This far into the 2026 MLB season, we’ve seen all sorts of standout performances from a variety of players, from established stars to inexperienced prospects to surprise performers.
But who will be the best at their positions when the season comes to a close?
In the latest vote predicting the 2026 All-MLB Team presented by MGM Rewards, our panel of MLB.com experts once again predicted the players who are expected to compose the All-MLB First and Second teams at the end of the year.
Ballots were based on both results to this point in this season and what voters expect to happen going forward. Each team features one selection at catcher, first base, second base, shortstop, third base and designated hitter, as well as three outfielders (regardless of specific outfield position), five starting pitchers and two relievers.
Here are the results of MLB.com’s latest All-MLB poll. Unless otherwise noted, all stats are through Monday’s games.
CATCHER
First team: Shea Langeliers (ATH)
Second team: Drake Baldwin (ATL)
After closing 2025 red-hot with a .328/.367/.651 slash line after the All-Star break, Langeliers hasn’t missed a beat in ’26. The Athletics catcher is third in MLB with a .997 OPS, and his .335 batting average is tied for second in the Majors. Even in a lineup featuring Nick Kurtz and Brent Rooker, Langeliers has been the most dangerous bat.
Baldwin, meanwhile, has only gotten better after winning the 2025 National League Rookie of the Year Award. The Braves backstop has a .303/.389/.543 batting line with 13 home runs, the most among qualifying catchers. Baldwin is tied for second in the Majors with 39 runs scored and is tied for third with 38 RBIs. He’s been a huge addition to Atlanta’s lineup.
Others receiving votes: Dillon Dingler (DET), Adley Rutschman (BAL)
FIRST BASE
First team: Matt Olson (ATL)
Second team: Ben Rice (NYY)
For as good as Baldwin has been for the Braves, Olson has been even better. The veteran first baseman has been mashing to start the season, batting .277 with 14 home runs, 15 doubles (tied for the MLB lead), 38 RBIs and a .941 OPS. A fixture in the lineup -- he passed Eddie Yost on Monday for the ninth-longest consecutive games played streak in MLB history, with 830 -- Olson has once again been one of the league’s most productive hitters.
Rice took a big jump from his rookie season in 2024 to his breakout 2025 campaign, and he’s taken just as large a leap from ’25 to ’26. The Yankees slugger leads MLB in OPS at 1.062, emerging as a left-handed complement to Aaron Judge in New York’s lineup. Rice has shown some serious power, tied for fourth in the Majors with 15 home runs, while maintaining a batting average just shy of .300.
Others receiving votes: Nick Kurtz (ATH), Munetaka Murakami (CWS)
SECOND BASE
First team: Brice Turang (MIL)
Second team: Nico Hoerner (CHC)
Much like Rice, Turang continues to level up his game. After boosting his OPS from .665 in 2024 to .794 in ’25, Turang has an .874 OPS and a .403 on-base percentage (second in the NL). A strong defender just two years removed from a 50-steal season, Turang has the capability to do just about anything on the field. There’s a reason he has emerged as a superstar whom Judge recently called “one of my favorite players to watch in the game right now.”
Hoerner accrued a career-high 6.2 bWAR during an excellent 2025 with the Cubs, batting .297 with 29 steals and Gold Glove defense at the keystone. He’s off to a strong start in ’26 amid Chicago’s early surge, offering speed, plus fielding and a high batting average. Hoerner is also on pace for 13 homers, which would be a career high.
Others receiving votes: Xavier Edwards (MIA), Brandon Lowe (PIT), JJ Wetherholt (STL)
THIRD BASE
First team: José Ramírez (CLE)
Second team: Max Muncy (LAD)
Ramírez is batting just .240 with a .799 OPS, which would be his lowest full-season marks since 2015. Still, our voters expect him to once again be MLB’s premier third baseman, and that’s understandable. Ramírez has stolen an AL-leading 20 bases in 49 games, putting him on pace for a career-high 66 swipes. If he can bolster his .430 slugging percentage, his numbers will end up on the high end, just like every year.
Limited to 173 games over the past two seasons due to injury, Muncy has been fully healthy in 2026 and has made a stacked Dodgers lineup even harder to navigate. He’s slugged 12 home runs and has an .886 OPS, higher than any teammate but Dalton Rushing and besting the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Kyle Tucker.
Others receiving votes: Junior Caminero (TB), Kazuma Okamoto (TOR)
SHORTSTOP
First team: Bobby Witt Jr. (KC)
Second team: Elly De La Cruz (CIN)
Witt didn’t hit his first home run until April 26, but he’s picked up the power pace recently and has continued to be one of MLB’s elite five-tool players. The Royals star is batting above .302 with 14 steals, and his 3.0 bWAR is the most among American League position players. One of MLB’s premier defenders, Witt has blossomed into one of the best players in the Majors, let alone at shortstop.
De La Cruz can say the same. 2026 sure looks like his true breakout year at the plate, and what a treat it’s been so far. By massively boosting his numbers against left-handed pitching, the switch-hitting Reds standout is batting .297 with 11 home runs, nine steals and an .893 OPS. With elite defense at shortstop, per Statcast’s Outs Above Average, De La Cruz is putting it all together.
Others receiving votes: CJ Abrams (WSH), Kevin McGonigle (DET)
OUTFIELD
First team: Aaron Judge (NYY), Juan Soto (NYM), Mike Trout (LAA)
Second team: Byron Buxton (MIN), Corbin Carroll (AZ), Jordan Walker (STL)
The first two names on the list of first teamers aren’t a surprise at all -- Judge remains the man to beat in the AL MVP race, with an OPS hovering around 1.000 and a 50-homer pace; and Soto’s power/patience combination certainly places him in the elite tier among outfielders. But Trout’s renaissance is a mild surprise following several injury-plagued seasons, with the three-time MVP enjoying a resurgence so far this year -- he’s already eclipsed his bWAR total in 130 games from last year (1.5).
The second team has some interesting names on it. Buxton has been on a home run binge since April 13, with 15 of them -- all 15 for his season so far -- in his last 26 games. If he can stay healthy, he could have a career year.
Carroll is also on pace for a career year, proving every day that his down year in 2024 was just a blip on the radar. And Walker, after debuting as a heralded prospect and struggling over his first two Major League seasons, has put it all together and is producing eye-popping results. He’s hit more homers so far this year than he had in 279 games from 2024-25.
Others receiving votes: Cody Bellinger (NYY), Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC), Chase DeLauter (CLE), Riley Greene (DET), Julio Rodríguez (SEA), James Wood (WSH)
DESIGNATED HITTER
First team: Yordan Alvarez (HOU)
Second team: Kyle Schwarber (PHI)
It’s strange to see Shohei Ohtani in the “others receiving votes” category here. But Alvarez and Schwarber have been incredible and Ohtani has slumped at the plate for the most part so far in 2026.
Alvarez got off to a scorching start for the Astros, posting a 1.199 OPS with 12 homers through April. And Schwarber has been making May a prolific month after historically being a red-hot hitter in June -- he’s hit nine homers in his last 10 games and tied the Phillies’ record for fastest to 20 homers in a season (45 games).
Others receiving votes: Shohei Ohtani (LAD)
STARTING PITCHERS
First team: Paul Skenes (PIT), Shohei Ohtani (LAD), Cam Schlittler (NYY), Cristopher Sánchez (PHI), Jacob Misiorowski (MIL)
Second team: Dylan Cease (TOR), Chris Sale (ATL), Jacob deGrom (TEX), Nolan McLean (NYM), Shota Imanaga (CHC)
Skenes, his first and most recent start of this season notwithstanding, has been his typical tremendous self on the mound. In the eight starts in between, the flamethrowing phenom posted a 1.09 ERA with 55 strikeouts and just five walks. Ohtani, meanwhile, has been outstanding on the mound despite his struggles at the plate -- he has a 0.82 ERA with 50 strikeouts and 11 walks over 44 innings.
After bursting onto the national stage with his outstanding performance in the postseason last fall, Schlittler has entered his first full Major League season as advertised. Over 10 starts so far for the Yankees, he owns a 1.35 ERA and 0.78 WHIP. Sánchez continues to dominate for the Phillies with a 1.82 ERA after finishing as the runner-up in last year’s NL Cy Young Award balloting.
And we’re running out of superlatives for Misiorowski. The big right-hander has been shattering velocity-related records and is tied with Sánchez for the Major League lead with 80 strikeouts.
The second team features a trio of veterans, a Rookie of the Year candidate and a southpaw on the North Side of Chicago off to the best start of his Major League career.
Cease has been worth every penny so far after signing the largest free-agent contract in Blue Jays history this past offseason. He has a 2.41 ERA and a 34.6% strikeout rate over nine starts for Toronto. Sale, the 2024 NL Cy Young Award winner, is continuing his late-career renaissance with a 1.96 ERA over nine starts so far in ’26.
If deGrom can stay healthy, a full season from the veteran right-hander could be a huge lift for Texas. In his healthiest season since 2019, he pitched to a 2.97 ERA over 30 starts last year. McLean, meanwhile, is a leading NL Rookie of the Year candidate early on after a strong start to his first full MLB season, featuring a 2.92 ERA and 0.96 WHIP.
Imanaga was hit hard by the Brewers on Monday at Wrigley Field, giving up eight runs over 4 1/3 innings. But he pitched at least six innings and yielded two or fewer runs in six of his previous seven outings.
Others receiving votes: Chase Burns (CIN), Shane McClanahan (TB), Tarik Skubal (DET), Zack Wheeler (PHI), Gavin Williams (CLE), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LAD)
RELIEF PITCHERS
First team: Mason Miller (SD), Cade Smith (CLE)
Second team: Jhoan Duran (PHI), Louis Varland (TOR)
How utterly overpowering has Miller been this season? He has a minuscule FIP (0.10). He passed his fellow projected first-team member Smith for the Major League lead in saves (15) on Monday and has a 0.82 ERA with an absurd 53.6% strikeout rate. Batters are hitting .137 against him.
Smith has struck out 31 and walked only five in 21 2/3 innings for the Guardians so far in 2026, and while his ERA is 2.91, his FIP is more than a run below that at 1.53.
Duran picked up his eighth save of the season for Philadelphia with a clean ninth inning on Monday, lowering his ERA to 1.42. He’s also struck out 21 in 12 2/3 innings. And Varland has been a revelation for the Blue Jays with his 0.38 ERA in 22 appearances.
Others receiving votes: David Bednar (NYY), Aroldis Chapman (BOS), Dylan Lee (ATL), Daniel Palencia (CHC), Robert Suarez (ATL)