2026 MLB Awards (Cy Young)

Let's not beat around the bush.  Jacob Misiorowski and Cam Schlittler are going to win the Cy Young.  There's no reason to even pretend they won't.  In fact, I think it's possible they'll both be unanimous.  In the NL, it almost certainly will be.  There's a chance Schlittler didn't get all 30 first-place votes in the AL, but if he didn't, he got like 27 or 28.  So, the Cy Young announcement shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

The real suspense will come with the new kid on the block--the Reliever of the Year.  This isn't a new award, but it's being announced at the same time as the others for the first time.  And here's where the competition comes in.  Well, at least in the AL.  The Padres' Mason Miller should have it on lockdown just as much as Misiorowski does with the Cy Young.

Miller is the best reliever in baseball.  Period.  End of sentence.  This season, he tied for the NL lead with 38 saves and had a career-best 1.67 ERA.  Miller also had a ridiculous 129 strikeouts in 70 innings pitched.  You could actually make the argument that he should be in the Cy Young mix.  In fact, I bet he did probably get a lot of down-ballot Cy Young votes.

Trevor Megill of the Brewers and Jhoan Duran of the Phillies are the other two NL finalists.  Megill is the representative of that outstanding Milwaukee bullpen we all saw on full display during the World Series.  Duran had a 1.82 ERA and went 33-for-35 in save opportunities.  Unfortunately, neither one of them had anywhere near the same type of season as Mason Miller.

In the AL, meanwhile, Reliever of the Year is actually a race between Tampa Bay's Bryan Baker and Cleveland's Cade Smith.  Louis Varland of the Blue Jays is the third finalist, but that just means he finished third the voting.  Varland had a fine season and made his first All*Star team.  This after pitching in seemingly every game of Toronto's World Series run last year.  His 2026 just wasn't on the same level as either Baker or Smith.

Personally, I'd go with Baker.  He was the definition of lights out closer in the second half of the season.  Baker saved 30 consecutive opportunities to end the regular season.  If Tampa Bay had the lead in the ninth inning, it was game over.  It's not that Smith's season was bad!  In fact, he tied Baker for the Major League lead with 41 saves and had an absurd 107 strikeouts in 74 innings.  A Guardians lead in the ninth inning was nearly as automatic.  I'd have no problem with Smith winning.  But, since you can only put one guy first, my pick is Baker.

Now moving on to the Cy Youngs.  It's incredible to think that this was each of their first full season in the Majors.  Misiorowski was called up in June last year, and Schlittler started 2025 in Double A, then made only five Triple A starts before he was promoted to the Yankees in July.  Then he had that shutout in Game 3 of last season's Wild Card Series against the Red Sox.  Even after that, I don't think anyone expected him to become the best pitcher in the whole damn American League this year.  But that's exactly what happened!

Schlittler had a 1.95 ERA in 33 starts.  You read that correctly.  A starting pitcher, making 33 starts, with a sub-2.00 ERA.  He was just as dominant as that suggests.  Schlittler allowed one run or fewer 22 times.  Oh yeah, he had 239 strikeouts, too.  On a team that also had Gerrit Cole, Max Fried and Carlos Rodon, Schlittler emerged as the clear ace.

Dylan Cease signed a seven-year deal with Toronto in the offseason and it was worth every penny for the Blue Jays.  He started the All*Star Game and tied Schlittler with 239 strikeouts.  However, he made fewer starts and pitched for a last-place team.  Cease's season wasn't anywhere near as impactful as Schlittler's.  Still, it was the best statistical season of his career.

Parker Messick was second in Rookie of the Year voting and finished either second or third for the Cy Young.  That's impressive.  Especially when you consider the seasons some other American League pitchers put together.  But it's Messick who's the Cy Young finalist after going 12-9 with a 2.56 ERA in 32 starts for Cleveland.  He emerged as the Guardians' ace, as Cleveland won another division title.  His WHIP of 1.06 was among the best in the league.

There are two other names worthy of a mention.  I'm actually surprised that they didn't finish in the top three.  Because they both easily could've been.  The first is Drew Rasmussen.  Tampa Bay's ace was 16-5, had a league-leading 0.91 WHIP and a batting average against of .199.  One big reason for the Rays' success this season was their pitching.  Rasmussen was the biggest part of that.  The other name I want to throw out there is Sonny Gray.  He led the American League with 18 wins while making 29 starts for the Red Sox.  His other numbers don't compare that favorably to the other candidates, but Boston won nearly every time he went out there, and that means something.

Over in the National League, Misiorowski had one of those seasons.  He effortlessly threw 100 mph fastballs over and over again while dominating every lineup he faced.  The Miz led the Majors with 252 strikeouts and a 1.80 ERA.  His batting average against, meanwhile, was an absurd .157.  He also somehow only allowed 96 hits all season.  In 174.2 innings!  That's ridiculous!  Is it any wonder that the Brewers set a franchise record with 103 wins enroute to their first World Series title?  Once it becomes official, Misiorowski will become the first pitcher since Orel Hershiser in 1988 to start the World Series clincher and win the Cy Young in the same season.

If not for Misiorowski, we could easily be talking about Chris Sale's second Cy Young season.  Just think about what that trade from Boston to Atlanta did for his career!  Sale has been reborn with the Braves, and he was outstanding again this year.  A 2.16 ERA that was second only to The Miz.  An even 200 strikeouts.  Only 10 home runs allowed in 162.2 innings for a team that won its division.  Another second-place Cy Young finish.

Cristopher Sanchez of the Phillies started the All*Star Game in his home park.  The Cy Young runner-up last season, he placed in the top three again this year.  Sanchez emerged as the ace of a very good Phillies rotation and tied for the Major League lead with 18 wins.  His ERA was a little on the higher side (2.91), but he made up for it with 231 strikeouts in 207 innings.

Since closers have their own award, they don't get as much Cy Young consideration as they did in the past (Eric Gagne was the last reliever to win in 2003).  But Mason Miller really should.  Without him at the end of games, there's no way the Padres post 90 wins.  Also, how about Chase Burns?  He gets lost in the shuffle since he pitches for Cincinnati, but Burns went 15-3 this year, which includes a string of 12 straight decisions without a loss.  The Reds' record in his starts was 21-8, and two of the losses were shutouts.  That's a guy giving his team a chance to win virtually every time out.

So, if it wasn't already obvious.  I'm in complete agreement with the Schlittler and Misiorowski selections.  My AL vote goes: 1. Schlittler, 2. Rasmussen, 3. Messick, 4. Cease, 5. Gray.  In the NL, I'd put Misiorowski first and second if I could.  But, since you have to put five names on the ballot, I'll go with: 1. Misiorowski, 2. Sale, 3. Miller, 4. Sanchez, 5. Burns.