Box-Toppers’ top two-ranked teams square off in the 2019 World Series. Both have three starting pitchers among the top 15 in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
And while the Washington Nationals are the best possible team to match up against the Houston Astros, Box-Toppers still gives the Astros a considerable edge.
Box-Toppers team rankings
Top 15 players
Box-Toppers top 15 players for 2019 include six pitchers who will appear in the 2019 World Series—three from the Houston Astros and three from the Washington Nationals.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 32.2 |
| 2 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 27.5 |
| 3 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.7 |
| 4 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 19.1 |
| 5 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | tb al | 18.8 |
| 6 | Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 18.1 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | hou al | 17.9 |
| 8 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 17.7 |
| 9 | Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi sp | cle al | 17.4 |
| 10 | Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139 | pi sp | lad nl | 17.4 |
| 11 | Flaherty, Jack 3971 | pi sp | stl nl | 16.5 |
| 12 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.4 |
| 13 | Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.4 |
| 14 | Paddack, Chris 4093 | pi sp | sd nl | 15.8 |
| 15 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
The Astros were already leading Box-Toppers team rankings in late July when they acquired pitcher Zack Greinke from the Diamondbacks, which sent them rocketing to a huge lead they never relinquished. They finished the season with its players accumulating a combined 158.1 Box-Toppers points, ahead of the second-place Nationals’ 132.9 points. The gap between the Astros and Nationals is 25.2 points, which would be about as many points as a team would earn if they went on a two- to three-week winning streak.
The points gap between the two teams is similar to the gap between the Nationals and their opponent in the National League Championship Series, the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals ranked 12th in Box-Toppers team rankings with 105.8 points, 27.1 fewer points than the Nationals. The Nationals swept the Cardinals in four games to win the NL pennant.
The Astros are not only Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team, but had the most wins (107) on their way to winning the American League West title and the AL pennant over the New York Yankees in the six-game ALCS. The Nationals, though they ranked as Box-Toppers’ top-ranked NL team, had the third-most wins of NL teams (93) and finished second in the NL East, four games behind the Atlanta Braves, making the playoffs as the NL’s top Wild Card team.
Starting pitching
The Astros hold considerable advantages over the Nationals in accumulated Box-Toppers points. In addition to all its combined players having more points, the likely starting roster players for the World Series have more points—142.7 vs. 121.9 (see the World Series player comparisons chart below). Also, while both teams have the two best starting pitching rotations in baseball, the Astros’ top four starters have far more combined points—84.6 vs. 59.5, a difference of 25.1 points.
The Astros have Box-Toppers’ top two-ranked players of 2019 and three of the top 10.
Astros starter Gerrit Cole led all players in 2019 with 32.2 Box-Toppers points, which was the fourth-highest single-season total since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. Astros starter Justin Verlander finished second overall with 27.5 Box-Toppers points, which was his career-best single-season total in his 14 seasons—better even than the 24.8 he earned in 2012 with the Tigers, when he led all players in Box-Toppers points.
In addition, the Astros have Box-Toppers’ seventh-ranked player, starting pitcher Zack Greinke (17.9 Box-Toppers points, fifth among AL pitchers). Greinke was acquired at the July 31 trade deadline from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Greinke earned 4.7 of his 17.9 points since being traded to the Astros.
The Astros other starting pitcher is Brad Peacock, whose 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2019 ranks 109th among all players and 31st among AL pitchers.
The Nationals have three starting pitchers ranking among Box-Toppers’ top 15 overall players but despite this achievement, they pale in comparison to the Astros. Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg led all NL pitchers in 2019 with 20.7 Box-Toppers points and ranked third overall. Yet, he was a distant third place, 6.8 points behind Verlander’s 27.5. If you added Strasburg’s NL-leading Box-Toppers point total again to the combined total of Nationals pitchers (20.7+59.5), it still would not equal the combined total of the Astros four starting pitchers—84.6 vs. 80.2.
The Nationals other top 15 pitchers include Patrick Corbin (16.4 Box-Toppers points, 12th overall, sixth among NL pitchers) and Max Scherzer (15.4 points, 15th overall, ninth among NL pitchers). The Nationals fourth starter is Anibal Sanchez (7.0 Box-Toppers points, 104th among all players, 43rd among NL pitchers).
Still, Nationals starting pitchers breezed through the NLCS over the Cardinals, with Sanchez and Scherzer taking no-hitters deep into games and Strasburg and Corbin striking out 12 batters each in their starts.
The series includes four starting pitchers who have won Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors:
Greinke led all players with 21.5 Box-Toppers points in 2009 when he was with the Royals.
Verlander led all players with 24.8 points in 2012 when he was with the Tigers.
Scherzer led all players with 25.7 points in 2016 with the Nationals.
Cole led all players with 32.2 points in 2019.
Batters
However, the Nationals batters are more evenly ranked with the Astros. Among the likely starting eight batters playing in NL parks (which will host up to three games in Washington), the Astros hold the advantage—31.7 vs. 28.5. However, if you add in a ninth batter as designated hitter (which will be in place in four possible games at the Astros’ AL park), the Nationals hold the advantage 37.5 vs. 34.2. The top-ranked bench player not among the eight starting fielders is deemed by Box-Toppers to be the teams’ designated hitter. For the Nationals, that is Asdrubal Cabrera, who actually leads his team’s batters with 9.0 Box-Toppers points (84th overall, seventh among NL batters). For the Astros, the top bench batter is Yordan Alvarez (2.5 points), who has been serving as the team’s DH.
The Nationals also have a slight advantage over the Astros among the combined Box-Toppers point totals of the four top remaining bench batters, though the lead is fairly inconsequential—6.9 points vs. 4.5.
Again, Cabrera is the Nationals’ top batter and the only Nationals batter among Box-Toppers’ overall top 100 players. Cabrera played in only 38 games for the Nationals since he was acquired at the end of July from the Rangers. However, he earned 5.5 of his 9.0 points with the Nationals. Leftfielder Juan Soto has the most Box-Toppers points among batters who played the entire season for the Nationals (6.0).
Alex Bregman is the Astros’ top batter with 10.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 48th overall and fifth among AL batters. He is the only Astros batter among Box-Toppers’ overall top 100 players.
Relievers
Both bullpens are fairly even—the Astros top eight relievers have 19.4 combined points and he Nationals top seven relievers have 18.0.
With starting pitchers winning the lion’s share of each team’s Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors and Box-Toppers points in 2019, relief pitchers didn’t have as much opportunity to collect many points.
Postseason performance
Starting pitchers Gerrit Cole of the Astros and Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors three times this postseason, tied for the most of any player. They both also led their league in season Box-Toppers points.
Of the five players who won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors at least twice this postseason, four are on World Series teams. The others are: Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer and Astros pitcher Justin Verlander. Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka also earned Player of the Game honors twice in the postseason. The Astros eliminated the Yankees in the ALCS.
World Series player comparisons
Probable players for the Dodgers and Red Sox listed by position with their Box-Toppers point total (BTP) for the 2019 regular season and their overall rank among all players:| Pos | Nationals | BTP | Rank | Pos | Astros | BTP | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | Ryan Zimmerman | 1.0 | 583 | 1B | Yuli Gurriel | 4.5 | 211 | |
| 2B | Howie Kendrick | 4.5 | 219 | 2B | Jose Altuve | 2.5 | 382 | |
| SS | Trea Turner | 3.0 | 325 | SS | Carlos Correa | 1.5 | 520 | |
| 3B | Anthony Rendon | 5.0 | 169 | 3B | Alex Bregman | 10.0 | 48 | |
| CA | Kurt Suzuki | 4.5 | 212 | CA | Robinson Chirinos | 3.0 | 319 | |
| CF | Victor Robles | 3.5 | 291 | CF | George Springer | 5.7 | 152 | |
| LF | Juan Soto | 6.0 | 141 | LF | Michael Brantley | 1.5 | 527 | |
| RF | Adam Eaton | 1.0 | 613 | RF | Josh Reddick | 3.0 | 334 | |
| PH | Asdrubal Cabrera | 9.0 | 64 | PH | Yordan Alvarez | 2.5 | 395 | |
| PH | Gerardo Parra | 2.7 | 372 | PH | Aledmys Diaz | 2.0 | 426 | |
| PH | Brian Dozier | 2.5 | 385 | PH | Jake Marisnick | 1.5 | 524 | |
| PH | Matt Adams | 1.7 | 506 | PH | Martin Maldonado | 1.0 | 554 | |
| PH | Michael Taylor | 0.0 | 1060 | PH | Kyle Tucker | 0.0 | —* | |
| SP | Stephen Strasburg | 20.7 | 3 | SP | Gerrit Cole | 32.2 | 1 | |
| SP | Patrick Corbin | 16.4 | 12 | SP | Justin Verlander | 27.5 | 2 | |
| SP | Max Scherzer | 15.4 | 15 | SP | Zack Greinke | 17.9 | 7 | |
| SP | Anibal Sanchez | 7.0 | 104 | SP | Brad Peacock | 7.0 | 109 | |
| CP | Daniel Hudson | 5.0 | 192 | CP | Roberto Osuna | 4.0 | 246 | |
| PI | Roenis Elias | 5.0 | 181 | PI | Wade Miley | 6.7 | 122 | |
| PI | Sean Doolittle | 3.0 | 320 | PI | Josh James | 3.0 | 333 | |
| PI | Austin Voth | 2.0 | 462 | PI | Jose Urquidy | 2.7 | 377 | |
| PI | Tanner Rainey | 2.0 | 496 | PI | Hector Rodon | 1.0 | 599 | |
| PI | Javy Guerra | 1.0 | 630 | PI | Will Harris | 1.0 | 663 | |
| PI | Fernando Rodney | 0.0 | 855 | PI | Ryan Pressly | 1.0 | 664 | |
| PI | PI | Joe Smith | 0.0 | 1299 | ||||
| Totals | 121.9 | Totals | 142.7 | |||||
| Starting 8 batters | 28.5 | Starting 8 batters | 31.7 | |||||
| Starting 9 (with DH) | 37.5 | Starting 9 (with DH) | 34.2 | |||||
| Bench | 6.9 | Bench | 4.5 | |||||
| Starters | 59.5 | Starters | 84.6 | |||||
| Bullpen | 18.0 | Bullpen | 19.4 |
Note: Five bench players are all listed as pinch hitters (PH), even though one will likely serve as a designated hitter (DH) when games are played in an American League park. Yordan Alvarez has served as the Astros DH through the 2019 postseason so far. Box-Toppers uses the Nationals’ highest-ranked bench player, Asdrubal Cabrera, as DH, when figuring team strength with DH.
Four starting pitchers are listed (SP), along with the the team’s usual closer (CP) and all other pitchers (PI) who are likely to appear.
Wade Miley was not on the Astros’ ALCS roster after a September decline and poor ALDS performance but is listed here since he has more 2019 Box-Toppers points than a likely replacement.
Relief pitchers Wander Suero of the Astros and Bryan Abreu of the Astros , who were on the LCS rosters, are not listed here. Neither has made their Box-Toppers debut by earning Player of the Game honors for the first time.
• “Totals” shows the number of Box-Toppers points among all players listed here.
• “Starting 8 batters” shows each team’s Box-Toppers point totals in a National League park (without a designated hitter) and “Starting 9 batters (with DH)” shows totals with a DH included.
• “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).
World Series Game 1, Nationals at Astros
Tuesday’s starting pitchers:
Nationals—Max Scherzer, 15.4 Box-Toppers points, 15th among all players, ninth among NL pitchers, third among Nationals pitchers.
Scherzer has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors twice in four postseason appearances—in the NL Division Series Game 4 win against the Dodgers on Oct. 7 and in the NLCS Game 2 win against the Cardinals on Oct. 12. He also started in the NL Wild Card Game against the Brewers and pitched in relief in NLDS Game 2 against the Dodgers.
Astros—Gerrit Cole, 32.2 Box-Toppers points, first among all players, first among American League pitchers.
Cole has earned Player of the Game honors in all three of his postseason starts—in the AL Division Series Game 2 win over the Rays on Oct. 5, in the Game 5 win on Oct. 10 and in the AL Championship Game 3 win over the Yankees on Oct. 15.
Cole is Box-Toppers Player of the Year in 2019 (leading all players with 32.2 Box-Toppers points). Scherzer was Box-Toppers Player of the Year in 2016 (leading all players with 25.7 points).
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.
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Box-Toppers NL Championship Series preview
Box-Toppers AL Championship Series preview