gold star for USAHOF
 

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 June 23.

1. Aaron Judge, New York Yankees: 125 Cup Points in 78 Games. (#1 Last Week).  5.6 bWAR, 68 Runs, 106 Hits, 28 Home Runs, 62 Runs Batted In, .367/.468/.734 Slash Line, 1.202 OPS & 231 OPS+.

2. Pete Alonso, New York Mets: 108 Cup Points in 79 Games. (#2 Last Week).   2.7 bWAR, 43 Runs, 85 Hits, 18 Home Runs, 64 Runs Batted In, .286/.380/.549 Slash Line, .929 OPS & 164 OPS+.

3. Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers:  95 Cup Points in 77 Games.  (#3 Last Week).  3.6 bWAR, 76 Runs, 89 Hits, 26 Home Runs, 49 Runs Batted In, .291/.390/.624 Slash Line, 1.014 OPS & 182 OPS+.

4. Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners: 94 Cup Points in 76 Games. (#7 Last Week).   4.4 bWAR, 57 Runs, 79 Hits, 32 Home Runs, 68 Runs Batted In, .278/.383/.665 Slash Line, 1.049 OPS & 202 OPS+.

5. Riley Greene, Detroit Tigers:  89 Cup Points in 77 Games.  (Not in the Top Ten Last Week).  2.3 bWAR, 42 Runs, 86 Hits, 17 Home Runs, 59 Runs Batted In, .291/.345/.530 Slash Line, .875 OPS & 144 OPS+.

6. (TIE) Francisco Lindor, New York Mets: 88 Cup Points in 77 Games. (#3 Last Week).   2.8 bWAR, 47 Runs, 78 Hits, 14 Home Runs, 38 Runs Batted In, .279/.353/.475 Slash Line, .828 OPS & 138 OPS+.

6. (TIE) James Wood, Washington Nationals: 88 Cup Points in 79 Games. (#8 Last Week).   3.9 bWAR, 50 Runs, 85 Hits, 22 Home Runs, 61 Runs Batted In, .284/.379/.569 Slash Line, .948 OPS & 167 OPS+.

8. Rafael Devers, San Francisco Giants: 85 Cup Points in 79 Games.  (#5 Last Week).  2.4 bWAR, 49 Runs, 79 Hits, 16 Home Runs, 61 Runs Batted In, .268/.394/.495 Slash Line, .889 OPS & 148 OPS+.

9. Manny Machado, San Diego Padres: 84 Cup Points in 78 Games. (#8 Last Week).  2.9 bWAR, 52 Runs, 90 Hits, 13 Home Runs, 47 Runs Batted In, .303/.366/.502 Slash Line, .867 OPS & 139 OPS+.

10. Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins:  84 Cup Points in 61 Games.  (Not in the Top Ten Last Week).  2.9 bWAR, 46 Runs, 65 Hits, 17 Home Runs, 47 Runs Batted In, .280/.347/.565 Slash Line, .912 OPS & 149 OPS+.

The Chicago Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong, Detroit’s Spencer Torkelson, and Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. fell out of the Top Ten.

Notably, 927 baseball players have earned at least 1 point, up from 910 last week.