Cubs superstar Pete Crow-Armstrong wins National League MVP unanimously, beating Shohei Ohtani
Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong unanimously won the National League MVP award for the 2026 season, the BBWAA revealed Thursday night.
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot uses two voters from each of the 15 sections housing NL teams. Each voter submits a ballot with 10 players, ranked 1 through 10. A vote for first place earns a player 14 points, while second place earns nine, third place eight, and so on, until a vote for 10th place earns one point. Ballots must be taken before the start of the playoffs, as this is a regular season award.
While the results weren’t surprising at the end of the year, going back to the start of the season it’s a huge upset. Shohei Ohtani was the heavy favorite to win the award before the start of the season and maintained his favorite status through the All-Star break. A combination of his injuries and PCA’s monster season turned the tide late.
Appearing in all 162 games, Crow-Armstrong hit .280/.372/.570 (156 OPS+) with 31 doubles, eight triples, 45 home runs, 107 RBIs, 119 runs, 41 steals and 9.8 WAR. He led the majors in WAR, runs, home runs and total bases while leading the NL in slugging, OPS and OPS+. He became the seventh player in MLB history to join the 40-40 club (40 circuits and 40 interceptions in the same season). Additionally, he led the majors in several advanced defensive metrics, putting together one of the great overall seasons from a position player in recent memory.
| Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cub Scouts | 30 | 420 | |||||||||
| Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers | 26 | 2 | 2 | 264 | |||||||
| Brice Turang, Brewers | 1 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 190 | |||
| Elly De La Cruz, Reds | 10 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 173 | ||||
| Jacob Misiorowski, brewers | 2 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 157 | ||
| Gabriel Moreno, Diamondbacks | 3 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 132 | |||
| Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 121 | ||
| Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies | 2 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 68 | |||||
| Alex Bregman, Cub Scouts | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 63 | ||||
| Matt Olson, Braves | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 40 | ||
| Kyle Schwarber, Phillies | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 31 | ||||
| Chris Sale, Braves | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 22 | |||||
| Otto Lopez, Marlins | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 17 | ||||||
| CJ Abrams, Nationals | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |||||||
| Bryce Harpr, Phillies | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | ||||||
| James Wood, national championships | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 | |||||||
| Brandon Lowe, Pirates | 2 | 6 | |||||||||
| Ozzie Albies, Braves | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
| Michael Harris II, Braves | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
| Andy Pages, Dodgers | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
| Jordan Walker, Cardinals | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
| Sal Stewart, Reds | 4 | ||||||||||
| Jake Bauers, brewers | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| Alec Burleson, Cardinals | 2 | ||||||||||
| Jackson Chourio, brewers | 2 | ||||||||||
| Ty France, Padres | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Hunter Goodman, Rockies | 1 | 1 |
PCA joins the following Cubs list to win MVP:
- Kris Bryant, 2016
- Sammy Sosa, 1998
- André Dawson, 1987
- Ryne Sandberg, 1984
- Ernie Banks, 1958 and 1959
- Hank Sauer, 1952
- Phil Cavaretta, 1945
- Gabby Hartnett, 1935
- Hacker Wilson, 1930
- Rogers Hornsby, 1929
- Frank Schulte, 1911
Ohtani, a four-time MVP, finished second. At the plate, Ohtani hit .275/.377/.512 with 26 doubles, four triples, 30 home runs, 81 RBIs, 89 runs, 11 steals and 3.2 WAR. On the mound, he was 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 95 strikeouts in 85 ⅔ innings with 3.2 WAR.
Nationally underrated Brewers second baseman Brice Turang finishes third. He has yet to appear in an All-Star Game, although he started 2026 as a member of Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. In the regular season, Turang hit .268/.366/.450 (124 OPS+) with 37 doubles, three triples, 21 home runs, 100 RBIs, 102 runs and 7.3 WAR, ranking as one of the best defenders in baseball.
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