Both National League Division Series begin Thursday.
The Wild Card Colorado Rockies face the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers in one best-of-five game series and the NL East winners, the Atlanta Braves take on the Los Angeles Dodgers, champions of the NL West in the other series.
NL Division Series, Game 1: Rockies at Brewers
The Rockies rank 13th in Box-Toppers team rankings (106.0 Box-Toppers points), while the Brewers rank third (132.4 points). The Rockies are the lowest-ranked postseason team (ranking below three non-postseason teams) while the Brewers are the top NL team.
Both teams finished the season strong. The Brewers had 11.0 Box-Toppers points since Sept. 20, most of any team. The Rockies had 9.0 points.
The pitching matchup Thursday:
Rockies—Antonio Senzatela, 4.0 Box-Toppers points, 252nd among all players, 85th among NL pitchers.
Brewers—Brandon Woodruff, 1.0 Box-Toppers point, 641st among all players, 164th among NL pitchers.
Neither pitcher can be considered a starting ace that you’d like to pencil in for Game 1 of an important series. True, both teams needed to exert extra effort after the regular season to determine their playoff seeding, with the Rockies losing their NL West championship tiebreaker game to the Dodgers on Monday, then winning the NL Wild Card Game Tuesday over the Cubs. And the Brewers also beat the Cubs in the NL Central championship tiebreaker Monday. So it’s understandable that pitching lineups are not in perfect synch with circumstances.
Senzatela has served in a starting role since July and the Brewers are 7-6 in games he starts. He’s pitched as many as seven innings in two of his starts. He’s earned 3.0 of his 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2018 as a starter.
Woodruff started four times, all prior to July, and the Rockies are 3-1 in games he starts. The deepest Woodruff went in a start was five innings. His 1.0 Box-Toppers point came on Sept. 2 when he pitched four innings of middle relief.
The Rockies top-ranked player is pitcher German Marquez with 14.7 Box-Toppers points, 17th among all players and sixth among NL pitchers. Marquez started Monday in the NL West tiebreaker loss to the Dodgers.
The Brewers top-ranked player is pitcher Jhoulys Chacin with 13.7 Box-Toppers points, 20th among all players and seventh among NL pitchers. Chacin started Monday in the NL Central tiebreaker win over the Cubs.
The Brewers top-ranked batter is outfielder Christian Yelich with 11.5 Box-Toppers points, 34th among all players and first among NL batters. Yelich earned 6.5 of his 11.5 points from Aug. 29 on.
The Box-Toppers point totals of all players on the teams’ active rosters at season’s end are below. Players who did not earn Box-Toppers points in 2018 are not listed.
Rockies vs. Brewers
Here are players for both teams in the NL Division Series beginning Thursday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2018. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.| Colorado Rockies | Milwaukee Brewers | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | 14.7 | Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi sp | 13.7 | |
| Freeland, Kyle 3763 | pi sp | 12.4 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp mr | 11.7 | |
| Gray, Jon 3634 | pi sp | 11.7 | Yelich, Christian 3334 | rf lf | 11.5 | |
| Anderson, Tyler 3656 | pi sp | 8.0 | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | 8.7 | |
| Davis, Wade 2681 | pi cp | 7.0 | Granderson, Curtis 2051 | dh rf | 8.2 | |
| Story, Trevor 3607 | ss | 6.0 | Gonzalez, Gio 2626 | pi sp | 7.7 | |
| Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | 5.0 | Shaw, Travis 3544 | 3b | 6.5 | |
| Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | rf | 4.5 | Anderson, Chase 3328 | pi sp | 6.4 | |
| Senzatela, Antonio 3760 | pi sp mr | 4.0 | Aguilar, Jesus 3787 | 1b | 5.5 | |
| Oberg, Scott 4024 | pi mr | 4.0 | Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | lf | 5.0 | |
| LeMahieu, DJ 3091 | 2b | 3.5 | Knebel, Corey 3757 | pi cp | 5.0 | |
| Dahl, David 3714 | rf cf | 3.5 | Guerra, Junior 3633 | pi sp | 5.0 | |
| Bettis, Chad 3481 | pi sp | 3.0 | Miley, Wade 3006 | pi sp | 4.0 | |
| Ottavino, Adam 3054 | pi mr cp | 3.0 | Lyles, Jordan 3100 | pi mr sp | 4.0 | |
| Blackmon, Charlie 2891 | cf | 2.5 | Schoop, Jonathan 3307 | 2b | 3.5 | |
| Desmond, Ian 2673 | 1b | 2.5 | Cain, Lorenzo 3171 | cf | 3.5 | |
| Parra, Gerardo 2746 | lf ph | 2.0 | Moustakas, Mike 2967 | 3b | 3.5 | |
| McGee, Jake 3385 | pi mr | 2.0 | Suter, Brent 3843 | pi sp | 3.0 | |
| McMahon, Ryan 4004 | ph | 1.7 | Soria, Joakim 2258 | pi cp | 3.0 | |
| Oh, Seunghwan 3693 | pi cp | 1.0 | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi mr cp | 3.0 | |
| Cuevas, Noel 4015 | rf | 1.0 | Jeffress, Jeremy 3473 | pi cp | 2.0 | |
| Murphy, Tom 4030 | ph | 1.0 | Davies, Zach 3581 | pi sp | 1.0 | |
| Broxton, Keon 3785 | cf | 1.0 | ||||
| Santana, Domingo 3507 | rf | 1.0 | ||||
| Albers, Matt 2274 | pi cp | 1.0 | ||||
| Arcia, Orlando 3717 | ss | 1.0 | ||||
| Phillips, Brett 3914 | rf | 1.0 | ||||
| Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Barnes, Jacob 3941 | pi cp | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 106.0 | Totals | 132.4 | |||
NL Division Series, Game 1: Braves at Dodgers
The Braves rank ninth in Box-Toppers team rankings (116.3 Box-Toppers points), while the Dodgers rank sixth (128.0 points). The Braves rank fourth among NL teams while the Dodgers rank second.
The Dodgers had a stronger finish to the season, picking up 9.7 Box-Toppers points since Sept. 20 (which included 2.0 points earned in the NL West tiebreaker game Monday). The Braves earned 6.0 points in the season’s final 10 days.
The pitching matchup Thursday:
Braves—Mike Foltynewicz, 13.7 Box-Toppers points, 22nd among all players, eighth among NL pitchers.
Dodgers—Hyun-Jin Ryu, 10.1 Box-Toppers points, 49th among all players, 26th among NL pitchers.
Foltynewicz is the Braves top-ranked player in Box-Toppers season player rankings. The Dodgers used their top-ranked player, Walker Buehler as starting pitcher in Monday’s tiebreaker game. Buehler earned Box-Toppers Player of the Day honors. Buehler had 15.1 Box-Toppers points on the season, 15th among all players and fifth among NL pitchers.
The Braves top-ranked batter is outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. with 9.2 Box-Toppers points, 58th among all players and fourth among NL batters.
The Dodgers top-ranked batter is shortstop Manny Machado with 5.7 Box-Toppers points, 156th among all players and 25th among NL batters.
The Box-Toppers point totals of all players on the teams’ active rosters at season’s end are below. Players who did not earn Box-Toppers points in 2018 are not listed.
Among those not earning points in 2018 is Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers. While Bellinger played in 162 games in 2018, he was not a Box-Toppers Player of the Game in any of them. In 2017, he earned 8.7 Box-Toppers points to lead all NL rookies, though he played in 30 fewer games, earning NL Rookie of the Year honors.
Braves vs. Dodgers
Here are players for both teams in the NL Division Series beginning Thursday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2018. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.| Atlanta Braves | Los Angeles Dodgers | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Foltynewicz, Mike 3455 | pi sp | 13.7 | Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | 15.1 | |
| Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | 12.7 | Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp mr | 10.7 | |
| Newcomb, Sean 3831 | pi sp | 11.4 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | 10.1 | |
| Acuña, Ronald Jr. 3947 | lf | 9.2 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | 9.7 | |
| Sanchez, Anibal 2187 | pi sp | 8.4 | Stripling, Ross 3629 | pi sp | 8.7 | |
| Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | 7.5 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | 8.0 | |
| Minter, A.J. 3946 | pi cp | 5.0 | Machado, Manny 3087 | ss | 5.7 | |
| Duvall, Adam 3573 | lf ph | 4.5 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | 5.0 | |
| Swanson, Dansby 3751 | ss | 4.5 | Puig, Yasiel 3193 | rf | 5.0 | |
| Duda, Lucas 2818 | dh 1b | 4.0 | Pederson, Joc 3621 | lf cf | 5.0 | |
| Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | 3.7 | Ferguson, Caleb 4006 | pi mr | 5.0 | |
| Flowers, Tyler 3101 | ca | 3.2 | Kemp, Matt 2151 | lf | 4.5 | |
| Adams, Lane 3850 | rf cf ph pr | 3.0 | Freese, David 2710 | 3b 1b | 4.5 | |
| Culberson, Charlie 3324 | lf 2b ph | 3.0 | Grandal, Yasmani 3058 | ca | 4.5 | |
| Soroka, Mike 3956 | pi sp | 3.0 | Muncy, Max 3969 | 3b lf 2b 1b | 4.5 | |
| Inciarte, Ender 3360 | cf | 2.0 | Hernandez, Enrique 3541 | ss rf cf 2b | 3.0 | |
| Suzuki, Kurt 2344 | ca | 2.0 | Dozier, Brian 3219 | 2b | 2.5 | |
| McCarthy, Brandon 2082 | pi sp | 2.0 | Utley, Chase 1861 | 2b ph | 2.5 | |
| Albies, Ozzie 3953 | 2b | 2.0 | Jansen, Kenley 2871 | pi cp | 2.0 | |
| Biddle, Jesse 4013 | pi mr | 2.0 | Turner, Justin 2865 | 3b | 2.0 | |
| Flaherty, Ryan 3211 | 3b | 1.5 | Axford, John 2726 | pi cp mr | 2.0 | |
| Vizcaino, Arodys 3533 | pi cp | 1.0 | Seager, Corey 3587 | ss | 1.0 | |
| Markakis, Nick 2116 | rf | 1.0 | Madson, Ryan 1841 | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Camargo, Johan 3829 | 3b | 1.0 | Barnes, Austin 3856 | ca | 1.0 | |
| Wisler, Matt 3522 | pi sp | 1.0 | Cingrani, Tony 3158 | pi mr cp | 1.0 | |
| Freeman, Sam 3423 | pi mr | 1.0 | Hudson, Dan 2776 | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Venters, Jonny 2735 | pi cp | 1.0 | Garcia, Yimi 3440 | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Freid, Max 4011 | pi sp | 1.0 | Farmer, Kyle 4003 | 1b ph | 1.0 | |
| Wilson, Bryse 4048 | pi sp | 1.0 | Floro, Dylan 3970 | pi cp | 1.0 | |
| Totals | 116.3 | Totals | 128.0 | |||