Pete Crow-Armstrong, Shohei Ohtani NL MVP race was not even close

The official ballot breakdown showed just how far away the Los Angeles Dodgers star Ohtani was from Crow-Armstrong in the race for MVP. Ohtani finished in second place but was not even a unanimous runner-up — he got 26 second-place votes, two third-place votes, and two fourth-place votes (with Milwaukee’s Brice Turang and Jacob Misiorowski as well as Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber all receiving at least one second-place vote).

As a result, Ohtani ended up with 264 total points to Crow-Armstrong’s perfect 420. Here is the full voting breakdown.

Ohtani, a four-time MLB MVP winner who had taken home the last two consecutive NL MVP Awards, began the year as both a pitcher and a hitter for the first time in his Dodgers career. But he ultimately hobbled his way through the season and even spent time on the injured list at one point due to knee and bicep issues. Overall in 2026, Ohtani hit .275 with 30 home runs, 81 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases and also produced an 8-2 record with a 1.79 ERA on the mound (albeit over just 14 starts).

Meanwhile, Crow-Armstrong was only a hitter but still far outpaced Ohtani’s contributions. Crow-Armstrong appeared in all 162 games for the Cubs and batted .280 with 45 home runs, 107 RBIs, and 41 stolen bases. He also led Major League Baseball with his home run total as well as his totals in WAR (9.8), runs scored (119), and total bases (357).

As a result, Crow-Armstrong earned a unanimous NL MVP victory, pairing him with Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros (who was also named the unanimous AL MVP on Thursday). While Crow-Armstrong still has some parts of his game to clean up, it is clear that he is just getting started at 24 years old.