Both American League Division Series begin Friday.
The AL Wild Card champion Tampa Bay Rays face the AL West champion Houston Astros in one best-of-five game series and the AL Central champion Minnesota Twins take on the New York Yankees, champions of the AL East, in the other series.
AL Division Series, Game 1: Rays at Astros
The Rays rank sixth in Box-Toppers team rankings (123.2 Box-Toppers points), while the Astros rank first (158.1 points).
The Astros finished the season stronger than the Rays, picking up 10.0 Box-Toppers points in the final 10 days of the season, while the Rays picked up 6.7.
The pitching matchup Friday:
Rays—Tyler Glasnow, 9.7 Box-Toppers points, 55th among all players, 22nd among AL pitchers.
Astros—Justin Verlander, 27.5 Box-Toppers points, second among all players, second among AL pitchers.
Glasnow ranks fourth among all Rays players in Box-Toppers points, behind pitchers Charlie Morton (18.8), Ryan Yarbrough (12.4) and Blake Snell (10.0). Verlander, who ranks second among all players and all AL pitchers, also ranks second among Astros players, behind overall leader Gerrit Cole (32.2).
Rays top batter is catcher Travis d'Arnaud, who earlier in 2019 was with the Mets and the Dodgers, but who earned all 6.2 of his 2019 Box-Toppers points with the Rays. d’Arnaud ranks 134th among all players and 25th among AL batters.
The Astros top batter is Alex Bregman with 10.0 Box-Toppers points, 48th among all players and fifth 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 2019 are not listed.
Rays 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 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.| Tampa Bay Rays | Houston Astros | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | 18.8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | 32.2 | |
| Yarbrough, Ryan 3962 | pi sp mr | 12.4 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | 27.5 | |
| Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | 10.0 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | 17.9 | |
| Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | 9.7 | Bregman, Alex 3721 | 3b ss | 10.0 | |
| Chirinos, Yonny 4039 | pi sp | 7.0 | Peacock, Brad 2968 | pi sp | 7.0 | |
| d’Arnaud, Travis 3384 | ca | 6.2 | Miley, Wade 3006 | pi sp | 6.7 | |
| Kiermaier, Kevin 3373 | cf | 6.0 | Springer, George 3337 | cf | 5.7 | |
| Choi, Ji-Man 3990 | 1b | 4.2 | McHugh, Collin 3316 | pi sp mr | 5.0 | |
| Anderson, Nick 4145 | pi mr | 4.0 | Gurriel, Yuli 3796 | 3b 1b | 4.5 | |
| Beeks, Jalen 4047 | pi mr | 3.7 | Osuna, Roberto 3512 | pi cp | 4.0 | |
| Pham, Thomas 3596 | lf | 3.5 | Sanchez, Aaron 3392 | pi sp | 3.7 | |
| Garcia, Avisail 3256 | rf | 3.5 | Valdez, Framber 4048 | pi sp mr | 3.7 | |
| Meadows, Austin 4079 | dh lf | 3.5 | Chirinos, Robinson 2924 | ca | 3.0 | |
| Richards, Trevor 3945 | pi sp | 3.0 | James, Josh 4059 | pi mr cp sp | 3.0 | |
| Sogard, Eric 3174 | 2b dh ph | 3.0 | Reddick, Josh 2936 | cf rf | 3.0 | |
| McKay, Brendan 4182 | pi sp | 3.0 | Urquidy, Jose 4194 | pi sp | 2.7 | |
| Aguilar, Jesus 3787 | 1b | 2.5 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | 2.5 | |
| Castillo, Diego 3995 | pi cp mr | 2.0 | Alvarez, Yordan 4209 | dh | 2.5 | |
| Adames, Willy 4041 | ss | 2.0 | Diaz, Aledmys 3612 | 1b 2b ss | 2.0 | |
| Zunino, Mike 3390 | ca | 2.0 | Biagini, Joe 3646 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Pagan, Emilio 3876 | pi mr cp | 2.0 | Correa, Carlos 3506 | ss | 1.5 | |
| Pruitt, Austin 3773 | pi sp cp mr | 1.7 | Marisnick, Jake 3428 | cf | 1.5 | |
| Brosseau, Mike 4185 | 3b | 1.5 | Brantley, Michael 2785 | lf | 1.5 | |
| Alvarado, Jose 3797 | pi cp mr | 1.0 | Maldonado, Martin 3082 | ca | 1.0 | |
| Diaz, Yandy 3896 | 3b dh | 1.0 | Rondon, Hector 3201 | pi mr cp | 1.0 | |
| Heredia, Guillermo 3859 | lf | 1.0 | Harris, Will 3093 | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Roe, Chaz 3597 | pi mr | 1.0 | Pressly, Ryan 3186 | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Duffy, Matt 3504 | 3b | 1.0 | Straw, Myles 4152 | pr | 1.0 | |
| Drake, Oliver 3826 | pi cp | 1.0 | ||||
| Lowe, Brandon 4108 | 2b | 1.0 | ||||
| Poche, Colin 4165 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 123.2 | Totals | 158.1 | |||
AL Division Series, Game 1: Twins at Yankees
The Twins rank seventh in Box-Toppers team rankings (115.7 Box-Toppers points), while the Yankees rank fifth (123.4 points).
The Twins finished the season slightly stronger, picking up 7.5 Box-Toppers points in the regular season’s final 10 days, compared to the Yankees’ addition of 5.5 points over that span.
The pitching matchup Friday:
Twins—Jose Berrios, 10.7 Box-Toppers points, 38th among all players, 16th among AL pitchers.
Yankees—James Paxton, 14.1 Box-Toppers points, 19th among all players, eighth among AL pitchers.
Berrios ranks third among Twins players in Box-Toppers points behind designated hitter Nelson Cruz (12.5 Box-Toppers points, who leads all AL batters) and pitcher Jake Odorizzi (12.4 points). Paxton leads all Yankees players in Box-Toppers points in 2019. Yankees top batter is infielder Gleyber Torres (12.0 Box-Toppers points, second 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 2019 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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Twins vs. Yankees
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 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.| Minnesota Twins | New York Yankees | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224 | dh | 12.5 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | 14.1 | |
| Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | 12.4 | Torres, Gleyber 3972 | ss 2b | 12.0 | |
| Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | 10.7 | German, Domingo 3957 | pi sp | 10.7 | |
| Gibson, Kyle 3312 | pi sp | 7.7 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | 9.7 | |
| Garver, Mitch 3950 | ca | 7.5 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | 8.7 | |
| Rogers, Taylor 3648 | pi cp | 7.0 | Gardner, Brett 2486 | cf | 8.5 | |
| Kepler, Max 3664 | cf rf | 6.7 | Urshela, Gio 4135 | 3b | 7.5 | |
| Schoop, Jonathan 3307 | 2b | 5.0 | Voit, Luke 4053 | 1b | 5.5 | |
| Cron, C.J. 3338 | 1b | 5.0 | Gregorius, Didi 3184 | ss | 4.2 | |
| Pineda, Michael 2841 | pi sp | 5.0 | Sanchez, Gary 3701 | ca | 4.0 | |
| Sano, Miguel 3527 | 3b | 4.0 | LeMahieu, DJ 3091 | 2b 3b 1b | 3.5 | |
| Polanco, Jorge 3739 | ss | 3.5 | Ford, Mike 4235 | 1b dh ph | 3.5 | |
| Rosario, Eddie 3542 | lf ph | 3.0 | Sabathia, CC 1492 | pi sp | 3.0 | |
| Gonzalez, Marwin 3078 | rf dh | 3.0 | Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | pi cp | 3.0 | |
| Smeltzer, Devin 4149 | pi sp | 3.0 | Holder, Jonathan 4118 | pi cp mr | 3.0 | |
| Perez, Martin 3213 | pi sp | 2.7 | Frazier, Clint 3847 | lf rf ph | 2.5 | |
| Adrianza, Ehire 3902 | ss 3b | 2.5 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | 2.0 | |
| Astudillo, Willians 4090 | 2b 3b ph | 2.5 | Ottavino, Adam 3054 | pi mr cp | 2.0 | |
| Buxton, Byron 3604 | cf | 1.5 | Cessa, Luis 3703 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Castro, Jason 2743 | ca | 1.5 | Cortes, Nestor Jr. 4160 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| May, Trevor 3417 | pi cp mr | 1.0 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh | 1.5 | |
| Romo, Sergio 2539 | pi cp | 1.0 | Tauchman, Mike 4212 | lf | 1.5 | |
| Cave, Jake 3992 | lf rf | 1.0 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | lf dh | 1.0 | |
| LaMarre, Ryan 4057 | cf | 1.0 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | 1.0 | |
| Hildenberger, Trevor 3846 | pi mr cp | 1.0 | Loaisiga, Jonathan 3998 | pi mr sp | 1.0 | |
| Arraez, Luis 4219 | 2b | 1.0 | Maybin, Cameron 2672 | lf | 1.0 | |
| Dobnak, Randy 4263 | pi sp | 1.0 | Green, Chad 3675 | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Graterol, Brusdar 4249 | pi mr | 1.0 | Romine, Austin 3832 | ca | 1.0 | |
| Harper, Ryne 4157 | pi mr | 1.0 | Adams, Chance 4145 | pi cp | 1.0 | |
| Kahnle, Tommy 4138 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Tarpley, Stephen 4193 | pi cp | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 115.7 | Totals | 123.4 | |||