.0 | 1.0 | 17 |
| 18 | Red Sox | 78.6 | 1.0 | 18 |
| 19 | Angels | 78.3 | -5.0 | 12 |
| 20 | Yankees | 72.1 | 2.7 | 20 |
| 21 | Guardians | 71.0 | 7.5 | 21 |
| 22 | Pirates | 67.2 | 5.2 | 23 |
| 23 | Nationals | 66.2 | 3.5 | 22 |
| 24 | Tigers | 63.8 | 3.0 | 24 |
| 25 | White Sox | 53.4 | 4.7 | 26 |
| 26 | Cardinals | 52.9 | 2.5 | 25 |
| 27 | Mets | 49.4 | 2.0 | 27 |
| 28 | Rockies | 45.2 | -1.0 | 28 |
| 29 | Athletics | 39.2 | 2.5 | 30 |
| 30 | Royals | 37.9 | 0.0 | 29 |
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves continue to gain on the Rangers, leading all National League teams. Plus, the Cincinnati Reds, in part on the strength of waiver deadline acquisitions, are the week’s hottest team.
Rangers lead
Rangers hold the lead for the fifth straight week, with players accumulating 112.1 Box-Toppers points this season, picking up a net of 2.7 points in the past week. The Rangers won three games this week, giving them 3.7 points, but also released Josh Harrison this week, who had earned 1.0 point this season (with the Phillies). Over the last 16 games, the Rangers have gone 5-11 and their lead over the second-place team has shrunk from 15.7 points two weeks ago, to 8.7 points last week, to 3.7 this week. They lead over the second-place Braves (108.4 points) and lead American League teams ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays (104.6 points, holding steady in third place).
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The Rangers built their Box-Toppers team rankings lead mainly on the strength of their July trade deadline deals, bringing starting pitchers Max Scherzer from the Mets and Jordan Montgomery from the Cardinals. The Rangers rose to the lead with the Aug. 3 team rankings report. While the points earned by players on other teams now counted toward their team total, it did not reflect the club’s actual win total but perhaps amplified their perceived potential strength at the time. Given the Rangers relatively poor performance since, that potential has not been realized.
The Rangers have baseball’s seventh-best winning percentage (.564), behind the Braves (.662), the Baltimore Orioles (.624), the Los Angeles Dodgers (.624), the Rays (.612), the Seattle Mariners (.571) and the Houston Astros (.570). The Braves are second in team rankings (108.4 Box-Toppers points), the Orioles are sixth (99.0), the Dodgers are fourth (102.7), the Rays are third (104.6), the Mariners are 11th (90.7) and the Astros are fifth (102.0).
The Rangers are led by pitcher Max Scherzer (14.4 Box-Toppers points, seventh among all players and fourth among American League pitchers). Rangers top batter is Marcus Semien (6.7 Box-Toppers points, ninth among AL batters). There are 24 different Rangers players who have earned Box-Toppers points so far in 2023.
Braves lead NL teams
The Braves lead NL teams for the fifth week with 108.4 Box-Toppers points, picking up 7.7 in the past week, second-most among all teams. The Braves won six of their seven games this week and players won bonus Box-Toppers points in three of those wins (NL Player of the Day honors once and NL Batter of the Day honors twice). The Braves maintain second place overall and lead NL teams, ahead of the Dodgers (102.7) by 5.7 points.
The Braves have baseball’s best winning percentage (.662) and are led by pitcher Spencer Strider (19.1 points, second among all players and first among NL pitchers). Top batter is Ronald Acuna Jr. (10.7 points, first among NL batters). There are 26 different Braves players who have earned Box-Toppers points so far in 2023.
Hottest team: Reds
The Cincinnati Reds had a net gain of 8.5 Box-Toppers points this week, most of any team, giving them 81.9 for the season, rising from 19th to 15th in team rankings. Their four-spot rise is also the biggest rankings jump among all teams.
The Reds gained only 2.0 Box-Toppers points in two wins this week (they lost four games), but picked up an additional 6.5 points by acquiring two players on the Aug. 31 waiver acquisition deadline—Hunter Renfroe from the Angels (3.5) and Harrison Bader from the Yankees (3.0).
Biggest fall: Angels
The Los Angeles Angels had the biggest fall in team rankings, down seven spots from 12th to 19th place, with 78.3 Box-Toppers points, with a net loss of 5.0 points in the past week.
While the Angels won three of their six games this week, picking up 3.5 points, they also lost 8.5 points offloading players at the waiver deadline—Hunter Renfroe (3.5) to the Reds, Lucas Giolito (3.0) to the Guardians, Matt Moore (1.0) to the Guardians and Reynaldo Lopez (1.0) to the Guardians. (The Guardians had a net-gain of 7.5 points this week, thanks to the 5.0 they gained by acquiring the Angels cast-offs, but remain in 21st place overall with 71.0 Box-Toppers points.)
The Colorado Rockies also had a net loss in points this week, down 1.0 point. They won one game this week, earning 1.0 point, but released Jurickson Profar (1.0) and designated for assignment Justin Bruihl (1.0). The Rockies maintain 28th place in team rankings with 45.2 points.
Last place: Royals
The Kansas City Royals fall from 29th to 30th and last place in Box-Toppers team rankings with 37.9 Box-Toppers points, picking up no points in the past week. Last week’s lowest-ranked team, the Oakland Athletics, rise to 29th place with 39.2 points, picking up 2.5 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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