Cy Young Award 2026: Schlittler, Misiorowski Lead the Finalists

The Cy Young Award 2026 winners will be revealed Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET on MLB Network and MLB+, and both races look like they have clear favorites. Yankees right-hander Cam Schlittler leads the American League field. In the National League, Brewers flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski is the heavy pick after leading the majors in ERA, WHIP and strikeouts.

The same one-hour show will also hand out the first-ever Relief Pitcher of the Year awards, a new BBWAA honor this season, MLB.com reported.

Cy Young Award 2026 finalists at a glance

Stats via MLB.com.

AL: Schlittler’s year to lose

Schlittler led the AL with a 1.95 ERA over 33 starts and tied Cease for the league’s second-most strikeouts. A year after a 2.96 ERA in 14 rookie starts, he turned into the best pitcher in the league. ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle picked him and noted his 215 ERA+ is the best ever by a qualifying Yankees pitcher, ahead of Ron Guidry, Lefty Gomez and Whitey Ford.

If he wins, Schlittler joins Bob Turley, Ford, Sparky Lyle, Guidry, Roger Clemens and Gerrit Cole as the only Yankees to take home a Cy Young.

It isn’t a lock in every sense. Doolittle called the race “not a runaway.” Cease, in the first year of his seven-year, $210 million deal with Toronto, posted the best strikeout rate of his career at 34.9%. He’s been close before, finishing second in the AL in 2022 with the White Sox.

Then there’s Messick. The Guardians lefty made 32 starts with a 2.56 ERA as a rookie, and MLB noted he’s just the sixth pitcher to finish in the top three for Rookie of the Year and Cy Young in the same season.

Your 2026 @officialBBWAA AL Cy Young Award finalists:

Dylan Cease, Blue Jays
Parker Messick, Guardians
Cam Schlittler, Yankees pic.twitter.com/VWgyu4GQHb

— MLB (@MLB) November 2, 2026

NL: Misiorowski’s numbers jump off the page

Misiorowski went 16-5 with a 1.80 ERA and 252 strikeouts in 174 2/3 innings across 30 starts, Atlanta News First reported. That ERA is the best in Brewers history. Hitters batted .157 against him, the lowest mark allowed by a qualifying starter on record, according to MLB.com. He did all of that in just his second big-league season.

A win would add to a big week in Milwaukee. Pat Murphy won his third straight NL Manager of the Year award on Tuesday, and Brewers closer Trevor Megill is also up for NL Reliever of the Year.

Sale won’t make it easy. The 37-year-old Braves lefty had a 2.16 ERA, the NL’s second-best, and this is his ninth time as a finalist. Sánchez, last year’s runner-up to Paul Skenes, threw 207 innings and set a Phillies record with a 50 2/3-inning scoreless streak.

The case for Sánchez rests on bWAR, where he led Misiorowski 8.1 to 6.5. Doolittle still expects Misiorowski to win comfortably.

Your 2026 @officialBBWAA NL Cy Young Award finalists:

Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers
Chris Sale, Braves
Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies pic.twitter.com/SY9wgVugvX

— MLB (@MLB) November 3, 2026

Relief Pitcher of the Year finalists

• AL: Bryan Baker (Rays), Cade Smith (Guardians), Louis Varland (Blue Jays). Baker and Smith tied for the MLB lead with 41 saves.
• NL: Jhoan Duran (Phillies), Trevor Megill (Brewers), Mason Miller (Padres). Miller struck out 129 in 70 innings with a 1.67 ERA and already won the Trevor Hoffman Award.

No Skubal this time

Tarik Skubal, the two-time AL Cy Young winner, isn’t among this year’s three finalists. He’s now the top free agent on the market, and Skubal has a meeting set with the Mets next week.

Awards week ends Thursday with the AL and NL MVP announcements at 7 p.m. ET on MLB Network.

For more coverage, see our MLB news page.

Sources: MLB.com, MLB.com, ESPN via 6abc, Atlanta News First, Bleacher Report, MLB