The Texas Rangers hold significant Box-Toppers points advantages over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 World Series.
The Rangers finished first in Box-Toppers team rankings for the season while the Diamondbacks finished 14th, lowest among all postseason teams, seventh among all National League teams and behind two teams that did not even qualify for the postseason—the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners.
The Rangers hold Box-Toppers points advantages over the Diamondbacks in nearly every possible way to compare the teams—the overall starting roster has more points, the likely starting nine batters have more points, the bullpen has far more points and the starting pitchers have more points, though at least in that comparison, the numbers are closer.
Rangers are 2023 World Series champ–oh, wait
So that’s the end of the post. The American League champion Rangers are huge overwhelming favorites and soundly beat the Diamondbacks to win the World Series, no question.
But it’s never that easy. There are caveats. The Rangers aren’t as good as their ranking indicates plus the Diamondbacks have upset their way to the World Series and in many respects are not now the same team that struggled through the regular season.
First, despite making the World Series and vindicating their seemingly undeserved number-one spot in Box-Toppers team rankings, the Rangers, by many measures, are not as good as their ranking indicates.
Rangers are worse than their ranking indicates
Five teams had better regular season winning percentages (.556) than the Rangers and two other teams also had the same 90-72 record, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Houston Astros.
The Rangers built their Box-Toppers top ranking from players they acquired at the August trade deadline. The Rangers notably picked up pitchers Max Scherzer from the Mets and Jordan Montgomery from the Cardinals. They were Box-Toppers’ top two players to change teams at the trade deadline, representing an addition at the time of 17.1 points to the Rangers.
The Rangers led Box-Toppers team rankings for the final nine weekly reports from Aug. 3 until the end of the season. While they built their huge lead on the strength of trade deadline deals, they didn’t perform particularly well after acquiring the players, winning only six over 22 games for a stretch in August and September. They still maintained the Box-Toppers lead despite nearly falling out of playoff contention before rebounding at the end of the season.
If you just take the Box-Toppers points earned by players in the 90 Rangers wins in 2023, it adds up to 110.0, which would put them in ninth place among all teams. Further, Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom earned an astronomical 7.7 Box-Toppers points in April but an elbow injury requiring Tommy John surgery shut him down for the rest the season. If you exclude his points from those earned only in Rangers wins, that would give the them 102.3, which makes the Diamondbacks’ 102.1 total begin to look competitive (and begin to make the 2023 World Series look like a matchup between two really mediocre teams).
Diamondbacks are better than their ranking indicates
The Diamondbacks have also been outperforming their Box-Toppers point total in October, upsetting each postseason team they’ve faced. They beat the Milwaukee Brewers (115.8 Box-Toppers points, seventh overall) in the NL Wild Card round, beat the Los Angeles Dodgers (123.8 Box-Toppers points, third overall) in the NL Division Series and beat the Philadelphia Phillies (112.2 Box-Toppers points, ninth overall) in the NL Championship Series.
Source: MLB.com
During the Diamondbacks’ postseason run, the Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners have generally not been the team’s biggest contributors during the regular season. In six of their nine postseason wins, Diamondbacks players with fewer than 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023 won Player of the Game honors. Only three times did a Diamondbacks player with 5.0 or more points win Player of the Game honors this season—two of those were by starting pitcher Merrill Kelly, whose 13.0 Box-Toppers points is second among Arizona players and seventh among NL pitchers. Diamondbacks’ top player, Zac Gallen (16.7 Box-Toppers points, fourth among NL pitchers) has not earned Player of the Game honors in four postseason starts.
Here is a look at the other Diamondbacks players who have earned Player of the Game honors this postseason:
Pitcher Brandon Pfaadt, who has been Player of the Game in two Diamondbacks postseason wins, but has only 3.7 Box-Toppers points in the regular season, spending nearly half his season in the minor leagues.
Rookie right fielder Corbin Carroll, who has been Player of the Game in two Diamondbacks postseason wins. While most have tabbed him as inevitable NL Rookie of the Year for the impressive stats he has compiled, he only has 3.0 Box-Toppers points on the season. He has performed well, with a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 or greater in 39 Diamondbacks wins, but only won overall Player of the Game honors in three of them. The other 36 times, another Diamondbacks player had a better game score to win Player of the Game honors; 24 of those times, it was an Arizona pitcher who had the higher game score.
Reliever Ryan Thompson, who was Player of the Game once, but earned 0.0 Box-Toppers points as he did not earn Player of the Game honors in any of his 31 appearances in 2023 with either the Rays or Diamondbacks.
Alek Thomas, who was Player of the Game once, but earned 0.0 Box-Toppers points as he did not earn Player of the Game honors in any of the 135 games he played in 2023.
Closing pitcher Paul Sewald, who was Player of the Game once in the postseason and earned 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, seventh among NL closing pitchers.
Is Scherzer OK?
And even though the Texas Rangers current stock of players available for the World Series have earned the most Box-Toppers points in 2023, it may not be reflective of the team right now.
For example, pitcher Max Scherzer leads all Rangers players with 15.4 Box-Toppers points, 10th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers. But 10.4 of those points were earned when he was still with the New York Mets prior to being traded to the Rangers at the Aug. 1 trade deadline. He’s earned only one Player of the Game honor and 1.0 point in the past two months—on Sept. 12, the game in which a shoulder strain caused him to sit out for a month. Since his return in the postseason, he has made two starts—Oct. 18 and Oct. 23—and had negative Box-Toppers game scores in both. He’s not been his usual dominant self.
But yes, on paper, Rangers are far superior
So now that we have established that the Rangers aren’t as good as their Box-Toppers team ranking suggests and that the Diamondbacks are currently far outperforming their ranking, when looking at the numbers the teams produced during the season, the Rangers are the far superior team.
Texas holds Box-Toppers points advantages in these areas:
The Rangers likely starting World Series roster has 113.7 Box-Toppers points compared to 83.3 for the Diamondbacks. (Click here to see a Box-Toppers World Series player-by-player comparison.)
The Rangers likely starting nine batters have 40.4 points compared to 28.2 for the Diamondbacks.
The Rangers likely four starting pitchers have 46.9 points compared to 40.1 for the Diamondbacks.
The Rangers other available pitchers—relievers, closers and other spare starters—have a combined 26.4 points compared to 13.0 for the Diamondbacks.
Box-Toppers team rankings
The Rangers rank first with its players accumulating 128.1 Box-Toppers points. The Rangers held the weekly team rankings lead from Aug. 3 for the final nine weekly reports of the season.
The Diamondbacks finished 14th in team rankings with its players accumulating 102.1 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL teams.
Roster
In regular season games, Arizona @Dbacks beat Texas @Rangers in 3 of 4 games played:
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) October 27, 2023
May 2—TEX 6, ARI 4
May 3—ARI 12, TEX 7
Aug. 21—ARI 4, TEX 3 (F/11)
Aug. 22—ARI 6, TEX 3
(Thread)
Box-Toppers #WorldSeries preview—https://t.co/pGxe4n4xyq
May 3—ARI 12, TEX 7
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) October 27, 2023
Christian Walker @Dbacks is Box-Toppers Player of the Game (2HR 2-4 3R 5BI). He earned 6.0 B-T points in 2023, 21st among NL batters & most among ARI batters.
B-T Player of the Game winners for May 3—https://t.co/KQO2HhBDu8 pic.twitter.com/Uia9TbVzKs
Aug. 22—ARI 6, TEX 3
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) October 27, 2023
Zac Gallen @Dbacks is Box-Toppers Player of the Game (6IP 7H R BB 11K W). He earned 16.7 B-T points in 2023, 8th overall, 4th among NL pitchers & most among all ARI players.
B-T Player of the Game winners for Aug. 22—https://t.co/vghNbR9SJR pic.twitter.com/G9KgDFKN0c
While the Rangers have more Box-Toppers points than the Diamondbacks, they also have more points among likely players on the roster. In the chart below are 24 players who have been most active recently and who are likely to be on the World Series rosters.
The roster list includes nine starting batters, four likely bench players or pinch hitters, four likely starting pitchers, a closing pitcher and six other relief, bullpen or opening pitchers.
The Astros’ likely 24 players have a combined Box-Toppers point total of 113.7, compared to 83.3 for the comparable set from the Diamondbacks.
Starting batters
The starting nine batters for the Rangers have more Box-Toppers points than the starting nine batters for the Diamondbacks, 40.4 vs. 28.2.
Neither team has batters among the overall top 100 in 2023 Box-Toppers points nor among their league’s top 10 batters.
Rangers top batter is second baseman Marcus Semien, whose 6.7 Box-Toppers points is 113th overall and 15th among AL batters.
Diamondbacks top batter is first baseman Christian Walker, whose 6.0 Box-Toppers points is 133rd overall and 21st among NL batters.
Starting pitchers
The series includes two of Box-Toppers’ top 10 ranked players for 2023:
Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks, 16.7 Box-Toppers points, eighth overall, fourth among NL pitchers.
Max Scherzer of the Rangers, 15.4 Box-Toppers points, 10th overall, sixth among AL pitchers.
Neither pitcher has performed like a top 10 player in the postseason, however. Gallen has not earned Player of the Game honors in four postseason starts. Scherzer has not earned Player of the Game honors in two postseason starts.
Rounding out the Rangers starting four pitchers:
Andrew Heaney, 11.4 points, 32nd overall, 16th among AL pitchers. He’s earned no Player of the Game honors in two postseason starts and one relief appearance.
Jordan Montgomery, 10.4 points, 43rd overall, 21st among AL pitchers. He’s earned Player of the Game honors twice this postseason in five appearances, which includes four starts.
Nathan Eovaldi, 9.7 points, 56th overall, 30th among AL pitchers. He’s won Player of the Game honors three times this postseason in four starts.
Rounding out the Diamondbacks starting four pitchers:
Merrill Kelly, 13.0 points, 18th overall, seventh among NL pitchers. He’s won Player of the Game honors twice in three postseason starts.
Ryne Nelson, 6.7 points, 117th overall, 39th among NL pitchers. He has not earned Player of the Game honors in two postseason relief appearances.
Brandon Pfaadt, 3.7 points, 282nd overall, 88th among NL pitchers. He’s earned Player of the Game honors twice in four postseason starts.
With Gallen and Kelly, two top 10 NL pitchers, starting pitcher is an area of strength for the Diamondbacks. Pfaadt’s postseason success has also given them a big jolt in this area. Still, the Rangers have more depth and appear to have a bonafide starter to cover every game without having to possibly resort to one-inning “openers” in a bullpen game. Edge goes to the Rangers in starting pitching.
Relief pitchers
The Rangers have the edge among relief pitchers with its group of seven relievers having 26.4 Box-Toppers points compared to the Diamondbacks with 13.0.
While the Rangers have more than double the points among relievers, the Diamondbacks have the closing pitcher with more Box-Toppers points. Paul Sewald of the Diamondbacks earned 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, seventh among NL closers. Rangers closer Jose Leclerc, however, earned 0.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023 in 57 appearances, including 24 as a closer.
Two other Rangers pitchers who served as closers have more 2023 Box-Toppers points—Aroldis Chapman (4.0) and Will Smith (3.0)—but neither has been used as the Rangers closer recently.
Other notable pitchers listed among the relievers or bullpen for both teams are players who have started and/or served as relievers.
Postseason performance
Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi is one of three players who has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors three times this postseason. (Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler are the others).
Eovaldi was Player of the Game in the AL Wild Card win over the Rays on Oct. 4, in the AL Division Series win over the Orioles on Oct. 10 and in the AL Championship Series win over the Astros on Oct. 16. He is World Series Game 1 starter for the Rangers.
Four other 2023 World Series participants have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors twice so far this postseason: Jordan Montgomery of the Rangers and Brandon Pfaadt, Merrill Kelly and Corbin Carroll of the Diamondbacks.
Players with no points
There are two players on the likely World Series roster who have 0.0 career Box-Toppers points. In other words, they have yet to earn their first career Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor in any regular season game.
They are backup catcher Jose Herrera (who played in 41 games in 2023 and 88 career games) and shortstop Jordan Lawlar (who played in 14 games in 2023).
There are 11 total players among the 48 listed in the likely World Series roster who earned 0.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, but most still hold an overall ranking because they earned Box-Toppers points in previous seasons. They include Diamondbacks starting center fielder Alek Thomas, who was Player of the Game Oct. 20 in the NL Championship Series Game 4 win over the Phillies and Diamondbacks reliever Ryan Thompson, who was Player of the Game Oct. 9 in the NL Division Series Game 2 win over the Dodgers.
The best-of-seven game World Series begins Friday in Arlington, Texas.
Friday’s pitching matchup (for more, see matchups chart below):
World Series Game 1, Diamondbacks at Rangers
Diamondbacks—Zac Gallen, 16.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023, eighth overall, fourth among NL pitchers.
Rangers—Nathan Eovaldi, 9.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 56th overall, 30th among AL pitchers.
Gallen has not earned Player of the Game honors in four postseason starts.
Eovaldi is one of three players who has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors three times this postseason in four appearances—he was Player of the Game in the AL Wild Card win over the Rays on Oct. 4, in the AL Division Series win over the Orioles on Oct. 10 and in the AL Championship Series win over the Astros on Oct. 16.
A Box-Toppers look at Friday’s World Series pitching matchup
A Box-Toppers look at the upcoming day’s probable pitching matchups. Teams are paired below with visiting teams on top and home teams on the bottom. Each team’s starting pitcher is shown with their Box-Toppers point total from 2023 (’23), over a two-year period (’22-23), over a six-year period (’18-23) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’23 | ’22‑23 | ’18‑23 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI | Gallen, Zac 4171 | 16.7 | 35.4 | 51.1 | 51.1 |
| TEX | Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | 9.7 | 15.7 | 43.5 | 69.3 |
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default, game-by-game view.
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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. (No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.)
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.
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Related
Box-Toppers 2023 player rankings leaders
Box-Toppers 2023 final team rankings
Previews of all four Wild Card series
Previews of 2023 National League Division Series
Previews of 2023 American League Division Series
World Series player comparisons
Probable players for the Diamondbacks and Rangers listed by position with their Box-Toppers point total (BTP) for the 2023 regular season and their overall rank among all players:| Arizona Diamondbacks | Texas Rangers | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Players | BTP | Rank | Pos | Players | BTP | Rank | |
| 1B | Christian Walker | 6.0 | 133 | 1B | Nathaniel Lowe | 4.0 | 154 | |
| 2B | Ketel Marte | 4.5 | 210 | 2B | Marcus Semien | 6.7 | 113 | |
| SS | Geraldo Perdomo | 3.5 | 297 | SS | Corey Seager | 6.2 | 128 | |
| 3B | Evan Longoria | 2.7 | 380 | 3B | Josh Jung | 3.5 | 299 | |
| CA | Gabriel Moreno | 2.0 | 505 | CA | Jonah Heim | 4.5 | 205 | |
| CF | Alek Thomas | 0.0 | 896 | CF | Leody Taveras | 2.0 | 443 | |
| LF | Lourdes Gurriel Jr. | 4.0 | 228 | LF | Evan Carter | 1.0 | 726 | |
| RF | Corbin Carroll | 3.0 | 366 | RF | Adolis Garcia | 6.0 | 135 | |
| DH | Thomas Pham | 2.5 | 405 | DH | Mitch Garver | 6.5 | 121 | |
| PH | Pavin Smith | 2.0 | 460 | PH | Austin Hedges | 0.0 | 892 | |
| PH | Emmanuel Rivera | 0.0 | 843 | PH | Robbie Grossman | 0.0 | 945 | |
| PH | Jose Herrera | 0.0 | † | PH | Travis Jankowski | 0.0 | 1017 | |
| PH | Jordan Lawlar | 0.0 | † | PH | Josh Smith | 0.0 | 1090 | |
| SP | Zac Gallen | 16.7 | 8 | SP | Max Scherzer | 15.4 | 10 | |
| SP | Merrill Kelly | 13.0 | 18 | SP | Andrew Heaney | 11.4 | 32 | |
| SP | Ryne Nelson | 6.7 | 117 | SP | Jordan Montgomery | 10.4 | 43 | |
| SP | Brandon Pfaadt | 3.7 | 282 | SP | Nathan Eovaldi | 9.7 | 56 | |
| CP | Paul Sewald | 5.0 | 174 | CP | Jose Leclerc | 0.0 | 866 | |
| PI | Kevin Ginkel | 6.0 | 143 | PI | Jon Gray | 7.7 | 80 | |
| PI | Miguel Castro | 1.0 | 710 | PI | Martín Perez | 4.7 | 189 | |
| PI | Slade Cecconi | 1.0 | 727 | PI | Dane Dunning | 4.0 | 237 | |
| PI | Joe Mantiply | 0.0 | 930 | PI | Aroldis Chapman | 4.0 | 250 | |
| PI | Ryan Thompson | 0.0 | 1021 | PI | Will Smith | 3.0 | 344 | |
| PI | Luis Frias | 0.0 | 1066 | PI | Josh Sborz | 3.0 | 348 | |
| Totals | 83.3 | Totals | 113.7 | |||||
| Starting 9 batters | 28.2 | Starting 9 batters | 40.4 | |||||
| Bench | 2.0 | Bench | 0.0 | |||||
| Starters | 40.1 | Starters | 46.9 | |||||
| Bullpen | 13.0 | Bullpen | 26.4 | |||||
• “Starting batters” shows each team’s Box-Toppers points among the most likely starting nine batters.
• “Bench” is the combined Box-Toppers point totals of top four bench players, listed here as PH (pinch hitters), though some may serve as starters in certain games.
• “Starters” is the combined Box-Toppers point totals of the four likely starting pitchers.
• “Bullpen” is the combined Box-Toppers point totals of pitchers not listed as starters (SP) or closers (CP).
† Has yet to earn Box-Toppers points, so has no ranking.
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