- May 21, 2026
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SportsMafia Wire graphic. Team logos and player headshots via ESPN.
The Baseball Writers Association of America made it official Thursday: Pete Crow-Armstrong is the National League's Most Valuable Player. The Cubs center fielder swept all 30 first-place votes, giving baseball unanimous MVP winners in both leagues for 2026.
Crow-Armstrong, 24, authored a historic campaign. He matched Kyle Schwarber's major league-leading 45 home runs, piled up 84 extra-base hits to top the NL by nine, and became the majors' lone 40-40 man with 41 steals in 48 tries. He paced qualified NL hitters with a .570 slugging percentage and .943 OPS, scored a major league-best 119 runs, and drove in 107. His 10.6 fWAR at FanGraphs ranks among the top 40 position player seasons ever.
The defensive wizardry sealed it. Crow-Armstrong won his second straight Gold Glove and the NL Platinum Glove, posting 25 Outs Above Average — tied for the best outfield season since Statcast began tracking in 2016.
Shohei Ohtani, limited by injuries after a dominant two-way start, settled for second. Brice Turang placed third on the strength of a career year in Milwaukee.
Crow-Armstrong is the Cubs' first MVP since Kris Bryant in 2016.
Mickey's Angle: Crow-Armstrong's $115MM extension already looks like a bargain for the Cubs, and his improved plate discipline suggests this level is sustainable. For MVP futures markets, his unanimous win establishes him as the new standard in the NL.
Source: MLB Trade Rumors (also reported by ESPN, CBS Sports) - written by Mickey the Mouth from the original report.