You always want to finish strong. That's exactly what these players did in the final month of the 2026 regular season.
Here are both leagues' monthly award winners for September.
AL Player of the Month: Carter Jensen, Royals
A young Royals left-handed hitter wins this honor for the second straight month as Jensen follows in the footsteps of Jac Caglianone. The 23-year-old catcher wrapped his rookie season with eight homers and an MLB-leading 19 extra-base hits in 21 September games. He batted .338 and paced all qualified hitters with a 1.194 OPS.
NL Player of the Month: Elly De La Cruz, Reds
The Reds' franchise player had overlapping streaks of five consecutive games with a home run and six consecutive games with multiple hits. He posted a .348/.437/.719 slash line across 103 September plate appearances. He bashed nine homers and stole six bases, ultimately finishing with 30 in each category for the year. De La Cruz became just the fourth player in Reds franchise history to have a 30-30 season.
AL Pitcher of the Month: Freddy Peralta, Rays
Peralta, who had a 4.99 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP through 22 starts with the Mets before the Rays traded for him on Aug. 2, has turned his season around with Tampa Bay. In five September starts, he allowed three earned runs and one homer across 28 innings. His WHIP was just 0.89, and he limited hitters to a .162 average.
NL Pitcher of the Month: Jared Jones, Pirates
Jones is just the second Pirates pitcher (Paul Skenes) to win this honor since the start of 2018. The right-hander was in complete control for the entire month as he didn't allow a run in four of his five starts and didn't allow more than one hit in three of them. He walked only four batters in 29 innings, contributing to a minuscule 0.59 WHIP, and he led National League pitchers with 40 strikeouts.
AL Rookie of the Month: Carter Jensen, Royals
Jensen is the first hitter to win both Player and Rookie of the Month since the A's Nick Kurtz in July 2025. Kansas City's burgeoning star led all rookies during the month in runs (19), doubles (10), homers (eight) and total bases (63). His eight dingers were the most in a month by a Royals rookie since Bob Hamelin hit nine in July 1994.
NL Rookie of the Month: Cole Carrigg, Rockies
Carrigg's September totals are solid -- .327 average, six home runs, .911 OPS -- but he didn't really get into gear until the middle of the month. Highlighted by a pair of four-hit performances, Carrigg slashed .389/.400/.704 with five homers and 14 RBIs during his last 13 games of the season.
AL Reliever of the Month: Cade Smith, Guardians
Smith, MLB's co-leader in saves this season with 41, closed out his year with 13 scoreless innings in September. His dominant month included only three hits allowed, two walks, 21 strikeouts and six saves. His 41st and final save of the year clinched a playoff berth for the Guardians, two days before they won the AL Central.
NL Reliever of the Month: Mason Montgomery, Pirates
Montgomery has been one of the NL's top relievers for a few months now, not just in September. From July 27 through September 25, he threw 24 2/3 scoreless innings with 37 K's and seven walks. He allowed three runs in his penultimate appearance of the season on Saturday, but if you subtract that blemish, the left-hander permitted only five hits and struck out 15 batters over 12 1/3 innings.