Box-Toppers’ Cy Young Award leaders—Misiorowski, Schlittler—are also MVP leaders

This year’s Box-Toppers selections for Cy Young Awards—Jacob Misiorowski and Cam Schlittler—are also Box-Toppers choices for Most Valuable Player Awards.

Box-Toppers postseason honors ballot

Here is a look at Box-Toppers’ ballot selections for the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) 2026 postseason awards. The ballot requires votes out to 10 places for Most Valuable Player in both leagues, five for Cy Young Awards and Rookie of the Year in each league, plus three for Manager of the Year and Reliever of the Year in each league.

Players are shown with their team and their Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2026.

AL Most Valuable Player
Player Team BTP
1 Cam Schlittler Yankees 21.7
2 Pete Alonso Orioles 10.7
3 Dylan Cease Blue Jays 21.4
4 Riley Greene Tigers 9.0
5 Bryan Woo Mariners 17.4
6 Gavin Williams Guardians 17.4
7 Logan Gilbert Mariners 16.7
8 Jacob deGrom Rangers 16.4
9 Taj Bradley Twins 15.4
10 Yordan Alvarez Astros 7.5
NL Most Valuable Player
Player Team BTP
1 Jacob Misiorowski Brewers 26.1
2 Sal Stewart Reds 13.0
3 Jesús Luzardo Phillies 23.0
4 Shohei Ohtani Dodgers 15.7
5 CJ Abrams Nationals 9.5
6 Michael Harris II Braves 9.5
7 Ty France Padres 9.5
8 Zack Wheeler Phillies 18.7
9 Cristopher Sánchez Phillies 18.7
10 Dansby Swanson Cubs 9.2
AL Cy Young
Player Team BTP
1 Cam Schlittler Yankees 21.7
2 Dylan Cease Blue Jays 21.4
3 Bryan Woo Mariners 17.4
4 Gavin Williams Guardians 17.4
5 Logan Gilbert Mariners 16.7
NL Cy Young
Player Team BTP
1 Jacob Misiorowski Brewers 26.1
2 Jesús Luzardo Phillies 23.0
3 Zack Wheeler Phillies 18.7
4 Cristopher Sánchez Phillies 18.7
5 Yoshinobu Yamamoto Dodgers 17.4
AL Rookie of the Year
Player Team BTP
1 Munetaka Murakami White Sox 7.0
2 Kazuma Okamoto Blue Jays 6.0
3 Parker Messick Guardians 11.7
4 Payton Tolle Red Sox 11.7
5 Wade Meckler Angels 5.0
NL Rookie of the Year
Player Team BTP
1 Sal Stewart Reds 13.0
2 Carson Benge Mets 6.0
3 Logan Henderson Brewers 10.4
4 JJ Wetherholt Cardinals 5.0
5 Nolan McLean Mets 8.0
AL Manager of the Year
Manager Team Team BTP
1 Aaron Boone Yankees 120.1
2 Kevin Cash Rays 115.0
3 Stephen Vogt Guardians 112.1
NL Manager of the Year
Manager Team Team BTP
1 Dave Roberts Dodgers 142.7
2 Pat Murphy Brewers 137.3
3 Don Mattingly Phillies 117.4
AL Reliever of the Year
Player Team BTP
1 Cade Smith Guardians 9.0
2 Jacob Latz Rangers 8.0
3 Louis Varland Blue Jays 7.0
NL Reliever of the Year
Player Team BTP
1 Mason Miller Padres 16.0
2 Chad Patrick Brewers 7.0
3 Andrew Alvarez Nationals 6.0
Box-Toppers doubles batters’ point totals when ranking them in direct competition with pitchers for awards such as Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player. This adjustment balances batters’ lower overall point-earning totals against pitchers.
For example, in the American League Rookie of the Year standings, Munetaka Murakami ranks first with 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ahead of Guardians pitcher Parker Messick (11.7 points). Doubling Murakami's total gives him an adjusted 14.0 points for ranking purposes, placing him ahead of Messick.
While Rookie of the Year and MVP honors historically lean toward position players, pitchers can earn the award during dominant campaigns or in years without a runaway batter candidate.

For only the second time in Box-Toppers’ 32 seasons of tracking, the top pitchers in both leagues had more than twice as many Box-Toppers points as their league’s top batters.

Misiorowski of the Brewers led National League players with 26.1 Box-Toppers points—more than double top NL batter Sal Stewart of the Reds (13.0 points). Schlittler of the Yankees led American League players with 21.7 points—more than double top AL batter Pete Alonso of the Orioles (10.7 points).

Box-Toppers doubles batters’ point totals when ranking them in direct competition with pitchers for awards such as Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player. This adjustment balances batters’ lower overall point-earning totals against pitchers.

From 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) to 2025, a league pitcher had more than double the Box-Toppers point total of the top league batter 12 times in 62 total instances. The only other season where both leagues' top pitchers had more than double the points of the top batters was 2018:

The trend of pitchers dominating Box-Toppers points is relatively recent. Twelve of the 14 instances of a top league pitcher doubling the point total of the top league batter have occurred since 2014, reflecting a broader decline in overall batter points. From 1995 to 2009, batters generally won half or more of all Box-Toppers points each season, but their share has dropped to around 40 percent over the past six seasons.

While it is rare for pitchers to win both the Cy Young and MVP award in the same season, it has occurred 11 times since the Cy Young Award was established in 1956. Most recently, Justin Verlander (Tigers, AL) achieved the feat in 2011, and Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers, NL) did so in 2014.

However, a dual win seems unlikely in 2026. While Misiorowski and Schlittler are strong contenders for Cy Young Awards, neither is widely listed among the frontrunners for Most Valuable Player.

I use Box-Toppers statistics to cast my vote in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) balloting completed at the end of the regular season. While IBWAA voting differs from the official Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) outcome, results often align closely.

Overview of Box-Toppers 2026 Postseason Award Selections

  • AL Cy Young: Cam Schlittler, Yankees (21.7 points, 3rd overall)

  • AL MVP: Cam Schlittler, Yankees (21.7 points)

  • NL Cy Young: Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers (26.1 points, 1st overall)

  • NL MVP: Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers (26.1 points)

  • AL Rookie of the Year: Munetaka Murakami, White Sox (7.0 points; 14.0 adjusted)

  • NL Rookie of the Year: Sal Stewart, Reds (13.0 points; 26.0 adjusted)

  • AL Manager of the Year: Aaron Boone, Yankees (120.1 team points)

  • NL Manager of the Year: Dave Roberts, Dodgers (142.7 team points)

  • AL Reliever of the Year: Cade Smith, Guardians (9.0 points)

  • NL Reliever of the Year: Mason Miller, Padres (16.0 points)

American League Cy Young Award

Cam Schlittler, Yankees

Schlittler led AL pitchers with 21.7 Box-Toppers points, edging second-place Dylan Cease of the Blue Jays (21.4 points).

Schlittler led the AL in earned run average (1.95) and tied for second in strikeouts (239) with Cease, behind Gavin Williams of the Guardians (248). He earned Player of the Game honors 15 times during the regular season, including overall Player of the Day honors six times and AL Player of the Day honors once.

American League Most Valuable Player

Cam Schlittler, Yankees

Schlittler had more than double the points of the AL's top batter, though the margin on our ballot is tight. Doubling the 10.7 points earned by Pete Alonso of the Orioles results in 21.4 points—just 0.3 behind Schlittler.

Alonso’s 21.4 adjusted total places him second on our AL MVP ballot ahead of Cease. Even though Cease also has 21.4 points, batters hold the tiebreaker over pitchers, placing Alonso ahead.

Only three batters appear among the top 10 on Box-Toppers’ AL MVP ballot. AL batters earned just 18 percent of all Box-Toppers points awarded in 2026 (528.9 of 2,887.4 points), compared to 21 percent for NL batters (608.9 points).

Riley Greene of the Tigers ranks second among AL batters with 9.0 Box-Toppers points (fourth on our ballot). Yordan Alvarez of the Astros, who ranks third among AL batters with 7.5 points (10th on our ballot), is a favorite to win the award.

National League Cy Young Award

Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers

Misiorowski led NL pitchers with 26.1 Box-Toppers points, ahead of second-place Jesús Luzardo of the Phillies (23.0 points).

He led the NL in ERA (1.80) and strikeouts (252). Misiorowski earned Player of the Game honors 19 times during the regular season, winning overall Player of the Day five times and NL Player of the Day three times. His 26.1 points tie for the 19th-highest single-season total in Box-Toppers history (since 1995).

National League Most Valuable Player

Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers

Rookie Sal Stewart of the Reds appeared set to win the Box-Toppers NL MVP race with 13.0 points (doubled to 26.0), leading Misiorowski (25.1) entering the final day of the regular season on Sept. 27.

However, Misiorowski earned Player of the Game honors on the final day, bringing his total to 26.1 points to claim top honors on our ballot by 0.1 over Stewart. Stewart ranked second in the NL in RBIs (111) and eighth in home runs (32).

Two-way player Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers finished fourth on our ballot with 15.7 Box-Toppers points (8.7 as a pitcher, 7.0 as a batter). Doubling his batting points to 14.0 yields an adjusted total of 22.7, placing him between third-place Jesús Luzardo (23.0) and fifth-place CJ Abrams (9.5 points, adjusted to 19.0).

Ohtani was among NL MVP favorites early in the season, but battled left-knee inflammation from mid-June and then right-biceps tightness that ended his pitching season after a July 3 start. While he was able to continue as a batter, he slumped offensively near season’s end and went on the 15-day injured list in September with the knee and biceps issues. He still ranked third in the NL in on-base plus slugging percentage (.889) and tied for ninth in home runs (30).

While Ohtani won the NL MVP for the second straight year in 2025, he was not even among Box-Toppers contenders for the award. He earned just 5.5 Box-Toppers points that season—3.5 as a batter and 2.0 as a pitcher. After leading batters with 11.0 points in 2024 (and winning the NL MVP), Ohtani frequently did not win Player of the Game honors in Dodgers wins in 2025 because he was beaten by teammates who performed better in games.

Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Cubs, an NL MVP favorite, finished 10th among NL batters with 8.5 Box-Toppers points and did not crack the top 10 on our overall NL MVP ballot. While Crow-Armstrong led the NL in many key offensive categories, including runs scored (119), total bases (397), extra-base hits (84), and also tied for the lead in home runs (45) and ranked third in RBIs (107), he won Player of the Game honors seven times. By comparison, Stewart won 11 Player of the Game honors en route to his 13.0 points.

Crow-Armstrong’s 8.5 points in 2026 were actually a decline from the 9.5 he earned in 2025, when he finished fifth among NL batters. He appeared on Box-Toppers’ 2025 NL MVP ballot in seventh place. (He finished ninth in NL MVP voting.)

Rookies of the Year

AL—Munetaka Murakami, White Sox (7.0 points)

NL—Sal Stewart, Reds (13.0 points)

Murakami led AL rookie batters with 7.0 Box-Toppers points (ninth among AL batters). Rookie pitchers Parker Messick (Guardians) and Payton Tolle (Red Sox) each earned 11.7 points. But since we double batters’ point totals when ranking them in direct competition with pitchers for awards, Murakami’s adjusted 14.0 points lift him into first place.

AL Rookie of the Year favorite Kevin McGonigle of the Tigers earned just 3.5 points in 2026, tied for fifth among AL rookie batters.

Stewart, a favorite for NL Rookie of the Year, led NL rookies with 13.0 points (second among NL batters), placing him ahead of top NL rookie pitcher Logan Henderson of the Brewers (10.4 points) even before applying the batter multiplier.

Managers of the Year

AL—Aaron Boone, Yankees (120.1 team points)

NL—Dave Roberts, Dodgers (142.7 team points)

Our criteria ranks the managers of teams accumulating the highest Box-Toppers point totals in each league.

Relievers of the Year

AL—Cade Smith, Guardians (9.0 points)

NL—Mason Miller, Padres (16.0 points)

Smith led AL closing pitchers with 9.0 Box-Toppers points and tied for the AL lead in saves (41).

Miller led NL closers with 16.0 Box-Toppers points and tied for the NL lead in saves (38). His 16.0 points represent the fourth-highest single-season total for a relief pitcher in Box-Toppers history.

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These Box-Toppers’ choices for awards are among the collective IBWAA voting results which will be announced soon. The “official” Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) awards will be announced the week of Nov. 9.

About Box-Toppers

Box-Toppers tracks who contributes most to their team’s victory. Using standard box score statistics, we identify the Player of the Game for every MLB contest. In the regular season, winners earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point, with bonus points awarded to the top overall and league-specific players of the day. (No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.) More on how Box-Toppers works.

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