The first two rounds of the 2026 MLB postseason are almost complete and three teams have been set for the four Championship Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers will meet again in the NLCS. For the ALCS, the Tampa Bay Rays face either the Chicago White Sox or the Cleveland Cavaliers. That matchup tied the division series 2-2.
MLB has two (actually three) awards for each season: the World Series MVP and one MVP for each of the two Championship Series. There’s no identifying the best player in the Wild Card Series or Division Series though, and we’re here to be wrong. Here are our hypothetical Wild Card Series MVPs and now here are three of our four Division Series MVPs.
Guardians vs. White Sox: TBA
This ALDS matchup has not yet been decided. The best-of-five series is tied at 2-2 and will be decided with Game 5 in Cleveland on Saturday. The White Sox are trying to reach their first ALCS since 2005 while the Rangers look to become the first team to come back from a 0-2 deficit in the ALDS since Cleveland blew a 2-0 series lead in 2017. Check back for our hypothetical ALDS MVP when this series ends.
Radios vs. Yankees: Drew Rasmussen
The Yankees were trailing the Rays, but the streak wasn’t really lopsided. Tampa won two games and one run in a three-run game; and New York needed to kick the ball into the ring like Little Leauers in Game 2. Three of their five runs came in an unearned game. The Rays hit .208/.255/.344 in the three-game sweep. Not exactly a powerful show, you know?
Jonathan Aranda has a strong ALDS MVP case. He went 4 for 12 in three games and hit a solo homer that gave the Rays a 1-0 win in Game 1. It has to be Drew Rasmussen though, right? Rasmussen made Aranda’s solo home run by catching a no-hitter in the eighth inning. He hit 10 and was simply sensational.
“I think he’s pretty special and dialed in most nights,” radio manager Kevin Cash said. “As the game continues to unfold and you watch there, no hits, no hits, no hits, that’s what tells you right. That’s just a really good lineup, very elite hitting, quality at bats, hard contact, everything. To finish that just speaks volumes of how good he was tonight.”
Rasmussen has led all players in this series, adding both odds and championship odds, and not a little either. He’s been a killer for the Yankees throughout his career (1.81 ERA in 11 starts vs. New York), and he certainly shut them out in Game 1.
Brewers vs
It’s funny, Jackson Chourio only went 3 for 16 (.188) in the four-game NLDS, but the three hits were so impactful that he easily won the NLDS MVP over William Contreras (6 for 16 with two homers) and Christian Yelich (5 for 14). Aaron Ashby’s three innings of no-hit relief in the Game 4 clincher earned him some MVP consideration.
How could it not be Chourio? He tied the game with two home runs in Game 1, then lost 3-2 in a 4-3 walk-off tie with a two-out, two-strikeout, two-run single against Mason Miller in Game 2. That walk-off single completely changed the NLDS and gave Milwaukee a commanding 2-0 series lead.
“I look back to my first year, my rookie year, it was the game against Seattle. I think I was the last one, we were challenged against (Andrés) Munoz. He was on the mound that time,” Chourio explained after Game 2. “At that point everything turned on me. I said I would never do it feeling like I was the last one. I dedicated myself to fighting and not getting anything I could from that fighting and doing everything I could from that fight and doing everything I could not get from that game.
Probably added to the championship, Chourio’s walk-off single is by far the biggest hit of the 2026 season at +6.94% today. Austin Riley easily clears the lead with three runs in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series (+3.97%). Chourio may only hit .188 in the NLDS, but it’s hard to argue that he’s an impact player in the series.
Dodgers vs. Braves: Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Andy Pages was a strong consideration here. He had two hits in Games 3 and 4, including a two-run single in the seventh inning of the game. 4. It was enough of a redemption arc for Page, who had such a bad close that he wasn’t in the starting lineup for Games 6 and 7 of the World Series.
In the end though, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was the best player again in the postseason series. He struck out 10 batters in seven innings in Game 3, giving Los Angeles a 2-1 series lead. There is no better big-game pitcher in the game today, and Yamamoto put the Dodgers in position to return to the NLDS with his Game 3 hit.
“Wow. What a result,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think the fifth inning is where they started to get a little stressed, but managed the thing, limited the damage. And let’s go out there and we got two more, pretty tough… To get through seven innings, our bullpen is in a good place until Game 4. We can’t say enough about Yoshinobu.”
In three MLB seasons, Yamamoto has a 2.14 ERA in 63 career innings pitched in 10 starts, and one very memorable relief appearance. The run of the regular season wasn’t a factor in the NLDS MVP decision, but Game 3 was just more of it. Yamamoto was awesome.