For the third straight season, Bobby Witt Jr. came up just short of his first career American League MVP Award.
Witt, after finishing second in 2024 and fourth in ‘25, placed third in AL MVP Award voting this year, determined by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Witt received two second-place votes and 11 third-place votes, appearing on all 30 ballots somewhere between second and 10th.
Houston’s Yordan Alvarez won the AL MVP unanimously, with Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero finishing in second, receiving 27 of the 30 second-place votes. Witt’s 188 points beat out New York’s Cam Schlittler, who won the AL Cy Young Award on Wednesday night.
In addition to Witt being one of the best all-around players in the league, his case for MVP was centered around how much he impacts the game by himself.
Witt’s 94 runs scored in 2026 were fewer than fellow finalists Alvarez (105) and Caminero (100), but the offenses around them weren't equally productive. Kansas City ranked 22nd in the Majors with 690 runs scored, while its .694 OPS with runners in scoring position was lower than that of the Rays and Astros (.774).
That context made what Witt did on the basepaths worth a closer look.
According to Baseball-Reference, Witt took an extra base on 66.7% of his opportunities, compared to 36% for Caminero and 22.9% for Alvarez. That doesn't include Witt's 45 stolen bases, the second most in the AL. He also drew a career-high 67 walks, creating additional opportunities to use his speed.
Witt provided offensive production of his own, too, leading qualified AL shortstops in batting average (.281), doubles (33) and slugging percentage (.441).
His contributions extended to the field, where his +24 outs above average led all Major Leaguers at the position. Despite his first career stint on the injured list limiting him to 143 games, Witt accumulated an AL-best 7.0 fWAR.
That impact helped him earn his third consecutive All-MLB First Team honor, adding to an impressisve offseason that includes the first player to win the Heart & Hustle Award three times and a potential Silver Slugger, which will be announced on Tuesday.