Two unanimous Cy Youngs and a night of broken streaks at the MLB Awards

Two unanimous sweeps

The 2026 MLB Awards opened with the rarest of results: both Cy Young Awards went unanimously. Cam Schlittler of the Yankees took all 30 first-place votes in the American League, and Jacob Misiorowski of the Brewers swept the National League vote. m:…8138 m:…2462 m:…8312

Schlittler's case was built on dominance in his first full season: a 14-6 record, a 1.95 ERA, 239 strikeouts in 193 2/3 innings, and a league-leading 6.2 pitching WAR. He was at his best away from home, leading major-league starters with a 1.16 road ERA and 129 road strikeouts, and he became the seventh Yankees pitcher to win the award. m:…8138

Dylan Cease finished second in the American League voting with 22 second-place votes, setting a Blue Jays record with 12.7 strikeouts per nine innings and recording 237 strikeouts on the season. Parker Messick, a rookie, finished third with 84 points, becoming the sixth rookie to be named a Cy Young finalist. m:…2462 m:…9254

Misiorowski's numbers were just as emphatic: a 1.80 ERA, 252 strikeouts, a 0.80 WHIP, 12.98 strikeouts per nine innings, and a .157 opponents' average, with a fastball that topped out at 105.5 mph. He also became the seventh pitcher to win a World Series-clinching game and a Cy Young Award in the same year, and the seventh to win the award in his second season. m:…8693

The runners-up had their own claims. Cristopher Sánchez finished second in the National League for the second straight year after going 18-7 with a 2.91 ERA and leading the majors in wins and bWAR at 8.1. Sale finished third, his fourth top-three finish, with a 2.16 ERA and 200 strikeouts, his ninth 200-strikeout season. m:…9297 m:…8312

The hitters broke streaks too

Yordan Alvarez won the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award, the first player other than Shohei Ohtani to take it since 2020 and the first Astro ever to win it. As a designated hitter he hit .305 with a .422 on-base percentage and a .575 slugging percentage, with 34 home runs and 83 RBIs, and he led the American League in on-base percentage, slugging, OPS, offensive WAR, total bases, walks, and extra-base hits. m:…2729

Alvarez also shared the Hank Aaron Award with Pete Crow-Armstrong, both first-time winners of the honor for the best offensive performers in each league. Alvarez won the batting title at .316 with 42 home runs, 106 RBIs, and a 181 wRC+, while Crow-Armstrong hit 45 home runs and stole 41 bases, the seventh 40-homer, 40-steal season in major-league history. Both are the favorites for their leagues' MVP awards. m:…8872

Comebacks and closers

Alvarez and Wheeler were named the Comeback Players of the Year, voted on by 30 club beat reporters. Alvarez played only 48 games in 2025 because of a left hand fracture, then set personal bests with 158 games and 42 home runs in 2026. Wheeler was diagnosed with venous thoracic outlet syndrome in late August 2025, had surgery to remove his first rib near his throwing shoulder, returned to the mound on April 25, 2026, and finished with a 3.00 ERA and 193 strikeouts in 162 innings. m:…1950

The relievers had their night as well. Baker of the Rays and Miller of the Padres were named Relievers of the Year: Baker saved 41 games with a 1.44 ERA in 65 appearances in his first season as a full-time closer, while Miller led all qualified National League relievers with a 1.67 ERA and led all qualified pitchers with a 47.4 percent strikeout rate and a 101.4 mph average fastball. Louis Varland was named the American League Reliever of the Year by the writers, with a 1.27 ERA and 35 saves, and the Phillies' Duran finished second for the inaugural National League Reliever of the Year Award with a 1.82 ERA and 33 saves. m:…9667 m:…9297

What the team totals say

The Brewers put a league-high four players on the All-MLB Team, Misiorowski, Brice Turang, Jackson Chourio, and William Contreras, after a league-leading 103-win regular season. Turang led the Brewers with 100 RBIs and became the first Brewers middle infielder to finish in the top three of MVP voting since Robin Yount in 1982, while Chourio became the first player to record three 20-20 seasons before his 23rd birthday. m:…1714

The pattern of the night is hard to miss: the biggest honors went to young arms and first-time winners. Schlittler won in his first full season and Misiorowski in his second; Alvarez took two awards nobody had given him before; and the Brewers' league-high four All-MLB selections came from a roster built around players still early in their careers. For teams deciding where the next dollars go, the awards suggest the market's most valuable currency is young pitching, and that the writers noticed. m:…8138 m:…8693 m:…1714