Pete Crow-Armstrong was unanimously named the 2026 National League MVP after a breakout season for the Chicago Cubs, receiving all 30 first-place Baseball Writers’ Association of America votes. The 24-year-old center fielder credited an early-season setup change, moving his hands farther from his body and adding a leg kick, plus a May commitment to stop chasing pitches for fueling an “otherworldly” all-around year. Crow-Armstrong learned Andrew McCutchen announced the result on MLB Network; McCutchen was his childhood favorite, and Crow-Armstrong said the moment was especially meaningful. He is the first Cub to be elected unanimously and the seventh NL center fielder to win MVP, the first since McCutchen in 2013. Season totals widely reported for his campaign include a .280 batting average, 45 home runs and 41 stolen bases, with 107 RBIs in 162 games; he tied for the major league lead in homers and led the NL in runs (119) and slugging percentage (.570). The award makes Crow-Armstrong one of the few unanimous winners in BBWAA history and one of the 11 Chicago Cubs to win an NL MVP, nine of them since 1931.
