Phillies are Box-Toppers top-ranked team while NL top-seed Brewers rank fifth among NL playoff teams in B‑T points
Both National League Division Series begin Saturday.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers face the Philadelphia Phillies in one best-of-five game series and the Chicago Cubs face the Milwaukee Brewers in the other. The top two NL seeds, the Brewers (first) and the Phillies (second) received byes from the first round of playoffs and face the winners of the best-of-three Wild Card series played this week.
NL Division Series: Dodgers at Phillies
While the Phillies are Box-Toppers’ overall top-ranked team, they are the second-seeded NL playoff team. The Dodgers, meanwhile, are the third-seeded playoff team and also rank third among NL teams in 2025 Box-Toppers points.
Phillies players accumulated 131.4 Box-Toppers points in 2025, while the Dodgers have 117.9, fifth overall.
The Phillies have baseball’s second-best winning percentage (.593), behind the Milwaukee Brewers (.599), while the Dodgers have the third-best NL winning percentage (.574).
The Phillies had the first-round bye to the NLDS. The Dodgers advanced by sweeping the Cincinnati Reds, 2-0, in the Wild Card series.
The pitching matchup Saturday
Dodgers—Shohei Ohtani, 5.5 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 171st overall, 55th among NL pitchers.
Phillies—Cristopher Sánchez, 15.4 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 11th overall, seventh among NL pitchers.
A look at all four of Saturday’s Division Series pitching matchups
Key Dodgers players
Three starting pitchers have the most 2025 Box-Toppers points among Dodgers players:
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 17.7 Box-Toppers points, seventh among all players, fourth among NL pitchers.
Andrew Heaney, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, 62nd among all players, 25th among NL pitchers. Heaney earned his points with the Pirates, who released him Aug. 29. The Dodgers signed him Sept. 1, but he has only appeared in one game since and was not on the team’s Wild Card series roster.
Clayton Kershaw, 8.4 Box-Toppers points, 72nd among all players, 28th among NL pitchers. Kershaw, 37, who announced this season would be his last, is expected to be used as a reliever in the League Division Series, rather than his usual role as a starter. He was not on the team’s Wild Card series roster. He started on the final day of the regular season Sunday and won what is likely his final Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor. Kershaw finished his career with 280.8 career Box-Toppers points, most among active players and the second-highest point total in the Box-Toppers era (from 1995, when player tracking began), just 1.7 points short of Randy Johnson (282.5).
Among other Dodgers key players:
Third baseman Max Muncy leads team batters with 7.5 points, 10th among NL batters.
Starting pitcher Blake Snell, 7.0 points, 36th among NL pitchers. Snell missed about four months with left shoulder inflammation. Had he earned Box-Toppers points at his 2025 rate over a full season, he would have 21.0, enough to contend for the lead among NL pitchers.
Closing pitcher Justin Wrobleski, 6.0 points, fourth among NL closers.
Shohei Ohtani, 5.5 points. Despite being a leading contender to repeat as NL Most Valuable Player, hitting 55 home runs and starting 14 games as a pitcher, Ohtani had a drop-off season in Box-Toppers points. He earned 11.0 points in 2024 (hitting 54 homers and driving in 130 runs), to lead NL batters. But in 2025, he had only half that many Box-Toppers points because other Dodgers players frequently beat him for Player of the Game honors in team wins. Ohtani earned 3.5 of his points as a batter, all June 27 and before. He earned 2.0 points as a pitcher, all July 12 and later.
Shortstop Mookie Betts, 5.2 points, 34th among NL batters.
Starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow, 5.0 points, 57th among NL pitchers. Glasnow missed two months in May and June with right shoulder inflammation.
Other notable Dodgers players include reliever Alex Vesia (5.0 points) and first baseman Freddie Freeman (4.5 points).
Key Phillies players
Four Phillies starting pitchers are among the top 11 overall players in 2025 Box-Toppers points, however, the team’s overall leader in points was out injured for the season as of mid-August.
Zack Wheeler, 20.1 Box-Toppers points, third overall, second among NL pitchers. But Wheeler was ruled out for the season on Aug. 23 with a diagnosis of venous thoracic outlet syndrome. He earned his final Player of the Game honor of the season on Aug. 10 and went on the injured list Aug. 16 with a diagnosed blood clot. He had thoracic outlet decompression surgery Sept. 23, with recovery time expected to be six to eight months.
Jesús Luzardo, 17.4 points, eighth overall, fifth among NL pitchers.
Ranger Suárez, 15.8 points, 10th overall, sixth among NL pitchers.
Cristopher Sánchez, 15.4 points, 11th overall, seventh among NL pitchers.
Other key Phillies players:
Designated hitter Kyle Schwarber, 12.0 Box-Toppers points, first among NL batters.
Starting pitcher Walker Buehler, 6.0 points, 47th among NL pitchers. Buehler earned 5.0 of his points with the Red Sox before being released and signed by the Phillies Aug. 31.
Starting pitcher Aaron Nola, 5.7 points, 51st among NL pitchers. Nola misssed about half the season with ankle and rib injuries. He earned an average 13.0 Box-Toppers points over the previous four seasons (2021 to 2024).
Shortstop Trea Turner, 5.5 points, 30th among NL batters.
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 2025 are not listed. Players who earned points in 2025 are listed even if they are not on the roster for the upcoming postseason series due to injury or for other reasons.
Dodgers vs. Phillies
Here are players for both teams in the NL Divisional Series beginning Saturday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2025. 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 2025.| Los Angeles Dodgers | Philadelphia Phillies | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Yamamoto, Yoshinobu 4964 | pi sp | 17.7 | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | 20.1 | |
| Heaney, Andrew 3515 | pi sp | 8.7 | Luzardo, Jesus 4282 | pi sp | 17.4 | |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | 8.4 | Suarez, Ranger 4228 | pi sp | 15.8 | |
| Muncy, Max 3969 | 3b | 7.5 | Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 | pi sp | 15.4 | |
| Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | 7.0 | Schwarber, Kyle 3536 | dh | 12.0 | |
| Wrobleski, Justin 5062 | pi cp mr sp | 6.0 | Buehler, Walker 3943 | pi sp | 6.0 | |
| Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | dh pi sp | 5.5 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | 5.7 | |
| Betts, Mookie 3404 | ss | 5.2 | Turner, Trea 3730 | ss | 5.5 | |
| Glasnow, Tyler 3948 | pi sp | 5.0 | Duran, Jhoan 4622 | pi cp | 4.0 | |
| Vesia, Alex 4504 | pi cp mr | 5.0 | Walker, Taijuan 3453 | pi sp | 4.0 | |
| Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | 4.5 | Bader, Harrison 4071 | lf cf | 3.0 | |
| Call, Alex 4732 | rf cf lf ph | 4.0 | Marchan, Rafael 4346 | ca | 3.0 | |
| Conforto, Michael 3622 | lf ph | 3.5 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | 1b | 2.0 | |
| Yates, Kirby 3628 | pi mr cp | 3.0 | Strahm, Matt 3724 | pi cp mr | 2.0 | |
| Knack, Landon 5009 | pi sp | 3.0 | Castellanos, Nick 3349 | rf ph | 2.0 | |
| Sheehan, Emmet 4886 | pi sp | 3.0 | Sosa, Edmundo 4495 | 2b | 2.0 | |
| Hernandez, Teoscar 3713 | rf | 2.7 | Realmuto, J.T. 3491 | ca | 1.5 | |
| Pages, Andy 5123 | cf lf | 2.7 | Stott, Bryson 4607 | 2b | 1.5 | |
| Rojas, Miguel 3642 | 2b ss | 2.0 | Kepler, Max 3664 | rf dh | 1.5 | |
| Scott, Tanner 4292 | pi cp | 2.0 | Bohm, Alec 4309 | 3b 1b | 1.0 | |
| Casparius, Ben 5161 | pi mr | 2.0 | Romano, Jordan 4299 | pi mr cp | 1.0 | |
| Klein, Will 5215 | pi cp mr | 2.0 | Sims, Lucas 3892 | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Hernandez, Enrique 3541 | 2b 3b ph | 1.5 | Alvarado, Jose 3797 | pi cp | 1.0 | |
| Smith, Will 4175 | ca | 1.0 | Trivino, Lou 3939 | pi mr cp | 1.0 | |
| Stewart, Brock 3722 | pi mr | 1.0 | Kemp, Otto 5240 | lf ph | 1.0 | |
| Banda, Anthony 3867 | pi mr sp | 1.0 | Wilson, Weston 5289 | 2b | 1.0 | |
| Dreyer, Jack 5145 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Henriquez, Edgardo 5293 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Kim, Hyeseong 5180 | 2b | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 117.9 | Totals | 131.4 | |||
NL Division Series: Cubs at Brewers
Though the Chicago Cubs finished five games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central Division, they finished the season ahead of the Brewers in Box-Toppers rankings. Cubs players accumulated 117.6 Box-Toppers points in 2025, seventh overall and fourth among NL teams. The Brewers finished with 112.6 points, ninth overall and fifth among NL teams.
(Note: At the end of the season, the Brewers designated pitcher Erick Fedde for assignment, but he has since been outrighted to the Brewers minor league system, allowing his 2.7 Box-Toppers points earned this season to be added back to the team total, giving them 115.3 points, boosting them to eighth place overall, but still fifth among NL teams, now just 2.3 points behind the Cubs.)
The Brewers are the top-seeded NL team in the postseason, receiving a bye in the first round and also the team with baseball’s best winning percentage (.599) The Cubs defeated the San Diego Padres in three games, 2-1, in the Wild Card round.
The pitching matchup Saturday
Cubs—Matthew Boyd, 10.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 40th among all players, 18th among NL pitchers.
Brewers—Freddy Peralta, 14.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 12th among all players, eighth among NL pitchers.
A look at all four of Saturday’s Division Series pitching matchups
Key Cubs players
Three starting pitchers have the most Box-Toppers points among all Cubs players in 2025:
Matthew Boyd, 10.7 points, 16th among NL pitchers, who started Game 1 of the Wild Card series against the Padres on Tuesday. He is also Game 1 starter in the NLDS. This start will come on short rest—just three days—however, he threw only 58 pitches on Tuesday.
Jameson Taillon, 10.1 points, 17th among NL pitchers, who started Game 3 of the Wild Card series against the Padres, earning Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.
Cade Horton, 9.7 points, 21st among NL pitchers. Horton suffered a right rib fracture and his injury-list stint would extend late into the series, making remote any chances of his participation in the NLDS.
Other notable Cubs players include:
Designated hitter Seiya Suzuki, 9.5 Box-Toppers points, fourth among NL batters. Suzuki led NL batters as late as July 27, but earned all his points July 18 and earlier.
Centerfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, 9.5 Box-Toppers points, fifth among NL batters. Crow-Armstrong has not won Player of the Game honors since July 30.
Starting pitcher Shota Imanaga, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, 35th among NL pitchers. Imanaga was Box-Toppers’ top 2024 NL rookie, earning 20.7 Box-Toppers points, which was third among NL pitchers. Imanaga was out much of May and June with a left hamstring strain. He earned Player of the Game honors just once (Aug. 16) in the final two months of the regular season, despite making 10 starts in August and September.
Other notable Cubs players include leftfielder Ian Happ (6.0), catcher Carson Kelly (6.0), pitcher Aaron Civale (5.0), rightfielder Kyle Tucker (4.7), first baseman Michael Busch (4.4) and shortstop Dansby Swanson (4.0).
Key Brewers players
Game 1 starter Freddy Peralta leads the team with 14.7 Box-Toppers points, 12th overall and eighth among NL pitchers.
Other notable Brewers:
Designated hitter Christian Yelich, 11.2 Box-Toppers points, second among NL batters.
Starting pitcher Quinn Priester, 11.0 points, 14th among NL pitchers.
Starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff, 9.7 points, 20th among NL pitchers.
Other notable Brewers players include pitcher Jacob Misiorowski (6.0), leftfielder Isaac Collins (5.5), outfielder Jackson Chourio (5.0), first baseman Rhys Hoskins (4.5) and catcher William Contreras (4.0).
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 2025 are not listed. Players who earned points in 2025 are listed even if they are not on the roster for the upcoming postseason series due to injury or for other reasons.
Cubs vs. Brewers
Here are players for both teams in the NL Divisional Series beginning Saturday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2025. 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 2025.| Chicago Cubs | Milwaukee Brewers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Boyd, Matthew 3550 | pi sp | 10.7 | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | pi sp | 14.7 | |
| Taillon, Jameson 3658 | pi sp | 10.1 | Yelich, Christian 3334 | dh | 11.2 | |
| Horton, Cade 5216 | pi sp | 9.7 | Priester, Quinn 5059 | pi sp | 11.0 | |
| Suzuki, Seiya 4924 | dh | 9.5 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | 9.7 | |
| Crow-Armstrong, Pete 5073 | cf | 9.5 | Misiorowski, Jacob 5200 | pi sp | 6.0 | |
| Imanaga, Shota 4960 | pi sp | 7.0 | Collins, Isaac 5165 | lf | 5.5 | |
| Happ, Ian 3798 | lf | 6.0 | Chourio, Jackson 4970 | lf cf | 5.0 | |
| Kelly, Carson 4098 | ca | 6.0 | Hoskins, Rhys 3909 | 1b | 4.5 | |
| Civale, Aaron 4173 | pi sp mr | 5.0 | Contreras, William 4717 | ca | 4.0 | |
| Brown, Ben 4967 | pi sp | 5.0 | Bauers, Jake 3993 | 1b | 4.0 | |
| Tucker, Kyle 4277 | rf | 4.7 | Vaughn, Andrew 4445 | 1b | 3.5 | |
| Busch, Michael 4981 | 1b | 4.4 | Megill, Trevor 4531 | pi cp | 3.0 | |
| Swanson, Dansby 3751 | ss | 4.0 | Henderson, Logan 5150 | pi sp | 3.0 | |
| Castro, Willi 4334 | lf rf | 3.5 | Patrick, Chad 5131 | pi sp | 3.0 | |
| Rea, Colin 3582 | pi sp | 3.0 | Fedde, Erick 4065 | pi sp | 2.7 | |
| Shaw, Matt 5262 | 3b | 2.5 | Perkins, Blake 4832 | dh cf pr | 2.5 | |
| Assad, Javier 4899 | pi sp | 2.0 | Ortiz, Joey 4987 | ss 3b | 2.5 | |
| Santana, Carlos 2757 | 1b | 2.0 | Monasterio, Andruw 4837 | lf ss 3b ph | 2.5 | |
| Palencia, Daniel 4908 | pi mr cp | 2.0 | Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | 2.0 | |
| Kittredge, Andrew 4417 | pi cp mr | 2.0 | Koenig, Jared 4755 | pi cp mr sp | 2.0 | |
| Soroka, Michael 3956 | pi sp | 2.0 | Urias, Luis 4218 | 2b 3b | 2.0 | |
| Steele, Justin 4415 | pi sp | 1.0 | Turang, Brice 4779 | 2b | 2.0 | |
| Amaya, Miguel 4836 | ca dh | 1.0 | Hall, DL 5097 | pi sp mr | 2.0 | |
| Thielbar, Caleb 3272 | pi mr | 1.0 | Frelick, Sal 4880 | rf | 2.0 | |
| Keller, Brad 4008 | pi mr cp sp | 1.0 | Ashby, Aaron 4511 | pi mr sp | 2.0 | |
| Turner, Justin 2865 | 1b ph | 1.0 | Uribe, Abner 5195 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Caissie, Owen 5260 | rf | 1.0 | Jansen, Danny 4163 | ca | 1.0 | |
| Norton, Cade 5193 | pi sp | 1.0 | ||||
| Total | 117.6 | Total | 115.3 | |||
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. (No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.)
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A Box-Toppers look at Saturday’s League Division Series 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 2025 (’25), this year and last year (’24-25), over a six-year period (’20-25) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | BOS | ’25 | ’24‑25 | ’20‑25 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHC | Boyd, Matthew 3550 | 10.7 | 13.7 | 17.7 | 42.5 |
| MIL | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | 14.7 | 28.1 | 67.9 | 84.6 |
| NYY | Gil, Luis 4498 | 1.0 | 18.4 | 19.4 | 19.4 |
| TOR | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | 14.1 | 24.1 | 70.2 | 112.2 |
| LAD | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | 5.5 | 16.5 | 76.7 | 91.2 |
| PHI | Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 | 15.4 | 26.8 | 30.8 | 30.8 |
| DET | Melton, Troy 5231 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| SEA | Kirby, George 4595 | 11.0 | 26.4 | 51.5 | 51.5 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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