Astros' Yordan Alvarez and Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong win 2026 MLB MVP awards

MLB Astros' Yordan Alvarez and Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong win 2026 MLB MVP awards Both players won the award for the first time in their careers, doing so unanimously. By Logan Reardon • Published 2 minutes ago • Updated 2 minutes ago Major League Baseball has crowned two first-time MVP winners in 2026. Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros and Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs were named the AL and NL Most Valuable Players on Thursday. Watch NBC Bay Area News free wherever you are WATCH HERE The 29-year-old Alvarez and 24-year-old Crow-Armstrong were the runaway winners, taking home the awards unanimously. Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays and Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals finished behind Alvarez in the AL voting. Crow-Armstrong ended Shohei Ohtani's streak of three straight MVPs, with the Los Angeles Dodgers star finishing second and Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Brice Turang in third. This year marks a changing of the guard after years of dominance by Ohtani and Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees . They were the MVPs in both 2024 and 2025, and at least one of them had been an MVP every year from 2021-25. Both players battled injuries throughout this season, with Judge playing just 66 games and Ohtani hitting his fewest home runs (30) since 2020. MLB Oct 30 Will MLB enter a lockout? Here's everything to know for the looming work stoppage MLB Sep 29 These 4 MLB teams have never won the World Series Alvarez, the 2019 Rookie of the Year, had a standout season to carry the Astros to the AL West title, despite going just 81-81. He set a career-high with 42 home runs and 106 RBIs, and he led MLB in walks (109), batting average (.316), on-base percentage (.432), slugging (.601) and OPS (1.033). After battling injuries in 2025, Alvarez played 158 games in 2026 while making his fourth All-Star appearance (and second start at DH). He hit three grand slams in June alone, becoming the 11th player in MLB history to pull off that feat. Alvarez previously finished third in MVP voting in 2022, and this is his third top-10 finish. He joins teammate Jose Altuve (2017) and Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell (1994) as just the third Astro to win the award. Crow-Armstrong's MVP campaign came in his third season, and his victory was emphatic. He led the NL in runs (119), home runs (45), slugging (.570), OPS (.943) and WAR (9.8) while playing all 162 games . In addition to his prowess at the dish, Crow-Armstrong won the Gold Glove in center field and stole 41 bases. He was just the seventh player in MLB history to achieve a 40-40 season (40 home runs, 40 stolen bases). Crow-Armstrong is the ninth Cub to win MVP, joining Gabby Harnett (1935), Phil Cavarretta (1945), Hank Sauer (1952), Ernie Banks (1958 and 1959), Ryne Sandberg (1984), Andre Dawson (1987), Sammy Sosa (1998) and Kris Bryant (2016). Here are five things to know about Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. This article tagged under: MLB