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The American League’s top two-seeded teams play in the AL Championship Series, but Box-Toppers favors the second-seeded Seattle Mariners over the top-seed Toronto Blue Jays.
The Mariners are higher ranked in Box-Toppers team rankings, their likely starting nine batters have more Box-Toppers points and they hold an overwhelming advantage over the Blue Jays among starting pitchers. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, hold the Box-Toppers edge in relievers and key bench players.
Read MoreMariners pitcher George Kirby is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s American League Division Series Game 5, as the Seattle Mariners win the series, eliminating the Detroit Tigers.
The game took six extra innings to finish and was tied 2-2 from the seventh inning until Jorge Polanco of the Mariners hit a single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 15th inning to win it, 3-2. However, Player of the Game winner Kirby’s contributions came entirely within the game’s first six innings.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow and Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Thursday’s two National League Division Series games.
The Los Angeles Dodgers eliminate Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team, the Philadelphia Phillies, in one of the series. The Chicago Cubs meanwhile force a deciding Game 5 Saturday with the Milwaukee Brewers, with a win to tie that series.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani tops players in Saturday’s four League Division Series opening games.
Other Player of the Game winners in Saturday’s League Division Series games: Jackson Chourio of the Brewers, Tigers pitcher Will Vest and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays.
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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 MoreGuardians pitcher Slade Cecconi is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other Player of the Game winners Saturday include Angels pitcher Kyle Hendricks, Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón, Mariners pitcher George Kirby, Nacho Alvarez Jr. of the Braves and Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen.
Read MoreMariners pitcher George Kirby is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet, fourth overall in Box-Toppers season player rankings and second among American League pitchers, keeps alive the chance to rise to first place among AL pitchers for 2025, after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreReds pitcher Brady Singer is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Padres pitcher Nick Pivetta maintains third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Other Player of the Game winners Friday include Royals pitcher Michael Wacha and Warming Bernabel of the Rockies.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Yerry De los Santos is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Other Player of the Game winners Thursday are Mariners pitcher George Kirby and Marcell Ozuna of the Braves.
Read MorePhillies pitcher Zack Wheeler is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, extending his lead in season player rankings.
Also Monday, Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer has now earned Box-Toppers points in 17 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2025. Other Player of the Game winners Monday include Mariners pitcher George Kirby and Wilyer Abreu of the Red Sox.
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The New York Yankees regain the lead in Box-Toppers team rankings this week, passing last week’s leader, the Detroit Tigers.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs maintain their lead among National League teams and the Los Angeles Angels are the week’s hottest team.
Read MoreMariners pitcher George Kirby is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors. In addition, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extends his streak of earning Box-Toppers points to 18 consecutive seasons Sunday, the longest active streak, and also extends his lead in career Box-Toppers points among active players.
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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.
Read MoreDiamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Mariners pitcher George Kirby rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreMariners pitcher George Kirby is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to 10th place in season player rankings.
Also Sunday, Aaron Judge of the Yankees increases his 2024 Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters after earning Player of the Game honors. In addition, National League Most Valuable Player favorite Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers earns Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors, but only ranks 14th among NL batters in 2024 Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreGiants pitcher Kyle Harrison is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Mariners pitcher George Kirby rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreOn 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.
Read MoreThree of Box-Toppers four main category leaders, including the overall leader in Box-Toppers points for 2024, were not selected to the 2024 Major League Baseball All-Star teams.
Yankees pitcher Luis Gil, who leads all players with 14.4 Box-Toppers points, was not selected to participate in the All-Star Game. Joining him as key All-Star snubs are Dylan Cease of the Padres, who leads National League pitchers with 12.4 points and outfielder Brenton Doyle of the Rockies, who leads NL batters with 8.7 points.
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.