It is with great pleasure that we have brought back the Notinhalloffame MLB Regular Cup, and let us explain how this works:

For every regular-season game, we anointed the best five players with descending points, 5-4-3-2-1. 

We know the following:

• The top players for the MLB NIHOF Cup are not always the best in the league, as injuries keep players out of games, and a premium on staying healthy can help pile up points. It also does not hurt to be a top player on an average or mediocre team, as they can amass Cup points more easily than elite players on loaded squads.
• In Baseball, it is more common than in Basketball and Hockey for a player to accrue points with a single Home Run in a game, which favors position players. Starting Pitchers have a hard time with approximately 30-35 Starts and throwing fewer innings than previous generations. This is also true for closers not made for this process.
• Please remember that this is NOT necessarily who we think were the best players this year and does not reflect overall consistency. Treat this the way we did: as a fun process and more of a compilation of temporary statistical domination.

Here is the current top ten after games concluded on May 19.

1. Aaron Judge, New York Yankees: 81 Cup Points in 46 Games. (#1 Last Week).  3.7 bWAR, 43 Runs, 71 Hits, 15 Home Runs, 41 Runs Batted In, .401/.490/.751 Slash Line, 1.242 OPS & 249 OPS+.

2. Pete Alonso, New York Mets: 73 Cup Points in 48 Games. (#2 Last Week).   2.0 bWAR, 28 Runs, 53 Hits, 9 Home Runs, 37 Runs Batted In, .301/.408/.557 Slash Line, .964 OPS & 174 OPS+.

3. (TIE) Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals:  61 Cup Points in 49 Games.  (#3 Last Week).  2.7 bWAR, 28 Runs, 57 Hits, 5 Home Runs, 25 Runs Batted In, .302/.369/.508 Slash Line, .877 OPS & 146 OPS+.

3. (TIE) Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers:  61 Cup Points in 39 Games.  (#6 Last Week).  2.7 bWAR, 51 Runs, 58 Hits, 17 Home Runs, 31 Runs Batted In, .312/.406/.672 Slash Line, 1.078 OPS & 200 OPS+.

5. (TIE) Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox: 59 Cup Points in 43 Games.  (#8 Last Week).  1.9 bWAR, 30 Runs, 52 Hits, 9 Home Runs, 38 Runs Batted In, .286/.405/.511 Slash Line, .916 OPS & 157 OPS+.

5. (TIE) Francisco Lindor, New York Mets: 59 Cup Points in 41 Games. (#4 Last Week).   1.2 bWAR, 29 Runs, 53 Hits, 9 Home Runs, 28 Runs Batted In, .279/.347/.463 Slash Line, .810 OPS & 130 OPS+.

7. Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres: 57 Cup Points in 39 Games. (#4 Last Week).   3.0 bWAR, 37 Runs, 52 Hits, 12 Home Runs, 27 Runs Batted In, .304/.375/.561 Slash Line, .936 OPS & 160 OPS+.

8. Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks: 56 Cup Points in 48 Games. (#7 Last Week).   2.0 bWAR, 39 Runs, 56 Hits, 14 Home Runs, 32 Runs Batted In, .279/.353/.592 Slash Line, .945 OPS & 157 OPS+.

9. (TIE) Spencer Torkelson, Detroit Tigers: 53 Cup Points in 41 Games. (Not in the Top Ten Last Week).  1.6 bWAR, 32 Runs, 41 Hits, 12 Home Runs, 38 Runs Batted In, .246/.352/.533 Slash Line, .885 OPS & 150 OPS+.

9. (TIE) Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers: 53 Cup Points in 37 Games.  (#6 Last Week).  1.9 bWAR, 27 Runs, 50 Hits, 9 Home Runs, 34 Runs Batted In, .368/.426/.662 Slash Line, 1.088 OPS & 204 OPS+.

Boston’s Wilyer Abreu and Minnesota’s Byron Buxton fell off the top ten.

Notably, 794 baseball players have earned at least 1 point, up from 763 last week.