Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Cubs and Yordan Alvarez of the Astros won 2026 Most Valuable Player Awards Thursday over Box-Toppers’ choices for the awards, pitchers Jacob Misiorowski of the Brewers and Cam Schlittler of the Yankees.
Box-Toppers MVP ballot
Here is a look at Box-Toppers’ Most Valuable Player ballot selections for the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) 2026 postseason awards. The ballot requires votes out to 10 places for each league's top overall player.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 |
In both leagues in 2026, the league's top pitcher has more than twice as many points as the league's top batter, putting them atop B-T’s MVP rankings.
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.
While both batters dominated writer voting and posted statistically great numbers, neither was frequently the single player who contributed most to his team’s individual victories. Both ranked among their league’s top 10 batters in Box-Toppers points in 2026, yet Alvarez placed 10th on Box-Toppers’ AL MVP ballot and Crow-Armstrong missed the top 10 on our NL ballot altogether.
Box-Toppers’ top MVP candidates in both leagues were pitchers—marking just the second time in Box-Toppers’ 32 seasons of tracking that the top pitchers in both leagues more than doubled the point totals of their league’s top batters:
Misiorowski led National League players with 26.1 Box-Toppers points, more than doubling top NL batter Sal Stewart of the Reds (13.0 points).
Schlittler led American League players with 21.7 points, more than doubling top AL batter Pete Alonso of the Orioles (10.7 points).
Box-Toppers doubles batters’ point totals when ranking them directly against pitchers for major awards like Rookie of the Year and MVP to balance batters’ lower overall point-earning rate. Even with that adjustment, no batter could catch Misiorowski or Schlittler in 2026.
A look at AL MVP voting and how candidates fared in Box-Toppers points.
A look at NL MVP voting and how candidates fared in Box-Toppers points.
The awards are voted on by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). Ballots are cast at the end of the regular season, prior to the postseason.
AL Most Valuable Player
Alvarez captured all 30 first-place votes from baseball writers. However, his 7.5 Box-Toppers points ranked third among AL batters behind Pete Alonso of the Orioles (10.7) and Riley Greene of the Tigers (9.0), placing Alvarez 10th on Box-Toppers’ AL MVP ballot behind those two batters and seven pitchers.
Alvarez led the AL in batting average (.316), slugging percentage (.601), on-base plus slugging (1.033), total bases (341), extra-base hits (77) and times on base (299). He contended for the Triple Crown most of the year, winning the batting title while finishing second behind Alonso in both home runs (42 to 43) and RBIs (106 to 113).
Alonso led AL batters with 10.7 Box-Toppers points (33rd among all MLB players). Even when doubled to 21.4 adjusted points, Alonso finished just behind Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler (21.7) for the top spot on Box-Toppers’ AL MVP ballot. Alonso’s 21.4 adjusted total placed him second ahead of Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease—who also had 21.4 points—because batters hold the tiebreaker over pitchers. Alonso finished fifth in official BBWAA voting with two third-place votes.
Greene was the only other AL batter on Box-Toppers’ AL MVP ballot, placing fourth with 9.0 Box-Toppers points (18.0 adjusted), though he received no BBWAA votes.
Overall, AL batters struggled in 2026, earning just 18 percent of all Box-Toppers points (528.9 of 2,887.4), compared to 21 percent for NL batters (608.9 points).
Alvarez posted a +3.0 or better Box-Toppers game score 12 times in 2026, including nine Astros wins. While a +3.0 game score in a victory usually earns a batter Player of the Game honors, Alvarez won it six times—accounting for all six of his 2026 Player of the Game honors—while Astros pitchers outscored him in the other three wins. Because Houston finished 81–81 (the lowest win total among 2026 postseason qualifiers), Alvarez had fewer team wins in which to earn points, though his three losses in +3.0 games show there were few missed opportunities.
Cam Schlittler
Schlittler, Box-Toppers’ top AL MVP candidate, finished fourth in BBWAA voting with one second-place vote. Four other pitchers also received AL MVP votes:
Dylan Cease (Blue Jays) finished 11th. His 21.4 Box-Toppers points ranked second among AL pitchers and third on Box-Toppers’ AL MVP ballot.
Parker Messick (Guardians) finished 13th. His 11.7 Box-Toppers points ranked 14th among AL pitchers (not on Box-Toppers’ ballot).
Drew Rasmussen (Rays) finished tied for 18th. His 15.0 Box-Toppers points ranked eighth among AL pitchers (not on Box-Toppers’ ballot).
Cade Smith (Guardians) finished tied for 20th. His 9.0 Box-Toppers points ranked 24th among AL pitchers and first among AL closers (not on Box-Toppers’ ballot).
How Other AL Batters Fared
Junior Caminero (Rays) finished second in BBWAA voting with 27 second-place votes. His 5.0 Box-Toppers points ranked 23rd among AL batters.
Bobby Witt Jr. (Royals) finished third in BBWAA voting with two second-place votes. His 4.2 Box-Toppers points ranked 34th among AL batters.
Five of the top 10 AL batters in Box-Toppers points received official MVP votes. Alongside Alonso and Alvarez, they were:
Miguel Vargas (White Sox) finished sixth in BBWAA voting (7.5 Box-Toppers points, fourth among AL batters).
Willson Contreras (Red Sox) finished 10th in BBWAA voting (7.0 Box-Toppers points, sixth among AL batters).
Munetaka Murakami (White Sox) finished 15th in BBWAA voting (7.0 Box-Toppers points, ninth among AL batters).
NL Most Valuable Player
Crow-Armstrong won all 30 first-place votes from baseball writers. Yet his 8.5 Box-Toppers points ranked 10th among NL batters and 15th overall on Box-Toppers’ NL MVP leaderboard, leaving him off our top-10 ballot.
While Crow-Armstrong led the NL in runs (119), total bases (397), and extra-base hits (84)—while tying for the lead in home runs (45) and ranking third in RBIs (107)—he won Player of the Game honors just seven times. Teammates frequently beat the Cubs’ center fielder for Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in Chicago victories.
(A closer look: How is Crow-Armstrong not among Box-Toppers' contenders for 2026 NL MVP?)
Crow-Armstrong recorded a +3.0 or higher Box-Toppers game score in 14 Cubs wins, but won Player of the Game in only five of them; a teammate posted a higher game score in the other nine. Had he won Player of the Game in just five of those nine games, his season total would have jumped by at least 5.0 points to 13.5 (27.0 adjusted), vaulting him past Misiorowski (26.1) for first place on Box-Toppers’ NL MVP ballot. Instead, his 17.0 adjusted points left him 15th behind five pitchers and nine batters.
By comparison, Reds rookie Sal Stewart—Box-Toppers’ top-scoring NL batter with 13.0 points—won 11 Player of the Game honors, yet finished 22nd in BBWAA voting with a single seventh-place vote. Crow-Armstrong’s 8.5 points in 2026 also dipped from his 9.5 points in 2025, when he ranked fifth among NL batters, seventh on Box-Toppers’ NL MVP ballot, and ninth in BBWAA voting.
Jacob Misiorowski
Misiorowski led Box-Toppers’ NL MVP rankings with 26.1 points and finished fifth in BBWAA voting with two second-place votes. Two other full-time pitchers received NL MVP votes:
Cristopher Sánchez (Phillies) finished eighth in BBWAA voting. His 18.7 Box-Toppers points ranked fourth among NL pitchers and ninth on Box-Toppers’ NL MVP ballot.
Chris Sale (Braves) finished 12th in BBWAA voting. His 15.4 Box-Toppers points ranked 10th among NL pitchers (not on Box-Toppers’ ballot).
Shohei Ohtani
Two-time defending NL MVP Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers finished second in BBWAA voting with 26 second-place votes.
Ohtani placed fourth on Box-Toppers’ NL MVP ballot with 15.7 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, putting him between third-place Jesús Luzardo (23.0) and fifth-place CJ Abrams (9.5 points, adjusted to 19.0) on our ballot. Ohtani technically led NL batters with 15.7 points because he qualified to rank among both pitchers and batters with his combined total.
An early MVP favorite, Ohtani battled left-knee inflammation starting in mid-June before right-biceps tightness ended his pitching season after July 3. He slumped late at the plate and landed on the 15-day injured list in September, though he still ranked third in the NL in OPS (.889) and tied for ninth in home runs (30). Notably, Ohtani missed Box-Toppers’ NL MVP ballot when winning the 2025 MVP (earning 5.5 points—3.5 batting, 2.0 pitching), after leading NL batters with 11.0 points during his 2024 MVP campaign.
Other Batters Receiving NL MVP Votes
Seven of Box-Toppers’ top 10 NL batters received BBWAA votes—Ohtani, Stewart, Crow-Armstrong, and four others:
CJ Abrams (Nationals) finished 14th in BBWAA voting (9.5 Box-Toppers points, third among NL batters, fifth on Box-Toppers’ ballot).
Michael Harris II (Braves) finished 18th in BBWAA voting (9.5 Box-Toppers points, fourth among NL batters, sixth on Box-Toppers’ ballot).
Ty France (Padres) finished 26th in BBWAA voting (9.5 Box-Toppers points, fifth among NL batters, seventh on Box-Toppers’ ballot).
Elly De La Cruz (Reds) finished fourth in BBWAA voting (9.0 Box-Toppers points, eighth among NL batters; not on Box-Toppers’ ballot).
Meanwhile, Brewers second baseman Brice Turang finished third in BBWAA voting despite earning just 4.7 Box-Toppers points (39th among NL batters).
A Historic Look at Pitcher Dominance in Box-Toppers
From 1995 through 2025, a league's top pitcher more than doubled the top batter's Box-Toppers point total just 12 times in 62 instances. Prior to 2026, 2018 was the only other season in which both leagues' top pitchers doubled the top batters:
Blake Snell (Rays): 27.2 points vs. top AL batter J.D. Martinez (Red Sox, 12.5 points).
Max Scherzer (Nationals): 25.1 points vs. top NL batter Christian Yelich (Brewers, 11.5 points).
Twelve of the 14 total instances of a top pitcher doubling the top batter have occurred since 2014, reflecting a broader shift in how points are distributed. From 1995 to 2009, batters regularly won half or more of all Box-Toppers points each season, but their share has dropped to roughly 40 percent over the past six years.
While 11 pitchers have won both the Cy Young and MVP in the same season since 1956—most recently Justin Verlander (2011) and Clayton Kershaw (2014)—neither 2026 Cy Young winner, Misiorowski nor Schlittler, won MVP in 2026, though both finished in the top five of BBWAA MVP voting in their leagues.
Alvarez, Crow-Armstrong win in IBWAA MVP voting
In separate voting, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA)—in which Box-Toppers participates—also selected Alvarez and Crow-Armstrong as MVPs:
American League
1. Yordan Alvarez, Astros (386 points)
2. Junior Caminero, Rays (298 points)
3. Bobby Witt Jr., Royals (206 points)
4. Cam Schlittler, Yankees (203 points)
5. Kevin McGonigle, Tigers (118 points)
6. Miguel Vargas, White Sox (109 points)
7. Ben Rice, Yankees (104 points)
8. Pete Alonso, Orioles (93 points)
T9. Willson Contreras, Red Sox (67 points)
T9. Randy Arozarena, Mariners (67 points)
National League
1. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs (457 points)
2. Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers (242 points)
3. Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers (170 points)
4. Brice Turang, Brewers (138 points)
5. Elly De La Cruz, Reds (128 points)
6, Kyle Schwarber, Phillies (79 points)
7. Matt Olson, Braves (77 points)
T8. Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies (60 points)
T8. Gabriel Moreno, Diamondbacks (60 points)
9. Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres (55 points)
IBWAA members include more than 800 baseball writers and content creators. Voting for full-season awards takes place prior to the start of the postseason each year, with selections announced in November.
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. More on how Box-Toppers works.
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Related
Final 2026 Box-Toppers player rankings: Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski is 2026 Box-Toppers Player of the Year
Box-Toppers points leaders are finalists in 7 of 8 major 2026 postseason awards
A look at Box-Toppers 2026 postseason awards ballot: Box-Toppers’ Cy Young Award leaders—Misiorowski, Schlittler—are also MVP leaders
How is Crow-Armstrong not among Box-Toppers' contenders for 2026 NL MVP?
Rookie of the Year results: Box-Toppers’ top rookie Stewart wins NL Rookie of the Year; McGonigle wins AL honor
Manager of the Year results: Manager of the Year winners Murphy, Venable, led teams making biggest improvements
Cy Young Award results: Cy Young winners Misiorowski, Schlittler also led their leagues in Box-Toppers points
Reliever of the Year results: Box-Toppers' top closer Miller wins NL Reliever of the Year; Varland wins top honor in AL
American League Most Valuable Player Award voting
Yordan Alvarez of the Astros was voted AL Most Valuable Player. Below are the AL players in order of their voting finish, shown with their first- through 10th-place votes and their voting points total. Also shown are each player’s Box-Toppers points (BTP) for 2026 and their rank among AL batters (except in the case of pitchers, denoted with †, in which case their rank among AL pitcher is shown).| 1st-10th place votes | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL player | Team | Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Points | BTP | Rank | |
| 1 | Yordan Alvarez | Astros | dh | 30 | 420 | 7.5 | 3 | |||||||||
| 2 | Junior Caminero | Rays | 3b | 27 | 3 | 267 | 5.0 | 23 | ||||||||
| 3 | Bobby Witt Jr. | Royals | ss | 2 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 188 | 4.2 | 34 | |
| 4 | Cam Schlittler | Yankees | pi sp | 1 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 181 | 21.7 | 1† | |||
| 5 | Pete Alonso | Orioles | 1b | 2 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 144 | 10.7 | 1 | ||
| 6 | Miguel Vargas | White Sox | 3b 1b | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 129 | 7.5 | 4 | ||
| 7 | Kevin McGonigle | Tigers | 3b ss | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 109 | 3.5 | 58 | |||
| 8 | Randy Arozarena | Mariners | lf | 3 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 95 | 5.5 | 19 | ||||
| 9 | Ben Rice | Yankees | dh | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 92 | 3.5 | 48 | |||
| 10 | Willson Contreras | Red Sox | 1b | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 67 | 7.0 | 6 | |||
| 11 | Dylan Cease | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 21.4 | 2† | ||||||
| 12 | Wilyer Abreu | Red Sox | rf | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 4.5 | 27 | ||||||
| 13 | Parker Messick | Guardians | pi sp | 1 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 11.7 | 14† | |||||||
| 14 | Dillon Dingler | Tigers | ca | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6.5 | 12 | ||||||||
| 15 | Steven Kwan | Guardians | dh cf | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1.0 | 151 | ||||||||
| 15 | Munetaka Murakami | White Sox | 1b | 1 | 5 | 7.0 | 9 | |||||||||
| 17 | Ceddanne Rafaela | Red Sox | cf ph | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2.0 | 101 | ||||||||
| 18 | Ezequiel Durán | Rangers | 2b ss | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1.0 | 176 | ||||||||
| 18 | Drew Rasmussen | Rays | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 3 | 15.0 | 8† | ||||||||
| 20 | Isaac Paredes | Astros | 3b | 2 | 2 | 4.0 | 44 | |||||||||
| 20 | Cade Smith | Guardians | pi cp | 2 | 2 | 9.0 | 24† | |||||||||
† When an AL pitcher received MVP votes, their Box-Toppers ranking is shown among AL pitchers.
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National League Most Valuable Player Award voting
Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Cubs was voted NL Most Valuable Player. Below are the NL players in order of their voting finish, shown with their first- through 10th-place votes and their voting points total. Also shown are each player’s Box-Toppers points (BTP) for 2026 and their rank among NL batters (except in the case of pitchers, denoted with †, in which case their rank among NL pitchers is shown).| 1st-10th place votes | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL player | Team | Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Points | BTP | Rank | |
| 1 | Pete Crow‑Armstrong | Cubs | cf | 30 | 420 | 8.5 | 10 | |||||||||
| 2 | Shohei Ohtani | Dodgers | pi sp dh | 26 | 2 | 2 | 264 | 15.7 | 1§ | |||||||
| 3 | Brice Turang | Brewers | 2b | 1 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 190 | 4.7 | 39 | |||
| 4 | Elly De La Cruz | Reds | ss | 10 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 173 | 9.0 | 8 | ||||
| 5 | Jacob Misiorowski | Brewers | pi sp | 2 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 158 | 26.1 | 1† | ||
| 6 | Gabriel Moreno | D-backs | ca | 3 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 132 | 4.0 | 51 | |||
| 7 | Fernando Tatis Jr. | Padres | rf | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 121 | 4.5 | 45 | ||
| 8 | Cristopher Sánchez | Phillies | pi sp | 2 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 68 | 18.7 | 4† | |||||
| 9 | Alex Bregman | Cubs | 3b dh | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 63 | 7.7 | 13 | ||||
| 10 | Matt Olson | Braves | 1b | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 40 | 6.0 | 22 | ||
| 11 | Kyle Schwarber | Phillies | dh | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 31 | 6.7 | 17 | ||||
| 12 | Chris Sale | Braves | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 15.4 | 10† | |||||
| 13 | Otto Lopez | Marlins | ss | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 17 | 2.5 | 95 | ||||||
| 14 | CJ Abrams | Nationals | ss | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 9.5 | 3 | |||||||
| 14 | Bryce Harper | Phillies | 1b | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 3.7 | 55 | ||||||
| 16 | James Wood | Nationals | rf | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 6.5 | 19 | |||||||
| 17 | Brandon Lowe | Pirates | 2b | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 73 | ||||||||
| 18 | Ozzie Albies | Braves | 2b | 1 | 5 | 6.5 | 20 | |||||||||
| 18 | Michael Harris II | Braves | cf | 1 | 1 | 5 | 9.5 | 4 | ||||||||
| 18 | Andy Pages | Dodgers | cf | 1 | 5 | 6.7 | 18 | |||||||||
| 18 | Jordan Walker | Cardinals | rf | 1 | 5 | 6.0 | 26 | |||||||||
| 22 | Sal Stewart | Reds | 1b | 1 | 4 | 13.0 | 2 | |||||||||
| 23 | Jake Bauers | Brewers | 1b | 2 | 2 | 5.0 | 34 | |||||||||
| 23 | Alec Burleson | Cardinals | 1b | 1 | 2 | 8.5 | 11 | |||||||||
| 23 | Jackson Chourio | Brewers | lf | 1 | 2 | 2.5 | 93 | |||||||||
| 26 | Ty France | Padres | 1b | 1 | 1 | 9.5 | 5 | |||||||||
| 26 | Hunter Goodman | Rockies | ca | 1 | 1 | 7.2 | 16 | |||||||||
§ Shohei Ohtani earned 15.7 total Box-Toppers points in 2026, 7.0 as a batter and 8.7 as a pitcher. He qualified to rank among both pitchers and batters in 2026 with his full total. While his 1st-place ranking among batters is shown, his 7.0 points as a batter would rank 16th among NL batters
† When an NL pitcher received MVP votes, their Box-Toppers ranking is shown among NL pitchers.
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