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 9.

1. Aaron Judge, New York Yankees: 109 Cup Points in 54 Games. (#1 Last Week).  5.2 bWAR, 62 Runs, 95 Hits, 23 Home Runs, 55 Runs Batted In, .396/.493/.771 Slash Line, 1.264 OPS & 250 OPS+.

2. Pete Alonso, New York Mets: 105 Cup Points in 60 Games. (#2 Last Week).   2.9 bWAR, 41 Runs, 75 Hits, 17 Home Runs, 61 Runs Batted In, .301/.396/.594 Slash Line, .990 OPS & 182 OPS+.

3. Francisco Lindor, New York Mets: 83 Cup Points in 64 Games. (#3 Last Week).   2.4 bWAR, 42 Runs, 73 Hits, 14 Home Runs, 38 Runs Batted In, .283/.354/.488 Slash Line, .842 OPS & 141 OPS+

4. (TIE) Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox: 79 Cup Points in 68 Games.  (#5 Last Week).  2.4 bWAR, 45 Runs, 71 Hits, 14 Home Runs, 57 Runs Batted In, .280/.409/.516 Slash Line, .925 OPS & 157 OPS+.

4. (TIE) Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers:  79 Cup Points in 65 Games.  (#4 Last Week).  3.1 bWAR, 67 Runs, 76 Hits, 23 Home Runs, 39 Runs Batted In, .291/.387/.628 Slash Line, 1.015 OPS & 184 OPS+.

6. Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners: 77 Cup Points in 64 Games. (#6 Last Week).   3.4 bWAR, 44 Runs, 63 Hits, 26 Home Runs, 53 Runs Batted In, .266/.373/.641 Slash Line, 1.014 OPS & 192 OPS+.

7. (TIE) Jacob Wilson, The Athletics: 73 Cup Points in 64 Games. (Not in the Top Ten Last Week).   2.7 bWAR, 36 Runs, 93 Hits, 8 Home Runs, 38 Runs Batted In, .366/.402/.520 Slash Line, .922 OPS & 159 OPS+.

7. (TIE) Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals:  73 Cup Points in 66 Games.  (#6 Last Week).  3.4 bWAR, 35 Runs, 75 Hits, 8 Home Runs, 37 Runs Batted In, .291/.349/.492 Slash Line, .842 OPS & 135 OPS+.

7. (TIE) Manny Machado, San Diego Padres: 73 Cup Points in 65 Games. (Not in the Top Ten Last Week).  2.6 bWAR, 45 Runs, 78 Hits, 10 Home Runs, 34 Runs Batted In, .320/.382/.516 Slash Line, .899 OPS & 150 OPS+.

10. Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers: 72 Cup Points in 56 Games.  (#9 Last Week).  2.3 bWAR, 36 Runs, 73 Hits, 9 Home Runs, 41 Runs Batted In, .351/.418/.591 Slash Line, 1.009 OPS & 185 OPS+.

Detroit’s Spencer Torkelson and Washington’s James Wood fell out of the Top Ten.

Notably, 888 baseball players have earned at least 1 point, up from 857 last week.

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 2.

1. Aaron Judge, New York Yankees: 100 Cup Points in 58 Games. (#1 Last Week).  4.7 bWAR, 55 Runs, 86 Hits, 21 Home Runs, 50 Runs Batted In, .391/.485/.764 Slash Line, 1.248 OPS & 248 OPS+.

2. Pete Alonso, New York Mets: 82 Cup Points in 60 Games. (#2 Last Week).   1.9 bWAR, 32 Runs, 63 Hits, 12 Home Runs, 46 Runs Batted In, .284/.384/.536 Slash Line, .920 OPS & 162 OPS+.

3. Francisco Lindor, New York Mets: 81 Cup Points in 59 Games. (#4 Last Week).   2.1 bWAR, 39 Runs, 68 Hits, 14 Home Runs, 36 Runs Batted In, .285/.355/.502 Slash Line, .857 OPS & 147 OPS+

4. Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers:  79 Cup Points in 58 Games.  (#5 Last Week).  3.0 bWAR, 64 Runs, 68 Hits, 23 Home Runs, 39 Runs Batted In, .292/.386/.661 Slash Line, 1.047 OPS & 192 OPS+.

5.  Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox: 77 Cup Points in 62 Games.  (#2 Last Week).  2.3 bWAR, 38 Runs, 66 Hits, 12 Home Runs, 53 Runs Batted In, .286/.408/.515 Slash Line, .923 OPS & 157 OPS+.

6. (TIE) Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals:  67 Cup Points in 60 Games.  (#6 Last Week).  2.7 bWAR, 30 Runs, 66 Hits, 6 Home Runs, 31 Runs Batted In, .283/.341/.481 Slash Line, .822 OPS & 129 OPS+.

6. (TIE) Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners: 67 Cup Points in 58 Games. (Not in the Top Ten Last Week).   3.4 bWAR, 39 Runs, 56 Hits, 23 Home Runs, 45 Runs Batted In, .264/.379/.637 Slash Line, 1.016 OPS & 194 OPS+.

8. James Wood, Washington Nationals: 66 Cup Points in 59 Games. (Not in the Top Ten Last Week).   2.8 bWAR, 38 Runs, 64 Hits, 16 Home Runs, 44 Runs Batted In, .286/.385/.567 Slash Line, .952 OPS & 168 OPS+.

9. (TIE) Spencer Torkelson, Detroit Tigers: 64 Cup Points in 58 Games. (#7 Last Week).  1.4 bWAR, 35 Runs, 48 Hits, 14 Home Runs, 42 Runs Batted In, .235/.346/.510 Slash Line, .855 OPS & 140 OPS+.

9. (TIE) Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers: 64 Cup Points in 49 Games.  (#10 Last Week).  2.4 bWAR, 33 Runs, 67 Hits, 9 Home Runs, 38 Runs Batted In, .368/.435/.621 Slash Line, 1.056 OPS & 198 OPS+.

Arizona’s Corbin Carroll, Houston's Isaac Paredes, and Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper fell off the top ten.

Notably, 857 baseball players have earned at least 1 point, up from 829 last week.

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 26.

1. Aaron Judge, New York Yankees: 96 Cup Points in 53 Games. (#1 Last Week).  4.3 bWAR, 51 Runs, 80 Hits, 18 Home Runs, 47 Runs Batted In, .398/.492/.756 Slash Line, 1.248 OPS & 251 OPS+.

2. Pete Alonso, New York Mets: 78 Cup Points in 54 Games. (#2 Last Week).   1.7 bWAR, 30 Runs, 58 Hits, 10 Home Runs, 40 Runs Batted In, .291/.392/.533 Slash Line, .925 OPS & 164 OPS+.

3.  Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox: 72 Cup Points in 56 Games.  (#7 Last Week).  1.9 bWAR, 36 Runs, 60 Hits, 12 Home Runs, 48 Runs Batted In, .288/.409/.534 Slash Line, .943 OPS & 163 OPS+.

4. Francisco Lindor, New York Mets: 59 Cup Points in 41 Games. (#5 Last Week).   1.4 bWAR, 32 Runs, 58 Hits, 10 Home Runs, 30 Runs Batted In, .272/.347/.455 Slash Line, .802 OPS & 129 OPS+

5. Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers:  66 Cup Points in 52 Games.  (#3 Last Week).  2.7 bWAR, 57 Runs, 62 Hits, 19 Home Runs, 33 Runs Batted In, .295/.392/.648 Slash Line, 1.039 OPS & 191 OPS+.

6. Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals:  63 Cup Points in 55 Games.  (#3 Last Week).  2.6 bWAR, 29 Runs, 63 Hits, 5 Home Runs, 28 Runs Batted In, .293/.353/.464 Slash Line, .836 OPS & 134 OPS+.

7. Spencer Torkelson, Detroit Tigers: 62 Cup Points in 54 Games. (#9 Last Week).  1.5 bWAR, 34 Runs, 46 Hits, 13 Home Runs, 40 Runs Batted In, .243/.357/.524 Slash Line, .881 OPS & 148 OPS+.

8. (TIE) Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks: 60 Cup Points in 54 Games. (#8 Last Week).   1.9 bWAR, 40 Runs, 58 Hits, 15 Home Runs, 34 Runs Batted In, .260/.332/.556 Slash Line, .888 OPS & 143 OPS+.

8. (TIE) Isaac Paredes, Houston Astros: 60 Cup Points in 52 Games. (Not in the Top Ten Last Week).   2.2 bWAR, 29 Runs, 54 Hits, 11 Home Runs, 31 Runs Batted In, .276/.377/.490 Slash Line, .867 OPS & 145 OPS+.

10. (TIE) Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers: 59 Cup Points in 43 Games.  (#9 Last Week).  2.2 bWAR, 30 Runs, 57 Hits, 9 Home Runs, 35 Runs Batted In, .361/.432/.633 Slash Line, 1.065 OPS & 200 OPS+.

10. (TIE) Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies: 59 Cup Points in 53 Games.  (Not in the Last Week).  2.5 bWAR, 30 Runs, 54 Hits, 8 Home Runs, 33 Runs Batted In, .267/.372/.450 Slash Line, .823 OPS & 129 OPS+.

San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. fell off the top ten.

Notably, 729 baseball players have earned at least 1 point, up from 794 last week.

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.

It is with great pleasure that we are bringing 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 5.

1. Pete Alonso, New York Mets: 67 Cup Points in 36 Games. (#1 Last Week).   2.4 bWAR, 26 Runs, 45 Hits, 9 Home Runs, 33 Runs Batted In, .349/.469/.674 Slash Line, 1.144 OPS & 225 OPS+.

2. Aaron Judge, New York Yankees: 59 Cup Points in 29 Games. (#3 Last Week).  3.0 bWAR, 32 Runs, 55 Hits, 11 Home Runs, 33 Runs Batted In, .414/.503/.759 Slash Line, 1.263 OPS & 257 OPS+.

3. Francisco Lindor, New York Mets: 48 Cup Points in 28 Games. (#4 Last Week).   0.8 bWAR, 23 Runs, 41 Hits, 7 Home Runs, 22 Runs Batted In, .289/.358/.472 Slash Line, .830 OPS & 137 OPS+.

4. Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres: 46 Cup Points in 33 Games. (#2 Last Week).   2.3 bWAR, 26 Runs, 40 Hits, 8 Home Runs, 18 Runs Batted In, .317/.387/.556 Slash Line, .943 OPS & 161 OPS+.

5. (TIE) Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks: 45 Cup Points in 28 Games. (#4 Last Week).   1.4 bWAR, 35 Runs, 43 Hits, 10 Home Runs, 27 Runs Batted In, .287/.352/.593 Slash Line, .945 OPS & 159 OPS+.

5. (TIE) Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals:  45 Cup Points in 36 Games.  (Not in the Top Ten Last Week).  2.2 bWAR, 22 Runs, 43 Hits, 4 Home Runs, 18 Runs Batted In, .314/.389/.504 Slash Line, .892 OPS & 152 OPS+.

7. (TIE) Tyler Soderstrom, The Athletics: 39 Cup Points in 36 Games.  (#6 last week).  1.1 bWAR, 23 Runs, 38 Hits, 9 Home Runs, 25 Runs Batted In, .279/.344/.515 Slash Line, .940 OPS & 164 OPS+.

7. (TIE) Austin Riley, Atlanta Braves: 39 Cup Points in 36 Games.  (Not in the Top Ten last week).  1.3 bWAR, 15 Runs, 41 Hits, 8 Home Runs, 25 Runs Batted In, .291/.333/.504 Slash Line, .837 OPS & 131 OPS+.

7. (TIE) Wilyer Abreu, Boston Red Sox: 39 Cup Points in 34 Games. (Not in the Top Ten Last Week).  1.7 bWAR, 20 Runs, 31 Hits, 7 Home Runs, 22 Runs Batted In, .279/.394/.523 Slash Line, .916 OPS & 156 OPS+.

7. (TIE) Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers:  39 Cup Points in 33 Games.  (Not in the Top Ten Last Week).  1.7 bWAR, 37 Runs, 38 Hits, 9 Home Runs, 13 Runs Batted In, .292/.399/.585 Slash Line, .983 OPS & 177 OPS+.

Arizona’s Josh Naylor, Detroit’s Spencer Torkelson, Los Angeles (NL)’s Teoscar Hernandez & St. Louis’s Lars Nootbar fell off the top ten.

Of note, 733 baseball players have obtained at least 1 point, up from 690 last week.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists and consistently look to update them when necessary and based on necessity. As such, we are delighted to present our post-2024 revision of our top 50 Kansas City Royals.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball, we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the American League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.

Please note that our algorithm has changed, which yielded minor changes throughout the baseball lists.

Last year, the Royals made a triumphant return to the playoffs, winning their Wild Card Series over Baltimore before falling to the New York Yankees in four games.  The season yielded one new entrant and one elevation.

As always, we present our top five, which saw a huge change based on the new algorithm.

1. George Brett

2. Amos Otis

3. Bret Saberhagen

4. Willie Wilson

5. Kevin Appier

You can find the entire list here.

Under the new algorithm, Amos Otis moved from #5 to #2; a showcase to how tight everyone from 2 to 5 already were.

Multi-time All-Star Catcher Salvador Perez went up one spot to #6.

The new entrant is Bobby Witt Jr., who debuts at #31.

We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.

Following the 2015 World Series Championship win, the Kansas City Royals went immediately into rebuilding mode.  They would need a star to get them back to the playoffs, and they found him in Bobby Witt Jr..

Witt was taken second overall in 2019 from the University of Oklahoma and in 2021 he was named by Baseball America as the Minor League Player of the Year.  The following season, he cracked the Royals roster and was fourth in Rookie of the Year voting, but was still finding his way in the Majors.  The year after, Witt had a 30-30 year, led the AL in Tripled (11) and Power-Speed# (37.2).

Building on that breakout 2023 season, Witt exploded with not only his second 30-30 year (making him the first Shortstop to do so in back-to-back years), won the Batting Title (.332), led the AL in Hits (211), and won the Silver Slugger and Gold Glove.  Finishing second in MVP voting, Witt’s efforts propelled the Royals to their first post season in years.

Entering 2025, Witt is one of the top stars in baseball and has the making of a top five all-time Kansas City Royal.