With the 2026 season approaching us with the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants opening the season. Here is my award predictions for this season.
AL Awards:
MVP: Bobby Witt Jr.
I personally think this is the season where someone dethrones the best hitter in the game right now, in Aaron Judge. Bobby Witt Jr. hit .295, 23 homers, 38 stolen bases and had a .852 OPS. Everything about this young star is electric. With what he does at the plate, base running, and flashes of great defense in the WBC tourney. There is no doubt in my mind that the value of what Bobby brings, can bring him home the MVP this season.
CY Young: Garrett Crochet
Even with Tarik Skubal in a contract year, with talks all off-season, I think he will be traded to the NL. Crochet was well deserving to be in talks of winning last season. He had a 18-5 record, 2.59 ERA, 255 SO in 205.1 innings pitched. Just straight dominant last year as the Ace of the Boston Red Sox. So why not run it back as having him winning it this season? There is no doubt in my mind that Crochet will have yet another dominant season. In the best division in the AL mind you. If there is someone to dethrone B2B winner Skubal, it will be Crochet.
ROTY: Munetaka Murakami
I know there is a lot of talks of Murakami struggling to hit 95+ fastball in the NPB. I don’t give in to these talks though. Murakami has so much potential to be a great power hitter in this league. Which is why I’m glad he chose the Chicago White Sox this winter. Low expectations and an environment for Murakami to just focus on being a MLB player. With Murakami already getting professional experience in arguably the second-best league in Baseball. There is no doubt in my mind that Murakami will show why his market should’ve had more buzz.
NL:
MVP: Shohei Ohtani
Even as a Dodgers fan, there is no denying the value Ohtani brings as a two-way player. I just can’t see the likes of a Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr., or another player beating out Ohtani in terms of value. Ohtani hit .282, 55 homers, 20 SB and a 1.014 OPS. Along with a 1-1 record, 2.87 ERA, 62 SO in 47 innings pitched. This is while also being limited mostly in the regular season last year. With Ohtani entering year three since having Tommy John. There is no doubt in my mind he will return to the dominant form we saw in 2023. We also saw glimpses of this last October in game 4 of the NLCS where he was completely dominant. Now he gets a full season getting no restrictions, and where star pitcher Blake Snell will miss the start of the season.
CY Young: Paul Skenes
Skenes has been nothing but dominant since he got called up to the big leagues. Then again, he showed his dominance during the WBC tourney. Notably the game vs the Dominican Republic, where he was completely dominant vs a star-studded lineup. Skenes had a 10-10 record, 1.97 ERA, and 216 SO in 187.2 innings pitched. Just straight the man when he is at the mound. We have already seen a recent B2B winner in Skubal, so why not Skenes? Even with the non- existent helps he gets from the Pirates, he still ended up winning the award last year. Again, when Skenes is pitching, he shoves. He should go down as the unanimous winner this season in my opinion.
ROTY: Nolan McLean
I got to personally witness McLean’s debut at Citi Field last season, and oh man is this kid going to be special. McLean had a 5-1 record, 2.06 ERA, 57 SO in 47 innings pitched after being called up late in the season. I know his WBC outings weren’t the best, but he has shown what he can do already at the big league level. Now that he is on the Opening Day roster, there is no doubt I expect a great season from him. Nolan McLean screams future Ace very soon in Queens. So give me Nolan McLean for ROTY easily.
