We know Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and Paul Skenes are going to be in the mix for MLB’s biggest awards this season. That feels like a given.
But for each of MLB’s marquee individual prizes, there will be some fierce competition. Ahead of the start of the 2026 MLB season, let’s give our favorites to w those awards (MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year) and an under-the-radar player to keep an eye on.
JUMP TO: NL MVP | NL Cy Young | NL Rookie of the Year | AL MVP | AL Cy Young | AL Rookie of the Year
NL MVP
Predicted winner: Shohei Ohtani, SP/DH, Los Angeles Dodgers
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
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’s on a mission on the mound.
Darkhorse candidate: Elly De La Cruz, 3B, Cincinnati Reds
Last season wasn’t 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 — he had just four home runs the rest of the way — could probably be attributed to the fact that he was playing through a quad strain. There’s no one else in MLB with his set of tools. – Rowan Kavner
NL Cy Young
Predicted winner: Paul Skenes, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates
Skenes tallied a 1.96 ERA during his Rookie of the Year season in 2024 and then followed that up with a — gasp! — 1.97 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’s no need to overthink this one.
Darkhorse candidate: Eury Pérez, SP, Miami Marlins
Skenes’ likeliest top competitors for the top pitching honor will be Cristopher Sánchez and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but if Pérez can stay healthy for a full season — something the 6-foot-8 Marlins righty has yet to do — he’s one of the few people on earth with the skillset to challenge Skenes. At just 20 years old in 2023, Pérez 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’ll need to keep the ball in the yard more often to reach his potential. – Kavner
NL Rookie of the Year
Predicted winner: Nolan McLean, SP, New York Mets
It’s usually not easy for a pitcher to win this award, and that’ll be the case again in 2026 with a handful of the game’s top prospects either breaking camp with their teams or expected to debut sometime early in 2026. But there’s 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.
Darkhorse candidate: Sal Stewart, 1B, Cincinnati Reds
Maybe it’s because he plays in Cincinnati, but I’m not sure enough people know Stewart’s 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 (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
AL MVP
Predicted winner: Aaron Judge, OF, New York Yankees
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’s 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’s consistent. As long as he’s healthy, there’s no reason to doubt he’ll suddenly stop putting up video-game numbers this season.
Darkhorse candidate: Nick Kurtz, 1B, Athletics
In the off-chance there’s 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
AL Cy Young
Predicted winner: Garrett Crochet, LHP, Boston Red Sox
Maybe this is a controversial pick, going with Crochet over the back-to-back winner, Tarik Skubal. But the two-time All-Star was right 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’s year.
Darkhorse candidate: Bryan Woo, RHP, Seattle Mariners
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’s 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’s prime age, low walk and high whiff rates make him a no-doubt Cy Young breakthrough candidate. – Thosar
AL Rookie of the Year
Predicted winner: Carter Jensen, C, Kansas City Royals
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 entering his age-36 season, he’s 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’s 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.
Darkhorse candidate: Munetaka Murakami, INF, Chicago White Sox
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’d 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
