Think back to March, preparing for Opening Day of the 2026 season, and imagine someone told you, “Neither Aaron Judge nor Shohei Ohtani will win MVP this season.” That’d be hard to believe, no?
Well, it's almost September, and Yordan Alvarez still has a stranglehold on AL honors in our latest MVP poll, and for the first time this season, we’ve seen a seismic shakeup in the NL.
A total of 37 MLB.com experts cast votes for who they think will earn the awards after the season, with 33 players receiving at least one vote. As a reminder, votes were based not only on results so far, but also on how things are expected to play out the rest of the season.
Voters ranked their top five picks in each league on a 5-4-3-2-1 scale -- five points for a first-place vote, four points for a second-place vote and so on. Here are the results.
All stats are through Sunday unless otherwise noted.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
1. Yordan Alvarez, Astros (181 total points, 34 1st-place votes)
Yordan Alvarez in August is having his worst month of the season by wRC+, a metric that measures overall offensive production on a 100-point scale. And his “worst” month is currently a 138 wRC+ -- 38% better than league average. That’s exactly why he’s led our MVP polls comfortably for some time now, pretty much ever since Aaron Judge went down with an injury in late May. We’re still watching closely to see if Alvarez can take home a Triple Crown; He currently holds the AL lead in batting average (.320), home runs (36) and RBIs (90).
2. Junior Caminero, Rays (117 total points)
Though Caminero did not receive a first-place vote this time around, he winds up in second place for the second straight MVP poll because of high volume further down the ballot. The 23-year-old superstar has been the biggest producer amid the Rays’ first-place push in the AL East, carrying a career-best .895 OPS with a vastly improved 11.8% walk rate. Not to mention he’s closing in on his second consecutive 40-homer season.
3. Bobby Witt Jr., Royals (89 total points, 3 1st-place votes)
Catching Alvarez may be an impossible task at this point, but if anyone can do it, it’s probably Witt. The shortstop leads the American League in both FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference Wins Above Replacement at 6.2 (Alvarez has 5.8 fWAR and 5.7 bWAR). Witt’s AL-best 18 Fielding Run Value and an .822 OPS have him again among the game’s best all-around talents.
4. Willson Contreras, Red Sox (49 total points)
Contreras finds himself in the MVP Poll for the second time because he remains the driving force behind Boston’s remarkable turnaround and march to the postseason. His incredible 452-foot home run over the Green Monster last Friday (one of a career-high 26) was just one sign of how good he’s been at the plate: Contreras is tied with Pete Crow-Armstrong at 156 wRC+ this season, second-best in the Majors behind only Alvarez’s 185.
5. Ben Rice, Yankees (43 total points)
Rice did not receive a first-place vote for the first time since our very first MVP poll of the season, while his fifth-place standing was his first time lower than No. 4. A second-half swoon (.602 OPS) has dampened Rice’s case, but it’s impossible to take anything away from the 27-year-old who has blasted 34 dingers. He’s helped keep the Yankees in range of the Rays in the AL East while awaiting Judge’s return.
Others receiving votes: Dillon Dingler, Tigers; Kevin McGonigle, Tigers; Pete Alonso, Orioles; Miguel Vargas, White Sox; Cam Schlittler, Yankees; Munetaka Murakami, White Sox; Dylan Cease, Blue Jays; Yandy Díaz, Rays; Ceddanne Rafaela, Red Sox
NATIONAL LEAGUE
1. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs (177 total points, 29 1st-place votes)
The MLB leader in WAR, “PCA” has taken advantage of Ohtani’s absence on the mound to vault to the top of our poll for the first time. Crow-Armstrong’s leap to superstardom has him rivaling Ohtani’s performance at the plate while providing an MLB-best 24 FRV in center field. Since Ohtani’s last start on July 3, Crow-Armstrong has the advantage in wRC+ (171 to Ohtani’s 149), home runs (14 to 12) and OPS (1.014 to .948). The 24-year-old has also delivered plenty of dramatics as this MVP race reaches its own exciting finish, hitting a leadoff and walk-off home run in the same game against the White Sox last week.
2. Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers (154 total points, 8 1st-place votes)
But don’t forget about the unicorn. Ohtani is inching closer to his return to pitching, with eyes on a start during the Dodgers’ next homestand. If he proves healthy and builds on the 8-2 record and 1.79 ERA he had in his first 14 starts, Crow-Armstrong’s lead could be short-lived, because Ohtani is still having an elite season at the plate. He ranks second in the NL in OPS (.935), tied-fifth in home runs (30) and tied-sixth in RBIs (80).
3. Kyle Schwarber, Phillies (46 total points)
The Phillies are scorching hot, winning nine straight games before Monday night's loss in Seattle and creeping toward the Braves for the NL East lead and the Cubs for the top NL Wild Card spot. Unsurprisingly, Schwarber has mashed four big flies in that stretch, none more iconic than the pair he hit in the MLB at Field of Dreams Game. We’ve seen an MLB-leading 39 Schwarbombs this season. Likely to reach his fourth 40-homer season, Schwarber’s prodigious power will keep his name in the MVP conversation, even if it’s primarily a two-horse race.
4. Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers (45 total points)
The Miz is having one of the best pitching seasons we’ve ever seen. His 248 ERA+ is more than 50 points higher than the next-closest pitcher (Cam Schlittler at 194), while he’s punched out an MLB-best 216 batters. A pitcher has not won an MVP since Clayton Kershaw in 2014 (excluding Ohtani’s two-way efforts), but Misiorowski is making an argument.
5. Matt Olson, Braves (38 total points)
Olson is back in the top five of our MVP poll after falling just short the past two times. He’s the best hitter on a resurgent Braves team, angling for his second 40-homer season while continuing to play Gold Glove-caliber defense at first base. MLB’s current Iron Man also plays, literally, every single day. Olson’s .864 OPS is on pace to be his best since the .993 he posted in a 54-homer 2023.
Others receiving votes: James Wood, Nationals; CJ Abrams, Nationals; Jordan Walker, Cardinals; Brice Turang, Brewers; Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies; Corbin Carroll, Diamondbacks; Jake Bauers, Brewers; Otto Lopez, Marlins; Andy Pages, Dodgers; Bryce Harper, Phillies; Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres; Chris Sale, Braves; Gabriel Moreno, Diamondbacks; JJ Wetherholt, Cardinals