After historic season, PCA named NL MVP finalist

CHICAGO -- As Pete Crow-Armstrong headed into his offseason, following one of the great singular seasons in the long history of the Cubs, the center fielder has had people in his life away from the field ask how he has processed all that took place this year.

Crow-Armstrong has found himself leaning on a version of the same answer.

“The thing that I keep saying,” Crow-Armstrong said, “is I was actually able to appreciate the year as it was going on, which was the first time I’ve been able to do that in my life, just because there was a lot of good this year. And more good than bad, when it comes to baseball.”

Crow-Armstrong spoke on Sunday night after receiving his second career Gold Glove Award -- an honor that felt like the start of a busy awards season for the star center fielder. On Monday night, Crow-Armstrong was announced as one of the three top vote-getters for the National League’s Most Valuable Player in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Joining Crow-Armstrong among the finalists are Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani and Brewers second baseman Brice Turang. The winner of the 2026 NL MVP Award will be revealed at 6 p.m. CT on Nov. 12 on MLB Network. Ohtani has won four MVPs in the past five seasons, including in the last two years with the Dodgers, while Turang starred for the World Series-champion Brewers.

As the 2026 season progressed, however, this felt more and more like an award reserved for Crow-Armstrong.

Crow-Armstrong led the Majors with 10.6 fWAR (FanGraphs) and did so by a sizable margin. Bobby Witt Jr. of the Royals finished second in MLB with 7.0 fWAR, marking the first time since 1954 (Mickey Mantle over Duke Snider) that a gap of at least 3.0 fWAR separated the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked players in that category.

That fWAR was second in Cubs history (position players) only to Rogers Hornsby, who registered an 11.0 fWAR in 1929. That means Crow-Armstrong’s showing topped all nine of the Cubs’ BBWAA-elected MVP winners since 1931: Kris Bryant (2016), Sammy Sosa (1998), Andre Dawson (‘87), Ryne Sandberg (‘84), Ernie Banks (‘58-59), Hank Sauer (‘52), Phil Cavarretta (‘45) and Gabby Hartnett (‘35).

The Cubs’ star finished the season as only the seventh player in MLB history (and first for the North Siders) to reach at least 40 homers and 40 stolen bases in one campaign. Crow-Armstrong finished tied with Kyle Schwarber with an MLB-leading 45 homers, while also stealing 41 bases (most in the NL and third overall in the Majors).

Crow-Armstrong ended with a .280/.372/.570 slash line and led the NL in slugging percentage, OPS (.942), and wRC+ (157). He led MLB with 357 total bases and 119 runs scored, while collecting 107 RBIs (mostly as Chicago’s leadoff man). Crow-Armstrong also had 31 doubles and eight triples, giving him an MLB-high 84 extra-base hits.

Crow-Armstrong became the first player in Cubs history to have at least 30 homers, 30 doubles and 30 steals in a season in 2025, and then he topped those marks again this year. His 45 homers also established a club record for one season for a left-handed batter, surpassing the 42 that Sweet Swingin’ Billy Williams launched in 1970.

Crow-Armstrong also joined Ohtani (2024) and Alfonso Soriano (‘06) as the only players in MLB history with at least 45 homers, 40 steals and 30 doubles in a season. Crow-Armstrong and Ohtani are the only two within that trio to also have at least 100 RBIs as part of the statistical body of work.

A lot of the offensive performance was driven by a massive improvement in plate discipline from Crow-Armstrong, who ended the season with 83 walks in 726 plate appearances. For perspective, he had 53 walks combined across 2023-25 (1,076 PAs). His +6.9% jump in walk rate (4.5% in ‘25 to 11.4% in ‘26) was the largest year-to-year increase among qualified MLB hitters.

None of the above even gets into his elite defensive skills.

Already a Gold Glove Award winner in 2025, Crow-Armstrong took things to another level again this season as one of baseball’s best overall defenders. His +26 fielding run value not only led all MLB position players, but it set a Statcast-era record for an outfielder in one season. His +26 outs above average tied Byron Buxton (2017) for the most in one season by an outfielder under Statcast.

“You’re grateful to see things like this,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said in September. “And you’re grateful that the fans get to see a season like this, because they're going to talk about it. They're going to tell their kids about it. They're going to tell their grandkids about seasons like this.”