2026 MLB Rookie of the Year: Tigers' Kevin McGonigle, Reds' Sal Stewart win BBWAA awards

McGonigle dominated the Guardians' Parker Messick and the Red Sox's Payton Tolle, while Stewart narrowly squeezed by the Mets' Carson Benge and the Cardinals' JJ Wetherholt Nov 9, 2026 at 8:00 pm ET • 3 min read Kevin McGonigle of the Tigers and Sal Stewart of the Reds were named the 2026 Rookies of the Year in their respective leagues on Monday night as part of the BBWAA's awards week. McGonigle earned 28 of 30 first-place votes, beating out the Guardians' Parker Messick and the Red Sox's Payton Tolle. Stewart, meanwhile, narrowly beat the Mets' Carson Benge and the Cardinals' JJ Wetherholt.The annual awards, which also include Manager of the Year, Reliever of the Year, Cy Young and MVP, are voted on by 30 members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (that's two per MLB city in each league). Votes were submitted before the beginning of the playoffs, meaning that only regular-season contributions are taken into account. National League: Sal Stewart, RedsStewart won the battle of Old School stats vs. New School stats here. Though he only posted 2.0 WAR, he had 32 home runs and 111 RBI, putting him in rarefied air for a rookie. He's one of just 15 rookies ever with at least 30 homers and 100 RBI. The only names from that list to not win the award either faced another player from the list or played before Rookie of the Year was awarded. Everyone else has taken home the hardware, just as Stewart did Monday evening.Overall, Stewart appeared in all 162 games, hitting .263/.330/.457 (117 OPS+) with 25 doubles, 32 homers, 112 RBI, 87 runs and 15 steals. Stewart got 20 of the 30 available first-place votes. Carson Benge of the Mets finished second and JJ Wetherholt of the Cardinals finished in third place. Benge, the 2024 first-rounder, made the team out of spring training and hit .282/.346/.430 with 20 home runs, 22 steals and 4.3 WAR. Defensive metrics love Wetherholt and helped push him to 4.5 WAR in 139 games. He hit .242/.339/.365 with 17 homers, 14 steals and 89 runs. American League: Kevin McGonigle, TigersThe honor for McGonigle completes a stellar year for the former first-round draft pick. He broke camp with the Tigers and was productive from the get-go. He ended up hitting .278/.376/.430 (126 OPS+) with 28 doubles, five triples, 18 home runs, 72 RBI, 97 runs, 12 steals and 7.1 WAR, the latter good enough for the AL lead among position players. He played great defense, ran the bases well and was an All-Star. He nearly walked (95) as much as he struck out (100), too. Not much more could've been asked of the Pennsylvania native who played most of the season at age 21, and he's a well-deserving Rookie of the Year. Voters select a top five, ranking them 1st through 5th. A first-place vote earns the player seven points, with second place getting four, third place three, fourth place two and fifth place one point. Thirteen players in all received at least one fifth-place vote here on the AL side. McGonigle won in a blowout, getting 28 of the 30 available first-place votes, scoring 204 of a possible 210 points.Player1st2nd3rd4th5thPointsKevin McGonigle, Tigers282204Parker Messick, Guardians22521122Payton Tolle, Red Sox126654Munetaka Murakami, Red Sox272639Carter Jensen, Royals49131Chase DeLauter, Guardians124523Kazuma Okamoto, Blue Jays14617Tristan Peters, White Sox21412Sam Antonacci, White Sox12Travis Bazzana, Guardians12Walbert Ureña, Angels12Dylan Beavers, Orioles11Henry Bolte, Athletics11He joins the following players who have won the award with the Tigers: Michael Fulmer, 2016Justin Verlander, 2006Lou Whitaker, 1978Mark Fidrych, 1976Harvey Kuenn, 1953Because McGonigle was with the major-league team for long enough to earn a full year of service time, the Tigers will receive a Prospect Promotion Incentive pick between the first and second rounds of the 2027 MLB Draft. A few weeks after he debuted, he and the team agreed to an eight-year, $150 million extension.Parker Messick of the Guardians finishes second after going 12-9 with a 2.56 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 193 strikeouts in 186 ⅓ innings; he is also a top-three finalist for the Cy Young award. Red Sox starter Payton Tolle finishes third after going 9-6 with a 3.03 ERA (135 ERA+), 1.10 WHIP and 171 strikeouts in 148 ⅔ innings.