The Texas Rangers maintain the lead in Box-Toppers team rankings, slightly improving their position from last week, but the top ranking continues to seem undeserved.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers 2023 team rankings through games of Thursday, Sept. 14. 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. 8 to Sept. 14. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of Sept. 7.| Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rangers | 120.1 | 6.0 | 1 |
| 2 | Braves | 117.4 | 5.0 | 2 |
| 3 | Rays | 114.6 | 6.0 | 3 |
| 4 | Astros | 110.2 | 4.2 | 5 |
| 5 | Dodgers | 109.9 | 3.5 | 4 |
| 6 | Orioles | 109.0 | 4.0 | 6 |
| 7 | Brewers | 104.7 | 7.5 | 9 |
| 8 | Blue Jays | 103.7 | 4.0 | 7 |
| 9 | Phillies | 101.4 | 2.0 | 8 |
| 10 | Marlins | 98.2 | 3.0 | 10 |
| 11 | Mariners | 95.7 | 2.7 | 11 |
| 12 | Diamondbacks | 94.9 | 4.0 | 13 |
| 13 | Cubs | 94.6 | 2.5 | 12 |
| 14 | Twins | 92.3 | 4.7 | 14 |
| 15 | Giants | 90.5 | 5.7 | 17 |
| 16 | Padres | 90.0 | 5.0 | 16 |
| 17 | Reds | 89.6 | 3.7 | 15 |
| 18 | Red Sox | 83.6 | 2.0 | 18 |
| 19 | Angels | 82.3 | 3.0 | 19 |
| 20 | Yankees | 82.1 | 5.0 | 20 |
| 21 | Guardians | 77.5 | 2.0 | 21 |
| 22 | Pirates | 77.2 | 6.0 | 22 |
| 23 | Tigers | 72.0 | 3.0 | 23 |
| 24 | Nationals | 69.2 | 2.0 | 24 |
| 25 | Cardinals | 59.9 | 4.0 | 25 |
| 26 | Mets | 57.4 | 4.0 | 26 |
| 27 | White Sox | 56.1 | 2.7 | 27 |
| 28 | Rockies | 49.2 | 2.0 | 28 |
| 29 | Athletics | 46.9 | 3.7 | 29 |
| 30 | Royals | 44.6 | 3.0 | 30 |
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves continue to lead all National League teams and the Milwaukee Brewers are the week’s hottest team.
Rangers lead
Rangers hold the lead for the seventh straight week, with players accumulating 120.1 Box-Toppers points this season, picking up 6.0 points in the past week. The Rangers actually gain 1.0 point on their overall lead, now ahead of the second-place Braves (117.4) by 2.7 points. They lead American League teams, ahead of the second-place Tampa Bay Rays (114.6, third overall) by 5.5 points.
Last week, the Rangers led all teams despite falling outside playoff qualifications. This week, after winning six of their seven games, they would now be the second-ranked AL Wild Card team and are only one-half game behind the AL West leading Houston Astros.
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Still, the Rangers leading all teams doesn’t seem to mesh with reality, given their low standing in winning percentage and player injuries. The Rangers are tied for the sixth-best winning percentage (.562) among all teams (an improvement from 10th place last week) behind the Atlanta Braves (.658), the Baltimore Orioles (.623), The Tampa Bay Rays (.615), the Los Angeles Dodgers (.607) and the Houston Astros (.565). (The Milwaukee Brewers also have a .562 winning percentage.) The Braves are second in Box-Toppers team rankings (117.4 points), the Orioles are six (109.0), the Rays are third (114.6), the Dodgers are fifth (109.9), the Astros are fourth (110.2) and the Brewers are seventh (104.7).
Also this week, Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer suffered a season-ending shoulder injury, a teres major strain. Scherzer earned Player of the Game honors in the game in which he was injured and has 15.4 Box-Toppers points on the season, eighth among all players. Those points still count toward the Rangers overall total but now may as well be subtracted since Scherzer and his potential contributions will not be available. In fact, subtracting Scherzer and another injured Rangers player, Jacob deGrom, who earned 7.7 points this season before injury, would give the Rangers 97.3 points, putting them in 13th place in Box-Toppers team rankings.
So while the Rangers rank first and even had a good week, their overall lead seems to be a mirage.
Scherzer leads all Rangers players (15.4 Box-Toppers points, eighth among all players and fourth among American League pitchers). (Scherzer earned 5.0 points since joining the Rangers; the other 10.4 were earned when he was with the Mets earlier this season.) Rangers top batter is Marcus Semien (6.7 Box-Toppers points, 12th among AL batters). There are 25 different Rangers players who have earned Box-Toppers points so far in 2023.
Braves lead NL teams
The Braves lead NL teams for the seventh week with 117.4 Box-Toppers points, picking up 5.0 points in the past week. The Braves maintain second place overall and lead NL teams, ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers (109.9) by 7.5 points.
The Braves have baseball’s best winning percentage (.658) and are led by pitcher Spencer Strider (20.1 points, first among all players). 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: Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers gained 7.5 Box-Toppers points this week, most of any team, giving them 104.7 for the season, rising from ninth to seventh place in team rankings. Their two-spot rise is tied for the biggest jump in team rankings this week with the San Francisco Giants, who rose from 17th to 15th place with 90.5 points, picking up 5.7 in the past week.
Biggest fall: Reds
The Cincinnati Reds had the biggest fall in team rankings, down two spots from 15th to 17th place, with 89.6 Box-Toppers points, picking up 3.7 points in the past week.
Last place: Royals
The Kansas City Royals ranked 30th and last place in Box-Toppers team rankings for the third week with 44.6 Box-Toppers points, picking up 3.0 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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