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.