Schlittler and Misiorowski Are the Youngest Cy Young Pair in 41 Years

Cam Schlittler and Jacob Misiorowski have won the 2026 Cy Young Awards, and neither vote was close. The New York Yankees right-hander and the Milwaukee Brewers right-hander each took all 30 first-place ballots from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, making them the youngest pair of winners in 41 years and only the third unanimous double in the award’s history. Both posted an ERA under 2.00 in their first full major-league seasons, and both did it with fastballs that barely touched 88 mph when they were drafted.

How did the votes go?

There was nothing to argue about. Schlittler received all 30 first-place votes in the American League, Reuters reports, with Toronto’s Dylan Cease second and Cleveland’s Parker Messick third after a 12-9 season with a 2.56 ERA and 193 strikeouts. Misiorowski swept all 30 first-place votes in the National League, with Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sanchez second and Atlanta’s Chris Sale third. It is the third time both Cy Young winners were unanimous, after 1968, when Denny McLain and Bob Gibson won, and 2022, when Justin Verlander and Sandy Alcantara won.

Schlittler, 25, went 14-6 with a 1.95 ERA and 239 strikeouts in 33 starts, Reuters reports, and his ERA was the lowest in the American League since 2022 and the third lowest in Yankees history among qualified pitchers, behind Spud Chandler’s 1.64 in 1943 and Ron Guidry’s 1.74 in 1978. He became the third Yankees pitcher to win the award this century, joining Gerrit Cole in 2023 and Roger Clemens in 2001. “Cam had as dominant a season as a starting pitcher can have from start to finish,” manager Aaron Boone said in a statement. “He’s shown an astonishing amount of growth since we drafted him, and his success is no accident.”

Why is this pair historic?

Because of their ages. At 24 and 25, Misiorowski and Schlittler are the youngest pair of Cy Young winners since 1985, when 20-year-old Dwight Gooden and 21-year-old Bret Saberhagen took the honours, USA Today reports. The previous five seasons had the award going to pitchers in their thirties, including Verlander at 39, Cole at 32 and Sale at 35, and Paul Skenes broke the pattern by winning at 23 in 2025. Now two pitchers barely old enough to rent a car have taken both awards in the same year, and both did it in their first full seasons.

The full list of recent winners shows how rare a unanimous double is: the desk’s Cy Young records list runs through the winners by total count, and only three seasons in the award’s history have produced two unanimous winners. The 2026 pair also did something Gooden and Saberhagen never did in their winning year: both pitched their teams into the postseason, and one of them closed out a World Series.

How did two 88-mph arms become the game’s best pitchers?

They were rebuilt, not discovered. Schlittler’s fastball barely hit 88 mph coming out of Northeastern as a seventh-round pick in 2022, USA Today reports, and his mechanics and repertoire were remade under a Yankees pitching department led by Sam Briend, a former Driveline director of pitching. One of Briend’s first hires, Preston Claiborne, came up the ladder with Schlittler and is now the assistant pitching coach. Schlittler now packs 215 pounds on a 6-foot-6 frame and pitched 193 2/3 innings, just short of the 200-inning mark only three pitchers reached this season.

Misiorowski’s story runs the same way in the opposite direction. He was in the same 88-mph range when Brewers scouts pondered drafting him out of high school, USA Today reports, and he now throws 105.5 mph, the third-fastest pitch in MLB history, NBC Sports reports. He was the first player in MLB history to throw at least 1,000 pitches above 100 mph in a season, something no team had ever done before, and he threw 28 of the 35 hardest pitches in the majors this season. “The game’s changing. And it’s going in the right direction,” Schlittler said on a conference call after the announcement. “Both of us are able to utilize those tools and help ourselves in development in the game, and make quick adjustments.”

What did Misiorowski add in October?

A World Series ring and a piece of Sandy Koufax history. Misiorowski went 2-0 in the postseason as the Brewers won all four games he started, Reuters reports, and by winning Game 5 to clinch the title he became the first pitcher since Koufax in 1963 to win a World Series-clinching game while finishing the regular season with at least 250 strikeouts and a sub-2.00 ERA. He set a World Series record at 103.5 mph in Game 1, NBC Sports reports, and finished the postseason 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA. “He deserves everything that’s coming his way,” Milwaukee catcher and World Series MVP William Contreras told MLB.com. The Brewers beat the Rays in five games to take their first World Series title, and Misiorowski’s clincher was the final act of a season in which he also traded a signed jersey and cleats to a fan for his own one-of-one card, as covered in the desk’s Misiorowski collectibles story.

What else did awards night settle?

Plenty, because the Cy Youngs were handed out on the same night MLB announced a stack of honours in Las Vegas. Houston’s Yordan Alvarez was honoured three times, winning the AL Hank Aaron Award, the AL Comeback Player of the Year and the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award after leading the majors in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging and walks, Reuters reports. The Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong won the NL Hank Aaron Award after topping the majors with 45 homers and stealing 41 bases. Toronto’s Louis Varland and San Diego’s Mason Miller took the Reliever of the Year awards, and Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler was the NL Comeback Player of the Year.

What happens next?

The MVPs are revealed on Thursday, closing out awards week. Kevin McGonigle and Sal Stewart won the Rookie of the Year awards on Monday, and Pat Murphy won the Manager of the Year award from a hospital bed on Tuesday, so Milwaukee has now taken three of the four major awards in one week. The cautionary tale is Tim Lincecum, who won consecutive Cy Youngs at 24 and 25 and was carrying a 5.18 ERA by 28, USA Today notes, and Misiorowski left multiple starts this year with leg problems, including in the sixth inning of the World Series clincher. For one year, though, two pitchers who were 88-mph projects when drafted forced the Cy Young Awards to take a youthful turn not seen for 41 years.