NL MVP<\/strong><\/p>\n Predicted winner:\u00a0<\/strong>Shohei Ohtani<\/a>, SP\/DH, Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a><\/p>\n (Photo by Ronald Martinez\/Getty Images) <\/p>\n I mean, how could anyone logically choose someone else? Two years ago, he became the first full-time DH to win the award. Last year, he recorded another 50-homer season while returning to the mound in June. Now, his first full season as a two-way player for the Dodgers is on the horizon. Even if his offense dips a bit, the value he adds as a pitcher should make up for it. And he seems like he\u2019s on a mission on the mound.\u00a0<\/p>\n Darkhorse candidate:\u00a0<\/strong>Elly De La Cruz<\/a>, 3B, Cincinnati Reds<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Last season wasn\u2019t the step forward many were hoping to see from the Reds marvel after an otherworldly 2024 campaign in which he tallied 25 homers and 67 steals. But he did have 18 homers and 25 steals at the break, and we now know his dramatic power drop-off in the second half \u2014 he had just four home runs the rest of the way \u2014 could probably be attributed to the fact that he was playing through a quad strain. There\u2019s no one else in MLB<\/a> with his set of tools.\u00a0 – Rowan Kavner<\/p>\n NL Cy Young<\/strong><\/p>\n Predicted winner:\u00a0<\/strong>Paul Skenes<\/a>, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Skenes tallied a 1.96 ERA during his Rookie of the Year season in 2024 and then followed that up with a \u2014\u00a0gasp! \u2014\u00a01.97 ERA while winning the Cy Young unanimously last year. If this kind of dramatic regression continues, he might even log a 1.98 ERA in 2026. This is the best pitcher in the National League, and there\u2019s no need to overthink this one.\u00a0<\/p>\n Darkhorse candidate:\u00a0<\/strong>Eury P\u00e9rez, SP, Miami Marlins\u00a0<\/p>\n Skenes\u2019 likeliest top competitors for the top pitching honor will be Cristopher S\u00e1nchez and Yoshinobu Yamamoto<\/a>, but if P\u00e9rez can stay healthy for a full season \u2014 something the 6-foot-8 Marlins righty has yet to do \u2014 he\u2019s one of the few people on earth with the skillset to challenge Skenes. At just 20 years old in 2023, P\u00e9rez ranked sixth in the NL in strikeout rate among starters who threw at least 90 innings. Last year, he came back from Tommy John surgery and was throwing even harder, averaging 97.9 mph on his heater. He should generate plenty of swings and misses, but he\u2019ll need to keep the ball in the yard more often to reach his potential. – Kavner<\/p>\n NL Rookie of the Year<\/strong><\/p>\n Predicted winner:\u00a0<\/strong>Nolan McLean<\/a>, SP, New York Mets<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s usually not easy for a pitcher to win this award, and that\u2019ll be the case again in 2026 with a handful of the game\u2019s top prospects either breaking camp with their teams or expected to debut sometime early in 2026. But there\u2019s a reason Team USA manager Mark DeRosa had McLean starting games at the World Baseball Classic over other starters who were All-Stars last year. He had a 2.06 ERA in eight starts last year, kept the ball on the ground and struck out more than 30% of the batters he faced. He might even challenge for the Cy Young.\u00a0<\/p>\n Darkhorse candidate:\u00a0<\/strong>Sal Stewart<\/a>, 1B, Cincinnati Reds<\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019s because he plays in Cincinnati, but I\u2019m not sure enough people know Stewart\u2019s name yet. That should change by the end of 2026. The 2022 first-round pick can flat-out hit, and he has shown it at every level, including his first taste of the big leagues last year. In 18 games, Stewart homered five times and posted an .839 OPS while knocking the cover off the ball. He had the same average exit velocity as Aaron Judge<\/a> (95.4 mph). The Reds thought highly enough of his bat that he was hitting in the middle of the order in the postseason. – Kavner<\/p>\n AL MVP<\/strong><\/p>\n Predicted winner: Aaron Judge, OF, <\/strong>New York Yankees<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Let’s be real here. The only way Judge is losing the AL MVP is if he sustains a prolonged injury a la 2023 when he ran into the Dodger Stadium wall, or if he runs into a months-long slump that really jeopardizes his candidacy. He\u2019s entering his age-34 season, is still in his prime, and has averaged an absolutely ridiculous 1.117 OPS since 2022. The first thing everyone says about Judge is that he\u2019s consistent. As long as he\u2019s healthy, there\u2019s no reason to doubt he\u2019ll suddenly stop putting up video-game numbers this season.<\/p>\n Darkhorse candidate: <\/strong>Nick Kurtz<\/strong><\/a>, 1B, <\/strong>Athletics<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n In the off-chance there\u2019s an opening in the AL MVP race, Kurtz is the longshot candidate to take home the coveted award. What he was able to achieve in his AL Rookie of the Year season last year was nothing short of incredible. The first baseman slugged 36 home runs, knocked in 90 runs, batted .290 and recorded a nonsensical 1.002 OPS in 117 games. Even his 12.9% walk rate came close to cracking the top 15 in MLB. Imagine what he can do in a full season. – Deesha Thosar<\/p>\n AL Cy Young<\/strong><\/p>\n Predicted winner: <\/strong>Garrett Crochet<\/strong><\/a>, LHP, <\/strong>Boston Red Sox<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Maybe this is a controversial pick, going with Crochet over the back-to-back winner, Tarik Skubal<\/a>. But the two-time All-Star was\u00a0right there in the Cy Young race last year, finishing second with an MLB-leading 255 strikeouts. Skubal is facing a ton of pressure to perform at a high level in his walk year, and expectations only skyrocketed after he won a record-setting $32 million arbitration case. Crochet, on the other hand, is entering the first year of his six-year, $170 million contract with Boston. He has nothing to prove, except to try and take the Red Sox to the World Series. This is Crochet\u2019s year.<\/p>\n Darkhorse candidate: <\/strong>Bryan Woo<\/strong><\/a>, RHP, <\/strong>Seattle Mariners<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The 26-year-old right-hander was in tears when he got the call he was an All-Star last season, before he finished fifth in AL Cy Young award voting. Woo\u2019s 2.94 ERA ranked fifth among all AL starters, and his ridiculous 0.93 WHIP ranked third. His four-seam fastball\/sinker combination yielded an elite run value in the 100th percentile last season. He did sustain a late-season injury in 2025, but if he can stay healthy, Woo\u2019s prime age, low walk and high whiff rates make him a no-doubt Cy Young breakthrough candidate. – Thosar<\/p>\n AL Rookie of the Year<\/strong><\/p>\n Predicted winner: <\/strong>Carter Jensen<\/strong><\/a>, C, <\/strong>Kansas City Royals<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The 22-year-old backstop showed flashes of immense potential in his major-league cameo last year, slashing .300\/.391\/.550 in 20 games and 69 plate appearances. With Salvador Perez<\/a> entering his age-36 season, he\u2019s expected to see most of his at-bats at designated hitter, opening up a prime opportunity for Jensen to produce eye-popping numbers over the course of a full season of plate appearances. It\u2019s not often a catcher is in the conversation for this award, given the physical workload of the position. But Jensen is projected for a major breakout this year.<\/p>\n Darkhorse candidate: <\/strong>Munetaka Murakami<\/strong><\/a>, INF, <\/strong>Chicago White Sox<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Murakami signed with the White Sox on a two-year, $34 million deal. The pillow deal is significantly less than the six-figure contract he was expected to sign, largely because teams were worried about the type of damage he\u2019d be able to do against MLB pitching. His contact rates are questionable, but if he can bring the type of dominance that he flashed when he first broke out in Japan, Murakami is capable of winning the award. – Thosar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We know Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and Paul Skenes are going to be in the mix for MLB’s…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":679273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[41],"tags":[3090,3955,1281,81121,130205,1274,6367,106069,20401,1284,2502,1884,1286,1266,150026,1305,2228,61551,85371,34554,1886,136254,1288,4712,62,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-679272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-aaron-judge","tag-athletics","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-bryan-woo","tag-carter-jensen","tag-chicago-white-sox","tag-elly-de-la-cruz","tag-eury-perez","tag-garrett-crochet","tag-kansas-city-royals","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-major-league-baseball","tag-miami-marlins","tag-mlb","tag-munetaka-murakami","tag-new-york-mets","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-nick-kurtz","tag-nolan-mclean","tag-paul-skenes","tag-pittsburgh-pirates","tag-sal-stewart","tag-seattle-mariners","tag-shohei-ohtani","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116286416949787561","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} <\/p>\n
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