Both National League Division Series begin Thursday.
The NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals face the NL East champion Atlanta Braves in one best-of-five game series and the NL Wild Card champion Washington Nationals take on the Los Angeles Dodgers, champions of the NL West in the other series.
NL Division Series, Game 1: Cardinals at Braves
The Cardinals rank 12th in Box-Toppers team rankings (105.8 Box-Toppers points), while the Braves rank eighth (112.7 points). Now that the Milwaukee Brewers are eliminated from the postseason, losing the NL Wild Card game to the Nationals, the Cardinals have the lowest team Box-Toppers point total of remaining playoff teams. The Brewers ranked 14th with 104.9 points.
In the final 10 days of the season, the Cardinals fared somewhat better than the Braves. The Cardinals picked up 5.7 Box-Toppers points from Sept. 20-29, while the Braves picked up 3.0 points over that span (which was tied for the third-lowest among all teams).
The pitching matchup Thursday:
Cardinals—Miles Mikolas, 3.0 Box-Toppers points, 309th among all players, 86th among NL pitchers.
Braves—Dallas Keuchel, 3.7 Box-Toppers points, 266th among all players, 83rd among NL pitchers.
Mikolas had a down season in 2019 after an All-Star year in 2018 in which he earned 11.7 Box-Toppers points, 17th among NL pitchers. Keuchel started the season unsigned before he joined the Braves in June. From 2014 to 2018, Keuchel had at least 6.7 Box-Toppers points per season, including 21.4 in 2015, fourth among all players and first among AL pitchers.
Neither Game 1 starter leads their team in Box-Toppers points. Pitcher Jack Flaherty leads all Cardinals with 16.5 Box-Toppers points, 11th among all players and fifth among NL pitchers. Pitcher Mike Soroka leads all Braves with 11.4 Box-Toppers points, 34th among all players and 16th among NL pitchers.
Both teams’ top batters are among Box-Toppers’ top 10 NL batters in 2019. Leftfielder Marcell Ozuna leads Cardinals batters (12.0 Box-Toppers points, first among NL batters, 29th among all players) and first baseman Freddie Freeman leads Braves batters (10.1 points, fourth among NL batters, 43rd among all players).
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 2019 are not listed.
Cardinals vs. Braves
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 2019. 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.| St. Louis Cardinals | Atlanta Braves | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Flaherty, Jack 3971 | pi sp | 16.5 | Soroka, Mike 3956 | pi sp | 11.4 | |
| Ozuna, Marcell 3190 | lf | 12.0 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | 10.2 | |
| Hudson, Dakota 4035 | pi sp | 7.7 | Fried, Max 4011 | pi sp | 10.0 | |
| Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | 7.5 | Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | 8.0 | |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | 7.4 | Jackson, Luke 4139 | pi cp | 8.0 | |
| Fowler, Dexter 2698 | cf rf | 6.0 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | 7.5 | |
| DeJong, Paul 3827 | ss | 5.0 | Albies, Ozzie 3953 | 2b | 6.5 | |
| Gant, John 3660 | pi mr | 4.7 | Riley, Austin 4144 | lf | 5.5 | |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi cp | 4.0 | Foltynewicz, Mike 3455 | pi sp | 5.0 | |
| Wacha, Michael 3276 | pi sp | 4.0 | Melancon, Mark 2792 | pi cp mr | 5.0 | |
| Brebbia, John 4080 | pi mr | 4.0 | Acuna, Ronald Jr. 3947 | lf cf | 3.7 | |
| Gallegos, Giovanny 4104 | pi mr | 4.0 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | 3.7 | |
| Mikolas, Miles 3034 | pi sp | 3.0 | Swanson, Dansby 3751 | ss | 3.5 | |
| Martinez, Jose 3830 | rf lf 1b ph | 3.0 | McCann, Brian 2179 | ca | 3.5 | |
| Molina, Yadier 1967 | ca | 3.0 | Newcomb, Sean 3831 | pi mr sp | 2.7 | |
| Ponce de Leon, Daniel 4037 | pi sp mr | 3.0 | Minter, A.J. 3946 | pi cp | 2.0 | |
| Carpenter, Matt 2987 | 3b 1b ph | 2.0 | Inciarte, Ender 3360 | cf | 2.0 | |
| Hicks, Jordan 3991 | pi mr cp | 2.0 | Camargo, Johan 3829 | 3b | 2.0 | |
| O’Neill, Tyler 4074 | lf pr | 2.0 | Hechavarria, Adeiny 3445 | 2b | 2.0 | |
| Wong, Kolten 3377 | 2b | 2.0 | Joyce, Matt 2480 | rf | 1.5 | |
| Bader, Harrison 4071 | cf | 1.0 | Duvall, Adam 3573 | lf | 1.0 | |
| Edman, Tommy 4255 | rf 3b | 1.0 | Greene, Shane 3381 | pi cp | 1.0 | |
| Webb, Tyler 4257 | pi mr | 1.0 | Cervelli, Francisco 3387 | ca | 1.0 | |
| Culberson, Charlie 3324 | lf 2b ph | 1.0 | ||||
| Swarzak, Anthony 2603 | pi mr cp | 1.0 | ||||
| Hamilton, Billy 3287 | cf | 1.0 | ||||
| Ortega, Rafael 3746 | lf cf | 1.0 | ||||
| Martin, Chris 4156 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Toussaint, Touki 4110 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 105.8 | Totals | 112.7 | |||
NL Division Series, Game 1: Nationals at Dodgers
This series features Box-Toppers’ top two NL teams and two of the top three overall teams.
The Nationals rank second in Box-Toppers team rankings (132.9 Box-Toppers points), while the Dodgers rank third (129.9 points). The Nationals are top among NL teams and the Dodgers are second. Only the Houston Astros in the American League are ranked higher than either team, in first overall with 158.1 Box-Toppers points.
The Nationals also had a stronger finish to the season, picking up 10.5 in the season’s final 10 days (Sept. 20-29), the hottest team over that period. The Dodgers also did well, picking up 8.5 points over that span, fourth-most among all teams.
Nationals—Patrick Corbin, 16.4 Box-Toppers points, 12th among all players, sixth among NL pitchers.
Dodgers—Walker Buehler, 16.4 Box-Toppers points, 13th among all players, seventh among NL pitchers.
Both pitchers finished next to each other in Box-Toppers season player rankings. Both had 16.4 points on the season and Corbin outranked Buehler because he held a narrow edge in 2018 Box-Toppers points (16.0 vs. 15.1).
Neither player leads their team in 2019 Box-Toppers points—both rank second. Pitcher Stephen Strasburg leads Nationals players (20.7 points third among all players, first among NL pitchers). Pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu leads Dodgers players (17.4 points, 10th among all players, fourth among NL pitchers). Strasburg pitched three innings of middle relief in the NL Wild Card Game Tuesday and will likely not be available Thursday.
The Nationals top-ranked batter is infielder Asdrubal Cabrera with 9.0 Box-Toppers points, 64th among all players and seventh among NL batters. Cabrera earned 3.5 of his points with the AL Texas Rangers before being released and signed by the Nationals.
The Dodgers top-ranked batter is rightfielder Cody Bellinger with 12.7 Box-Toppers points, 35th among all players and third 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 2019 are not listed.
Nationals 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 2019. 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.| Washington Nationals | Los Angeles Dodgers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | 20.7 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | 17.4 | |
| Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | 16.4 | Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | 16.4 | |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | 15.4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | 12.7 | |
| Cabrera, Asdrubal 2362 | 3b 2b | 9.0 | Bellinger, Cody 3781 | rf | 11.2 | |
| Sanchez, Anibal 2187 | pi sp | 7.0 | Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp | 8.7 | |
| Soto, Juan 3994 | lf | 6.0 | Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp mr cp | 6.0 | |
| Rendon, Anthony 3258 | 3b | 5.0 | Pederson, Joc 3621 | lf | 5.5 | |
| Elias, Roenis 3309 | pi cp | 5.0 | Muncy, Max 3969 | 1b 2b | 5.5 | |
| Hudson, Dan 2776 | pi mr | 5.0 | Jansen, Kenley 2871 | pi cp | 5.0 | |
| Suzuki, Kurt 2344 | ca | 4.5 | Turner, Justin 2865 | 3b | 4.5 | |
| Kendrick, Howie 2191 | 1b 2b | 4.5 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | 4.0 | |
| Ross, Joe 3499 | pi sp | 4.0 | Stripling, Ross 3629 | pi sp | 4.0 | |
| Robles, Victor 4087 | cf rf | 3.5 | Hernandez, Enrique 3541 | 2b rf | 3.5 | |
| Doolittle, Sean 3052 | pi cp | 3.0 | Gonsolin, Tony 4211 | pi mr sp | 3.0 | |
| Turner, Trea 3730 | ss | 3.0 | Smith, Will 4175 | ca ph | 3.0 | |
| Strickland, Hunter 3546 | pi cp mr | 3.0 | Taylor, Chris 3684 | ss lf | 2.5 | |
| Parra, Gerardo 2746 | 1b rf cf | 2.7 | Freese, David 2710 | 1b 3b | 2.0 | |
| Dozier, Brian 3219 | 2b | 2.5 | Gyorko, Jedd 3164 | 3b ph | 2.0 | |
| Fedde, Erick 4065 | pi mr sp | 2.0 | Baez, Pedro 3678 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Voth, Austin 4082 | pi sp | 2.0 | May, Dustin 4214 | pi sp | 2.0 | |
| Rainey, Tanner 4153 | pi mr | 2.0 | Sadler, Casey 4205 | pi mr cp | 2.0 | |
| Adams, Matt 3220 | 1b | 1.7 | Verdugo, Alex 4129 | rf cf | 2.0 | |
| Hellickson, Jeremy 2778 | pi sp | 1.0 | Pollock, A.J. 3142 | cf | 1.0 | |
| Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 | 1b | 1.0 | Seager, Corey 3587 | ss | 1.0 | |
| Eaton, Adam 3253 | rf | 1.0 | Martin, Russell 2202 | ca | 1.0 | |
| Guerra, Javy 2925 | pi cp sp | 1.0 | Kelly, Joe 3066 | pi cp sp | 1.0 | |
| Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | 1.0 | Lux, Gavin 4247 | 3b | 1.0 | |
| Totals | 132.9 | Totals | 129.9 | |||