2026 Awards

There's an NL MVP thread already...Schlittler and Cease are separated by one-tenth of a game on both BRef and Fangraphs (Schlittler ahead on both):

CS - 2.09, 163.2 IP, 0.971 WHIP, 4.79 K/BB, 201 ERA+, 2.62 FIP, 5.9 bWAR, 5.2 fWAR
DS - 2.33, 150.1 IP, 1.051 WHIP, 3.34 K/BB, 189 ERA+, 2.42 FIP, 5.8 bWAR, 5.1 fWAR

I set out to make the case for Cease, but I'm actually surprised Schlittler isn't further ahead--more innings, and he leads in every one of those categories. If Cease didn't walk so many batters (just under 4 a game), he'd be an easy call.

Interesting to me that the awards seem dominated by RHP this year after being disproportionally dominated by LHP the past few seasons.

Schlittler is REALLY good. It’s notable also that Cease is second in the CAREER k/9 list (Minimum of 1000 IP), his health is really incredible given that he’s a workhorse with a sky high k rate.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/strikeouts_per_nine_career.shtml

There was actually a brief moment when Robbie Ray was with the Jays when he lead in career K/9...Cease gave up a HR to the second batter last night, then didn't give up another hit till the 5th. He's danced around a no-hitter probably four or five times this year.

The other thread:

2026 National League (NL) MVP race

One other key category that Cease wins going away: he just sold a painting for $16,000.

https://www.mlb.com/news/dylan-cease-artwork-blue-jays-sportsnet-auction

Who is their pitching coach?

Also notable: Cease and Schlittler are also famous cat guys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2Xa1XtYhEI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtzE04CrElk

Cease: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQsQnssQBGQ

Who is their pitching coach?

The Jays? Pete Walker--who was the starting pitcher in 2003 for Delgado's 4-HR game.

Schlittler is great, his walks have been a concern lately which could potentially narrow the lead he has over Cease at this time, but it could just be a blip.

Depending upon how much faith the voters put in WAR, this could literally go down to the last start of the season--one guy pitches great, the other guy makes an early exit, and that decides it (hopefully on the same day, like yesterday).

(not the thread for it, but the AL race is far tighter and more dynamic: a DH chasing the triple crown (5.5), a superstar SS (5.7) and a rookie utility infielder (5.7) all knotted together with ~39 games left.

― imperial frfr (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, August 18, 2026 10:07 AM (one week ago)

Yordan's cooled down a bit, so I think this is BWJr's to lose. McGonigle having an insane season though, no doubt ROY.

I still think voters will throw out WAR for a Triple Crown, especially if making the post-season figures in.

I put some $$ down on Yordan to win MVP when he was behind Judge and Witt, so am cheering pretty hard for him to get it. And agree, as a DH up against two great defenders, winning the triple crown and making the playoffs will override a disadvantage in WAR.

PCA is lapping the field on Fangraphs: 9.5 fWAR to Shohei's 6.5 and Sanchez's 5.9. And Sale has almost pulled even to Sanchez and Miz for Cy Young (the three are within 0.2 of a game).

N.L. Cy Young is something else...Going into today (fWAR):

Sanchez - 5.9
Miz - 5.6
Sale - 5.4
Luzardo - 5.0

And Luzardo just finished a CG, 2-hit shutout (12 K, 1 BB).

PCA went 2-4 with a homer today, up to 9.9 fWAR. he could sit out the rest of the season and it’d be a walk

bWAR NL pitching leaders, just for comparison:
Sánchez 7.8
Luzardo 5.6
Rodríguez 5.4!!
Sale 5.3
Misiorowski 5.2

this could go so many ways right now...

ERA:
Misiorowski 1.97
Sale 2.10
Rodríguez 2.55
Sánchez 2.58

ERA+:
Misiorowski 207
Sale 201
Sánchez 176
Rodríguez 163

FIP:
Sale 2.26
Misiorowski 2.27
Sánchez 2.60
Luzardo 2.86

WPA:
Sánchez 4.4
Miller 4.0
Misiorowski 3.5
Rodríguez 3.5

Ks:
Misiorowski 227
Luzardo 209
Sánchez 207
Cavalli 185
Sale 184

wins (only included because there are still some dinosaurs out there voting on these things:
Sánchez 16
Burns 15
Rodríguez 15
Ashcraft 14
Misiorowski 14
Sale 14

i feel like Miz has the advantage tho (for cy young, not MVP). we'll see how many innings he gets down the stretch tho

and the jays/Cease seem determined to push the AL Cy needle towards Schlittler today

WAR leaders as of today:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/war/leaders/_/type/seasonal/year/2026

PCA running away at #1.
Cris Sanchez still cruising at #2 but teammate Luzardo is enters the conversation at #5! Having two Phillies SPs in the WAR leader top 5 makes me wonder how their playoff chances are looking.
Shohei still 3rd somehow despite being MIA for the last few weeks (slumping/benched), pretty surprising. Pitching is off the table ROS and possibly playoffs.
In the AL BWJr caught up to Shohei, but Schlittler is hot on his heels.
Yordan's cold spell continues... noticed his power had dried up in particular: 6 weeks ago he had 34 HRs, has only 4 hit since then. .168 ISO for that period is shades of Craig Counsell. His BA = .277 for same period.

(Mis and Chase Burns (tied #18) will have their innings limited ROS)

I'll repeat what I said a month ago: the Phillies are primed for an '85 Royals/'19 Nationals/'23 Rangers run. Underachieving veteran team, fantastic front three starters, solid closer, lots of HR power. They have the daunting task though of getting by the Dodgers, Brewers, Braves, and Cubs. That's a pretty formidable slate of teams.

Schlittler didn't clinch it last night--he and Cease could flip-flop in their next starts--but he's going to be hard to catch.

oh I didn’t know ESPN had a table that presented total bwar, that’s useful!

Posnanski's post today:

Tom Tango pointed out to me — and maybe you’ve seen this elsewhere — that Pete Crow-Armstrong is having a singular season. I’m using that word “singular” literally here — he is having a season unlike any in baseball history.

We can see this in Fangraphs advanced stats.

2026 offensive leaders (Runs Above Average):

Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs, 52.6
Yordan Álvarez, Astros, 51.4
James Wood, Nationals, 34.1
Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers, 32.3
Randy Arozarena, Mariners, 31.3

And...

2026 defensive leaders (Runs Above Average):

Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs, 24.0
Bobby Witt Jr., Royals, 21.2
Dillon Dingler, Tigers, 19.3
Andrés Giménez, Blue Jays, 19.1
J.J. Wetherholt, Cardinals, 17.8

Yep, he’s leading all of baseball in both offense and defensive runs above average.

That has NEVER happened before.

Never. Not Honus Wagner. Not Willie Mays. Not Mike Schmidt. Not Cal Ripken Jr. Not Alex Rodriguez. Nobody has ever led all of baseball in Fangraphs offense AND Fangraphs defense in the same season.

MLB.com piece today (haven't read it) on Schlittler as a worthy MVP.

PCA hit his 45th today. You can't say it's a fluke--he hit 31 as a 23-year-old--but that's quite a steep trajectory since breaking in.

And Wrigley isn’t an easy home park to hit it out in. Only Willie Mays thought it was a good place to hit, but then he was comparing it to the bad old days of Candlestick

Wasn't the thing with Wrigley always whether the wind was blowing in or out? Like night and day, I think.

Your unanimous MVPs (PCA & Yordy) went 1-15 with 6ks in the 2026 postseason. #valuable

Posted that earlier today on the playoff thread--you can also add that the hit was a single, and that they combined for zero R/RBI/BB.

(I'd be very surprised if Yordan wins unanimously at this point.)

Also, to quote an old James thing, their miserable playoffs don't constitute value, but they do reveal value--both their teams were two and out.