Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez earned unanimous Most Valuable Player honors on Thursday, sweeping the awards in a rare historic night for Major League Baseball.
Pete Crow-Armstrong and the National League Unanimous Vote
Crow-Armstrong claimed the National League award by securing all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. The 24-year-old outfielder finished his campaign batting .280 with 45 home runs and 41 stolen bases across 162 games. He also won a Gold Glove and a Platinum Glove, anchoring center field for the Chicago Cubs while leading both leagues with a 10.6 fWAR.
Manager Craig Counsell shifted Crow-Armstrong into the leadoff role by mid-May to spark a struggling offense. The adjustment paid off immediately, as the young star batted .300 with a .398 on-base percentage out of the top spot. He also drew 83 walks, a sharp increase from the 29 he drew the previous season.
“I’m just blessed to have the ability that I do,” said Crow-Armstrong, who is the 13th player in franchise history to win the award and first since Kris Bryant in 2016. “It brings me joy to be able to affect the game a lot of times on a daily basis. … I’m feeling lucky I was able to impact the game as much as I did this year.”
Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs center fielder
Crow-Armstrong joins an illustrious list of Cubs players to win the MVP, following Ernie Banks in 1958 and 1959, Ryne Sandberg in 1984, Sammy Sosa in 1998, and Kris Bryant in 2016. He is the first Cubs player to be elected unanimously.
Selected in the first round of the 2020 amateur draft by the New York Mets before being traded to Chicago in July 2021, Crow-Armstrong agreed to a $115 million, six-year contract in March. His standout defensive performance included leading the majors with 26 Outs Above Average and 23 Runs Prevented according to Baseball Savant.
Yordan Alvarez Claims the American League Honor
In the American League, Alvarez matched Crow-Armstrong by taking all 30 first-place votes, becoming the fourth Cuban to earn MVP honors, following José Abreu in 2020. Hitting .316 to secure his first AL batting title, the star hitter from Houston also paced the circuit in on-base percentage (.432), slugging percentage (.601), OPS (1.033), offensive WAR (7.2), total bases (341), walks (109), and extra-base hits (77). He also hit 42 home runs and drove in 106 runs.
“Everybody knows I had some injury struggles last year and everybody knows what happened last year, so yes, that was on my mind,” Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez said.
His dominant return fueled the AL West champions and followed prior milestones including winning the 2019 AL Rookie of the Year and the 2021 ALCS MVP before helping secure the 2022 World Series championship.
“I'm proud I was able to maintain my health all year and worked hard to stay healthy this year,” Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez said.
“It seems like everybody else had a good feeling that I was going to win this besides me, really,” Alvarez said through an interpreter. “So when I heard the name, again that’s when the emotion came out and the feeling was amazing.”
Yordan Alvarez, Houston Astros designated hitter
Ohtani Finishes Second in National League MVP Voting
Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani finished second in the National League voting after receiving 26 second-place votes, two third-place votes, and three fourth-place votes. Despite injuries to his left knee and right biceps that halted his pitching after July 3, Ohtani still batted .275 with 30 home runs and recorded a 1.79 ERA across 14 starts.
Having claimed the prize with the Angels in 2021 and 2023, followed by the Dodgers in 2024 and 2025 alongside runner-up status in 2022, Ohtani stands as the initial major league competitor to secure six consecutive top-three finishes in MVP balloting.
Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero finished second in the AL balloting with 27 second-place votes, while Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. took third place. Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Brice Turang finished third in the National League race.
The simultaneous unanimous selections mark the third time that the MVP winners in both leagues were unanimous in the same year. Both MVP recipients and both Cy Young winners achieved unanimous sweeps this season, ending with Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski winning the NL Cy Young unanimously.
