The Philadelphia Phillies finish 2025 atop Box-Toppers team rankings, leading for the fourth straight week.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers 2025 final team rankings through games of Sunday, Sept. 28. 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. 19 to Sept. 28. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of Sept. 18.| Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phillies | 131.4 | 7.4 | 1 |
| 2 | Yankees | 127.1 | 10.2 | 3 |
| 3 | Rangers | 123.6 | 2.7 | 2 |
| 4 | Padres | 118.6 | 8.2 | 7 |
| 5 | Dodgers | 117.9 | 7.0 | 9 |
| 6 | Mariners | 117.6 | 7.7 | 8 |
| 7 | Cubs | 117.6 | 5.2 | 6 |
| 8 | Red Sox | 112.7 | 6.5 | 10 |
| 9 | Brewers | 112.6 | -0.7 | 5 |
| 10 | Blue Jays | 111.7 | 7.5 | 11 |
| 11 | Tigers | 109.3 | -5.0 | 4 |
| 12 | Royals | 107.4 | 6.5 | 12 |
| 13 | Braves | 106.0 | 14.5 | 16 |
| 14 | Mets | 104.5 | 6.0 | 13 |
| 15 | Reds | 102.7 | 7.5 | 15 |
| 16 | Astros | 101.9 | 3.5 | 14 |
| 17 | Guardians | 96.3 | 8.5 | 17 |
| 18 | Marlins | 84.9 | 7.7 | 21 |
| 19 | Giants | 84.8 | 5.0 | 19 |
| 20 | Angels | 84.6 | 3.7 | 18 |
| 21 | Cardinals | 80.4 | 4.5 | 22 |
| 22 | Rays | 80.0 | 2.0 | 20 |
| 23 | Athletics | 77.4 | 4.0 | 23 |
| 24 | Orioles | 76.5 | 6.5 | 26 |
| 25 | Twins | 75.4 | 2.5 | 25 |
| 26 | Diamondbacks | 74.9 | 2.0 | 24 |
| 27 | Pirates | 69.7 | 7.0 | 27 |
| 28 | White Sox | 64.4 | 4.0 | 28 |
| 29 | Nationals | 60.1 | 4.0 | 29 |
| 30 | Rockies | 47.0 | 2.0 | 30 |
Meanwhile, the New York Yankees rise to lead among American League teams in final Box-Toppers team rankings, while the non-playoff-bound Atlanta Braves are the hottest team over the final days of the season.
Among the 12 teams qualifying for the postseason, the Phillies rank highest and are the second-seeded National League team, while the Cleveland Guardians, the third-seeded AL Wild Card team, rank 17th overall, lowest among all playoff teams. Five non-playoff teams rank higher than the Guardians in Box-Toppers rankings, including three AL teams.
Phillies lead
Phillies players have accumulated 131.4 Box-Toppers points in 2025, picking up 7.4 since the last team rankings report Sept. 18, leading National League teams for the fifth straight week. They lead over the second-place New York Yankees (127.1) and lead over the second-place NL team, the San Diego Padres (118.6 points, picking up 8.2 over the past week).
The Phillies have baseball’s second-best winning percentage (.593) behind the Milwaukee Brewers (.599). The Brewers fell from fifth place on Sept. 18 to ninth place in final team rankings with 112.6 points, losing a net 0.7 points in the final days of the season.
The Phillies are led by pitcher Zack Wheeler (20.1 Box-Toppers points, third overall and second among NL pitchers). Wheeler, however, is out for the season with venous thoracic outlet syndrome and is set to undergo thoracic outlet decompression surgery, with recovery time expected to be six to eight months. Phillies’ top batter is Kyle Schwarber (12.0 Box-Toppers points, first among NL batters). Twenty-six different Phillies players earned Box-Toppers points in 2025.
This is the second straight season the Phillies have led Box-Toppers team rankings. They finished first in 2024 with 124.9 Box-Toppers points but lost to the New York Mets in the NL Divisional Series, three games to one.
Yankees lead AL teams
The New York Yankees rise from third to second place overall with 127.1 Box-Toppers points, picking up 10.2 since the last team rankings report Sept. 18, the most of any AL team. They pass last week’s top AL team, the Texas Rangers (123.6 points, picking up 2.7 since the last rankings report), who fall from second to third overall and to second place among AL teams.
The Yankees are tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for best winning percentage among AL teams (.580). The Blue Jays rank 10th in Box-Toppers team rankings with 111.7 Box-Toppers points, picking up 7.5 in the past week. The Blue Jays won a tiebreaker over the Yankees to win the AL East Division title and become the top AL playoff seed, earning a bye in the Wild Card round. The Yankees become the fourth-seeded AL playoff team and will play the fifth-seeded Boston Red Sox in the best-of-three-game AL Wild Card round.
The Yankees are led by pitcher Max Fried (14.4 Box-Toppers points, 13th overall and fifth among AL pitchers). Yankees top batter is Jazz Chisholm Jr. (7.2 Box-Toppers points, 12th among AL batters). Thirty different Yankees players earned Box-Toppers points in 2025.
The Rangers, who the Yankees lead by just 3.5 points, have the most 2025 Box-Toppers points among non-playoff qualifying teams. Their Box-Toppers point total is inflated by acquiring two players with a combined 8.4 Box-Toppers points late this season: pitcher Cal Quantrill (who earned 6.7 points in 2025 with the Marlins) and first baseman Donovan Solano (who earned 1.7 points in 2025 with the Mariners). Quantrill never played for the Rangers in 2025 and Solano played one game. The Rangers finished with a .500 winning percentage, six games behind the third AL Wild Card team.
Hottest team: Braves
The Atlanta Braves are the hottest team of the final 10 days of the season, picking up 14.5 since the previous report Sept. 18, most of any team. The Braves finish with 106.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, rising from 16th to 13th overall.
The Braves picked up 7.5 Box-Toppers points by winning six of their nine games over the past 10 days and the rest by signing pitcher Charlie Morton, who had earned 7.0 points this season for the Orioles and Tigers.
Biggest fall: Tigers
The Detroit Tigers had the biggest decline among all teams, falling seven spots from fourth overall to 11th with 109.3 Box-Toppers points, losing a net of 5.0 points in the final 10 days of the season.
The Tigers won only two of their nine games over the final days of the season, gaining 2.0 Box-Toppers points, but released pitcher Charlie Morton, who had earned 7.0 points this season with the Orioles and Tigers, resulting in the net loss in points.
The Tigers held on to secure the sixth and final AL playoff seed. But they led AL teams in Box-Toppers rankings for 11 straight weeks ending Sept. 4 and were Box-Toppers overall top-ranked team for 10 of 14 weeks between May 22 and Aug. 28.
Also notable: Brewers
While the Milwaukee Brewers finish as the overall top seed in the playoffs with the best winning percentage (.599) and therefore, home-field advantage for as far as they advance in the postseason, during their final 10 days they had a net loss of 0.7 points and fell from fifth to ninth overall with 112.6 Box-Toppers points.
The net loss occurred because the Brewers designated for assignment pitcher Erick Fedde, who had earned 2.7 points for the Cardinals earlier this season.
Last place: Rockies
The Colorado Rockies remain in 30th and last place for the 23rd straight week with 47.0 Box-Toppers points, picking up 2.0 points in the past week.
Postseason teams
Ten of the 12 teams qualifying for the postseason are among the top 11 teams in Box-Toppers team rankings for 2025. Two teams rank outside top 11
The Cincinnati Reds rank 15th with 102.7 Box-Toppers points and are the sixth-seeded NL postseason team.
The Cleveland Guardians rank 17th with 96.3 Box-Toppers points and are the third-seeded AL postseason team and AL Central Division champions.
Here is a look at each postseason team with their Box-Toppers team ranking in their league and their seeding in their league postseason tournament:
National League
Phillies: First, second seed
Padres, Second, fifth seed
Dodgers: Third, third seed
Cubs: Fourth, fourth seed
Brewers: Fifth, first seed
Reds: Eighth (behind sixth-ranked Braves and seventh-ranked Mets, both non-playoff teams), sixth seed
American League
Yankees: First, fourth seed
Mariners: Third (behind second-ranked Rangers, who are not in playoffs), second seed
Red Sox: Fourth, fifth seed
Blue Jays: Fifth, first seed
Tigers: Sixth, sixth seed
Guardians: Ninth (behind seventh-ranked Royals and eighth-ranked Astros, both non-playoff teams), third seed
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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(Revision: An earlier version of this post had the Los Angeles Dodgers with 116.9 Box-Toppers points for the season, seventh overall. But in the course of cross-checking other statistics, I discovered that I missed tabulating the results of one game this season: the June 20 Dodgers win over the Nationals, 6-5, with Dodgers third baseman Miguel Rojas winning Player of the Game honors and earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point. That gave Rojas 2.0 points for the season, but it gave the Dodgers 117.9, boosting them from seventh to fifth place overall, moving ahead of the Seattle Mariners (who fall to sixth) and the Chicago Cubs (who fall to seventh).