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.

Teoscar Hernandez played a handful of Games for the Houston Astros before the Dominican Outfielder was traded to the Blue Jays at the 2017 Trade Deadline.  Hernandez spent most of that year in AAA but would be in the Majors the following year, belting 22 Home Runs, though his Batting Average was only .239.  2019 was much of the same (26 HR, .230), but the COVID-shortened year 2020 was Hernandez' breakout.

In 50 Games, Hernandez had 16 Home Runs but raised his Batting Average to .289, winning the Silver Slugger and finishing 11^th in MVP voting.  He kept that through a full year in 2021, smacking 32 Home Runs and 116 RBI and increasing his BA to .296 while going to his first All-Star Game and winning a Silver Slugger.  Hernandez had another post-season honor, as he was selected to the All-MLB 2 Team.  

Hernandez had another good year in 2022 (25 HR, .267), but the retooling Jays traded him to the Mariners in the off-season.  With Toronto, Hernandez had 129 Home Runs with a .263 Batting Average.