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The Houston Astros rocketed to a huge lead in Box-Toppers team rankings this week, mainly due to acquiring Zack Greinke and other players at the July 31 trade deadline.
The Astros lead for the second week, but last week’s narrow lead has exploded to an enormous lead this week, as they gained the most Box-Toppers points of any team in the past week.
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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.
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.
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 | ✓ |
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).
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.
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.
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.