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.

Isaac Paredes arrived in Tampa in a straight-up trade for Austin Meadows, which was an excellent opportunity for the versatile infielder.  Playing at Third, Second and First, Paredes, who only had 2 Home Runs over 57 Games in Detroit, had 20 in 2022 in 111 Games. 

In 2023, Paredes broke out with 31 Home Runs, 98 RBIs, and a Slugging Percentage of .488, and he looked to be a future All-Star, and that would be the case in 2024, when he made it to the mid-season event.  However, the slumping Rays traded Parades to the Chicago Cubs before the trade deadline.  

With Tampa, Parades had 280 Hits with 67 Home Runs.