Both National League Division Series begin Friday.
The NL East champion Atlanta Braves face the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers in one best-of-five game series and the NL Wild Card champion Los Angeles Dodgers take on the San Francisco Giants, champions of the NL West in the other series.
NL Division Series, Game 1: Braves at Brewers
The Braves rank fifth in Box-Toppers team rankings (122.4 Box-Toppers points), while the Brewers rank fourth (122.8 points).
In the final 10 days of the season, the Braves fared better than the Brewers. The Braves picked up 9.7 Box-Toppers points from Sept. 24 to Oct. 3, while the Brewers picked up 4.5 points over that span. As a result, the Brewers fell from second place overall to fourth and the Braves rose from sixth place to fifth.
The Brewers spent time as Box-Toppers’ top NL team in June and July and were the overall top-ranked team in the team rankings reports on July 1 and July 11.
The pitching matchup Friday:
Braves—Charlie Morton, 12.7 Box-Toppers points, 25th among all players, 16th among NL pitchers.
Brewers—Corbin Burnes, 18.1 Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players, fourth among NL pitchers.
Both of Friday’s starters lead their teams in 2021 Box-Toppers points.
The Brewers have two players in the overall top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings—Burnes and pitcher Brandon Woodruff (17.1 Box-Toppers points, eight overall and sixth among NL pitchers). One other Brewers pitcher also has more than 10 Box-Toppers points this season—Freddy Peralta, 12.7 Box-Toppers points, 26th overall and 17th among NL pitchers.
The Braves have two players with more than 10 Box-Toppers points—Morton and pitcher Max Fried (11.8 points, 30th overall and 19th among NL pitchers.
The Braves top batter is third baseman Austin Riley with 8.5 Box-Toppers points, sixth among NL batters. One other Braves batter also ranks among the top 10 among NL batters—outfielder Adam Duvall with 8.0 points, seventh among NL batters.
The Brewers top batter is third baseman Eduardo Escobar with 6.5 Box-Toppers points, 18th among NL batters.
The Box-Toppers point totals of all players on the teams’ active rosters at season’s end are below. Players who did not earn Box-Toppers points in 2021 are not listed.
Braves vs. Brewers
Here are players for both teams in the NL Divisional Series beginning Friday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2021. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters. Players not listed earned no Box-Toppers points in 2021.| Atlanta Braves | Milwaukee Brewers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | 12.7 | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | pi sp | 18.1 | |
| Fried, Max 4011 | pi sp | 11.8 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | 17.1 | |
| Riley, Austin 4144 | 3b | 8.5 | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | 12.7 | |
| Duvall, Adam 3573 | rf lf | 8.0 | Houser, Adrian 4162 | pi sp | 8.0 | |
| Smyly, Drew 3009 | pi sp | 8.0 | Escobar, Eduardo 3135 | 3b | 6.5 | |
| Anderson, Ian 4312 | pi sp | 7.0 | Lauer, Eric 4017 | pi sp | 6.0 | |
| Swanson, Dansby 3751 | ss | 7.0 | Yelich, Christian 3334 | lf | 5.5 | |
| Albies, Ozzie 3953 | 2b | 7.0 | Garcia, Avisail 3256 | rf | 5.2 | |
| Ynoa, Huascar 4343 | pi sp | 6.7 | Urias, Luis 4218 | 3b | 4.7 | |
| Pederson, Joc 3621 | lf rf | 6.0 | Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | 4.0 | |
| Soler, Jorge 3403 | rf dh | 6.0 | Tellez, Rowdy 4078 | 1b ph | 3.5 | |
| Smith, Will 3073 | pi cp | 6.0 | Wong, Kolten 3377 | 2b | 3.5 | |
| Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | 4.5 | Adames, Willy 4041 | ss | 3.5 | |
| Vogt, Stephen 3503 | ca dh | 3.2 | Williams, Devin 4319 | pi mr | 3.0 | |
| Webb, Jacob 4530 | pi mr | 3.0 | Pina, Manny 3769 | ca ph | 2.5 | |
| Rodriguez, Richard 4023 | pi cp | 2.0 | Vogelbach, Daniel 4070 | dh 1b ph | 2.0 | |
| Toussaint, Touki 4110 | pi sp | 2.0 | Anderson, Brett 2597 | pi sp | 2.0 | |
| Franco, Maikel 3510 | 3b | 2.0 | Boxberger, Brad 3111 | pi cp mr | 2.0 | |
| Muller, Kyle 4454 | pi sp | 2.0 | Ashby, Aaron 4511 | pi sp mr | 2.0 | |
| Rosario, Eddie 3542 | lf dh | 1.5 | Narvaez, Omar 4095 | ca | 1.5 | |
| Heredia, Guillermo 3859 | cf | 1.5 | Taylor, Tyrone 4393 | lf | 1.5 | |
| Acuna, Ronald Jr. 3947 | rf | 1.0 | Norris, Daniel 3548 | pi mr sp | 1.0 | |
| Tomlin, Josh 2771 | pi mr cp sp | 1.0 | Nunez, Renato 4094 | 1b dh | 1.0 | |
| Jackson, Luke 4139 | pi mr cp | 1.0 | Suter, Brent 3843 | pi mr sp | 1.0 | |
| Newcomb, Sean 3831 | pi mr sp | 1.0 | Hiura, Keston 4189 | 1b 2b | 1.0 | |
| Adrianza, Ehire 3902 | ss 3b ph | 1.0 | Strickland, Hunter 3546 | pi mr cp | 1.0 | |
| Davidson, Tucker 4429 | pi sp | 1.0 | Cain, Lorenzo 3171 | cf | 1.0 | |
| Cousins, Jake 4470 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Stokes, Troy Jr. 4404 | rf | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 122.4 | Totals | 122.8 | |||
NL Division Series, Game 1: Dodgers at Giants
This series features the two teams with the best records in baseball and two of the three top teams in Box-Toppers rankings.
The Giants have baseball’s best winning percentage (.660), followed by the Dodgers (.654). The Giants have 107 wins and the Dodgers have 106 wins. However, the Dodgers are far and away Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team with 146.7 Box-Toppers points. The Giants rank third with 124.6, behind second-place Chicago White Sox (124.9).
The Dodgers were Box-Toppers’ 2021 preseason top-ranked team and held the overall lead early in the season in April before slumping in May. They regained their in July and especially at the trade deadline, picking up Max Scherzer and Trea Turner from the Nationals. After that, they took the overall Box-Toppers points lead and expanded it through the end of the season.
However, at season’s end, the Giants came on strong. They never ranked particularly high in Box-Toppers team rankings through the season, despite consistently holding baseball’s best record. In the season’s final 10 days, the Giants picked up 10.5 Box-Toppers points, the most of any team, boosting them from fourth to third place, their highest position of the season. Despite that impressive performance, the Giants didn’t pick up much ground on the Dodgers, as their NL West rivals gained 10.2 points from Sept. 24 to Oct. 3, the second-best point gain to the Giants over that span.
Though the Dodgers have a huge advantage in Box-Toppers points, not all of those players who boosted them through the season will be available in the postseason. Pitcher Clayton Kershaw (13.4 Box-Toppers points, 19th among all players) is injured and has indicated he is likely unavailable during the postseason. Pitcher Trevor Bauer earned 9.4 Box-Toppers points (currently 28th among NL pitchers) before being placed on leave in July by baseball for investigation into sexual assault allegations. His leave has been extended to last through the postseason. Dodgers’ top batter Max Muncy (6.0 Box-Toppers points, 23rd among NL batters) was expected to miss the NL Division Series after injuring his elbow in the final regular season game Sunday.
The pitching matchup Friday:
Dodgers—Walker Buehler, 16.7 Box-Toppers points, 10th among all players, eighth among NL pitchers.
Giants—Logan Webb, 15.5 Box-Toppers points, 14th among all players, 10th among NL pitchers.
Buehler is one of three Dodgers pitchers among the overall top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings. Max Scherzer, who pitched in the NL Wild Card Game Wednesday, leads all players with 25.1 Box-Toppers points and Julio Urias is fourth with 19.1, third among NL pitchers. With pitcher Kershaw (19th overall with 13.4 Box-Toppers points), the Dodgers had four players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points in 2021.
Webb is the Giants’ top ranked player and the only Giants player among the top 10 NL pitchers. Three other Giants pitchers have 10 or more Box-Toppers points in 2021—Kevin Gausman (13.7, 11th among NL pitchers), Alex Wood (13.0, 14th among NL pitchers) and Anthony DeSclafani (12.7, 15th among NL pitchers).
Giants’ top batter is shortstop Brandon Crawford with 7.5 Box-Toppers points, 11th among NL batters. Dodgers’ top batter is first baseman Max Muncy with 6.0 Box-Toppers points, 23rd among NL batters. If Muncy is out as expected, the next top Dodgers batter is shortstop Chris Taylor (4.7 Box-Toppers points, 34th among NL batters).
The Box-Toppers point totals of all players on the teams’ active rosters at season’s end are below. Players who did not earn Box-Toppers points in 2021 are not listed.
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.
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.
Dodgers vs. Giants
Here are players for both teams in the NL Divisional Series beginning Friday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2021. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters. Players not listed earned no Box-Toppers points in 2021.| Los Angeles Dodgers | San Francisco Giants | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | 25.1 | Webb, Logan 4258 | pi sp | 15.5 | |
| Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | 19.1 | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | 13.7 | |
| Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | 16.7 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | 13.0 | |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | 13.4 | DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | pi sp | 12.7 | |
| Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | 9.4 | Crawford, Brandon 2878 | ss | 7.5 | |
| Muncy, Max 3969 | 1b 2b | 6.0 | Belt, Brandon 2943 | 1b | 7.0 | |
| Jansen, Kenley 2871 | pi cp | 6.0 | Posey, Buster 2745 | ca | 6.5 | |
| Gonsolin, Tony 4211 | pi sp | 4.7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | 5.0 | |
| Taylor, Chris 3684 | ss | 4.7 | Flores, Wilmer 3345 | 3b 1b | 4.5 | |
| Duffy, Danny 2915 | pi sp | 4.0 | Bryant, Kris 3465 | 3b 1b rf lf | 4.0 | |
| Pollock, AJ 3142 | lf | 3.0 | Ruf, Darin 3575 | lf 1b dh | 2.5 | |
| Betts, Mookie 3404 | cf rf | 3.0 | Slater, Austin 3818 | cf dh ph | 2.5 | |
| Treinen, Blake 3495 | pi mr cp | 3.0 | Dickerson, Alex 4172 | lf | 2.5 | |
| Turner, Justin 2865 | 3b | 2.7 | La Stella, Tommy 3367 | 2b dh | 2.5 | |
| Turner, Trea 3730 | ss 2b | 2.5 | Yastrzemski, Mike 4203 | rf | 2.0 | |
| Seager, Corey 3587 | ss | 2.0 | Garcia, Jarlin 3927 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Smith, Will 4175 | ca | 2.0 | Shoemaker, Matt 3290 | pi sp | 2.0 | |
| Pujols, Albert 1438 | 1b ph | 2.0 | Watson, Tony 3215 | pi mr cp | 2.0 | |
| Price, David 2593 | pi cp mr sp | 2.0 | Alvarez, Jose 3197 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Kelly, Joe 3066 | pi mr cp sp | 2.0 | Littell, Zack 4533 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Graterol, Brusdar 4249 | pi mr | 2.0 | Wade, LaMonte Jr. 4523 | lf rf ph | 2.0 | |
| Nelson, Jimmy 3299 | pi mr sp | 2.0 | Jackson, Jay 4501 | pi mr | 1.7 | |
| White, Mitch 4519 | pi cp | 2.0 | Estrada, Thairo 4460 | 2b | 1.5 | |
| May, Dustin 4214 | pi sp | 1.7 | Chatwood, Tyler 2856 | pi mr sp cp | 1.0 | |
| Bellinger, Cody 3781 | cf | 1.7 | McGee, Jake 3385 | pi mr cp | 1.0 | |
| Lux, Gavin 4247 | 2b 3b | 1.0 | Longoria, Evan 2423 | 3b | 1.0 | |
| Gonzalez, Victor 4313 | pi mr | 1.0 | Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | 1.0 | |
| Bickford, Phil 4436 | pi cp | 1.0 | Rogers, Tyler 4251 | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Vesia, Alex 4504 | pi mr | 1.0 | Duggar, Steven 4020 | cf pr | 1.0 | |
| Long, Sammy 4526 | pi sp | 1.0 | ||||
| Vosler, Jason 4448 | 3b | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 146.7 | Totals | 124.6 | |||