The Baseball Writers’ Association of America is handing out the Cy Young Awards for each league right now, and you can watch live on MLB Network and MLB+.
Outside of Chris Sale (2024 NL Cy Young Award), the remaining five candidates have never won the Cy Young Award. In the National League, the flamethrowing Jacob Misiorowski figures to be the front-runner, but he’ll face stiff competition in the form of the Phillies' Cristopher Sánchez and Sale.
Follow along below to find out the NL winner, after Cam Schlittler won the AL award unanimously:
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 finalists
Jacob Misiorowski, RHP, Brewers
The Pirates’ Paul Skenes was the 16th unanimous winner of this award in the NL a year ago, and it would be something of a surprise if Misiorowski is not the 17th after a year in which he touched 105.5 mph on the radar gun and was the hardest starting pitcher to hit in history. The 6-foot-7, 24-year-old Brewers ace finished as the Major League leader in ERA (1.80), strikeouts (252), strikeout rate (37.9 percent), WHIP (0.80), and opponents’ average (.157) in 174 2/3 scintillating innings during the regular season.
Chris Sale, LHP, Braves
Sale made a strong bid for what would be his second NL Cy Young Award within the past three seasons. The 2024 winner ranked second in the NL in ERA (2.16), third in WHIP (0.98), fourth in strikeouts (200) and sixth in batting average allowed (.215).
Cristopher Sánchez, LHP, Phillies
Sánchez might not throw 100-plus mph, but he dominated MLB hitters in other ways, making him an NL Cy Young finalist for a second consecutive year. He went 18-7 with a 2.91 ERA in 33 starts this season. He led MLB in wins and bWAR (8.1). He led the NL in quality starts (22), starts (33), complete games (one) and shutouts (one).