Both American League Division Series begin Thursday.
The AL Wild Card champion Boston Red Sox face the AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays in one best-of-five game series and the AL Central champion Chicago White Sox take on the Houston Astros, champions of the AL West, in the other series.
AL Division Series, Game 1: White Sox at Astros
The White Sox rank second in Box-Toppers team rankings (124.9 Box-Toppers points), while the Astros rank 10th (114.0 points).
The White Sox led AL teams in Box-Toppers rankings and led most of the season, including in 20 of the final 22 weekly team ranking reports of the season, dating back to April 29. They led all teams for several weeks in May, June and July.
The White Sox also finished the season strongest among AL teams, picking up 9.2 points in the final 10 days of the season, fourth-most among all teams. The Astros gained 4.0 points in the final days of the season.
The pitching matchup Thursday:
White Sox—Lance Lynn, 12.4 Box-Toppers points, 27th among all players, ninth among AL pitchers.
Astros—Lance McCullers Jr., 8.7 Box-Toppers points, 68th among all players, 25th among AL pitchers.
Lynn ranks second among all White Sox players in Box-Toppers points, behind pitcher Dylan Cease (14.4). McCullers ranks second among Astros players, behind pitcher Luis Garcia (10.0).
White Sox top batter is catcher Jose Abreu (8.0), who ranks sixth among AL batters. Astros top batter is Kyle Tucker (7.2), who ranks 12th 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 2021 are not listed.
White Sox vs. Astros
Here are players for both teams in the AL Divisional Series beginning Thursday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2021. 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. Players not listed earned no Box-Toppers points in 2021.| Chicago White Sox | Houston Astros | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | 14.4 | Garcia, Luis 4423 | pi sp | 10.0 | |
| Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | 12.4 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | 8.7 | |
| Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | 11.7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | 8.7 | |
| Giolito, Lucas 3900 | pi sp | 11.4 | Urquidy, Jose 4194 | pi sp | 8.4 | |
| Abreu, Jose 3308 | 1b | 8.0 | Tucker, Kyle 4277 | rf | 7.2 | |
| Hendriks, Liam 3339 | pi cp | 7.0 | Correa, Carlos 3506 | ss | 7.0 | |
| Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | 6.7 | Alvarez, Yordan 4209 | dh lf | 7.0 | |
| Anderson, Tim 3659 | ss | 6.5 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | 6.5 | |
| Kopech, Michael 4385 | pi sp mr | 5.7 | Javier, Cristian 4290 | pi sp | 6.0 | |
| Lopez, Reynaldo 3712 | pi mr sp | 5.4 | Valdez, Framber 4048 | pi sp | 5.0 | |
| Sheets, Gavin 4457 | rf dh | 4.5 | Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp mr | 4.0 | |
| Mercedes, Yermin 4367 | dh | 4.0 | Maldonado, Martin 3082 | ca | 4.0 | |
| Jimenez, Eloy 4107 | lf | 3.7 | Gurriel, Yuli 3796 | 1b | 3.5 | |
| Grandal, Yasmani 3058 | ca | 3.5 | Bregman, Alex 3721 | 3b | 3.5 | |
| Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | 3.0 | Pressly, Ryan 3186 | pi cp | 3.0 | |
| Garcia, Leury 4019 | 2b 3b | 2.5 | Brantley, Michael 2785 | dh lf | 3.0 | |
| Tepera, Ryan 3774 | pi cp mr | 2.0 | Bielak, Brandon 4297 | pi cp mr | 3.0 | |
| Vaughn, Andrew 4445 | lf 1b | 2.0 | Garcia, Yimi 3440 | pi cp | 3.0 | |
| Goodwin, Brian 3835 | cf | 1.5 | Raley, Brooks 4336 | pi cp mr | 2.0 | |
| Hamilton, Billy 3287 | cf | 1.5 | Graveman, Kendall 3444 | pi cp sp | 2.0 | |
| Mendick, Danny 4412 | rf 3b ss | 1.5 | McCormick, Chas 4444 | rf | 2.0 | |
| Foster, Matt 4281 | pi cp mr | 1.0 | Gonzalez, Marwin 3078 | 2b 1b | 1.5 | |
| Hernandez, Cesar 3770 | 2b | 1.0 | Jones, Taylor 4522 | lf | 1.5 | |
| Moncada, Yoan 3878 | 3b | 1.0 | Siri, Jose 4546 | lf rf | 1.5 | |
| Bummer, Aaron 3880 | pi mr | 1.0 | Diaz, Aledmys 3612 | lf 1b 2b ph | 1.0 | |
| Colins, Zack 4459 | ca | 1.0 | Meyers Jake 4510 | rf | 1.0 | |
| Crochet, Garrett 4434 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 124.9 | Totals | 114.0 | |||
AL Division Series, Game 1: Red Sox at Rays
The Red Sox rank ninth in Box-Toppers team rankings (115.9 Box-Toppers points), while the Rays rank seventh (116.4 points).
The Rays finished the season stronger than the Red Sox, picking up 7.9 Box-Toppers points in the regular season’s final 10 days, compared to the Red Sox’ addition of 4.7 points over that span. In fact, the two teams swapped spots in the final two team rankings reports—the Rays moved from ninth to seventh and the Red Sox moved from seventh to ninth.
The pitching matchup Thursday:
Red Sox—Eduardo Rodriguez, 10.0 Box-Toppers points, 47th among all players, 17th among AL pitchers.
Rays—Shane McClanahan, 4.7 Box-Toppers points, 209th among all players, 71st among AL pitchers.
Rodriguez ranks third among Red Sox players in Box-Toppers points behind starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (14.1), who pitched in the AL Wild Card Game win over the Yankees, and designated hitter J.D. Martinez (10.7 Box-Toppers points, who ranks second among all AL batters). Martinez missed the Wild Card Game with an ankle injury suffered Sunday. His availability for the ALDS Game 1 was uncertain as of this writing.
McClanahan ranks ninth among Rays players in Box-Toppers points. Pitcher Tyler Glasnow (12.7, ninth among AL pitchers) leads all Rays players, however, Glasnow last appeared for the Rays in June and underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery and likely won’t return to baseball until 2023. Despite missing more than half the season, Glasnow still ranks among the top 10 pitchers in Box-Toppers points and has more than 2.0 more points than the second-place Rays player, second baseman Brandon Lowe (10.5), who leads all Rays batters and ranks third 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 2021 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.
Red Sox vs. Rays
Here are players for both teams in the AL Divisional Series beginning Thursday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2021. 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. Players not listed earned no Box-Toppers points in 2021.| Boston Red Sox | Tampa Bay Rays | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | 14.1 | Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | 12.7 | |
| Martinez, J.D. 2922 | dh | 10.7 | Lowe, Brandon 4108 | 2b | 10.5 | |
| Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | 10.0 | Yarbrough, Ryan 3962 | pi sp mr | 9.7 | |
| Bogaerts, Xander 3383 | ss | 8.5 | Wacha, Michael 3276 | pi sp | 7.1 | |
| Devers, Rafael 4038 | 3b | 7.5 | Fleming, Josh 4316 | pi sp mr | 6.7 | |
| Houck, Tanner 4342 | pi sp | 6.0 | Kittredge, Andrew 4417 | pi mr cp | 6.0 | |
| Renfroe, Hunter 3749 | rf | 6.0 | Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224 | dh | 5.7 | |
| Dalbec, Bobby 4403 | 1b | 5.4 | Wendle, Joey 3756 | 3b6 ph | 4.7 | |
| Pivetta, Nick 3825 | pi sp | 5.0 | McClanahan, Shane 4399 | pi sp | 4.7 | |
| Barnes, Matt 3466 | pi cp mr | 5.0 | Arozarena, Randy 4331 | lf dh | 4.0 | |
| Schwarber, Kyle 3536 | lf | 4.5 | McHugh, Collin 3316 | pi mr cp sp | 4.0 | |
| Ottavino, Adam 3054 | pi mr | 4.0 | Diaz, Yandy 3896 | 3b 1b | 4.0 | |
| Hernandez, Enrique (Kike) 3541 | cf 2b ss | 3.5 | Zunino, Mike 3390 | ca | 3.0 | |
| Verdugo, Alex 4129 | rf lf | 3.5 | Phillips, Brett 3914 | cf rf | 3.0 | |
| Whitlock, Garrett 4431 | pi mr cp | 3.0 | Mejia, Francisco 4069 | ca | 3.0 | |
| Shaw, Travis 3544 | 3b dh | 2.5 | Springs, Jeffrey 4372 | pi mr | 3.0 | |
| Arroyo, Christian 4433 | 2b ph | 2.5 | Choi, Ji-Man 3990 | 1b | 2.5 | |
| Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | 2.0 | Margot, Manuel 3861 | rf | 2.0 | |
| Robles, Hansel 3580 | pi mr cp | 2.0 | Chargois, JT 3736 | pi mr cp | 2.0 | |
| Valdez, Phillips 4485 | pi mr | 1.7 | Feyereisen, J.P. 4420 | pi cp mr | 2.0 | |
| Arauz, Jonathan 4363 | 2b ss | 1.5 | Rasmussen, Drew 4547 | pi sp | 2.0 | |
| Richards, Garrett 3042 | pi sp mr | 1.0 | Baz, Shane 4560 | pi sp | 1.7 | |
| Vazquez, Christian 3380 | ca | 1.0 | Enns, Dietrich 4544 | pi mr | 1.7 | |
| Iglesias, Jose 3532 | ss | 1.0 | Head, Louis 4565 | pi mr | 1.7 | |
| Cordero, Franchy 3821 | lf pr | 1.0 | Fairbanks, Pete 4273 | pi cp mr sp | 1.0 | |
| Perez, Martin 3213 | pi sp | 1.0 | Kiermaier, Kevin 3373 | cf | 1.0 | |
| De Leon, Jose 4370 | pi sp | 1.0 | Wisler, Matt 3522 | pi cp mr sp | 1.0 | |
| Sawamura, Hirokazu 4389 | pi mr | 1.0 | Armstrong, Shawn 4204 | pi mr cp | 1.0 | |
| Patino, Luis 4308 | pi sp mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Meadows, Austin 4079 | lf dh | 1.0 | ||||
| Hunter, Tommy 2623 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Mazza, Chris 4484 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Thompson, Ryan 4401 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 115.9 | Totals | 116.4 | |||