Pete Crow-Armstrong Named Baseball America's 2026 MLB Player of the Year
Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong was named Baseball America's 2026 MLB Player of the Year on October 6 — the first Cub ever to win the award in its 28-year history — after becoming the seventh member of the 40/40 club.
Pete Crow-Armstrong's historic season has earned him one of baseball's most prestigious honours, as Baseball America named the Cubs center fielder its 2026 MLB Player of the Year on Monday.
The 24-year-old becomes the first Chicago Cub to win the award in its 28-year history. Crow-Armstrong joined the exclusive 40/40 club — just the seventh player ever to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a season — and led the majors with 45 homers (tied), 119 runs, 357 total bases and a 1.065 OPS, while posting 9.8 WAR per Baseball Reference.
The turnaround was remarkable: batting just .237 through his first 60 games, Crow-Armstrong was the best player in baseball from June 1 on, finishing with a .280 average, 83 walks, 41 steals and Gold Glove-calibre defence in center field across all 162 games. The honour follows his Baseball Digest Player of the Year nod on October 2 and makes him the clear favourite for the National League MVP award.
It is a bittersweet cap to the year for Chicago, which went 89-73 but was swept by San Diego in the Wild Card round — with Crow-Armstrong held hitless in the two-game series. Individual honours, though, keep piling up for the Cubs' new superstar.