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The Hank Aaron Award is given annually to the top hitter in the American and National Leagues. The 2026 honorees have put together seasons worthy of plenty of hardware.
Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez and Cubs superstar Pete Crowe-Armstrong were named winners of the 2026 Hank Aaron Award during the MLB Awards presented by MGM Rewards on Wednesday. Alvarez and Crow-Armstrong — also the favorites for their respective MVP Awards, which will be announced Thursday — were dethroned by repeat Hank Aaron Award winners Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani.
Recipients of the Hank Aaron Award, first given in 1999 — 25 years after Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s career record — are determined by votes from baseball fans as well as a panel of Hall of Famers and previous winners. Alvarez and Crow-Armstrong beat out nine other candidates from each league. This is the reason why they deserve this honor this season.
AL: Yordan Alvarez, Astros
To show just how good Alvarez is in 2026, let’s start with when he was perhaps at his worst. The designated hitter in Houston had an .872 OPS with two home runs and 12 RBIs in August, good for a 133 wRC+. That means he was 33% better than the league average offensively… the worst seasonal bear.
Alvarez had a .871 mark in May, with an OPS just one month lower than August. But he hit eight home runs in 28 games to keep his wRC+ at 141. Otherwise, Alvarez didn’t post a month with an OPS under 1.000.
Overall, he finished the 2026 season with a .316/.432/.601 slash line, 42 home runs, 106 RBI and a 181 wRC+. Alvarez was in position to win the Triple Crown and potentially the MLB Triple Crown over the course of the season before the Orioles’ Pete Alonso hit an AL home run and led off a red-hot RBI finish. However, Alvarez still won the MLB hitting title and led all hitters in walks (109). He was the only qualified hitter with an OPS over 1.000.
While Alvarez’s talent has never been in question, he has played the most games in any season of his career (158) allowing him to reach his full potential. Cuban recorded his first 40-homer season and led the ailing Astros to their 10th postseason berth in 12 years.
NL: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs
After becoming an All-Star for the first time in 2025 but struggling through a difficult second half, Crow-Armstrong again got off to a slow start in 2026, raising questions about his offensive profile. He had a .669 OPS average through the end of April.
Then everything changed quickly and dramatically. Crow-Armstrong took a more selective approach at the plate and began crushing the ball to the pull side, leading to a historic run.
From May 1 through the end of the 2026 season, PCA led MLB in home runs (42), runs scored (100), OPS (1.004) and wRC+ (171). He also tied for the MLB lead with 35 stolen bases and tied for second with 94 RBIs, trailing only Alonso’s 100. Notably, his 11.4% walk rate in 2026 represented a +6.9% jump from 2025, which was the largest increase of any hitter who qualified in either season.
Crow-Armstrong finished the year tied with Kyle Schwarber for the MLB lead with 45 home runs and compiled an NL-best .942 OPS. Crow-Armstrong added 41 total stolen bases, putting together just the seventh 40-homer, 40-stolen base campaign in MLB history. He also became only the 10th MLB player and the first Cubs player to record consecutive 30-30 seasons.
Considering Crow-Armstrong was arguably the best defender in baseball in 2026, posted a league-leading 26 Fielding Run Value in center field and won the NL Platinum Glove, it’s no secret why the 24-year-old is generating MVP buzz. He led all players with 10.6 fWAR.