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Pete Crow-Armstrong wins unanimous NL MVP as Yordan Alvarez takes AL honor
Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong unanimously won the National League MVP award, ending Shohei Ohtani's run, while Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez was unanimously named the American League MVP.
Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong was unanimously named the National League Most Valuable Player, ending Shohei Ohtani's three-year run as the league's top honoree. In the American League, Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez also won unanimously. Alvarez is reported as the first full-time designated hitter to claim the AL MVP award, a distinction that underlines how far a player who never takes the field on defense can go in the voting.
Crow-Armstrong produced 45 home runs and 41 stolen bases over the season, with a slash line of.280/.372/.570. The honor recognized an elite offensive year paired with strong defense in center field, the combination that separated him from the rest of the league's candidates. Based on the publication's calculation, his season was worth an estimated 10.6 wins above replacement, a figure that reflects both his bat and his work on the grass.
The NL result closes a stretch in which Ohtani had dominated the award. He won NL MVP in 2024 and again in 2025, when he hit 55 home runs, stole 20 bases and posted a 2.87 ERA over 47 innings. Ohtani's two-way production set a standard few players have approached, which makes his absence from the top spot a notable shift in the race. Crow-Armstrong's rise also reflects a change in his plate discipline: his walk rate was 4.5 percent in 2025 and climbed to 11.4 percent in 2026, a sign that he became more selective at the plate as his season developed.
Alvarez's season was built around power and selectivity. He hit 42 home runs and posted a.316/.432/.601 slash line for a 1.033 OPS. He led the majors with 33 intentional walks, more than double any other player, a clear indication of how opposing pitchers chose to handle him in key situations. His weighted runs created plus stood at 181, where 100 represents the league average, meaning his offense was roughly 81 percent better than a typical hitter in the league.
The Houston outfielder's year followed an injury-plagued 2025 season, and the rebound gave the Astros a central figure in their lineup. His production helped Houston reach the postseason, and his unanimous selection underlined how completely his offense carried the team through the regular season. For a franchise that leaned heavily on him, the award confirmed a recovery that had been uncertain only a year earlier.
Both awards were decided by unanimous votes, a rare outcome that left little room for disagreement among the voters. The consensus came as each winner separated himself on the numbers: Crow-Armstrong through a combination of power, speed and defensive value, and Alvarez through an on-base and slugging profile that drew extraordinary attention from opposing pitchers.
The reporting closes with a note of uncertainty about the future. Future MVP races, it observes, depend on whether a full season takes place, a reference to the labor uncertainty surrounding the sport. For now, the 2026 awards stand as a recognition of two players whose seasons reshaped the leading races in their respective leagues.
Source: foxnews.com
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