Misiorowski and Schlittler Set Historic 2026 Cy Young Record

Jacob Misiorowski of the Milwaukee Brewers and Cam Schlittler of the New York Yankees have been officially named the 2026 National League and American League Cy Young Award winners, respectively. Both pitchers secured the honor in unanimous balloting, marking the first time since 2022 that winners in both leagues achieved this feat. This outcome makes them only the third pair in Major League Baseball history to win the award unanimously in the same year, following Justin Verlander and Sandy Alcantara.

While Cy Young recipients are expected to deliver exceptional performances, the 2026 winners distinguished themselves through their ability to suppress runs. Both pitchers posted an Earned Run Average below 2.00, a traditional indicator of pitching excellence. However, to properly contextualize their dominance against historical standards, analysts turned to ERA+, a metric that adjusts ERA for league and ballpark tendencies. In this system, a score of 100 represents the league average, with higher numbers indicating superior performance relative to the environment.

ERA+ is crucial for cross-era comparisons because run-scoring environments have shifted significantly over the last century. For instance, Pedro Martinez’s 1.74 ERA in 2000 translated to an ERA+ of 291, reflecting a performance 191% better than the league average. In contrast, Charlie Chech’s identical 1.74 ERA in 1908 resulted in an ERA+ of only 136 due to the lower scoring environment of that era. This adjustment highlights why Misiorowski and Schlittler’s recent numbers are particularly striking.

During the 2026 season, Misiorowski recorded an ERA+ of 232, leading the entire major league, while Schlittler posted an ERA+ of 215, the highest in the American League. Achieving an ERA+ of 200 or better is a rare milestone. Since 1900, excluding the shortened 60-game season of 2020, only 43 pitchers have reached this threshold over a qualifying number of innings. By comparison, 201 pitchers have achieved a sub-2.00 ERA in the same period, underscoring that ERA+ is a more rigorous benchmark for elite performance.

Having two pitchers in a single season reach the 200 ERA+ mark is even rarer. No season in modern history has featured more than two such qualifiers. Only six seasons since 1900 have produced multiple pitchers with an ERA+ of 200 or higher. The 2026 season marks the third time that both the National League and American League Cy Young winners have met this standard simultaneously.

The historical significance of this duo is further amplified by their youth. Schlittler was 25 years old during his winning campaign, while Misiorowski was 24. This age profile places them in an extremely exclusive category. Among the six seasons that have featured multiple 200 ERA+ pitchers, only 1905 included two pitchers who were 25 or younger at the time of their performances.

In 1905, Christy Mathewson, a 24-year-old future Hall of Famer, and Amos Reulbach, a 22-year-old rookie, achieved similar statistical dominance. The gap between that 1905 tandem and the current Misiorowski and Schlittler pairing spans more than 120 years. This longevity of the record highlights the unprecedented nature of this year’s pitching duo.

Both pitchers also demonstrated significant command of the strike zone, striking out more than 30% of opposing batters during the season. Their combination of elite underlying metrics and advanced age suggests a promising future for the pitching staffs of their respective teams. While health and durability remain factors in the current era, their current trajectory hints at the potential for additional Cy Young victories in the coming years.

The 2026 season will be remembered not just for the individual awards, but for the historical rarity of the combination. The Misiorowski and Schlittler tandem represents a unique intersection of statistical excellence and youth that has not been witnessed in over a century of professional baseball.