Pretty much every season that Shohei Ohtani plays in Major League Baseball, he starts as the overwhelming favorite to win his league’s Most Valuable Player award.
Ohtani in 2024 turned in one of the greatest individual years in baseball history, becoming the first player ever to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season. He won the MVP award. In 2025, he followed it up by hitting 55 home runs, stealing 20 bases, scoring 146 runs and, oh yeah, putting up a 2.87 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 47 innings. He won the MVP award. Unanimously.
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All that’s to say that it takes a special season by anyone to overcome Ohtani’s unique contributions as top 2-3 hitter and a Cy Young-caliber pitcher on the mound. That type of special season is exactly what Pete Crow-Armstrong turned in for the Chicago Cubs.
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MAY 16: Pete Crow-Armstrong #4 of the Chicago Cubs rounds the bases after hitting a two run home run against the Chicago White Sox during the ninth inning at Rate Field on May 16, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Daniel Bartel/Getty Images) ((Photo by Daniel Bartel/Getty Images))
PCA, as he’s more commonly known, was a top prospect in the Mets organization and had a solid 2024 as a part-time player after coming over to Chicago. In 2025, he demonstrated a rare combination of power and speed, with 31 home runs and 35 steals. But his swing and miss tendencies and low walk rate kept him from superstardom. That all changed in 2026.
Crow-Armstrong started slowly, but as the weather warmed up, became an unstoppable force. His walk rate skyrocketed from just 4.5% in 2025 to 11.4% in 2026. A jump in bat speed, from 72.7 mph in 2025 to 75.1 mph in 2026 proved vital, as his average exit velocity moved up over a full mph to 90.6 and his hard hit percentage increased to an exceptional 48.6%.
Those are good numbers and, surprise, surprise, as a result, his counting stats were outstanding. PCA hit a whopping 45 home runs, stole 41 bases, hit .280 with a .372 on base percentage and .570 slugging percentage. Offensively, he was 57% better than league average, and contributed his typically outstanding defense. Playing one of the most important defensive positions on the field, per FanGraphs, he was worth a whopping 23 runs more than the average center fielder.
Put all that together and you have a 10.6-win season. That’s rarified air, and it paid off on Thursday night when he was unanimously selected as the winner of the National League MVP Award, officially ending Shohei Ohtani’s three-year run.
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Very well deserved; PCA had an incredible season, and provides an incredible advantage for the Cubs with his elite offense and elite defense at a premium position while still under cheap team control.
Chicago Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong runs the bases after hitting a 2-run home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Thursday, July 10, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
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In the other league, Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez, long one of the best hitters in the sport, finally got his league’s ultimate recognition.
Alvarez, who’s been a remarkable 66% better than league average offensively for his career, had a weighted runs created plus of 181 in 2026, where league average is 100. After returning from an injury-plagued 2025, Alvarez was a force of nature and arguably deserved even better stats, based on his quality of contact.
In an era where strikeouts dominate, Alvarez had 120 K’s and 142 walks or intentional walks. His 33 intentional walks led all of baseball … by more than double. That’s the ultimate sign of respect from the opposition.
Alvarez hit 42 home runs, adding a .316/.432/.601 batting line, in an era of declining offense. That’s a 60 run positive contribution to the Astros, without which they would never have reached the postseason. His 1.033 OPS was also far and away the best in baseball.
And again, he might have been a bit unlucky and deserving of even better numbers, somehow. Alvarez had a .429 weighted on base average, an overall measure of offensive success rate, but his “expected” wOBA was even higher at .442. Both, again, the best in the league.
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His “expected” slugging was a whopping .636, showing he had some extra base hits taken away by either quality defense or bad luck with stadiums. He too won first place in the voting unanimously.
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Houston Astros’ Yordan Alvarez celebrates in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals in Kansas City, Mo., on June 12, 2026. (Charlie Riedel/AP)
It’s rare that there’s such consensus around the two MVP winners, but nobody seriously challenged Crow-Armstrong or Alvarez. And both were especially impressive results. Alvarez winning despite contributing nothing defensively, and PCA for overcoming the disadvantage that comes from playing in the same league as Shohei Ohtani.
Given their track records, it’s a safe bet to assume that both will be right back at the top of the list for the 2027 MVP awards … assuming there’s a season.
