Nationals' offseason net gain in Box-Toppers points pushes them to top of preseason team rankings. Meanwhile, the Yankees and Athletics plummet in rankings and the Cubs and Red Sox make big leaps upward.
Read MoreGiants have clear Box-Toppers advantage over Royals in World Series, but since 2014 is underdog year, watch out for David slaying 'Giant'
The San Francisco Giants have the clear Box-Toppers advantage over the Kansas City Royals in the upcoming 2014 World Series.
Giants players accumulated more Box-Toppers points during the regular season and position-by-position match-ups tend to favor Giants in both batting and pitching.
But in a postseason dominated by underdog Davids beating baseball’s Goliaths, it would be folly to rule out the Royals slaying these Giants.
The best-of-seven game World Series begins Tuesday in Kansas City.
Both teams entered the postseason as Wild Cards with no division title. Both had to endure a one-game Wild Card playoff. Both went on to beat the top-seeded team in their league in their League Division Series. All around them, the mighty teams fell, leaving two final teams no one could have predicted.
The Giants have the fewest Box-Toppers points of any team to qualify to play in one of the National League Division Series—they are ranked eighth among all teams with 110.8 Box-Toppers points. The Royals have the fewest Box-Toppers points of any American League team to qualify for the playoffs—they are ranked 10th, with 101.1 Box-Toppers points.
With the downtrodden, underdog quality of both teams, it’s hard to cast the Giants as “Goliath.” If anything, the 2014 World Series between the Royals and Giants will not be a contest of David and Goliath, but one of David and a slightly-larger David.
But is it possible that in this topsy-turvy postseason that being the lesser team actually is the thing that gives a team the advantage? If so, then the Royals are bound to win. They are the bigger underdog, having not won a World Series since 1985 and have endured a playoff drought ever since. Meanwhile, the Giants win the Fall Classic every even-numbered year. (But the Royals bigger underdog status does have one flaw—they actually won more games during the regular season than did the Giants—89 to 88.)
The Royals may also have the advantage in the bullpen with three pitchers closing down teams at the end of playoff games. They may also have an advantage with speed on the bases and defense, factors Box-Toppers doesn’t directly measure.
Below are position-by-position match-ups of each player likely in the starting line-up for both teams, along with the highest-rated starting pitchers in Box-Toppers points, the top closing pitcher and an extra pitcher. Also listed are each player’s Box-Toppers points earned in 2014, along with their overall rank among all players.
Matching up 15 key players against each other position-by-position, the Giants have the advantage in nine spots, the Royals only in six spots (the players with the advantage below are denoted with a checkmark in the “Adv” column). The Giants have the advantage in both batting and pitching. In the nine key batting positions, the Giants have the advantage in five spots, the Royals four. In six key pitching spots, the Giants have the advantage, 4-2.
When adding the Box-Toppers points of those 15 key players together, the Giants have the advantage over the Royals—92.1 Box-Toppers points to 83.1.
The Giants have two players who will be on Box-Toppers end-of-season NL All-Star team:
• Madison Bumgarner, starting pitcher, 22.6 Box-Toppers points, ranked third among all players and second among NL pitchers.
• Buster Posey, catcher, 8.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked second among NL batters.
The Royals have one player who will be on Box-Toppers end-of-season AL All-Star team:
• Wade Davis, middle relief pitcher, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, first among AL middle relievers.
We have taken some liberties with the “starting” players listed below. We’ve plugged Michael Morse into the designated hitter spot for the Giants (when they play in Kansas City) because he is the batter with the most regular season Box-Toppers points who hasn’t regularly started in postseason games. Tim Lincecum has not pitched yet this postseason and hasn’t started a game since August, but he is listed because he is still on postseason rosters and still has the second-most Box-Toppers points among Giants starters this season (he pitched a no-hitter on June 25). Sergio Romo is listed as closer for the Giants (even though Santiago Casilla has been closing games recently) because Romo has more Box-Toppers points.
World Series Game 1: Giants at Royals
The pitching matchup Tuesday:
Giants: Madison Bumgarner, 22.6 Box-Toppers points, ranked third among all players, second among NL pitchers.
Royals: James Shields, 13.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 22nd among all players, 11th among AL pitchers.
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.
World Series player comparisons
Likely starting players for the Giants and Royals listed by position with their Box-Toppers point total (BTP) for the 2014 regular season and their overall player rank among all players. The column "Adv" shows which team's position player has a higher Box-Toppers player ranking.
| Giants | BTP | Rank | Adv | Royals | BTP | Rank | Adv | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | Brandon Belt | 2.0 | 412 | Eric Hosmer | 2.5 | 368 | ✓ | ||
| 2B | Joe Panik | 1.0 | 701 | Omar Infante | 4.0 | 243 | ✓ | ||
| SS | Brandon Crawford | 3.0 | 322 | Alicides Escboar | 5.0 | 190 | ✓ | ||
| 3B | Pablo Sandoval | 4.5 | 220 | ✓ | Mike Moustakas | 4.0 | 251 | ||
| CA | Buster Posey | 8.5 | 76 | ✓ | Salvador Perez | 4.7 | 210 | ||
| CF | Gregor Blanco | 3.0 | 346 | ✓ | Lorenzo Cain | 2.0 | 421 | ||
| LF | Travis Ishikawa | 1.0 | 644 | Alex Gordon | 3.0 | 203 | ✓ | ||
| RF | Hunter Pence | 2.5 | 367 | ✓ | Norichika Aoki | 2.0 | 443 | ||
| DH | Michael Morse | 6.5 | 144 | ✓ | Billy Butler | 2.5 | 365 | ||
| SP | Madison Bumgarner | 22.6 | 3 | ✓ | James Shields | 13.7 | 22 | ||
| SP | Tim Lincecum | 10.4 | 54 | ✓ | Danny Duffy | 10.0 | 58 | ||
| SP | Tim Hudson | 8.7 | 71 | ✓ | Yordano Ventura | 8.7 | 75 | ||
| SP | Ryan Vogelsong | 8.7 | 74 | ✓ | Jason Vargas | 7.0 | 107 | ||
| CP | Sergio Romo | 4.0 | 242 | Greg Holland | 7.0 | 106 | ✓ | ||
| PI | Jake Peavy | 5.7 | 165 | Jeremy Guthrie | 7.0 | 113 | ✓ |
NLCS Preview: Cardinals have slight Box-Toppers points edge, but Giants have 2 of NL's top stars
The St. Louis Cardinals are fifth in Box-Toppers team rankings, the highest-ranked team remaining in the playoffs. That would seem to give them the advantage as they take on the eighth-ranked San Francisco Giants in the National League Championship Series.
But the Giants can lay claim to two of the league’s top players—pitcher Madison Bumgarner (22.6 Box-Toppers points, ranked third among all players and second among NL pitchers) and catcher Buster Posey (8.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked second among NL batters). The best-of-seven game NLCS begins Saturday in St. Louis.
Below are position-by-position match-ups of each player likely in the starting line-up for both teams, along with the highest-rated starting pitchers in Box-Toppers points, the top closing pitcher and an extra pitcher. Also listed are each player’s Box-Toppers points earned in 2014, along with their overall rank among all players.
Cardinals players accumulated more Box-Toppers points than the Giants during the regular season—114.8 vs. 110.8. (Team rankings report.)
Both the Cardinals and Giants will have two players each on Box-Toppers end-of-season NL All-Star team. Bumgarner and Posey are the Giants’ All-Stars—Posey led NL catchers in Box-Toppers points and Bumgarner was second among NL pitchers. Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (18.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among NL pitchers) and Matt Holliday (7.5 points, ranked third among NL outfielders) will also be on Box-Toppers NL All-Star team.
Matching up the eight prospective starting batters on each team position-by-position, the teams are evenly split—both have the advantage in four positions. However, the Giants may have the advantage from the bench. Their top batter who has not started recently is Mike Morse, who has 6.5 Box-Toppers points.
Matching up pitchers from highest to lowest Box-Toppers points, the Giants have the advantage matching up Bumgarner’s 22.6 Box-Toppers points against anyone, including Wainwright and his 18.7. But after that, the Cardinals have the advantage matching up the remaining three starting pitchers, the closing pitchers and the next highest-rated pitcher. We’ve listed Sergio Romo as the closer for the Giants (even though Santiago Casilla has been closing games recently) because Romo has more Box-Toppers points.
Adding up Box-Toppers points for the eight batters and six pitchers listed below, the Cardinals have the slight point total advantage—85.8 Box-Toppers points vs. 85.6.
The Giants had the largest opening day payroll of the four playoff teams remaining, $154 million, ranked seventh among all teams. The Cardinals had an opening day payroll of $111 million, ranked 13th, above both American League Championship Series teams (Orioles, 15th and the Royals, 19th).
NLCS Game 1, Giants at Cardinals
Both teams will start their aces Saturday:
Giants: Madison Bumgarner, 22.6 Box-Toppers points, ranked third among all players, second among NL pitchers.
Cardinals: Adam Wainwright, 18.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked eighth among all players, fourth among NL pitchers.
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.
NL Championship Series player comparisons
Likely starting players for the Giants and Cardinals listed by position with their Box-Toppers point total (BTP) for the 2014 regular season and their overall player rank among all players
| Pos | Giants | BTP | Rank | Cardinals | BTP | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | Brandon Belt | 2.0 | 412 | Matt Adams | 1.0 | 530 | |
| 2B | Joe Panik | 1.0 | 701 | Kolten Wong | 5.5 | 182 | |
| SS | Brandon Crawford | 3.0 | 322 | Jhonny Peralta | 6.0 | 112 | |
| 3B | Pablo Sandoval | 4.5 | 220 | Matt Carpenter | 2.0 | 407 | |
| CA | Buster Posey | 8.5 | 76 | Yadier Molina | 0 | 754 | |
| CF | Gregor Blanco | 3.0 | 346 | Jon Jay | 3.0 | 314 | |
| LF | Travis Ishikawa | 1.0 | 644 | Matt Holliday | 7.5 | 97 | |
| RF | Hunter Pence | 2.5 | 367 | Randal Grichuk | -* | -* | |
| SP | Madison Bumgarner | 22.6 | 3 | Adam Wainwright | 18.7 | 8 | |
| SP | Tim Lincecum | 10.4 | 54 | Lance Lynn | 10.7 | 48 | |
| SP | Tim Hudson | 8.7 | 71 | John Lackey | 10.7 | 50 | |
| SP | Ryan Vogelsong | 8.7 | 74 | Shelby Miller | 9.0 | 64 | |
| CP | Sergio Romo | 4.0 | 242 | Trevor Rosenthal | 5.0 | 187 | |
| PI | Jake Peavy | 5.7 | 165 | Justin Masterson | 6.7 | 124 |
* Randal Grichuk has yet to earn Player of the Game honors and has not made his Box-Toppers debut. He made his Major League debut April 28 and played in 47 regular season games.
San Francisco Giants back on top of Box-Toppers team rankings
The San Francisco Giants are back on top of Box-Toppers team rankings after a week when they slipped to fourth place.
Top 10 teams
Here are Box-Toppers' Top 10 teams, through the games of Thursday, May 29. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team have accumulated so far this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams have accumulated during the past week.Giants players have accumulated 41.9 Box-Toppers points this season, including a National League-high 8.2 points during the past week. They pass last week’s top team, the Oakland Athletics, which fell to third. The Giants were the top team two weeks ago, the week of May 15, before falling to fourth last week.
The Giants also pass last week’s top NL team, the Miami Marlins, which fell to fifth place in Box-Toppers team rankings.
The Giants are led by pitcher Madison Bumgarner (6.5 Box-Toppers points, sixth place among NL pitchers) and left fielder Michael Morse (5.5 Box-Toppers points, third place among NL batters).
The Giants also have baseball’s best winning percentage (.648).
The Toronto Blue Jays are the top American League team with 39.4 Box-Toppers points. They are in second place overall, rising from fifth place a week ago. They pass the Athletics, who held the top spot among AL teams for the past six weeks.
The Blue Jays are led by pitcher Mark Buehrle (4.7 Box-Toppers points, 15th place among AL pitchers) and first baseman and designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion (4.0 Box-Toppers points, ninth place among AL batters).
The Blue Jays have the third-best winning percentage in the AL (.582). The Detroit Tigers have the best winning percentage in the AL (.600) and rank 13th in Box-Toppers team rankings.
The Houston Astros were the hottest team of the past week, picking up 9.9 Box-Toppers points, giving them 29.8 for the season. The Astros rose from 29th place last week (next-to-last, ahead of only the Chicago Cubs) to 16th place this week (the Cubs still rank last with 23.7 Box-Toppers points). During the team’s six-game winning streak, their Players of the Game have picked up Box-Toppers bonus points five times.
The Los Angeles Dodgers rose into the top 10 this week, rising from 11th to 10th place overall. The Atlanta Braves fell out of the top 10, falling from seventh to 11th place.
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.
D-backs' Josh Collmenter (CG 3H 0R) tops players for Thursday, May 29
Diamondbacks pitcher Josh Collmenter is Thursday’s Player of the Day. Collmenter pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, facing the minimum 27 batters, in the 4-0 win over the Reds.
Astros pitcher Brad Peacock is American League Player of the Day. Peacock struck out eight over six innings in the 3-1 win over the Orioles. Peacock did not earn the win because he left with the game tied, 1-1.
Erick Aybar of the Angels is AL Batter of the Day. Aybar hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-5 in the 7-5 win over the Mariners.
Michael Morse of the Giants is National League Batter of the Day. Morse homered and hit a two-run, go-ahead double in the 6-5 win over the Giants. Morse earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.5 for the season. He is in 24th among all players in Box-Toppers rankings and third place among NL batters.
Notable: Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers rose to 12th place in Box-Toppers player rankings—and maintained his spot as top AL batter—after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Cabrera (1-3 2RBI in the 5-4 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.5 for the season.
Collmenter receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Peacock receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Aybar and Morse each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
San Francisco Giants, hottest team of the week, rise to top Box-Toppers team rankings
The San Francisco Giants, the hottest team of the past week, have risen to the top of Box-Toppers team power rankings.
Giants players have accumulated 31.0 Box-Toppers points this season, including 7.0 this past week—more than any other team. They rise from fifth place to first, edging past last week’s top team, the Colorado Rockies (30.8 Box-Toppers points).
Top 10 teams
Here are Box-Toppers' Top 10 teams, through the games of Thursday, May 15. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team have accumulated so far this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams have accumulated during the past week.The Giants are led by pitcher Madison Bumgarner (5.5 Box-Toppers points—ranked 6th among NL pitchers) and left fielder Michael Morse (4.0 Box-Toppers points—ranked 6th among NL batters).
The Giants also have the best winning percentage of any NL team (.643).
The Rockies fell to second overall after a lackluster week in which they picked up only 1.5 Box-Toppers points.
The top American League team for the fifth straight week is the Oakland Athletics. With 30.4 Box-Toppers points, they are ranked third overall, the same spot as last week.
The Athletics are led by pitchers Scott Kazmir and Jesse Chavez, both of whom have 5.7 Box-Toppers points each. Kazmir is ranked fourth and Chavez fifth among AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points.
The Detroit Tigers have the overall best winning percentage in baseball, .667. They rank eighth in Box-Toppers points with 26.7, down from seventh place a week ago.
Last week’s hottest team, the Miami Marlins, was this week’s coldest team. Last week, they picked up 8.5 Box-Toppers points but this week they picked up the fewest points of any team—1.0. With 29.9 Box-Toppers points for the season, they fell from second to fourth overall. Their bad week was compounded by the news that pitcher Jose Fernandez would be lost for the season, recovering from Tommy John surgery. Fernandez has more Box-Toppers points than any Marlins player, 7.0—nearly one-fourth of the team’s total—and ranks fifth among all players this season.
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.
Reds' Johnny Cueto tops players for Thursday, May 15 with shutout, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings
Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto, Thursday’s Player of the Day, rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and is now the top-ranked National League pitcher.
Cueto pitched a complete game shutout, allowing three hits and striking out eight, in the 5-0 win over the Padres. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season. He passes Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals (7.0 Box-Toppers points) to lead NL pitchers in player rankings. He trails only Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies (9.1 Box-Toppers points), the overall leader. (See the updated top 10 player rankings for the season on the home page.)
(Cueto and Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka both have 7.7 Box-Toppers points but Cueto is ranked higher because of the tie-breaker: He has more points than Tanaka over 2013-2014—11.7 vs. 7.7.)
Yankees pitcher Dellin Betances is American League Player of the Day. Betances pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless middle relief, striking out six, in the 1-0 win over the Mets. This was Betances’ Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors. He is the 3,333rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record-keeping began in 1995. He made his Major League debut on Sept. 22, 2011, and was pitching in his 23rd game.
Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays is AL Batter of the Day. Encarnacion homered twice and doubled, going 3-for-4 and driving in three runs, in the 4-2 win over the Indians.
Michael Morse of the Giants is National League Batter of the Day. Morse homered, went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs, in the 6-4 win over the Marlins.
Notables: Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha earned Player of the Game honors for batting. He had a two-run RBI in the 5-3 win over the Cubs. He is the third pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting.
Mike Trout of the Angels, currently ranked seventh among all players in Wins Above Replacement at 2.4, according to Baseball-Reference.com, earned his first Box-Toppers point of the season Thursday. Trout hit a walk-off, three-run home run—his only hit in four at-bats—in the 6-5 win over the Rays. With 1.0 Box-Toppers point this season, Trout currently ranks 257th in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Cueto receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Betances receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Encarnacion and Morse each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
Red Sox' John Lackey (8IP 1R 11K) tops players for Wednesday, April 23
Red Sox pitcher John Lackey is Wednesday’s Player of the Day. Lackey gave up one run over eight innings and struck out 11 in the 5-1 win over the Yankees.
Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke is National League Player of the Day. Greinke struck out 11 over seven innings in the 5-2 win over the Phillies. Greinke rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season. He earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points, giving him 4.4 for the season. (See updated Top 10 Box-Toppers player rankings for 2014 on the home page.)
Kyle Seager of the Mariners is American League Batter of the Day. Seager hit a two-run homer and then hit a walk-off three-run home run in the 5-3 win over the Astros.
Michael Morse of the Giants is NL Batter of the Day. Morse hit two home runs and drove in four runs in the 12-10, 11-inning win over the Rockies.
Notable: Rangers pitcher Martin Perez rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season. Perez (CG 0R W in 3-0 win vs. Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 5.0 for the season. (See updated Top 10 Box-Toppers player rankings for 2014 on the home page.)
Lackey receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Greinke receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Seager and Morse each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.