Yordan Alvarez Sweeps Five MLB Awards as Wheeler Takes NL Comeback Honour

Yordan Alvarez completed one of the great comeback seasons in recent baseball history on Wednesday night, collecting five honours at the MLB Awards in Las Vegas, including American League Comeback Player of the Year, the AL Hank Aaron Award and the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award. The Houston Astros star, who played only 48 games in 2025, won his first batting title with a .316 average, 42 home runs, 106 RBIs and a 1.033 OPS over a career-high 158 games.

Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler was voted National League Comeback Player of the Year after going 14-5 with a 3.00 ERA and 193 strikeouts in 162 innings over 28 starts. Chicago Cubs centre fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong won the NL Hank Aaron Award, adding the NL Platinum Glove.

Key Points

• Alvarez won five honours: AL Comeback Player of the Year, the AL Hank Aaron Award, the Edgar Martinez Award, the Rod Carew AL Batting Title and All-MLB First Team DH.
• He hit .316 with 42 home runs, 106 RBIs and a 1.033 OPS in a career-high 158 games, after only 48 in 2025 with a broken hand and sprained ankle.
• His Edgar Martinez Award ends Shohei Ohtani’s five-year winning streak; he is the first Astro to win the designated hitter honour.
• Wheeler, 36, was voted NL Comeback Player of the Year after going 14-5 with a 3.00 ERA and 193 strikeouts, returning from thoracic outlet surgery.
• Crow-Armstrong won the NL Hank Aaron Award with 45 home runs and 41 steals, plus the NL Platinum Glove; the MVPs are announced Thursday night, Alvarez the AL favourite.

What Happened

The MLB Awards in Las Vegas on Wednesday night, November 11, 2026, honoured the best of the 2026 season, and no player left with more silverware than Alvarez. Comeback Player voting was by MLB.com’s 30 team beat writers, the Hank Aaron Awards were decided by past winners and distinguished players, and the designated hitter award was voted on by beat writers, broadcasters and public relations departments.

Wheeler’s NL Comeback award was just as emphatic: the 36-year-old went 14-5 with a 3.00 ERA across 28 starts, striking out 193 and walking only 47 in 162 innings, a full return a year after he stopped pitching on August 15, 2025, and had thoracic outlet surgery. San Diego’s Mason Miller won the Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year award, Tampa Bay’s Bryan Baker the Mariano Rivera AL award, and Rays executive Erik Neander was voted executive of the year for the second time.

Background: From 48 Games to a Batting Title

Alvarez’s 2025 season was cut short by a broken right hand and a sprained left ankle, limiting him to 48 games and raising questions about whether one of baseball’s most feared hitters could stay on the field. His answer in 2026 was a career-high 158 games and his first AL batting title.

His .316 average led the American League, and his 42 home runs and 106 RBIs made him the driving force of the Astros’ offence; his 1.033 OPS underlined how complete the season was. Wheeler’s road back was different but no less demanding: he went 10-5 with a 2.71 ERA in 24 starts in 2025 before his season ended in mid-August and he had surgery to relieve pressure on the nerves and blood vessels.

Yordan Alvarez MLB Awards: A Five-Trophy Night

Each honour tells part of the same story. The Comeback Player award is the headline: a player who missed most of 2025 returned to play more games than ever and led his league in hitting. The Hank Aaron Award, voted on by past winners and distinguished players, marked him the American League’s most outstanding offensive performer.

The Edgar Martinez Award carries its own history. Ohtani had won it for five straight years, and Alvarez breaking that streak, as the first Astro ever to win the award, marks a genuine changing of the guard. Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber finished second for the second straight season.

Crow-Armstrong’s night was nearly as rich: 45 home runs and 41 steals put him among the few players in history with a 40-homer, 40-steal season, and his NL Platinum Glove completed a rare double of hitting and fielding honours.

Reactions

The voting told its own story. Others receiving NL votes included Miami’s Sandy Alcantara, Cincinnati’s Tejay Antone, San Diego’s Ty France, Atlanta’s Michael Harris II and Arizona’s Eduardo Rodriguez. AL vote-getters included the Yankees’ Paul Blackburn and Gerrit Cole, Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan and the Angels’ Mike Trout.

Earlier in the day, Miller and Toronto’s Louis Varland won the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s inaugural Relievers of the Year awards. For Houston, the night showed what a healthy Alvarez means: the Astros built their offence around him, and his 2025 absence was felt throughout the line-up.

Why It Matters

Comeback stories are part of baseball’s appeal, but few are as complete as this one. Alvarez did not simply return from injury; he played more games than ever, won his first batting title, ended a five-year awards streak held by the sport’s biggest star, and became the first in his franchise’s history to win the designated hitter award.

Wheeler’s award matters differently: at 36, back from surgery that ends many pitching careers, he threw 162 innings at a 3.00 ERA. The night also underlined a changing of the guard: Ohtani’s hold on the designated hitter award is over, Crow-Armstrong has announced himself as a two-way star at 24, and Alvarez, at 29, is at the peak of his powers.

What Happens Next

The AL and NL MVP winners are announced on Thursday night, November 12, 2026. Alvarez is the favourite for the AL award, ahead of Junior Caminero, who hit 42 home runs with 101 RBIs for Tampa Bay, and Bobby Witt Jr., who stole 45 bases for Kansas City. If Alvarez wins, it would cap the most decorated single season of his career.

In the National League, Crow-Armstrong, Ohtani and Brice Turang are the finalists. Ohtani’s two-way season — 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA in 14 starts as a pitcher, plus 30 home runs — makes him a strong contender, while Crow-Armstrong’s 45-homer, 41-steal season gives him a genuine claim.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many awards did Yordan Alvarez win?
Five: AL Comeback Player of the Year, the AL Hank Aaron Award, the Edgar Martinez Award, the Rod Carew Batting Title and All-MLB First Team DH.

What were Yordan Alvarez’s 2026 stats?
He hit .316 with 42 home runs, 106 RBIs and a 1.033 OPS in a career-high 158 games.

Who won NL Comeback Player of the Year?
Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, 36, who went 14-5 with a 3.00 ERA and 193 strikeouts.

Whose streak did Alvarez end?
Shohei Ohtani’s five-year winning streak in the Edgar Martinez Award. Alvarez is the first Astros player to win the designated hitter honour.

When are the MVP winners announced?
Thursday night, November 12, 2026. Alvarez is the AL favourite, ahead of Junior Caminero and Bobby Witt Jr.

Related coverage: 2026 BBWAA award finalists; Wembanyama scores 40 as Spurs rout Suns.