Pete Crow-Armstrong had a remarkable 2026 regular season.
PCA finished with 10.6 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) according to the formula used at FanGraphs, which is also referred to as fWAR. Crow-Armstrong finished the season with an NL-best .942 OPS, joined the 40-40 club with 45 home runs and 41 stolen bases and played elite defense in center field, leading to a near 11-WAR season.
That 10.6 fWAR blew away the field and then some. Yordan Alvarez and Bobby Witt Jr. were tied for second with 6.8 fWAR, making for a 3.8-WAR gap.
It marked the first time in 70 years that there was a 3-fWAR gap between the No. 1 and No. 2 players -- since Mickey Mantle (11.5) finished well ahead of Duke Snider (7.5) in 1956. The only other players in the Modern Era (since 1900) to lead by at least 3 fWAR are Rogers Hornsby (1925, '29) and Babe Ruth (1919, '20, '23, '26).
Now, before we go any further, let’s acknowledge this major point:
- There are two major versions of WAR, one at FanGraphs and one at Baseball-Reference (also referred to as bWAR). These systems use somewhat different inputs and calculate WAR differently, so while they generally are in the same ballpark, they don’t line up exactly.
With this in mind, let’s take a closer look at the company PCA joined in the 10-WAR club.
Note: We’re looking at total WAR here, as opposed to just hitting or pitching WAR. Total WAR combines offensive, defensive and pitching value, which affects not just Shohei Ohtani, but also pitchers who hit prior to the universal DH or even position players who have made rare pitching appearances.
Players with 10-WAR seasons in the 30-team era (since 1998)
Pete Crow-Armstrong
2026 (10.6 fWAR)
PCA put it all together with a dominant all-around season in 2026. Joining the 40-40 club was one thing, but Crow-Armstrong paced the Senior Circuit with a .942 OPS and was arguably the top defensive player in baseball.
Aaron Judge
2025 (10.0 fWAR), 2024 (11.2 fWAR, 10.9 bWAR), 2022 (11.1 fWAR, 10.8 bWAR)
Judge missed large chunks of 2023 and ‘26 to injury, but he notched 10 WAR via at least one of the two systems in three consecutive full seasons. In each of the three, he posted a wRC+ of over 200, or more than twice the league average.
Bobby Witt Jr.
2024 (10.5 fWAR)
Witt was the epitome of a complete player in 2024. He posted his second straight 30-30 season, led all MLB hitters with a .332 average and 211 hits, had a 170 wRC+, won his first Gold Glove with an AL-best 16 Outs Above Average at shortstop, and finished second in the AL MVP vote.
Mookie Betts
2018 (10.2 fWAR, 10.7 bWAR)
Betts’ 2018 campaign was the peak of a five-year period from 2015-19 in which he averaged 8.1 bWAR per season. He led MLB with a .346 average and .640 slugging percentage, hit 32 homers and had a 185 wRC+ on his way to AL MVP honors with the world champion Red Sox.
Mike Trout
2016 (10.4 bWAR), 2013 (10.1 fWAR), 2012 (10.1 fWAR, 10.5 bWAR)
Peak Trout had many thinking he could end up being the best player of all time, and his three 10 WAR seasons represented the peak of the peak. Those seasons resulted in the 2012 AL Rookie of the Year Award, the 2016 AL MVP and a wRC+ low of 167.
Zack Greinke
2009 (10.4 bWAR)
No pitcher has crossed the 10-WAR threshold since Greinke did so with the Royals in 2009. He pitched to a 2.16 ERA in 33 starts across 229 1/3 innings on his way to his first – and only – career Cy Young Award.
Barry Bonds
2004 (11.9 fWAR, 10.6 bWAR), 2003 (10.2 fWAR), 2002 (12.7 fWAR, 11.7 bWAR), 2001 (12.5 fWAR, 11.8 bWAR)
From 2001-04, a period in which he was named NL MVP each year, Bonds was quite possibly the most feared hitter who ever lived. In ’01, he set the single-season home run record by smashing 73, and from 2002-04, he broke and re-broke the all-time single-season mark for intentional walks -- he set a record with 68 in ’02, then was issued an intentional free pass 61 times in ’03 and an unfathomable 120 times in ’04. Even prior to that historic run, Bonds produced 9-plus WAR four times (1990, ’92, ’93 and ’96).
Alex Rodriguez
2002 (10.0 fWAR), 2000 (10.4 bWAR)
A-Rod had one of the greatest walk years in MLB history in 2000, when he posted a 1.026 OPS with 41 home runs and 132 RBIs for the Mariners just before inking a then-record 10-year, $252 million contract with the Rangers. Two years later, he belted a career-best 57 home runs to go along with an MLB-leading 142 RBIs and 389 total bases for Texas.
Randy Johnson
2002 (10.5 bWAR)
The Hall of Fame left-hander won four consecutive NL Cy Young Awards with the D-backs from 1999 to 2002, averaging 9.5 WAR per season. Johnson was most dominant in the final year of that stretch, going 24-5 with a 2.32 ERA (195 ERA+, or 95% better than league average) and 334 strikeouts in 260 innings.
Sammy Sosa
2001 (10.2 bWAR)
Slammin’ Sammy Sosa won the NL MVP Award behind a 66-home run barrage in 1998. But his best season may have actually occurred three years later. In 2001, Sosa posted a 186 wRC+, or production 86% better than league average, behind 64 home runs and 160 RBIs.
Pedro Martinez
2000 (11.7 bWAR), 1999 (11.6 fWAR)
Martinez was quite good in his first season with the Red Sox in 1998, finishing as the runner-up in AL Cy Young Award voting. But that was just an appetizer for the dominance that followed. Martinez won consecutive Cy Young Awards in 1999 and 2000, each time leading the Majors in ERA and the AL in strikeouts.
Kevin Brown
1998 (10.0 fWAR)
Brown was a workhorse for the Marlins, Padres and Dodgers from 1996-2000, and the ’98 campaign -- his lone season with San Diego -- was his finest over that span. The hard-throwing right-hander finished that season with a 2.38 ERA (2.23 FIP) and 5.2 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 257 innings for the NL champions.
Other 10-WAR seasons in Modern Era (since 1900)
1997: Roger Clemens (10.8 fWAR, 12.1 bWAR)
1993: Barry Bonds (10.5 fWAR), José Rijo (10.1 bWAR)
1991: Cal Ripken Jr. (10.6 fWAR, 11.5 bWAR)
1990: Roger Clemens (10.4 bWAR), Rickey Henderon (10.2 fWAR)
1985: Dwight Gooden (13.3 bWAR)
1984: Cal Ripken Jr. (10.0 bWAR)
1982: Robin Yount (10.6 bWAR)
1980: Steve Carlton (10.1 bWAR)
1978: Phil Niekro (10.4 bWAR)
1975: Joe Morgan (11.0 fWAR, 10.9 bWAR)
1973: Bert Blyleven (10.8 fWAR), Tom Seaver (11.0 bWAR)
1972: Steve Carlton (11.6 fWAR, 12.5 bWAR), Gaylord Perry (11.0 bWAR), Wilbur Wood (10.3 bWAR)
1971: Fergie Jenkins (11.2 fWAR, 11.8 bWAR), Wilbur Wood (11.0 bWAR), Tom Seaver (10.9 bWAR)
1970: Bob Gibson (11.3 fWAR, 10.1 bWAR)
1969: Bob Gibson (11.3 bWAR), Rico Petrocelli (10.0 bWAR)
1968: Bob Gibson (11.9 bWAR), Carl Yastrzemski (10.4 bWAR)
1967: Carl Yastrzemski (11.1 fWAR, 12.4 bWAR)
1965: Willie Mays (10.7 fWAR, 11.2 bWAR), Sandy Koufax (10.5 fWAR), Juan Marichal (10.5 bWAR)
1964: Willie Mays (10.5 fWAR, 11.0 bWAR)
1963: Willie Mays (10.6 bWAR)
1962: Willie Mays (10.5 fWAR, 10.5 bWAR)
1961: Mickey Mantle (10.3 fWAR, 10.4 bWAR), Norm Cash (10.2 fWAR)
1959: Ernie Banks (10.2 bWAR)
1958: Willie Mays (10.2 bWAR)
1957: Mickey Mantle (11.4 fWAR, 11.3 bWAR)
1956: Mickey Mantle (11.5 fWAR, 11.2 bWAR)
1954: Willie Mays (10.3 fWAR, 10.4 bWAR)
1953: Al Rosen (10.1 bWAR)
1948: Stan Musial (11.0 fWAR, 11.2 bWAR), Lou Boudreau (10.9 fWAR, 10.3 bWAR)
1947: Ted Williams (10.3 fWAR)
1946: Ted Williams (11.6 fWAR, 10.5 bWAR)
1945: Hal Newhouser (12.2 bWAR)
1944: Dizzy Trout (10.9 bWAR)
1942: Ted Williams (11.5 fWAR, 10.4 bWAR)
1941: Ted Williams (11.0 fWAR, 10.3 bWAR)
1936: Lefty Grove (10.6 bWAR), Carl Hubbell (10.1 bWAR)
1935: Wes Ferrell (10.6 bWAR)
1934: Lou Gehrig (10.7 fWAR, 10.0 bWAR)
1932: Jimmie Foxx (11.3 fWAR, 10.3 bWAR)
1931: Babe Ruth (10.7 fWAR, 10.5 bWAR), Lefty Grove (10.0 bWAR)
1930: Babe Ruth (10.7 fWAR, 10.5 bWAR), Lefty Grove (10.4 bWAR)
1929: Rogers Hornsby (11.0 fWAR, 10.5 bWAR)
1928: Babe Ruth (10.5 fWAR, 10.1 bWAR), Dazzy Vance (10.3 bWAR)
1927: Babe Ruth (12.9 fWAR, 12.5 bWAR), Lou Gehrig (12.4 fWAR, 11.8 bWAR), Rogers Hornsby (10.4 fWAR, 10.2 bWAR)
1926: Babe Ruth (11.8 fWAR, 11.4 bWAR)
1925: Rogers Hornsby (10.7 fWAR, 10.1 bWAR)
1924: Babe Ruth (12.3 fWAR, 11.3 bWAR), Rogers Hornsby (12.2 fWAR, 12.1 bWAR), Dazzy Vance (10.3 bWAR)
1923: Babe Ruth (14.7 fWAR, 14.1 bWAR), Dolf Luque (10.9 bWAR)
1922: Rogers Hornsby (10.5 fWAR, 10.0 bWAR)
1921: Babe Ruth (13.6 fWAR, 12.6 bWAR), Rogers Hornsby (11.1 fWAR, 10.9 bWAR), Red Faber (11.1 bWAR)
1920: Babe Ruth (13.2 fWAR, 11.8 bWAR), Grover Alexander (12.7 bWAR)
1919: Walter Johnson (11.0 bWAR)
1918: Walter Johnson (11.8 bWAR)
1917: Ty Cobb (11.5 fWAR, 11.0 bWAR), Eddie Cicotte (12.1 bWAR), Rogers Hornsby (10.0 bWAR)
1916: Grover Alexander (12.1 bWAR), Walter Johnson (11.2 bWAR), Babe Ruth (10.4 bWAR)
1915: Walter Johnson (12.8 bWAR), Grover Alexander (10.9 bWAR)
1914: Walter Johnson (13.1 bWAR)
1913: Walter Johnson (16.6 bWAR)
1912: Tris Speaker (10.6 fWAR, 10.0 bWAR), Walter Johnson (10.4 fWAR, 15.4 bWAR), Ed Walsh (12.8 bWAR), Joe Wood (11.5 bWAR)
1911: Ty Cobb (11.0 fWAR, 10.5 bWAR)
1910: Ty Cobb (10.3 fWAR, 10.3 bWAR), Ed Walsh (11.8 bWAR), Russ Ford (11.7 bWAR), Walter Johnson (11.0 bWAR),Nap Lajoie (10.3 bWAR), Jack Coombs (10.3 bWAR)
1909: Eddie Collins (10.0 fWAR), Christy Mathewson (10.6 bWAR)
1908: Honus Wagner (11.8 fWAR, 11.4 bWAR), Christy Mathewson (10.8 fWAR, 11.9 bWAR), Ed Walsh (10.7 bWAR)
1906: Nap Lajoie (10.0 bWAR)
1905: Honus Wagner (10.8 fWAR, 10.1 bWAR), Christy Mathewson (10.5 bWAR)
1904: Jack Chesbro (11.4 bWAR), Rube Waddell (10.4 bWAR)
1903: Christy Mathewson (10.8 bWAR), Joe McGinnity (11.9 bWAR)
1902: Cy Young (10.1 bWAR), Jack Taylor (10.0 bWAR)
1901: Cy Young (12.4 bWAR)