The Best of 2026: The NTSB Unveils Its Managers of the Year, Cy Young, and Most Valuable Player Award Winners
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The 2026 season produced unforgettable performances, and the NTSB has officially recognized the best of the best. These award winners didn’t just rise above their peers — they changed the trajectory of their franchises.
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By Rob Olds
The North Texas Sports Blog
September 28, 2026
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American League Manager of the Year: Will Venable - Chicago White Sox
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Will Venable’s 2026 season began in the kind of chaos that usually buries a manager before the conversation about awards even starts. The Chicago White Sox opened their year with three straight losses, including a 14–2 drubbing on Opening Day, and stumbled to a 1–5 record before falling to 6–13 and bottoming out at seven games under .500 on April 18. Yet even in those early weeks, Venable never panicked. He saw a roster that wasn’t broken, just unfinished, and he managed with a steadiness that would become the defining trait of the White Sox season.
What followed was one of the most quietly masterful managerial performances in recent American League memory. Chicago responded to its early hole with resilience, ripping off three separate five‑game winning streaks between April 27 and May 31 — a rare feat for any club, let alone one clawing back from a disastrous start. Venable didn’t overhaul the lineup or chase quick fixes; he tightened bullpen roles, emphasized defensive consistency, and built a structure the players trusted.
By the end of May, the Sox were 32–27 with an 18–10 month and a +32 run differential, a turnaround that reflected not luck but leadership.
The most staggering number in the season summary isn’t the final record but the fact that the White Sox spent 96 days in first place. For a team that finished 84–78, that level of sustained control over the division is almost unheard of. Venable kept his club steady through turbulence that would have broken lesser teams: two separate four‑game losing streaks, 11 shutouts suffered, 38 blown leads, and stretches where the offense vanished entirely. Yet Chicago never collapsed. They stayed competitive, stayed connected, and stayed in the race until the final weekend. Their ability to win close games was a direct reflection of Venable’s tactical fingerprints.
Chicago went 25–22 in one‑run games and 11–8 in walk‑off decisions, numbers that speak to a manager who understands late‑inning matchups, bullpen sequencing, and pressure moments. The Sox weren’t a juggernaut; they were a team that had to execute to win, and under Venable, they did exactly that.
The game logs reveal a manager who adapted constantly. In March, the pitching staff was rocked, allowing 42 runs in five games. Venable responded by tightening bullpen roles and leaning on ground‑ball arms, and by May the staff had stabilized. June and July were the club’s most balanced months, with Chicago going 13–12 in each and holding first place for long stretches. Venable’s emphasis on situational hitting and defensive reliability kept them afloat even when the offense cooled. September was a grind — a 12–13 month that included a four‑game losing streak to Pittsburgh and St. Louis — but Venable kept the team from spiraling. They finished the year winning six of their final nine, including crucial victories over Detroit and Kansas City. A team that wins 36 comeback games, as Chicago did, is a team that believes in its manager.
Chicago’s dominance at home further illustrates Venable’s impact. The Sox went 48–33 at Guaranteed Rate Field, a .593 winning percentage that reflects not just performance but atmosphere. Venable rebuilt the South Side into a place where the team expected to win, a cultural shift that mattered deeply to a fan base long frustrated by inconsistency. The 2026 White Sox were not a super team. They didn’t have an MVP candidate or a Cy Young finalist. They didn’t have a 100‑win roster. What they had was a manager who kept them from panicking, a clubhouse that bought into his message, and a team that played clean, connected baseball. They overcame a 1–5 start, a 6–13 slump, two four‑game losing streaks, 11 shutouts, and 38 blown leads. They spent 82 days in first place. They won 36 comeback games. They finished one game back of the division title. None of that happens without Will Venable.
He didn’t just guide the 2026 White Sox — he built them. And that is why the North Texas Sports Blog names him the American League Manager of the Year.
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Cy Young Award: Cam Schlittler - New York Yankees
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There are seasons that announce themselves loudly — 20‑win campaigns, strikeout totals that bend record books, ERAs that look like typos. And then there are seasons like Cam Schlittler’s 2026 masterpiece, a year defined not by theatrics but by suffocation. By precision. By the relentless, almost mechanical consistency of a pitcher who refused to break.
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Schlittler didn’t just win the American League Cy Young Award. He earned it in every conceivable way: through durability, dominance, efficiency, and a month‑to‑month refusal to yield. Across 33 starts, he delivered a season that reads like a blueprint for modern pitching excellence: 193.2 innings, 239 strikeouts, a 1.95 ERA, and a 2.56 FIP — numbers that place him squarely among the elite seasons of the last decade.
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What made Schlittler’s campaign extraordinary wasn’t a single historic stretch. It was the accumulation of brilliance. He opened the year with back‑to‑back scoreless outings, striking out 15 across 11.2 innings while allowing just three total hits. By April 23, he had already thrown an eight‑inning gem at Fenway Park, giving up only one earned run and striking out five. His ERA at that moment sat at 1.77, and it would barely budge for the rest of the season.
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Schlittler’s calling card was his ability to dominate without chaos. He didn’t need double‑digit strikeout explosions to overwhelm opponents — though he produced plenty, including 13 strikeouts against Cincinnati on June 19 and 12 more in a 7.1‑inning shutout of Philadelphia on July 24. More often, he simply erased hitters with surgical command. He walked only 49 batters all season. He allowed just 16 home runs. He held opponents to a .254 BABIP (Batting Average On Balls In Play) and forced weak contact at a rate that made every defense behind him look elite.
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His game logs tell the story of a pitcher who controlled every environment. On the road, he was fearless — eight innings of one‑run ball in Tampa Bay, seven innings of three‑hit dominance in Anaheim, six shutout innings in Seattle. At home, he was suffocating — a 12‑strikeout masterpiece against the Phillies, a 1‑0 duel won on July 24, and a six‑inning, one‑hit shutout of the Mets on September 13 that pushed his ERA back under 2.00.
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Schlittler didn’t just pitch deep into games; he pitched well deep into games. He logged 15 starts of six innings or more allowing one run or fewer, a staggering total in an era where most managers treat the third time through the order like a haunted forest. He produced 21 quality starts, and in several outings where he didn’t qualify, he still kept his team in the game — a hallmark of Cy Young winners who understand that dominance and responsibility go hand in hand.
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Even his losses reveal his excellence. On May 9, he threw six scoreless innings in Milwaukee before the bullpen surrendered the game. On August 9, he allowed just one run in seven innings against Atlanta and still took a no‑decision. On September 19, he gave up only one earned run in six innings at Arizona, but the offense never caught up. Schlittler didn’t pitch to the scoreboard — he pitched to a standard.
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And that standard never wavered.
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Across the season’s final stretch, when fatigue typically exposes even elite arms, Schlittler remained unshaken. From August 21 through September 13, he posted a 1.00 ERA over five starts, striking out 37 and walking only 10. His late‑season command was so sharp that he allowed just three total earned runs across 26 innings during that run. In the thick of a playoff race, he became the most reliable force in the American League.
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What ultimately separated Schlittler from every other pitcher in the league was the combination of dominance and durability. He didn’t miss a turn. He didn’t fade. He didn’t give his team anything less than a chance to win every time he stepped on the mound. His 14–6 record undersells his impact; the Yankees went 21–12 in his starts, a reflection of how his presence alone elevated the club’s win expectancy.
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The NTSB Cy Young Award is not given for flashes of brilliance. It is given for seasons that define excellence. Cam Schlittler’s 2026 campaign was exactly that — a season of control, of poise, of relentless execution. A season where every start felt like a blueprint for how to dominate modern hitters. A season where the numbers didn’t just impress; they intimidated.
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He didn’t overpower the league. He mastered it.
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And that is why Cam Schlittler is the North Texas Sports Blog’s 2026 American League Cy Young Award winner.
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Most Valuable Player: Junior Caminero - Tampa Bay Rays
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Junior Caminero did not merely win the 2026 American League Most Valuable Player Award — he seized it, shaped it, and defined it. Over 162 games, Caminero became the beating heart of Tampa Bay’s offense, the stabilizer of its clubhouse, and the single most indispensable force behind a 98‑64 Rays team that spent 96 days atop the division and never once looked uncertain about who carried them. His season was a masterpiece of consistency and explosiveness, a rare blend of youth, power, and discipline that made him the league’s most complete hitter from Opening Day through the final weekend.
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Caminero’s numbers tell the story with unmistakable clarity. He posted a .276 average, a .360 on‑base percentage, and a .524 slugging mark, good for an .885 OPS that ranked among the elite in the American League. His 170 hits, 42 home runs, 101 RBI, and 323 total bases formed the backbone of Tampa Bay’s run production. But the raw totals only hint at the deeper truth: Caminero delivered impact in every conceivable situation. He hit .286 on balls in play, produced a 2.086 WPA, and posted an 18.51 RE24 — metrics that reveal not just excellence, but excellence when it mattered most. Caminero didn’t pad stats; he changed outcomes.
The game logs show a player who refused to disappear. Caminero reached base safely in 129 games, homered in every month, and never endured the kind of prolonged slump that derails lesser MVP candidates. His early-season steadiness kept the Rays afloat during a rocky March and April. His May surge — highlighted by multi-hit performances, clutch home runs, and a .643 team winning percentage — coincided directly with Tampa Bay’s rise into first place. By June and July, Caminero had become the league’s most feared right-handed bat, punishing fastballs, adjusting to breaking balls, and forcing opposing managers to alter bullpen plans simply because he was due up in the next inning.
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What separates Caminero from traditional power hitters is the completeness of his offensive profile. He walked 79 times, struck out only 129, and showed an advanced command of the strike zone that belied his age. He hit to all fields, handled velocity, and punished mistakes. His situational hitting was elite: he produced runs without needing home runs, moved runners, elevated with men on third, and delivered sacrifice flies and RBI singles in games where the Rays needed precision more than fireworks. Even in losses, Caminero’s presence was felt — a long at-bat that flipped leverage, a walk that extended an inning, a single that forced a pitching change.
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The Rays’ season-long identity — grinding at-bats, late-inning resilience, and relentless pressure — was built around Caminero’s steadiness. Tampa Bay won 36 comeback games, and Caminero was central to many of them. His clutch metrics reflect a player who embraced the moment rather than shrank from it. Whether it was a tenth-inning RBI against St. Louis, a go-ahead homer versus Seattle, or a multi-hit performance in a tight divisional matchup with New York, Caminero repeatedly delivered the swing that altered the game’s trajectory.
Defensively, Caminero’s reliability at third base added further value. He played 3B in nearly every game, providing stability at a position where many teams struggle to find consistency. His athleticism, arm strength, and improving footwork helped the Rays convert outs that other clubs do not, and his ability to stay on the field — 702 plate appearances, 616 at-bats — made him one of the most durable stars in the league.
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But the true essence of Caminero’s MVP case lies in how the Rays performed when he was at his best. Tampa Bay’s strongest stretches — the five-game winning streaks, the midseason surge, the late-August push — all aligned with Caminero’s hottest periods. When he hit, the Rays won. When he dominated, they looked like a postseason juggernaut. His presence elevated the lineup, protected teammates, and forced pitchers into mistakes that cascaded into rallies.
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Junior Caminero didn’t just accumulate numbers; he authored moments. He didn’t just anchor a lineup; he defined a franchise. And he didn’t just win the MVP; he made the award feel inevitable. In a season filled with standout performances across the American League, Caminero stood above them all — the most complete hitter, the most reliable star, and the player whose value radiated through every inning of Tampa Bay’s 98-win campaign. That is why he is the 2026 NTSB American League Most Valuable Player, and why his season will be remembered as the year a superstar fully arrived.
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​National League Manager of the Year: Pat Murphy - Milwaukee Brewers
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Pat Murphy’s 2026 Milwaukee Brewers were not simply a first‑place team — they were a machine built on resilience, adaptability, and a manager who understood exactly how to steer a roster through turbulence and into dominance. A 103‑59 record, the best in the National League, only hints at the magnitude of Murphy’s achievement. His Brewers spent 127 days in first place, 149 including off days, and finished the season with a 14‑game division lead, the largest in baseball. They never fell more than 5.5 games out, never dipped below .500, and ended the year an astonishing 44 games over .500. That level of sustained excellence is not accidental. It is managerial mastery.
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The season did not begin as a coronation. Milwaukee opened hot at 8‑2, then immediately crashed into a six‑game losing streak from April 7–14 — the kind of skid that derails teams and exposes weak leadership. Instead, Murphy stabilized the clubhouse, adjusted the rotation, tightened bullpen roles, and kept the team from spiraling. By May 1, the Brewers were back to 17‑14. By May 12, they were 23‑16. By the end of May, they were 31‑20 and surging. Murphy’s ability to prevent panic and restore rhythm became the defining trait of the Brewers’ season.
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From that point forward, Milwaukee became the most consistent team in the league. They posted winning records in six of seven months, including a blistering 19‑7 May, a 17‑10 June, and a 18‑6 September that slammed the door on the division race. Murphy’s Brewers were elite at home (55‑26), formidable on the road (48‑33), and ruthless in blowouts (31‑11). They won 42 comeback games, a staggering total that speaks directly to clubhouse culture, belief, and in‑game management. They also shut out opponents 12 times, while being shut out only six — a reflection of Murphy’s balanced approach to lineup construction and pitching deployment.
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The game logs show a manager who understood how to win in every environment. Milwaukee dominated interleague play (32‑16), handled one‑run games with poise (27‑20), and excelled in extras (11‑5). Murphy’s bullpen usage was a masterclass in modern strategy: Megill, Uribe, Ashby, Patrick, and others were deployed with precision, often flipping leverage in the late innings. His rotation — Misiorowski, Ashby, Harrison, Gasser, Drohan, Patrick — was managed with a steady hand, allowing young arms to grow while veterans anchored the staff. The Brewers rarely beat themselves, rarely mismanaged innings, and rarely looked unprepared. That is managerial influence, not coincidence.
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Murphy’s fingerprints are clearest in the team’s response to adversity. After the six‑game April skid, Milwaukee immediately won five straight from May 6–12. After a rough stretch in mid‑July, they answered with a 7‑2 run. After losing four straight in early August, they ripped off wins against the Dodgers and Mariners. And when September arrived — the month that reveals a team’s true identity — Murphy’s Brewers went 18‑6, including two separate five‑game winning streaks and a final‑week sweep of St. Louis to clinch 103 wins. Great teams finish strong. Murphy’s team finished like a hammer.
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The Brewers’ offensive identity also reflected Murphy’s leadership. They scored 832 runs, second‑most in baseball, and posted multiple explosive outbursts — 22 runs on August 18, 20 runs on September 11, 15 runs on June 8, 14 runs on Opening Day. Yet they were equally capable of winning tight, tactical games: 2‑1 over Miami, 3‑2 over Minnesota, 4‑3 over Chicago, 1‑0 over Baltimore. Murphy built a lineup that could win any style of game, and a pitching staff that could protect any lead.
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What ultimately separates Pat Murphy from every other manager in the National League is the totality of his impact. His Brewers were the most complete team in baseball — elite offense, elite pitching, elite defense, elite resilience. They never cracked, never drifted, never lost their identity. They played with a confidence that mirrored their manager’s demeanor: steady, tough, unshaken, and relentlessly competitive. A 103‑win season is rare. A 103‑win season with 42 comeback victories, 149 days in first place, and zero days under .500 is managerial greatness.
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Pat Murphy didn’t just guide the 2026 Brewers. He engineered them. He shaped their culture, sharpened their execution, and elevated their ceiling. And that is why he is the North Texas Sports Blog’s 2026 National League Manager of the Year — the architect of the most dominant team in baseball.
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National League Cy Young Award: Jacob Misiorowski - Milwaukee Brewers
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Jacob Misiorowski didn’t just win the 2026 National League Cy Young Award — he detonated the race. He overpowered it. He bent it to his will with a level of raw stuff, command refinement, and statistical dominance that Major League Baseball has rarely seen. His season was a spectacle of velocity, intimidation, and precision, the kind of campaign that becomes a reference point for future generations. Misiorowski’s .157 batting average against didn’t merely lead the league; it set a new single‑season record, a number so absurd it almost defies the modern offensive environment. Hitters didn’t just fail against him — they vanished.
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Every start felt like a demonstration of what happens when elite athleticism meets elite development. Misiorowski’s fastball routinely sat in the upper 90s and frequently touched triple digits, exploding through the zone with late life that forced hitters into defensive swings or outright surrender. His slider was a weapon of humiliation, a pitch that started in the strike zone and then fell off the table with such violence that even disciplined hitters looked unprepared. His curveball and changeup were not secondary pitches — they were knockout options. And when he sequenced all four, the at‑bat became a negotiation with inevitability.
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The game logs show a pitcher who dominated from Opening Day through the final weekend. Misiorowski struck out 252 batters in 174.2 innings, an astonishing rate that placed him among the most overpowering pitchers of the last decade. He allowed just 96 hits all season — fewer hits than innings pitched by a margin so wide it looks fictional. His 1.80 ERA and 2.17 FIP were not just elite; they were the best in the National League by a comfortable margin. He produced 22 quality starts, held opponents to one run or fewer in 17 of them, and delivered multiple outings that bordered on unhittable. His June 12 shutout against Philadelphia — nine innings, one hit, 15 strikeouts — was the kind of performance that defines a Cy Young season. But it wasn’t an outlier. It was a signature.
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Misiorowski’s dominance wasn’t confined to friendly environments. He suffocated hitters in every ballpark, including Coors Field, where he threw seven innings of one‑run ball with eight strikeouts. He shut down the Dodgers in Los Angeles. He carved up the Braves, the Cubs, the Mets, the Cardinals, the Astros — every contender, every lineup, every challenge. His velocity traveled. His command traveled. His intimidation traveled. And his numbers never cracked.
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What makes Misiorowski’s season even more remarkable is how he responded to adversity. Early in April, he took two tough losses despite pitching well. Instead of unraveling, he sharpened. From May 1 through the end of the season, he went 15–3 with a 1.63 ERA, striking out 200 batters in 138 innings. He became the most reliable force in the National League, the pitcher who stopped losing streaks, who set the tone for series, who elevated the Brewers every fifth day. Milwaukee went 22–8 in his starts, a reflection of how his presence alone changed the team’s win expectancy.
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His ability to suppress contact was historic. Opponents hit just .157 against him — the lowest single‑season mark ever recorded. They managed only 14 home runs all year. They produced a .238 BABIP despite the fact that most of their contact was weak, late, or desperate. Misiorowski didn’t just miss bats; he erased barrels. He forced hitters into survival mode. And when they did make contact, it was rarely meaningful.
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The advanced metrics paint the same picture. His 4.447 WPA led all NL pitchers by a massive margin. His 47.96 RE24 showed how consistently he prevented run scoring in every situation. His strikeout‑to‑walk ratio, his dominance index, his game scores — all of them place him in the upper tier of modern Cy Young seasons. He wasn’t just the best pitcher in the league. He was the most dominant force in the sport.
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Misiorowski’s 2026 campaign was the perfect fusion of power and polish. It was a season where every start felt like an event, where hitters walked back to the dugout shaking their heads, where velocity became mythology. He didn’t simply overpower the National League — he redefined what overpowering looks like. And that is why Jacob Misiorowski is the North Texas Sports Blog’s 2026 National League Cy Young Award winner, the pitcher who delivered one of the most overwhelming, historic seasons in modern baseball.
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National League Most Valuable Player Award: Pete Crow-Armstrong - Chicago Cubs
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Pete Crow‑Armstrong didn’t just win the 2026 National League Most Valuable Player Award — he seized it, reshaped it, and turned the race into a referendum on what modern baseball greatness looks like. In a league overflowing with sluggers, stat monsters, and headline-chasing stars, PCA carved out a different path: he became the most complete player in baseball, the one whose value radiated through every inning, every matchup, every moment the Cubs needed someone to tilt the field in their favor. His season was a masterclass in two-way dominance, the kind of campaign that forces voters to rethink what an MVP should be.
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Crow‑Armstrong’s offensive numbers alone would have placed him firmly in the conversation. A .280/.372/.570 slash line, 45 home runs, 107 RBI, 119 runs scored, and 175 hits paint the picture of a player who evolved from a high-contact, high-speed threat into one of the most dangerous power-speed hybrids in the sport. He didn’t just hit home runs — he hit meaningful home runs, delivering 49.72 WPA and 5.228 cWPA, elite clutch metrics that show how often he altered the trajectory of games. His 357 total bases ranked among the league’s best, and his .943 OPS made him a top-tier run producer from wire to wire. But PCA’s offensive brilliance wasn’t just about volume; it was about timing. He delivered in tight games, in extra innings, in late-inning pressure, in moments when the Cubs’ season hung in the balance.
His ability to elevate his performance when the stakes rose became one of the defining traits of Chicago’s 89-win campaign.
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Yet what separated Crow‑Armstrong from every other MVP candidate was the dimension of his game that numbers struggle to fully capture: his defense. PCA didn’t merely play center field — he patrolled it, commanded it, owned it. His routes were pristine, his jumps explosive, his closing speed breathtaking. Opposing hitters learned quickly that anything hit toward the gaps was a bad idea. His glove erased runs, innings, and entire offensive strategies. The Cubs’ pitching staff — young, inconsistent, and often stretched thin — leaned heavily on PCA’s ability to turn potential doubles into routine outs. His defensive WAR ranked among the highest in baseball, but even that metric undersells the psychological effect he had on opponents. Teams simply stopped challenging him. That’s not defense; that’s deterrence.
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Crow‑Armstrong’s season was also defined by durability and consistency. He appeared in 162 games, amassing 726 plate appearances and 626 at-bats — a testament to his conditioning, resilience, and relentless style of play. He stole 41 bases, was caught only seven times, and remained one of the most disruptive baserunners in the league. His ability to turn singles into doubles, doubles into runs, and routine plays into momentum swings made him a constant source of pressure. PCA didn’t just accumulate stats; he accumulated advantages.
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The game logs tell the story of a player who refused to fade. His early-season struggles — the cold stretches, the low-contact weeks, the occasional slump — never lingered. Instead, he adapted, sharpened, and surged. By June, he was one of the hottest hitters in baseball. By July, he was the centerpiece of Chicago’s offense. By August, he was the most feared player in the National League. And by September, he was the engine of a playoff push, delivering clutch hits, multi-homer games, and defensive gems that preserved wins the Cubs desperately needed. His late-season performances — including a barrage of multi-hit games, high-leverage home runs, and elite defensive plays — cemented his MVP candidacy and separated him from every other contender.
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What ultimately made Crow‑Armstrong the clear choice for the 2026 NL MVP was the totality of his impact. He wasn’t just a slugger, or a speedster, or a defensive wizard. He was all of them, all the time. He changed games with his bat, legs, glove, instincts, and presence. He elevated the Cubs from a fringe contender to a legitimate threat. He became the heartbeat of a franchise that desperately needed a star to anchor its identity. And he did it with a style that blended old-school grit with new-school athleticism — a throwback center fielder with modern power, modern speed, and modern swagger.
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In a season filled with standout performances across the league, Pete Crow‑Armstrong stood alone. He didn’t just win the MVP; he defined it. He became the player every team wished they had, every pitcher feared, and every fan couldn’t stop watching. The 2026 National League Most Valuable Player Award belongs to him not because he excelled in one area, but because he excelled in every area — and because no player in baseball changed more games, more moments, or more outcomes than PCA. His season wasn’t just great; it was transformative. And it will be remembered as the year Pete Crow‑Armstrong became the face of the National League.
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NTSB North Texas Sports Blog
© 2026 North Texas Sports Blog | Feature written by Rob Olds at the NTSB Major League Coverage Desk
Statistical sources: Baseball Reference, StatMuse, Baseball Almanac
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