The Houston Astros hold significant Box-Toppers points advantages over the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2022 World Series.
The Astros were Box-Toppers’ second-ranked team in the regular season while the Phillies were 13th overall, just barely above the middle of the pack of all 30 teams. The Astros are the highest-ranked American League team in Box-Toppers rankings, while the Phillies are the lowest-ranking National League postseason team.
Were this any year previous to 2022, the Phillies would not have even qualified for the postseason, as the playoff field expanded to 12 teams this season. They barely squeaked in to the playoffs, finishing just one game ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers for the final Wild Card spot and the sixth and final NL playoff seeding.
But yet, the Phillies have responded, upsetting every favored postseason opponent along the way and doing it in dominating fashion, losing only two of their 11 playoff games.
But the Astros are undefeated this postseason, winning all seven games. Their players have not only accumulated significantly more Box-Toppers points than the Phillies this season (131.4 vs. 105.3), they hold Box-Toppers points advantages in these areas:
The Astros likely starting World Series roster has 126.4 Box-Toppers points compared to 94.1 for the Phillies. (Click here to see a Box-Toppers World Series player-by-player comparison.)
The Astros likely starting nine batters have 32.1 points compared to 27.0 for the Phillies.
The Astros likely four starting pitchers have 43.1 points compared to 27.1 for the Phillies.
The Astros other available pitchers—relievers, closers and other spare starters—have a combined 27.7 points compared to 22.7 for the Phillies.
This is the second consecutive World Series for the Astros after losing to the Atlanta Braves in 2021 in six games. In that series, the Astros, like the Phillies in 2022, were the decided underdog, trailing the Braves in most of the significant Box-Toppers point comparisons.
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 team rankings
The Astros rank first among AL teams with 131.4 Box-Toppers points, second overall behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (133.1). The Astros rose to the top of AL team rankings late in the season, finishing in first in six of the final eight weeks.
The Phillies finished 13th in Box-Toppers team rankings with its players accumulating 105.3 points, seventh-best among the 15 NL teams. In fact, the Phillies finished behind two teams that did not qualify for the playoffs—the Milwaukee Brewers (10th with 107.7 Box-Toppers points) and the Minnesota Twins (11th with 105.6 points). And while they beat the NL East rival Atlanta Braves in four games in the NL Division Series, they finished 14 games behind them, in third place.
Regular season Game 1: PHI at HOU
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) October 28, 2022
Oct. 3: Aaron Nola @Phillies is Box-Toppers Player of the Day (6.2IP 2H 0R 0BB 9K W) in 3-0 win vs. @Astros.
With the win, Phillies clinched the NL Wild Card berth.
Details—https://t.co/voEYnHQxZ4 pic.twitter.com/WoSlqM94Zr
Regular season Game 3: PHI at HOU
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) October 28, 2022
Oct. 5: Framber Valdez @Astros is Box-Toppers Player of the Day (5IP 2H 0R BB 10K W) in 3-2 win vs. @Phillies.
On the final day of the regular season, HOU wins its 106th game of 2022, handing PHI its 75th loss.
Details—https://t.co/M3cRN7dON4 pic.twitter.com/XrYIruXq1m
Roster
While the Astros have more Box-Toppers points than the Phillies, they also have more points among likely players on the roster. In the chart below are 24 players who have been most active recently and who are likely to be on the World Series rosters.
The roster list includes nine starting batters, four likely bench players or pinch hitters, four likely starting pitchers, a closing pitcher and six other relief, bullpen or opening pitchers.
The Astros’ likely 24 players have a combined Box-Toppers point total of 126.4, compared to 94.1 for the comparable set from the Phillies.
Starting batters
The starting nine batters for the Astros have more Box-Toppers points than the starting nine batters for the Phillies, 32.1 vs. 27.0.
The Astros have two batters among the overall top 100 players and in the top 10 among AL batters:
Yordan Alvarez, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, 70th overall and third among AL batters.
Alex Bregman, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, 71st overall and fourth among AL batters.
(Though both have 8.7 points, Alvarez ranks ahead because he has more 2021 points—7.0 vs. 3.5.)
The Phillies highest-ranked batter is Rhys Hoskins with 6.5 Box-Toppers points, 112th among all players and 12th among NL batters.
Starting pitchers
The Astros are led by Box-Toppers 2022 Player of the Year Justin Verlander, who led all players with 26.0 Box-Toppers points this season.
They also have three pitchers among the top 10 AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points for 2022. In addition to Verlander, they include:
Framber Valdez, 16.0 points, 14th overall and fifth among AL pitchers.
Cristian Javier, 15.7 points, 16th overall and seventh among AL pitchers.
Rounding out the Astros starting four pitchers is Lance McCullers Jr., who earned 5.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022 (156th overall and 55th among AL pitchers). However, McCullers was out with injury much of the season, making his first start Aug. 13 (and earning Box-Toppers AL Player of the Day honors). Extrapolating the points he earned in his six weeks of pitching over the entire season would give him more than 20.0 points.
The Phillies have two starters among the overall top 25 in Box-Toppers points:
Aaron Nola, 16.0 Box-Toppers points, 13th overall and ninth among NL pitchers.
Zack Wheeler, 14.4 Box-Toppers points, 22nd overall and 11th among NL pitchers.
The other likely Phillies starters are Ranger Suarez (4.0 points, 162nd overall and 56th among NL pitchers) and Bailey Falter (4.0 points, 245th overall and 79th among NL pitchers).
The Astros have a decided advantage in starting pitching, with its four starters combined 43.1 points vs. the Phillies’ 27.1 points.
Relief pitchers
The Astros have the edge among relief pitchers with its group of seven relievers having 27.7 Box-Toppers points compared to the Phillies with 22.7.
Ryan Pressly, most often the Astros closer, has 6.0 Box-Toppers points, second among AL closers. Zach Eflin, who has been used as Phillies closer most often this postseason, has 3.7 Box-Toppers points. But Seranthony Dominguez of the Phillies, with 3.0 points, was team leader among closers during the regular season.
Both teams have significant starters in reserve who have been used as bullpen arms in the postseason. The Astros have Luis Garcia (9.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 57th overall and 27th among AL pitchers) and Jose Urquidy (8.0 points in 2022, 77th overall and 33rd among AL pitchers). The Phillies have Kyle Gibson (9.0 points in 2022, 65th overall and 32nd among NL pitchers) and Noah Syndergaard (3.0 points in 2022, 335th overall and 96th among NL pitchers).
Postseason performance
Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler is one of two players who has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors three times this postseason. (The other is Padres closing pitcher Josh Hader.)
Wheeler was Player of the Game in the Oct. 7 NL Wild Card series Game 1 win over the Cardinals, the Oct. 18 NLCS Game 1 win over the Padres and the Oct. 23 NLCS Game 5 win over the Padres. He also started the NLDS Game 2 loss to the Braves.
Two other World Series participants have each earned Player of the Game honors twice this postseason: Aaron Nola of the Phillies and Framber Valdez of the Astros.
Players with no points
There are four players on the likely World Series roster who have 0.0 career Box-Toppers points. In other words, they have yet to earn their first career Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor in any regular season game.
Most notable among them is Astros rookie shortstop Jeremy Pena, who was Player of the Game Oct. 23 in the AL Championship Series Game 4 win over the Yankees. Though that was his first career Player of the Game honor, he earned none in 136 games played in 2022. While he has had relatively high, positive Box-Toppers game scores in Astros wins in 2022, there was always another teammate who had a higher game score who won Player of the Game honors.
Other players on the likely rosters with 0.0 career Box-Toppers points:
David Hensley of the Astros, a rookie who played in 16 games in 2022.
Dalton Guthrie of the Phillies, a rookie who played in 14 games in 2022.
Garrett Stubbs of the Phillies, who played in 46 games in 2022 and 97 career games since 2019.
There are also players on the likely roster who earned no points in 2022, but who are ranked based on points they earned in previous seasons:
Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos, who actually led NL batters in 2021 with 11.5 points when he was with the Reds. But he earned no points playing in 136 games in 2022. He ranks behind the 790 players who earned Box-Toppers points in 2022, but is third among the players with 0.0 points (793rd overall) based on his relatively high Box-Toppers point total in 2021.
Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel. He earned 3.5 points in 2021 and is 834th in season player rankings.
Astros reserve catcher Christian Vazquez. He earned 1.0 point in 2021 with the Red Sox and is 978th in season player rankings.
Phillies relief pitcher Jose Alvarado. He earned 1.0 point in 2021 and is 1,017th in season player rankings.
Phillies second baseman Jean Segura. He also had no points in 2021, but had 1.5 points in 2020. He ranks 1,130th among all players.
The best-of-seven game World Series begins Friday in Houston.
Friday’s pitching matchup (for more, see matchups chart below):
World Series Game 1, Phillies vs. Astros
Phillies—Aaron Nola, 16.0 Box-Toppers points, 13th overall and ninth among NL pitchers.
Astros—Justin Verlander, 26.0 Box-Toppers points, first among all players and first among AL pitchers.
This postseason, Nola has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors twice and has made three starts. He was Player of the Game Oct. 8 in the NL Wild Card Game 2 win over the Cardinals and Oct. 14 in the NL Division Series Game 3 win over the Braves. He also started Oct. 19 in the NL Championship Series Game 2 loss to the Padres.
Verlander has made two starts this postseason, earning Player of the Game honors once—in the Oct. 19 AL Championship Series Game 1 win over the Yankees. Verlander also started in the Oct. 11 AL Division Series Game 1 win over the Mariners, but had a -16.0 Box-Toppers game score (4IP 10H 6R BB 3K ND).
A Box-Toppers look at Friday’s pitching matchups
A Box-Toppers look at the upcoming day’s probable pitching matchups. Teams are paired below with visiting teams on top and home teams on the bottom. Each team’s starting pitcher is shown with their Box-Toppers point total from 2022 (’22), over a two-year period (’21-22), over a six-year period (’17-22) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’22 | ’21‑22 | ’17‑22 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHI | Nola, Aaron 3569 | 16.0 | 26.7 | 81.0 | 89.7 |
| HOU | Verlander, Justin 2112 | 26.0 | 26.0 | 93.3 | 232.6 |
What are those numbers after players' names?
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default, game-by-game view.
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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.
Related
Box-Toppers 2022 player rankings leaders
Box-Toppers 2022 final team rankings
Box-Toppers NL Championship Series preview
Box-Toppers AL Championship Series preview
Box-Toppers’ NL Division Series previews
World Series player comparisons
Probable players for the Phillies and Astros listed by position with their Box- Toppers point total (BTP) for the 2022 regular season and their overall rank among all players:| Philadelphia Phillies | Houston Astros | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Players | BTP | Rank | Pos | Players | BTP | Rank | |
| 1B | Rhys Hoskins | 6.5 | 112 | 1B | Yuli Gurriel | 0.0 | 834 | |
| 2B | Jean Segura | 0.0 | 1130 | 2B | Jose Altuve | 4.0 | 227 | |
| SS | Bryson Stott | 2.5 | 397 | SS | Jeremy Pena | 0.0 | † | |
| 3B | Alec Bohm | 2.0 | 462 | 3B | Alex Bregman | 8.7 | 71 | |
| CA | JT Realmuto | 5.5 | 146 | CA | Martin Maldonado | 2.7 | 352 | |
| CF | Brandon Marsh | 2.5 | 394 | CF | Chas McCormick | 1.0 | 618 | |
| LF | Kyle Schwarber | 2.0 | 412 | LF | Yordan Alvarez | 8.7 | 70 | |
| RF | Nick Castellanos | 0.0 | 793 | RF | Kyle Tucker | 4.5 | 205 | |
| DH | Bryce Harper | 6.0 | 126 | DH | Trey Mancini | 2.5 | 372 | |
| PH | Matt Vierling | 3.0 | 349 | PH | Aledmys Díaz | 2.5 | 378 | |
| PH | Edmundo Sosa | 2.0 | 429 | PH | Mauricio Dubón | 1.0 | 693 | |
| PH | Dalton Guthrie | 0.0 | † | PH | Christian Vázquez | 0.0 | 978 | |
| PH | Garrett Stubbs | 0.0 | † | PH | David Hensley | 0.0 | † | |
| SP | Aaron Nola | 16.0 | 13 | SP | Justin Verlander | 26.0 | 1 | |
| SP | Zack Wheeler | 14.4 | 22 | SP | Framber Valdez | 16.0 | 14 | |
| SP | Ranger Suarez | 5.0 | 162 | SP | Cristian Javier | 15.7 | 16 | |
| SP | Bailey Falter | 4.0 | 245 | SP | Lance McCullers | 5.4 | 156 | |
| CP | Zach Eflin | 3.7 | 263 | CP | Ryan Pressly | 6.0 | 131 | |
| PI | Kyle Gibson | 9.0 | 65 | PI | Luis Garcia | 9.7 | 57 | |
| PI | Noah Syndergaard | 3.0 | 335 | PI | Jose Urquidy | 8.0 | 77 | |
| PI | Seranthony Dominguez | 3.0 | 339 | PI | Hector Neris | 1.0 | 597 | |
| PI | Brad Hand | 2.0 | 466 | PI | Rafael Montero | 1.0 | 706 | |
| PI | David Robertson | 2.0 | 477 | PI | Bryan Abreu | 1.0 | 711 | |
| PI | Jose Alvarado | 0.0 | 1017 | PI | Hunter Brown | 1.0 | 720 | |
| Totals | 94.1 | Totals | 126.4 | |||||
| Starting 9 batters | 27.0 | Starting 9 batters | 32.1 | |||||
| Bench | 5.0 | Bench | 3.5 | |||||
| Starters | 27.1 | Starters | 43.1 | |||||
| Bullpen | 22.7 | Bullpen | 27.7 | |||||
• “Starting 9 batters” shows each team’s Box-Toppers points among 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 may 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 listed as closers (CP) plus other pitchers not listed as starters (SP).
† Has yet to earn Box-Toppers points, so has no ranking.
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