Category: Baseball

For the third year in a row, the Cy Young race was somewhat of a foregone conclusion.

Today, Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski was named the unanimous National League Cy Young Award winner, joining Randy Johnson (2001) and Justin Verlander (2022) as the only pitchers since 2000 to win the Cy Young and the World Series in the same year. He is the fourth Brewer to win the award in franchise history, following Rollie Fingers (1981), Pete Vuckovich (1982), and Corbin Burnes (2021).

Misiorowski flashed as a rookie last year, starting off hot and (controversially) making the All-Star team after just five career starts, but he struggled with his command down the stretch and finished the year with a 4.36 ERA. This year, in his first full season as a big-leaguer, Misiorowski worked out the kinks and became completely and utterly dominant, leading the majors in ERA (1.80), strikeouts (252), and WHIP (0.80) while going 16-5.

Highlights from his record-breaking season include:

• Making history with the first-ever 15-strikeout “Maddux” (a complete-game shutout on fewer than 100 pitches) in an early-June game against the Phillies. Misiorowski was a Kyle Schwarber single away from a perfect game, and his 15 strikeouts tied Corbin Burnes for the second-most in a game in Brewers history, behind only Ben Sheets (18).
• Setting the record for the fastest pitch ever thrown by a starting pitcher, a 105.5-mph fastball.
• Throwing 1,115 pitches at 100 mph or harder, the most in a season since tracking began in 2008, shattering Jordan Hicks’ previous record of 673 in 2018.
• Making the National League All-Star team for the second time in as many years.
• Holding opponents to a .157 batting average, the lowest on record for a full season.
• Becoming the first Brewer in history to lead the league in both ERA and strikeouts in the same season.
• Starting the game that clinched the first World Series title in franchise history.

Cristopher Sánchez of the Phillies finished second for the second year in a row, receiving 17 of 30 second-place votes, while Braves left-hander Chris Sale finished third.

In the American League, fellow second-year starter Cam Schlittler also won the award unanimously. Schlittler put together an amazing season of his own, leading AL starters in WAR (7.0), ERA (1.95), and ERA+ (215). Dylan Cease of the Blue Jays finished second, and rookie Parker Messick of the Guardians finished third.

LOS ANGELES — The Baseball Writers Association of America added a new award this season, honoring the top relief pitcher in each league each year. The inaugural winner of the National League Reliever of the Year is Mason Miller in a landslide.

The San Diego Padres closer received all 30 first-place votes. His stats tell the story, as Miller put up a 1.67 ERA, best among all National League pitchers with 50 innings. Miller was also tops in xERA (1.70), FIP (1.17), xFIP (1.54), strikeout rate (an eye-popping 47.4 percent), strikeout-minus-walk rate (37.9 percent), and saves (38, in 41 attempts).

I had a vote in this award this year, and I voted Miller in the top spot. Before casting my ballot, I asked a few Dodgers relievers how they might define relief pitcher of the year, and in the course of our conversations, Miller also gained their respect, too.

“It’s got to be Mason Miller,” said left-hander Alex Veisa. “He has been unbelievable to watch. His stuff is — you know, when he was in Oakland, right, it’s like how could someone get any better? And he’s still getting better.”

“It will probably be limited to a closer role, and in the National League for closers, how can you not say Mason Miller?” asked southpaw Jack Dreyer.

I was not only certain pretty early on about Miller in the top spot, but also Johan Duran of the Philadelphia Phillies seemed like the clear choice for my No. 2 on the ballot. Duran saved 33 games in 35 tries, all while finishing second to Miller among NL relievers in ERA (1.82), xERA (2.04), FIP (1.41), xFIP (1.74), and strikeout-minus-walk rate (31.4 percent).

“Someone that contributes to a winning baseball team and the biggest moments, he gets outs there frequently,” said right-hander Evan Phillips. “It’s interesting to point out a couple guys down there in San Diego that have been used a ton this year — Mason Miller and Adrián Morejón. Obviously Mason more in the traditional closer’s role, but what Morejón’s been doing, the workload he’s had this year, and how much they relied on him, that’s notable to me.”

Adrián Morejón, a former starting pitcher, was incredibly effective out of the bullpen in San Diego, posting a 2.83 ERA in 76 games for the Padres, with a 2.33 xERA, 2.37 FIP, and 2.64 xFIP in 86 innings.

We all saw what left-hander Aaron Ashby did for the Milwaukee Brewers in October, putting up one of the great postseason runs ever by a reliever, throwing 18 scoreless innings with 20 strikeouts and three walks. Eight of his nine appearances lasted at least five outs, including a three-inning save to close out the Dodgers in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.

“That award should probably go to like some version of closer of the year, just because of leverage spots,” Dreyer said. “I think there’s also value to appearances and that kind of the thing.”

Morejón was second in the NL with 76 appearances, and Ashby was third with 75. Ashby pitched 89 1/3 innings, while Morejón pitched 86. Here’s how these two busy relievers compared:

• Morejón: 2.83 ERA, 2.33 xERA, 2.37 FIP, 30.4% K rate, 8% BB rate, 1.1% HR rate
• Ashby: 3.12 ERA, 2.98 xERA, 3.11 FIP, 30.3% K rate, 10.7% BB rate, 2.1% HR rate

Morejón had the edge in ERA, xERA, and FIP, with fewer walks and fewer home runs allowed. That earned Morejón my third-place vote.

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“Ashby — I don’t understand that. It’s 98 to 100 from up here and sinking and curving,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said before Game 4 of the NLCS. “They’ve just got a lot of weapons.”

Those other weapons in the Brewers bullpen included closer Trevor Megill and right-hander Abner Uribe.

“It’ll be interesting to see how it’ll get voted on. Whether it’s best closer award or best overall reliever, pitching in leverage,” Phillips said. “You’ve got guys from Milwaukee pitching multiple up-downs, I gues you could say four or five outs at a time — Ashby, Uribe. With Trevor Megill the more traditional closer, they have guys just throwing a ton of inning and getting a lot of high-quality outs.”

Here are the three main Brewers relievers:

• Megill: 61 2/3 IP, 30 saves, 2.63 ERA, 2.63 xERA, 1.85 FIP, 28.5% K rate, 6.2% BB rate, 0.4% HR rate
• Ashby: 89 1/3 IP, 4 saves, 3.12 ERA, 2.98 xERA, 3.11 FIP, 30.3% K rate, 10.7% BB rate, 2.1% HR rate
• Uribe: 59 1/3 IP, 6 saves, 1.97 ERA, 2.80 xERA, 2.68 FIP, 26.5% K rate, 8.2% BB rate, 1.3% HR rate

“You’re grouping two sets of pitchers together in this category. There’s a closer who has a defined role, who’s only pitching in the ninth when the game’s on the line, okay, great. Then there’s relievers who pitch the sixth, seventh, and eighth inning, depending on the leverage of the game,” Vesia said. “Those are two completely different situations, and both have their challenges. Both have a debate on which is harder, what’s easier.”

I threw in Tanner Scott here with the same stats as the Brewers trio above, and he held up quite well:

• Scott: 63 2/3 IP, 25 saves, 2.69 ERA, 3.04 xERA, 2.09 FIP, 32.7% K rate, 6% BB rate, 1.6% HR rate

After Miller and Duran locked into my top two spots, I really wanted to make room down ballot for someone with a three-inning save or even multiple. Had we voted after the NLCS, Ashby obviously would have rocketed up my list, but there wasn’t any other reliever that I could really justify voting for on the strength of a relative novelty.

I gave Morejón the edge over Ashby for my third-place vote, and I thought Ashby’s 30 more innings vaulted him over his teammate Uribe. But I went with Megill fourth and Scott fifth over Ashby, for a few reasons.

Megill was very steady. FanGraphs measures shutdowns and meltdowns, both based on fluctuations in win probability added. Megill had 34 shutdowns against only six meltdowns, and was third among NL relievers with a 1.85 FIP, trailing only Miller and Duran.

Scott pitched 19 times on zero days rest, the second-most appearances among NL pitchers.

“As long as you stick to your routine, do everything that you need to do to get ready to throw your prep and your post — shoulder care and arm care is huge. When you have that rhythm of that system scheduling down, just don’t do anything else,” Scott said, explaining his mindset. “It goes in the back of your head, you feel ready for every single day, even if you went two days or three days in a row.”

“Availability, just being able to go out there and get those reps and be that guy your team can rely on, it means a ton,” Phillips added.

In addition, here is the average leverage index for each of these pitchers when entering a game, as calculated by FanGraphs (1.0 is average, and anything above is above-average leverage, i.e. tougher situations):

• Mason Miller 1.86 (2nd)
• Tanner Scott 1.82 (3rd)
• Adrián Morejón 1.80 (4th)
• Jhoan Duran 1.71 (5th)
• Trevor Megill 1.70 (6th)
• Abner Uribe 1.66 (9th)
• Aaron Ashby 1.37 (24th)

My ballot was Miller 1st, Duran 2nd, Morejón 3rd, Megill 4th, Scott 5th.

Scott finished in eighth place for the award, and appeared on seven ballots. Seven points were awarded for each first-place vote, then four points for a second-place vote, three points for third place, two points for fourth place, and one point for fifth place.

Unsurprisingly, Jacob Misiorowski was the winner of the NL Cy Young award, getting all thirty first-place votes. But there was some love for Arizona further down the ballot, with Eduardo Rodriguez getting two fifth-place votes, from Tyler Kepner of the Athletic, and Dejan Kovacevic of DK Pittsburgh Sports. E-Rod is the first D-back to be mentioned since 2023, and the first apart from Zac Gallen since 2018. Here are the Diamondbacks to receive votes in the NL Cy Young balloting over the past twenty years, since Brandon Webb was the last Diamondback to take home the award.

• 2026: Eduardo Rodriguez – 7th, 2 points
• 2023: Zac Gallen – 3rd, 68 points
• 2022: Zac Gallen – 5th, 45 points
• 2020: Zac Gallen – =9th, 2 points
• 2018: Patrick Corbin – 5th, 23 points
• 2017: Zack Greinke – 4th, 52 points
  + Robbie Ray – 7th, 6 points
• 2011: Ian Kennedy – 4th, 76 points
• 2009: Dan Haren – 5th, 1 point
• 2008: Brandon Webb – 2nd, 76 points
• 2007: Brandon Webb – 2nd, 94 points
  + Jose Valverde – =6th, 2 points
• 2006: Brandon Webb – 1st, 106 points

This year feels like a Rorschach Test for how the BBWAA evaluate pitchers. Rodriguez did considerably better in the old school metrics. His ERA of 2.89 was fifth among qualified pitchers in the National League, and by wins (16), he only trailed Cristopher Sánchez of the Phillies (18). Innings pitched also had E-Rod ranked highly, third in the NL. [Though in a sign of the times, only two pitchers reached even 190 innings. As recently as 2014, twenty-seven pitchers in the NL did] But Rodriguez ranked only seventh by bWAR among pitchers (4.7), and fWAR ranked him all the way down at 12th, on 3.2 wins, likely due to his FIP being a run more than his ERA.

In the old-school era – like when Brandon Webb lost out on Rookie of the Year in 2003 to Dontrelle Willis, I suspect Eduardo would perhaps have made the top three. But W’s and, to a lesser extent, ERA are no longer seen as the definitive measure of pitcher quality. I’m somewhat torn about that. Wins, I get. While good starters will tend to pick up more of them, the offense plays a huge part in that, and is something over which the pitcher has no control. ERA is also dependent on external factors, albeit to a lesser extent, with defense a factor, beyond what is recorded in earned vs. unearned runs. But generating weak contact, leading to “better” defense, feels like a skill too.

Still, there’s no denying Rodriguez had an excellent, and much-needed, season for Arizona. After back-to-back campaigns with an ERA above five, he finally delivered the kind of pitching we expected when Rodriguez was signed to a four-year, $80 million contract in December 2023. Given those two seasons of barely above replacement level production, he’ll probably need the same at 2026 again next year to make this feel like a decent signing. But given where we started, I’d settle for that. At least Rodriguez is likely no longer at risk of becoming a new entry on our Worst Diamondbacks Contracts list.

Brandyn Garcia

It would be remiss not to mention Garcia, who actually received a fourth-place vote as part of the new category, for Reliever of the Year. That vote, from John Shea of the San Francisco Standard, put him tied for 11th. The award going by unanimous acclaim (all thirty first-place votes) to Mason Miller of the Padres. I’d say that mention was fully deserved by the Arizona rookie, who appeared in 57 games for the Diamondbacks and posted a sparkling 1.93 ERA, with a K:BB ratio of 60:11 and a FIP of 2.57. The Josh Naylor trade with the Mariners which brought us Garcia, is looking pretty good about now.

Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale finished 3rd in 2026 National League Cy Young voting behind Milwaukee Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski, who won the award unanimously, and Cristopher Sanchez, who finished ahead of Sale by exactly one vote.

Full results are here:

Chris Sale third in NL Cy Young Award voting pic.twitter.com/aB5ZKVb2zi

— Chad Bishop (@MrChadBishop) November 12, 2026

Sale experienced another fantastic season with the Braves in 2026 across 27 starts. Atlanta gave Sale extra rest at nearly every turn possible, and it worked out well, as the 37-year-old future Hall of Famer posted a 2.16 ERA, 2.29 FIP and 2.82 xFIP in 162.2 innings.

In years where Sale made upwards of 20 starts, his spectacular 2.16 ERA was the second-best mark of his career, trailing only his 2018 season in Boston. He struck out 200 hitters for the ninth time in his career and only walked 31, giving him the second-best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the Majors this past season (trailing only Misiorowski). Among qualified starters, Sale’s ERA ranked 7th in MLB, his FIP ranked 2nd and his xFIP ranked 3rd.

What more can you say about Sale at this point? An unexpected trade nearly three years ago has worked out better than anyone could have ever dreamed. Shout out to Vaughn Grissom and the Boston Red Sox.

In the American League, young Yankees righty Cam Schlittler took home the award unanimously with every first place vote, beating out Dylan Cease and Parker Messick.

Welcome to our series grading every member of the San Diego Padres’ 40-man roster. The roster being evaluated is current as of Oct. 18, prior to the end of the World Series. Because of that, it will include players who will be free agents once the postseason concludes. Each player will be graded on their performance in the 2026 season, including the playoffs. That performance will be weighted based on how much time the player spent with the team (availability is the best ability). 

David Morgan

Morgan went undrafted in 2022 but was invited to a workout with other prospects at Petco Park. The California native impressed the scouts and signed with the club ahead of the 2022 season. When Morgan made his MLB debut with the Padres in 2025, he was electric. In 47 1/3 innings of work, the right-hander quickly became a high-leverage option for San Diego down the stretch, authoring a 2.66 ERA in that time.

Overall Grade: C

Last season was a step back from that dominant rookie campaign. Morgan posted a 3.78 ERA, 1.77 WHIP and .282 opponent batting average across 33 1/3 innings. Those aren’t horrible numbers, but they aren’t great either. In 2025, Morgan was one of the best rookie pitchers in baseball. That wasn’t the case in his sophomore season.

That wasn’t entirely his fault. Morgan landed on the injured list with left knee inflammation right before the Trade Deadline. He missed 38 games before undergoing a rehab assignment in Triple-A. After returning, he dominated. Morgan pitched to a 2.92 ERA in his final 15 appearances and a 1.17 ERA in his last seven outings.

Overall, it wasn’t a bad season from the 27-year-old. He pitched relatively well, but simply didn’t cover enough innings to warrant a better grade. He should be a big piece of the 2027 bullpen picture, with Morgan being a higher-leverage middle-innings reliever for manager Craig Stammen to turn to.

This might be as good as it gets for Jacob Misiorowski. If nothing else, his 2026 accomplishments set a bar he’ll gladly take aim at for as long as he throws a baseball.

World Series champion. Most dominant pitcher in Major League Baseball. And, at 24, winner of the National League Cy Young Award.

Misiorowski’s coronation was completed Wednesday, Nov. 11, when he was unanimously named the NL Cy Young winner by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He’s the youngest Cy Young honoree since Clayton Kershaw won the first of his three NL trophies for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2011.

More: Yankees' Cam Schlittler wins AL Cy Young Award by unanimous vote

Misiorowski was one of three pitchers named on all 30 ballots, with Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez topping Atlanta lefty Chris Sale by one point for second place. Sale, who won the award in 2024, posted his eighth career top five Cy Young finish.

It’s clear that Misiorowski, in his first full major league season, is just getting started. Yet it’s already a tall order to outdo the ’26 version of himself.

He led the major leagues in seven major statistical categories, most notably his 1.80 ERA and 252 strikeouts. Misiorowski jammed those into 174⅔ innings pitched, topping all pitchers with 13 strikeouts per nine innings while yielding the fewest hits – 4.9 per nine – of anyone.

In short, as unhittable as a pitcher can be.

It’s what you might expect from a pitcher who threw the six fastest pitches of 2026, topped by a 105.5 mph fastball he threw on the first pitch of the game to likely NL MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong on June 26. The Miz was responsible for 28 of the 35 fastest pitches across the majors this season, ranging from 104 to 105.5 mph.

With great velocity often comes significant injury concerns. But Misiorowski stayed upright all the way through the World Series, throwing a career-high 193⅔ innings, including playoffs, seemingly defying what the human body can do.

Come late October, he wasn’t the strikeout machine he was from March through September. Yet he started Games 1 and 5 of the Brewers’ World Series against Tampa Bay, as they won both games and he gave up just six hits and one run in 10⅔ innings pitched.

That delivered the first World Series championship in Brewers franchise history. And Misiorowski took home the team’s fourth Cy Young Award, first since Corbin Burnes in 2021 and just the second since 1982, when Pete Vuckovich won it during the Brewers’ run to Game 7 of the World Series.

This time, the Brewers finished the job in five games, their ace and their team setting a standard to which he can aspire every single year.

NL Cy Young Award voting results

• Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers: 210 points (30 first-place votes)
• Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies: 99 points (17 second-place votes, 6 third, 6 fourth, 1 fifth)
• Chris Sale, Braves: 98 points (11 second, 16 third, 3 fourth)
• Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers: 63 points (2 second, 7 third, 14 fourth, 6 fifth)
• Jesús Luzardo, Phillies: 34 points (1 third, 7 fourth, 17 fifth)
• Mason Miller, Padres: 4 points (4 fifth)
• Eduardo Rodríguez, Diamondbacks: 2 points (2 fifth)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brewers' Jacob Misiorowski wins NL Cy Young Award in unanimous vote

The Toronto Blue Jays' Louis Varland and San Diego Padres' Mason Miller were named Major League Baseball's 2026 Reliever of the Year winners on Wednesday, Nov. 11, the first edition of the reliever award being handed out by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Varland posted a 1.27 ERA with 35 saves in the regular season, setting a career high with 78 innings pitched and 97 strikeouts and received 16 of 30 first-place votes for the award. The right-hander built on his strong 2025 postseason, appearing in 15 games as the Blue Jays lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. He beat out AL finalists Cade Smith of the Cleveland Guardians and Bryan Baker of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Miller had a 1.67 ERA with 129 strikeouts in 70 innings for the Padres, one of the most dominant regular seasons ever assembled by a relief pitcher. He received all 30 first-place votes to win over finalists Trevor Megill of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Philadelphia Phillies' Jhoan Duran.

An award for baseball's top relievers is anything but new. The Rolaids Relief Man Award was issued from 1976-2012 and starting in 2012, MLB began handing out its own honor – now named the Mariano Rivera AL and Trevor Hoffman NL Relievers of the Year. The Boston Red Sox's Aroldis Chapman and New York Mets' Edwin Diaz received the MLB awards in 2025.

Reliever of the Year voting results

Voting on 5-3-1 scoring basis

American League

• Louis Varland, Blue Jays: 146 points (16 first place votes, 4 second place votes, 5 third place votes, 1 fourth place vote, 1 fifth place vote)
• Cade Smith, Guardians: 133 points (7 first, 15 second, 8 third)
• Bryan Baker, Rays: 111 points (6 first, 8 second, 11 third, 2 fourth)
• Aroldis Chapman, Red Sox: 36 points (1 second, 3 third, 8 fourth, 7 fifth)
• Josh Hader, Astros: 22 points (1 first, 4 fourth, 7 fifth)
• David Bednar, Yankees: 20 points (1 second, 1 third, 5 fourth, 3 fifth)
• Jacob Latz, Rangers: 17 points (7 fourth, 3 fifth)
• Brent Headrick, Yankees: 12 points (2 third, 2 fourth, 2 fifth)
• Garrett Whitlock, Rangers: 6 points (1 second, 2 fifth)
• Grant Taylor, White Sox: 3 points (3 fifth)
• Spencer Miles, Blue Jays: 2 points (2 fifth)
• Tyler Rogers, Blue Jays: 2 points (1 fourth)

National League

• Mason Miller, Padres: 210 points (30 first place votes)
• Jhoan Duran, Phillies: 110 points (24 second, 4 third, 1 fourth)
• Trevor Megill, Brewers: 66 points (2 second, 11 third, 11 fourth, 3 fifth)
• Adrian Morejon, Padres: 64 points (4 second, 12 third, 3 fourth, 6 fifth)
• Raisel Iglesias, Braves: 17 points (2 third, 4 fourth, three fifth)
• Mason Montgomery, Pirates: 11 points (3 fourth, 5 fifth)
• Didier Fuentes, Braves: 10 points (3 fourth, 4 fifth)
• Tanner Scott, Dodgers: 8 points (1 fourth, 6 fifth)
• Aaron Ashby, Brewers: 6 points (1 third, 1 fourth, 1 fifth)
• Dylan Lee, Braves: 3 points (1 fourth, 1 fifth)
• Brandyn Garcia, Diamondbacks: 2 points (1 fourth)
• Abner Uribe, Brewers: 2 points (1 fourth)
• Emilio Pagan, Reds: 1 point (1 fifth)

Louis Varland stats

• W–L: 5–6
• ERA: 1.27
• G: 71
• SV: 35
• IP: 78.0
• SO: 97
• WHIP: 1.00
• H: 55
• ER: 11
• HR: 2
• BB: 23
• K/9: 11.2
• WAR: 3.6

Mason Miller stats

• W–L: 5–2
• ERA: 1.67
• G: 66
• GS: 0
• SV: 38
• IP: 70.0
• SO: 129
• WHIP: 0.90
• H: 37
• R: 16
• ER: 13
• HR: 3
• BB: 26
• K/9: 16.6
• WAR: 3.1

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who won MLB Reliever of the Year? Louis Varland, Mason Miller take inaugural awards

490 days ago, a lanky, 6’7” rookie from Walpole, Massachusetts, by way of Northeastern University, set foot on a major league mound for the first time at Yankee Stadium. It came just over three years after he was unceremoniously drafted in the seventh round of the 2022 MLB Draft with a very inefficient delivery and a fastball sitting in the high-80s.

By the time he debuted in the major leagues, he was throwing 100 mph. Three months after his debut, he shoved his childhood team into a locker in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series with one of the best playoff starts in franchise history. And as an encore in 2026? He proceeded to put up one of the greatest pitching seasons in franchise history.

Cam Schlittler’s incredible rise as the Yankees’ ace of the present and future has been completed, as he was named the 2026 AL Cy Young Award winner on Wednesday night, doing so unanimously.

CY State of Mind.

Cam Schlittler is your 2026 American League Cy Young Award Winner! pic.twitter.com/xTK6zoNMPW

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) November 12, 2026

Schlittler was engaged in a heated race with Toronto’s Dylan Cease for much of the season, but the veteran faded with injury and ineffectiveness down the stretch, while the 25-year-old Schlittler wound up leading the American League in pretty much everything that mattered.

He finished the season with a 14-6 record, a 1.95 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 239 strikeouts in 196 innings, a 215 ERA+, 2.56 FIP, and 7.0 rWAR. His numbers are historic. He is the first pitcher in the Junior Circuit to have a sub-2 ERA in over 190 innings since 2000 Pedro Martinez. His ERA+ is a franchise record, surpassing the standard-bearer, 1978 Ron Guidry (208).

He is the seventh Cy Young Award winner in franchise history, joining the likes of Sparky Lyle, Whitey Ford, Ron Guidry, Bob Turley, Roger Clemens, and Gerrit Cole, as well as the third unanimous winner, joining 1978 Guidry and 2023 Cole.

In the final voting total, he blew Cease out of the water, 210 to 110, by virtue of the Blue Jays’ ace receiving only 22 second-place votes. Parker Messick of the Guardians came in third, followed by the Rays’ Drew Rasmussen and Boston’s Sonny Gray.

Congrats, Cam!

"My teammates, my coaches, they've really helped my development this year… the job isn't done yet."@Yankees star Cam Schlittler discusses his AL Cy Young Award-winning season and who inspired him throughout his journey! pic.twitter.com/yIk861sQll

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 12, 2026

Cam Schlittler completed a stunning four-year rise from seventh-round pick to New York Yankees ace to best pitcher in the American League when he was unanimously voted the Cy Young Award winner in balloting released Wednesday, Nov. 11.

Schlittler, 25, led the AL in both earned-run average (1.95) and pitching WAR (7.0) and struck out 239 batters over 193⅔ innings. He’s the seventh Cy Young winner in Yankees history but just the third since 1977.

Schlittler outpointed Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Dylan Cease, who notched his second career second-place finish, as he was runner-up for the Chicago White Sox in 2022. Cleveland Guardians rookie left-hander Parker Messick finished third.

More: Brewers' Jacob Misiorowski wins NL Cy Young Award

Gerrit Cole was the most recent Yankees player to take home the top pitching honor, in 2023. A year earlier, the Yankees used a seventh-round pick to select Schlittler out of Northeastern, believing he could add strength and ultimately velocity to his 88-mph fastball.

Cole succumbed to Tommy John surgery in March 2025 but Schlittler arrived for his major league debut in July, turning in 14 excellent starts before announcing his arrival on a grander stage in a dominant wild-card series clincher against the Boston Red Sox.

Schlittler channeled the momentum from that breakout into 2026, posting 11 starts in which he pitched into at least the seventh inning and gave up two or fewer runs. The Yankees won 21 of his 33 starts in his first full major league season.

All just a few years after Schlittler arrived needing a mechanical revamp and physical maturity to justify what the Yankees saw in him.

“They’re not going to baby you. This is professional baseball,” Schlitter told USA TODAY Sports earlier this year. “I took advantage of the resources I had, the coaches and teammates I had along the way and that’s why I’m in the position I’m in.”

Schlittler has emerged as the ace in a Yankees rotation that includes Cole and left-handers Max Fried and Carlos Rodón, a trio that arrived as free agents on nine-figure contracts. Schlittler still has two seasons before he's even arbitration-eligible and would be under team control through the 2031 season.

He's the first home-grown Yankees Cy Young winner since Ron Guidry in 1978.

"Cam had as dominant a season as a starting pitcher can have from start to finish," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said in a statement released by the club. "He’s shown an astonishing amount of growth since we drafted him, and his success is no accident.

"Cam has a tireless appetite for hard work and refinement that has allowed his talents to truly flourish. This Cy Young is richly deserved."

AL Cy Young Award voting results

• Cam Schlittler, Yankees: 210 points (30 first-place votes)
• Dylan Cease, Blue Jays: 110 points ( 22 second-place votes, 6 third, 2 fourth)
• Parker Messick, Guardians: 84 points (7 second, 12 third, 9 fourth, 2 fifth)
• Drew Rasmussen, Rays: 72 points (1 second, 12 third, 15 fourth, 2 fifth
• Sonny Gray, Red Sox: 21 points (3 fourth, 15 fifth)
• Reid Detmers, Angels: 9 points (1 fourth, 7 fifth)
• Cade Smith, Guardians: 2 points (2 fifth)
• Bryan Baker, Rays: 1 point (1 fifth)
• Michael Wacha, Royals: 1 point (1 fifth)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Yankees' Cam Schlittler wins AL Cy Young Award in unanimous vote

Happy Veterans Day to those who have served and are currently serving. Thank you for your service.

There will be a slew of awards handing out tonight, to include potentially some players from the Atlanta Braves. At 7 p.m. ET the Cy Young awards will be announced. Chris Sale is a finalist for Cy Young, although he is not the favorite to win.

There is also the MLB Awards Show at 9 p.m. ET where the Hank Aaron Award, Reliever of the Year Award, Outstanding DH Award, and All-MLB teams will all be anounced.

Follow along in the comments below with your predictions on who on the Braves will be named to the All-MLB team, and how many votes Chris Sale will receive for Cy Young. It will also be interesting to see if Fuentes, eighth place in ROTY votes, gets mentioned in the Reliever of the Year conversation on the MLB show at all.

The Dodgers’ early offseason to-do list includes a meeting with top free agent Tarik Skubal, the two-time Cy Young winner who they acquired at the trade deadline this year.

Other than the Dodgers’ National League Championship Series exit, the three-month fling was as happy of a partnership as either side could have hoped.

Skubal jelled with the group immediately, becoming especially close friends with fellow lefty Blake Snell, who promised that he’d worked to recruit Skubal back this offseason. And after posting a 2.61 ERA in 10 starts, Skubal, the Dodgers’ Game 1 starter in both playoff series, limited postseason opponents to a total of three runs.

“I know that he enjoyed his time here, we loved having him, so I think that’s certainly helpful as far as these conversations go,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said Tuesday at General Managers meetings. “And outside of that, he’s earned the right to be in this position and figure out what’s best for him and his family.”

That position, while it guarantees him a highly lucrative contract, is complicated by the impending lockout. Skubal’s agent, Scott Boras, when asked during his media availability Wednesday whether he’d consider a shorter deal with a higher average annual value, said he wouldn’t discuss contract negotiations. But creativity around the structure of a deal could help counter teams’ anxieties over a possible salary cap in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Read more:Dodgers' Brandon Gomes shares updates on Tarik Skubal, Shoki Oda, Josue De Paula and more

It’s clear already that CBA uncertainty won’t fully freeze the market in November. But executives and agents alike have expressed skepticism that the expected lockout will inspire the same kind of spending flurry that arose in 2021, the end of the last CBA cycle.

Boras, however, argued against the notion that salary cap talk could put a damper on the superstar market before Dec. 1, when the lockout is expected to go into effect.

“Much like 2021, there’s a clear intent on a group of players, and we have no reservations by any teams that they’re going to operate within their abilities and freedoms because they want they don’t want to lose to their competitors,” Boras told reporters. “They want the market to be what it is for them, and they’re utilizing their rights to compete. I think they’re very concerned about losing the opportunity to sign select, key players, and they’re pursuing it aggressively.”

The Dodgers are among the teams planning to meet with Skubal, a group that reportedly includes the Mets, Padres and others.

The Dodgers certainly have a track record of splashy offseason deals with eye-popping numbers. Look no further than last offseason, when they broke records with their signings of closer Edwin Díaz (three years, $69 million, highest AAV for a relief pitcher) and right fielder Kyle Tucker (four years, $240 million, highest present-day AAV).

Even the Dodgers’ trade-deadline acquisition of Skubal appeared to be superfluous at the time. Once two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani’s health forced him to give up on pitching for the rest of the season, however, Skubal’s addition maintained the Dodgers rotation’s status as one of the most talented in MLB history.

Read more:Dodgers hire former Marlins coach Pedro Guerrero as new hitting instructor

They were not, however, among the most aggressive teams before the last lockout. And their approach to Skubal’s free agency will hinge, in part, on how they evaluate their starting pitching needs.

That picture isn’t clear, either.

“We’ve talked about the different paths that you can go down, and what does that look like,” Gomes said. “Do you need it? I don’t know. Do you want it? Maybe. You may not know that you need it until it’s too late. So I think it’s balancing all of this, as different scenarios play out. … The floor right now is really high. We do have a good amount of depth in our pitching. So now it’s just taking into account, what makes sense for us based on different avenues of how things shake out.”

As the Dodgers project out the potential of their rotation, they can reasonably expect improvement from some of their younger pitchers. They were pleased with the step forward that right-hander Roki Sasaki took this year.

“Expect him to take another big step forward,” Gomes said, “and really become the front-line-type guy that he knows that he can be and we know he can be.”

Regardless of lefty Justin Wrobleski’s second-half regression, he earned his first All-Star nod with a dominant first half. Though right-hander Emmet Sheehan had an up-and-down season, the Dodgers continue to believe in his upside. And they expect Gavin Stone, who last pitched in the majors in 2024, to be part of the equation, after a long road back from shoulder surgery.

Read more:Shaikin: Why the players' union can’t just walk away if MLB owners insist on a salary cap

They still have the star power of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a two-time All-Star and 2025 World Series MVP, Snell, a two-time Cy Young winner, and Tyler Glasnow.

Ohtani’s return to the mound, however, raises the most questions. The Dodgers expect him to return to two-way duties, that much is clear. But they have yet to lay out a plan for how to keep him healthy for the season while doing so.

“I think it’s just making sure that we are taking all of the information into account and trying to set up a system that allows him to pitch and be successful and be healthy towards the end,” Gomes said. “Because we know how dominant he can be on the mound.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

LAS VEGAS — There is probably one arm in the Giants’ organization with the trust and the track record to handle the ninth inning. Buster Posey doesn’t want him closing games.

“I don’t think it’s out of the question,” the Giants’ top baseball official said Tuesday at MLB’s general managers meetings, “but … my preference would be not to close right out the gate.”

If not Randy Rodriguez, the flame-throwing 2025 All-Star who missed this past season rehabbing from elbow surgery, then who could wind up closing games for the Giants?

“In a perfect world,” Posey said, their ninth-inning man will come from outside the organization.

That would allow the Giants to ease Rodriguez into his first season back from Tommy John surgery. He posted a 1.78 ERA in 50 appearances in 2025, including 15 games he finished, but was shut down in August and had his ulnar collateral ligament surgically repaired in September.

Posey said he expects Rodriguez to be ready for Opening Day, even if it’s in a reduced role. The Giants are scheduled to open their season about 18 months after Rodriguez’s operation, but the looming lockout could give him even more time to ramp up.

Rodriguez took a major step in his recovery last month, appearing in three Arizona Fall League games in his first time facing batters in game action since before the surgery. His velocity touched 98 mph, but the Giants shut him down after experiencing some elbow pain.

Posey said the team was “just being careful … just being cautious.”

Still, he wasn’t comfortable penciling in Rodriguez as their Opening Day closer just yet.

“Really [to] be able to monitor his workload the best we can as he continues to get back to where he was before the injury,” Posey said. “But things can change.”

Camilo Doval, who saved 107 games for the Giants from 2021 until he was traded to the Yankees in 2025, is back in the organization after being designated for assignment by the Pirates in September, but he is projected to make $6.6 million in salary arbitration.

Posey said the Giants were “discussing it still” whether to tender him a contract.

Posey’s desire to bring in an external candidate — or two — to take down the highest-leverage innings in San Francisco’s bullpen may be a hard square to circle with his stated reticence to part with the draft pick compensation. Arguably the top two relief options on the free agent market, David Bednar and Adrian Morejon, both received qualifying offers. 

Further down the big board of available arms, though, there are still plenty of free agents with experience in the ninth inning. Raisel Iglesias (287 career saves), Jordan Romano (128), Pete Fairbanks (109), Emilio Pagan (90), Gregory Soto (72), Jose Alvarado (53) and Evan Phillips (47) are all known commodities and closed games within the past year or two.

The Giants went most of last season under manager Tony Vitello with a closer-by-committee approach. Their 5.74 ERA in the ninth inning ranked 28th of 30 teams.

“I do think that some of these arms that were kind of thrust into situations that they were probably not quite ready for,” Posey said, “hopefully we can push them down a little bit and just lengthen the ‘pen and be in a better place to use some of those guys that were throwing later innings. 

“Maybe now they’re pitching the fifth, sixth, seventh innings instead of seventh, eighth and ninth.”

Somehow this round had the same number of votes cast as in Round 6, and unsurprisingly there was not a lot of wild movement in the order of results. Jaden Fauske broke a late deadlock to push ahead of Tanner McDougal, giving us our first outfielder to advance. Fauske prevailed with 26 of 77 votes (34%), five more than prior victor William Bergolla Jr.:

Fauske, a second-round choice in 2025, finished as our No. 11-voted prospect last year.

Past No. 6s in the SSS Top Prospect Vote
2026 Tanner McDougal (39%)
2025 Aldrin Batista (22%)
2024 Cristian Mena (17%)
2023 Noah Schultz (34%)
2022 Yoelqui Céspedes (55%)
2021 Yoelqui Céspedes (59%)
2020 Zack Collins (42%)
2019 Dane Dunning (52%)
2018 Dane Dunning (68%)

A round of huzzahs for pitcher Joely Volchko, who earned his first votes of the year, six ballots in. Righthander Mathias LaCombe, yes he is from France, joins our ballot this round.

South Side Sox Top-Voted White Sox Prospects for 2027

1. Caleb Bonemer — 71% (Cholowsky 25%, Fauske 3%, Prosek 2%, Bergolla Jr./Carlson/McDougal/Sandlin/Thome/Volchko 0%)
2. Roch Cholowsky — 75% (Sandlin 8%, Bergolla Jr. 6%, Carlson 5%, McDougal 3%, Fauske/Mogollón 2%, Prosek/Thome/Volchko 0%)
3. David Sandlin — 30% (Carlson 23%, Fauske 10%, Bergolla Jr./McDougal 9%, Prosek 8%, Lodise/Thome 4%, Mogollón 3%, Volchko 0%)
4. Billy Carlson — 38% (Bergolla Jr. 27%, Fauske 13%, McDougal/Prosek 7%, Thome 4%, Lodise/Mogollón/Wolkow 2%, Volchko 0%)
5. William Bergolla Jr. — 27% (Fauske 25%, McDougal 21%, Prosek/Thome 10%, Lodise 4%, Mogollón/Wolkow 1%, Volchko/Weingartner 0%)
6. Jaden Fauske — 34% (McDougal 26%, Lodise/Prosek 9%, Thome 8%, Wolkow 6%, Volchko 4%, Mogollón 3%, Casteel 1%, Weingartner 0%)

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Kyle Casteel
Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 19
2026 high level Butler Area (H.S.)
Overall 2026 stats (H.S) 10-0 ▪️ 13 games ▪️ 65 ⅔ IP ▪️ 0.64 ERA ▪️ 103 K ▪️ 11 BB ▪️ 0.685 WHIP

Casteel is the sort of player you dream of getting to start off the $150,000 round of 10 picks: A player who the White Sox had been talking to regularly that, based on how the first round fell, now was draftable knowing the club could meet the prep’s demands. It’s undoubtable that Casteel is far better than the 315th pick (MLB had him ranked at No. 162 overall), and thus the White Sox pocketed a player who should have been selected in the fifth round. Casteel has power and control, and while the White Sox will bring him along with care, he has a rare profile in a pitching-starved White Sox system.

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Mathias LaCombe
Right-Handed Relief Pitcher
Age 24
2026 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 14
2026 high level Charlotte (AAA)
Age relative to high level -3.2 years
Overall 2026 stats (ACL/High-A/AA/AAA/AZFL) 3-1 ▪️ 42 games (2 starts, 7 finishes) ▪️ 57 2/3 IP ▪️ 4.84 ERA ▪️ 74 K ▪️ 34 BB ▪️ 1.353 WHIP ▪️1.1 WAR

LaCombe saw more levels than any White Sox prospect in 2026, and more than any since we’ve been using this format, going back at least a few years. That speaks to how modestly he started the season (with just 53 ⅓ pro innings entering the campaign) and how well he did once he got his feet under him. The promotion to Charlotte at season’s end was more Rule 5 maneuvering than merit, but any jump of multiple levels in a season is worth some applause.

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Kyle Lodise
Shortstop
Age 22
2026 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 24
2026 high level Winston-Salem (High-A)
Age relative to high level 0.0 years
Overall 2026 stats 111 games ▪️ 20 HR ▪️ 77 RBI ▪️ .230/.380/.440 ▪️ 42-of-51 (82.4%) SB ▪️ 92 BB ▪️ 141 K ▪️ .957 FLD%▪️ 3.6 WAR

Lodise made a return visit to Winston-Salem in 2026, and his first full professional season went extremely well. With a low average and slug to burn, the shortstop fits right in with the org profile of swinging hard, damn the contact. Thankfully, Lodise is selective enough at the plate to produce astronomical OBPs. And his power bat is showing better than advertised at this point.

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Tanner McDougal
Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 23
2024 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 33
2025 SSS Prospect Poll ranking N/R
2026 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 6
2026 high level Chicago (MLB)
Age relative to high level -6.2 years
Overall 2026 stats (High-A/AAA/MLB) 2-3 ▪️ 27 games (7 starts, 3 finishes) ▪️ 50 IP ▪️ 4.86 ERA ▪️ 53 K ▪️ 34 BB ▪️ 1.480 WHIP ▪️0.2 WAR

The good news is that McDougal was enough of a core piece to be promoted to Chicago in the second half of 2026. The bad news … well, where to start. McDougal’s presumptive march to the South Side rotation was stopped dead early in the season, when he was sidelined for weeks with forearm tightness. While the injury was thankfully not severe enough to necessitate a second TJS, Tanner was a relief arm for the rest of the season and not a stable one at that. His brief cameo in Chicago saw him rack up one out along with three walks.

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Javier Mogollón
Second Baseman
Age 21
2026 high level Winston-Salem (AA)
Age relative to high level -2.0 years
Overall 2026 stats (Low-A/High-A) 91 games ▪️ 14 HR ▪️ 57 RBI ▪️ .262/.368/.448 ▪️ 36-of-44 (81.8%) SB ▪️ 53 BB ▪️ 123 K ▪️ .965 FLD%▪️ 2.5 WAR

The diminutive (5´8´´, 160) infielder wowed in rookie ball and though his climb has slowed, Mogollón has steadily risen up our ranks, from No.62 in our 2024 Top 100 to the cusp of the Top 10 today. That said, he’s seen two straight seasons shortened by hamstring issues. At least in 2026, Mogollón was able to return before season’s end, providing a clutch bat coming that provided a .313/.389/.813 slash and eight RBIs en route to sweeping to a SALLY title.

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Cole Prosek
Third Baseman
Age 19
2026 High Level Magnolia Heights (H.S.)
Overall 2026 stats (H.S) 41 games ▪️ 18 HR ▪️ 79 RBI ▪️ .545/.678/1.177 ▪️ 62 R ▪️ 7 SB ▪️ 31 BB ▪️ 12 K

Coming to Chicago as a second-rounder, Prosek seems more highly-regarded by evaluators than the guy picked ahead of him by the White Sox, low first round choice Landon Thome. That’s a curious thing, but Prosek dominated his prep competition even more thoroughly than Thome. Plus, while the White Sox regard Prosek as a second baseman, his prep time was spent significantly at the hot corner, and he has experience behind the plate as well.

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Landon Thome
Shortstop
Age 19
2026 High Level Nazareth Academy (H.S.)
Overall 2026 stats (H.S) 7 HR ▪️ 29 RBI ▪️ .545 AVG ▪️ 49-of-50 (98.0%) SB

How crazy is it to have two high school teammates (Thome and Jaden Fauske) on our first ballot of the voting year … or any ballot, ever? The White Sox were so hot to dip back into Nazareth’s roster that they dealt promising 2023 first-rounder Jacob Gonzalez to Pittsburgh to acquire the draft pick to snag him; clearly the club was not confident Thome would drop into the second round. Unlike his father, Hall-of-Famer and White Sox adviser Jim, Landon is better regarded for his speed and defense than his ability to put the ball over the fence. Slugging will come in time for junior, however.

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Joey Volchko
Right-handed starting pitcher
Age 21
2026 high level University of Georgia (NCAA)
Age relative to high level +0.1 years
Overall 2026 stats 11-2 ▪️ 18 starts ▪️ 1 CG ▪️ 95 1/3 IP ▪️ 3.68 ERA ▪️ 119 K ▪️ 46 BB ▪️ 1.343 WHIP ▪️ 2.1 WAR

This big-armed righty can touch 100 mph with his fastball, but wildness concerns might have precipitated Volchko’s drop to the White Sox in the third round in spite of MLB ranking him as a second round (68th-best) talent. He’s a big-game pitcher who dragged the Bulldogs to their first College World Series win in 18 years with a complete-game effort over the University of Texas. There’s a chance Volchko ends up as a high-leverage bullpen arm, but he will get every chance to stick as a starter.

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Alex Weingartner
Right Fielder
Age 19
2026 high level St. Augustine College Prep (H.S.)
Overall 2026 stats 30 games ▪️ 7 HR ▪️ 36 RBI ▪️ .495 AVG ▪️ .817 SLG ▪️ 33 SB ▪️ 21 BB

Oddly enough, Weingartner may be a doppelganger for the player listed right below; both he and George Wolkow were prep plums selected lower than their skill and scout rankings indicated, and both players scored sweet bonuses from the White Sox to lure them from potential college commitments. Both have rocket arms (Weingartner, in fact, pitched for his St. Augustine Hermits in 2026) as well.

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George Wolkow
Right Fielder
Age 21
2024 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 14
2025 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 13
2026 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 16
2026 high level Winston-Salem (High-A)
Age relative to high level -2.0 years
Overall 2026 stats 123 games ▪️ 22 HR ▪️ 100 RBI ▪️ .239/.317/.446 ▪️ 15-of-22 (68.2%) SB ▪️ 50 BB ▪️ 179 K ▪️ .971 FLD%▪️ 1.6 WAR

Wolkow sacrificed speed and what batting eye he had for power in 2026, and while that made for some impressive counting stats (22-100 plays on the back of any baseball card) the hole in his swing hasn’t been sewn. If the White Sox brass is having Wolkow bet on his best tool, power, at all others’ expense, he’s slipping into the Colson Category.

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