Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team for 2020, the Los Angeles Dodgers, hold a considerable edge over the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2020 World Series.
While the Dodgers and Rays had the best regular season winning percentages, the Dodgers far outranked the Rays in Box-Toppers team rankings. The Dodgers had the best winning percentage (.717) and the Rays were second (.667). But the Dodgers led all teams in 2020 Box-Toppers points with 52.8, while the Rays ranked ninth (fifth among American League teams) with 43.4 points.
While the Dodgers had only three more wins than the Rays (43 vs. 40), their players earned Box-Toppers bonus points more than twice as often in team wins. Dodgers players earned bonus points 15 times while Rays players did it only seven times.
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.
In addition to the Dodgers 9.4-point overall advantage over the Rays, the Dodgers also have the Box-Toppers point edge in the likely key players in World Series, in the likely starting nine batters for each game and among the likely four starting pitchers. (See the chart at the bottom of the page, World Series player comparisons.)
The Rays, meanwhile, have the Box-Toppers points advantage among bench players and bullpen pitchers.
Box-Toppers team rankings
The Dodgers were the top team in Box-Toppers team rankings for much of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, ranking first in six straight weekly Box-Toppers team rankings, from Aug. 20 on, leading all teams at season’s end.
The chart below shows the 24 players on each team who played roles in each teams’ league championship series and who will likely be on each teams’ World Series roster.
Comparing the 24 likely players on both rosters, Dodgers players accumulated more points in 2020 (48.3 vs. 40.4). The Dodgers also have a considerable advantage when comparing the likely nine starting batters (20.2 for the Dodgers vs. 7.5 for the Rays). The four probable Dodgers starters also have more combined 2020 Box-Toppers points (20.1) than the four probable Rays starters (16.7).
However, when comparing the Rays four likely bench players—batters normally without a starting role and listed as “PH” or “pinch hitters” in the chart—the Rays have the edge, with its four players accumulating 6.2 Box-Toppers points compared to 3.0 points for the Dodgers four bench players. The Rays also had the advantage among bullpen pitchers, with its seven likely relief pitchers accumulating 10.0 Box-Toppers points, compared to 5.0 for the seven likely relievers for the Dodgers.
But because the 2020 season was such a small sample size, pared back to just 60 games because of the coronavirus pandemic, we are additionally looking at players’ Box-Toppers point totals since the start of 2019 and their cumulative point totals for both 2019 and 2020.
Looking at it this way, the Dodgers still hold the considerable edge, with the likely 24 starting players accumulating 152.3 Box-Toppers points over 2019-20, compared to 127.5 for the Rays. The Dodgers starting nine batters have 63.1 Box-Toppers points over 2019-20, compared to 28.7 for the Rays.
The Rays still hold the edge among bench players (14.2 vs. 6.5).
But teams swap top positions when comparing starters and bullpen. Rays starters have more Box-Toppers points over 2019-20 than the Dodgers (67.6 vs. 54.2). Meanwhile, Dodgers bullpen pitchers have more Box-Toppers points over 2019-20 than the Rays (28.5 vs. 17.0).
Top players
There are two players in the World Series who rank among the overall top 10 players in Box-Toppers points for 2020:
Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow has 8.0 Box-Toppers points and ranks eighth overall, fourth among AL pitchers. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw has 7.7 Box-Toppers points and ranks ninth overall, fifth among NL pitchers.
Rays’ top-ranked batter is third baseman Joey Wendle, 3.0 Box-Toppers points, 106th among all players and 19th among AL batters.
Dodgers’ top-ranked batter is shortstop Corey Seager, 3.5 Box-Toppers points, 79th among all players and 13th among NL batters.
But a slightly different and perhaps more complete picture of players appears when looking at their Box-Toppers point totals over the combined 2019-20 seasons.
In that case, Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler leads all players with 22.1 Box-Toppers points, eighth-most over 2019-20, third among NL pitchers. Teammate Kershaw has 20.4 points over 2019-20, 13th overall in that span, sixth among NL pitchers.
Pitcher Charlie Morton leads Rays players over the combined two seasons with 20.8 Box-Toppers points, 10th overall and sixth among AL pitchers in that span. (Morton has just 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2020 after earning 18.8 in 2019.) Teammate Glasnow has 17.7 Box-Toppers points over 2019-20, 22nd overall and ninth among AL pitchers over that span.
Leading Dodgers batters in Box-Toppers points over 2019 and 2020 are center fielder Cody Bellinger (12.2 points, 49th overall and fifth among NL batters in that span) and right fielder Mookie Betts (11.2 points, 68th overall and sixth among NL batters in that span). However, both Bellinger and Betts earned the bulk of their points in 2019—Bellinger has just 1.0 point in 2020 and Betts has 2.5. (Betts earned 8.7 Box-Toppers points in 2019 with the Red Sox.)
Leading Rays batters in Box-Toppers points over 2019 and 2020 is Hunter Renfroe with 7.2 Box-Toppers points, 149th among all players, 29th among AL batters. Renfroe, not a regular starter, is listed among the Rays’ bench players. Top likely starter for the Rays in that span is center fielder Kevin Kiermaier with 7.0 Box-Toppers points, 169th overall in 2019-20, 34th among AL batters. Kiermaier has just 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2020.
Postseason performance
There are eight players who have earned Player of the Game honors more than once this postseason, four of them are in the World Series.
Two Dodgers players have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors three times already this postseason—pitcher Julio Urias and shortstop Corey Seager.
Two Rays players have earned Player of the Game honors twice each—pitchers Diego Castillo and Charlie Morton.
Urias earned Player of the Game honors in the NL Wild Card Game 1 win over the Brewers on Sept. 30, in the NL Division Series Game 3 win over the Padres on Oct. 8 and the NL Championship Series Game 7 win over the Braves on Oct. 18.
Seager earned Player of the Game honors Oct. 7 in the NL Division Series Game 2 win over the Padres, Oct. 14 in the NL Championship Series Game 3 win over the Braves and Oct. 16 in the NLCS Game 5 win over the Braves.
Castillo earned Player of the Game honors Oct. 9 in the AL Division Series Game 5 win over the Yankees and Oct. 11 in the AL Championship Series Game 1 win over the Astros.
Morton earned Player of the Game honors in the AL Championship Series Game 2 win over the Astros on Oct. 12 and in the ALCS Game 7 win over the Astros on Oct. 17.
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The World Series begins Tuesday and the entire series will be played at a neutral site, Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, due to pandemic concerns. Limited fans will be allowed in the stadium, with added social distancing and masking precautions, despite a rising rate of COVID-19 cases.
World Series Game 1, Rays vs. Dodgers
Tuesday’s starting pitchers is a matchup of each team’s top-ranked players in 2020 Box-Toppers season player rankings:
Rays—Tyler Glasnow, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, eighth among all players, fourth among AL pitchers. (Since the start of 2019, Glasnow has 17.7 Box-Toppers points, 22nd among all players over 2019-20, ninth among AL pitchers.)
Glasnow has earned Player of the Game honors once in four previous 2020 postseason appearances—Sept. 30 in the AL Wild Card Game 2 win over the Blue Jays. He also appeared in the AL Division Series Game 2 and Game 5 wins over the Yankees on Oct. 6 and Oct. 9 and in the AL Championship Series Game 4 loss to the Astros on Oct. 14.
Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 7.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020, ninth among all players, fifth among NL pitchers. (Since the start of 2019, Kershaw has 20.4 Box-Toppers points, 13th among all players over 2019-20, sixth among NL pitchers.) Also, Kershaw ranks third in career points (235.2) among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He leads all active players in career points.
Kershaw has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors once in three 2020 postseason starts. He was top player Oct. 1 in the NL Wild Card Game 2 win against the Brewers. He also started Oct. 7 in the NL Division Series Game 2 win against the Padres and Oct. 15 in the NL Championship Series Game 4 loss to the Braves.
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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Related:
Box-Toppers NL Championship Series preview
Box-Toppers AL Championship Series preview
World Series player comparisons
Probable players for the Rays and Dodgers listed by position with their Box-Toppers point total (BTP) for the 2020 regular season and their overall rank among all players. Also shown for more context is each players’ Box-Toppers point total since the start of 2019 and their ranking among all players over 2019 and 2020.| Pos | Rays | BTP ’20 |
Rank | BTP ’19‑20 |
Rank | Pos | Dodgers | BTP ’20 |
Rank | BTP ’19‑20 |
Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | Ji-Man Choi | 0.0 | 575 | 4.2 | 312 | 1B | Max Muncy | 1.5 | 255 | 7.0 | 164 | |
| 2B | Brandon Lowe | 1.0 | 407 | 2.0 | 560 | 2B | Chris Taylor | 3.0 | 95 | 5.5 | 228 | |
| SS | Willy Adames | 0.0 | 695 | 2.0 | 600 | SS | Corey Seager | 3.5 | 79 | 4.5 | 297 | |
| 3B | Joey Wendle | 3.0 | 106 | 3.0 | 410 | 3B | Justin Turner | 1.0 | 324 | 5.5 | 239 | |
| CA | Mike Zunino | 0.0 | 698 | 2.0 | 603 | CA | Will Smith | 3.0 | 93 | 6.0 | 200 | |
| CF | Kevin Kiermaier | 1.0 | 316 | 7.0 | 169 | CF | Cody Bellinger | 1.0 | 291 | 12.2 | 49 | |
| LF | Randy Arozarena | 1.5 | 285 | 1.5 | 642 | LF | A.J. Pollock | 3.0 | 99 | 4.0 | 323 | |
| RF | Manuel Margot | 1.0 | 352 | 3.5 | 389 | RF | Mookie Betts | 2.5 | 131 | 11.2 | 68 | |
| DH | Austin Meadows | 0.0 | 606 | 3.5 | 398 | DH | Joc Pederson | 1.7 | 239 | 7.2 | 148 | |
| PH | Mike Brosseau | 2.5 | 145 | 4.0 | 331 | PH | Enrique Hernandez | 2.0 | 182 | 5.5 | 234 | |
| PH | Yoshi Tsutsugo | 2.0 | 234 | 2.0 | 534 | PH | Matt Beaty | 1.0 | 446 | 1.0 | 699 | |
| PH | Hunter Renfroe | 1.7 | 240 | 7.2 | 149 | PH | Austin Barnes | 0.0 | 1083 | 0.0 | 1083 | |
| PH | Yandy Diaz | 0.0 | 806 | 1.0 | 806 | PH | Edwin Rios* | 0.0 | 0.0 | |||
| SP | Tyler Glasnow | 8.0 | 8 | 17.7 | 22 | SP | Clayton Kershaw | 7.7 | 9 | 20.4 | 13 | |
| SP | Blake Snell | 3.7 | 63 | 13.7 | 36 | SP | Walker Buehler | 5.7 | 25 | 22.1 | 8 | |
| SP | Ryan Yarbrough | 3.0 | 83 | 15.4 | 32 | SP | Tony Gonsolin | 4.7 | 36 | 7.7 | 131 | |
| SP | Charlie Morton | 2.0 | 149 | 20.8 | 10 | SP | Dustin May | 2.0 | 201 | 4.0 | 339 | |
| CP | Diego Castillo | 2.0 | 198 | 4.0 | 336 | CP | Kelly Jansen | 1.0 | 320 | 6.0 | 213 | |
| PI | John Curtiss | 2.0 | 221 | 2.0 | 521 | PI | Jake McGee | 2.0 | 214 | 2.0 | 514 | |
| PI | Pete Fairbanks | 2.0 | 222 | 2.0 | 522 | PI | Julio Urias | 1.0 | 315 | 7.0 | 168 | |
| PI | Josh Fleming | 2.0 | 223 | 2.0 | 523 | PI | Victor Gonzalez | 1.0 | 459 | 1.0 | 712 | |
| PI | Nick Anderson | 1.0 | 332 | 5.0 | 267 | PI | Blake Treinen | 0.0 | 541 | 6.0 | 215 | |
| PI | Aaron Slegers | 1.0 | 485 | 1.0 | 738 | PI | Pedro Baez | 0.0 | 705 | 5.5 | 235 | |
| PI | Jose Alvarado | 0.0 | 783 | 1.0 | 783 | PI | Brusdar Graterol | 0.0 | 875 | 1.0 | 875 | |
| Totals | 40.4 | 127.5 | Totals | 48.3 | 152.3 | |||||||
| Starting batters | 7.5 | 28.7 | Starting batters | 20.2 | 63.1 | |||||||
| Bench | 6.2 | 14.2 | Bench | 3.0 | 6.5 | |||||||
| Starters | 16.7 | 67.6 | Starters | 20.1 | 54.2 | |||||||
| Bullpen | 10.0 | 17.0 | Bullpen | 5.0 | 28.5 |
• “Totals” shows the number of Box-Toppers points among all players listed here for both the 2020 season and the combined 2019-20 seasons.
• “Starting batters” shows each team’s Box-Toppers point totals of 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 will likely 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).