Jacob Misiorowski was named the National League winner and Cam Schlittler the American League winner of the 2026 Cy Young Awards, in results revealed on Wednesday night on MLB Network.
The game’s top pitching prize, voted on by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, went unanimously to two superlative sophomores who dazzled in their first full season.
Here’s more on each winner:
AL winner
Cam Schlittler, RHP, Yankees
Schlittler’s excellence in every turn helped the Yankees make their annual trek to October despite the long-term absence of Aaron Judge in the lineup and Gerrit Cole, Max Fried and Carlos Rodón all falling short of 130 innings.
Though he didn’t finish as an AL MVP finalist, as some speculated, Schlittler made the rare compelling case for a pitcher, given the complexion of the AL field. He was the AL leader in ERA (1.95), ERA+ (215), opponent on-base percentage (.244) and pitching WAR (6.2 via FanGraphs, 7.0 via Baseball-Reference).
That ERA was the third-lowest in franchise history by a qualifier, trailing only Spud Chandler (1.64 in 1943) and Ron Guidry (1.74 in 1978). Schlittler’s 2.23 ERA since his July 2025 debut is the lowest in MLB in that span.
What truly set Schlittler apart historically in 2026 was his road dominance. His 1.16 road ERA was the third-lowest in the live-ball era for a pitcher with at least 100 road innings, behind only Hall of Famers Bob Gibson (0.81 in 1968) and Greg Maddux (1.12 in 1995). And again, he did this in only his second season.
Schlittler is the Yankees’ seventh Cy winner, joining Bob Turley (1958), Whitey Ford (1961), Sparky Lyle (1977), Ron Guidry (1978), Roger Clemens (2001) and Cole (2023).
NL winner
Jacob Misiorowski, RHP, Brewers
Misiorowski’s magic, which included him setting a new record for fastball speed by a starter (he reached a blistering 105.5 mph), powered the Brewers to another best-in-baseball record and NL Central title before they ultimately claimed their first World Series crown.
Misiorowski tired himself out down the stretch in 2025 but came into 2026 looking like a more polished, complete pitcher. He added lower-body strength and more consistent mechanics to cut down on the arm-side and glove-side misses that affected his rookie-season command.
In 174 2/3 innings across 30 starts, the lanky 6-foot-7 wunderkind finished as the Major League leader in ERA (1.80), strikeouts (252), ERA+ (232), Fielding Independent Pitching (2.17), WHIP (0.80), opponent average (.157) and strikeouts per nine (13.0). He joined Sandy Koufax (1965), J.R. Richard (1979) and Mike Scott (1986) as the only pitchers since 1950 to lead the Majors in ERA, strikeouts and opponents’ average, and that opponents’ average was the lowest on record for a full season, surpassing Pedro Martínez’s .167 in 2000. The only other pitchers in history with 250-plus strikeouts and a WHIP as low as 0.8 were Justin Verlander in 2019 and Martínez in 2000.
Misiorowski is the Brewers franchise’s fourth Cy Young winner, joining Rollie Fingers (1981), Pete Vuckovich (1982) and Corbin Burnes (2021). But in averaging 100.6 mph with his four-seam, he’s in a class of his own as the most extreme example of the game’s elevating velocity standard.