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Source: MLB.com
The top-seeded American League team, the Toronto Blue Jays face the New York Yankees, Box-Toppers’ top-ranked AL team in one American League Division League Series. In the other, the Detroit Tigers, who led Box-Toppers rankings much of the season before a September collapse, face the second-seed Seattle Mariners.
A Box-Toppers look at both American League Division Series, which begin Saturday.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Cam Schlittler tops players in Thursday’s three Wild Card playoff games.
Other Player of the Game winners in Thursday’s Wild Card series games: Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon and Tigers pitcher Jack Flaherty.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto tops players in Wednesday’s four Wild Card playoff games.
Other Player of the Game winners in Wednesday’s Wild Card series games: Padres pitcher Dylan Cease, Yankees closing pitcher David Bednar and Guardians closing pitcher Cade Smith.
Read MoreTigers pitcher Tarik Skubal tops players in Tuesday’s four Wild Card playoff games.
Other Player of the Game winners in Tuesday’s Wild Card series games: Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet, Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell and Cubs relief pitcher Daniel Palencia.
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Seven of the eight starting pitchers in Tuesday’s opening Wild Card round games have more than 10 Box-Toppers points in 2025, and are among the season’s top 40 overall players.
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal, Box-Toppers’ 2025 Player of the Year, leads the way. His 22.1 Box-Toppers points led all players during the regular season, and he starts Game 1 of AL Wild Card Series against the Guardians.
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The Philadelphia Phillies finish 2025 atop Box-Toppers team rankings, leading for the fourth straight week.
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.
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The Philadelphia Phillies lead Box-Toppers team rankings for the third week in a row.
Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers, although currently outside a postseason position, lead American League teams. Also, the Cleveland Guardians are the week’s hottest team.
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The Detroit Tigers lead in Box-Toppers team rankings for the third straight week and are the week’s hottest team.
Meanwhile, the San Diego Padres maintain the lead among National League teams.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers rise to first place in Box-Toppers team rankings this week, passing the Detroit Tigers, who have led for the past two weeks.
The Tigers maintain their lead among American League teams while the Toronto Blue Jays are the week’s hottest team.
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Logo source: Chris Creamer’s SportsLogos.Net
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).
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The Los Angeles Dodgers are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2025 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the New York Yankees lead American League teams, the Toronto Blue Jays made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points and the Atlanta Braves had the biggest decline.
Read MoreA 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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The Los Angeles Dodgers are Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team going into 2025 but with player injuries factored in, the New York Mets hold the overall edge.
The current 2025 roster of last year’s World Series champion Dodgers accumulated 118.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, most of any team. However, with several players injured and expected to miss time in 2025, their injury-adjusted Box-Toppers point total drops to 106.7, fifth among all teams.
Read MoreIn 2024, teams with the most Box-Toppers points earned by pitchers generally ranked higher in overall Box-Toppers team rankings.
For example, the Philadephia Phillies led all teams with 124.9 Box-Toppers points. Pitchers earned 78.0 of those points, fifth-most among all teams. Box-Toppers’ seven top-ranked teams were all among the top 10 in points earned by pitchers.
However, the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers were a notable anomaly. While the team finished eighth overall in Box-Toppers points (113.7), they finished 11th in points earned by pitchers (66.2) and third in points earned by batters (47.5).
Read MoreOverall Box-Toppers points leader, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, leads the Box-Toppers All-Star teams for the 2024 regular season.
The American League and National League All-Star teams are composed of the players with the highest Box-Toppers point totals by position in each league. In addition to nine batters in each league are the top four starting pitchers in each league and the top closing pitcher.
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Box-Toppers’ top NL relief pitcher Ryan Helsley of the Cardinals wins 2024 NL Reliever of the Year. Emmanuel Clase of the Guardians wins AL Reliever of the Year ahead of Box-Toppers’ top AL reliever Josh Hader of the Astros.
Ryan Helsley of the Cardinals, who led NL relievers with 12.0 Box-Toppers points, won the NL award. But Emmanuel Clase of the Guardians won the AL award, ahead of Box-Toppers’ top AL reliever, Josh Hader of the Astros.
Hader led AL closers with 11.0 Box-Toppers points while Clase earned 4.0 points, eighth among AL closers. Clase did, however, lead AL closers with 47 saves in 2024. Hader had 34 saves in 2024, second-most in the AL.
Read MorePete Alonso of the Mets and Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Friday’s two League Championship Series games.
In the National League, the New York Mets extend their best-of-seven-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, now trailing 3-2. In the American League, the New York Yankees take a 3-1 lead in their best-of—seven game series against the Cleveland Guardians.
Read MoreMookie Betts of the Dodgers and Jhonkensy Noel of the Guardians are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Thursday’s two League Championship Series games.
In both best-of-seven-games series, the Los Angeles Dodgers take a 3-1 lead over the New York Mets in the National League, while the Cleveland Guardians now trail the New York Yankees, 2-1, in the American League.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Walker Buehler is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s National League Championship Series Game 3.
Buehler struck out six over four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks in the 8-0 win over the Mets. The Los Angeles Dodgers take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven game series over the New York Mets.
Read MoreBox-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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.