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.