Both American League Division Series begin Saturday.
The Texas Rangers face the Baltimore Orioles in one best-of-five game series and the Minnesota Twins face the Houston Astros in the other. The top two AL seeds, the Orioles (first) and the Astros (second) received byes from the first round of playoffs and face the winners of the best-of-three Wild Card series played this week.
AL Division Series, Game 1: Rangers at Orioles
The Rangers, who lead all teams in Box-Toppers team rankings, face off against the Orioles, the team with the AL’s best regular season winning percentage.
Rangers players accumulated 128.1 Box-Toppers points in 2023, picking up 6.0 in the final 10 days of the season. They led Box-Toppers team rankings for the final nine weekly reports from Aug. 3 until the end of the season. While they built their huge lead on the strength of late-July trade deadline deals—including acquiring pitchers Max Scherzer and Jordan Montgomery—they didn’t perform particularly well after acquiring them, winning only six over 22 games for a stretch in August and September. They still maintained the Box-Toppers lead despite nearly falling out of playoff contention before rebounding at the end of the season. Yet, a significant part of their large point total is built on the arms of injured players who either won’t or won’t likely be available in the postseason. They lost pitcher Jacob deGrom to Tommy John surgery after he raced to an astronomical 7.7 Box-Toppers points in April. Pitcher Max Scherzer (10th overall with 15.4 points, who missed the end of the season with a strained shoulder is making efforts to return for this series, even though previous updates have made his return in the postseason seem doubtful.
The Orioles have the best winning percentage among AL teams (.623), second overall behind the Atlanta Braves (.642). But the Orioles rank fifth overall in Box-Toppers team rankings with 119.5 Box-Toppers points, including picking up 5.0 in the final 10 days of the season. The Orioles rank third among AL teams in Box-Toppers team rankings, behind both the Rangers and the Tampa Bay Rays (fourth overall with 123.6 points). The Rangers eliminated the Rays in one of the AL Wild Card Series.
The Orioles are the top AL seed in the postseason while the Rangers are the fifth seed.
The pitching matchup Saturday
Rangers—Andrew Heaney, 11.4 points, 32nd overall, 16th among AL pitchers.
Orioles—Kyle Bradish, 14.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 13th overall, seventh among AL pitchers.
A look at all four of Saturday’s Division Series pitching matchups
Key Rangers players
Key Rangers players include some of their best pitchers who may not or won’t be available to them due to injury, including:
Starting pitcher Max Scherzer, 15.4 points, 10th overall, sixth among AL pitchers, and first among all Rangers players. He is attempting to return for the series, though previous forecasts of him pitching in the postseason were doubtful.
Starting pitcher Jacob deGrom, 7.7 points, 78th overall, 41st among AL pitchers, and fifth among all Rangers players, though he only pitched through April. He is definitely out, recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Starting pitcher Jon Gray, 7.7 points, 80th overall, 42nd among AL pitchers, who is listed as day-to-day and may be able to return.
Other key Rangers players who are likely to play include:
Starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery, 10.4 points in 2023, 43rd overall, 21st among AL pitchers. Montgomery was Player of the Game in the AL Wild Card series Game 1 win over the Rays.
Starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, 9.7 points, 56th overall, 30th among AL pitchers. Eovaldi was Player of the Game in the AL Wild Card series Game 2 win over the Rays.
Second baseman Marcus Semien, 6.7 points, 113th overall, 15th among AL batters, Rangers’ top-ranked batter.
Catcher Mitch Garver, 6.5 points, 121st overall, 19th among AL batters.
Shortstop Corey Seager, 6.2 points, 128th overall, 22nd among AL batters.
Outfielder Adolis Garcia, 6.0 points, 135th overall, 25th among AL batters.
Other notable Rangers players include pitcher Martin Perez (4.7 points), catcher Jonah Heim (4.5 points), starting pitcher Dane Dunning (4.0 points), first baseman Nathaniel Lowe (4.0 points), reliever Aroldis Chapman (4.0 points) and third baseman Josh Jung (3.5 points).
Key Orioles players
The Orioles will notably be missing closer Felix Bautista, who was a big part of their success in 2023. Bautista has been out since Aug. 25, will be undergoing Tommy John surgery and likely miss the 2024 season. Bautista earned 11.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 38th overall, 18th among AL pitchers, first among AL closers and second among all Orioles players (behind Bradish’s 14.0 points).
Other notable Orioles pitchers include:
Dean Kremer, 9.7 points, 55th overall, 29th among AL pitchers.
Kyle Gibson, 8.7 points, 63rd overall, 34th among AL pitchers.
Grayson Rodriguez, 8.0 points, 77th overall, 40th among AL pitchers.
Orioles top batters include:
Third baseman Gunnar Henderson, 7.5 points, 89th overall, eighth among AL batters.
Catcher Adley Rutschman, 5.0 points, 171st overall, 30th among AL batters.
First baseman Ryan Mountcastle, 4.2 points, 219th overall, 42nd among AL batters.
Other notable Orioles players include pitcher Tyler Wells (5.7 points), left fielder Austin Hays (4.0 points), pitcher Jack Flaherty (4.0 points), shortstop Jorge Mateo (3.5 points) and center fielder Cedric Mullins (3.5 points).
The Box-Toppers point totals of all players on the teams’ active rosters at season’s end are here. Players who did not earn Box-Toppers points in 2023 are not listed. Players who earned points in 2023 are listed even if they are not on the roster for the upcoming postseason series due to injury or for other reasons.
Rangers vs. Orioles
Here are players for both teams in the AL Divisional Series beginning Saturday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2023. 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 2023.| Texas Rangers | Baltimore Orioles | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | 15.4 | Bradish, Kyle 4597 | pi sp | 14.0 | |
| Heaney, Andrew 3515 | pi sp | 11.4 | Bautista, Felix 4668 | pi cp | 11.0 | |
| Montgomery, Jordan 3814 | pi sp | 10.4 | Kremer, Dean 4330 | pi sp | 9.7 | |
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | 9.7 | Gibson, Kyle 3312 | pi sp | 8.7 | |
| deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | 7.7 | Rodriguez, Grayson 4790 | pi sp | 8.0 | |
| Gray, Jon 3634 | pi sp | 7.7 | Henderson, Gunnar 4739 | dh 3b ss | 7.5 | |
| Semien, Marcus 3302 | 2b | 6.7 | Wells, Tyler 4428 | pi sp | 5.7 | |
| Garver, Mitch 3950 | ca dh | 6.5 | Rutschman, Adley 4659 | ca | 5.0 | |
| Seager, Corey 3587 | ss | 6.2 | Mountcastle, Ryan 4325 | 1b dh ph | 4.2 | |
| Garcia, Adolis 4387 | rf | 6.0 | Hays, Austin 4538 | lf | 4.0 | |
| Perez, Martin 3213 | pi sp mr | 4.7 | Flaherty, Jack 3971 | pi sp | 4.0 | |
| Heim, Jonah 4492 | ca | 4.5 | Mateo, Jorge 4669 | ss ph pr | 3.5 | |
| Dunning, Dane 4317 | pi sp | 4.0 | Mullins, Cedric 4100 | cf | 3.5 | |
| Lowe, Nathaniel 4340 | 1b | 4.0 | Irvin, Cole 4140 | pi sp | 3.0 | |
| Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | pi cp mr | 4.0 | Santander, Anthony 3935 | rf | 3.0 | |
| Jung, Josh 4751 | 3b | 3.5 | Urias, Ramon 4491 | 3b ph | 3.0 | |
| Smith, Will 3073 | pi cp | 3.0 | O’Hearn, Ryan 4043 | 1b rf lf dh | 3.0 | |
| Sborz, Josh 4397 | pi mr | 3.0 | Coulombe, Daniel 3720 | pi mr | 3.0 | |
| Anderson, Grant 4828 | pi mr | 1.7 | Hicks, Aaron 3170 | lf cf rf | 2.5 | |
| Burke, Brock 4661 | pi mr | 1.0 | Baumann, Mike 4572 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Miller, Brad 3227 | dh rf lf 3b | 1.0 | Cano, Yennier 4611 | pi cp mr | 2.0 | |
| Taveras, Leody 4705* | cf | 1.0 | Fujinami, Shintaro 4869 | pi cp | 2.0 | |
| Hernandez, Jonathan 4242 | pi mr cp | 1.0 | McCann, James 3649 | ca | 1.7 | |
| Tavares, Leody 4687* | cf | 1.0 | McKenna, Ryan 4489 | lf ph | 1.5 | |
| Bradford, Cody 4938 | pi mr | 1.0 | Baker, Bryan 4710 | pi mr cp | 1.0 | |
| Carter, Evan 4947 | lf | 1.0 | Frazier, Adam 3771 | 2b | 1.0 | |
| Duran, Ezequiel 4799 | ss | 1.0 | Means, John 4115 | pi sp | 1.0 | |
| Webb, Jacob 4530 | pi cp mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 128.1 | Totals | 119.5 | |||
* Due to input error, Leody Taveras appears twice in this chart, once with his name misspelled. This has been fixed going forward and his records consolidated. Taveras has 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023 and 4.5 career points over 2022 and 2023.
AL Division Series, Game 1: Twins at Astros
The Twins rank 12th in Box-Toppers team rankings, sixth among AL teams (106.7 Box-Toppers points), while the Astros rank sixth, fourth among AL teams (118.9 points).
The Twins are Box-Toppers’ lowest-ranked team to win a division, winning the AL Central. The Astros finish behind their AL West rival Texas Rangers in Box-Toppers rankings (the Rangers rank first with 128.1 points) even though the Astros won the division title. (The Astros and Rangers had identical records but the Astros won based on a head-to-head tiebreaker.)
The Twins swept the best-of-three-game AL Wild Card series against the Toronto Blue Jays to advance to the AL Division Series.
The Astros are the second-seeded AL team in the playoffs while the Twins are the third seed.
The pitching matchup Saturday
Twins—Bailey Ober, 8.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 65th overall and 35th among AL pitchers.
Astros—Justin Verlander, 12.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 24th among all players, 13th among AL pitchers.
A look at all four of Saturday’s Division Series pitching matchups
Key Twins players
Other notable Twins pitchers include:
Pablo Lopez, 13.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 16th among all players and 10th among AL pitchers.
Kenta Maeda, 11.1 points, 35th overall and 17th among AL pitchers.
Sonny Gray, 10.4 points, 42nd overall and 20th among AL pitchers. Gray was Box-Toppers Player of the Game in the AL Wild Card series Game 2 win over the Blue Jays.
Joe Ryan, 8.7 points, 62nd overall and 33rd among AL pitchers.
Twins notable batters include:
Catcher Ryan Jeffers, 4.2 points, 222nd overall and 44th among AL batters, the Twins’ top-ranked batter.
Third baseman Royce Lewis, 4.0 points, 261st overall and 52nd among AL batters. Lewis was Player of the Game in the AL Wild Card series Game 1 win over the Blue Jays.
Other notable Twins include reliever Caleb Thielbar (4.0 points), infielder Kyle Farmer (3.5 points) outfielder Max Kepler (3.5 points), outfielder Byron Buxton (1.0 point) and shortstop Carlos Correa (1.0 point).
Key Astros players
Notable Astros pitchers include:
Hunter Brown, 10.1 points, 46th overall, 24th among AL pitchers.
Framber Valdez, 10.0 points, 48th overall, 26th among AL pitchers.
Cristian Javier, 7.0 points, 102nd overall, 45th among AL pitchers.
Notable Astros batters include:
Right fielder Kyle Tucker, 12.5 points, 23rd overall, second among AL batters. Tucker led Astros players in 2023 Box-Toppers points.
Second baseman Jose Altuve, 7.5 points, 88th overall, seventh among AL batters.
Outfielder Chas McCormick, 7.5 points, 91st overall, ninth among AL batters.
Designated hitter/outfielder Yordan Alvarez, 6.5 points, 118th overall, 16th among AL batters.
Third baseman Alex Bregman, 5.0 points, 131st overall, 23rd among AL batters.
Other notable Astros include first basemen Jose Abreu (4.2 points), reliever Bryan Abreu (4.0 points) and pitcher Brandon Bielak (4.0 points).
The Box-Toppers point totals of all players on the teams’ active rosters at season’s end are here. Players who did not earn Box-Toppers points in 2023 are not listed. Players who earned points in 2023 are listed even if they are not on the roster for the upcoming postseason series due to injury or for other reasons.
Twins vs. Astros
Here are players for both teams in the AL Divisional Series beginning Saturday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2023. 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 2023.| Minnesota Twins | Houston Astros | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Lopez, Pablo 4028 | pi sp | 13.4 | Tucker, Kyle 4277 | rf | 12.5 | |
| Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp | 11.1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | 12.4 | |
| Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | 10.4 | Brown, Hunter 4729 | pi sp | 10.1 | |
| Ryan, Joe 4539 | pi sp | 8.7 | Valdez, Framber 4048 | pi sp | 10.0 | |
| Ober, Bailey 4441 | pi sp | 8.7 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | 7.5 | |
| Jeffers, Ryan 4432 | ca dh | 4.2 | McCormick, Chas 4444 | lf cf | 7.5 | |
| Thielbar, Caleb 3272 | pi mr | 4.0 | Javier, Cristian 4290 | pi sp | 7.0 | |
| Lewis, Royce 4606 | 3b dh | 4.0 | Alvarez, Yordan 4209 | dh lf | 6.5 | |
| Farmer, Kyle 4003 | 3b 2b ph | 3.5 | Bregman, Alex 3721 | 3b | 6.0 | |
| Kepler, Max 3664 | rf dh ph | 3.5 | Abreu, Jose 3308 | 1b | 4.2 | |
| Wallner, Matt 4824 | lf rf | 3.5 | Abreu, Bryan 4663 | pi mr cp | 4.0 | |
| Kirilloff, Alex 4395 | 1b ph | 3.0 | Bielak, Brandon 4297 | pi sp | 4.0 | |
| Duran, Jhoan 4622 | pi cp mr | 3.0 | Garcia, Luis 4423 | pi sp | 3.0 | |
| Mahle, Tyler 3929 | pi sp | 2.7 | Pressly, Ryan 3186 | pi cp | 3.0 | |
| Gallo, Joey 3485 | 1b lf ph | 2.5 | Meyers Jake 4510 | cf | 3.0 | |
| Solano, Donovan 3096 | dh 1b 2b ph | 2.5 | France, J.P. 4811 | pi sp | 3.0 | |
| Varland, Louie 4758 | pi sp mr | 2.0 | Urquidy, Jose 4194 | pi sp | 2.0 | |
| Larnach, Trevor 4421 | lf rf | 2.0 | Brantley, Michael 2785 | dh lf | 2.0 | |
| Funderburk, Kody 4915 | pi mr | 2.0 | Neris, Hector 3553 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Julien, Edouard 4822 | 2b | 2.0 | Maton, Phil 4287 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Buxton, Byron 3604 | dh cf | 1.0 | Dubon, Mauricio 4243 | 2b ss | 1.7 | |
| Winder, Josh 4588 | pi mr sp | 1.0 | Singleton, Jonathan 3376 | 1b | 1.5 | |
| Correa, Carlos 3506 | ss | 1.0 | Diaz, Yainer 4871 | ca | 1.5 | |
| Polanco, Jorge 3739 | 2b | 1.0 | Julks, Corey 4778 | lf | 1.5 | |
| Paddack, Chris 4093 | pi mr sp | 1.0 | Stanek, Ryne 4014 | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | 1.0 | ||||
| Taylor, Michael 3447 | cf | 1.0 | ||||
| Vazquez, Christian 3380 | ca | 1.0 | ||||
| Headrick, Brent 4852 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Moran, Jovani 4859 | pi cp | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 106.7 | Totals | 118.9 | |||
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 2023 player rankings leaders
Box-Toppers 2023 final team rankings
A Box-Toppers look at Saturday’s Division Series round 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 2023 (’23), over a two-year period (’22-23), over a six-year period (’18-23) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’23 | ’22‑23 | ’18‑23 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEX | Heaney, Andrew 3515 | 11.4 | 19.4 | 42.5 | 47.5 |
| BAL | Bradish, Kyle 4597 | 14.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 |
| MIN | Ober, Bailey 4441 | 8.7 | 11.7 | 18.4 | 18.4 |
| HOU | Verlander, Justin 2112 | 12.4 | 38.4 | 91.0 | 245.0 |
| PHI | Suarez, Ranger 4228 | 3.7 | 8.7 | 18.7 | 18.7 |
| ATL | Strider, Spencer 4626 | 21.1 | 34.5 | 34.5 | 34.5 |
| ARI | Kelly, Merrill 4143 | 13.0 | 24.0 | 39.0 | 39.0 |
| LAD | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | 11.1 | 21.8 | 63.6 | 270.4 |
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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