It doesn’t seem possible or correct, but the Texas Rangers persist in leading Box-Toppers team rankings for the eighth straight week.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers 2023 team rankings through games of Thursday, Sept. 21. 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. 15 to Sept. 21. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of Sept. 14.| Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rangers | 122.1 | 2.0 | 1 |
| 2 | Braves | 119.4 | 2.0 | 2 |
| 3 | Rays | 117.6 | 3.0 | 3 |
| 4 | Dodgers | 117.3 | 7.4 | 5 |
| 5 | Orioles | 114.5 | 5.5 | 6 |
| 6 | Astros | 112.2 | 2.0 | 4 |
| 7 | Brewers | 110.9 | 6.2 | 7 |
| 8 | Blue Jays | 110.2 | 6.5 | 8 |
| 9 | Phillies | 106.9 | 5.5 | 9 |
| 10 | Marlins | 103.9 | 5.7 | 10 |
| 11 | Diamondbacks | 99.9 | 5.0 | 12 |
| 12 | Mariners | 98.7 | 3.0 | 11 |
| 13 | Twins | 98.5 | 6.2 | 14 |
| 14 | Padres | 97.5 | 7.5 | 16 |
| 15 | Cubs | 95.6 | 1.0 | 13 |
| 16 | Reds | 88.1 | -1.5 | 17 |
| 17 | Giants | 88.0 | -2.5 | 15 |
| 18 | Yankees | 85.1 | 3.0 | 20 |
| 19 | Red Sox | 84.6 | 1.0 | 18 |
| 20 | Angels | 83.8 | 1.5 | 19 |
| 21 | Guardians | 81.5 | 4.0 | 21 |
| 22 | Pirates | 80.2 | 3.0 | 22 |
| 23 | Tigers | 78.5 | 6.5 | 23 |
| 24 | Nationals | 73.4 | 4.2 | 24 |
| 25 | Cardinals | 62.4 | 2.5 | 25 |
| 26 | Mets | 60.4 | 3.0 | 26 |
| 27 | White Sox | 59.1 | 3.0 | 27 |
| 28 | Rockies | 52.9 | 3.7 | 28 |
| 29 | Royals | 50.1 | 5.5 | 30 |
| 30 | Athletics | 46.9 | 0.0 | 29 |
Teams that could challenge the Rangers for top spot in rankings simply have not been gaining ground on the team that is struggling to cling to a final American League Wild Card playoff spot.
So with just a little more than a week to go in the season, it is possible that Box-Toppers top-ranked team for 2023 may be one that does not even qualify for the postseason.
While the Rangers lead this penultimate—and also next-to-last—team rankings report of the season, the Atlanta Braves continue to lead National League teams and the San Diego Padres are the week’s hottest team.
Rangers lead
Rangers players have accumulated 122.1 Box-Toppers points this season, picking up 2.0 points in the past week. The Rangers lead the second-place Braves (119.4) by 2.7 points. They lead American League teams, ahead of the second-place Tampa Bay Rays (117.6, third overall) by 4.5 points.
The Rangers currently cling to the third and final AL Wild Card spot. They are tied in the standings with the Seattle Mariners but would qualify for the playoff spot on a tiebreaker thanks to a better head-to-head record. But the Rangers are also only one-half game behind the AL West division-leading Houston Astros and so could qualify for the postseason as division champion and possible second overall seed with a first-round bye.
The Rangers are tied for seventh-best winning percentage in baseball, trailing the Atlanta Braves (.641), the Baltimore Orioles (.621), the Los Angeles Dodgers (.618), the Tampa Bay Rays (.610), the Milwaukee Brewers (.569) and the Houston Astros (.556). The Rangers are tied with the Mariners (.553). The Braves are second in Box-Toppers team rankings (119.4 points), the Orioles are fifth (114.5), the Dodgers are fourth (117.3), the Rays are third (117.6), the Brewers are seventh (110.9), the Astros are sixth (112.2) and the Mariners are 12th (98.7).
The Rangers rose to the Box-Toppers team rankings lead after making trade deadline acquisitions for Max Scherzer and Jordan Montgomery. And while those players’ points gained with other teams now counted toward the Rangers overall total, the teams performance since they joined hasn’t lived up to the potential. As a consequence, the Rangers overall record is worse than their accumulated point total. And what’s worse, players with significant Box-Toppers point totals are now injured—including Scherzer with 15.4 points—and won’t be available the rest of the season.
Still the Rangers persist.
Scherzer leads all Rangers players (15.4 Box-Toppers points, ninth among all players and fifth 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 eighth week with 119.4 Box-Toppers points, picking up 2.0 points in the past week. The Braves maintain second place overall and lead NL teams, ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers (117.3) by 2.1 points.
The Braves have baseball’s best winning percentage (.641) and are led by pitcher Spencer Strider (21.1 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: Padres
The San Diego Padres gained 7.5 Box-Toppers points this week, most of any team, giving them 97.5 for the season, rising from 16th to 14th place in team rankings. Their two-spot rise is tied for the biggest jump in team rankings this week with the New York Yankees, who rose from 20th to 18th place with 85.1 points, picking up 3.0 points in the past week.
Biggest fall: Cubs, Giants
The Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants had the biggest fall in team rankings, dropping two spots each in rankings. The Cubs fell from 13th to 15th with 95.6 points, picking up 1.0 points in the past week. The Giants fell from 15th 17th with 88.0 points with a net loss of 2.5 points. The Giants won one game this week, but also released shortstop Paul DeJong, who had 3.5 points this season. The Cincinnati Reds also had a net loss in points, down 1.5, falling from 17th to 16th with 88.1 points, after earning 3.0 Box-Toppers points by winning three games this week but losing 4.5 points by releasing Hunter Renfroe (3.5 points) and Chasen Shreve (1.0 point).
Last place: Athletics
The Oakland Athletics fall from 29th to 30th and last place in Box-Toppers team rankings with 46.9 points, picking up no points in the past week. Last week’s lowest ranked team, the Kansas City Royals, rise to 29th place with 50.1 points, picking up 5.5 points in the past week.
Note
This is the next-to-last (and also penultimate) Box-Toppers team rankings report for 2023. There will be no rankings report next Friday, Sept. 29, as we will wait until after the end of the season a few days later, Sunday, Oct. 1, to post final team rankings.
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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