The San Diego Padres remain atop Box-Toppers team rankings for the second week.
Meanwhile, the New York Yankees continue to lead American League teams, while the Washington Nationals are the week’s hottest team.
Read MorePirates’ Heaney tops players for Sunday, April 6; Red Sox’ Bregman rises to 5th place
Pirates pitcher Andrew Heaney is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, two Red Sox batters rise into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earn Player of the Game honors in a doubleheader. Alex Bregman rises to fifth place (earning American League Player of the Day honors) and Wilyer Abreu rises to sixth.
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Logo source: Chris Creamer’s SportsLogos.Net
Box-Toppers picks Dodgers over Orioles in 2025 World Series, plus our awards forecasts
Box-Toppers picks the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the 2025 World Series, beating the predicted American League champion Baltimore Orioles.
Box-Toppers projects the Dodgers will have the most wins among all teams—108—and that National League teams will be among the most dominant. Eight of the 15 NL teams are projected to have as many or more wins as the best American League teams (89).
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers season-by-season AL & NL pitching & batting leaders, 1995-2024
A look at Box-Toppers season-by-season leaders chart for each of the past 30 seasons, including the leaders in Box-Toppers points each season among four main categories—American League and National League pitchers and batters.
Also, a look at how often Box-Toppers leaders win major postseason awards (Cy Young and Most Valuable Player), what players have led a Box-Toppers season category most often since tracking began in 1995 and what teams have had the most category leaders in 30 seasons. Also, a look at the lowest point totals to lead a season category, which includes 2024 leaders.
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Yankees hold Box-Toppers points advantages over Dodgers in 2024 World Series
The New York Yankees hold dominating Box-Toppers points advantages over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2024 World Series.
Looking at the Box-Toppers numbers alone, the Yankees can’t lose. But the Dodgers this postseason through mojo and moxie (and Mookie), have won two postseason series despite being severely depleted at starting pitching, the same handicap they face in the World Series.
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Source: MLB.com
Box-Toppers’ AL Division Series preview: Tigers vs. Guardians, Royals vs. Yankees
Both American League Division Series begin Saturday.
The Detroit Tigers face the Cleveland Guardians in one best-of-five game series and the Kansas City Royals face the New York Yankees in the other. The top two AL seeds, the Yankees (first) and the Guardians (second) received byes from the first round of playoffs and face the winners of the best-of-three Wild Card series played this week.
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Phillies finish atop Box-Toppers team rankings after leading nearly all season
The Philadelphia Phillies finish 2024 atop Box-Toppers team rankings, leading for the 22nd straight week.
Meanwhile, the New York Yankees maintain their lead among American League teams in final Box-Toppers team rankings, while the non-playoff-bound Seattle Mariners are the hottest team over the final days of the season.
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Despite trade deadline team shake-up, Phillies hold Box-Toppers team ranking lead
The Philadelphia Phillies maintain the Box-Toppers team rankings lead for the 14th week, despite winning only one game in the past week and making only minimal moves at a trade deadline which shook up team rankings.
Among the changes this week: The New York Yankees rise past the Baltimore Orioles to regain the lead among American League teams and the Los Angeles Dodgers are the hottest team of the week, in part due to landing the top trade deadline acquisition, picking up pitcher Jack Flaherty (9.0 Box-Toppers points) from the Tigers.
Read MorePitchers are Box-Toppers points team leaders on 27 of 30 clubs; batters lead 3 teams
On 27 of the 30 Major League clubs, pitchers are the team’s leader in 2024 Box-Toppers points. Batters lead the other three teams.
Pitchers are dominating much the way they are winning the overwhelming majority of Box-Toppers points this season compared to batters. Pitchers are winning 63 percent of all points this season compared to 37 percent for batters. The all-time record-low share of points earned by batters is 38.1 percent set in 2022. Last year, in 2023, batters won 40.7 percent of all points.
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Phillies lead Box-Toppers team rankings for 3rd week, Orioles rise to lead AL teams
he Philadelphia Phillies lead Box-Toppers team rankings for the third straight week.
Meanwhile, the Baltimore Orioles rise to lead American League teams and the Minnesota Twins are the week’s hottest team.
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Box-Toppers picks Dodgers over Astros in 2024 World Series, plus our awards forecasts
Box-Toppers picks the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the 2024 World Series, beating the predicted American League champion Houston Astros.
Box-Toppers projects the Dodgers will have the most wins among all teams—103—and will be one of three teams with 99 or more wins, along with the Astros and the Atlanta Braves.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers season-by-season AL & NL pitching & batting leaders, 1995-2023
Analyzing 29 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching and batting in both leagues.
In 2023, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, American League Most Valuable Player, was the only player who won a major postseason award and also led his Box-Toppers category (leading AL batters with 19.4). Also, Pete Alonso of the Mets became the ninth batter since 1995 to lead his league’s batters in Box-Toppers points more than once, leading NL batters for the second straight season.
Read MoreA pitchers vs. batters breakdown of each team’s Box-Toppers point total for 2023
The World Series champion Texas Rangers, leaders among all teams in Box-Toppers points in 2023, also led all teams in points earned by pitchers. The Los Angeles Dodgers, meanwhile, which finished third overall among all teams, had the most points won by batters in 2023.
Read MoreHow 2023 Silver Sluggers winners fared in Box-Toppers rankings
Six of the 20 batters winning Silver Slugger Awards in 2023 were also among the leaders at their positions in 2023 Box-Toppers point totals.
The awards are given to the top batter in each position in both leagues, voted on by Major League Baseball coaches and managers. Box-Toppers, analyzing traditional box scores, tracks which player most helps his team win the most games, awarding points for the top player in each game.
Read MoreTop pitcher and batter in Box-Toppers points on each team at All-Star break
Shohei Ohtani leads all Angels pitchers in 2023 Box-Toppers points. He also leads all Angels batters in 2023 Box-Toppers points.
The overall 2023 Box-Toppers points leader (13.9) at the All-Star break is the only player to lead his team in both categories. On the other 29 clubs, pitchers have the most Box-Toppers points on 24 teams and batters lead four teams.
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Rays, Rangers have most players on Box-Toppers’ top 100 midseason player list
The Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers have the most players among the top 100 in Box-Toppers’ 2023 player rankings at the All-Star break.
Both the Rays and Rangers have seven players on the top 100 list (which actually consists of 102 players because of a tie for 100th place). Both American League teams are also among the top three in Box-Toppers team rankings at the All-Star break—the Rays rank first and the Rangers rank third, second among AL teams.
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Tampa Bay Rays lead narrows as they top Box-Toppers team rankings for 14th week
The Tampa Bay Rays lead in Box-Toppers team rankings for the 14th straight week but their lead is narrowing.
The Atlanta Braves lead National League teams for the second week and are closing in on the Rays. Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox are the week’s hottest team.
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Tampa Bay Rays lead Box-Toppers team rankings for 13th straight week
The Tampa Bay Rays maintain their lead in Box-Toppers team rankings for the 13th straight week.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves rise to lead National League teams and the Miami Marlins are the week’s hottest team.
Read MoreBox-Toppers picks Mets over Yankees in 2023 World Series
Box-Toppers picks the New York Mets to win the 2023 World Series, beating the predicted American League champion New York Yankees.
Box-Toppers projects the Mets will have the most wins among all teams—104—and will be one of three teams with more than 100 wins, along with the Yankees and the San Diego Padres.
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Mets lead 2023 Box-Toppers preseason team rankings; Yankees top AL teams
The New York Mets are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2023 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the World Series champion Houston Astros saw the biggest decline.
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