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 April 28.

1. Pete Alonso, New York Mets: 54 Cup Points in 29 Games. (#1 Last Week).   1.7 bWAR, 20 Runs, 35 Hits, 6 Home Runs, 27 Runs Batted In, .337/.453/.635 Slash Line, 1.088 OPS & 210 OPS+.

2. Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres: 44 Cup Points in 27 Games. (#2 Last Week).   2.4 bWAR, 24 Runs, 36 Hits, 8 Home Runs, 18 Runs Batted In, .346/.415/.625 Slash Line, 1.040 OPS & 189 OPS+.

3. Aaron Judge, New York Yankees: 43 Cup Points in 29 Games. (#4 Last Week).  2.5 bWAR, 25 Runs, 45 Hits, 8 Home Runs, 28 Runs Batted In, .405/.496/.703 Slash Line, 1.199 OPS & 241 OPS+.

4. (TIE) Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks: 38 Cup Points in 28 Games. (#3 Last Week).   1.7 bWAR, 25 Runs, 37 Hits, 9 Home Runs, 23 Runs Batted In, .308/.376/.667 Slash Line, 1.043 OPS & 184 OPS+.

4. (TIE) Francisco Lindor, New York Mets: 38 Cup Points in 28 Games. (Not in the Top Ten Last Week).   0.8 bWAR, 20 Runs, 34 Hits, 5 Home Runs, 14 Runs Batted In, .304/.367/.473 Slash Line, 0.840 OPS & 140 OPS+.

6. Tyler Soderstrom, The Athletics: 35 Cup Points in 29 Games.  (Not in the Top Ten last week).  1.1 bWAR, 20 Runs, 32 Hits, 9 Home Runs, 24 Runs Batted In, .291/.358/.582 Slash Line, .940 OPS & 164 OPS+.

7. (TIE) Spencer Torkelson, Detroit Tigers: 34 Cup Points in 28 Games. (#5 Last Week).  1.1 bWAR, 20 Runs, 26 Hits, 8 Home Runs, 24 Runs Batted In, .245/.349/.547 Slash Line, .896 OPS & 156 OPS+.

7. (TIE) Lars Nootbar, St. Louis Cardinals:  34 Cup Points in 28 Games.  (Not in the Top Ten Last Week).  1.5 bWAR, 19 Runs, 29 Hits, 4 Home Runs, 17 Runs Batted In, .271/.405/.430 Slash Line, .834 OPS & 136 OPS+.

9. (TIE) Josh Naylor, Arizona Diamondbacks: 33 Cup Points in 28 Games.  (#7 Last week).   0.8 bWAR, 15 Runs, 34 Hits, 4 Home Runs, 19 Runs Batted In, .318/.388/.505 Slash Line, .893 OPS & 147 OPS+.

9. (TIE) Teoscar Hernandez, Los Angeles Dodgers:  33 Cup Points in 27 Games.  (Not in the Top Ten Last Week).  1.0 bWAR, 16 Runs, 29 Hits, 9 Home Runs, 27 Runs Batted In, .274/.291/.585 Slash Line, .876 OPS & 144 OPS+.

Chicago (NL)’s Josh Naylor, Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr., Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper, San Francisco’s Matt Chapman & Seattle’s Cal Raleigh fell off the top ten.

Of note, 690 baseball players have obtained at least 1 point.  This is up from 627 last week.

The New York Mets traded for Francisco Lindor before the 2021 season, and the Mets thought that had the infielder that they could build a contender around.  That might be the case in 2025, but in 2021, it looked like a colossal mistake.

Lindor, who signed a ten-year, $341 million extension, started off slow and was even booed by the Mets faithful.  He rebounded, finishing with 20 Home Runs, but the slow start had New York fans thinking it was another case of a large contract gone bad.  Since that time, Lindor had returned to MVP form. 

Lindor’s bat improved in 2022, smacking 26 Home Runs with 107 RBI, and he moved the HR numbers back over 30 in 2023 with 31.  Finishing 9th in MVP voting in both 2022 and 2023, Lindor exploded last year as the runner-up to the National League MVP (33 HR, 169 G, 29 SB, .844 OPS) and piloted New York to the NLCS.

Lindor is now over 30, and enters 2025 on the most loaded Mets team of his career.  He also has an outstanding three-year All-MLB Team 2 streak.

A World Series with Lindor leading the way will justify that big money.

As of this writing, Puerto Rican Shortstop Francisco Lindor has played six seasons with the Cleveland Indians, which is the only team he has ever played for at the Major League level.