Four of the top five teams in Box-Toppers team rankings square off in two American League Division Series beginning Friday.
One series includes the top two teams in Box-Toppers team rankings—the top-ranked Boston Red Sox and the second-ranked New York Yankees. If all teams qualifying for the postseason were seeded, these two would be in separate brackets in a hoped-for World Series best-of-seven game matchup. Instead, the two AL East teams meet in a best-of-five game semi-final to another semi-final.
The Houston Astros and Cleveland Indians face off in the other AL Division Series. The defending World Series champion Astros ranks fourth in Box-Toppers team rankings and the Indians, who Box-Toppers picked to win the World Series in 2018, rank fifth.
The only NL team among the top five is the Milwaukee Brewers, who rank third.
AL Division Series, Game 1: Indians at Astros
The Indians rank fifth in Box-Toppers team rankings (128.3 Box-Toppers points), while the Astros rank fourth (132.2 points).
The Astros finished the season slightly stronger than the Indians, picking up 10.7 Box-Toppers points since Sept. 20, while the Indians picked up 7.7.
The pitching matchup Friday:
Indians—Corey Kluber, 21.7 Box-Toppers points, fourth among all players, third among AL pitchers.
Astros—Justin Verlander, 24.1 Box-Toppers points, third among all players, second among AL pitchers.
This is a match-up of the postseason’s top two pitchers in Box-Toppers season player rankings. The top two—Blake Snell of the Rays (27.2) and Max Scherzer of the Nationals (25.1)—did not make the playoffs.
Both Kluber and Verlander are their teams’ highest-ranked player in 2018 Box-Toppers rankings.
Unlike makeshift playoff pitching matchups in previous days, in which managers sometimes cobbled together relievers to just get outs, this is a classic powerhouse pitching matchup. Both teams have had the opportunity to rest since last playing Sunday and both teams have four starters each among the top 42 players in Box-Toppers season players, all of whom have at least 10.7 Box-Toppers points.
The Indians top batter is Francisco Lindor with 9.6 Box-Toppers points, third among AL batters.
The Astros top batter is Alex Bregman with 6.2 Box-Toppers points, 16th among AL 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 notable Indians players with no Box-Toppers points in 2018 are Josh Donaldson, Melky Cabrera and Mike Napoli.
Indians vs. Astros
Here are players for both teams in the AL Division Series beginning Friday. 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.| Cleveland Indians | Houston Astros | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | 21.7 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | 24.1 | |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | 19.1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | 18.0 | |
| Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | 14.1 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | 14.8 | |
| Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi sp | 13.7 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | 10.7 | |
| Lindor, Francisco 3586 | ss | 9.6 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | 6.7 | |
| Hand, Brad 2907 | pi cp | 7.0 | Bregman, Alex 3721 | 3b | 6.2 | |
| Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh | 6.5 | Maldonado, Martin 3082 | ca | 5.5 | |
| Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | 6.4 | Springer, George 3337 | rf | 4.5 | |
| Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | 6.0 | Gattis, Evan 3179 | dh | 4.5 | |
| Alonso, Yonder 2945 | 1b | 3.5 | Peacock, Brad 2968 | pi mr | 4.0 | |
| Gomes, Yan 3177 | ca | 2.5 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | 3.5 | |
| Martin, Leonys 3053 | cf | 2.5 | Correa, Carlos 3506 | ss | 3.0 | |
| Allen, Cody 3265 | pi cp mr | 2.0 | Osuna, Roberto 3512 | pi cp | 3.0 | |
| Perez, Roberto 3379 | ca | 2.0 | McHugh, Collin 3316 | pi mr cp | 3.0 | |
| Kipnis, Jason 2933 | 2b | 1.5 | James, Josh 4059 | pi sp | 3.0 | |
| Allen, Greg 4036 | cf | 1.5 | Gurriel, Yuli 3796 | 1b | 2.7 | |
| Chisenhall, Lonnie 2959 | rf | 1.0 | Reddick, Josh 2936 | rf lf | 2.5 | |
| Tomlin, Josh 2771 | pi cp sp | 1.0 | Kemp, Tony 3973 | cf | 2.5 | |
| Diaz, Yandy 3896 | dh | 1.0 | Gonzalez, Marwin 3078 | lf | 2.0 | |
| Brantley, Michael 2785 | lf | 1.0 | Marisnick, Jake 3428 | cf | 2.0 | |
| Guyer, Brandon 3363 | rf ph | 1.0 | Rondon, Hector 3201 | pi cp | 2.0 | |
| Gonzalez, Erik 3960 | 3b | 1.0 | Valdez, Framber 4048 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Olson, Tyler 4083 | pi cp | 1.0 | Sipp, Tony 2852 | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Plutko, Adam 3975 | pi sp | 1.0 | Stassi, Max 4038 | ca | 1.0 | |
| Totals | 128.3 | Totals | 132.2 | |||
AL Division Series, Game 1: Yankees at Red Sox
The Yankees rank second in Box-Toppers team rankings (135.2 Box-Toppers points), while the Red Sox rank first (143.6 points).
The Red Sox have held the overall team lead since early August, but the Yankees finished the season slightly stronger, picking up 8.7 Box-Toppers points since Sept. 20, while the Red Sox picked up 5.0.
The pitching matchup Friday:
Yankees—J.A. Happ, 15.7 Box-Toppers points, 14th among all players, 10th among AL pitchers.
Red Sox—Chris Sale, 20.1 Box-Toppers points, sixth among all players, fourth among AL pitchers.
Sale leads all Red Sox players in Box-Toppers points. Top Red Sox batter is J.D. Martinez (12.5 points), who led all batters in Box-Toppers points in 2018, ranking 28th overall.
Top Yankees player in Box-Toppers points is pitcher Luis Severino (17.7), who ranked 10th among all players and eighth among AL pitchers. Top Yankees batter is Giancarlo Stanton (6.5), who ranked 11th among AL 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.
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.
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Yankees vs. Red Sox
Here are players for both teams in the AL Division Series beginning Friday. 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.| New York Yankees | Boston Red Sox | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | 17.7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | 20.1 | |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | 15.7 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | 14.4 | |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | 13.4 | Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | 13.4 | |
| Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | 8.7 | Martinez, J.D. 2922 | lf dh rf | 12.5 | |
| German, Domingo 3957 | pi sp | 8.0 | Porcello, Rick 2573 | pi sp | 11.4 | |
| Sabathia, C.C. 1492 | pi sp | 7.7 | Betts, Mookie 3404 | rf | 10.9 | |
| Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | dh rf lf | 6.5 | Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | 8.7 | |
| Sanchez, Gary 3701 | ca | 5.5 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | 7.0 | |
| Gardner, Brett 2486 | cf lf | 5.5 | Kinsler, Ian 2144 | 2b | 6.0 | |
| Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | 5.0 | Bogaerts, Xander 3383 | ss | 5.5 | |
| Hicks, Aaron 3170 | cf | 5.0 | Benintendi, Andrew 3815 | lf cf | 4.5 | |
| Betances, Dellin 3333 | pi cp mr | 4.0 | Moreland, Mitch 2799 | 1b | 3.5 | |
| Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | pi cp | 4.0 | Bradley, Jackie Jr. 3293 | cf lf | 3.5 | |
| Voit, Luke 4053 | 1b | 4.0 | Holt, Brock 3340 | 2b 1b ph | 3.5 | |
| McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | rf cf | 3.5 | Pearce, Steve 2371 | dh 1b lf ph | 3.0 | |
| Andujar, Miguel 3839 | 3b | 3.5 | Devers, Rafael 4038 | 3b | 2.5 | |
| Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | 3.0 | Vazquez, Christian 3380 | ca | 2.0 | |
| Robertson, David 2774 | pi mr cp | 3.0 | Barnes, Matt 3466 | pi mr cp | 2.0 | |
| Gregorius, Didi 3184 | ss | 3.0 | Velazquez, Hector 3853 | pi cp mr | 2.0 | |
| Cole, A.J. 3727 | pi cp mr | 2.0 | Wright, Steven 3224 | pi sp | 2.0 | |
| Loaisiga, Jonathan 3998 | pi sp | 2.0 | Travis, Sam 4081 | lf | 1.5 | |
| Torres, Gleyber 3972 | 2b | 1.5 | Leon, Sandy 3676 | ca | 1.0 | |
| Bird, Greg 3562 | 1b | 1.0 | Phillips, Brandon 1691 | 2b 3b | 1.0 | |
| Walker, Neil 2756 | 1b 2b | 1.0 | Swihart, Blake 3565 | ca ph | 1.0 | |
| Britton, Zach 2835 | pi cp | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 135.2 | Totals | 143.6 | |||