They’ve burst onto the big league scene with all the immediacy of their fiery four-seamers.
Milwaukee Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski and New York Yankees phenom Cam Schlittler needed precious little time to present a changing of the guard at the sport’s pitching peak. They are the unsurprising recipients of their respective leagues’ 2026 Cy Young Awards. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still express shock at the meteoric rise that got these two young arms to this point in only their first full season.
The voting results revealed by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Wednesday night on MLB Network (with seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens announcing both winners) were the final seal of approval for two sensational and historically significant seasons, with both pitchers receiving the award unanimously. It is only the third time that has happened, alongside Justin Verlander and Sandy Alcantara in 2022, and Denny McLain and Bob Gibson in 1968.
“Surreal to be in this moment,” said Schlittler.
Said the Miz: “It's an honor to represent my city and my teammates. Just being in this situation is awesome.”
In the NL, Cristopher Sánchez of the Phillies finished second, one voting point ahead of Braves ace Chris Sale in third. In the AL, the Blue Jays’ Dylan Cease finished second, while the Guardians’ Rookie of the Year runner-up Parker Messick came in third.
The first winners of the BBWAA Reliever of the Year honors – the Blue Jays’ Louis Varland in the AL and the Padres’ Mason Miller in the NL – were also announced on Wednesday.
With the results official, we can now add the 24-year-old Misiorowski and the 25-year-old Schlittler to this super short list of pitchers to win the Cy Young in their second season (No one has ever won the Cy in a debut season):
• 1981 Fernando Valenzuela, LAD (rookie)
• 1985 Dwight Gooden, NYM, and Bret Saberhagen, KC
• 2008 Tim Lincecum, SF
• 2025 Paul Skenes, PIT
• 2026 Jacob Misiorowski, MIL, and Cam Schlittler, NYY
There was no easing toward ace standing for these two. They took immediate ownership of their respective leagues with both sizzling stuff and the aptitude to make it work routinely.
To put Misiorowski and Schlittler in historical perspective beyond the award itself, consider this: Misiorowski had a 232 ERA+ (or 132% better than league average), while Schlittler had a 215 mark (115% better than average).
This marked only the second time this century (2015, Jake Arrieta and Zack Greinke) that two ERA qualifiers had an ERA+ at least 100% better than league average. And the only other pitchers in the live ball era to have an ERA+ that high in either their first or second season were Gooden in 1985 (229) and Skenes in his Cy season last year (226).
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.
But the humble kid from Grain Valley, Mo., hasn’t let the success go to his head.
“I actually got the chance a few days ago to go hunting with my dad, so, you know, that was probably one of the big highlights [since the World Series],” he said. “I also went to a Chiefs game, so, you know, I’m getting to live the life just normally now, now that baseball is over with for the season.”
There was nothing normal about what either of these arms accomplished.
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.
Still, Schlittler wants that extra piece of hardware that Misiorowski and the Brewers won.
“The job isn’t done yet,” he said.
Though the Miz, a second-round selection out of a Missouri junior college in 2022, and the Schlitt, a seventh-round pick out of Northeastern that same year, were not the highest of profile Draft selections, they were known to have high professional ceilings by the time they reached the Majors. And with Misiorowski making only five MLB starts before he was selected as an All-Star in 2025 and Schlittler carving up his hometown Red Sox in the 2025 AL Wild Card Series, it’s not like they entered 2026 as secret weapons.
Still, to assume they’d pitch this well would have been assuming a lot.
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.
“The biggest thing was just working out in the weight room,” he said. “I think that was a big hole of mine going into this year. So I really focused on that in the offseason, and I think it worked out. But I still get flamed over [saying] this, [but] aiming middle-middle and praying, I swear it works.”
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+, Fielding Independent Pitching (2.17), WHIP (0.80), opponents’ 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 latter stat 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 0.80 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-seamer, he’s in a class of his own as the most extreme example of the game’s elevating velocity standard.
Schlittler’s pure velo is at a more “modest” 98 mph four-seam average, but that still puts him in the sport’s 94th percentile. And with his pinpoint pitch tunneling, a sharp cutter and a two-seamer that generates elite groundball rates, he, too, has taken MLB by storm and made myriad franchises rue the day they passed him over in the Draft.
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+, 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.
Hey, not bad for a seventh rounder.
“At the end of the day, the hard work is gonna be the talent,” Schlittler said. “That’s something my father taught me growing up, and that's something I always try to stand by … Not being a highly touted prospect or whatever, I put the work in and trusted this organization, my coaches, to lead me in the right direction.”
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).
In a season that saw reigning Cy Young winners Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes suffer physical or statistical setbacks, Misiorowski and Schlittler seized their moment and slung their way to the pitching pedestal. They’re ahead of schedule, and therefore right on time.