The Los Angeles Dodgers lead Box-Toppers first weekly team rankings report of the 2025 season.
Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers lead American League teams and the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers are the hottest teams of the past week.
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Dodgers, Mets, Phillies among leaders in Box-Toppers offseason team rankings
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 MoreSeven Box-Toppers points leaders among players named to 2024 All-MLB First Team
Seven Box-Toppers points leaders are among players selected for 2024’s 16-member “All-MLB” Team announced Thursday.
Three other Box-Toppers leaders were chosen for the “All-MLB” Second Team.
The All-MLB team was selected with half the vote coming from fans and half coming from an expert panel. Unlike the selections for baseball’s All-Star Game, players on not selected based on their affiliation with American League or National League. Rather, all players are chosen from all Major League Baseball regardless of league as “First Team” or “Second Team” players.
Read MoreYankees’ Juan Soto tops players in American League win in 2024 All-Star Game
Juan Soto of the Yankees is Box-Toppers 2024 All-Star Game Player of the Game.
Soto hit a third-inning double that drove in two runs, in the American League’s 5-3 win Tuesday over the National League. Later that inning, he scored on a single by David Fry of the Guardians, which tied the game at 3-3. Soto went 1-for-1, scoring once and driving in two runs.
Read MoreNationals’ Parker tops players for Sunday, April 21; Glasnow, Nola rise into top 5 for 2024
Nationals pitcher Mitchell Parker is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, making his Box-Toppers debut.
Also Sunday, three players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after each earned Player of the Game honors: Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow rises to third place, Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola rises to fourth place and Rangers closing pitcher Kirby Yates rises to eighth.
Read MoreGiants’ Webb tops players for Thursday, April 18; Rays’ Pepiot rises to 8th in rankings
Giants pitcher Logan Webb is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Rays pitcher Ryan Pepiot rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreBox-Toppers’ NL Division Series previews: Marlins vs. Braves, Padres vs. Dodgers
Both National League Division Series begin Tuesday.
The Miami Marlins face the Atlanta Braves in one best-of-five game series and the San Diego Padres take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the other series.
Read MoreWhat would 2019 have looked like if only the final 60 games of season were played?
What would the 2019 baseball season have looked like if only the final 60 games were played?
In many ways, it would have looked exactly like the entire, overall 2019 season: From about July 25 on in 2019, the Houston Astros were Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team and Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole was Box-Toppers’ top-ranked player. Both also led for the overall 2019 season.
Read MorePlayers ranking highest in Box-Toppers points in 2019 fail to win any postseason awards
No Box-Toppers points leaders were among the winners in six major postseason awards for 2019.
In fact, looking at Box-Toppers’ ballot in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, none of the 10 candidates we chose for awards based on Box-Toppers points won an award.
Read MoreYates, Hendriks win Reliever of the Year Awards from internet baseball writers group
Kirby Yates of the Padres and Liam Hendriks of the Athletics are winners of this year’s reliever of the year awards as voted on by the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA).
Read MoreAthletics’ Josh Phegley tops players for Monday, Aug. 26; Cardinals’ Gant tops NL players
Josh Phegley is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Phegley went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 19-4 win over the Royals.
Read MoreRangers' Hamels top players for Friday, May 6, rises to 6th in Box-Toppers rankings
Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 6:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 6.0 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 5.0 |
| 5 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 5.0 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | chi al | 4.7 |
| 8 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 4.7 |
| 9 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | cf lf dh ph | nym nl | 4.5 |
| 10 | Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | sea al | 4.5 |
Hamels struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit, in the 5-1 win over the Tigers. Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season, rising to sixth in player rankings, first among American League pitchers.
Hamels also now has 130.9 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 28th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes one player on the “all-time” list, Trevor Hoffman (129.4) and now trails 27th-ranked player, Jason Giambi (133.4).
National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher John Lackey struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing two runs and six hits, in the 8-6 win over the Nationals.
Lackey now has 111.5 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 50th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes one player on the “all-time” list, Tom Glavine (110.6) and now trails 49th-ranked player, Kevin Brown (112.8).
American League Batter of the Day—Melky Cabrera of the White Sox doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 10-4 win over the Twins.
National League Batter of the Day—Christian Yelich of the Marlins hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice, in the 6-4 win over the Phillies.
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 4 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | nyy al | 187.0 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 180.0 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 175.3 |
| 7 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 8 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 9 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 10 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 165.3 |
| 11 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 12 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 163.7 |
| 13 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 14 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 15 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 16 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 17 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 18 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 149.4 |
| 19 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
| 20 | Javier Vazquez | pi sp | retired | 148.3 |
Rankings—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke rose to 18th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when player tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Greinke (6IP 7H 2R 8K W in the 7-2 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 149.4 for his career. He passes one player on the “all-time” list, Chipper Jones (149.0) and now trails 17th-ranked player, Greg Maddux (151.7). Greinke has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Debut—Yankees pitcher Kirby Yates made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Yates (0.2IP 0H 0R K W in the 3-2 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut June 7, 2014, and was playing in his 68th career game. He is the 3,628th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lackey earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Cabrera and Yelich each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/6 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | Rangers | Cole Hamels (W,4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| 11.2 | Indians | Danny Salazar (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| NL | 7.0 | Cubs | John Lackey (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | |
| 6.0 | Pirates | Francisco Liriano (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 6.0 | Padres | Drew Pomeranz (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | Rays | Chris Archer (W,2-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | White Sox | Melky Cabrera, LF | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Astros | Carlos Correa, SS | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Giants | Santiago Casilla (S,7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Marlins | Christian Yelich, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Reds | Joey Votto, 1B | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Dbacks | Zack Greinke (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 1.2 | Yankees | Kirby Yates (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Blue Jays | Kevin Pillar, CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 4.7 | 20.1 | 71.7 | 130.9 | -10.7 |
| Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 4.4 | 17.8 | 27.2 | 27.2 | -9.0 |
| Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 4.0 | 18.9 | 59.4 | 99.2 | -10.9 |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 3.7 | 13.4 | 33.1 | 111.5 | -6.0 |
| Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 3.0 | 23.7 | 88.8 | 149.4 | -17.7 |
| Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 3.0 | 19.0 | 43.1 | 43.1 | -13.0 |
| Pomeranz, Drew 3061 | pi sp mr | sd nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 0.0 |
| Yelich, Christian 3334 | lf | fla nl | 2.5 | 5.0 | 12.5 | 12.5 | 0.0 |
| Cabrera, Melky 2143 | lf | chi al | 2.5 | 3.5 | 18.0 | 29.0 | 1.5 |
| Casilla, Santiago 2301 | pi cp | sf nl | 2.0 | 7.0 | 19.7 | 22.7 | -3.0 |
| Correa, Carlos 3506 | ss | hou al | 1.0 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 | -6.2 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 1.0 | 6.0 | 22.7 | 54.7 | -4.0 |
| Pillar, Kevin 3486 | cf | tor al | 1.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | -2.5 |
| Yates, Kirby 3628 | pi mr | nyy al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |